Contributed by Cary Briel / Skaneateles

Contributed by Cary Briel / Skaneateles Talk

Classic television ads are few and far between. And only occasionally do they blend into the politic dialect (see: “Where’s the beef?” Mondale v. Hart, 1984).

The “Wasssssup” Budweiser spots were — for avid television watchers — one of those memorable ad moments that had pop culture significance. Now, the very same characters are reprising almost identical roles in a short clip on behalf of the Obama campaign.

And… it actually works.

Here’s the original:

Contributed by Cary Briel / Skaneateles

The Jewish Alliance for Change, a pro-Obama group, is launching a series of three ads in swing states that use humor and celebrity narration to go after John McCain. An ad titled “Ain’t Funny — Vice President” features old-time movie and TV stars such as Carl Reiner, Danny Devito, and Jerry Stiller riffing on topics ranging from the price of gas (“it costs more than the car”) to health care and Sarah Palin. “He wants to put that girl who winks in the second position,” says Reiner, of Oceans 11, 12, and 13 fame, “Oh God, we are in trouble.”

“I am voting for ‘that one,’” says famed actor, director, writer and producer Gary Marshall, referencing the snide remark McCain made of Obama in the second presidential debate. The other two spots deploy a similar method, going after McCain for his use of scare tactics and urging grandparents to consider “think about your grandchildren” when casting their ballots. “I got the chance to vote for Roosevelt and I’m still talking about it,” says Reiner. “Obama’s your person.” The spots will air Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania — states that have large swaths of elderly voters — according to a spokesperson for the organization. The group has bought time during the last week of the election on the major cable news networks.

Contributed by Cary Briel / Skaneateles

Colin Powell is right on the money in his statement today concerning the despicable nature of John McCain’s (and the RNC’s) attacks on Obama.  We need more men and women, who are fair and clear minded like Powell, speaking up for what’s right.

Here’s the transcript:

Q: Sir, what role did McCain’s negativity play in your decision?

POWELL: It troubled me. You know, we have two wars. We have economic problems. We have health problems. We have education problems. We have infrastructure problems. We have problems around the world with our allies. And so those are the problems the American people wanted to hear about, not about Mr. Ayers, not about who is a Muslim and who’s not a Muslim. Those kinds of images going out on al Jazeera are killing us around the world. And we have got to say to the world it doesn’t make any difference who you are or what you are. If you’re an American you’re an American.

And this business of, for example, a congressman from Minnesota who’s going around saying let’s examine all congressmen to see who is pro-America or not pro-America. We have got to stop this kind of nonsense and pull ourselves together and remember that our great strength is in our unity and in our diversity. And so that really was driving me. And to focus on people like Mr. Ayers, these trivial issues for the purpose of suggesting that somehow Mr. Obama would have some kind of terrorists’ inclinations, I thought that was over the top. It was beyond just good political fighting back and forth. I think it went beyond. And then to sort of throw in this subtle Muslim connection. You know, he’s a Muslim and a terrorist. And it was taking root. And we can’t judge our people and we can’t hold our elections on that kind of basis. And so yes, that kind of negativity troubles me and the constant shifting of the argument.

I was troubled a couple of weeks ago when in the middle of the crisis the campaign said we’re going to go negative and they announced it. We’re going to go negative and attack his character through Bill Ayers. And now I guess the message this week is we’re going to call him a socialist. Mr. Obama is now a socialist because he dares to suggest that maybe we ought to look at the tax structure that we have. Taxes are always a redistribution of money. Most of the taxes that are redistributed go back to those who pay it in roads and airports and hospitals and schools. And taxes are necessary for the common good. And there’s nothing wrong with examining what our tax structure is or who should be paying more, who should be paying less. And for us to say that makes you a socialist I think is an unfortunate characterization that isn’t accurate. And I don’t want my taxes raised. I don’t want anybody else’s taxes raised. But I also want to see our infrastructure fixed. I don’t want to have a $12 trillion national debt and I don’t want to see an annual deficit that’s over $500 billion heading toward a trillion. So how do we deal with all of this?

Contributed by Cary Briel / Skaneateles

Submitted by Cary Briel / Skaneateles

Contributed by: Cary Briel / Skaneateles

Sen. Barack Obama’s campaign Monday drew the parallel between Sen. John McCain’s involvement in the 2-decade-old “Keating Five” scandal and the current economic situation. The Obama campaign released a 13-minute documentary called “Keating Economics: John McCain and the Making of a Financial Crisis.” Visit the website here. Also be sure to check out AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka speak about Obama and racism here.

Contributed by: Cary Briel / Skaneateles

AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka offers this moving defense of Barack Obama against racial attacks.

Contributed by Cary Briel / Skaneateles

Barack Obama is a leader in my opinion, a welcome change from what we’ve endured for the last 8 years.  The following video is Barack Obama speaking on the Senate floor on October 1, 2008 concerning problems with world credit markets.

UPDATE: It’s reported by the AP that John McCain stayed curiously quiet and did not speak on the bill.  The AP reports “McCain’s decision not to speak on the bill in the Senate chamber was odd for a candidate who took the legislation so seriously that he had suspended his campaign and suggested what became a bipartisan White House meeting on the matter.”

The AP also noted something that I would argue illustrates the true nature of McCain: “Before the roll was called, Arizona Sen. McCain dined in Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell’s office. When the series of votes were called, McCain did not acknowledge Obama as he passed by; Obama later initiated a handshake.”  This rude nature is similar to how it was widely reported that McCain did not once look at Obama in their first debate.

Contributed by Cary Briel / Skaneateles

One might argue that the real John McCain is well illustrated in the videos below.  Many insiders who know John McCain have hinted about Mr. McCain’s testiness and temper, and we’ve seen some examples of it in the press.  He seems pretty good at hiding this aspect of his personality in most cases, but I would suggest that cool heads need to prevail after 8 years of the current president and vice-president.  The following are three clips taken from an interview of John McCain by the Des Moines Register.

UPDATE:
Politico reports more McCain testiness on October 2, 2008:
“We just followed McCain down the steps following the vote to ask him about the reaction of House Republicans to the vote. He didn’t appreciate the company.

McCain: “Excuse me, you’re bothering me.”

Politico: “I’m bothering you?”

McCain: “Excuse me, I have to go.”

Maybe it’s time for McCain to retire if he’s so bothered.  Article here.

Contributed by Cary Briel / Skaneateles Talk

Contributed by Cary Briel

When I first moved to Skaneateles, I talked for a while to the lawyer for the seller of our house in the front yard, mainly about the Skaneateles area, and I remember that he joked with me that he was the sole Democrat in Skaneateles to show up for Democratic primaries. At the time, I just laughed, and said “I’ll bet!”  That was almost 20 years ago.  Interestingly, John McCain has set forth a health plan that may effectively tax health benefits for some workers, primarily those with high incomes and/or expensive health plans.  This would seem to apply to many people in Skaneateles, hitting them right in the pocket book, right at a time when expenses are soaring for fuel, food, and many other necessities.  Here’s a video of Joe Biden discussing McCain’s plans to treat certain health insurance premiums as taxable income if he’s elected, possibly making the plan the largest tax increase on middle-class tax payers in American history. You can read more about it in this New York Times article.  The article also describes how John McCain has advocated the “free market approach” (read: deregulation) as the approach to make health insurance more affordable.

Contributed by Cary Briel

Barack Obama is such a welcome change from the nonsensical babbling that has emanated from the Executive for the last eight years, and continues to be blurted out by Obama’s opponent.

I just noticed that Barack Obama has an area on his website that describes his economic plan for the US.  With all the recent financial trouble in the news, this issue seems appropriate for discussion in Skaneateles and/or any small town in America.

Contributed by: Cary Briel, Skaneateles Design

Here’s the trailer for the new Oliver Stone movie, “W,” based on the life of President George W. Bush. Josh Brolin plays Bush, Elizabeth Banks plays his wife Laura, and Richard Dreyfuss plays Vice President Dick Cheney. Best of all, Rob Corddry plays former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer. The movie is slated for release on October 17.

The video: