Penn Jillette on Bob Barr

Jillette's appeared in a video endorsing Libertarian candidate Bob Barr, and he sat down to talk with Reason's David Weigel. Read the interview it in its entirety here, but here's a snippet:

Jillette: Bob Barr is good guy. His conversion, I believe, is sincere. I believe all of that. But once in a while you want that Obama factor, of a guy who grabs your heart, like a rock star. Barr doesn’t do that for me like [Harry] Browne did. Still, you know, there’s no trait we should celebrate more than changing one’s mind.

I do wish Barr had been more in agreement with me on sex and drugs. That always bothered me a bit. I’m for gay rights, boring monogamous rights, but I’m also for two guys fucking on the floor of my office. I don’t think Barr is. Although I don’t do drugs I’m ok with shooting heroin, and I don’t think he is. Someone smarter than me—I want to say it was P.J. O’Rourke—said if you’re going to go with a Republican or a Democrat, the person isn’t important. If you go with a Libertarian, you go with a nut, because if we do win somehow the first 16 years of Libertarian rule will be spent at the barricades, just rolling back stuff. (Jillette qtd. in Weigel).

You don't expect Mr. Jillette to be less than perfectly blunt, do you? After all, his Showtime series is titled (and targets) Bullshit. The show is well worth your time--unless you're highly invested in sacred cows (and easily offended).

Another Endorsement for BHO

Sullivan's Obama endorsement here.

He's Going "Double Maverick"

Senator McCain's turn on Saturday Night Live was hysterical. The man's gift for comedy--his timing--is substantial. Watch these:
McCain and Palin (Fey) on QVC (McCain fine gold! awesome)
McCain considers going "double maverick" on Weekend Update

(aside: did audience members really have to "boo"McCain? Sure, it was only a few people, but still...good grief).

The SNL appearance turns out to have been timely. Earlier in the day Vice President Cheney endorsed Senator McCain; considering the Vice President's approval ratings, his support can hardly be a boon for Senator McCain. Does the Arizona Senator really want people to be reminded of his popularity with the Bush administration? Hardly.

Sure enough, Mr. Cheney's endorsement has already made its way into an Obama campaign ad.

Christian Science Monitor headline: "Obama's Got Powell, but McCain has Cheney." Kind of says it all, no?

"The Man for the Moment" by Hillary Clinton

Senator Clinton offers a fairly strong editorial in support of Barack Obama in The New York Daily News.

Wherever I travel around New York and the country campaigning for Obama and Biden and other Democratic candidates, I hear people asking "Who are you for?" But the more important question is, "Who is for you?"

Obama has proposed a tax cut for 95% of people earning a paycheck. He'll fight for equal pay for equal work. He'll protect Social Security. And Obama will promote policies that reflect the way parents are working and living today, including child care, long term care, and a stronger Family and Medical Leave Act.

Obama will invest new jobs in clean energy, manufacturing and infrastructure. And he'll fight for universal health care. I can't wait to stand on the South Lawn of the White House when President Obama signs into law health care for every American - no exception, no excuses.

There's nothing new here, but she does present a fairly strong case for the Illinois Senator.
Clinton's renewed call for Obama-support could neutralize the current crop of robocalls now playing in swing states, which consist of an Obama-critical clip from Senator Clinton during a primary season debate.

The Obamacons (A Partial List)

Some call them "Obamacons." Charles Krauthammer says they’re wet-fingered wimps who follow the wind. Others sneer at them as cocktail party elitists. Some address them as apostates. Whatever you choose to call them, a heady list of Republicans and Conservatives have chosen to endorse Senator Obama. Some of these folks are famous, some not so, but it’s fairly impressive lineup so far.

Here’s a partial list of "Obamacons." You might note how many have been associated with Ronald Reagan and his administration.

Wick Allison, former publisher for The National Review

Ken Adelman, All around foreign policy heavyweight.

Bruce Bartlett, domestic policy advisor to Ronald Reagan; treasury official for George H.W. Bush’s administration.

Fred Bramante, former member of John McCain’s New Hampshire Leadership Committee

Christopher Buckley

Nicholas P. Cafardi, Legal scholar (pro-life, staunchly Catholic)

Arne Carlson, Former Minnesota Governor

Lincoln Chafee, Senator for Rhode Island

Daniel Drezner, Libertarian/Conservative, Professor of political science at the University of Chicago.

Ken Duberstein, Ronald Reagan’s Chief of Staff.

Susan Eisenhower, Ike’s granddaughter and a business consultant

Charles Fried, Solicitor General of the USA under Ronald Reagan (and, until recently, McCain campaign advisor)

Francis Fukuyama, author of The End of History and the Last Man, advisor to the Reagan administration, and early member of PNAC,

Wayne Gilchrest, Maryland Congressman

C C Goldwater and Alison Goldwater Ross, granddaughters of Barry Goldwater

Lilibet Hagel, wife of Senator Chuck Hagel.

Jeffrey Hart, speechwriter for Nixon and Reagan, founder of The Dartmouth Review, and former reviewer for The National Review.

Christopher Hitchens (well, Hitch isn’t really a Conservative; I include him here as he’s been a full-throated supporter of President Bush and the War on Terror)

Linwood Holton, former Virginia governor (the first Republican governor since Reconstruction)

Larry Hunter, worked in Reagan White House; former chief economist at U.S. Chamber of Commerce ; helped write the Republican Contract with America/.

Douglas Kmiec, served as head of the Office of Legal Counsel (U.S. Assistant Attorney General) for Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush.

David Kuo, former Special Assistant to President George W. Bush and Deputy Director of the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives.

James Leach, former Iowa Congressman and House Banking Committee Chair

Charles McC. Mathias, Jr., former US Representative / Senator for Maryland

Scott McClellan

Scott McConnell, , editor of American Conservative.

Colin Powell, former Secretary of State

Larry Pressler, former Senator for North Dakota

Richard Riordan, for mayor of Los Angeles

Bill Ruckelshaus, official under Nixon and Regan administrations

Delbert Spurlock, Assistant Secretary to the Army under Ronald Reagan

Lowell Weicker, former Senator, Governor, for Connecticut

William Weld, former Massachusetts governor.

Jim Whitaker, Alaska legislator and mayor of Fairbanks North Star Borough

Ronald T. Wilcox, Professor of Business Administration at the University of Virginia

Others might be added as-and-when.

Questionable Endorsements? You Don't Say....

Forget the Bradley Effect. This is disconcerting (or just plain old strange).

What do Tom Metzger (of White Aryan Resistance), Erich Gliebe (of National Alliance), and Rocky Suhayda (of the American Nazi Party) have in common?

They’re all “supporting” Senator Obama.

And "General" Yahanna (of the Israelite School Of Universal Practical Knowledge, who happens to be a Black supremacist)?

He’s "supporting" Senator McCain.

Can this election cycle get any stranger?

Do read “Why White Supremacists Support Barack Obama,” by David Peisner of Esquire, here.

Boris Johnson on Obama

No, Boris Johnson can't vote in the US elections. He's British (but born in New York). However, if you're unfamiliar with Johnson, he's a quirky, colorful fellow who just happens to be the mayor of London. He's also one of the United Kingdom's most famous Conservatives, and he happens to be pro-American (unlike his predecessor, "Red"Ken Livingstone).

Johnson wrote an editorial for The Daily Telegraph (a conservative broadsheet) the other day that reviewed both presidential candidates. Johnson's article revolves about the issue of change, of "repair[ing] those American ideals" damaged during the Bush administration (he touches on a variety of issues, from the Iraq war to the economic meltdown).

Johnson celebrates John McCain's nobility, asserting that the Senator is a "brave and principled man," but adds, "McCain seems to stand for perpetual sabre-rattling against the terrors of abroad [. . . .] it is not clear how America under McCain would recover her standing in the eyes of the world." In Johnson's view, a McCain administration would extend the Bush administration.

On the other hand,

There are all sorts of reasons for hoping that Barack Hussein Obama will be the next president of the United States. He seems highly intelligent. He has an air of courtesy and sincerity. Unlike the current occupant of the White House, he has no difficulty in orally extemporising a series of grammatical English sentences, each containing a main verb.

Unlike his opponent, he visibly incarnates change and hope, at a time when America desperately needs both.

[. . . .]

Obama deserves to win because he seems talented, compassionate, and because he offers the hope of rejuvenating the greatest country on earth in the eyes of the rest of us. All those are sufficient reasons for desiring his victory.

Moreover, there's the issue of race:

If Obama wins, he will have established that being black is as relevant to your ability to do a hard job as being left-handed or ginger-haired, and he will have re-established America's claim to be the last, best hope of Earth.

Admittedly, Johnson's support for Obama came as a surprise. And it's certainly been criticized by his fellow Conservatives, but his editorial is, if nothing else, thoughtful. And it reflects the kind of esteem with which so many countries have held America--at least, until recently.

Scott McLellen Voting for Senator Obama

According to CNN:

"From the very beginning I have said I am going to support the candidate that has the best chance for changing the way Washington works and getting things done and I will be voting for Barack Obama and clapping."

Not really a shock, but it's notable nonetheless. The enthusiasm (he'll be "clapping") is a nice touch.

Christopher Hitchens Endorses Obama

In a piece titled "Vote for Obama," with the subhead "McCain Lacks the Temperament to be President. And Palin is Simply a Disgrace," Hitchens lays out his reasons for supporting Obama--or, perhaps, for not supporting McCain. Do read it.

And if you haven't read Christopher Buckley's endorsement of Barack Obama, do so now. Lord knows, he deserves your attention considering how much trouble he got into with the National Review because of it.