NOT a fan.

It is now 6:48 and I have been waiting since 5:55 to hear what the President of the United States has to say about whether or not he thinks he can keep the economy of the United Sates from collapsing.

It was Hemmingway who said "There are only three sports: bullfighting, motor racing, and mountaineering; all the rest are merely games."

I would add that the only one worth watching is road-course motor racing. Circle racing sucks, too.

Basketball is a dam game.

What is wrong with the corporate-owned, profit-driven, short-attention-span, lowest-common-denominator, right-wing pandering, moronic media in this country?

Thank God for John Stewart.

I wish he had his own network.

 

I have really been conflicted over my decision not to attend the McCain/Palin "rally" in Waukesha yesterday.

I saw the clips from the event last night, and woke up this very early this morning wondering who was this guy, the angry black guy, that so moved Senator McCain with his personal attack on Barack Obama that McCain crossed the stage to embrace him, and assure him that after his ass whoppin' here on earth he would surely get his reward in Heaven?

I woke up thinking that this man had to be a plant. Why?

Because it's perfectly Rovian.

This election is in the hands of the 10-12% of voters who remain "undecided". (I believe many of these actually have made up their minds, but for various reasons won't say.)

There are a certain percentage of those undecideds who are undoubtedly leaning McCain, but by the nature of their upbringing in an American culture that has instilled them with the value of racial equality, are put off by the racist tone the McCain campaign has taken on.

Rove thought: "Let's find black people to attack Obama, thereby giving "permission" for undecided white voters to join the lynch mob."

It turns out that the Angry Black Man was not just an angry black man.

He was not, as far as we know, paid by the McCain campaign to denounce and smear Senator Obama, but he was, in fact James T. Harris, a radio host on WTMJ, which is owned by Journal Communications, which is the largest media conglomerate in the state of Wisconsin.

The Journal-Sentinel's own coverage quotes a snip of Harris's comments, but fails to note Mr.Harris' employment by the firm.

The full text of Mr. Harris' remarks goes beyond what is being quoted locally.

 From the Raw Story, which also has video of the exchange, but also did not identify Mr. Harris:

"Senator, at the convention, you asked for us to fight, for you," said the supporter. "I doubt there's anyone in this room that's, pardon me, taken the ass whoopin' I have taken for supporting you, and for supporting your policies."

The crowd roared in approval, then sprang to their feet to cheer the man on.

"Sir, I believe that, the next coming debate, it is absolutely vital that you take it to Obama; that you hit him where it hurts ... the soft spot," he said, drawing another round of audience applause.

McCain crossed the stage and hugged the man.

"Thank you," said the senator. "Thank you for your courage. I believe your reward will be in heaven, not here on Earth."

[ADDED]

Just picked up the newspaper.

The J-S does identify the man as Harris, "a radio host", but does not mention that he works for WTMJ or Journal Communications. I wonder if he also works for McCain?

 

Last night in the second Presidential debate, John McCain looked very much like the tired old warrior that he is.

Swinging as if from memory, but rarely moving anything but air, he struggled to even stay on his feet.

I'll admit, it wasn't much of a town hall, in the sense that most of the questions seemed to come from Brokaw, and audience members were not asked to respond to the candidates' answers, but this was supposed to be John McCain's venue. He has been repeating his challenge for a series of town halls with Obama for months.

The conventional wisdom, which McCain has deliberately cultivated knowing that he wouldn't have to prove it if Obama wouldn't take his challenge, was that McCain would connect with the audience, whereas Obama would be too cool.

What I saw, and from everything I have read, what occurred last night was exactly the opposite.

When Obama talked about health care, and his personal experience with his mother struggling against cancer and the insurance industry at the same time, it clearly resonated with the audience, who understand that losing your job means losing your insurance as well. When he repeatedly talked about tax breaks for the middle class, he successfully put to rest the Republican talking point. McCain neglected to even use the phrase "middle class" once, reinforcing the perception that he cannot relate to the concerns of anyone who actually works for a living.

On foreign policy, Barack again brought it home. Drawing a direct line between the staggering cost of our continued occupation of Iraq and our frightening budget deficit that is shaking confidence in the dollar worldwide, Obama offered yet another sound reason to bring our troops home now.

McCain did have the three most memorable moments of the debate, however.

The best was when he connected with the Navy guy. That was a very genuine moment in a campaign that has otherwise seemed surreal in its inability to find a channel, and sync up with the American people.

The second was definitely the most bizarre moment - when Brokaw asked McCain who he might consider appointing as Secretary of the Treasury. If he was going for a laugh by answering "Not you, Tom." it sounded like bitter sarcasm to me, and Brokaw didn't seem to think it was funny either. I think Brokaw's pained and puzzled expression pretty well summed up America's reaction to John McCain at this point.

The third memorable moment, and the one that I believe will smack the undecided voter in the face, was when McCain referred to Senator Obama as "that one".

One what?

This candid display of disrespect for Obama may resonate with bitter McCain supporters, but to me it seemed very small and tinged with racism.

I so wish the election were today.

As I noted back in July when Barack Obama was touring Europe, the war in Iraq effectively ended. This is precisely the moment Senator John McCain realized that his campaign was doomed.

Noori al-Maliki, the Prime Minister of Iraq had essentially adopted Obama's timetable for withdrawal of American forces from Iraq. He had asked us to leave.

Back in 2005, in attempting to illustrate that Iraq had emerged from it's hell as a free, independent nation, John McCain had said that if we were asked to leave, we would leave. "I don't see how we could stay when our whole emphasis and policy has been based on turning the Iraqi government over to the Iraqi people."

But, of course, leaving Iraq was never part of the plan. When McCain said we'd be in Iraq for a hundred years, it was no simple gaffe. The nonconservatives who conspired to invade Iraq and establish a puppet government never had any intention of leaving, and McCain had based his entire case for election on achieving "victory" in Iraq.

That case became ashes when we were asked to leave, and in fact, the long national argument about the war was over. All it took was a leader - someone with the "celebrity" of Obama - to step up and insist on a specific timetable for withdrawal that was reasonable and concrete for the whole nasty show to come to a conclusion.

That's when McCain knew he was screwed.

There was really only one possibility for saving his campaign, and that was lying.

Since then McCain, and now Sarah Palin, have been lying through their teeth, and repeating these lies even after they have been exposed, firm in their faith that as Karl Rove has proven, a lie repeated often enough becomes the truth.

For a while, it worked. But then - and I am still looking to pinpoint the moment - it all came crashing down.

John McCain, the straight-talking, dirty-joke telling, darling of the media, crossed the line.

In the last week or so, McCain's lies have been called out as - lies. No more "stretching the truth" or "exaggerating" or "distorting".

Everyone from Time Magazine, to Fox News to the Wall Street Journal to - bizarrely - Karl Rove - have been lamenting the political death of a decent man - Senator John McCain.

Is it too much to hope that the Rovian era of American politics is over?