Barack Hussein & Karl Christian

Right wing freaks, in an attempt to scare voters away from Obama, make sure to include his middle name in descriptions: Barack Hussein Obama. Of course, this is logical and even defensible (to those who have no concept of nuance or non-literal thought). But I think it's thus appropriate to use Karl Rove's full name: Karl Christian Rove. Is Rove the essence of being Christian the way that the loony-right wants to say Obama is for Husseinism? You be the judge.

Late Update: See this great Onion story: "Barack Obama Defeats Barack Hussein Obama"

Pic made by me using the Wiki image. Backpost finished 2009-12-07.

Glenn McCoy - Voice of the Wingnuts

Political cartoonist Glenn McCoy not only can't draw that well (or at least he makes his figures purposefully disquieting) but he has one of the lowest common denominator minds of the idiot Right Wing. For a quick primer in what the wingnuts are thinking (or, a better term for right-wing nut: freeper), just read Glenn "W is God" McCoy.

These cartoons are from September 2007, but McCoy is as persistent as all small minds, so what holds back then, still holds for today.

Exhibit 1 (Aug 14 2007)

Exhibit 2 (Aug 8 2007)

Exhibit 3 (July 26 2007)


Exhibit 1: A standard Freeper view is that the media is unabashedly liberal. I disproved that canard here, - and it's pretty obviously a lie to anyone who pays attention - yet it's a rock solid axiom of the right wing.

Exhibit 2: Heh heh heh. Up until she actually left the race in June, the freepers believed with absolute certainty that Hillary was going to be the democratic nominee. It came from two coincident axioms: (1) The Clintons were unbeatable (proven by the fact that they hadn't been beaten) and (2) that the Democrats were so stupid, venal, evil that they would naturally choose Hillary.

Exhibit 3: Same with #2. Extra points for making Hillary look monstrous.

Summary: The key question is does Glenn - and by extension the rest of his freaky-right-winger ilk - actually believe this narrischkeit? Yeah, they're convinced, like most radicals, that the press is against them. The secret truth, that the press is on their own side, doesn't penetrate (but that's a different screed). But about Hillary? Or are they just trying to stack the deck in favor of who they think is the worse candidate, Hillary? This is what Rush Limbaugh did, with his Operation Chaos, and I at least give him credit for knowing that he's on the side of evil (same with Rove). So I guess the real question is: is Glenn in on Rush/Rove's joke?

Backpost, started 9/4/07, finished 2009-12-07.

Backpost: Retort to "The Rove Non-Event"

Backpost: from 8/13/07.

A letter I wrote to the TPM, Re: The Rove Non-Event: "Like a whisper"

Dear Dr. Marshall,

I believe the only election that brought fear into the hearts of every true-blue Democrat was 2004. The 2000 election was a mugging - we didn't know the nature of our assailant yet but the 1994-2000 onslaught of Gingrich and his juniors made the whole country sick of fighting. People just wanted the election to end and we allowed it to because we thought the stakes were so low (proof: why so many people felt confident to vote for Nader, because it felt like it didn't matter).

2002 was a direct result of the post-9/11 wartime 'dont switch horses in midstream' mentality. I don't give Rove credit for that. Even a doofus like Carter would have gained seats after 9/11.

It was 2004 that shocked us and made us think that Rove was a magician. And now we see that much of his skill lay not in 'getting out the vote' and 'galvanizing the base' but in 'getting the US attorneys to suppress the vote and indict Democratic opponents.' Bush-Rove won in 2004 through outright theft and we're just getting into those details now. But the Attorney Scandal is the story of the theft of 2004.

I don't know how Rove's resignation protects him from Congressional inquiry into the Attorney Scandal. Maybe it was part of a deal - if he resigns and stays out of politics (or at least 2008) then Congress will let him stay out of jail. It's a dirty deal, if it happened, but I can see that kind of deal being made. The crime is too huge, a NBA Referee scandal magnified by billions, and this could be the elegant way out.

In any case, as Green's recent Atlantic piece shows, Rove angered so many members of the GOP (the comments by DeLay are awesome) that this resignation may be their way of running him out on a rail in time to salvage whatever they can in 2008. The 'whisper'-ness may be how the GOP needs it to play out.

All the best,
JC

Bush/GOP Party Building Legacy

An excellent article from Sabato's Crystal Ball, with charts, numbers, data. Yum.

Upshot? From 2000-2004 it looked like "Bush" (aka Rove) was on his way to building a GOP majority akin to FDR's Democratic majority way back when.

But from 2004-6 all the trends reversed to below the levels they were at in 2000!

{2009 pic from here.}

Gonzales & Rove

So Gonzales has tendered his resignation. It's a surprise. But it shouldn't be. It's a surprise because - like with Rove's resignation - it's both the smart and moral thing to do. And Bush doesn't do smart and moral. It's that simple.

More later.

In Your Face Rove

The New Republic, saying many of the same things I have said (so naturally, I think they're smart and correct).

The Posts From This Morning

Blogger was worthless; it went down so thoroughly this morning (doubtless from the overload of amateur pundits like yours truly) that all my emailed posts were eaten. Here's the extent of this morning's turmoil:

Wednesday, November 03, 2004 8:44 AM
Blogger Overtaxed
Blogger is overtaxed so I post from the site so I'm doing this by email

Wednesday, November 03, 2004 8:49 AM
Devil's Due
I will give the devil, Karl Rove, his due. He managed to beat the 50% incumbent rule. My predictions were based on that; that undecideds break against the incumbent but by hook or by crook (a phrase which takes on an ominous meaning in Rove's context) he managed it. Even if Kerry is declared the winner in Ohio - and thus POTUS 44 - Rove's career is not over. He managed to pull a miracle, or whatever the diabolical equivalent of miracle is called.

This morning after services I gave a current state of the Electoral College (Bush 254, Kerry 252) and said that you can look at the returns as an optimist or pessimist. A pessimist says that nobody won while the optimist says both people won - so everyone is happy! I did encourage everyone to take the next few days as a vacation from actually having a president since nobody seems to like either one of these guys.

Naturally, I expect Kerry to be successful in Ohio - because the numbers of voters who were cheated came from the Democratic areas. Don't be fooled by the GOP Lying Machine - the fraud will be uncovered.

And if they manage to steal this one too, then this will be a very dark time.

Wednesday, November 03, 2004 9:53 AM
Still No Blogger
Blogger still isn't allowing me on - or putting up my recent posts. I'm sitting here exhausted and furious. I'm especially angry at Kerry for not coming himself with a public statement of confidence. All I see from the online NYTimes and WPost is Andrew Card and a big banner headline "Bush Confident of Victory." Kerry needs to come out strong, and he's not and I want an explanation.

Note, the "confidence" thing is all part of the Rove playbook. By playing the press into declaring him the victor, all attempts to actually count the votes are called "recounts" instead of, uh, ya know, "counts."

I've heard and read some frum Jews saying that this is God giving another victory to George W. I want to remind ya'll that this is a vote, not a lottery, and so our fate is being sealed by human action - but even then, God's invisible Hand could very well be giving Bush victory but as a punishment. That's how it feels to me.

Wednesday, November 03, 2004 12:03 PM
Disaster
Kerry conceded.

I don't know what happened; all the polls were off-base, all the information I had was wrong; I guess my fundamental optimism that people would make the right choice was foolhardy. I feel as if a great worldwide tragedy has occurred. It's like 9/11 - but instead of seeing the mass murder, I have the nightmares of all that this criminal government can perpetrate.

The only good thing about Kerry was his competitive spirit, that he would fight and fight and fight and he just *poof* gave up. I am sick, scared, and devastated. God help us.

Wednesday, November 03, 2004 12:38 PM
Edwards
According to the AP, Edwards was fighting Kerry to stay alive... to put off concession until the votes were counted. Again and again, it's so clear, Edwards should have been the candidate. My frustration valves have burst, I'm too exhausted to even fight, please let me wake up and let this be a long long nightmare.