It came out in June, but this last installment of HamNation has withstood the test of time. While so many political videos quickly become dated, the issues that so adroitly become the subject of jest are still with us today. That and the tune is just darn funny:
It's a catchy humorous way to deal with a serious topic; a necessary moment of levity in the grind of attack ads, faux outrage, and the daily back-and-forth of the day.
And to prove the serious resonance of some of the video's themes, the NRA is finally out with the beginnings of its voter contact blast against Barack Obama. Many on the left think about as much of the NRA as they do pro-life activists, but remember the NRA's virile opposition to Al Gore was in retrospect considered a key turning point in 2000 - a fact that was still being discussed in 2004.
With Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin already battleground states and with Obama now famously having trouble connecting with blue collar workers in such battlegrounds, one wonders what the impact of $40 million spent against him will be, especially by an organization with a proven track record of moving voters.
It can't help.
Posted by Eric Earling at September 10, 2008 08:18 PM | Email ThisMKH was great at Townhall. Amanda Carpenter as a replacement is a step down.
Posted by: Jeff B. on September 11, 2008 05:44 AMWe've been treated to the true opinion of "fly over country" by the left, referring to Palin as the "trailer trash" representative. Oh, but vote for Democrats because, even though they hate you and think you're a bunch of hayseeds, they still want to get you hooked on government health care and programs.
And from Europe lefties we get the "threat" or maybe it's a "promise" that "Europe will never forgive the USA if we fail to elect Obama...". Well, let me just get this out right up front. "HEY EUROPE, THE REASON WE LEFT YOU IS BECAUSE WE DON'T AGREE WITH YOU - GET OVER IT!"
Now, as absurd as this threat is, let's just examine in detail all the bad things that would happen to America if Europe "never forgave us".
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OK! That was fun.... Let's move on.
I hope everyone in America goes to see "American Carol". It's a parody on "A Christmas Carol" only the holiday is July 4th and the Scrooge character is replaced with Michael Moore. The film is directed by a reformed/recovered liberal, and the actors are conservatives (who are probably now black-listed in Hollywierd). That's OK. I wish some rich conservatives would start a NEW HOLLYWOOD, located somewhere like Utah or Idaho, or Texas. They could put out films promoting capitalism, free markets, freedom, and the pursuit of wealth. They should bash everything Hollywierd holds dear, like collectivism, socialism, national health care, unfettered illegal immigration, environmental wacko-ism, etc.
There IS a market for it. A FREE market. Conservatives will turn Hollywierd into the equivalent of the dying print media (like the NY Times). I'd go see every film they produced. I absolutely loath actors like Matt Damon, who just said it's scary how "unqualified" Sarah Palin is while having supported Obama for Prez since the first day he became a Senator. Typical Hollywierd double standard. Well, I hope ol Matt and Candice Bergen choke on their caviar while riding around in their limos listening to the election returns this November, because a McCain/Palin administration is getting more and more likely to happen every time they open their mouths. I wouldn't even be surprised to see voters help the GOP PICK UP a few seats in congress, rather than give the moonbat party a veto-proof majority as they were expecting.
I'm LOVIN IT!
Bruce, great job of accusing McCain of something he's NEVER DONE, and never would do while ignoring things Obama HAS said and WILL do.
Posted by: scott on September 11, 2008 12:43 PMIf that extends to 2 liberal men in an Enumclaw barn taking liberties with the denizens within, then yes, McCain should condemn that "wrong type of sex".
It's Obama's backwards thinking that has turned the safety net in this country into a hammock for 10s of millions of people.
The resulting co-dependency between the two groups of do-gooders and the do-nothings is today called liberalism.
Boy, you can really see how insane these people are when things start getting a little tight. The level of craziness from the left seems to be growing exponentially with every passing day.
You tend to get a little crazy when you see that McCain has devolved from a "maverick" into a dishonorable liar in short order. Typical Republican. I'm simply amazed that conservatives can foll themselves into believing the lies that he's spreading.
It's Obama's backwards thinking that has turned the safety net in this country into a hammock for 10s of millions of people.
Unlike Republicans, who would sooner leave people out on the streets to die miserably than think about people other than themselves. Of course, "citizenship" from a Republican perspective just means saluting the flag and joining the military, without any other meaningful obligations to society in the slightest.
Posted by: demo kid on September 11, 2008 01:52 PMAs opposed to the folks at Palin's church, who believe that the Jews in Israel deserve what they get? Hypocrite.
Posted by: demo kid on September 11, 2008 01:55 PMFirst of all, I'm always amused when conservatives try to paint Obama as a liberal, when he's actually a centrist. Heck, everyone throws around the "Marxist" label, but as they say, I don't think that it means what the brain trust here thinks that it means.
Second, Obama and McCain's energy plans are more alike than similar, with the exception that there is more of an emphasis on getting off an oil-based economy. Unfortunately, Republicans seem more entranced with slogans that actual effective energy policy, and don't seem to realize the global security benefits to a less oil-intensive approach. (Heck, I would have thought that a strong strategy to break OPEC would be cause celebre in the Republican Party.)
Finally, I always get amused with that pathetic whining about victimization from the right. Stop deluding yourself. You're not being persecuted. You're just being a drama queen.
Posted by: demo kid on September 11, 2008 02:03 PMIn response to partofone's comments in Sarah Palin is a Dominionist by partofone:Obama's idea is a good one: no harm, no foul. ... Bush has trashed the constitution, the separation of powers, the economy, our environment, our place on the planet, etc.
No, he hasn't. The Constitution is still just fine. You're free to speak, you're free to not incriminate yourself, you can't be fired for being black or gay or a woman, you still have an absolute right to counsel, you can't be cruelly punished, you can still purchase and own a gun, you still have access to the courts in the event that you're wronged by force or fraud, you can still can't own slaves, you can still purchase and imbibe alcohol, heck you can still even murder your unborn children. If the Constitution has at all been trashed, it's the 9th and 10th Amendments that have been shredded - and you can blame THAT on the left-wing. Why?
Because it's not Bush that's tried to trash the separation of powers - it's the liberal left-wing. It's the left (usually at the behest of the ACLU) that has spent the last half-century bypassing both the Legislative AND Executive branches - you know, our chosen representatives elected to exercise the will of the people - by appealing directly to the Supreme Court so they can whitewash the nation with whatever their particular agenda might be (abortion, government takings, paternalistic laws, environmental controls, whatever.) Hell, if Congress even STARTS doing something they don't like, they file suit to prevent them from PASSING the law before they've even voted on it! And they make the same exact argument every time: "our Constitution is a fluid document, it needs to be changed with the times." That statement is an ADMISSION of them being the ones that are trashing it. Throwing out the tried and tested legal rights and principles, in order to find non-existent rights and powers in "the penumbras of the Constitution." ie. They're just making up whatever the hell they want, and calling it "Constitutional." And there's not a damn thing anyone can do about it. Not the President, not Congress, not the individual citizen. You want to complain about the loss of separation of powers, look no further than the left-wing liberal political machine.
The economy? OK, it's not in the greatest place - because we're trying to finance a war. But is that really Dubya's fault? No. He's not the one that took the first swing, but he damn well stepped up to the plate to fight back. And he will not back down. You want to blame the economy on someone, blame the international terrorists who strap bombs to themselves and try to destroy our countrymen and our way of life. And who is it that wants to ALLOW these murderers to run free and unchecked? That's right, the left-wing. The liberals who seem to think that these psychotics are "misunderstood" - or worse, "justified." Big picture here, boys and girls. How many people do these madmen have to kill before you start to agree that they're a problem and need to be stopped?
And then, to add insult to injury, how does the left propose remedying this economic problem? By spending lots and lots of money on worthless and needless short-sighted "social programs" that do nothing but create complete dependency on the good graces of mommy government. And how do they propose to finance this idiocy? By slashing the military budget, and via outright theft - which will have the effect of leaving us defenseless and vulnerable, as well as encouraging the backbone of our society - the wealthy - to move their corporate (AND consumer!) interests offshore where they won't be taxed and regulated so heavily. You're ALREADY seeing it happen. Why do you think all the big companies are outsourcing jobs? Because they're sick of having a liberal boot on their neck. They're sick of your ridiculous minimum wages, your hamstringing EPA and OSHA regulations, your union gangsters, and, of course, your taxes. Yea, great solution - chase away the money. I'm sure that'll work out just fine.
Bush trashed the environment, you say? Newsflash, look outside. The environment is fine. The only thing trashed about the environment, is the public opinion about it - because you, the left, have fed us lie after lie, banking on our paranoia and appealing to some "do it for the children" sentiment. This planet is in no danger of being uninhabitable - or even uncomfortable - simply because people use oil-power, take long showers, and don't recycle their newspapers. AND EVEN IF IT WERE, your approach to fixing it is ASS BACKWARDS. The liberal left, screaming that the sky is falling, wants to hurl a wrench into the engine that drives this country - thinking that it'll motivate them to come up with a newer, cleaner engine. It won't. In fact, it'll make things worse. It already HAS made things worse. The left-wing's anathema to oil has SKYROCKETED oil prices and left us at the mercy of OPEC, forcing the average consumer to divert his income to filling his tank as opposed to general consumer spending. Haven't you gotten it through your heads? No matter how high you drive oil prices, PEOPLE STILL NEED OIL - and they will HAVE to pay for it. And this affects the poor the most - because they can't afford your fancy new hybrids, because they can't risk being inconvenienced and delayed by your absolutely worthless and completely undependable public transportation systems (WHICH you force them to pay for anyway!) to get to work, to pick up their children, to shop for groceries, and to deal with emergencies. And what's your alternative to them? "Ride a bike." A BIKE!? Are you people OUT OF YOUR FREAKIN' MINDS? You are completely out of touch with reality.
And it's not just gasoline! It's petroleum. It's electricity. It's everything that oil creates, that we DEPEND ON for our society to function. And if it wasn't enough that the left is driving up prices, they add INSULT TO INJURY by then REGULATING IT TO ABSURD DEGREES, usually on the basis of "environmental controls."
Ahh, control - the holy grail of left-wing ideology. That's what they really want, you know. Control - over everything. Over what you're educated, over what you're told by the media, over the food you eat, over the way you spend your leisure time, over the way you handle your garbage, over the way you travel, over your health, over your finances and savings, over the way your job is performed, over every single little aspect of your lives - from whether you choose to wear a seat belt, or smoke a cigar, or gamble your money, or eat a factory-farmed preservative filled double bacon cheeseburger with extra trans fat. They even want control over the way you think - demanding civil recourse and even CRIMINAL PUNISHMENTS if you have the audacity to "hate" someone for the color of their skin, or utter an unpopular word like "faggot" or "Christmas." And you have the audacity to say that BUSH is the one trashing our place on the planet?
If anyone's trashing our place on the planet, it's the liberal left-wing. The liberal left is the one who is absolutely petrified of being held in ill-regard by the international community. The liberal left is the one who wants us to blindly kowtow to the wishes of the UN or the Kyoto Protocols or violent Muslim fascists and extremists. The liberal left is the one telling us that the sky is falling in order to terrify us into obedience under an environmental and economic dictatorship. The liberal left are the ones systematically stripping our liberties on the pretense that it's "for our own good."
Bush may not be the greatest President that ever lived. He may not be the brightest bulb in the box. But at least he's not intentionally trying to screw us over in every possible way a person can be screwed over. At least he doesn't defend stripping Americans of their lives (abortion); of their liberties (environmental restrictions, paternalistic laws); of their property (takings and taxation.); and of their pursuit of happiness (mandatory charity and "sacrifice for the greater good" mentality.)
Bush isn't the one who put us in this spot. YOU ARE. You and your like-minded friends. Your ideology. Your psychotic, subversive attempts to control everything and everyone. The insane, dogmatic zealots you support like Nancy Pelosi, and Harry Reid, and Barbara Boxer, and Ted Kennedy, and Cindy Sheehan, and Ingrid Newkirk, and Oprah Winfrey, and Sean Penn, and Maria Cantwell, and Alec Baldwin, and Diane Feinstein, and Maureen Dowd, and Al Sharpton, and Gloria Steinem, and Al Gore, and John Kerry, and Jesse Jackson, and Hillary Clinton - the bishops and cardinals of your relativistic church, your cult of moral grayness. Your religion - pretending not to be a religion - that preaches that the ends always justify the means, that being well-intentioned is more important than doing the right thing, and that mommy government knows what's best for us all.
Obama's promise isn't "no harm, no foul." Obama is the charismatic young front man, completely controlled and dependant on a bunch of handlers that serve a machine that is promising the exact opposite - harm and foul. At least when the Democrats backed Bill Clinton, he was honest enough to let us know that he was running the show. I remember the jeers of the 2000 and 2004 election - "Bush is a puppet of big business, Bush is a puppet of the oil companies." Well, you know what? Maybe that was true - but Obama is an even greater puppet, and to a much more malevolent force.
Let's be honest here, all you left-wing cultists - you people won't be happy until this country is the USSR. Right? That's the long-term goal, right? Well, here's the problem with that. The proletariat that you claim to serve, whose interests you claim to have in mind, starved and/or froze to death while their all-encompassing, all-controlling, paternalistic government offered them nothing but well-intentioned empty promises that they said were "for the greater good." They told you that the sacrifices they demanded were good and noble, while damning and demonizing anyone that acted (or even spoke!) in a way that served self-interest. They preached the "virtues" of altruism and compassion, while viciously attacking the children of anyone that dared to oppose them.
And your cult is no different from theirs. Not in any way, shape or form. You drive away or destroy the best and the brightest, while championing only the communitarian sycophants that march to the party line in a jackbooted lockstep and talk out of the sides of their mouths. The liberal left-wing talks about "change" - but what they really mean is "control." Absolute and complete control.
"A vote for McCain means more of the same," say the ads - well you know what? That's exactly what this country needs. The same respect for life, liberty and property. The same capitalistic freedom to make ones own way. The same personal autonomy and individualism that allows people to thrive and define the course of their lives. The same opposition and intolerance of those across the globe who would support such grave moral wrongs as murder, slavery, theft, and oppression. The same commitment to impartial and objective justice dedicated to being a shield against those who have been wronged, and not a sword to be wielded against someone you wish to control. The same courage to stand up to an enemy and let him know that we will not be ruled or coerced by force, fraud, or fear. The same respect for that iron-clad document, our Constitution, that clearly enumerates our rights as citizens and the limitations of our government.
To hell with the malevolence and insanity that is the ideology of the left-wing. To hell with what you're calling "change."
Cool guy, eh? We're very proud!
Posted by: Ragnar Danneskjold on September 11, 2008 02:18 PMHeck, I even had to laugh when "respect for that iron-clad document" was brought up, as conservatives are quite willing to ignore its principles when it gets in the way of your own goals.
But hey, you really won't be content until the world is a smouldering hole, will you? Why do you hate America?
Posted by: demo kid on September 11, 2008 02:33 PMI notice you refuted noting! Please, POINT BY POINT show us what parts were "overinflated" and why.
Strum, strum... that's the sound of my fingers anxiously drumming on the desk in anticipation.
Not ONCE were conservatives even mentioned.
Sigh.
Yet another left-wing cultist who can't be bothered to defend his ideology, but is quick to condemn that which does not strictly adhere to his religion's ideology. Methinks commiekid would have been an Inquisitor in the 16th century... one who enjoyed his job a bit too much.
Burn those heretics, right kid?
Ladies and gentlemen, presenting The Democratic Party.
The pieces of dumbo kids head hitting the various flat surfaces as it explodes in rage and dismay... when the empty-suited, anti-American racist bigot that he so admires is flattened in November.
What drivel.
Posted by: hinton on September 11, 2008 04:19 PMThe pieces of dumbo kids head hitting the various flat surfaces as it explodes in rage and dismay... when the empty-suited, anti-American racist bigot that he so admires is flattened in November.
What drivel.
Posted by: hinton on September 11, 2008 04:19 PMYet another right-wing idiot blowhard that can't seem to realize that refuting an essay of that size takes time. And, of course, some of us do need to work here
Let's see... how about if I just take two points?
Let's be honest here, all you left-wing cultists - you people won't be happy until this country is the USSR. Right?
And liberals would answer, "Absolutely not." In fact, I don't think that many modern liberals would say that in the slightest. That's just a feeble Republican attempt to wheel out their infamous bogeyman to make a point. Might as well exhume Reagan and carry him around on the McCain campaign.
I mean, have liberals ever seriously advocated nationalizing industries? Heck, the last THREE times that happened, Republican presidents were the ones to make it happen. In fact, you could argue that Republicans are the WORST kinds of communists, where the benefits are reserved by individuals but the risks are borne by society as a whole.
Are we the ones that pushed for wiretapping and expanded powers to violate the rights of privacy of US citizens? No, I don't think so. In fact, conservatives are the ones to applaud these measures, and suggest more erosions of our personal rights.
Are we the ones that are overusing symbols of nationalism to convince people to do things that are against their self-interest? Nope.
Are we the ones that moved to make government and the executive branch more opaque to oversight? Nope.
Are we the ones branding our ideological opponents as "traitors"? No.
You may claim that the liberals want the US to be more like the USSR... but Republicans are putting all the worst aspects of Stalinist communism into practice right now.
That's what they really want, you know. Control - over everything. Over what you're educated, over what you're told by the media, over the food you eat, over the way you spend your leisure time, over the way you handle your garbage, over the way you travel, over your health, over your finances and savings, over the way your job is performed, over every single little aspect of your lives - from whether you choose to wear a seat belt, or smoke a cigar, or gamble your money, or eat a factory-farmed preservative filled double bacon cheeseburger with extra trans fat.
I�ll call bull on a lot of that... more paranoid propaganda. But heck, with conservatives, the reverse is true. They want to wash their hands of everything, to the point where being an American citizen means NOTHING and has no responsibilities. School? Why, if you can�t pay for it, send your kids straight to the coal mine! Oversight and testing? Surely people will learn not to drive a certain model of car if the wheels fall off a couple thousand times. Seat belts? Well... people voluntarily CHOOSE to be thrown out of windshields, right? Finances and savings? Which party put through the legislation to make sure that if you had your life savings in a bank, that a bank failure wouldn�t leave you penniless?
Furthermore, a laissez-faire market where the people don�t have responsibility leaves a very big power vacuum for companies to step in, organizations that have no loyalty to the people, just to their shareholders. Republicans consider government to be "the problem", but there is an overwhelming amount of evidence that leaving the foxes to guard the henhouse is a stupid strategy as well. I don�t give a crap whether you eat tofu or a big jar of lard... but to think that private companies have any obligation to provide you with the information you need to make a decision about which is better is hopelessly naive.
The mean-spirited bile that erupts out of the mouths of conservatives amazes me sometimes. I really don't think that liberals hate America as much as you do, sir.
But hey, I'll be laughing once your decrepit candidate loses. This victory has been a long time coming.
Posted by: demo kid on September 11, 2008 04:28 PMI'll be laughing once your decrepit candidate loses. This victory has been a long time coming. -Posted by demo kid at September 11, 2008 04:28 PM
Posted by: Ragnar Danneskjold on September 11, 2008 04:35 PMHow come the number never bear that assertion out then? Studies have shown that Conservatives are much more generous in donating both their time and money to charitable organizations.
Liberals talk a helluva game and then sleep in on game day....probably on that hammock I referenced earlier.
Posted by: Rick D. on September 11, 2008 04:39 PMCheck your facts d-child before you show your ignorance. Several months back as the CEOs of several oil companies testified before a congressional committee, Maxine Waters threatened to 'socialize' the oil companies. See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KN6s1KVFBNg for proof. I think the last time I checked it Maxine was a democrat. Oh wait. Watch the video, I think she calls herself a ...
Posted by: Silkworm on September 11, 2008 06:48 PMOf course, "liberal Seattle" is one the cities that devotes the most amount of time and money with charities. And, of course, I'm a little skeptical about the data sources, and what is considered to be "volunteering" or "donating". If you're contributing to a church so your pastor can buy his second mansion, I'm really doubting that something like that is the same as actually making a difference in the world.
@24: Check your facts d-child before you show your ignorance.
Idiot. Check your facts. Nixon signed off on the nationalization of Amtrak in 1970, Bush nationalized the TSA in 2001, and there was this most recent run at it with the GSEs. Guess that Republicans are more the socialists than Democrats, huh?
And the video that you note? Pure political theater to score points. Come back when you have a real example.
Posted by: demo kid on September 11, 2008 07:18 PMOh, I agree Demo Kid. I'm assuming you're referencing Obama's TUCC church then with that comment.
Jeremiah Wright, the former pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ, is being gifted by HIS church with a 10,000-plus square foot 1.6 million dollar home (with a $10 million dollar line of credit) in an exclusive gated community where 93% of the residents are White...full article here
....but, I'm sure the good pastor is just trying to fulfill his obligation by actually...what were your words again...ah yes, "making a difference in the world", right?
Posted by: Rick D. on September 11, 2008 08:11 PMFace it... Republicans are the Communists, but in the worst possible way. They merely nationalize those businesses that are failing to make taxpayers assume the risks that shareholders should be taking.
@29: Answer the question. Was I defending Wright? And how hypocritical is it to attack one pastor and not the other?
Posted by: demo kid on September 12, 2008 03:35 PMObama mentor Jeremiah Wright, the former pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ, is being gifted by HIS church with a 10,000-plus square foot 1.6 million dollar home (with a $10 million dollar line of credit) in an exclusive gated community where 93% of the residents are White
Liberal hypocrisy on display for all to see.
Posted by: Rick D. on September 13, 2008 09:57 AM