Politics

McCain and his “Soul Mate”

Sep 012008

More importantly, though, doesn’t it seem as if the McCain campaign’s talking points on Palin need a complete overhaul?

The McCain campaign said Palin opposed the infamous “bridge to nowhere.” That’s false. The campaign said Palin supported the Bush “surge” policy. That’s false. The campaign said Palin is the “commander in chief” of the Alaska National Guard. That’s misleading. The campaign said Palin is qualified on foreign policy because she lives in a state near Russia. That’s dumb.

And the campaign boasted about Palin “taking on” Stevens, and that’s wrong. Did the person who wrote the talking points have any idea who Sarah Palin is?

[From Palin and Stevens]

9-10-01

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Aug 282008

On September 10, 2001, Senator Biden, then (as now) chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, prophetically warned of the new Bush administration’s exclusive focus on missile defenses in a speech at the National Press Club. He said, “We will have diverted all that money to address the least likely threat while the real threats come into this country in the hold of a ship, or the belly of a plane, or are smuggled into a city in the middle of the night in a vial in a backpack.” [From Joe Cirincione: Joe Knows National Security]

Let’s Play: If I Were a Right Wing Blogger

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Jul 302008

From The Nation:

If I were a right-wing blogger, and I found out that Barack Obama was wearing Ferragamo loafers that cost $520, I would spend about 50% of my waking hours making sure everyone knew this. I would mock him for being an out-of-touch elitist and make jokes like, “If you think that’s a lot, you should see how much his purse costs ” I would send the link to Drudge and wait for Instapundit to pick it up, and then watch gleefully as Fox News ran segments about how Barack Obama’s $500 loafers vitiate his entire economic platform. But of course, I’m not a right-wing blogger. And the $520 shoes belong to John McCain. And frankly, I don’t think how much his shoes cost matters one whit for how he’d govern the country. [From Let's Play: If I Were a Right Wing Blogger]

Mayberry Machiavellis

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Jul 282008

Your Bush administration at work: When it’s politically convenient, the war on terror is vitally important. When it’s not, it’s not. [From Mayberry Machiavellis]

Dobson vs. Obama – washingtonpost.com

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Jun 292008

While I wouldn’t characterize Obama’s views on abortion & judicial nominees as extreme, I find the parenthetical concern over mass death and genocide particularly day-late-dollar-short. Hey! Guess what! There’s already been mass death! That said, anyone slamming Dobson gets a couple of bonus points in my book.

There are certainly reasons for evangelicals to have concerns about Obama — based on his extreme views on abortion, judicial nominees, Iraq (his plans for a precipitous withdrawal would probably trigger mass death and perhaps even genocide) and other issues. But critics of Obama have an obligation to provide a fair and honest critique, and the attacks leveled by Dobson fall terribly short of that standard.
[From Dobson vs. Obama - washingtonpost.com]

Resign, Then Be Prosecuted.

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Apr 162008

Sign The Petition

American Taxes

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Apr 152008

Interesting breakdown. I tried to download the original file but it came up as garbled text.

The think-tank Third Way released an analysis today of where your tax dollars are going this year. An American household earning a typical income of $63,960 would pay $13,112 in federal income and payroll taxes.

Here’s how that $13,112 breaks-down:

Social Security $2,662.94
Interest on National Debt $1,085.29
War in Iraq $ 593.48
War in Afghanistan $ 159.82
All other Defense $2,008.01
Medicare $1,697.96
Veterans Benefits $ 355.03
Medicaid $ 872.92

So, what about spending on needed programs on infrastructure, research to get us off fossil fuels, or assistance to needy American families?

Road and Bridges $ 77.15
FBI, DEA, ATF $ 41.46
Environmental Protection (EPA) $ 34.50
AIDS prevention $ 14.87
Heating Assistance $ 9.90
Renewable Energy Research $ 6.67
Consumer Product Safety Comm. $ .29
By the way, for all the emphasis on money spent on “pork barrel projects,” those accounted for just $60.45.
[From Mark Nickolas' Blog]

The Press hearts McCain!

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Mar 252008

Nice recap of the McCain Press free-ride from one of my must-reads:

McCAIN’S CRED….Via Steve Benen, MSNBC analyst Chuck Todd tells us why John McCain can get away with routine demonstrations of abject ignorance, like his recent proclamation that Iran is supporting al-Qaeda in Iraq:

Even if he gets dinged on the experience stuff, “Oh, he says he’s Mr. Experience. Doesn’t he know the difference between this stuff?” He’s got enough of that in the bank, at least with the media, that he can get away with it. I mean, the irony to this is had either Senator Clinton or Senator Obama misspoke like that, it’d have been on a running loop, and it would become a, a big problem for a couple of days for them.

Italics mine. Let’s recap. Foreign policy cred lets him get away with wild howlers on foreign policy. Fiscal integrity cred lets him get away with outlandishly irresponsible economic plans. Anti-lobbyist cred lets him get away with pandering to lobbyists. Campaign finance reform cred lets him get away with gaming the campaign finance system. Straight talking cred lets him get away with brutally slandering Mitt Romney in the closing days of the Republican primary. Maverick uprightness cred allows him to get away with begging for endorsements from extremist religious leaders like John Hagee. “Man of conviction” cred allows him to get away with transparent flip-flopping so egregious it would make any other politician a laughingstock. Anti-torture cred allows him to get away with supporting torture as long as only the CIA does it.

Remind me again: where does all this cred come from? And what window do Democrats go to to get the same treatment the press gives McCain? [From The Washington Monthly]

Speech today

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Mar 182008

If someone on the national stage can’t make a speech like this and get elected, then it’s a real shame.

Poor Jimmy’s taking his ball

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Feb 062008

and going home!

James Dobson:

Should John McCain capture the nomination as many assume, I believe this general election will offer the worst choices for president in my lifetime. I certainly can’t vote for Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama based on their virulently anti-family policy positions. If these are the nominees in November, I simply will not cast a ballot for president [From The Campaign Spot on National Review Online]

Reaction #1: Yay! Do us all a favor and stay home.

Reaction #2: “Worst choices for president in my lifetime”? This from a Bush kingmaker. Just shows how completely backwards he is.

Also, as an aside, I find it funny that one of his strikes against John McCain is “has a legendary temper and often uses foul and obscene language.”

I guess he has no problem overlooking these same faults in GWB & Cheney.