Political Patchwork: Obama, Palin and Edwards, Oh My!

September 5, 2008

Obama's Community
Palin's MSM Fallout
Edwards a Libility




A Community Organized

Sarah Palin doesn't have a lot of use for community organizers. Democrats are aghast, but most of America doesn't have any use for them, either. Chicago has community organizers: how's the Windy City's community organized?

Democrats.org say that community organizers are how ordinary people respond to out-of-touch politicians and their failed policies. Doug Ross responds, "Do tell. For the last 77 years, Democrats have controlled Chicago." Oops!

Chuck Norris calls the Democrat Nominee "Puff, the Magic Obama". Well...Obama did say--in one of his better lines of the campaign--the "idea was to inhale".

Barack Obama, phone home: your city needs you.

In a cbs2chicago.com report published today, Chicago’s CBS affiliate reported some incredible news: the city’s 125 summer murder total nearly doubled the number of soldiers killed in Iraq during the same time period.

One statistic you won't see Harry Reid calling a press conference to announce.

Palineous



JWF says that a renowned community organizer whined like a little bitch today after getting gangster-slapped by the hockey mom" and points out that a certain community looks a bit unorganized. For equal time, we refer the reader to PJ's This is Why.


More equal time: The United Steelworkers' Union admits that Todd Palin is a union brother--and then treats his family like red-headed stepchildren. Shoebox thinks Hell Hath No Fury Like (Bitter) Women Scorned. No, not Sarah Palin, the has-beens at NOW. The Palin Bounce. CBS Poll McCain 42, Obama 42.

Newt Gingerich verbally body-slams an MSNBC reporter who thinks he's talking to another member of the media instead of the former Speaker.

Speaking of slams, RR calls a certain left-wing nutroots site, "The Daily Kock".

BRINGING THE HATE BOOMERANGS ON MSM: Rasmussen says American, after the MSM `went 24/7 Kill Mode, view Palin more favorably than either McCain or Obama. Bringing the heat means bringing the love, at least in this latest example of the MSM injecting itself into the news instead of just reporting it.

OPRAH says, "no" to Palin; though her staff is split on the issue. This is understandable: Oprah actively campaigned for Barack Obama earlier on.



Only last week, a spokeman said that John Edwards was looking to fill out speaking schedule. So, he followed in the footsteps of his wife and canceled his speaking appearance at Hofstra University. Strange way to expand your appearances.

“Nothing is more important than electing Barack Obama and Joe Biden,” Edwards said in a statement released Thursday by the Harry Walker Agency in Manhattan. “I don’t want my appearance at these events to be a distraction from the important issues of the election, or from the important purpose of these meetings.”

Which prompted Simon at Deceiver to raise the question: Is Edwards admitting that he's a political liability?

Hey, wait a sec… I thought Edwards was a private citizen? I thought this scandal had absolutely nothing to do with Obama? But there it is in black and white gray and slightly lighter gray: Edwards just went out of his way to link himself to Obama. Otherwise, why would appearing in public be a distraction from Obama’s campaign?

More on Edwards later today.


by Mondoreb
images: dbkp; RidesAPaleHorse

Wrestling's 2nd Golden Age Death Toll

The WWF's 1980s Legion of Death

Andre the Giant
Died 1-27-1993, Age 51
Cause of death: Congestive Heart Failure [Wiki]
Image [Geocities]

The WWF expansion in the 1980s was known as "Wrestling's Second Golden Age". It also racked up quite a death toll, with many of that era's stars dead at an early age. A look at some of the biggest who've passed away.

Although the best-known of the wrestlers then was perhaps Hulk Hogan, Hogan is one of the few still alive today.

We were searching for popular wrestlers from the 1980s and was surprised to find how many of them had passed away. In fact, if you look at the WWF's superstars from the '80s, most are part of the WWF's Golden Age Death Toll.

The 1980s wrestling boom (sometimes referred to as the 2nd Golden Age of Wrestling) was a surge in the popularity of professional wrestling in the United States of America throughout the 1980s.

The expansion of cable television and pay-per-view, coupled with the efforts of promoters such as Vince McMahon, saw professional wrestling shift from a system controlled by numerous regional companies to a system dominated by two nationwide companies: Ted Turner's World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and McMahon's World Wrestling Federation (WWF).

The decade also saw a considerable decline in the power of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), a cartel which had until then domineered the wrestling landscape, and in the efforts to sustain belief in the verisimilitude of wrestling.

WWF in the 1980s was big, brash and mouthy--and expanding across the country at a speed unknown to pro wrestling up until that time.

A salute to the Pro Wrestling Super Stars who are no longer with us.

We'll start with Andre the Giant.

Andre's drinking exploits were legendary.



Andre the Giant was well-known and well-liked among wrestling fans. He was a giant draw to crowds, too.

Wherever he went, crowds of the curious and pro wrestling fans were sure to follow.

For proof of his drawing power, look no further than Wrestlemania III in 1987. The main event was Andre vs. Hulk Hogan. The show drew the first million-dollar gate in wrestling history, set a pay-per-view record that lasted a decade, and set the all-time indoor attendance record for any live event ever—78,000+ butts in seats at the Pontiac Silver Dome in Detroit—destroying the previous record set by some rock band called the Rolling Stones.

His rematch with Hogan two months later, broadcast live on NBC, attracted 33 million viewers, making it the most watched wrestling match ever.

Andre's drinking, as stated were legendary.

But they were no legend. The man liked his alcohol.

The big man loved two things: wrestling and booze—mostly booze—and his appetites were of mythic proportion.

First, consider the number 7,000. It’s an important number, and a rather scary one considering its context, which is this—it has been estimated that Andre the Giant drank 7,000 calories worth of booze every day. The figure doesn’t include food. Just booze.

If Andre were consuming lite beer, that would work out to over 720 beers a day--60 cases of beer.

Sound impossible? Not so fast.

Vince [McMahon]Sr. pondered the situation and arrived at a novel solution. He wanted to keep the big man happy, so he bought a trailer and had it customized just for Andre. With plenty of room to spread out and relax, Andre could now travel in a semblance of comfort, which allowed him to do some serious boozing. During trips Andre consumed beer at the incredible rate of a case every ninety minutes, with bottles of vodka or top-rate French wine thrown in for variety.

It's been reported that Andre's bar bill for a month of shooting the Princess Bride came to over $40,000.

R.I.P. Andre the Giant.

"Sensational" Sherri Martel (with Macho Man Randy Savage)
Died: 6-15-2007, Age 49
Cause of death: Accidental Drug Overdose
Source [Wiki]
Image [images.google]

Other WWF wrestlers from the 1980s no longer with us.

Sylvester 'Junkyard Dog' Ritter
Died June 2, 1998, Age 46
Cause of death: Single car accident [Wiki]
Image [img69.imageshack]

Bam Bam Bigelow
Died 1-19-2007, Age 46
Cause of death: Drug overdose [Wiki]
Image [mcstylin]

Curt 'Mr. Perfect' Henning
Died: 2-10-2003, Age 45
Cause of death: Drug overdose [Wiki]
Image [mcstylin]

Brian 'The Crush' Adams
Died: 8-13-2007, Age 44
Cause of death: Accidental drug overdose [Wiki]
Image [i.a.cnn]

The British Bulldog Davey Boy Smith
Died: 5-18-2002, Age 40
Cause of death: Cardiac Arrest [Wiki]
Image [images.google]

'Flyin' Brian Pillman
Died 10-5-1997, Age 35
Cause of death: arteriosclerotic heart disease [Wiki]
Image [images-google]

'Ravishing' Rick Rude
Died: 4-20-1999, Age 41
Cause of death: Heart failure [wiki]
Image [All Posters]

Miss Elizabeth & 'Macho Man' Randy Savage
Died: 5-1-2003, Age 42, Cause of death: Drug overdose
Source [Wiki]
Image [quickstop entertainment]

The Death of Miss Elizabeth

Elizabeth Hulette, or as she was better known as "Miss Elizabeth, was the woman who defined the role of the valet. She died early on May 1, 2003 after Atlanta police responded to a 911 call at the home of Larry Pfohl, better known to wrestling fans as Lex Luger. Hulette was 42 when she passed away.

Hulette was alive when police arrived and later died at a local hospital at a little after 5:30 am. Police reports at the time indicate that Hulette had mixed vodka with painkillers in the hours before she died.

For most of today's core wrestling audience, Hulette was a large part of the early wrestling experience. As Miss Elizabeth in the mid- and late '80s in the then-WWF, Hulette was Macho Man Randy Savage's. manager. She also managed the Mega Powers team of Hulk Hogan and Savage, an angle that thrust her--and the valet role--into the limelight.

Hulette, who debuted in WWE in May 1985, was the first female of the new-look WWE. Her drawing power paved the way for future women to have major mainstream success. Though she was mostly silent in her WWE days, Miss Elizabeth was the gorgeous, petite brains behind Savage's brawny success. She didn't wrestle and didn't get intimately involved with Savage's matches. She was--plain and simple--eye candy. She was good at it, and the fans loved her for it.

Eddie Guerrero
Died 11-13-2005, Age 41,
Cause of death: arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease
Source [Wiki]
Image: Geocities

Although Chris Benoit wasn't part of the 1980s Pro Wrestling Boom, we still included him as part of the Death Toll.

Chris Benoit
Died: 6-24-2007, Age 40
Cause of death: Suicide, murdered his wife & 7-yr-old son
Source [Wiki]
Image [z.about]

The plotlines in the WWF were interesting and fun.

And as always in Pro Wrestling, the most unneeded person in the ring was the referee.

by Mondoreb & LBG
Sources:
* Miss Elizabeth: the Death of Mrs. Macho Man
* Do You have a favorite Drunkard?
* 1980s Wrestling Boom



DBKP.com - Bigger, Better!.
Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.

May Exceed AIDS Death TollSuper Bug Now in U.S. 90,000 Potential Victims

[photo:CNN]
Estimated to Kill More Than AIDS

by Mondoreb

Last week, Death by 1000 Papercuts reported on a "super bug" that's been killing hospital patients in the U.K. Now, news of the Super Bug's spread to the U.S.

From CNN:

More than 90,000 Americans get potentially deadly infections each year from a drug-resistant staph "superbug," the government reported Tuesday in its first overall estimate of invasive disease caused by the germ.

Deaths tied to these infections may exceed those caused by AIDS, said one public health expert commenting on the new study. The report shows just how far one form of the staph germ has spread beyond its traditional hospital setting.

The overall incidence rate was about 32 invasive infections per 100,000 people. That's an "astounding" figure, said an editorial in Wednesday's Journal of the American Medical Association, which published the study.

As we observed last week, Super Bug's not as catchy as the "brain-eating microbes" found in the Arizona lake last month, but it's starting to get our attention.



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