Yeah, the reporters said it looked like bullet proof glass. That's about as reliable as us saying it looked like bullet proof glass so...

Unless you've got the campaign people saying it?

11/5/2008 12:28:45 AM

no one is getting in that stadium with any weapons.

so my thoughts are that the glass was on the sides because the open-air stadium could conceivably be targeted by a sniper from a long distance at those angles.

but the front facing part of the stage facing the crowd was such that the Secret Service had everything covered, no distance position could be taken, and thus it wasnt needed.

that said, i damn sure dont want our president to start driving around in a pope-mobile

11/5/2008 12:57:41 AM

He could do all his meetings and goverment business via CNN hologram technology.

11/5/2008 12:59:06 AM

Quote :

"that said, i damn sure dont want our president to start driving around in a pope-mobile "

he'll continue to drive around in "the beast"

11/5/2008 1:27:41 AM

that CNN "hologram" technology was teh most retarded shit ive ever seen.

seriously, that was insulting. who the fuck is that stupid?

SNL needs to rip CNN a new asshole.

11/5/2008 1:33:37 AM

ha, i thought the hologram thing was cool.

11/5/2008 1:35:41 AM

Quote :

"no one is getting in that stadium with any weapons. so my thoughts are that the glass was on the sides because the open-air stadium could conceivably be targeted by a sniper from a long distance at those angles."

It was Grant Park, not a stadium

11/5/2008 1:37:11 AM

grant park stadium. whatever.

my point was it looked like the side angles had clear line of sight to several large buildings, and the front angle did not.

11/5/2008 1:39:40 AM

Howard Dean would like to thank President Bush and Sarah Palin for their help in making this the easiest job a campaign strategist could ever have.

11/5/2008 2:11:52 AM

how long until they get some spinners on that limo?

11/5/2008 2:28:04 AM

you'll have to ask HUR .... but i believe Tyrell is looking into it soon as he gets his money from that bitch Laquisha, unless she done spent it on some bullshit for her fifteen chil'ren

11/5/2008 3:12:39 AM

christ, you could have easily brought a weapon/bomb into grant park if you wanted to. they hardly checked my backpack.

it was fun.

11/5/2008 9:49:02 AM

This is pretty amazing as well. Nate Silver over at fivethirtyeight.com was basically perfect with his projections.

Final pre-election projection:



Actual results:



His only real "miss" was Indiana. Keep in mind, he also called the primaries more accurately than anyone else. The major networks will almost certainly start using his statistical model for future elections.

11/5/2008 10:20:36 AM

Get a free "I voted for Obama" bumper sticker here: http://democracyforamerica.com/activities/113

11/5/2008 8:05:29 PM

Quote :

"Smith: Now that the election is over, Carl, tell us more about those reports of infighting between Palin and McCain staffers. Cameron: I wish I could have told you more at the time but all of it was put off the record until after the election. There was great concern in the McCain campaign that Sarah Palin lack the degree of knowledgeability necessary to be a running mate, a vice president, and a heartbeat away from the presidency. We’re told by folks that she didn’t know what countries that were in NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement, that being the Canada, the US, and Mexico. We’re told she didn’t understand that Africa was a continent rather than a country just in itself ... a whole host of questions that caused serious problems about her knowledgeability. She got very angry at staff, thought that she was mishandled.....was particularly angry about the way the Katie Couric interview went. She didn’t accept preparation for that interview when the aides say that that was part of the problem. And that there were times that she was hard to control emotionally there's talk of temper tantrums at bad news clippings......"

HOLY SHIT, are you kidding me?

11/5/2008 8:46:52 PM

how did McCain think picking her was a good idea? how did he not find this shit out beforehand?

what an appalling lack of judgment. clearly he was ill-prepared to be cheif executive of the country -- he couldnt even manage a campaign at a more than half-assed, reactive level.

11/5/2008 9:21:21 PM

It was a desperate attempt to woo women voters, and shore up the base. He figured that women were like blacks; they would vote for any ticket with one of their own on it. He also thought that he could win independents on his own. Both were very big miscalculations.

[Edited on November 5, 2008 at 9:24 PM. Reason : 3]

11/5/2008 9:24:18 PM

Quote :

"he thought women were like blacks"

well, aren't you just a bitter angry little man.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news for ya but someone's got to break it to you

(1) women, in general, did not connect to Palin because she's an ignorant religo-nut

(2) blacks didnt win it for obama -- he won across every single demographic, except the two major Redneck demos: NACAR Men, and WalMart women.

But truly, I am so sorry about what happened to your fragile worldview. I hope you can recover from your loss.

11/5/2008 9:36:19 PM

Wow, you're making a lot of assumptions there, aren't you joe?

1) Completely agree. I don't think I said anything otherwise.

2) Yep, this is true as well. Not particularly relevant to my post, however.


I'm not really sure what set you off there. The idea that blacks are very partial to their own is hardly a new one. Are you taking that as a racist jab?

11/5/2008 9:43:29 PM

Newsweek has started publishing their Special Election Project.

Quote :

"As in the previous editions, "How He Did It, 2008" is an inside, behind-the-scenes account of the presidential election produced by a special team of reporters working for more than a year on an embargoed basis and detached from the weekly magazine and Newsweek.com. Everything the project team learns is kept confidential until the day after the polls close."

The first three parts are up already, pretty great so far:

http://www.newsweek.com/id/167581

Quote :

"When he was preparing for them during the Democratic primaries, Obama was recorded saying, "I don't consider this to be a good format for me, which makes me more cautious. I often find myself trapped by the questions and thinking to myself, 'You know, this is a stupid question, but let me … answer it.' So when Brian Williams is asking me about what's a personal thing that you've done [that's green], and I say, you know, 'Well, I planted a bunch of trees.' And he says, 'I'm talking about personal.' What I'm thinking in my head is, 'Well, the truth is, Brian, we can't solve global warming because I f---ing changed light bulbs in my house. It's because of something collective'.""

11/5/2008 9:53:47 PM

Quote :

"He figured that women were like blacks"

(1) He should've noticed that in Iowa, women went for Hillary.

(2) Blacks vote 90% democratic anyway. And skin color isn't the sole factor in many black's votes. Look at Al Sharpton's performance in DC and SC in 2004.

11/5/2008 10:01:41 PM

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/11/05/palin-didnt-know-africa-i_n_141653.html

i haven't watched the already linked shepard smith segment about palin so the o'reilly segment contained in the link may very well be almost the exact same thing.

anywho, good riddance, sarah palin

11/5/2008 10:08:30 PM

praise Jesus she's nowhere near the White House

11/5/2008 10:18:18 PM

that newsweek series is fascinating.

11/5/2008 10:26:22 PM

Quote :

"(1) He should've noticed that in Iowa, women went for Hillary."

Hillary=Obama

11/5/2008 11:24:08 PM

yeah, according to chapter 1 of the newsweek article

Quote :

"The plane flight back to Manchester [from Iowa] after midnight was grim. "Mark, we lost women," McAuliffe said. Penn just shrugged his shoulders. At a senior staff teleconference in the morning, Hillary, who had slept no more than an hour, asked for ideas. There was an awkward silence. So she held for a bit, then asked for input. Again, silence. "Well, I want to thank you all," she said. "It's been really great talking to myself." Then she hung up."

11/5/2008 11:57:09 PM

http://www.slate.com/id/2203929?y=1

I thought this was an interesting look at how the transition period will go for Obama.

11/6/2008 12:50:50 AM

So, basically... now that McCain has lost and there's no need for the empty rhetoric, Palin's once rabid supporters are now throwing her out for how incompetent she really is?

It's shameful and embarrassing (embarrassing as an American/human being) that people are so willing to act this way instead of simply calling her out from the beginning in the interest of the common good... but at least these revelations absolutely crush whatever chance she had at running for president in 2012.

11/6/2008 12:57:47 AM

I did my part on calling her out.

11/6/2008 12:59:37 AM

^You weren't a supporter, though.

If the world was fair/intelligent/rational, she wouldn't have had supporters at all once election day rolled around.

11/6/2008 1:01:56 AM

Quote :

"This is pretty amazing as well. Nate Silver over at fivethirtyeight.com was basically perfect with his projections. Final pre-election projection: "

That's extremely impressive. He was on The Colbert Report I think, but I didn't pay much attention to him. But that is truly a remarkable projection.

11/6/2008 1:03:44 AM

He also predicted that the Rays would make the playoffs. He did seem like a REALLY smart guy.

11/6/2008 1:19:37 AM

The truth is that I wrapped my mind around Obama winning months ago. I didn't want it to happen and I went out and voted against it happening--but happen it did.

We should all give Obama a chance. Otherwise, we will be seen as close-minded partisans--of course, some will say this anyway.

And one thing I can say for sure is that I've gained perspective on these things over the years. That's the main reason I've been using humor to deal with this--it's better to laugh than to cry.

The sociopolitical pendulum swings back and forth. And the politicians never deliver everything they promise, no matter the person or the party--I choose to focus on this.

In a few years, the folks will be saying, "Those goddamned Democrats are ruining the country. Throw the bums out!" Trust me--it always happens. And the cycle will begin again.

I often think that coalition governments would give more people more of what they want. In any event, I would like to see us give this system a meaningful try in our country. But, of course, no approach is perfect--if one were, everyone would be doing it!

Yes, the old maxim is true: Ours is the worst system of government there is--except for all the others.

11/6/2008 2:17:03 AM

That is without a doubt the most insightful thing hooksaw has ever posted. Good job.

11/6/2008 10:13:06 AM

yeah, gg hooksaw

so are you done being a thorough douchebag now?

11/6/2008 11:13:41 AM

Quote :

"We’re told by folks that she didn’t know what countries that were in NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement, that being the Canada, the US, and Mexico. We’re told she didn’t understand that Africa was a continent rather than a country just in itself "

So McCain aides are blaming the loss on Palin, big surprise.. they had to blame somebody. I'm not blindly defending Palin and I never have, but I refuse to believe Palin could really be that dumb because I refuse to believe ANYBODY could be that dumb. I'm going to just assume this is a case of sour grapes by the McCain campaign because...

IF this is 100% true, it's just another example where shameful partisan politics almost fucked us over by putting somebody so stupid into the vice presidency. It's disappointing to think that just so their guy would win, they would hide information like this knowing how horrible she would be. Also, shame on Fox for not doing their journalistic duty and letting the American public know.

11/6/2008 11:19:36 AM

The fact that we're even considering the possibility that it might be true means that she's not even close to being intelligent enough to potentially be President.

11/6/2008 11:21:02 AM

Bill O'Reilly is such a dick.....
in defense of Palin not knowing who was in NAFTA or about Africa, his response is "you can be tutored on this stuff". He's obviously completely missing the point that a woman who is 5 weeks away from being Vice President shouldn't have to be tutored on middle-school civics! There are plenty of candidates out there who already have all this knowledge, and could have instead come in and hit the ground running beside McCain and brought up to speed on his own policies, not on world geography

11/6/2008 11:32:51 AM

You guys are all wrong, Palin is smart as hell. She went to like 4 different community colleges!

11/6/2008 11:35:43 AM

NC, I like the way that looks.

11/6/2008 1:02:32 PM

Quote :

"I refuse to believe Palin could really be that dumb because I refuse to believe ANYBODY could be that dumb."

Many people can be, and are, that dumb. If you went out onto the street and interviewed random people, chances are that a good 20% of them or more would ask "What's NAFTA?"

[Edited on November 6, 2008 at 1:07 PM. Reason : .]

11/6/2008 1:05:25 PM

Nobody has had any problem pointing out how dumb some of the Obama voters are (WE GON GET IT FO FREEEE, I AIN'T GONNA HAVE TO PAY MY MORTGAGE, etc). I'm not saying Palin really is this dumb, but just from what we have seen over the past several months, it doesn't seem too far off the mark.

11/6/2008 1:10:53 PM

Quote :

"chances are that a good 20% of them or more would ask "What's NAFTA?""

20%? surly you jest! I would guess easily 50%+ wouldn't know what NAFTA is.


^ there is a big difference between supporters being dumb (however, I have not heard any Obama supporters say things like you suggest) and the candidates being dumb. There are dumb people everywhere, supporting all parties.
But it's not too much to ask that the leaders of these parties, and thereby our country, should be held to a much higher intellectual standard than Joe-the-____

11/6/2008 1:19:54 PM

^I felt like being generous with the numbers.

11/6/2008 1:24:25 PM

Quote :

"Many people can be, and are, that dumb. If you went out onto the street and interviewed random people, chances are that a good 20% of them or more would ask "What's NAFTA?""

But if you said "What countries make up the North American Free Trade Agreement," what would the results be? They said she didn't know what countries were in it, not that she didn't know what NAFTA was. That doesn't make it excusable, but come on, who doesn't know the countries in North America? 1st graders know that shit.

11/6/2008 1:32:13 PM

I'm pretty sure they say that she didn't know what countries were in North America and that she didn't know what NAFTA was as two separate points.

Meanwhile, it's not like she's being asked to name all the NATO countries. NAFTA is pretty cut and dry as far as participation is concerned.

11/6/2008 3:24:09 PM

I'm amazed at how quickly the right is throwing Palin under the bus. She does make a good scape goat though.

11/6/2008 3:30:25 PM

It's an easy sell considering she came off as dumb to begin with.

11/6/2008 3:53:44 PM

looks like rich people aren't too worried about Obama taking all their money

11/6/2008 3:53:45 PM

^ Unless they already corrected for it, i'd think those numbers are at least 3-4% off just because they are exit polls.

11/6/2008 4:16:53 PM