McCain’s GAF

I’ve pretty much ignored McNutter’s remarks about the Green Bay Packers/Pittsburgh Steelers linemen being his squadron, after all, the memories of man in his old age are the deeds of man in his prime, to pinch a line. But the dude just isn’t even trying anymore, Make Him Stop!

In his interview with the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, he was asked about Afghanistan and Pakistan. Part of his reply:

“I think if there is some good news, I think that there is a glimmer of improving relationship between Karzai and the Pakistanis.”

I think the media’s gaffe is in using the wrong gaf.

When The Power Of Public Opinion Is At Low Ebb

There are only two things I’m certain of, one, the media manipulates the news and politicians, and politicians manipulate the news and public opinions, and two, so do I. They want to look like the people they tell you you should be looking for, so that the ones that are public servants can be marginalized.

If one can ascribe the oil speculative pressure to young guns, then imagine the pressure in DC where the national budget of gobzillions flows.

It takes sustained interest in important issues from one outlet or another to stay in the forefront of peoples minds, and to be kind the corporate media interests are not the public interest, then it requires another outlet which the blogs haven’t really adequately done because that never was what it was all about anyway.

Right now the big boys and girls are thinking about money from another source so they can cavort through the next two years. The best method of addressing those who would retain power is to actually use paper and pen and inform them of your intention to blog them and every yada yada comment on whatever particular wrong position they may be holding and work to get someone else elected.

Last year. Now all that can be done is work over the Congress, because most of whatever Cogswell’s Sprockets generated buzz we are discussing today won’t mean beans in November.

Tomorrow you can start to organize the precinct level, which is where progressive forces can really get manhandled in presenting progressive platforms to the party. The thing to bear in mind is that this is the ground floor. You have to do this in conjunction with others in other precincts too. And you have to start organizing it now, for 2010, 2012.

There are are only two choices for President for most people, and our hand is played out on preferences. Neither one will do exactly as I wish, but I knew that when I dropped out of the race shortly after the 2006 election.

And don’t give up the flash mobbing. It reminds everyone that human beings still exists.

Yes, But Bad Politics Is Good Lobbying

Good Ideas that are Bad Politics

There are some ideas that make sense, but are a tough sell on Capitol Hill. The classic example of recent years: gas taxes for public transportation. For years (decades), there were proposals on the tables that would have added to the cost of gas, with the money dedicated to reducing future need for that same product. But every such proposal was met with screams of “a dime a gallon? Are you kidding? I can’t possibly pay $1.80 for gas!” And now we get to pay $4 a gallon, and listen to commentators pontificate about how gas price increases are tougher on America because we don’t have good public transportation. That’s the price of ignoring the obvious.

Worth a look.

Why Clinton Lost

While many have offered varying reasons for Hillary Clinton’s loss in a squeaker to Barack Obama, including political miscalculations, sexism, and the bad taste of Bill, the Woofer has pulled it all together,

Reductio ad absurdum

There is a fairly common misconception that reductio ad absurdum simply denotes “a silly argument” and is itself a formal fallacy. However, this is not correct; a properly constructed reductio constitutes a correct argument. When reductio ad absurdum is in error, it is because of a fallacy in the reasoning used to arrive at the contradiction, not the act of reduction itself.

McCain Flip Flops On Negative Campaigning

McCain wastes no time in turning negative

The Democratic hopeful Barack Obama took his campaign to the Republican bastion of North Carolina yesterday, while his opponent, John McCain, launched the first attack ad of the presidential election.

Despite promises to stay on the higher ground, Mr McCain’s commercial uses imagery to suggest that Mr Obama is a friend of America’s enemies. It shows an apparently badly shaven Mr Obama looking across at the bearded face of the Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

It is a far cry from the candidate’s pledge in April for a campaign that is more akin to a discussion among friends than a bitter clash of ideological rivals.

There he goes again.

The public editor wishes to extend an apology to all our readers for the typing error of the headline writer.