Election 08, Lost in the Pages of “The Onion:” Dissed Flags, “False Pregnancy”, the Muslim Running For President

Good for the extra detail on the flag issue. I hope they fire the worker and sue him for stealing the flags.

But what about that one time that guy I disagree with did that thing I can't remember exactly anymore that got reported somewhere so it must be true proving conclusively that everyone I disagree with about anything no matter what hates America?

You gonna call that an urban legend too?

Did McCain actually show off stolen flags in Colorado Springs today? That seems to be part of the story, and would make the idiot worker and Fox News look less important than the McCain campaign ginning up a false controversy to make propaganda.

The worker may have misinterpreted them as being thrown away or the DNC might be playing a game of Cover Your Butt since the campaign signs had made it back to their campaign headquarters, but a week and a day later the flages were still in trash bags near a dumpster. We will probably never know the truth and its not a major issue anyhow. Noone is likely to change their vote over it.

As for the other stuff its the Sullivanizing of the media, or on this blog the Mullenizing.

dear elrod, re if Sen McCain's people showed off flags in Colo Spgs, that I do not know. I do know that the many DNC signs that said obama and biden et al, and the flags were going to be reused at other rallies over the next 8 weeks re prez nominee, but for other Colo Dems running for various seats, incumbent and otherwise, in this Nov's election. At least that was the plan conveyed to me. I think that 'workman' who called GOP, may or may not be an actual workman Elrod. You know.

Having met some of the very self-important campaign people on GOP and Dem sides, you wonder that--not the candidates-- but those they deputize jump the gun sometimes. Have also met thoughtful solid people on all sides. But also some peeps who mistakenly think they're in the Ardennes either making the Bulge or trying to resist it.

It may be too that since there is no real meat in the campaign discussions/debates or I should say, lack of them at all on subjects of importance... that the msm jumps at minnows claiming shark shark!

The Boy Who Called Shark. Man, what a world.

Remember the Randi Rhodes story, how blowfish that went?, or the poor guy Richard Jewell, or even the Chief Seattle story. This stuff used to be called yellow journalism.

thanks Elrod

dr.e

dear GeorgeSorwell

that is so compleely articulatenessess on yur part; we musta gone to different schools together caus I a-grey.

I swear to you George, a good deal of this stuff reminds me of Spy vs Spy in Mad magazine... remember? the one planning to blow up the other, blew up himself. The one planning to trap the other, locked himself in instead? like that. Only triple-much.

thank you for making me laugh. Laughter is the medicine I need most at this time.

dr.e

Clarissa,
Thanks for the response. Do you know if these DNC folks will go public - not anonymous - and clear up what you said? It would put the story back on the GOP for real if the DNC showed its plans for the flags.

dear Leonidas, you are accurate, no one will change a vote over these contretemps and we are not likely to know who said/did what unless some really sharp investigative reported interviews and backgrounds 'the worker.' And you are right, at this point, it is not Richter sensitive.

I was listening to pundits on msnbc, cnn and fox this week talking about how they cant investigate deeply because the bloggites (I think they kinda meant it like we bloggers are Troglydites... I spelled that wrong, but you know what I mean, I hope) go screaming off down the road laying rubber on this and that and the MSM MUST follow. MUST. Or else, be left behind.

But surely with the HUGE resources of Murdock et al, it seems anyway that a hoard of journos could be dispatched to dig into any story anywhere. It is perhaps becoming clearer... that there are old school journos, and there are the others. I dont know yet the whole lay of the land. I sense there is truth in the bloggers acting as lead dogs. But also, bloggers are entirely dependent on the best of the best MSM reporters for reporting on location and investigative news

Soryr, I am just talking out loud. Trying to see the lay of things.

Thanks Leonidas

dr.e

dear Elrod
Just a little bit ago, on the late Denver CBS affiliate news, one of the DNC organizers, not Daughtry, but another woman, spoke to the issue and just sort of simply said, they had put the flags in bags to keep them secure and had them ready for transport, that there were no plans to destroy or trash them.

I dont think black leaf/garbage bags are used for garbage only. Right now, I have several big black bags with those red pull strings, filled with odds and ends, file cards, notebooks, usb wires, magazine holders, etc, for transport to my office down in the city. They are the biggest strongest things to use to carry (or store) items that are odd shapes.

My sense Elrod is that this teapot tempest is already deflating.

There is actually another story in Denver that is quite more under-cover... the three men and one woman arrested for illegal weapons and various odd supplies that even mountain travelers dont carry around... who had been bragging they were going to kill Obama. The FBI and the Sheriff's Dept and DPD all involved: Official say so: No apparent threat. The men are still locked up, and the female, who is underage, gave much info when in custody.

Again, not enough journo boots on ground that have the funds, and perhaps, to tell you the truth in my opinion, anyway, enough guts to follow down into the roots of the story.

dr.e

I think as you suggest, Dr. E, that this is a non-story, worthy of inclusion in humor magazines that also show pictures of our 14 year old presidential nominee dressed up as a woman for Halloween (if only they could start a forest fire with that).

Sorry too that I write without a kernal of humor or wit and without any surprise twist at the end. But, why not turn our interests toward the amount of press illegally arrested, harrassed and held for hours, days, preventing them from doing their jobs by filming and interviewing the segment of the population willing to exercise their rights to protest. There were a few big names arrested, Amy Goodman among them. There is video available in some cases where it is obvious the cops were over-the-top in their violent methods. Is freedom of the press no longer news? It is also clear the cops (local, city, FBI, secret service, sheriffs, ICE, and no doubt CIA were all involved infiltrating moles, and in some cases taking revenge against groups that have proved the cops to be liars in the past by video taping the cops, their violent arrests, and providing proof positive against statements made by police., for example, In NYC, leading to Million dollars settlements years later.

Occam's Razor is a useful tool in cutting through the blahblah in cases such as this.

The flags "rescued" seem to be carefully rolled up in pictures. However, they were also left sitting in the loading dock in garbage bags for a week...giving someone the opportunity to "rescue" them.

The simplest solution is that some low level DNC person simply forgot about them.

(Hardly an unpatriotic act. After all, only a few months back, actual nuclear weapons were "lost" in paperwork by the Air Force, and moved when they shouldn't have been. These things happen. They shouldn't...and steps should and are taken to prevent it...but they do.)

Then the forgotten flags were noticed by the GOP, who saw the opportunity to embarrass the Democrats.

(In support of this view, I point to pictures over at Redstate, which show flags from Denver mingled with actual convention trash. These are in CLEAR PLASTIC bags - not BLACK BAGS as here, and are just dumped in. This suggest the flags in the main story were intended to a different purpose. These few flags tossed in the trash were an unfortunate mistake . . . but how many probably minimum wage cleanup workers were informed of the "Flag Code"?)

I simply believe this was a goof by some low level DNC person - that they are reluctant to concede to given the possibility of the GOP blowing it up even more.

Again, when nuclear weapons are sometimes forgotten about . . . while symbolism is important...ultimately, this is a silly story.

Which goes to a fascinating aspect of her post that Dr. E. notes but, alas, does not fully follow up: "Election 08: Lost in the Pages of the Onion".

This has become the most surreal -- issue free -- election I can recall. Who can believe these headlines we are arguing over?!!

I see the Fanny Mae/Freddie Mac meltdown continues. The economy teeters. The debt -- held largely by China autocrats -- continues to drag the economy.
Whatever...
Have you heard about the VP's amniotic tests? What's the latest about the flags in the trash?
<Sound of head banging on wall>

The flag caper is indicative of how desperate the GOP has become. What they don't realize is that the tired old "patriot vs non-patriot" gimmick was lost with the Reagan generation. People just don't care about waving fabric around with certain colors and patterns anymore.

What we care about is being able to keep a roof over our heads, feed our kids and still afford the gas to get to work and back...assuming our town hasn't sold it's industries overseas.

Oh, and the war, we want death for oil to end...like yesterday..

NEWSFLASH! THIS JUST IN:

McCAIN IS ACCUSED OF THEFT!

Apparently still reeling from being caught steeling no less than 12,000 US flags from the Democrats in an overnight raid recently, now authorities are revealing more theft complaints involving McCain and his personal entourage.

As if steeling 12,000 flags and blaming it on local Boy Scouts wasn’t enough, McCain now stands accused of steeling a copy of Gideon's bible from a hotel in Minneapolis during his stay there for the convention earlier this week.

Hotel employees gave a list of several items missing from the Hotel after McCain stayed there, including the Bible. Other missing items included three cocktail glasses, an ice bucket, several bars of soap, three rolls of toilet paper and those tiny little ketchup and mustard bottles.

Boy Scouts den mothers also expressed their dismay given the recent circumstances surround the wild accusations that somehow Boy Scouts were wandering the Invesco Arena area during the late hours after the DNC Convention and had stumbled upon 12,000 US flags, which they were then alleged to have stolen and having fenced in Minneapolis to the RNC. “I am shocked” said one mother. “Little Jimmy is in by sunset and tucked in by 8:30 every night, including weekends”.

"These Bibles are no longer free to steal” said the Hotel manager anonymously for fear of scurrilous reprisals by Republican fanatics. “It clearly states on the inside cover that you have to send away now for a free copy of the Gideon’s Bible” exclaimed the Hotel manager.

“You can’t just go willy-nilly taking things as if you own the world” the manager added. “I hear he was illegally downloading music off the internet last month to use in his TV commercials to bash the Democrats.”

Apparently McCain has long suffered from a rare disorder called “Hotel Kleptomania” stemming all the way back to his days in the Hanoi Hilton, where staff still insist he would take spoons, which have not been accounted for to this day. McCain still holds a grudge against the Hiltons, recently implicating young Paris Hilton in one of his regular tirades about Barack Obama, his staunch Democratic rival for the presidency.

The Hiltons were not available for comment, but a spokesperson for the Hotel chain said that McCain has been blacklisted from staying at their hotels since the early 70s due to missing items whenever he would stay at one of their hotels.

This is just one more blow to the McCain camp, still reeling from theft accusations including stealing Barack Obama’s political campaign theme and message as well, a message of change and reform. “We knew he had taken the message”, as did several witnesses who spotted McCain, Washington insider and veteran politician for a quarter century, spouting the term change and reform where several members of the American public were gathered.

One witness said he knew McCain had stolen Obama’s message when he heard McCain having tremendous difficulty pronouncing the word “change”. “It sounded so strange coming from Mr. McCain that you could readily see he was unfamiliar with the concept or how to pronounce the word” said one eye witness. A local panhandler handed McCain a dollar, thinking McCain was begging for a hand out. “I just felt sorry for the guy” said the homeless man, he kept saying “change”.

Mr. Obama stated that “This is a sad day for all Americans” and lamented that McCain really had no message or content of his own to use for his campaign. Mr. Obama volunteered to donate his political message and theme to McCain just as soon as he was finished with them, after November 6th.

Democratic supporters feeling bad for poor McCain have started a campaign and are mailing McCain their loose change.

Flags/Schmags: of much greater concern are garbage bags filled with votes found at an Ohio garbage dump after the last election................