The Tuesday ‘BushWhack’ing

Gotcha!

• The day after the financial markets had the biggest drop off EVER because Congress failed to pass the Bailout, a ‘disappointed’ “President” Bush said this morning; “Our economy is depending on decisive action from the government.” (Wow… how blind can one man be? If HE would have led HIS administration to act on the souring economy when it first started going south about 2 years ago, perhaps this could have been avoided… but no, he and his cronies continued to say there was nothing wrong with the economy… now he’s acting with urgency in what is plainly an attempt to protect what’s left of his sad and pathetic legacy. If that doesn’t make you want to rid the White House of republicans and elect Democrats, then you seriously need to have your head examined…)
• While A handful of conservatives are urging Sen. McCain’s campaign to ‘let Palin be Palin.’ What that means is anyone’s guess, but it has all the makings of being a boost to us…
• Sen. Ted Stevens wants his corruption case dismissed, but the prosecution has a “star witness”, Oil industry executive Bill Allen – the man that paid for the renovations to Stevens’ home – slated to take the stand today. (It’s pretty clear that Stevens is corrupt, but it also seems as though the prosecution is, well, we’ll just say not very good for now. If this trial actually gets to the jury, I will be very surprised…)
• AttorneyGate has not gone quietly into that good night just yet… stay tuned.
• Both VP candidates are gearing up for Thursday’s debate… which should make for some entertaining theater…
• Secretary of Defense Robert Gates was speaking at the National Defense University yesterday in DC and said that American troops will remain in Iraq and Afghanistan for years, regardless of who wins the election… (Not surprised at all…)
• And have we mentioned? That Gov. Palin was in front of Katie Couric again, but this time had her granddad running mate with her? Apparently afraid she was going to sound even denser than last week (is that even possible? Wouldn’t you eventually top out somewhere?) so Sen. McCain appeared in the interview alongside Palin, and they STILL came out of it looking like a pair of clueless wonders. Every time Palin stumbles, McCain jumps in and tries to talk for her while making a bunch of excuses (‘gotcha journalism’? Really?) for her that make her sound as if she’s SO clueless, she needs be rescuing. Is this really who we want one 72-year old heartbeat away from leading the country? I don’t think so…

McCain's Keystone Kampaigning

Sen. McCain’s inane posturing about suspending his campaign went over like a lead balloon… spewing forth that he would stroll into town on his white horse, sheppard the economic crisis through Congress while collecting bipartisan support.

Well, as if he hadn’t already made himself and his campaign looked amateurish, this latest development will.

Speaking at a rally today, McCain took credit for helping the bailout bill pass, as did his surrogates…

Mitt Romney; “[T]his bill would not have been agreed to had it not been for John McCain. ... But, you know, this is a bipartisan accomplishment, a bipartisan success. And if people want to get something done in Washington, they just watch John McCain.”

Sen. Lindsey Graham; “But here are the facts, and I’m not overselling anything. The fact is that the House Republicans were not in the mix at all. John didn’t phone this one in. He came and actually did something. ... You can’t phone something like this in. Thank God John came back.”

Senior McCain adviser Steve Schmidt; “Earlier in the week, when Senator McCain came back to Washington, there had been no deal reached. ... What Senator McCain was able to do was to help bring all the parties to the table, including the House Republicans.”

Got that? McCain helped to get his republican colleagues in Congress to go along with the plan.

Well… apparently someone forgot to tell his colleagues, as the bailout plan failed today, with 133 republicans voting against the bill and a scant 65 voting for it.

McCain certainly did a good job, didn’t he?

McCain’s campaign more and more looks like the Keystone Kops.

Do you suppose there’s anyone actually running the campaign, or is it more so the fact that the campaign’s surrogates just go out and say anything at anytime.

How else can one explain the complete disarray of a once formidable campaign?

Chips starting to fall?

Back in May 2007, James Comey was testifying to the Senate Judiciary Committee about his time as acting Attorney General while AG James Ashcroft was in a hospital bed after surgery (we wrote about it HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE).

During his testimony, Comey laid out the now-infamous “bed-side visit” to John Ashcroft by Andy Card and Alberto Gonzales. The due had gone to see Ashcroft so he could order the reauthorization of Bush’s surveillance program.

During the testimony, Comey laid out the possibility that “President” Bush had called Ashcroft’s wife to tell her that Card and Gonzales were on their way to the hospital.

At the time, Bush said of his involvement; “There’s a lot of speculation about what happened and what didn’t happen. I’m not going to talk about it.”

Whilst that is a classic Bush(whacked) Administration tactic, it wasn’t a denial… and now we may know why it wasn’t a denial.

The Atlantic’s Murray Waas wrote last week that Gonzales is now telling investigators that Bush was directly involved.

From Waas' article;

According to people familiar with statements recently made by Gonzales to federal investigators, Gonzales is now saying that George Bush personally directed him to make that hospital visit. … Gonzales has painted a picture of Bush as being very much involved when it came to his administration’s surveillance program.

Hmmmmm, very interesting.

Add this to the fact that current Attorney General Michael Mukasey announced today that he’s naming a special prosecutor to investigate AttorneyGate, and you have the makings of “President” Bush facing some serious questioning after he leaves office.
Stay tuned…

The Monday ‘BushWhack’ing

Monday already; son of a…

• Post-debate analysis. Some polls said Sen. Obama won. Some polls said Sen. McCain won. Some polls said it was a tie. What does this tell you? That polls are worthless…
• As Congress prepares to vote on a $700 billion bailout plan (that no one really likes), stocks slipped at the opening bell today as the Dow was down more than 300 points in early trading.
• It was only a matter of time… McCain has had to ‘retract’ statements made by running mate Sarah Palin regarding Pakistan. While campaigning this past weekend in Philadelphia, Palin was asked by a grad student from Temple University whether or not the U.S. should cross the border from Afghanistan into Pakistan. Palin responded “If that's what we have to do stop the terrorists from coming any further in, absolutely, we should.” That falls in line with Obama’s stance on the issue and goes against McCain’s stance on the issue, forcing McCain to say yesterday that she “shares” his view on the matter before launching into a rambling “In all due respect, people going around and… sticking a microphone while conversations are being held, and then all of a sudden that's—that's a person's position… This is a free country, but I don't think most Americans think that that's a definitive policy statement made by Governor Palin.” (It starts…)
• Palin’s response and McCain’s retraction is a perfect segue into mentioning that the she and Democratic VP candidate Sen. Biden debate later this week…
• The Senate overwhelmingly passed a spending bill this past weekend. The bill will allow a 26-year ban on offshore oil drilling to expire (way to cave Dems!), will subsidize a $25 billion in loan guarantees for U.S. automakers and will give aid to Gulf Coast hurricane victims. The House passed the bill last Wednesday and “President” Bush is expecting to sign it this week. (Well, they caved on off-shore drilling, but they also got $2 billion more for Pell grants as well as $5.2 billion for low-income energy assistance… so it’s not a BAD plan, nor a GOOD plan. It’s a plan…)
• More proof the media is trying to make a story out of nothing… CNN is treating the fact that former President Bill Clinton was hesitant to characterize Sen. Obama as a “great man” yesterday… who the fuck cares??????
• And have we mentioned? That republican Rep. Michele Bachmann is a dumb-ass? During a House hearing last Thursday she blamed the current financial crisis on President Clinton, “blacks,” and “other minorities.” Thankfully the CBC (Congressional Black Caucus) wasn’t going to let this evaporate and called the gop onto the carpet by sending a letter to House Minority Leader John Boehner that not only called Bachmann’s claims “ridiculous”, but also asked Boehner whether her comments represent the views of the republican Caucus…(Well Mr. Boehner, we’re waiting… does her opinion represent that of the entire party?)

Give me a break...

Riiiiiiight…

In an election campaign notable for its surprises, Sarah Palin, the Republican vice- presidential candidate, may be about to spring a new one — the wedding of her pregnant teenage daughter to her ice-hockey-playing fiancé before the November 4 election.

Inside John McCain’s campaign the expectation is growing that there will be a popularity boosting pre-election wedding in Alaska between Bristol Palin, 17, and Levi Johnston, 18, her schoolmate and father of her baby. "It would be fantastic," said a McCain insider. "You would have every TV camera there. The entire country would be watching. It would shut down the race for a week."

Well… isn’t that special.

The Weekly Rewind

Sen. McCain and his campaign must have had some grandiose idea of how this whole scheme would have played out…

McCain makes the call to suspend his campaign and the debate so he can go back to DC and help get the bailout passed, thus saving America from its economic disaster… in his mind he would seen as a hero… as a knight in shining armor riding up on his steed to save the day…

Too bad for him, but great for us, it didn’t quite work out that way.

This is… the Weekly Rewind.

Applaud: to Mike Hucka— now just wait, put down those feathers and that tar and bear with me for a moment. To Mike Huckabee for saying what most of us already knew; Sen. McCain made a “huge mistake” by even discussing canceling the presidential debate with Sen. Obama. Speaking in Mobile, Alabama this past week, Huckabee said that the people need to hear both candidates and that holding the debate is “far better than heading to Washington” to huddle with senators. While he said that he still supports McCain’s candidacy, he said the idea to suspend the campaign was wrong because, as Obama also said, a president must be prepared to “deal with the unexpected” and “You can’t just say, ‘World stop for a moment. I’m going to cancel everything.” (Pwned by a member of your own party. That’s gotta hoit!)

Heckle: to the current economic situation in this country. What more has to be said or explained? We’re gonna get screwed with our pants on, yet again, and there’s not much we can do about it. Relax, grab your ankles, and hold on tight…

Applaud: to an interview that does a good job of supporting Democratic calls that she’s nowhere near experienced enough to be VP. During the second part of an interview with Gov. Palin, Katie Couric gave her an opportunity to re-define and defend her prior claims that Alaska’s proximity to Russia gave her foreign policy experience. Palin instead lamented the fact that the press had “mocked” the notion, saying; “Our next door neighbors are foreign countries — they’re in the state that I am the executive of.” (The stupid, it burns!)

Heckle: to our commander in chief. He’s supposed to be the leader of the country… a smart man who speaks eloquently. For the last eight years we’ve heard things like this; “President” Bush describing the current bailout situation; “If money isn’t loosened up, this sucker could go down.” (Niiiiiice…)

Applaud: to former Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill for telling it like it and for saying what many of us believe; “President” Bush is “in a panic” over the current financial crisis and isn’t well-equipped to deal with it. Said O’Neill; “I don’t think he understands or knows much about any of this and it shows.” (well duhhhhhhhhh. Tell me something I didn’t know…)

Heckle: to problems brewing between the US and Pakistan. After warning U.S. troops to not intrude on its territory two anti-terror allies traded fire along the volatile border with Afghanistan. The firefight, in which there were no injuries, ended quickly and was the “first serious exchange with Pakistani forces acknowledged by the U.S.” Naturally, Pakistan’s president said that his troops fired only “flares” at the U.S. troops… (Yeah, this should end well…)

Applaud: to the traditional media for finally growing a pair…earlier this week the McCain-Palin campaign decided at the last minute to not allow journalists from reporting on Gov. Palin’s highly-touted U.N. meetings, instead opting to make it into a photo-op. Well, the press revolted, announced they wouldn’t cover the meetings at all, and the campaign quickly reversed it’s decision… (this campaign is so damn scared of her saying anything off script that they’re trying to keep her away from microphones as much as possible. Odds that she says something to embarrass the campaign before mid-October are high…)

Heckle: to more mixed messages from Camp Palin. Despite her supposedly making a “crackdown on gift-giving to state officials”, which was supposedly a centerpiece of her “ethics reform agenda” Gov. Palin has herself accepted 41 gifts valued at $25,367 from various interests, including “free travel, expensive artwork, and “a gold-nugget pin valued at $1,200.” (But she’s a maverick reformer… so it doesn’t count)

Applaud: to the FBI for (finally) opening an investigation into Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Lehman Brothers, and AIG. The agency will be investigating if fraud helped cause some of the troubles and are considered part of an effort to pursue allegations of higher-level fraud. What will they find? Who knows, but stay tuned…

Heckle: to the EPA for (once again!) bowing to pressure from the White House as ruling that the agency will NOT set a drinking-water safety standard for perchlorate, which is a component of rocket fuel that has been linked to thyroid problems (wow…once again putting everything else ahead of the country’s citizens… way to go Dubya!)

Applaud: that the trial of Sen. Ted Stevens (r-AK) began this week. Stevens, who was indicted this past July for “failing to report gifts from an Alaska oil-services company” is the first senator in more than 27 years that to face a federal jury while sitting in the Senate. Stay tuned…

Heckle: to disappearing money. A former chief investigator fro Iraq’s Commission on Public Integrity, Salam Adhoob, told the Senate Democratic Policy Committee earlier in the week that “more than $13 billion” that was marked for reconstruction projects in Iraq “are now gone.” (Wow, who would have ever thought that something like this would have happened on Halliburton Bush’s watch… it’s almost like some other entity was funneling the money to themselves… hmmmmm)

Applaud: to the ever growing number of Americans waking up to smell the stench in Washington. A new Ipsos/McClatchy poll finds that 54% believe the US is NOT winning the war on terror… but 57% think the country CAN win the war on terrorism, BUT but a similar majority of … (Hmmm. Wasn’t Bush, and in turn McCain, supposed to make us safer by winning the war on terror? Seems to me the wheels fell off that cart a LONG time ago…)

Heckle: to another example of the White House putting business ahead of the people. Earlier this week the administration said that they oppose the Credit Card Bill of Rights because it would, supposedly, ‘constrain banks’ ability to price risk. Riiiight… never mind that the bill would end double-billing while also forcing companies to mail bills 25 days before payment is due instead of 14…but why should that matter to this administration? Business first, electorate second third way on down the list…

Applaud: to more examples of people realizing what this administration is peddling. A new Rasmussen poll conducted this past week shows that 44% of those polled opposed the Bush(whacked) Administration’s $700 billion bailout plan… up from 37% earlier in the week.

Heckle: to mixed messages… the head of the lobbying firm that McCain chose to run his presidential transition team, William Timmons Sr., earned more than a quarter of a million dollars this year representing Freddie Mac, one of the companies that McCain blames the nation’s financial crisis on… in fact, Timmons himself has been “registered” to lobby on Freddie Mac’s behalf from 2000 through this month… but McCain is a maverick and is against lobbyists, right? If you believe that, I have a bridge to sell you in Alaska (my apologies to Sen. Obama, but it’s a great line)

Applaud: to Newsweek’s Elanor Clift for writing a response to former Rep. Newt Gingrich’s rejection of Henry Paulson’s Wall Street bailout proposal: “Newt is back doing what he loves to do,: challenging a sitting president of his own party, inciting insurrection among conservatives, and in his own words, ‘having a ball.’” (Newt was, is, and will forever be, a trainwreck. When a columnist calls you on your bullshit, it should be sign to step down. Gingrich doesn’t care about anyone but himself and will say whatever he thinks will get him publicity; party be damned. Ethics be damned. Common decency be damned)

Heckle: to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice for echoing, in an interview with CNBC, McCain’s “fundamentals of the U.S. economy are strong” nonsense this past week. One word to describe that soundbite; fail. Okay, and stupid…

Applaud: to an alliance of seven Western states, along with four Canadian provinces, for unveiling a plan earlier this week for the “most far-reaching” attempt to curb emissions linked to climate change. Dubbed the Western Climate Initiative, the group intends to achieve a “15% cut in greenhouse-gas emissions by 2020… (God speed guys; God speed…)

Heckle: to Congressional Democrats for kowtowing to political pressure and allowing a quarter-century ban on oil drilling near the Atlantic and Pacific coasts to expire next week. EPIC. FAIL.

Applaud: to singing like a canary. Former AG Alberto Gonzales, who has had a hard time finding employment since leaving the Bush(whacked) Administration, is changing his tune about his visit to a hospitalized and drugged John Ashcroft. Before he said he acted on his own accord, but now he’s claiming that “President” Bush personally directed him to Ashcroft's hospital room to get approval on renewing domestic wiretapping… (OOOOOO, this is gonna get good…)

This week’s tool of the week is a no-brainer. In honor of the dog and pony show he tried to pull off this past week, the award goes to Sen. McCain.

His announcement of suspending his campaign to concentrate on the economic bailout (after ignoring his senate duties since March), was sad, saying; “Tomorrow morning, I will suspend my campaign and return to Washington after speaking at the Clinton Global Initiative. … All we must do to achieve this is temporarily set politics aside, and I am committed to doing so.” All fine and good… but in the five hours after McCain spoke at CGI and thusly suspended his campaign three of his surrogates appeared on TV.

Additionally, McCain’s ads were still being aired across the country.

So apparently McCain’s suspension of his campaign doesn’t apply to surrogates… or ads… or sound-bites… or TV appearances by the candidate himself.

And because of all this, McCain is our conservative Tool… of the week.

And finally...

CNN’s Jack Cafferty nailed it today and laid a smack-down on Gov. Palin.

Cafferty rolled tape of Palin's interview with Katie Couric when she asked Palin about the expense of the White House's Wall Street bailout proposal.

Palin’s response can, at best, be described as rambling and non-responsive… but Cafferty’s response is what makes it art…

Have a watch…

I don’t know which is better. Cafferty’s smack-down of Palin, or his smack-down of Palin-apologist Wolf Blitzer.

Way to go Jack, please keep it up.

Give me an effin break...

Per ThinkProgress, the Daily Mississippian is reporting that the Mississippi White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan plan to appear at the University of Mississippi for tonight's debate.

All together now; clas-sy!

In our thoughts and prayers

Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA), has been taken to a Cape Cod Hospital. He is said to be “alert and responsive."

Kennedy, after being hospitalized for a seizure in May, has been been undergoing treatment for a malignant brain tumor.

Our thoughts and prayers are with him and his family...

I knew it…

When Sen. McCain decided to suspended his presidential campaign earlier in the week, he said that he was doing it so he could go back to DC and help broker a deal on a financial bailout, saying “I am calling on the President to convene a meeting with the leadership from both houses of Congress, including Senator Obama and myself. It is time for both parties to come together to solve this problem.”

Well, a solution didn’t happen… the debate is going to go on with McCain… and McCain left DC in a hurry.

Lost in the dust is this gem from Rep. Roy Blunt (r-MO); “I do think that John McCain was very helpful in what he did. I saw him this morning, we’ve been talking with his staff. Clearly, yesterday, his position in that discussion yesterday was one that stopped a deal from, uh, finalizing that no House Republican, in my view, would’ve been for. Which means it probably wouldn’t have passed the House.”

Well, if I’m reading this correctly, and I like to think I am… Blunt is blaming McCain’s presence for screwing up the bipartisan agreement. Turns out a deal WAS close yesterday but then a group of House republicans, egged on and supported by McCain, proposed a plan that wouldn’t create bi-partisan support.

So McCain told the world he was suspending his campaign to help broker a deal, then promptly fucked that up because it was too bipartisan.

And he wants to lead?

Give me a break.

McCain has blinked…

Rather than allow Sen. Obama a national stage to himself (Plan B), Sen. McCain has blinked and WILL attend tonight’s debate.

His campaign's statement; “Senator McCain has spent the morning talking to members of the Administration, members of the Senate, and members of the House. He is optimistic that there has been significant progress toward a bipartisan agreement now that there is a framework for all parties to be represented in negotiations, including Representative Blunt as a designated negotiator for House Republicans. The McCain campaign is resuming all activities and the Senator will travel to the debate this afternoon. Following the debate, he will return to Washington to ensure that all voices and interests are represented in the final agreement, especially those of taxpayers and homeowners.”

Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight…me thinks this didn’t quite turn out the way that McCain and his surrogates envisioned.

Ain’t it great?

UPDATE: Apparently McCain has already won tonight's debate… at least that’s what his campaign is saying as there’s already an ad floating around that declares it as such.

Give me a break…

The Friday ‘BushWhack’ing

TBWA has been rescued before by JP Morgan Capt. Morgan..

• “President” Bush said this morning “We are going to get a package passed” but I have my doubts… yesterday and last night I heard that there was a deal… then there wasn’t… then there was… then there wasn’t… wake me when it’s over. Oh, and by the way; another one has bitten the dust as Washington Mutual has been bought by JP Morgan Chase… JP Morgan Chase needing bailout assistance in five, four, three…
• There’s now a “Plan B” for tonight’s scheduled debate. The University of Mississippi’s Chancellor, Robert Khayat, is saying that if Sen. McCain doesn’t appear at tonight’s debate, it will turn into a Town Hall meeting for Sen. Obama where members of the audience will be able to submit questions to moderator Jim Lehrer….(While I still fail to grasp why we need a ‘plan b’ in the first place – McCain is posturing with this dog and pony show about wanting to help, especially when one considers that he hasn’t appeared on the Senate floor since this past March – but this alternate plan is good for two reasons; first, it could give Obama a chance to have the stage to himself and answer questions that the voters want to hear. Second, it could force McCain to appear, lest he give Obama a national stage all to himself… stay tuned)
• Note to self: don’t piss off David Letterman…
• Alaskan Lawmakers are saying that the McCain campaign is interfering with the investigation into TrooperGate… (Wow, that’s hard to believe. Who would have ever suspected that that would have happened? I am shocked, shocked I say… it’s so hard to express sarcasm in the written form…)
• And have we mentioned? That the chairman of the Bernalillo (New Mexico) County republican Party has resigned? Almost a week after he declared that “Hispanics consider themselves above blacks. They won’t vote for a black president” (which I blogged about HERE), Fernando C. de Baca has stepped down. Ever the republican putz, he claimed he said nothing wrong and instead was resigning because of the “media circus” that had unfolded.

And finally…

I understand that this election is not about Joe Biden or Sarah Palin, it’s about Sen. Obama and Sen. McCain but this… this is just too damn good to pass up.

In case you hadn’t heard or seen, Palin was interviewed by Katie Couric and, well, check out the transcripts yourself and enjoy.

COURIC: You've cited Alaska's proximity to Russia as part of your foreign policy experience. What did you mean by that?
PALIN: That Alaska has a very narrow maritime border between a foreign country, Russia, and on our other side, the land-- boundary that we have with-- Canada. It-- it's funny that a comment like that was-- kind of made to-- cari-- I don't know, you know? Reporters--
COURIC: Mock?
PALIN: Yeah, mocked, I guess that's the word, yeah.
COURIC: Explain to me why that enhances your foreign policy credentials.
PALIN: Well, it certainly does because our-- our next door neighbors are foreign countries. They're in the state that I am the executive of. And there in Russia--
COURIC: Have you ever been involved with any negotiations, for example, with the Russians?
PALIN: We have trade missions back and forth. We-- we do-- it's very important when you consider even national security issues with Russia as Putin rears his head and comes into the air space of the United States of America, where-- where do they go? It's Alaska. It's just right over the border. It is-- from Alaska that we send those out to make sure that an eye is being kept on this very powerful nation, Russia, because they are right there. They are right next to-- to our state.

But wait; there’s more…

On the bailout;

COURIC: Why isn’t it better, Governor Palin, to spend $700 billion helping middle-class families struggling with health care, housing, gas and groceries? ... Instead of helping these big financial institutions that played a role in creating this mess?
PALIN: Ultimately, what the bailout does is help those who are concerned about the health care reform that is needed to help shore up the economy– Oh, it’s got to be about job creation too. So health care reform and reducing taxes and reining in spending has got to accompany tax reductions.

Wow… that was painful.

Or this from her continuous dodging of the repeated inquiries about McCain’s regulatory record:

COURIC: I’m just going to ask you one more time - not to belabor the point. Specific examples in his 26 years of pushing for more regulation.
PALIN: I’ll try to find you some and I’ll bring them to you.

You don’t suppose that’s the real motivation for “suspending” the campaign do you, that they’ve finally realized Palin sucks?

Hmmmm…

The Thursday ‘BushWhack’ing

TBWA wants to suspend reality until the current economic crisis is over…

• “Our entire economy is in danger.” Well, thanks for that statement Mr. Obvious… we know that, what are YOU going to do about it? And remember: a 700 billion dollar bailout is NOT an option.
• McCain wants to suspend his campaign because he’s losing because of the economy. He also wants to suspend tomorrow’s debate, the VP debate on October 2nd, and wants to speed back to DC to help. (Give me a fucking break… considering the man hasn’t voted on the Senate floor since March, it certainly is transparent to me – and anyone with their own brain – that he wants to suspend his campaign and the debates in a desperate attempt to stave off the possibility of losing. The economy is indeed a devastating problem, but certainly not one that merits suspending a presidential campaign with approximately 40 days left… while I am certain this doesn’t have anything to do with McCain’s inability to multi-task, it certainly looks that way. And that’s bad, because, as Sen. Obama hinted to last night, a president is going to have to multi-task a LOT)
• The president of Pakistan told Gov. Palin she’s “gorgeous.” Well, isn’t that special?
• President Clinton appeared on Larry King’s CNN show last night and said…he said…well, something about making this election “real”… so I don’t really know what he said as parts of it were rather nonsensical…
• Peter Orszag, the director of the CBO told Congress yesterday that the suggested bailout could worsen the current financial crisis, saying; “Ironically, the intervention could even trigger additional failures of large institutions, because some institutions may be carrying troubled assets on their books at inflated values. […] Establishing clearer prices might reveal those institutions to be insolvent.”
• As if we needed more proof that most reporters are stupid imbeciles, there’s this. Actor Michael Douglas was speaking at a news conference yesterday to urge the US to ratify a nuclear test ban treaty. Well, reporters began asking him questions about the current financial crisis, and one reporter asked him; “Are you saying Gordon that greed is not good?” Douglas replied; “…my name is not Gordon. He’s a character I played 20 years ago.” (Sigh…sad and pathetic…)
• And have we mentioned? That the Democratic career of Joe Lieberman is circling the drain? Connecticut Democrats are pissed that Lieberman is campaigning for McCain and criticizing Obama, so they’re going to circulate a resolution that would censure him. (About. Time. Lieberman should have been censured a LONG time ago, and doing this I think is the first step in totally severing his relationship with the Democratic Party. Here’s a question; we know that Lieberman will be so far up McCain’s ass should he win, but if Obama wins, will Lieberman continue to criticize him or will he come crawling back? If he does crawl back, I would slam the door on both his faces and NOT look back…)

And finally…

Remember last month when McCain surrogate John Goodman said that, because of E.R.’s, there was no such thing as “uninsured Americans”?

After being hidden from the press (and one imagines Mr. McCain himself) for a few weeks, he’s back at it again, saying yesterday that he was only being “tongue-in-cheek” and that anyone “on the left” who was upset had “no sense of humor.”

So there you have it, it was all a joke… nothing to see here, move along citizen.

Give me a break.

Honestly, how do dumb do these people think we are?

If it were indeed said in jest, would he have disappeared faster than Carly Fiorina?

Unlikely... if this were indeed said “tongue in cheek”, he would have been highly visible the last few weeks rather than being in absentia.

Apparently everything is a joke to McCain’s surrogates… but unfortunately, with McCain running for president, the joke is on us.

From the Desk of Scott and Kemp...

Political posturing at its best; “Republican presidential candidate John McCain announced today he is suspending his campaign to return to Washington and focus on the crisis facing the U.S. economy. He challenged Democratic rival Barack Obama to do the same. McCain also requested that Friday's presidential debate be postponed.”

Shrewd… he gets to show his narrow-minded lemming constituents that he’s “bipartisan” AND keep Gov. Palin from speaking without a script.

Sniff, sniff… smell that? It kind of smells like… desperation.

Is republican stupidity contagious?

Last week Sen. McCain trotted out his standard line that the “fundamentals of our economy are strong.” Never mind that he said this on the very day that Wall Street started to implode with not one but two major banking institutions collapsing and a major insurance carrier starting to disintegrate.

He was, rightfully so, ridiculed for the remarks and was accused of being “un-informed”, “naïve”, or “senile.” (or my choice; all of the above)

Well, apparently the stupid IS contagious as in an interview with CNBC yesterday, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice echoed McCain’s inane comment:

QUESTION: How does a United States in the middle of a global financial crisis affect diplomatic efforts around the world and your efforts?
RICE: Everybody understands that this is a very specific, indeed once-in-a-lifetime – well, we certainly hope – circumstance. But people have confidence in the United States. As the President has said, this is a financial crisis, but the fundamentals of the U.S. economy are strong.

Huh?

If the economy is fundamentally strong, why do we need a $700 billion bailout?

Rice continued to seemingly kiss McCain’s ass as she repeated his backtracking mantra that he was referring to the American worker, saying; “Everyone understands our great ability to innovate, the productivity of our workers, the ability of the country to move quickly. And so I believe the United States’ standing has not been really affected.”

Um, Ms. Rice… you do know that McCain has already picked a running-mate, right? And you do know that you’re saying something that the bastion of rose-colored glasses, the White House, even disagrees with?

Is she trying to apologize for not supporting McCain’s bid whole-heartedly, or is she simply trying to distance herself from the White House by disagreeing with everything they say?

Perhaps she doesn’t want to end up like Colin Powell, marked for life because he was a member of the Bush(whacked) Administration.

Stay tuned…

The Wednesday ‘BushWhack’ing

TBWA is “done answering questions about TrooperGate”…

• On the day that the FBI has finally gotten around to deciding on investigating AIG, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae for fraud… Wall Street is skittish because Congress is debating the bailout and Warren Buffet has given Goldman Sachs a $5million investment…
• Sen. Obama laid out his financial recovery plan yesterday , as did Sen. McCain. While both are uneasy with the power the bailout gives to Treasury Secretary Paulson, that’s where the similarities end. Obama’s plan calls to protect taxpayers. McCain’s plan looks to screw taxpayers with their pants on… again.
  The seals and surveillance equipment, installed by the International Atomic Energy Agency, that were covering North Korea’s nuclear plant have been removed… this should end well.
• Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad spoke before the United Nations General Assembly yesterday and gave an eloquent, well-thought out and coherent speech. Just kidding, he spewed more nonsense about the "American empire in the world is reaching the end of its road” while blaming “a few bullying powers” for creating the world's problems… (Does anyone outside of Iran actually listen to the anything this man says???)
• Speaking of people that aren’t being listened to anymore… “President” Bush spoke at the same assembly yesterday and tried to reassure the UN that the US is taking quick action in order to stabilize the U.S., and thusly, the world economies. He also spoke about terrorism (it’s bad), praised the work of the U.N. and the Group of Eight economic powers and reasserted the “Bush Doctrine.” (too bad Gov. Palin wasn’t around to hear what that was…)
• Liberals aren’t the only ones that are uneasy about the bailout; quite a few conservatives are as well. A group of House conservatives urged Congress yesterday to “take a breath” and consider other alternatives before passing the $700 billion bailout…
• And have we mentioned? That we are oh-so-screwed? A new Washington Post/ABC News poll shows that 91% of likely voters believe that the economy is “in bad shape” with 58% of those polled describing the economy as “poor” and 33% deeming it “not so good.” And if that news alone wasn’t enough, 51% of those polled say the economy is in a “serious long-term decline.” (but the Bush(whacked) Administration is on the case, so it’s alllll good… OMG, we’re all gonna die!)

The Tuesday ‘BushWhack’ing

We put the ‘bail’ back in ‘bailout.’

• Three years ago today, Scott and I started this little blog in an attempt to get our political views, opinions and prognostications out to the masses. At times we've had nary a sole visit our corner of the blogosphere, while other times we've had so many people stop by for a visit that we felt like one of the big boys; Daily Kos or ThinkProgress. Happy Blogoversary TBWA... here's to three more!
  
• Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke are pushing harder for fast approval of that $700 billion bailout of the nation's financial systems… for the record; Ron Paul wants you all to know he’s against the bailout… uh-huh.
  Early voting has begun…
• In anticipation of the VP debate this Friday, Gov. Sarah Palin is meeting with leaders from around the globe to get a handle on this whole international thing. She’s scheduled to meet with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and Bono… (Bono? Seriously? The fact that the VP candidate for a major party is having to cram for a debate should be the first clue that she’s not ready to lead at this level…)
• Palin is accusing Democrats of lying… (If I can stop laughing long enough to type, there’s a saying that is apropos here; something about a pot and a kettle…)
• In response to Sen. Chris Dodd’s alternative bailout proposal, the banking industry is up in arms about a certain provision that would allow bankruptcy judges to lower mortgages for distressed homeowners. Because of that, banking lobbyists are rallying to defeat his proposal, with Steve Verdier, a lobbyist for the Independent Community Bankers Association saying; “We are vigorously opposing that.” (Oh, I see… a bailout for you guys is a-ok… but a bailout for people isn’t acceptable. Is it any wonder people don’t like some individuals that work in banks? They’re becoming the new version of a used car salesman…)
• Three words that should send a shiver up your spine; Florida voting issues. Here we go again…
• During an interview with Iraqi television last week, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki was speaking about a timetable for US troops to withdrawal from Iraq. During the interview he said (the bolding is mine); “Actually, the final date was really the end of 2010 and the period between the end of 2010 and the end of 2011 was for withdrawing the remaining troops from all of Iraq, but they asked for a change [in date] due to political circumstances related to the [U.S] domestic situation so it will not be said to the end of 2010 followed by one year for withdrawal but the end of 2011 as a final date.” (Hmmmmm… if I were a conspiracy theorist, I would say it sounded as if he was asked to extend the US presence in Iraq in order to help McCain’s presidential aspirations. But this administration wouldn’t do that… right? Right? Anyone?)
• And have we mentioned? That yesterday saw the price of oil jump more than $16? It’s true, the jump, the “biggest daily gain in dollar terms since 1984 — when crude began trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange” was because of the Fed’s proposed bailout plan. (so prices start dropping in the last few weeks because the economy is tanking, and when a rescue plan is announced, prices shoot upward. You’re doing it wrong…)

The Monday ‘BushWhack’ing

If I had a hammer...

• First Bill O’Reilly… now I’m agreeing with Michelle Malkin? WTF? Conservative columnist Michelle Malkin lambasted "the mother of all bailouts" and declared "the death of fiscal conservatism." Malkin scolded her readers who were blaming the crisis on the Democrats who took control of Congress in the November 2006 elections. […] "This is your Bush legacy---not Pelosi's, not Reid's, not Obama's," Malkin wrote, naming the leaders of the House and Senate and the Democratic presidential nominee. "Fiscal conservatism has been on life support for quite some time. Bush/Paulson pulled the plug permanently today.” (I’m agreeing with Malkin… I think I need a shower…)
• While banks and other companies called on the Bush(Whacked) Administration to expand its $700 billion financial bailout to go beyond mortgages, the administration and Congress are debating whether to add provisions to protect taxpayers… quick guess of who wants to protect business and NOT the American taxpayer…
• If you have one house and one car you’re an elitist. If you have 10 houses and 13 cars; you’re a ‘maverick’ and an ‘everyman’… (Does the Kool-Aid sting when you drink it?)
• Even though we mentioned it a few weeks ago, the traditional media just got word apparently and is now reporting on the fact that Wasilla, Alaska charged women for rape examinations while Gov. Palin was Mayor… (Naturally her supporters are saying she didn’t know – but that seems HIGHLY unlikely. She was the Mayor… of course she knew, and if she didn’t, that doesn’t say much for her either. With each passing day, another layer of lies and ugliness is revealed on Palin… how long until the calls to replace her on the ticket start?)
• The fallout from the Blackberry claim continues… and the man who said it claims it was a joke. Speaking on CNN Douglas Holtz-Eakin said; “Many lessons here-number one, no sense of humor on the campaign trail. I swear off telling any jokes.” (give me a break… his tone and non-verbal say otherwise. It wasn’t a joke, it was a claim… and anyone who believes it was intended as a joke needs to get their head examined. Perhaps you could get a group rate…)
• A federal judge has ruled that Vice President Dick Cheney must preserve all of his records from his time in office… pwned!
• And have we mentioned? That jury selection began today for the trial of republican Sen. Ted “Tubes” Stevens of Alaska? Stevens is charged with filing false Senate ethics reports and could face five years in prison per count… and he’s still running for re-election… there’s something wrong with a man being on trial but still campaigning, but I can’t quire put my finger on it…

Give me an effin' break...

This man needs to lose his job now...

Bernalillo (New Mexico) County Republican chairman Fernando C' de Baca to BBC News;

"The truth is that Hispanics came here as conquerors," he said. "African-Americans came here as slaves. [...] Hispanics consider themselves above blacks. They won't vote for a black president."

Speaking as a Hispanic who is voting for Sen. Obama, this is utter nonsense, and there is no room for this kind of blatant hatred in this day and age.

And, by and by, the numbers suggest otherwise you hate-filled jackass.

New Mexico Latinos, polled 9/14-9/16 by SurveyUSA:

• Obama (D) 69%
• McCain (R) 2%

The BBC reporter that got the quote is skeptical about this claim as well, considering that he says; "Virtually all of the Hispanic voters I spoke to told me they were supporting Obama."

It doesn't seem like Hispanics or Latinos have a problem with a candidate that is African-American... only this "man."

The Weekly Rewind

TBWA is “fundamentally strong”, “ready to lead”, and could run a major corporation, but unfortunately we didn’t invent the Blackberry…

The Weekly Rewind starts… RIGHT NOW!

Applaud: to more and more people seeing the truth. According to a new CBS News/NY Times poll, 68% of Americans think Sen. McCain would either continue the policies of “President” Bush or enact more conservative policies. Additionally, in the same poll 57% view McCain as a “typical Republican” and not as a maverick. (This is good. The more people can see that a vote for McCain is a vote for a third Bush term the better. Spread the word everyone…) Add to that the fact that a new AP/National Constitution Center poll shows that two-thirds of Americans “strongly oppose” giving the president more power at Congress’ and the court’s expense, even when it talking about national security or the economy.” altering the balance of power to strengthen the presidency and you have the makings of a Democratic win in November…

Heckle: to a rough week on Wall Street. The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 504.48 points earlier this week, the biggest decline since Sept. 17, 2001 (which was the first day back after the 9/1. Also, the nation’s largest insurer, AIG, faced a cash crunch that grew more severe by the minute earlier this week after credit-rating agencies warned investors that the company could have great difficulty in meeting its obligations, so the state of New York allowed them to use “$20 billion from its own insurance subsidiaries” as collateral for loans to “run its day-to-day operations. At first the Feds said it wouldn’t offer AIG any “direct injection from the government” but reversed that and seized control and agreed to lend “up to $85 billion” to the company, essentially giving the government a 79.9% equity stake, after the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers further smacked The Street down. Let’s hope it ALL rebounds very soon…

Applaud: to being caught in a lie…again. Last week, McCain made the outrageous claim that Gov. Palin never sought earmarks as Alaska’s governor. Well, state records show otherwise and prove that Palin has asked U.S. taxpayers to “fund $453 million in specific Alaska projects” over the last two years including a staggering $130 million that would benefit Alaska’s fishing industry and another $9 million aimed at helping Alaskan oil companies. (When are people going to see that neither of these two are mavericks and are compulsive liars?)

Heckle: to perilous situations that likely won’t end well. Pakistani Army Spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas said earlier this week that Pakistan’s military has ordered its forces to “open fire if U.S. troops launch another air or ground raid” across the Afghan border. (Awwww crap!)

Applaud: to Michigan Democrats for having the balls to try and block a republican effort to deny voting rights to people facing foreclosure. They filed an injunction aimed at prohibiting the gop from challenging Michigan voters whose homes are on foreclosure lists, a form of “voter caging.” (Way to go guys, keep it up. With everything that comes out of McCain’s mouth a possible final death knell to his campaign, republicans are going to get more desperate and try to do anything they can to help themselves in November. Let’s not let them do that…)

Heckle: to hiding behind your office. The Alaska attorney general said earlier this week that state employees that were subpoenaed in the ethics investigation of Gov. Palin will not testify and the office has asked that the subpoenas be withdrawn. (Nothing to see here folks, move along…)

Applaud: to getting something right. The Feds said earlier this week that they will not allow Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to give their soon-departing chief executives golden parachutes, yanking away the chance for them to earn $9.8 million and $14.9 million respectively for making a mess of things… (Impressive that the government would not allow that... makes you wonder what they’re up to)

Heckle: to the Democratic members of the House of Representatives for voting earlier this week to end the moratorium on new offshore oil drilling. Applaud for tweaking the measure enough to piss off republicans by giving states the right to allow drilling 50 to 100 miles off their coasts… (Though I guess the good news is that we should expect gas prices to start dropping soon, right? I asked right?? Helllooooo??)

Half-hearted Applaud: to the news that “President” Bush will not attack Iran before his term ends in January as former Cheney adviser David Wurmser told The Jerusalem Post earlier this week that, because Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice now has the upper hand in the administration in her struggle with Cheney”, Bush won’t attack Iran before November 4th. (Why half-hearted you ask? Well, while I do consider this good news, it IS the Bush(whacked) Administration so I’m still taking it with a grain of salt and will believe it when I see it…)

Heckle: to McCain surrogates and their continued inability to grasp the truth. While trying to defend Palin’s (in)experience earlier this week, House Minority Whip Roy Blunt repeated the false talking point that Alaska supplies 20% of U.S. oil, Problem is, Alaska only produces about 14.3% of our oil… add to that the fact that the Ms. Palin herself recently said that Alaska produces 20% of our “energy,” when it reality (a concept hard to grasp for republicans) it produces 3.5%... (Seems to me the governor of Alaska would know that kind of thing… so either’s she’s lying – big shock I know – or she’s clueless. Perhaps her pairing with McCain makes sense after all)

Applaud: to former House Majority Leader Dick Armey (chuckle), who said earlier this week that Vice President Cheney misled him into supporting the invasion of Iraq by saying that Saddam Hussein had direct personal ties to al-Qaeda and was making rapid progress toward a suitcase nuclear weapon… obviously, no such intelligence existed. (Rather late to the party Mr. Armey, but welcome anyway)

Heckle: to not knowing who you’re taking money from… the location of a Bush fundraiser in Florida was changed earlier this week after it was realized that the original host is currently under IRS investigation… oops.

Applaud: to political stumps gone bad… with hilarious (for us anyway) consequences. McCain made a surprise stop at an Oakland County (MI) GM plant earlier this week. Touring the plant with wife Stepford Cindy, McCain shook hands with plant workers. All was going well until he met a group of workers that had shown up to work with Obama t-shirts and buttons. (Wow, looks as though the McCain campaign’s vetting of meet and greets is as solid as their vetting of VP picks)

Heckle: to sad endings. Federal officials told AP this week that no charges will be filed against former republican Rep. Mark Foley for sending sexually explicit messages to underage Congressional pages…

Applaud: to Bill “Do you want to see my microphone” O’Reilly for saying what I, and certainly many others, have been saying for a while… the current “economic chaos” on Wall Street marks the “end of President Bush’s legacy” and ““He’s done. He’s through. … He will now go down in history…as an ineffectual leader. And I’ll tell you the reason why, it’s poor leadership on his part. The people that he picked to run certain things have been disastrous. And no leadership and now Americans are getting hurt.” (Now… this is the second time in a span of two weeks that I’ve applauded O’Reilly in “The Rewind.” If it happens again, I’m definitely going to keep an eye out for flying pigs. That and I’ll immediately start drinking)

Heckle: to more unnecessary needling. Speaking about relations between Russia and the US, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said that Russia's policies are putting it on a path to isolation and irrelevance… (that’s good Ms. Rice, stir up the pot so the water gets REALLY hot before leaving your office… that’s some might fine diplomacy there)

Applaud: to Sen. Obama for this McCain-pwning; “Yesterday, John McCain actually said that if he's president that he'll take on, and I quote, ‘the old boys network in Washington.’ […] Now I'm not making this up. This is somebody who's been in Congress for twenty-six years, who put seven of the most powerful Washington lobbyists in charge of his campaign. […] And now he tells us that he's the one who's gonna' to take on the old boys network. The old boys network? In the McCain campaign that's called a staff meeting. Come, on!” Score!

Heckle: to Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY) for acting like a republican Congressman. We have enough of those Mr. Rangel, could you perhaps STOP acting like a schmuck?

Applaud: to, I suppose, better late than never stifling. Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne said earlier this week that he pledges to “squelch the ‘ethics storm’” exposed by investigators last week that found agency workers not only rigged bids and inappropriately accepted gifts, but had sex with energy company officials that did business with the government. (I’ll believe it when I see it. Two of those responsible have already retired unscathed… are we really to believe that they will do anything about it now? As I said; I’ll believe it when I see it…)

Heckle: to calling someone out for something you yourself did 2 short years ago. Perennial conservative windbag {spins wheel o’ conservatives}… Ann Coulter Rush Limbaugh Michelle Malkin took aim at Gawker.com for publishing emails of Sarah Palin that showed the phone number of Bristol Palin and husband Todd’s email address. Malkin called Gawker a “cesspool blog” and “lowlifes” and “by-any-means-necessary lunatics.” Well, Ms. Malkin apparently forgets that back in 2006 she did the same damn thing, posting the phone numbers of a group of college kids that were planning to protest Ann Coulter. (I don’t condone splashing people’s personal information onto the Internet, but when you complain about someone doing something, you should damn well know if you’ve ever committed the same thing… otherwise you look like a hack…)

Applaud: to the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). They filed a class-action lawsuit this past week against Bush administration officials. The lawsuit aims to halt what it (and anyone that has use of their own brain) describes as illegal surveillance of Americans’ telephone and Internet traffic. (good lawsuit and all, but considering how this administration operates, I doubt it will actually do anything… do you?)

Heckle: to old fashioned censorship. Earlier this week on a local report on KTRK-TV in Houston, TX, reporter Wayne Dolcefino said that the media has been blocked from covering Hurricane Ike’s devastation. During a presser with Gov. Rick Perry, Dolcefino pressed on why the media isn’t allowed to fly over parts of Galveston Island, noting that media access was far better in Mississippi and Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina. Perry tried to brush off Dolcefino’s concerns, but eventually passed blame the buck to federal officials, more specifically FEMA. (Wow, would have ever thought that FEMA would try to cover their tracks?)

Applaud: to former republican presidential candidate Rep. Ron Paul. Ron Paul explained earlier this week why Ron Paul refused McCain campaign staffer Phil Gramm’s pleas to endorse McCain. Besides saying that Ron Paul disagrees with McCain “on all the major issues,” especially foreign policy, Ron Paul then said; “I mean I could never support somebody who thinks that it’s funny to say ‘bomb bomb bomb Iran.’ […] That, to me, is not somebody that I could endorse ever.” (Ron Paul)

And now it’s time for our conservative Tool of the Week.

Okay it was a tough call this week, between McCain reiterating his nonsense about the economy being 'fundamentally' strong, or the Palin refusal to comply with a subpoena, or McCain's top economic adviser, Douglas Holtz-Eakin, claiming McCain helped bring about the Blackberry… but we did it.

It’s “President” Bush.

Despite not answering questions from the media in over seven weeks (see my post about that HERE), when the shit was hitting the fan on Wall Street at the start of this past week, he was nowhere to be seen. When he did show, he spoke for a scant two minutes… and in the process managed to not only piss off Democrats, but his own party as well (but in all honesty who cares about that).

Taking a mere two minutes to talk about the largest economic crash since the Great Depression shows just how little Bush cares about this job now. This is a situation that merits a primetime Oval Office chat… not a 2-minute Rose Garden presser. It’s time like these that allow a president with Nixonian-like approval numbers and a fading-faster-than-Palin legacy to re-establish himself in the eyes of the electorate.

Instead, he comes out… throws money at the problem…doesn’t assure the people… and disappears from sight again. And that’s why he’s our Tool… of the week.

And finally...

In case you hadn’t heard or realized; according to Countdown to Crawford, it’s been two months and three days since “President” Bush held a formal press conference… and according to White House Press Secretary Dana Perino, Bush has not even taken a question from the press in over seven weeks.

Why? Because he wants to, in Perino’s words, “make sure this election remains fully focused on the two candidates.”

Put it another way: no one wants to share a stage with the man lest they get caught-up in the snowballing disintegration of Bush and his administration.

Former White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer agrees;

LAUER: Dana Perino is saying we haven’t heard the President out there answering questions from the press over the last several weeks and months because he doesn’t want to get into campaign politics. … Where do you fall on this?
FLEISCHER: Well remember hasn’t taken questions since early August, Matt — well before this crisis really hit. And I think it does come down to campaign politics. He doesn’t want to get in the middle of the questions that would hurt John McCain more than anyone else.

Sure… Bush wants to help McCain and down-ticket republicans get elected, but, as former Clinton Press Secretary Dee Dee Myers says; “…the problem is the President has no credibility. It’s his economic philosophy, his economic team, and I think the White House realizes that and is trying to help by keeping him off the front of the stage.”

In other words; he’s a lame duck… and he’s only getting more lame duckier.

And now, the Spanish Reaction

I wrote yesterday about McCain’s blunder or pander, regarding meeting with Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero.

While we all thought at the time that McCain was simply confused as to whom Zapatero was, his top foreign policy adviser said that McCain wasn’t confused but that he was spelling out his policy towards Spain.

As I also mentioned, ThinkProgress stated, and I at the time agreed, that if that were the case, then McCain would be carrying forth “President” Bush’s childish grudge against Zapatero for keeping a campaign promise and calling Spanish troops back from Iraq.

Well, according to MSNBC, the Spanish Embassy in D.C. agrees, releasing a statement that says; “The only plausible explanation for McCain not wanting to meet with Zapatero, is that, like Bush, he is still angry about Spain pulling its troops out of Iraq in 2004. If McCain carries that much of a grudge then how in the world will he rebuild our relationship with Europe, as he has said he would do.”

Well… I have a different opinion.

McCain was confused…and rather than admit their dotty old candidate was confused, they created this faux reason that McCain is upset with Mr. Zapatero because he withdrew the Spanish forces from Iraq.

Right now, no one in the gop (and everyone in the DNC) wants to connect Bush and McCain, so why would his foreign policy expert do just that by saying McCain’s response was due to his stance? He would have to know that people would put two and two together and realize it’s because they ‘snubbed’ Bush by recalling their troops.

Five months ago McCain said he would meet with Zapatero… and while I understand it’s McCain the Flip-Flopper we’re talking about, explain to me why he would suddenly change his stance about a country that has been a US ally for decades?

Anyone?

The Friday ‘BushWhack’ing

TGIFF!

• After a meeting last night with various members of Congress, the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department, the federal government has plans to help banks dump bad mortgages (meaning that the government would take on tens of billions of dollars in mortgage assets) which Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson outlined this morning… more details as they emerge.
• Sen. McCain announced his economic plan in Wisconsin today. What it boils down to is the McCain Administration (God is that gonna give me nightmares) will hire a band of psychics to predict when companies are about to go under… actually it would consist of a new government agency (cuz we definately need more of those) that would work with the private sector and federal regulators to identify institutions that are weak and fix them before they go broke. But doesn't my version sound better?
• Sen. Obama has stuck back at McCain’s AIG attack ad yesterday which had attacked Obama’s lack of opinion on the AIG bailout. (I’m not going to be an apologist, but more so a ‘clarifier.’ It wasn’t so much a lack of opinion, as Obama said that he didn’t know enough of the “details” of the plan to offer up an opinion. ‘Cuz heaven forbid we get a Chief Executive who would wrap his head around a problem before spouting off about it. Eight years of that was more than enough…)
• Another day, another republican getting off Scott Free… no charges will be filed against former Rep. Mark Foley for lurid messages that he had sent underage congressional pages. (Great message to send guys, dumbasses)
• Speaking of which; Gov. Palin’s husband Todd has refused to testify in regards to TrooperGate…
• Who would have ever guessed there would be voter problems in a hotly contested election?
• And have we mentioned? That Sen. McCain had another mental lapse this morning? That or he’s not very bright. While speaking about his economic plan this morning, McCain said; “That’s why I believe that the chairman of the FEC should resign and leave office and be replaced.” Um… I’m almost 100% certain he meant the head of the SEC, which is the Securities and Exchange Commission and NOT the FEC which is the Federal Election Commission and has very little (okay – absolutely nothing) to do with the current financial crisis…

And finally…

In case you didn’t hear that Hell froze over, conservative blowhard Bill “Do you want to see my microphone” O’Reilly decided to throw “President” Bush under the bus yesterday by saying the “economic chaos” on Wall Street marks the “end of President Bush’s legacy.”

Said O’Reilly (emphasis is all mine); “He’s done. He’s through. … He will now go down in history…as an ineffectual leader. And I’ll tell you the reason why, it’s poor leadership on his part. The people that he picked to run certain things have been disastrous. And no leadership and now Americans are getting hurt.”

Ouch…

How badly have things fallen when O'Reilly is not only a voice of reason, but is pissed at a sitting, conservative president?

Well said Kos

Good advice from the man who knows, Markos Moulitsas Zúniga; “Now you see why panicking last week was so ridiculous? This race will turn on a dime. It's a good week for Obama, but nothing guarantees it will stay that way. So keep an even keel and don't lose sight of the big picture. It does no one any good to run around like chicken littles every time a bad poll shows up. And it's no good to prance around like this thing has been won this week, either. […] We've got what, six weeks to go? Remember that. Things will look good some days, less good others. But one day or one week won't make or break us. We're playing for November. Don't forget that.”Amen Markos, amen!

Remember what Scott and I have been saying; don’t let your guard down… don’t think the election’s won… politics is fluid and can change at any minute.

Keep hammering away at McCain and his lies… keep hammering away at Palin’s lies… keep hammering away at the gop’s lies.

Just keep hammering…

Another ‘senior moment’ for McCain?

Seriously, the best writer in the world couldn’t make this stuff up....

According to Spain’s El País, earlier this week Sen. McCain wouldn't answer whether he would be willing to meet with Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero.

The reporter asked multiple times; “Would you be willing to meet with the head of our government, Mr. Zapatero?”

Not surprisingly, McCain couldn’t offer a coherent and logical response;

McCain proceeded to launch into what appeared to be a boilerplate declaration about Mexico and Latin America -- but not Spain -- pressing the need to stand up to world leaders who want to harm America. […] “I will meet with those leaders who are our friends and who want to work with us cooperatively," according to one translation. The reporter repeated the question two more times, apparently trying to clarify, but McCain referred again to Latin America. […] Finally, the questioner said, “Okay, but I'm talking about Europe - the president of Spain, would you meet with him?” The Senator offered only a slight variance to his initial comment. “I will reunite with any leader that has the same principles and philosophy that we do: human rights, democracy, and liberty. And I will confront those that don't [have them].”

Ooooookayyyy… you’re asked about a NATO ally, and respond with this strange answer about America's friends and enemies before proceeding on and talking about Mexico.

The reporter reminded McCain at least twice that she was talking about Spain and the Spanish Prime Minister, and yet McCain stayed on Mexico while rambling on about America's enemies.

Today McCain’s foreign policy adviser Randy Scheunemann was hastily trying to defend his boss’s beleaguering answer by writing a letter to the Washington Post in which Scheunemann claims McCain did know who Zapatero was and was simply stating his refusal to commit to “a White House meeting with President Zapatero.”

Well… first of all, Zapatero is Spain’s Prime Minister and not its President… second of all, given our treaty-bound obligations under NATO, we kinda have to meet with him. So the excuse for the bizarre answer still doesn’t hold water.

We can either focus on the fact that McCain either had another senior moment or simply doesn’t know that Spain is in Europe, and NOT South America… which is horrifying enough.

Or we can focus on how the McCain campaign’s (so-called) foreign policy expert doesn’t know what position Mr. Zapatero holds… again, horrifying enough.

Or we can point out that this is yet another flip-flop from the master, as McCain said he’d be happy to meet with Zapatero five months ago.

My vote would be for all of the above… how about yours?

If McCain actually DID know what he was doing (and really, what are the chances of THAT), and was declaring his refusal to meet with Spain’s leaders, one has to wonder why.

Well… it can be summed up with four words; Bush. Iraq. Troop withdraw.

Remember, shortly after his party came into power in March, 2004 – days after being attacked by al Qaeda - Zapatero kept his primary campaign promise and withdrew Spain’s troops from Iraq.

This apparently pissed off “President” Bush.

Consider this from the LA Times, via ThinkProgress;

Zapatero’s first action was to make good on a long-standing campaign promise to remove Spanish troops from Iraq, to the overwhelming approval of Spaniards but the great irritation of Bush. […] Eighteen months later, there has still been no one-on-one meeting between the two leaders, and rhetoric has been harsh. It got so bad at one point that Bush refused to take Zapatero’s phone call of congratulations last year after the president won reelection.

So it seems very likely that McCain's bewildering response as to whether or not he would meet with Zapatero may indicate that he either too old and confused to be given the ‘key’ to our country, or he is interested in making Bush's grudge against Spain permanent U.S. policy.

Explain to me how a McCain presidency would NOT be a continuance of a Bush presidency? ‘Cuz I don’t think McBush got that message.

Regardless of the answer, we cannot have him in charge for the next 4 years.

The Thursday ‘BushWhack’ing

TBWA is prepared to lead…

• “President” Bush canceled his trip to focus on the economy. Speaking this morning he said that the U.S. economy still faces “serious challenges” but recent actions have been taken to stabilize the economy and are “necessary and they are important and the markets are adjusting to them. […] My administration is focused on meeting these challenges.” (Wow… we’re saved. It’s so hard to express sarcasm in the written form… are we really going to accept and believe that the administration that’s, at least partially, responsible for the current economic crisis is going to help us get out of it? What’s that saying about fox guarding henhouses?)
• New polls are out… one says Obama is leading. One says McCain is leading. One says it’s a dead heat, so take your pick as to which one you want to talk about today…
• Gov. Palin took part in a town hall meeting yesterday and when asked for “specific skills” she could cite in response to those (like anyone with a brain of their own) who don’t think she has a good grasp of international affairs, she replied, “I am prepared.” McCain than hastily jumped in and blathered on and on about her being the Alaskan governor and blah, blah, blah… (We get that you say you’re prepared… that’s all we’ve been hearing since you were rolled out. But could you give us, I don’t know, actual examples of how you’re prepared that don’t involve proximity to where you live? We’ll be waiting…)
• A new New York Times/CBS News poll shows that 68% of Americans believe McCain would either continue Bush’s policies or enact more conservative policies. The better part of the poll, I think because it goes against what McCain is trying to paint himself as, is that 57% view McCain as “a typical Republican” and not a maverick… (Nice… if McCain’s ‘maverick’ message is getting lost, that’s good news for us. Let’s hope it continues…)
• “American legal influence is waning”
• Sen. Chuck Hagel (r-NE) said in interview with the Omaha World-Herald this week that he questions whether Sarah Palin has the experience to be president of the United States… apparently Mr. Hagel is a tad behind the times…
• And have we mentioned? That former Bush spokesman Ari Fleischer believes “President” Bush is a liability for conservatives running for election or re-election? Being interviewed by Bloomberg Television, Fleischer said that the President’s presence at campaign events would “hurt the party and hurt John McCain.” (Awww, poor Georgie… no one wants him to come to the party. Is it wrong for me to laugh my ass off?)