Well, Well, Well ... We Found Those Republican Hats!

I knew they were out there, somewhere.

The other night, in your post "There Is No Greater Cause", we brought up the issue, raised by Laura Bush and Cindy McCain, of these nefarious "Republican Hats" they were talking about;

But this thing about hats ... WTF is up with that?

We have to have a "hat controversy" now.

Who knew, in the first place, that there were "Republican Hats"?

What do they look like? ... Where do you get them from?

Do Republicans wear these hats all the time, so, as indicated in the speech, to do something else, they have to take off the Republican Hat and put on whatever hat it is to get the job done, in this case, an "American Hat"

And where are they hiding these "American Hats"?

Is this a new "Lapel Flag" thing they're trying to cook up?

Will we soon see the Right Wing Freak Show start hammering Obama and Biden for the hats they wear?

Or don't wear.

I suppose, if either Obama or Biden went hatless yesterday or today, we'll see something from Michelle Malkin, that Biden must want the people of New Orleans to drown, because he wasn't wearing his "American Hat" (or "Democratic Hat", if there is such a thing).

Jonah "Prom Dress Boy Goldberg will have a 15-million word essay on how, Barack Obama going around hatless, means he's a fascist.

Or friend, Nick Zaino, over on The Optimistic Curmudgeon, found'em!

This is one of the most disturbing, Orwellian images I've seen in quite some time, coming from a story in today's New York Times. The image of the president, looming in a dark cave with hats that appear to be headless looking up at him. Are these the "American Hats" we're all supposed to be wearing now because the Republicans have decided to finally react to a potential crisis?

If ya got'em, wear'em ...

If He Lived In Australia ...

There was a great line, in the Michael Hodges movie 'Pulp'.

Lionel Stander, a great character actor (who become more famous for his television role in 'Hart To Hart'; Also, Stander infamously gave an "Up Yours" to the HUAC fascists), uttered it when a movie was being shown, and whoever loaded the camera, loaded the film upside-down.

Stander, in the sandpapered, chiseled, gruff voice of his, belts out "This film would do great in Australia ..."

So, we give you;

Tenant Banned from Flying Flag Upside Down, Gets Death Threat

He says he wanted to signal to his neighbors that this country is in distress, so he started flying the flag upside down.

Two days later, Manitowoc police officer Jason Delsman came to his door. But Decker was at Wal-Mart, so, Delsman left his business card with a handwritten note, "Call ASAP."

Decker decided to go down to the police department, but Officer Delsman was out, so Decker called him on the phone from there.

"He told me I was committing a criminal act and could face fines or imprisonment," Decker said.

When Decker asked for the statute criminalizing this, he says Officer Delsman responded: "I'm sure that it is somewhere."

According to Decker, the officer also said: "You fly your flag at night with no light on it. The next time I see that I'll have to do something about it."

Little-by-little ... Piece-by-piece ...

An upside-down flag here ... A missing lapel pin there... A simple sign held by a librarian...

Ahhh ... The smell of patriotism burning in the morning ...

You Say Lapel Pins ... I Say Lunatics...

Enough of this childish, little, small-minded pettiness.

Screw these tiny Lapel Flag Pins!

I want to see the candidates, and every blowhard, Fox News, Right Wing Freak Show, and their Flying Monkeys, ham-handed "patriot" start wearing actual United States of America Flags on their chests.

That's right, anything less then the full Old Glory and you must be an appeaser, rooting for the terrorists, wanting "them" to win!

And it damn-well better be a flag made right here, in the good, ol' U.S of A.!

No excuses!

You're either with us, or against us!

While I write in jest, that may, very well, be where this ante gets raised to, before the general election campaign begins.

We had this yesterday;

Obama on Those Who Say He Doesn't Respect the Flag: 'It's a Lie'

At a town hall in Kokomo, Ind., Friday a woman told Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., that her mother wasn’t going to vote for him because he didn’t "address the flag."

"This is a phony issue," Obama said. "So let me address it right now."

And address it he did.

After a lengthy, two, or three-point detailed answer, Obama called it for what it is;

Obama continued, saying "so I make this comment. suddenly a bunch of these, you know, TV commentators and bloggers (say) 'Obama is disrespecting people who wear flag pins.' Well, that's just not true. Also, another way of saying it is, it's a lie."

Amen!

Steve Benen, over on The Carpetbagger Report offered good support;

I’d just like to ask these folks who purport to care whether they mind if Hillary Clinton’s or John McCain’s lapels are flagless. Whether they minded that Ronald Reagan, JFK, Eisenhower, and FDR didn’t wear pins. Whether they think George W. Bush was unpatriotic before 9/11, when his lapels were bare. I doubt it.

I doubt Obama would do this, but I can imagine a town-hall meeting in which this comes up and the senator asks everyone in the room wearing a flag lapel pin (probably made in China) to raise their hand. When a small fraction of the crowd does, Obama can ask them, “Do those of you who didn’t raise your hand love the country as much as those who did?”

As did Oliver Willis;

Since I’ve been following politics closely and especially since I moved back to the DC area to work in the industry (more or less), one of the things I have never understood has been the liberal/Democratic reluctance to call something a lie. When Al Franken wrote his book Lies And The Lying Liars Who Tell Them, I am certain that the forthright way in which he called out something as a lie was a pivotal element of its success. In 2000, and especially 2004, Al Gore and John Kerry drove me batty with their constant rhetoric that something was “a falsehood” or that someone “misled”. They just never came out and said George Bush and the Republican party and the conservative noise machine were just filthy liars.

And, of course, the inhabitants of the RWFS just have to keep pumping this up, gripping on it like a dog, gnawing on a juicy bone ... You can see them here, here and here, all polishing their own lapel pins of stupidity

When it comes time for the general election debates, against Stumblin' Bumblin' John McCain, and if he could get away with it (just think how the RWFS would explode if he did!), as satire, as a statement, Obama should wear the Hamas Flag Lapel Pin.

I'd bet more then half of the nitwits wouldn't notice.


Bonus Lapel Links

Barry Crimmins: The ABC/HUAC Democratic Inquisition

ABC Plants Its Flag

Boy, And We Thought Russert and Williams Sucked

ABC Plants Its Flag

Sadly, we already used the hysterical Eddie Izzard "Flag" routine video recently, in another post.

And there was a great video up, briefly, yesterday, called "In Memoriam - George Stephanopoulos", mocking the diminutive politico/news reader and, as we described him the other day, the "former staff member of the husband of one of the participants in this so-called debate", in the same production style as on his weekly Sunday morning thingy (it was "This video has been removed by the user." which means either YouTube gave him shit, or ABC gave him shit ... Likely, both).

Which brings us to today, and, if the ABC suits thought, hey, it's Friday ... Almost the weekend ... The worst is behind us ... Well, they had a little surprise.

From Josh Marshall's "Hmmm";

Remember that woman from the debate last night who the moderators showed videotape of asking whether Barack Obama "believes in the flag"? Her name is Nash McCabe.

I remember thinking it was sort of odd to have a couple one-off uses of ordinary voter questions when it didn't really seem like it was part of the format. But I was too distracted by the general inanity of the debate to focus on this issue too closely.

Well, it turns out TPM Reader JL did give it some thought. And he came up with something very interesting (see JL's post at the DrexelDems blog). He did a little googling and found out Nash is pretty popular with the traveling press now in Pennsylvania. It turns out McCabe was featured in an April 4th story in the Times which begins like this ..."

What an incredible coincidence!

What an incredible stroke of unbelievable good luck?

Shoot, Norville Barnes, a recipient of a boatload of dumb, good luck as any, pales in comparison into the pot-o-gold ABC stumbled upon.

This woman, Nash McCabe, just happened to be out there ... Just happened to live in Latrobe, PA ... And an ABC producer, wandering around the vast state, looking for the one voice, the one golden voice, who could epitomize the burning issue, that buzzed about item at every dinner table, the linch pin to this years' election ...

Who could ask Barack Obama about the Lapel Flag Pin?

Where was this All-American John or Jane Doe?

Who could ask;

Senator Obama, I have a question, and I want to know if you believe in the American flag. I am not questioning your patriotism, but all our servicemen, policemen and EMS wear the flag. I want to know why you don't.

The always insightful and entertaining Attytood had puzzlement, as well;

As I watched her question, what I wondered -- and I imagine many other viewers wondered as well -- was where on earth did ABC find this representative of my home state. As a journalist, I kind of assumed that ABC sent a film crew to western Pa., and then culled the most provocative questions from the people that they found. Silly me. In fact, ABC News found Nash McCabe the old-fashioned way -- they read about her, and her thing with the American flag, in the New York Times earlier this month:

LATROBE, Pa. — Ask whom she might vote for in the coming presidential primary election and Nash McCabe, 52, seems almost relieved to be able to unpack the dossier she has been collecting in her head.

It is not about whom she likes, but more a bill of particulars about why she cannot vote for Senator Barack Obama of Illinois.

“How can I vote for a president who won’t wear a flag pin?” Mrs. McCabe, a recently unemployed clerk typist, said in a booth at the Valley Dairy luncheonette in this quiet, small city in western Pennsylvania.

Greg Sargent, of TPM Election Central interviewed Stephanopoulos the other day;

In an interview with me moments ago, Stephanopoulos strongly defended his handling of the debate. He dismissed criticism that it had focused too heavily on "gotcha" questions, arguing that they had gone to the heart of the "electability" that, he said, is forefront in the minds of voters evaluating the two Dems.

Forefront in the minds of voters ...

The NYT interview with Nash McCabe was published back on January 4th ... Meaning it was taken a day, or more before that ...

That's over three-months ago!

From Attytood again;

So Nash McCabe wasn't located at random at all. Instead, someone at ABC News decided that they wanted to go after Obama on the patriotism issue, and they actively sought a Pennsylvanian who they knew wanted to bring it up. I assume they thought it would sound better if "a typical voter" asked the question instead of Charlie Gibson. "You see, we're only raising the issue the voters really care about," they can claim.

I have to wonder, if off-air (we already know what he did on-air), Sean Hannity coached Stephanopoulos to beat down Obama on the Lapel Flag Pin as well ...


It's 11PM, Do You Know Where Your Lapel Flag Pin Is? Links

D-Mac: Sen. Obama, Are You The Devil?

Steve Benen: About that flag-pin question…

Digby: Tiddly Winks

dday: We're marching on ABC/Disney in Burbank today - armed with flag pins!

The Nation: Journalists Slam ABC Debate Tactics; In an open letter to ABC, journalists and media analysts condemn the network's poor handling of the April 16 Democratic presidential debate

Charlie and George Go To A Debate ...

Just a little follow-up on the debate last evening ...

Charlie and George ...

Not quite in the same league, but, after the outrage (and disappointment) an equal amount of laughs could be had, as if the debate was presented as a corporate, white-collar version of "Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle".

Which has me thinking; How did ABC miss it?

They were in Philadelphia ... They had two-hours to play with ... It would be only 1.6 miles (approximately 8-minutes) to travel from the National Constitution Center... If they didn't want to pack that time with commercials, they could have let the off-screen, voice-from-the-heavens, riff some more on the Constitution

To really cap off their tabloid, junk, "Gotcha" debate-producing/debate-moderation-strategy, they could have taken Barack Obama to Gino's Steaks and have him order a cheesesteak, using quick-cut close-ups, overhead shots, maybe even have a camera from the POV of the grill ... A little tune softly in the background, building up the drama, putting the pressure on Obama to order it the correct way (and in English) ...

Maybe cut to Hillary, or use a double-screen shot, so we can hear her tell the audience of the great cheesesteaks subs her grandfather used to make (including shooting the cow, with his second-amendment-granted-right-to-own-a-gun), and how it's a tradition and her grandfather was never bitter about making cheesesteaks subs ...Then a quick cut to Hillary eating a cheesesteak sub, washing it done with shots and beer ...

And then, George Stephanopolous will ask a question, given to him by Sean Hannity, or some other dittohead, righwingnut, if Obama likes the same cheese on his cheesesteaks that William Ayers likes ... Didn't he and William Ayers share a cheesesteak once, or both order and eat cheesesteaks at the same place?

Then, the MSM, and the Right Wing Freak Show, can start a whole new meme, about Obama, still being an elitist, but now trying fake working-class roots, of being a brown-bagging-lunch-carrying common man, question the veracity if he's ever eaten a cheesesteak, or that he likes to put French cheeses on it, maybe even a little arugla.

Hillary will jump on it too, saying that she has the experience to handle a cheesesteak, that she's dealt with, and eaten, all the cheesesteaks thrown her way for the past 16-years, and that, obviously, Obama isn't ready to handle a chessesteak ...

Hillary could get up at 3AM and make a perfect cheesesteak, Obama couldn't...

And, during the commercial breaks, ABC, instead of the Constitution, will have that off-screen, voice-from-the-heavens give the history of, and recipes to ... Cheesesteaks!

Hmmm ... I think I'll stop here ... Why give ABC a free gameplan ...

Okay, pretty absurd, but, in reality, not too far off the reservation on how the debate played out last evening (you can go to my bleary-eyed-written-post "Boy, And We Thought Russert and Williams Sucked") for more 411 on this fiasco.

And if you think this is harsh, or off-the-mark, the World Wide Web and Blogosphere is bursting with similar and comparable disgust.

As we noted last evening, it was a Leonard Pinth Garnell-type night, all the way.

Perhaps the best, the winner for title-and-post goes to Robert Elisberg, over on The Huffington Post, with his "What If ABC Held a Debate, but Forgot to Show Up?";

This was topflight journalism at its worst. This was ABC's old, flimsy history with threadbare sizzle packaged as news. It was a tabloid debate with tabloid questions. Matt Drudge come to life on a respectable stage. From what I subsequently discovered, they actually, eventually got around to real issues -- after over an hour. But watching it for a mere 45 minutes made me feel almost seedy. I wanted to shower to get the smarm off. I love news, I admire professional journalists, I cherish the Mainstream Media, even when they flounder, because it is the core of democracy. But this was embarrassing. This was pathetic. This was just a cheesy press conference with cheesy questions.

A tie, or by-a-hair, second, was Will Bunch, on his Atttytood blog, "An open letter to Charlie Gibson and George Stephanapoulos";

With your performance tonight -- your focus on issues that were at best trivial wastes of valuable airtime and at worst restatements of right-wing falsehoods, punctuated by inane "issue" questions that in no way resembled the real world concerns of American voters -- you disgraced my profession of journalism, and, by association, me and a lot of hard-working colleagues who do still try to ferret out the truth, rather than worry about who can give us the best deal on our capital gains taxes.

But I'm not ready to make nice. What I just watched was an outrage. As a journalist, you appeared to confirm all of the worst qualities that cause people to hold our profession in such low esteem, especially your obsession with cornering the candidates with lame "trick" questions and your complete lack of interest or concern about substance -- or about the American people, or the state of our nation. You embarrassed some good people who work at ABC News -- for example, the journalists who worked hard to break this story just last week -- and you embarrassed yourselves. The millions of people who watched the debate were embarrassed, too -- at the state of our political discourse, and what it has finally become, at long last.

And this morning, Tom Shales, television critic of the Washington Post, rings in with "In Pa. Debate, The Clear Loser Is ABC";

When Barack Obama met Hillary Clinton for another televised Democratic candidates' debate last night, it was more than a step forward in the 2008 presidential election. It was another step downward for network news -- in particular ABC News, which hosted the debate from Philadelphia and whose usually dependable anchors, Charlie Gibson and George Stephanopoulos, turned in shoddy, despicable performances.

For the first 52 minutes of the two-hour, commercial-crammed show, Gibson and Stephanopoulos dwelled entirely on specious and gossipy trivia that already has been hashed and rehashed, in the hope of getting the candidates to claw at one another over disputes that are no longer news. Some were barely news to begin with.

At the end, Gibson pompously thanked the candidates -- or was he really patting himself on the back? -- for "what I think has been a fascinating debate." He's entitled to his opinion, but the most fascinating aspect was waiting to see how low he and Stephanopoulos would go, and then being appalled at the answer.

Also making its way into the discussion this morning is the wistful longing of debates past.

Libby, over on Newhoggers, harks "It's time to bring back the League of Women Voters or some neutral entity, whose agenda has nothing to do with ratings and promoting their overpaid media stars, to run these events again" and Marty Kaplan, on The Huffington Post reaches for the same, begging "Would someone please get the networks out of the presidential debate business? ... But I do blame the candidates, the campaigns and the parties for being complicit with the corporate politainment circus. The first ten people in the phone book could do a better job of asking candidates questions that voters care about."

And, perhaps the best, head-slapping, suggestion, comes from Markos, on his Daily Kos;

"I honestly don't understand why Democrats haven't learned to ignore the bullshit substance-less questions and simply say, "Okay, that's a dumb question. Let's talk about something people care about, like the housing crisis."

Just bypass the idiotic questioners and talk about the things that the Democratic primary electorate actually want to talk about.

Trust me, they'll get brownie points, and the idiot questioners will look like idiots in the process."

Last nights' dredge should put a bullet in any more Democratic debates, since the primary is nearly over, so we get a respite, of sorts.

Just enough time, maybe, to unremember this fiasco, and to start dreading the General Election debates


More Links!

Barry Crimmins: The ABC/HUAC Democratic Inquisition

Think Progress - AUDIO: Hannity Feeds Stephanopoulos Debate Question On Weather Underground

Attaturk/Firedoglake: On reflection

Lynn Sweet: Obama's toughest grilling to date at Thursday debate. William Ayers becomes a factor

Steve Benen: Worst. Debate. Ever

Greg Mitchell - Clinton-Obama Debate: ABC Decides Top Issues Facing Americans Are Gaffes, Flag Pins and '60s Radicals