[ the Pajama Pundit ]

Bon Voyage

2008-09-05T20:52:00.001-04:00

What a week! I have to say that my blogging experience continues to provide me with some great moments. This week has seen the largest swell in this blog's viewers to date. The graph above illustrates the numbers that I've seen in just the last four days. I'm over 1200 individual visitors already today. Insane.

All of that said, this will be my last post until I return from vacation. You'll still get your Saturday Morning Cartoons... but I won't resume regularly scheduled posting until on or about the 15th of September. Unless of course someone would like to donate a laptop to me... :)

Until then, if hurricanes Hannah and Ike will allow me, I'll be basking in the sunny delight of Ocean City, New Jersey. I wish you all a great week.

Packing

2008-09-05T14:24:00.001-04:00

Packing up for the trip. Will post as time allows.

Payne, To The Maximum

2008-09-05T13:41:00.000-04:00

I've never played the video game, but the movie looks pretty bad ass. Dark. Violent. Awesome.

Drum On

2008-09-05T12:46:00.000-04:00

I'm going to step waaay out on a limb here and suggest that Neil Peart is perhaps the greatest drummer living today.

Thoughts?

McCain Knows Palin?

2008-09-05T12:21:00.001-04:00

Dave Barry summarizes:

McCain's staff insists that it conducted a thorough investigation of Palin, which included not only inspecting her driver's license, but also, according to a campaign spokesperson, "reading almost her entire Wikipedia article."

I'm not sure how that is possible. John McCain readily admits that he does not use e-mail, much less Wikipedia.

Head nod: Andrew Sullivan

Gag, Puke, Repeat

2008-09-05T12:20:00.000-04:00

I'm watching Sarah Palin and John McCain at a rally in Wisconsin right now.

She is repeating, nearly verbatim, the speech that she gave two nights ago. Same lies, same disrespect to those who serve as community organizers, and the same dripping snark that she used to belittle Barack Obama two nights ago.

She makes a good spectacle, I'll concede that point. But, when is she going to sit down and face some tough questions from reporters?

John McCain: A Missed Opportunity

2008-09-05T11:54:00.000-04:00

Jonah Goldberg was not impressed:

[McCain's speech] was flat, forced and basically a free pass for Obama. Again, maybe strategically that was the plan and maybe there was a good reason. Maybe Palin will be the pitbull and he'll be the statesman for the general election. And maybe that will work. But politically and substantively I think there should have been more oomph, more fun, more energy and more contrast. Civics value: B. Political value: Gentlemen's C.

Ouch. That's coming from a usually upbeat conservative cheerleader.

Tom Ridge Highlights The Democratic Argument

2008-09-05T11:32:00.001-04:00

I like Tom Ridge, so I feel really bad for him when he says something like this.

Maybe he's upset that he didn't get the veep nod? Or, maybe it's an insight into what he really thinks?

Nah. Probably just an enormous gaffe.

Feeling Bad For John McCain

2008-09-05T11:17:00.000-04:00

During the speech last night, John McCain was interrupted several times by anti-war protesters. Jay Carney has a good point:

Not sure what the protesters' goal is -- unless it's to elicit sympathy for McCain among the viewers who tuned in to hear his speech. His response -- telling the audience to ignore the "static" and that "Americans want us to stop shouting at each other" -- let him come across as reasonable and cool-headed.

Indeed. Some anti-war activist actually hurt their message when they act like this.

Are You Experienced?

2008-09-05T10:52:00.001-04:00

-Adam Zyglis, Buffalo News

Palin's Polarization A Put-Off

2008-09-05T10:36:00.001-04:00

Republican strategist Mike Murphy has a thought:

I think she’ll ultimately be a polarizer. After last night’s smash [Palin’s speech], Republicans are in deep love. Nothing thrills ‘em like a good ‘us vs. them’ speech. But I’d guess that most Democrats had the opposite reaction. In a year where the Democrat generic numbers are 10+ points better than the Republican, I don’t like the math of a strategy that just polarized the election along party base lines. Among the vital sliver of voters in the middle, I think Palin’s rock solid social conservatism will be a turn off. And while voters may value vision over experience, Palin’s inexperience is a weakness, denying McCain an argument that has been helping him against Obama.

Head nod: Joe Gandelman @ TMV

Sarah Palin: Barracuda No More

2008-09-05T10:09:00.000-04:00

Interesting. Via Allahpundit, many conservatives have been referring to Sarah Palin as Sarah "Barracuda". Based on that uber-cool nickname, the GOP started playing the song "Barracuda" by the band Heart. Now the Wilson sisters (of Heart fame) put out a statement asking the GOP to stop using their music.

John McCain: Overshadowed By Palin

2008-09-05T09:28:00.002-04:00

Ugh. With the green-screen again? I'm so glad that it didn't stay green for the entire speech.

I think that John McCain delivered an okay speech. Solid, but not really great. He started by thanking the President of the United States -- not George W. Bush I might add -- to thunderous chants of "U.S.A., U.S.A.!" While that is nice and everything, why didn't McCain personally thank George W. Bush? Hmm...

Getting to the meat of the speech, John McCain did essentially what I expected him to do.

Patriotism, 'honoring something greater than self', 'Washington is broken', etcetera. However, this nugget was somewhat unexpected on my part:

Despite our differences, much more unites us than divides us. We are fellow Americans, an association that means more to me than any other.

After that, McCain went on to claim that he was going to win the election, but for a brief moment in time, I thought I could hear Sean Hannity, between undiscernable ape-like grunts shout, "NO MCCAIN, NOOOOOO!!!!". The moment of peace and respect having occurred, I actually felt bad for the senior senator from Arizona because he was completely upstaged by his running-mate. Sarah Palin should have 'warmed-up the crowd' for Johnny Mac -- instead, she stole the show the night before and he had to talk about it some more in his speech.

The remainder of the performance lacked any real substance. McCain talked about the usual vetoing of 'pork-barrel' bills and making famous the authors of the bills (we've heard it before... in nearly every stump speech he's ever given). I am still waiting to hear exactly how McCain (and Palin) are going to bring 'change' to Washington. For example, McCain said:

I fight for Americans. I fight for you. I fight for Bill and Sue Nebe from Farmington Hills, Michigan, who lost their real estate investments in the bad housing market. Bill got a temporary job after he was out of work for seven months. Sue works three jobs to help pay the bills.

He then went on to talk about two other examples of 'regular folks' who sacrifice. But, he never talked about how he will help them. Instead, McCain highlights how Republicans 'lost the trust' of the American people. He talked about how government has gotten bigger. He talked about how 'Republicans valued our power over our principles' and then said, 'We are going to change that'. But how Johnny? HOW?!

And the audible 'boos' from the crowd while McCain essentially lies about Obama's policy positions really started to get to me. Okay, I know that both candidates have to oversimplify their opponent's policies, but this example was borderline insane:

I will keep taxes low and cut them where I can. My opponent will raise them. ... I will cut government spending. He will increase it.

Obama's tax plan here (cuts taxes on 95% of Americans, moderately raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans) and his policy on government spending here (he vows to go line-by-line through the government budget and make cuts, yes you read that correctly -- CUTS).

And this gem:

Senator Obama thinks we can achieve energy independence without more drilling and without more nuclear power. But Americans know better than that. We must use all resources and develop all technologies necessary to rescue our economy from the damage caused by rising oil prices and to restore the health of our planet.

And again I have to call 'shenanigans' on McCain for this one. Obama has essentially the SAME PLAN -- with the caveat that Obama is not quite as rabidly in favor of drilling NOW, NOW, NOW!!! Ugh.

Look, my point is this: McCain gave an okay speech. It was far better than others that he has given in this campaign season. It was, in my view, poorly written, but McCain delivered it well. However, it lacked substance. He talked at great length (by my count just 10 minutes short of a full hour) about what is wrong with government -- and spent just short of zero minutes telling America how he would fix it. If you ask me (and by reading this, you are asking), his speech ended what was, save for Palin's speech, an extremely uneventful Republican convention.

Oh, and McCain ended on the P.O.W. stuff. "I have the scars to prove it, Senator Obama does not." I'm not even going to go there... even though he did.
The speech is here if you haven't seen it. If you want to read it, click here.

Republican flamers attacking me in 3... 2... 1...

------
Photo: Ricky Carioti/Washington Post

John McCain's Speech

2008-09-05T08:31:00.001-04:00

Barack Obama's Bill O'Reilly Interview, Part I

2008-09-04T22:14:00.003-04:00

I just watched the Bill-O interview with Barack Obama (part I).

I think Obama held his own quite well. O'Reilly tried to walk all over Senator Obama (surprise, surprise), but Obama kept hammering home his ideas and didn't let O'Reilly knock him off message.

The fact that they jumped right into foreign policy issues is good because religious O'Reilly Factor viewers (I'm looking at you Jim) who wouldn't usually have the opportunity to watch Obama speak were being exposed to the candidate, unfiltered. Well, in his own words at least. It will be interesting to see what the other three segments next week will reveal.

The most interesting part tonight? The fact that O'Reilly actually agreed with Obama a number of times.

Barack Obama Is 'Uppity'

2008-09-04T20:25:00.003-04:00

Rep. Lynn Westmoreland (R-Ga) has left the ranks of the speak-only-in-code Republicans. Enjoy the racism.

Barack Obama: Making Money Off Of Sarah Palin

2008-09-04T19:37:00.000-04:00

Chuh-ching:

The Obama campaign confirms to First Read that it has raised $8 million from more than 130,000 donors since Sarah Palin's speech last night -- and that it's on pace to raise a total of $10 million by the time McCain speaks.

The count is now at $10 million and growing.

Reminder

2008-09-04T17:33:00.000-04:00

Barack Obama is making an appearance on The O'Reilly Factor tonight. 8:00 p.m. on Fox News Channel.

Yes. I just plugged the Fox News Channel. You don't see me do that very often.

Hot As Hell

2008-09-04T16:15:00.000-04:00

It's hot outside. I mowed my lawn, but the grass is so friggin' dry that you barely even notice.

Now I'm all sweaty for seemingly no reason. Ick.

Bringin' The Funny... And Hypocrisy

2008-09-04T16:10:00.001-04:00

Time To Mow The Lawn

2008-09-04T15:27:00.000-04:00

Lawn mowin' time kids. I've got many-a-chore to complete before we split for the beach on Saturday. I'll be posting more... later today.

Palin And Giuliani Did NOT 'Wing It'

2008-09-04T15:15:00.000-04:00

Red State says that because of a broken teleprompter, both Rudy Giuliani and Sarah Palin had to "wing it" during parts of their speeches.

Jonathan Martin was there, saw the teleprompter and says, 'No. No they did not have to 'wing it'.'

Blame The Media!

2008-09-04T14:57:00.001-04:00

Joe Klein has a great point:

[McCain campaign manager] Steve Schmidt has decided, for tactical reasons, to slime the press. He wants the public to believe that there is an unfair--sexist (you gotta love it)--personal assault going on against Palin and her family. This is a smokescreen, intended to divert attention from the very real and responsible vetting that is taking place in the media--about the substance of Palin's record as mayor and governor. Sure, there are a few outliers--and the tabloid press--who have fixed on baby stories. That was inevitable....the flip side of the personal stories that the McCain team thought would work to their advantage--Palin's moose-hunting and wolf-shooting, and her admirable decision to have a Down Syndrome baby. And yes, when we all fix on the same story, whether it's a hurricane or a little-known politician, a zoo ensues. But the media coverage of the Palin story has been well within the bounds of responsibility. Schmidt is trying to make it seem otherwise, a desperate tactic.

More On The Speech

2008-09-04T14:24:00.003-04:00

An interesting comment on Sarah Palin's speech from a reader at FirstRead:

...I thought it was a pretty entertaining speech anyway, but man, didn't anybody fact check her speech before she gave it? Maybe they don't care, but in about 10 seconds any hack like me can find out that speech was fiction.

Seriously. Fact check anyone?

Ben Stein On Palin

2008-09-04T13:49:00.000-04:00

"She should have Henry Kissinger babysitting her."