Apparently republicans are running out of things to say... because Sen. McCain's wife Cindy became the third republican to counter the accusations that Gov. Quayle Palin doesn't have any national experience because; "Alaska is the closest part of our continent to Russia."
"If it were your decision, and you were putting your country first, would you put an untested small-town mayor a heartbeat away from the presidency?" - National Review's David Frum
(Ouch... and that's from a conservative... well, I bet other conservatives are happy with the choice... right... RIGHT??? Helloooooooo, anyone there???)
Former President Jimmy Carter was giving an interview with USA Today yesterday and said that Sen. McCain has been “milking” his time as a POW to his advantage at every opportunity.
Well, that appears to have pissed off South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford, who labeled Carter’s comments “absurd” and said “I’ve spent a lot of time with John McCain over the years and it’s something he doesn’t bring up in personal conversation. It’s something that you have to pull out of him just because it’s something that he doesn’t talk about. And so, does he have admirers that talk about that searing life experience and the character that it would develop? […] With all do respect, I think it’s a crazy claim.”
I’m… I’m sorry… his time as a POW is something he “doesn’t talk about”… seriously? That’s what you’re going to say??
Give me a break…
McCain not only has a long and storied history of discussing his POW experience… at length… but he’s also very well adept at doing so when it has absolutely nothing to do with the topic at hand.
He did it most recently during an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. After Leno asked him how it’s possible that he couldn’t remember how many houses he owns, McCain said; “I spent five and a half years in a prison cell, I didn’t have a house, I didn’t have a kitchen table, I didn’t have a table, I didn’t have a chair.”Aaaaaaannnnnddddd???? What does that have to with the question at hand? If Jay had any balls he would have asked a follow-up question consisting of; what the fuck does that have to do with anything??
It doesn’t… and it proves that McCain DOES talk about his time as a POW and he DOES use it, or at least tries to use it as an advantage.
ThinkProgress has a few more examples of McCain “not” talking about this POW experience:
“– Raising his POW experience to justify his love of the song ‘Take a Chance on Me’ by Abba. “A lot of my taste in music stopped about the time I impacted a surface to air missile with my own airplane,” McCain said to Walter Issacson at the Aspen Institute. (In fact, Abba
began recording years after he was shot down.)
– Raising his POW experience to justify his opposition to universal healthcare. “I did have a period of time where I didn’t have very good healthcare, I had it from another government. Look, I know what it’s like not to have healthcare,” McCain said on ABC’s This Week with George Stephanopoulos.
– Raising his POW experience to attack political opponents. “Senator Clinton tried to spend $1 million on the Woodstock concert museum. Now, my friends, I wasn’t there…I was tied up at the time,’” McCain said during a primary debate.”
“We can't bust heads like we used to, but we have our ways. One trick is to tell them stories that don't go anywhere. Like the time I took the fairy to Shelbyville. I needed a new heel for my shoe so I decided to go to Morganville, which is what they called Shelbyville in those days. So I tied an onion to my belt, which was the style at the time. Now to take the ferry cost a nickel, and in those days, nickels had pictures of bumblebees on them. Give me five bees for a quarter you'd say. Now where were we, oh ya. The important thing was that I had an onion on my belt, which was the style at the time. They didn't have white onions because if the war. The only thing you could get was those big yellow ones.”While I had resolved myself to not speak about Sen. McCain’s VP choice of Sarah Quayle Palin… the conservative backlash succeeding her selection is something I can NOT pass up.
Keep this in mind… she was the mayor of a small town in Alaska, population 6,500, a mere 20 months ago… and that town’s largest concern was if they would have enough snow on the ground for the Iditarod. But in 1984 she was runner-up in the Ms. Alaska beauty pageant… so she has that going for her. And now… now she’s been tapped to be a heartbeat away from the presidency… and with McCain’s age (by the way. Happy Birthday today Senator), that could very well come into play.
But I’m getting off-topic… back to the real point of this post; conservative backlash.
HT to Daily Kos …
Kathryn Jean Lopez of National Review; “She Just Is Not Ready to Be Commander-in-Chief [said] Pat Buchanan on MSNBC just now, about Sarah Palin. I'm liable to agree.”
Lopez wasn’t done as she shared this email she received; “As much as I loathe Obama-Biden, I can't in good conscience vote for a McCain-Palin ticket. Palin has absolutely no experience in foreign affairs. Considering both McCain's advanced age and the state of the world today, it is essential that the veep be exceedingly qualified to assume the office of president. I simply don't have any confidence in Palin's ability to deal effectively with Iran, Russia, China, etc. I certainly will not cast a vote for Obama-Biden, but nor will I vote for McCain-Palin. Looks like I'll either sit this one out or vote for Bob Barr. Why, o, why, didn't McCain listen to Rove and just pick Romney?”
(Because trying to use the label of elitist towards Obama wouldn’t work when the presidential and vice presidential candidate own over 11 homes between them… I’m just sayin’)
Steven Chapman calls her selection “inexcusable” and says; “But worse, this decision mocks McCain's seriousness on the issues that are supposed to be his strength. It tells us that he puts his own political fortunes above the safety of the nation.”
(Yup… welcome to the self evident point we knew months years ago Steve. McCain is a pandering flip-flopper…)
Mark Silva of the Chicago Tribune; “Yet, as McCain often has joked, one of the few requirements for the vice presidency is looking after the health of the president on a daily basis. So, should Palin find no breath on the mirror held under McCain's nose some day, is she ready to be president? […] On the question of national security, the McCain campaign has offered Palin's control of the Alaska National Guard. Really?”
(She controls the National Guard so she’s qualified to handle national security… seriously? That’s that the campaign is going to say? That’s about as stupid a comment as Fox “News” host Steve Doocy’s rationale of her being good at international relations because she’s “right up there in Alaska right next door to Russia.”)
Ramesh Ponnuru of National Review; “Inexperience. Palin has been governor for about two minutes. Thanks to McCain’s decision, Palin could be commander-in-chief next year. That may strike people as a reckless choice; it strikes me that way. And McCain's age raised the stakes on this issue. […] As a political matter, it undercuts the case against Obama. Conservatives are pointing out that it is tricky for the Obama campaign to raise the issue of her inexperience given his own, and note that the presidency matters more than the vice-presidency. But that gets things backward. To the extent the experience, qualifications, and national-security arguments are taken off the table, Obama wins. [..] And it’s not just foreign policy. Palin has no experience dealing with national domestic issues, either. (On the other hand, as Kate O’Beirne just told me, we know that Palin will be ready for that 3 a.m. phone call: She’ll already be up with her baby.)
(Her selection does eliminate, partially, McCain’s argument about Obama being inexperienced. And the line about her already being up at 3 AM is perfectly snarky…)
MSNBC's Joe Scarborough; “It Sounds Like a Harriet Miers Decision. Let's Find a Woman, Whether She's Experienced or Not.”
(Ouch)
Erstwhile conservative tool and blowhard Pat Buchanan; “(Picking Palin is the) biggest political gamble I think in American political history.”
(this is starting to scare me... first Pat says that Obama's speech was the "greatest convention speech ever" and now he's unsure about McCain's running mate... do we need to call Hell to see if it's frozen over?)
Town Hall's Ron Fournier; “If Obama is an empty suit, as McCain has suggested, is Palin suited for the Oval Office herself? […] She is younger and less experienced than the first-term Illinois senator, and brings an ethical shadow to the ticket.”
(Or an empty pantsuit if you want to get technical)
You say you want Liberal reaction, here ya go…
Rep. Rahm Emmanuel; “Is this really who the Republican Party wants to be one heartbeat away from the Presidency? Given Sarah Palin's lack of experience on every front and on nearly every issue, this Vice Presidential pick doesn't show judgment: it shows political panic.”
(Yup…)
Sen. Chuck Schumer; “After the great success of the Democratic convention, the choice of Sarah Palin is surely a Hail Mary pass. It is a real roll of the dice and shows how John McCain, Karl Rove et al realize what a strong position the Obama-Biden team and Democrats in general are in in this election. Certainly the choice of Palin puts to rest any argument about inexperience on the Democratic team and while Palin is a fine person, her lack of experience makes the thought of her assuming the presidency troubling. I particularly look forward to the Biden-Palin debate in Missouri.”
(you ain’t the only one Mr. Schumer…)
Obama Campaign 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. Governor Palin shares John McCain's commitment to overturning Roe v. Wade, the agenda of Big Oil and continuing George Bush's failed economic policies -- that's not the change we need, it's just more of the same.”
Fasten your seatbelts people…the ride has just begun.
I posted yesterday (“McCain staffer says something stupid”) about McCain’s healthcare architect John Goodman saying that there aren’t any “uninsured” people in the US because all Americans have access to emergency rooms.
Anyone with common sense can see why that’s a bad idea… but today the American College of Emergency Physicians has gotten in on the debate, issuing a statement that calls Goodman’s statement “reckless.” The statement reads; “We urge the McCain campaign to rethink the reckless suggestion by Mr. Goodman that the tragedy of uninsured patients can be erased by the magic of emergency departments. […] Emergency physicians can and do perform miracles every day, but taking on the full-time, medical care for 46 million uninsured Americans is one miracle even we cannot perform. Access to care in the emergency department is no substitute for the comprehensive health care reform policy that should be at the heart of the platform of any presidential campaign.”
Ignoring the fact that his campaign’s health care plan is, in the words of The New Republic’s Jonathan Cohn, “perfectly consistent with Goodman’s statements”, they still claim that Goodman’s healthcare beliefs and philosophies are “out of step with John McCain.”
Now with pressure from ACEP, one has to wonder how long until McCain disavows Goodman… Because it worked so well when he did that with Gramm, didn’t it?
TGIF… and a 3-day weekend to boot! And as it’s becoming a tradition, here’s today’s “Shortened Because it’s Friday Daily ‘BushWhack’ing”…
Transcript of Senator Barack Obama's acceptance speech... enjoy.
o Chairman Dean and my great friend Dick Durbin; and to all my fellow citizens of this great nation.With profound gratitude and great humility, I accept your nomination for the presidency of the United States.
Let me express my thanks to the historic slate of candidates who accompanied me on this journey, and especially the one who traveled the farthest -- a champion for working Americans and an inspiration to my daughters and to yours -- Hillary Rodham Clinton. To President Clinton, who last night made the case for change as only he can make it; to Ted Kennedy, who embodies the spirit of service; and to the next vice president of the United States, Joe Biden, I thank you. I am grateful to finish this journey with one of the finest statesmen of our time, a man at ease with everyone from world leaders to the conductors on the Amtrak train he still takes home every night.
To the love of my life, our next first lady, Michelle Obama, and to Sasha and Malia -- I love you so much, and I'm so proud of all of you.
Four years ago, I stood before you and told you my story -- of the brief union between a young man from Kenya and a young woman from Kansas who weren't well-off or well-known, but shared a belief that in America, their son could achieve whatever he put his mind to.
It is that promise that has always set this country apart -- that through hard work and sacrifice, each of us can pursue our individual dreams but still come together as one American family, to ensure that the next generation can pursue their dreams as well.
That's why I stand here tonight. Because for 232 years, at each moment when that promise was in jeopardy, ordinary men and women -- students and soldiers, farmers and teachers, nurses and janitors -- found the courage to keep it alive.
We meet at one of those defining moments -- a moment when our nation is at war, our economy is in turmoil, and the American promise has been threatened once more.
Tonight, more Americans are out of work and more are working harder for less. More of you have lost your homes and even more are watching your home values plummet. More of you have cars you can't afford to drive, credit card bills you can't afford to pay, and tuition that's beyond your reach.
These challenges are not all of government's making. But the failure to respond is a direct result of a broken politics in Washington and the failed policies of George W. Bush.
America, we are better than these last eight years. We are a better country than this.
This country is more decent than one where a woman in Ohio, on the brink of retirement, finds herself one illness away from disaster after a lifetime of hard work.
This country is more generous than one where a man in Indiana has to pack up the equipment he's worked on for 20 years and watch it shipped off to China, and then chokes up as he explains how he felt like a failure when he went home to tell his family the news.
We are more compassionate than a government that lets veterans sleep on our streets and families slide into poverty; that sits on its hands while a major American city drowns before our eyes.
Tonight, I say to the American people, to Democrats and Republicans and independents across this great land -- enough! This moment -- this election -- is our chance to keep, in the 21st century, the American promise alive. Because next week, in Minnesota, the same party that brought you two terms of George Bush and Dick Cheney will ask this country for a third. And we are here because we love this country too much to let the next four years look like the last eight. On November 4, we must stand up and say: "Eight is enough."
Now let there be no doubt. The Republican nominee, John McCain, has worn the uniform of our country with bravery and distinction, and for that we owe him our gratitude and respect. And next week, we'll also hear about those occasions when he's broken with his party as evidence that he can deliver the change that we need.
But the record's clear: John McCain has voted with George Bush 90 percent of the time. Sen. McCain likes to talk about judgment, but really, what does it say about your judgment when you think George Bush has been right more than 90 percent of the time? I don't know about you, but I'm not ready to take a 10 percent chance on change.
The truth is, on issue after issue that would make a difference in your lives -- on health care and education and the economy -- Sen. McCain has been anything but independent. He said that our economy has made "great progress" under this president. He said that the fundamentals of the economy are strong. And when one of his chief advisers -- the man who wrote his economic plan -- was talking about the anxiety Americans are feeling, he said that we were just suffering from a "mental recession," and that we've become, and I quote, "a nation of whiners."
A nation of whiners? Tell that to the proud autoworkers at a Michigan plant who, after they found out it was closing, kept showing up every day and working as hard as ever, because they knew there were people who counted on the brakes that they made. Tell that to the military families who shoulder their burdens silently as they watch their loved ones leave for their third or fourth or fifth tour of duty. These are not whiners. They work hard and give back and keep going without complaint. These are the Americans that I know.
Now, I don't believe that Sen. McCain doesn't care what's going on in the lives of Americans. I just think he doesn't know. Why else would he define middle-class as someone making under $5 million a year? How else could he propose hundreds of billions in tax breaks for big corporations and oil companies but not one penny of tax relief to more than 100 million Americans? How else could he offer a health care plan that would actually tax people's benefits, or an education plan that would do nothing to help families pay for college, or a plan that would privatize Social Security and gamble your retirement?
It's not because John McCain doesn't care. It's because John McCain doesn't get it.
For over two decades, he's subscribed to that old, discredited Republican philosophy -- give more and more to those with the most and hope that prosperity trickles down to everyone else. In Washington, they call this the Ownership Society, but what it really means is -- you're on your own. Out of work? Tough luck. No health care? The market will fix it. Born into poverty? Pull yourself up by your own bootstraps -- even if you don't have boots. You're on your own.
Well it's time for them to own their failure. It's time for us to change America.
You see, we Democrats have a very different measure of what constitutes progress in this country.
We measure progress by how many people can find a job that pays the mortgage; whether you can put a little extra money away at the end of each month so you can someday watch your child receive her college diploma. We measure progress in the 23 million new jobs that were created when Bill Clinton was president -- when the average American family saw its income go up $7,500 instead of down $2,000 like it has under George Bush.
We measure the strength of our economy not by the number of billionaires we have or the profits of the Fortune 500, but by whether someone with a good idea can take a risk and start a new business, or whether the waitress who lives on tips can take a day off to look after a sick kid without losing her job -- an economy that honors the dignity of work.
The fundamentals we use to measure economic strength are whether we are living up to that fundamental promise that has made this country great -- a promise that is the only reason I am standing here tonight.
Because in the faces of those young veterans who come back from Iraq and Afghanistan, I see my grandfather, who signed up after Pearl Harbor, marched in Patton's Army, and was rewarded by a grateful nation with the chance to go to college on the GI Bill.
In the face of that young student who sleeps just three hours before working the night shift, I think about my mom, who raised my sister and me on her own while she worked and earned her degree; who once turned to food stamps but was still able to send us to the best schools in the country with the help of student loans and scholarships.
When I listen to another worker tell me that his factory has shut down, I remember all those men and women on the South Side of Chicago who I stood by and fought for two decades ago after the local steel plant closed.
And when I hear a woman talk about the difficulties of starting her own business, I think about my grandmother, who worked her way up from the secretarial pool to middle-management, despite years of being passed over for promotions because she was a woman. She's the one who taught me about hard work. She's the one who put off buying a new car or a new dress for herself so that I could have a better life. She poured everything she had into me. And although she can no longer travel, I know that she's watching tonight, and that tonight is her night as well.
I don't know what kind of lives John McCain thinks that celebrities lead, but this has been mine. These are my heroes. Theirs are the stories that shaped me. And it is on their behalf that I intend to win this election and keep our promise alive as president of the United States.
What is that promise?
It's a promise that says each of us has the freedom to make of our own lives what we will, but that we also have the obligation to treat each other with dignity and respect.
It's a promise that says the market should reward drive and innovation and generate growth, but that businesses should live up to their responsibilities to create American jobs, look out for American workers, and play by the rules of the road.
Ours is a promise that says government cannot solve all our problems, but what it should do is that which we cannot do for ourselves -- protect us from harm and provide every child a decent education; keep our water clean and our toys safe; invest in new schools and new roads and new science and technology.
Our government should work for us, not against us. It should help us, not hurt us. It should ensure opportunity not just for those with the most money and influence, but for every American who's willing to work.
That's the promise of America -- the idea that we are responsible for ourselves, but that we also rise or fall as one nation; the fundamental belief that I am my brother's keeper; I am my sister's keeper.
That's the promise we need to keep. That's the change we need right now. So let me spell out exactly what that change would mean if I am president.
Change means a tax code that doesn't reward the lobbyists who wrote it, but the American workers and small businesses who deserve it.
Unlike John McCain, I will stop giving tax breaks to corporations that ship jobs overseas, and I will start giving them to companies that create good jobs right here in America.
I will eliminate capital gains taxes for the small businesses and the start-ups that will create the high-wage, high-tech jobs of tomorrow.
I will cut taxes -- cut taxes -- for 95 percent of all working families. Because in an economy like this, the last thing we should do is raise taxes on the middle-class.
And for the sake of our economy, our security, and the future of our planet, I will set a clear goal as president: in 10 years, we will finally end our dependence on oil from the Middle East.
Washington's been talking about our oil addiction for the last 30 years, and John McCain has been there for 26 of them. In that time, he's said no to higher fuel-efficiency standards for cars, no to investments in renewable energy, no to renewable fuels. And today, we import triple the amount of oil as the day that Sen. McCain took office.
Now is the time to end this addiction, and to understand that drilling is a stop-gap measure, not a long-term solution. Not even close.
As president, I will tap our natural gas reserves, invest in clean coal technology, and find ways to safely harness nuclear power. I'll help our auto companies re-tool, so that the fuel-efficient cars of the future are built right here in America. I'll make it easier for the American people to afford these new cars. And I'll invest $150 billion over the next decade in affordable, renewable sources of energy -- wind power and solar power and the next generation of biofuels; an investment that will lead to new industries and 5 million new jobs that pay well and can't ever be outsourced.
America, now is not the time for small plans.
Now is the time to finally meet our moral obligation to provide every child a world-class education, because it will take nothing less to compete in the global economy. Michelle and I are only here tonight because we were given a chance at an education. And I will not settle for an America where some kids don't have that chance. I'll invest in early childhood education. I'll recruit an army of new teachers, and pay them higher salaries and give them more support. And in exchange, I'll ask for higher standards and more accountability. And we will keep our promise to every young American -- if you commit to serving your community or your country, we will make sure you can afford a college education.
Now is the time to finally keep the promise of affordable, accessible health care for every single American. If you have health care, my plan will lower your premiums. If you don't, you'll be able to get the same kind of coverage that members of Congress give themselves. And as someone who watched my mother argue with insurance companies while she lay in bed dying of cancer, I will make certain those companies stop discriminating against those who are sick and need care the most.
Now is the time to help families with paid sick days and better family leave, because nobody in America should have to choose between keeping their jobs and caring for a sick child or ailing parent.
Now is the time to change our bankruptcy laws, so that your pensions are protected ahead of CEO bonuses; and the time to protect Social Security for future generations.
And now is the time to keep the promise of equal pay for an equal day's work, because I want my daughters to have exactly the same opportunities as your sons.
Now, many of these plans will cost money, which is why I've laid out how I'll pay for every dime -- by closing corporate loopholes and tax havens that don't help America grow. But I will also go through the federal budget, line by line, eliminating programs that no longer work and making the ones we do need work better and cost less -- because we cannot meet 21st century challenges with a 20th century bureaucracy.
And Democrats, we must also admit that fulfilling America's promise will require more than just money. It will require a renewed sense of responsibility from each of us to recover what John F. Kennedy called our "intellectual and moral strength." Yes, government must lead on energy independence, but each of us must do our part to make our homes and businesses more efficient. Yes, we must provide more ladders to success for young men who fall into lives of crime and despair. But we must also admit that programs alone can't replace parents; that government can't turn off the television and make a child do her homework; that fathers must take more responsibility for providing the love and guidance their children need.
Individual responsibility and mutual responsibility -- that's the essence of America's promise.
And just as we keep our keep our promise to the next generation here at home, so must we keep America's promise abroad. If John McCain wants to have a debate about who has the temperament, and judgment, to serve as the next commander in chief, that's a debate I'm ready to have.
For while Sen. McCain was turning his sights to Iraq just days after 9/11, I stood up and opposed this war, knowing that it would distract us from the real threats we face. When John McCain said we could just "muddle through" in Afghanistan, I argued for more resources and more troops to finish the fight against the terrorists who actually attacked us on 9/11, and made clear that we must take out Osama bin Laden and his lieutenants if we have them in our sights. John McCain likes to say that he'll follow bin Laden to the Gates of Hell -- but he won't even go to the cave where he lives.
And today, as my call for a time frame to remove our troops from Iraq has been echoed by the Iraqi government and even the Bush administration, even after we learned that Iraq has a $79 billion surplus while we're wallowing in deficits, John McCain stands alone in his stubborn refusal to end a misguided war.
That's not the judgment we need. That won't keep America safe. We need a president who can face the threats of the future, not keep grasping at the ideas of the past.
You don't defeat a terrorist network that operates in 80 countries by occupying Iraq. You don't protect Israel and deter Iran just by talking tough in Washington. You can't truly stand up for Georgia when you've strained our oldest alliances. If John McCain wants to follow George Bush with more tough talk and bad strategy, that is his choice -- but it is not the change we need.
We are the party of Roosevelt. We are the party of Kennedy. So don't tell me that Democrats won't defend this country. Don't tell me that Democrats won't keep us safe. The Bush-McCain foreign policy has squandered the legacy that generations of Americans -- Democrats and Republicans -- have built, and we are here to restore that legacy.
As commander in chief, I will never hesitate to defend this nation, but I will only send our troops into harm's way with a clear mission and a sacred commitment to give them the equipment they need in battle and the care and benefits they deserve when they come home.
I will end this war in Iraq responsibly, and finish the fight against al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan. I will rebuild our military to meet future conflicts. But I will also renew the tough, direct diplomacy that can prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons and curb Russian aggression. I will build new partnerships to defeat the threats of the 21st century: terrorism and nuclear proliferation; poverty and genocide; climate change and disease. And I will restore our moral standing, so that America is once again that last, best hope for all who are called to the cause of freedom, who long for lives of peace, and who yearn for a better future.
These are the policies I will pursue. And in the weeks ahead, I look forward to debating them with John McCain.
But what I will not do is suggest that the senator takes his positions for political purposes. Because one of the things that we have to change in our politics is the idea that people cannot disagree without challenging each other's character and patriotism.
The times are too serious, the stakes are too high for this same partisan playbook. So let us agree that patriotism has no party. I love this country, and so do you, and so does John McCain. The men and women who serve in our battlefields may be Democrats and Republicans and independents, but they have fought together and bled together and some died together under the same proud flag. They have not served a Red America or a Blue America -- they have served the United States of America.
So I've got news for you, John McCain. We all put our country first.
America, our work will not be easy. The challenges we face require tough choices, and Democrats as well as Republicans will need to cast off the worn-out ideas and politics of the past. For part of what has been lost these past eight years can't just be measured by lost wages or bigger trade deficits. What has also been lost is our sense of common purpose -- our sense of higher purpose. And that's what we have to restore.
We may not agree on abortion, but surely we can agree on reducing the number of unwanted pregnancies in this country. The reality of gun ownership may be different for hunters in rural Ohio than for those plagued by gang-violence in Cleveland, but don't tell me we can't uphold the Second Amendment while keeping AK-47s out of the hands of criminals. I know there are differences on same-sex marriage, but surely we can agree that our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters deserve to visit the person they love in the hospital and to live lives free of discrimination. Passions fly on immigration, but I don't know anyone who benefits when a mother is separated from her infant child or an employer undercuts American wages by hiring illegal workers. This, too, is part of America's promise -- the promise of a democracy where we can find the strength and grace to bridge divides and unite in common effort.
I know there are those who dismiss such beliefs as happy talk. They claim that our insistence on something larger, something firmer and more honest in our public life is just a Trojan Horse for higher taxes and the abandonment of traditional values. And that's to be expected. Because if you don't have any fresh ideas, then you use stale tactics to scare the voters. If you don't have a record to run on, then you paint your opponent as someone people should run from.
You make a big election about small things.
And you know what -- it's worked before. Because it feeds into the cynicism we all have about government. When Washington doesn't work, all its promises seem empty. If your hopes have been dashed again and again, then it's best to stop hoping, and settle for what you already know.
I get it. I realize that I am not the likeliest candidate for this office. I don't fit the typical pedigree, and I haven't spent my career in the halls of Washington.
But I stand before you tonight because all across America something is stirring. What the naysayers don't understand is that this election has never been about me. It's been about you.
For 18 long months, you have stood up, one by one, and said enough to the politics of the past. You understand that in this election, the greatest risk we can take is to try the same old politics with the same old players and expect a different result. You have shown what history teaches us -- that at defining moments like this one, the change we need doesn't come from Washington. Change comes to Washington. Change happens because the American people demand it -- because they rise up and insist on new ideas and new leadership, a new politics for a new time.
America, this is one of those moments.
I believe that as hard as it will be, the change we need is coming. Because I've seen it. Because I've lived it. I've seen it in Illinois, when we provided health care to more children and moved more families from welfare to work. I've seen it in Washington, when we worked across party lines to open up government and hold lobbyists more accountable, to give better care for our veterans and keep nuclear weapons out of terrorist hands.
And I've seen it in this campaign. In the young people who voted for the first time, and in those who got involved again after a very long time. In the Republicans who never thought they'd pick up a Democratic ballot, but did. I've seen it in the workers who would rather cut their hours back a day than see their friends lose their jobs, in the soldiers who re-enlist after losing a limb, in the good neighbors who take a stranger in when a hurricane strikes and the floodwaters rise.
This country of ours has more wealth than any nation, but that's not what makes us rich. We have the most powerful military on Earth, but that's not what makes us strong. Our universities and our culture are the envy of the world, but that's not what keeps the world coming to our shores.
Instead, it is that American spirit -- that American promise -- that pushes us forward even when the path is uncertain; that binds us together in spite of our differences; that makes us fix our eye not on what is seen, but what is unseen, that better place around the bend.
That promise is our greatest inheritance. It's a promise I make to my daughters when I tuck them in at night, and a promise that you make to yours -- a promise that has led immigrants to cross oceans and pioneers to travel west; a promise that led workers to picket lines, and women to reach for the ballot.
And it is that promise that 45 years ago today, brought Americans from every corner of this land to stand together on a Mall in Washington, before Lincoln's Memorial, and hear a young preacher from Georgia speak of his dream.
The men and women who gathered there could've heard many things. They could've heard words of anger and discord. They could've been told to succumb to the fear and frustration of so many dreams deferred.
But what the people heard instead -- people of every creed and color, from every walk of life -- is that in America, our destiny is inextricably linked. That together, our dreams can be one.
"We cannot walk alone," the preacher cried. "And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back."
America, we cannot turn back. Not with so much work to be done. Not with so many children to educate, and so many veterans to care for. Not with an economy to fix and cities to rebuild and farms to save. Not with so many families to protect and so many lives to mend. America, we cannot turn back. We cannot walk alone. At this moment, in this election, we must pledge once more to march into the future. Let us keep that promise -- that American promise -- and in the words of Scripture hold firmly, without wavering, to the hope that we confess.
Thank you, God Bless you, and God Bless the United States of America.
Just in case you had any delusions that Sen. McCain understands the world in which we live, here’s more proof that not only does HE not understand, but his surrogates (those that will get places of high importance in a McSame Administration) don’t either I present you this.
The man who assisted in the drafting of the McCain campaign’s health care plan (such as it is) believes that no American should be considered uninsured… and his use of logic, a term I use very loosely in this case, is fuzzy at best and incredibly idiotic at worse.
From today's Dallas Morning News; “But the numbers are misleading, said John Goodman, president of the National Center for Policy Analysis, a right-leaning Dallas-based think tank. Mr. Goodman, who helped craft Sen. John McCain's health care policy, said anyone with access to an emergency room effectively has insurance, albeit the government acts as the payer of last resort. (Hospital emergency rooms by law cannot turn away a patient in need of immediate care.) […] So I have a solution. And it will cost not one thin dime," Mr. Goodman said. "The next president of the United States should sign an executive order requiring the Census Bureau to cease and desist from describing any American – even illegal aliens – as uninsured. Instead, the bureau should categorize people according to the likely source of payment should they need care.”
So let me get his straight… by his logic, anyone who can get into a hospital emergency room is able to access health care, and therefore shouldn't be considered uninsured. In other words his solution to the health insurance crisis in this country is to simply re-define the word that causes the problem.
Lovely... now this isn’t the first time republicans have changed the definition of something in order to get the embarrassing numbers down as they did it to the definition of unemployed under President Nixon or maybe it was Ford… bah, they’re almost one in the same anyway.
It’s true that emergency rooms are not allowed to turn people who are in need of emergency medical care away, but the federal statute that designates that simply requires emergency room staff to stabilize people that come to their hospitals in need of urgent medical care. Meaning once they’re stabilized, the hospital is free to transfer or discharge them, no questions asked. Additionally, if you do go to an emergency room and need treatment, the hospital is still going to send you a bill as their ER services are not free, and if a patient doesn't pay, the hospital will sue.
Besides, our emergency rooms were not designed to be actual health care centers, they were designed for, imagine that; emergencies.
Add to that the fact that every medical professional would tell you that preventative health care not only costs a hell of lot less than waiting until a problem becomes so severe that a person has to go to the ER… but the impact of waiting on one’s personal health is monstrous and only exacerbates one’s medical maladies.
McCain and his cronies say there’s no healthcare crisis in this country because they themselves don’t have a problem with healthcare, which in their narrow, convoluted minds means no one in the country could possibly have a problem with healthcare.
McCain’s campaign apparently never saw the study that shows the U.S. is ranked 37th in the world for quality of health of its citizens.
You read that right… the United States is ranked 37th in the world for quality healthcare for its citizens… but according to McCain and his handlers… there’s no uninsured in the US.
Uninsured Americans are less likely to seek health care, which in turn means they are more likely to die because of a lack of insurance. An Institute of Medicine Report estimated there were 18,000 unnecessary adult deaths because of a lack of insurance while the Urban Institute estimates that 22,000 have died in 2006 for the same reason… yet the McCain campaign believes these people were “effectively insured.”
Talk about being out of touch.
Oh…and if you need more proof that a McCain presidency would mimic a Bush presidency… in July 2007, “President” Bush said; “I mean, people have access to health care in America. After all, you just go to an emergency room.”
As President Clinton and Sen. Clinton have said over the last two days; "They want us to reward them for the failures of the last four years with four more years. The third time is not the charm”… “No way. No how. No McCain.”
UPDATE Not surprisingly, the McCain campaign is trying to distance itself from John Goodman, with a campaign spokesperson telling The New Republic’s Jonathan Cohn that Goodman is “not an advisor” despite the Dallas Morning News reporting him to be one… and as recently as last month, the WSJ labeled Goodman as an “adviser to the McCain campaign” when he wrote an op-ed piece that fellated praised McCain’s health care plan.
Uh-huh…thanks for clearing that up guys.
What do you mean it’s not Friday??
Vice Presidential candidate Joe Biden:
"That's not change, that's more of the same!"
New York Gov. David Paterson on John McCain:
"If he's the answer, then the question must be ridiculous."
Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius;
"I'm sure you remember a girl from Kansas who said there's no place like home. Well, in John McCain's version, there's no place like home. And a home. And home. And home."
President Bill Clinton:
"They want us to reward them for the failures of the last four years with four more years. The third time is not the charm."
Sen. John Kerry;
"Before John McCain debates Barack Obama, he needs to finish the debate with John McCain."
Senator Bob Casey (D-PA);
"John McCain calls himself a maverick, but he votes with George Bush more than 90% of the time...that's not a maverick, that's a sidekick."
Ladies and gentlemen… while the traditional media does its best to pump up the silly drama about the sixty or so (yes, sixty… McCain probably has more keys for all his houses) PUMA’s that continue to defy logic and intelligence and hold out for Sen. Hillary Clinton as the Democratic nominee… despite the fact she isn’t asking them to do so… it’s time to recognize this simple fact.
It’s over. Clinton lost… Sen. Obama won. Let it go.
Why would I say such a thing? Simply put, Ms. Clinton knocked it out of the park last night with her speech at the convention.
During the ramp-up to her appearance, I began to worry that her delivery would be muted, which would have caused every media person’s head to explode in order to say obtuse things such as; ‘her reserve shows anger’ or ‘her lack of fire shows a lack of support.’
But she quickly dismissed that notion as she gave an enthusiastic speech that didn’t contain any bitterness or regrets… and she did what she HAD to do; she called her own supporters onto the carpet and told them, in no uncertain words, that this campaign was about more than her… it was about getting rid of the same ole, same ole… it was about electing a Democrat into the White House… it was about getting America back on track… it was about beating Sen. McCain (“No way. No how. No McCain”)…
It was about getting behind and electing Barack Obama.
She voiced her support for Obama as strong as anyone could have expected, perhaps more so.
She was fiery, smart, funny, passionate, and pulled no punches when it was time to take the fight to republicans in general and John McCain specifically, saying; “It makes sense that George Bush and John McCain will be together next week in the Twin Cities. Because these days they're awfully hard to tell apart.” She followed that up with a scathing; “We don’t need four more years of the last eight years.”
Ouch, that’s gotta hoit…
Naturally there have been a plethora of blogs and media analyzing her speech to death… and every word, every movement, every gesture will be examined.
Regardless of how she arrived to this point… she arrived. She put aside her personal hurt and gave her full, unequivocal support to Obama.
And I embrace that… but I still have a problem. And that problem is people whose heads are so far up their asses that they don’t see that this election is NOT ABOUT THEM… and it’s not about Hillary Clinton.
It’s about pushing the republicans out… and the Democrats in.
Ever gracious, Obama phoned Clinton after her speech… from AP; “After leaving the house party [in Billings, Montana], Senator Obama called and talked for several minutes with Senator Hillary Clinton saying how grateful he was for her support, that she gave a terrific speech and that all those he watched with in Billings, MT were moved by her video and introduction from Chelsea. Also said he loved her line "No way, no how, no McCain." […] Senator Obama also called and spoke with President Bill Clinton for several minutes saying Senator Clinton could not have been better and made the case for change. Obama said he knew how proud he must have been watching as he was last night watching Michelle speak and how grateful he was for their support.”
I know some Obama supporters will still complain that her speech wasn’t enough, it should have come earlier… yada, yada, yada…
The truth of the matter is it was enough…and it came at the perfect time when she had the undivided attention of the masses, thus eliminating the worry that only a few would see her message of unity.
It’s over… it’s done… if the woman who they were supposedly figting for is calling for the animonsity to end… then end it must.
To do otherwise would be foolish, inane, and destructive… to the Democratic Party, and our great nation.
Move on… let it go… get behind Obama.
Hillary has.
Hump day… let’s get a humpin’…
To all the PUMA’s that might be reading this blog I, or rather your savior Sen. Hillary Clinton, has eight simple words for you;
“No way. No how. No McCain.”
The day after Day One of the Democratic National Convention…
Ok so here I am watching everyone gather for the start of the Democratic Convention. And I am reading about and hearing talk of the amount of Hillary supporters who are going to vote for McBush in the general election??
You know this kind of immaturity just pisses. Me. Off. The candidate that they supported in the primaries didn't win, boo- friggin-hoo. So now, like a two year old who doesn't get their way, they have to take their blocks (votes) and go home in a snit. They would rather have 4 more years of what we have right now then vote for someone who wants to change the status quo? I'm sorry but I have to say, what the fu** is their problem?? What is wrong with these people? Grow up already.
Seriously.....
OK I guess I am just f""cking stupid as I don't get what has bent these peoples asses so out of shape? Only 1 person can get the nod in each party...... it's Obama and McCain. Get used to it....
Hillary's campaign was a huge clusterf**k. She chose people that would be loyal to her instead of people with experience running a national campaign.... bad decision? Yes. If she had better people running the campaigns efforts we may very well be here on the brink of nominating her and all falling in line to support the party's nominee so she and all her supporters have to live with the results. She didn't. It's time to move on and move forward with what is best for the COUNTRY.
Evidently that concept is too hard to grasp for some people. Instead all these 'so-called' democrats would rather have 4 more years of what we have now???
I heard someone use the phrase dumb ass..... seems to fit..
Another Monday… keep calm though, next week is a 3-day weekend.
“Ladies and gentlemen, your kitchen table is like mine. You sit there every night after you put the kids to bed and you talk, you talk about what you need. You talk about how much you’re worried about being able to pay the bills. Well ladies and gentlemen, that’s not a worry that John McCain has to worry about. It’s a pretty hard experience---he’ll have to figure out which of the seven kitchen tables to sit at.”Nice… welcome to the party Sen. Biden.
This week's 'Weekly Rewind' was lost somewhere among the tubes of the internets... TBWA apologizes for the error.
Should you start having Rewind-withdrawal, please check out past week's posts to tide you over.
Thank you for your understanding...
Yes, today’s ‘Daily’ is short… but in my defense, it IS Friday after all…
... and you say "I'll have my staff get to you".... you might be an elitist.
Just in case you needed yet another reminder that Sen. McCain is too old to be president, I give you this.
In an interview earlier this week, McCain said that he was uncertain how many houses he and his wife own, saying; “I think — I'll have my staff get to you. […] It's condominiums where — I'll have them get to you.”
That’s right… he doesn’t know how many houses he owns.
Seriously, I’m not kidding… the man doesn’t know… granted, he’s got more than most of us who have one, or even none, but to NOT know how many houses one has is sad at best.
The correct answer is, per his staff; at least four (scattered throughout the US Arizona, California and Virginia) even though Newsweek estimated earlier in the year that the couple owns at least seven properties. And the group Progressive Accountability put the number at 10 homes, ranches, condos, and lofts, all-together worth about $13,823,269.
And he calls Obama an elitist?
McCain’s gotten mileage from his campaign surrogates making a big deal about Sen. Obama's house… which isn’t a mansion but cost over a million bucks because it’s in the Chicago city limits… and yet he has more places to hang his hat.
Sooooo Senator..... your lack of knowledge about how many houses you own either shows that you're a senile old coot who is too old to be president, or it shows that YOU are the elitist that has so many houses you can't or don't bother to keep track of how many.
Which is it Mr. McCain?
Senility?Elitism?
Inquiring minds want to know… we’ll be waiting for YOUR (not a surrogate) answer.
The weekend is neigh! The weekend is neigh!
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice sharply criticized Russia yesterday for relying on its “military power” to accomplish its goals, saying; “But I just want to emphasize again, Russia is a state that is unfortunately using the one tool that it has always used, that will make it – that – when it wishes to deliver a message, and that’s its military power. That’s not the way to deal in the 21st century.”
Um… okay…
Perhaps she needs reminding…here’s Salon’s Glenn Greenwald to do just that; “Just during the time Rice has served in the Bush administration, we bombed, invaded and occupied Afghanistan; did the same to Iraq; repeatedly bombed Somalia, killing all sorts of civilians; fed bombs to Israel as they invaded and bombed Lebanon; top political officials (led by John McCain and Joe Lieberman) have repeatedly threatened, and advocated, that the same be done to a whole host of other countries, including Iran and Syria.”
And yet she has the impudence to say that military power is “not the way to deal in the 21st century”… how is it possible that these people in Bush’s administration can’t see the shit they’re shoveling?
It’s mid-week… how exciting!
Rats… it’s Monday already.
I’m sure the more enlightened of you have already heard about this, but…not being someone that can help himself when it comes to pointing out conservative’s foibles… I thought I had to write about it myself.
One of the plethora of republicans participating in their party’s sad and pathetic “Drill Now” energy stunt is Bill Sali (r-ID) who has come up with a solution to our energy crisis all by himself.
Per Sali, our national forests are overflowing with petroleum… no, not under the forest ground… but inside the trees.
That’s right, you heard me… Inside… the trees.
I’ll pause for a moment so you can regain your composure.
It seems Sali informed a candidate for Idaho’s House of Representatives that a solution to the high price of gasoline was to make petroleum from “all those trees in our forests” and then said that there “could be up to 40 barrels of oil in a single tree.”
And if you think it was a one-time lapse of judgment, you’d be wrong as he made a similar comment in 2006, saying; “Forty percent of the mass of every tree in the forest is crude oil.”
So Sali truly believes that you can get oil from a tree… what a sap.
Woot woot! Friday!!!! ‘Nuff said…
A message from James Roosevelt Jr., grandson of President Franklin Roosevelt who, 73 years ago today, established Social Security…
"It's hard to remember now, but before Social Security, nearly half of America's seniors lived in poverty. After a lifetime of playing by the rules and working hard, there was no guarantee of a secure retirement.
"My grandfather, Franklin Delano Roosevelt and a majority of Americans thought that was wrong.
"They believed that lifting our seniors out of poverty is a reflection of our nation's core values.
"That's why my grandfather signed the Social Security act seventy three years ago today. One of the great successes of the 20th Century, today Social Security lifts nearly 13 million seniors and 1.3 million children out of poverty.
"Back in 1935, a small minority did not share those values. They opposed the creation of Social Security because they believed that government should not have a role in ensuring a retirement with dignity or helping seniors stay out of poverty. They said, "You're on your own".
"John McCain agrees with that old way of thinking. Like President Bush, he wants to privatize our Social Security, turning it into a gamble with our futures, and making 8.6 million American seniors vulnerable to poverty. John McCain has even said Social Security is "a disgrace".
"I couldn't disagree more.
"Our Social Security isn't a disgrace; it's a compact, a trust between generations of Americans. It's a reflection of our values.
"On the 70th anniversary of Social Security, Americans stood together and said no to George Bush's attempt to privatize Social Security.
"On this anniversary, let's make sure John McCain hears the same message. Tell John McCain to keep his hands off of our Social Security."
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