Entries Tagged 'Politics' ↓

Well said, Hillary. That is the question.

When Hillary Clinton needed to bring her Democratic National Convention speech to a crescendo Tuesday night, she did so the way a lot of politicians do these days: By quoting a dead, much-bedraggled, poor Black person.

In this case, the honor fell on Harriet Tubman, above, the noted abolitionist whose exploits made the Underground Railroad legendary:

My mother was born before women could vote. My daughter got to vote for her mother for president. This is the story of America, of women and men who defy the odds and never give up.

So how do we give this country back to them? By following the example of a brave New Yorker, a woman who risked her lives to bring slaves to freedom along the Underground Railroad.

On that path to freedom, Harriet Tubman had one piece of advice: “If you hear the dogs, keep going. If you see the torches in the woods, keep going. If there’s shouting after you, keep going. Don’t ever stop. Keep going. If you want a taste of freedom, keep going.”

And even in the darkest moments, that is what Americans have done. We have found the faith to keep going.

Wow…. Lovely words. Powerful, even.

But Tubman never said them.

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Best anti-McCain / G.O.P. line of the night, as delivered by Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey Jr., above. He’s also the guy who said, “John McCain calls himself a maverick, but he votes with George Bush 90% of the time. That’s not a maverick. That’s a sidekick!”

All the pro pundits are salivating over “No way. No how. No McCain”? That’s just copy editors looking for a headline-ish-sounding headline, or a tidy pull quote. Instead, imagine the eruption if Hillary had dropped either of the Casey quips. Bra-freakin’-vo, guy.

Illinois Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., above, said this last night, near the end of his speech at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, speaking of Americans.

Now, here’s my question, to anyone who’ll take it:

Is this a true statement?

That is:

a) What unites us?

b) What divides us?

c) Is the former actually greater than the latter?

d) What is the proof of the same?

I was actually kinda blasé about the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, at the outset, so I didn’t really tune in, initially, or check out the opening ceremonies.

Boy, was that a mistake.

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I bought MAD magazine‘s hilarious Barack Obama parody on sight yesterday, only $4.99 cheap! HuffPo ran the story, but my question is the same one I had when I saw the hacked artwork documenting Obama’s illegal wiretaps vote: Who’s gonna try swingin’ a placard-sized version of this at the Democratic National Convention, next month?

Ready to serve: Paris Hilton

That loud slap you heard was Paris Hilton’s sabre-sharp response to John McCain, for goofily Photoshopping her pic into a campaign ad. An echo that resounds was expected: This essay on six reasons why she’d make a better president than a man who graduated 894th in his class of 899 at Annapolis.

The first three arguments, below:

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On one hand, I’m thinking Cindy “Miss Buffalo Chip” McCain has had a rough enough week as is, taking the brunt of her metal husband’s ongoing, passive-aggressive abuse.

But then I took a serious look at this photo, above, and, egged on by Charlotte Hilton Andersen’s devastating “Dear Cindy McCain, Please Pull Up Your Shirt And Tie Back Your Hair: An Open Letter In Pictures,” I had to ask: Who in the world told the McCain campaign that the sight of this scaly middle-aged woman, sporting a tousled, freshly-…fondled, nicotine-throated “Mmmm…hurry back to bed, lover…” gaze, topped off with a dap of cleavage, would be what the American people want to see from a prospective First Lady? Blecch.

But, most of all, when I look at this picture, why does “Yakety Sax” (“The Benny Hill Theme”) run, unimpeded, through my brain?

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Looks like those feisty Hilton women aren’t just taking up space: They’re actually taking on John McCain’s use of daughter Paris’s image in a controversial campaign ad, “Celeb,” that attacks Barack Obama.

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Caricaturist Drew Friedman sums up the psychopathic presidency of George W. Bush in this illustration, “No Joke,” for Vanity Fair, brought to yours truly’s attention via Boing Boing.