So far, I’ve spent the majority of this weekend asleep. I’ve been battling some sort of bug for well more than a week, and at best I was holding it to a draw. So this weekend I tried to sleep it off. When I do 14-hours of sleep in a day (two naps and a long night), that means not much blogging. So here are a collection of links to things that accumulated while I was in the land of nod.
One of the sleaziest strategies in this election has been the unsubtle use of the race card by the GOP in the Tennessee election. The Democratic candidate, Harold Ford, is black, his opponent is white, and time and again the Republicans have made a very big deal of Ford being around or dating white women. Thus, the big push early in the campaign about Ford being at some party (when single) that had (white!) Playboy bunnies. And national Republican party issued a press release about Ford having gone on a date with a (white) college sophomore when he was a single thirtysomething. The national Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee has paid for an entire web site just to push the Ford and white women angle — while all the time saying it’s a “values” issue (that a single man went on dates?)
And now, the TV commercial — using at least some actors posing as voters — that really lays on the sleaze:
Despicable.
Other links of note:
Push-polling season begins. And the GOP thinks the winning smear issue is … Mexicans swarming over the border.
Joe Sestak, Democratic Congressional candidate in Pennsylvania, responds to attempt to Swift Boat him.
US troops in Baghdad have had enough: “not an infantry mission anymore” and “worthless” “wasting our time”.
Heavy-handed political commentary from Olbermann.
Heavy-handed humor: Too stupid to be President.
Michael, re the Olbermann thing. I look at synonyms for “heavy-handed,” and most of them, in my view, don’t apply. Anyway, certain things, at this point, bear saying ungracefully.
OK – Maybe heavy-handed wasn’t the best word (although in the sense of “ponderous” it isn’t so very bad, either). But nonetheless there’s something about his delivery of a message I basically agree with that still does kinda set my teeth on edge.
And yes, what he’s saying needs to be said, often, often, often, often.
Everything about this admin sets my teeth on edge.