10 Years

Where are we?

A decade after such a brutal attack, 3 states embrace marriage and a gay 13yo can be gunned down in broad daylight while sitting in class.

Judy Shepard reflects:

Great advances have been made in changing people’s attitudes and eliminating ignorance about the gay community even in my wonderful state of Wyoming. At least I thought so, until I read the readers’ comments following an article about the ten year observance of Matt’s death in the Cheyenne, Wyoming newspaper.

I understand that the readers who take the time to write in are doing so because they absolutely disagree with the article and those who do agree won’t bother to write comments. However, it brought home to me how much work is left to do to make the world an accepting place. The level of ignorance is astounding. The continuing belief that what happened to Matt was not a hate crime and the notion that ‘special people shouldn’t have special rights’, is beyond my comprehension. The level of ‘hate’ is frightening.

Yet Another Reason To Heart Betty White

via The Stranger

Hockey Mom

Not a good week for the ticket.

From NY Times:

The biggest problem: when Palin came out onto the Wachovia Center ice Saturday night — greeted by resounding (almost deafening) boos from the Flyers crowd — the two hockey players who had no choice but to appear with her in that photo op were turned into props in a political campaign. If Rangers center Scott Gomez or Flyers center Mike Richards wanted to make some sort of political statement, that would be fine, but in this case, they were thrust into a situation not of their choosing. Snider put them there with his ill-advised mixing of politics and sports.

The level of discomfort has been palpable for the Rangers’ two Alaska natives, Gomez and Brandon Dubinsky, as they have been asked questions about Palin and the election in recent weeks. Dubinsky, a 22-year-old who has shied away from nothing since he broke in with the Rangers last year, looks petrified when the topic is brought up. I think both would rather play goalie in a shootout than weigh in on the presidential election.

McCain On Defense...From Own Party

It's like trying to put toothpaste back in the tube. What's done is done.

TPM sums up the latest:

After taking criticism for standing by for days while his supporters grew increasingly unhinged and hysterical, John McCain did the right thing today, telling his supporters that there's no need to be "scared" of a president Obama and calling on them to be "respectful" towards him.

...That's all fine. But if McCain wants to lower the temperature, how about stopping with the new ad implying that Obama is currently in league with a current terrorist? And if we see Wright come up next week, will this stuff still be operative?



Rep. John Lewis' thoughts:

"What I am seeing reminds me too much of another destructive period in American history," Lewis said in a statement issued today for Politico's Arena forum. "Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin are sowing the seeds of hatred and division, and there is no need for this hostility in our political discourse."

..."George Wallace never threw a bomb," Lewis noted. "He never fired a gun, but he created the climate and the conditions that encouraged vicious attacks against innocent Americans who were simply trying to exercise their constitutional rights. Because of this atmosphere of hate, four little girls were killed on Sunday morning when a church was bombed in Birmingham, Alabama."

...“As public figures with the power to influence and persuade, Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin are playing with fire, and if they are not careful, that fire will consume us all," Lewis said today. "They are playing a very dangerous game that disregards the value of the political process and cheapens our entire democracy. We can do better. The American people deserve better.”

Sarah Palin Uninvited From Madonna's Party

via PP

World Still Proves To Be A Sad Dark Place

This account via PeterPan:

Sometimes opponents of same-sex marriage will argue that we don't need legal marriage if we can get all the same things from domestic partnership, or power-of-attorney paperwork. But it is not the same thing, as these true stories tragically illustrate:

...Just ask Bill Flanigan. Bill’s partner of five years, Robert Daniel, was admitted in critical condition to a Baltimore shock trauma center because of complications arising from AIDS. The two were on a family trip from California on their way to visit Bill’s sister in the Washington, D.C. area. Bill followed Robert’s ambulance to the hospital and rushed into the critical care unit. When he arrived, he asked to see Robert and confer with his doctors. Staff members shut him out. They said that only family could visit, and Bill didn’t count.

But, Bill insisted, what about my durable power of attorney for health care decisions? What about the fact that we are registered as domestic partners? (Bill and Robert carried around with them all the legal documentation they could to make sure their relationship would be respected.) The staff paid these things no mind. They let other patients’ family members in and out of critical care throughout the night, while Bill waited. He was never permitted to make the physicians aware of Robert’s wishes not to have life-prolonging treatment, and he was kept from Robert’s side. The nightmare the couple had tried to make sure would never happen came to pass.

Bill was allowed to see Robert only after Robert’s sister and mother arrived, hours later. By that time, Robert was unconscious, his eyes taped shut and a breathing tube – something Robert specifically did not want – down his throat. Robert died a few days later, without the two men ever having a chance to say goodbye.

UpWord via PP

Shameless Self-Promotion

Our Drunken Tennessee Debate Live Blogging Fun Zone 2008™ here.

Today's Godtube Moment

Coach / Kid Toucher Found Dead

Ray Totten, the local tennis coach who did some really creepy shit to minors, was found dead yesterday....the day of the beginning of his trial.

From NWF Daily News:

Ray Totten, a former high school coach charged with sexually molesting a student, was found dead Wednesday at his sister's home.

Totten, who was facing 65 counts of lewd and lascivious molestation, was scheduled to go on trial Wednesday morning.

Totten's minister found his body when she arrived at his sister's home in Fort Walton Beach to pick him up for court, said Fort Walton Beach Police Capt. Darrell Bruhn. Police were called to the scene at 221 Bradley Drive at 8:22 a.m.

No sign of foul play or evidence of suicide were found at the scene, Bruhn said.

...Totten, 47, had spent four years as Fort Walton Beach High School's tennis coach and was in his first year as golf coach when he was arrested May 28.

The arrest came after a 14-year-old boy told his parents that Totten had been sexually abusing him several times a week since December 2007.

Fort Walton Beach police originally charged Totten with 50 counts of lewd and lascivious molestation for incidents alleged to have occurred on school grounds.

In September, the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office added 15 more molestation charges stemming from incidents believed to have occurred at Totten's home.

He also was accused of tampering with evidence for trying to dismantle a flash drive lawmen said contained 30 to 40 images of the victim's genitals.


There's plenty of snark to go all over this story...but rather than that, just read the comments on the story. Gems, one and all.

Also, McCain Will Cut Your Nuts Off

Another nice little story here:

McCain's game is craps. So is Jeff Dearth's. Jeff was at the table when McCain showed up and happily made room for him. Apparently there is some kind of rule or tradition in craps that everyone's hands are supposed to be above the table when the dice are about to be thrown. McCain--"very likely distracted by one of the many people who approached him that evening," Jeff says charitably--apparently was violating this rule. A small middle-aged woman at the table, apparently a "regular," reached out and pulled McCain's arm away. I'll let Jeff take over the story:

"McCain immediately turned to the woman and said between clenched teeth: 'DON'T TOUCH ME.' The woman started to explain...McCain interrupted her: 'DON'T TOUCH ME,' he repeated viciously. The woman again tried to explain. 'DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM? DO YOU KNOW WHO YOU'RE TALKING TO?' McCain continued, his voice rising and his hands now raised in the 'bring it on' position. He was red-faced. By this time all the action at the table had stopped. I was completely shocked. McCain had totally lost it, and in the space of about ten seconds. 'Sir, you must be courteous to the other players at the table,' the pit boss said to McCain. "DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM? ASK ANYBODY AROUND HERE WHO I AM."

This being Puerto Rico, the pit boss might not have known McCain. But the senator continued in full fury--"DO YOU KNOW WHO YOU'RE TALKING TO? DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM?"--and crisis was avoided only when Jeff offered to change places and stand between McCain and the woman who had touched his arm.

Um, Time For Your Meds Again, Pawpaw

Barack Obama's Terrorist Acorn Family Tree

In our continuing coverage of "HOLY SHIT. PEOPLE ARE LIKE THIS", here's the latest from Ben Smith:

As the reality that Obama could become president sinks in, the ire directed at him is amping up, as in this striking video taken by a liberal Ohio blogger outside a McCain-Palin rally in Ohio.

...And while the vitriol may help, a bit, in rallying the base, it's also probably not something independent voters are going to find terribly attractive.

One Last Thing

From Will Wilkinson:

Gut read. Obama owned it. This election’s over unless he murders and eats the flesh of a child on live television.

Our live blog here.

A Final Word From Sarah Palin

"God has made us this promise: If we will commit our works to Him, we will succeed. Our lives can be enhanced by applying this, and by thinking optimistically. In Alaska we have mosquitoes; we also have the most beautiful mountains in the world. The choice is ours as to which we'll focus on."



via Hotties in the News

UPDATE:: Sarah Palin ate some pizza:

Aboard her campaign plane, after taking questions for the first time from the reporters who follow her every move, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin told the assembled press and two senior aides standing near her that she didn't want to watch the presidential debate "in my hotel room with just campaign staffers."

The campaign hadn't scheduled a debating watching party for her, but that plan quickly changed. After Palin spoke at a rally here, her campaign entourage of aides and reporters drove to a local pizzeria called Boli's on the Boulevard. Palin went casual, appearing in blue jeans and a purple windbreaker she had been given after her speech at the East Carolina University a few minutes earlier.

As she greeted the surprised crowd of more than 50 at the small pizza place, she posed for several cell phone pictures. When Dana Corey, who was about to start eating, realized Palin was there, he was on the phone with wife. He asked if Palin would say hello and the governor did, joking, "Libby, why is your husband here drinking beer without you?"

The Corey family lives in Wilmington, N.C., and Mrs. Corey explained to the governor that her husband was there because he was working on a construction project in Greenville.

...Asked how the debate went, she was enthusiastic as usual.

"Great. Great. It was a great night for America. He's proposing real plans that will work for economic recovery and energy independence," she said of her running mate.

..."I've been an underdog quite often in my life -- and so has John McCain. And we both have come out victorious," she said. "I anticipate that's what going to what we see at the end of the day on Nov. 4."


Our live blog here.

Sean Hannity Explodes

Fred Thompson Slurs Incomprehensible Tripe About The Maverick

For The Win

I'm already sick of seeing this on the news tomorrow.

But, he did it.

Any undecideds, they're decided.

Whoever they are.

The Promise Keeper

Huggin' It Out

FAIL

via "That One"

WTF Did Chris Matthews Just Say?

He just said this to Howard Fineman:

"We know each other, I don't know, like two guys at a bank in Florida."

Update: He's being a total d-bag to one of McCain's "my friends."

Some More Stuff That People Say

Fallows:

1) From a horse-race perspective, John McCain came in behind and losing ground, in the middle of a financial/economic panic that works against him, and therefore needing a big win. This meant either damaging and flummoxing Obama, or so outshining him in audience rapport, mastery of policy, and empathetic connection through the camera, that the debate could be presented as a turning point. None of that happened. (McCain's best performance was at the end, rejecting a "Yes/No" question on whether Russia is an "evil empire.") At this stage in the race, a tie goes to leader, and this was not a tie.

2) "That one." Difficult to discuss. Unwise for Obama or his campaign ever to mention themselves. But creates an impression that may be impossible to erase.

3) The betting had been, including from me, that this Town Hall format would best suit McCain -- the informality, the opportunity for jokeyness, the track record of handling such questions easily. To my eye, that betting turned out wrong, partly through McCain's doing and partly through Obama's.


Wolcott:

You'd never know from this evening that 5000 Dow points have been lopped since the previous debate.


Goddard:

Tonight's debate wasn't even close. Sen. Barack Obama ran away with it -- particularly when speaking about the economy and health care. Talking about his mother's death from cancer was very powerful. On nearly every issue, Obama was more substantive, showed more compassion and was more presidential.

Ian Welsh:

Here's what I don't understand. Essentially McCain made the same sort of mistakes he made last time. Not friendly enough, not calm, awful body language and so on. Not a statesman. Not a reasuring elder who's seen it all and who can be trusted to deal with it now.

...Or is John "Maverick" McCain too angry to listen? Too frazzled, too tired, too unable to make a change from a game plan that clearly isn't working. Is it the campaign? Or is it him?

Either way, it's actually kind of sad. What I see in John McCain is an old tired man whose anger doesn't just come from being behind but from having worked beyond capacity for too long. He doesn't have Obama's stamina, nor does he have the sense Obama had in taking a week's holiday to recharge. The best thing that the McCain campaign could do now is to come up with some reason to give him the better part of 3 days off. Let Palin campaign for him, she pretty much does anyway. Let him recover.


And for fun, Michelle Malkin:

11:16pm Eastern. I’m forcing myself to watch some of the post-debate commentary.

Disaster: Mitt Romney apparently wasn’t made aware of McCain’s new $300 billion housing entitlement plan. And Fred Thompson could barely muster up enthusiasm for McCain.

Sully's First Reax

"That one."

The moment the contempt spilled over.

And this:

10.33 pm. This was, I think, a mauling: a devastating and possibly electorally fatal debate for McCain. Even on Russia, he sounded a little out of it. I've watched a lot of debates and participated in many. I love debate and was trained as a boy in the British system to be a debater. I debated dozens of times at Oxofrd. All I can say is that, simply on terms of substance, clarity, empathy, style and authority, this has not just been an Obama victory. It has been a wipe-out.It has been about as big a wipe-out as I can remember in a presidential debate. It reminds me of the 1992 Clinton-Perot-Bush debate. I don't really see how the McCain campaign survives this.

BREAKING NEWS: George McGovern Still Alive

I did not know this.



Also, FOX had a focus group and they were all totally in the tank for Barack Obama, therefore hating FREEDOM™.

Tennessee Townhall Showdown 2008

Glitter Graphics



WHO is Barack Obama?

Did WALNUTS! take his meds?

Will Brokaw kick in my Valium and cause me to fall asleep in about 15 mins?

Let's find out:

8:03 They're sitting at stupid tiny desks. hahahahahaha

8:04 Kojak wants to know the most fastest way out of being a nation of poors. Crack, Kojack. Start selling crack.

8:05 Obama has steps. ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ Also, he said crack, so that supports my economic plan.

8:06 WALNUTS! is wandering around the stage and has no idea where he is.

8:07 Stop sending gas money to Barry Hussein's terrorist friends in Hollywood.

8:08 Brokaw's gravitias is uppity.

8:08 Cotton bombs with an insult/joke about Brokaw.

8:09 John McCain's plan to save your savings: Sell everything you own on eBay.

8:10 Barack Obama hearts Warren Buffet.

8:11 Brokaw: "Stay on the fucking topic, morons."

8:11 OMG, a black man. He must be totally in the tank for Barry.

8:12 McCain: "Thanks, boy...but it's not a bailout. I'm not sure what it is, but I'll have to get you back to on that one (wink) Also, you have no idea who Freddie and Fannie are, because of your tiny negro brian and all."

Oh yeh, you can watch this here.

8:14 Obama gives the black man a terrorist fist bump.

8:16 Brokaw: "Mr. Hussein, will we all be hobos?"

8:17 Obama: "Not if you elect someone with a fucking clue."

8:18 McCain: "Mexicans are the best workers in the world. I should know. I own 7."

8:19 Some crazy lady asks how we can trust either one of these guys.

8:19 Barry: "Stopping going out to eat so much and you can save money, you fat sow."

8:21 McCain is a reformer, which is way uncooler than a Transformer. Those bitches have missiles and shit.



8:23 McCain is out in the audience like it's fucking Ellen.

8:23 I think he may be looking for the exit.

8:24 McCain is stumped by health. Hmm.

8:26 Some lady just rolled her eyes at St. Barack. Why does she hate black people?

8:27 Barack Obama keeps talking about the moon, which reminds me of this...



8:30 I've stopped paying attention to that old man. Go read this, which explains the above.

8:31 Barack Obama just mentioned 9/11 before Generalissimo John McCunt. Did that just happen?

8:35 WALNUTS! just mentioned jello. Heh.

8:37 Brokaw is racist.

8:38 Also, he hates old people and their social security cheese.

8:40 McCain: "Ronald Reagan mumble mumble my own friends hate me."

8:43 Some black lady asks McCain about the trees. Who let all these black people in here?

8:46 Obama totally disses Bill Gates and Steve Jobs.

8:47 Brokaw: "Please pay attention to me. Noone does. Noone ever does :("

8:49 Some white lady asks some dull healthcare question. Where is the fun stuff? For real. How about some Keating? How about some William Ayres shit?

8:53 We should be able to go across state lines to buy healthcare....and pills for your wife.

8:57 Barry: "John McCain will smother your children with asthma."

8:59 Barry sips some gin and juice.

9:02 Barry says 9/11 again. Also, McCain is a cheerleader.

9:02 - 9:11 (snicker) Let's blow up Pakistanistans and all brown people.

9:13 Barack Obama says McCain says he says that Barack Obama is green behind the ears. This is not true. He is black behind the ears. Also, John McCain is crazy, if you didn't know.

9:15

McCain: "Veterans something bomb something jello Maverick."

9:18 Are they even taking questions from the cyborgs in the audience? Holograms. Def holograms. Someone call Sarah Connor.

9:21 McCain saw some letters that spelled Putin's name in his Alhpa-Bits.

9:22 Obama: "If Russia wants to buy land, let them. The US has seen how that goes down."

9:25 Another bald guy: "Do you like Israel or LOVE Irael? Check yes or know."

9:26 McCain LOVES Israel enough to blow Lieberman on live teevee. Barack Obama has a swastika tattoo on his left buttock.

9:29 Obama wants one of those cool red Batman phones so he can chat with the Devil at 3am.



9:31 Barry talks about skrimps and food stamps.

9:33 John McCain does not know how to use an elevator.

9:33 Also, he was tortured.

9:34 WHAT THE FUCK IS A TILLER, MR. BURNS?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

9:35 Cindy McCain is really doped up. Someone get her a guide dog.

9:36 I shouldn't be seeing Mrs. Islam's zipper. That's not change we can believe in. If you wanna be Jackie O, get a fucking designer.

Updos For Obama

Yes, it's gotten to this point:

I got this evite from Medusa, a Park Slope hair salon on Seventh Avenue near 1st Street, on 7th Ave and 1st Street, where they are planning to have a Sarah Palin factory up and running for about 4 hours on October 18th. For $75 you can have a Sarah Palin updo...

For $75 the Sarah Palin updo is yours and places you in the running to win best Sarah Palin look-a-like. Winner claims a prize valued at over $200 and all proceeds from this event go to Obama's campaign Fund! The ladies "Submerged: Tales from the Basin" will be reading excerpts from their anthology; a book dedicated to hair (a portion of the books proceeds go to Katrina victims).

via Ben Smith

This Seems Fitting

WALNUTS! Returns

WALNUTS 2: NUT HARDER--starring John 'Walnuts' McCain from SalvatoreDIntern on Vimeo.

The sequel to WALNUTS!

Barack Obama Is President Of Math

He may be a terrorist, but he's about to be your POTUS.

From RCP:

Election 2008 Obama McCain Spread
RCP National Average 49.6 44.1 Obama +5.5
Favorable Ratings +18.8 +11.1 Obama +7.7
Intrade Market Odds 69.4 29.6 -

Electoral College Obama McCain Spread
RCP Electoral Count 264 163 Obama +101
No Toss Up States 364 174 Obama +190

Battleground States Obama McCain Spread
Colorado 49.3 45.3 Obama +4.0
Ohio 48.9 44.9 Obama +4.0
Florida 48.3 45.3 Obama +3.0
Nevada 49.6 46.6 Obama +3.0
Missouri 47.8 47.5 Obama +0.3
Virginia 49.9 45.1 Obama +4.8

John McCain Is Really Turning Into A Cunt

via TPM

Holy Shit. People Are Really Like This.

Goshdarnit, Bible Spice just brings out the best in people. Take this rally in Orlando for example:

"Okay, so Florida, you know that you're going to have to hang onto your hats," Sarah Palin told a rally of a few thousand here this morning, "because from now until Election Day it may get kind of rough."

You betcha. And the person dishing out the roughest stuff at the moment is Sarah Palin.

"I was reading my copy of the New York Times the other day," she said.

"Booooo!" replied the crowd.

"I knew you guys would react that way, okay," she continued. "So I was reading the New York Times and I was really interested to read about Barack's friends from Chicago."

It was time to revive the allegation, made over the weekend, that Obama "pals around" with terrorists, in this case Bill Ayers, late of the Weather Underground. Many independent observers say Palin's allegations are a stretch; Obama served on a Chicago charitable board with Ayers, now an education professor, and has condemned his past activities.

"Now it turns out, one of his earliest supporters is a man named Bill Ayers," Palin said.

"Boooo!" said the crowd.

"And, according to the New York Times, he was a domestic terrorist and part of a group that, quote, 'launched a campaign of bombings that would target the Pentagon and our U.S. Capitol,'" she continued.

"Boooo!" the crowd repeated.

"Kill him!" proposed one man in the audience.

Turns out, that wasn't the only Klanish moment:

Palin's routine attacks on the media have begun to spill into ugliness. In Clearwater, arriving reporters were greeted with shouts and taunts by the crowd of about 3,000. Palin then went on to blame Katie Couric's questions for her "less-than-successful interview with kinda mainstream media." At that, Palin supporters turned on reporters in the press area, waving thunder sticks and shouting abuse. Others hurled obscenities at a camera crew. One Palin supporter shouted a racial epithet at an African American sound man for a network and told him, "Sit down, boy."

RACERIOT 2008™ Continues With Townhall Debate Tonight

Barry Hussein and WALNUTS! will face off at 9p Eastern at Belmont Univ. in Tennessee.

Expect some fireworks, given the negative tone the campaigns have been taking the last couple of days.

Stay tuned for live-blogging here....if I don't reach the end of my 18-pack of PBR. Also, watch along at home on MSNBC. It's just funner over there.