Hollywood Newsroom's Sarah Palin Naked Photoshop Contest

The Hollywood Newsroom has just announced their SARAH PALIN NAKED PHOTOSHOP CONTEST. Thanks to Dean Ericksen, fellow blogger and proprietor of Almost There In No Time for this tip. Environmentalist, ethicist, and all-round excellent homo sapien Ericksen comes up with this stuff from Gawker and Defamer so we don't have to. I believe his gym is on the same block as his work. . .which plays out OK. Whenever I read Gawker or Defamer, I almost always feel like I could use a shower. . .
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Offended by "uppity" Obama, Cindy McCain suggests he "doesn't know his place"

By Pablo Fanque

All This Is That National Affairs Editor

Cindy McCain told George Stephanopoulos in an interview that Barack Obama has deeply offended her. Democrats' attacks on her family's wealth "are unfair and offensive," Cindy McCain said today in an interview airing tomorrow on This Week with George Stephanopoulos.

As you know, the Democrats have relentlessly pummeled Sen. John McCain, (R-Ariz.) for saying he doesn't know how many houses he owns, calling the Republican presidential candidate out of touch with The People. In his acceptance speech at the Democratic convention on Thursday, Democratic nominee Barack Obama cranked up the heat on McCain, saying he "doesn't know" about the lives of middle-class Americans.

"I'm offended by Barack Obama saying that about my husband," said McCain's wife Cindy. When asked if Obama went too far in his criticism of McCain, Cindy responded, "I do. I do. I really do."

In a follow up telephone interview with All This Is That's National Affairs Editor Pablo Fanque, Cindy McCain went even further, calling Barack Obama "uppity," and wondering aloud if perhaps he "doesn't know his place?"

Pablo Fanque asked "his place? What does that mean" to which Cindy McCain responded

"I question whether someone like Barack Obama has the right to challenge anything an American hero like John McCain says or does. Anything. John McCain spent five years in an enemy prison camp. And Obama is kicking dirt in the face of a man who suffered so families like his could be free. How dare he question anything an American Hero like John McCain says or does," she continued, "He doesn't seem to realize how lucky he is," she said, "or what a magnificent gift he has been given." "But this gift he has been so lucky to receive," McCain said, "doesn't mean he can kick sand in the face of the person who gave so much in to assure his freedom. There are limits to the first amendment. And Barack Obama has crossed them."

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Shocker: Sara Palin chosen by McCain for VP slot

'
Governor Sara Palin rolling out the new Alaska quarter...

By Pablo Fanque
All This Is That National Affairs Editor


Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain shocked almost everyone by choosing Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate. Campaign officials fed the news to NBC News this morning. Senator McCain passed over Mitty Romney, Kay Hutchinson, Joe Lieberman, and Tim Pawlenty when he opted for Palin. Alaska Governor Sara Palin has only occasionally been mentioned as a VP possibility, and has not really appeared on the leaked "short lists" of late. What seemed to tip the scales is a) the female factor; b) her pro-life position; c) the babe factor; and d) the "common folk" factor ("Well, shucks, she's just people like you and me"). The anti-abortion governor has less experience than Barack Obama and is virtually unknown outside Alaska and the northwest. But she is Christian, she was mostly unexpected, she's pro-life, she's not a Mormon, was never a Democrat, and has never feuded with John McCain (which sank Hutchinson's chances).

Palin is also currently under investigation by an independent investigator the state legislature hired to find out whether she tried to have a state official fire her ex-brother-in-law from his job as a state trooper.

In an August interview with CNBC’s Larry Kudlow, she could not answer the question of whether she wanted the VP slot:

“until somebody answers for me what is it exactly that the VP does every day. I’m used to being very productive and working real hard in an administration. We want to make sure that that VP slot would be a fruitful type of position, especially for Alaskans and for the things that we’re trying to accomplish up here….”

She is the first woman and the first Alaskan on a Republican presidential ticket. Palin, 44, was elected Alaska's first woman governor in 2006.

Sara Palin has made at least one previous appearance on All This Is That: http://jackbrummet.blogspot.com/2007/04/salute-to-two-political-milfs-governor.html


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Popular Photography ages the current crop of candidates for President

Before, and after photos of the current President

Popular Photography online has a fascinating article, The Candidates: How will they look in four years? They took photos of Obama, Hillary Clinton, and John McCain and applied various aging (e.g., wrinkling, filling out, greying, sagging) to them to show how they might look in the future.

I've seen editors "unage" people before, and I've seen police sketches where they tried to show what a missing child or criminal might look like many years later. In any case, this is utterly fascinating. Go to the article and roll over the photos to see the effects of age. Of course, we do know that some of the tabloid photo editors do their best to emphasize the bad over the good, but in this case, of course, older is not worse. It's just older. Obviously in a race where one candidate is 20+ years older than the other, there will be some visible wear and tear!

This is really incredible work. You probably don't want to see your own pumpkin given the same treatment, do you?

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McCain campaign office evacuated over white powder (that turned out to be John McCain's Polident)

A suburban Denver campaign office of presidential candidate John McCain was evacuated this afternoon, and several people went to a hospital (presumably as a cautionary measure) after receiving an envelope containing a threatening letter and an unidentified white powder.

Our All This Is That stringer in Denver, rooted out the actual story a little later. According to Mary Houlihan, our mid-west correspondent, there was no threatening letter at all. That was just a cover story after someone called police and Homeland Security when they found the powdery substance. The story was soon picked up by the press.

The reason you haven't seen a correction or retraction of the story--that seems to imply a terrorist angle--is that it was, in fact, the Senator's monthly supply of Polident that had broken open. . .which the campaign does not want to announce or admit, especially after the implied possible terrorist/anthrax angle. The McCain campaign has struggled in recent months to portray the Senator as a vigorous 70 year old, and any Polident talk will not bolster that image, according to a low-level staffer's conversation with All This Is That's stringer.

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"Crazy" Joe Liberman on the VP short list--for McCain

By Pablo Fanque,
All This Is That National Affairs Editor


"Don't move back Mr. President. I'm getting a chubby."

According to a story in the Financial Times by Stephanie Kirchgaessner, Joe Lieberman, former Democratic vice-presidential nominee/Democrat turncoat, who endorsed John McCain for President, is being vetted as a running mate for the Republican presidential hopeful an unnamed McCain advisor said.


From an All This Is That staff artist, two years ago - August 9, 2006


"John, he's all yours. You can have the P.O.S."


The Senator at a Press Conference with Donald Rumsfeld

Although Democrats haven't exactly been buying McCain’s tarnished image as a maverick politician, Mr. Lieberman’s support for the presumptive Republican nominee has the unfortunate effect of making McCain seem more palatable, as a bi-partisan legislator with friends on both sides of the aisle. Lieberman, could also help Mr McCain win over Jewish voters with his steadfast support for Israel.

But you know what? No one likes a rat, and in the end, what is Joe Lieberman but a sawed-off Neo-Republican apologist for Israel who turned his back on his Democratic brothers and sisters in their hour of greatest need? Sure, you'll use a rat; you'll exploit him to get to the next stage, but in the end, a rat is a rat is a rat. People will trust him as far as they can throw him (what is the record for dwarf-tossing, anyway?).

The odds of John McCain surviving two terms in office are not specifically all that good. Eight of 43 Presidents have died in office, and he will be the oldest President ever. Even if he seems palatable as a running mate, not many people on either side of the aisle are ready for a Lieberman Presidency. The republicans know he has certain liberal tendencies they may find unpalatable. The Democrats know he is an unprincipled weasel who shouldn't be trusted with even an obscure subcommittee chairmanship. McCain will come to his senses once this trial balloon is laughed off the table. McCain will come to his senses and pick a nice, bland running mate who can carry one important state, and do no collateral damage.


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Dick Cheney to run for Vice President again (don't laugh, he's still eligible)?

John McCain told Dick Cheney he would have liked to pick him as his Vice-President, if only he had won. Well, Senator, there's still time, and you have the opportunity in the next couple of weeks.

The best part, Senator McCain: he's already been well-investigated, and he is eligible to run for Vice President once again. And, unlike, you he WAS born in the United States.


click to enlarge
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Barack Obama in McCain desperation ad: "We are the ones we've been waiting for..."

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John McCain erupts at advance man over somnambulant crowd

By Pablo Fanque,
All This Is That National Affairs Editor

Following his less than successful town hall meeting yesterday in Sparks, John McCain gave a rousing speech today in Altoona, Pennsylvania. However, a fair number of people in the audience appeared to be sleeping. Senator McCain greatly abbreviated his prepared remarks and left early for his next campaign stop. A fellow reporter heard the Senator call his advance man on the carpet as he walked to a waiting limousine: "I flew back here from f***ing Nevada to be greeted by this crowd? Where did you round these ***holes up? At the narcolepsy treatment center?!"
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John McCain: Maverick or Redneck? The Republicans are not quite sure.

By Pablo Fanque,
All This Is That National Affairs Editor


At a town hall meeting yesterday in Sparks, Nevada, Republican presidential candidate John McCain attempted to maintain the precarious equilibrium between the independence he boasts of and his purported conservatism. Was the audience buying it? Not so much.

"As many of you know, I've been called a maverick, someone who marches to the beat of his own drum," McCain said proudly before being assaulted with questions on offshore oil, taxes and stem cell research from a mostly Republican audience.

McCain swore he would not raise taxes if elected president and promised to appoint judges like Bush nominees Samuel Alito and John Roberts.

"Anything you can tax he wants to tax it more," McCain said of his Democratic opponent, Barack Obama.

But McCain then told a disabled woman facing home foreclosure that he would step up enforcement of the Americans With Disabilities Act. He told a cancer survivor that he supported stem cell research, which pushed a local, Doug Englekirk, to tell McCain that he and other conservatives weren't happy to be supporting the Arizona senator. "There's a lot of us voting against Obama more than anything else," Englekirk said to McCain. "There are a lot of issues I've disagreed with you about, and I would like to know how do you assure me and other conservatives that you will hold to our values and give me something to be excited about?"
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John McCain: It's fine for Bush to appear with me as long as no one gets any photos

Click the President to enlarge

Washington, D.C., May 26th, 2008,
by Pablo Fanque, All This Is That National Affairs Editor

On Tuesday last week, President Bush and preumptive GOP nominee Senator McCain were scheduled to appear at a McCain for President/RNC Victory Reception celebration at a Phoenix convention center. On Wednesday, POTUS was supposed to appear at Salt Lake City’s Grand America Hotel with Mitt Romney for a similar event, followed by a posh dinner at the Romneys’ home.

The Phoenix Business Journal reports that “Sources familiar with the situation said the Bush-McCain event was not selling enough tickets to fill the Convention Center space, and that there were concerns about more anti-war protesters showing up outside the venue than attending the fundraiser inside.” All This Is That found this story, among other places, at Mike Allen's Playbook blog on Politico.com.

In short, McCain is glad to exploit whatever remnant of star power and influence POTUS has. . .as long as it isn't in public, and won't be photographed or recorded. As long as the dogs of the fifth estate are kept at arm's length, President Bush is welcome. This makes sense to me. . .however, I want to make it clear that President Bush is welcome to appear on All This Is That whenever it fits into his schedule. Anytime, Mister President!

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John McCain posts thousands of pages of medical history, with nary a reference to his mental health

Click the Senator to enlarge

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Senator John McCain attempts to dodge the George W. Bush legacy

"Don't move back. I think I'm getting
a chubby." Click to enlarge.

John McCain today attempted to add distance between himself and President George W. Bush—clearly, but gingerly, attempting to dodge the toxic political legacy of Dubyah, as he seeks a way to weasel himself into the White House, through a hazard-littered course.

"The point is, I'm not running on the Bush presidency, I'm running on my own service to the country, my own record in the House of Representatives and the United States Senate and my vision for the future," McCain told ABC television.

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