This time, it's a new tool to avert drunk emailing.

I do not believe that Movable Type has a feature like that; I've looked.

h/t: Girl on the Write

Posted by: Attila Girl at 03:00 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 43 words, total size 1 kb.

Morrissey at Hot Air has the story:

John McCain continues to improve his message while campaigning through swing states. In Pennsylvania today, McCain used Barack ObamaÂ’s support for both the Phillies and the Devil Rays as a revealing moment about Barack Obama the politician. He will say and do anything to get elected, but afterwards Â…. well:

Now, IÂ’m not dumb enough to get mixed up in a World Series between swing states, but I think I may have detected a little pattern with Senator Obama. ItÂ’s pretty simple really. When heÂ’s campaigning in Philadelphia, he roots for the Phillies, and when heÂ’s campaigning in Tampa Bay, he shows love to the Rays. ItÂ’s kind of like the way he campaigns on tax cuts, but then votes for tax increases after heÂ’s elected. Or the way he says he backs the middle class and then goes and attacks Joe the Plumber after heÂ’s asked a tough question.

McCain didnÂ’t let up on the lessons of Joe the Plumber, either:

After months of campaign trail eloquence, we’ve finally learned what Senator Obama’s economic goal is. As he told Joe, he wants to quote “spread the wealth around.” He believes in redistributing wealth, not in policies that grow our economy and create jobs and opportunities for all Americans. Senator Obama is more interested in controlling who gets your piece of the pie than he is in growing the pie. This explains some big problems with my opponent’s claim that he will cut income taxes for 95 percent of Americans. You might ask: How do you cut income taxes for 95 percent of Americans, when more than 40 percent pay no income taxes right now? How do you reduce the number zero?

Well, thatÂ’s the key to Barack ObamaÂ’s whole plan: Since you canÂ’t reduce income taxes on those who pay zero, the government will write them all checks called a tax credit. And the Treasury will have to cover those checks by taxing other people, including a lot of folks just like Joe.

That may be the best stump-speech explanation IÂ’ve heard yet from McCain about Obamanomics. How do you reduce zero? You start another branch of welfare, and you rob capital from sources that could otherwise create jobs to do it. That wonÂ’t grow the economy, but it will expand the dependent class who will then vote to protect the patronage they receive. ThatÂ’s another version of the Chicago Way.

McCain also included Joe BidenÂ’s latest gaffe as a demonstration of the danger an Obama administration would represent to national security:

This weekend, Senator Biden guaranteed that if Senator Obama is elected, we will have an international crisis to test AmericaÂ’s new President. We donÂ’t want a President who invites testing from the world at a time when our economy is in crisis and Americans are already fighting in two wars.

What is more troubling is that Senator Biden told their campaign donors that when that crisis hits, they would have to stand with them because it wouldnÂ’t be apparent Senator Obama would have the right response. Forget apparent. We know Senator Obama wonÂ’t have the right response.

WeÂ’ve seen the wrong response from him over and over during this campaign. He opposed the surge strategy that is bringing us victory in Iraq and will bring us victory in Afghanistan. He said he would sit down unconditionally with the worldÂ’s worst dictators. When Russia invaded Georgia, Sen. Obama said the invaded country should show restraint. HeÂ’s been wrong on all of these.

McCain seems to have hit his stride again, thanks to Joe the Plumber and Joe the Leak. ItÂ’s a great speech . . .

Ed has the entire transcript of McCain's speech over at Hot Air, BTW.

Posted by: Attila Girl at 02:25 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 658 words, total size 4 kb.

. . . against Barack Obama, by M.K. Ham and Guy Benson; edited by Ed Morrissey.

It's a long essay, punctuated with videos as evidence. This basically constitutes "the fine print," so make sure your undecided friends see it—along with any of your Democratic friends (non-PUMAs, that is) who are probable Obama voters. Provided, that is, that they actually read the ingredients list when they buy food.

One should know what one is getting, no?

Posted by: Attila Girl at 01:59 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
Post contains 81 words, total size 1 kb.

Pejman on the "pay to play" system the media face if they want to cover the Obama campaign on election night.

I do so hope their high-priced credentials will keep the riff-raff out.

Don't forget your black armbands, folks. It's going to be a loooonnngg, sad tale. I mean, evening.

Posted by: Attila Girl at 01:21 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 78 words, total size 1 kb.

He's so good. We need to get this guy a real studio:

That tile background isn't doin' it for me any more: they say he's in a corner of his basement, but it looks more like a bathroom to me. Anyway: no matter. But I'll be the audio would improve a little without the sound bouncin' around like that.

Still . . . he's Macho Sauce! He's got something no one else has. I mean, apart from the hat, which I can't help but like. And that tatt that I can't quite make out.

And that one camera angle thing was very cool, with him looking down into the camera and the camera turning. Loves it.

Posted by: Attila Girl at 01:06 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
Post contains 122 words, total size 1 kb.

The Times just did a big story on Sarah Palin's college years.

This is, presumably, its way of making up for never having covered Barack Obama's time at Occidental and Columbia.

See how that works?

Posted by: Attila Girl at 12:48 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 51 words, total size 1 kb.

. . . Colorful, provocative verbiage:

h/t: Moe Lane at Red State.

Posted by: Attila Girl at 12:45 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 32 words, total size 1 kb.

Iowahawk has the scoop: don't misunderestimate this guy!

Biden also warned the audience that the first days of the Obama administration would bring some inevitable disappointments.

"I'm not going to lie to you - it doesn't take a weatherman to know that hey, Mr. Tambourine Man, a hard rain is gonna fall, all along the watchtower," said the Delaware Senator, strumming on a pantomime guitar. "There will be a point -- maybe one week, maybe two weeks after the inauguration -- when the opinion polls will look bad. Really horribly bad. Despite our best efforts, a couple of mid-size cities will inevitably be vaporized. People will be complaining. 'Why are you nationalizing the Safeway?' 'When is Omaha going to stop glowing?' 'Why do the Chinese soldiers keep asking for my papers?' When this happens, we will need you to keep supporting us because, trust me, you really won't want to be observed not supporting us."

"But I promise you, if one of these inevitable nuclear attacks is, God forbid, successful, Barack Obama and I will conduct tough and open negotiations with our new overlords," said Biden. "Ol' Joe Biden learned how to negotiate at his dad's used car lot in Scranton PA, and if these overlords think they can swing some sort of lowball occupation deal, I'll just tell them 'I gotta go get my manager,' and then... boo-yeah! In comes Barack Obama to upsell them undercoating and extra exercise yard privileges for you and me."

It's at moments like these that I truly regret our having put Mayor Bimbo on the ticket.

Posted by: Attila Girl at 12:35 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
Post contains 273 words, total size 2 kb.

. . . run off anti-Islam bigots! Hoorah!

So—were these people cranks, or plants by the Obama camp? I think it's significant that they weren't willing to give their names.

Via AllahP at HotAir, via Ace.

Posted by: Attila Girl at 04:48 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 40 words, total size 1 kb.

Especially in Florida.

Via Hot Air.

Posted by: Attila Girl at 04:06 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 10 words, total size 1 kb.

. . . is fresh off the blog at Five Feet of Fury.

I'm not so sure about the music, but I think she gets the point across.

h/t: RightGirl.

(X-posted at Right Wing News.)

Posted by: Attila Girl at 11:07 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 41 words, total size 1 kb.

Or is Melissa just a bit annoyed at Peggy Noonan?

I just don't get Noonan lately. I've certainly had arguments with conservatives about Sarah Palin with conservatives (is she a brilliant retail politician, a la Ronald Reagan, or is she McCain's answer to Harriet Miers? And can you compare a management position with that which must be occupied—by definition—by a legal scholar?)

But John McCain heads up this ticket, and whatever else he is, he is neither an extreme right-winger, nor an idiot. There are, in fact, a number of ways in which his communication skills are far better than Obama's (e.g., his sense of humor is far superior to The One's).

Noonan used to be a bright writer; an interesting voice. A thinker. Now she's merely a silly classist hack. Over the past several years I've found her to be more and more unreadable: less thoughtful. Less challenging.

So there won't be much to miss, for me. Ronald Reagan, on the other hand, may be spinning in his grave.

Posted by: Attila Girl at 11:01 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
Post contains 182 words, total size 1 kb.

A new site is being put together by a colleague of Ace of Spades to keep track of reporters who do not fact-check their stories adequately, who display undue bias, or who go after less-newsworthy targets (e.g., Jodi Kantor serving up warmed-over gossip about Cindy McCain as "news").

The project is very likely too late to affect this election, and is most certainly not soliciting funds. ("Give to the McCain campaign, or to a 527," it recommends right now.) But it will provide an invaluable resource in the years ahead, so we can keep track of the most aggressive purveyors of slime against people such as the Palin family, and (most egregiously, of course), Joe the Plumber.

After the election the project will be needing researchers, data-entry people, and writers.

In retrospect, we've needed a mediapedia for a long time, and it's exciting to see this finally happening.

(Cross-posted at Right Wing News.)

Posted by: Attila Girl at 10:07 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 159 words, total size 1 kb.

No, not just a Zogby poll; Reuters and C-Span also participated. I'm hoping that means the methodology was reasonably balanced. The good news: margin of error is 2.9 points on this.

Of course, I need to go back and check on the Electoral College: I know the widget I've got on my sidebar is based on the traditional practice of oversampling Democrats, so I should probably ditch it for something better. (Something that's less demoralizing to most of my readership.)

Irrespective, this thing is going to be close, which means that minimizing fraud and keeping the turnout high are key. Remember the old Hugh Hewitt line: "if it isn't close, they can't cheat."

Democrat Barack Obama's lead over Republican John McCain in the presidential race has dropped to 3 points, according to a Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby poll released on Sunday.

Obama leads McCain by 48 to 45 percent among likely U.S. voters, down 1 percentage point from Saturday. The four-day tracking polll . . . has a margin of error of 2.9 points.

Pollster John Zogby said the numbers were good news for McCain, and probably reflected a bump following his appearance in the third and final presidential debate on Wednesday.

"For the first time in the polling McCain is up above 45 percent. There is no question something has happened," Zogby said.

He said the Arizona senator appeared to have solidified his support with the Republican base -- where 9 out of 10 voters now back him -- and was also gaining ground among the independents who may play a decisive role in the November 4 election.

Obama's lead among independent voters dropped to 8 points on Sunday from 16 points a day earlier.

'RED FLAGS'

"If that trend continues, it is something that has got to raise red flags for Obama," Zogby said. "It suggests to me that his outward look of confidence may be as much strategy as it is real."

Other national polls have given Obama a double-digit overall lead, fueled by perceptions he would do a better job managing the faltering economy and unhappiness with McCain's attacks on him over the past week.

But he has cautioned his supporters against overconfidence and most polls now put his lead in single digits.

Obama, 47, who would be the first black president, enjoys strong support among black, Hispanic, Catholic and Jewish voters while the 72-year-old McCain holds a narrower lead among male and white voters.

Women, who are expected to be an important factor in the election, still favor Obama by a 6-point margin, although this has been declining in recent days.

It's weird, what happens when you out yourself as a socialist. And when your running-mate is out-drawn by his opposite number by a 4:1 ratio, that can't help but be a little bit embarrassing.

Vote, no matter what. Vote, even if you live in a solid blue/red state like I do; they still need to hear your voice on legislators and initiatives, bond measures and the like. (CalTech Girl tells me that Halloween is usually "Initiative Weekend" in her family—they get together and read all the initiatives and bond measures. They do it aloud, but we might not do it that way here, since A the H and I nearly came to blows over Prop. 8.)

If your state is still solidly blue, a robust showing in the red counties will make the other side sweat, and vice versa. Turn your state purple for democracy!

Halloween is probably also the weekend to run over your legislators' records, so you aren't just using the voter guides sent out by your pet group (whether it's NRA or the Sierra Club) for that kind of thing. Particularly given the work Congress and Senate have ahead of them (passing laws, or--my preference--overturning 'em) in order to save the economy, we need to do our homework there. For the record, capitalism is better run by capitalists. And capitalism creates more jobs than any other system. So a few pro-business people in Congress and in your state capitols will help us enormously, given the times we find ourselves in.

It's probably better to vote early in the day, rather than late, but I've never managed it. If you vote after work, don't get "Florida Panhandled": if you cannot keep the news from affecting whether you make it to the polls, best take a "media blackout day" in case some states are "accidentally" called early at some news desks.

To be honest, I think a lot of states will "accidentally" be called early and incorrectly this time. We cannot listen. We cannot.

Most of us will be better-served by keeping the radio off, and the TV off for that one day until we've gotten home from the polls.

Obama is out-spending McCain about four to one at this point. If he doesn't win in a landslide (which he will not), it's going to make him look a bit bad.

All we need do is turn the screw one more notch.

Posted by: Attila Girl at 10:09 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 848 words, total size 5 kb.

John McCain really does have the best sense of humor of any candidate out there right now; his timing is good.

Via CalTech Girl, who observes, "if the whole campaign was just a giant roast, it would be no contest." Yup.

Posted by: Attila Girl at 01:34 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 49 words, total size 1 kb.

Via Malkin.

Posted by: Attila Girl at 12:27 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 14 words, total size 1 kb.

Clouthier has yet another roundup on the persecution of Joe the Plumber, which may end up tipping this election, in a moment of Perfect Incandescent Irony.

Posted by: Attila Girl at 04:14 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 46 words, total size 1 kb.

And there's only one of 'em left?

Hm. Maybe it's just for efficiency in keeping eyes on these scumbags.

But if their fundraising and recruitment is suffering . . . that's indeed a horrible thing.

"Western intelligence won't say" why the sites went dark on 9/10 of this year.

Curiouser and curiouser.

Posted by: Attila Girl at 03:05 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 70 words, total size 1 kb.

Because of my fondness for medium-bodied Brazilians, I've picked up a Rocky Patel 1992. I also nabbed a Davidoff 2000. My cigar log got lost in the move, so I might have to blog on whether I like 'em.

I've been told that I should try non-Cuban Cohibas ("the other Cohibas"). Why not?—I like the Cuban originals, but I'm no longer convinced that we can subvert that island with capitalism; I may start enforcing the embargo in my own life and sticking with non-Cubans. (Also, the strongest stogie I really love is also Cuban: I adore Punch cigars. Love 'em. I wonder what the embargo-friendly answer to those would be.)

Posted by: Attila Girl at 02:48 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
Post contains 114 words, total size 1 kb.

Glenn has his own roundup on the "I am Joe" movement.

People are angry; so angry. The way Palin was slimed was bad enough, but exposing every aspect of this guy's life, losing him his job . . . I think a lot of ordinary Americans are in a state of shock. Palin was and is a politician: she was put through a meat grinder we'd never seen any candidate go through before, but she emerged from it bloody, but unbowed. And we know that our candidates are, by definition, public figures.

Taking away a guy's dignity and livelihood because he asked a question of the Preferred Media Candidate that brought up an awkward response about an awkward little philosophical difference Obama has with the rest of the electorate?

We finally have a good definition for "the politics of personal destruction."

Posted by: Attila Girl at 02:30 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 163 words, total size 1 kb.