Biden and Obama Don't Know Much about History

Here is what Joe Biden told CBS Evening News early last week:

"When the stock market crashed, Franklin D. Roosevelt got on the television and didn't just talk about the, you know, the princes of greed. He said, 'Look, here's what happened,'"

The only problem is that the stock market crashed in 1929 and FDR did not become President until 1933. FDR was the first President interviewed on television, but not until 1939, after the depression was largely over.

Here is part of Barack Obama’s closing statement from his first Presidential debate between Obama and McCain last night at the University of Mississippi:

“You know, my father came from Kenya. That's where I get my name. And in the '60s, he wrote letter after letter to come to college here in the United States because the notion was that there was no other country on Earth where you could make it if you tried. The ideals and the values of the United States inspired the entire world. I don't think any of us can say that our standing in the world now, the way children around the world look at the United States, is the same.”

The only problem is that when Barack Obama, Senior came to the United States in 1959, the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) would not have admitted him. James Meredith became the first black student at Ole Miss 3 years later on October 1, 1962 backed by federal marshals and troops send by President John Kennedy to force his admission in the face of opposition from Democratic Governor Ross Barnett. In the ensuing riot, 2 people were killed, 48 soldiers were injured, and 30 U.S. Marshalls were wounded by gunfire. James Meredith was himself wounded with birdshot by a sniper 4 years later during a civil rights march to Jackson, Mississippi.

I guess they can always fall back on Sam Cooke:

Don't know much about history
Don't know much biology
Don't know much about a science book
Don't know much about the French I took
But I do know that I love you
And I know that if you love me too
What a wonderful world this would be

Obama Campaign Deploys Its Troops

Barack Obama is mobilizing his legions of volunteer supporters. These 15 states will be the battleground:

Colorado
Florida
Iowa
Indiana
Michigan
Minnesota
Missouri
Montana
New Hampshire
New Mexico
North Carolina
Ohio
Pennsylvania
Virginia
Wisconsin

Make them think it is their idea

From one of our correspondents in Iowa:

Dear Left Bank of the Charles:

Much of your recent writings are too intellectual for me to understand. I know that to keep animals (or people) within certain perimeters of civilization, the corner posts must be of sturdy hedge and set deep; the line posts in a straight line and the wires tight and it can last 40-50-60 and maybe 70 years or more before it begins to loosen and break and allow animals to escape the perimeters into chaos or on to someone else's property and rights.

And that, in sorting young cattle, you absolutely must sort steers off heifers. Heifers are too tentative and unsure of themselves to run past you to sort them off steers. But after they have raised 3 or 4 offspring and been through the pens several times, then it’s a different story. The bulls never go first - most of the cows are afraid to go first, but there are a few veterans who are confident that they know what to do, and they go first, and the others then follow and after about 1/4 to 1/3 of the cows go, then the bulls will go. All of the time you need to make them think it is their idea.

Now those confident cows that are the leaders will try to dart past you when you inadvertently give them an opening and therefore, they may get yelled at, when the other cows and bulls that have been holding back don't get yelled at, at all. But the leaders are still the leaders and it is essential to have them to get the others moving.

Sarah Palin has the confidence to lead. Give her an opening and she is gone.

Karl Rove has had remarkable success in organizing things so that people think it was their idea first.

Barack Obama may be the young bull waiting to see which way the herd is going and then rush to the front as though he is leading so as not to be left behind. We have young bulls like this.

Joe Biden is not really a steer. He is just an old bull who doesn't really care anymore, and is entirely content to settle down under a shade tree and paw the ground and bellow. Not looking for a fight - - just bellowing.

This I have learned in the socially incorrect environs south of Bedford, Iowa, just north of the Missouri state line.

LBOTC: Yes, our correspondent is calling Sarah Palin a cow, but from this correspondent that would be a very high compliment. We’re not sure where John McCain fits into this heifer-cow-steer-bull scheme. Maybe he’s the hedge post, and from this correspondent that would be the highest compliment. I am a little worried about who is getting herded and who is doing the herding in this story, but that’s just my idea.

Steve Almond Does Not Support Our Troops

In an op-ed published in the Boston Globe on September 18, 2008, writer Steve Almond said the following:

I have an ugly confession to make: I don't support the troops - at least not unconditionally. When somebody tells me they serve in the military, my first impulse isn't to say, "Thank you for your service!" like those insufferable chickenhawks on talk radio.

My first impulse is to say, "I'm sorry to hear that." Because I am. I'm sorry to know that the person I'm talking to might someday be maimed or killed on the job, or might someday kill someone else. Or refuel a plane that drops bombs on buildings.

I can't see how anyone who calls himself or herself Christian - or human, for that matter - wouldn't be sorry.

I'm allergic to almonds. They make me sick to my stomach. Literally and now figuratively.

Rolling Stones Equates Sarah Palin with Barack Obama

Rolling Stone magazine featured an article titled "Mad Dog Palin" in its October 2, 2008 issue that it apparently has deemed to vicious to post on its web site. This is the part that amused us:

"So, sure, Barack Obama might be every bit as much a slick piece of imageering as Sarah Palin."

"The Obama image represents tolerance, intelligence, education, patience with the notions of compromise and negotiation, and a willingness to stare ugly facts right in the face."

"Here's what Sarah Palin represents: being a fat f*cking pig who pins "Country First" buttons on his man titties and chants 'U-S-A! U-S-A!' at the top of his lungs while his kids live off credit cards and Saudis buy up all the mortgages in Kansas."

Way to go, Rolling Stone, for the tolerance and intelligence. And to the writer, Matt Taibbi, I wonder if you know this: if you and your ilk keep writing bile like this you're going to cost Barack Obama the election.

By the way, here's what Taibbi had say after the last election back on November 13, 2004:

"Bush is our fault. He's our fault because too many of us found it easier to hate him than find a way to love each other. If we work on the second thing a little harder, we won't need to rely on the cynics in the DLC to come up with the right 'formula' the next time around. Because happiness and hope have a way of selling themselves."

It's the Economy, Stupid

Here's what Barack Obama says is wrong with our economy:

(1) This is not just a string of bad luck but the result of years of bad decisions made in favor of big corporate special interests instead of America's working families.

(2) More than 600,000 Americans have lost their jobs since January. Home foreclosures are skyrocketing, and home values are plunging. Gas prices are at an all-time high.

(3) We're still spending more than $10 billion every month on a war in Iraq that should never have been waged.

(4) Due to reckless deregulation and huge tax loopholes for big corporations, American taxpayers are facing costly bailouts as these corporations crumble.

Here's how he would fix it:

(1) Pass a $1,000 tax break for struggling, middle-class families who need help dealing with the rising costs of gas, food, and health care. He says this would save over one million jobs.

(2) End the "anything goes" culture on Wall Street with real regulation, protect investments and pensions, and avoid devastating bankruptcies and bailouts.

Five Even Simpler Reasons to Vote for John McCain

We got an email today from John McCain, and though we did have to wade through the usual blather about lies, insults, vicious attacks, status quo, reform, and change, we do give him points for putting five reasons to vote for him in his first paragraph. Here's what he says he's fighting for:

(1) your well-being
(2) our men and women in uniform
(3) better jobs
(4) energy independence
(5) government reform

That last one always sounds a little sketchy. Reform it into what we always ask. And what was wrong with the status quo?