John McCain

McCain And Palin: Stars In Their Eyes

Posted by on September 4, 2008 at 4:03 pm. 5 Comments :

For months now, John McCain has been belittling Barack Obama as inexperienced and unprepared to be president. Much of the criticism has targeted his speech making prowess and charisma, which McCain characterizes as the hollow trappings of celebrity. There was even an ad that attacked Obama as the “biggest celebrity in the world,” and juxtaposed his image with Britney Spears and Paris Hilton. McCain himself said that:

“The bottom line is that Sen. Obama’s words, for all their eloquence and passion, don’t mean all that much.”

But now, the day after Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, the “pit bull in lipstick,” debuted at the Republican National Convention, the campaign, the Party, and the media have all adopted a new view of celebrity. While it was a pejorative when directed Obama, for Palin it elicits the sort of applause and acclaim that is ordinarily reserved for … well, celebrities. Consider this sampling of the press:

Chris Wallace – Fox News: “I don’t think it’s overstating it to say being right here on the floor that a star was born tonight. A new star in the political galaxy.”
Michael Barone – U.S. News & World Report: “Sarah Palin’s speech to the Republican National Convention last night was a home run. A star was born.”
Margaret Carlson – Bloomberg: “On Wednesday night, a political star was born.”
William Kristol – New York Times: “A star is born.”
Karen Breslau – Newsweek: “A populist star is born.”
Art Moore – WorldNetDaily: “A star is born. The country ‘fell in love with Sarah Palin tonight.'”
Rich Lowry – National Review: “After that, you feel like asking not: How did she rise so fast? but Where has she been so long?”

And that’s not all. CNN’s Wolf Blitzer and Anderson Cooper, MSNBC’s Pat Buchanan and Joe Scarborough, and Fox News’ Brit Hume and Dick Morris, all used some variation of the “Star is Born” theme to describe Palin’s debut. And all it took was one speech for the GOP establishment, and the media at large, to succumb to the charms of a heretofore unknown political neophyte who, two years ago, was the mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, population 6,000. One speech to transform the perception of this newcomer into someone qualified to be a 72 year old heartbeat from the presidency. Just one extensively rehearsed, meticulously stage-crafted speech.

So now Republicans, who demeaned Obama for attracting positive attention and adoring fans, is boasting that they have their own idol at whom to stare glassy-eyed. Now the media is abuzz with glowing notices for Palin’s opening night. And yet the McCain/Palin camp is still bashing the press as biased, despite the unfiltered adulation that is being blasted at them from all sides. The press is being castigated for doing what any professional journalist would acknowledge is their job. Politico’s Roger Simon is one of the very few who see the irony in this. He penned a must-read column that sarcastically explains “Why the media should apologize.”

“We have asked pathetic questions like: Who is Sarah Palin? What is her record? Where does she stand on the issues? And is she is qualified to be a heartbeat away from the presidency? […] Bad questions. Bad media. Bad.”

In her address last night, Palin spoke of “dramatic speeches before devoted followers” and wondered what happens “when the cloud of rhetoric has passed… when the roar of the crowd fades away.” But no one in the press observed that she might as well have been talking about herself, even more than Obama. After all, Obama has been on the campaign trail for 19 months developing the devotion of his supporters, but Palin has achieved the task after a grand total of four days and one speech. Four days during which she has been sequestered from the public by the campaign which has not offered her up for a single press conference. Despite the many controversies swirling around her appointment, she has so far only sat for an interview with the hard-hitting People Magazine. There is talk that she will appear on a Sunday morning news program this weekend. Guess which one. Fox News Sunday!

The result of all of this is that the two arguments McCain has used most aggressively against Obama – his experience and his celebrity – have both been rendered inert. Palin has less experience and, contrary to Obama’s multitude of stirring public addresses, Palin still has – and, I repeat – just one speech. The fanatical fawning of faithful Republicans is bad enough, but not unexpected. From the media, however, it is just plain creepy. Is anyone paying attention?

Republicans Admit It’s Over For McCain

Posted by on September 3, 2008 at 5:28 pm. NO Comments :

Republican strategists Mike Murphy and Peggy Noonan were interviewed today by NBC’s Chuck Todd. At the conclusion of the segment a hot mic overheard them expressing a somewhat more pessimistic view of the election than is generally acknowledged. The conversation centered on the qualifications of McCain’s VP pick, Sarah Palin. [A rush transcript of is included below]

On substance, I couldn’t agree more with the comments of these loyal Republicans speaking honestly amongst themselves. However, I do have a problem with the manner in which this became public.

A couple of months ago, Jesse Jackson was caught making disparaging remarks about Barack Obama. He also was picked up by a hot mic in the studios of Fox News. I had some harsh criticism for the Fox insiders who released the tape:

“Television news studios are not places where recordings are made accidentally. It is, of course, what they are designed for. So people invited inside for appearances ought to be aware that tapes are rolling and mics are hot. But they should not be expected to keep their mouths shut from the time they enter the building until they drive off the lot. They ought to be permitted to have private conversations without fear that they will end up on the evening broadcast.”

I have the same complaint with the release of this video. If someone makes a speech wherein they say something embarrassing, it is fair game. But in-studio guests (or in this case, outdoor remote guests) need to be given extra leeway because they are micced the whole time they are there and the producers have total control of the environment and the product.

As much as I like to hear Republicans declaring McCain’s candidacy over, I cannot approve of those who brought it to light.
Contine reading →

Bill O’Reilly’s Favorite Outrageous Things

Posted by on September 1, 2008 at 3:56 pm. 4 Comments :

The bottomless fount of hilarity that is Bill O’Reilly has erupted once again. After MSNBC displayed humorous text on screen during a story about John McCain’s inability to remember how many houses he owns, Bill O’Reilly went nuts declaring that it was…

“…one of the most outrageous things that I’ve ever seen in my 35 years of journalism.”

Never mind that O’Reilly hasn’t spent 35 seconds in journalism, he still selectively ignores the much more offensive (and not humorously intended) examples of Fox News’ broadcasts:

A NewsCorpse.com Video:

As usual, O’Reilly injects a ridiculous measure of hyperbole to make a point that makes no sense, sets a new bar for hypocrisy, and reveals how deeply in denial this poor, sick man is. And he has never been one to shy away from hysterically overstating his demented viewpoints (see The O’Reilly Fear Factor: Collected Verses).

It’s not, of course, just O’Reilly. Fox News is famous for their utter lack of self awareness. A week ago they published an ad claiming that “CNN = Partisan Politics.” The ad misrepresented recent polling on viewer behavior in order to arrive at their false conclusion.

But it is O’Reilly who is the star of Fox News, and he certainly lives up to his billing. From his now famous “Do It Live” meltdown that was captured on tape, to his rude and physically assaultive “Don’t Block the Shot” tirade when he was desperate to attract Barack Obama’s attention, O’Reilly is plainly headed for an on air mental collapse that will make Howard Beale look like Katie Couric.

Vote For John McCain For A Prison-Tested President

Posted by on August 27, 2008 at 4:37 pm. NO Comments :

Running for president requires great strength and stamina. The race is long and treacherous. John McCain has been forcefully pushing his argument that he is better qualified for the job than his opponent, Barack Obama. In fact, McCain contends that Obama is not qualified at all. The latest McCain ad says that Obama is “dangerously unprepared” to be president. So what makes McCain so ready to be Commander-in-Chief?

Purely from paying attention to McCain’s press releases and stump speeches, the primary qualification he possesses is his experience as a prisoner of war in Vietnam. He repeats the tale of his captivity with every opportunity that presents itself. Even when there is no opportunity, he labors to wedge the story in anyway. It’s the foundation of his policy positions and his excuse for any mistake he’s ever made. So I thought I’d help him out and produce a poster that features his best case for inhabiting the White House:

McCain is the only candidate who can claim to possess leadership forged by prison. While his comrades were fighting in the jungle, engaging the enemy, developing battle plans, and accumulating command skills, McCain was sitting in a musty cell, enduring interrogations (where he eventually divulged tactical information and confessed to war crimes), and generally following the orders of his captors. What better preparation is there for high office in Washington, DC?

McCain shares a legacy of Republican lawmakers who have run afoul of the law. His own brush with the American criminal justice system came via his association with convicted banker, Charles Keating. And his Navy pilot colleague, Duke Cunningham, is presently serving an eight year sentence for conspiracy to commit bribery, mail fraud, wire fraud, and tax evasion. McCain’s more recent band of brothers range from criminal figures like Watergate burglar G. Gordon Liddy, to convicted obstructer of justice Oliver North, to pardoned perjurer Scooter Libby, to indicted bribery defendant and Senate pal Ted Stevens.

McCain’s own incarceration was not due to any stateside criminality. He was honorably serving his country at war and was shot out of the sky by the enemy. But since he has raised his captivity as evidence of his fitness to be president, then it’s only fair to place it in the context of others whose imprisonment may have enhanced their character and leadership ability as well.

McCain and his campaign staff have sought to grant immunity to McCain for any misdeeds he might perform. They assert that no one who has served his country the way McCain did could possibly ever do anything wrong. (Tell that to Duke Cunningham). But if that’s true, they better open up America’s prison gates and release the thousands of veterans who sadly went astray and committed acts of violence, greed, and drug abuse. Many of their lives were thrown off course as a direct result of their military service. They returned home to poverty and despair, and many were abandoned by their country when they were in need. But with the criteria that McCain has now introduced with which to measure leadership potential, perhaps we need to reexamine the cons and ex-cons whose incarceration has presumably transformed them into the same sort of leader that McCain is.

It’s not particularly surprising that McCain would chose to highlight this part of his resume, because the remainder of his public career was as a senator who was undistinguished other than as a rubber stamp for the Bush administration. That’s why he has to dig back 40 years to find something to recommend him to a new generation of American voters, many of whom weren’t even born when the Vietnam war was being fought. If residence in a prisoner of war camp 40 years ago qualifies one for the presidency, then how much better is it to have a more recent prison record?

To be clear, I am not comparing imprisonment by enemy captors to that of law breakers. One should evoke expressions of sympathy and gratitude, and the other punishment and, perhaps, mercy. But the actual activity engaged in by prisoners is not exactly a prerequisite for executive management. The solitary and monotonous experience of life in a cell may produce some profound lessons, but none of them relate to governing a country. If McCain wants to persuade people that he is more qualified to be president than Obama, he had better find a more persuasive argument.

What Republicans Think Of John McCain

Posted by on August 24, 2008 at 12:33 pm. 1 Comments :

John McCain has released a flurry of hastily produced ads following the announcement of Joe Biden as Barack Obama’s running mate. The ads feature Democrats, including Biden saying uncomplimentary things about Obama. But mostly they feature the desperation of McCain as he grasps for something with which to prop up his pathetic campaign. The latest ad closes with the tag line, “The Truth Hurts.” McCain is precisely correct about that, though not in the way he imagines. There are some serious problems with this advertising strategy that will shortly become evident.

First, the quotes from Democrats were made primarily when they were competing with Obama for the nomination. Most voters are fully aware that remarks made in the heat of a campaign are quickly retracted and forgotten after a nominee is selected. What’s more, McCain is just as vulnerable to such attack ads featuring Republicans disparaging him and his policies. In fact he is more vulnerable, because there are many instances of Republicans bashing McCain throughout the years who were not political opponents. This video presents just a few examples.

McCain’s problems don’t lie just in what fellow Republicans say about him. His vulnerability also extends to the many ill-tempered rants he has directed at his colleagues. For instance:

  • “Fuck you…This is chickenshit stuff.” Directed at Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) in an immigration debate.
  • “Only an asshole would put together a budget like this…I wouldn’t call you an asshole unless you really were an asshole.” Directed at Sen. Pete Domenici (R-NM) while marking up legislation.
  • Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA) to McCain during a debate on MIA’s: “Are you calling me stupid?” McCain: “No. I’m calling you a fucking jerk!”

The media, as usual, is continuing to donate airtime to McCain’s propaganda. The recent ads were announced by the campaign, but they have never purchased air time to broadcast them. The thinly disguised intent here is simply to get the press to contribute free air time to McCain. And the press is complying like the little zombie poodles that they are. Therefore, as usual, it will be up to the blogosphere to enlighten the voting population. So keep spreading the word, because the word is the truth, and, as we all know…the Truth Hurts.

Barack Obama Picks Joe Biden – So Does John McCain

Posted by on August 23, 2008 at 3:21 am. 11 Comments :

It didn’t take long for news of Barack Obama’s selection of Joe Biden as his vice presidential running mate to stir John McCain’s campaign PR machine. The first comments from McCain’s people were released quickly and contained a fair measure of respect for Biden himself. In fact, they relied wholly on Biden’s assessment of Obama when they were competing for the Democratic nomination:

“There has been no harsher critic of Barack Obama’s lack of experience than Joe Biden. Biden has denounced Barack Obama’s poor foreign policy judgment and has strongly argued in his own words what Americans are quickly realizing — that Barack Obama is not ready to be President.”

Clearly McCain has admiration for Biden’s opinions. So McCain presumably would agree just as vigorously with Biden’s assessment of him.

“John McCain remains wedded to the Bush Administration’s myopic view of a world defined by terrorism […] It’s time for a fundamental change, but that’s going to require more than a great soldier. It’s going to require a wise leader” […] “We cannot keep treading water without exhausting ourselves and more importantly doing great damage to our other vital interests around the world and at home. And that’s exactly what President Bush and a President McCain would be asking us to do.”

Apparently there has been no harsher critic of McCain’s lack of judgment than Joe Biden. McCain can hardly praise Biden’s insight with regard to Obama yet dismiss it with regard to himself. Therefore, McCain must agree that his own world view is myopic, unwise, and damaging to our country’s interests.

McCain’s surrogates on his staff and in the press are also busy spinning the Biden announcement. Most of the criticism falls into two categories:

1) The selection of Biden, with his strong foreign policy credentials, is an admission on the part of Obama that he is weak in those areas.

I’m sure they will apply the same logic when McCain selects, for instance, Mitt Romney, concluding that Romney’s economic skills affirms McCain’s ignorance in financial matters.

2) Biden is gaffe-prone due to his willingness to say whatever is on his mind.

In some circles that is called “straight talk” and is painted on the sides of campaign buses.

There is speculation amongst the pundit class that McCain will shortly have ads on the air featuring Biden saying nasty things about Obama. If I were advising the Obama media team, I would suggest that they do it first – with a touch of humor – and add Biden’s more recent criticisms of McCain. This is the inoculation school of campaign advertising and would take the sting out of McCain’s attempts to exploit remarks made by Biden when he was seeking the party’s nomination himself. And of course, be ready with ads of McCain’s VP choice knocking him down a peg or two. Almost every Republican has in the past year, so it would be easy to compile.

Isn’t politics fun?

McCain Photo Leaked From Republican Convention Hall

Posted by on August 22, 2008 at 10:53 pm. 3 Comments :

As Democrats finalize preparation for their convention starting Monday, Republicans are still getting their event organized. However, News Corpse has obtained a secretly taken photo from the tightly secured rehearsal hall:

This photo confirms that McCain’s campaign strategy for the fall is going to rely on his status as a prisoner of war. In 1967, John McCain was shot out of the North Vietnamese sky, crash landed in a lake, taken prisoner, and held in captivity for … 41 years, so far.

McCain can’t refrain from exploiting his terrible ordeal as a prop to boost his electoral prospects. After using his captivity as a cynical and absurd response to his housing controversy, you wonder just how far he will take it. Trapper John at Daily Kos speculated earlier today as to how McCain’s camp would respond to any controversy that might arise:

McCain Accused Of Taking Bribes From Abramoff: “This is a guy who didn’t touch hard currency for five and a half years — in prison,” spokesman Brian Rogers told the Washington Post.

2003 McCain Arrest for DWI Uncovered: “This is a guy who didn’t have a sip of booze for five and a half years — in prison,” spokesman Brian Rogers told the Washington Post.

McCain Caught Cheating With 22 Year-Old ASU Intern: “This is a guy who didn’t get laid at all for five and a half years — in prison,” spokesman Brian Rogers told the Washington Post.

Surprisingly, the media is not being led around on a leash like they usually are. Many are incredulous that McCain would so foolishly dilute the impact of what is his most compelling story.

Time: The McCain campaign’s constant invocation of the candidate’s POW past is weird bordering on irrational […] It’s a head-spinning non sequitur, designed to distract us from something mildly troubling with the assertion of something impressive.

Newsweek: I think they are going to it way too many times…. I think he wisely for many years stayed away from it as a political tool, he really did. But now it not only defines him, it’s become a crutch in the campaign. And I think he is in danger of trivializing it.

Politico: It does seem like they’re flirting with Giuliani/9/11 territory here, in which a subject that seems utterly immune to humor, used as a first resort, suddenly becomes a running joke among your political enemies and your late night comic friends.

Talking Points Memo: The McCain campaign is cranking out all these bills with a little ‘McCain as P.O.W.’ logo on it and is trying to use them to buy their way out of every controversy that comes along. Pretty soon the McCain team’s money won’t be good anywhere.

Huffington Post: …to see McCain resort to playing the POW card when answering legitimate questions, in my mind, cheapens that experience. And by cheapening his own experience in war, he degrades all of our experiences in war. He turns the horrific incidents we’ve all seen, touched, smelled, and felt into a lame excuse to earn political points. And it dishonors us all.

‘Nuff said.

McCain’s Spokesman Doth Protest Too Much

Posted by on August 21, 2008 at 8:21 pm. NO Comments :

After months of assailing Barack Obama as an elitist, the truth started to leak out today when John McCain was asked how many homes he owns. McCain, inexplicably, couldn’t answer the question and told the reporter that someone on his staff would get back to him. [The answer is seven, but McCain’s staff lied about that too, saying that it was four]

Finally, the reality that it is not the son of a single mother who worked his way through college who is the elitist, is beginning to come through. It is McCain, the 3rd generation Naval officer, career politician, and multimillionaire, who is not only elitist, but thoroughly out of the mainstream of American culture.

When the Obama campaign leapt at McCain’s ignorance of his own real estate holdings, they must have touched a nerve on the notoriously short-fused McCain. In response McCain dispatched his spokes hatchetman, Brian Rogers, to deliver some of the most over-the-top retorts of the campaign to date. For example:

On Obama’s only home: “It’s a frickin’ mansion. He doesn’t tell people that. You have a mansion you bought in a shady deal with a convicted felon.”

Rogers apparently thinks he is making debating points by conceding that Obama has only one residence – one that may be quite lovely, but which he earned through hard work. The shady deal reference is nothing but innuendo that has never held water. But Rogers considers it fair game now:

On Tony Rezko: “You are going to see more of that now that this issue has been joined. You’ll see more of the Rezko matter from us.”

Thanks for the warning. But we already knew that you would be spewing lies with abandon. It’s all your candidate has to campaign on. Well, that and a little affair that happened forty years ago.

On McCain as POW: “This is a guy who lived in one house for five and a half years — in prison.”

McCain seems determined to turn his Southeast Asian ordeal into a joke. Trapper John at Daily Kos extended this argument to several other scandalous events that McCain might endure, like being caught with young intern. In which case Rogers would excuse the affair because “This is a guy who didn’t get laid at all for five and a half years — in prison.”

On Obama’s diet: “I think people have made a judgment that John McCain is not an arugula-eating, pointy headed professor-type.”

This slam on Obama continues the idiotic notion that education and intelligence disqualifies one from public service. Does the fact that McCain eats strained prunes and graduated fifth from the bottom of his class make him a better candidate for president?

Rogers went on to declare that Obama was guilty of making “by far the most personal attack,” of the campaign merely by revealing the fact that McCain is a wealthy owner of multiple properties, and correctly suggesting that most Americans know how many houses they own. But I hardly think that that is more personally offensive than McCain saying that Obama would prefer that American lose a war in order to boost his candidacy.

The reaction from the McCain camp is the best indication that Obama’s people have hit the right tone. They should keep it up and watch McCain’s blood pressure rise as he runs out of stupid insults to throw around. He will be reduced to stammering and slander and running from real issues. And everyone will know it.

John McCain And The Ambition To Be President

Posted by on August 20, 2008 at 1:50 pm. 2 Comments :

As if there weren’t already enough examples of John McCain’s dishonesty and hypocrisy, he has delivered another strikingly brazen illustration of just how far he will go to promote himself and to demean his opponent, Barack Obama. And it’s all captured on video:

A News Corpse Video:

The video above shows McCain speaking a few days ago when he repeated an attack that has become a standard part of his stump speech. Along with alleging that Obama would sell out his country for his personal gain, McCain has been accusing him of having “ambition” (the horror!).

McCain: Even in retrospect, he would choose the path of retreat and failure for America over the path of success and victory. Behind all of these claims and positions by Senator Obama lies the ambition to be president. What’s missing is the judgment to be commander in chief.

Setting aside for the moment that every candidate that has ever run for the presidency had ambition, McCain has taken hypocrisy to a new level. In his 2002 biography, Worth the Fighting For, McCain says this about himself:

McCain: “I didn’t decide to run for president to start a national crusade for the political reforms I believed in or to run a campaign as if it were some grand act of patriotism. In truth, I wanted to be president because it had become my ambition to be president. . . . In truth, I’d had the ambition for a long time.”

So, who is the callously ambitious, self-serving politician, Johnny?

McCain Coach Working The Refs

Posted by on August 18, 2008 at 2:02 pm. NO Comments :

Following the candidates forum at Rick Warren’s Saddleback Church, a minor controversy erupted with regard to the participants playing fair. The ground rules called for each candidate to be asked the same questions. Therefore, John McCain was to be isolated so that he could not gain an advantage by hearing the questions as they were asked to Barack Obama, who went first.

As it turns out, McCain was not in the “Cone of Silence” as stated by Rev. Warren. Instead, he was en route to the church where he could have plausibly listened to Obama’s interview or been briefed on it by a staffer. Andrea Mitchell reported on Meet the Press that some Obama supporters were questioning whether McCain did, in fact, cheat:

“The Obama people must feel that he didn’t do quite as well as they might have wanted to in that context, because what they are putting out privately is that McCain may not have been in the cone of silence and may have had some ability to overhear what the questions were to Obama. He seemed so well-prepared.”

This set off McCain’s campaign manager, Rick Davis, who fired off an angry letter to NBC president, Steve Capus. The letter said in part…

“We are extremely disappointed to see that the level of objectivity at NBC News has fallen so low that reporters are now giving voice to unsubstantiated, partisan claims in order to undercut John McCain.”

Reporters giving voice to unsubstantiated, partisan claims has been routine in this campaign. Though they have mostly been aimed at Obama. McCain’s people have relentlessly spewed nonsense about Obama’s faith, his patriotism, and his agenda on everything from war to energy to taxes. It is apparently OK if reporters give voice to unsubstantiated, partisan claims if they come from McCain.

Davis’ disingenuous indignation is especially pathetic in this context. In his own letter he quotes Mitchell as saying that the Obama campaign was less than thrilled with his performance. Conversely he notes Mitchell’s assertion that McCain seemed well prepared. Mitchell’s report was actually declaring McCain the winner of the debate, and yet, Davis still finds cause to complain.

McCain’s spokeswoman, Nicolle Wallace, also commented on the affair. In her remarks she pointedly accused the Obama campaign of having “lost its bearings.” I wonder if the intent of that language is meant to imply that she believes Obama may be senile. That’s exactly what McCain adviser Mark Salter alleged when Obama used the same words last May to describe McCain.

This fake outrage on the part of Davis, Wallace, et al, is nothing more than another transparent attempt to bully the media into shaping coverage that is one-sided and positive in favor of McCain. And the really sad part of this cynical and manipulative whining is that it has a damn good chance of working.