rolling 2008 list thread for shit to keep mccain from becoming president

McCain, Rodham, big diff.

Dems should use "100 years in Iraq" tho, since they'll never point out he incinerated kids in a criminal war.

first post out the gate = quality bait

i'm not going to spend any time with you on this morbius, but remember how frank rich and every "smart" person rushed to tell the world + dog in 2000 that bush and gore were two peas in a pod? if you're happy with where that got us, vote nader

TO RETURN TO THREAD TITLE:

he called chelsea clinton a dog when she was like 12, mean old bastardo

xp: Alterman impressions are the thing this morning! Lose the 2000 bullshit.

or just lose, period

i hope you can explain your nader vote to all those families who remain uninsured for the next eight years

Dimension 5ive: link??

Best way to keep McCain out of the White House=get Obama nominated. He'll massacre Hillary.

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/064717.php

McCain presents health care plan
His plan, described by the Arizona senator in a speech delivered in Des Moines, Iowa, yesterday, does not endeavor to provide insurance to all of the approximately 47 million Americans who are uninsured.

http://www.salon.com/news/1998/06/25newsb.html

Tracer, you shameless parrot, the Supreme Court and Gore alone beat Gore, empirically. See this for evidence:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0492499

"Why is Chelsea Clinton so ugly?
Because her father is Janet Reno."

ok i kinda laughed at this

http://www.campusprogress.org/features/232/i-used-to-heart-john-mccain
In a rating system from an entirely different group, NARAL Pro-Choice America, McCain got a 0% pro-choice score. One could expect this from a true red conservative, but surely not from “the maverick.” Yet, indeed, he is outspokenly against a woman’s right to choose. In 1999, a campaign spokesman stated that McCain “has a 17-year voting record of supporting efforts to overturn Roe vs. Wade. He does that currently, and will continue to do that as president.”

He looks like the generic General from any number of Hollywood military films. (probably a 3 star)

his dad was pals with suharto

Bush and McCain's Social Security road show
He also had what he called a "little straight talk" for AARP, the powerful lobby for older citizens that opposes Bush's plan to allow younger workers to divert a portion of their Social Security payroll taxes into personal accounts that could be invested in the stock market in trade for reduced guaranteed benefits. [..] "My dear friends at ... AARP, if you don't like our solutions, give us one," McCain said. "Sit down and join us in this debate. Don't block it."

http://www.basehead.org/files/shots/1-mccain_bush_hug.jpg

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15330717/
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Senator McCain, how do you feel about President Bush‘s use of signing statements to reinterpret and ignore provisions of laws passed by Congress?
MCCAIN: As a member of the legislature, I don‘t like it a damn bit.
(APPLAUSE)
MCCAIN: If the signing statements mean that—and they‘ve been used in the past by other presidents, but not nearly as extensively as this president—that, well, you just object to certain provisions, or you don‘t think some of it is constitutional, that‘s fine. But if you say you‘re not going to abide by those laws, then that‘s a serious erosion of the separation of powers, and it simply cannot be that way. That is in violation of the Constitution of the United States.

(The GOP will love this, right?)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFknKVjuyNk

Tracer, great idea for a thread, but waaaay too early.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/05192007/news/nationalnews/raising_mccain_nationalnews_charles_hurt.htm
RAISING MCCAIN CUSSES GOP COMRADE IN SENATE TIRADE</a>
Presidential hopeful John McCain - who has been dogged for years by questions about his volcanic temper - erupted in an angry, profanity-laced tirade at a fellow Republican senator, sources told The Post yesterday.

http://www.reason.com/news/show/118937.html

And if there’s one thing reporters love more than access, it’s politicians who buck the orthodoxy of their own party, especially when the party is Republican. McCain made some lifelong media allies when he called Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson “agents of intolerance” in 2000 and when he spoke out against ethanol subsidies despite the strategic importance of the Iowa caucuses. Throw in his war hero status, which plays well in the eyes of a distinctly nonmartial profession, and you’ve got the most favorable press notices of any U.S. senator.

Until now. Besides the damage done by his sudden turn to social conservatism, McCain’s stubborn and distinctly glum support of Bush’s widely despised troop surge in Iraq has brought into sharp focus the candidate’s concepts of when and how Washington should use the strongest military ever assembled, and whether the president should recognize any constraints from the co-equal branches of government. On these questions, the most militaristic presidential candidate since Ulysses S. Grant has provided a clear answer: If you think George W. Bush had an itchy trigger finger, you ain’t seen nothing yet.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-zoPgv_nYg

http://obama.senate.gov/letter/060206-sen_obama_and_sen_mccain_exchange_letters_on_ethics_reform/
Dear Senator Obama:

I would like to apologize to you for assuming that your private assurances to me regarding your desire to cooperate in our efforts to negotiate bipartisan lobbying reform legislation were sincere. When you approached me and insisted that despite your leadership's preference to use the issue to gain a political advantage in the 2006 elections, you were personally committed to achieving a result that would reflect credit on the entire Senate and offer the country a better example of political leadership, I concluded your professed concern for the institution and the public interest was genuine and admirable. Thank you for disabusing me of such notions with your letter to me dated February 2, 2006, which explained your decision to withdraw from our bipartisan discussions. I'm embarrassed to admit that after all these years in politics I failed to interpret your previous assurances as typical rhetorical gloss routinely used in politics to make self-interested partisan posturing appear more noble. Again, sorry for the confusion, but please be assured I won't make the same mistake again.
[..]
As I noted, I initially believed you shared that goal. But I understand how important the opportunity to lead your party's effort to exploit this issue must seem to a freshman Senator, and I hold no hard feelings over your earlier disingenuousness. Again, I have been around long enough to appreciate that in politics the public interest isn't always a priority for every one of us. Good luck to you, Senator.

Forget the details of his record. If McCain were to get the Republican nomination, there would be a significant bloc of anti-immigration conservatives who would be looking for a third party candidate to represent their views. Maybe a revival of the Know Nothings?

There will be a lot of pissed off anti-imigration conservatives, but don't link to a freeper thread to prove anything about the outcome of a general election.

Results 1 - 10 of about 4,190 for "juan mccain". (0.41 seconds)

Fluffy, you're right that Freeper lunatics have near-zero efficacy, but considering the factionalism in the GOP, the sense among many grass-roots Republicans that this election cycle will be a complete bust, and the total inflexibility of the "populist" anti-immigration cohort, it's not too hard to imagine significant support for a nativist third party.

I think the complete lack of perspective from a lot of the anti-immigration crowd, who really seem to believe that they represent a majority opinion, combined with their love of authority/authoritarians, has kept this possibility hidden away, but if McCain wraps this thing up next week and doesn't immediately start running away from his earlier position, I'll put money on the emergence of an anti-immigrant third party candidacy.

funny how the freepers seemed like the most powerful people in the universe but that was only realy 02 and 04

really

if only dee the lurker still posted

I'll put money on the emergence of an anti-immigrant third party candidacy

this is a bit much. those folks will probably just stay home.

"those folks will probably just stay home."

All they ever do is yell about politics. No way will they not vote.

The economy supplanted immigration in Florida as most important to Republican voters, but not in California, and with Giuliani out, McCain is the only remaining target for the anti-immigration cohort.

Maybe McCain will make some sympathetic noises to them, but he's such an ornery fucker I doubt it.

if he's his party's nominee mccain will say the moon is made of green cheese if the numbers work out, just like anyone else would

Lou Dobbs!

"the most militaristic presidential candidate since Ulysses S. Grant"?

mccain will say the moon is made of green cheese

"My friends, here's the news: it's all gouda up there, it's all gouda in our economy, and it's all gouda in Iraq. It's all gouda in Iraq. It's all gouda in Iraq."

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2000/02/18/MN32194.DTL

Arizona Sen. John McCain refused to apologize yesterday for his use of a racial slur to condemn the North Vietnamese prison guards who tortured and held him captive during the war.

"I hate the gooks," McCain said yesterday in response to a question from reporters aboard his campaign bus. "I will hate them as long as I live."

reminds me of the chick from real world san diego who said it was okay for her to use a certain racial slur because she was raped by a black man

holy christ

Christ indeed - how has this not been widely reported?

It was! I remember that back when it happened.

RE the whole anti-immigration thing: McCain's lack of appeal to certain types of conservative voters may result in a somewhat depressed turnout on election day, and that will help make a difference in a close election, but I can guarantee that the vast majority of Republican voters will NOT stay home just because they don't like McCain.

That gook thing's old news

its an old story but it's also the most read most emailed on the sf gate site thanks to links from drudge & digg

That gook thing's old news

Yeah, but that was before George Allen had his "macaca" moment. I think the game's changed now.

Racism might be disallowed, but Americans are not squeamish about bad words for furriners, especially from someone who spent years being tortured by them. It's going nowhere.

It may not turn into a media firestorm (esp. considering the slack they cut him) but it's bound to give a few potential voters pause - esp, when you consider his notorious temper and hawkishness in matters of foreign policy. Maybe it's true that the only "gooks" who he'll hate as long as he lives are his former captors, and there's not a shred of racial animosity in him, but is this the guy we'd want to have handling a potential crisis with North Korea?

my grandfather said this about "japs" a couple weeks ago

That McCain/Obama exchange is awesome - McCain succeeds in making himself look like a petulant crybaby and Barak keeps his cool. Nice.

the denouement was the committee hearing at which they both testified and went toe-to-toe - they both brought some game, but obama won with both body language (it helps that he's bigger than mccain, of course) and the other kind - dismissing mccain as his "pen pal"

watching it is what convinced me obama was ready to do this

do they really refer to each other as "The Honorable"?

Typical Senatorial etiquette, isn't it?

Wikipedia thoughts, for what they're worth.

and I thought Mencken was just being snarky.

(I always lol'ed when he wrote "the Honorable Warren Harding")

ah memories :)

someone change thread title to Rolling Anti-SE Asian Slur Thread

http://myclob.pbwiki.com/McCain

^^ great resource

Mitt Romney's advantage's:

1. McCain is old, he would be 76 at the end of his 1st year in office.
2. McCain graduated 894th out of a class of 899.
3. McCain does not have the diplomacy skills necessary to be a president.
4. Mitt Romney is a Govenor, and John McCain is a Senator. It is harder for a Senator to become President than a Govenor.
5. McCain has an anger problem.
6. McCain has made a lot of enemies.
7. McCain is mean.
8. McCain has problems with self control.
9. He sought to author the end of political free speech with his unconstitutional campaign finance reform efforts. His most signature work in the U.S. Senate sought to undue guaranteed protections for free speech – particularly in an election cycle where free speech is of most importance.
10. In his own efforts to leverage power in Senate proceedings he purposefully disrupted the will of his own majority party and further slowed down the needed debate on judges. In helping to orchestrate the gang of 14, he stymied clear consensus candidates to the courts as appointed by the President.
11. McCain, though a champion on fighting the effective fight on Islamic fascists who seek to kill us, has seemed unplugged, uninterested, and yes hostile to voices who are calling for secure borders. He stood by as President Bush locked out John Kyl – his fellow senator from Arizona, and a true champion against illegal immigration – from proceedings that were designed to brainstorm solutions to the border dilemma.
12. He seems clueless when it comes to one of the issues that his base voters care about – the protection of marriage.
13. McCain flip-flops.
14. McCain will have a problem getting female voters, especially against Hillary.
15. John McCain thinks we spend too much money on politics. He is not very good at Math, or Economics. America spend more money on Gum than we do on the whole political election cycle, including every political commersial and yard sign.
16. Given his carefully cultivated reputation as a moderate willing to work closely with Democrats on campaign finance reform, a patient's bill of rights, global warming, immigration, and spending restraint, you'd think McCain would simply own voters looking to back "the party of performance." Yet it is increasingly clear that he has chosen the wrong issues on which to embrace a more moderate, results-oriented view, both in light of Republican biases and the likely general election landscape.
17. Campaign finance reform was never a burning issue for voters. Rather, it was an issue of totemic significance, particularly for journalists and a narrow slice of the upper-middle-class, that pitted McCain against much of the Republican base. Achieving a victory on this front certainly generated "good vibes," for a time, but it's left little in the way of lasting voter loyalty. Moreover, McCain's efforts set very high standards for ethical behavior that can and in fact have been used against him. Every time McCain raises funds for, say, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, he will be accused--fairly or unfairly--of rank hypocrisy. Worse yet, it is hard to argue that the McCain-Feingold legislation has been a success. McCain's conservative opponents feel vindicated--the legislation solved nothing, and may have made matters worse. His allies are dissatisfied. To say the very least, this doesn't bode well.
18. Following his release after 5-1/2 years as a Viet Nam POW, John McCain divorced his wife, who had raised their children alone during his confinement. The second (and current) Mrs. John McCain was embroiled in a huge controversy over an addiction to drugs illicitly obtained from her own non-profit medical relief organization.
19. Since 2000, a roller-coaster of controversial positions within his own party have unfortunately left this maverick Senator with the label “Republican in Name Only.”
20. Similarly, the patient's bill of rights appears--again, fairly or unfairly--to have solved nothing. It has not made insurance coverage more widespread, it has not reduced the number of medical bankruptcies, and it doesn't seem to have improved the quality of medical care for very many, if any, voters.
21. Global warming is a worthy cause, and yet the winners from any forward movement on the issue are a large, diffuse, mostly indifferent group. The losers are a small, focused, and intensely engaged group. That's never a good thing in an election.
22. Then there is immigration. Insofar as the desire for immigration reform stems from a general sense of unease about rapid demographic change, economic insecurity, and a strongly-held belief that law and order has broken down, it seems unlikely that any legislation that deemphasizes stemming the low-skill influx in favor of legalizing the existing illegal population and actually increasing the size of the low-skill influx will win McCain many friends among Republicans.
23. Finally, spending restraint, one area where McCain is very much in tune with the Republican intelligentsia, is not an obvious winner against the old Clinton battle-cry of "M2E2"--Medicare, Medicaid, Education, and the Environment. Root-canal economics was unpopular in the 1980s, and it remains unpopular today, elite opinion notwithstanding.
24. The Media loves John McCain. Republicans hate the media.

McCain will have a problem getting female voters, especially against Hillary.

Reasons to agree:

1. He speaks of his days in flight school in Pensacola when he dated an exotic dancer known as "Marie, the Flame of Florida." Most mothers and fathers would not like their daughter to date someone who has dated a stripper, let alone become president of the united states. The profession of stripping objectifies women.
2. McCain has said; "You know, the French remind me a little bit of an aging actress of the 1940s who is still trying to dine out on her looks but doesn't have the face for it." This doesn't even make sense. Who tries to go out on their looks? Should old people not be able to go out to eat? McCain is 72, I assume his wife is close to the same age. I assume they go out to eat.
3. McCain asked a GOP fund-raiser in Washington, "Why is Chelsea Clinton so ugly?" McCain's answer was "Because Janet Reno is her father."

lol @ #2

McCain has acknowledged engaging in extramarital affairs upon returning from Vietnam. While he was in Vietnam, his wife Carol had been severely injured in a car accident. Upon returning home in 1973, McCain found his wife to be very different from when he had married her. He soon began engaging in extramarital affairs and in 1979, he met Cindy Hensley. A year later, McCain sought a divorce from Carol and a month after that, he married Cindy.

Here's a shining example of John McCain's "integrity " and "dedication to public service":

Q: Which politician directly intervened to get the Arizona government to approve a $600 Million stadium for the Arizona Cardinals in Glendale, Arizona in 2003?

A: John McCain

Q: Which company was awarded the exclusive rights to serve alcohol at that stadium through 2010 - with a rubber-stamp extension through 2018?

A: Anheuser-Busch

Q: Which company has the Anheuser-Busch distribution rights for the Phoenix area?

A: The Hensley Company

Q: Who is Chairman of the Board of The Hensley Company?

A: Cindy Hensley McCain - his wife.

Q: Which Hensley Company executive was given a $48 Million bonus in 2003?

A: Cindy Hensley McCain.

that's good

i'm reading mccain's letter to obama in "comic book guy" voice in my head

Q: Which Hensley Company executive was given a $48 Million bonus in 2003?

A: Cindy Hensley McCain.

-- and what, Friday, 1 February 2008 19:53 (8 minutes ago) Link

damn son

Fuck. This thread makes me want to vote for Senator McCain.

all these stories about his anger/temper problems mirror the notorious stories about AMERICA'S MAYOR. dnw.

things we should talk about

1. sucking bush's dick on everything the last four years
2. supporting every military action in history, having a list of middle eastern countries to nuke
3. not being able to deal with asia because he instinctively hates 'gooks'
4. flip-flops on gay marriage, evangelicals, free speech, abortion, bush tax cuts, kyoto, torture, ethanol, the confederate flag, immigration, ethics, iraq
5. keating five

things we should not talk about

1. how much hes like a democrat

McCain in 1999 said that, "even in the long term," he would not support the repeal of Roe v. Wade because "thousands of young American women would be performing illegal and dangerous operations." But last November he said that he now favored repeal because "I don't believe the Supreme Court should be legislating in the way that they did on Roe v. Wade."

McCain in 2000 was incensed when a pair of Texas businessmen, Sam and Charley Wyly, bankrolled some Bush-friendly TV ads that distorted McCain's record. McCain declared at the time that their "dirty money" did not belong in national politics. But last year, McCain decided that their dirty money belonged in his campaign; he took $20,000 and allowed them to chair a McCain fund-raiser. (McCain later had to give back the money, because, it turns out, his new friends are reportedly under federal investigation.)

The Associated Press broke a story about McCain’s statement in Sept 2007 saying that he is in fact a Baptist, despite his past comments that he is an Episcopalian. The news hook is that McCain made these comments while he was in South Carolina, which happens to have a lot of Baptist voters. In a June 2007 interview with McClatchy Newspapers, the senator said his wife and two of their children have been baptized in North Phoenix Baptist Church, but he had not. “I didn’t find it necessary to do so for my spiritual needs,” he said. He told McClatchy he found the Baptist church more fulfilling than the Episcopalian church, but still referred to himself as an Episcopalian.

Does this matter? On the campaign trail it seems to matter to the self-described straight-talker:

The Associated Press asked McCain on Saturday how his Episcopal faith plays a role in his campaign and life. McCain grew up Episcopalian and attended an Episcopal high school in Alexandria, Va.

“It plays a role in my life. By the way, I’m not Episcopalian. I’m Baptist,” McCain said. “Do I advertise my faith? Do I talk about it all the time? No.”

McCain does discuss faith on the campaign trail. He regularly tells crowds about a North Vietnamese POW guard who would loosen his bindings while he was a prisoner. One Christmas, the man surreptitiously signaled his Christian faith, McCain says, by making the sign of a cross with his toe in the dirt.

McCain said Sunday he doesn’t know how his Baptist faith might affect his showing in South Carolina.

The bigger story here is that McCain is actually talking about his religion. McCain is known for criticizing others for talking about their faith. But back to the particulars of McCain’s statements. There is a simple way of proving one is a Baptist: Has McCain undergone a full-immersion baptism?

As the AP noted, McCain had not been baptized into the Baptist church as of June. The first question a reporter should ask a person claiming to be Baptist is whether they have been baptized into the church. Anyone know the answer to this? Unfortunately, the AP found the politics of McCain’s statement more interesting than what most Baptists in South Carolina are probably wondering.

I remember in 2001 my professor, a Cato Institute junkie type, said the only candidate he feared in the election was McCain because he's the only one who'd start WWIII.

The dude seems nice and humble and shit on TV, but he's a hawkish nutcase. As much as Limbauhg and that blond with the penis hate him, he'd probably invade Iran if Amaanajinaimanaad sneezed.

key tactic: don't nominate Clinton

McCain has acknowledged engaging in extramarital affairs upon returning from Vietnam. While he was in Vietnam, his wife Carol had been severely injured in a car accident. Upon returning home in 1973, McCain found his wife to be very different from when he had married her. He soon began engaging in extramarital affairs and in 1979, he met Cindy Hensley. A year later, McCain sought a divorce from Carol and a month after that, he married Cindy.

^non-starter^

^paul voter^

cindy mccain << i'd hit it

there, i said it

what

He soon began engaging in extramarital affairs

He had relations?

McCain h88888s Putin

cindy mccain looks like a hosebeast

a nightmarish hosebeast

You don't want to have her vampire babies?

http://archives.cnn.com/2000/ALLPOLITICS/stories/08/17/mccain.cancer/story.cindy.mccain.jpg

i get a serious blanche devereaux vibe from her

the dave eggers story in RS about mccain from 2000 hinted that she was pretty fragile and completely over her head with the pace and stress of campaign life. poor thing.

er david foster wallace, sry

7. McCain is mean.

^^^

^^^^ Will not work.

http://punchup.files.wordpress.com/2007/06/john_mccain.jpg

^^^^http://umtailgate.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/goonies_sloth_1024.jpg

http://www.slate.com/id/1004633/

The controversial George W. Bush-sponsored poll in South Carolina mentioned John McCain's role in the so-called Keating Five scandal, and McCain says his involvement in the scandal "will probably be on my tombstone." What exactly did McCain do?

thanks, we were alive then :D

"we"

i was 3 yrs old homie

a big hoos was not so big in 1987

Any links for McCain's hawkishness, esp. re Iran and Syria?

He makes Cheney look like Gandhi

Meh. Some of this stuff may work, but most sounds . . . unimpressive. I like the idea of charging at McCain's preceived strength: His "straight-talking" style. After repeated sops to hardline right-wingers during the primaries, he may be more vulnerable on this than we may think.

Who knows? I don't like the McCain/HRC dynamic at all. I only prefer the McCain/Obama dynamic a little more.

i get a serious blanche devereaux vibe from her

...and this is a bad thing?

in which he [Senator John McCain] ridiculed Chelsea (who was a teenager at the time) along with Hillary Clinton and Janet Reno by saying, "Why is Chelsea Clinton so ugly? Because her father is Janet Reno".

Does anyone have a contact at a network so we can get this footage on YouTube?

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v134/tracerhand/mccainsbaggage.jpg

god he looks like verne troyer there kinda

a mccain-bashing email is making the rounds across the old obama secret muslim circles:

The Republican establishment and the Mainstream Media speaking as if with one voice?

Conservative talk show hosts are getting heat from the liberal media.

That's nothing new.

The same commentators are under fire from the Republican establishment?

That's nothing new, either. Just replay last summer's Senate immigration bill tussle.

But about which Republican nominee they support?

Or, rather, don't support?

Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck and others of the conservative persuasion have been under fire from the Republican "Get on Board" establishment and the Mainstream Media commentators for their disdain of Senator John McCain's conservative credentials.

Our take: McCain is a Republican; he's no conservative.

We came across this story about why conservatives have a problem with McCain. They have to do with the substance of McCain, not his style. We decided to add some information we had already researched on McCain to it--just to "flesh it out".

Here are Ten Reasons conservatives oppose McCain--and "pouting" isn't on the list.

The Top 10 Reasons Conservatives Oppose John McCain

1 Campaign Finance Reform

McCain tried to limit the role of money in politics with measures like McCain-Feingold that, critics say, stomp on the constitutional right to free speech.

It may be that McCain is overzealous at squashing other people's political voice because he knows what can happen if a politician is tempted, ala "The Keating Five".

Though he was not convicted of anything, McCain intervened on behalf of Charles Keating after Keating gave McCain at least $112,00 in contributions. In the mid-1980s, McCain made at least 9 trips on Keating's airplanes, and 3 of those were to Keating's luxurious retreat in the Bahamas. McCain's wife and father-in-law also were the largest investors (at $350,000) in a Keating shopping center; the Phoenix New Times called it a "sweetheart deal."

It was after the "Keating Five" scandal (of which McCain is the only Senator involved still in politics) that McCain acquired such zeal for extra-constitutional measures, i.e., campaign finance reform.

2. Immigration

McCain has been a vocal supporter of a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants, although he now says he understands the border between the U.S. and Mexico must be sealed first.

Conservatives also remember the same senator who begs for their support today, called them "racists" and "stupid" for opposing the McCain-Kennedy Immigration Reform bill last summer.

3. Tax cuts

McCain twice voted against President Bush's tax cuts, saying in 2001 they helped the wealthy at the expense of the middle class and in 2003 that there should be no tax relief until the cost of the Iraq war was known.

But he now wants to extend the tax cuts.

4. Gay Marriage

McCain refuses to support a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage.

McCain has previously called social conservatives "stupid" and anyone paying attention to the issues important to families "pandering".

5. Stem cell research

McCain would relax restrictions on federal dollars for embryonic stem cell research, which critics consider tantamount to abortion.

One reason many Pro-Life groups refuse to consider McCain.

6. Global warming

Among the loudest voices in Congress for aggressive action against global warming and a frequent critic of the Bush administration on the issue.

A "conservative" wants to solve problems by taxing and regulating a large portion of the economy? No, it's not Hillary Clinton's health care, it's John McCain's solution to the non-problem of "man-made climate change".

"Climate change is real & is taking place. We have now a confluence of two national security requirements. One is to address the issue of climate change, and nuclear power is a very big part of that."
--John McCain

Never missing a photo op for "bipartisanism", McCain could appoint Al Gore to a new federal department.

Maybe "Department of Weather".

7. "Gang of 14" member

One of seven Republicans and seven Democrats who averted a Senate showdown over whether filibusters could be used against Bush judicial nominees.

Showdowns are what happen when two groups espousing a different set of principles confront each other. McCain was a natural Gang of 14 member.

8. Kerry veep

McCain was approached by the Democratic presidential nominee in 2004, Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, about being his running mate. McCain talked with Kerry but rejected the offer.

"I believe my party has gone astray. I think the Democratic Party is a fine party, and I have no problems with it, in their views and their philosophy."

--April 2, 2004

Spoken like the conservative he is.

9. Works with Democrats.

The problem... is that most members of Congress don't pay attention to what's going on.

He's hoping most voters don't pay attention, either.

So far, so good.

10. Belligerence

McCain can be acerbic toward his critics, such as when he labeled televangelists Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson "agents of intolerance." He reconciled with Falwell in 2006. Conservative James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family, said in a statement on the morning of the Super Tuesday primaries that he would not vote for McCain, citing among other things his "legendary temper" and that he "often uses foul and obscene language."

So all the complaints about conservatives not warming up to a McCain nomination have their basis in solid, philosophical, practical reasons.

Conservatives aren't "crying" or "pouting"; nor, do they need to "grow up".

They are simply explaining two things.

ONE: That John McCain is no conservative and has a long history of antagonism toward conservatives and conservative principles.

TWO: That those who attempt to label McCain as "conservative"--whether in the Mainstream Media or the Republican Party establishment--are ignorant of his record, deceptive or self-serving.

Pointing out the disconnect between John McCain's long history of working against most of their causes has brought conservatives no love from either the MSM or the GOP-first types.

And, once more, that's nothing new.

Never missing a photo op for "bipartisanism", McCain could appoint Al Gore to a new federal department.

Yeah, as guys like Dave Neiwert have been watching, it's going to be fun(and fuckin' scary) when all the RWA follower bullshit these jerks have built up over the last decade finally breaks loose of the moorings and careens off into the crowd

'T' fallen off thread title.

if mccain became president it would be awesome if he appointed al gore to head something substantial, so i don't think that's a good line

What about the stink that Huckabee is making over the Washington state GOPs decision to shut down the close count at 87% and award the delegates to McCain?

It's not going to mean a thing as far as the nomination goes but Huckabee voters/more "populist" conservatives might be further demoralized by the shafting they're getting from the Republican establishment.

ethans list makes me like mccain a lot more than i used to

yeah i know especially

4. Gay Marriage

McCain refuses to support a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage.

McCain has previously called social conservatives "stupid" and anyone paying attention to the issues important to families "pandering".

if you guys have been avoiding the primaries thread you may have missed this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gwqEneBKUs

At NRO, McCarthy on McCain:

By Wednesday, then, I was resigned to the senator’s being not just the nominee but our nominee. On Thursday, when Gov. Mitt Romney graciously stepped aside, I was glad. I don’t see myself ever being a McCain enthusiast, but by Thursday afternoon, I’d even gotten to the point of offering his campaign what I hoped was constructive advice on taking a leadership role in the current debate over intelligence reform.

But I’m no longer so sure. McCain’s supporters continue to mock thoughtful, good-faith critics as “deranged.” The principal objects of scorn are such conservative talk-radio icons as Rush Limbaugh, Mark Levin, Laura Ingraham, and Sean Hannity. A number of those folks are friends of mine, and, indeed, I appeared on a couple of their programs in the run-up to Super Tuesday. The discussion wasn’t “deranged.” I’m not deranged, and neither are they.

Well, that settles it then.

"thoughtful" "good-faith"

words, meaning, things?

McCain & Gore: Making the climate for nuke-energy revival safe for Montgomery Burns

A very special message from Hugh Hewitt:

Thanks to the e-mailers who are concerned that Mitt Romney's loss has ended my will to blog.

The discussion wasn’t “deranged.” I’m not deranged, and neither are they.
if we had sigfiles, this'd be mine

Daughter promotes Spiritualized ("epic stoner band from the U.K."), lives in Canada?

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080213.wmccain13/BNStory/Front

I'd vote for her over Dad...

this kind of shit is counterproductive because it makes democrats want to vote for him more

i'm sort of done with this tactic of using people's actually laudable positions on things as a hammer to beat them with just because we think their cro-magnon base will hate them for it

The McCain Shift

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/02/12/mccain-received-100000-_n_86245.html

I think it is more than fair game in this screwed up economy, partially from similar real estate banking shenanigans to remind voters about John McCain's involvement with the Keating Five and the savings and loan scandal from the 80s.

It is ancient history, but then again McCain is an old guy that has been around Washington forever.

I'd remind people about that one over and over.

http://tehipitetom.blogspot.com/2008/02/re-defining-mccain.html

* More of the Same: More Iraq, more neo-con adventurism, more fiscal irresponsibility, more government by lobbyists. To that end, this picture is worth several thousand words.

* Flip vs. Flop: a man of no settled convictions who reverses himself as political expediency dictates. The Carpetbagger Report has an excellent list (more here); there's also a video, and another video (same attack, but from the right).

* Crazy John: a loose cannon, reckless and impulsive, who will lead us into more crazy self-destructive wars with countries that aren't actually a threat. Think bomb-bomb-Iran; think 100 years.

* Cranky Old John: the Bob Dole of 2008, with a nasty mean streak and an uncontrollable temper. And having himself made nasty jokes about old people, he can't well complain now that he's in a position to be the butt of them.

from the arizona republic, a guide to the keating 5 scandal:

http://www.azcentral.com/news/specials/mccain/articles/0301mccainbio-chapter7.html

decent paleo article on maccain's war views:

John McCain’s reputation as a maverick is no recent contrivance. The senator first captured the media spotlight in September 1983, not long after he’d been elected to his first term in the House, when he voted against President Reagan’s decision to put American troops in Lebanon as part of a multinational “peacekeeping” force. One of 27 Republicans to break with the White House, the freshman McCain made a floor speech that reads as if it might have been written yesterday—by Ron Paul:

"The fundamental question is: What is the United States’ interest in Lebanon? It is said we are there to keep the peace. I ask, what peace? It is said we are there to aid the government. I ask, what government? It is said we are there to stabilize the region. I ask, how can the U.S. presence stabilize the region?... The longer we stay in Lebanon, the harder it will be for us to leave. We will be trapped by the case we make for having our troops there in the first place.

What can we expect if we withdraw from Lebanon? The same as will happen if we stay. I acknowledge that the level of fighting will increase if we leave. I regretfully acknowledge that many innocent civilians will be hurt. But I firmly believe this will happen in any event."

I'm not sure if this will hurt him or not (it's a little too nuanced, I think), but McCain has seriously thumbed his nose at (at least the spirit of) the public campaign financing laws. This has been discussed a bit on the latest 2008 Primaries thread, but I think it belongs here.

Blast from the past: in 1999 I was working at an association for the helicopter industry. The association's president at the time had an outspoken grudge against McCain and his presidential campaign because McCain had been involved in rules effectively blocking helicopter tours over the Grand Canyon. By way of contrast the president seemed to have a certain affection for Ross Perot, probably because at the time Perot held some sort of world record involving helicopters.

Wow, the thread wasn't revived for this??

non event

unless more info leaks out or something

not sure how much traction the allegations of an actual romantic relationship will get, but the larger scope of the article, detailing McCain's past role in the Keating Five and his preferential association with Paxson, Iseman's client -- drives right at what is generally perceived as his strengths

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,33170,00.html

Sunday, Oct. 24, 1999
The McCain Irony: Reform's Champion Rakes In the Bucks
By John F. Dickerson and Viveca Novak

The price of admission was $1,000 for the high-tech executives gathered last June at the Washington mansion of America Online honcho George Vradenburg. Guest of honor Senator John McCain took the balcony. "The difference between me and the Democrats," McCain joked, "is that the Democrats want everyone to have a house. I want everyone to have a house like this."

Why were all these smiling tech gurus, including AOL chairman Steve Case, clumped around McCain? Did they think the G.O.P. long shot would be the next President? Maybe, but they were more certain he will continue as chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, which oversees their companies. "We can't afford not to contribute," says a lobbyist.

Is this any way for a "maverick" to behave? Last week Elizabeth Dole dropped out of the presidential race, crying poverty. Meanwhile, McCain's day job lets him play at Washington's favorite pastime, taking donations from corporations that can be made or broken by his committee.

The irony is that the champion of campaign finance reform uses the system he runs against to get the money to stay in the race. It's working. He's second in New Hampshire. It "rings a little hollow," complained Senate majority leader Trent Lott of McCain's efforts.

Guilty, says McCain. "I know there is an appearance problem. But I have never pressured a lobbyist to contribute...I am sure there are more than a few who wished I had done their bidding." To reject donations by companies he regulates--as some suggest--would put him out of competition, he says. He also says the donations are too small to be corrupting--$1,000 from individuals and $5,000 from political-action committees.

McCain's reforms are aimed not at individuals but at the unlimited amounts that corporations, unions and others can give to a political party, so-called soft money. Last week his bill to outlaw those donations died in the Senate in what has become almost an annual ritual.

The harder McCain pushes for reform, the bigger a target he becomes. Republicans who want to keep the spigot open have spread rumors of dark deals the Arizonan has cut for donors. One such story: his change of mind on rules to ease export limits on technology to scramble and unscramble everything from computer images to phone conversations. McCain's worries about national security kept him from bending to Silicon Valley's arguments that such controls would hamper U.S. companies' ability to compete. After a long lobbying effort, he came around--though just how much is a matter of debate. He says the national interest could be protected by giving the President a veto over exports.

A clear-cut case of McCain's changing his position for campaign cash hasn't surfaced, and compared with those of some presidential rivals, his corporate donations are puny. Industries that are in his thrall one week, he points out, are often pummeling him the next. He harangues cable companies whose rates he says are too high. Long-distance carriers think he favors local phone companies. "He feels he's entitled to take your money at the same time he feels he's entitled to kick your ass," says a telcom executive. This week he will disappoint another set of donors, proposing to end oil and gas tax breaks to pay for school vouchers. Oil and gas companies have given more than $78,000 to his campaigns in recent years.

Still, it's not likely to stop them from ponying up next time a McCain fund raiser calls. And their contributions will keep the McCain contradiction afloat, giving him resources to keep rising in the polls by railing against the system.

McCain was still married and living with his wife in 1979 while, according to The New York Times' Nicholas Kristof, "aggressively courting a 25-year-old woman who was as beautiful as she was rich." McCain divorced his wife, who had raised their three children while he was imprisoned in Vietnam, then launched his political career with his new wife's family money. In 2000, McCain managed to deflect media questioning about his first marriage with a deft admission of responsibility for its failure. It's possible that the age of the offense and McCain's charmed relationship with the press will pull him through again, but Giuliani and Gingrich may face a more difficult challenge. Both conducted well-documented affairs in the last decade--while still in public office.

http://www.allhatnocattle.net/bonanno_republican.jpg

In 1995, McCain sent birthday regards, and regrets for not attending, to Joseph "Joe Bananas" Bonano, the head of the New York Bonano crime family, who had retired to Arizona. Another politician to send regrets was Governor Fife Symington, who has since been kicked out of office and convicted of 7 felonies relating to fraud and extortion.

Re: NYT and the affair story:

Newspaper hears a story that hasn't been in other papers.

- they can't publish it before the Rep. nominee has been decided
- they can't publish it during the final Dem/Rep battle
- they can't just let it slip lest other papers run away with the scoop

So, the most reasonable time to let this out & give him a chance to get it out of the way = now. If true and he can't , he's f*cked, if not and he can overcome this, no other papers/parties/candidates have a chance to use it against him.

(and he can't explain it away )

By way of contrast the president seemed to have a certain affection for Ross Perot, probably because at the time Perot held some sort of world record involving helicopters.

i think i approve of this helicopter-centric view of the world.

From The New Yorker:

The surest sign of affection from McCain is this kind of steady, sarcastic abuse, and (aide Brooke) Buchanan is clearly well liked. “She’s probably still trying to repair her cell phone, which she dropped because she’s shaky from last night’s consumption,” McCain chided her. “You know, she’s been out to Betty Ford’s place twice, and we’re just sort of hoping for the best. One day at a time. We had a little slip last night.”

This crack set eyes rolling among the assembled reporters. McCain has been doing a version of the Straight Talk show for so long that the veterans know all the lines. “I haven’t heard that Betty Ford thing in a while,” Jill Zuckman, a reporter for the Chicago Tribune, said. McCain laughed mischievously, like someone who knows he has just been figured out. “Nothing is new! Nothing is new! Nothing is new!” he said, throwing his hands up. “One thing we know on this bus is nothing is new.”

Later in the day, on the way to Orlando, a new reporter entered the circle lounge and wedged herself into the horseshoe next to McCain.

“And you are?” McCain asked.

“Katie Connolly, with Newsweek.”

“Newsweek? Are you on a work release or drug rehab?”

“Both, actually.”

“Well, we hope you get better.” After shouting at Brooke for some coffee—“in contravention to every one of my instructions and orders, we’ll let you back in on a provisional basis”—McCain then earnestly thanked the reporters for joining him. “The nice thing about this campaign is when you’re with your friends,” he said. “That makes it so much better and so much more enjoyable.”

“It’s nice that you say that about me, seeing as we only just met,” Connolly said.

“Ha! I see we’ve got another smart-ass on the bus.”

“I heard that was a condition of entry.”

“That is a condition of entry—sarcasm, lack of sincerity,” McCain assented. Schmidt chimed in from his spot in the corner: “And willingness to laugh at the same jokes.”

http://www.globemagazine.com/story/147

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/03/07/743261.aspx

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/02/john-mccain-ent.html

mccain believes the pseudoscientific autism/vaccine bullshie

"the autism wars" lol

"I would probably have to say yes, that the Constitution established the United States of America as a Christian nation. But I say that in the broadest sense. The lady that holds her lamp beside the golden door doesn't say, “I only welcome Christians.” We welcome the poor, the tired, the huddled masses. But when they come here they know that they are in a nation founded on Christian principles."

"I think the number one issue people should make [in the] selection of the President of the United States is, 'Will this person carry on in the Judeo Christian principled tradition that has made this nation the greatest experiment in the history of mankind?'"

THE NUMBER ONE ISSUE

tell all the independent atheist libertarians u know

yo wtf

i'm about to go real shakey mo on mccain's life so i'll just say fuck this dude

worse because he doesnt even believe that shit

at lease huckabee genuinely is an idiot... mccain's just a liar

"number one issue"

he's already so far down the well

is this Natural Born Citizen stuff still not dead? Let go & find something else, folks.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iJ3AHoO_Qz6G8f2AyVBVqU0q9RkwD8VBH4LO1

Not even giving it away for free!

http://i28.tinypic.com/2rp43n8.jpg

But when they come here they know that they are in a nation founded on Christian principles."

Jeez. Then again, when you're reduced to the point of pandering to the bullshit paranoid delusions of yer base, I guess you have to say this shit all the time.

OTHERWISE THE EVIL SECULAR LIBRULS/DIRTY FUCKING HIPPIES WILL WIN.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=XY_xczOn0JI

hahaahahhahahaha

MKcain

http://thepage.time.com/2008/03/18/mccain-flubs-terrorism-facts-on-mideast-tour/

Bailed out by Joe Lieberman’s whispering.

good work deej

McCain said it was "common knowledge and has been reported in the media that al-Qaeda is going back into Iran and receiving training and are coming back into Iraq from Iran, that's well known. And it's unfortunate." A few moments later, Sen. Joseph Lieberman, standing just behind McCain, stepped forward and whispered in the presidential candidate's ear. McCain then said: "I'm sorry, the Iranians are training extremists, not al-Qaeda."

common knowledge

lu_ulz

i want this adenoidal flyboy to get smoked so bad

http://abcnews.go.com/ThisWeek/story?id=4504532&page=1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcdLO3jKkPo

http://static.crooksandliars.com/2008/03/m-is-w-08.gif

http://mediamattersaction.org/freeride/?src=top

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/25/AR2008032503172.html?hpid%3Dartslot&sub=AR

profile on meghan mccain:

She carries five pairs of shoes around with her and has, she says, "the biggest suitcase on the trail."

"He's nicknamed 'Mr. Lee,'" [friend Shannon] Bae says of that suitcase. "That's her Chinese manservant."

whoa ugh

WE DON’T TRY HARDER: In this morning’s New York Times, John Harwood authors a fairly standard piece about John McCain’s current advantages. But at one point, Harwood offers an unintentional, stinging indictment of liberal and Dem Party leadership:

HARWOOD (3/24/08): Democratic operatives have prepared a sustained attack against what they call myths underlying Mr. McCain's reputation for straight talk. ''It's going to take a while to tear that down,'' said Jim Jordan, a consultant who will lead a Democratic Party advertising campaign to aid its nominee. Lamenting the Clinton-Obama fight, Mr. Jordan added, “That's why it would be nice to get this over with as soon as possible.”

That highlighted statement is revealing -- and sad. Speaking of McCain’s undeserved “reputation for straight talk,” Jordan makes this pitiful statement: ''It's going to take a while to tear that down.''

If only people of Jim Jordan’s ilk had thought of that ten years ago!

As everyone on earth must know by now, McCain has been relentlessly pimped—as an authentic straight-shooting straight-talker—for at least the past dozen years. This pimping hasn’t been done by the RNC; it’s been done by the mainstream press corps. No one has ever really disputed the claim that the mainstream press corps pimps McCain hard. Indeed: All the way back in May 1998, Brother Chas Pierce wrote a tongue-in-cheek profile for Esquire, entitled “John McCain Walks on Water.” Once again, this was May 1998 -- a year before the start of McCain’s first White House run. But even then, Brother Pierce was rolling his eyes at the way the big pundit corps pandered:

PIERCE (5/98): By any standard, McCain has become a star in that increasingly elastic firmament in which politics is emulsified with modern celebrity. His national profile never has been higher. His influence -- particularly among the nation's chattering classes -- at times seems comically powerful. He sends Don Imus into stammering flummery, and he turns Tim Russert into a puddle on the floor. During the 1996 campaign, when McCain was Bob Dole's most effective surrogate, Michael Lewis of The New Republic wrote about McCain more rapturously than he'd once written about his second wife's derriere.

“The nation's opinion makers have come to regard him as more than simply a reliable source of informed commentary,” Pierce wrote. “Instead, they look to him as a source of moral witness.” Again, Pierce wrote this in the spring of 1998, long before the full-blown fawning which defined press coverage of McCain’s first White House run. The press corps has always fawned to McCain. And everyone always has known this.

Everyone has always known this -- except, of course, for your Dem Party leadership. Only now, in the spring of 2008, do these slumbering city mice announce that “it's going to take a while” to tear down McCain’s reputation. Voters have heard that McCain is a saint for ten years. Today, Jordan gears for the fight!

But this has been the shape of Dem Party leadership over the course of the past two decades. This also reflects the type of “leadership” which has come from liberal and progressive “intellectual elites.” To all appearances, these elites just don’t really care -- they don’t really care who wins our elections. They’ve mal-adapted that old Avis slogan. We’re number two -- and we don’t try harder.

The RNC (and the rest of the conservative world) would never have tolerated the sanctification of some Big Major Democrat of McCain’s type. But liberals and Dems have stared into space as McCain has been endlessly vested with sainthood. By any normal interpretive standard, our liberal/Dem elites just don’t seem to care. Judged in any normal way, they don’t care who wins our elections.

http://www.dailyhowler.com/dh032408.shtml

dr morbius : dennis perrin :: tracer hand : daily howler

the guy's my hero, what can i say??

oh wait i read that wrong

for a second i thought I was dr morbius

apparently mccain is breaking campaign finance laws?

Yesterday afternoon, FDL's Jane Hamsher filed a complaint with the FEC charging John McCain with violations of campaign finance law for spending beyond limits imposed by his decision to take public financing.

McCain has claimed he is backing off that decision, and justifies it with the fact that he never received any of that public money. However, the law clearly states that he is bound by those limits if he uses the promise of those funds in order to secure campaign loans -- something he absolutely did.

well, it certainly damages his argument in the GE if he wanted to press the Dem nominee into a race on public finances only

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39DJqI8puV0

ooh forgot about that - he voted against making mlk day a national holiday, right?

OOOH.

also mccain's buddies with this guy richard quinn, who said he thought david duke would make a good leader and said that mlk led his followers straight into welfare

quinn was described as maccain's "top South Carolina advisor" as recently as a year ago

Top link here:

http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&ned=&q=fear+mccain+presidency

(clicking through Google News avoids the login screen)

Damn that's a long intro.

What goes in John McCain's Cabinet?

Hmm. Depends.

oh noes!

Three reporters from Arizona, on the condition of anonymity, also let me in on another incident involving McCain's intemperateness. In his 1992 Senate bid, McCain was joined on the campaign trail by his wife, Cindy, as well as campaign aide Doug Cole and consultant Wes Gullett. At one point, Cindy playfully twirled McCain's hair and said, "You're getting a little thin up there." McCain's face reddened, and he responded, "At least I don't plaster on the makeup like a trollop, you cunt." McCain's excuse was that it had been a long day. If elected president of the United States, McCain would have many long days.

credit to gff

Lol!

he uses the word trollop = he's got my vote

anyone read Frank Rich's column yesterday? The best thing he's written in months.

Yes, good piece.

he uses the word trollop = he's got my vote

-- ian, Monday, April 7, 2008 10:27 PM (7 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

o if only id known ::rollseyes::

So, did former GOP guy Bob Barr announce his bid to be Libertarian for President yet? I'm guessing it wouldn't make a difference even if he did, but who knows. If so and the media gave Barr a lot of press for the rest of the year, you wouldn't need to have a thread like this to keep McCain from becoming prez.

But that's just wishful thinking.

"You cunts," > "My friends,"

tell that to ian

oh, per Frank Rich, stop lying about McCain saying he wants 100 years of war, you Obamaniacs & Hillarites.

Sorry brody, no can do

Meet Johm McCain

Jordan for president

Isn't That Right, Pals??

http://www.alternet.org/election08/82591/

Somewhere in the house, a phone is ringing. It's your old insurance company, the one you had before your employer decided to make you a contractor rather than a full-time employee. Sorry, they say, but your family just doesn't fit their risk profile. They've got nothing in your price range. What if we pay a little more, you ask, rapidly weighing the consequences of taking out another mortgage or shifting more purchases to credit. Sorry, the even-voiced representative says, this time more firmly, they really don't have anything for you at all.

It is a call — or, sometimes, merely a letter — that millions of Americans have received, particularly those not covered by large employers or the federal government. These Americans are rejected for health insurance because they were sick once, or because they're too old now, or for no apparent reason at all.

....It is not a call that John McCain has ever received....Born the son of a Navy admiral, he was cared for by Navy physicians during his childhood. After graduating from high school, he enrolled in the U.S. Military Academy, and the military's care continued until he retired from the service in 1981. In 1982, he won a seat in Congress, ushering him into the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program, and in 2001, he qualified for Medicare. When he says, "we have the highest quality of health care in the world in America," he is speaking as a man who has enjoyed a lifetime of government-run care.

http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=why_john_mccain_wants_you_to_give_up_your_health_insurance

Have fun at the convention, motherfucker:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080501/ap_on_el_pr/mccain;_ylt=AkWiE2GvOBvgCbpt4FpqJPdh24cA

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/what-john-mccain-told-me_b_100183.html

For a moment Tuesday, McCain appeared confused about where he was, saying, "I appreciate the hospitality of the students and faculty of West Virginia," then correcting himself to say Wake Forest as the audience laughed.

all candidates do that

i know

hes doing it bcz is lol-senile and will push the button w/o knowing why

it's not going anywhere

He meant to say he appreciated their hostility.

MCSAME

HE IS MORE OF THE SAME

JOHN MCSAME

not bad

i've been thinking for awhile now that obama's people need to attack this "straight talk" meme which apparently WILL NOT DIE so hard, so effectively, that journalists become embarrassed to use it any more, than even mccain himself becomes embarrassed to have it on the side of his bus

it needs to become a fvcking albatross - the whole country needs to let out a little guffaw whenever they hear it

http://www.thingsyoungerthanmccain.com/

did anyone mention this? http://www.slate.com/id/2167286

mccain didn't go back to DC to vote for the ledbetter fair pay act, and said something along the lines of how he was in favor of equal pay for women, but women need "more education and training".

McCain panders to anti-vaccination crowd

Ethanol is a product that would not exist if Congress didn't create an artificial market for it. No one would be willing to buy it... Yet thanks to agricultural subsidies and ethanol producer subsidies, it is now a very big business - tens of billions of dollars that have enriched a handful of corporate interests - primarily one big corporation, ADM. Ethanol does nothing to reduce fuel consumption, nothing to increase our energy independence, nothing to improve air quality.

-John McCain, November 2003

I support ethanol and I think it is a vital, a vital alternative energy source not only because of our dependency on foreign oil but its greenhouse gas reduction effects.

-John McCain, August 2006, Grinnell, Iowa

He's gone off it again since then:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/may/05/johnmccain.uselections2008
John McCain has joined 23 fellow Republicans in urging the Bush administration to waive requirements for high ethanol production, blaming the alternative fuel for driving up US food prices.

lol @ "Ethanol is a product that would not exist if Congress didn't create an artificial market for it."

http://bloggingheads.tv/diavlogs/11042?in=00:48:29&out=50:20

http://humanrightsamerica.wordpress.com/2008/05/18/mccains-youtube-problem-just-became-a-nightmare/

Mickey Kaus is so worthless.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/05/21/mccain-backer-hagee-said_n_102892.html

amazing article

http://www.nybooks.com/articles/21470

amazing photo

http://d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20080520/capt.517a47fef4784461b64753670bc7838e.mccain_2008_fljc114.jpg

lol

you could say he flies solo

He can't use a computer.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/06/11/mccain-admits-he-doesnt-k_n_106478.html?redux

mccain's answer in that video is a+++, seriously

bad link!

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sheppard/2008/06/12/actor-john-cusack-does-anti-mccain-ad-moveon-org#comments

LIEberals like Cusak call him “McSame” but in truth he couldn’t hold a candle to our president Bush. Bush is a resolute man who takes his marching orders only from God. McCain is an irresolute pandering flip-flopper.

Bush nobly enacted tax cuts for the wealthy, which McCain originally spoke out against. Now McPander embraces those same tax cuts and says he wants even more for corporations. Should we believe him? Why?

McFlipper originally spoke out against Bush’s torture policies, but now embraces them for the CIA. Bush knew from the git-go that torture was a good way to keep us safe from terrorists. McCain had to come around to it.

Bush makes all of his decisions based on what his gut tells him is right. McCain thinks too much. If McCain were president in 2001, we probably wouldn’t have invaded Iraq. We would still be waiting for the next Sadaam Hussein WMD to drop on our soil.

The LIEberals like to say they are the same, but Bush is a real man and McCain, although a war hero, is a milktoast.

http://newsbusters.org/files/user_pics/picture-26.jpg

McCain Intro Graphic Generator

http://www.says-it.com/mccain/intro.php

lololol.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzB4T5I4eAI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Euu_DMhsXQo

^^^^ YES

NO CUNT-RY FOR OLD MAN

The guy in ethan's looks like a fortysomething Dan Perry.

*ethan's post

dying here

a few of the ppl in that video are on wildn out

A++

http://www.unrelatedcontent.com/things/neverforget.jpg

Some pretty harsh personal revelations here:

The wife U.S. Republican John McCain callously left behind

hat tip to Frank Schaeffer

that story's been common knowledge for years! but yeah it's bizarre that gore, hillary, etc all come in for the "insane ambition" treatment but mccain dumps his ailing wife for an heiress, who immediately funds his political career, yet he gets a complete and total pass

I guess I'd heard the story in summary form, but somehow all the little details make it seem much worse.

http://www.virtualcities.com/ons/tx/gov/txgvpg1a.jpg

great post:

http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/2008/07/better-to-be-lucky.html

Better to be Lucky...
So I decided to title this as one of National Review guys might just to get the point across. But there is both real reason to criticize the press -- and a layer-cake of irony in the way the media cycle has played out over the past 24 hours.

Something of importance actually happens in the world -- Iran test-fires missiles. The McCain people sense an opportunity, and for just about the first time in this campaign, organize a couple of those Howard Wolfson fire drill conference calls. Their candidate gets to get off the teleprompters for a few days -- and for the record, while I think that McCain engaged in some pretty bad distortions of Obama's position, he also looked in his element out there.

And then ... something of no importance of all happens. Jesse Jackson has a YouTube moment, and that story sucks up all the oxygen in the room.

I would agree with the conventional wisdom that the optics of the story are liable to be favorable to Barack Obama -- but that's in large part because the right-leaning punditry so strongly dislikes Jackson that they'll torpedo their own candidate's momentum to try and nail him. Kathryn Jean Lopez practically endorsed Obama today. Pat Buchanan, who also loved the Sasha/Melia interview, sounded on Morning Joe like he was just about ready to vote for him.

I'm not trying to be a party-pooper. It was an hysterically funny moment, like some kind of Larry David gag. It's good television. But it's not really news.

-- Nate at 9:17 AM

mccain or his campaign has had one unbelievable gaffe after the next this past week or so, but all of them run up against three iron laws: 1) policy differences are a miasma of numbers and stuff where no truth can be found, only matching D and R quotes, and are super boring besides. 2) mccain is a maverick straight shooter. 3) mccain is a total loser and nothing he says or does really matters. axiom 3 might be the only one with any flexibility but it'll probably be the one that does him in

I can't even imagine the outcry if Obama's top economic adviser was balls deep in the subprime mortgage crisis and said "the recession is all in your mind -- stop whining"

balls deep in the subprime mortgage crisis

there goes my nightmare-free evening

would you prefer "nutz deep" or "chin deep"?

I would prefer SHUT UP

but where are the balls in that?

policy differences are a miasma of numbers and stuff where no truth can be found

Well yes, if you're the national press corps, i.e. you have the attention span of a gnat, i.e. you are Gail Collins.

i just looked quickly but there's nothing on The Corner about this, pretty funny

The fact that he's said in two successive speeches that the real problem with Social Security is that today's workers are paying for today's retirees, instead of for their OWN retirement. Seriously!!

Whoever you say I am, that's who I am:

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/07/in-pennsylvania.html

In Pennsylvania, McCain Tells a New Version of Heroic P.O.W. Story -- Subbing the Pittsburgh Steelers for the Green Bay Packers

Asked what first comes to his mind when he thinks of Pittsburgh, McCain chuckled, "the Steelers. I was a mediocre high school athlete but I loved and adored the sports but the Steelers really made a huge impression on me particularly in my early years."

And then McCain told a rather moving story about his time as a P.O.W. "When I was first interrogated and really had to give some information because of the pressures, physical pressures on me, I named the starting lineup, defensive line of the Pittsburgh Steelers as my squadron mates."

"Did you really?" asked the reporter.

"Yes," McCain said.

"In your POW camp?" asked the reporter.

"Yes," McCain said.

"Could you do it today?" asked the reporter.

"No, unfortunately," McCain said.

Here's one reason he likely couldn't do it today -- the Steelers aren't the team whose defensive line McCain named for his Vietnamese tormentors. The Green Bay Packers are. At least according to every previous time McCain has told this story. And the McCain campaign just told ABC News that the senator made a mistake -- it was, indeed, the Packers.

In McCain's best-selling 1999 memoir “Faith of My Fathers,” McCain writes:

“Once my condition had stabilized, my interrogators resumed their work. Demands for military information were accompanied by threats to terminate my medical treatment if I did not cooperate. Eventually, I gave them my ship’s name and squadron number, and confirmed that my target had been the power plant. Pressed for more useful information, I gave the names of the Green Bay Packers offensive line, and said they were members of my squadron. When asked to identify future targets, I simply recited the names of a number of North Vietnamese cities that had already been bombed.”

In 2005, A&E ran a movie version of "Faith of My Fathers."

And McCain discussed that precise clip on CNN.

The actor playing McCain, asked to name the men in his squadron, says: "Starr; Greg; McGee; Davis; Adderly; Brown; Ringo; Wood."

Cut back to real life. The CNN anchor asks McCain: "For those who don't know the story, were those NFL football players?"

"That was the starting lineup of the Green Bay Packers, the first Super Bowl champions, yes," McCain responded. But it's -- it was the best I could think of at the time."

yeah Tracer that's what i mean, iron laws of the press

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9Jbw2-f8IQ

It sounds to me like McCain has trouble keeping his story straight.

Or, a la Gore and Hillary's "fabrications" - he simply has a problem telling the truth? Likes to embellish a bit, maybe. Is this a glimpse into his CHARACTER?

nothing he's said has made a lick of sense for MONTHS, it doesn't matter, no.

I think the repubs would have to be concerned with assassination attempts, since it'd be rather easy. at this stage of his life, all you'd have to do is put cayenne peppers in his dinner....

Interesting column by Harold Meyerson on McCain's incoherence on economic policy:

What McCain Economic Policy?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/16/AR2008071602434.html

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/07/16/mccain-again-cites-current-events-in-czechoslovakia/

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/07/15/mccain-finds-rape-hilarious/

lmao

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eivTm-VmfXg

Planned Parenthood said the ad is being aimed at women voters, and will be broadcast during the season premiere of "Project Runway," on Bravo, Lifetime’s "Army Wives," and "The Oprah Winfrey Show" in some markets. It will air in battleground states, including Colorado, Iowa, Minnesota, New Mexico, Ohio, and Wisconsin, as well as in the Washington, D.C. area.

Frank Rich: McCain is unqualified to be President

McCain Camp Teases the Media
FOXNews - all 11 news articles »

99. Bush's willingness to talk directly with Iran.
98. Bush's new time "horizon" for troop withdrawals.
97. al-Maliki's endorsement of Obama's Iraq strategy.
96. Obama's headline-dominating foreign tour.
95. His disagreement with the majority of Americans on Iraq.
94. His lack of economic expertise and policy.
93. Obama's $52M June.
92. His $21M June.
91. 29% of the Latino vote.
90. 2% of the black vote.
89. Charles Keating (he'll be back).
88. Vicki Iseman (she'll be back).
87. Randy Scheunemann (he'll be leaving).
86. His band-aid approach to energy (more drilling, more nuclear, a $300M "prize").
85. His band-aid approach to healthcare (tax credits, more competition).
84. His band-aid.
83. Saying things like "I know how to win wars," despite his never having won a war.
82. His wife.
81. His ex-wife.
80. The Hagee/Parsley un-endorsement debacle.
79. An uninspired base.
78. Ape rape.
77. His bff, Joe Lieberman.
76. His claim that Czechoslovakia still exists (it doesn't).
75. His claim that Iran is training Al-Qaeda (they aren't).
74. His claim that Iraq and Pakistan share a border (they don't).
73. His claim that Somalia is the same place as Sudan (it isn't).
72. His claim that Vladimir Putin is the president of Germany (he isn't).
71. 71.
70. The images of 70,000+ screaming Democrats at Invesco Field.
69. Phil Gramm's "nation of whiners" implosion.
68. His unwillingness to call the situation in Afghanistan "urgent."
67. Steve Schmidt's failure to right the ship.
66. A new generation of Evangelicals who don't care what James Dobson thinks.
65. "C-nt."
64. "I hate the gooks."
63. His plan to resurrect Bush's plan to privatize Social Security.
62. The writer's rooms of The Daily Show and The Colbert Report.
61. His tarmac birthday party with Bush -- as Katrina made landfall.
60. "General Petraeus goes out there almost every day in an unarmed Humvee."
59. His belief that Americans are better off than they were eight years ago.
58. His "Frankenstein on barbiturates" oratory skill.
57. His beyond-pathetic "Pump" ad, which blames Obama for $4.50 gas.
56. His "Obama Love" ad, which blames the MSM for his terribly-run campaign.
55. His computer illiteracy (c'mon...this is 2008).
54. A tax plan that doesn't even TRY to hide the fact that it's geared toward the wealthy.
53. Bob Barr.
52. Ron Paul.
51. Rupert Murdoch.
50. His gay adoption/marriage high wire acts.
49. His immigration high wire act.
48. His torture high wire act.
47. His drilling high wire act.
46. His tax cuts high wire act.
45. Not churchgoing enough for some evangelicals.
44. Too evangelical for some independents.
43. His temper.
42. "I know what Iraqis want."
41. The starlet gap: McCain = Heidi Montag; Obama = Scarlett Johansson.
40. The Facebook gap: McCain = 173K supporters; Obama = 1.17M supporters.
39. His 1983-94 opposition to the Rev. Martin Luther King holiday.
38. His 2008 opposition to the Ledbetter Fair Pay [for women] Act.
37. His 2008 opposition to the G.I. Bill.
36. "100 years."
35. Viagra-gate.
34. His 0% rating from Planned Parenthood.
33. His 0% attendance record for the last six Senate Afghanistan hearings.
32. "Why is Chelsea Clinton so ugly? Because her father is Janet Reno."
31. David Plouffe.
30. David Axelrod.
29. Republicans losing elections in traditional GOP strongholds.
28. His October 2002 insistence that victory in Iraq would be "easy."
27. His January 2007 insistence that he never said it would be "easy."
26. A resurgent Taliban.
25. Europe's Obamamania.
24. Kneeling at the feet of Jerry Falwell.
23. His penchant for gaffes.
22. 80% of Americans convinced we're on the wrong track.
21. The National Review calling his campaign strategy "likely to fail."
20. Another terrorist attack on U.S. soil "would be a big advantage to him."
19. Record turnout in the Democratic primaries.
18. A free Osama bin Laden.
17. "Bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran."
16. A campaign hierarchy dominated by lobbyists.
15. Suggesting Obama is a "Socialist."
14. The Dow Jones down 2,000 points for the year.
13. Foreclosures soaring, banks failing, and inflation at a 17-year high.
12. Still pushing his ridiculous, Big Oil-friendly gas tax holiday.
11. Being out-raised by Obama 2:1...in West Virginia.
10. His "no" vote on SCHIP (healthcare for poor children) reauthorization.
9. His support for overturning Roe v. Wade.
8. His consistent opposition to minimum wage increases.
7. Obama's 50-state strategy.
6. Al.
5. Bill.
4. Hillary.
3. Mitt.
2. John McCain.
1. George W. Bush.

good job

71. 71.

haaa

I'm a little confused: What's the difference between reasons #1 & #2?

http://view.break.com/542113

I'm in ur supermarket, reading from notecardz

When John McCain descended on a Bethlehem, Penn. grocery store late yesterday afternoon, the unscheduled campaign stop, meant to highlight McCain's concern over skyrocketing food prices, instead quickly became a theater for the absurd. First, a cameraman knocked over several glass jars of Mott's applesauce, which rolled near McCain's feet as he posed for a bevy of cameras while strolling the grocery aisles. Then, the senator's hastily assembled press conference, held in front of a perishable food case labeled "Dairy Delights," was interrupted by the scream of the store's P.A. system announcing a staffer had a phone call. Finally, there was the fact that Renee Gould, the young mother McCain had an extended chat with about the high price of tomatoes and milk, was not a random shopper, but an area resident funneled to the campaign by the local Republican Party. Gould's admission (a reporter cornered her and asked how she came to be there) was ultimately not all that surprising. Even with the amusing mishaps, the entire event came off as canned, and McCain—whose discomfort with the phoniness required by politics has always been evident—spent most of his time shifting uncomfortably.

...After the press conference, McCain made his way back to the front of the store, where Gould was unloading her groceries with the help of her husband and two young daughters. The senator stood awkwardly next to her and again tried to make stilted small talk about the high price of food. Gould coyly asked, "You're going to be my bagger?" McCain didn't, in fact, bag and seemed to be searching for conversation topics, even as he looked into a field of cameras.

you probably don't want to click this, it is nsfw

you were warned

woah

http://www.sadlyno.com/archives/10322.html

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/207133.php

You hear a lot about John McCain's time in both Vietnam and Washington, D.C., but what about Arizona, the state he's represented for 25 years? New Times was covering McCain long before the national media fell for him, and here's a selection of stories - on topics ranging from John's shenanigans with Charlie Keating to Cindy's drug addiction to her family's sometimes shady business dealings. It's all Vintage McCain, and it's all right here, including our Greatest Hits.

http://phoenixnewtimes.com/mccain

also

http://phoenixnewtimes.com/2008-08-07/news/postmodern-mccain-the-john-mccain-some-arizonans-know-and-loathe/

You may be surprised to know that in 1987 and 1988, McCain voted against federal legislation reforming the campaign finance system. It was only in 1990, in the aftermath of Keating and the shadow of an upcoming re-election campaign, that he started supporting reform. Ditto for his efforts to cut government spending.

And I've got to pause to say something about both of those efforts. In a word, they're a farce.

McCain's earned dismal marks from environmental groups, including a zero in the League of Conservation Voters' most recent ratings

...

When it comes to Arizona environmental issues, though, McCain's best known for an infamous U.S. Governmental Accountability Office report that details threats he made to the job of a forest service official who dared to disagree with him on the topic of the endangered Mount Graham red squirrel.

http://www.physorg.com/newman/gfx/news/2006/redsquirrel8015.jpghttp://www.allamericanpatriots.com/files/images/john-mccain-28.jpg

^^^ I'm so grateful that I'm not the only person who sees this in John McCain's face.

I'd rather get head from a circus clown than know anybody that votes for McCain

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2008/08/11/a_case_of_plagiarism.html

Not a new story but even so:

Former Orange County Supervisor Edison Miller is lashing out at John McCain, saying the presidential candidate falsely fingered him as a turncoat who was "actively aiding the enemy" while the two were imprisoned during the Vietnam War.

"He lied about me," said the Irvine resident, who retired as a Marine Corps colonel shortly after the war. "The attacks on my character and integrity are totally without merit or justification. I did stand up and say the war was wrong. I would speak against the war, but I never spoke against my country. And I gave up no secrets."

The whole thing's worth a read as an example of how perception is all.

"We are all Georgians now" - McCain calls for return to Carter years

"I want to have a dialogue with the Russians. I want them to get out of Georgian territory as quickly as possible. And I am interested in good relations between the United States and Russia. But in the twenty-first century, nations don’t invade other nations."

Somebody doesn't watch The Daily Show...

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2008/08/18/just_asking.html

http://www.gambling911.com/politics/john-mccain’s-14-hour-impulsive-casino-craps-play-081808.html

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/8/19/63040/9744/356/570183

http://www.military.com/opinion/0,15202,164859_1,00.html

MoveOn has just sent me an email that says

What if there was a vote to decide if $13.5 billion in tax breaks for oil companies should go into oil alternatives, like solar and wind? What would you want your Senator to do?

Well, as you probably guessed, there was such a vote. We needed 60 votes to prevail, and 59 of them were in. But John McCain ducked the vote.^1

As a result, instead of powering millions of homes with clean energy and building next-generation solar technology, we're giving ExxonMobil and other companies billions in tax breaks at a time when they're already making record profits.

^1 = http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=110&session=1&vote=00425&long=1

Way to go, Walnuts.
Only one Dem voted against it (fuck you Landrieu).

when somebody as MOR as Cafferty of CNN finds McCrazy sounding regularly moronic, I spose it's encouraging:

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/08/18/cafferty.mccain/index.html

I really don't get why Wes Clark is out of the picture?

fairly useless Clinton surrogate?

war criminal?

'military experience' guy disliked by experienced military.

secret muslim mormon

i somehow ended up on mccain's emailing list, wtf

from Rick Davis, McCain Campaign Manager <ecampa✧✧✧@g✧✧.c✧✧>
to <redacted>
date Tue, Aug 19, 2008 at 5:06 PM
subject Did you watch Saturday's forum with Rick Warren?
mailed-by bounces.gop.com

P.S. We have said from the beginning that voters have a clear choice in this election and the Saddleback Civil Forum showed that there are stark contrasts between Senator Obama and John McCain. John McCain will tell Americans exactly what he believes is best for our country - because he puts country before his own self interest. Senator Obama dodges the tough questions because he doesn't have the leadership or judgment to make the hard calls a president must make every day.

http://politicalwire.com/archives/2008/08/20/bonus_quote_of_the_day.html

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0808/12685.html

"somehow"

we're onto you now, buddy

Does a guy who worries about the price of arugula and thinks regular people 'cling' to guns and religion in the face of economic hardship really want to have a debate about who’s in touch with regular Americans?

^ lol arugula is for elitists

the arugula narrative

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FiQMDmvdqA0
needs more views imo

lol

oh yes please, bring back Mittens!

posting this again, because it is amazing:

Three reporters from Arizona, on the condition of anonymity, also let me in on another incident involving McCain's intemperateness. In his 1992 Senate bid, McCain was joined on the campaign trail by his wife, Cindy, as well as campaign aide Doug Cole and consultant Wes Gullett. At one point, Cindy playfully twirled McCain's hair and said, "You're getting a little thin up there." McCain's face reddened, and he responded, "At least I don't plaster on the makeup like a trollop, you cunt."

As a man getting a little thin up there I support this message ^

via tpm, an ad for the arizona property they sold in 2006:

Former home of Sen John & Cindy McCain. Situated on over 2.5 acres. Totally remodeled in Old World style complete w/7 bedrooms in main house & 6 bedrooms in guest houses. Hardwood & travertine floors throughout. Master suite has huge walk-in w/private cantera stone patio w/spa and fplc. Gourmet kitchen has travertine floors, granite counters, comercial SS apliances w/large catering room/butlers pantry off kitchen. 2 guest houses. His/her dressing cabana. Finest entertaining backyard in the Valley - 3 ramadas (2 w/full bar set-up), BBQ, play house, cantera stone decking, pavillion, spa and large lap/play pool. 7 car detached garage...

His/her dressing cabana

wtf

Reid: 'I can't stand McCain'

so now we need some ann peebles inspired retribution for that horrible "it's rainin' mccain" video

7 BEDROOMS? wtf, is this a house/guest house for catholics?

Seven bedrooms in main house, six in guest houses, seven-car garage. It's for carpooling couple-swappers - fourteen couples arrive in seven cars, each sends a member to the main house and one to a guest house (keys left in bowls on the granite counter). One lucky couple gets to play "butler and maid" in the "catering room/butler's pantry," assuming the actual butler isn't using it, in which case you head to either the "his" or "her" cabana.

Thanks. I'm really looking forward to reading some more John McCain slash fic.

The orgy scene in Eyes Wide Shut was shot at McCain's house

well the LA Times has Robin "Lifestyles" Leach defending McCain, I'm sure that helps

^^^classic

(who's the celebrity?)

Apropos of nothing, but I do wish I still had a copy of that "Lifestyles..." ep where they visited the mansion of the Million-Dollar Man Ted Dibiase (& Virgil). The fact that Vince McMahon got them to do an entire ep in kayfabe was genius.

oh wait, here's a recap

http://ddtdigest.com/features/buchanan/pictures/richfm13.jpg

http://ddtdigest.com/features/buchanan/pictures/richfm19.jpg

a little find & replace with these, maybe?

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/08/22/gigolo/print.html

John McCain is the Big Lebowski.

wow:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BT6h0Ni-pxA

Why "wow"? I think there are far more vicious examples of McCain jabbing at Romney (and vice-versa) than what's in that clip, if that's what you mean.

McCain really called his wife a c--t in front of reporters? Now that earns a "wow"! Why hasn't that been more widely reported?

no, not mccain jabbing at romney, mccain's absolute complete non-answer of the question, and his desperate playing of every card in his POW/'trancendental' islamic terrorism deck.

Oh, yeah, that's true. The banner running at the bottom of the screen reiterates that the question is "Why are you (McCain) better suited to run the economy than Mitt Romney?," and McCain stammers on-and-on about his military service and sacrifice for country and terrorism and so on.

In some ways, he's morphed into a nu-Rudy Giuliani: A noun, a verb and "the Islamofascist threat."

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/210507.php

oh shit

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FiQMDmvdqA0
needs more views imo

-- bnw, Friday, August 22, 2008 1:35 AM (4 days ago) Bookmark Link

yeah, that's the most damning clip I've seen on him in a while. saying that if he'd won in 2000, he'd have invited Cheney for his VP & Rumsfield as well... 'more of the same' is hardly a hypothetical at that point

McCain, who once condemned the Swift Boat ads against John Kerry, now cozy with the guy who funded them and who is funding the new ad linking Obama to Ayers:

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2008/08/swift-boat-dono.html

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/McCain_ad_questioned_as_word_HANG_0828.html

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/8/29/205239/344/150/579542

intentional or not, pushing that story line really does nothing

o man the fingering the wedding ring is pretty fucking funny though

I think he's looking down at her speech -- it has the feel of peering over her shoulder, keeping her on a leash. Maybe even worse.

http://img402.imageshack.us/img402/7797/voijrzlhdd9831jpldw1j4npq2.th.jpg

oh ffs

http://img402.imageshack.us/img402/7797/voijrzlhdd9831jpldw1j4npq2.jpg

lol

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/8/30/185418/550/94/580631

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKkydrUnBZE

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Whistleblower_breaks_15year_silence_to_allege_0911.html

http://www.thenation.com/images/mccain.jpg

"The photograph substantiates reports that in late August, 2006, McCain celebrated his 70th birthday aboard a yacht, the Celine Ashley, rented by A-list con man Raffaello Follieri and his then-movie star girlfriend Anne Hathaway. . .Follieri, who posed as Vatican chief financial officer in order to win friends and investments, pleaded guilty Wednesday in a Manhattan district court to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, eight counts of wire fraud and five counts of money laundering. As part of the plea, Follieri admitted to misappropriating at least $2.4 million of investor money and redirecting it to foreign personal bank accounts that were disguised as business accounts."

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080929/berman_ames

He chose a yacht over one of his seven homes?

"I have had a strong and a long relationship on national security, I've been involved in every national crisis that this nation has faced since Beirut, I understand the issues, I understand and appreciate the enormity of the challenge we face from radical Islamic extremism. am prepared. I am prepared. I need no on-the-job training. I wasn't a mayor for a short period of time. I wasn't a governor for a short period of time," - Senator John McCain, October, 2007.

can't send an e-mail

lol spain

lol @ all of this week, really. the dude needs to check in to a facility.

In the yacht photo, McCain's posture resembles my girlfriend's dad's to an eerie degree.

http://skyways.lib.ks.us/museums/funston/Graphics/maine.jpg

here is another gambling story:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/stephen-c-rose/mccains-mostly-ignored-ga_b_119535.html

http://img410.imageshack.us/img410/885/mccainhabitualgamblervf7.gif

thats terrible photoshopping!

McCain and the POW coverup
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20081006/schanberg

http://www.votejohnmcclane.com/

Why Not? John McClane is a Badass. He's an American. He doesn't take shit from terrorists. He smokes. He crawls through air conditioning ducts. He's a lover AND a fighter. So, shouldn't we, The United States of America, have someone like John McClane in office? He would be the perfect leader of the free world. He would bitch-slap everyone that pisses him off. He won't lie to our faces, he'll tell it like it is. He wears his heart upon his sleeve, when he's wearing sleeves. He's not afraid of a little blood. Whether it's his or a shitty terrorist's. He has a squinty seriousness about him. He's got a tattoo, too. Yeah, he's a goddamn American and he's goddamn proud of it. America needs John McClane. So, citizens of the free world... rise up and embrace the future of America. John McClane. He takes shit from no one. Ever.

http://images.townnews.com/casperstartribune.net/content/articles/2008/03/24/news/wyoming/03fdbca1e01662ea87257415002692d4.jpg

^^^^ that is actually WY, and I don't know if the wolf is even dead, but shooting wolves from helicopters makes me angry >:(

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/28/us/politics/28gambling-web.html?_r=2&hp=&pagewanted=all&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

Perhaps no episode burnished Mr. McCain’s image as a reformer more than his stewardship three years ago of the Congressional investigation into Jack Abramoff, the disgraced Republican Indian gambling lobbyist who became a national symbol of the pay-to-play culture in Washington. The senator’s leadership during the scandal set the stage for the most sweeping overhaul of lobbying laws since Watergate.

“I’ve fought lobbyists who stole from Indian tribes,” the senator said in his speech accepting the Republican presidential nomination this month.

But interviews and records show that lobbyists and political operatives in Mr. McCain’s inner circle played a behind-the-scenes role in bringing Mr. Abramoff’s misdeeds to Mr. McCain’s attention — and then cashed in on the resulting investigation. The senator’s longtime chief political strategist, for example, was paid $100,000 over four months as a consultant to one tribe caught up in the inquiry, records show.

Mr. McCain’s campaign said the senator acted solely to protect American Indians, even though the inquiry posed “grave risk to his political interests.”

As public opposition to tribal casinos has grown in recent years, Mr. McCain has distanced himself from Indian gambling, Congressional and American Indian officials said.

But he has rarely wavered in his loyalty to Las Vegas, where he counts casino executives among his close friends and most prolific fund-raisers. “Beyond just his support for gaming, Nevada supports John McCain because he’s one of us, a Westerner at heart,” said Sig Rogich, a Nevada Republican kingmaker who raised nearly $2 million for Mr. McCain at an event at his home in June.

Only six members of Congress have received more money from the gambling industry than Mr. McCain, and five hail from the casino hubs of Nevada and New Jersey, according to data from the Center for Responsive Politics dating back to 1989. In the presidential race, Senator Barack Obama has also received money from the industry; Mr. McCain has raised almost twice as much.

In May 2007, as Mr. McCain’s presidential bid was floundering, he spent a weekend at the MGM Grand on the Las Vegas strip. A fund-raiser hosted by J. Terrence Lanni, the casino’s top executive and a longtime friend of the senator, raised $400,000 for his campaign. Afterward, Mr. McCain attended a boxing match and hit the craps tables.

For much of his adult life, Mr. McCain has gambled as often as once a month, friends and associates said, traveling to Las Vegas for weekend betting marathons. Former senior campaign officials said they worried about Mr. McCain’s patronage of casinos, given the power he wields over the industry. The officials, like others interviewed for this article, spoke on condition of anonymity.

“We were always concerned about appearances,” one former official said. “If you go around saying that appearances matter, then they matter.”

The former official said he would tell Mr. McCain: “Do we really have to go to a casino? I don’t think it’s a good idea. The base doesn’t like it. It doesn’t look good. And good things don’t happen in casinos at midnight.”

“You worry too much,” Mr. McCain would respond, the official said.

Yeah so not gonna give McCain shit over liking casinos because those things are kind of awesome.

I'm almost beginning to think folks should lay off Palin, because I have a gut feeling that she'll just drop out and he'll replace her if things keep going like this.

after the debate?

replacing her before the debate would be some funny shit

nah, he's stuck now

gonna milk the elitist disdain

leave sarah alone

I guess it's a sign of my low standards for pity that I can't help feeling a little sorry for her. She's so in over her head. She probably has the sufficient level of competence to be a mediocre governor of Alaska and should have just stayed where she was.

she was so nasty about Obama in her acceptance speech; don't feel bad for her!

I know! But I can't help it when I watch her drown in interview after interview.

I keep thinking that when McCain asked, she should have just said "no". But that would have demonstrated good judgement.

The Sept 2nd Colbert Report has a short segment on McCain's reptilian traits that seeped through during the debate.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reptilian_humanoid

I think we could mount good evidence of his true nature:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/3/3e/Dinosauroid4.jpg/180px-Dinosauroid4.jpg

I don't feel sorry for her and won't leave her alone until she leaves the country alone.

http://i35.tinypic.com/9fy5qv.jpg

what is that in his hands?

she can fuck right off, no pity

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20081013/goldberg

I don't feel sorry for her and won't leave her alone until she leaves the country alone.

Ths stuff coming out of Alaska's Troopergate investigation is slowly painting her as very wealthy (by Wasilla standards), ruthless, power-hungry and capable of a petty malice which reminds me of none other than Dick Cheney.

"Samuel Augustus Maverick (July 23, 1803–September 2, 1870) was a Texas lawyer, politician, and land baron. From his name comes the term "maverick", first cited in 1867, which means independent minded. Maverick was considered independent minded by his fellow ranchers because he refused to brand his cattle. In fact, Maverick's failure to brand his cattle had little to do with independent mindedness, but reflected his lack of interest in ranching."

The Sept 2nd Colbert Report has a short segment on McCain's reptilian traits that seeped through during the debate.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reptilian_humanoid

I think we could mount good evidence of his true nature:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/3/3e/Dinosauroid4.jpg/180px-Dinosauroid4.jpg

― Adam Bruneau, Tuesday, September 30, 2008 1:53 PM (14 minutes ago) Bookmark

Not really sure what you're saying -- did you put the right date?

there's lots of money in Alaska. her husband worked for an oil company for 20 years, and she owns three houses.

on the gabbneb-said-it-first tip, Fareed Zakaria yesterday called her ready to be the President of Saudi Arabia, but not America.

that's the funniest thing i've read in a long time

xps

http://www.topgunmccain.com/the-original-maverick.htm

Someone on NPR this morning pointed out that the McCain strategy of keeping Palin away from easy short appearances and saving her for long interviews she can't handle is really the opposite of what you'd think they'd want to do.

Ted Stevens trial: Oct 10th.

A whole 11 days away.

Maverick's stated reason for not branding his cattle was that he didn't want to inflict pain on them. Other ranchers however, suspected that his true motivation was that it allowed him to collect any unbranded cattle and claim them as his own.

loooool

http://www.topgunmccain.com/images/tap.jpg

http://www.rollingstone.com/news/coverstory/make_believe_maverick_the_real_john_mccain/page/2

"McCain spent his formative years among the Washington elite. His father — himself deep in the throes of a daddy complex — had secured a political post as the Navy's chief liaison to the Senate, a job his son would later hold, and the McCain home on Southeast 1st Street was a high-powered pit stop in the Washington cocktail circuit. Growing up, McCain attended Episcopal High School, an all-white, all-boys boarding school across the Potomac in Virginia, where tuition today tops $40,000 a year. There, McCain behaved with all the petulance his privilege allowed, earning the nicknames 'Punk' and 'McNasty.' Even his friends seemed to dislike him, with one recalling him as 'a mean little fucker.'
McCain was not only a lousy student, he had his father's taste for drink and a darkly misogynistic streak. The summer after his sophomore year, cruising with a friend near Arlington, McCain tried to pick up a pair of young women. When they laughed at him, he cursed them so vilely that he was hauled into court on a profanity charge

that article goes hard

yeah the rs piece is epic intense. these things have all been rolling around quietly for years; it's nice to see reporters in general finally stop knob-slobbering the dude and put all this shit down in one place. he'd be a tragic figure, really, if he wasn't, like, actively threatening to ruin all of our lives by tempting racists to vote for him.

'as a pilot, he crashed three planes' is a good meme

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Begala_McCain_sat_on_board_of_1005.html

only NOW do the Bamites bring up Keating. So Demlike.

remind me never to make you my campaign manager

only NOW is the public really paying attention

Well, yeah, the thing with Team O is that they know record attacks and questioning of trust ought to be tied to the major issues faced by ordinary people, and they always respond to the personal with the political. It seems to be winning. Also the way they seem to get pranged on their own opposition criticism for various hypocrisies does not hurt. It seems to no longer be 'OK if you are a Republican',

only NOW is the public really paying attention

I agree. With the economy in the tank, THIS is the time to use this ammo.

They also waited until McCain got nasty making the Keating association seem less a gratuitous thing than a warning shot.

actually, since the media is pairing it with the Ayers stuff, it's bound to be perceived as gratuitous by the Great Unwashed.

Their strategy for this crap was evident, seeing as they did say 'whenever they lie about us, we will tell the truth about them' and they make sure the truth fits to something the ad-hom is trying to deflect.

McCain linked to group in Iran-Contra affair

The dates on the resignation letters in 1984 and May 1986 coincided with McCain election campaigns and increasingly critical public scrutiny of the World Anti-Communist League, the umbrella group Singlaub chaired.

In 1983 and 1984 for example, columnist Jack Anderson linked the league's Latin American affiliate to death squad political assassinations.

The Latin American affiliate was kicked out of the league. At the time, Singlaub told the columnist the Latin American affiliate had "knowingly promoted pro-Nazi groups" and was "virulently anti-Semitic."

^^^attention florida kvetches

man o man that RS story is wild shit

Was it Harpers or the New Yorker that did a big article on the WACL/lobbyist connections recently? Something about entrepeneurial conservative politics.

The writer met up with one of the big GOP strategists at a swingers' club in Miami, that's pretty much all I remember.

actually, since the media is pairing it with the Ayers stuff, it's bound to be perceived as gratuitous by the Great Unwashed.

― Dr Morbius, Tuesday, October 7, 2008 11:54 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

RONG

Milo, that was The New Yorker this summer.

1620- (ATLANTIC OCEAN) En route to the New World, McCain agreed with his fellow pilgrims that the natives would greet them as liberators.
1773- (BOSTON ... Read MoreHARBOR) Before he supported off-shore drilling, McCain had an active hand in off-shore spilling during the Boston Tea Party.
1776- (PHILADELPHIA) In the Declaration of Independence, McCain's grievances with England included the fact that King George III was 'the biggest celebrity in the world.'
1836-(TEXAS) Remember the Alamo? McCain does. It was there that McCain helped solve America's budding immigration problem.
1930-(WASHINGTON, DC) During the Great Depression, McCain had a keen knowledge of the country's economic situation. (The pic for this one shows him holding a sign that says "Four more years for Herbert Hoover.)

actually, since the media is pairing it with the Ayers stuff, it's bound to be perceived as gratuitous by the Great Unwashed.

― Dr Morbius, Tuesday, October 7, 2008 2:54 PM (3 days ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

this is funny because i always imagine you to be the least washed poster on ilx