September 10, 2008

"'It’s still a pig,' he said to loud applause," says Jeff Zeleny of the NYT, featuring Obama's defense of the Lipsticked Pig remark.

Here. But the thing is I know that the crowd laughed -- and Obama paused to encourage the crowd to laugh -- after he said "You can put lipstick on a pig," and before he said, "but it's still a pig." So it's obvious to me that the NYT is not playing it straight. Does it make a whole lot of difference? Obama's position is still defensible, but I hate to see the NYT helping him defend himself. Play it straight. Tell the truth. We have the video. We don't have to trust you anymore.

288 comments:

1 – 200 of 288   Newer›   Newest»
Methadras said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Methadras said...

"So it's obvious to me that the NYT is not playing it straight."

When has it ever been that the NYT did anything to play it straight. How these liars sleep at night is beyond me. I just wish that they would admit somewhere in the fish-wrap of a paper that they are nothing more than a colluding arm of the DNC.

UWS guy said...

Is making a joke about a woman sexist? Does changing a priest, a rabbi, and an Imam become a sexist joke if I change priest for Female Episcopal Pastor?

If Obama really did crack a joke at Palin's expense (and he did) is that a sexist joke?

Is there a long history of men telling jokes comparing women to swine? Is there some gender issue at here about how a pig highlights the plight of women over the centuries as servants of men?

We're establishing if Obama made a joke about Palin...but after that you still have to prove it was a sexist joke.

MichaelTom said...

The video has been removed. Was the New York Times counting on that?

UWS guy said...

Female socialite: "Sir! You are clearly drunk."
Winston Churchill: "Ma'am, I may be drunk, but you are ugly and tomorrow I will be sober."


Is a joke at the expense of a woman, but not a sexist joke about women.

Peter V. Bella said...

Obama should get some one else to write his schtick. He comes off as a horse's ass every time. That is what happens to inexperienced people.

Now he just put himself on the defensive again. He, the presidential candidate, is talking about the Vice Presidential candidate. His VP candidate is trying to get a guy in a wheel chair to stand up.

What we have in Obama/Biden is a very sad comedy of errors.

UWS guy said...

Didn't Christopher Hitchens write a long, thick, turgid article explaining why women weren't funny?

UWS guy said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
k said...

We don't have to trust you anymore.

Adjustment: We DON'T trust you anymore.

avwh said...

"So it's obvious to me that the NYT is not playing it straight."

Ann-
please don't tell me this was a new revelation for you, or I'll lose all respect for you.

Charlie Eklund said...

"So it's obvious to me that the NYT is not playing it straight."

You don't say!

New York Times Home Delivery. Bringing home the baloney since 1851.

Unknown said...

For the record I don't think it was a sexist joke. It was just a dumb one. I do think that aspect of the response has been out of whack. Then again I'm also one to think that these calls for apology and/or repudiation are poor strategy, too.

Q: How many feminists does it take to change a light bulb?
A: That's not funny!

garage mahal said...

It's not effing possible the crowd was laughing at a totally different joke aside from the one rolling around right wingers head, Ann? It's not possible people in the crowd didn't make the jump that John McCain did that he was calling a woman a pig when he never mentioned a woman in the joke? Why is Sarah Palin when not named in a joke automatically a pig? It almost makes me think John McCain thinks all women are pigs unless proven otherwise. Which by the way we have more evidence of that than we do of Obama calling Palin a pig.

Charlie Eklund said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
UWS guy said...

Haha,

Bill O'reilly agrees with me.

Charlie Eklund said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Charlie Eklund said...

I agree, garage, the evidence that Senator Obama intended to imply that Governor Palin is a pig is meager indeed.

The only evidence we have, after all, is a video of that event and our own lying eyes.

And ears

Pastafarian said...

UWS guy -- I'd say that it's misogyny to insult a woman based on her appearance or weight. I can't remember one male politician calling another male politician a pig.

And it fits into a pattern by Obama. He's been sneeringly contemptuous of his opponents, and of his opponents' supporters (those ignorant typical white people, clinging to their guns, etc.) He's been nauseatingly condescending to his female opponents.

And make no mistake: He was calling her a pig here. The "old fish" was McCain, so that leaves the lipstick-pig as Palin. Always the smarmy lawyer, he left himself enough wiggle-room for deniability.

When this race started, my wife and I agreed that of all the candidates on either side, Obama was probably the most likable, the one that we'd both like to have a drink with. At this point, I think I'd probably prefer the company of Mike Gravel over Obama.

Trooper York said...

Ferdinand the duck: Look, there's something you should know.
Babe the pig: Yes?
Ferdinand: Humans eat ducks!
Babe: [gasps] I beg your pardon?
Ferdinand: Ah, most ducks prefer to forget it, but the fact is that humans like to eat plump, attractive ducks.
Babe: Ohhh, I don't think so. Not the Boss, not the Boss's wife.
Ferdinand: Oh, come on. Humans don't eat cats - why?
Babe: Well, they're...
Ferdinand: They're indispensable: they catch mice. Humans don't eat roosters - why? They make eggs with the hens and wake everyone up in the morning.
Babe: Right.
Ferdinand: I tried it with the hens: it didn't work. So I didn’t know what to do. I was lucky though.
Babe: How is that?
Ferdinand: Well their uncle down the road is sort of different…. I started talking with him …and well we had a few drinks …and well…. the next thing you know we were fucking.
Babe: Oh my god. Is that the weird guy with the funny hat and the Dobermans. The math guy. What did he say afterwards?
Ferdinand: He was very happy. He said that he had ducked a lot of fucks but this was the first time that he fucked a duck.
(Babe, 1995)

Pastafarian said...

Garage -- would it qualify as a joke if Obama simply said "Palin is a pig!" Doesn't that take a little of the comedic edge off of it?

Or are you a Norm MacDonald anti-comedy fan?

avwh said...

Obama says on Letterman or Leno tonight (I confuse them since they both start wth L) that Palin is the lipstick, and McCain is the pig, I believe - digging an even deeper hole, it seems to me.

That video and the crowd's reaction reminds me of the Jeremiah Wright videos. What was even more offensive than Wright's words was the cheering, jubilation and clapping from the entire Trinity Church crowd as he said them.

AlphaLiberal said...

Althouse, you really cheapen our politics.

You have ZERO evidence that this was directed at Palin. You are aiding and abetting a distraction from real issues that McCain's camp desperately needs.

John McCain laughed when Hillary Clinton was a called a "bitch." But that's okay by Althouse.

McCain opposes addressing wage disparity that hurts real working women. But Althouse can't be bothered to look at that. And why should she? She's a well-paid professor!

So WHAT if the audience laughed at a laugh line? That proves -- nothing. You admit it's a fact and a newspaper *gasp* reported a fact! (Lipstick on a pig is a funny image, get it? That's why people laugh.)

Ann, if you want to flack for McCain, then explain to us why he will bring change from Bush.

Revenant said...

Is making a joke about a woman sexist? Does changing a priest, a rabbi, and an Imam become a sexist joke if I change priest for Female Episcopal Pastor?

Just two weeks ago your lot were complaining that even though Republicans have been called Democrats elitist for decades, when applied to Obama the word was actually secret racist code for "uppity".

Pot, meet kettle. :)

AGrad said...

I thought the standard of proof on the left side of the aisle for innapropriate speech was if someone was offended and had a historical grievance. Check and check. As a conservative I don't want the right making that argument but it is certianly noteworthy that Obama doesn't adhere to his own ethics.

I wish folks like Garage and UWS spent 1/10th of their energy they spend defending Obama's pig line on defending stuff like Republican's right to sneer at the term Community Organizer. This is just the latest of terms we are now told is code for some form of racism.

I think Obama's Pig line was lame and not Presidential and certainly undercuts his supposed claim to a new, less divisive politics. But, I don't think Palin can't take it or her status as a woman should make Obama feel he cant make lame jokes that undermine one of his campaign's main tenets. Palin is not a victim and the McCain folks should move on.

That McCain ad with Couric decrying sexism is just lame-o. Palin is an ass kicker. let's leave the whining to the identity politics mavens.

UWS guy said...

You're missing the point Revenant. "uppity" has a history of white racist attitudes toward blacks.

lipstick on a pig has nothing to do with women.

UWS guy said...

The line that McCain is the pig and Palin the lipstick? That's pretty funny.

Pastafarian said...

Alpha -- if Palin's elected, do we only have to pay her 60% of what we had to pay Cheney?

Awesome. That's a bargain.

AlphaLiberal said...

From the blog post:
"(”It’s still a pig,” he said to loud applause.) "

From Althouse:
"But the thing is I know that the crowd laughed..."

Memo to Ann Althouse: Applause is not the same thing as laughter. One involves making noises with hands, the other, making noises with one's mouth.

Chet said...

BIDEN'S 'HILLARY' COMMENT:

The only reason Biden would have made such an outlandish comment (this was no mistake) is clear. The Obama campaign is trying to court Hillary’s base constituency. Of course, they flat-out deny that they’ve lost control of HRC’s supporters to McCain/Palin….but you’d have to be smoking crack to believe they haven't tanked!!

Anonymous said...

My guess on when the combined total number of posts and comments about Sarah Palin will exceed the combined total number of all posts and comments in Althouse history: October 19, 2008.

Who wants a piece of that action?

Simon said...

althouse said:
"Play it straight[, NYT]. Tell the truth. We have the video. We don't have to trust you anymore."

Ann, they don't get it! As I said in an earlier comment, they are used to being the gatekeepers; they're used to that role, they like it, and they fell entitled to it. But they are the gatekeepers of castle whose walls are no longer standing.

Pastafarian said...

Alpha -- so the crowd laughed because of the amusing image of a pig with lipstick on?

Wow, good thing Obama didn't just stand up there and say "Picture a rabbit wearing a fedora", or people might have died from ruptured spleens, laughing so hard. Not a very tough crowd; must be because he was south of the Mason-Dixon, down there among the knuckle-dragging gun-clingers.

rhhardin said...

Obama's remark was a reference to Palin in a literary sort of way. That is, it cites her lipstick pit bull remark, and throws it back at her.

McCain's strategy is to get it into the news where women will see it. It shows Obama as mean spirited, where women had been, as is traditional and men would not, allowing that he probably meant well even if he talked nonsense. This turns women against him, and there go those votes.

Then there's the (CBS insisted) withdrawn ad, contrasting Palin's smooth self-deprecating humor with Obama's halting and mistimed delivery, finally blessed as to political correctness by Katie Couric.

The inept Obama campaign is inept. As McCain said last week, tomorrow we go at it again.

I think women would agree with the actual criticism, that it shows Obama as mean spirited, even if he did not say Palin was a pig as the show outrage implied; and mean spirited is what does Obama in.

Pastafarian said...

Alpha -- watch and listen to the video. They laugh, they don't applaud.

AlphaLiberal said...

rhhardin:

"That is, it cites her lipstick pit bull remark, and throws it back at her."

The hell he did. You just made that up.

Anonymous said...

You are aiding and abetting a distraction from real issues that McCain's camp desperately needs.

Well, Althouse, you know what the maximum penalty for that is: excommunication from the Democratic Party. And don't think a hard ass like Alpha won't give it to you.

With any luck, you'll get off with six months of banishment and some light reading (John Rawls, probably).

Still, looks like you have to vote for McCain.

Stupe said...

Well, my goodness, all Biden has to do is get a note from a Dermatologist saying he's got skin cancer......presto/chango Hillary's in !

Or, maybe a family emergency....how difficult can it be to gracefully withdraw from the VP Candidacy?

I suppose it is kind of humiliating for him to skulk back, tail between his legs, from where ever he came from.

I would like to see a Hillary/Palin catfight, though, so whatever it takes to get rid of Biden......by all means !!!

Ken Pidcock said...

But the thing is I know that the crowd laughed --

Well, yeah, and good on 'im. Of course the senator intentionally chose an adage including the word lipstick. In making his point, Obama reminded his audience that the first words most of us heard from McCain's future vice president were in a hard-ass quip about hockey moms. I thought it was a clever juxtaposition.

The only criticism I have of Obama is that he still seems insufficiently aware of just how low the McCain campaign is prepared to go.

Unknown said...

You're missing the point Revenant. "uppity" has a history of white racist attitudes toward blacks.

UWS Guy, I think you're misunderstanding Revenant. Of course "uppity" has a history attached to it, but nobody is using it. People are calling Obama "elitist", and some have argued that is code for "uppity".

In fact, the country's best news source discussed this issue.

Revenant said...

It's not effing possible the crowd was laughing at a totally different joke aside from the one rolling around right wingers head, Ann?

Let's posit that it is possible the audience was laughing at a different joke.

So... what was the joke? We've been hearing all day that "putting lipstick on a pig" is nothing more than a cliched old metaphor that everyone's familiar with, and *that* certainly doesn't sound like much of a joke. Neither have any of you local lefties tried to claim you watched the video and thought Obama's attack on McCain's policies was funny.

But that audience was laughing at *something*.

That doesn't mean Obama deliberately called Palin a pig, of course. I don't know if he did or not. I don't care if he did or not, for that matter, since (as I noted elsewhere) I don't get why that would be sexist. But if the audience heard an implied insult to Palin -- and the reasonable interpretation of events is that they did -- then it is hardly surprising that many independent and Republican voters heard one, too.

Revenant said...

In making his point, Obama reminded his audience that the first words most of us heard from McCain's future vice president were in a hard-ass quip about hockey moms.

Careful, kynefski; the local Obamaniacs will throw you under the bus for doubting the received wisdom that Obama wasn't talking about Palin at all. :)

UWS guy said...

White Republican congress(woman?) from the south called Obama and his wife uppity 2 days ago, it was in the news.

Unknown said...

My favorite line from that video: "I remember there was a time when a white person would see a black man on the other side of the street, and cross the street for fear he'd get mugged. Now, he crosses out of fear he might be asked to donate to PBS."

Pastafarian said...

Stupe -- I think that the Democrats would be better served to change the top of the ticket, not the bottom. Biden isn't the idiot sticking his foot in his mouth, condescending to people, etc.

Kynefsky -- yes, good for him, calling his opponent a pig. There's some new politics hopenchange for you. Way to elevate the level of discourse, Senator.

UWS guy said...

Obama can't complain about racist attack or he risks looking like an angry black man.

Palin better watch out or she'll turn into humorless hillary.

George M. Spencer said...

Funny how one of the raps against Bush, and legitimately so, especially early on was that he seemed boorish and arrogant and haughty and prone to verbal flubs.

I, personally, would far prefer a humble servant to lead us.

Unknown said...

White Republican congress(woman?) from the south called Obama and his wife uppity 2 days ago, it was in the news.

Interesting. Here's a story on that. I agree that uppity is a charged word. Interestingly it also talks about Rep. Shelley Berkley saying that "elitist" was code for "uppity".

Anonymous said...

Humorless Hillary would be up by 15 points right now.

UWS guy said...

what's good for the goose is good for the gander

We are all of course ignoring the thrust of Althouse's post. The audience did laugh and the times reported it as applause.

Of course the reason the audience laughed is that they're not illiterate republicans and know when someone is making a witty turn around on the opponents own self-description.

but again, that's not Althouse's point...

Revenant said...

You're missing the point Revenant. "uppity" has a history of white racist attitudes toward blacks.

But you folks were whining that he was being called *elitist*, not "uppity". The alleged offense was based on the ridiculous assertion that "elitist" was code.

Pastafarian said...

UWS guy -- I'd say he looks more like an angry black man when he says that his favorite book is "The Autobiography of Malcom X", and he sits in a black-supremacist church for years, with his two daughters at his side.

But that's just me. I'm just a typical white person.

AGrad said...

UWS - after Palins acceptance speech I don't think humorless is something Gov. Palin needs to worry about.

Also, there is a difference between what some congresswoman down south says and any of the four folks at the top of the ticket.

McCain has been admirably restrained. He has never used the Rev. Wright stuff. That is astonishingly gracious and dare I say it, Presidential. I am thinking McCain thinks trading in that - relevent as it is - would be bad for the country.

UWS guy said...

Palin would destroy hillary.

an Obama/Hillary ticket would fail.

even I would vote palin over hillary.

AlphaLiberal said...

Pastafarian,

First, that's one twisted image you've got there.

But, you said:
"Alpha -- watch and listen to the video. They laugh, they don't applaud."

Wrong. Here's a clip of the speech. You can see people clapping in the background after he delivers the old lipstick on a pig joke in full.

So what Althouse and the Wingnuts are angry about is that the NYT blog reported a fact. The nerve!

In this clip you can also hear Barack Obama laying out numerous policies where McCain is the same as Bush before he says "put lipstick on a pig." (Did Althouse really base all these suppositions on a McCain campaign video, as it seems?)

Obama is right: McCain and Palin are falsely posing as reformers. They're lying quite shamelessly and they need these diversions. They pledge to carry on Bush's failed policies.

Pastafarian said...

UWS guy -- if that's your idea of wit, calling a woman a pig, then I guess you're a big Andrew Dice Clay fan.

UWS guy said...

Why does McCain need to mention Wright when Limbaugh and Hannity speak on that subject daily?

Anonymous said...

If only Republicans weren't illiterate and so mean and dirty, maybe Democrats could win.

Any idea how shrill these criticisms sound? The leftist commentariat here is clearly shaken.

UWS guy said...

Lipstick on a pig didn't come from no where, it was witty to turn lipstick on a bulldog into lipstick on a pig.

If Obama ever made a speach with a metaphor about him being a tiger fighting for the working class I would fully expect team McCain to call him a pussy-cat.


....or maybe just a pussy...

Unknown said...

Palin would destroy hillary. an Obama/Hillary ticket would fail. even I would vote palin over hillary.

Are you serious? I guess I don't understand your politics, UWS Guy. I mean, I assumed you were left-leaning. Surely Clinton's politics are closer to yours?

Anonymous said...

Alpha -- If only the Republicans would follow your script! Pick a boring old guy for vice president. Lose the war. Promise a third Bush term.

Then you could win.

UWS guy said...

Dude, I voted for Bush 2x.

Anonymous said...

it was witty to turn lipstick on a bulldog into lipstick on a pig

Yeah. Everybody says. That must be why the joke went over so well.

Unknown said...

Well OK then, UWS guy. Maybe the 104 fever I had last night scrambled my brain.

Pastafarian said...

Alpha -- re. my image -- I really think that the black socks make this outfit. They really pop.

Re. the laughter -- dude, you can hear it. His delivery and posture are meant to cue them to laugh, and they do, and they then clap in approval (no doubt big John Stewart fans, they're conditioned to clap in response to jokes).

Re. McSame: You know, if McCain can duplicate Bush's 7 years of avoiding another 9-11, and avoiding a recession (an actual recession by definition, not one that you just "feel" in your left nut), after that attack devastated our economy...then give me a McSame bumper sticker, I'll apply it as an endorsement.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Carol Fowler sharply attacked Sarah Palin today saying [Sarah’s] primary qualification seems to be that she hasn’t had an abortion.

While trying to use this as an example to show how Obama’s poor judgement only serves to further lower the bar. A popular saying popped into my mind. But almost instantaniously, I thought this saying, while perfectly illustrative of the forces Obama’s schoolyard comment has unleashed, I also have to consider how my words can and may be construed.

That said, what Carol Fowler did was...

http://tinyurl.com/6ypnwa

Synova said...

Alpha thinks that Obama is too stupid to recognize that the lipstick/pig thing would have the resonance of the lipstick/pit bull thing.

It's not a *sexist* joke, but it's only funny because of the resonance. If it were just a context free "can't dress up a pig" or "put new newspaper around an old fish" thing his audience might have hooted or applauded... but they responded as if it was a joke because it *was* a joke.

And it's only a joke if it has that clever connection with lipstick...

Or was Obama too out of touch to realize what he'd said and what people would understand what he said?

It's possible, after all, he was too stupid to realize that it was a dumb thing to do.

veni vidi vici said...

Wow, this place is full of bunched panties tonight!

As for the southern douche-gressman who called Obama "uppity", he's a guy, notwithstanding his first name is "Lynn".

And if it can be believed, this morning's news carried an item whose jist escapes me at the moment, about the guy's wife, who has now entered the fray with her own idiotic comment about Obama.

Where do they find these people, and what kind of community puts them in Congress? (spoken by a non-voting constituent of Southern California's own "weasel-tier", Henry Waxman).

Yeesh.

miller said...

My wife isn't listening to news all day, so she hasn't heard about Bambi's latest foot-in-mouth disaster.

I said to her, "Obama just said about McCain and Palin 'You can put lipstick on a pig...' (using his pause)."

Her eyebrows went up. I asked her, "What do you think he meant?"

Her first angry response: "He just called her a pig."

Pastafarian said...

UWS guy -- I can understand a joke that turns Obama from tiger to pussy cat -- implying that he's actually weak and ineffectual.

But how exactly is Palin pig-like?

garage mahal said...

Let's posit that it is possible the audience was laughing at a different joke.

So... what was the joke?


Let's! The joke is McCain/Palin going around saying they are the change ticket when it's just repackaged Bush policies. That's exactly what he was talking about right before the joke.

But that audience was laughing at *something*.

They were laughing at the joke. "Lipstick on a pig" is a joke. Like "you can't make a silk purse from a sow's ear" would have been a similair joke to make front of McCain's dressed up policies. Which would have elicited a tantrum too I suppose.

UWS guy said...

It wasn't dumb, Obama needs to take the shine off of Palin, he needs to keep telling slightly off jokes or they will be paralyzed in the debates because everything will seem sexist.

Clintons learned that lesson to late.

UWS guy said...

It's the lipstick Pastafarian. It's the only joke we have about lipstick so that's the one that got used.

It's not the pig.

Revenant said...

Apparently Roger Ebert, of all people, decided to join the media pile-on on Palin. His big damning criticism:

how can you be her age and never have gone to Europe?

I'm not sure if Roger deliberately set out to parody and out-of-touch liberal elitist or if it just came out that way accidentally, but accidentally or not it is funny to read. :)

Zaplito said...

I have absolutely zero sympathy for Obama on this. The candidate of the party that has made a kabuki dance out of manufactured outrage has been royally hoist on his own petard. Life's a dance don't you know BO, sometimes you lead, sometimes you follow. Enjoy following.

UWS guy said...

Ohh...

barracuda is a fish...

fish wrapped in old paper...

pretty smart if you ask me.

Pastafarian said...

UWS guy -- what about this one:
http://gleez.com/articles/humor/jokes/lipstick-joke-nice-one-cant-stop-laughing

AlphaLiberal said...

Pastafarian:

I'm not denying there was both laughter and applause. There was both. So what?

I'm saying Althouse has no beef here with the NYT. Her post makes no sense. She's got nuthin'.

She was playin' gotcha and confusing clapping with laughing. I laid that out pretty clearly, above.

Anonymous said...

The only joke about lipstick? Ha! A quick google search produced these gems:

Your mama is so fat that she puts on lipstick with a paint roller.

"Can you explain to me how this lipstick got on your collar?" the suspicious wife sneered.
"No, I can't," the husband replied. "I distinctly remember taking my shirt off."

Larry Sheldon said...

NYT "play it straight"?

Be serious.

Can you say Scot Thomas Beauchamp?

Revenant said...

Why does McCain need to mention Wright when Limbaugh and Hannity speak on that subject daily?

One obvious reason would be that the 10% of the country that watches and/or listens to those guys is almost entirely already in the McCain camp. Telling them things that make them not want to vote for Obama doesn't change anything.

There are plenty of swing voters out there who aren't familiar with Obama's long history with black supremacists for the simple reason that the mainstream media never covered it; to the extent that they dealt with the Obama church controversy at all, it was to portray Wright as a guy who just made a few off-color remarks.

Larry Sheldon said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Larry Sheldon said...

And suggesting women smell like fish is offensive to _me_.

Eric said...

You should have posted the full video earlier along with the McCain ad:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPd4yk0x-eg

Both Obama and McCain have already said "lipstick on a pig" this campaign. In this context I think it's clear that by "pig" he means "same old policies", not Palin herself. But "lipstick" makes them think of Palin because of the joke she told, and they think it's funny because it conforms to their view of her candidacy as a cynical ploy by McCain to gender up his campaign in order to distract us from his record.

I don't think they would have been laughing if they thought he was calling her a pig.

KLDAVIS said...

Here's the ad that was pulled.

Pastafarian said...

alpha -- the difference between laughter and applause here seems pretty important: Overnight, the AP reported that the crowd laughed, because (according to the article) they recognized the connection between the lipstick in this quip and the lipstick in Palin's speech.

Then this morning, for some reason, they sanitized the article, removing all reference to the crowd's recognition of the meaning of this zinger.

The laughter indicates that they know what Obama is doing here; and the Times story states that there was only applause.

Revenant said...

The joke is McCain/Palin going around saying they are the change ticket when it's just repackaged Bush policies.

Where's the joke? Obama is being serious when he says that McCain's policies are just repackaged Bush policies. He's devoted hundreds, if not thousands, of hours to promoting that message.

That's exactly what he was talking about right before the joke.

Oh, that's what he was talking about *before* the joke. So... what was the joke, then?

They were laughing at the joke. "Lipstick on a pig" is a joke.

No, it isn't. It is an old expression, like "making a silk purse out of a sow's ear" or "the pot calling the kettle black". It is only funny when there's something about the context that *makes* it funny.

Like, for example, the person you're referring to being well-known for wearing lipstick.

Anonymous said...

I don't remember all this parsing by leftists over macaca or over potatoe or over the Strom Thurmond thing. I don't remember any of this when we found out that Larry Craig likes to get an anonymous blow job every now and then.

Strange. What's the difference now?

Anonymous said...

Of course it was deliberate, and he knew exactly what he was doing. It's his M.O. Remember when he gave the finger to Hillary? Just scratching his eye, my ass. It's Obama's M.O.

Simon said...

veni vidi vici said...
"As for the southern douche-gressman who called Obama 'uppity' ... Where do they find these people[?]"

Ditto.

garage mahal said...
"They were laughing at the joke. 'Lipstick on a pig' is a joke."

No it isn't. It's a figure of speech, and a very common one - hackneyed, even - at that. That's what Obama's defenders have been telling us all day. C'mon, keep your stories straight!

miller said...

It's those Republicans that throw a rock and then hide their hand.

Not Bambi. O no, that would be wrong.

vbspurs said...

I love watching this thread unfold, as one person digs himself into a deeper and deeper hole.

Let's put it this way.

Your mother called herself a pitbull wearing lipstick last week. And your worst enemy used a very common English expression, where the two were the general topic of conversation. What was the expression? Something about putting lipstick on a pig.

Your turn. Go.

Cheers,
Victoria

Pastafarian said...

Eric -- yes, if you break the joke down like this, then clearly the pig is the McCain campaign, and Palin is the lipstick.

Thus the smarmy lawyer's deniability.

But it was clear that if Palin said that she was a pit bull with lipstick, and you then talk about a pig with lipstick, you're saying something that can also be interpreted as saying that Palin is a pig and not a pit bull.

And that sort of brashness is really all that gives this humor. It is sort of Norm-MacDonaldlike, really, now that I think about it. Without this sort of possible interpretation, even fleeting or subconscious, the joke just isn't funny.

AlphaLiberal said...

Eric:

Here's the link to the video you posted.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPd4yk0x-eg

And you're right. When he's talking about putting lipstick on a pig, he's referring to McCain trying to pose as a reformer when he's rejected any reform he ever supported.

And, Ann Althouse based all these posts on a McCain ad. Now, that's hardly neutral. If she were neutral, she'd look at the greater context and see Obama was hammering NcCain for being McSame.

Anonymous said...

All these fun jokes are going to go over well during the negotiations with Russia and Iran.

AlphaLiberal said...

"Then this morning, for some reason, they sanitized the article, removing all reference to the crowd's recognition of the meaning of this zinger."

How do they know why the crowd laughed? I've heard this line dozens of times and people always laugh, twitter, etc.

Do you think they, like Ann Althouse, can read minds? how do they come by this divination?

Pastafarian said...

Alpha -- you mean McCain no longer supports campaign finance reform?

I might just contribute to the GOP this year after all.

miller said...

Throws the rock.
Hides the hand.
Bambi-CHANGE for AMERICA

Anonymous said...

Alpha -- You really sound silly this thread. So unlike you. When I look for common sense and wit and sophisticated analysis from the left, you are the first person who pops in my head.

What's happened?

Revenant said...

yes, if you break the joke down like this, then clearly the pig is the McCain campaign, and Palin is the lipstick. Thus the smarmy lawyer's deniability.

The irony being that while comparing a woman to a pig isn't all that sexist, dismissing a female candidate as nothing more than "lipstick for the campaign" sounds REALLY bad.

Anonymous said...

When will Obama and the left stop going insane over Sarah Palin?

My guess? 2024 or so.

Pastafarian said...

Alpha -- I'm sure that they just laughed because of that funny, funny image of a pig in lipstick. Just thinking about it now -- a pig, and there's hooker-red lipstick smeared...oh shit...I can't even....type.

Whooo...I think I just cracked a rib.

miller said...

It's funny how Bambi is reduced to arguing he's not irrelevant and mean.

McCain and Palin have him rattled.

Imagine Bambi during something akin to the Cuban Missile Crisis.

"Give me, uh, a few, uh, days, and I'll, uh, have a re-re-re-sponse."

FLOTUS: "How does Russia's threatening the US put fruit on my children's table?"

vbspurs said...

Imagine Bambi during something akin to the Cuban Missile Crisis.

*shiver*

I'd rather not, if it's all the same.

Pastafarian said...

Revenant -- that's a very good point that I hadn't thought of. Obama will have to be very careful to step out of this mess.

Seven -- I think that Palin is considered more than a threat in this campaign -- she's considered a threat to their entire philosophy. At the very least, she's someone that they'll have to contend with for a very long time, and they know it.

AlphaLiberal said...

Seven Machos:

I don't know what you're talking about. Althouse didn't make a coherent point. The NYT writer cited applause after "it's still a pig."

Althouse tries to find a controversy with this silly point:
'But the thing is I know that the crowd laughed -- and Obama paused to encourage the crowd to laugh -- after he said "You can put lipstick on a pig," and before he said, "but it's still a pig." '

There's nothing there. Those two things can both be true with no contradiction. She proves nothing except the NYT writer reported a fact (and I posted a video proving as much).

She's got nuthin' except partisan flacking for McCain.

vbspurs said...

Here's a question:

Why doesn't report on more stories like this?

vbspurs said...

/the NYT

AlphaLiberal said...

Wow, Olbermann has clips of McCain using this line not just to slam Hillary Clinton (Althouse fine with that) but in about 6 other cases, as well.

More Republicans playing the victim.

garage mahal said...

Where's the joke?

I told you! Or maybe a colorful metaphor to describe something? I didn't say it was funny. Because you don't think it's funny doesn't mean he called Palin a pig. If you think he subliminally called Palin a pig to a few dozen people for tactical advantage thinking wingers wouldn't try to twist it or that McCain wouldn't throw a hissy fit then I don't think you've been paying attention. This topic is so stupid it should make any sane person's head hurt. Does anyone think his staff brainstormed this thinking they could rally voters behind him by calling Palin a pig, or was it the two dozen votes they were going after? Maybe Ann can put up that post about McCain telling gorilla rape jokes and we can decide first he meant to insult black men and walk it back how he didn't.

Anonymous said...

There's nothing there.

Right. If this could just go away, we could talk all about hopiness and changeyness. You and Obama wouldn't feel obsessively compelled to bring up Palin. Again.

Peter V. Bella said...

AlphaLiberal said...
Althouse, you really cheapen our politics.

You have ZERO evidence that this was directed at Palin


You have zero evidence that the Obama campaign and Kos, MYDD, and DU did not start the original smear about Sarah Palins baby.

You have zero evidence that the Obama campaign is not responsible for all of the smears against Sarah Palin. You have zero evidence of all the bullshit you have been spouting here over and over and over again.

You are lower than crab shit. You can get no lower than that. Crab shit sits on the bottom of the water.

Pastafarian said...

Miller -- picturing how Obama would do in a crisis reminds me of a comparison between the candidates that I was mulling over the other day.

If you list the candidates in descending order, for the following criteria, most people would probably agree with the following rankings:

Order that the candidates would finish in a game of Trivial Pursuit:

1) Obama
2) Palin
3) Biden
4) McCain

Candidate you'd most like to have at your side in a bar fight:

1) McCain
2) Palin
3) Biden
4) Obama

Candidate you'd most like to see seize the controls of an aircraft after the pilot dies:

1) McCain
2) Palin
3) Biden
4) Obama

You could keep going with these -- and in every instance, any criteria that involves guts, toughness, decisiveness, and judgment just seem to keep going to McCain and Palin.

Obama might be in good shape, but in a bar fight, he'd fall to the floor, curl into the fetal position, and whimper threats of a law suit. You'd be lucky to get out of the place alive.

McCain might not be able to raise his arms, but with him at your side, the other guy would never take the first swing -- he'd look at McCain and know that at some point, that little bastard would get those nasty teeth into his inner thigh and not let go until he took out a chunk of meat.

And that's important: We need someone that scares people, just a little bit, to avoid fights. We don't need someone to win a game of Trivial Pursuit.

Anonymous said...

partisan flacking

Unlike, say, Olberman and the NYT. They give it straight. They speak truth to power. Just the facts.

Somebody's got to do it. And thanks to God they do. Otherwise, it's just the corporate media handing the election to McCain, just like they did with Bush.

blake said...

So, I think I have this figured out:

1. It was just an old expression, a propos of nothing. Hell, he didn't even hear Palin's acceptance speech.

2. It's just a coincidence that Palin had used the "lipstick" phrase earlier.

3. It was a joke. People laughed.

4. It wasn't a joke. People only applauded.

5. He didn't mean that Palin was a pig. Just their policies that they're trying to dress up.

6. He didn't mean that the policies were a pig, he meant that McCain was a pig, and she was the lipstick.

7. He meant that she was a pig, and possibly a fish, or maybe McCain's the fish, and good on' 'im for it.

Did I cover all the bases?

I think this is all pretty dumb but I suspect it hurts him pretty bad. When I try out the line on women who haven't heard about it, they give me this open-mouthed stare.

He should just apologize--even a half-assed non-apology will be fine--and get it behind him.

But, those of you suggesting that Obama didn't know that the lipstick thing would hearken back to Palin's speech, and that "lipstick on a pit bull" would be paralleled with "lipstick on a pig", are not really doing him any favors.

It makes him look dull, and that's far worse than a little name calling.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

More Republicans playing the victim.

I love this. Liberals make up the rules and then they call foul when it's applied to them.

Fen said...

Right. If this could just go away, we could talk all about hopiness and changeyness. You and Obama wouldn't feel obsessively compelled to bring up Palin. Again.

No kidding. If Obama really want to talk about the "issues", why compare Palin with a pig to begin with?

AlphaLiberal said...

"3. It was a joke. People laughed.

4. It wasn't a joke. People only applauded."

If you're referring to me, you're mischaracterizing what I said. I said both were true.

Fucken liars.

Anonymous said...

Liars! Your opinions are all lies!

Fen said...

Alpha: Obama is right: McCain and Palin are falsely posing as reformers. They're lying quite shamelessly and they need these diversions.

McCain and Palin both have records as reformers. Obama does not.

Back on your meds Alpha.

Fen said...

Careful with Alpha. Palin has unhinged another cog-dis democrat.

goesh said...

talk about grasping for the pearls cast before swine, the NYT is groveling in shit

Anonymous said...

The $64,000 questions is when obama is going to stop shooting his dick? Jebus, its only 11 days since the convention and he's already wobbly kneed on the ropes.
Can he take direction from speech writers? Ring side handlers?

garage mahal said...

McCain and Palin both have records as reformers. Obama does not.

You cannot make a good quality product using bad quality materials.

Did I do it? Did that pass the Flopping Aces/Althouse permissable sayings filter? I know the right wing PC Police are cracking down hard....

LOL.

Peter V. Bella said...

Seven Machos said...
All these fun jokes are going to go over well during the negotiations with Russia and Iran.

Medeved: So, Obama, what do you think I should do about that peanut farmer in Georgia. He will not surrender.

Obama: Listen, pull those troops out now. Your grievances are like lipstick on a Babushka.

Medeved: You are a sexist pig. You hate Russian women.

Obama: I meant lipstick on a pig.

Medeved: You are a sexist woman. You hate Russian pigs.

Obama: I meant fish in a blanket.

Medeved: I am picking up the phone and ordering Georgia to be bombed.

Obama: I meant the New York Times is only good for wrapping fish tacos. Please, please, don’t bomb Georgia. It would hurt Mr. Jimmy so. Look, I really meant it is like putting lipstick on an Imam.

Medeved: (Into phone) Start operation Rolling Thunder.

Pastafarian said...

Daredevil -- I've come to suspect that Obama can't take instruction from anyone -- that his enormous ego has led him to micromanage his campaign. It's the only explanation that I could come up with for the utter lameness of his ads, despite the fact that he has all of Hollywood on his side.

Anonymous said...

pastafarian,

That makes sense to me. It would explain his tired, haggard appearances the last month. Probably sorting out the tennis court sched. in his imaginary presidency.

Anonymous said...

I have been an avid reader since I moved to Madison as a student, but this blog has turned into anything but "cruel neutrality." Fare Well Althouse Blog you were fun until you got angry fast.

Ken Pidcock said...

I just wanted to call out seven machos.

Liars! Your opinions are all lies!

Good call.

Peter V. Bella said...

No kidding. If Obama really want to talk about the "issues", why compare Palin with a pig to begin with?

Obama cannot talk about the issues. He has no issues to talk about with any expertise, except community organizing stuff. Comparing Palin to a pig is all he has. He would have been better off campaigning for a job as producer of Sesame Street. Miss Piggy is a pig who wears lipstick. He would feel right at home.

Peter V. Bella said...

Seven Machos said...
My guess on when the combined total number of posts and comments about Sarah Palin will exceed the combined total number of all posts and comments in Althouse history: October 19, 2008.

Who wants a piece of that action?


I will loan anyone money who needs it to bet on this. The vig is seven for five per week.

Sloanasaurus said...

The elite left is crashing and buring over Palin because they fear that she will pull middle America with her. They are right to be scared. Sure, maybe Palin is all about identity politics, but so are most Presidential elections, including Obama's candidacy.

Just watch TV for a night. You will see that in every commerical about some consumer product that the person in the commercial is a Sarah Palin. A middle class woman. None of them are Obamas or Mccains or Bidens. For the first time in American history, the largest single group of americans by sex and race, white women, now have a a member of their group running for high office. Sure, most of the liberals won't vote for Palin, but their aren't enough liberals to put Obama into office.

Roberto said...

I can't believe, after seeing the actual video and reading transcripts, Ann Althouse and her minions are still pushing this bullshit.

What a disgusting crew.

Peter V. Bella said...

AlphaLiberal said...
John McCain laughed when Hillary Clinton was a called a "bitch." But that's okay by Althouse.

Well, duh, that poor woman only told the truth. And Bill is a real son of a bitch.

BTW, as to laughing; I always laughed at Hillary Clinton. She was such a dupe, a fool, a poltroon. How can any self respecting person respect a woman who stayed married to a serial cheater? She was the best comedy act going.

Anonymous said...

Fare Well Althouse Blog you were fun until you got angry fast.

And the second "avid reader" today who I have, never ever noticed before. You sure are losing a lot of readers today, Althouse.

Gedaliya said...

I've come to suspect that Obama can't take instruction from anyone -- that his enormous ego has led him to micromanage his campaign. It's the only explanation that I could come up with for the utter lameness of his ads, despite the fact that he has all of Hollywood on his side.

Perhaps. I think it is more likely, however, that he's simply in way over his head.

To use an old Chicago expression, Obama has brought a knife to a gunfight.

Anonymous said...

I am on record as saying that McCain and Palin should run from this before it boomerangs. That said, let's try a little thought experiment.

Suppose that Hillary Clinton is the Democratic presidential nominee. Suppose, somehow, that she mentioned something about lipstick and a few days later McCain said, "You can't put lipstick on a pig."

Now, you lefty loons, I know it's hard but try to imagine how you would respond. Try to imagine the NYT's response. The Kos kids. Your demagogue Olberman.

You all would be up in arms and you know it.

Ann Althouse said...

Alpha: "John McCain laughed when Hillary Clinton was a called a "bitch." But that's okay by Althouse."

Oh, really? Did you bother to do any research on what my *actual* response was when that happened?

Ann Althouse said...

As for equal pay statutes, I don't think you have to support them in order to be a feminist. Despite the term "equal pay" it's not about paying women the same for the same work.

Chip Ahoy said...

Oink.

No, wait, wait, wait, I meant to say, snort, grunt.

This makes me want to put on a Halloween pig snout with pig ear muffs and poorly applied smeared lipstick then walk around town like nothing at all is odd, talking to everybody as if I was normal, just for fun.

Oh, and possibly a curly pig tail made from pink pipe cleaners attached to my belt in the back.

I betchya I could sell pig kits with lipstick for Halloween.

Ann Althouse said...

"Memo to Ann Althouse: Applause is not the same thing as laughter. One involves making noises with hands, the other, making noises with one's mouth."

Try listening to the crowd response. They respond halfway through it, not as described by the Times. It's a crowd outburst, and it's more pronounced midway.

Synova said...

It was understood by his *audience* and anyone else if the pig was the Rep campaign or Palin or anything else that "lipstick" was Palin.

Now Obama's defenders have two choices.... he did it on purpose, or he did it by accident.

Is Palin victimized by this? Now *that* really would be a joke.

Still, her victimization or lack of it, is up to her. Obama's behavior is up to him. There is no requirement for Palin to be victimized in order to recognize that 1) the statement Obama made was politically stooopid, and 2) it *was* aimed deliberately at Palin.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Obama has created a mental image rivaling the pink elephant in the room, making it very difficult that people will stop, thinking and commenting about it, even if they pretend they are not.

Even if he wanted to un-ring the bell (as Biden appears to be trying) the imagery may be too powerful.

http://tinyurl.com/6knx97

Her entire testimony must be stricken from the record.
You shouldn't have heard it, but you did.
Now, that was my mistake..... and you must strike it from your minds, give it no weight.


The Verdict with Paul Newman.

Peter V. Bella said...

Sloanasaurus said...
The elite left is crashing and buring over Palin because they fear that she will pull middle America with her.

It is not fear, it is certainty. Palin has more in common with middle America than any candidate in the races for the past year. She knows what hard, physical labor is. She knows what it is like to raise a large family in torubled times. Her husband actually works with his hands for a living. She has earned each and every one of her accomplshments on her own and on her own terms.

Obama was given everything he had politcally. If it wasn't for Emil Jones and the Chicago Machine, he would still be a community organizer and a part time law professor.

Clinton is who she is because of Bill.

Biden, Biden, Biden; is his first name Jim, or Jack, or Joe, or something? What is he running for again?

blake said...

AL said:

If you're referring to me, you're mischaracterizing what I said.

I almost never read your posts so that's unlikely. I didn't really have anything specific in mind. I was just trying to sort through all the defenses made.

Fucken liars.

And this is why I generally don't read your posts.

Ann Althouse said...

Here's another thing about the clip. Why is he suddenly pronouncing the word "policy" "poli-say." Is it special for Virginia? There's something really off and phony. But in the end, he's saying the same thing he's been saying all week, which is that it's not fair for McCain to steal his "change" theme.

Peter V. Bella said...

Ann Althouse said...
Alpha: "John McCain laughed when Hillary Clinton was a called a "bitch." But that's okay by Althouse."

Oh, really? Did you bother to do any research on what my *actual* response was when that happened?


Of course he did not. He could care less. He is just trying to be a petulant, annoying, ill tempered teenager who has to be right all the time.


The kind one would like to slap if it were legal again.

EnigmatiCore said...

I said this was no big deal yesterday.

Geraghty convinces me I am wrong.

EnigmatiCore said...

"There's something really off and phony. "

Do you see what I see....

Been telling you this for a while, Ann.

Anonymous said...

Indeed, iisn't fair for Republicans to deviate from the script. Hopiness and changeyness belong to Obama.

Perhaps when Democrats perpetually whine about stolen elections (except for the ones that have give a legislative majority to the Democrats), this is what they mean.

blake said...

Oh, and this is for Alpha:

Lies!

vbspurs said...

Why is he suddenly pronouncing the word "policy" "poli-say." Is it special for Virginia?

Ann, have you been reading the comments?

Me, Enigmatic, DBQ, and so many others have pointed this out for the past three weeks. Not sure why he does that, but I have a theory it's to make him sound more "Sunday preacher"-like, i.e, approachable.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

If Kerry was swiftboated vis a vis his service in Vietnam.

What will Obama be vis a vis his lispstick on a pig?

vbspurs said...

Medeved: (Into phone) Start operation Rolling Thunder.

LOL.

BTW, the WaPo reported the Secret Service names for some of the integrants of this campaign.

Palin? "Denali"
Todd Palin? "Driller"
Obama? "Renegade"

Not sure I'd like that for myself. It's one thing to be a rebel, which is cool. But Renegade? That's like a traitor.

Chip Ahoy said...

lem, several of the comments on the tiny.6knx97 link you provided talk repeatedly about Hillary's many accomplishments. What are they referring to? I know of nothing significant. This is a serious question and not my customary goofing.

Anonymous said...

Lem: Swined? Cosmeticized? Oinked? Porked? Baconed? L'Orealed?

vbspurs said...

Lem: Swined? Cosmeticized? Oinked? Porked? Baconed? L'Orealed?


I've called it Swinegate, but I've heard Swineboat. ;)

Also, via Drudge and Simon, "Boar War".

Mark said...

Piper: Mommy, why is Mr Obama running so fast?

Sarah: Never mind, sweetie, just reload the way mommy showed you.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Maam, there's a pig in my voting booth ;)

Peter V. Bella said...

Alpha, here is Ann’s response to the bitch issue. You lying sack of pus.

Chip Ahoy said...

* Swine slapped
* Sty trapped
* Porked
* Air-cured
* Smoked

Chip Ahoy said...

* Hog tied

vbspurs said...

Note to the Secret Service:

Palin = "Pontius Pilate"

Obama = "J.C."

I thank you.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Lem: Swined? Cosmeticized? Oinked? Porked? Baconed? L'Orealed?

What about what Sarah does after she kills a moose?

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Palin = "Pontius Pilate"

Obama = "J.C."


That is heavenly.

Chip Ahoy said...

When I was between kindergarten and first grade I saw a pig being slaughtered. The pig saw it coming and started screaming. They dragged it off a truck and pulled it up by a chain. At that point my father pulled me away. The screams from the pig and the blood that came out the pigs snout that started immediately when the chains attached to its hind legs pulled it up and inverted it caused a lasting impression. I share this impression with you now, I suppose, because I'm psychologically disturbed. It's not my intention to put anybody off pork, but it is a cruel business.

Still, lipstick on a pig is quite funny. Funnier still to imagine an election could possibly hinge on such a thing.

garage mahal said...

Intresting you can still buy "How do we beat the bitch" t-shirts, coffee mugs, buttons, hoodies, bibs, kids baseball jerseys. Wonder how the right feels about that now.

Anonymous said...

Tasty bacon > hideous cruelty

That's what it comes down for me, I guess.

Anonymous said...

Garage: Pretty terrible, I guess, seeing Obama's utter implosion.

KCFleming said...

You have it all wrong, all of you.

Barack Hopenchange Obama was multiplying the pigs and fishes for the crowd. You see, he called his voters to him, and said, I have compassion on the multitude, because they continue with me now three hours and have nothing to eat; and I will not send them away fasting.

But the multitude laughed for they were not listening and did not understand. And when the women in the land of Demokratya heard his words, there were lamentations and grinding of teeth, and a cry when up.

And Barack did say, "It was just a joke." And lo the sky opened up and the sun shone and peace was at hand.

Amen.

Peter V. Bella said...

"I love the smell of desparation from Democrats. It reminds me of victory."

"Take your filthy hands off my pig you lipstick."

"Leave the lipstick, take the Pig."

"Lipstick on your piiig. Shame on you"

"Ask not what your lipstick can do for you. Ask what lipstick can do for your pig."

"We have nothing to fear but lipstick itself."

"I could have stayed home and worn lipstick. Bill would not have had all those pigs."



(Barbie's Famous Quotations)

Peter V. Bella said...

garage mahal said...
Intresting you can still buy "How do we beat the bitch" t-shirts, coffee mugs, buttons, hoodies, bibs, kids baseball jerseys. Wonder how the right feels about that now.

She got beat. What's your point? No one ever said she was not one. it is just impolite and sexist to call her one.

Peter V. Bella said...

Hillary sold change you can count on. People grabbed their pockets.

Obama sold Hopium. People grabbed their children and took them off the streets.

Obama is now trying to smear farm animals.

People always knew he was weird.

Alex said...

AT most this will cost Obama 1 percentage point in the polls. Not devastating. Next.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

I think the problem is democrats have gone off message.

They havent blamed Bush for the pig shit storm falling on Obama.

former law student said...

You know, every time I see Ann's blog ad of McCain -- attractive, young, vital -- I wonder when the neutrality is going to show up. I mean, if she could analyze McCain's energy policy the way she analyzes Obama's halting speech delivery, I might be able to comprehend if "Drill baby drill" is really going to lower the price of gasoline. Is there any meat behind McCain's simple solutions for complex problems? But I digress.

Here's what I know: When Obama is thinking about what he's going to say next, he'll take a pause before every word sometimes.

EnigmatiCore said...

"When Obama is thinking about what he's going to say next, he'll take a pause before every word sometimes."

Yet he still fucks up constantly.

Doesn't speak well of his thought processes.

Peter V. Bella said...

Hillary: Bill, again! Lipstick on your collar?

Bill: Hold on Hill, my honeybunchyhunkahunkabruninglove. I was down over by the corner holler. You know the one ofn the side of Oachuita Mountains. I was at Lums pig farm. He raises those prize pigs for the State Fair and all. Any way one of them got too close and well, it had lipstick on, and well, you know, that is how I got lipstick on my collar.

Hillary: Oh, Bill. I knew you would never stray again after the last time after time after time. Who would have thought that a farmer would put lipstick on a pig?

Peter V. Bella said...

mark said...
Piper: Mommy, why is Mr Obama running so fast?

Sarah: Never mind, sweetie, just reload the way mommy showed you.


Ding, ding. We have a winner. You get the ears and the tail.

Peter V. Bella said...

Lem said...
I think the problem is democrats have gone off message.

They havent blamed Bush for the pig shit storm falling on Obama.



That would be putting perfume on Karl Rove.

somefeller said...

Peter V. Bella regarding the Clintons: you are an obsession...

Peter V. Bella regarding his own career: if it wasn't for those damn liberals and minorities, I would have actually amounted to something respectable!

Peter V. Bella said...

Speaking of farm animals, how come Obama did not enter that stadium on the Democratic Mascot, the Jack Ass wearing lipstick. It would have been cool. Him riding side saddle and the throngs tossing palms at him and all.

A real Cecil De Mille monent.

Simon said...

AlphaLiberal said...
"Wow, Olbermann has clips of McCain using this line not just to slam Hillary Clinton (Althouse fine with that) but in about 6 other cases, as well."

I've explained this to you at least twice now. McCain described Clinton's healthcare plan as an attempt to put lipstick on a pig. He did not insinuate Clinton was the pig in lipstick. There's a big difference. The difference between you and Olbermann is that you're smart enough to understand the difference whereas Keith could be dropped down an elevator shaft and be at least as compos mentis as he is now. that makes you intellectually dishonest, however, which isn't much better.

garage mahal said...

Yet he still fucks up constantly.

Do you hold that same standard to McCain? He's flubbed quite a few times on some pretty important topics. Not saying you do, but I see a systematic Strawbama to build him up to something he never claimed to be just to rip him down. They do this all the time in the debates; "Bush held his own, he didn't completely bomb. Thats a big win!". They'll do the same thing in the VP debates. "She held her own against the Senate Judiciary and Foreign Relations Chairman!".

garage mahal said...

Simon
So for the record, yes or no, you believe Obama called Palin a pig?

Peter V. Bella said...

somefeller,

Actually, I did amount to something respectable. I spent my whole adult life in public service. What have you ever done? I saw what the Clintons did everyday I went to work. They were nothing than white trash in the White House.

miller said...

Do they not teach the first rule of holes at Harvard?

AlphaLiberal said...

simon thinks that mere repitition wins an argument:

"McCain described Clinton's healthcare plan as an attempt to put lipstick on a pig. He did not insinuate Clinton was the pig in lipstick. "

Look, I don't think McCain called Clinton a pig. And Obama didn't call Palin a pig (and you haven't even bothered to make a coherent case to that effect).

If you were honest, you'd look at the comment in context, see that he was speaking to the efforts of the McCain campaign to pose as reformers.

It's the reform pose that's the lipstick and the very real pig is the Bush policies that McCain will perpetuate.

You guys remind me of the chorus in Animal Farm. "Four legs good, two legs bad." You'll bleat on cue.

AlphaLiberal said...

Anyway, I very seldom agree with Mark Halperin, but do here.

Anonymous said...

I might be able to comprehend if "Drill baby drill" is really going to lower the price of gasoline

Shoulda majored in economics, dude. There's still time. Your local community college can probably set you straight on a few basic principles. It's really not that hard.

AlphaLiberal said...

p.s. There's a new story about McCain consorting with an indicted or convicted Italian con man. Expect more diversions.

Anonymous said...

Alex -- You are right. Obama is already losing. What's another percentage point matter?

Anonymous said...

Alpha -- Surely the next scandal will stick. It has to.

somefeller said...

Peter, I seem to recall you whining about how you didn't move up the food chain in the Chicago PD (from a comment string recently) because, despite living in Chicago for many years, you didn't have a "clout call". In other words, you blamed your lack of advancement on some unnamed others who supposedly prevented you from reaching the great heights you would have otherwise achieved, because you were lacking in stroke or talent (sorry, if you had talent, you'd have stroke). In other words, the standard "if only those liberals and minorities hadn't been there, I would've been chief!" monologue.

My response is the simple one from Nelson Muntz. Ha-ha!

Unknown said...

alphaliberal,

Great! With the sentencing in October, that's gonna be a nice lead-in to Tony Rezkos and Kirkpatrick!

Anonymous said...

you blamed your lack of advancement on some unnamed others who supposedly prevented you from reaching the great heights you would have otherwise achieved, because you were lacking in stroke or talent

Look. You Democrats need to stop bitching about Karl Rove.

AlphaLiberal said...

Well, now it's the 7th anniversary of 9-11. And Osama bin Laden is still on the loose.

Bush = Fail.

McCain says he has a secret plan to catch OBL. But he won't share it unless we make him President.

McCain = Wanker.

AlphaLiberal said...

Here is my earlier point, real simple so even Republicans can grasp it:

Lipstick = McCain's false reform pose.

Pig = McCain's vow to continue Bush policies.


But, you all know that and are just play acting at being the victims.

Anonymous said...

Your arguments are so erudite and convincing, Alpha. So issues-oriented and well-crafted. How is it, do you suppose, that you don't convince all the easily-led idiots here to support your "positions"?

Anonymous said...

Say it again, Alpha. But shriller. Then people will accept your "arguments." Remember, though: shrillness is the key.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

200

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