OBAMACAIN '08(tm): Runnin' On Empty

The Ohio Republican Party put together an ad using rock music icon Jackson Browne's 1977 hit song, "Running On Empty," mocking Obama's proposed energy policies - specifically, the "inflate your tires to max pressure so they roll with less resistance (but risk uneven wear and loss of traction due to reduced contact patch and thermal efficiency)" proposal by the Obamessiah.



Browne, an Obama supporter and long-time liberal activist, isn't real happy about that, so his attorney, Lawrence Y. Iser, filed on his behalf this past Thursday a lawsuit against John McCain, the Republican National Committee, and the Ohio Republican Party for copyright infringement. Fine. But the part that gets me is this:

Iser said the lawsuit "is not politically motivated. It's a copyright infringement lawsuit, pure and simple, but the fact that Sen. McCain has used this song in a hit-piece on Barack Obama is anathema to Jackson."

Basically, he's implying that if Obama used the song, Browne probably wouldn't mind (read further into the article and see to whom Browne has donated money over the years) - especially when you consider this:

The suit claims that use of the song violates the Lanham Act by falsely implying that Browne is associated with or endorses the McCain candidacy.

So, it's another "piss on me and tell me it's raining" moment.

This is just so ridiculous. Why would anybody, regardless of what one's intended message is, want to use a song entitled "Running on Empty" in their campaign for the presidency? That is about as stupid as when Reagan's people used Springsteen's "Born in the USA" in an attempt to be "hip." OK, Reagan won in '84, but whoever chose that song didn't "get" the lyrics to the song (or never listened to them to begin with). Republicans aren't very good at being hip.

Yep, time for another dose of OBAMACAIN 'O8(tm) to get me comfortably numb. Can I say that? Sorry, Floyd - by the way, which one is Pink? (Damn, can I say that, either?)