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Even if you didn’t catch “Late Night with David Letterman” last (Wednesday) night, chances are you’ve probably already heard that Dave is fuming over McCain’s last-second cancellation just prior to his scheduled up-teenth appearance on his late night talkshow (what would this of been, his fifth appearance since the campaign started?) Letterman told the audience that McCain had canceled at the last minute to (reportedly) “fly back to Washington” to follow up on that pledge of his to “suspend his campaign” to focus on the current economic crisis, and Congresses’ promise to hammer out a “bailout” bill by the end of the week.
In his (justifiable) tirade, Letterman points out that “you don’t suspend your (entire) campaign” just to focus on one thing! And if you (McCain) can’t make it, “why not just send your VP to take your place?” She isn’t a Senator and doesn’t need to be in Washington. “That’s what a VP is for!” lashed out Letterman. “She’s supposed to be ready at a moments notice” to step in should anything happen to the President. How can she be expected to step in and run the country if she can’t even step in to take his place on a late night talk show???
Excellent point, Dave… that you kinda sorta made, but didn’t actually say,
Letterman called in his “emergency relief pitcher”, Keith Olberman from down the hall. I was hoping KO would also point out that very important observation that if Palin can’t even fill in for McCain while he goes back to Washington, how can anyone argue she’s ready to take his place and run the whole freakin’ country???
While talking to KO, Letterman was suddenly informed that… despite what the McCain campaign told him… McCain was NOT in fact “getting on a plane immediately and racing back to Washington”, but in fact sitting down for an interview with Katie Couric (also of CBS and in NYC… possibly even the same building). So clearly, the McCain campaign lied to Letterman to appear on a different program.
Second important point: While McCain tells everyone in a press conference he is “suspending his campaign immediately” and flying back to Washington to concentrate on the bailout crisis, he in fact HASN’T “suspended his campaign”. Instead he stops first to do an interview with CBS News to be aired at a later date because Couric is already running a series of interviews with Governor Palin this week. So once the Palin interviews end, then the McCain interviews begin for several more days of non-stop campaign coverage.
Olberman did make one interesting prediction: that if any one of the debates is canceled, due to limited time between now and November, the McCain camp is more likely to ask that the VP Debate be canceled so that the Presidential nominees get their full three debates. Right! No one’s going to see through THAT!
If you can’t walk & chew gum at the same time… that is, concentrate on the campaign and events in Washington at the same time… and your VP can’t even fill in for you on a talkshow… how do you make the case that either of you are “ready to be President”?
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If you haven’t heard, a young college numbnut (whom I won’t make a celebrity of by repeating his name here) broke into the private Yahoo email account of Alaska Governor and McCain running-mate Sarah Palin.
That was dumb enough, but he went so far as to post those emails AND private family photos on the Internet. Not cool. So I have no sympathy for this Son-of-Tennessee-State-Representative.
But overlooked in the fracas over the violation of Palin’s privacy, the AP story (link above) begins with this bit of info:
WASHINGTON (AP) — Hackers broke into the Yahoo! e-mail account that Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin used for official business as Alaska’s governor, revealing as evidence a few inconsequential personal messages she has received since John McCain selected her as his running mate.
“Inconsequential” or not (and who decides?), why is Palin using a (demonstrably) highly unsecure Yahoo! webmail account (accessible from anywhere) for “official business”? I checked, and the State of Alaska (just like every other state) has an “official website” with an “official” email contact. And there’s a reason for this: because “official” business must be accounted for, tracked and archived in case the information needs to be recalled at a later date (say… in an investigation of wrong-doing).
And she only started doing this AFTER McCain selected her as his VP.
The entire, super-secretive Bush Administration… most notably Vice President Dick Cheney and the scrapings off Bush’s shoe: Karl Rove… started using “personal email” for “official business”, perhaps as far back as the day they entered office. So when investigators went back to search the White House email archives for evidence in the Valerie Plame case, they discovered that just about everyone suspected of involvement were using “personal” email accounts on the RNC’s private web-servers for “official business”. And when independent counsel Patrick Fitzgerald discovered this, he immediately ordered the RNC to save those archives, to which the RNC said “whoopsy! Those archives are gone.”
And here we are again. Anyone that doubts that a McCain/Palin Administration would not look exactly like the current one, need only look at how they are ALREADY engaging in the same practices of cover-up, secrecy and deception as the White House of Dick Cheney & Karl Rove… and there hasn’t even been an election yet.
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I received an extremely interesting comment Friday from a Right-winger responding to one of my YouTube videos:
…and im sure but im pretty sure the remaining 45 is subject to income tax wich means the extra income puts you in a higher tax rate.vote palin
Ignore the nonsense leading up to those last two words… “vote palin”
Not “vote mccain”. “Vote Palin“. Fascinating.
I’m waiting for a reply from him to my question: “Palin? Not ‘Vote McCain‘?” And not “Palin in 2016″ either (assuming a McCain victory and “inevitable” re-election, as I’m sure they do). Just, “vote palin”. Huh.
There is no question in my mind that the GOP is grooming Sarah Palin to run for 2012 (not even waiting for 2016 even if McCain wins).
Palin has become the darling of the Religious Right. She’s to the Right of even most Republicans on the issue of abortion (opposing the exceptions of Rape & Incest). Like them, she’s a religious nut, and they LOVE that!
She belongs to a Wingnut Evangelical church that practices “speaking in tongues”, group cellphone Conversion sessions, and has a third-floor “portal to God”.
She doesn’t believe Global Climate Change is “man made” (whether she even believes in GCC at all is a bit murky. Only cautioning against “overreacting” to the issue.) Not only does she favor drilling in the “Arctic National Wildlife Refuge” (ANWR), but even said politicians like McCain that oppose drilling there are “living in La-La Land”:
And… of course… she’s a woman, giving the G.O.P. the perceived “novelty factor” that they think is solely responsibly for Senator Obama’s meteoric political rise. After a string of old white men (Nixon, Ford, Reagan, Bush-41, Bob Dole, McCain, et al) running for the presidency, the G.O.P. is desperate for new blood.
The Republicans HATE John McCain, but they are supporting him in this election because they hate Democrats more. It was assumed for a long time that when the Bush term ended, McCain would be his natural successor, to the displeasure of many in the GOP.
Republicans looked desperately for an alternative to McCain for months. First it was NYC mayor Rudy Giuliani, the “hero of 9/11″. But Giuliani is “pro-choice”, has never held an office higher than “mayor”, has a nasty marital history, and a penchant for appearing in women’s clothes. And when his dear friend “Bernie Kerik”… the man he made NYC Police Commissioner and recommended to Bush to head up the new Department of Homeland Security… was indicted for tax evasion and corruption (Mob ties?)… Rudy’s campaign was all but sunk. So they looked elsewhere.
Next up was “Hollywood” Fred Thompson, the gruff star of NBC’s “Law & Order”, former Senator of Tennessee with a long movie career, proudly partisan with a pro-life voting record. He also had a trophy wife that’s 4 years younger than his oldest daughter and couldn’t campaign his way out of a paper bag. The death-nell of his campaign was that he waited FAR too long to announce he would actually run, hosting fundraisers and accepting campaign contributions for months, trying to string-out the “will he or won’t he” novelty factor for as long as possible. By the time he finally announced he was running, nobody cared. Republicans that initially backed Thompson envisioned “the next Ronald Reagan”… a former B-actor turned rabid Republican attack dog. Only to find out Thompson was no “Great Communicator” like Reagan, and gave 2-minute stump speeches that were duller than his personality (and about as deep). Bye-bye, Thompson.
Mitt Romney had some novelty. A Republican governor of the most iconicly Liberal state in the country (Massachusetts), that instituted a state heath care program to ensure millions of New Englanders. A multi-millionaire businessman (of the “Staples” office-supply chain). BUT, Mitt was a Mormon (synonymous with “cult” to the religious-right)… which Evangelicals just couldn’t overlook. Bye bye, Mitt.
Huckabee, a former Baptist minister from the Clinton’s home state of Arkansas, also had some novelty appeal to the Right. But running on a “Fair Tax” (National Sales Tax) platform, the “powers-that-be in the G.O.P.” would never of allowed him to be the nominee.
When the dust settled, Republicans found themselves right back where they started, stuck with John “won’t overturn Roe” McCain, who believed (past-tense) in “Global Warming”, opposed drilling in ANWR, and called Evangelical icons Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell “agents of intolerance”. McCain is also 72 years old. If he wins, he’ll be the oldest person to ever become President.
Enter Sarah Palin.
When 2012 comes around, McCain will be 76. Win or lose, Republicans won’t want him to be the nominee again. They don’t like him now. He’s unlikely to be any more popular four years from now. And if McCain loses, NO WAY would he be the nominee a third time. Win or lose, expect Palin to stroll to the GOP nomination in 2012 (sans an “Obama-like” star to appear out of nowhere to derail Palin the way Hillary’s “inevitable” victory was derailed by Barack Obama).
No longer an “unknown”, Palin will have more “experience” four years from now… doing away with the “too inexperienced to be President” argument. The GOP will pull out ALL the stops to ensure Palin wins reelection as governor of Alaska from now until 2012 (because “losers” don’t get the nomination for President), so be on the lookout for “mysterious” election results in Alaska over the next four years if McCain loses.
The RNC is already schooling Palin on the issues to prepare her for next weeks’ Vice Presidential Debate, and they’ll continue to do so over the next four years. No more “Miss Teen South Carolina” -quality--answers-. She’ll dramatically cut Alaska earmark requests, and maybe even actually visit Russia instead of just stare at it from a distant Alaskan island.
Many of the arguments being made against Palin’s fitness to be so close to the Presidency today will evaporate by 2012 (then again, those same arguments about Obama’s inexperience will likewise have been rendered moot). Democrats better start working on some better arguments on why Palin has no business being anywhere close to the presidency than just “inexperience“.
——————
Also in the news: After a week on Wall Street that made “Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride” look like a study in “Continental Drift”… a 500 point drop, 150 point gain, a 450 point drop, and back-to-back 400+ point gains… the DOW ends down exactly 34.28 points below where it started one week ago… but with American Taxpayer’s left holding the bag for $800 BILLION DOLLARS in Federal bailouts and a Republican Party that has suddenly gotten religion when it comes to “Federal Regulation”… which they opposed for years on the grounds it was “bad for business”.
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Few things in this world frighten me as much as Ideologues. The worse things get or the more obvious the failure of their beliefs become, the deeper they descend into denial. And if it stopped there, that would be bad enough. But they get more shrill, more strident, angry and belligerent… looking to take the rest of us down with them.
Since the start of the year, 11 commercial banks have failed and major brokerages Merrill-Lynch, Lehman Brothers, Bear-Sterns, and “AIG” have filed for bankruptcy, while “Goldman-Sachs” may be next, at a cost of HUNDREDS of Billions of dollars to the American taxpayer. But the ideologues argue that “regulation” hurts business and would cost consumers “millions of dollars”. To the Ideologues, the failure of all these banks & financial institutions has nothing to do with the rampant deregulation they pushed for. No. In fact, McCain has insisted we need “MORE deregulation“… or at least, he did one hour before he flip-flopped and said he now supports (quote) “excess” regulation. And why not, what is a “government takeover” if not “regulation” + $100 Billion tax dollars?
UPDATE: The DOW continued its plunge throughout the day to 449 points, closing at 10,609, a mere 22 points above the January 19, 2001 close of 10,587). A stock market that rose over 7,100 points (67.8%) over eight years under “tax & spend Liberal” Bill Clinton, has now risen a grand total of 22 points (0.2%) after eight years of “fiscal Conservative” George Bush.
During the Clinton Administration, the stock market did SO well, Republicans pushed HARD for “privatization of Social Security” on the grounds that, had you of invested your retirement in the Market, you would of earned FAR more than it did sitting in the “Social Security Trust Fund”. Just imagine if they had gotten their way and millions of Americans had sunk their retirement into the Bush Stock Market? Where would they be today? (I should note that an Ideologue would be arguing at this point that “HAD they of invested all that money into The Market, it would of SOARED instead of sank”. Ask them for evidence and they have none.)
It’s an election year, and the Party that gave you Bill Clinton’s eight years of peace & prosperity is (supposedly) running neck-and-neck with the Party that’s given you everything I speak of above.
But when you confront one of the GOP Faithful on how they can even THINK of voting Republican in the next election, everything is sunny in Neo-Con world. “We have the highest standard of living in the world”… unless you count homelessness, the uninsured, or actual life-span… “the world is safer thanks to Bush’s War on Terror“… unless you count a worldwide rise in incidents of terrorism… “we haven’t been attacked again in seven years”… unless you count the attacks on our allies in England and Spain, and ignore the eight years we went without another attack under Bil Clinton… “we’re winning the war in Iraq”… unless you count General Petraeus calling the situation in Iraq “tenuous and reversible” on his way out the door Tuesday, or the rising violence in Afghanistan due to the return of the Taliban… and “the fundamentals of our economy are strong“… as long as you don’t count the record foreclosures, bailouts, and a stock market that has lost nearly 900 points in just the last 8 days.
After a year and a half of Senator McCain pressing upon voters the value of “experience” when deciding for whom to cast your vote for President of the United States, he picks a running mate whose resume includes “member of the PTA” and “can see Russia” from her home state.
Despite calling the Far-Right religious nuts “agents of intolerance” when he ran back in 2000, this time around, Senator McCain delivered the 2007 Commencement address at Falwell’s “Liberty University”, actively sought the endorsement of Pastor John “Hitler was doing the Lord’s work” Hagee, and now we learn his Evangelical running mates’ church of the last 20 years, the Wassilla Assembly of God, practices speaking in tongues, has a third-floor “portal to God”, and hosts “cellphone conversion” sessions where a room full of believers call people who “miraculously” experience a religious epiphany over the phone where they feel “the power of the Lord flow into their bodies”. But confront a Republican on any of this, and they’ll cite “Reverend Wright”, of whom they’ve heard tiny snippets from a few fiery speeches over the course of 20 years, as being “no different”.
Despite mounting evidence that his running mate, Sarah Palin, was in fact a supporter of the so-called “Bridge to Nowhere”, was the Queen of Pork, even hiring Washington lobbyists to pursue that money while mayor of a tiny town of 6,000, leaving Wasilla $20 million in debt on her way out the door to the governorship (and still more pork), Senator McCain, rather than concede the obvious, has instead chosen to dig his heels in even deeper and argue that she’s every bit the fiscal Conservative and opponent of earmarks as he is.
Where in 2004, Republicans turned “Flip-Flop” into a synonym for “John Kerry” and openly ridiculed his military service, questioning the validity of his medals for heroism (Bronze Star) and injury (second Purple Heart), in 2008, these same Republicans are mum when it comes to the subject of “flip-flops”, because their own nominee has become a flip-flop & gaffe machine and SUCH a political opportunist that he has flip-flopped multiple times… not just over the course of just a few hours… but within the same hour! And now “military service”… which was a taboo subject in 2000 (Bush) and worthy of ridicule in 2004 (Kerry), today is at the very top of John McCain’s resume as why he should be President.
In 2000, Republicans twisted Vice President Gore’s (accurate) assertion that he pushed for the legislation that gave us The Internet, into “Al Gore says he invented the Internet!”, but when McCain campaign adviser Douglas Holtz-Eakin holds up his BlackBerry and claimed that Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) is responsible for the “miracle” of PDAs, the silence coming from those same Republicans is deafening.
A group that the majority of whom refuse to even admit the existence of Global Climate Change (I don’t like to use the term “Global Warming” because it is a misnomer), let alone whether or not it is the result of “human activity”, despite record climbing temperatures, “hundred year floods & forest fires” now occurring almost every year, the decimation of the polar icecap, and record hurricane seasons, are telling the rest of us not to believe the evidence of our own eyes,
And speaking of hurricanes, despite a falling supply of oil due to Hurricane’s Dolly, Edouard, Fay, Gustav, and Ike all in just the past three months, disrupting oil production in the Gulf of Mexico, oil prices are falling, now below $95 a barrel. Republicans would have you believe it’s because “they started talking about domestic offshore drilling” (not a single new drilling platform has been built, let alone pumped a single drop of oil, to affect the supply). So why are oil prices falling? Because deregulated Market speculators that pushed the oil prices through the roof, now fear those same high prices are pushing the U.S. economy into a Recession.
They tell you that “raising taxes on the top 5%” means Obama will raise “YOUR” taxes because higher taxes on businesses will “just be passed on to the consumer in the form of higher prices”. By that reasoning, why tax businesses at all? Just make consumers foot 100% of the bill. Never in my life have I seen so many people proclaiming their faith in “the free market” to keep prices low, simultaneously express so little faith in business not to raise prices regardless of what it might due to sales. It takes the “cognitive dissonance” of a Fred “the U.S. economy is the greatest story never told” Thompson to reconcile that one.
The U.S. economy is in meltdown. The jobless rate is in meltdown. The mortgage markets are in meltdown. The DOW is in meltdown. The “War on Terror” is in meltdown. The icecaps are REALLY in meltdown. And the people that brought you all of it say that if you want “Change“, you need to put them back in charge for another four years.
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Sorry if I don’t SWOON just because Hillary Clinton does what is expected of any Democrat by stumping for the Party’s nominee, but Hillary’s failure to reclaim her supporters from McCain/Palin is (pardon my French) pissing me off. And the 12 year olds on some of these blogs that resort to name calling just because they think Hillary is doing something MARVELOUS for doing exactly what is expected of her and not one iota more, gives me a bitter taste in my mouth.
THREE TIMES I’ve expressed my displeasure on the “DemocraticUnderground” website (no link proffered) with the way Hillary refuses to go after Palin for suggesting SHE is the natural alternative for disaffected Hillary supporters, and all three times, was attacked by children accusing me of “whining” because Hillary wasn’t doing what I wanted, or accusing me of sexism for the same reason, or accusing me of being a close-minded Obama supporter that’s hated Hillary all along, and people telling me it is Senator Obama’s job to CONVINCE Hillary to support him. And each and every time, my posts have been “deleted by the Moderator”, never with an explanation, but apparently because my demanding more from Ms. Clinton was bringing out the flame-throwers.
If anything I’ve said above bothers you, don’t read on. Only those with an open mind need bother to continue.
Let me start by saying that, while I’ve been vocally upset with Hillary’s hawkish support for the war in Iraq and seeming willingness to use military force too easily, I still voted for her in my state’s primary because I agreed more with her position on health care, which is a more direct consequence to me (I was able to dismiss her hawkishness as simply playing to those who said a woman couldn’t be Commander-in-Chief). So I gave her my vote.
I voted during “early voting” (two weeks before Election Day) because the polling place is closer with shorter lines. But on March 3rd, the day before Election Day, Hillary made the following comment about her Democratic challenger:
“I think I have a lifetime of experience to bring to the White House. I know Senator McCain has a lifetime of experience that he will bring to the White House. And Senator Obama has a speech he gave in 2002.“
Never did I ever wish more to get my vote back. Hillary lost my support on that day, and she has yet to earn it back.
Hillary isn’t “Chris Dodd”, or “Bill Richardson” or even “John Edwards”. She’s become “a symbol“… not just by the Right but of her own doing… for “striking a blow for women in politics”. I’m sorry, but when your entire defense of voting for Barack Obama… “No McCain. No Palin. No way! No how!”… can be challenged with a one word question… “Why?”… THAT’S not a defense worthy of my praise… nor should it be worthy of yours.
John McCain chose Palin specifically to appeal to disaffected Hillary voters… and polls say it’s working (a 20% swing among white women). Palin herself praised Hillary twice in a thinly veiled attempt to attract them into voting Republican. And why not? After all, Hillary herself said McCain is better than Obama, right? Listen to Hillary on the campaign trail for Obama (clip condenses Hillary’s speech at the LCCC to just three minutes). Watch how long it takes for her to finally mention “Senator Obama” at this “rally for Obama”:
TELL ME that doesn’t sound like a 2012 stump speech. When she finally mentions Senator Obama, it’s little more than an afterthought, at the very end simply to say “work for him as hard as you’d work for me”. Not ONCE did she say “Obama will…” or “Obama has…”. Nor does she ever mention the fact the opposition keeps using her name to peel away her supporters (slamming Obama in the process). Yesterday, the McCain camp sent its most prominent “female” campaign surrogate, Carly “let’s spy on our employees” Fiorina to go after the “PUMA”s (the “Hillary-or-no-one” crowd). Has Hillary EVEN ONCE addressed these “PUMA”s? Silence can speak volumes, and hers is deafening.
Remember Hillary’s big speech at the DNC Convention? It was a speech that received huge (and IMHO, undeserved) praise for “uniting the Party”. Well, excuse me, but the Party wouldn’t NEED uniting if she hadn’t fractured it in the first place! And I’m supposed to cheer that she actually supported the Party’s nominee at the Convention??? Give me a break! And just like in the short clip above, not once does she address the things that “Barack Obama will” do or go into ANY specifics about him whatsoever. Listen to the entire 30 minute speech again if you doubt me. Then compare it to Bill’s speech the next day, talking about Barack Obama on a personal level, and talking about what Obama will do for the country.
But her conspicuous refusal to defend Senator Obama’s “record” or “policies” is nothing compared to the way she allows McCain’s running mate, Sarah Palin, to compare herself to her, unchallenged.
Watch this snippet from Hillary’s recent rally in Tampa, Florida last week. TELL ME it doesn’t sound like another 2012 stump speech:
She never attacks McCain/Palin by name (in fact, she goes out of her way not to, saying “whoever [the opposition] may be“), and naturally she says to vote for Obama/Biden because “they’ll bring change” (in case you haven’t heard yet).
But my big beef is that she has yet to pull a “Lloyd Bentsen” and tell Palin “You’re no Hillary Clinton!” Nor does she seem insulted that Palin would even compare herself to Hillary. You could swap the name of McCain’s running mate with “Rudy” or “Romney” and wouldn’t have to change a single word of Hillary’s “Obama rally” speeches. Why won’t Hillary go after Palin specifically? Because (IMHO), she’ll holding out for 2012.
When Amy Pohler’s (”Saturday Night Live”) impersonation of Hillary Clinton does a BETTER job of going after Palin than the real thing, it’s time to start asking questions.
I know how I would react if someone tried to use MY name to convince MY supporters that they should back a political neophyte SO diametrically opposed to everything I stood for, claiming to be “continuing MY fight”. I wouldn’t simply go out and say, “Don’t vote for them. They’re bad.” I’d get ANGRY. I’d be out there telling my supporters, “Don’t be fooled! These people don’t stand for ANYTHING you or I do! a vote for McCain/Palin in my name is an insult to me and our campaign.” Why isn’t Hillary?
You could actually make a STRONGER case that a vote for John McCain is a vote for Bill Richardson had he of picked a Hispanic running mate because of McCain’s (pre-flipflopped) stand on immigration, than you can make a case Palin is like Hillary on the issues she championed, or to suggest that “Palin has as much experience as Clinton”. That’s a monster insult, not just of Hillary, but to her supporters, and I’m stunned Hillary supporters aren’t OUTRAGED that she continues to let them get away with it!
Though I’ve never approved of Hillary’s hawkishness in recent years, I am more concerned with health care, and voted for Hillary in spite of it.
But when she made that infamous “McCain has a longer resume’ than Obama” crack, that was it. She lost my support, and she’s yet to make up for it. I still see someone unwilling to make a convincing case to her supporters not to vote for Palin out of some misdirected sense of loyalty to Hillary. Nor have I heard her make a convincing argument as to why “Senator Obama” deserves your vote, because, quite honestly, I don’t think she believes it herself.
Here is what I am waiting to hear:
“I didn’t put 18 million cracks in that glass ceiling so some political neophyte of the 47th least populous state could stand on my shoulders, chip through with an icepick, and claim she “did it for me and my supporters”. Palin thinks all my supporters care about is that I’m a woman, and you are so simple-minded, you’ll vote for her just because we’re both women. Is that all it’ll take for her to win you’re vote? Ms. Palin seems to think so!
Some say “it’s not Hillary’s job to take on Palin.” You know who says that? Hillary supporters that don’t care if Obama loses. (don’t believe me? Click the link.) When Hillary brought up the “18 million cracks”, she MADE it her job. When she praised John McCain over Barack Obama, she MADE it her job. And every time she says nothing when Palin evokes her name, she MAKES it her job.
So pardon me if I don’t get all dreamy-eyed because a fellow Democrat stumps for the candidate that actually won, raises money for him and tells their supporters to “vote for” him. That’s what the losers are SUPPOSED to do! If you don’t get that, then no wonder we keep losing. And if Barack loses in November, I’m blaming Hillary. Period.
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Today is the 7th Anniversary of “9/11″. It is also the 2nd Anniversary of the day I found THESE guys under the hood of my car:
And as I type this, Hurricane Ike is preparing to ruin my weekend (let’s just hope that’s ALL it does). So there is a better than odds-on chance you won’t be seeing any new posts to Mugsy’s Rap Sheet, or updates to the “Master List of McCain Flip-Flops” over the next few days. Just a heads up.
During her VP Acceptance Speech, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin never once mentioned her extreme positions on social issues, instead using her moment in the spotlight to spew a tidalwave of snarkiness towards her Democratic opponents… and perpetuate the lies that make up her minuscule political resume’. Why didn’t McCain’s hard-Right Evangelical wildcard mention even once that she is (was?) a member of the ultra-Conservative “Feminists for Life”, which not only calls birth control “abortifacient contraception”, but opposes abortion even in the generally accepted exceptions of “rape & incest” (her position on abortion to protect the “life of the mother” is a bit murky) that even most pro-life advocates support? And why didn’t she mention that she believed U.S. troops in Iraq “are on a task from God”? And, of course, why didn’t she mention that she supports hunting down wolf pups from a helicopter using a high-powered rifle? (to be fair, she only authorized their parents to be shot from the air, after which the pups were forcibly dragged from their den and shot in the head at close range.)
Because the bulk of the viewing public would have turned on her in a heartbeat, seeing her for the extremist Right-Wing lunatic that she is, that’s why.
Since Senator McCain’s big VP announcement nearly two weeks ago, the McCain camp has not permitted a single one-on-one interview with Palin. She’s an unknown quantity. An empty glass that people are filling with any image of her that they prefer. And until she destroys that image by opening her mouth and answering a few lingering questions, she remains an unknown quantity that even a few brain-dead disaffected Hillary supporters can get behind (one HAS to wonder what any Hillary supporter could possibly see in Palin that speaks to them? Personally, I don’t believe poll numbers of people claiming to be Hillary Democrats for Palin. More likely, it is Republicans that liked Hillary more than McCain, that were drawn back by the Palin pick). But the McCain campaign can’t keep her in a bubble forever.
Excuse Me? You’ve giving the American people just 60 days to learn everything there is to know about someone in the position to be President of the United States and your DICTATING to us whether or not we actually get to interview her??? The fact no one appears to be outraged by that statement is disturbing.
The McCain campaign did pick their own venue for Palin’s first interview. After criticism for not appearing on a single Sunday show the weekend after the RNC Convention, they magnanimously announced that Palin would “consent” to a softball interview conducted by ABC everyman Charlie Gibson. Demanding Gibson conduct the interview assures three things, one, that no follow-up questions will be asked when caught in a lie because Gibson is unlikely to know a lie when he hears one. Two, while he is likely to ask some of the “nagging” questions that have been circulating in the blog-o-sphere lately, he won’t have any questions she hasn’t had a week to prepare for, and is unlikely to ask any vitally important questions at all (I’ll be SHOCKED if Gibson even mentions the name Joe Vogler). And three, that the interview will take place in Prime Time with the largest possible viewing audience (vs. appearing on a lowly Sunday morning show with fewer viewers). For all the whining McCain made over any perceived disadvantage to Obama by opting out of public financing, they sure seem to have learned how to scam the system, making outrageous claims that then get picked up and repeated on the network news shows for weeks for free, which then forces the Obama campaign to spend its own money to respond to those claims nationwide. And now picking a VP running mate that is SO extreme and SO unqualified that they can dictate to the press who gets to talk to her and when (for maximum coverage), THEN have the nerve to play “the victim” and claim “Senator Obama is receiving more airtime”. It’s enough to make a Billygoat puke.
If Gibson’s performance in the deplorable Hillary/Obama debate last April where they spent the first 45 minutes talking about “flag pins” and whether voters are “bitter” is any indication, any chance of Palin’s first interview revealing anything significant are as close to zero as George Bush’s score on an European History exam.
And while the McCain campaign is dictating who, when & where Palin’s interviewed, they also haven’t let her out of their sight, with McCain and Palin only appearing together, never apart since the Convention, in rallies across the country. Palin never grants interviews or accepts questions (with the exception of a few softballs from People Magazine). Everywhere they go together, they draw huge crowds. She has energized the far Right Wingnuttia and (arguably) is more popular than McCain himself. It would be a major embarrassment for the McCain campaign if he were to appear without her and draw a tiny crowd of maybe 500, only to have Palin appear on her own and draw a crowd of 2,000. So the two never appear apart. And when Palin does appear, all she does is repeat the professionally scripted “zingers” from her RNC acceptance speech over, and over, and over, and over… that’s going to get old REAL fast.
But they can’t keep Palin super-glued at the hip with McCain forever. Soon, Palin will start having to grant interviews, answer some difficult questions, and show off that wading-pool deep political knowledge she’s amassed in her 20 months as governor of the 47th least populous state, then watch her approval rating plunge. If she continues to lie about her record (as we now know she has), soon it will catch up to her as she’s labeled either “untrustworthy”, “ignorant” or “deep in denial”; none of which are good. Or she can concede that her record as a “reformer” is a total lie, which not only destroys the McCain campaign’s total justification for choosing her, but proves once and for all that she was not thoroughly vetted before being tapped for VP like McCain has insisted all along. The first time she is forced to “go off script” and starts answering questions on her own about her far-Right positions on issues, say bye-bye to “the Palin Bounce”.
And that’s before she even meets up with Joe Biden for the VP debate in October.
Picking Palin was “Stunt #1″.
“Stunt #2″ is on the horizon. Earlier this week, the Bush Administration sent armed forces into the Waziristan region of Pakistan, a protected region on the Pakistan/Afghanistan border where al Qaeda is believed to be hiding. Despite Bush’s claim “we will not distinguish between the terrorists and those who harbor them”, for seven years, the Bush Administration has called Pakistan “friend” for giving us “fly-over rights” into Afghanistan after 9/11. But Pakistani President Pervez Musharif drew the line at allowing U.S. troops into Pakistan to hunt for bin Laden in the border region. Then suddenly, quite recently, Musharif was forced out of office in a violent and bloody election that claimed the life of his chief opponent, Benazir Bhutto. Despite securing his “re-election”, he was so unpopular, he was forced to step down as President, and was replaced with a man that supports the U.S. government and going after al Qaeda, has sent Pakistani troops into Waziristan himself in recent days, and apparently doesn’t mind if Bush does too.
It is almost comically obvious that the Bush Administration is eager to spring an “October Surprise”, with the capture of Osama bin Laden in time for the election. After seven years of failure, it’s all they’ve got left. The Republicans can’t win on “the economy”, “jobs”, “health care”, “energy prices” or the “environment”, what’s left for them to run on? “Keeping you safe from the blue meanies from Islamistan”. And what better way to show the American people that they are worthy of re-election than to capture the object of their fears for the past seven years to make them feel safer?
Then what?
Even if they do capture OBL (which is unlikely), just how would it affect the election? Announcing his capture a week before the election would look mighty suspicious to most voters. Would everybody simply cheer and praise Bush for this “great achievement”, or are people more likely to ask, “What took you so long? It’s been over seven years, and suddenly, just as you’re heading out the door and just in time for the election, you’re able to capture bin Laden in the space of a couple of days? Did you just need some motivation? You couldn’t catch him after all this time, pulling his name out every election year to frighten us in some Pavlovian mind-f**k, and then suddenly in the space of a couple of weeks, you’re able to track him down and capture him? What’s wrong with this picture?
And then, with OBL captured, much of McCain’s “Commander-in-Chief in these dangerous times” advantage goes right out the window. Oh sure they’ll remind us at every waking opportunity that nameless/faceless al Qaeda “is still out there”, but it’s harder for people to get as worked up over a threat without a face. And trying to minimize the importance of OBL’s influence to play up the continuing threat of al Qaeda would counter any advantage his capture could have on McCain’s poll numbers.
And that’s all the Republicans have left at this point: cheap political stunts that are destined to fail as sure as the Swallows will return to Capistrano. These next few weeks are going to be interesting. Very interesting indeed.
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On CBS’s “Face the Nation” Sunday, host Bob Schieffer asked guest John McCain about the fact so few African-Americans were in attendance during the Republican National Convention last week (video: comment at 15:00):
Schieffer: I want to ask you about the “composition” on the Convention. There were 36 African-American delegates out of 2,300+ delegates there. How can you survive as a Party if you become just “the Party of White People”?
McCain: We can’t. We can’t. I saw a bit of information the other day that by… I forgot [sic]… don’t hold me to it… by 2042 or something like that, “white” Americans will be in the minority of the population of the country. We can’t. We’ve got to reach out. We’ve got to do a better job. [...] We need to prove to Americans that this is the Party of Abraham Lincoln… [emphasis McCain's], Theodore Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan. We’re the Party of Abraham Lincoln!
Okay, forget for a moment the ridiculous inclusion of “Teddy Roosevelt” and (especially) Ronald Reagan with regards to Civil Rights and Minority issues, it’s time to put this asinine “Party of Lincoln” nonsense to bed once and for all. Today’s republican party has less in common with Lincoln than Sarah Palin has in common with Hillary Clinton.
Senator Abraham Lincoln was an Abolitionist… someone that fought against the institution of slavery. Prior to his election in 1860, the Southern States, which depended FAR more upon slave labor because agriculture made up the vast majority of its economy, were already rumbling about how the Industrialized North just didn’t seem to understand the needs of the Agricultural South. And while the election of the abolitionist Lincoln wasn’t the proverbial “straw that broke the camels back”, it was darned close. Soon after, Congressmen of the Southern States walked out of Congress threatening to succeed from The Union, and the Civil War began.
At the end of his first year as President, Lincoln asked what was left of Congress to pass The Emancipation Proclamation (photo of document here if you wish to verify). Read this key passage from that Proclamation carefully:
Now, therefore I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, by virtue of the power in me vested as Commander-in-Chief, of the Army and Navy of the United States in time of actual armed rebellion against the authority and government of the United States, and as a fit and necessary war measure for suppressing said rebellion, do, on this first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and in accordance with my purpose so to do publicly proclaimed for the full period of one hundred days, from the day first above mentioned, order and designate as the States and parts of States wherein the people thereof respectively, are this day in rebellion against the United States, the following, to wit:
Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana, (except the Parishes of St. Bernard, Plaquemines, Jefferson, St. John, St. Charles, St. James Ascension, Assumption, Terrebonne, Lafourche, St. Mary, St. Martin, and Orleans, including the City of New Orleans) Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia, (except the forty-eight counties designated as West Virginia, and also the counties of Berkley, Accomac, Northampton, Elizabeth City, York, Princess Ann, and Norfolk, including the cities of Norfolk and Portsmouth[)], and which excepted parts, are for the present, left precisely as if this proclamation were not issued.
And by virtue of the power, and for the purpose aforesaid, I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves within said designated States, and parts of States, are, and henceforward shall be free;
That’s a LOT of exceptions. Lincoln basically only freed the slaves in Confederate States (and rebel counties within Union states) as a means of disrupting the Confederacy to help end the war. Most Northern states had already abolished slavery on their own, but Lincoln’s exemption of them would have allowed them to repeal this law if they felt it necessary. Why not just say “the entire country”? Note that he exempted “West Virgina“, a Union “Plantation” state that also depended heavily upon slave labor.
Now, no one is saying Lincoln personally didn’t wish to abolish slavery as a whole, or approved of it “morally” in any way (though he obviously recognized an “economic” necessity when exempting WV), but he didn’t do so based solely upon “moral necessity“. It was a MILITARY STRATEGY designed to throw the South into Chaos to help win the war.
Think in today’s context what Emancipation meant. Can you imagine a LESS pro-business, socially Liberal law being handed down by the Federal Government? If the United States government tried to abolish slavery today, can you imagine the screams of fury by Big Business? Consider Republican outrage today regarding the subject of extending “workers rights” to illegal immigrant farm workers? (If you try to claim “that’s an issue of “giving rights to non-Americans”, well “slaves” had no rights as Americans either). The loss of all that free labor would cost them billions! And dare I call it “activist” legislation, extending unprecedented rights to a minority class? (can you say “gay marriage”?) Today’s “Party of Lincoln” would throw a fit!
No, I’m sorry, but it’s time to put this “The Republican Party is the Party of Lincoln” nonsense to bed once and for all. Today’s GOP would of gone into open rebellion and tried to succeed from the Union if the President tried to pull something like that today.
(EDITOR’S NOTE: I will be breaking from my regular routine of publishing only on Wednesday from now until the election, as too much is happening each week to wait until the next edition to respond. So be sure to REGISTER or use the RSS feed to stay abreast of the latest updates as posting becomes more frequent! - Mugsy)
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Okay, where were we? The political Party that has held the White House for the last eight years, is responsible for doubling the national debt, preyed on the insecurities of a frightened nation after 9/11 to launch the first “preemptive war” in American history based upon falsified evidence & “cherry-picked” intelligence, and has basically given the entire Bush Administration a “Get out of jail free” card for crimes they freely admit to on National TV, wants you to vote for them because the other guy “is too inexperienced to be President”, while their VP with 20 months experience as governor of the 47th least populous state in the union is “THE most qualified” person to be VP… just pray nothing happens to the 72 year old cancer survivor McCain.
Republicans are suddenly all about “Change” (???). They suddenly seem to agree that “experience” isn’t all that important, and that being a decorated Vietnam veteran is worthy of honor & respect, qualifying you to be President of the United States (unlike in 2004). Meanwhile, both McCain & Bush seem to have come around to the idea that maybe a “timetable” for pulling out of Iraq isn’t such a bad idea.
Republicans pretending not to be Republicans, telling us how bad things have gotten under Republicans, who try and convince us Republicans understand the concerns of the Common Man while campaigning in $540 Italian Leather Loafers or addressing crowds wearing a $10,000 string of pearls and $250,000 diamond earrings, one has to wonder just how dumb do they think we are? Then you look at some polls that claim “a dead heat”, and suddenly the question isn’t “how dumb do they think we are” but “are we really that dumb”? Let’s hope not.
So now that the RNC is trying to morph themselves into the DNC, agreeing that “Change” is desperately needed and what we have now isn’t working, the question is: do you want another Republican President that has come around to agreeing with Democrats, or shouldn’t you just vote for the Democrat? Hmm, tough choice. (Not.)
To any “undecided voter” out there that may have switched their vote as a result of John McCain’s acceptance speech Thursday night, have I got a video for you:
Bush’s 2000 RNC Convention hypocrisy
Think back to McCain’s & Palin’s speeches. Their big solution for turning the economy around: “tax cuts!” I think Bush & The Republicans tried that already. And look where we are. And if I remember correctly… and I do… those tax cuts came after the longest peacetime economic expansion in history. So when the taxes were so high they needed to be cut, our economy boomed. When we cut taxes without matching spending cuts, the economy went into freefall as the National Debt exploded and the dollar imploded. And what is their solution again? Oh yeah, more tax cuts.
Okay, enough of the hypocrisy & stupidity of their platform, let’s look some more at the hypocrisy & stupidity of their words.
Following Lindsey Graham’s torrent of bald-faced lies, a video retrospective of Sarah Palin… held over from the night before… was played:
ANNOUNCER.
“Mother. Moosehunter. Maverick!”
“Led her highschool basketball team to a state championship.”
“Started out as a hockey Mom, and became a member of the PTA.”
“Loves her family. Loves her government. And loves Moose stew.”
All qualities you look for in a potential future President of the most powerful nation on Earth. Am I right? Sure much of it was said tongue-in-cheek. Problem is, that REALLY IS the bulk of her resume!
Washington reporter Jeanne Cummings had a fantastic response to GOP criticism that the Press is being too critical of Palin:
Former Governor of PA and former Director of Homeland Security, Tom Ridge was up next. He talked about his 20 year “friendship” with John McCain, about how they were both vets, and how that gave them an unspoken bond.
“(McCain looked at me back when his campaign was floundering) and said, ‘Tom, you and I both know I’ve been through worse’.” So apparently, John McCain isn’t quite as adverse to bringing up his experience as a POW as one might have thought, even on trivial matters such as not being able to raise enough money for his campaign.
In one incredibly condescending remark, Ridge said to the crowd in a voice reminiscent of “Mr. Furley” doing his “tinkerbell” hand-jiggle: “It’s not about chaaaannnge, it’s about experience!” (so what’s up with all the comments about “Change” all night long?)
“It’s ‘talk pretty‘ vs. ‘talk straight!’” (not quite sure if he was making a double-entendre or not, but an “Obama is SO gay” attack would fit in following the effeminate inflection used above.)
“It’s not about establishing a record, it’s about HAVING a record.”
Ridge was one giant snarkfest. I suddenly find myself reassessing that “unspoken bond” of his with John McCain.
Ridge was followed by yet another video, this one of Cindy McCain, traveling the world to help sick & impoverished children. Hey, great. But just how hard is it to “outshine” the other candidates’ wife when you’ve got $100 million dollars and a private Lear Jet to fly you anywhere in the world at a moments notice?
But you know, I’m watching the video of her going around to these poor ramshackle towns offering assistance, and I can’t help but think, “You know, if she were doing this in the United States, they might call her a Community Organizer.”
The video of Cindy was used to introduce Cindy herself:
“There’s no greater calling than serving your country. Teach, volunteer, [etc]…” …be a “Community Organizer” perhaps?
“If only the Federal government would get itself under control and out of our way…” Again I ask, which Party has been in charge of the White House for the past eight years, and was in charge of Congress for the first six of them? If “government” is “out of control” and in everybody’s way, whose fault is that?
On the subject of marriage, Cindy tells us, “I hit a home run with John McCain.” No, actually, you stole second [snark].
“I know John. You can trust his hand on the wheel.” (driving the country around in circles with the blinker on? [snark])
Cindy’s done talking. Time for another video! (The music’s opening bars: lifted from the theme to Dallas. You know: Texas. Horses. Mavericks. McCain.)
ANNOUNCER:
“Some have called him hotheaded. Some have called him names that can’t be repeated here.” (Is that REALLY something you want to be bragging about as qualities in a potential president?)
The story of John McCain begins.. in uniform. Apparently, John McCain was born in fatigue diapers because the video starts out talking about his military family and McCain as a soldier. Literally one minute into the seven and a half minute bio-pic, they are onto McCain’s time in a Vietnamese POW camp. Gee guys, why so long?
All three of “John McCain’s sons” are either currently “in the service”, or will be soon. I wonder, if their father should become President, would they come home? I believe Eisenhower was the last President to have a son serving in the military during wartime. I’d be interested in knowing (but not interested enough to vote for him just to find out) if the McCain’s would avail themselves of a privilege tens of thousands of families with kids in the military don’t get. The film continues:
“When you’ve lived in a box for five years…” Oh, geez! The “rich white guy race card“. You know, if during Poker, I played my trump card on Every. Single. Hand., that would be a mighty short game before everyone got up and went home. But this crowd eats it up because it’s THEIR money he’s playing with, and they’re looking for an easy payoff.
McCain enters, walks to the podium, accepts the nomination and mentions 9/11 almost out of the box: “[the nation suffered] …the worst attack on US soil in history.” To all you Rudy fans I say, “Tell McCain, hands Off YOUR panic-phrase!” Nine-elevenTM (RudyCo. patent pending)
Incidentally, in a night of snarky comments, McCain offered the most praise of anyone this entire convention for Barack Obama. Of course, Obama praised McCain first in his own acceptance speech the week before, so McCain really had to praise Obama to avoid sounding petty… you know, like his VP spent her entire speech doing.
Twice, protesters were seen being shuffled out, drowned out with chants of “USA! USA! USA!” by a crowd of people that think their Party has cornered the market on patriotism. McCain was forced to wait for the chants to die down before he could continue: “Don’t be diverted by the ground noise and the static”, he tells the audience, who laugh and cheer. Did I miss something? I don’t get the metaphor.
“Let me tell the “Me first, country second” crowd: Change. Is. Coming!” Trust us, John. We know. We know because we’ve been saying it for 18 months now.
Among his political accomplishments, McCain lists: “I’ve fought lobbyist who stole from Indian tribes.” You know those lobbyists: Republican shill Jack Abramoff and Evangelical monster-hypocrite Ralph Reed… you know: REPUBLICANS.
“We belong to a Party who’s lost its way.” Excellent point. Maybe it’ll convince people who still call themselves Republican to vote Republican, but for the rest of us, it’s a helpful reminder not to put these liars, crooks, thieves, pedophiles and closet racists back in charge for another 4 years. Thank you, John McCain!
“I fought for more troops in Iraq when it wasn’t the popular thing to do.” True enough. But so did the Democrats. It took a political Earthquake, with BOTH the House AND the Senate changing Parties in the same election to finally push President Bush to fire Donald Rumsfeld and replace him with someone willing to change strategies in Iraq. “Oh!”, I hear you say. “But didn’t John McCain lead the fight to fire Rumsfeld?” Not according to Rumsfeld.
“We favor a culture of life”, McCain tells the audience. You know the “culture of life” crowd… they’re the ones responsible for sending over 4,200 U.S. soldiers to their death in a war based on lies… a war that has cost the lives of perhaps as many as a million Iraqi civilians… people that had NEVER attacked the United States, and left an entire city of poor people in America to drown in Hurricane Katrina (with dead bodies floating in the streets). You know, THAT “Culture of Life” Party.
Which reminds me… I’m more than old enough to remember when Dan Quayle… the poster child for retro-active birth control and VP under the first President Bush… invented the “Family Values” meme when he attacked fictional TV character “Murphy Brown”, for having a child out of wedlock. He called it “shameful” and evidence of a culture that tolerates promiscuity.
Flash forward almost 20 years, where the Republican Party’s own VP candidate not only has a 17 year old pregnant unwed daughter (who was 16 at the time she got knocked up), but the VP candidate herself was already a month pregnant with her first child when she walked down the isle… and the same Party rabidly attacks anyone that dare criticize her… you know, the way THEY did for the last 20 years. Of course, if you’re going to be a TOTAL hypocrite, your VP candidate also has to be militant about preaching “Abstinence Only Education” (see how well it works?) AO supporters think that if you teach children about sex, they’re going to have sex. And if you only teach AO and your child has sex anyway, it must be the result of some moral failing of the parent. So what does this tell you about your nominee, Republicans? That you’re all a bunch of big honkin’ hypocrites? Nah!
McCain mentioned his support of “school choice” in his speech. This is code for privatization of our school system, which is just as bad an idea as privatization of Social Security. You see, “school choice” in Republicanland means giving parents “vouchers” to send their child to any school they want, including private charter schools and (tax exempt) religious schools (pouring millions of tax payer dollars into businesses that don’t pay a dime back in taxes). Imagine one school becomes the school everyone wants to send their kids to. Doesn’t matter if it’s clear across town, it’s the best school in town. And as it grows in popularity, they raise their rates until only the richest people in town can afford to attend. Meanwhile, the school closest to you goes bankrupt because everyone is sending their children to the Mega School ‘cross town. But, between gas & tuition, you can’t afford to send your kid to the Mega School ‘cross town. Yet the school closest to you just closed down due to lack of funds, and the next closest school sucks due to lack of funding. The “poor” kids get a substandard education, while the “rich” kids go to the best school in town. You end up “choosing” your kids’ school based upon what you can afford, not which provides the best education. That’s “school choice” in Republicanland.
Some choice quotes from McCain’s acceptance speech:
“…justices who rule impartially and don’t legislate from the bench.” This is nonsense, the most “activist” judges that make up new legislation and ignore precedent on the Supreme Court are the Conservative ones. Conservatives bitch about “activists judges”, but really, “activists judges” are EXACTLY what they want… to do things like ignore 30+ years of precedent to overturn Roe vs Wade. So when Republicans say things like this, understand that it’s complete nonsense. Red Meat to fire up the base.
“My opponent will force Americans into a government run healthcare system where a bureaucrat will make healthcare decisions!” (as opposed to the system we have now, where an ACCOUNTANT makes healthcare decisions.) Actually, “single-payer healthcare has nothing whatsoever to do with government administration of hospitals. I like to remind Conservatives that “there isn’t a single country on Earth fighting to adopt the American healthcare system.” And if you tried to take away the healthcare system in England or Canada, there’d be riots in the streets.
“We will provide assistance to those who have lost a higher paying job and forced to take a lower paying job, while they pursue retraining.” Okay, forget about how to pay for this new entitlement while you’re slashing taxes across the board, but don’t we already HAVE this program? It’s called Unemployment Insurance. Of course, that runs out after six to 12 months. This new program would, in effect, extend it for two to four YEARS. I can just see it now, “students” having to take their “report card” to the Unemployment office every six weeks to make sure they aren’t conning the system.
“We will drill new wells off shore and we’ll Drill. Them. Now!” Apparently, someone must have a warehouse full of unused offshore oil drilling platforms ready-to-go if we can start drilling “now” and start paying less tomorrow. No? Tell these guys:
“We’ll build new nuclear power plants. We’ll develop clean coal.” I heard these two mentioned frequently during the convention. First, the Obama campaign also endorses “clean coal” (a fictitious product because the removed sulfides don’t magically disappear, they just pump them back into the ground, where they poison our well water and kill microbial life, the basis of all life on Earth). Obama has (thankfully) been reluctant to turn to nuclear energy. The best reasoning I’ve ever heard for this is that “if the ancient Egyptians had nuclear energy 5,000 years ago, they would of had their 30 years of power and we’d STILL be guarding all that nuclear waste today… and for the next 25,000 years.” Oh, and nuclear power plants also require massive amounts of cold water. “Refrigerating” that much water would use almost as much energy as the plant creates, so instead, they use naturally cold water from rivers & streams, which are then superheated while cooling the reactor, and all that boiling hot water is dumped back into our rivers & streams, killing all life in them for miles. Nuclear power is neither clean, cheap, nor pollution free.
“My opponent thinks we can achieve Energy Independence without it, but Americans know better” No, as I’ve just pointed out, most Americans… and apparently, most Republicans… DON’T “know better”. That’s the problem.
“Iran is on the path to nuclear weapons.” (translation: More preemptive wars). And again, I ask you… whose fault it that? Who’s been in power all this time?
“The brave people of Georgia need our solidarity and our prayers.” The Right wing has done a masterful job of convincing most Americans that the Georgians are “completely innocent” and “the victims of an unprovoked attack by Russia”, when actually, Georgia invaded the Russian territory of Ossetia first… and evidence is mounting Dick Cheney may of had something to do with it. Me’thinks the Bush Administration wants to revive The Cold War for after President Obama pulls all our troops out of Iraq, bringing the eight-year Defense Industry gravy train to a screeching halt.
[I talked tough on Russia] “I’ll be friends to the Russians, but we can not tolerate a new Cold War.” (If Cheney keeps up his meddling, you may not have a choice.)
McCain tells us: “I used to bend a few rules and pick a few fights for the fun of it…” Great! Just what we want in a Commander-in-Chief! And I couldn’t help but notice that he didn’t say “back when I was a kid”. He could been talking about last week for all we know.
McCain’s POW experience was honorable, but is Obama’s lifetime of achievement any less honorable simply because he never had something like that happen to him? He was only 12 years old when the Vietnam War ended in 1972, and attended Harvard Law School during the first Gulf War in 1990/91. But somehow, we are expected to look down our nose at Obama simply by virtue of his age and the lack of major military conflicts during his post-teen years (and DON”T get me started on how suddenly NOT serving in the military is something to be ashamed of in the eyes of Republicans.) Cindy pleaded with people to “volunteer” and “become active in the community”, but someone like Obama who actually did, sees his service turned into a punchline. Have I mentioned what bunch of big honkin’ hypocrites these people are, in the last ten minutes?
Senator McCain talked at great length of how his imprisonment made him love his country more, which has me wondering: Are we turning hundreds of Muslims into radical nationalists with our own POW camps, Gitmo and elsewhere?
McCain closed with a rallying cry of “Stand up! Stand up! Stand up and fight!” I implore you to do the same.
(Oh, one last photo. In case you thought he was really gone:)
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You’re running for President belonging to “the Party of Failure”. Your most rabid supporters prayed for it to rain… on your opponent, only to see your opening day derailed by a Hurricane on the third anniversary of your President’s greatest failure… well, his last failure to cost thousands of American lives and destroy an entire U.S. city. You schedule his appearance to land on a holiday so few will see him, but the hurricane forces you to move him to the day some might actually be watching. You give him just the last five minutes before the major networks tune in, only to have him run long enough for them to back up and replay his remarks in their entirety before the entire nation. You failed to thoroughly vet your running mate and now reports of criminal investigations and a public record that’s about as close to a complete lie as one can get, but she’s a religious nut that the Wingnuts adore, so now you’re stuck with her. Your campaign must now go around and convince 200 million voters that she has foreign policy experience because “her home state is close to Russia and Canada”. And on your big night, the reigning Super Bowl champs play their opening day game opposite your acceptance speech. Maybe God is trying to tell you something.
Anywho…
Being the most important night of the three, the arena was the fullest it had been all week, yet still not filled to capacity:
With a seating capacity of 19,000, plus an additional 1,000-1,500 on the floor, I’d guesstimate roughly 20,000 in attendance. Take that, Barack Obama, with your crowd of 84,000 supporters! (so packed they were turning people away.) Nyah!
While “Democrats” were the target of the likes of Romney & Rudy on Wednesday, Obama himself was the target this night, with one snarky comment after another. George Bush called himself “a uniter, not a divider” in 2000, but this Convention seemed to embrace being “dividers”. I guess when your President ignores Congress and does whatever in the Hell he wants anyway, it doesn’t matter if the next president is faced a Democratic Congress or not.
The theme of the night was McCain’s military experience. Gee, you think they might mention he was a P.O.W.?
First speaker was former “VP Short Lister” Gov. Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota: Nearly the entire focus of Pawlenty’s comments was McCain’s military experience.
The big catch-phase of Pawlenty’s speech was “[McCain reminds us to always] PUT. OUR COUNTRY. FIRST!” (repeat ad nauseum)… a lesson he learned as a POW. Pawlenty tells us “[McCain is] a Purple Heart recipient with a heart of gold.” How nice! Suddenly, these people think a Purple Heart is worthy of respect. I heartily encourage each and every delegate to give Senator John Kerry a call and beg forgiveness. No?
Following his own definition of the term, Pawlenty tells the crowd, “John McCain & Sarah Palin connect with Sam’s Club Republicans.” Really??? Forget about the seven homes and two Lear Jets, Wednesday night, Cindy McCain wore a $300,000 outfit, and I’m certain Thursday nights’ outfit cost even more. Do you believe the McCain’s have ever even set foot in a Sam’s Club, let alone identify with those who shop there? Gimme a break!
Probably the most comical speaker of the night was former Majority Leader Bill Frist… not because he said anything humorous, but because his head-bobbing Southern Preacher style of talking was SO distracting, it was difficult to pay attention. While talking about the benefits of “Aid to Africa”, Frist remarks that “John McCain knows, [people] don’t go to war with the country that saved [their] child’s life.” I guess we no longer have to worry about suddenly being attacked by The People’s Republic of Togo. Whew!
Frist tells the crowd, “McCain’s energy plan is bold & aggressive” McCain’s energy plan… you might remember it from the night before: “Drill baby, drill!”
Next up was Lt. Gen Carol Mutter (Ret), the first female 3-star General ever in the USMC. The most significant thing regarding Mutter’s endorsement… she was the ONLY high-ranking officer to endorse McCain all week. Compare that to the
