fayfreethinkers.com

.
"This, McCain and his female Sancho Panza..."
--Right-wing columnist George Will referring to Sarah Palin as the illiterate side kick in the novel Don Quixote.

I haven't read this famous book but I looked this up. To properly unpack this insult and savor it's full impact, consider this description:

***
"Sancho Panza is not a servant of Alonso Quijano before his madness turns him into Don Quixote, but a peasant living in the same unnamed village. When the novel begins Sancho has been married for a long time to a woman named Teresa Cascajo[1] and has a daughter, María Sancha (also named Marisancha, Marica, María, Sancha and Sanchica), who is said to be old enough to be married. Sancho's wife is described more or less as a feminine version of Sancho, both in looks and behaviour. When Don Quixote proposes Sancho to be his squire, neither he nor his family strongly oppose it.

Sancho is illiterate and proud of it but by influence of his new master he develops considerable knowledge about some books. During the travels with Don Quixote he keeps contact with his wife by dictating letters addressed to her.

Sancho Panza offers interpolated narrative voice throughout the tale, a literary convention invented by Cervantes. Sancho Panza is precursor to "the sidekick," and is symbolic of practicality over idealism. Sancho is the everyman, who, though not sharing his master's delusional "enchantment" until late in the novel, remains his ever-faithful companion realist, and functions as the clever sidekick.

Sancho obediently follows his master, despite being sometimes puzzled by Quijote's actions. Riding a mule, he helps Quixote get out of various conflicts while looking forward to rewards of aventura that Quijote tells him of."

Link

DAR
Note: Jeff Frederick is the head of the Republican Party of Virginia.

TIME magazine:

***
The McCain campaign invited me to visit Frederick and the Gainesville operation on Saturday morning, to get a first-hand glimpse of its ground game in Prince William County, Virginia, a fast-growing area about 30 miles from Washington, D.C.

With so much at stake, and time running short, Frederick did not feel he had the luxury of subtlety. He climbed atop a folding chair to give 30 campaign volunteers who were about to go canvassing door to door their talking points - for instance, the connection between Barack Obama and Osama bin Laden: "Both have friends that bombed the Pentagon," he said. "That is scary." It is also not exactly true - though that distorted reference to Obama's controversial association with William Ayers, a former 60s radical, was enough to get the volunteers stoked. "And he won't salute the flag," one woman added, repeating another myth about Obama. She was quickly topped by a man who called out, "We don't even know where Senator Obama was really born." Actually, we do; it's Hawaii.

Link

Time columnist Joe Klein summed up what seemed to be the panel's Palin consensus:

"It was a gimmick," he said of the pick. "It was one of the most disastrous decisions I have seen in a presidential campaign since I've begun covering them."

Later in the session, Hilary Rosen, the Huffington Post's Washington editor at large, noted that the Palin pick had been successful in energizing the Republican base -- and McCain himself. But Dowd wasn't biting.

"To me it is like Halloween," he said. "You get energized by eating all that candy at night but then you feel sick the next day."

Huffington Post

And this:

"This ought to be a Republican landslide for crying out loud!" --Rush Limbaugh

On the third debate, of independents who watched the debate:

CBS Poll:
Who won the debate?

McCain (R) 22%
Obama (D) 53%

CNN Poll:Who won the debate?

McCain (R) 31%
Obama (D) 58%

FAUX NEWS:
The entire Frank Luntz focus group on Fox News... said that Barack Obama won the debate. Luntz termed it a "clear majority," but not one person raised their hand when asked if they thought McCain won.

Said Luntz: "None had made a decision to support Sen. Obama before the debate, but more than half supported him after the debate. It was a good night for Barack Obama."

See here.

Here’s what Obama just said at a fundraiser this morning:

“For those of you who are feeling giddy or cocky and think this is all set, I just say one word. I guess it’s two words for you: New Hampshire. You know, I’ve been in these positions before where we were favored and the press starts getting carried away and we end up getting spanked. And so that’s another good lesson that Hillary Clinton taught me.”

From Think Progress:

SANTORUM:
"Well, I’m from western Pennsylvania. I grew up in western Pennsylvania. I grew up in a steel town — Butler, PA — and those people are not racist. What they are are people that look at someone who is as liberal as Barack Obama, who has been condescending to them — in calling them clinging their guns and their religion — won’t wear the American flag pin, and he is not in concert with their values. It has nothing to do with the color of his skin."

It’s not clear how not wearing a flag pin makes someone condescending. Regardless, Obama does wear a flag pin. He has, in fact, worn one at each of the three presidential debates. The person who refuses to wear one is Sen. John McCain (R-AZ)



It's worth pointing out that Santorum was not wearing a flag pin during this interview on Faux News.

McCain losing enthusiasm? Seeing the handwriting on the wall?

=========
"Oh, sure,'' Mr. McCain said. " I mean, I don't dwell on it. But, look, I've a wonderful life. I have to go back and live in Arizona, be in the United States Senate representing them, a wonderful family, daughters and sons that I'm so proud of and a life that's been blessed. I'm the luckiest guy you have ever interviewed and will ever interview. I'm the most fortunate man on earth and I thank God for it every single day.''

"So if the world turns an unfortunate way on November 4th, don't feel sorry for John McCain?" Mr. Wallace asked.

"Don't feel sorry for John McCain and John McCain will be concentrating on not feeling sorry for himself,'' Mr. McCain said.

Mr. Wallace said, "And you might just be president."

"You never know,'' Mr. McCain said.

See here.

"We have seen Mrs. Palin on the national stage for seven weeks now, and there is
little sign that she has the tools, the equipment, the knowledge or the philosophical
grounding one hopes for, and expects, in a holder of high office."
-- Peggy Noonan, conservative speech writer for Raygun, speaking for a lot of Republicans.

"Fifty percent of small business income taxes are paid by small business."
-- McCain, during the third presidential debate

"Although I really should run this past Paul Krugman before going public,
the evidence seems to suggest that as much as 100 percent of small business
income taxes are paid by small business."
-- Michael Kinsley

DOUG
See Ron Howard's Obama commercial featuring Andy Griffith and Henry Winkler. Ron Howard dresses up as Opie Taylor and as Richie Cunningham to promote Obama.

http://www.funnyordie.com/

DAR
WOW.

***
Former Bush Aide Backs Obama
Former Bush spokesman Scott McClellan said he will vote for Sen. Barack Obama in the presidential election, according to ABC News.

Said McClellan: "From the very beginning I have said I am going to support the candidate that has the best chance for changing the way Washington works and getting things done and I will be voting for Barack Obama and clapping... It's a message that is very similar to the one that Gov. Bush ran on in 2000."

Link

I like this one:

"I know at the end of the day putting this in God's hands, the right thing for America will be done, at the end of the day on Nov. 4."
-- Sarah Palin,

Darrel wrote:"I know at the end of the day putting this in God's hands, the right thing for America will be done, at the end of the day on Nov. 4."
-- Sarah Palin,

Well the fundamentalists can't be disappointed if Obama wins, it would be God's decision after all. The oracle from Alaska has said so.

Tim

Romans 13:1
Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.

DAR
You thought they couldn't worse?

***
"Terrorist strikes on four American cities. Russia rolling into Eastern Europe. Israel hit by a nuclear bomb. Gay marriage in every state. The end of the Boy Scouts.
All are plausible scenarios if Democrat Barack Obama is elected president, according to a new addition to the campaign conversation called "Letter from 2012 in Obama's America," produced by the conservative Christian group Focus on the Family Action."

Link

All,

I found this on the news this morning and thought it might be of interest:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ynews/ynews_pl108

It is Ron Howard giving his support to B. Obama.

Bill Clinton...returned to his native state to stump for Barack Obama this weekend.

Now, Obama doesn't have much of a shot to win the Natural State (despite Clinton's optimistic and Baroneian analysis that "if the 11 counties of northeast Arkansas go for Barack Obama and Joe Biden," they could pull it off).

But what is interesting is not so much that the former president is being a good party soldier — he's gotten in the swing of things over the past few weeks — but that he wasn't alone on his tour around Arkansas.

Joining him were most all of the Democratic establishment of the state, including Gov. Mike Beebe, Sens. Mark Pryor and Blanche Lincoln and Rep. Mike Ross.

These are all moderate or conservative Democrats who backed Hillary Clinton in the primary. And while Arkansas is still a Democratic state, it is economically populist and culturally conservative. In short, liberals don't fare well there. These Democratic officials know that and are careful in their votes, statements and endorsements — always wary of being associated with their more left-leaning national party.

Which is why it's notable that they all joined Clinton on an Obama tour.

See here.

Now, Obama doesn't have much of a shot to win the Natural State (despite Clinton's optimistic and Baroneian analysis that "if the 11 counties of northeast Arkansas go for Barack Obama and Joe Biden," they could pull it off).

Ok, this forced me to look up Baroneian on google. I still don't know what it means.

Me, too. It isn't a word according to dictionary.com.