Category Archives: McCain

No BOP for Palin’s Mouth?

24 Monday May 2010

Posted by in Deepwater Horizon, Gulf Oil Spill, McCain, Politics, Sarah Palin

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If there is an afterlife, where the deeds done during one’s time on earth are the basis for either reward or punishment, I wouldn’t want to be one John Sidney McCain. His payment for unleashing upon an unsuspecting country the natural disaster known as Sarah Palin will surely be severe, and deservedly so.

To use a comparison to another ongoing national tragedy, Sen. McCain drilled a well in a remote area without any means of shutting off the flow if the worst-case scenario occurred. As is the case in the Gulf of Mexico, the blowout preventer on Palin’s mouth is broken and her ignorance will apparently continue to gush out and pollute our airwaves for years to come.

The latest from the egomaniacal, self-serving, self-aggrandizing, money-grubbing, ‘it’s all about me,’ funeral crashing, camera hound, that is the former half-term Governor of Alaska. The Deepwater Horizon of politics:

“Kentucky Senate candidate Rand Paul is feeling what it is like to be Sarah Palin, the former Republican vice presidential candidate said Sunday, comparing the media’s preoccupation with Paul’s recent statements about the 1964 Civil Rights Act to her own treatment in the press.

Palin said that Paul is seeing firsthand how “gotcha” politics work after the libertarian-leaning Republican spent days on defense spelling out his support for the Civil Rights Act and the government’s role in regulating how private businesses can deal with their customers.

“One thing that we can learn in this lesson that I have learned and Rand Paul is learning now is don’t assume that you can engage in a hypothetical discussion about constitutional impacts with a reporter or a media personality who has an agenda, who may be prejudiced before they even get into the interview in regards to what your answer may be — and then the opportunity that they seize to get you,” Palin told “Fox News Sunday.”

First of all Sarah, I doubt you can spell hypothetical, much less have an iota of an inkling of a clue as to what it means. Stick to simple words for simple minds please. Stuff like ‘You betcha’ and ‘drill, baby, drill.’

Moreover, Rand Paul and Sarah Palin are two of a kind. Whether it’s Paul spouting his views of a make-believe libertarian utopia to his Ayn Rand inspired followers, or Palin in her Tea Party cocoon where dim-witted crowds lap up her inane babblings, both seem to take offense, and run away, when asked to explain and defend their statements. Or in Palin’s case, when confronted with a tough, ruthless, agenda-driven, prejudiced interviewer like Katie Couric, and asked those “gotcha” questions like what newspapers do you read or name a Supreme Court decision.

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Senate Votes on Financial Regulation Amendments

12 Wednesday May 2010

Posted by in bailout, Congress, Democrats, economy, financial reform, financial regulation, lobbyists, McCain, Politics, Progressives, too big to fail, Wall Street

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Any time anything passes in the Senate by a vote of 96–0 I’m suspicious. Those numbers are usually reserved for meaningless proclamations declaring ‘National Be Kind to Puppies and Kitties Day.’ But such a vote took place yesterday on Sen. Bernie Sanders’ amendment to audit the Federal Reserve.

Sanders’ original amendment would have required the Fed to submit to regular audits, but the watered-down version passed yesterday is for a one-time audit with a specific scope and time frame. This only adds to my suspicion that the newer version is more than likely toothless:

“A Fed spokeswoman declined to comment on the Senate action, but Fed leaders, who previously have objected to broader efforts to review monetary policy, have not opposed the most recent version of Sanders’s proposal.”

A more accurate gauge of where the Senate stands on REAL financial reform can be found in other amendments taken up yesterday, like the one proposed by David Vitter which called for the stronger provisions contained in Sanders’ original proposal. It was voted down 62 to 37 with only 6 Democrats voting “Yea”—Cantwell, Dorgan, Feingold, Lincoln, Webb, and Wyden.

Another amendment, proposed by Sen. McCain, called for a time frame for winding down and eventually ending the government’s conservatorship of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. That failed by a vote of 56 to 43 with only 2 Democrats–Bayh and Feingold–voting “Yea.” An alternative to the McCain amendment, proposed by Chris Dodd, called for “the Secretary of the Treasury to conduct a study on ending the conservatorship of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.” That passed by a margin of 63–36. Russ Feingold (I detect a pattern here) was the lone Democrat voting “Nay.”

Credit where credit is due, Sen. Shelby is right on the money (so to speak):

“Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae were at the heart of the financial crisis,” Shelby said Tuesday. “How we can have basic regulatory reform, financial reform, if we’re not going to include Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac?”

Also set for a vote this week is Sen. Lincoln’s amendment which would place strong restrictions on derivative trading. Needless to say, Wall Street is going all out to kill this:

“…the five [largest] banks together have mustered more than 130 registered lobbyists, including 40 former Senate staff members and one retired senator, Trent Lott. The list includes former staff members for the Senate majority and minority leaders, the chairmen and ranking members of the banking and finance committees, and more than 15 other senators. In the first quarter, the banks spent $6.1 million on lobbying.”

Why are the banksters fighting so hard to stop it? Follow the money:

“The change could cost the industry a lot of money. Banks reported $22.6 billion in derivatives revenue in 2009..”

McCain: Miranda Rights for U.S. Citizens a “Serious Mistake”

04 Tuesday May 2010

Posted by in Bill of Rights, Dick Cheney, McCain, Politics, Republicans, war on terror

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John McCain has taken the baton from Dick Cheney as drum major in the crazy parade. McCain said today it would have been a “serious mistake” to read the suspect arrested in connection with the May 1 attempted Times Square bombing his Miranda rights.

“Obviously that would be a serious mistake…at least until we find out as much information we have,” McCain said during an appearance on “Imus in the Morning” when asked whether the suspect, 30-year-old Faisal Shahzad, a naturalized American citizen from Pakistan.

“Don’t give this guy his Miranda rights until we find out what it’s all about,” McCain added.”

Sen. McCain, I know the suspect doesn’t have a good old ‘Murrican name like John, or Cindy…or even Sarah, but he is a United States citizen and he is entitled to Constitutional rights.

Scott Lemieux at Lawyers, Guns, and Money asks this:

“Did John McCain strenuously object when Scott Roeder was read his Miranda rights?   If not, I wonder what criteria McCain is using to determine which American terrorists are entitled to their constitutional rights and which aren’t?”

But the Arizona Senator didn’t stop there. He’s already assessed the death penalty—despite not knowing the charges:

“There’s probably about 350 different charges he’s guilty off — attempted acts of terror against the united States, attempted murder,” said McCain, cautioning that he’s not privy to the charges with which Shahzad might be charged. “I’m sure there’s a significant number to warrant the death penalty.”

And not to be outdone, New York Rep. Peter King also questioned the Justice Department with this:

“Did they Mirandize him? I know he’s an American citizen but still,” King said.”

I’ll leave it to your imagination what Rep. King was thinking but left unsaid.

Good Advice For Senator McCain: “Be Quiet”

24 Wednesday Jun 2009

Posted by in McCain, Obama, Politics, Uncategorized

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TIME’s Joe Klein had some good advice for John McCain in an appearance on Larry King Live Tuesday night. Advice that also applies to Lindsey Graham, Fred Thompson and the rest of the Republican chorus of bluster and bravado urging President Obama to “do more” about the situation in Iran.

“Be quiet.”

Whatever happened to “politics stops at the waters edge?” I recall not too long ago Republicans saying that criticizing the President’s foreign policy in a time of war amounted to treason. Does that only apply when a Republican is in the Oval Office? Apparently so.

Klein added:

“You don’t need to do this…. What you’re doing is a self-indulgence at this point. Senator McCain, if he’s going to talk about this, should also talk about the fact that the United States supported Saddam Hussein in the Iran/Iraq war for eight years. Every one of those protesters out in the streets, every last one of them believes the United States supplied Saddam Hussein with the poison gas that has debilitated tens of thousands of Iranian men…. They blame us for identifying them as part of the Axis of Evil, with two countries that they disdain, the Iraqis and the North Koreans.”

To go back even further, Iranians also know that it was our CIA who overthrew their democratically elected government in 1953 and put the Shah in power. It was also American presidents who supported the Shah for the next 26 years while his secret police brutalized and terrorized the Iranian people leading up to the 1979 revolution.

And try as McCain might to make the situation in Iran analogous to Hungary in 1956, Czechoslovakia in 1968, and the fall of the Soviet Union, it just isn’t the same.

“Obama’s shades-of-gray approach rejects comparison to an era when Communist bloc dissidents had virtually no access to the Western media and the world was more neatly divided between a pair of superpowers, not complicated by the set of ambitious regional powers such as Iran that the Obama administration is seeking to manage.”

The day following his remarks on Larry King, Klein posted this at Swampland:

“I’ve been receiving a steady stream of favorable emails from Iranian-Americans regarding my appearance on Larry King last night. They’re delighted that I made it clear that Iran is different from the other countries in the region–better educated, more sophisticated, with far greater rights for women (although not nearly enough). And they also appreciated the fact that when King asked me what John McCain should do right now, I said, “Be quiet.”

I have yet to hear what possible good it would do for the President of the United States to encourage the protesters, except to give the Iranian regime a better excuse for killing more of them. McCain’s bleatings are either for domestic political consumption or self-satisfaction, a form of hip-shooting that demonstrates why he would have been a foreign policy disaster had he been elected.

To put it as simply as possible, McCain–and his cohorts–are trying to score political points against the President in the midst of an international crisis. It is the sort of behavior that Republicans routinely call “unpatriotic” when Democrats are doing it. I would never question John McCain’s patriotism, no matter how misguided his sense of the country’s best interests sometimes seems. His behavior has nothing to do with love of country; it has everything to do with love of self.”

I have some advice of my own for Sen. McCain and his cohorts, join Governor Sanford on the Appalachian Trail. In other words, take a hike.

President Obama’s Iran Policy is the Right One

17 Wednesday Jun 2009

Posted by in McCain, Obama, Politics, Uncategorized

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Proving that they have learned absolutely nothing from our experience in Iraq, the neo-conservative interventionists, led by former Republican presidential candidate, Mr. Bomb, Bomb Iran himself, Senator John McCain, are beginning the drumbeat of “do something” following the fraudulent Iranian election.

And naturally the cries of “weak” and “appeaser” in reference to President Obama and his non-interventionist policy are also being heard.

Mitt Romney saying:

“It’s very clear that the president’s policies of going around the world and apologizing for America aren’t working. … Look, just sweet talk and criticizing America is not going to enhance freedom in the world.”

Noted neo-con and former presidential advisor Richard Perle:

“Normally, when you unclench your fist it benefits the hardliners, because Obama appeared to be saying we can do business with you even with your present policies.”

Frank (the president is a closet Muslim) Gaffney:

“It underscores the folly of the president’s basic premise that the problem we have with bad actors around the world is that they don’t understand us. These people are thugs and they have been emboldened by our weakness.”

But President Obama’s course of action is exactly the right one. The Wonk Room explains it best:

“Were the U.S to clumsily wade into this Iranian political crisis, as McCain would have us do, it would support Ahmadinejad’s main arguments against his domestic opponents, and likely provide the perfect pretext for a more intense crackdown. In other words, the preferences of hardliners in Iran and the U.S. are pretty closely aligned here.

As with McCain’s impetuous response to the Georgia crisis last summer, his first reaction to the events in Iran is condemnation and a call to “act.” Fortunately, we have an administration in power that understands that knowing when not to act is as strategically important as knowing when to do so, and that the most productive thing the United States can do for Iran’s reform movement -and human rights- at the moment is to keep itself, to the extent possible, out of the equation.”

Read the words of another well-known “appeaser” and “apologist” and tell me if his views on foreign policy more closely resemble those of President Obama or Senator McCain.

“Observe good faith and justice towards all Nations; cultivate peace and harmony with all. In the execution of such a plan, nothing is more essential, than that permanent, inveterate antipathies against particular Nations, and passionate attachments for others, should be excluded; and that, in place of them, just and amicable feelings towards all should be cultivated.

The Nation, which indulges towards another an habitual hatred, or an habitual fondness, is in some degree a slave. It is a slave to its animosity or to its affection, either of which is sufficient to lead it astray from its duty and its interest.

The Nation, prompted by ill-will and resentment, sometimes impels to war the Government, contrary to the best calculations of policy. The Government sometimes participates in the national propensity, and adopts through passion what reason would reject; at other times, it makes the animosity of the nation subservient to projects of hostility instigated by pride, ambition, and other sinister and pernicious motives.

Harmony, liberal intercourse with all nations, are recommended by policy, humanity, and interest.”

George Washington’s Farewell Address, September 17,1796.

The President and the Teleprompter

26 Thursday Mar 2009

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

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A recurring theme among the detractors of President Obama has been his reliance on a teleprompter. Anyone who spends time on the internet has seen it on an almost daily basis.

In the minds of some this apparently is an indicator of a lack of intelligence, as ridiculous as that is when speaking about a Harvard graduate, editor of The Law Review, and author of 2 books.

One of the bloggers on the far-right, John Hinderaker, who writes for Power Line, said this about a recent speech by President Obama in which he mis-pronounced the word “Orion.”

“Everyone knows that Barack Obama is lost without his teleprompter, but his latest blunder, courtesy of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, via the Corner, suggests that the teleprompter may not be enough unless it includes phonetic spellings.

So evidently we have to add astronomy to history and economics as subjects of which Obama is remarkably ignorant. I’m beginning to fear that our President has below-average knowledge of the world. Not for a President, but for a middle-aged American.”

 

Just as a point of reference, this is the same Mr. Hinderaker who wrote this shortly after last year’s election:

“Obama thinks he is a good talker, but he is often undisciplined when he speaks. He needs to understand that as President, his words will be scrutinized and will have impact whether he intends it or not. In this regard, President Bush is an excellent model; Obama should take a lesson from his example. Bush never gets sloppy when he is speaking publicly. He chooses his words with care and precision, which is why his style sometimes seems halting. In the eight years he has been President, it is remarkable how few gaffes or verbal blunders he has committed. If Obama doesn’t raise his standards, he will exceed Bush’s total before he is inaugurated.”

 

But you know, the more I think about it, the more I tend to agree with Hinderaker and others. Only a complete idiot would have to rely on a teleprompter when speaking to the country. Right, Senator McCain?

 mccaitele

 

Right, Governor Palin?

 palintele

 

Right, Sean?

hannitytele 

 

Oh no, say it ain’t so.

 reaganteleprompter

 

Oh well, I guess it’s back to the birth certificate nonsense.

So Much For Bi-Partisanship

16 Sunday Nov 2008

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

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Something that was kind of overlooked in the aftermath of the presidential election were remarks made by Senator John Kyl, Republican from Arizona and the second highest ranking Republican in the United States Senate. His words say a lot about the GOP strategy going forward, and here’s a clue: It ain’t bi-partisanship.

Kyl said this to the Federalist Society on November 8, four days after the election:

“Jon Kyl, the second-ranking Republican in the U.S. Senate, warned president-elect Barack Obama that he would filibuster U.S. Supreme Court appointments if those nominees were too liberal.

Kyl, Arizona’s junior senator, expects Obama to appoint judges in the mold of U.S Supreme Court Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, David Souter and Stephen Breyer. Those justices take a liberal view on cases related to social, law and order and business issues, Kyl said.

“He believes in justices that have empathy,” said Kyl, speaking at a Federalist Society meeting in Phoenix. The attorneys group promotes conservative legal principles.

Kyl said if Obama goes with empathetic judges who do not base their decisions on the rule of law and legal precedents but instead the factors in each case, he would try to block those picks via filibuster.”

First Senator Kyl, a little Constitutional lesson for you. The president does not appoint Supreme Court justices, he nominates them and the Senate confirms or rejects the nomination. Just a minor detail.

Secondly, David Souter? Excuse me Senator Kyl, are you aware of who nominated Justice Souter? It was that radical, left-wing, extremist, George H. W. Bush.

Third, and the thing that struck me, is the last sentence of Kyl’s remarks. Senator Kyl would filibuster any judges who base their decisions on the factors of the case?

What the…??

One more thing for Senator Kyl to consider is this:

According to CNN exit polls, those who claimed that the Supreme Court was a factor in their decision in the presidential election, broke for Obama 53-45% and voters who called future Supreme Court appointments the most important factor went for Obama even more strongly– 57 to 41%.

How Will President Obama Govern?

14 Friday Nov 2008

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

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There was much written and said during the recent presidential campaign about the supposed “mystery” surrounding now President-elect Barack Obama. Senator McCain and Governor Palin, along with the Republican Party spokespersons and their allies on talk-radio, often raised the question, “Who is the real Barack Obama?”

Their contention was that his thin record as a United States Senator gave us no clue as to what kind of president he might be or how he might govern if elected. The right threw around buzz words like “the most liberal member of the Senate” and pointed to Obama’s “radical associations” in an attempt to portray him as a far-left ideologue who would carry that ideology into the Oval Office.

As is brought out in a post on today’s Moderate Voice, there is a much better guidepost to how President-elect Obama will govern than his time in the Senate, and that is his tenure as president/editor of the Harvard Law Review.

According to the post:
“The environment at Harvard during Obama’s matriculation was rife of protests and peaceful sit-ins of the Dean’s Office and other faculty. Divergent activist groups of blacks, Hispanics and others demanded more diversity among the composition of law professors.

In this divisive setting, Obama was selected to join The Harvard Review, the most prestigious publication of any law school in America. His peers elected him president/editor of the group his third and final year at Harvard.

Juan Zuniga (a law student one year behind Obama) said Obama’s emergence in the selection process was “a neutral, middle-ground, non-threatening, non-ideological candidate.”

His (Zuniga’s) impressions of Obama from friends on the Harvard Law Review and faculty were “that he was not perceived as an ideologue by those who knew him. Rather, he has an incredible facility to listen to other people, consider their positions, respect their positions when making a decision and then use his own intellect to reach his own conclusion. He draws talented and respectful people to himself. He makes responsible decisions based on merit and not ideological principles. It is very much worth noting that in many ways he keeps himself above the fray.

“While a bunch of us were out there trying to take over the Dean’s office, Barack was never a meaningful presence at any rallies. I have no doubt he believed we needed a more diverse faculty, but he also knew that the role he had as Editor in Chief of the Law Review meant he could accomplish so much by approaching his task with professionalism without raising an ideological torch and being a rabble rouser.”

I had my own skepticism about then Senator Obama at first. That was due mostly to listening to the characterizations of him in some of the media. But as I listened to him, I didn’t hear a strident, far-left ideologue, I saw what his fellow students at Harvard saw, a pragmatist, with reasonable solutions to the problems facing our country. And that is how I expect President Obama to govern beginning on January 20, 2009.

In Four Days We Can Send a Message

31 Friday Oct 2008

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

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Four more days, my fellow Americans, four more days. In four days we have a decision to make about the future of our country, and the choices are crystal clear. We can choose to continue the politics and policies of the past, or we can turn the page and begin a new chapter in American history. A chapter that is about unity instead of division, cooperation instead of partisanship, and about appealing to our better nature rather than our baser instincts.

We can put behind us forever the kind of political campaign that would send out mailers like this:

 

 

 

 

 

Or ads that seek to pit one race against the other, like this:

 

 

We have a chance to put this type of campaign on the ash heap of history and send the message to all who would use such tactics in the future that it will no longer be successful. We can let our future candidates for president know that it is no longer acceptable to label their opponent as “anti-American” or “socialist” or “communist” or say that they “pal around with terrorists.”

We can choose a president who sees the politics of divide and conquer as the failed strategy of the past. A president who can reach across all boundaries and begin to heal the divisions that have resulted from decades of that strategy. A president who wants America to be the land of opportunity for all Americans, not just for the rich and powerful few.

This president:

 

To quote a famous line, “If not us, who? If not now, when? We are the who, the when is now. We cannot afford to let this opportunity pass.

History Could Have Repeated Itself in Pittsburgh

25 Saturday Oct 2008

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

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Does anybody recognize the name Charles Stuart? How about Willie Bennett? Probably not. Here’s the story and how it relates to the events in Pittsburgh yesterday.

Charles Stuart and his wife Carol were driving home from childbirth classes in Boston on the night of October 23, 1989 when, according to a statement Stuart later gave the police, a black gunman forced his way into their car, robbed them, then shot Charles in the stomach and Carol in the head. Carol died that night and their baby died 17 days later.

Boston police searched for a suspect, based on the description given by Stuart, using what is known as the “stop and search” method. That is, they stopped every black man within a ten mile radius in hopes of catching the killer more quickly. This resulted in the arrest of Willie Bennett.

On December 28, Stuart picked Bennett out of a lineup and identified him as the assailant.

Fortunately, from there Stuart’s story began to unravel when his brother confessed that Stuart killed his own wife to collect on an insurance policy, and that Stuart shot himself to make the story more believable. Bennett was released and on January 4, 1990, Stuart committed suicide.

Ten years later, Willie Bennett was interviewed by the Boston Globe.

“Yesterday, in a rare interview, Bennett told the Globe the case still haunts him. He blames it for his mother’s premature death and frayed family ties. And he refuses to hide his frustration.

“I don’t trust anybody. I barely trust myself,” said Bennett, now 50. “The police falsely pinned a crime on me once and they can do it again.

“I have no faith in the law enforcement and I don’t like cops,” said Bennett. (Boston Globe, 4/6/2000.)

I said all that to say this. If the police in Pittsburgh had not quickly discovered the inconsistencies in the allegations made by the woman there yesterday, history could have very well repeated itself. Every 6 foot 4, 200 pound black man in Pittsburgh would have immediately become a suspect. Someone could have been falsely arrested and jailed, and harbored the same resentment toward police that Mr. Bennett still held 10 years later, and rightfully so.

The fact that some members of the media, specifically Matt Drudge and Fox News, were so quick to pick up this story and run with it before anything was confirmed, also should be alarming. Both, in my opinion, have discredited themselves as reputable news sources and both should have issued an apology for their actions.

The McCain communications director who gave the story to the local news media in Pittsburgh, and even went so far as to embellish some of the details, should either resign or be fired today.

This story had the possibility of consequences far beyond a political campaign. Let’s just all be thankful that it fell apart so quickly, before any of those possibilities became a reality.