“Let me just say categorically I’m proud of the people that come to our rallies.”
–John McCain

Number of times said

Ahmadinejad…7
Al Qaeda…5
Bush…10
Cheney…6
Exxon 5
Hamas…3
Hezbollah…3
Jong-Il…2
Bin Laden…2
Maliki…2
McClellan…2
Reagan…3
Talabani…1
Todd…2

Afghanistan…30
Alaska…13
Iran…12
Iraq…26
Israel…15
Korea…1
Pakistan…10
Scranton…2
Wall Street…12
Main Street…4
Washington…13
Wasilla…1

bipartisanship…1
partisanship…5
Democrats…4
Republicans…5
agree…12
disagree…5
did…30
didn’t…15
support…31
together…11
understand…13
wrong…6
fact…22
truth…1

crisis…7
dangerous…11
extinction…1
evil…1
extremists…1
Holocaust…1
reckless…2
security…6
terror/ism/ists…8
weapons…13
safe…4

diplomacy…6
war…30
peace…2
strategy…8
success…2
failure…4
victory…2
surrender…1
military…8
troops…21
surge…12
withdrawal…3

executive…7
experience…5

democracy…4
freedom…3
patriotic…3
unpatriotic…2

darn…2
doggone…1
heck…2
jerk…1
hockey…1
soccer…1

climate…11
energy…36
environment…1
coal…12
clean…16
nuclear…25
technology…6
oil…14
gas…6
drill…7
independence…6

economy…18
bailout 3
jobs…15
tax/taxes…75
spending…7
cut…10
deregulate/deregulation…10
regulations…5
companies…5
homeowners…1
savings…2
wealth…1
bankruptcy…4

reform…12
maverick/s…15

education…12
infrastructure…4

can…55
can’t…11
help…12
opportunity…4
promise…4
plan…32

how…35
if…44

change…34
important…11
fundamental…10
need…41

intelligence…1
wisdom…3

turpitude…1

Typed on an Erika No.5

One more political post, then I promise I’m done for the day.

I was commenting to a friend how people remember only two things about Dan Quayle: the “potatoe” thing, and Lloyd Bentsen’s remark during the Vice Presidential debate, “Senator, you’re no Jack Kennedy.”

I wanted to check the debate transcript to make sure I had the quote accurate. The relevant portion posted on Wikipedia is disturbingly familiar to anyone paying attention to the circus surrounding our current Republican VP candidate:

Tom Brokaw: Senator Quayle, I don’t mean to beat this drum until it has no more sound in it. But to follow up on Brit Hume’s question, when you said that it was a hypothetical situation, it is, sir, after all, the reason that we’re here tonight, because you are running not just for Vice President — (Applause) — and if you cite the experience that you had in Congress, surely you must have some plan in mind about what you would do if it fell to you to become President of the United States, as it has to so many Vice Presidents just in the last 25 years or so.

Quayle: Let me try to answer the question one more time. I think this is the fourth time that I’ve had this question.

Brokaw: The third time.

Quayle: Three times that I’ve had this question — and I will try to answer it again for you, as clearly as I can, because the question you are asking is, “What kind of qualifications does Dan Quayle have to be president,” “What kind of qualifications do I have,” and “What would I do in this kind of a situation?” And what would I do in this situation? [...] I have far more experience than many others that sought the office of vice president of this country. I have as much experience in the Congress as Jack Kennedy did when he sought the presidency. I will be prepared to deal with the people in the Bush administration, if that unfortunate event would ever occur.

Judy Woodruff: Senator [Bentsen]?

Bentsen: Senator, I served with Jack Kennedy: I knew Jack Kennedy; Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. Senator, you’re no Jack Kennedy. (Prolonged shouts and applause.) What has to be done in a situation like that is to call in the —

Woodruff: Please, please, once again you are only taking time away from your own candidate.

Quayle: That was really uncalled for, Senator. (Shouts and applause.)

Bentsen: You are the one that was making the comparison, Senator — and I’m one who knew him well. And frankly I think you are so far apart in the objectives you choose for your country that I did not think the comparison was well-taken.

And then the Wikipedia entry went on to say this:

Although Quayle was embarrassed, many believed that he had otherwise accomplished what he had planned to in the debate; spending his time pouring scorn on the record of Michael Dukakis (in particular, deriding him as a liberal) all while avoiding a match-up with the more experienced Bentsen.

Has an otherwise forgettable debate from twenty years ago perhaps given us a glimpse of the debate to come?

I mean, McCain Wins Debate!

Last month, I predicted that McCain would select MN Governor Tim Pawlenty as his running mate, and explained why.

Breaking news as of 45 minutes ago:

Aug 28, 5:43 PM EDT
McCain makes decision on VP running mate
By LIZ SIDOTI
Associated Press Writer

DENVER (AP) — Republican presidential candidate John McCain decided on a running mate early Thursday, and one top prospect, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, abruptly canceled numerous public appearances.

The Arizona senator will appear with his No. 2 at an Ohio rally on Friday, aides said, though they provided no details on who McCain had picked.

Without explanation, Pawlenty called off an Associated Press interview at the last minute, as well as other media interviews in Denver, site of the Democratic National Convention.

Rest of the story here.

I could be wrong yet. Stay tuned…

Update
Yep, I was wrong. You can officially ignore anything that comes out of my keyboard. It’s going to be Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. Nope, I’d never heard of her either. Seems she was Mayor of a town of fewer than 8,000 people before surprisingly winning the Governorship two years ago. Since I’m sure most folk are as unfamiliar with her as I am, here is how she stands on the issues. (BTW, I recommend OnTheIssues.org as an excellent resource for checking the voting record of every politician.)

I’m not sure whether or how this selection hurts or helps McCain. I have my speculations, but I’ll have to reserve them until I learn more about this woman.

Warning: politics and bad language ahead.

"Say goodnight, Gracie."

Originally uploaded by olivander.

Yesterday, Republican senators Conrad Burns of Montana and George Allen of Virgina conceded victory to their Democratic opponents, giving control of the two houses of legislature to the Democrats for the first time since…um…Jesus, I think.

While I’m delighted to finally have a return to the system of checks and balances, I do not underestimate the Democrats’ ability to still blow this election. If they thought that the last twelve years of struggling upstream against Republican rule was difficult, now the hard part begins. Now the Democrats are the ones responsible for producing results. No longer can they sit by and fruitlessly complain of Republican shenanigans and thump their chests and rent their garments. Now they have to actually form ideas, and put those ideas into action.

It will still be difficult to get bills past the White House, and they shouldnt forget that their hold on the senate is tenuous at best, and that tiebreaker votes still come from the President of the Senate, Dick “Fuck You” Cheney. There will be fewer obstacles to them than before, but the obstacles remaining are formidable ones.

This is not the time for the Democrats to glide into their new positions riding on the wave of euphoria that came with their election victories. That’s what happened after the last election (remember, “I’ve earned political capitol, and I intend to spend it”?). The White House and the legislature steamrolled forward under the delusion that a marginal victory had made them invincible. Their hastily-passed plans stumbled, and they found themselves the political victims of their own bumbling. Almost from the day after the elections, the Republicans were in a constant downward spiral.

I hope that the Democrats can keep their heads. And I hope that they manage to pull a miracle out of their collective butt and get organized and develop a voice for themselves. I’m not terribly optimistic that they can hold themselves together (the very nature of the Democratic ideal makes them a particularly uncohesive lot), but right now, they’re the best hope I’ve got.

It’s worth noting that later this month, a movie about Bobby Kennedy is coming out. I hope that all of the Democrats–particularly the newly-elected ones–go to see it, and I hope that they are reminded of what it used to mean to be a Democrat. Bobby was the last one to represent the Democratic ideal of someone who watches out for the little guy, who attempts to bring fairness and equity to the social order. It was he who crafted the Civil Rights Act, and he who actually went out into the field to evaluate whether or not the “war on poverty” was working.

He cared, and it got him killed. I wonder if today’s Democrats care as much.

Have you?

Originally uploaded by olivander.

It’s time to make a mid-course election correction.

Even if you’re disgusted by the candidates of both major parties, go to the polls and vote for the Greens, the independents, the Commies, the Whigs, whoever. Let’s push this two-party system over a cliff and show our support for the other guys!

According to today’s Minneapolis Star Tribune, in the five months since Iraq elected its prime minister, the parliament has formed over 400 committees; only one has produced findings.

So we have succeeded in introducing American-style democracy to Iraq!