McCain vs. NSA

John McCain: Keith Alexander Should Resign As NSA Head:

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) is calling on Keith Alexander to resign as director of the National Security Agency...

Is The Straight Talk Express Rolling Again?

John McCain With the Straight Talk To Fox News: Republicans Shut Down Government (Video):

John McCain got all “mavericky” when he went against Fox News protocol by appropriately blaming Republicans for the government shutdown, appearing to catch Fox News blonde bimbo host Martha MacCallum off-guard...

The Morality Of Hagel And McCain

Jim Wallis: John McCain's Theology of War Is Wrong

...Let me state some clear convictions from many of us in the faith community. The war in Vietnam was morally wrong. The war in Iraq was morally wrong. And John McCain has been morally wrong on both of them. Christian judgments of war should always run a narrow spectrum -- from the peacemaking ethic of Jesus, which rejects war to the just war theology of Augustine and Aquinas. But even in the just war tradition, conflicts have to pass a number of moral tests and be the option of "last resort." The burden of proof is always on those who support war to justify the taking of life...

Lying BFFs

McCain Flogs Supremes

McCain to Supremes: Corporations are NOT people | Strange Bedfellows — Politics News - seattlepi.com

Sen. John McCain used a TV appearance Friday to take out after the U.S. Supreme Court’s controversial 2010 Citizens United ruling, which removed all limits from campaign spending.  McCain criticized a $10 million donation to Mitt Romney’s “SuperPAC...”

Mitt Getting Chinese Funding

John McCain Helpfully Accuses Romney Campaign of Benefiting From Chinese Money -- Daily Intel

Lest We Forget: Leaking Edition

From jimbo123 @ White House Leak Inquiry Sought - The Daily Beast re: evil Democrats giving up government secrets:

jimbo123

35 Minutes Ago

yes of course, what in the world would make you think one is less than the other? 

Here's a list of a number of republican leaks and scandals throughout the Bush admim. Might interest you.

Philip Cooney – chief of staff, White House Council on Environmental Quality – a former oil industry lawyer with no scientific expertise, Cooney resigned after it was revealed he had watered down reports on global warming.

* George Deutsch – press aide, NASA – resigned amid allegations he prevented the agency’s top climate scientist from speaking publicly about global warming.

* Michael Elston – chief of staff to Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty – announced his resignation on June 15, 2007. Despite allegations that he’d threatened at least four of the eight fired US Attorneys, McNulty said Elston had served the Justice Department “with distinction for nearly eight years.”

* Kyle Dustin “Dusty” Foggo – appointed executive director of the CIA, the agency’s third-highest post, in October 2004 – resigned and was ultimately indicted on bribery charges related to the Duke Cunningham scandal.

* Alberto Gonzales – former Attorney General – resigned without explanation amidst investigations of the firings of U.S. Attorneys, the politicization of the Justice Department, warrantless surveillance, and the torture and mistreatment of detainees.

* Monica Goodling – former Justice Department liaison to the White House and senior counsel to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales – resigned on April 7, 2007 amidst the investigation of the firings of U.S. Attorneys.

* Michelle Larson Korsmo – deputy chief of staff, Department of Labor – Helped her husband (see John Korsmo, above) with his donor scam. Quietly left her Labor plum job in February 2004, about two weeks before news broke that she and her husband were the targets of a criminal probe.

* Howard “Cookie” Krongard – former State Department inspector general — accused of not properly investigating State Department contractor fraud in Iraq and Afghanistan; of retaliating against whistleblowers in his own office; and of not telling the truth about his knowledge of his brother’s ties with Blackwater, a State Department contractor. Faced with a possible perjury investigation, Howard Krongard resigned on December 7, 2007.

* Julie Macdonald – former deputy assistant secretary for fish, wildlife and parks at the Interior Department – resigned in May 2007 after an “inspector general’s report found she had improperly leaked information to private organizations, bullied staff scientists and broken federal rules.” The Department of the Interior is investigating many of her decisions regarding endangered species; so far seven have been overturned.

* Paul McNulty – Deputy Attorney General for the Department of Justice – resigned, after questions about his involvement in the U.S. attorney firings and his testimony to Congress about the firings.

* Richard Perle – Chairman, Defense Policy Board – resigned from Pentagon advisory panel amid conflict-of-interest charges.

* Susan Ralston – assistant, White House – resigned amidst revelations that she had accepted thousands of dollars in gifts from Abramoff without compensating him, counter to White House ethics rules.

* Janet Rehnquist – inspector general, Department of Health and Human Services – resigned on June 1, 2003 in the face of an investigation into her alleged efforts to block a politically dangerous probe on behalf of the Bush family.

* James Roche – secretary, U.S. Air Force – resigned in the wake of the Boeing tanker lease scandal, after it was revealed he had rather crudely pushed for Boeing to win a $23 billion contract.

* Kyle Sampson -former chief of staff for Attorney General Alberto Gonzales – resigned amidst the investigation of the firings of U.S. Attorneys.

* Joseph Schmitz – Inspector General, Defense – Resigned amid charges he personally intervened to protect top political appointees.

* Bradley Schlozman – resigned from his third and final post with the Justice Department after accusations of actively politicizing the department. He’s currently under investigation by the Department’s inspector general.

* Thomas Scully – Administrator, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services – shortly after Scully resigned in 2003, an investigation by the Department of Health and Human Services inspector general found that Scully had pressured the agency’s actuary to underestimate the full cost of the Medicare reform bill by approximately $100 billion until after Congress passed the bill into law. Scully was also hit with conflict of interest charges by the U.S. attorney’s office for billing CMS for expenses incurred during a job search while he still headed the agency. He settled those charges by paying $9,782. 

Oh, and don't forget Scooter and Dead Eye Dick destroyed an entire intelligence network and probably got people murdered via the Plame scandal.

Good Advice For Media

CNN Regrets Not Asking John McCain A Follow-Up Question:

"...This is just an idea I had, CNN, but maybe you all should consider this tactic: when an interviewee says something that gives you the WTF-face, you could maybe deviate from your scripted questions, pause and ask said interviewee, 'I'm sorry, but what did you mean when you said that thing you said, just a few seconds ago, on our teevee show?'

Obviously, the downside here is that you really steal away from your exclusive online post-game lamentation of the terrible interview you just conducted..."

Reeducation Camp?

"Ashville N.C. School teacher browbeats student over being a McCain supporter"

They got the school system wrong; the teacher used to work in Asheville, according to the local television station, but was working near Ft. Bragg in Fayetteville when this incident occurred.

Media Misses Pumas

American Thinker: Signs Pointing To A McCain Victory: "...Well, there is another story out there that the MSM refuses to address. A huge story. One that could, and I think will, significantly affect the outcome of this race. I'm referring to the widespread phenomenon of registered Democrats openly supporting John McCain. There are numerous 'Democrats for McCain' type organizations. There are numerous websites and blogs written by Democrats touting McCain's candidacy. There are pro-McCain grassroots efforts being led by Democrats. And we all know friends or relatives who are Democrats, who voted for John Kerry in 2004, and who are no fans of President Bush - but who are going to vote for John McCain this year.

Yet, surprise surprise, the mainstream media is not talking about these voters, not talking about the real rift that is occurring within the ranks of the Democratic Party. Needless to say, if a similar rift were occurring in the Republican Party, it would be treated as the major story that it is. (Indeed, as such stories about the political fault lines in the Republican Party have been treated in the recent past.)

Who are these pro-McCain Democratic voters? They overwhelmingly tend to be former Hillary supporters. Perhaps the most well-known of these voters are the "PUMAs" - which stands for Party Unity My Ass. These are Hillary supporters who are adamantly opposed to Obama. Let's not forget that during the Democratic primaries - real elections, not polls - Hillary crushed Obama among white working-class and middle-class voters in such key states as Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. If a meaningful number of these voters end up voting for McCain, as I predict they will, then Obama's smooth road to the White House is going to run smack into a brick wall..."

NewsLadder Spam Alert

I am getting a flood of spam with titles like "Gettin' Ugly and Other Top Stories About John McCain" from an outfit called the "John McCain NewsLadder," apparently put out by the "Media Consortium-- The Best of Independent Journalism."

Uh, yeah. Right. I unsubscribed but you know how that goes-- I've just confirmed I exist. One spam a day from one group is barely tolerable-- a spam an hour is way too much.

On The Hoax Mugging

Cannon has an informative post on the issue, which concludes with this addendum, also thought provoking.

Cannonfire:

"...Added note: Most people are presuming that Ashley Todd has mental health issues. That presumption may be true, although only a professional psychiatrist or psychologist can make the diagnosis. But should we not make the same presumption of mental illness in the case of Dana Milbank, who invented the story that McCain supporters shouted "Kill him" when Sarah Palin mentioned the name of Barack Obama? The Secret Service determined the story to be false, yet the progs continue to treat it as gospel. Yet Milbank continues to earn money, while Ashley has earned only ignominy. Double standard!"

Comment Of The Day

Likely Voters Vs. Registered Voters–Or What’s REALLY Going On in the Polls : NO QUARTER: "...Here’s a question - ‘Where were you five and a half years ago? Around Christmas, 2002. You’ve had five or six birthdays in that time. My son has grown from a sixth grade child to a high school graduate. Five and a half years is a good chunk of time. About 2,000 days. 2,000 nights of sleep. 6, 000 meals, give or take.’

John McCain spent that amount of time, from 1967 to 1973, in a North Vietnamese prisoner-of-war camp.

When offered early release, he refused it. He considered this offer to be a public relations stunt by his captors, and insisted that those held longer than he should be released first Did you get that part? He was offered his freedom, and he turned it down. A regimen of beatings and torture began.

Do you possess such strength of character? Locked in a filthy cell in a foreign country, would you turn down your own freedom in favor of your fellow man? I submit that’s a quality of character that is rarely found, and for me, this singular act defines John McCain.

Unlike several presidential candidates in recent years whose military service is questionable or non-existent, you will not find anyone to denigrate the integrity and moral courage of this man..."

Palin Is The Choice

McCain Picks Palin - The Fix: "DENVER -- John McCain has selected Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin to be his vice presidential running mate, according to the McCain campaign, a surprise pick sure to shake up the race and reinforce the idea of the Arizona senator as a reformer..."

Apparently, Biden complained that Palin doesn't have the experience for the job (radio, no link); okay, pot meet kettle.

Update: found something similar here: ' (Obama) Spokesman Bill Burton:

“Today, John McCain put the former mayor of a town of 9,000 with zero foreign policy experience a heartbeat away from the presidency.

Barack Obama has just “dissed” all small-town voters.'

Paris Makes Sense!

Paris Hilton Responds to McCain Ad from Paris Hilton, Chris Henchy, and Adam "Ghost Panther" McKay

See more Paris Hilton videos at Funny or Die

McCain Names Powell As Veep?

"DOOM,MN--In a move today that has caused the Obama campaign nightmares for weeks, Sen. John McCain has named Gen. Colin Powell as his Vice-Presidential selection and Powell has accepted.

Independent analyst Alfred Neuman said, "The only scenario worse for the Democrats is if McCain named Hillary Clinton as his running mate..."

Energy Prize Sweepstakes

Simply Left Behind: The Non-Rapturist's Guide To The Galaxy: "I'm guessing the McCain campaign is eavesdropping on my blog..." Gee, I hope Carl's right and McCain (or somebody) is reading the blogs. I remember quite well when good old Actor212 proposed the (soon to become) "McCain Energy Prize." It was a good idea then; it's a good idea now. Obama complained about McCain's position on energy tax credits-- or something.

Prizes for scientific achievements are not new; modern food preservation came about thanks to Napoleon offering a prize to the first person who came up with a way to keep food from spoiling. (He was interested in troops in the field.) [No. You look it up. Use the Google!]

McBush McSpeaks On Serving

Quoted from http://noquarterusa.net/blog/2008/06/04/what-john-mccain-said/#comments:

 

What John McCain Said : NO QUARTER

Andy sent this to me. I don’t have a link, but agree that it sums up what a lot of us think about Obama:

 

“I don’t seek the presidency on the presumption I’m blessed with such personal greatness that history has anointed me to save my country in its hour of need,” [John McCain] said. “I seek the office with the humility of a man who cannot forget my country saved me.”

 

Senior Moments, Junior Moments

Once upon a time I caught a political discussion between , if I remember correctly, Alec Baldwin and Bill Maher. Maher was stressing over John Kerry's managling the joke about Bush, education, and Iraq. Maher was asserting that it was all nonsense and Kerry misspoke and it shouldn't be held against him. While Baldwin agreed in principle, he made a darn good point by observing that long, stressful campaigns should separate the wheat from the chaff and the "gaffe gauge" will be indicative of a President who misspeaks and otherwise does stupid and inappropriate things.

 

John McCain has had quite few gaffes lately and apparently can't keep it straight who is who in Iraq, Iran, and the rest of the Moslem world. Barack Obama's luck hasn't been much better with every other utterance pouring metaphorical hot coffee in the laps of and mashing the knuckles of blue collar America.

 

We could use a gaffe-free week or so to examine the issues, couldn't we? Between McCain's "Senior Moments" and Obama's "Junior Moments" I don't know that we're going to ever going to see that blessed lull, though.

McMain McMistake

St. Clueless the Confused errs in favor of free enterprise.

Quoted from http://www.correntewire.com/jack_ass:

 

Jack. Ass. | Corrente

Just in time for Equal Pay Day tomorrow, John McCain - along with other Republicans - block the Ledbetter Equal Pay legislation. It seems the good Senator believes that while equal pay is great and all, mandating such things is interfering too much in private enterprise:

 

I am all in favor of pay equity for women, but this kind of legislation, as is typical of what’s being proposed by my friends on the other side of the aisle, opens us up to lawsuits for all kinds of problems,” the expected GOP presidential nominee told reporters. “This is government playing a much, much greater role in the business of a private enterprise system...”