Barack Obama advocates engaging the Iranians diplomatically as a more useful strategy than saber-rattling and refusing to talk to them. Obama is called an appeaser and (much) worse with great disdain by both the administration and the McCain camp for daring to even suggest it. This week, the US sent a diplomatic envoy to the Iran-Europe talks as "an observer" for the very first time. Hmmm. You say coincidence?
I just got an email from Moveon.org; they've released an entertaining new video titled 'All in your head' that uses clips of McCain, Phil Gramm, and Bush to show their views that economic problems are all psychological.
I've tried to embed the video, but in case it doesn't work for you, the quick links are:
You don't hear very much about PUMA (Party Unity My Ass) lately. As a "movement", it appears to be fizzling out. There's little or no media attention being paid to them, and like any failed movement they're increasingly turning inward. They now spend a good chunk of their time talking to themselves on obscure "blog radio" efforts. PUMA has turned into a little pity party club with no prospects for future growth.
John McCain takes credit for it. Lou Dobbs, red faced and finger pointing, insists on it. Blowhards and windbags of every political stripe repeat it at every opportunity. Even the usually clear-eyed and skeptical Gail Collins mindlessly repeats it in today’s column: the so-called "surge" is working in Iraq. The only problem with this comfortable meme? It’s a lie.
McCain predicts 'spectacular' terror attempts in Iraq
(CNN) — John McCain said Friday he expects the presidential election this fall will increase the occurrence of "spectacular" terror attempts in Iraq.
"I predict that they will make an attempt as we get in to the election season to make more of these spectacular kinds of attacks which they're still capable of doing," he said. "The suicide bombers, et cetera, would not surprise me and we've already found out that they're going to try and step up their attacks and try and do things in a more spectacular fashion so that they can erode the support of the Maliki government."
Alternate title: McCain pulls a Plame on Obama's plane
"I believe that either today or tomorrow -- and I'm not privy to his schedule -- Sen. Obama will be landing in Iraq with some other senators" who make up a congressional delegation. John McCain at a campaign fund-raising luncheon. -- Reuters
For the record... Webbies will be well aware that 'to flame' means to post inflammatory remarks about a person. From this day forth, webbies should be aware of the following:
plame
\ˈplām\
Function: verb Definition: to publicly disclose information regarding a political opponent with the motive of endangering the opponents well-being while simultaneously hindering his/her ability to expose mistakes or manipulation (see Iraq war). Disclosure is often presented as an 'innocent' off the cuff remark and/or through plausibly deniable sources that can always be pardoned.
Etymology: Early Netroots to flame Middle Netroots to politically flame Date: Ancient cavemen and more recently the GOP.
Well, some good news. If you make the mistake of going to the wrong website, you actually get something worth looking at. Figured there should be something good about McCain out there, even if it isn't our illustrious Senator (yes, unfortunately, I'm stuck with both McCain and Kyl -- maybe AZ will get lucky and they'll both become obsolete after this year).
I don’t believe in clairvoyance. In fact, I don’t believe in superstition of any kind. But I think I can see something coming. I think I can see the grand strategy of the McCain campaign regarding foreign policy. Listening closely (or maybe not even that closely) I can observe a pattern emerging. Let me lay out what I think the next couple months of McCain tactics are going to look like after the median.
In light of the precipitous removal of former Senator and current UBS Bank vice chairman Phil Gramm as John McCain's chief economic advisor, the question arises:
"Will John McCain also reject Phil Gramm's economic policies?"
It was, not coincidentally, Sen. Gramm's two most highly-touted pieces of legislation that have helped to create the current crises in the home mortgage/banking sector and the huge spiral in oil and gas prices.
For weeks now, Senator McSame & Co. have taken every opportunity to upbraid Senator Obama for his not having been to Iraq in over two years and of never having been to Afghanistan. The official propaganda arm of the Republican party, aka Fox News, even went so far as to have a count clock in frame showing how long it had been.
Needless to say, they saw the ploy as a win-win situation. If Obama didn't go they could say: "How can he speak authoritatively on Iraq when he hasn't even been there since the surge began? How can he put forth a plan for troop withdrawal when he hasn't spoken with the commanders on the ground?"
And the flip side was if he did go they could say: "See, Senator McCain shamed him into going which only proves he doesn't have the chops to be Commander-in-Chief." They really thought they had Obama by the short and curlies
With each passing day, that John McCain is starting to lose his cool. It’s one thing to go on the attack; it’s another to get reckless. As much as I understand McCain’s desire to be president, I can’t help but notice that his desperation is beginning to cloud his judgment.
Watching the McCain camp flounder and flop around like fish on a riverbank, kind of reminds me of the PBS promo, where the goldfish dreams of being a salmon, and uses every vessel possible to join in the spawning rush upstream.
But this is pure fishsh*t:
"I know that Senator Obama is going to Iraq," McCain said. "I was very interested that he articulated and announced his policies and [approach to] Iraq before he went."
Mr. "Doesn't Know his Sunni from his Shi'a", (pitifully flanked by his twin handlers Lindsey and Jolted Joe), yesterday contended that Obama is wrong by having a future, general plan to end our participation in the Iraquagmire.
Since the June 28 news that Obama was planning to make a trip to Iraq, the McCain campaign has been working up their response plan.
For weeks McCain has been searching for lipstick to paint his pigs lips policies, but I seem to recall when McCain endangered the lives of thousands, including over a hundred US soldiers, to "prove his facts" ahead of a visit.
Many people are not happy with the two parties or the two party system. It forces candidates to pander to the base during primaries and run to the center during the general election. Both Obama and McCain are going through that now. And what we get in the end is mostly status quo, with just a slight leaning to the left or right depending on who wins in November.
Don't get me wrong, I'm working hard for the Democrats, as I see another 4 or 8 years of Republican rule as being ruinous. But, as Chomsky says, the entire American spectrum, from Democrat to Republican is one single power structure that only seeks to perpetuate itself.
Nothing can really, really change unless we break the two party system, which guarantees a Republican win if any third party candidate gets close.
Overall, John McCain has missed 387 votes (62.6%! missed and only showing up 37.4% of the time) during the current session of Congress (the worst record in this 110th Congress). John McCain hasn't cast a single vote since April 8, 2008 (during a time when he was sitting pretty as presumptive nominee and Hillary and Obama were still duking it out).
Now, I know running for President is a full-time job: To give him a reliable comparison, I compared his activities on days since April 8 when he missed votes but Obama cast one or more votes. (Showing up for the majority of the votes 56.3% in the 110th Congress, Obama has cast almost 20% more votes than McCain in the 110th -- a truly amazing accomplishment when you consider the length and ardor of the Democratic primary.)
So what was McCain doing on those days since April 8 when Obama showed up to vote and he didn't? See below the fold:
Today the 24 hour news channels were reporting on some of the recent statements by Mitt Romney and whether it meant he was trying to raise his profile for VP consideration. If a picture is worth a thousand words, the accompanying video was worth far more than what the talking heads had been jabbering about the entire segment...
