October 29, 2008

So there was that Obama informercial.

Did anyone actually watch it? Any sign that it was an effective tactic? I ignored it. It was on too early for my Central Time Zone ways. It's not as if it isn't available on YouTube. Here it is. You tell me if it was as good as tonight's episode of "Deal or No Deal."

133 comments:

Joan said...

I'm really hoping Pushing Daisies kills in the ratings tonight. It could use a boost. It's an endearing little show and I would love to see it continue, but right now it's looking grim.

Didn't watch the One's Infomercial. I'm not buying what he's selling.

dannyboy said...

I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm tired of seeing this guy's face everytime I turn around. It's almost like the Brangelina effect. Go away already and let us vote. We know, Hope, Change yadda yadda. That's nice. I just want my damn rebate check so I can pay off my bar tab from drinking myself in a stupor watching that game.

chuck b. said...

"Did anyone actually watch it?"

Hell no.

Unknown said...

I thought it was an info-mercial for Sham-Wow...

John Burgess said...

Since I'd already voted, I didn't see any particular reason to watch it. It's not like it was going to influence my vote, or anything.

Anonymous said...

I was visiting my 90 year old mother in law in the hospital today. She suffers from dementia and isn't always sure where she is or what is going on around her. However, as she watched the little bedside tv, she said to me "I am sick of seeing that man Obama's face!" So I would say they may have oversaturated a bit with the commercials.

Unknown said...

I watched it. It was Obama playing President on a fake Oval Office look-alike set reading from a script on a teleprompter. Lots of sad, sad stories from "real" Americans about how hard life is--lots of work, dreaded illnesses, economic woes. Somehow Obama will banish all those horrible things..........
At the end Obama argued that he would be a strong Commander-in-Chief I think--I was not really paying attention by then.

Expat(ish) said...

Daisies - isn't that the po mans Dead Like Me?

I watched 10 minutes, decided to research which AR-15 style (bless the Stoner-man!) rifle to buy and bury in the back yard.

-XC

Simon said...

I didn't watch it. My wife had to have a colonoscopy today, so I've seen quite enough asshole on a TV screen for one day.

Host with the Most said...

There's only one Obama video that the world is awaiting to see.

The video the LA Times is withholding from the public in order to favor Obama.

The one where Obama (in paraphrase) states that Israel has "gone too far".

Every LA Times employee should resign over this mockery of the vaunted principal "public's right to know".

Is there any liberal hypocrisy that liberals are ever ashamed of?

MadisonMan said...

Simon, I hope your wife is feeling okay.

I'm grading papers. Didn't watch it.

Host with the Most said...

And why do Democrats say with a straight face that Obama will:

"heal us" and bring back bipartisanship?

Wow! More Democrats = more bipartisanship.

If you're a Democrat: I say "Liar", you say, "that's me!"

LIAR!

All the Democrats "THAT"S ME!"

Dust Bunny Queen said...

Heck no, I didn't watch it. I made a gingered apple pear pie. Roasted chicken with orzo pilaf, with a green salad.

Played World of Warcraft and collected 126 Necrotic Runes and 3 parts of the 4 undead slayer set.

I know where MY priorities lie and it isn't in watching Obama spew his stupidity.

MadisonMan said...

My understanding is that the LA Times is the paper that brought this lunch with Khalidi to light. Why are you dissing them? They got the tape on the condition that they don't release it. So why should they release it?

They report that Obama calls for finding middle ground. Do you believe that? If you don't, because the MSM is in the tank, then why did the LATimes publicize the meeting to begin with? No other paper did.

Meade said...

Afraid I fell asleep on the couch. And now I'm falling asleep again. I am so tired of Barack Obama and his big ambition. Maybe I'll watch the youtube clip later but I probably won't.

MadisonMan said...

DBQ, I'm making an apple pie tomorrow, but just plain pie, nothing fancy like adding pears. A mix of Cortland, Macs and Rome beautys.

Yummy. Apple Pies are great.

KCFleming said...

"They got the tape on the condition that they don't release it. So why should they release it?"

Then why announce they have it?

Unknown said...

Or was it an info-mercial for the Popeil Pocket Fisherman er... Pocket Picker?

Donn said...

They got the tape on the condition that they don't release it. So why should they release it?

If that's true, why didn't they say that right up front, instead of something like the 4th or 5th excuse they used?

Donn said...

Oh, and no, I didn't watch the Obama commercial.

MadisonMan said...

Then why announce they have it?

I confess I didn't read the story when it came out months ago. Did they mention it then? I suppose they might want to state from what they are making the report.

I assume that some somewhere did a lexis/nexis search, found the article with the mention of the tape and started shaking the branches to see what would fall down. And that it just happened recently, given all the mentions of it in the commentariat today (I finally got interested enough to google LA Times tape obama to see what the heck people were talking about).

Dust Bunny Queen said...

DBQ, I'm making an apple pie tomorrow, but just plain pie, nothing fancy like adding pears. A mix of Cortland, Macs and Rome beautys.

Yummy. Apple Pies are great.


I took pictures of my pie and will post on my food blog. Tomorrow. It looks pretty good, if I do say so myself. [proud] New recipe(which I will post) and I think it will taste good too. :-) Ultimate taste tester is the hubby. Poor put upon guy. Having to taste test all kinds of baked goods. :-)

MadisonMan said...

someone, not somewhere.

(sigh) Sometime soon, the daughter will get home from her party and I can sleep.

KCFleming said...

Oh, I didn't watch the commercial either.

I had to wash my hair.

DaLawGiver said...

I watched it. And analyzed it.
He blinks like clockwork every 4.5 seconds until he starts talking about energy independence. From 9:55 to 10:08 he doesn't blink at all. What's up with that?

DaLawGiver said...

He never mentions using nuclear energy. He has said he doesn't oppose nukes, but apparently they aren't a part of his plan.

Good enough for France but not for us?

blake said...

Simon's married?

They got the tape on the condition that they don't release it.

That seems counter-intuitive. "I'm giving you this tape, you purveyors of news and information, but you may not release it."

MadisonMan said...

He has a step-son too, I recall.

DaLawGiver said...

He says he will go through the budget line by line.

I don't believe it.

DaLawGiver said...

Obama represents what Democrats have been hungering for since the 60s, a return to Camelot.

From Inwood said...

Host with the most

The LA Times has, indeed, released an embarrassing political tape, but it's a Schwarzenegger tape.

jammiewearingfool.blogspot.com/2008/10/la-times-reveals-contents-of-explosive.html

Synova said...

They got the tape on the condition that they don't release it. So why should they release it?

Am I the only one who really has trouble with this on a logical/conceptual basis?

Am I missing some obvious benefit to a news organization of having a tape they've agreed not to report on or release?

I mean... like... wow, my folks gave me a car on the condition I never drive it! Yay, me!

What am I missing?

JAL said...

I think the most fantastically annoying thing about the Obama commerical is that Nightline is for all intents, replaying it for crying out loud.

It was a PAID COMMERCIAL you jerks!!

You don't excerpt 15 minutes of it to talk about how no one has done this before.

Oh look! They are showing Obama as a kid with a baseball bat!! Oh Look!! They are showing a picture of Stanley Dunham!! Oh Look!! They are showing the part where Bill Clinton tells jokes! Oh Look!! They are showing the crowded stadium!! Oh Look!! They are showing a serious and professorial Obama nodding his head!!

Oh Look!! They showed 15 seconds of John McCain followed by Oh Look!! Barack Obama for a wrap up by Terry Moran!!

I had the sound off. Still unbelievably annoying.

I watched the next great model reality show at 8 P.M.

Larry Sheldon said...

Did he say how his grandmother is?

DaLawGiver said...

We don't know what kind of shorts he wears, boxers or briefs. He won't say. How can you trust a man who won't tell you what kind of underwear he wears? He is not properly vetted, not ready for office.

Host with the Most said...

Madison Man,

Someone inside the Times - who has reported 3 things correctly in the past - says that Obama makes 2 statements that are damaging to him, including oen paraphrased as Israel has gone too far in it's defense against the Palestinians.

If you have to rely on the LA Times to tell you what is on the tape - when nothing legally restrains them from showing it publicly - then go back to sleep my friend.

Simon said...

By the way, I just want to make it clear that the next Democrat who whines about money and politics to my face is getting hit over the nose with a newspaper. After this season where Obama has spent just an incredible amount of dough, that claim is dead. Dead and gone.

Peter Hoh said...

I turned it on when I got home from work, but mostly so that the TV would be on when Fox switched over to baseball.

From Inwood said...

Didn't anyone watch the World Series?

Am I getting old? Oh, no not me.

Me? I chose not to watch what I thought would be something eerily evocative of either of the 1984 films.

JAL said...

Not to mention his ads are all over the web pages of our local paper. All over the local talk radio website. All over google. All over Althouse.

Does Axelrod not understand that all over is not always all good?

If he is elected are we going to have those big posters all over the bill boards? Are we going to have Obamaisms pop up on our favorite websites daily?

Tell us why you are voting for this creep again Ann?

Humility -- like a lot of stuff I have sensed -- for Obama is an expediently utilized wannabe imitation, because the real thing is out of his grasp.

What's that MLK quote? "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."

Ther's more to character than reading your kids all the Harry Potter books.

Host with the Most said...

He says he will go through the budget line by line.

Just to correct the spelling.

MadisonMan said...

then go back to sleep my friend.

I would love to be asleep right now, 11 PM is way past my bedtime.

I don't think it's counterintuitive at all to donate a tape and say you can look at it but not release it. The LA Times did not agree not to report it -- they wrote at story on it months ago! They were the only news organization that did! That is, they broke the story! Can I use any more exclamation points!!!

Yes!!! Phillies Win!!!! But does anyone care?

John Stodder said...

What the LA Times is doing is the last straw. It's egregiously biased and they deserve being termed Obama's "pet newspaper." Only in-the-tankers like Madison Man buy their belated promise not to release it. But if you've ever worked in the news business, that explanation doesn't hold up -- at all.

The tape was provided to the reporter so he could write the story. At that point, the entire tape became fair game to quote and describe in full. Normally, the source wouldn't be given the right to say "you can only use the innocent-sounding comments, and you can't say who attended" -- two of the politically sensitive issues that arise from the tape. Ethically, the Times could not have given him that power, because that would essentially turn the story into a press release. It's one thing to agree to keep a source confidential. It's another thing entirely to let him write your story.

So even if the obviously fabricated promise not to release the tape was true, it wouldn't stop the reporter from releasing a complete transcript. If he had the liberty to quote from some of it, he had the liberty to quote from all of it. He hasn't done this, even though it's newsworthy, and even though he has every right to do ethically. If Obama said hostile things about Israel in front of a pro-Palestinian audience, that's fucking news. But this reporter has decided to cover it up.

Madison Man, wouldn't you want to know that Obama had made such comments? Do you think your fellow Americans should be barred from knowing this information? On what grounds?

I suspect the reporter is having a massive dilemma. He's afraid, frankly, that his friends and colleagues will hate him, shun him and drive him out of the profession if, by releasing the tape, he is seen as costing Obama the presidency. It takes courage to be a really good reporter, and this guy is obviously a coward.

kimsch said...

DBQ and MM, I had 6 galas that needed to be eaten or baked, and some puff pastry dough. So I made a kind of pie with a glass 8 x 8 baking dish, the apples, a little sugar, spices and lemon.

Very good heated in the microwave, sprinkled with a teaspoon of demerara sugar and dosed with some cream...

yummy.

I didn't watch the Obamercial either. No interest. I can't stand to listen to the man speak.

Host with the Most said...

what John said.

Make that MOST journalists in America today are cowards.

Donn said...

Yes!!! Phillies Win!!!! But does anyone care?

The people that care go to the Althouse post on the WS. 8^)

MadisonMan said...

Shouldn't we all be thankful of the little boost that Obama is giving to the economy? Spreading all that money around, taking from the rich and poor and giving to the media conglomerates and printers.

What a guy!

Host with the Most said...

I recognize that most Democrats in America today are decent people.

But I also recognize that most Democrats have an ethical underpinning /world view that so easily allows them to be far more hypocritical / dishonest than most conservatives.

Tell the Los Angeles Times to release the tape of Obama in it's entirety, no ifs, ands, or buts, without qualification or caveat.

Then let America decide.

Or don't EVER again defend the release of anything under the words "the public's right to know".

Wince said...

Did anyone actually watch it?

No, but I figure I'll have plenty of opportunity to do so after they open the re-education camps.

MadisonMan said...

John stodder, you're right and I don't see why a transcript of the tape is not released, as that would seem to satisfy the promise not to release the tape. Again, though, if the LA Times if Obama's paper, why print the story at all?

Donn said...

Michael,

Did you watch BHO's commercial?

JAL said...

Right on Simon (10:53).

But $600 mill is just a drop in the bucket when you think of the Big Picture. (How many trillions are we talking about in a possible Obama - Democrat Congress giveaways?)

Maybe if Obama could have used his power to raise that money for and AIDS research grant? A cystic fibrosis trial? To fund orphan drug programs?

$3 million for 3 half hour slots (and could have been 4).

Waste is coming like no one can imagine, and it will not be from $18 donations from overseas. It will be from me and thee.

Obama could have campaigned using the $84 mill (or whatever the amount) of the campaign money that he VOWED he would take if his opponent would agree also.

Oh wait. That was one of those things in the past! He said tonight that he WILL (future tense) always be honest... Until the next time (as the taxable income # keeps sinking sinking sinking).

Seems to me outspending McCain 2:1 -- or more like 6:1 -- Obama should be doing better, doncha think?

Host with the Most said...

`

Former L.A. Times reporter Evan Maxwell is dismayed at Times handling of Obama tape

Host with the Most said...

Again, though, if the LA Times if Obama's paper, why print the story at all?

To cover their asses. The story they wrote was completely innocuous.

"But the Times had this months ago!"

Well ,we "reported on it".

Well, the LA Times can clear it up any minute if they want to.

Want is the key word.

Meade said...

"Obama will win big.

Palin will disappear.

And McCain will be remembered forever for abandoning everything he's ever stood for."

And Michael will get a pony and shiny new bicycle.

Host with the Most said...

Transcript?

We don't believe in no stinking transcript!

Saw a clip from the tape. Reason we can't release it is because statements Obama said to rile audience up during toast. He congratulates Khalidi for his work saying "Israel has no God-given right to occupy Palestine" plus there's been "genocide against the Palestinian people by Israelis."

It would be really controversial if it got out. That's why they will not even let a transcript get out.

Heather said...

I watched Pushing Daisies, It's such a cute little show. My husband TIVO'd the infomercial. I think I made a joke about asking Ned to touch the McCain campain.

Host with the Most said...

The tape was given to the LA Times by a then-Hillary supporter who now wants Obama to win.

DaLawGiver said...

Is this the same Michael who said gas would be 5 bucks a gallon by Christmas?

Or is it the Michael who said the surge wasn't working?

Or both of them?

Gutless liar in all cases.

TitusSheilaTakeABow said...

"Heck no, I didn't watch it. I made a gingered apple pear pie. Roasted chicken with orzo pilaf, with a green salad"

Oh my that sounds good. Wish you would invite this liberal commie over for dindin.

I didn't watch it. Enough already.

TitusSheilaTakeABow said...

Fellow republicans I am making an annual salary that is in the top 1% of the country and because of that I feel a sense of power and satisfaction.

I have arrrived. I have made it.

And you know the say if you can make it in NYC you can make it anywhere.

I can make it anywhere, although i don't want to be anywhere. I don't want to make it in Jackson, Mississippi.

Host with the Most said...

The LA Times, which is now claiming that they are so very principaled and are keeping their deal with the source who asked them to not release the damning videotape of Obama, has no such principals when it comes to keeping it's promise to not plagarize the woman who broke the story:

Ali Abunimah is Likely Source of Secreted Obama/Khalidi/Ayers Tape; LA Times' Wallsten Plagiarized Schlussel Back in April, Said Politico

TitusSheilaTakeABow said...

I am watching Sarah Palin right now and she has the cutest little scarf on.

Absolutely love her.

She is cute as a button.

Jen Bradford said...

Didn't see it either. What could he possibly say that I haven't heard many times already? The longer this thing drags on, the more apparent it becomes that he is a genius at listening to people in a way that makes them feel he supports their deepest desires. And no matter how disparate those desires may be, each one of those people comes away ready to attest to his being one of the good guys. I just think this is going to be a train wreck, when he has to make actual decisions that cut some of those acolytes loose.

Palladian said...

I though Althouse asked Michael to leave? Why is it still posting here? So it can make more anti-gay slurs against people that argue with it?

Meade said...

"I don't want to make it in Jackson, Mississippi."

That's because you can't.

I dare you to make it in Jackson, mississippi or even Ashtabula, Ohio.

That song is a complete lie and you know it - you CAN'T make it anywhere.

Kansas City said...

The bit I watched was normal pap, but Obama is good at delivering it. But is was a stupid move by a candidate with too much money and, if he is lucky, it will not hurt him.

The LA Times issue is huge. I suspect the Times is lying about promising the source that it would not show the video, since they did not mention any such deal in the original story and did not raise it until the issue came up this week. The Times now is in a no win situation. They lose whatever reputation they have left by continuing to conceal the tape and, if they release it, they hurt their man Obama. If they had any integrity, they would, at a minimum, release a transcript of the video tape.

McCain should make an issue of it, demanding at least a transcript. The Times "defense" would not apply to a transcript, especially since they already quoted from the tape in their original story.

JAL said...

For whoever made it sound like no one would have known about the big party except that the paragon of just-the-facts-reporting the LA Times gave us a [carefully spun] version --

From a February 4, 2005 article in the NY Sun which discusses Khalidi, among others, at Columbia:

A big farewell dinner was held in their [Khalidis] honor by AAAN with a commemorative book filled with testimonials from their friends and political allies. These included the left wing anti-war group Not In My Name, the Electronic Intifada, and the ex-Weatherman domestic terrorists Bernadine Dohrn and Bill Ayers. (There were also testimonials from then-state Senator Barack Obama and the mayor of Chicago.)

Revenant said...

I already dislike Obama, so obviously my opinion is biased. That being said, I found the idea of him trying to buy a huge block of airtime across all the networks to be sort of... creepy? It is one thing when the President does it to tell us something vitally important about the state of the nation. For an ordinary politician to do it is Big Brother-y.

Pastafarian said...

Sorry, I missed Obama's pretend-state of the union, too. I'm at work, where I've been since 4am yesterday -- coming up on 21 hours straight now -- where I'm trying to machine some 17-4 stainless steel parts.

So that we can keep a valued customer; so that we can make enough profit to pay for our expensive machine tools; so that President Obama can tell us that our S corp is rich enough to afford to pay more taxes, that we have to start assemblers at $9.50 per hour, that we have to allow open ballots for unionization in front of union kneecappers, and that when I die the business will be dissolved to pay the 45% death tax.

But you have a pleasant evening discussing Obama's soaring oratory, Professor Althouse.

Roberto said...

Deborah Tannen, Author and professor of linguistics:

It was brilliant to end the half hour magazine-show style presentation by moving to a live closing. Realizing the show was suddenly live sent a jolt of electricity through the room in which I was watching; everyone sat up and gasped.

The live ending reflected back on the prior half hour: here was Obama, looking and sounding exactly as he did in the produced segment, and this was real, so what came before must haven been real, too. It also sent a very eloquent metamessage: that Obama could time the closing of his talk to tens of thousands of people so perfectly and seamlessly, gave the impression of control, discipline, and breathtaking competence that are exactly what is needed in a leader, especially now.

*Deborah Tannen, university professor and professor of linguistics at Georgetown University, is best known as the author of "You Just Don't Understand," which was on the New York Times best seller list for nearly four years, including eight months as No. 1, and has been translated into 29 languages.

Jen Bradford said...

Re the Times brouhaha. The person alleged to have given the tape is Ali Abunimah:

The last time I spoke to Obama was in the winter of 2004 at a gathering in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. He was in the midst of a primary campaign to secure the Democratic nomination for the United States Senate seat he now occupies. But at that time polls showed him trailing.

As he came in from the cold and took off his coat, I went up to greet him. He responded warmly, and volunteered, "Hey, I'm sorry I haven't said more about Palestine right now, but we are in a tough primary race. I'm hoping when things calm down I can be more up front." He referred to my activism, including columns I was contributing to the The Chicago Tribune critical of Israeli and US policy, "Keep up the good work!"




I'm starting to wonder if the one accurate statement from Wright is that he's saying what's necessary to get over politically.

Pastafarian said...

At least the part has a long enough cycle time to allow me to comment here. That's some consolation.

Any commenters out there know anything about recommended speeds and feeds for solid carbide slitting saws in 17-4 stainless?

Sloanasaurus said...

I heard that Obama lowered his no tax increase on "famalies" from $250k to $200k. Biden said earlier today that the number is actually $150k.

The real number is probably closer to $75k. But, lets not quibble over a few tax increases. Better that the government have it to redistribute than Joe the Plumber.

Redistribution of wealth is the new red.

Jen Bradford said...

Blogger won't let me insert a functioning link. argh.
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article6619.shtml

Chip Ahoy said...

Your many varied barbs, observations, characterizations, and accounts of your diverse activities have delighted me immeasurably this evening.

Meade said...

Revenant said:
"For an ordinary politician to do it is Big Brother-y"

Yes it is Big Brother-y. More cult of personality propaganda.

And all this deception and obfuscation and limited hang-out stonewalling reminds me of what everyone hated about Nixon in 1972. Everyone who now seem to be supporting Obama. Back then it was the media who were uncovering the lies and coverups. Now, it's the media who are helping to keep things covered up.

Sloanasaurus said...

If the LA times refuses to release the tape, its fair then to make assumptions about what is on it. Most likely the tape shows Obama making disgraceful remarks about the United States and cheering on anti-semitic sentiment. It wouldn't be the first time.

reader_iam said...

I would love to be asleep right now, 11 PM is way past my bedtime.

Which is? (I'm always impressed by adults who are disciplined in set, earlier bedtimes--Ann's another example that I've noted.)

reader_iam said...

John Stodder: There's a lot wrong wth your 11:01 comment, but given that it's unlike "you" (on-bog here) and that MM, for whatever reason, is going along with at least one premise, I suspect there's not much point in going into it.

Sloanasaurus said...

Back then it was the media who were uncovering the lies and coverups. Now, it's the media who are helping to keep things covered up.

Excellent point. Maybe they hope Obama passes laws banning the internet, Fox, and talk radio so people are forced to read their newspapers and watch Network TV.

Jen Bradford said...

Revenant, for me the appeal to children is the most Big Brotherly/creepy aspect (but there's competition).
http://my.barackobama.com/page/s/thetalk

Guesst said...

Maybe the Times was lying about having the tape in the first place.

Revenant said...

Daisies - isn't that the po mans Dead Like Me?

Well, it was created by the same guy who created Dead Like Me. :)

JAL said...

pastafarian, sorry I can't help you.

Hubby went to bed hours ago. Anything online about it?

You need to goet some sleep.

JAL said...

"get" not goet

Vero said...

Well two more have turned toward the light here in Ohio and have switched to Mccain. My brother and wife ( die-hard union memebers, that is where they met) called tonight and told us that they would be switching to McCain. this after weeks of telling us that they would vote straight "D" More and more McCain/Palin yard signs popping up literally ever day - seen 6 new ones on the way to Meijers - in fairness i did see a new Obama/Biden sign as well

This is going to be very very close here in Ohio. Now that the election is 5 days away, folks, especially the older White American are taking a new look at Obama. that can not be good for Obama.

I predict that Butler county Ohio will go for McCain by 137,000 votes Bush carried it by 125,000 in 2004 - we have had a surge of poplation increase since then, especially in the Westchester / Liberty Township area where I reside. Lot's of middle class Engineers moving here due to P&G and GE and they are very concerned that their 401k's will be taken. Local talk radio is all they are talking about. that and Ayars

Randy said...

Your cryptic criticism of John Stodder's comment was mystifying, Reader_Iam.

Fatmouse said...

Neon lights, a nobel prize
The mirror speaks, the reflection lies
You don't have to follow me
Only you can set me free
I sell the things you need to be
I'm the smiling face on your t.v.
I'm the cult of personality
I exploit you still you love me

I tell you one and one makes three
I'm the cult of personality
Like Joseph Stalin and Gandhi
I'm the cult of personality
Cult of personality
Cult of personality

Nichevo said...

Blogger Michael said...

Who here believes Israel has a God-given right to occupy Palestine?


Trick question! There is no such thing as Palestine. If you mean do Jews have a God-given right to inhabit Israel, well, duh!

But yeah, you were banned or something, Michael, why don't you accept it and go away?

Rose said...

Didn't watch it - thought it would be on at 6:00 - but nope, musta been earlier.

More interested in seeing him on tape for Kalid, or whatever his name is.

That'll be far more telling.

Rose said...

Incidentally - we aren't getting any ads here, they figure California is sown up, but I'm sick of his voice on the news, and have taken to turning the sound off.

amba said...

I forgot to watch it, which I think means I was afraid it would be embarrassing. The little bits of it I saw on post-mortems afterwards, I hated the soundtrack.

Unknown said...

I think it's funny how Republicans now have this magical belief that the secret key to winning the election is being held by their mortal enemies. This is like a twisted wingnut version of Lord of the Rings. If you could only sneak into the Liberal Newspaper Office and secure The One True Tape of Obama you could break his spell over the minds of the people and win the election.

It's deeply delusional, and also quite funny.

Donn said...

Verso:
It's deeply delusional, and also quite funny.

Gee, sounds like an apt description of Verso.

amba said...

No, Simon, that was guts you were seeing! LOL.

Unknown said...

Ever watch 9 year olds play soccer? Someone kicks the ball and all players on both teams all go running after it in one big pack. It's cute and funny.

That's what wingnuts are like.

Don't you all get dizzy running off after the soccer ball every time it is kicked -- whatever the ball of the day or week is? This week it's the Khalidi tape.

It's amazing how you all start chirping about the same thing at the same time using the exact same words and same sense of outrage. Oh yes, this is the magic talisman that if you could steal from your enemies you could break the spell and win the election.

Y'all are just nutty. But entertainin!

I want you to know that while your mental illness may be painful for you, it's a deep source of amusement for us.

amba said...

A sudden unbidden wish to be on that couch with you, meade. (*blush*)

And only one glass of wine (pretty much me limit).

reader_iam said...

Incidentally - we aren't getting any ads here, they figure California is sown up

How marvelous IS that sown up part? Is that supposed to be a reference to "from little acorns, mighty oaks do grow," or what?

Am I the only one who on occasion wonders (ridiculously, of course![?]): As the malapropisms go, so do the elections?

Randy said...

John Stodder: When we were growing up in Southern California, the Los Angeles Times had a circulation approaching 1.1 million in an area with a population of about 12 million. Now, twice as many people live in the area, and the Times circulation is down 30%. Can't imagine why. /sarcasm

blake said...

reader_iam,

I'm afraid socialists are sown here in the Golden State.

John Stodder said...

It was brilliant to end the half hour magazine-show style presentation by moving to a live closing. Realizing the show was suddenly live sent a jolt of electricity through the room in which I was watching; everyone sat up and gasped.

I gasped when I read this. Deborah Tannen really wrote it? Boy, she and her friends must lead a pretty uneventful life. Or they passed around a bong before the show started.

I think it's funny how Republicans now have this magical belief that the secret key to winning the election is being held by their mortal enemies. This is like a twisted wingnut version of Lord of the Rings.

It's not really about Obama, although depending on what's on the tape, it might be very much about Obama. But right now, it's about the Los Angeles Times.

Do you not see the ethical problem here? Are you so enamored of one side in this election that you literally can't imagine the shoe on the other foot? How would you feel if you found out the Los Angeles Times was sitting on a tape of John McCain calling his wife a c--- at a public event? Could you even imagine them doing that? And if they did, and you found out after the election, and if McCain somehow won, you would have every right to be enraged. I would be enraged.

Think of the precedent being established here. You're digging on this because you see Republicans as being hurt and Democrats benefiting. But I'm a Democrat, and I've said I'm voting for Obama. So where do you put my concerns?

I just know a lot of people at the Times are losing their jobs, hitting the bricks believing the Internet is to blame. It's not. It's stuff like this. Americans recognize when the fourth estate abuses its unique role in our democracy, and it's never been more blatant than this incident.

What's already happening on the Internet is people are passing around rumors about what the tape says. Is that really so much better than the truth, whatever it is?

I guess it's the permanent campaign. We all think we're fucking campaign managers, doing anticipatory spin control inside our heads. It's got to stop. We're voters, damn it! We require a free flow of information, and we give the news media special privileges and allowances so they can fulfill their public duty. They're not supposed to abuse those rights and privileges in this way. They're not supposed to hide pertinent information because they like one candidate over another. And you're not supposed to passively endorse it just because the candidate you favor might be benefiting.

Zachary Sire said...

So I'm bored, and I click Douche With La Bouche's link over to that Debbie Schussel (whatever) site. She seems more concerned with her accusations of plagiarism than anything else.

Anyways, I'm scrolling through the comments to see what all the late night loons are quacking about, and, oh look who I found:

"I heard there were two tapes: One is the fundraiser and the other is the (anniversary?) party ???????

Who knows? Knowing the LA Times, I'm sure they've got a whole wharehouse packed floor-to-ceiling full of incriminating evidence.

The Plagiarism is a separate issue, and Debbie can deal with that.

Making the tapes public is urgent, and before Nov. 4. I think it will happen. Someone's gonna leak those tapes. Money talks, and right now, what with the LA Times laying off thousands......the employees are out for themselves. It's only a matter of time before these tapes hit the public. But I hope it's before Tuesday!"

Posted by: Maxine Weiss [TypeKey Profile Page] at October 29, 2008 04:45 PM


You tapegate people are in wonderful, sane company.

Daryl said...

A 30-minute pre-taped propaganda movie, starring Barack Obama and his teleprompter?

I'd rather watch a 30-minute press conference in which Obama takes questions from the media.

But Obambi knows if he gives a press conference, and answers a dozen questions, at least 1-2 of them will be tough questions, and he might give a dumb answer, and blow the election. He thinks he can guarantee electoral victory by hiding out in Dick Cheney's undisclosed location until Nov. 5th.

But I hear he was recently interviewed by Mario Lopez (a/k/a "A.C. Slater" from Saved by the Bell).

P.S.: If Barack Obama wants the whole world to know what he said to PLO flunky Rashid Khalidi, all Obama has to do is say so. He wants the tape kept secret for a reason.

amba said...

How can you trust a man who won't tell you what kind of underwear he wears?

How can you trust a man who does? That little cuteness of Bubba's should've set off alarm bells!

amba said...

As the malapropisms go, so do the elections?

Peter Hoh gets malapropism of the year from me.

Yesterday he said something or other in this election cycle "buggers comprehension."

Anonymous said...

" Blogger Michael said...

Who here believes Israel has a God-given right to occupy Palestine?"


God.
Now when will the Arabs stop their illegal 1400 year occupation of Zion?

Host with the Most said...

`

The press is so far left this year, it's even too left-wing for now for some left-wingers:

Hollywood insiders rip MSNBC, defend Palin

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - In a room full of television industry executives, no one seemed inclined to defend MSNBC on Monday for what some were calling its lopsidedly liberal coverage of the presidential election.

The cable news channel is "completely out of control," said writer-producer Linda Bloodworth-Thomason, a self-proclaimed liberal Democrat.

She added that she would prefer a lunch date with right-leaning Fox News star Sean Hannity over left-leaning MSNBC star Keith Olbermann.

Olbermann was criticized by many who attended Monday's luncheon sponsored by the Caucus for Producers, Writers & Directors at the Beverly Hills Hotel. The event was dubbed "Hollywood, America and Election '08."

Bloodworth-Thomason and others seemed especially critical of the way MSNBC -- and other media -- has attacked Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin while demeaning her supporters.

"We should stop the demonizing," she said, adding that Democrats have been worse than Republicans as far as personal attacks on candidates are concerned. "It diminishes us," she said of her fellow Democrats.

Bloodworth-Thomason even suggested a defense of Palin and her supporters should be written into TV programing, just as she went out of her way to portray Southern women as smart in her hit TV show "Designing Women."

TitusSheilaTakeABow said...

I cant make it in Jackson, Mississippi?

I cant tell you how devastated that makes me feel.

Oh, well, I will move on.

Fuck Misssippi. Still love the state to death. Very republican but yet the fattest and least educated state in the country.

But very pro America.

rhhardin said...

There's a nice Obama analysis in the WSJ here Fouad Ajami.

I mean, analyzing his appeal for the benefit those who just don't get it.

hdhouse said...

If only we had music for the losers to sing to. It wasn't aimed at the gop faithful or to the liberal few of us who are finding the terror in the RNC amusing. It was meant for the few inde's who haven't made up their minds and who Micky C's soaring hate and fear rhetoric haven't driven over the edge.

4 more years! 4 more years! ya'betcha!

Darcy said...

Thank you, John Stodder.

And cubanbob, you really made me smile with your comment.

I missed the infomercial. Ok, I skipped it, is more honest. Thanks for all the reviews.

Also interesting is the AP fact check of this. Obama's telling whoppers. Who knew?

KCFleming said...

John Stodder,
Jean-François Revel had this to say about the sort of activity the LA Times is engaged in:

"The citizens of democratic countries often praise a politician for his cunning, his artistry in fooling public opinion and outsmarting his rivals. It is almost as though the clients of a bank were to offer the manager a vote of confidence for his talents as a pickpocket.

Democracy, however, cannot live without the truth; totalitarianism cannot live without falsehood. Democracy commits suicide if it lets itself be invaded by falsehood, totalitariansim if it lets itself be invaded by truth."


And, I interject, how does Obama seem to be behaving? Is it as one who favors an open information society, or -as the LA Times video, the Annenberg -Ayers connection, the Rezko-housing affairs illustrate, one who repeatedly conceals, for whom falsehood is a modus operandi?

Revel ends the chapter thus:
"But present customs and habits being what they are, I think it more likely that falsehood will triumph, along with its political corollary, totalitarianism."

Hoosier Daddy said...

Played World of Warcraft and collected 126 Necrotic Runes and 3 parts of the 4 undead slayer set.

Nobody likes a show off DustBunny.

:-)

p.s. I haven't been on for a few days, is the zombie plague still in full force?

Anonymous said...

TitusSheilaTakeABow said...Fuck Misssippi.... the fattest and least educated state in the country.

If Mort were awake he'd say that's racist.

Mississippi's heavily black population is fat and uneducated because of White racism! God Damn America!

Michael said...Who here believes Israel has a God-given right to occupy Palestine?

Ah..I'll guess...Cedarford. Yep, Cedarford. That's my final answer.

JAL said...I think the most fantastically annoying thing about the Obama commerical is that Nightline is for all intents, replaying it for crying out loud.

It was a PAID COMMERCIAL you jerks!!


They aren't jerks. They're Obama's media representatives. There job is to get him elected and hope he can civilize the White racist savages of this society and show the Europeans that America is trying to make amends for Bush.

Meade said...

Little Green Valley

bleeper said...

Michael likes to go on his little rants, calling names, saying he can "hear" us - isn't that ever so precious?

Scratch a liberal, find an anti-semite, I always say.

Henry said...

I practiced harmonica. Then I remembered there was something on TV. I turned it on, but too late. Cole Hamels was already being given the MVP award.

AlphaLiberal said...

I thought it was a fine job. it had a lot of substance and sprinkled the coldish policy discussions with stories from the lives of real human beings.

The people denied health insurance, Americans terrified of being sick. The old woman with the crippled arthritic hands who couldn't straighten her fingers or get health care. You have to be a pretty cold fish not to be moved.

And, he didn't go negative on McCain, didn't even mention McCain.

It was definitely new politics, made possible with the donations of millions of ordinary Americans.

Tank said...

Did he mention campaign financing reform?

Recovering Liberal said...

Michael,

Re: Israel's right to occupy Palestine.

The UN granted that right 60 years ago. (Although it can be fairly said that they were simply reaffirming what God granted a few thousand years earlier).

You are a liberal who loves the UN, right? So what's the problem?

AlphaLiberal said...

Did he mention campaign financing reform?

I don't think so. But, then, again, he is practicing it by rising large amounts through many small donations.

No campaign has achieved what his has done this way, using the internet as a tool to connect with small donors.

dbp said...

Given that The One's website allows you to put any name you want and doesn't care if it matches the name of the credit card...we should be taking claims of small donations with a huge dash of salt.

Darcy said...

Oh, gosh...there's a big grapefruit hanging right over the plate here...any takers?

Ray Fowler said...

I watched it. It was mostly interviews with people going through hard times interspersed with clips of Obama telling you how he would make things better. Two of my sons sat down and watched part of it with me. They thought the music was sappy and made everything sound fake.

Methadras said...

I was just waiting for Billy Mays to show up at some moment in time and start hawking OxyClean or Magic Putty. I mean, now that guy is hawking insurance.

Ann Althouse said...

I delete Michael, but I'm leaving that Deborah Tannen thing up. Man, is that stupid!

Ann Althouse said...

"Ann's another example that I've noted."

What makes reader_iam think she knows when I go to bed? That's creepy!

reader_iam said...

Althouse: I don't, of course. It's just that you seem to be an early riser, that you're not up at all hours posting, and that you're a disciplined person about your time. (I don't actually contemplate you in bed, which would be creepy.) I think those are all good things, things I fall short in myself.

Good grief, even my compliments are creepy now.

Nichevo said...

they've got a whole wharehouse

ZPS, you misspelled "whorehouse."

Joan said...

AlphaLiberal: No campaign has achieved what his has done this way, using the internet as a tool to connect with small donors. (emphasis added)

BWAHAHAHAHAHA!

Small donors with names like Adolph Hitler or Daffy Duck. Small donors with fictitious addresses. Small donors with untraceable store-bought pre-loaded debit cards. Small donors with non-US addresses and credit cards issued by non-US banks.

The amount of fraudulent or otherwise illegal money pouring into the Obama campaign is ridiculous, and the MSM's silence on this matter borders on criminal.

Nichevo said...

Also to the point, so many of the donations are odd-cent sums that I find quite compelling the suggestion I heard on the John Batchelor Show: the reason they are odd dollars-and-cents is because when you turn, say, 50 dinars, 50 rubles, 50 ringgits, 50 euros, etc., from a foreign-denominated credit card into $USD, the exchange rates are all odd decimal fractions that become amounts like $82.51, $18.43, $106.34, and like that.

All the replies will be Lalalala-I-am-not-listening, or some sort of abuse, but really, the colossal fraud being perpetrated here ought to be objectionable to anyone of good will. I'm sorry that it will, of course, not.

Nichevo said...

Wow, did not expect total silence. I guess that looks better to them than trying to refute it.