COLLECTIVE MADNESS


“Soft despotism is a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville describing the state into which a country overrun by "a network of small complicated rules" might degrade. Soft despotism is different from despotism (also called 'hard despotism') in the sense that it is not obvious to the people."

Thursday, October 30, 2008

The Dallas Morning News Performs Fellatio on Obama

Another Pulitzer Prize performance from the American Media.



Quick Take: Obama looks polished, presidential in 30-minute ad

12:00 AM CDT on Thursday, October 30, 2008
Getting Down with The Dallas Morning News
In his most polished performance yet, Barack Obama looked presidential, like a man who loves his family and country.

That's why his slick 30-minute commercial that aired on network television Wednesday (at a cost of about $4 million) is certain to have changed some minds in his favor, while reinforcing the support of those already in his camp.

Of course, there will be some voters who were turned off by the Hollywood-quality production.

And can you blame Philadelphia Phillies fans for being angry that pre-game festivities for the World Series were pre-empted?

Bottom line, though: Mr. Obama flawlessly used his 30 minutes. If he wins over only a handful of voters, it was millions of dollars well spent.

What's more, the commercial summed up the key themes of Mr. Obama's campaign: his plans to stimulate the economy, retool the auto industry, reform health care, end the war in Iraq and renew direct diplomacy with our enemies.

The passages about his mother reading to him at 4 a.m. were touching.

But even more effective were the personal stories about common Americans – most from swing states – trying to make do in a country seemingly off track.

Despite the gap in the polls, the presidential race isn't over. As John McCain has pointed out, there are valid reasons not to vote for Mr. Obama, and the partisan divide in this country will provide some Election Day drama.

On Wednesday, however, Mr. Obama provided a video portrait on why he believes he's the best choice for America.

Those who saw it may find it more engaging than any stump speech, mailer or regular television ad.



27 comments:

  1. I put this in the wrong thread earlier, wanted you to Fisk it for us Trish.
    ---
    Colombia Killings Cast Doubt on War Against Insurgents

    Civilians are increasingly becoming victims of Colombia’s long internal war against leftist insurgencies, according to human rights researchers.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Good thing I ate breakfast before I looked at today's EB image.

    ReplyDelete
  3. The professionalization of Colombia's armed forces is a long and often difficult process on a number of levels, from senior leadership on down to new enlistees and conscripts. The effort is relatively new to the country and unique to the continent as a whole. It is not an effort to be concluded overnight.

    OTOH, Colombians have grown justifiably proud of their military, and desire above all else its legitimacy in the eyes of the developed world. THEY want that for themselves, understanding its rarity and value in South America. That is the essential and lasting motivation for every program of professionalization undertaken in partnership with them.

    It is the exceptional country nowadays that looks upon its alliance with the United States as a matter of national merit and honor. It would be worse than a terrible shame for this to be effectively, irreparably undermined by those whose ignorant (at best) sympathies lie with the enemies of our own governing ideals.

    ReplyDelete
  4. .

    Our next Bosco celebrates something a little different, the ingenuity of man when he finds himself drifting alone in cyberspace. This year’s Coping Award goes to WiO.

    What is "Occupation" said...

    I guess the pig fat lube is out now as well?

    Sun Jan 24, 08:41:00 AM EST


    What is "Occupation" said...

    where did ya go?

    Sun Jan 24, 08:44:00 AM EST


    What is "Occupation" said...

    it's like i am in never never land

    Sun Jan 24, 08:44:00 AM EST


    What is "Occupation" said...

    twilight zone

    Sun Jan 24, 08:45:00 AM EST


    What is "Occupation" said...

    i am in blog limbo...

    Sun Jan 24, 08:45:00 AM EST


    What is "Occupation" said...

    it's the fool pants thing

    Sun Jan 24, 08:45:00 AM EST


    "What is "Occupation" said...

    or maybe SATAN

    Sun Jan 24, 08:45:00 AM EST


    What is "Occupation" said...

    yea that's the ticket

    SATAN

    Sun Jan 24, 08:46:00 AM EST


    What is "Occupation" said...

    I am in hell...

    never to be seen again...

    Sun Jan 24, 08:51:00 AM EST


    What is "Occupation" said...

    really no loss

    Sun Jan 24, 08:51:00 AM EST


    What is "Occupation" said...

    it's ok, i am used to talking to myself

    Sun Jan 24, 09:58:00 AM EST



    Ok. Great effort WiO. Although shouldn't that have been ha-satan instead of Satan? Oh well, we’ve all been there. It takes a lot of willpower to keep tossing them out there when nothing is coming back. And on a Sunday morning too. Good man.

    .

    ReplyDelete
  5. .

    Hey, let’s keep that same spirit of camaraderie going with our next Bosco.

    All right, the next Bosco is for the More Than We Needed To Know award. This year’s award goes to our favorite expat in the country down under, that prodigious poster of sometimes interesting stuff, that raging metrosexual, Sam the Man.

    This year’s award will be presented by the stars of the hit show “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy”.

    He receives this year’s award for the following two gems:

    Sam said...


    :)

    "Pretty tame video. Never waxed down there but I do shave regularly every 2 months."

    Tue Jan 12, 10:12:00 PM EST


    and


    Sam said...

    "Well, I should say I use #1 on my nuts and #3 on the rest. I'll take the #3 part down to #2 next time."

    Tue Jan 12, 10:24:00 PM EST


    Steller performance. Thank you Sam.

    In addition to the award, we are going to have a special guest star, Miss Katy Perry, sing a song see composed specifically for this award.

    UR So Gay (and you don’t even like boys)

    Great stuff Sam. It’s a brave new world out there and you are definitely in the vanguard leading the charge. And hey, if the chicks like it who can complain?

    Speaking of which, there’s this post from that swinging Pennsylvania chick, Melody.

    MeLoDy said...

    "Although, I like my men strong and aggressive, I have a soft spot for those who dabble a little in being metro sexual."

    Sat Aug 21, 11:00:00 PM EDT

    Nuff said.

    Wouldn’t mind seeing that soft spot myself.

    .

    ReplyDelete
  6. .

    Speaking of Melody, how about this one?

    MeLoDy said...

    "I stood in front of the mirror, my golden brown body sun kissed from the day before, staring back at me, wondering whether I should wait till morning. I waited. With the shades drawn tight not letting any sun in and my clock still flashing red numbers from the power outage days before, I opened my eyes and couldn't tell what time of the day it was. I stepped out of the air conditioned room only to find it being too early to do what I had set out to do. I relaxed in front of the TV, sipping my coffee, waiting for the perfect moment.

    The time has come. I turned the knob to the left and waited for the room to fill with steam. I lifted my leg and stepped in to feel the warm water rush over my face and listened, for a few moments, to the echo of water drenching my head.

    At last…I get to wash my hair."

    Tue Jun 15, 12:34:00 PM EDT



    No award, I just like re-reading it over and over and over.

    Whit. Can I get an amen?

    Heh. Heh.


    Ok, let’s take another commercial break and when we come back we’ll play out last nominated song for EB Song of the Year

    Commercial: Motorola

    .

    ReplyDelete
  7. .

    Welcome back. Now our final nominated song for the EB Song of the Year. Here is Marc Cohn singing I’m Already Home

    I’m Already Home


    Thanks Marc. That was great.

    All right, there you have it, the four nominated songs for the Bosco for Elephant Bar Song of the Year, the song that best represents the spirit of the EB.

    Anyone who wants to vote can do so now. The winner will be announced later in the program. Once again the nominees are:


    So Much Cooler on Line by Brad Paisley


    I Love This Bar sung by Toby Keith

    Hotel California by the Eagles.

    I’m Already Home sung by Marc Cohn

    One of them has to win folks.

    .

    ReplyDelete
  8. .

    Thanks, folks. You know this is one great crowd. Is everyone having a good time?

    Excellent.

    Let’s have another round of applause for Deuce and Whit and the great job they do here at the EB.

    Dynamite.

    I will mention one note of concern I have, is that all of the ‘Whipped Lighting’ seems to have disappeared. Don’t know where it is and we have a ‘don’t ask don’t tell’ policy here on things like this. However, a word of warning, that stuff can knock you on your ass when you are taking it directly out of the can. So be careful people. It would have been nice if we had something to put it on but the cookies Stella B. Starlight brought to the pot-luck lunch were gone in no time and Whit used up all the Jello shots quelling that little tiff we had outside earlier.

    Well, moving on.

    .

    ReplyDelete
  9. .

    Our next Bosco is for the Most All-Encompassing Ad Hominem Attack. This award recognizes an extraordinary effort at prolonged ranting. This year’s award goes to WiO for:


    What is "Occupation" said...

    "Now to be fair...

    I call (bleep) all sorts of names...

    Liar

    Murderer

    Criminal

    Anti-Semite

    Jew Hater

    Israel Hater

    Zionist Hater

    Scum

    Nitwit

    Crook

    Occupier

    Racist

    Creep

    Asshole

    But my motivation is not from the Rules for Radicals...

    My motivation?

    (bleep) is all of what I said...

    I speak truth...

    Whereas (bleep) distorts, misdirects and rants when presented with facts...

    Oh, did I forget black hearted sub human miscreant?"

    Fri Jul 30, 11:13:00 AM EDT




    Good effort WiO.

    I’m sure we can expect more of the same from you in the future.

    .

    ReplyDelete
  10. .

    Now, keeping with the same low level of discourse, the Bosco for the Let It All Hang-out Girl award goes to Melody for this post:


    MeLoDy said...

    "Well (bleep) let's just say you're one cock sucking, dick licking, pussy snatching funny motherfucker."

    (:

    Tue Jul 27, 09:



    Whoa baby! Pretty heavy stuff. But note, she says it with a smile. It’s going to take a while to wind down from some of these posts so let’s go to another commercial break. We’ll be right back.

    Boogy Down


    Whoops


    Kids Will Be Kids

    .

    ReplyDelete
  11. .

    Whew. Still wound up from some of those posts, but damn we’re here to party. Let’s lighten things up a little.

    Each holiday we get a number of seasonal posts meant to extend the spirit of the particular holiday. This year’s Bosco for the Spirit of Easter award goes to the rat for this one.


    desert rat said...

    "Hippidy hoppity Easter is here!

    It's just another shitty day in Paradise, darlin'.

    Car bombings in Baghdad -
    Children bein' raped in the Congo.

    Your good Lord, he does work in mysterious ways.

    Mine, they let's me work out my problems, myself. Vengeance is mine to take, sayeth Thor & Odin, not theirs to bestow.

    The Swedes, those real old school living on the edge Swedes, they knew the real deal.

    Before those nasty Romans changed the religion game and turned all those whirled conquering pagans into socialist sissies."

    Sun Apr 04, 08:11:00 AM EDT



    desert rat said...

    "Not to forget the Lord's good works through pedophile Priests, here and abroad.

    The Chief Priest, his spokes folk dismiss this challenge to the Church's credibility, as gossip, perhaps rumors, as well?.

    According to a report from the Wall Street Journal

    VATICAN CITY—
    A senior Vatican cardinal defended Pope Benedict during an Easter Mass in St. Peter's Square attended by the pope, dismissing criticism of the pontiff's handling of the sexual-abuse crisis as "gossip".

    Sun Apr 04, 08:19:00 AM EDT



    Thanks, rat, for that inspiring, uplifting epistle.

    I’m sure we all went away a little lighter of heart after that.

    Nothing says, “Happy Easter” like a post from rat.

    OK rat, come on up and rope this little bear statuette.

    .

    ReplyDelete
  12. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Well back to the show.

    Starting out in alphabetical order…, naw, not really. Just wanted to start with something that will get us in the mood. Tonight’s first official award presentation goes to Allen. He will be receiving the Bosco Award for The Most Non-Spontaneous Spontaneous Video award for this little gem.

    allen said...

    Flash Mob

    Thu Dec 10, 07:13:00 PM

    All right Allen. Good job and congratulations.

    Melissa Etheridge is here to present the award.

    ReplyDelete
  14. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  15. The next Bosco is for EB Beauty Queen Award. The nominees were all the header ladies posted by Deuce and Mel on the monthly horoscopes.

    This years Miss Elephant Bar is

    Miss Cancer


    The Miss Congeniality Award went to

    Miss Capricorn

    Two truly beautiful ladies. It’s a shame neither can be here tonight to help us celebrate.

    .

    ReplyDelete
  16. Our next category is the Interesting Video Award. While there were many fine contenders for this award there was little doubt as to who would get it. The winner of this year’s Bosco has posted an inordinate amount of interesting videos and so we have asked George Lucas to be on hand to present the Bosco to…

    “Can we get a drum roll on that trumpet rat?”

    Sam.

    This year’s Bosco honors a stellar year of posting by our expat in Australia.

    The posts include

    sam said...
    Indian Kitchen

    Mon Oct 25, 10:54:00 PM EDT


    sam said...
    New CPR

    Thu Sep 23, 08:35:00 PM EDT


    sam said...
    Wine Shoe

    Wed Jun 16, 11:50:00 PM EDT

    ReplyDelete
  17. .

    (Sam continued...)

    sam said...
    Human Ventriloquist

    Thu Sep 30, 01:15:00 AM EDT


    Sam said...
    Hotel Room Security

    Mon May 24, 12:09:00 AM EDT


    Sam said...
    Wrong Hole

    Thu Apr 29, 09:30:00 PM EDT

    ReplyDelete
  18. Whenever a vote is taken at the EB, the following post has always garnered a lot of applause. The Bosco for the Better Safe Than Sorry Award award goes to everyone who has ever written one of these

    Comment deleted
    This post has been removed by the author.
    Sat May 29, 03:55:00 PM EDT


    Now, our last award at today’s luncheon was presented to Deuce for his continuing brilliance in bringing stellar artwork to enhance the posts here at the Elephant Bar. It was a difficult choice because of the magnitude of fine art Deuce has posted this year. That being said, our choice for this year’s Bosco for Best Art of the Year is awarded to

    Why is it so Damn Hot? Elephants in the Desert

    Beautiful.


    Well, we are going to take a quick commercial break and be back in a moment.

    Four Banned Commercials

    ReplyDelete
  19. Well, unfortunately, I have to announce that we will not be awarding the To Lazy to Link Award this year. As you know, the award was initially meant to recognize Trish’s lack of contribution in the link area; however, this year there were just too many nominees with basically the same qualifications.


    I should also mention that this year’s Best Urban Fly Fisherman award will also not be awarded.

    We can, however, show you some of the posts that would not have been considered even if we had awarded that Bosco.

    From Rufus,

    rufus said...

    "The only reason Clan Rufii uses bait is dynamite is too expensive."

    Sun Aug 01, 04:24:00 PM EDT



    From linearthinker,

    linearthinker said...

    "Why I bait fish."

    From the link:

    Ok this post is for all the hippie fly fishers out there that are to stoned to realize what a real women is. Everyone knows that real women fish bait!!

    ...and a bit farther down, below the eye candy...

    "Truckee River Outfitters closing its doors...since most people in Truckee use bait there is no need for a fly fishing shop...When your entire customer base consists of stoned hippies how do you expect to have competent fisherman to buy anything?"

    Sun Aug 01, 03:59:00 PM EDT


    linearthinker said...

    Yes, Quirk. For the riffraff who need some assistance:

    ...scrolling down at the same link:

    Jesus used bait!!

    Sun Aug 01, 04:10:00 PM EDT


    Good posts guys.

    ReplyDelete
  20. This year’s third nominated song is
    Hotel California by the Eagles.

    Those boys can crank it out.

    Back in a moment.

    Commercial:

    Satisfaction

    .

    ReplyDelete
  21. Hey, let’s keep that same spirit of camaraderie going with our next Bosco.

    All right, the next Bosco is for the More Than We Needed To Know award. This year’s award goes to our favorite expat in the country down under, that prodigious poster of sometimes interesting stuff, that raging metrosexual, Sam the Man.

    This year’s award will be presented by the stars of the hit show “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy”.

    He receives this year’s award for the following two gems:

    Sam said...


    :)

    "Pretty tame video. Never waxed down there but I do shave regularly every 2 months."

    Tue Jan 12, 10:12:00 PM EST


    and


    Sam said...

    "Well, I should say I use #1 on my nuts and #3 on the rest. I'll take the #3 part down to #2 next time."

    Tue Jan 12, 10:24:00 PM EST


    Steller performance. Thank you Sam.

    In addition to the award, we are going to have a special guest star, Miss Katy Perry, sing a song she composed specifically for this award.

    UR So Gay (and you don’t even like boys)

    Great stuff Sam. It’s a brave new world out there and you are definitely in the vanguard leading the charge.

    Modern Man

    And hey, if the chicks like it who can complain?

    Speaking of which, there’s this post from that swinging Pennsylvania chick, Melody.

    MeLoDy said...

    "Although, I like my men strong and aggressive, I have a soft spot for those who dabble a little in being metro sexual."

    Sat Aug 21, 11:00:00 PM EDT

    Nuff said.

    Wouldn’t mind seeing that soft spot myself.

    .

    ReplyDelete
  22. Ok, let’s take another commercial break and when we come back we’ll play out last nominated song for EB Song of the Year

    Commercial: Motorola

    .

    Welcome back. Now our final nominated song for the EB Song of the Year. Here is Marc Cohn singing I’m Already Home

    I’m Already Home


    Thanks Marc. That was great.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Now, keeping with the same low level of discourse, the Bosco for the Let It All Hang-out Girl award goes to Melody for this post:


    MeLoDy said...

    "Well (bleep) let's just say you're one cock sucking, dick licking, pussy snatching funny motherfucker."

    (:

    Tue Jul 27, 09:



    Whoa baby! Pretty heavy stuff. But note, she says it with a smile. It’s going to take a while to wind down from some of these posts so let’s go to another commercial break. We’ll be right back.

    Boogy Down


    Whoops


    Kids Will Be Kids

    .

    ReplyDelete
  24. Thanks guys and gals.
    We can always use a chuckle.

    At this point in the show, I would like to again recognize the guys who make all this happen. They put in a tremendous amount of work to keep drinks flowing and the blog streams interesting and continuous.

    Activity at the EB usually looks like this clip more or less but it can be amusing and even interesting at times.

    Deuce said...
    for Rufus' eyes only

    Thu Apr 29, 11:57:00 AM EDT

    However, right now I’d like to put up a retro from the blog archives that was run earlier this past summer. No retrospective or awards program could top this. They can only try to add a little ancillary color over a period of time.

    From the archives: Sunday, May 04, 2008 Post 2000 At the EB - Drinks are on the House.

    .

    ReplyDelete
  25. .

    While we try to get the bar back in some kind of order and mop up the floor so that you can move around, let’s cut to a commercial.


    Stifficade

    Boney Boney

    Well we are back, and things are more or less back to normal although it looks like you’re going to need some fire hoses and a Zamboni to really clean this place up.

    .

    ReplyDelete
  26. .

    Please be careful driving. It you can stick around for just a moment I’d like to run a brief film that illustrates the dangers of drinking and driving. Initially, I planned on running a video of the 1965 Driver Ed classic Death on the Highway, however, the ‘powers that be’ in Souls-R-Us’ management ruled that given the EB’s demographics the legendary “lineup of bodies” scenes might be much too graphic and provide the potential for creating more deaths than it might save. Our actuaries agreed; therefore, I have decided to provide you the following video instead.

    Slut Spill

    Be careful out there.

    This is Quirk aka The Jackal signing off



    desert rat said...


    It's a jackal!

    Mon Aug 30, 04:46:00 PM EDT

    .

    ReplyDelete
  27. .

    BLOOPERS


    1.

    What is "Occupation" said...

    "Here is something noteworthy...

    100 rounds of buckshot can it inside a standard size ammo can!

    how clue is that?"

    Tue Dec 07, 07:27:00 PM EST


    2.

    And for Deuce, one of his few misses

    "Jews Missing George Bush

    Heck even Obama misses George W. Bush"

    Bush: How Didn’t He Do That


    whit said...

    So let it be written, so let it be done.

    Sun Aug 29, 10:17:00 AM EDT


    FINIS

    ReplyDelete