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RedditWe've all seen the signs in those we love--the abandonment of hope, the furtive worry about skin tone, the sleeplessness and sudden loss of teeth. But it took MoveOn to step forward and attempt an intervention:
Simplistic anti-drug public service announcements, notably those from the corporate-sponsored, Bush 41-spawned Partnership for a Drug-free America, have been setting up spoof-ready targets for a couple decades now. But this MoveOn spot up-ends the usual worried parent/at-risk child equation with such precision that the cameos by Gossip Girl stars Penn Badgley and Blake Lively are just icing on the cake.
But yummy icing: The two will grab eyes, especially when the spot, backed by MoveOn's $150,000, runs nationally on Gossip Girl, as well as on Comedy Central and MTV in college towns in the swing states of Nevada and North Carolina.
In pitting the wisdom of the young against the stubbornitude of the old, MoveOn was surely inspired by Sarah Silverman's hilarious Web vid "The Great Schlep," which instructs young Jews to guilt-trip their grandparents in Florida to vote for Barack. The Obama campaign itself is pushing a nudge-your-family effort --not comedic, of course, but sprinkled with some of the do-and-don't tips that Barack seems to swear by ("Don't feel defensive. Stay calm, cool and collected").
But underlying the generational joke (I love "Just because other people your age are doing it doesn't make it cool") is the McCain-as-a-drug joke. Which, when you think about it, is no joke.
The McCain/Palin campaign has indeed become a kind of hillbilly heroin for the masses, or at least for their base. Right now, the GOP ticket has just two things going for it: that a fragile majority of people still believe McCain is better than Obama on national security and terrorism (if on little else), and they're white. Fear and racism are addictive, and anybody who's taking them together should never drive heavy machinery like the American electoral process.
And yet, here we are, with one of the two major parties playing footsy not just with racial anger but with hints of real violence. Palin clubs your fingers--is she free-basing with her base, or what? Heating up the explosive mix of fear and racism, she gives her people the feeling they can do anything with impunity, shout "kill him," "bomb him," or "terrorist" at the man who will likely be the next president of the United States. Remember how high the Republicans got after their first hit of Sarah at the GOP convention? Just because so many of them--like righty pundits David Brooks, David Frum, or Charles Krauthammer--are now crashing, hard, with shivers and shakes as they go through withdrawal, is no reason to look the other way. Lots of people in the McCain camp, like Steve Schmidt, Tucker Eskew, and the rest of the Karl Rove cartel, are in denial and still looking for veins even as we speak--look what they did to Christopher Buckley and Kathleen Parker, both of whom tried to come clean. The counterculture can be vicious in revenge.
We have to keep lines of communication open. Talk to conservatives, and to the older generation, however you can; you might help them avoid peer pressure and even kick the habit. "Just call me," you might say, as Gossip Girl Lively does. "I'll pick you up. No questions asked."
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>>>Fear and racism are addictive, and anybody who's taking them together should never drive heavy machinery like the American electoral process. <<<
This is a great line, LESLIE!
Posted by Metteyya at 10/15/2008 @ 3:02pm
Check out all the "Obama in 30 seconds" ads
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LuVNZPoVPYg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvO1xELHp3k
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vn55ZdmBPJ4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRpUeGFbJdA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7Dq_TpH7mk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1V7rJfo1TE
http://www.mccainfreewhitehouse.org/
Posted by leftofcenter at 10/15/2008 @ 3:19pm
lvliberty-Can you point out the bigotry since that statement is meaningless without something to back it up with.I can specifically point out right wing bigotry with statements made at GOP rallies about Arabs,blacks,and with the fact that Romney lost because he is a Mormon.Don't forget that it was the GOP that rejected the Christian Huckabee so you can't go with anti Christian nonsense as it relates to Palin and the left.
Posted by i'm nobody at 10/15/2008 @ 3:42pm
leftist bigotry and intolerance is alive and thriving on the Nation web pages.
Posted by lvliberty1 at 10/15/2008 @ 3:21pm | ignore this person | warn this person
like NOBODY said...
what's so intolerant and bigotted about it?
looks pretty subdued...
Posted by dexter666 at 10/15/2008 @ 3:54pm
Intolerance, maybe but bigotry? Against whom? McCain and Palin? Ha! That's funny.
Posted by k330k at 10/15/2008 @ 3:58pm
Great job Leslie. I really like this one:
Lots of people in the McCain camp, like Steve Schmidt, Tucker Eskew, and the rest of the Karl Rove cartel, are in denial and still looking for veins even as we speak--look what they did to Christopher Buckley and Kathleen Parker, both of whom tried to come clean. The counterculture can be vicious in revenge.
Hey rev, what part of the ball park did this one come from. leftist bigotry and intolerance is alive and thriving on the Nation web pages.
Posted by lvliberty1 at 10/15/2008 @ 3:21pm Just another example how "mind set" drives the readers interpretation. Thanks again rev for supporting my suspicions regarding you.
Posted by Truthman at 10/15/2008 @ 4:03pm
Bill Kristol's latest (today) on how McCain should "fire his campaign staff and start fresh"...
must be the "Give up the heroin and go back to Jack Daniels" de-tox program!
LOL
Posted by Maskdelta at 10/15/2008 @ 4:09pm
lvliberty claims that there is no place in the GOP for bigotry and racism,but never condemns it when republicans do it and just comes up with imaginary left wing bigotry that he can never show exists to any degree.
Posted by i'm nobody at 10/15/2008 @ 4:10pm
Posted by lvliberty1 at 10/15/2008 @ 3:21pm
BTW, take the analogy/satire as it stands?
LVLIB would be John Belushi!
LOL
Posted by Maskdelta at 10/15/2008 @ 4:11pm
Lvlib doesn't live in reality. You should know that by now. He lives in a world of Republicans are better in every way than Democrats. He can't ever truly look at reality because it wold shatter his obviously twisted world view.
Posted by Cccomfo1 at 10/15/2008 @ 4:18pm
Lvlib doesn't live in reality.
Posted by Cccomfo1 at 10/15/2008 @ 4:18pm
Well, he was clinically dead for a variable amount of time (anywhere from 45 minutes to 6+ hours, depending on the retelling).
Posted by skeletonman at 10/15/2008 @ 4:22pm
Posted by skeletonman at 10/15/2008 @ 4:22pm
Doesn't "clinically dead" mean ...
no oxygen is getting to the brain?!?!??!?
Posted by Maskdelta at 10/15/2008 @ 4:34pm
who cares what larry thinks.
his vote is in california.
it's useless!
Posted by frosty zoom at 10/15/2008 @ 4:35pm
i bet a few of our posters would love to mainline some palin...
only frank would snort mccain, however.
Posted by frosty zoom at 10/15/2008 @ 4:36pm
leftist bigotry and intolerance is alive and thriving on the Nation web pages.
Posted by lvliberty1 at 10/15/2008 @ 3:21pm
Welp, the game's up. Luvvie's superior intellect has found out my dirty little secret. I am, indeed, a bigot. I HATE white people. ALL white people. That includes my mother, my father, both sets of Grandparents, my two brothers, my wife, my kids...and, of course, John McCain and Sarah Palin.
Posted by Balrog at 10/15/2008 @ 4:38pm
Posted by frosty zoom at 10/15/2008 @ 4:35pm
He may try to sneak over to Nevada to vote...McCain's only down 3% (RCP average) there.
Posted by Maskdelta at 10/15/2008 @ 4:47pm
BTW, speaking of Real Clear Politics...here's there latest Electoral Map-
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/maps/obama_vs_mccain/
Obama/Biden keep all the solids and leaners....and let McCain/Palin have ALL the Toss-ups...it's still 286 EC votes for O/B.
Posted by Maskdelta at 10/15/2008 @ 4:57pm
It's still twenty days away. As Han Solo said to Luke Skywalker, "Don't get cocky, kid!" Remember how the Patriots won the SuperBowl last February?
Posted by The Goods at 10/15/2008 @ 5:38pm
Posted by Maskdelta at 10/15/2008 @ 4:09pm
Great one Mask. I will need a couple more brews to even come close..
Posted by chaoszen at 10/15/2008 @ 6:36pm
Posted by i'm nobody at 10/15/2008 @ 4:10pm
Yeah, kind of like McInsane saying that he has heard the same kind of "Kill Him!", "Terrorist!", "Bomb Him!" rhetoric aimed at him at Obama rallies.
Does Uncle Fester attend Obama rallies? If so maybe he was the one shouting them.
Posted by chaoszen at 10/15/2008 @ 6:41pm
Posted by skeletonman at 10/15/2008 @ 4:22pm
Doesn't "clinically dead" mean ...
no oxygen is getting to the brain?!?!??!?
Posted by Maskdelta at 10/15/2008 @ 4:34pm
Yuppers.
You'll have to ask the Rev. the specifics, but I recall quite clearly that he has asserted more than once on these boards that he was declared dead for a period of time (which varies as noted previously) in the morgue, the whole nine yards.
Now I have declared more than one person dead in my time, but so far have not had anyone make their way back from the morgue (I check this stuff out pretty closely, you see).
Parenthetically, it would explain a lot.
Posted by skeletonman at 10/15/2008 @ 8:17pm
here it comes!!
Posted by dexter666 at 10/15/2008 @ 9:02pm
flippy mac up to bat. stumbling a bit in wordage - looks nervous...but not bad.
obama up now...solid, little stumbling, sounding bipartisan...
very similar...
flippy bringing up the anecdotal plumber in ohio thing...sounding less nervous, solid...
how will barry o respond?
nice zinger...going populist, ignoring the plumber anecdote...now addressing it...good comeback...solid...
flippy sounding/looking nervous - red baiting bullshit...
getting good here. obama staying serious, flippy going shrill...coming back strong - cut taxes.
Posted by dexter666 at 10/15/2008 @ 9:13pm
round 2
deficit...
obama up to bat...
invest in america...keynesian economics...responsibility...solid. what people need to hear.
flippy...hmmm...ok, spending out of control...who's fault? getting petty and lying now...
obama sounding solid - flippy looking nervous...obama sounding reasonable...
heehee - flippy cant run away from king mushmouth!!!!
flippy getting fiesty "i'm not bush!!!!" really? guess so, but what about the last 8 years?
flippy is looking at o...
tort reform, putting out bipartisan creds...calling flippy a liar without saying "liar"...classy...linking flippy to bush again...
Posted by dexter666 at 10/15/2008 @ 9:25pm
round 3...
ooh - the dirt round!!!!
here it comes!!!!!
flippy not looking at O, sounding conciliatory...but now playing the victim...quacking...public finance crap! obama did not act stupidly!
obama - 100% negative? hmmm...
dignified response...
of course obama is spending lots of money - HE HAS IT!!!! oh i know the repugnants are shocked they arent outspending the dems!!!! LOL
OH YEAH!!! obama calmly riposting!!! mking flippy look whiney...
proud of the people at his rallies (flippy)...oh please!!! ooooh tee shirts!!! boohoo! he has repudiated every one of the rightwing wackos??
oh my - now flippy is going insane...acorn bashing - greatest fraud ever???
yes! obama telling the truth, spelling out the facts!!! oh my - explaining the REALITY of the acorn deal. facts facts facts! sheesh! who on the right cares about facts! LOL!
flippy quacks, obama chuckles...
Posted by dexter666 at 10/15/2008 @ 9:40pm
round 4
o talks up joe...solid...
flippy - talking up the lipstick wearing pig...SOUNDS good - to the ignorant. trying to turn the sows ear into a silk purse.
obama responding in dignified, measured way...
mccain not as magnanimous about biden...quacking...
Posted by dexter666 at 10/15/2008 @ 9:46pm
It's still twenty days away. As Han Solo said to Luke Skywalker, "Don't get cocky, kid!" Remember how the Patriots won the SuperBowl last February?
Posted by The Goods at 10/15/2008 @ 5:38pm
yep.
no gloating.
Posted by frosty zoom at 10/15/2008 @ 9:52pm
round 5
energy/climate change
extreme enviromentalits? oh well - not bad for flippy...
obama - it will take 10 years...yup - nice. damn - theres them facts and figgers again! calls out mccain on nafta...fair trade. nice.
who cares about colombia? flippy attacks.
good riposte. auto industry...smart response...
oh the old mantra from flippy - obama wants to negotiate.
Posted by dexter666 at 10/15/2008 @ 9:56pm
ooh, worker's rights.
enforce unfair. stand up.
back to ENERGY. AUTO. tough.
FINANCIAL CRISIS. LOAN GUARANTEES.
make 'em go to the future.
(didn't jimmy say that)
ENERGY INDEPENDENCE hahahahahahhahahahaha
what, no clean coal?
>>>>>>>
our best ally, no.
hugo, ¡si!
colombia, good.
RAISE TAXES.
HERBERT HOOOOOVER!!!!!!
new topic.
Posted by frosty zoom at 10/15/2008 @ 9:56pm
round 6
health care
i like obama's plan. good compromise, moving sanely in the right direction.
mccain - nothing yet...
$5000 tax credit??? really? how bout those making $20,000 or less? yeah, flippy - i like canada and england!
YES!!! obama attacks the $5000 tax credit crap!!! oooh - flippy is getting pissed...
what??? what the hell is mccain babbling about? jeez people - take the whole crap out of the realm of business and imitate the brits or canadians! pay more taxes and get good health coverage. oh well...
issue is talked out...
Posted by dexter666 at 10/15/2008 @ 10:06pm
health care,
break heart, TOLEDO, LAID OFF, NO COVERAGE, DESPERATE,
plan: keep yours if you want.
lower costs, $2500 less, ¿how?
no insurance? buy fed.
eliminate burros....
PREVENTION!
save the budget.
≥≥≥≥≥≥≥≥≥
TERRIBLE, PREMIUMS, COSTS UP. working families....
records online,
he's talking like a democrat!
oooh, tax credit!
joe the plumber,
he's stumbling on his prepared stuff.
JOE WILL PAY FINE!
no, JOHN, don't go to the socialist side.....
≥≥≥≥≥≥≥≥≥≥
no fine, joe.
exempt small businesses....
big businesses pay. choice -- us or them.
uh, oh, sen mccain's plan:
problem, with older, less healthy too expensive for you.
tax -- a dem attacks on taxes?!?!? wow.
it's a mistake.
≥≥≥≥≥≥≥≥≥≥
HEY JOE,
spread the wealth -- you decide!
pay fine
obama's pursin' them lips....
95% will be better.
¡¡¡¡¡SENATOR GOVERNMENT!!!!!
pork, pork, pork.
democrat's in charge!
≥≥≥≥≥≥≥
my plan. calm. plan. risk.
all i want to do is lower your costs.
Posted by frosty zoom at 10/15/2008 @ 10:07pm
Drudge already has his "Who won the debate" ONLINE poll up....
guess who's winning?
LOL
Posted by Maskdelta at 10/15/2008 @ 10:07pm
abortion,
ew.
next.
Posted by frosty zoom at 10/15/2008 @ 10:07pm
guess who's winning?
Posted by Maskdelta at 10/15/2008 @ 10:07pm
joe the plummmer?
Posted by frosty zoom at 10/15/2008 @ 10:10pm
Posted by frosty zoom at 10/15/2008 @ 10:10pm
In an unbiased, scientific, and totally lacking in Margin of Error ONLINE POLL....
the Drudgers have McCain winning it 74% to 26% and it isn't even over.
Surprised?....LOL
Posted by Maskdelta at 10/15/2008 @ 10:12pm
round 7
abortion...
blah blah blah blah
huh? i took the opportunity to go pee on this one.
oh well...still yakking...
supreme court stuff...
yadayadayada...elect obama, get some non-rightwing justices...
oh lord - mccain culture warring...what? babbling hypocritically...
obama calling down mccain on his lie - oooooo those irritating facts!!!
rightwing quacking from mccain...bullshit...
Posted by dexter666 at 10/15/2008 @ 10:16pm
round 8
ejucayshun...
i suspect neither will get this right...
obama - early childhood education...well intentioned but not seeing the real problem...
good - recognizing parental responsibility...
mccain - civil rights? rightwing mantra of choice/competition - sticking it to teachers, misleading statements concerning charter and competition...
neither really get it.
set high standards, remove disruptive pupils, fear not to fail students, set up "scoop up" adult ed programs, make education a privilidge/not a right and watch people strive to take responsibility for their own/their own childrens's education.
make education the responsibility of someone else and watch the educated and their guardians eschew personal responsibility and blame someone else for their failure.
dole out post secondary money only to those who wish to enter fields that we need...
no - neither get it...we will never "leave no child behind"! that stupidity will only result in lower standards and wasted money/effort.
Posted by dexter666 at 10/15/2008 @ 10:27pm
education.
more money vs. reform
both! wow, good idea.
$4000 for community service -- ooh, socialism......
parents get to work!
≥≥≥≥≥≥
mccain seems tired.
choice, competition...
Posted by frosty zoom at 10/15/2008 @ 10:27pm
good night, thank you.
Posted by frosty zoom at 10/15/2008 @ 10:28pm
final statements...
obama did what he had to do, looked good.
mccain did not do bad. better than the other two, but not enough to turn it around...the sitting format made him look less troll-like.
yay!!!! obama!!!
Posted by dexter666 at 10/15/2008 @ 10:29pm
let the pun dance begin!
Posted by frosty zoom at 10/15/2008 @ 10:33pm
yep,
mccain was much better.
obama was calm.
Posted by frosty zoom at 10/15/2008 @ 10:34pm
hey ibbs,
rain on your parade:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/
LAC.20081011.BROWNCRASHLAYER11//TPStory/National
Posted by frosty zoom at 10/15/2008 @ 10:35pm
Posted by frosty zoom at 10/15/2008 @ 10:35pm | ignore this person | warn this person
nice story. thanks.
Posted by dexter666 at 10/15/2008 @ 10:39pm
no problem, brother.
creepy, huh?
here's another:
http://chronicle.com/temp/reprint.php?
id=477k3d8mh2wmtpc4b6h07p4hy9z83x18&source=ihprlklca0000001
Posted by frosty zoom at 10/15/2008 @ 10:43pm
Posted by frosty zoom at 10/15/2008 @ 10:43pm | ignore this person | warn this person
http://tinyurl.com/
lol...
Posted by dexter666 at 10/15/2008 @ 10:46pm
10 to 1...
nichols is minutes away from posting a blog entry...
Posted by dexter666 at 10/15/2008 @ 10:46pm
ok - bedtime for this bonzo...
looking good for obama now. home stretch now. feeling good about this.
Posted by dexter666 at 10/15/2008 @ 10:54pm
october's a long month.
i used to "tiny", but without html, i refuse.
Posted by frosty zoom at 10/15/2008 @ 10:59pm
Posted by frosty zoom at 10/15/2008 @ 10:59pm | ignore this person | warn this person
stop refusing. i have to cut'n paste twice on those long url's...
i miss the html too...
:(
Posted by dexter666 at 10/15/2008 @ 11:10pm
It's still twenty days away. As Han Solo said to Luke Skywalker, "Don't get cocky, kid!"
No, that's what George Lucas's scriptwriter had Han Solo say. Geez, what a line! Star Wars: a pop comic strip with special effects.
Posted by boing007 at 10/16/2008 @ 12:28pm
<img src="http://whateverlater.com/McBong.jpg" />
Posted by whateverlater at 10/16/2008 @ 6:31pm
that was MIND BLOWINGLY well done... ha
Posted by reality check at 10/16/2008 @ 9:42pm
A great spot. I'm forwarding to Mom right now.
And yes, I have no tolerance for the neocons and other assorted idiots who brought us the Iraq war and Depression 2.0. Thanks Bushies! Now get out of the way and let us school you in how to run a government competently and responsibly.
Posted by takemyveepplease at 10/16/2008 @ 9:47pm
"Fear and racism are addictive, and anybody who's taking them together should never drive heavy machinery like the American electoral process."
Great way of putting it.
Posted by emmo18 at 10/17/2008 @ 2:37pm