Sarah Palin is so desperate to convince people not to watch “Game Change,” the HBO movie about her disastrous run as the vice presidential nominee in 2008, that her PAC created a spoof of the movie’s trailer.
Let’s hope “Game Change” — which premieres on Saturday, March 11 — gets big ratings and that its principals, Julianne Moore, Ed Harris and Woody Harrelson all win Emmys.
Video from second presidential debate in 2008, in which candidate Obama promises, “We will kill Osama bin Laden.” See transcript below.
On Monday, Joe Scarborough, the host of MSNBC’s three-hour GOP spin-a-thon, “Morning Joe,” used the occasion of the killing of Osama bin Laden at the direction of Pres. Obama to smear the patriotism of liberal Americans:
SCARBOROUGH: Here, you know, I think Republicans should stand up and certainly salute Barack Obama for making some — again, for making some very tough choices that his own base did not want him to make. That takes courage, that takes leadership, and we saw the results of that courage and leadership saying no to his own base yesterday.[…]
[These are] decisions that he probably did not believe as a candidate he didn’t think he’d have to make…Going against his own ideological leanings to do what he believes he has to do.
Of course, Scarborough offered no evidence that American progressives opposed killing the world’s most-wanted terrorist — he couldn’t, because none exists. He was simply pushing the same old GOP B.S. that Democrats — whose party led the nation during World War II — are soft on security and defense.
Also on Monday, Andrew Sullivan, a center-right independent, published a round-up of snippets of opinion from civil libertarians and liberals about the death of bin Laden. While there was some criticism about the riskiness of the action — that it could lead to a rise in blood-thirsty nationalism at home, for example — no one in Sully’s representative sample regretted the fact that bin Laden’s life had not been spared. Among those Andrew cited, Digby nailed it, as usual:
“I would rather he had been here and it was still his seat, you know? That’s what I really wish.”
— Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.), in answer to a supporter who asked him what Sen. Paul Wellstone would have said after listening to one of Franken’s first speeches as a senator. Wellstone was killed in a plane crash in 2002 during his campaign against Norm Coleman, whom Franken defeated in 2008.
“I just congratulated Al Franken on his victory. I told him it’s the best job he’ll ever have representing Minnesota in the United States Senate. The Supreme Court has spoken, I will respect its decision, and abide by its results.”
— former Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.), finally doing the right thing and conceding the 2008 Senate race.
Today’s the day in Minnesota: we might have a new Democratic Senator in Al Franken. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee’s Arjun Jaikumar is live blogging and twittering from inside the courtroom where Sen. Norm Coleman’s challenge of a ruling favorable to Franken is being heard. Tune in for what appears to be some good stuff for our side:
10:04: Coleman attorney Joe Friedberg: We’re making due-process and equal-protection claims. Admits the due-process claim came only recently. “You changed the rules after the game was played”. Ha ha ha.
10:08: Justice Anderson: “Why is this offer of proof not inadequate?” Ouch.
10:14: Not an auspicious start for Friedberg. The justices seem very impatient and unimpressed…
10:24: Justice Anderson: “As loud as you speak on this issue, there’s language here you just can’t overcome”.
10:25: Marc Elias is on for Team Franken. He is one handsome devil.
10:32: Team Franken lays down numbers, coldly and efficiently. There are fewer disputed ballots where voter wasn’t registered than the margin between the two candidates.
MSNBC reports that both George Bush and Dick Cheney have canceled their appearances at the Republican National Convention because of the likelihood that hurricane Gustav would be coming ashore on the Gulf Coast near New Orleans on Monday at around the same time they were scheduled to speak in St. Paul.
The White House is apparently terrified that news channels would televise Bush’s speech on a split screen with live footage of people stranded in flood waters, as evacuees were in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina three years ago.
The McCain campaign is undoubtedly relieved by the cancellations. While Bush and Cheney remain popular with the hardcore extremist base of the GOP, they are extremely unpopular with regular Americans, which means that featuring them the convention could dampen support for the GOP ticket among independent voters in November.
As the campaign manager for the presidential bid of Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas), Kent Snyder received a lot of credit for raising $35 million from grassroots supporters, a phenomenal accomplishment for an insurgent campaign.
But, like 48 million other Americans, Snyder had no health insurance, and when he died from pneumonia on June 26 after a two-month hospital stay, he left medical bills totaling over $400,000.
It is emblematic of our age that Snyder’s boss, Rep. Paul, is a physician.
The story comes from the Washington Blade[that link is now inactive, here is an excerpt from the story published in the Daily Paul, a Paulestinian propaganda site – Editors, Sept. 14, 2011]:
Gay staffers from the Paul campaign, some speaking on condition that they not be identified, said they learned about Snyder’s unpaid medical bills from a web site created by his friends that calls on Paul supporters to contribute to a special fund to help Snyder’s family pay the bills, which come mostly from a two-month hospitalization. So far, the site (kentsnyder.com) has raised about $32,000.
From Trump’s “stolen election” lies, we can’t get no relief,
He carps on about stolen votes, but he never names the thief.
Somebody needs to tell this guy
Americans aren’t buying his lies,
And that he’s turned us into the United States of Disbelief.
“If you are committing fraud against the American people, all of us in public leadership should be trying to stop it and throw you in prison for enriching yourself off the American taxpayer.”
“We are done, Americans are done with endless conflict in the Middle East, spending trillions of dollars, American lives… this is insane and we have to call it for what it is.”
“The U.S. State Department announced on Monday that it has revoked more than 175,000 visas during President Donald Trump’s administration so far,” Fox News reports.
President Donald Trump is asking for $1,500,000 million for the military for next year. That’s close to $600 billion (adjusted for inflation) more than we were spending on the military in fiscal year 2025, before Trump took office, Alternet reports. This increase is huge by any measure. It comes to around $4,600 per household. It is around 8% of the total budget.
A new Emerson College survey of likely 2026 voters finds the Democrats with an 11-point advantage over the Republicans on the generic congressional ballot, leading 53% to 42%. President Trump holds a 39% job approval rating, consistent with the past two months, whereas his disapproval increased another point, to 57%.
A new American Research Group poll finds just 30% of Americans say they approve of the way Donald Trump is handling his job as president and 67% say they disapprove.
Wall Street Journal: “Around 40% of voters in the 2024 election said the economy was their top issue, far outstripping any other matter. And those voters favored Donald Trump by 60% to 38%. Many say they were moved by his pledges to tame inflation, rebuild U.S. infrastructure, cut red tape and trim government waste. … About a year and a half later, more voters disapprove of Trump’s handling of the economy than approve, 61% to 35%, an average of polls by the Cook Political Report found this month.”