McCain: Economic Idiot

This devastating analysis of John McCain's economic illiteracy should be a warning to all Americans. A key section of the article:

McCain wants to extend the Bush tax cuts, which he once opposed as a needless sop to the rich in a time of war. (I await David Brooks' inevitable explanation of how opposing taxes in a time of war in 2001 and 2003, when deficits were low, but supporting them in 2011, in a time of war and high deficits, is deeply moral and admirable.) But McCain wants to see Bush's tax relief and raise it some. McCain would slash the corporate-income-tax rate from 35 percent to 25 percent (because corporate profits as a percentage of GDP didn't spike enough this decade?), and he'd abolish the Alternative Minimum Tax, which would be a welcome move for many upper-middle-class taxpayers. "In all, his tax-cutting proposals could cost about $400 billion a year, according to estimates of the impact of different tax cuts by CBO and the McCain campaign," the Wall Street Journal reported.

And how to make up for the lost revenues? Hmmm. McCain promises to cut earmarks; to eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse; and to reduce the projected growth of Medicare; but he won't provide many numbers. As the WSJ deadpanned: "The cost will make it difficult for him to achieve his goal of balancing the budget by the end of his first term." That's perhaps the understatement of the year. The 2009 budget calls for a deficit of $407 billion on projected receipts of $2.7 trillion*, as this table shows. Essentially, McCain wants to cut revenues by about 15 percent from current levels, with nothing close to that in spending reductions, in a time when, even after spending excess Social Security payroll taxes, the deficit is running at more than $400 billion. Here's some straight talk: McCain's fiscal program is either a joke or a fantasy.

Yes indeed, a very bad joke or a very sick fantasy. This country is already teetering on the brink of economic disaster and McCain apparently wants to give it one big final shove over the cliff.

Every way you look at it, electing this man would be a disaster.

From the Screw-Ups (Bush & McCain) Who Brought You Iraq...

it's a RECESSION.



Sick and tired of Bush? Then why in the HELL you would even CONSIDER voting for McCain?!?

McCain's Ties to Hagee Are a THOUSAND TIMES More Dangerous Than Obama and His Pastor

The Washington Spectator has the scoop here:

TWENTY MILLION ARMAGEDDONITES—Hagee's theology is at best bizarre and at worst toxic. It is rooted in the teachings of apostate Anglican preacher John Nelson Darby, who left the Church of England in the 1820s to found his own sect. Pre-millennial Dispensationalism divides the world into seven epochs, or "dispensations." According to Darby's eschatological calendar, mankind is nearing the end of the penultimate dispensation. The final dispensation will be 1,000 years of peace, which arrive after Christ's defeat of the Anti-Christ (and Satan) at Armageddon. For Hagee, this is not a metaphor but a place in the Middle East. Hagee's eschatology also involves "the Rapture"—the physical ascent into Heaven of sanctified and reborn Christians.

Before all that can come to pass, however, certain biblical prophecies have to be fulfilled: the reunification of biblical Israel under Jewish control; the in-gathering of the world's Jewry to the parts of their ancestral home made up of Israel, Judea and Samaria; the rebuilding of the Temple (on the spot now occupied by one of three of Islam's most sacred mosques); etc.

Hagee's focus on End-Times prophecy has turned him toward American foreign policy in Israel and Palestine.

He's not alone.

American Conservative co-publisher John Basil Utley cites Christian writer Gary North's estimate that 20 million Americans are Armageddonites. "Many of them," Utley writes, "have an ecstatic belief in the cleansing power of apocalyptic violence."

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John Hagee is committed to the cleansing power of apocalyptic violence. He preaches it. He writes about it. And he puts his money—or his congregants' money—where his theology is. Hagee has raised more than $8.5 million for Israel, much of it used to relocate Jews from the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe to settlements in the West Bank—to Hagee the eastern extension of biblical Israel. Only after a critical mass of Jews have been concentrated in Greater Israel can the End-Times prophecies begin to unfold.

**********


All this would be harmless enough (perhaps) if confined to Rev. Hagee's temple. But John Hagee has a constituency that extends beyond his congregation. He used that constituency to build a foreign-policy advocacy organization—Christians United for Israel (CUFI)—that is now pressing for a pre-emptive war with Iran. CUFI brought 4,500 End Times activists to Washington for its July 2006 inaugural event, followed by a day of lobbying on the Hill.

Hagee was straightforward in announcing his agenda: "The United States must join Israel in a pre-emptive military strike against Iran to fulfill God's plan for both Israel and the West," he said. He saw this step as "a biblically prophesied End Time confrontation . . . which will lead to the Rapture, Tribulation . . . and the Second Coming of Christ." [My emphasis]

**********

A REPUBLICAN RELIGION?—John McCain has been pressed to renounce Hagee. He cannot. Louis Farrakhan, the Nation of Islam leader, whose unsolicited "endorsement" created a problem for Sen. Barack Obama, can preach religious hate. But he works on the fringe of American religion and politics and is an unlikely guest at anyone's White House. The influence of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright—Obama's longtime pastor who is cut from a different cloth than Farrakhan—doesn't extend beyond the African-American community in Chicago. The Republican Party, on the other hand, is deeply invested in John Hagee and his followers.

On the Sunday before the 2006 election, for example, Texas governor Rick Perry and sixty other candidates (almost all Republicans) stood before the altar at Cornerstone Church with Hagee, each candidate angling for an election-day bounce with evangelical voters.

But John Hagee is bigger than Texas. In 2000 he was on presidential candidate George W. Bush's "values team." Since then the right wing of the Republican Party has responded to Pastor Hagee's altar call. In 2002, Republican majority leader Tom DeLay was the keynote speaker at Hagee's "Night to Honor Israel." In 2006 Hagee met with Elliot Abrams, Bush's fervently pro-Israel deputy national security adviser. Hagee later said he and Abrams are largely in agreement regarding Middle East policy.

Joe Lieberman (I-CT) got most of the media attention at CUFI's second annual gathering, in 2007, because the Jewish senator compared Hagee to Moses. But Republican house whip Roy Blunt (R-MO) attended and John McCain also joined the pro-Israel Christians when they met in Washington in July. McCain praised Hagee for "doing the Lord's work in Satan's city." That's not San Antonio but Washington.

That's right, folks. McCain can crawl on his hands and knees and BEG for the support of this psychotic End Times fool and virtually nothing is said of it, certainly not compared to the Wright flap with Obama. Read the whole article, if you can bear it. Hagee is violently ANTI-CATHOLIC. Despite his so-called "Christian Zionism", HE BLAMES THE HOLOCAUST ON THE JEWS. He is a wretched fundamentalist lunatic of the worst kind, and a con artist to boot. And yet McCain is given a free pass on him. Outrageous.

Hagee is powerful and influential in the Republican Party. If "Bomb Bomb Iran" McCain is elected, John "Pre-emptive War on Iran" Hagee will be an honored guest in the White House.

If that doesn't scare the hell out of you, I don't know what will

What 4,000 American Dead Look Like (in Mosaic Form)

And the two biggest advocates of keeping the war going.

Smashing McCain's "Cred"

Is there a bigger fraud on the American political scene than John McCain? He claims expertise in subjects about which he is a know-nothing; is allowed to tell lies because he's a "straight talker"; and generally, gets away with things no other politician possibly could. Check the links here at Kevin Drum's page, and see if you don't agree.

NO THIRD TERM FOR BUSH--NO TO McCAIN!

Radical WHITE Preachers Endorsing McCain? Hey, No Problem!

Read the exasperating details here.

Democrats, the MSM is in the tank for St. Johnny Boy. It's a reality we have to deal with.

Does McCain Even Know What He's Talking About?

See for yourself here.

And this guy has the nerve to assert that he's an "expert" on Iraq? On what planet?

McCain: Unfit for Command

Josh Marshall gets it out straight here:

But this is really just the tip of the iceberg with McCain. In almost every discussion of foreign policy, not just today but in previous years, what stands out is McCain's inability to see beyond the immediate issues of military tactics to any firm grasp of strategy or America's real vital interests. His free willingness to commit to a decades long occupation of Iraq is an example, his push for ground troops to be introduced during the Kosovo War is another. His refusal, almost inability, to grapple with the political failure of the surge is the most telling one if people will sift through its deeper implications...

Hillary Clinton has stipulated to McCain's qualifications as Commander-in-Chief; and Obama, implicitly, does the same. But his record actually shows he's one of the most dangerous people we could have in the Oval Office in coming years -- not just because he's a hothead in using the military, but more because he seems genuinely clueless about the real challenges and dangers the country is facing. He's too busy living in the fantasy world where our future as a great power and our very safety are all bound up in Iraq.

Yes, a hothead and an Iraq obsessive (not to mention a lunatic on Iran). McCain would indeed be a disaster as Commander in Chief, and progressives need to communicate this to the world.

No Third Term for Bush

BTW, this is the same John McCain who's not sure about the difference betweem Sunni and Shi'a, thinks Al Qaeda goes to Iran to train (it doesn't) and proclaims himself an "expert" on Iraq.

I Urge You to Set Aside 38 Minutes

and watch this:



Simply brilliant and remarkable.

Why Does Senator Inhofe Hate Our Military Men and Women?

The radical right-wing conservative Republican from Oklahoma has the most ATROCIOUS record in the Senate on veterans and active service members issues. Some telling details:

Something else that would probably surprise many victims of Republican propaganda is that they [The Republicans] have also been horrible for our veterans and horrible for our active duty military personnel. Let's look at the far right extremist senator from Oklahoma, James Inhofe. Most folks just know him as a Climate Change Denier but that barely scratches the surface of what's wrong with Inhofe. For someone who is so aggressively pro-war, he's incredibly anti-veteran and anti-service member. The Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America looked at his voting record and gave him a D-. On October 5, 2005 his deciding vote against the bipartisan Health Care for Veterans Amendment killed a bill that had passed in the House 398 to 19. The following month Chuck Grassley and Barbara Boxer co-sponsored a bill to get desperately needed funds for counseling, mental health, and rehabilitation services for veterans diagnosed with mental illness, post-traumatic stress disorder, or substance abuse. Again, Inhofe voted against our military veterans. That's been his pattern, a pattern that includes outrageous tax cuts for millionaires while short-changing vets.

But vets aren't the only people Inhofe has consistently short-changed. His voting record on active duty military personnel is abysmal-- the worst in the entire U.S. Senate. Of the 14 roll calls involving the welfare of our fighting men and women since May, 2003, Inhofe has voted against them a breathtaking 14 times.

If any Republican deserves to be thrown out on his ass, it's James Inhofe. Go to Act Blue and send some love to his Democratic opponent, a great candidate named Andrew Rice.

America's military people will thank you.

Horrible. Sickening. Despicable.

Read this if you can stand to.

Bush and Cheney are war criminals. There can longer be any doubt.

This is UNAMERICAN. I refuse to see this as acceptable, DO YOU HEAR ME?

The Chicago Tribune: Obama Has Done NOTHING Illegal in the Rezko Matter

Read all about it here.

Now about John McCain's financial angels in Arizona in the 1980s...

Hey McCain! Where Are Your Tax Returns?

Kevin Drum discusses the issue here.

Funny, isn't it? The Washington press corps barks at Hillary Clinton regularly on this issue, but their fair-haired boy St. John gets a pass. Gee, what a surprise. Why, it's almost as if the mainstream media are in the tank for him.

Want to Fight Fox "News" and the Smears Against Obama?

You will after you see this. Watch it all the way. The punch line will astonish you.




Now, ACT. Spread this video as far as you can.

Obama: Integrity and Moral Clarity. McCain: Craven Pandering

Barack Obama's eloquent, convincing statement on his church, his faith, and his pastor is here.

John McCain's crawling to the likes of Hagee, Parsley, Robertson, and the (happily late) Falwell looks pretty disgusting in contrast. And remember:

HAGEE AND PARSLEY ARE CALLING FOR A WORLD WIDE RELIGIOUS WAR BETWEEN CHRISTIANITY AND ISLAM. THAT IS A THOUSAND TIMES WORSE THAN ANYTHING OBAMA'S MINISTER HAS EVER SAID.

Got it?

It's Not Just Hagee: McCain's Other Lunatic Friend

Another right wing radical demagogue who supports John McCain is coming under scrutiny: the demented Rod Parsley, who has called for the extermination of Islam as a religion. And no, I'm not exaggerating:

Parsley is not shy about his desire to obliterate Islam. In Silent No More, he notes—approvingly—that Christopher Columbus shared the same goal: "It was to defeat Islam, among other dreams, that Christopher Columbus sailed to the New World in 1492…Columbus dreamed of defeating the armies of Islam with the armies of Europe made mighty by the wealth of the New World. It was this dream that, in part, began America." He urges his readers to realize that a confrontation between Christianity and Islam is unavoidable: "We find now we have no choice. The time has come." And he has bad news: "We may already be losing the battle. As I scan the world, I find that Islam is responsible for more pain, more bloodshed, and more devastation than nearly any other force on earth at this moment."

Yes, folks, the whole point of America is to destroy Islam. Parsley evidently agrees with Osama bin Laden that we need a worldwide religious war between Christianity and Islam.

And John McCain is delighted to have his support.

It's time to ask some hard questions to the Arizona Senator, whether he likes them or not.

(Oh, and if you want deleriously funny delights, Google the following search term: Rod Parsley+UFOs. Heh heh heh.)

McCain: Screwing American Workers to Help Out His Lobbyist Pals

Check out this highly revealing post about Mr. Straight Talk and Airbus:

The Boeing deal would have supported 44,000 new and existing jobs across 40 states -- jobs that will be shipped to Europe and elsewhere as a results of the tag-team combination of McCain in the Senate and McCain's lobbyists pals on K Street. At a time when the economy appears to be faltering and America faces tepid job growth -- or even job losses -- it's not clear to me that the American public is clamoring for someone who is so tone deaf about employment issues.

McCain can, and likely will, try to spin this as an example of his reformist ways. But looking at all of the details, it's becoming ever more clear that McCain's interest is not as much in reform as it is whatever is in the best interest of his lobbyist supporters and pals.

Read the whole thing and tell me again about McCain's "integrity".

Do You Really Want the Truth About the Bush-McCain War?

Then read this enlightening piece, a guest editorial on Juan Cole's page by William R. Polk, an authority on the history of the Middle East. It's a long post, but it will be worth your time. And you may be struck as hard as I was by the concluding section:

The strategy behind these operations is what the Neoconservative advisers to President Bush have called “the Long War.” A leading member of the Neoconservatives, James Woolsey, a former director of the CIA, said he hopes it will not last more than 40 years. The cost of such a generational conflict has been estimated at more than $17 trillion dollars.

More important, in the long period of stress, the American way of life would be severely challenged, perhaps irreparably damaged. The real cost could be the destruction of the world in which we live and the replacement of our civic, cultural and material “good life” by something like nightmare George Orwell predicted in his novel 1984.

At minimum it would greatly increase the risk to us of terrorism.

But we should be aware that what Woosley and others have discussed is not just rhetoric or speculation – it is given substance by operational plans, dedicated military personnel, operating from 737 – I repeat seven hundred and thirty seven -- existing bases worldwide, with already constructed and positioned weapons, and sustained by an already allocated budget.

In the spring of 2006, before he left office, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld approved three plans to fight the “long war” beyond Iraq and Afghanistan. Among other actions that have now been implemented, the Special Operations Command – now made up of 53,000 men and working with an already allocated budget of $8 billion for fiscal year 2007 – has dispatched Special “Ops” forces to at least 20 countries in Latin America, Africa and Asia. These teams are loose cannons, not under the control of regular American embassies and allowed to engage in covert warfare not only against groups regarded as terrorists but even against states. Although they could involve us in war with any number of countries, they are treated as though not subject to Congressional oversight or decision.

They are, as I said, loose cannons. But they are not working on their own. Their use has been justified by the March 2005 “National Defense Strategy of the United States of America” which calls for the US (and I quote) “to operate in and from the global commons-space, international waters and airspace, and cyberspace...to surge forces rapidly from strategic distances [to where adversaries may seek to deny us access and] to deny adversaries sanctuary...[These campaigns]may entail lengthy periods of both major combat and stability operations [or] require regime change...”

Not surprisingly, the conservative journal, The Economist, editorialized, “the Neoconservatives are not conservatives. They are radicals. Their agenda adds up to a world-wide crusade. With all its historic, anti-Muslim connotations, it is precisely the word most calculated to perpetuate movement down the path desired by the Neoconservatives, permanent, unending war.

Is permanent war – one Iraq after another – to be our future?

**********

Now remember which presidential candidate is most devoted to the "long war", and which of them has promised Americans will stay in Iraq for 100 years if necessary. Remember which one says this war was the right thing to to do. Remember which one is warning there will many more wars. Remember which one is now TOTALLY beholden to the radical right that wants a worldwide religious war with Islam.

Now remember what the price of John McCain winning the White House would be.

Is McCain Mentally Stable Enough to Be President?

It's a legitimate question, explored here:

McCain: Consistently WRONG on Iraq

He tries to come off like the big expert on this issue, and brags about the "success" of the Surge (i.e., escalation),but Steve Chapman nails him here:

The point of the surge was to catalyze rapid progress that would facilitate our departure. But now the Pentagon says that come July, we'll still have more troops than the 132,000 we had before. When Lt. Gen. Carter Ham was asked if the number will fall below 132,000 by the time Bush leaves office, he replied, "It would be premature to say that."

McCain says the current "strategy is succeeding in Iraq." His apparent definition of success is that American forces will stay on in huge numbers as long as necessary to keep violence within acceptable limits. We were told we had to increase our numbers so we could leave. Turns out we had to increase our numbers so we could stay.

Five years after the Iraq invasion, we've suffered more than 30,000 dead and wounded troops, incurred trillions in costs and found that Iraqis are unwilling to overcome their most basic divisions. And, no end is in sight. If you're grateful for that, thank John McCain.

Yes, folks, the Bush-McCain war grinds on day after day after day. And yes, it DOES matter who gets elected president on 4 November.

McCain Doesn't Just Court the Radicals, He IS a Radical

From the great Charles Pierce here:

One waits in vain for the television and newspaper pundits to abandon their novelization of John McCain, Renegade Maverick Moderate Centrist Tough Guy. John (Jesus Is My X-Man!) Hagee wasn't enough. Standing there like a garden gnome while President 19 Percent fairly well soaked him in a great shower of Fail wasn't enough. And I suspect this won't be enough, either. But, make no mistake. The CNP is the nuttiest of the wingers and the wingiest of the nuts. This is the creme de la crazoid. Throw all of these people in a sack, roll it down a hill, and there'll always be an influential lunatic on top. To call these people medieval is to insult Charlemagne. To call these people ultramontane is to insult Pius IX. To call them reactionary is to insult two generations of Buckleys. Anyone who wonders why St. John hasn't distanced himself from a raving nutball like Hagee need only look here to discover why. He doesn't want to do so. He not only needs the likes of these people to get nominated, he prefers their company. He agrees with them. His entire campaign has been an extended negotiation regarding the terms of the lien on his soul he's given them in exchange for their support. They are the most important part of his base outside of that part of it currently wearing Tim Russert's underwear.

Ha ha! Priceless!

Why Does McCain Get a Pass on Bigoted Scumbag Hagee?

Steve Benen wants to know here:

OK, I’ve just about given up. John McCain actively sought the support of an anti-Catholic, anti-gay, anti-Muslim, anti-woman, and anti-Semitic televangelist, and despite widespread condemnations from a variety of circles, reporters simply won’t cover the story or push McCain for an explanation. As Andrew Sullivan put it, John Hagee is “a white Farrakhan, but the media has essentially given McCain a pass.”

But bloggers continue to gift-wrap this controversy for the media, making it especially easy to cover this story, which they surely would if McCain were a Democrat and Hagee weren’t a conservative white evangelical.


And Matthew Yglesias wants to know here.

McCain and his staff actively sought out Hagee's endorsement, he appeared and campaigned with Hagee, he said he was proud to be backed by Hagee. Hagee is, in short, part of McCain's political strategy. Now he tells us he doesn't agree with Hagee about everything. Well, which things? Are we supposed to believe that McCain's not into the bigotry, or the foreign policy aimed at apocalypse, but just likes Hagee because of their shared opposition to gay marriage? Is McCain going to be courting Osama bin Laden's endorsement? It's reminiscent of McCain's on-again, off-again quest for the support of "agents of intolerance" like Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson. McCain's trying to wink with one eye to a segment of the electorate, wink with his other eye at his fans in the media, and somehow maintain a reputation for straight talk throughout all this.

Boys and girls, it's simple. The major media--especially NBC's "Big Three" of Tim Russert, Brian Williams, and Chris "Tweety" Matthews are totally and utterly in the tank for McCain. Remember, folks, the phrase "Liberal Media" is right wing bullshit. Large, conservative corporations now control vast areas of our news media, and they want the Democrats to go down again. They always will. This is the reality we're up against.

If a Democrat had actively sought the support of demented scum like Hagee, NBC would be covering it 24/7, and everybody damned well knows it.

And Now, Some Words from John McCain's Favorite Preacher

I Will Be a Viciously Negative Bastard From Now On

The current primary season has left me emotionally numb. If you want to know the God's honest truth, I've never really worked up a huge amount of enthusiasm for either of our contenders, although I prefer Obama. (I just wish he had waited until 2016, but that's another issue.) Just thinking about Hillary being our nominee makes me feel tired and depressed, although I will not renege on my earlier pledge to support her. But in fact, I have given Obama and Clinton $0 this year, and I've just felt strangely detached. So tell ya what I'm gonna do: since I can't work up any enthusiasm FOR anyone, and I'm feeling pessimistic about our chances in November (given the rancor and division in our party) I'm just going to attack St. John McCain.

Every. Freaking. G-d damned. Bloody. Day.

*I'm going to go after him for being a fraudulent "straight talker", the "enemy" of the lobbyists who has 59 different lobbyists working for him, accepts favors from them, and is essentially bankrolled by them.

*I'm going to go after "Mr. Honesty" who hid hundreds of thousands of pages of Abramoff documents when he was in a position to do so.

*I'm going to after the man who begged ANTI-CATHOLIC, APOCALYPTIC LUNATIC John Hagee to support him for an entire year.

*I'm going after the man who has a ZERO rating from the League of Conservation Voters.

*I'm going after the phony "maverick" who votes with his party 80-90% of the time.

*I'm going after the man who crawled to the very people who slimed his own family in 2000, asking for their support.

*I'm going after one of the biggest cheerleaders for what can rightly be called THE BUSH-McCAIN WAR, one who has pledged to make our country's involvement in this tragedy PERMANENT.

*I'm going after someone who may yet involve us in a devastating war with Iran.

*I'm going after the one man in the whole Senate who should NEVER have caved in to Bush on torture--but yet did.

*I'm going after "Mr. Strong Principles" who has changed his views on taxes, overturning Roe v. Wade, seeking support from the Religious Right, and any number of other issues--whatever was expedient.

*I'm going to go after the economic simpleton who wants to make Bush's catastrophic tax cuts for the rich permanent.

*I'm going after the man who will do NOTHING about our health care problems, and who has been consistently hostile to women's rights and labor unions.

*I'm going after the man who will appoint more Scalias to the Supreme Court.

I will do this out of despair. Our party needs a compromise candidate for president desperately, but that won't happen. (It wouldn't be fair, I suppose, but I think it's the only way out. Parties have done it before.) The Republicans will turn our own words against whoever our nominee is, and do so relentlessly. And, in my semi-professional opinion, Hillary Clinton has essentially poisoned the well for Obama. Her remarks that McCain has experience and Obama doesn't will be played over and over and over again if Obama is the nominee. She has killed Obama, politically, with that statement, which she has repeated. It was always going to be hard as hell to win white voters over to Obama; 20% of Democratic voters in Ohio said race was a factor in their decision. Now, Hillary has given them cover. They're not bigoted; they just prefer experience. She has made it unlikely that Obama can pevail in the GE by the amount of blood she's drawn from him. (Humphrey did the same thing to McGovern in '72. I saw it personally.) Hillary is saying, if I can't have it, nobody on our side can. And she is the weaker of our two candidates, and will be a major drain on Red State Democratic tickets.

I've watched politics for over 40 years. This year SHOULD have been our golden opportunity, but being a Democrat, I have plenty of reasons to doubt that it will be. So instead of just bitching and moaning, I think I'll sublimate my grief into rage and take it out on McCain. What else can I do?

Oh, and one more thing: our greatest leader, Al Gore, chose not to run (and I can't blame him, but I wish he had); our most eloquent defender of the poor, John Edwards, was knocked out, and the man who has the best combination of progressive values and long experience was a non-starter: Christopher Dodd, defender of the U.S. Constitution in the Senate.

You better WATCH yourself, Mac!

The True Voice of the Conservatives

Sometimes they really let their guard down and tell you exactly what they think. I took this post verbatim and in full. See what you think:

Deadly Ricin Poison Found In Vegas Hotel

Could this be used to clean out the trash candidates we have in our Presidential Campaign this year?

Ricin poison is easy to make from castor beans. Castor beans are legal to buy, can be gotten throughout the country or via the internet. Even more interesting is that the internet is full of "how-to" information explaining how to cook the husks of castor beans into this poison, but if you inhale it while you're making it, you're dead!Since as little as 500 micrograms of ricin can kill an adult, I wonder if smearing some on a glove then shaking hands with. . . . . . Barak Obama or Hillary Clinton or John McCain. . . . would have some effect? Probably not. But I wonder if loading some in a straw equipped with a one-way valve at one end to protect the user, would allow ricin powder to be blown in the direction of a candidate for inhalation? HMMMMMMM. It's a good thing that I obey the law and have no intention of doing something like this personally!

I bet there are folks out there, however, who might agree with me that the political choices we have this year warrant dramatic action to save our republic. After all, do we really want a mixed-race, mongrel negro, half-breed in the most powerful political office on the planet? I can see it now, Barak Obama doing for America what Robert Mugabe did for Zimbabwe. . . . or what Nelson Mandella did for South Africa. . . . skyrocketing crime, disease and a collapsed economy. No thanks.

How about Hillary Clinton -- who is so pathetic, she couldn't even stop her husband from getting blow jobs in the Oval Office! Yea, she'd make a great leader. NOT!

Then we have John McCain, who allegedly betrayed his fellow Vietnam vets while they were in a P O W camp during the war. McCain allegedly got medical care that his fellow troops did not; allegedly got good food that his fellow prisoners never got and who, just last year, voted to give away our country by offering a sort of Amnesty to the millions of illegal aliens here. No thanks.

Yes, I see good reason for the political candidates this year to be gotten rid of and from my viewpoint, ricin could be used by some nefarious person to accomplish that. It's the type of weapon that Secret Service cannot protect anyone from. What are they gonna do, check everyone for straws as they enter a campaign venue? And once the poison is delivered, there is no treatment and no cure. Death is 100% guaranteed.

Hal Turner is a good buddy of Sean Hannity, the greasy little punk who spreads right-wing propaganda on Fox "News". Little Seany Boy has said nothing about any of this. If this post by Turner isn't an incitement to violence--and thus NOT protected as free speech--then I'm not sure what qualifies as incitement. It's putting the suggestion into the head of some right-wing cretin out there to go ahead and be a "hero".

This is the reality of life in America now. Deal with it. And if Barack Obama--"a mixed-race, mongrel negro, half-breed" as this piece of racist filth so charmingly puts it--is indeed made a target, you'll know who to look to.

[Thanks to Davefromqueens and poster State Department for this.]

You Need to Read Glenn Greenwald Every Day

If you have the time. No one is doing a better job of attacking the right wing idiots and weak kneed Democrats who are destroying this country than he. I've added a link for him on the right side of the page. His column today on right wing media hack/propagandist Howard Kurtz is here and is absolutely deadly. Greenwald knows an important truth: the Beltway Media have been doing their damnedest to torpedo every Democratic candidate for president over the last three decades. Kurtz is a fraud, and Greenwald destroys him. Go read Glenn and learn how to take these little conservative media whores apart like a cheap watch.

DAMN IT, Stir Up a Firestorm About McCain and Hagee!

John Hagee is one of the most dangerous people in America. Hagee is ACTIVELY trying to bring on his lunatic vision of the Apocalypse, as you can read here in Sarah Posner's outstanding article in AlterNet two years ago. The merest summary of his insanity is terrifying. Hagee advocates a preemptive war with Iran, and is working feverishly to achieve it. Hagee is also one of the crudest, ugliest bigots in America, attacking the Catholic Church as "The Whore", blaming Jews for bringing the Holocaust on themselves because of their ancestors' "disobedience"(!), and declaring that New Orleans was destroyed for planning a Gay Pride parade! Hagee is a horrifying, evil, sick man. And he's warmly endorsed John McCain, after McCain actively solicited Hagee's support.. My question is: what are YOU going to do about it?

We can't just let this die. We progressives have shown many times that when we work as a team, we can get big results. We helped cripple ABC's fairy-tale, anti-Clinton propaganda about 9/11. We helped spread the "Macaca incident" that helped destroy George Allen. We can keep this story rolling, too. The right wingers frame so many things successfully because they grab them and refuse to let go. Well, I say, let's refuse to let go of this. Let's use it as a club to smash McCain every single damned day. McCain is cynically trying to kiss the ass of the worst right wing religious fanatics and lunatics in America while presenting himself as a "maverick", a "moderate", and a "straight shooter." We need to call McCain on this, and do it relentlessly. So far today I've written The Chicago Tribune, The Chicago Sun-Times, The Washington Post, and Meet the Press. But there's a lot more I intend to do. The national press has to HEAR FROM US.

First, here's some background on the whole Hagee record:

Evangelical Right: the John Hagee Archive

Bill Moyers Journal

The Jewish Daily Forward: When We Let John Hagee Speak for Us

A Christian Denunciation of Hagee's Eschatology

Another Outstanding Article by Sarah Posner.

Second, here's a set of links you can use to send your opinions:

Contact MSNBC, Today, Brian Williams, Dateline, and Meet the Press here. (Links are on the page).

Contact any of the CBS News programs here. (Form will allow you to choose various programs.)

Contacts for ABC News programs can be found here.

Contact CNN here.

Contact USA Today here.

Contact The Los Angeles Times here.

Contact PBS here.

Contact The Washington Post here.

Contact The New York Times here.

Contact The Chicago Tribune here.

Please post any other contacts you wish in the comments. Everything will help.

Remember, McCain is trying to have it both ways, sucking up to bigots while soliciting votes from moderates and independents. With the Hagee endorsement, McCain has handed us a powerful weapon to ruin his campaign. We can reveal McCain for the two-faced, double-talking fraud that he is. We can also inflict serious damage on his support from Catholics.

Do you want John Hagee visiting a McCain White House, giving advice to "Bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran" John McCain? If not, let's get to work! There's too much at stake here for you NOT to act.

Just in Case You Weren't Sure

John Hagee: Lunatic, War Advocate, Con Man, McCain Supporter

Watch this if you want a sense of who John McCain EAGERLY accepts support from.


Rapture Ready: The Unauthorized Christians United for Israel Tour from huffpost on Vimeo.

(Hat tip to Ryan for alerting me to this.)

Tim Russert's Double Standard for McCain

Tim Russert, who, as you know, I think is a complete idiot and a curse on the American political system, recently tried to tie Barack Obama to Louis Farrakhan, on the basis of nothing whatsoever. In a line of questions in the most recent Clinton-Obama debate that for all the world seemed like Massah Tim interrogating Uppity Negro Barack, Russert badgered Obama about Farrakhan's unsolicited "endorsement" (if that) of the Illinois Senator, and repeatedly tried to get Obama to use the language that Massah Tim insisted he needed to in rejecting Farrakhan. The whole display was disgusting, to say the least. Russert was deliberately trying to corner Obama and whip up a non-existent "issue" between Obama and American Jews.

However, John McCain has received the enthusiastic endorsement of one of the most militantly insane far-right religious lunatics in America, John Hagee. How demented and dangerous is Hagee? Glenn Greenwald is on it. Here are some highlights of Hagee's McCain acceptable views:

* All Muslims are programmed to kill and we can thus never negotiate with any of them. From an NPR interview Hagee gave to Terry Gross in 2006:

TG: If you use the Bible as the basis for policy, is there any room for compromise? And if you use the bible as the basis for policy, should Muslims use the Koran as the basis for their policy, and then again, what possible basis is there for compromise at that point?
JH: There is really no room for compromise between radical Islam --
TG: I'm not talking about radical Islam. I'm just talking about Islam in general.
JH: Well Islam in general -- those who live by the Koran have a scriptural mandate to kill Christians and Jews.

* God caused Hurricane Katrina to wipe out New Orleans because it had a gay pride parade the week before and was filled with sexual sin. From the same interview:

JH: All hurricanes are acts of God, because God controls the heavens. I believe that New Orleans had a level of sin that was offensive to God, and they were recipients of the judgment of God for that.

The newspaper carried the story in our local area, that was not carried nationally, that there was to be a homosexual parade there on the Monday that the Katrina came. And the promise of that parade was that it would was going to reach a level of sexuality never demonstrated before in any of the other gay pride parades.

So I believe that the judgment of God is a very real thing. I know there are people who demur from that, but I believe that the Bible teaches that when you violate the law of God, that God brings punishment sometimes before the Day of Judgment, and I believe that the Hurricane Katrina was, in fact, the judgment of God against the city of New Orleans.

* The End Times -- Rapture -- is imminent and the U.S. Government must do what it can to hasten it, which at minimum requires: (a) a war with Iran and (b) undying, absolute support for a unified Israel, including all Occupied Territories (hence, Joe Lieberman's love affair with them). From Christian Palestinian Daoud Kuttab in The New York Times (h/t PZ Meyers):

A small minority of evangelical Christians have entered the Middle East political arena with some of the most un-Christian statements I have ever heard. . . . [Rev.] Hagee, a popular televangelist who leads the 18,000-member Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, ratcheted up his rhetoric this year with the publication of his book, "Jerusalem Countdown," in which he argues that a confrontation with Iran is a necessary precondition for Armageddon (which will mean the death of most Jews, in his eyes) and the Second Coming of Christ. In the best-selling book, Hagee insists that the United States must join Israel in a preemptive military strike against Iran to fulfill God's plan for both Israel and the West.

Hagee believes that "the president's support for Israel fulfills a biblical injunction to protect the Jewish state," which "will play a pivotal role in the second coming." These views are not unrelated to Hagee's support for McCain. Quite the contrary; Hagee cited McCain's so-called "pro-Israel views," his belligerence towards Iran, and his social conservatism as reasons for the endorsement. And in critical contrast to Obama and Farrakhan, McCain actually seems to share some of Hagee's more twisted views, as evidenced by McCain's joyful singing about dropping bombs on Iran.

Pretty damned shocking, isn't it? Pretty damned horrifying, in my opinion. Now, here's the $64,000 question:

How many of you think that Timmy Boy is EVER going to ask his hero St. John McCain about Hagee's desperately vile opinions? Anyone who thinks Russert will hold McCain to the same standard that Timmy Boy applied to Uppity Negro Barack is a fool. The MSM is stacking the deck in favor of McCain. If we don't spread the alarm far and wide, we're going to regret it for the rest of our lives.

John McCain OWNS the Iraq War

He does so because he personally takes credit for the "success" of the "Surge" (escalation), which apparently is so "successful" that none of the U.S. forces can be withdrawn at any time in the near future. McCain has been, other than Bush and Cheney, the war's biggest booster, supporter, and cheerleader. He STILL thinks it was a good idea, even though NONE of the stated reasons for waging it turned out to be valid, and despite the fact that it has done tangible harm to our struggle against the terrorists in Afghanistan. He is of the bizarre opinion that the United States should declare a permanent presence in an Arab state, apparently without bothering to ask those Arabs if they even want an American presence in their country at all. By virtue of the fact that McCain thinks the war was such a good idea, let him share responsibility with Bush for the following:

Almost 4,000 dead Americans
About 30,000 wounded Americans
Countless thousands of soldiers and Marines with PTSD
Anywhere from 100,000 to perhaps 600,000 dead Iraqi civilians
Some 2,000,000 permanently displaced Iraqi civilians
Five hundred billion dollars spent on the war--so far
The colossal damage done to U.S. foreign policy interests
The presence of Al Qaeda in Iraq (since they weren't there before)


Remember, people, McCain has ASKED for this. So remember:

IT'S THE BUSH-McCAIN WAR NOW

Hear John McCain's Harshest Critic

And no, friends, it ain't The New York Times:

Georgie Boy Strike Again!

The ratio of our national debt to the U.S. Gross Domestic Product had been declining under Bill Clinton's intelligent, rational economic and fiscal policies. In 2001, the most recklessly irresponsible, incompetent administration in the last 150 years came to power. Look what happened next:

Yes, ALL of the progress made in reducing the national debt to GDP ratio has been undone in the last seven years. This quote from Angry Bear says it best. Referring to the progress Clinton made, he says:

Of course, George W. Bush wanted to change all that so he pushed for the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts and signed the Prescription Drug Benefit and has engaged our nation in a costly war that has had the unfortunate side effects of reviving Al Qaeda and making Iran the dominant player in the Middle East. Not only is the debt to GDP ratio projected to pass where it was as of 1992, it is projected to pass where it was in 1996.

If Bush’s tax cuts are made permanent and if this Iraq War continues, what is to change this upward trajectory for the debt to GDP ratio? If John McCain thinks ending earmarks will be sufficient fiscal restraint, let me suggest that he does not even understand arithmetic.

Yes, folks, Bush screwed us all royally. And now his good friend John wants to keep screwing us every way from Sunday as well.

Don't say you weren't warned.

Soviet America

Former Governor Don Siegelman of Alabama was railroaded into prison by a corrupt Karl Rove. 60 Minutes did a report on it. Let's let Larisa Alexandrovna take it from here:

Now, let me tell you what has been going on. As 60 Minutes was putting its show together, the White House put pressure on CBS -- the parent company -- to kill the show. Over the last few days, as word got out that the 60 Minutes show would air tonight, Karl Rove's associates began planting defamatory stories about journalists working on this story (see example here) and attacking the whistle-blower who came forward, Dana Jill Simpson. If you recall, Ms. Simpson testified, under oath, to Congress about Karl Rove's involvement in politicizing the DOJ. What you may not know, however, is that her house mysteriously caught fire and she was run off the road in the weeks leading up to her testimony. [Emphasis added]

Damn, this crap is getting scary. If you're a progressive, this will piss you off. If you're any kind of American, it SHOULD piss you off. Make sure you look at the links if you think I'm exaggerating.

Just what in the HELL is going on in America? Why is the former Democratic governor of Alabama in prison? And why ISN'T Karl Rove?

Here, by the way, is the 60 Minutes Story. (There is a brief commercial message preceding it.)

Well, Let's See

1. He claims to be Mr. Anti-Lobbyist but he's involved with them up to his neck, and he has more lobbyist ties than Clinton and Obama combined.
2. He claims to stand on principle but he's kowtowed to the Radical Right on taxes and torture, and he's crawled to the Religious Right's leadership and basically kissed their asses.
3. He's embraced and endorsed the people who smeared him and his family in 2000 because his fanatical ambition trumps his family loyalty.
4. He lies constantly about points 1-3.
5. He jokes about bombing Iran.
6. He says he'll stay in Iraq for 100 years if necessary.
7. He has an explosive, unstable temper.
8. He will extend all of the Bush Administration's attacks on the Constitution and all of its disastrous economic policies.
9. He criticizes Bush for not vetoing bills that he (himself) voted for.
10. He promises a lot more war in the future.

But, other than that, McCain would make one hell of a president.

McCain Has FIFTY-NINE (Yes, 59) Lobbyists Raising Money for Him

Straight Talk Express? More like the Double Talk Express.

Obama's U.S. Senate Record

Also impressive. (Courtesy of Helenann on DKos.) I'd like to reprint the bulk of it here:

Of the 15 bills Senator Obama sponsored or co-sponsored in 2005-7 that became law:

Two addressed foreign policy: Promote relief, security and democracy in the Congo (2125) Develop democratic institutions in areas under Palestinian control (2370).

Three addressed public health: Improve mine safety (2803) Increased breast cancer funding (597) Reduce preterm delivery and complications, reduce infant mortality (707).

Two addressed openness and accountability in government: Strengthening the Freedom of Information Act (2488) Full disclosure of all entities receiving federal funds (2590)

Two addressed national security Extend Terrorist Risk Insurance (467) Amend the Patriot Act (2167)

One addressed the needs of the Armed Forces Wave passport fees to visit graves, attend memorials/funerals of veterans abroad (1184).

Of the 570 bills Senator Obama introduced into the Senate during the 109th and 110th Congress (Senate Bill numbers are in parentheses), they can be summarized as follows:

25 addressed Energy Efficiency and Climate Change Suspend royalty relief for oil and gas (115) Reduce dependence on oil; use of alternative energy sources (133) Increase fuel economy standards for cars (767, 768) Auto industry incentives for fuel efficient vehicles (1151) Reduce green house gas emissions (1324) Establish at NSF a climate change education program (1389) Increase renewable content of gasoline (2202) Energy emergency relief for small businesses and farms (269) Strategic gasoline and fuel reserves (1794) Alternative diesel standards (3554) Coal to liquid fuel promotion (3623) Renewable diesel standards (1920) Reducing global warming pollution from vehicles (2555) Fuel security and consumer choice (1994, 2025) Alternative energy refueling system (2614) Climate change education (1389) Low income energy assistance (2405) Oil savings targets (339) Fuel economy reform (3694) Plug-in electric drive vehicles (1617) Nuclear release notice (2348) Passenger rail investment (294) Energy relief for low income families (2405)

21 addressed Health Care Drug re-importation (334) Health information technology (1262, 1418) Discount drug prices (2347) Health care associated infections (2278) Hospital quality report cards (692, 1824) Medical error disclosure and compensation (1784) Emergency medical care and response (1873) Stem cell research (5) Medical Malpractice insurance (1525) Health centers renewal (901, 3771) Children’s health insurance (401) Home health care (2061) Medicare independent living (2103) Microbicides for HIV/AIDS (823) Ovarian cancer biomarker research (2569) Gynological cancers (1172) Access to personalized medicine through use of human genome (976) Paralysis research and care (1183)

20 addressed Public Health: Violence against women (1197) Biodefense and pandemic preparedness and response (1821, 1880) Viral influenza control (969) End homelessness (1518) Reduce STDs/unintended pregnancy (1790) Smoking prevention and tobacco control (625) Minority health improvement and disparity elimination (4024) Nutrition and physical education in schools (2066) Health impact assessments (1067, 2506) Healthy communities (1068) Combat methamphetamines (2071) Paid sick leave (910) Prohibit mercury sales (833, 1818) Prohibit sale of lead products (1306, 2132) Lead exposure in children (1811, 2132)

14 address Consumer Protection/Labor Stop unfair labor practices (842) Fair minimum wage (2, 1062, 2725, 3829) Internet freedom (2917) Credit card safety (2411) Media ownership (2332) Protecting taxpayer privacy (2484) Working family child assistance (218) Habeus Corpus Restoration (185) Bankruptcy protection for employees and retirees (2092) FAA fair labor management dispute resolution (2201) Working families flexibility (2419).

13 addressed the Needs of Veterans and the Armed Forces: Improve Benefits (117) Suicide prevention (479) Needs of homeless veterans (1180) Homes for veterans (1084) GI Bill enhancement (43) Military job protection Dignity in care for wounded vets (713) Housing assistance for low income veterans (1084) Military children in public schools (2151) Military eye injury research and care (1999) Research physical/mental health needs from Iraq War (1271) Proper administration of discharge for personality disorder (1817, 1885) Security of personal data of veterans (3592)

12 addressed Congressional Ethics and Accountability Lobbying and ethics reform (230) Stop fraud (2280) Legislative transparency and accountability (525) Open government (2180, 2488) Restoring fiscal discipline (10) Transparency and integrity in earmarks (2261) Accountability of conference committee deliberations and reports (2179) Federal funding accountability and transparency (2590) Accountability and oversight for private security functions under Federal contract (674) Accountability for contractors and personnel under federal contracts (2147) Resctrictions awarding government contracts (2519)

10 addressed Foreign Policy: Iraq war de-escalation (313) US policy for Iraq (433), Divestiture from Iran (1430) Sudan divestment authorization (831) Millennium Development Goals (2433) Multilateral debt relief (1320) Development bank reform (1129) Nuclear nonproliferation (3131,977,2224).

9 address Voting/Elections Prohibit deceptive practices in Federal elections (453) Voter access to polls and services in Federal elections (737) Voter intimidation and deceptive practices (1975) Senate campaign disclosure parity (185) Require reporting for bundled campaign contributions (2030) Election jamming prevention (4102) Campaign disclosure parity (223) Presidential funding (2412) Integrity of electronic voting systems (1487)

11 addressed Education Increase access of low income African Americans to higher education (1513) Establish teaching residency programs (1574) Increase early intervention services (2111) Middle school curriculum improvements (2227) Public database of scholarships, fellowships and financial aid (2428) Summer learning programs (116) TANF financial education promotion (924) Higher education (1642) Build capacity at community colleges (379) Campus law enforcement in emergencies (1228) Support for teachers (2060).

6 addressed Hurrican Katrina Hurricane Katrina recovery (2319) Emergency relief (1637) Bankruptcy relief and community protection (1647) Working family tax relief (2257) Fair wages for recovery workers (1749) Gulf coast infrastructure redevelopment (1836)

5 addressed the Environment Drinking water security (218, 1426) Water resources development (728) Waste water treatment (1995) Combat illegal logging (1930) Spent nuclear fuel tracking and Acountability (1194) Asian Carp Prevention and Control Act (Introduced in Senate)[S.726.IS ]

4 addressed Discrimination Claims for civil class action based on discrimination (1989) Domestic partnership benefits (2521) Unresolved civil rights crimes (535) Equality or two parent families (2286)

4 addressed Homeland Security Judicial review of FISA orders (2369) National emergency family locator (1630) Amend US Patriot Act (2167) Chemical security and safety (2486)

Like I said, impressive.

The Vile Hate Campaign That is Building Against Obama

The incomparable Glenn Greenwald strikes again, here, laying out the contours of the loathsome attacks on Barack Obama being cooked up by the vicious, hard-core radical right and being circulated through our mainstream media by the right wing's favorite lap dogs. A sample:

...in one of the most repulsive screeds in memory, courtesy of National Review's Lisa Schiffren, former Dan Quayle aide, the fact that Obama's parents are a mixed-race couple strongly suggests they were probably Communists, because who else, besides Communists, would marry outside of their own race? She cited an equally repellent article by AIM's Cliff Kinkaid, entitled Obama's Communist Mentor, which "reveals" that "through Frank Marshall Davis, Obama had an admitted relationship with someone who was publicly identified as a member of the Communist Party USA." ...

Most importantly of all, the guardians of our political discourse -- the Chris Matthews and Howie Kurtzs and Mark Halperins and The Politicos, all of whom dwell in Matt Drudge's kingdom -- traffic almost exclusively in puerile, vapid fixations with these types of petty conflicts and substance-free controversies. They're the decadent ringleaders of the freak show which dominates our political discourse and dictates the outcome of our elections. ...

It's vitally important to remember that our political life is suffuse with lowlifes and hatemongers like this. Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and Ann Coulter -- the heart and soul of the right-wing -- aren't going anywhere, nor are the media-connected, Swiftboat-spewing operatives who function in the shadows and the sewers. As Digby pointed out yesterday, the Right has already created a new, extremely well-funded organization -- overseen by the incomparably slimy and truth-free Ari Fleischer -- preparing to unleash exactly this sort of bile. As Digby said, the Democratic primary is exceedingly polite when compared to what is coming: "Just wait until you see what Ari Fleischer and his quarter of a billion have in store for us."

Just wait, indeed. If Obama is the Democratic nominee for president, all of us who love this country and are trying to save it from horrible policies of the Lunatic Right are going to have to be Obama's attack dogs. I'm fully ready to play such a role, and I hope you are, too. The Right and its friends are killing America; if we don't step in to rescue it, who will?

Obama's Illinois Senate Record

Click to enlarge

Impressive. (From the New York Times originally)

OK, I Give Up. I'm Switching My Endorsement to Neutral

I was mildly for Obama. Now, I'll just say that I'll support whomever everybody else ultimately decides on for the Democratic nomination. I think jettisoning John Edwards was a mistake. And our strongest conceivable candidate, Al Gore, chose not to make the race. This will, I think, turn out to be a tragedy.

I am pessimistic now. Seeing how deeply divided the Democrats are, how ugly the primary season has gotten, and how ludicrously many of the supporters of the two major candidates are behaving, I am discouraged. The Republican machine will be able to throw heavy ammunition at either Clinton and Obama, and I don't think the Democrats have learned how to fight back effectively. In Clinton, we have someone bitterly hated by almost half the population. In Obama we have someone who perhaps is trying to seize the brass ring prematurely, someone who needs more time at the national level.

I therefore believe that John McCain is the favorite to win the presidency, and that this will push America into irreversible foreign policy and economic disaster. At a time in our country's history when it is desperately necessary for us to remove the right-wingers from power, the Democrats, I believe, will again shoot themselves in the foot and come up short.

In other words, we're screwed. Have a nice day.

Ah, Sweet Love

John McCain: Moral Sell-Out

He went through unspeakable suffering when he was a prisoner of war. He felt the depths of the inhumanity of which our species is capable. If there is ANY man in America who should be working to stop our government from using torture on suspects, it is John McCain. So what did he do today? He voted to allow it.

This isn't the first time he's caved on this issue. (Read this; it will shock the hell out of you.) But it's a particularly craven sell-out, inasmuch as McCain is simply trying to curry favor among the knuckle-dragging Neanderthals who comprise the pro-torture "base" of the Republican Party, people who have no idea what this country is about and, moreover, don't give a damn. McCain wants to be a hero to these lowlifes. That's why he is betraying his own deepest principles.

Gee, John, maybe Ann Coulter will like you now.

A Cheney Play List from Lance

Man, that Cheney image is gonna give me a seizure!

BTW, check out Lance's bizarre, wonderful blog Pizza Teen here.

Never Forget. Ever.

If you want a third term for Bush, you know who will give it to you.

"That's an argument I want to have."

(Thanks, Geneve!)

The Myth of McCain the "Moderate" and "Independent"

John McCain is still called "maverick" and other such nonsense by much of the MSM, when in fact in many ways he's a reactionary, one of the most radical right wingers in the Senate. He's also a devoted Bush supporter. Arianna Huffington spells it out clearly here:

I hate to be the one to break up a love affair, especially with Valentine's Day just around the corner, but I can no longer stand idly by and watch the media and independent voters continue to throw themselves at the feet of John McCain.

The John McCain they fell in love with in 2000 -- the straight-shooting, let-the-chips-fall-where-they-may maverick - is no more. He's been replaced by a born-again Bushite willing to say or do anything to win the affection of his newfound object of desire, the radical right.

And we've got the money shot of his betrayal on tape: McCain singing the praises of Karl Rove, calling him "one of the smartest political minds in America," and saying, "I'd be glad to get his advice."...

What is it going to take for you guys to face reality? McCain verbally stroking Rove should be the equivalent of that great scene at the end of The Godfather where Diane Keaton's Kay watches in horror as Al Pacino transforms, in the kiss of a ring, from her loving husband Michael into the next Don Corleone. This ain't the same man you married.

Of course, McCain's embrace of Rove is just the latest proof that the new McCain bears no relation to the old.

The old John McCain once rightly called Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell and like-minded religious bigots "agents of intolerance." The new John McCain now slavishly seeks their endorsement.

The old John McCain talked about trying to do something about global warming and encourage renewable energy. The new John McCain didn't show up for a vote last week on a bill that included tax incentives for clean energy, even though he was in DC. And then his staff misled environmentalists who called to protest by telling them that he had voted for it.

The old John McCain once stood tall as a fearless leader on immigration, co-sponsoring a humane, bipartisan reform bill with Ted Kennedy. The new John McCain, when asked during a recent GOP debate whether he would support his own proposal, replied: "No, I would not." In other words, he was for his core beliefs before he was against them.

So McCan has backed an amendment that would limit the right to habeas corpus, has endorsed an Arizona constitutional amendment that would not only ban gay marriage but deny benefits to unmarried couples of any kind (lest those pesky gay people find some kind of loophole), and has discovered a newfound support for teaching "intelligent design" in schools.

The old John McCain once tried to take the mantle of true conservatism away from George W. Bush. The new John McCain is now essentially running to give America a third Bush term - and, indeed, will even out-Bush Bush when it comes to staying the disastrous course we're on in Iraq.

I've said it before, I'll say it again (and again and again):

NO THIRD TERM FOR BUSH

NO TO MC CAIN!

Ann Coulter's Ranting Hatred, Part 792

The ultimate Republican really outdid herself at the latest conservative blood-fest, CPAC. Her vicious, ugly rhetoric was directed at John McCain, presumptive Republican nominee for president. If you can stand it, here's an excerpt:

"A serious case could be made to support Hillary Clinton," she declared, offering the analogy of Winston Churchill backing Stalin in the fight against Hitler in WWII. "I'm not equating Hillary Clinton to Stalin, and if I did I apologize to Stalin's decedents... I'm not comparing McCain to Hitler. Hitler had a coherent tax policy." Later, she added, "The only way I can promise that I won't vote for Hillary Clinton is if John McCain appoints her as his vice president."

Yes, Hillary is worse than Stalin, but not even she is as bad as McCain, who is evidently worse than Hitler.

As insane and beyond the pale as those remarks were, for me this was even worse:

As for former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani: He "enthusiastically supported torturing terrorists," she said to great applause. "McCain hysterically opposes dripping water down the terrorist's noses."

Yes, folks, in order to be a REAL conservative, you must now be actively PRO-TORTURE. Annie said so (to great applause, as it said). The only Republican candidate who actually knows what that kind of hell is really like is opposed to it, so therefore he's weak and unfit to lead the country. This is how deep and profound the evil and sickness of the Right in America has become. And the wild popularity of Coulter among the hard core Right is yet another indication of this evil and sickness. I mean, my God, how in the hell does this scum even dare to open her mouth about McCain being unwilling to fight terrorism? How does she DARE to question McCain's bona fides on torture? She's beyond perverse. I guess that's why all the little boys in Young Americans for Freedom love her so much.

Look, I'm working against McCain. But he's basically more decent and honorable than most other Republicans. He doesn't deserve the kind of batshit hatred he's getting from the Republican hard core types.

And if there were a just God, Coulter would be a little smoking pile of ashes right now.

An Obama Supporter Who Knows His Stuff

Impressive.

Mr. Straight-Shootin', Maverick Independent!

Update: 14.7 Million Democratic Votes Last Tuesday, Only 8.9 Million GOP

That works out to 62.3% Democratic, 37.7% Republican.

I like those numbers even better.

Oh, Willard. One More Thing

Now that your sons are no longer needed to help Dad's campaign, I'm sure you'll have them all sign up for the armed forces now so they can fight the terrorists (not like those Evil Libruls!). As one commenter on Salon put it, they could become The Fightin' Romneys!

I'll hold my breath to see if it happens.

Phony, Plastic Fraud Romney Drops Out

And says he's doing it to prevent a Democratic victory and a "surrender to terror".

Ah, that Willard. A lying, no-class gutter politician right to the end.

Good riddance to this assclown.

(By the way, Willard, sorry about that $35 million of your own money you spent to fall flat on both of your faces. Heh.)

On the Democratic Side, A Super Tuesday Tie

Obama and Clinton each got around 48% of the total popular vote tonight in the various Democratic primaries and caucuses. Clinton won decisively in California; Obama won more states in total. And as I've said before, I WILL GLADLY SUPPORT EITHER ONE IN THE GENERAL ELECTION.

But the bigger winner was the Democratic Party itself. More than 12,000,000 people voted in the Democratic primaries, by one estimate, and only about 8,000,000 in the Republican contests. That works out 60-40 in favor of the good guys. I'd gladly take that ratio on 4 November.

Now, the task will be to tarnish the media-bestowed halo on St. John McCain. I respect John McCain--but I'm going to do everything I can to prevent him from being president. He has embraced every single one of the disastrous Bush policies, even repudiating his own sensible rejection of Bush's tax cuts for the super rich. If you want perpetual war and economic disaster, McCain will be your man.

No third term for Bush--No to McCain!

The Republicans: The REJECTED Party

Reading Glenn Greenwald's column from yesterday alerted me to the new Washington Post-ABC poll, a survey which leads to an inescapable conclusion: The Republican Party has been utterly rejected by the vast majority of the American people. Key findings:

BUSH: Approve--33%, DISAPPROVE--65%. Strongly approve--21%, STRONGLY DISAPPROVE, 56%(!)

HOW BUSH IS HANDLING IRAQ: Approve--33%. DISAPPROVE--65%

HOW BUSH IS HANDLING THE ECONOMY: Approve 30%, DISAPPROVE 67%.

CONGRESSIONAL REPUBLICANS: Approve--30%, DISAPPROVE--63%

CONGRESSIONAL DEMOCRATS: Approve--39% DISAPPROVE--54% [Note: Many of the disapprovers have, in other surveys, tended to be Democrats who want Congress to STOP BUSH.)

HANDLING OF ISSUES: Every single one is a DEMOCRATIC advantage. The breakdown is as follows:

ECONOMY: 52-33

IMMIGRATION: 40-37

IRAQ: 48-34

BUDGET DEFICIT: 52-31

TAXES: 48-40

FIGHTING TERRORISM: 44-37

HEALTH CARE: 56-29

So Greenwald's question is my question, too:

WHY DOES THE DEMOCRATIC CONGRESSIONAL LEADERSHIP CAVE IN SO MUCH???

The George W. Bush Tax on Your Children and Your Grandchildren

Contemptuous of the American people and their needs right to the bitter end, Bush has submitted his last official budget. It calls for THREE TRILLION DOLLARS in spending. It calls for a $400 BILLION PLUS deficit (which is in itself a lie, since much of the deficit is cleaned up with financial smoke and mirrors.) It calls for a huge increase in the already insanely high defense budget. It calls for slashing aid to the sick. And, of course, it calls for making Bush's wildly irresponsible tax cuts for the wealthy permanent. Digby lays it out bluntly:

In one sense, this is the work of a President who's basically gotten everything he wanted for seven years, trying to come up with a final act that's as audacious as humanly possible. In another, this is really all the conservative movement can come up with. They rely on a media and a populace that doesn't delve into the intricacies of the budget, and so they feel free to announce their spending priorities to the world. And this is what they are when everything has been stripped away. It's theft on the grandest scale, a massive reshuffling of wealth upwards, a kind of corporate Marxism where those who deserve it least get the most. There isn't anything new or groundbreaking here, just a naked grab for cash in the final year.

Now who in the hell, exactly, is going to pay the Chinese and Japanese back for all the money Georgie Boy is throwing around? You guessed it--your kids and your grandkids. Bush's so-called "tax cuts" are simply tax deferrals, a way of putting everything on the credit card. Never forget:

MORE THAN 40% OF THE ENTIRE NATIONAL DEBT ACCUMULATED SINCE GEORGE WASHINGTON HAS BEEN PILED UP UNDER GEORGE W. BUSH.

And EVERY Republican still in the running for president has promised to continue his suicidal fiscal policies. McCain, Romney, and Huckabee are committed to destroying this country's economy. Never forget that, either.

George W. Bush: the worst president in American history, a miserable failure on every level, a war criminal, and destroyer of America's economic future. No wonder he's a hero to the Republican "base".

A Statement from Barack Obama

Imagine a president who's an intelligent, thoughtful man who uses the English language beautifully. The mind reels. Imagine further a progressive president. The mind trembles in happy anticipation.

Obama for President

Dr. StrangeMcCain