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June 21, 2008 at 5:22 am #618847
JanSParticipantI posted a link to an OP-Ed piece that was in the NYT…it’s on the most recent Obama thread…by David Brooks…fodder for thought on both sides?
June 21, 2008 at 3:59 pm #618848
KenParticipantMcCain built his own corner and backed himself into it. McCain-Feingold
http://www.fec.gov/pages/bcra/bcra_update.shtml
created the 527 loophole when it attempted to remove “soft money” from the electoral equation.
Earlier in the primary process, McCain was so low on funds he borrowed money
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/03/21/mccain_blows_by_public_spendin.html
using his campaign assets (mailing list), and took the free filing on each state ballot available to those who use the federal matching funds. His lawyers tried to say this did not “lock him in” to the matching funds system.
Since Bush has helpfully blocked filling the expired positions on the FEC (the entity which would have to approve the disbursement of campaign funds or rule on violations) by nominating a wingnut so egregious that the senate would not confirm him,
http://www.citizensforethics.org/node/31625
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/docs/spakovsky-letter/
There is currently no functioning quorum at the FEC to do any damn thing.
And with Republican fund raising anemic across the board,
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/06/15/house-republicans-short-o_n_107205.html
McCain has to pretend that the Opt in for the general is really ,really because he wanted to. Not because he cannot raise enough money from the usual lobbyist, multinationals, and defense contractors. Or the fundies, culture-warriors, militias and Moonies.
Obama made the right choice and even some of the most tilted of the conservatives (Buchanan) agree that it would be the height of foolishness to abandon the biggest grass roots fundraising apparatus American politics has ever seen.
Also, those who have poor memories should prepare for Obama to run as far more of a centrist on many issues in the next few months in an attempt to deny oxygen to the flamethrowers on the right. He never was as “progressive” as many convinced themselves he would be, and will seem downright DINOish between now and the convention. This is strategy and tactics and is perfectly normal for this phase of a campaign. I am sure it will annoy me as much as anyone but you must keep your eyes on the prize.
The true meaning of life is to plant trees, under whose shade you do not expect to sit.
— Nelson Henderson
I would have liked a bit more fight on the FISA = gut the 4th amendment front but if we don’t get him in the white house, the only amendment left in the bill of rights will be the 2nd. Remember Supreme court appointments are for life
June 21, 2008 at 4:09 pm #618849
JanSParticipantanother slant on McCain….call it flip flop, call it going against your word…but call it something..McCain isn’t the perfect man some might think he is…
June 21, 2008 at 5:10 pm #618850
beachdrivegirlParticipantGreat post Ken. I enjoy your comments so much. Thank you.
JanS I will have to read the link. thanks.
June 21, 2008 at 5:12 pm #618851
charlabobParticipantthe bob and i were talking about the alleged Obama “flip flop” on campaign financing. (Full disclosure: I’ve always thought the current implementation of federal campaign finance reform is a farce–and that Feingold, whom I love, was snookered into something that appeared “googoo” when it was simply a ploy to disenfranchise unions.)
Bottom line: Obama should not have checked yes when he, clearly, meant no. In other words, he checked “yes, but”, when he knew the Repugs would not live up to the deal. Many of us who live in a world of nuance run into this daily–we expect someone to listen to the “but” clause: They won’t.
This issue won’t have legs — McCain doesn’t have a fin to flop on in any flip-flop derby; no one can compete with a guy who flips and flops in the same paragraph.
June 22, 2008 at 6:01 am #618852
JanSParticipantJune 25, 2008 at 5:09 am #618853
addParticipantOK, I haven’t read this whole long 17-page thread, but I just saw a brief clip of McCain on a local news channel – talking about the “energy” issue – and he was READING FROM HIS SCRIPT the whole time! Not even looking up when he turned the page! I couldn’t even try to listen to what he was saying, it was such a turnoff. Even if you have your “schpeil” memorized, at least delivering it without notes sends a different message. Sheesh.
June 25, 2008 at 4:50 pm #618854
walfredoMemberadd- It is pretty hard to make a compelling argument that McCain is anything but a terrible public speaker. He either “wings” it, and makes gaffe after gaffe after gaffe, or he reads directly off a teleprompter with a lime green screen behind him in a strange nasally voice. A good analogy is the Division III football champs are then told they have to play the New York Giants for the real championship- can you say overmatched???
Now, substance should win over style on something this important… But when you start getting into the substance of his ideas and policies it just gets worse him. $300 million dollar reward for the first person to build a battery? No money for research? 100-years in Iraq? It’s not going too well for him so far. Two polls already have him down 15 points in the general election (LA Times, and Newsweek).
June 25, 2008 at 5:33 pm #618855
TrickParticipantI’m still stumped why he gets the softball treatment over some of his remarks and policies, when Obama is dissected like a High School biology class.
June 25, 2008 at 5:56 pm #618856
charlabobParticipantAs a former and hope-to-be-again journalist, it pains me to admit this: He gets the softball treatment because he has sucked up to the national media forever. He takes them on the bus, talks to them, even feeds them barbecue. I do believe everyone has hir price, but I’m appalled at how low that price is for the media.
They did the same thing with Huckabee — he was charming, funny, friendly, and crazy as a bat. The first three trumped the latter and, fortunately, the voters caught on and didn’t elect him.
The good news is Mayhill Fowler (the famous citizen blogger from Huffington Post) is going to be following McCain around at least for the summer. (I have inside information.) Any balls she finds are not soft and not tossed.
June 25, 2008 at 11:25 pm #618857
walfredoMemberIt is pretty sad to me how deeply petty the MSM seems to be. It is pathetic that someones viewpoint and stories on substantive issues is clouded by access and barbecue, but it clearly is.
One of the most telling examples I found, was when Obama and Clinton had there private meeting. In every blurb about the event, no matter how short, the press was sure to mention that they were “lied” to and “tricked” about the event, and then later about the whereabouts.
Seriously folks, it was a private meeting, where the press was not invited to attend. If you tell them about it, they would then show up, and it wouldn’t work. Isn’t the main story that the two candidates chose to get together and have a private meeting? Isn’t that what impacts people? Does anyone give a crap what they had to do to pull off the private meeting? Get over yourselves, you aren’t the story.
June 25, 2008 at 11:40 pm #618858
elgregoMemberI agree, Walfredo. I long ago stopped watching TV news when I realized that stories about celebrities were getting more airtime (vastly more, in many cases) than serious news.
You could watch CNN Headline News or Fox News and find out what drugs Britney Spears was on or who was sleeping with who in Hollywood ad nauseum, but any news from the world, from Iraq or from Afghanistan might be lucky to get about 10 seconds of airtime. I found it thoroughly disgusting.
Another thing that irritates me about the MSM is when they say that Afghanistan is the forgotten war (for the record, I’m probably going to Afghanistan next year). Does it ever dawn on anybody that, as the MSM, if anybody has forgotten about Afghanistan it’s due in large part to their own lack of reporting?
I listen to NPR exclusively for my broadcast news now. I’m politically moderate, and they’re the most even handed news I’ve been able to find, and spend more than ten seconds on news stories.
July 8, 2008 at 6:54 am #618859
DeenoMemberWas just reading through some of these for the first time tonight and thought I would respond to one in particular (New Resident post # 422), even though it was posted a while back. Pardon me if anyone has referred to this link before, didn’t have time to read all the posts, but for those who are perhaps looking for a skeleton or two in McCain’s closet, check this out. Note in the right column, there are lots of others as well. I haven’t seen anything about this in any media other than ‘You Tube’ and ‘Vietnam Vets against McCain.’ Note that every elected person talking here is a Republican. I came across this several months ago when googling McCain/POW-MIA and it was an immediate result.
July 8, 2008 at 2:25 pm #618860
KenParticipantFrom the archives…
I will clean this up a bit when I get time. Some of the links are not the best or may have died. But the RNC has already decided that the “flip flop” meme can be recycled for their base and those “low information” voters that gave us Bushies second term can be swayed to do the same for the “third” term with the help of the corporate media.
Fibber McCain keeps on flippin..
If you think Obama is moving to the right for the general election, Check out these McNuggets McCain keeps banging off the right field foul post. Aren’t you supposed to have your base sewed up by the time you’re the nominee?
Signing of the GI Bill: Now enthusiastically for it… after it passed. Previously attacked the Webb Bill. Didn’t even bother to vote on it.
http://bravenewfilms.org/blog/43326-mccain-flip-flops-on-the-gi-bill
Campaign reform: On political reform, McCain last January opposed a grassroots lobbying bill he once supported. In 2006, the “New York Sun” reported that his presidential ambitions led McCain to reverse his support of a campaign financial bill called McCain/Feingold.
http://www.nysun.com/national/campaign-finance-effort-resumes-without-mccain/36949/
Alien Minors Act/Immigration: Last October he said he would vote against the development, relief and education for Alien Miners Act that he co-sponsored, and then said he would vote against an immigration bill that he introduced.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEeJry0rAT8&feature=related
Gay Marriage: In 2006, he said on “HARDBALL,” quote, I think that gay marriage should be allowed. Then after the commercial break he added, I do not believe that gay marriages should be legal.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEeJry0rAT8&feature=related
Abortion: On abortion, 1999, publicly supporting Roe v. Wade, privately opposing it in a letter to the National Right to Life Committee. In the 2000 debates, he would change the GOP platform to permit exceptions for rape, incest, the life of the mother. May 2007, “flipped”, ABCNews.com reported.
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/Vote2008/story?id=4824779
Nuclear Waste: No Storing Nuclear waste at Yucca mountain earlier..now flipped
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2008/may/28/mccains-about-face-yucca/
Negotiating with Kim Jong-Il: Negotiating with Kim Jong-Il not acceptable until President Bush did it last week.
Negotiating with Cuba/Castro: With Fidel Castro acceptable in 2000, not 2008.
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&VideoID=34637546
Negotiating with Hamas/Terrorists: …with terrorists appropriate when Colin Powell went to Syria and in 2006 when McCain said sooner or later we‘ll talk to Hamas, but not appropriate now re: Obama’s willingness to use diplomacy.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/05/15/exclusive-video-mccain-wa_n_102031.html
Pakistan: Unilateral action against suspected terrorists in Pakistan; “Confused leadership” when Obama suggested it, not when Bush did it.
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/02/20/mccain-blasts-obama-for-bushs-attacks-in-pakistan/
Warrantless Wire-taps: Six months ago, presidents had to obey the law, not anymore.
Torture: Torture detainees, no way, except for the CIA. Hold them indefinitely, wrong in 2003, the right move in 2008.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWJXvWNoRwM
http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1729891,00.html
Iraq War: The Iraq war, the right course 2004, stay the course 2005. Today, McCain has always been a Rumsfeld critic.
http://thinkprogress.org/2007/01/04/mccain-iraq-easy/
Tax Cuts: In 2001, he could not in good conscious support them. Now he can.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYsKiA3Myyw
Estate Tax: 2006, “I agree with President Roosevelt who created it”. In 2008, “most unfair”.
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/06/12/mccain-realizes-he-doesnt-like-the-estate-tax-after-all/
Privatizing Social Security: This month not for privatizing Social Security, never has been. In 2004, he “didn‘t see how benefits will last without it”.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FyBwMy27Aoc
Balanced Budget: In February, promised a balanced budget in four years by April, make that eight years.
http://www.perrspectives.com/blog/archives/001101.htm
Windfall Profits Tax: In May, glad to look at the windfall profits tax. By June, that was Jimmy Carter’s big idea.
http://flipfloptracker.blogspot.com/2008/06/flip-flop-express-windfall-profits-tax.html
Offshore Drilling: In 2000, no new off shore drilling. Last month, it would take years to develop. This month, very helpful in the short term.
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/06/17/mccain-flip-flops-on-offshore-drilling-moratorium/
Coyotes..Bush Big Time Fund Raisers: The Bush fund-raisers McCain called coyotes breaking the law in 2000. By 2006, they were co-chairing McCain fund-raisers.
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=1880630&page=1
“Agents of Intolerance”: Buddy Jerry Falwell…an “agent of intolerance in 2000”. Kissed Falwell’s ass in 2007… The Reverend Hagee and Parsley in, then out this year alone.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbrejLsixwk
Martin Luther King Holiday: In 1983, opposed Martin Luther King Day. Today, all for it.
http://www.boston.com/news/politics/politicalintelligence/2008/04/mccain_admits_e.html
Confederate Flag: In 2000, defended South Carolina’s confederate flag as a symbol of heritage. Two years later, McCain calling it, quote, an act of political cowardice not to say the flag should come down. Quote, “everybody said, look out. You can’t win in South Carolina if you say that.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WN8EMmML-es
Evolution in Public Schools: In 2005, McCain said alternatives to evolution should be taught in school. “Evolving” the opposite position he had taken in 2000.
http://thinkprogress.org/2007/02/12/mccain-creationism/
Restoring the Everglades: On June 5, John McCain traveled to the Everglades to win over Floridians and environmentally-minded voters. There he proclaimed, “I am in favor of doing whatever’s necessary to save the Everglades.” Sadly, as ThinkProgress documented, McCain not only opposed $2 billion in funding for the restoration of the Everglades national park, he backed President Bush’s veto of the legislation in 2007. “I believe,” he said, “that we should be passing a bill that will authorize legitimate, needed projects without sacrificing fiscal responsibility.”
http://www.crooksandliars.com/…
Swiftboating: McCain’s sudden embrace of Swiftboating — which today is synonymous with a concerted effort to lie about an opponent’s history — is all the more deplorable because he has hired retired Col. George “Bud” Day, a proud member of the group that Swiftboated Kerry — and someone McCain once described as having “tunnel vision” — to lead what McCain is calling his “Truth Squad.”
http://digg.com/2008_us_elections/John_McCain_flip_flops_on_Swift_Boaters
GITMO/Habeus Corpus:Despite John McCain’s outrage last week that the Supreme Court ordered Gitmo detainees know why they were being held, or released — Political Base has stumbled upon a McCain appearance on Meet the Press in 2005 where he argued they deserved trials, going so far as to say “if it means releasing some of them, you’ll have to release them.” Shameless.
http://www.politicalbase.com/profile/Mark%20Nickolas/blog/&blogId=2598
Divestment from South Africa: During his June 2 speech to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), John McCain called for the international community to target Iran for the kind of worldwide sanctions regime applied to apartheid-era South Africa. Unfortunately, McCain’s lobbyist-advisers Charlie Black and Rick Davis each represented firms doing business with Tehran. Even more unfortunate, John McCain was frequently not among those offering “moral clarity and conviction” in backing “a divestment campaign against South Africa, helping to rid that nation of the evil of apartheid.”
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/06/04/mccain-divestment/
Opposing Hurricane Katrina Investigations: During a June 4th town hall meeting in Baton Rouge, John McCain answered a reporter’s question regarding Hurricane Katrina and the failure of the New Orleans levees by announcing:
“I’ve supported every investigation and ways of finding out what caused the tragedy. I’ve been here to New Orleans. I’ve met with people on the ground.”
As it turns out, not so much. McCain’s revisionist history neglects to mention that in 2005 and 2006 he twice voted against a commission to study the government’s response to Katrina. He also opposed three separate emergency funding measures providing relief to Katrina victims, including the extension of five months of Medicaid benefits. And as ThinkProgress pointed out, “until traveling there one month ago, McCain had made just one public tour of New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina touched down in August 2005.”
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/06/04/mccain-katrina/
McCain On His Economic Abilities: “I have not. I have not. Actually, I have not.” “I said that I am stronger on national security issues because of all the time I spent in the military and others. I am very strong on the economy. I understand it. I have a lot more experience than my opponent.”
— Sen. John McCain, in an interview on ABC News, when asked why he “admitted that you’re not exactly an expert when it comes to the economy.”
However, NBC News compiles past McCain quotes in which he said “The issue of economics is not something I’ve understood as well as I should” or “I’m going to be honest: I know a lot less about economics than I do about military and foreign policy issues. I still need to be educated.”
http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/07/02/1179920.aspx
On Criticizing Obama While “Overseas”: Traveling in Colombia, he told reporters that he wouldn’t criticize Obama while he was overseas, but on the plane, he blasted Obama’s opposition to the proposed Colombia free trade…
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2008/07/mccain-in-colom.html
UPDATES from KOSsacks:
Temperment and Temper: “My temper has often been both a matter of public speculation and personal concern,” he wrote in a 2002 memoir. “I have a temper, to state the obvious, which I have tried to control with varying degrees of success because it does not always serve my interest or the public’s.” Not true and not under control, according to many of those on the “W”rong side of McCain’s famous temper.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/19/AR2008041902224.html
Drilling For Oil and Automobile Efficiency: “Last week, Senator McCain reversed himself and said we need to drill more. Today, he has reversed years of failing to support more efficient cars, new energy technologies and green jobs.
http://www.speaker.gov/blog/?p=1400
Offshore Drilling: Two weeks ago, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) offered “a bit of a capitulation to the oil companies” by announcing that he would end the federal ban on offshore oil drilling. Not only is McCain’s move a break with environmental activist, but it is also “a reversal of the position he took in his 2000 presidential campaign.
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/06/17/mccain-flip-flops-on-offshore-drilling-moratorium/
Payroll Taxes: “When he was asked in 2005 whether he could see himself lifting the cap on the payroll tax, (McCain) said, ‘I could.’ Two years later, during a May 13, 2007, appearance on “Meet the Press,” Russert asked McCain if he was still open to lifting the Social Security tax cap as part of a compromise. “Am I opposed to tax increases?” said McCain. “Yes. But we’ve got to sit down together and figure out what our options are, and tough decisions have to be made, Republicans and Democrats. And I know how to do that.” Asked about the 2005 remark, a McCain spokesman acknowledged the tension with his current position while arguing that the Arizona senator’s criticism of his Democratic rival is still valid because McCain has spoken out against higher Social Security taxes as a 2008 White House hopeful.
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2008/06/mccain-backtrac.html
Ethics Reform and Abramoff: On the stump, Sen. John McCain often cites his work tackling the excesses of disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff as evidence of his sturdy ethical compass. A little-known document, however, shows that McCain may have taken steps to protect his Republican colleagues from the scope of his investigation.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/02/25/mccain-withheld-controver_n_88304.html
http://digg.com/2008_us_elections/McCain_humps_for_Doolittle_Pombo_and_the_Abramoff_gang
July 8, 2008 at 2:49 pm #618861
JoBParticipantthank you Ken for all of your hard work…
i hope you have saved that to a file for future use ;->
July 8, 2008 at 3:00 pm #618862
AnonymousInactiveReally makes you wonder what people believe in when they say they’re FOR John McCain. Apparently it’s enough for them to be for any Republican. Never mind where he stands on the issues. I’m disappointed in the lack of concern by both individuals and the media.
July 8, 2008 at 3:45 pm #618863
JoBParticipantJT…
and for some real irony…
he is on the list of elected officials at Main Street America.. the site for supposedly progressive Republicans..
along with Norm Coleman from Minnesota and ……. from Oregon.
Having lived close up and personal with both of them.. the only thing progressive about them is their rhetoric… and their desire to enrich big business…
and our “blue dogs” aren’t much better.. if at all:(
if that is the center.. we are in big trouble.
July 10, 2008 at 5:38 am #618864
charlabobParticipantMcCain was confronted by a fellow Vietnam Vet at a town meeting today. The vet questioned McCain’s record of consistently voting AGAINST veterans’ issues. McCain said, “I have 100 percent support from every veterans’ organization.” He doesn’t. He lies.
The questioner knew McCain’s voting record and his reputation with vet organizations. He was armed with (not faaaaiiirrr, they whine) facts!McCain’s final line? “Well, I look forward to looking at your version of my voting record.” I’m sorry…the guy is going to implode. Yea’s and Nay’s are pretty black and white — not a lot of nuance there.
July 10, 2008 at 2:34 pm #618865
JoBParticipantMcCain learned form the Bush administration…
if you keep telling a lie long enough it is accepted as the truth.. in spite of evidence to the contrary…
July 10, 2008 at 4:41 pm #618866
ErikParticipant“TELL A LIE ENOUGH TIMES AND IT BECOMES THE TRUTH.”
Joseph Goebbels, Hitler’s propaganda director
July 10, 2008 at 5:35 pm #618867
KenParticipantFor your reference shelf/bookmarks
Nazi and East German Propaganda Guide Page
http://www.calvin.edu/academic/cas/gpa/
“Ya can’t tell the players without a program”
In a report from the 1940s, the U.S. Office of Strategic Studies defined Goebbels’ propaganda technique and the imprint it left on the German people:
“Never allow the public to cool off; never admit a fault or wrong; never concede that there may be some good in your enemy; never leave room for alternatives; and never accept blame.
Concentrate on one enemy at a time, and blame him for everything that goes wrong; People will believe a big lie sooner than a little one — and if you repeat it often enough, people will sooner or later believe it.”
“See, in my line of work you got to keep repeating things over and over and over again for the truth to sink in, to kind of catapult the propaganda.” — Bush in Greece, New York,
July 10, 2008 at 5:46 pm #618868
JoBParticipantRepublicans aren’t Nazis..
but the current crop are following the policies of extreme nationalism…
as did the Nazis.
Their example led to the worst kind of excess.. but it should also be a lesson to us all to be very careful treading this ground.
but then.. Ken already covered those dangers very eloquently.
July 10, 2008 at 5:58 pm #618869
KenParticipantPatriotism is when love of your own people comes first; nationalism, when hate for people other than your own comes first.
–Charles De Gaulle
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