And if that ain't enough...

...Obama himself (not his "campaign") has decided to dive right under the muck to the bottom of the barrel by playing the race card. Without cause, I might add.

“Nobody thinks that Bush and McCain have a real answer to the challenges we face. So what they’re going to try to do is make you scared of me,” Obama said. “You know, ‘he’s not patriotic enough, he’s got a funny name,’ you know, ‘he doesn’t look like all those other presidents on the dollar bills.”‘ -- Barack Obama

Not that anybody has actually done that, no. And since McCain hasn't made race an issue, Obama's decided to just pretend he has. Or will have done. Maybe. Someday in the future that Obama imagines. Yeah, that's it, the imaginary future that would exist if people were actually as shitty as Obama thinks they are.

According to the FoxNews article, Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs said Thursday that Obama was not referring to race.

“What Barack Obama was talking about was that he didn’t get here after spending decades in Washington,” Gibbs said. “There is nothing more to this than the fact that he was describing that he was new to the political scene. He was referring to the fact that he didn’t come into the race with the history of others. It is not about race.”

When translated from politicalese, this can be expressed as follows, "It sure as hell was about race, but I'm spinning like a UFO to put out the fire this arrogant moron candidate of ours started."

Robert Gibb's slick spin to the contrary, Obama certainly wasn't talking about the political history presidents on the dollar bills. Here's the history:

• George Washington ($1 bill) had no political history whatsoever. But he was the Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army.
  
• Abraham Lincoln ($5 bill) was an Illinois state legislator, but served only one term as a US Representative in 1847-49 prior to his Presidential run in 1860.
• Alexander Hamilton ($10 bill) was the first Treasurer of the US, not a president.
  
• Ulysses S. Grant ($50 bill) was an Army general who had no political experience prior to his Presidential run.
  
• Benjamin Franklin ($100 bill) was a founding father, not a president.
  

For the most part, you'd think that Obama would claim that he does resemble one or two of the Americans immortalized on the money, particularly Lincoln. But wait... Lincoln was a Republican. How inconveeenient. Only Andrew Jackson ($20 bill) bears any resemblance to the type of career politician that Obama claims was the focus of his statement. (Jackson was a US Representative, Senator, and Territorial Governor before becoming President.)

Surely... surely... if Obama's statement were as cleverly nuanced as Gibbs would have you believe he would have taken these bald facts into account. A man as smart as Obama thinks he is wouldn't mis-state history to that extent, now would he?

No, Gibbs, your apology is transparent and silly. Obama meant race. And he clearly thinks it's OK for him to paint McCain and Bush as racists, without cause.

One thing is clear. Barack Obama can never, ever in his lifetime make any credible complaint about "going negative". He's descended as low as it goes.

Obama bends over.

I'd like you to take a look at this Democratic party ad. Boston.com has headlined the story, "McCain desperate, Democrats say" with an exceedingly poor analysis of what this ad actually means. Before we discuss it, click on the embedded ad. Watch it. Or read Boston.com's summary.

Note that the ad never identifies "the charge" except to say that it's very negative for Obama. Also note that the ad never once even attempts to refute whatever the charge may be. It simply says that it's such a mean thing to say that McCain shouldn't have brought it up. IOW, faced with their inability to refute McCain's "charge" against Obama, the Democrats have resorted to changing the subject.

So there are two concrete conclusions to take home here:
1. There is something really negative to be said about Obama.
2. He doesn't deny it.

The best Obama has been able to do is bend over and let the Democratic party have their way with him by posting this silly, self-damaging ad. It's silly, in that the causes are trivial and not terribly negative; and it's self-damaging, because it brings attention to McCain's statements, which as it turns out, are solidly founded.

Also note that Boston.com doesn't do anything to remove the uncertainty for the reader by identifying or linking to "the charge" or to the "negative ads" that are claimed. They really don't want to put this in context. This is what you would expect from Obama supporters, as presenting both sides might cause you to see merit in McCain's statement. Better to drag out the stale old "the severity of the charge" tactic that's been used since waay back when Clarence Thomas was nominated for the US Supreme Court. That is, it's not the truth of the charge that matters, it's the severity of the charge. And McCain is being charged with going negative, presumably with baseless accusations born of desperation. Except that nobody is denying what McCain said.

What could it be? Who knows, they won't identify it. But MSNBC reports this as McCain's "first negative ad":


Here's the announcer's script:

ANNOUNCER: Barack Obama never held a single Senate hearing on Afghanistan. He hasn't been to Iraq in years. He voted against funding our troops. Positions that helped him win his nomination. Now Obama is changing to help himself become president. John McCain has always supported our troops and the surge that's working. McCain. Country first.
JOHN MCCAIN: I'm John McCain and I approve this message.

This aired just prior to Obama's overseas trip, and it was factual. Frankly, if stating the truth is "negative" then the negativity doesn't lie with the ad, but with your candidate.

But here's the latest "negative ad" that's drawing so much Democratic ire:


Here's the script:

ANNOUNCER: He's the biggest celebrity in the world. But, is he ready to lead? With gas prices soaring, Barack Obama says no to offshore drilling. And, says he'll raise taxes on electricity.Higher taxes, more foreign oil, that's the real Obama."
JOHN MCCAIN: I'm John McCain and I approve this message.

All of which are verifiable. Again, if the facts are negative, it's the candidate -- Obama -- not the ad, to blame.

Instead, the Democrats would rather focus on the fleeting glimpses of Paris Hilton and Britney Spears in the ad (both of which occur during the words "biggest celebrity in the"). That's it. That's the big controversy. They showed some celebrities when talking about celebrity. How dare they?

What was the "scurrilous statement" Joe Klein ranted about (Joe called it a "McCain Meltdown"). It was this:

This is a clear choice that the American people have. I had the courage and the judgment to say I would rather lose a political campaign than lose a war. It seems to me that Obama would rather lose a war in order to win a political campaign.

Well, it does seem that way. And not just to me. Apparently McCain's opinion is shared by a lot of folks. And with good reason. For instance, the troop surge that Obama opposed has worked, but Obama resolutely refuses to say that it has, even though will say that the situation in Iraq has improved, and he clearly knows why. "I will not say the words you're looking for," he told a reporter on FoxNews, though his website has removed the reference to his opposition to the successful surge. Obviously, "inconvenient truths" are there to be buried and forgotten. And the evidence of his responses says that Obama's self-esteem is more important to him than the safety either troops or civilians.

So the McCain tactic is to counter the mainstream media's Obamagasms with reasons why you should temper the hype... reasons that you will not hear from the smitten schoolchildren writing the news. Obama's tactic is to puff up all indignantly and cry "foul!" when anything unflattering about him is said, even though it's true.

If you want to learn more, visit AudacityWatch.com.

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Where did the traffic come from?

I was just looking over my web statistics and found that hits on Ruminations jumped significantly sometime around the middle of May. I checked the referrers and found that it's largely because Fake Steve Jobs linked to my Iron Man expose'. Pretty cool. Thanks, FSJ!

New Song: Ish Kabibble

This is mostly just nonsense fun. The inspiration for it (believe it or not) was "If I Only Had a Brain" from The Wizard of Oz. In such roundabout ways are songs made.

Download Ish Kabibble

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REVIEW: Go, Speed Racer!

OK, when I saw the trailers for Speed Racer (official site, IMDB) I thought this movie would completely and totally suck. However, I was surprised. Against all my better judgment, I came away from the theatre thoroughly entertained.

First, set aside everything you know about movies. Set aside everything you know about cars, or racing, or the laws of physics. They don't apply.

Second... if you're epileptic, do not see this film. Don't even drive past the theatre. God never intended for there to be that many colors, and certainly would never have contrived a scene where they all appear at once. Imagine, if you would, that Willie Wonka went stark raving mad, tied you down in his lab, and poured jellybean dye directly onto your eyeballs. That's not dissimilar to the experience of watching this film. From that perspective, this Day-Glo festival of horrendous hues is most certainly a work of the Devil himself.

But once you get past the lurid Dr. Seuss colors and impossible physics you find that the story itself is not bad. And if you grew up a child of the '60s (like me), you'll find that everything you loved about the cartoon is here. The Wachowskis (yes, the Matrix people) make no attempt to change or delete anything. The iconic theme song is used copiously, and all of the characters are exactly what you expect... no surprises there.

Plotwise... Speed has been obsessed with racing his entire life, and after his brother dies in a cross-country race, Speed takes up the mantle of driver for his family racing company. He's offered a spot as driver for a Big Company, and when the deal turns sour, it's up to Speed to make things right and ensure that Truth and Justice prevail, etc., etc., yada yada yada. OK, so the plot's been used a million times. It's how you tell it that counts, and this is done pretty well.


The casting can't be faulted. Emile Hirsch is Speed, looking for all the world like he was drawn from the cartoon, Elvis pompadour and all. John Goodman is Pops Racer, wrestler-turned-mechanic (a bit of trivia they actually use in the movie!). Susan Sarandon is Mom Racer, who is perpetually stuck in the 1950s like a fly preserved in amber. Christina Ricci as Trixie is hotness on a stick; she's never looked cuter. Matthew Fox turns in a credible performance as "Racer X"; Kick Gurry is Speed's mechanic "Sparky"; and Paulie Litt steals the show as Spritle, Speed's younger brother (with the help of a chimp).

Now, a sensible reviewer would blast the movie for the glitz, the colors, the senseless motion. But somehow all of this works, IF you forget that you're watching live action and treat it like the anime that it is. This is not a movie, it's a live-action cartoon. Mukokuseki abounds. What year is it? What country are we in? Who gives a rip? It's a timeless, multi-cultural romp.

I'm no fan of the Wachowskis. I, for one, look on the whole Matrix series as a not-so-subtle uncredited rip-off of Jack Chalker's Wonderland Gambit trilogy (The Cybernetic Walrus was released in 1995; The Matrix in 1999). So it pains me to admit that I actually liked Speed Racer. The jury is still out as to whether it's a work of genius or insanity. But it is, as I said, entertaining.

I have GOT to get me one of these!

XR3 Hybrid: Personal Mobility Vehicle (PMV) Automotive Prototype Project

Three wheels, 125mpg in diesel-only mode, 225mpg in hybrid mode. It's the coolest car I've seen since 1985. If Doc Brown built a time machine today, he'd want to put it in one of these. Only one problem... it's top speed is three miles per hour short of 88.

New Music: The Sad Song

The Sad Song

This is one of those rare instances where I'm the lyricist.
Listen to this and you'll see why it's rare. This was written for
my kids... when they pout, stamp, have a tantrum, hold their breaths,
etc., it's time to sing The Sad Song. It's pretty impossible to stay
sad when you hear this.

Of course the overall theme is from the old children's verse, "Nobody loves me, everybody hates me, I'm gonna eat some worms,"
but I chucked almost all of the old lyrics. Then I chucked the old
tune, gave it a new bouncy one, and a polka at that. So it's like
my grandfather's axe... the head's been replaced twice, and the handle
five times, but it's still my grandfather's axe.

This is the short version. The longer
version just reprises the instrumental and repeats a verse. All
the important stuff is in here. Actually, I'm joking. There is no important stuff in this song..

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