Greenpeace and Sierra Club - Decidedly anti-Harper

Don't vote Tory, say Greenpeace and Sierra Club

I second that!!

If you care about the environment, you must vote for any of the parties that actually recognize the problem and are willing to do something about it before it's too late.

-A.L.

Harper's secret agenda....

If the general purpose of an incumbent PM in calling an election is to get a fresh mandate, just what is Harper asking for? The Globe & Mail is asking the question and so are regular Canadians.

Where is Harper's platform?

This leads to a good (and familiar) line of attack for the Liberals against Harper... the hidden Harper agenda. His party broke their own law and called an election, shouldn't they have been the 1st or 2nd party releasing a platform? He let's very few people members of his caucus speak for the campaign, and when they do they seem to shoot directly at their feet.

Until he shows his hand, Harper has a hidden agenda.

A.L.

SNL Skewers Them All.

Saturday Night Live, always an essential part of the U.S. electoral process.



And this one:



Good stuff.

Obama vs. McCain: liveblogging rumble #1

8:59pm The main event is about ready to begin.

9:02pm Jim Lehrer is introducing... I miss Mr. McNeil.

9:05pm Clear plan for the bail-out from Obama... and an attack at the end. Nicely done.

9:06pm McCain beats Obama to the punch, talking about Ted Kennedy.

9:08pm I could be imagining this, but McCain doesn't sound as strong as Obama.

9:10pm McCain talks about Pres. Dwight D. Eisenhower... "I should know, I voted for Ike."

9:15pm McCain makes a funny about bear DNA.... Lost on most people, methinks. Did he forget that Seal DNA was studied in Alaska under Palin's administration?

9:17pm Obama makes the tax case. 95% of Americans get a tax break with me, the top 1% of Americans get a taxbreak under McCain's plan.

9:19pm Obama doesn't let McCain get away with a spinjob. Makes a great connection and defuses the "earmark" argument.

9:20pm My wife thinks McCain doesn't want to respond to Obama, because he doesn't like Obama. I think Obama needs to watch how often he raises his hand to tell Jim Lehrer he wants to talk.

9:23pm McCain needs to stop smirking and looking dismissive in the split-screens.

9:27pm Obama seems to have lost his nuances. That's a good thing.

9:29pm One of these candidates is not wearing a flag lapel pin.

9:32pm Hail mary pass #1 spending freeze on everything other than defense and veterans affairs.

9:36pm When John wants the veterans to pay attention to him, he remembers them (tonight). When he thinks the vets aren't looking he votes against them (most recent GI Bill).

9:38pm Obama just said "orgy of spending"... good or bad?

9:45pm The argument is judgment.

9:52pm Some bloggers are saying it's a draw... one of my friends (rather uninformed) thinks "Obama is getting slaughtered...." I think she's on crack.

9:56pm McCain is hit with the "bomb-bomb Bomb, bomb-bomb Iran..." song. Smoke begins to seep from his ears.... Gasket blowing in 5-4-3....

10:01pm Jim Lehrer "I have a bracelet too...."

10:05pm Little jabs by McCain.

10:09pm Achmenadenajad... or however you say it!

10:11pm Obama clarifies the "without condition" jab, and throws it right back at McCain.

10:13pm Average height?

10:15pm That was a tough one... Sitting down with Iran's leader... "no you won't".

10:19pm I think Obama's answer on Russia was good, but too nuanced. McCain's "I looked into Putin's eyes and I saw 3 letters, a K a G and a B..." not a great joke.

10:21pm McCain feels at ease talking about the cold war be/c he wants the cold war II.

10:24pm Obama talking and weaving national security and energy together makes him look like he understands the broader themes.

10:28pm Suitcase nukes. A good identification of the danger.

10:30pm It's bordering on condescending that McCain keeps saying "Sen. Obama doesn't understand... X, Y or Z."

10:35pm Grampy's gonna give all the vets a hug? Even the 6 out of 10 that give to Obama's campaign?

10:36pm Anybody forgetting about how McCain votes against the vets?

Crescent Canuck and I agree, it's a draw.

Show us your numbers Harper!

The Globe & Mail suggests the Green Shift will not cause significant economic pain.

Surprise, surprise... the doom and gloom that Harper suggests will come about if Dion's plan comes to fruition is a bunch of hot air.

He [economist Marc Jaccard] says nobody in the worldwide economic community who follows carbon taxes believes there's “any kind of economic impact” from a levy at the level the Liberals propose.

As well, Dr. Jaccard says his preliminary analysis shows that the Liberal plan would outperform the Conservative one when it comes to achieving emissions reductions. He said that's because there's a number of structural flaws that would render the Tory plan ineffective.

Uh oh... in addition to being economically inert, it looks like the Tory plan = ineffective, Liberal plan = effective.

Woops! Looks like Harper is winging it on his analysis of the Green Shift... RIGHT WINGING it.

Dispense with the talking points Mr. Prime Minister and get down to telling the truth about your opponents.

A.L.

The Audacity of Deceit

The pattern of McCain's attacks since the GOP convention are showing a strategy to attack Obama as political opportunist who puts country second and looks for the next political opportunity to pounce on.

It was alluded to in Palin’s convention speech, it is part of the attack of Lady de Rothschild’s elitism charges and it is part of the “Obama is trying to score political points during a crisis” meme.

It could get traction. But the irony of the whole strategy is that it exactly describes who McCain is – elitist & born of the establishment – and what he has done since the DNC – putting country second by picking Palin over VP nominees more able to step in as President if necessary, offering his 9/11 commission & threatening to fire the SEC chairman in the midst of this crisis.

That "my friends" is the Audacity of Deceit.

A.L.

Doggone it! One of the Ministers got out of the Secret Lair(TM) and near a microphone....

Looks like the Tory message police will be paying a visit to Minister Ritz for his recent remarks, pre-writ.

I expect they will be admonishing him and also questioning him closely to determine just how he escaped Harper's iron grasp.

It's bad enough one of his Ministers got out of solitary, but to get near a microphone... that's just plain sloppy guardsmanship.

A. (laughing) Liberal

Let's turn the page....

The most recent Liberal ad, available on YouTube is a good one.

It calls Harper to the mat on his bad economic and environmental policies and finishes on a positive note highlighting the positive Liberal plan for real leadership.

It's an attack ad, sure some might say it is. However, an attack ad does one thing, tells why your opponent is wrong/unfit, etc. Whereas this ad says "here is how Harper and the Liberals differ" AND "join us in real change".

It's good.

A.L.

SHAME!

Michigan Messenger Lose your house, lose your vote

SHAME!

Republican dirty tricks. This is their strategy to combat the massive voter registration effort taking place in Michigan.

This is happening across the country in each and every battleground state.

Disgusting. We cannot stand for it.

A.L.

Huckabee didn't get the McCain-Palin memo

The Washington Times has an excerpt from an email sent by former Arkansas Governor and past GOP Presidential candidate telling the media and the McCain campaign to bring the discussion back to the issues.

"Almost twenty four hours into this new controversy and the accusations are continuing to fly from both campaigns. That's too bad. Let's shift back to the issues."

Apparently he didn't get the McCain team's memo that this isn't an election about the issues.

However, even he recognizes that the only people who are really hurting from this stupidity of fake outrage and back and forth are the American public.

Let's get back to the issues... somehow I don't have the same faith in McCain and Palin that Huckabee does.

A.L.

If you think McCain and Palin are telling the truth... watch this.

The folks over at Talking Points Memo have produced the following youtube commercial. It is good and it lays out a pretty good de-bunk of Sarah Palin's claims of being a reformer against excessive government projects.



Now we just need to show as many people as possible.

A.L.

Factcheck.org is not amused... with McCain-Palin

FactCheck.org: McCain-Palin Distorts Our Finding

Seems the McCain camp is blatantly using lies in their latest campaign ad. What else is new?

Well, this time they stooped to a new low by distorting the work of Factcheck.org.

Come on! Have you no honor?

Guess not.

A.L.

What is the Liberal message against Jack?

Received some thoughtful responses to my posting yesterday and I hope to follow-up on some of those points yesterday.

Here's another campaign question: What is the Liberal message against Jack Layton? More specifically, what is a Liberal candidate's local message when challenging an NDP incumbent?

A.L.

What must Dion do to win this election?

A simple question. But one that likely has a very complex answer.


What must Stephane Dion and the Liberal party do to emerge as the government at the end of the night on October 14th?

I hope this will generate some buzz, please post in the comments. I imagine many side issues/questions will stem from this and will be the subject of later posts.

A.L.

More McCain/Republican Lying

Rachael Maddow and the MSNBC Countdown crew call McCain and Palin for what they are... liars.


So, how can people be so blind? Republicans and Palin-apologists you occasionally read my blog, surely you must see these comments as lies?

A.L.

Palin's conduct certainly looks CORRUPT.

Palin came to the Alaska Governorship promising to end corruption and self-dealing and create a transparent government.

All of that "rhetoric" was thrown out as soon as she became McCain's nominee for the Vice-presidency.

The following are excerpts from the opinion page of her hometown paper.

Here are the best points:

The Legislature hasn't given its investigator the power to subpoena, or compel, testimony of witnesses. Subpoenas appeared unnecessary, since it appeared the governor and administration would be cooperating.

That's over. It's time for the subpoenas.

And this,

Instead of trying to delay the whole thing, Palin should take a cue from U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens, who asked that his corruption trial be moved up so it would be completed well ahead of the November general election. Voters deserve to know the outcome of Sen. Stevens trial and the investigation into Palin.

When this investigation into Troopergate started, Gov. Palin's response was refreshingly open. Since she became the Republican candidate for vice president, her approach has changed for the worse. America deserves the same openness and ethics from vice-presidential candidate Palin that she promised to Alaska voters in 2006.

She's more of the same... we saw this with George Bush and we don't want to see it again. Absolute BS!

A.L.

An apology to Sarah Palin....

Pretty darn funny, and worth a read. Lifted wholly from Politico.com

Why the media should apologize
By: Roger Simon
September 4, 2008 05:36 PM EST

ST. PAUL, Minn. — On behalf of the media, I would like to say we are sorry.

On behalf of the elite media, I would like to say we are very sorry.

We have asked questions this week that we should never have asked.

We have asked pathetic questions like: Who is Sarah Palin? What is her record? Where does she stand on the issues? And is she is qualified to be a heartbeat away from the presidency?

We have asked mean questions like: How well did John McCain know her before he selected her? How well did his campaign vet her? And was she his first choice?

Bad questions. Bad media. Bad.

It is not our job to ask questions. Or it shouldn’t be. To hear from the pols at the Republican National Convention this week, our job is to endorse and support the decisions of the pols.

Sarah Palin hit the nail on the head Wednesday night (and several in the audience wish she had hit some reporters on the head instead) when she said: “I’m not a member of the permanent political establishment. And I’ve learned quickly, these past few days, that if you’re not a member in good standing of the Washington elite, then some in the media consider a candidate unqualified for that reason alone.”

But where did we go wrong with Sarah Palin? Let me count the ways:

First, we should have stuck to the warm, human interest stuff like how she likes mooseburgers and hit an important free throw at her high school basketball tournament even though she had a stress fracture.

Second, we should have stuck to the press release stuff like how she opposed the Bridge to Nowhere (after she supported it).

Third, we should never have strayed into the other stuff. Like when The Washington Post recently wrote: “Palin is under investigation by a bipartisan state legislative body. … Palin had promised to cooperate with the legislative inquiry, but this week she hired a lawyer to fight to move the case to the jurisdiction of the state personnel board, which Palin appoints.”

Why go there? What trees does that plant?

Fourth, we should stop making with all the questions already. She gave a really good speech. And why go beyond that? As we all know, speeches cannot be written by others and rehearsed for days. They are true windows to the soul.

Unless they are delivered by Barack Obama, that is. In which case, as Palin said Wednesday, speeches are just a “cloud of rhetoric.”

Fifth, we should stop reporting on the families of the candidates. Unless the candidates want us to.

Sarah Palin wanted the media to report on her teenage son, Track, who enlisted in the Army on Sept. 11, 2007, and soon will deploy to Iraq.

Sarah Palin did not want the media to report on her teenage daughter, Bristol, who is pregnant and unmarried.

Sarah Palin thinks that one is good for her campaign and one is not, and that the media should report only on what is good for her campaign. That is our job, and that is our duty. If that is not actually in the Constitution, it should be. (And someday may be.)

The official theme of the convention’s third day was “prosperity,” but the unofficial theme was “the media are really, really awful.”

Even Mike Huckabee, who campaigned for president this year by saying “I am a conservative, but I am not mad at anybody,” discovered Wednesday night that he is mad at somebody.

“I’d like to thank the elite media for doing something,” Huckabee said, “that, quite frankly, I didn’t think could be done: unify the Republican Party and all of America in support of John McCain and Sarah Palin.”

And could that be the real point of the attacks on the media? To unify the Republican Party?

No, that is simply the cynical, media view.

Though as Lily Tomlin says, “No matter how cynical I get, it’s just never enough to keep up.”

I couldn’t resist that. For which I am sorry.

More Republican lying liars....

Click here for the Annenburg Political Fact Check website.

There likely will be a great post soon on the factual inaccuracies of Governor Palin's speech, but for now we can dig into what Joe Lieberman and Fred Thompson lied about on Tuesday night.

Here's a few plum targets:

• Lieberman said Obama hadn't "reached across party lines" to accomplish "anything significant," though Obama has teamed with GOP Sens. Tom Coburn and Richard Lugar to pass laws enhancing government transparency and curtailing the proliferation of nuclear and conventional weapons.
  
  
• Thompson repeated misleading claims about Obama's tax program, saying it would bring "one of the largest tax increases in American history." But as increases go, Obama's package is hardly a history-maker. It would raise taxes for families with incomes above $250,000. Most people would see a cut.
  
  
• Lieberman also accused Obama of "voting to cut off funding for our American troops on the battlefield." But Obama's only vote against a war-funding bill came after Bush vetoed a version of the bill Obama had supported – and McCain urged the veto.

Nice lying lies fellas! You'll have to start making factual claims to handle Obama's momentum.

A.L.

McCain's spokesperson torn apart on live TV.

-Hat tip to Josh Marshall at Talking Points Memo.

Tucker Bounds of the McCain-Palin campaign gets destroyed by Campbell Brown on CNN regarding the complete lack of foreign policy in their VP nominee.



It is breathtaking in its simplicity, veracity and viciousness.

A.L.