Silence speaks volumes

It’s not as much as what was sad at last night’s snore-a-palooza, aka the republican national convention, but more so what wasn’t said.

“President” Bush wasn’t mentioned at all… that’s right, not one, single, time.

I’ll pause for a moment until you stop laughing…

...

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You okay? Don’t strain something laughing too hard...

It’s no surprise that last night’s speakers have failed to discuss the economy (it’s one, of many, McCain weaknesses)… but it IS a tad surprising that they never once mentioned the leader of their party, “President” Bush.

Per the fine folks at TPM Election Central who searched the texts of the speeches so Iyou don’t have to found no mention of the words “Bush” or “president” as relating to Dubya.

This isn’t a surprise… when you’re trying to sell yourself, you focus on your best points and downplay your weaknesses.

That’s what the republicans are doing right now…

Of course they’re not going to talk about the economy or Bush, aka the Human Lliability, for the same reasons they won’t point to their record on affordable healthcare, the war on terror or Iraq.

It sucks.

And yet they continue to trot out the line that they’re proud to be republicans… but if they’re so proud of their own party and how they’re “just” and “right for our country”… why wouldn’t you talk about your party’s leader…

Because he sucks… even more so than the party in general… so they’re trying to put as much space between them and the White House as they can.

We won’t let that happen, will we?

No way. No how. No Quayle Palin. No McCain McBush.

Are they just stupid?

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..

Are you kidding me?

Sen. McCain, in an interview on NBC’s Today Show, told host Matt Lauer about his support for the war in Iraq.

Lauer: “If it’s working, senator, do you now have a better estimate of when American forces can come home from Iraq?”

McCain: “No, but that’s not too important…”

Are you fucking kidding me??

Having an estimate of when American forces can come home from Iraq is “not too important”???

Even though the media continues to give McCain a free pass, a few of his peers in the Senate aren’t…

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) remarks; “McCain’s statement today that withdrawing troops doesn’t matter is a crystal clear indicator that he just doesn’t get the grave national-security consequences of staying the course -- Osama bin Laden is freely plotting attacks, our efforts in Afghanistan are undermanned, and our military readiness has been dangerously diminished. We need a smart change in strategy to make America more secure, not a commitment to indefinitely keep our troops in an intractable civil war.”

And Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE) added; “I think many of our brave soldiers and their families would disagree that it’s ‘not too important’ when they come home.”
This is the man who wants to run the country?

Appeasement Wars II: Obama Strikes Back

Obama is talking like a presidential candidate should, hitting back at McBush’s appeasement rhetoric with vigor.

From Reuters; “Democratic presidential front-runner Barack Obama said on Friday President George W. Bush's "failed policies" had strengthened U.S. enemies like Iran and Hamas. […] Responding to Bush's comment on Thursday that those who want to talk to Iran were like Nazi appeasers before the Second World War, Obama accused Bush of "exactly the kind of appalling attack that's divided the country and that alienates us from the world.”

But he wasn’t done… not by a long shot as he decided to enhance what Bush had already done; tie Bush – the president with the HIGHEST disapproval rating ever – in with McCain… thus making the argument that a vote for McCain is a vote for more Bush.

Said Obama; "If George Bush and John McCain want to have a debate about protecting the United States of America, that is a debate I am happy to have any time, any place, and that is a debate that I will win, because George Bush and John McCain have a lot to answer for.”

Pwned!

Support Webb's bill, ignore McCain's rhetoric

Nancy Pfotenhauer, one of Sen. McCain’s policy advisers, appeared on Fox “News” (a term I use loosely) yesterday and criticized Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA) and his “21st Century GI Bill.”

Pfotenhauer said that Webb’s bill does “nothing to address reenlistment and retention” and cited a recent CBO report as support of her fallacious claims, saying “if the Webb bill went through, we’d see a reduction in reenlistment rates of 16 percent.”

Wrong-o!

If Pfotenhauer had actually, I don’t know READ the CBO report, she would see that Sen. Webb’s bill would actually increase enlistment to the point that it would offset the loss in retention.

From the report;

“Literature on the effects of educational benefits on retention suggest that every $10,000 increase in educational benefits yields a reduction in retention of slightly more than 1 percentage point. CBO estimates that S. 22 (as modified) would more than double the present value of educational benefits for servicemembers at the first reenlistment point — from about $40,000 to over $90,000 — implying a 16 percent decline in the reenlistment rate, from about 42 percent to about 36 percent. […] Educational benefits have been shown to raise the number of military recruits. Based on an analysis of the existing literature, CBO estimates that a 10 percent increase in educational benefits would result in an increase of about 1 percent in high-quality recruits. On that basis, CBO calculates that raising the educational benefits as proposed in S. 22 would result in a 16 percent increase in recruits.”

So the only way it would do what she charges would be if you removed a few words and stopped using your brain… which I’m guessing is what happened here.

After all, Pfotenhauer IS a republican.

Even REPUBLICAN Sen. John Warner (r-AZ) agrees with Webb and the CBO report, saying “putting a big piece of cheese out there will induce more qualified people to join just to get this.”


Questionable imagery aside, Warner is right.


The US Army is in dire need of incentives like Webb’s bill contains in order to attract recruits.

And don’t even bring McCain’s competing bill to the table… Webb’s bill is much more generous than McCain’s (imagine that) as McCain’s bill sets a uniform amount per month that is not indexed to actual college expenses while also not granting any benefits until a six year enlistment.

The CBO report shows that the Army would see a substantial increase in the qualifications of recruits under Webb’s plan because recruits will know they could serve their country, gain an education and still have a long, productive life in the military if that’s what they would want.

And then there’s the possible economic benefit.

It’s generally believed that the return to the nation of those WWII GI Bill’s was $6 or $7 for each $1 spent on the veteran… so one could argue that that is what gave the US the effervescent economy it enjoyed post-war.

We can expect McCain and his cronies (another reason a McCain presidency would mimic Bush’s – the abundance of cronies in his administration) to lie on this issue ad nauseam… especially with the talk of Webb being a possible Obama running-mate.

So what’s the solution? We need to have supporters of Webb’s bill, Democrat and republican, to raise these facts in addition to the retention neutral impact of the bill on retention rates.

Then, and only then, can we combat the lies that McCain and his sock-puppets will spew at every opportunity.