Last night Barack Obama joined Hip Hop star Nelly in a performance of Tip Drill before 50,000 screaming fans at "Ho-Fest 2008" at Detroit's Ford Field.

The high point of the night was when Obama invited his wife Michelle onstage and re-enacted the famous Tip Drill video.  The crowd went crazy as Michelle and Barack performed the hilarious credit card move.

The performance was immediately condemned by:

NBC, ABC, CBS the NY Times, the Washington Post, MSNBC, CNN, FOX, Lifetime, Oxygen, Emily's List, NOW, NARAL, PUMA, the Family Research Council,  the White Citizens Council, Focus on the Family, Family Circus, Planned Parenthood, NARAL and the United League of Purity Balls.

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Today Steve Benen at The Carpetbagger exposes McCain's incredible pander/lie/flip-flop on the Dream Act, the bill that gives undocumented young people a chance to earn U.S. citizenship by going to college or enlisting in the military.

If The Carpetbagger is not on your daily blogging list, it should be.  Steve Benen is doing great stuff -- brilliant  in quality as well as quantity (about a post an hour).

Here's how Benen put the "straight-talker's" position:

When the National Review asked McCain about the Dream Act, McCain said, "I would have voted against it. I have said a thousand times, I have heard the message from the American people."

The man is just shamelessly dishonest. McCain co-sponsored the Dream Act, then refused to vote for it, then promised to oppose it, then promised to support it. And just to add a little irony to the whole situation, McCain then concluded, "I do ask for your trust."

(Video update below)

If a Republican candidate makes a campaign-ending statement in a forest and only the traditional media is there, does anyone hear about it?

Pioneer10 has diaried this but the topic needs to be recommended or front paged, because the traditional media ain't gonna do it.

At a town hall meeting on Monday, McCain said:

Americans have got to understand that we are paying present-day retirees with the taxes paid by young workers in America today. And that's a disgrace. It's an absolute disgrace, and it's got to be fixed.

In other words, the way social security has worked since the thirties is a disgrace.

Did you see the match? (Immediately anointed by JMac as "the greatest in history."  Personally, I would pick his 1980 match with Borg -- you know, the 18-16 tie-breaker match.)

But yesterday was spectacular tennis -- an all-day, up and down battle of wills, wits and unearthly shots. What a contrast to the early '90s Wimbledon -- Becker v. Stich had a total of 9 minutes of actual playing time.

And did you see JMac post-match corridor interviews?  I never thought I'd yearn for the days of Bud (net-cord!) Collins.  In case you did not see it, McEnroe attempted to console the devastated Federer with a "hug" (reminiscent of his credit card ad, I guess).  It was beyond cringeworthy.  Of course, JMac has long ago shown that he cares little about acting in a cringeworthy manner.

The panel on "This Week" managed to infuriate me even without Cokie or George Will.  It was composed of Mark Halperin (no intro necessary), Jonathan Capehart (of the WaPo), Michelle Cottle (archtypical TNR "liberal") and no less than Ted Koppel (who in his post-Nightline phase is nothing more than a fount of conventional wisdom).

Here's what I learned:

Obama's "refining Iraq policy" statement is a turning point inthe campaign because it obviously shows he won't pull troops out. (Halperin)

The more this issue comes up (Iraq) the more John McCain benefits (Steph).

Obama has flip-flopped on a number of issues (Capehart!)

We can't leave Iraq because the price of oil will skyrocket (Koppel!)

McCain is right that Obama is coming close to McCain's position on Iraq (all!)

Iceberg Slim posted a diary For the Love of Money on this this morning, but I think it deserves more attention, and perhaps a front page post.  According to the Politico:

Their credit card bills peaked between January 2007 and May 2008, during which time Cindy McCain charged as much as $500,000 in a single month on one American Express card and $250,000 on another, while one of their two dependent children had an AmEx card with a monthly balance as large as $50,000.

In a related story, it was disclosed that Leona Helmsley left $5-8 billion for the benefit of dogs. see disclaimer below

Like the tax defaults on the McCain's home this is something that might just disgust the average person.

In May, I diaried the phenomenon of Fauxrage, an infantile disorder, now defined by the Urban Dictionary as:

   Fauxrage: n. fo-rage., fô rāj′

Frenzy created by media or blogs to inflate a usually minor, perceived  offense into a major scandal or continuing political event.

Congress, in a fit of fauxrage, passed a resolution condemning a newspaper ad about a General. The fauxrage was stoked primarily by Faux News.

The Wesley Clark incident is the latest in the seemingly unending parade of fauxrage perpetrated by the right and their media abettors.

Joe Lieberman is not the only member of Congress who is supporting Rev. Hagee.  Elliot Engel, who represents parts of the Bronx, Westchester and Rockland Counties, will be sharing the stage with the wonderful Catholic-bashing, Holocaust as God's plan preaching, "the Anti-Christ is a Jew" Reverend John Hagee.

Apparently, Congressman Engel finds Hagee less offensive than John McCain.  I say it's a shonda.

Please call his office at (202) 225-2464 (DC) or (718) 796-9700 (Bx), and let him know your thoughts.

Thanks.

The Urban Dictionary has accepted my definition for Fauxrage.

Fauxrage: n. fo-rage., fô rāj′

Frenzy created by media or blogs to inflate a usually minor, perceived offense into a major scandal or continuing political event.

Congress, in a fit of fauxrage, passed a resolution condemning a newspaper ad about a General. The fauxrage was stoked primarily by Faux News.

We now observe fauxrage almost daily.  The endless loops of the good Rev. Wright provided the uber fauxrage of the campaign so far, but just recently, we had Republican and media fauxrage at:

Obama [compassionately] saying he wouldn't punish his daughters by forcing them to have a baby.

Ed Schultz [accurately] calling McCain a "warmonger."

A 16-year-old who [justifiably] asked McCain a question and was called a "heckler."

Obama [sociologically] saying that bitter people cling to guns or religion.

Join me below for a Brief History of Fauxrage

Last night, Chuck Hagel simply went medieval  on McCain.  His remarks read like a recommended diary here. Take a break from primary-mania to relish this:

Chuck warms up:

I'm very upset with John with some of the things he's been saying. And I can't get into the psychoanalysis of it. But I believe that John is smarter than some of the things he is saying. He is, he understands it more. John is a man who reads a lot, he's been around the world. I want him to get above that and maybe when he gets into the general election, and becomes the general election candidate he will have a higher-level discourse on these things.

According to Chuck, McCain is out of the "realm of civilized discourse" if he opposes engaging with an adversary like Iran.

Then he moved on to impeachment:

This does not exonerate McCain from his absurd statement that "the American people" know who's in charge, but it may be wrong to say that Obama never said he would meet with Ahmadinejad in particular.

We value accuracy around here.

I've been referred to two articles around the time of the Ahmadinejad Columbia visit.  The headlines state that Obama said he would meet with Ahmadinejad in particular. The questions asked in the articles are about Ahmadinejad in particular.  Obama's quoted answers don't directly state that, and could be interpreted more generally (i.e., he'd meet with another leader). However, that would mean that the authors of both articles were attributing to Obama a specific statement about Ahmadinejad, when he did not say that.  I kind of doubt that, even given the lazy and corrupt standards of the press.  Moreover, I would have expected the Obama camp at the time to contest the headlines and conclusions of the artcles.

A CBS News piece from 9/24/07 has the headline:

Obama: I Would Still Meet With Ahmadinejad

[More]

I just listened to "On Point" (WBUR) in a program on McCain featuring a GOP Shill named Fabrizio, the great Jack Beatty, and Jill Zuckerman, a "reporter" for the Chicago Sun-Times.

The GOP Shill was as expected ("wait till voters find out the "truth" about Obama and how he voted against jailing domestic batterers!")

But that was much less offensive the Zuckerman gross fluffing of McCain:

"The "100 Years" statement was out of context."

"McCain was just kidding around about not knowing economics."

"He talks about issues to reporters all the time!"

To her credit, she did mildly admit that he voted for the CIA to torture, but generally it was repellent listening.

Any Chicago people familiar with her?

My head hurts.  Today's NY Times Week in Review has a distinguished symposium titled How to See This Mission Accomplished.

Wow, I thought naively.  A diverse group of opinions on what to do about Iraq on the fifth anniversary of the most shameful, bitterly ironic "celebration" in US military history.

Then I looked at the distinguished conspirators [oh, I mean contributors]: Fred Kagan, Daniel Perle, Danielle Pletka, Ken Pollack, Paul fucking Bremer, for chrissake!  Yes, NY Times.  The Mission will finally be "accomplished" by taking the advice of the rogues and criminals who engineered the initial "Mission Accomplished."

Not a single "dirty fucking hippie" [n. phrase: someone who had the sense to oppose the war before it started] (unless you consider Nathaniel Fick, a Marine infantry officer in Iraq and Afghanistan and a fellow at the Center for a New American Security, to perhaps be a dirty fucking hippie).

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Here we go again. In this week's Newsweek Michael Hirsch has an article titled The Democrats’ Wimp Factor: As Obama's patriotism is questioned, he's starting to look more and more like John Kerry in '04.

Hirsch then uses the time-honored self-fulfilling prophecy of adopting the right-wing attack as being effective merely because the question is raised.

Between the questions about Obama's meager association with William Ayers, a former Weatherman, and the suspicions raised by his lack of a flag lapel pin, the likely nominee is slowly being turned into John Kerry.

Hirsch seems oblivious to the idiocy of those questions and the backlash against them.  Let this guy know in his comments or his email: [webeditors@newsweek.com] that this year he's wrong -- We and Obama will not let this crap stand.

I'm still scratching my head on this one.  First, the AP  says McCain "declined to label Obama an elitist," then it quotes him saying that Obama is an elitist.  

In his speech and in a more relaxed question-and-answer session meant to approximate the setting on his "Straight Talk Express" campaign bus, McCain repeatedly declined to label Obama an elitist for the comments that have roiled the race for the White House in recent days.

"I think those comments are elitist," he said. "I think anybody who disparages anyone who is hardworking, the dedicated people who cherish the right to hunt and observe their values and the culture ... and say that's because they are unhappy with their economic conditions, I think that's a fundamental contradiction to what I think America is."

"These are people who produced the generation that made the world safe for democracy."

McCain's remarks were his latest reaction to Obama's description last week of residents of small towns that have been economically distressed for a generation or more.

Emphasis supplied

Yes, that's right, Bill Maher called us that just half an hour ago, after quoting a poster who said he or she would "vote for Hillary and then leave the country."  This was in the context of Maher's continuing theme that no one has the right to tell Hillary to quit.

Aside from that, it was a pretty good show, with three liberals and cute, but air-headed Amy Holmes (Is Maher sleeping with her?).

Actually, by the end of the show, "conservative" Holmes had come out against all corporate welfare, and for financial regulation.  Not a bad transformation in 20 minutes.

Esai Morales, Robert Reich and Barbara Lee were excellent.  Morales (the Latino George Clooney?) kept bringing up the "transfer of wealth" upward through the "wars" on terror, drugs, etc. and Reich picked up on that.

Iraq war films have been a box-office bust so far, but the previews for Stop-Loss gave the impression that it might end the losing streak of films like "Lions for Lambs," "In the Valley of Elah," "Redacted" and "Rendition."

So in spite of its mediocre 61% tomatoemeter score, I headed out to the 10:00 show at the Lincoln Square.  I felt somewhat of an anti-war, anti-administration patriotic duty to see it, and add at least one to the weekend gross.

The show was pretty full, though not sold out.  But of course, we're talking about the People's Republic of the Upper West Side here.  As for the film itself?  Very good, but not great.  Certainly worth seeing.  (Some more, with perhaps a moderate spoiler, below the fold.)

Tavis Smiley beautifully illustrated the link between Wright's sermons and MLK's anti-war 1967 speeches, where he said,among other things, that the US was the world's greatest "purveyor of violence."  Tavis linked this to the true definition of a "patriot," as someone willing to rebuke his country.

But -- Tavis continued the disturbing tendency of saying "You can't beat McCain on experience" -- and Robin Wright, otherwise quite good on Iraq, bought the "McCain's speech showed differentiation from Bush."

People like Smiley have to starting saying, "McCain may have longevity, but that doesn't equate to good experience.  Any "experience" that made him support the greatest disaster in US foreing policy is worthless.

Dan Savage added some good comments and a good bit about the "what if Obama/Hillary loses" issue with CA voters.