All Your Base Are Belong To Us — The Kip Lange Homepage

If Obama wants to win, going after McCain for saying “the fundamentals of the economy are strong” is not how he’s going to do it.

I just don’t think that Americans…after witnessing a rebound from the dot-com bubble…really feel, by and large, like the economy itself somehow is broken. It’s an argument over management of the economy. That’s what people want to hear: “I will manage this economy so we will all be better off.”

Not “America sucks”, which is what is basically what Obama is saying. I also happen to personally disagree, as well. The American workforce is the American economy and I think the American workforce is strong.

What happened to the politics of hope…? If Obama’s going to go negative, he sure as hell has to do a better job than this. Even going back to bitching about gas and talking about inflating your tires would be better than this.

Get off this message. Get back on the “renewal” thing, Barack. It surprises me that the original Obama has so much disappeared, that so much vitality seems to have leaked out since the primaries. He has a historic run. He should be making historic speeches, not lame potshots at the US economy. We all know he can orate immensely well.

The Obama campaign has not, I think, found its groove, while meanwhile, the McCain camp kinda has. They’re both on message, both now “pro-hope” and “reform”. Their stumping actually looks more fiery at this point, which is scary. And anyone who says the Obama campaign has found its groove has to explain to me why Obama is where he is in the polls despite George W. Bush being immensely unpopular and the rest of the Rs teetering in the House and Senate (although the Dems have horrid poll ratings in Congress).

The McCain campaign is energized and Obama needs to do something to throw them off message. Quickly. The debates will actually matter for once (which proves we still have people simply too stupid to figure out which candidate they want).

Is Obama losing his lustre? It remains to be seen, I guess.

Despair not, ye who hold the iPod Classic! Rumors are afloat that Apple will give the old baby a software update that will let it use Genius playlists on the go. Which would be nice.

Information over here at Gizmodo…

Courtesy of pastapadre.com:

Transactions

FB Reagan Mauia – Signs with Bengals

LB Jon Corto – Added to Bills

LB Blake Costanzo – Added to Bills

DT Alvin McKinley – Released by Broncos

DT Josh Shaw – Signs with Broncos

LB Antwan Peek – Released to Free Agents (IR)

WR Paul Hubbard – Released by Browns

WR Steve Sanders – Signs with Browns

LB Shantee Orr – Signs with Browns

C Pat Ross – Signs with Cardinals

FB Andrew Pinnock – Released by Chargers

FB Mike Tolbert – Added to Chargers

RT James Marten – Released by Cowboys/Signs with Raiders

QB Brooks Bollinger – Signs with Cowboys

SS Tyrone Culver – Signs with Dolphins

CB Joey Thomas – Released by Dolphins

FB Boomer Grigsby – Released by Dolphins

FB Casey Cramer – Signs with Dolphins

FS Jamaal Fudge – Signs with Falcons

DE Brent Hawkins – Released by Jaguars

G Milford Brown – Signs with Jaguars

TE Dan Campbell – Released to Free Agents (IR)

LB Chris Chamberlain – Added to Rams

RT Willie Anderson – Signs with Ravens

RG Adrien Clarke – Released by Ravens

C Matt Lehr – Released by Saints

QB Ingle Martin – Added to Titans

QB Daunte Culpepper – Retires

Ratings Up

HB Matt Forte – Bears – 80 to 82 – Looked like the real deal week 1 vs. the Colts.

LG Josh Beekman – Bears – 74 to 76 – Got the start and at LG and was able to pave the way for Forte on the ground.

HB Andre Hall – Broncos – 75 to 77 – Looked very explosive against the hapless Raiders.

WR Eddie Royal – Broncos – 77 to 80 – Made us remember why we call him DeAngelo “Fall”. Torched DeAngelo repeatedly and looked very good doing it.

LB Jamie Winborn – Broncos – 75 to 79 – Started over the oft injured Boss Bailey and made plays vs. the Raiders.

LB Matt Roth – Dolphins – 76 to 80 – Could have found his niche as a 3-4 OLB. Had 2 sacks in the opener.

WR DeSean Jackson – Eagles – 79 to 80 – Has made the most of receivers going down with injuries in Philly. Tye Hill was benched after attempting to cover him.

LB Stewart Bradley – Eagles – 79 to 80 – The new man in the middle for the Eagles, this one might stick.

HB Michael Turner – Falcons – 88 to 89 – If I had a nickel for every time someone blew up on the Lions defense…A good start none the less for the Burner Turner.

LB Parys Haralson – 49ers – 74 to 76 – Recorded 2.5 sacks getting the start for the Niners in Week 1.

HB Brandon Jacobs – Giants – 87 to 88 – My mother could average 3 yards a carry behind the Giants O-Line. But he sure is powerful.

WR Matt Jones – Jaguars – 77 to 79 – Maybe Garrard’s guy after a tough offseason. Injuries to the supposed starting WR’s have helped also.

QB Aaron Rodgers – Packers – 84 to 85 – Made it look simple vs. one of the top defenses in the NFL. Once the coach takes off the diapers watch out.

TE Dante Rosario – Panthers – 74 to 77 – Blew up in a big way in Week 1 vs. the Chargers. Caught the game winner in the back of the end zone as time expired.

Ratings Down

DE Jarvis Moss – Broncos – 81 to 77 – Inactive the 1st week in his second season for the Broncos.

LB Tully Banta-Cain – 49ers – 79 to 76 – Came to the Niners with high hopes, now he has been replaced at OLB.

CB DeAngelo Hall – Raiders – 93 to 91 – Yes after only one week. Reminded us why some people confuse speed with ability. He has speed, isn’t much of a corner though.

Injuries

FB Jeremi Johnson – Bengals – Knee IR

LB Angelo Crowell – Bills – Knee IR

WR Joe Jurevicius – Browns – Knee (PUP)

HB Carnell Wililams – Bucs – Knee (PUP)

C Al Johnson – Cardinals – Knee IR

QB Brodie Croyle – Chiefs – Shoulder (3 weeks)

C Jeff Saturday – Colts – Knee (8 weeks)

G Ryan Lilja – Colts – Knee (PUP)

DT Trey Lewis – Falcons – Knee (8 weeks)

LT Guy Whimper – Giants – Foot IR

K Lawrence Tynes – Giants – Knee (7 weeks)

LG Vince Manuwai – Jaguars – Knee IR

RG Maurice Williams – Jaguars – Arm (12 weeks)

DT Justin Harrell – Packers – Back (PUP)

QB Tom Brady – Patriots – Knee IR

G Stephen Neal – Patriots – Shoulder/Knee (PUP)

WR Drew Bennett – Rams – Foot (8 weeks)

QB Kyle Boller – Ravens – Shoulder IR

CB Dunta Robinson – Texans – Knee (PUP)

QB Vince Young – Titans – Knee (4 weeks)

Contracts

LB DJ Williams – Broncos – 6 years

WR Plaxico Burress – Giants – 5 years

RT Eric Winston – Texans – 5 years

In the interests of fairness, I honestly have to say that I do not think Senator Obama used the “pig on a lipstick” saying to attack Governor Palin. If anything, I think as soon as he heard that roar, he thought, oh crap, I probably shouldn’t have said that.

Cynics will tell me otherwise and in many cases like this I might agree it was a calculated attack, but Obama is already having enough trouble with women, and there’s plenty of other material to attack Sarah Palin on.

Just doesn’t add up. Campaign trail gaffe, is all it is, but net loss, Obama, fair or unfair.

I simply wanted to provide access to a list of those who lost their lives in the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, seven years ago today.

We will never forget.

Well, it’s been a good week or so for those of us in the R column. And, as of yet, the best dirt the reporters can dig up on Palin isn’t sticking, unless you count the strange developing story that she might have “cheated” in the Miss Alaska pageant (just some rumor floating around).

My take on this: Obama made a huge mistake not picking Hillary Clinton. Hillary can go out as the attack dog against Palin now, but not the *VP* attack dog, so she’s really hobbled. I know a lot of people were hoping for an Obama/Clinton ticket and I must honestly say, I’m sorry it didn’t happen. It would have given the Democrats a far better shot at the election. Joe Biden is an old-guard blowhard who’s, up until now, had pretty much great things to say about John McCain. I see the strategy in picking him, but McCain’s higher-risk choice of Palin shows that risks often carry rewards.

This time around, the debates may actually matter. Which actually bothers me a little, that there are still people around who are “on the fence” between Obama and McCain. Say what you will about either candidate, but it’s pretty clear now what their policies will be (in vague terms, but enough vague terms spoken over time add up to something resembling a consistent policy promise).

As for whether or not McCain’s bounce will last, it’s too early to tell. But the Obama campaign does need to do something that will slow Republican momentum or risk having to play catch-up for a lot longer (perhaps all the way) than they’d like to.

Things sure just got a lot more interesting, though. And as a conservative, I applaud McCain’s pick not because of her gender, but because of her various stances on the issues. McCain has made the base very happy, and that is indeed crucial.

None of this brings Tom Brady, back, though, and that’s a damn shame.

Yeah. There we go. Brady’s gone for the year with a torn ACL. Undergoing surgery.

There goes the season, and many people’s fantasy teams…

The latest from NFL.com is:

Yahoo! Sports and Peter King of Sports Illustrated are reporting Sunday night that Brady has major ligament damage in his knee, possibly a torn ACL.

Also, the Pats have apparently brought in Chris Simms for a physical, although it’s pretty clear he would Cassel will start.

What a blow. Man. Right now, everybody is seeing playoffs crumble in their heads.

And we wait…Patriots fans shudder at the prospect of a Cassel season and see playoff dreams potentially disappear…fantasy owners throw hissy fits…

Was it a dirty hit, as Moss claimed? I don’t think so. It looked pretty clean to me. It’s football. Ya get knocked around.

But oy, the luck…

Although before he was taken out, Brady looked fairly sharp (actually looked like he was starting to settle into a rhythm).

At least our O-line gave Cassel the time he needed to pull a win out, and I’ll admit, the 98-yard Cassel TD drive was impressive, but can we rely on him for a full season? I seriously doubt it.

C’mon, Tom…

So sayeth the NY Times, so let it be.

Okay. There are Republican pundits who may not like this (I’m thinking speicifically of Charles Krauthamer, who at the last moment was saying that he really hoped the McCain camp played it safe.

But I actually think it’s a rather good move. Actually, tactically, bearing in mind that there aren’t that many days to the convention after the RNC, it’s a brilliant move, but strategically a little forced.

I was introduce to Sarah Palin the same time you met her, when she walked onstage and said she’d be a VP.

However, the McCain camp counters this “candidate-out-of-nowhere” with the quite correct “well, you picked a president out of nowhere…”. It’s a direct countermove, and it makes the debates interesting. I mean, the woman is governor of Alaska. And it also puts a governor on the ticket. Governors often do much better than Senators (rightly so, methinks).

It also took all the wind out of Obama’s speech. And McCain managed to keep it secret, so it did so. Utterly. Everyone’s talking about the Palin pick and barely anyone’s talking about Obama’s speech (which I found to be a rather boring Democratic laundry list that paid little attention to the historic moment and thus fell short).

So, right now, advantage McCain, whatever the hell the current polls say. That is, unless Palin backfires and turns out to be a total idiot. I have as much idea if that’s going to happen as you do. It’s the moment everybody’s waiting for. Is she an idiot or not?

Dunno. However, nice tactical move by McCain.