Political Hippo Circle Jerk - America, farg YEAH!

[MDS]

how farging stupid is this country?

[ice grillin you]

much respect to mccain for that...a seemingly decent guy caught up with the wrong side (as sb said)...and yes the middle of the country is not smart...lol @ "hes an arab"....kill yourself you stupid farging bitch


one thing that is scary is that were mccain to win it wouldnt be his presidency...it would clearly be run by an oligarchy of the right...perhaps even the hand of dick cheney and friends...even more reason we need barry

[PhillyPhreak54]

Props to McCain. It almost looks like he is as disgusted with these people as we are.

And he also sounded like a beaten man. Like he knows its over.

[Magical_Retard]

hes not arab...hes a decent family man.

hmmm.

hmmmmmmmmmmm.

[General_Failure]

He ain't no filthy sand stillupfront, man. He's half white, for Christ sake!

[Rome]

I loved the black dude begging McCain to go after Obama over the Ayers connection.

"Please, please, please... I'm begging you, go after this guy!"

And then McCain promises him he will.  Reluctantly.

It's almost like McCain has gone ahead and sold his soul to the Devil anyway, yet whatever shred of decency he has left is precluding him from going all the way in with the evil that permeates the Republican base.

I actually feel sorry for McCain at this point and that's the first time I've felt that way for him in a long, long time.

[ATV]

Dan Snyder isn't looking so bad anymore...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gd4wQd_gbj8

What a shame they cranked up the music to drown out the fans.

[Phanatic]

Being Arab is a bad thing it seems...

[Rome]

It's equivalent to being a Cowboys fan.

[General_Failure]

Dan Snyder isn't looking so bad anymore...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gd4wQd_gbj8

What a shame they cranked up the music to drown out the fans.

I'm disappointed that there wasn't a show your tits chant going.

[MURP]

how farging stupid is this country?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjxzmaXAg9E

[mussa]

how farging stupid is this country?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjxzmaXAg9E

even better...or more frightening more like it

[PhillyPhreak54]

Palin greeted by cheers, boos

By Mari A. Schaefer

INQUIRER STAFF WRITERS
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin came to town today fully expecting to be booed by Philadelphia hockey fans.

"The Flyers fans, they get so enthused that they boo everybody at the drop of a puck," said Palin.

The Republican vice presidential candidate even stoked the ire of her own supporters at a pricey afternoon fund-raiser, when she said she'd be cheering New York Rangers center Scott Gomez, who is from Anchorage. She was booed.

"Ok, Ok, I'm getting used to the boos already," she said.

For those keeping score, Palin was first booed on Broad Street at 3:35 p.m. as she peered out the window of her SUV while it passed a crowd of protesters outside the Park Hyatt at the Bellevue, site of the fundraiser.

At the Wachovia Center, loud music drowned out the fans, who greeted Palin with a mixture of cheers and boos, clapping and thumbs down as she dropped the ceremonial first puck of the first Flyers game of the season.

In the midst of taking on Flyers fans and Barack Obama supporters, Palin also toned down prior criticism of Obama, telling her own supporters that the campaign could be fought "with respect" and that they were "not going to be negative or mean spirited when we call out Barack Obama on his record."

"It is not lost on me that here tonight we are in the City of Brotherly Love. And, William Penn saw this as a place where people of any color and background could live in harmony," said Palin. "This campaign is going to be hard fought, but we can fight it with respect."

Her words follow McCain telling supporters that Obama was "a decent man," a statement some attending today's event said they disagreed with. Palin said the campaign would uphold standards of "tolerance and truth telling"

"And there have been things that of course that have allowed those standards to be violated from both sides," she said.

Earlier, at a campaign stop in Altoona, Palin told reporters that she felt vindicated by a finding in the "Troopergate" investigation that she'd done nothing unlawful by firing Alaska's top cop, but did not comment on the finding that she acted in violation of state executive branch ethics laws.

"I'm thankful that the report has shown that there was no illegal or unethical activity there in my choice to replace our commissioner," she said. "Now we look forward to working with the personnel board."

Outside the Bellevue, Palin, sitting in her car, gave a little back and forth wave to the protesters, who in return gave her thumbs down and rounds of boos.

"Back to Alaska, They shouldn't have Asked ya!" read one poster on the median.

Police said about 400 protesters lined the streets outside the hotel, the same number that organizers expected at the fundraiser, chanting to each other and to passing motorists. Inside, Palin got her hair and makeup done at Pierre and Carlo salon.

At times, Republicans attending the event and protesters confronted one another.

"They are hooligans," said Bucks County restauranteur and McCain supporter Andrew Abruzzese, after he flashed a peace sign at protesters, who responded with raised middle fingers. Another Republican complained of being jostled.

Of Palin's rise from PTA activist to City Council to mayor to governor to vice presidential candidate, "You couldn't get a more natural progression than that."

Several Republicans attendees complained of the protesters' vulgarity, especially in light of recent criticism of the behavior of people at McCain-Palin rallies.

Outside Broad Street, waiting for Palin to leave, one man was heard saying, "Let's stone her, old school."

Another protester shouted at someone entering the hotel, "Wait till your daughter wants an abortion, you hypocrite."

Wally Nunn, a prominent Republican fundraiser who contributed $25,000 to be able to mingle with Palin, said he was disappointed that McCain had come to Obama's defense.

Nunn said he did not believe Obama to be a decent man. Attending the event with former 60s radical turned GOP activist David Horowitz, he said, "This guy Obama scares me."

On center ice last night, Palin wore a plain belted tan jacket, not a Flyers jersey, a standard political gesture she left to her daughter Piper, 7. She was there at the invitation of Comcast Spectacor chairman Ed Snider, who runs the Flyers and is a McCain supporter.

And Palin kissed the Rangers' Gomez before dropping the puck with Erdenheim resident Cathy O'Connell, winner of the Flyers' "ultimate hockey mom" contest. She merely shook hands with Flyers center Mike Richards.

By contrast, Obama told supporters in Philadelphia today that with the his Chicago White Sox eliminated, he was rooting for the Phillies in the baseball playoffs.

Some Flyers fans expressed disappointment with Snider's decision to invite Palin. "The Flyers need to stop supporting racists," said Seth Munoz, 31, of Collingswood, who carried a Flyers Suport Racism sign.

Bob Denbow and his nephew Justin Shultz had $75 tickets to the Flyers game and said they were going to boo Palin. "If I knew she was going to be there, I never would have gotten tickets," he said.

Tickets to the Bellevue fundraiser, organized by local businessmen Craig Drake and Frank Giordano ranged from $1,000 to $25,0000, for varying levels of interaction with Palin. Leslie Gromis Baker, a state McCain official would not reveal the amount raised. She said 25 people paid the highest level or more.

Gimme the peace sign, you get the finger.

[PhillyPhreak54]

Thousands cheer Obama at four Phila. stops

By Larry Eichel

INQUIRER SENIOR WRITER

Helen Henderson, 82 years old and African American, sat in the sunshine at 52d and Locust Streets yesterday, waiting for Barack Obama to arrive.

She said she felt excited, honored and blessed.

"I never thought I'd live to see a black man in the White House," said the retired nurse, who lives in University City. "I sent him a small contribution in the mail. I owe it to him because he's taking a chance for us. I pray for him."

Yesterday, thousands of African Americans and other Philadelphians got to see and hear the Democratic presidential candidate.

On a warm and cloudless Saturday, Obama did something he had never done before in the campaign - make four consecutive stops in the same city, stumping mostly in black neighborhoods.

He started in North Philadelphia at 8:15 in the morning, then hit Mayfair, Germantown and finally West Philadelphia in early afternoon. He'd done two fund-raisers in the city on Friday.

That he would devote so much time to Philadelphia at this point made perfect sense. In the world of presidential politics, where New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston and Phoenix are in noncompetitive states, this is the biggest city that matters.

And with three weeks left before Election Day, it was time to stir the urban faithful.

Supporters turned out by the thousands, an estimated 20,000 in West Philadelphia alone. They cheered his speeches and jumped for joy as his motorcade passed.

"No question, the mayor [Michael Nutter] and I were clamoring to get him to do this kind of day," said Gov. Rendell, who, along with Nutter, Sen. Bob Casey Jr. and numerous other Democratic officeholders accompanied Obama on his tour. "Think of the buzz this will create."

Tony Goodwin, 58, a retired firefighter from the Logan section, already had all the buzz he needed.

"The dream is becoming a reality, thank God," said Goodwin, wearing an elaborate Obama T-shirt at Progress Plaza in North Philadelphia, where the line started forming at 11 p.m. Friday. "I've already got president and first lady shirts, five of them. If he doesn't win, I'll stroke out."

At all four stops, Obama gave a variation of the same speech. A key element was a thank-you of sorts to his Republican rival, Sen. John McCain.

On Friday, at a town hall meeting in Minnesota, McCain had drawn boos when he defended Obama as a "decent person and a person that you do not have to be scared of as president."

Said Obama: "Now, I want to acknowledge that Sen. McCain tried to tone down the rhetoric yesterday, and I appreciated his reminder that we can disagree while still being respectful of each other. I've said it before, and I'll say it again - Sen. McCain has served this country with honor, and he deserves our thanks for that."

For the most part, though, Obama talked about the economy, blaming the Republicans for the current crisis and laying out his own plans to cut taxes for families making less than $250,000 a year and to invest $15 billion per year in renewable energy.

"I don't quote Ronald Reagan that often, but are you better off than you were four years ago?" Obama asked the crowd outside the Mayfair Diner, his smallest of the day. "Are you better off than you were four weeks ago? We've had enough, and it's time for a change."

A McCain spokesman, Tucker Bounds, described Obama's words as "pie-in-the-sky rhetoric" and said the Democrat's tax plans would burden small business.

In the four speeches, Obama engaged in give-and-take with his audiences at times.

He told a story about ordering a piece of pie at a small-town Ohio diner where the workers were Democrats and the owner a Republican. The story ended with Obama suggesting the owner vote Democratic because, on the economy, "we can't do any worse."

The problem with the diner, he told his listeners, was that it didn't have sweet potato pie - an African American favorite - on the menu. At the rally at Vernon Park in Germantown, a woman shouted out an offer to make him some.

"We might have to have a sweet potato pie contest," Obama said, as other offers flowed. "I'll be the judge, because I know my sweet potato pie."

At Vernon Park, David Wilcots, 46, an environmental engineer, contemplated the prospect of an Obama victory, which he and other African Americans now believe is a probability.

On the one hand, Wilcots said, the venom expressed by the crowds at Republican rallies last week makes him fear for Obama's safety. On the other, he marvels at what might transpire on Nov. 4.

"It wouldn't resolve everything in race relations, but it would mean we'd reached a milestone in this country thought to be impossible a few short years ago," he said.

"America would be embracing as president a black person, a person of mixed-race background, and a person one generation removed from Africa. Those are three pretty big embraces."

I'm a little disappointed he is not making any stops here. I'd go out to support him.

[PhillyPhreak54]

Bob Ford: Tough (sports) talk with Barack Obama

By Bob Ford

Inquirer Sports Columnist
"Are we going to talk about that Bears-Eagles game?" Barack Obama said as he came into the tent. "We going to talk about that?"

Well, we could have, but when you are given eight minutes to go one-on-one about sports with a presidential candidate, there's really no time for painful partisanship.

Obama had just finished speaking at a campaign rally in Kensington's Vernon Park at midday yesterday, the third of four stops on a whirlwind tour of Philadelphia neighborhoods.

On a shirtsleeves day in front of a crowd that police estimated at 10,000 within the park and another 5,000 who couldn't wedge their way in, Obama began his speech by asking, "Are there any Phillies fans around here?"

Didn't bring up the Bears game that time.

He did tell the crowd that he is really a Chicago White Sox fan, and got the predictable good-natured boos in return. This is Philly, after all.

"But since the White Sox lost, I'll go ahead and root for the Phillies now," Obama said.

Cynics might note that Pennsylvania is a battleground state in the November election, while California, home to the Los Angeles Dodgers, will almost certainly deliver its electoral votes to the Democrats.

And it's also worth noting that identifying with Philadelphia-area voters as a sports guy helps explain why the eight minutes in the tent went to a sportswriter instead of one of those big-time political writers who only get a wave from the tarmac these days.

In the interest of equal time, The Inquirer extended the same invitation - talking sports - to Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, who was in town last night to drop the first puck of the Flyers season. That campaign declined the honor.

So it was just me and Barry O'Bomber yesterday in the small tent near the Vernon Park stage. That was his nickname in high school, because some other people on the basketball team, including the coach on occasion, thought he might have shot the ball a touch too often.

"I never thought I was taking a bad shot," Obama said. "I thought all of my shots were high-percentage shots."

Playing a long sports season and trying to win a title - which his Hawaii high school state championship team did in 1979 - are similar to mounting a long political campaign and trying to win an election. Obama has more road games than the normal team, but otherwise it's an analogy the candidate endorses.

"There are going to be rhythms to a season, just like there are rhythms to a campaign. There are times when you're hitting on all cylinders and times when nothing you're doing is working," Obama said. "Sportswriters are a lot like political writers. They're good at finding your flaws and advertising them to the entire world."

Obama is playing with a lead right now, and it's been suggested that he's trying to run out the clock, doing fewer interviews, limiting those extemporaneous moments that can lead to a gaffe. He says he doesn't play that way, though.

"No, you can't go into four corners. You keep pressing. You've got to," Obama said. "Because what we've seen during this campaign is momentum swinging quickly. It's like an NBA game. Suddenly, the game could turn around in rapid fashion. So you've got to keep playing hard and playing your game."

When Obama thinks about Philadelphia sports, he thinks about Julius Erving, who was his hero growing up.

"I could never quite get the 'fro, and I didn't have his vertical leap, either. But I did have a little finger roll," Obama said. "What I liked was not just what he did on the court, but how he acted off the court. He's a classy guy."

Obama also said he roots for Donovan McNabb, who is from Chicago, and promises to pay close attention to the 76ers once again after they've finished going through "their growing pains, their post-Iverson years."

Sports is the great equalizer in this country, something people from both sides of the aisle and all sides of the tracks can use as a common language. According to Obama, it's also where some of the best life lessons are learned.

"I did not always understand what it means to play on a team," he said. "I used to get in a lot of arguments with my coach, because I had learned on the playground and really wanted to throw behind-the-back passes and take wild shots. He was like Bobby Knight. He wanted chest passes. In retrospect, I realize he was right. We ended up winning the championship, and you understand that it's not about you but about the larger goal."

As a public service to the undecided voters, I proposed to the candidate a series of lightning-round questions that could be used to litmus his integrity and dependability. It's one thing to get his position on foreign oil. It might be more revealing to know what he thinks of the designated hitter.

Here they are - the questions that had to be asked:

Best sports movie ever?

"Hoosiers."

Is a walk as good as a hit?

"Yes."

The DH?

"I'm not really into it."

Pete Rose in the Hall of Fame?

"No, because he bet on baseball. If he had bet on football, I wouldn't care. But you don't bet on your own game."

Wilt or Russell?

"Russell. I've got to say that, and it's part of the lesson I learned. When I was a kid, I loved Wilt. That was my guy. As I get older, maybe because my game's more like Russell's - I can't score 100 points - I have come to appreciate Russell more."

You also play tennis well. Federer or Nadal?

"Federer. Smooth guy."

Does a good defense always beat a good offense?

"Sometimes a good offense can beat a good defense, but I'll put my money on a good defense every time. You've got to have both, though. Maybe it's because I'm thinking about my Bears, and we haven't had an offense for 20 years. If we could just get a quarterback and a guy who could just catch the ball, we might do some damage."

Sure. Now about that Bears-Eagles game.

Time's up.

Shocked to see Palin decline to talk sports?

Yeah, me either.

"So Sarah, about those Phillies?"

"I'm not going to answer your question about the Orioles. But I will talk about why John McCain..."