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Monthly Archives: September 2008

McCain Shows His Un-Presidential Qualities

29 Monday Sep 2008

Posted by Craig in Election 2008, McCain, Obama, Politics, Uncategorized

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bailout negotiations, McCain, presidential debate

There has been an interesting chain of events in the last few days involving John McCain’s actions during the financial bailout negotiations and his performance in the presidential debate, which gives us an insight into not only John McCain the man, but what we might expect from a President McCain.

The picture it paints is not an appealing one. It is that of a condescending, angry, borderline hostile, disrespectful man, and an indecisive and detached leader.

First Sen. McCain allegedly suspended his campaign to return to Washington, D.C. to take a leading role in the bailout negotiations. Then when he attended the meeting of Congressional leaders, along with Barack Obama, at the White House, he sat silently and offered no solutions, refusing to either endorse either the Paulson plan or the alternative put forth by the House Republicans.

In fact, when asked directly by Obama whether or not he supported either plan, McCain did not respond. Washington Monthly offers these 2 possible explanations for McCain’s silence:

“It seems to me there are two possible explanations for McCain’s silence. One possibility is that this was an extension of what we saw last night(at the debate) — he believes his rivals are beneath him, and he has nothing but contempt for those who question him, so he refused to engage in a policy discussion.

The other is that McCain had no idea what the grown-ups were talking about, didn’t understand what the insurance alternative was, and knew he’d humiliate himself he tried to engage in a substantive dialog with a room full of people who knew vastly more than he did.”

The first scenario would explain McCain’s hostility toward Barack Obama during Friday night’s debate. Obama put McCain on the spot during the meeting and McCain took that as a personal attack, as he does with anyone who disagrees with him. I don’t know about you, but that is not a personality trait I find desirable in a president.

Finally, as an agreement on the bailout was being reached, where was Senator McCain? Was he showing his leadership and exercising his supposed superior judgement, about which he frequently boasts? No, he was dining at a posh Washington, D.C. hotel with Cindy and Mr. and Mrs. Lieberman.

In contrast, Barack Obama took a leading role in the bailout negotiations, offering opinions as well as solutions, and then went on in the debate to take on, and by all but the most partisan accounts, defeat McCain on his own turf–foreign policy. Obama displayed a well-informed, well thought out, grasp of the issues, and treated McCain with respect, even agreeing with him on several points.

Now those are qualities I do find desirable in a president.

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McCain Fiddles While The Economy Burns

26 Friday Sep 2008

Posted by Craig in Election 2008, McCain, Obama, Politics, Uncategorized

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campaign, financial, markets, McCain, negotiations, sabotage, suspending, Washington

John McCain rode into Washington, D.C. on his white horse yesterday, after suspending (not really) his presidential campaign, and proceeded to sabotage negotiations which had produced a tentative agreement on a plan to rescue the crumbling financial markets.

In an attempt to revive his sagging poll numbers by exerting leadership and looking presidential, McCain attended a meeting at the White House, along with Congressional leaders from both parties. His contribution, according to those in attendance, was virtually nothing.

From Talking Points Memo:
“During the late afternoon meeting at the White House McCain sat silently at the table until nearly the end, according to a Hill source who was briefed on the meeting. At that point, I’m told, McCain vaguely brought up the proposal being pushed by the Republican Study Committee, the group of House conservatives that is bucking the GOP leadership. But McCain didn’t offer any specifics and didn’t necessarily advocate for the plan, according to the Hill source.

Responding to McCain, Treasury Secretary Paulson said that the RSC proposal was unworkable, my source says, at which point McCain didn’t really advocate for it or state his own position. The meeting adjourned soon after, amid confusion over where negotiations could go next.”

The House Republicans, by the way, are pushing a plan which includes more deregulation and more corporate tax breaks. Great idea, let’s put out the fire by pouring gasoline on it.

But some Republicans in the House may have other plans, from  Politico:
“According to one GOP lawmaker, some House Republicans are saying privately that they’d rather “let the markets crash” than sign on to a massive bailout.”

Nice job Republicans, let’s sacrifice the economic stability of the country to try and score some political points. For some reason I have this image of Emperor Nero in my head.

Here’s my take on what happened. McCain saw that progress toward an agreement was being made without him. So he went to Washington and joined with House Republicans to create a deadlock where none existed in order to appear to be the one who brings the Republicans on board, thus showing his leadership and presidential qualities.

What Senator McCain has actually shown is that he is so desperate to become president that he is willing to risk our economic future and the possible collapse of the financial markets for his own personal gain. This is putting country first? I don’t think so.

McCain and Palin, Clueless and Cluelesser

25 Thursday Sep 2008

Posted by Craig in Election 2008, McCain, Obama, Politics, Uncategorized

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campaign, debate, economic mess, McCain, Obama, suspend

When I first heard of Senator McCain’s decision yesterday to suspend his campaign, and his request to postpone Friday night’s debate with Barack Obama, I found it a bit curious. Here we are, 40 days out from the election, with multiple presidential debates and the vice-presidential debate all compressed into such a short time span, and one of the candidates wants to return to Washington and be an integral part of a solution to the economic mess.

Even more curious is that this is the same presidential candidate who only a few days ago said that the fundamentals of the economy were strong. Now he says if legislation is not passed quickly to deal with this crisis, the country faces another Great Depression. What a difference a few days makes.

Then I read a statement from McCain surrogate Lindsey Graham and I saw the Sarah Palin interview with Katie Couric. Now it all makes sense.

Sen. Graham told CNN that the McCain campaign is proposing that the presidential debate be rescheduled for October 2nd. Just by coincidence, that happens to be the date selected for the vice-presidential debate. Rescheduling of the VP debate was not mentioned. I suspect that is because of this:

 

 

After watching that performance, I fully understand why the McCain campaign has been diligently shielding Gov. Palin from the press, and why they would like nothing better than to see the VP debate not rescheduled, but cancelled.

I particularly liked the question about some examples of Sen. McCain’s attempts to reform Wall Street during his 26 years in Washington. Governor Palin’s response of “I’ll try to find you some, and I’ll bring them to you”, was reminiscent of Senator McCain’s answer to how many homes he owned, “I’ll have to get back to you on that.”

Talk about two peas in a pod, here they are, clueless and cluelesser.

Sarah Palin: A Moose In The Headlights

12 Friday Sep 2008

Posted by Craig in Election 2008, McCain, Obama, Politics, Uncategorized

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Bush Doctrine, Charlie Gibson, Sarah Palin

This is pitiful, and it would be hilarious if this person were not running for the second most powerful position in the world. Watch as Charlie Gibson asks Sarah Palin to explain the Bush Doctrine. She doesn’t have a clue. One phrase she has learned well, “terrorists who are hell-bent on destroying our nation.

Then the topic turned to Russia, and the possibility of Georgia and the Ukraine joining NATO.

GIBSON: Would you favor putting Georgia and Ukraine in NATO?

PALIN: Ukraine, definitely, yes. Yes, and Georgia.

GIBSON: Because Putin has said he would not tolerate NATO incursion into the Caucasus.

PALIN: Well, you know, the Rose Revolution, the Orange Revolution, those actions have showed us that those democratic nations, I believe, deserve to be in NATO.

GIBSON: And under the NATO treaty, wouldn’t we then have to go to war if Russia went into Georgia?

PALIN: Perhaps so. I mean, that is the agreement when you are a NATO ally, is if another country is attacked, you’re going to be expected to be called upon and help.

I can only assume that this is part of the “more wars” that Senator McCain has promised us will happen if he is elected President.

And speaking of war, not those in the future, but the present one, Governor Palin yesterday linked the Iraq war with 9/11 while addressing a brigade of soldiers, which included her son, who are bound for Iraq, saying that they would “defend the innocent from the enemies who planned and carried out and rejoiced in the death of thousands of Americans.”

Even President Bush doesn’t try to sell this line any more.

Finally on the subject of Iraq, General Petraeus, in an interview with the BBC, was asked about the use of the word “victory” in reference to the Iraq war.

That seems to contradict an assertion that Sen. McCain has made repeatedly–that our troops will come home with “victory and honor.” Governor Palin, in her acceptance speech at the Republican Convention, chastised Barack Obama for refusing to use the word “victory” when talking about Iraq, saying this:
“This is a man who can give an entire speech about the wars America is fighting, and never use the word `victory’ except when he’s talking about his own campaign.”

I don’t know Governor, it sounds to me like General Petraeus is in agreement with Barack Obama rather than you and Sen. McCain. But then again, who am I to correct a foreign policy expert like Mrs. Palin.

Remember Issues? Straight Talk About The Deficit

11 Thursday Sep 2008

Posted by Craig in Election 2008, McCain, Obama, Politics, Uncategorized

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CBO, economic projections, economy, issue, lipstick, McCain, Palin, pigs

Lost in all the media lunacy over pigs and lipstick were the economic projections released by the CBO this week. So instead of talking about the latest McCain campaign smear or repeating Sarah Palin’s lie about the Bridge to Nowhere for the 1,000th time, let’s discuss an actual issue, the economy. I know this election isn’t supposed to be about issues, but it might be a nice diversion.

From the Washington Post:

“A weak economy and a sharp increase in government spending will drive the federal budget deficit to a near-record $407 billion when the budget year ends later this month, and the next president is likely to face a shortfall in January of well over $500 billion, congressional budget analysts said yesterday.

This year’s deficit will be more than double last year’s $161 billion, and it will rise from 1.2 percent of the gross domestic product to nearly 3 percent.”

To make matters worse,  these numbers don’t take into account the government bailout of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, which could add as much as $200 billion to that figure.

So how do our 2 presidential candidates intend to tackle this growing deficit monster? Senator Obama wants to allow the Bush tax cuts to expire on those making over $250,000 a year, increasing revenue to the Treasury. Senator McCain wants to cut taxes further, making the deficit even larger.

Here is a chart showing the projections of what the effect of McCain’s plan could be:

McCain’s solution to the deficit problem is to eliminate earmarks and reduce spending, offsetting the reduction in revenue that further tax cuts would bring. Although both of these sound good to the ear of the average taxpayer, the facts are that neither one is a feasible solution to the problem.
By most estimates, earmarks accounted for approximately $16 billion in 2007. Even if they are completely eliminated, which is highly unlikely, the effect on the deficit would be the equivalent of spitting in the ocean and hoping to make the tide rise.

Cutting spending is a similar situation. It is a familiar campaign promise by Republicans, but the question is, what do you cut? Senator McCain is short on specifics.

The facts are that 80% of the federal budget is spent on three things–entitlements, defense, and interest on the debt. These three accounted for $2.3 trillion out of a $2.8 trillion budget in 2007. That means all discretionary spending totals $500 billion. These are dollars spent on things like education, transportation, veteran’s benefits, agriculture, science and technology, energy, and the environment.

So which of these does Senator McCain intend to eliminate? Again, no specifics have been given.

Since McCain is not going to reduce defense spending, to the contrary, he will more than likely increase it, and since interest payment on the debt is fixed, that leaves entitlements, specifically Social Security and Medicare.

These two make up 36% of total federal expenditures. To make any serious reduction in government spending, McCain would have to make drastic cuts in one or both. I haven’t heard that promise from his campaign, have you? Not likely you will, either.

1984?

09 Tuesday Sep 2008

Posted by Craig in Election 2008, McCain, Obama, Politics, Uncategorized

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1984, 2008, calendar, George Orwell

I had to check my calendar yesterday to make sure the year is still 2008. From all that’s going on in the world of presidential politics, I would have sworn it was 1984, George Orwell’s 1984. Let me explain.

The presidential candidate of the party that has held the White House for the last 8 years is now running as the candidate of “change.”

This same candidate, who has been in Washington, D.C. for 28 years, is portraying himself as the outsider who is going to change the way business is done in Washington.

His campaign is run almost exclusively by lobbyists, but yet he is going to tell the lobbyists to take a hike, that their days of influence in D.C. are over.

He runs as a candidate who will eliminate earmarks, who will veto any legislation that contains earmarks and “make famous” the authors of such legislation. Yet his running mate was the Governor of the state that received more earmark dollars per capita than any state in the Union.

He claims that he is a “maverick” who goes against his party, yet he has cast votes which support the president from that same party over 90% of the time.

He labels his opponent as an “elitist”, yet he owns so many homes he has lost count, and his wife spends $300,000 for a dress to wear to his party’s convention.

He calls his opponent a “flip-flopper”, yet he has changed his own position on virtually every major issue of the campaign in the last year.

He decries negative ads and says he wants to run a “respectful” campaign, yet he constantly attacks his opponent’s patriotism and love of country, even accusing his opponent of wanting to see his country lose a war just so he can win an election.

He himself was the victim of a smear campaign 8 years ago, yet he has hired the same people who ran that campaign against him to run his own campaign and smear his opponent.

He says he “hates war”, but within 3 months of 9/11 he was ready to expand the war on terror beyond Afghanistan, saying “Next stop, Baghdad.” He has also said he “doesn’t disagree” with reinstatement of a military draft, presumably to fight the “more wars” he has said are yet to come.

Here is how Orwell described what he called “doublethink”:

“The power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one’s mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them.”

Yup, yup, sounds like John McCain to me.

Maverick or Mimic, You Decide

07 Sunday Sep 2008

Posted by Craig in Election 2008, McCain, Obama, Politics

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No comment necessary, some things speak for themselves

But wait there’s more.

And that about wraps it up.

Jon Stewart Re-caps The RNC

07 Sunday Sep 2008

Posted by Craig in Election 2008, McCain, Obama, Politics, Uncategorized

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Jon Stewart, Republican Convention

Vodpod videos no longer available.

more about “Jon Stewart Wraps Up The RNC“, posted with vodpod

John McCain: Putting Himself First

05 Friday Sep 2008

Posted by Craig in Election 2008, McCain, Obama, Politics, Uncategorized

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20 years, generalities, McCain, president, Republican Convention, specifics, speech

Senator McCain’s acceptance speech last night was just about what I expected, judging from the theme of the other speakers at the Republican Convention. It was long on generalities and platitudes and short on specifics. It was a speech that could have been given by any Republican candidate for president in the last 20+ years.

Lower taxes, reduce spending, cut government programs, the usual suspects. He also found time to misrepresent Barack Obama’s proposals on taxes and health care, although he presented no health care plan of his own, and even get in an “anointed one” reference.

What McCain’s speech had plenty of was his autobiography. You know, the one he doesn’t like to talk about that much. For someone who claims that his experiences made him realize “I wasn’t my own man anymore, I was my country’s” and that he has been his country’s servant “first, last and always”, Senator McCain certainly spends a lot of time attracting attention to himself and his personal ordeal.

I would think that servant’s spirit might include a dose of humility, but then again I could be wrong.

Senator McCain also proclaimed his hatred for war, which is strange coming from the man who less than a month after 9/11 expressed his desire to take retaliation against Al-Qaeda beyond Afghanistan, and on January 2, 2002 said “Next up, Baghdad.”

McCain also continued his assertion that Obama would raise taxes, again leaving out the fact that it would only affect those making over $250,000 a year.

But he didn’t stop there, saying this:

“His plan will force small businesses to cut jobs, reduce wages, and force families into a government-run health care system where a bureaucrat stands between you and your doctor.”

To coin a McCain phrase, my friends, that is not a misrepresentation, that is a lie. Here is Obama’s health care plan. Someone please find for me where it says anything about forcing people into a government-run health care system. Remember the debate between Hillary and Obama over health care mandates? How her plan contained them and his didn’t?

Then there was this:

“I’m not running for president because I think I’m blessed with such personal greatness that history has anointed me to save our country in its hour of need.”

Another cheap shot, but not unexpected. No, Senator McCain is running for president because he wants to “serve a purpose greater than himself.” Hmmm, serve a purpose greater than yourself. That sounds to me like the job description of a community organizer. Nah, couldn’t be.

Finally, on the issue of “changing the way Washington works.” Refresh my memory, but hasn’t John McCain has been in Washington for nearly 30 years? Yet he talks like he has never even seen the place. He is going to suddenly reform something he has been hip-deep in for almost 3 decades. Does anybody see a contradiction there? But excuse me, who am I to question a former POW. Never mind.

Palin’s Speech: Sound and Fury, Signifying Nothing

04 Thursday Sep 2008

Posted by Craig in Election 2008, McCain, Obama, Politics, Uncategorized

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McCain, Palin, Republican Convention, speech, stump speech

Calm down Republicans, she’s only your VP nominee.

With all the gushing praise and the glowing reviews after Sarah Palin’s speech at the Republican Convention last night, one would have thought she was the presidential nominee and not John McCain. Home run, amazing, brilliant, fantastic, the pundits proclaimed. What it was to me was a typical Republican stump speech, with a little personalized biographical information thrown in for good measure.

I’ll give Governor Palin credit for this much, she was well-rehearsed, well-prepared, and well-scripted. She threw enough chum in the water for the Republican sharks on hand and in the television audience to feast on for days and weeks to come.

She repeated the falsehoods and misrepresentations about her record, recounted again for us John McCain’s ordeal in a North Vietnamese prison camp, and took the obligatory shots at Barack and Michelle Obama. Yawn. Same old, same old.

What Governor Palin also did was leave herself wide open for attacks from the Democrats on everything from her alleged status as a reformer during her time as Mayor of Podunk, Alaska, to her support/non-support of the Bridge To Nowhere, to the accusations that she abused her power, to her knowledge, or lack of same, on foreign and domestic policy.

In his remarks to the Convention on Tuesday, President Bush spoke of the “angry left.” What I saw on display last night was the angry right. From Huckabee to Giuliani to Palin, I heard constant attacks on Barack Obama’s lack of experience and his policy proposals. What I didn’t hear were GOP alternatives to those proposals.

Nothing about the economy, other than the tired old ‘Obama will raise your taxes’ line. Nothing about how to deal with our dependence on foreign oil, nothing about the worsening situation in Afghanistan, just a constant stream of one-liners and zingers aimed at Barack Obama.

So I’ll end where I began, calm down Republicans, your main man has yet to be heard from. After all the hubub over Palin’s speech, McCain’s may become anti-climactic. Palin is a base consolidator, nothing more, and this election is not going to be decided by the respective bases, but by the independents and undecideds.

And when those undecideds get beyond Palin’s rhetoric and take a look at her hard-line stance on some issues and her lack of knowledge on others, I believe they will come to the conclusion that she is completely unprepared to be the person a heartbeat away from the most powerful position in the world.

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