Bob Roberts

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Republicans are Maxi Pads

Or at least that seems to be the message of this new spot for Texas Republican U.S. Senator John Cornyn, whose people ripped off the "Big Brawn" SNL sketch to rebrand their party and candidate.

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"I Have, John McCain, Injected You With the Minimum Dosage of Poison From the Power of the Ultimate Clinton" (Snarl.)

Tonight all three presidential will appear on WWE's Monday Night Raw in an attempt to appeal to the hot new voting bloc, "the white male":

To the casual wrestling viewer, these quick promos could seem nothing more than the candidates awkwardly spitting out a few wrestling catchphrases or references. But to the seasoned fan, these promos have much deeper meaning and historical context.
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The Dr. Mindbender toy was clothed in purple pants and leather metal-studded suspenders.


NYTimes: Many also shared with Mr. Bush’s national security team a belief that pessimistic war coverage broke the nation’s will to win in Vietnam, and there was a mutual resolve not to let that happen with this war.

This was a major theme, for example, with Paul E. Vallely, a Fox News analyst from 2001 to 2007. A retired Army general who had specialized in psychological warfare, Mr. Vallely co-authored a paper in 1980 that accused American news organizations of failing to defend the nation from “enemy” propaganda during Vietnam.

“We lost the war — not because we were outfought, but because we were out Psyoped,” he wrote. He urged a radically new approach to psychological operations in future wars — taking aim at not just foreign adversaries but domestic audiences, too. He called his approach “MindWar” — using network TV and radio to “strengthen our national will to victory.”

NYTimes
Wikipedia: Dr. Mindbender

She Can't Cook. Who Cares?

It has recently come to light that Cindy McCain is a repeat-offender in the recipe stealing department.

On her husband's campaign site, they posted "her" recipes for, among other things, Ahi Tuna with Napa Cabbage Salad, Passion Fruit Mousse, Farfalle with Turkey Sausage, Peas, and Mushrooms, and Rosemary Chicken Breasts and Warm Spinach Salad with Bacon. Turns out, these were all stolen.

In damage control, McCain's campaign fired an intern, and changed the recipes to ones for Lemon Chicken and Beef Stew.

Lemon Chicken and Beef Stew?!!?!? I can make that shit. Anybody can make that shit. Cindy McCain obviously cannot cook for shit. Shit.

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I've Been Wanting You So Long...

Hillary boozes it up in Indiana.

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Killing Time, Playing Darts


[via NYTimes]

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Sochi Nights


Bush waits for the decisive moment to slip Vlad the final tongue.

BBC Link

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Picked Last. Again.


"OK my fellow NATO heads of state, everyone smile and say 'MISSILE SHIEEEEEELD!'"
[via NYTimes]

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Halloween is 7 Months Away


...but for Laura, you don't need an excuse for terror.

sweet dreams.

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Go Fuck Yourself, Hank.

Let's say you have lung cancer. Hank is your doctor. You pay him a lot of money. You've been seeing him for many months, and things are only getting worse. Finally, Hank has a big announcement for you. Turns out he's been working hard on coming up with a plan. His plan: a radical scheme for reorganizing the tobacco industry, a plan he admits he's been thinking about since before he started treating you and is not even intended to help you.

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The Treasury Dept. today issued a proposal to overhaul the nation's financial regulatory system:

+ "Some may view these recommendations as a response to the circumstances of the day," Mr. Paulson said in a speech Monday at the Treasury Department. "That is not how they are intended."

+ "Secretary Paulson has been working on this package for about a year, so it's not like pulling a rabbit out of a hat," Dana Perino, the White House press secretary, told reporters on Air Force One on Monday.

He's been working on this package for about a year?!?!?! To recap: mortgages unpaid, banks collapsing, dollar declining, shit-hitting-fan all over the place. Paulson all the while has been coming up with a big plan for, basically, less regulation.

BusinessWeek's Michael Mandel said it best:

Let's see. In the middle of perhaps the greatest financial upheaval since the Great Depression, Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson is proposing a change in financial regulations which basically amounts to a big wink to Wall Street. His plan will go nowhere, both for political and practical reasons. In fact, it does not even meet the minimum standard of improving transparency, which would reduce the possibility of a similar crisis in the future.

Here's Paul Krugman in the NY Times:
"Anyone who has worked in a large organization — or, for that matter, reads the comic strip “Dilbert” — is familiar with the “org chart” strategy. To hide their lack of any actual ideas about what to do, managers sometimes make a big show of rearranging the boxes and lines that say who reports to whom."

Finally, former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers in the Wall Street Journal:

"It's probably a bad idea to spend too much time debating the organization of the fire department while the fire is still burning."

To summarize: Go fuck yourself, Hank.

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