Rightwing Culture War To Die Terrible Death

Republican Party Sees Some Kinda Light: MUTATE OR DIE.

Via the Sydney Morning Herald:

"The Republican Party must abandon its 'stringently right wing' positions on gay marriage, abortion and immigration or it could be banished to the political wilderness by the American people for decades, says the deputy director of a conservative think tank.

As the recriminations over the Republicans' defeat in last week's elections continued, the deputy director of the Hoover Institution, David Brady, said the party had moved too far to the right, leaving behind a significant proportion of its supporter base, and that more would leave unless the party returned to the centre.

"In order for the Republicans to win again they have to drop the anti-gay, anti-immigrant, strict pro-life, no-abortion social positions they have taken," said Professor Brady, who is in Australia as a visiting fellow at the United States Studies Centre at Sydney University.

"They have to drop those things and move to the centre where the American voters are. Look at gay marriage - support for gay marriage in America is going up; it's not going down. It's a similar situation if you're pro-life. The majority in America has been pro-choice for a while, and it's not moving anywhere."

Using a series of internet surveys to determine voter preferences, the Hoover Institution found that 8 per cent of the Republican base had [already] shifted towards the Democratic Party since 2004."

Obama, Lama

As is said:

May all beings have happiness and the causes of happiness.

May all beings be free from suffering and the causes of suffering.

May all beings never be apart from the great happiness that is free from suffering.

May all beings remain in the great evenness of mind free from passion, aggression,and ignorance.

w00t!


hat-tip for pic to The Out of Joint Times.

US Votes To End Bush Nightmare

"Americans, frightened and frustrated, have rejected the party of George Bush and have made a leap of faith with Barack Obama, writes the Herald's Political Editor Peter Hartcher. . .

Today, the US has voted to reject the nightmare of George Bush's America and has elected . . .[the] fairy tale.

Americans are more pessimistic today than at the time of any election in four decades. . . .

The economy was the dominant issue for 63 per cent of voters, according to exit polls.

The Bush Administration has given the US two recessions now, and two unfinished wars.

Of a panel of 100 US presidential historians, 61 have voted Bush as the worst president in 2¼ centuries.

He is the most unpopular in the history of US opinion polling.

Americans have rejected the party of Bush and embraced a candidate who, in many ways, is his exact opposite.

He is not only youthful and black, articulate and cosmopolitan, he's also well to the left of Bush on many key issues.

'Bush and the economy were the fundamental dynamics of this election," observed the commentator E.J. Dionne of The Washington Post.'"

Must be the right day to quit drowning government in Grover Norquist's bathtub.

Update, via Talk:Left: A Few More Election Results




Why Sarah Palin May Be the Last In a Line of Culture Warriors, via the Sydney Morning Herald.

US Votes to Reject Bush Nightmare, Via the Sydney Morning Herald.

Praise from around the world.

Election Day -- So Far, So Good. (Or Maybe Not)

So I was at the local polls at 7:10 AM, and the line of voters snaked all around the building. It took me an hour to vote, and it usually takes five minutes. Town clerk is expecting 100% turnout of registered voters in this tiny village of 2,212. I was looking around the line to see who was coming out -- seemed like lots of golfers and construction workers. Hm.

Friend T in DC arrived at his polling place at 6:40 AM, and it took him an hour to vote. He said the mood was upbeat there.


We'll see.


-----
Update:

Hat-tip to Kvatch: Election Protection has received >50,000 calls as of 4:29 PM EST complaining of problems with voting in multiple states. See also OurVoteLive.

My favorite so far:

UPDATE (4:05 p.m.): Heather Smith of Rock the Vote reports that youth voters have received the following deceptive text message:

Due to long lines today, all Obama voters are asked to vote on Wednesday. Thank you for your cooperation.

Then there's this, out of sight, out of mind ballots for New englanders.

And from Hominid Views:

Probability of Obama winning 100.0%

Probability of McCain winning 0.0%

Recovery from Bushist Fascism: An Anecdote

From reader AT:

"Anecdote for you.

I told you I was going to phone bank today -- out in Bethesda. The headquarters was overflowing so much that by 1 PM, both the HQ and the first two satellite locations were full and they had to open a third satellite -- and by 4 PM, that one too was overflowing. This, btw, in Maryland -- which is not a swing state.

O'Malley, the Governor came by -- and walked around the room and shook hands with maybe 100 people or more -- wearing a tee shirt and jeans and a leather bomber jacket... and afterwards gave a 3 minute speech

Now, I'm a cynic..., but even I was taken by it....

He said this thing's not in the bag yet -- that we're only up four points in PA and four in Ohio -- but how proud he was of Maryland -- that of the 1.4 million calls made into Virginia, 385,00 came "from the Free State of Maryland...!" -- and that "we would take our country back, not to be proven right..., but to be proven worthy of our citizenship...." -- it was really electric.... And so we spent the hours calling into Virginia and Ohio --

Of course..., I'll gladly take 52-48 in both PA and OH....:

So here's a tune to give us luck in Ohio.

"


P.S. I (NBFH) would also like to add that fully 99 44/100% of my closest friends are and have been seriously involved this year on some level, most of them actually phone-banking and/or canvassing door-to-door for the Democratic ticket, an experience I have never ever had in prior elections. So something's definitely up. And not necessarily all about Obama, but about us.

Quoth Preznit Toad-Exploder's Toadies: All Those Things That Were His Fault Weren't Really His Fault

" . . . [I]nside and outside the administration . . . upbeat talk masks disappointment and frustration among many White House staffers, who believe Bush's reputation has been unfairly maligned for a series of calamities -- from the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to the financial crisis -- that were beyond his control and which he handled well. GOP nominee John McCain's escalating attacks on Bush's tenure have added to irritation, these people said.

Ha.

The fault lies not in the stars, but in George Bush.

To wit:

9/11 (for ignoring Clinton's warnings)

Fiscal bankruptcy (for pissing away the Clinton surplus, then drowning the budget in Grover Norquist's bathtub).

Moral bankruptcy (starting a war based on lies about WMDs in the service of an Oedipal conflict between Dubya and Dubya's Daddy, making torture patriotic, killing a million people, ignoring habeas corpus, stuffing government with Talibangelical crazies, etc.).

Etc., etc., etc.

Cowboy up, George. It really is all your fault.

Another Reason Why One Loves Robin Morgan

Sarah Palin a feminist? Palin being supported by feminists?

Oh, puh-leeese.

It's as laughable as Elizabeth Hasselbeck using the word "sexist" in a sentence (coughchokecough) recently. Yuh, and Limbaugh's a feminist, too. Yikes.

"Spalinists traipse around with their candidate, grinning and applauding her, sometimes getting paraded out to take a bow at a rally. They sound off about how she’s the target of sexism. (She is. D’uh. But being a victim of misogyny does not necessarily a feminist make—or we’d never have had Liddy Dole. Or Britney Spears.)"

Robin Morgan.

Yep, what she says.

Somali Rape Victim Stoned to Death for Having Been Raped

Yes, it is samsara as usual.

Oh, and it turns out that the rape victim who was stoned to death for having been raped was 13 years old.

Official No Blood for Hubris Mental Health Interlude

Mm. Maybe it's pre-election nerves/anticipation, maybe it's a whiplash injury following being rear-ended a while back, maybe it's an anniversary reaction to a death threat at work this time last year, maybe-who knows-maybe, but one finds oneself in an odd, bardo-like subjective space. Time to change the subject and perhaps one's mood?

Thus:

"Today, John McCain campaigned in the Ohio town of Defiance. Next comes Anger, then, finally, Acceptance." --Jay Leno

"And McCain says he's ready for Halloween. McCain says he's going to wear a Barack Obama mask and go as a socialist." --Jay Leno

"And a lot of juicy gossip on the campaign trail. Insiders of the McCain campaign say that Sarah Palin has gone rogue. Republicans are complaining that she's not listening to their advice, she's not taking their notes and she's going off on her own and saying whatever she wants. And then when the campaign was asked what they like best about her, 'She's a maverick!'" --Jay Leno

"And Republicans now say that the $150,000 worth of clothes they bought for Sarah Palin will probably go to a charity. Charity, is that a good idea? Isn't that kind of counterproductive? I mean, you're going to give a homeless woman your spare change when she's wearing a Dolce & Gabbana jacket and Jimmy Choo shoes, you know?" --Jay Leno

"It’s a little cold and windy outside, isn’t it today? It’s so cold today that Sarah Palin was putting ChapStick on a pit bull." --David Letterman

"John McCain was on Larry King’s show last night, and it got kind of awkward when Larry had to tell John McCain that 72 percent of his ex-wives were for Obama." --David Letterman

"And have you seen Sarah Palin and John McCain. I mean if you look at them, it’s kind of interesting. He looks like the elderly husband who would have her followed by a private detective. A little bit, don’t you think?" --David Letterman

"But here's what I like about John McCain. He's an optimist. Always sees the glass as half full of his teeth." --David Letterman

"And how about last night, when Barack Obama had his half hour infomercial TV special. I mean, thank God! It’s about time this guy got some media coverage, don’t you think?" --David Letterman

"But I thought it was one of those heartwarming infomercials. It had a wonderful ending. In the final scene Barack Obama is adopted by Angelina Jolie." --David Letterman

"This week out on the campaign trail, John McCain called Barack Obama a socialist, and President Bush defended Barack Obama. But see, again, I don't think President Bush really understands. Like, he told McCain, he said, 'When you're president, you get a lot of visitors to the White House. You have to be a good socialist. It's good manners'" --Jay Leno


------
Non sequitur: Even At Costliest School, Unease Over Downturn.

Oh And BTW The Clintons Are Racists, Etc.

When Windmills Attack, Is It Quixotic to Notice?

Not to mention Anglachel on Losers.

Sarah Palin Creatively Re-Interprets The Constitution

What would one do without Sarah Palin? I mean, really. What would one do?

Here, she asserts her newfound right to attack Barack Obama without fear of vicious horrid reprisals from the media in the form of them daring to question her wisdom in attacking him.

That's pretty creative.

Glenn Greenwald calls her assertion "so dumb that it hurts."

She's quite the fascist, really, is she not?


Growing Doubts On Palin Take a Toll, Poll Finds.

Mainstream Media Finally Notices Stealth Talibangelical Palin

Better late than never?

"Struggle to the Death for the . . . Soul (sic) of the [Republican] Party"

Mm. If it had a soul, that would frame well.

From the party that brought us moral AND fiscal bankruptcy! A fight to the death!


A civil war in which insufficiently rightwing very rightwing rightwingers get excommunicated, and the litmus test is -- Sarah Palin!

Sarah who? Oh you know, the winky mavericky demagoguey stealth Talibangelical! The pro-government-forced maternity gal with pesky ethics and grammar issues.

But, wait, it gets better! Sarah Palin then turns into Ronald Reagan! No, really, she does!

From the Guardian UK:

But the real bile has been saved for those conservatives who have balked at the selection of Sarah Palin.

In addition to Mr Frum, who thinks her not ready to be president, Peggy Noonan, Ronald Reagan's greatest speechwriter and a columnist with the Wall Street Journal, condemned Mr McCain's running mate as a "symptom and expression of a new vulgarisation of American politics." Conservative columnist David Brooks called her a "fatal cancer to the Republican Party".

The backlash that ensued last week revealed the fault lines of the coming civil war.

Rush Limbaugh, the doyen of right wing talk radio hosts, denounced Noonan, Brooks and Frum. Neconservative writer Charles Krauthammer condemned "the rush of wet-fingered conservatives leaping to Barack Obama", while fellow columnist Tony Blankley said that instead of collaborating in heralding Mr Obama's arrival they should be fighting "in a struggle to the political death for the soul of the country".

During the primaries the Democratic Party was bitterly divided between Barack Obama's "latte liberals" and Hillary Clinton's heartland supporters, but now the same cultural division threatens to tear the Republican Party apart.

Jim Nuzzo, a White House aide to the first President Bush, dismissed Mrs Palin's critics as "cocktail party conservatives" who "give aid and comfort to the enemy".

He told The Sunday Telegraph: "There's going to be a bloodbath. A lot of people are going to be excommunicated. David Brooks and David Frum and Peggy Noonan are dead people in the Republican Party. The litmus test will be: where did you stand on Palin?"

Mr Frum thinks that Mrs Palin's brand of cultural conservatism appeals only to a dwindling number of voters.

He said: "She emerges from this election as the probable frontrunner for the 2012 nomination. Her supporters vastly outnumber her critics. But it will be extremely difficult for her to win the presidency."

Mr Nuzzo, who believes this election is not a re-run of the 1980 Reagan revolution but of 1976, when an ageing Gerald Ford lost a close contest and then ceded the leadership of the Republican Party to Mr Reagan.

He said: "Win or lose, there is a ready made conservative candidate waiting in the wings. Sarah Palin is not the new Iain Duncan Smith, she is the new Ronald Reagan." On the accuracy of that judgment, perhaps, rests the future of the Republican Party.

---
Full Metal Meltdown.

Indiana Robo-Call Workers Rise Up, Refuse to Pitch RNC Smears

Sounds like they're mad as hell, and they're not gonna take it any more.

"Nina Williams, a stay-at-home mom in Lake County, Indiana, tells us that her daughter recently called her from her job at [a robo-call] center, upset that she had been asked to read a script attacking Obama for being "dangerously weak on crime," "coddling criminals," and for voting against "protecting children from danger."

Williams' daughter told her that up to 40 of her co-workers had refused to read the script, and had left the call center after supervisors told them that they would have to either read the call or leave, Williams says."

Shades of this previous recent RNC smear-fest:.

"Hello, I'm calling for John McCain and the RNC, because Democrats are dangerously weak on crime. Barack Obama has voted against tougher penalties for street gangs, drug-related crimes, and protecting children from danger. Barack Obama and his liberal allies have a disturbing history of coddling criminals so we can't trust their judgment to keep our families safe. This call was paid for by the Republican National Committee and McCain-Palin 2008 at 866 558-5591. Thank you, bye."

The workers in Indiana who refused to repeat the smear-script had to pay for it -- losing many hours of work. Sounds like in the end they made the right call.

Go Ahead, Elizabeth Hasselbeck: Make My Day!

One assumes that one's fearless readers will automatically understand why one finds perky spokesmodel 'n rightwing- semi-sex-object TV "personality" Elizabeth Hasselbeck's viewpoint so desperately hilarious.



(And one does wonder about that shade of lime green, yep, one does.)

Prayer Warrior Sarah Palin's Witch-Hunter #2: Mary Glazier

Practice the virtue of patience for the first 45 seconds, at which time the fun begins.

Then check out Palin in My Prayer Group, Says Witch-Hunter #2, by troutfishing. And guess what, the New York Times has finally noticed that something's up. Took them awhile.

Hat-tip to Jesus' General.

Wonderment Du Jour

Sarah Palin. George W. Bush.

Both passionate right-wingers.

Both hard-core Talibangelicals.

Both possessing some personal charm (apparently).

Both clueless about policy.

Both spouting continuous propaganda platitudes.

Both saying un-f*cking-believably stupid things in public.

Both speaking English as if it were a second language.

Both word-salad-ing up the wazoo.


It is sticking to Mrs. Palin.

Didn't stick to Dan Quayle. And it has never stuck to Mr. Bush -- even as he drowned this country in Grover Norquist's bathtub.

Even as he lead his country deeper and deeper into moral and fiscal bankruptcy.


Why might that be, boys and girls?

Thoughts?

"Bitter Infighting Over 'diva' Palin."

Department of Too True, Too True

From the Sydney Morning Herald:

The Republican team views the spending story as irrelevant.

"It doesn't matter that Palin's costing us a fortune for her wardrobe," one insider said. "What matters is that she's costing us the election."

Well, w00t!!

Mm. And besides that, the Trophy VEEP now wants to go rogue.

YO! Karl ROVE's Dressing Caribou Barbie!!! (& he has SUCH good taste! He's just a WIZARD with f*-me heels & those cunning lil' jackets! Ooh!)

So, boys and girls, who bought and paid for the Neiman Marcus/Saks 5th/Barney's/Bloomie's/Atelier upscale uptown clothes for Caribou Barbie's Excellent Sexist Sex-Object Trophy VEEP Makeover?

Why, that would be one Jeff Larson!

One of Karl Rove's perception management boys!

Quelle surprise!

Plus ca change plus c'est la meme f*ckin' chose!

Update: Palin Defends Designer Clothes Tab via the Sydney Morning Herald. Hint -- it's not about the money, it's all about sexism, and remember boys and girls, Sarah said on NBC yesterday that she's NOT a feminist! (While being a member of "Feminists (sic) for Life (sic)")



[insert massively inappropriate Palinwink -- here ---]

PS. Seems like John McCain spent over $12K on a make-up artist just last month. Sure beats those $400 Dem haircuts the Pubbies made such a stink about, eh? Palin spent over $13K last month for her make-up artist. They're both such regular Joes, are they not?

No Blood for Hubris Defends Caribou Barbie

Okay, I meant what I said in the post below, but this take is sexist, ergo wrong:"Republicans Disgusted at Palin's $150,000 Shopping Spree"?
Puh-leese.

Be disgusted at the Republican National Committee, not Palin. Her pricey wardrobe was part of the RNC agenda, not Palin's personal agenda. They make-overed her into their sex-object Trophy VEEP. They, not she, deserve blame. (Mrs. Real Pro-America, of course, deserves blame in many other areas. And perhaps for giving her consent, as reader anon points out.)

Dressing Caribou Barbie

Look, people -- do everyday hometown cookie-bakin' anti-feminazi pro-government-forced maternity Talibangelical gurrls just like to have fun?

You betcha!

[insert inappropriate wink -- here --]

Sydney Morning Herald:

Republicans spend a motza* dressing Palin

WASHINGTON: Financial records show the Republican National Committee has spent more than $US 150,000 . . . on clothes for vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin, the political news website Politico has reported.

The Republicans' main campaign and fund-raising organ spent tens of thousands at high-end stores such as Bloomingdale's and Barney's in New York, Saks Fifth Avenue in St Louis and New York and Neiman Marcus in Minneapolis, the website said. The committee also spent $US4716 on hair and make-up during September, Politico reported.

Those kinds of expenditures did not appear in the committee's financial disclosure records before the Alaska Governor was added to John McCain's ticket in August, it said.

Politico said it reviewed the committee's September monthly financial disclosure report and found a new category, "campaign accessories", included in the report of "itemised co-ordinated expenditures" . . .

Another $US4902 was "spent at Atelier, a high-class shopping destination for men", Politico noted. The spending on Mrs Palin's image emerged at the same time as reports that she has charged the state for her children to travel with her on official visits, including to events where they were not invited, and later amended expense reports to specify that they were on official business.

Mrs Palin has charged the state $US21,012 for her three daughters' commercial flights. The charges included costs for her daughters to join Mrs Palin to watch their father in a snowmobile race.

Let's hear it for perception management! w00t!

---
motza -
mot·ser /ˈmɒtsər/

–noun Australian Slang.

a large amount of money, esp. a sum won in gambling.
Also, motzer, motza.

[Origin: 1940–45; perh. alter. of Polari medzers, medzies, metzes money, pl. of medzer, madzer halfpenny, ult. < It mezzo half, mezzo]

"Stop Wasting Time With This Pig"

Guess I picked the wrong day to quit complaining about saving Western civilization (sic) through torture and savagery, eh?

I love primary sources. Check out the link to actual army documents, above (that would be "savagery').

In the meantime, ponder what it means that someone in the army thought this shit up, wrote this shit down, and made a whole shitty actual manual out of it.

It's filled with helpful directions on just the right way to hurt others.

Maybe you have to be a f*cking card-carrying buddhist to think this is totally perversely inherently morally f*cked up but I sure hope not.

Here's a teeny sample:

"The statement 'stop wasting time with this pig' means to discontinue the current training tactic and take a break."

"Us" and "them." There's a theme here. See, once you label them as "pigs" they ain't human, so you can do to them whatever you f*cking like, mm-kay? Well not just what you like. You can do whatever the manual says you can do.

There's a whole section on "DEGRADATION." This includes three sub-sections, the "insult slap," the "stomach slap," and "stripping." The insult slap target is right below the cheekbone, and you have to stop doing it if the detainee tries to duck. No really. The stomach slap is used to shock and intimidate the detainee. Stripping "consists of forceful removal of detainees' clothing. In addition to degradation of the detainee, stripping can be used to demonstrate the omnipotence of the captor [ licensed clinician part of NBFH raises an eyebrow, says neutrally, "Oh? Tell me more." here] or to debilitate the detainee."

Then, there's "PHYSICAL DEBILITATION TACTICS." These get written down in log-books. If you write stuff down it makes it official and ok, see.

Anyhow, there are more fun sections, so I'll be talking about that later, but first I have to go to work. I look forward to describing one stress position, kneeling on the ground with one's arms out holding weights. I like that one in particular because it resembles the way some abusive parents torture children, who then grow up and see me and ask me why their parents did that to them.



And pardon me while I complain as well about information suppression, PBS not daring to air the documentary "Torturing Democracy" before the election because well you know somebody in the pro-torture crowd might be offended by an anti-torture show and complain and/or somebody might have to actually deal with what we have actually done and/or why would we want an informed electorate anyway, eh? Lets just go with mob rule. Namaste to PBS, yep, my tax dollars at work supporting suppression of information about torture yep you betcha (wink wink).

Hat-tip to reader AT.

Girl Set Alight for Wearing Lipstick

Yes, you read that right.

"An 11-year-old girl has been set on fire by a relative in India's northern city of Jaipur for wearing lipstick and being inappropriately dressed.

Police say the girl suffered burns over 90 per cent of her body and her chances of survival are bleak.

They've arrested her great uncle who allegedly poured kerosene on the girl and set her alight yesterday.

Investigators say the 55-year-old man, a conservative Muslim, told the police he was enraged at the girl wearing lipstick and being scantily dressed.

But relatives have accused the man of trying to molest the girl and setting her on fire when she objected."

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Send money to Arthur Silber, who is in so need of it and who writes so well.

The Vicious Mrs. (Palin) Goes Ever So Anti-American

"We believe that the best of America is in these small towns that we get to visit, and in these wonderful little pockets of what I call the real America, being here with all of you hard working very patriotic, um, very, um, pro-America areas of this great nation.



"This is where we find the kindness and the goodness and the courage of everyday Americans. Those who are running our factories and teaching our kids and growing our food and are fighting our wars for us. Those who are protecting us in uniform. Those who are protecting the virtues of freedom."
-- Sarah Palin in North Carolina

Well, that says it all.

There's "us."

And there's "them."

On the upside, the Palin pick seems to be hurting McCain.

Even among Republicans:

In what read more like an obituary than a commentary, Peggy Noonan wrote in the Wall Street Journal: "In the end the Palin candidacy is a symptom and expression of a new vulgarization in American politics. It's no good, not for conservatism and not for the country. And yes, it is a mark against John McCain, against his judgment and idealism."

(Well, I wouldn't say a "new" vulgarization, actually.)

And among Jewish women voters in Florida:

"[University of Florida political scientist Ken Wald points out that] 'among middle-class Jewish career women in particular, there's a resentment bordering on rage that somebody so obviously unqualified was appointed on the assumption that she would appeal to women. As women of accomplishment, they deeply resent the pandering and take it quite personally.'"

So we'll see.

Update: Guy Who Lied to UN Security Council About WMDs Endorses Obama

Department of "Oh, Puh-LEEZE"

Gag me with a spoon.

WHITE BOOMER WOMEN VOTERS PRIZED.
"Both the McCain and Obama campaigns are courting this voting bloc."

Oh. Right. And don't forget, these old broads are "feisty" but "persuadable."

Hat-tip to VastLeft.