Stefan’s Stuff

Shocking, I know.  I saw this on Firedoglake and was pleasantly surprised to see Chris Wallace ask lobbyist and McCain spokesman, Rick Davis about the hateful rhetoric at McCain/Palin Rallies by some of McCain supporters.

What does Rick Davis do? Pretend that he question was about comments made by Georgia congressman John Lewis *And* throw in that Sen. John McCain was a POW too…

Huh?!?!  As much as I hate to Link to Faux News, See the transcript yourself.

Ok, It’s no secret that the “Straight Talk Express” has been run off the road, but to be asked direct question and respond like that is, IMO,  completely insane.

Must be a lobbyist spin thing. The truth is that the McCain campaign is running a deceitful negative campaign that IS inciting people to violence. That was exactly what Rep. John Lewis’s point.

Music I’m listening to now:
Nothing at the moment.

As many of my friends know,I suffer from sinus problems nearly year round.  Going to Costco, I saw this Sinus rinse (2 pack for $13) and figured I’d try it.

It works surprisingly well. It’s pretty simple and basically a saline rinse of your sinuses. In my case, it means I’m not congested during the day and I get a good night sleep. This is the same company as Neti pot.

Music I’m listening to now:
Nothing at the moment, I’m watching “Returner” on DVD.

Came home a little late. So far no out right Gaffes, but Gov. Palin is acting a little snarky and seems to be smiling or giggling every time Sen. Biden speaks.

Amusingly, she’s attempting to lecture Sen. Biden and to tell him What his positions are. More than a little Odd, but I’m betting the GOP Spins it as just being “Tough”. IMO, She’s simply using all the talking points but not really answering questions. She’s also speaking way too fast.

Sen. Biden is answering questions, keeping focused and getting better responses from the crowd according to CNN’s instant graph.

Thinkprogress is keeping track of the debate.

Update: According to CNN’s “Analyst Scorecard” Sen. Biden is winning.

Update II: That Odd. I’m betting the pundits won’t call it for Biden till morning.

Music I’m listening to now:
Nothing at the moment.

Well, the “Bailout” vote failed and what do the GOP say? It’s Speaker Pelosi’s fault over a SPEECH she made.

Cry me a river! Is anyone really that dumb to believe it? I thought Rep. Frank statement said it best:

Here’s the story. There’s a terrible crisis affecting the American economy. We have come together on a bill to alleviate the crisis. And because somebody hurt their feelings, they decide to punish the country. I mean, I would not have imputed that degree of pettiness and hypersensitivity.

We also have — as the leader will tell you, who’s been working with them — don’t believe they had the votes, and I believe they’re covering up the embarrassment of not having the votes. But think about this. Somebody hurt my feelings, so I will punish the country. That’s hardly plausible. And there are 12 Republican members who were ready to stand up for the economic interest of America, but not if anybody insulted them.

I’ll make an offer. Give me those 12 people’s names and I will go talk uncharacteristically nicely to them and tell them what wonderful people they are and maybe they’ll now think about the country.

Like I said: Cry me a river. I honestly don’t know if this plan was good or not, but I do know that the Democratic and GOP leadership agreed to it and they could not get their act together.

I wonder: will Sen. McCain suspend his campaign again? With stocks finishing down 777 points, I’d imagine it has his attention. As Politico pointed out, Sen. McCain took credit before it failed. That’s pretty embarrassing and is a great example of how it isn’t over till it’s over. It’s like when the McCain campaign declared “Victory” in the debate HOURS before the debate.

Slight Update: OK…. Sen. McCain has once again jumped in (No, No “suspension”) and blamed Sen. Obama. What a shock, Sen. McCain is peddling the GOP lie that the Democratic Party played “Politics” when the fact is that the GOP “leadership” is incompetent (GW Bush?) and Sen. McCain can’t lead his own party. Read more at Politico.

Music I’m listening to right Now:
“Chasing Cars” by “Snow Patrol” from the “Eyes Open” Album. You can see the video on VH1.

Empire State Building
Originally uploaded by S.D.

Lots of fun, with an added bonus: Janny works in the building. That means that we don’t have to stand on line. Instead of taking 30 to 60 minutes to get to the top, we just go right to the head of all lines.

I think that got some people annoyed at us (we heard “Hey! There’s a Line!!!” a few times) but it was worth it.  Unfortunately, it was cloudy and hazy but we could always go back. Since the sun is setting earlier as winter approaches, I think we’ll go after work one night and get some great night shots.

Music I’m listening to now:
Nothing, I’m watching Mythbusters.

I’m watching the First Presidential Debate right now. I have to say, Sen. McCain is hitting his talking points. Barely 15 minutes in, a couple of time’s he looked like he was getting P/O’ed.

So far the major difference seems to be that Sen. McCain spends more time attacking Sen. Obama rather than answering the question.

Among Sen. McCain’s talking points:

• Sen. McCain is worried about the “Business Tax”? Is he kidding?
• Sen. Obama is the Most “Liberal” member of the Senate? Um, no…
• “Hand over health care to the Federal Gov’t”? But no one is suggesting that.
• And he hitting the “Winning In Iraq” too. Bet he never mentions Afghanistan.

Ugh, listening to Sen. McCain’s BullS__t is tough. ThinkProgress.org has a live Blogging of the debate.

He’s hitting his GOP talking points right on que. CNN has a score card on either side of the screen and apparently, at this time, Sen. Obama is leading. Sen. Obama is getting a lot of good points in, answering the question and rebutting Sen. McCain.

Well, it’s over and I think Sen. Obama will continue his lead. Wonder if Sen. McCain will run that “Sen. McCain Wins the Dabate” Ad?

Music I’m listening to now:
Nothing at the moment.

Hmmm, As the debate has NOT happened yet, it seems a bit premature.
But it IS a Great photo…

Music I’m listening to now:
“So What” by Pink. You can see the video on VH1.

Despite no Bailout (and his commitment to skip the debate if no agreement was reached), Sen. McCain is on his way to Mississippi for the Debate. My guess is that he realized no one was going to let him attempt to get credit for any agreement that was reached. From the sound of it, he didn’t contribute much to the dialog.

I have to say, the McCain campaign is beginning to look like one hell of a train wreck.
His declaration that he would “Suspend” his campaign  (he didn’t) and get involved in the negotiations is looking like a calculated and cheap Photo Op. Even the GOP is saying “WTF?” about that move.

To make life more entertaining, Gov. Palin’s interview with Katie Couric WAS a Train Wreck. Don’t take my word for it, look at the video. What’s next, Substituting Gov. Palin with Sen. Lieberman? The campaign is seriously in the Twilight Zone.

The best part: His Website is already declaring that he won the debate…

Music I’m listening to now:
Nothing at the moment.

I really have to start getting his show on our DVR. His monologue Wednesday night really nails Sen. McCain for “suspending” his campaign. In any case, the Debate will happen with or without Sen. McCain. On both sides of the aisle, they don’t want Sen. McCain interfering with negotiations so he might as well go.

Music I’m listening to now:
Nothing at the moment.

Ok, this is different. The headlines makes for amusing reading:

• Analysis: McCain’s debate ploy a sign of weakness
• McCain blinks
• Stunt Man
• Obama says debate still on, McCain tries to lower expectations

In Sen. McCain’s statement:

“We must meet as Americans, not as Democrats or Republicans, and we must meet until this crisis is resolved. I am directing my campaign to work with the Obama campaign and the commission on presidential debates to delay Friday night’s debate until we have taken action to address this crisis… Following September 11th, our national leaders came together at a time of crisis. We must show that kind of patriotism now.“

Nice how he worked 9/11 into it. Former Mayor Giuliani must be proud…
This is hardly a surprise Terrorist Attack; people with eyes saw the Economy tanking for months. Is it really appropriate for a Presidential Candidate to interfere with such Negotiations in the 11th hour? I think not, especially in light that the Election has not run it’s course.

In his statement, Sen. Obama said:

“It’s my belief that this is exactly the time when people need to hear from the person who in 140 days will be responsible for handling the economy.”

“It will be part of the president’s job to deal with more than one thing at once.”

“It’s more important than ever that we present ourselves to the American people.”

I think that says it best.

Suspending the campaign until the economic crisis is fixed? I really find it amusing considering that Sen. McCain’s Attendance Record is pretty bad this year. Not surprisingly, the McCain campaign wants to delay the VP Debate too. Now that is hardly a surprise since the  McCain campaign doesn’t trust Gov. Palin to spend any time taking questions.

This isn’t the actions of a responsible leader, it’s the panicked show boating of a politician. If Sen. McCain can’t handle Sen. Obama in a debate, How will he run the country as President?

Music I’m listening to know:
Nothing at the moment.