Greetings:

Back in the "Irish Catholic" part of the Bronx where I grew up, Senator Obama would have be known as a "Negro with a dictionary."

Oh, for pete's sake. "Lipstick on a pig" is an age-old common phrase used to describe any bad situation that is being given an unconvincingly rosy presentation. John McCain himself used it just this year to describe...Hillary Clinton's healthcare plan. Seriously. Just stop with the manufactured outrage. Barack Obama did not refer to Governor Palin as a pig.

This is a campaign of distraction, hoping the voters are stupid enough to think that the people who brought us the catastrophic last eight years are just the people to fix it.

You can put a monkey in a suit, but he'll still be a monkey?

Heh.

"Negro with a dictionary"?

I think it's better to leave such racist remarks to Joe Biden.

I never said that Barack Obama referred to Governor Palin as a pig; only that he made fun of her with a clever pig reference. There is a difference. Similarly, I never referred to Barack Obama as a donkey. I even speculated about his sensibilities!

Just having, you know, fun.

But don't blame me; I've so enjoyed the catastrophic last eight years that I'm obviously incapable of outrage.

( was convinced that he didn't mean to call her a pig -- that he was just being incredibly tone deaf -- until i heard the full quote.

While the crowd was still roaring over this one, he continued with a line like, "You can wrap an old fish in a piece of paper labeled change, it's still going to stink after eight years."

So... he's talking about two non-agents of change. One is a lipstick-wearing pig and the other is an old fish. And it'll really stink (because, you know, it's dead and decomposing) after eight years.

There's a whole lot to unpack there -- but the second line seems to me to make it more likely he intended this as a "subtle" jab at the other ticket.

Remember that many Democrats still believe that John Kerry lost, primarily, because he was too noble to get down on Bush/Rove/Swiftboaters' level and fight back.

Remember that he just announced a few days ago that he didn't intend to be bullied without fighting back.

But still... I think Joe Biden's attack should be the one getting more attention. He basically said that Sarah Palin doesn't love Trig, because she doesn't support his particular views on the federal funding of embryonic stem cell research.

He should be called out (NOT by Sarah Palin -- he's beneath her notice -- by a surrogate) for personalizing a policy differernce.

And what do you suppose the fish reference in the next line was about? So how did his audience take it? Soberly? Or was it a laugh line?

I must say that ∅bama was clever. Very clever. And may I say if it was all innocent he is a stupid politician. And if it was intentional he is a stupid politician.

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Clint says:

Remember that he just announced a few days ago that he didn't intend to be bullied without fighting back.

Right there he is admitting weakness. Americans don't elect weak guys.

Fork him. He is toast. BTW ∅ still 5 pts down.

MCCain is opening offices in CA. Is that a sign of confidence or what? ∅ has been closing offices.

Alpha male politics in action. Displays for the audience. ∅ needs some one who understands human psychology on his team. It may be too late.

So let us say he is not a stupid politician. What does it mean in that case?

He is having trouble holding on to his base.