Cocktails at The Scratching Post: Rolling on the River

Does anyone recognize the location for tonight’s cocktail party? Ok, I’ll tell you. This is Lake Powell, a resevoir created by the Glen Canyon Dam on the Colorado River. Yep, there is a lot of controversy surrounding that dam but no one who’s been there can argue that the vista isn’t spectacular. I was there about 3 years ago and this is pretty typical of what I saw from the window of the hotel that the National Park Serivice runs there. Lake Powell is a hidden gem, a beautiful juxtaposition of water and rock. The lake is long and narrow with many steep canyons through which the water meanders. You can rent a houseboat and find yourself in soaring silent cathedrals carved by wind and time. Where there is a way, the water will find it.

Lake Powell

Today, the forces behind the effort to get Hillary Clinton on the ballot as a VP gave up the ghost. It was always a long shot anyway. The last thing Obama wants is Hillary showing him up at every campaign stop and getting more thunderous applause than he does. I’m relieved that she won’t be saddled with VP. It woudn’t have been a good career move. And now, Obama is going to have to come up with some explanation for why he didn’t choose her to all of the voters who had come to expect it. He is rapidly boxing himsefl into a corner with the half of the base he has to sway to support him in November. But if he reaches out to his base, he risks alienating the independents and moderates he’s been courting. It’s always as risk when you are not guided by principle.

But let’s leave Obama for awhile and have fun. Welcome to the Cocktail Party at The Scratching Post. I’ve rented a houseboat for tonight’s festivities. You can take in the scenery from the deck while Rico, our bartender with Flair! whips up his special concoction. Tonight’s special is a Cactus Tequila Collins to go with the view. We are also offereing Causmos at $10 per drink. You can choose from the PUMAPac Causmo and help Murphy pay for buses for Denver or you can help Hillary to pay down her debt with a Hillary Causmo. Of course, you can order anything you like.

Tonight’s entertainment, is the Doobie Brothers. Some things never go out of style and although this southern flavored tune refers to a river farther to the east, the fluid melody will keep us rollin’:

Everyone is welcome at The Scratching Post, including OPUMAs. But to keep people from being thrown overboard, we recommend that you leave your trigger words with Florence who is catching some rays on the sundeck. The waiters will be circulating shortly with some guacamole, salsa and empanadas. Please drink responsibly and tip your wait staff generously.

Thursday: What’s on your iPod, Barack?

Your friend, Ludacris says that *he’s* on it:

I’m back on it like I just signed my record deal
yeah the best is here, the Bentley Coup paint is dripping wet, it got sex appeal
never should have hated
you never should’ve doubted him
with a slot in the president’s iPod Obama shattered ‘em
Said I handled his biz and I’m one of his favorite rappers
Well give Luda a special pardon if I’m ever in the slammer
Better yet put him in office, make me your vice president
Hillary hated on you, so that b**** is irrelevant
Jesse talking slick and apologizing for what?
if you said it then you meant it how you want it have a gut!
and all you other politicians trying to hate on my man,
watch us win a majority vote in every state on my man
you can’t stop what’s bout to happen, we bout to make history
the first black president is destined and it’s meant to be
the threats ain’t fazing us, the nooses or the jokes
so get off your ass, black people, it’s time to get out and vote!
paint the White House black and I’m sure that’s got ‘em terrified
McCain don’t belong in ANY chair unless he’s paralyzed
Yeah I said it cause Bush is mentally handicapped
Ball up all of his speeches and I throw em like candy wrap
cause what you talking I hear nothing even relevant
and you the worst of all 43 presidents
get out and vote or the end will be near
the world is ready for change because Obama is here!
cause Obama is here
The world is ready for change because Obama is here

Ludacris shouldn’t give up his day job. Math is really not his strength. At the risk of sounding racists, because I use *words*, it pains me to have to point out to Mr. Cris that almost all of the “black people” (his words, not mine) turned out at 90% strength in the primaries and Obama *still* had to steal delegates from Michigan to pull off his “win”. Now, that static population of African-Americans is about to be diluted by a bunch of hardass, redneck Republicans in the General election. Too bad Obama has made such a point of flipping the bird to half of his base. That’s a lot of territory to make up between September and November. Anyway, not my problem. Or Hillary’s either, for that matter, especially after they’ve relegated her appearance at the convention to a speech on stage with the Tea Party Ten of the Senate Ladies Auxilliary.

But back to Ludacris. Ahhhh, Here it comes, the retraction:

The Barack Obama camp has condemned the lyrics and states Luda should be ashamed:

“As Barack Obama has said many, many times in the past, rap lyrics today too often perpetuate misogyny, materialism, and degrading images that he doesn’t want his daughters or any children exposed to,” said spokesman Bill Burton. “This song is not only outrageously offensive to Senator Clinton, Reverend Jackson, Senator McCain, and President Bush, it is offensive to all of us who are trying to raise our children with the values we hold dear. While Ludacris is a talented individual he should be ashamed of these lyrics.”

Oh My God! Does Obama *know* these songs are on his iPod? Holy Hemiola! He’s been syncing Ludacris for years and didn’t even know how outrageously offensive Ludacris is. Well, of COURSE he doesn’t approve– now. But this has never happened to him before, except for that Reverend Wright incidence(s). Obama probably had the iPod set for shuffle. I’ll betcha the Ludacris songs never came up, what with all of the competition from the JayZ songs.

I can only imagine what it must have been like the day he made this discovery:

Barack: Michelle, ma belle, come here quick! I was just listening to my iPod while I was on the treadmill and you will not believe the misogyny and racist crap that Ludacris is spewing these days. Did you know it was this bad? Why didn’t you tell me before I went to the iTunes store?!

Malia: Hey, Dad, can I borrow your iPod again for camp? I want to show my friends that JayZ song you used to play at the —

Sasha: Daddy, watch what I can do, watch what I can do! {{Gestures}} “Brush that dirt off your shoulders. Brush that dirt off your shoulders.” Daddy, what does irrelevent mean? I know what b**** means but what —

Barack: MICHELLE, get me that speechwriter from Philly on the horn, NOW!

Kids! They say the darndest things…

Cocktails tonight at 7PM EST.

Join Us Tonight On NO WE WON’T

Hi all, Sheri Tag a NO WE WON’T is on again tonight and I’ll be filling in for Will Bower who’s got a busy schedule of his own tonight. Nancy A. will be on to discuss Obama’s ACORN connections and Sheri and I will be taking your calls on the Lanny Davis interview, Obama’s Grand European Tour and anything else you want to talk about. Join us at 8:00pm EST a NO WE WON’T on blogtalkradio.

I Am Ridiculous

It’s true! At least, according to the media, the Democratic Party, and of course, the man even our bought-and-paid-for press corpse is starting to call the “presumptuous nominee.”

I’m not ridiculous because I’m a PUMA, though. I’m ridiculous first, because I’m a woman, and second, because I’m a woman who refuses to do what Daddy tells me to.

You know, there’s just something so icky about being a woman anyway. And kind of embarrassing. I mean, I look down at my body, and I have two bumps where I don’t need them, and I’m missing a critical bump somewhere south of my belly button. Ewwwwwww, what’s that about? If only I had that bump, I could be in charge. I could do whatever I wanted to and no one would think it was ridiculous.

Look at George W. Bush. This man has the manners of a pig in slop. He talks with his mouth full, he farts, he calls his right-hand man “Turd Blossom,” he gives the Chancellor of Germany a shoulder rub, he can’t keep from invading peoples’ personal space. Of course, his Bushisms are legendary.

Yet is he ridiculous? Why no. For most of his horrific Reign of Error, no one in the press or the Democratic Party questioned this man’s credibility or right to be in his seat. He has that scrap of flesh hanging off his pelvis, so he must be respected.

Wednesday: Berliners’ Beer Googles Befuddle Barack

Maybe Obama has some kind of airplane cabin induced euphoria after his Grand Traipse through Europe. As Jonathan Weisman of WaPo’s The Trail notes (H/T to Taggles), he seems to be buying his own hype:

In his closed door meeting with House Democrats this evening, presumptive Democratic nominee Barack Obama delivered a real zinger. According to a witness, he was waxing lyrical about last week’s trip to Europe, when he concluded, “this is the moment, as Nancy [Pelosi] noted, that the world is waiting for.”

The 200,000 souls who thronged to his speech in Berlin came not just for him, he told the enthralled audience of congressional representatives.

“I have become a symbol of the possibility of America returning to our best traditions,” he said.

(SophieL finds more along these lines from Dana Milbank this morning)

Heavens! I don’t want a symbol for president. The next thing you know, he’ll be performing at Superbowl halftime shows behind a giant scrim onto which he can project his giant, er,

Does that thing hurt?

guitar.

Didn’t someone in his massive entourage tell him that most of the crowd was there to catch a buzz and quick afternoon snack? I hear the brauts in Berlin are pretty good. (Can someone work on the Brauts, Berlin, Barack tongue twister? I know it’s there somewhere) The rest of the crowd was CGI generated because it looks really good in the pictures splashed across the frontpage of the NYTimes.

Nawww, not our Schmoozer In Chief to be. At some point, even his miniscule conscience must start to bother him.  There he is, sitting on top of the world, in front of screaming throngs, knowing that he’s a cut throat lightweight with a razor thin CV.  It must seem unreal for him.  It seems unreal for *me* so I can only imagine the “Oh, $#%@!” thought going through his head.  If they discover that he’s a fraud, he’s done!  I’d be scared out of my wits.  So, there MUST be something there that the throngs want.  Something that only HE can give them.  Something that will make up for the incredibly vast empty sections of his resume.  That’s it!  He’s a symbol.

And they like him!  They REALLY like him.

In other news:

Obama’s campaign continues to flip us the bird according to this piece in the NYTimes called “Chance of Obama-Clinton ticket seen as increasingly unlikely”.  I find this article particularly amusing because many of the party loyalist Democrats went over to Obama after Clinton suspended because they were convinced that he would pick her as his running mate.  It made so much sense that it didn’t really need to be discussed.  It was a forgone conclusion.  “He *needs* her”, they’d assure me with a knowing smile.

Apparently not.  Either his campaign knows something that we do not, like the fact that they secretly implanted chips in our brains that they will activate on November 4 so that we all vote for him against our will, or they are the biggest collection of politically tone deaf operators we have ever seen.  Don’t get me wrong.  I wouldn’t want Hillary to take the VP slot anyway.  But as a courtesy, they needed to publicly offer it to her to gain the respect of her voters.  It was the polite thing to do.  Etiquette demanded it.

No, the Obama crew are determined to defyl logic and sensibility.  They’re risk takers, alright.  It must be an adrenaline rush to stick your hand in the mouth of victory to pull out almost certain defeat.  They don’t need us, they say to themselves.  They *have* to say that because the truth is terrifying.  It’s sort of like standing on that podium in Berlin.  They can’t let Hillary onto the ticket because she makes him look like the ethereal Invisible Man he is. Heck, they can’t even be seen together.  Therefore, she must campaign for Barack without him in the same venue, although, whether this is by the campaign’s choice or the lady’s is in question…

There is another possibility.  They could be copying the “in-your-face” stylings of their inspiration, Karl Rove.  Just do what you want to do and if people start complaining, kick it up a notch.  BAM!  What are they going to do about it?  They got nowhere else to go.  Well, when you put it that way, I HAVE to not vote for Obama.  Otherwise, I am contributing the the Republicanization of the Democratic Party.

The Obama Campaign must secretely be working for Clinton because every day they pull this kind of $#@%, I come to loathe them more and am more convinced that Hillary is the only person who can win this for the Democrats.  Yep, that’s got to be it because no campaign in its right mind pulls this crap *before* they win the election.  It’s just stupid.  Even Karl knows that.

Did Obama Steal the Primary or Did He Buy It?

Of this much we are certain: he stole 4 of Hillary’s delegates at the RBC hearing. Or they were stolen for him. Either way, they were ill-gotten booty resulting in the suppression of 18 million voices. But that wasn’t enough to snag the superdelegates presumably.

Well, Money Changes Everything:

Linguist Robin Lakoff had an Op/Ed in the San Francisco Chronicle called “The Democratic Party Maybe Presumes Too Much — About Women”. She makes a very good point about how successful a candidate may be based on the perception of how the campaign was run:

So many women feel that the election was somehow stolen, and by their own party, to boot. They thus feel much the way many Democrats feel about the 2000 election: bitter. When one side feels that they lost an election fairly, any bitterness recedes early on (think of the 2004 election, by comparison). But when the adjective “stolen” leaps to mind, bitterness is apt to prevail, vanquishing any desire for reconciliation and cooperation. That is what many former Clinton supporters are feeling now.

Hmmm, does the verb “bought” have the same effect? And how do the bought men and women SDs who put out for Obama feel about selling out half of the party? Maybe we should ask them

(H/T to Alegre for the links).

BTW, did you know that people of color have their own PUMA group? Calling them racists is probably a bit more problematic. Check it out at PoCPUMA.

Sweeping us under the rug

Chris Matthews’ pal, Gloria Boerger might have revealed the latest in the Obama and the DNC’s bizarre attempt at drawing in the Hillary Clinton voters.

View it here:

“Remember Hillary Clinton?” she chirps with a slight sneer when asked “for something I don’t know,” by Chris Matthews. And what does Chris not know? — That IF Hillary’s name is placed in nomination it will happen in the morning as far as possible from prime time and the bulk of American television viewers.

In a throwback to that famous fight between Donna Brazile & Paul Begala when Donna came as close as possible to throwing virtually the entire party under the bus, it seems that Obama and his lackeys want to pretend that he won the Democratic Nomination through unanimous acclimation. Hillary Clinton to be relegated to a spot opposite the Price is Right?

18 million Democrats spit on that idea!

Afternoon Tiramisu for the 18 Million

This song was featured in a post on Saturday but quickly scrolled off the screen.  Imagine my delight when I found that a Hillary fan had done a video using it.  I’d love to see a new video featuring “the nations dreamers” and the “sons and daughters” that are the PUMAs.

I nominate this as our theme song.  Do I hear any seconds?

LV vs. RV: The Democrats’ Losing Proposition

 A couple of very interesting polls have come out recently. One shows Barack Obama leading John McCain nationally, and another shows John McCain leading Barack Obama nationally. The difference between these polls? Likely Voters versus Registered Voters.

Obama was ahead 47%-44% among registered voters, down from a 6-percentage point lead he had last month. McCain led 49%-45% among likely voters, reversing a 5-point Obama lead among that group. In both cases, the margin of error is +/—4 points.

What’s going on? Here is how USA Today explains the methodology behind their polling.

To determine whether they were likely voters, poll participants were asked how much thought they had given the election, how often they voted in the past and whether they plan to vote this fall. McCain’s gains came because there was an even number of likely voters from each party. Last month, the Democrats had an 11-point edge. (emphasis added)

Now, there are two ways to look at that astonishing fact. One is that Republicans are starting to energize against Barack Obama. This is, of course, the way that USA Today interprets it.

The other is that Democrats are losing interest in Barack Obama and are planning on either voting down-ticket, staying home, or using the nuclear option (literally?) by voting for John McCain. This is the way I interpret it. I mean, gee whiz, doesn’t that huge drop in support for Obama (11 points in one month) coincide quite interestingly with the formation of a certain group comprised of Democrats who don’t support Obama? Golly, if only I could remember the name of that combine of crazy old ladies…

Tuesday: Acorns

Confluence Park in Denver

I spent last night trying to get off of Orientation Island in Second Life.  Ayayayay!  Like I need to get lost in yet another world.

There have been some murmurings on the ACORN front with respect to Barack Obama.  It’s only rumors and innuendos right now so I won’t repeat what I’ve heard.  But here is an article on the group straight from the NYTimes from a couple of weeks ago.  Here’s the lowdown:

The groups, Acorn, one of the country’s largest community organizing groups, and the Points of Light Institute, which works to encourage civic activism and volunteering, have dealt with the problems in very different ways.

Acorn chose to treat the embezzlement of nearly $1 million eight years ago as an internal matter and did not even notify its board. After Points of Light noticed financial irregularities in early June, it took less than a month for management to alert federal prosecutors, although group officials say they have no clear idea yet what the financial impact may be.

A whistle-blower forced Acorn to disclose the embezzlement, which involved the brother of the organization’s founder, Wade Rathke.

The brother, Dale Rathke, embezzled nearly $1 million from Acorn and affiliated charitable organizations in 1999 and 2000, Acorn officials said, but a small group of executives decided to keep the information from almost all of the group’s board members and not to alert law enforcement.

Dale Rathke remained on Acorn’s payroll until a month ago, when disclosure of his theft by foundations and other donors forced the organization to dismiss him.

So, the embezzlement happened 8 years ago but they are just getting around to firing the guy?  Ahh, here’s the explanation:

Wade Rathke stepped down as Acorn’s chief organizer on June 2, the same day his brother left, but he remains chief organizer for Acorn International L.L.C.

He said the decision to keep the matter secret was not made to protect his brother but because word of the embezzlement would have put a “weapon” into the hands of enemies of Acorn, a liberal group that is a frequent target of conservatives who object to its often strident advocacy on behalf of low- and moderate-income families and workers.

Oh, *I* get it.  Stealing from poor people is OK as long as the wingers don’t get hold of the information.  Well, I’m sure that Obama had nothing to do with that when he worked with them before law school. He’s a Schmoozer, not a crook.

(Blech!  {{removing neoprene gloves}}  I had to touch the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review for that link}}

In other news:

• Heidi Li got a letter from Howard Dean about the convention and extolling its many virtues as being the most open convention ever.  Except for that whole chain link fence and Colorado National Guard sucking up all available sleeping space and the fact that Hillary’s name is being blocked from nomination.m   But other than THAT, it’s going to be the bestest. {{I do not think that word “Open” means what you think it means.}}  Um, Howard?  We’re just a bunch of overeducated suburban creative class types.  We can not hurt you.
• Anglachel’s back!  Yeah!!!  She has another great post.  It’s like manna from heaven after wandering 40 days in the wilderness.  Precious Little describes the emptiness that is the Obama mystique and why its power is so irresistable to the weak.  Goes nicely with myiq’s post about Digby below.  Such a shame about Digby.  I thought she’d be able to hold out.  It was not to be.