John McCain - Thief

It has reached a point where John McCain is making a mockery of himself. Have you noticed how staunch Republican McCain steals Democratic/Liberal language and uses it against them? For example, saying the Democrats were sexist for their attack on McCain's VP pick, the incomparable Sarah Palin, had me rolling on the floor with hysterics.

Now Mr. Republican is trying to figure out the worst economic disaster since the great depression, and he finally comes to the conclusion that government bail-outs are a good thing. Last week he was saying he was for small government, this week he has another position.


Just listen to McCain and hear how low he has sunk. Shame!

This Government Reads Your Mind and Finds You Guilty

In a chilling combination reminicent of "Brave New World" and "1984", a local government in India, which likes to bill itself as the world's largest democracy, has taken steps that any totalitarian government would love.

Buried inside the New York Times of September 14th, was this item:

India has become the first country to convict someone of a crime relying on evidence from this controversial machine: a brain scanner that produces images of the human mind in action and is said to reveal signs that a suspect remembers details of the crime in question.

...

But it was only in June, in a murder case in Pune, in Maharashtra State, that a judge explicitly cited a scan as proof that the suspect’s brain held “experiential knowledge” about the crime that only the killer could possess, sentencing her to life in prison.

Certainly, technology marches on, especially in the field of criminal justice and that system first admitted the use of fingerprints and then DNA evidence. But some technologies have not been proven as reliable, such as the so-called "lie detector" which measures stress rather than truth.

This Indian government's reliance on brain waves poses an interesting question: will that government move on to using brain waves to monitor someone who is contemplating a crime?

It seems that the NSA's reading of e-mail messages is but small potatoes compared to a government picking up your brain waves.

I wonder if they will develop this technology to the degree that brain waves will be read without the need to actually hook up someone to a machine?

Targets USA

The November election will come down to traditional battleground states: Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania; and some new battlegrounds: Colorado, New Mexico, and Nevada.

In 2004, Bush barely won Ohio, Colorado, New Mexico, and Nevada, but with the a significant change in population demographics, Obama might be able to win some of those south west states. But the Democrat will also have to spend precious time and money in holding actions in Pennsylvania and Michigan, two blue collar states that preferred Hillary Clinton and which were barely won by John Kerry in '04.

Go to 270towin.com to game how you think the election will play out. I see Obama with a good chance of winning New Mexico, Pennsylvania, and Michigan with Nevada very close and Colorado, a center for both right wing evangelical activity and increased Democratic activity, as the big battleground.

If Obama is to win, I see him needing the new keystone of Colorado and either New Mexico or Nevada. And that's why the Democrats held their convention in Denver.

Pride Goeth Before the Fall Elections

Just a few weeks ago, Barack Obama was leading in all the state polls and he had an estimated 300 electoral votes, according to some sources. Today, if you check the Votemaster, McCain leads with just 270 votes, but that is enough to be elected President of the United States.

If you are a regular reader of this blog you know that I never believed that Obama's large lead was valid and that I predicted the race would be close, with a possible Obama victory with between 272 and 278 EVs.

In an excellent assessment earlier this week,here, Howard Fineman quoted one Democratic heavy-hitter on Obama's problems:

...if I were an Obama partisan I would be worried that his mistakes have a common thread - pride.

Obama seems to want to do things on his own, and on his own terms. It’s understandable. Obama has his own crowd – from Chicago, from Harvard, and from a new cadre of wealthy, Ivy-educated movers and shakers.

“He’s an arrogant S.O.B.,” one of the latter told me today. “He wants to do it his way, and his way alone.” But politics doesn’t work that way. And has Obama should know, or is about to find out, that everyone needs a little help.

According to Fineman, Obama has committed six major errors:

Declining to take federal financing for the general election

Declining McCain’s offer to hold ten town hall debates

Failing to go all the way with the Clintons

The 22-state strategy

Failing to state a sweeping, but concrete, policy idea

Remaining trapped in professor-observer speak

Failing to attack McCain early

It's not too late for Obama to make some significant changes in his approach, but that would require both a degree of flexibility and an intense and manifest hunger for the presidency and I have not observed either of these qualities in the candidate. On the other hand, McCain is demonstrating a typical Republican approach: Stop at nothing to achieve the biggest prize in the world.

To some extent, the world is playing into McCain's hand. Russia's move into Georgia has stoked those old Cold War fears and I perceive a lack of confidence in the electorate that Obama is up to the task of confronting KGBer Vladimir Putin or Iran's Mahmoud Ahmdinajad and that country's desire for nuclear weapons. Despite the economy, global warming, health care, education, and all of the other domestic issues that the democrats should, and do, own, none of these can be tackled unless the people feel safe. The belief is that the strong McCain is more capable of dealing with safety, and national security issues, and that he should answer that 3a.m. phone call.

A week is an eternity in politics and, that being said, we have about seven eternities before the election. But, along with burning autumnal leaves, I'm starting to smell a McCain victory.

Remember

The lights shine.

World Trade Center Murders

Once again I look out my window to see the lights of the World Trade Center memorial lights probe the sky, pale reminders of the mass murder that took place on that site seven years ago.

Seven years ago, on that brilliant Tuesday morning, I emerged from the Brooklyn Bridge subway station adjacent to City Hall to see that obscene diagonal gash on the north face of the North tower. I was mesmerized. I had to watch these landmarks, these behemoths of the skyline as they ejected smoke, fire, papers and people. Firefighters and other emergency service people and their vehicles flooded the area. I looked at that north tower, and knowing how the building was constructed, I felt there was a real possibility that the building might collapse,and I felt that the last thing that was needed was another pedestrian clogging the street, so I continued to my office, from where I watched the end of an era.

I have worked in the downtown area for more than thirty years and the towers were a constant presence. many times I went to the concourse to visit the Borders bookstore that was there, or to do some banking. Earlier that year I had visited the headquarters of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to interview for a job. I also interviewed for a job at 7 World Trade Center, with the Mayor's Office of Emergency Management. As you can tell, my attachment to those buildings was not abstract, but quite concrete. I could have been inside one of those buildings when those airplanes hit. By the grace of god, I wasn't.

Then, with two tremendous roars, the world turned dark. We evacuated the area in a scene that reminded me of those apocalyptic movies that show long lines of refugees. But pain was absent. Color was absent. Everything was absent as a huge hole expanded to include millions of people.

When I returned to work a week later, I bought two miniature New York City flags and dipped them both into the omnipresent grey dust that constituted much of the remains of the towers and which coated the downtown area. I kept one flag and later presented it to the Midwest City, Oklahoma Rotary Club as a sign of the sad bond that New York had with Oklahoma as victims of mass terrorist murder. I sent the other flag to a friend who was an Apache helicopter pilot who was about to be deployed to Afghanistan. He wrote and told me that he placed the flag in his knee board so that he would never forget why he was going into battle.

Seven years later we still mourn. For some, mourning is a quiet and private affair. For some, sadly, mourning has become their profession.

The World Trade Center now looks like any another major government construction site, architecturally banal, delayed and over budget. Is this normality?

A Fine Democratic Whine

Democrats are at it again, whining that the Republicans aren't playing fair and spreading lies about them through a compliant media.

This reminds of of the story that took place years ago at the Paris peace talks to end the the Vietnam war. It is said that an American general met with his North Vietnamese counterpart. "You know," said the American, "You never beat us on the battlefield." The North Vietnamese looked at the American and replied, "You are quite right. But what you say is also totally irrelevant."

The democrats are quite right that the republicans are playing dirty.Yes, the Republicans are lying about Barack Obama and his "pig in lipstick" statement, as well as other positions that the Democrat has taken in the pastas well as positions taken by Republican VP candidate Sarah Palin.

And it is all quite irrelevant.

The Republicans are engaging in classic Lee Atwater/Karl Rove smear politics. The Democrats are defending themselves by releasing position papers. I have written many times that the electorate likes to get the "warm fuzzies" about a candidate. But in this dangerous world, the electorate also wants to know that their candidate will also prevail in a knife fight in a dark ally, and here is where the Democrats, specifically Obama, fail. Oh, he looks cool, and he talks great, but on a gut level what do you think he would do in an alley fight? Do you think he will serve legal papers on his opponent or do you think he will kick his foe in the balls and gouge his eyes out?

Obama has to stop reacting to the 24 hour news cycle agenda, which is currently being set by McCain, as he forces Obama to react to his charges, however outrageous they might be.

Obama is known for his love of sports, especially basketball. I would love to tell him that the sport here is boxing. Not Olympic style boxing which is won on style points, but American boxing which demands a knock out. Obama has to demonstrate that he has the the ability and desire to bite off a nose or rip off an ear for the sake of gaining the presidency. Otherwise, no one will feel confident enough to have him face heavyweight KGBer Vladimir Putin in the ring that is world politics.

Oil Prices

Oil is now $103 per barrel. Am I the only person who wonders why prices are not coming down with same the speed with which they went up?

Political Brain Farts

Politico.com has this fun roundup of stupid politician tricks here.

We still have 50-odd days or so until the political Superbowl, and I anticipate that this listing will be updated with some real whoppers. If you want some real meat, though, go to the Annenberg Fact Check web site, listed on the right side column.

McCain Moves Ahead

For the first time int his election season , John MCain has taken a lead in a national poll:

(Sept. 7) - John McCain has overtaken Barack Obama in the Gallup daily tracking poll and has his highest level of support in that poll since early May.
McCain leads Obama 48 percent to 45 percent among registered voters, by Gallup’s measure. McCain has so far earned the same convention bounce as Obama, though at a more rapid pace.

...


Rasmussen’s daily tracking poll also reported today that when "leaners” are included, Obama and McCain are now tied at 48 percent. That means that, by Rasmussen’s measure, Obama’s 6-point bounce has been erased. CBS News polling had shown the same outcome midway through the GOP convention.
McCain’s resurgence in the polls comes as Nielsen Media Research reported that the Republican convention earned more television viewers than the Democratic convention. Republicans earned an average audience of 34.5 million, while Democrats earned an average viewership of 30.2 million.

Obama's bounce from the Democratic convention has now been met and exceeded by Senator McCain's increases. Remember, these are national polls and the ones we need to watch are the state polls. I'll keep you posted or check with the Votemaster.

At this point, the political conventions are over and the poll bounce that inevitably occurs for each candidate is all but over and is absorbed into overall poll results. Look for future poll results to flatten out.

Look for the professional pols to try to figure out why McCain is still hanging in and why Obama hasn't gained a sizable lead. How long will it take for some to admit that they might have misread the mood of the electorate and the desire for "change", however nebulously that might be described.

Look for the media to totally ignore the major issue of how they might have manipulated coverage of both the Republican and Democratic campaigns so that their darlings gained their respective party's nominations.

Look for everyone to ignore the real and difficult issues that face this country as the candidates reduce their messages to 60 second television commercials contaning pretty pictures, waving flags, and smiling faces.

Electioneering at its Best-Jib Jab

JibJab says it all right here!


Excellent!

Palin's Northern Exposure

Alaska Governor Sarah Palin may be talking about cleaning up corruption in Alaska, but the truth seems to be quite the opposite as she currently is under investigation.



As the Anchorage Daily News reports:

The allegations are that she, her family or administration improperly pressured then-Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan to fire Gov. Palin's ex-brother-in-law, state trooper Mike Wooten, who had been in the middle of a custody dispute with Palin's sister.

In July, when legislators started talking about conducting an investigation, Palin denied any wrongdoing and said she welcomed an investigation.

"Hold me accountable," she said.

The Legislature took her up on that offer. But this week, she basically told the Legislature, "Never mind."

Palin, at this point, seems to be playing the Emily Letella role to perfection, ignoring what Alaskans are calling "Troopergate", but the news is sure to obtain maximum exposure in the Lower 48 thanks to the Democratic party and its adherents. Palin is starting to take on a remarkable resemblance
to former Democratic VP candidate Geraldine Ferraro, who was inadequately vetted by presidential candidate Walter Mondale's team, and who proved to be a major embarrassment to Mondale's campaign.

Joe Lieberman, Quo Vadis?

CQ Politics speculates on which side of the aisle the Connecticut senator will site when the Senate reconvenes. What is clear is that Lieberman, post his strong speech Wednesday night at the republican Convention in support of his friend, John McCain will be embraced by the Democrats like a Typhoid Mary.

Lieberman, torn between his affection for John McCain an his bitterness at the Democratic establishment, has definitely made himself a man without a party.

Unless McCain wins in November and then appoints Lieberman to a significant position in his administration or to the Supreme Court, Lieberman has put himself into a lose-lose situation. If he stays a nominal Democrat,and the Dems increase their hold over the Senate as it now appears likely, the Democratic leadership will strip him of all powers that accrue to someone with his seniority. If he moves over to the republican side, he once again finds himself sitting with the minority party, another losing hand.

Joe Lieberman has positioned himself in such a way that he has no winning options. All he can do is pray for a McCain win to rescue some aspect of his political life.

Half Time?

The conventions have come and gone and now everyone is taking a deep breath for one day and then the battle will be joined in earnest.

The teams are set: McCain/ Palin vs. Obama/Biden. Each side will devote the 50-odd days left before the election to spinning gossamer-like myths comprised of bull shit. Because the realities facing the electorate, the country, and the world are far too complicated to be expressed within the confines of the 45-second sound bite, the real battle will take place in the media over which side controls its message, which side controls the media, which side spins a better fantasy than the other.

It seems to me that the Democrats had tried to present some facts with their arguments, but the facts had no emotional content, and didn't "stick". The Republicans hurled invective and played with emotions as they wrapped themselves in the flag. Unfortunately, they displayed not a passing interest in engaging with the facts as they presented themselves as the party of change. Well they tried to, as they all drank the Kool-Aid and the conveniently forgot that they were in power for the past 8 years, and in fact ever since the first Reagan administration save for the eight Clinton years. How can you run as the outsider when you've been the insider for a quarter century? Will this drivel achieve any level of credibility with the voters?

Take a day off because halftime is over and the second half starts on Sunday. Winner is the leader of the free world.

McCain Speaks

While listening to John McCain speak Thursday night I was struck by this thought: Didn't he realize that his party has been in control of Washington for the past eight years?

He was talking as though the Democrats were in power during this period. He was running as a change agent against the powers in Washington. Without naming them, he was saying that the Republicans had failed in implementing their basic philosophies. What he ignored was the fact that he was now asking the electorate to vote for him to continue those failed policies.

Obviously, his experiences as a prisoner of war have molded him in significant ways. But those experiences do not qualify someone for he position of president of the United States.

McCain once was a maverick. That all changed when the Bushies savaged him during the 2000 campaign and he rolled over and he became a lapdog to an inferior personality. Since then, he has been a devotee of the flawed and failed Bush agenda.

There is a lot I admire about John McCain as a person, but not his policies.

The Pols Dis McCain and Palin

This YouTube clip was sent to me by NYCLib.

North Korea Endorses McCain

The cold war seems to be on a slow burner and heating up.

This overlooked item shows that the deal with North Korea brokered by the Bush administration may be in the process of decaying like a load of uranium.

updated 11:28 a.m. ET, Wed., Sept. 3, 2008

SEOUL, South Korea - North Korea has started work to restore its nuclear facilities after the country suspended operations last week to disable them, South Korea said Wednesday.

South Korea, the United States and other members of a six-party group involved in nuclear negotiations with the North are working together closely to determine how to respond to the North's latest move, the Foreign Ministry said.

Russia moves into Georgia. North Korea starts powering up a reactor. What will China do next?

Is this 2008 or 1958?

Come November, will the electorate want tough guy McCain or Mr. Kumbaya Obama?

John Loves Sarah

Here is a simple fact: John McCain's campaign is in a shambles.

As I stated previously, McCain had the opportunity to regain credibility as a maverick by choosing Sen. Joe Lieberman as his running mate. McCain could have shown he was a smart politician by choosing Mitt Romney as his running mate. He could have picked Tom Ridge. McCain eschewed all of these options and chose the unknown Alaska governor Sarah Palin.

It turns out that not too much is known about Palin, certainly not by McCain's crack political staff. We all know she is cute. We all know we would rather go hunting with her than with Dick Cheney. Obviously, McCain's crack political team didn't call anyone in Alaska, otherwise they would have learned that Palin is under investigation for abuse of power. They would have learned that this family values hockey mom is also the mother of a pregnant unwed daughter. I guess just preaching abstinence doesn't really work. This is a candidate who has the aura of someone with a closet full of skeletons, all of which are rattling around with great vigor.

The real problem is the total incompetence shown by both McCain's staff and by the candidate himself. Two names come to mind immediately: Tom Eagleton and Geraldine Ferraro. Neither candidate was properly vetted and both turned out to be liabilities to McGovern and Mondale, respectively. Palin has the same stink about her.

John McCain, you have not yet committed political suicide, but why are you holding that knife?

Good-bye Joe, He Got to Go, Me-o My-o

Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-D-Conn.)committed political suicide last night in the most public and unpleasant manner.

I have long been a supporter of the one-time Democrat, who, over the years, amassed a record that any progressive would be proud of. But Lieberman's support of the Bush war in Iraq set him apart from his fellow Dems, who permitted insurgent Ned LaMont to run against him last year in a primary. When LaMont, a one-trick, anti-war pony, won the primary, Lieberman's political friends deserted him. Lieberman bucked the party, ran as an Independent, won, and continued to caucus with the Democrats, who welcomed him in order to maintain their one vote majority in the Senate.

Lieberman has since been a steady and constant presence at McCain's side, traveling with him to the middle east, correcting him when he slipped up on foreign policy issues, and generally holding his coat as needed.

I had suggested that if McCain truly wanted to regain his long discarded mantle as a maverick, he would be wise to choose Lieberman, his friend, confidant, and adviser, as his vice president. But McCain bowed to political and party realities and picked Sarah Palin (more on that move later).

But Lieberman committed political suicide Tuesday night when he appeared at the Republican convention as a featured speaker. He certainly wasn't a Democrat. He wasn't an Independent. He was a Republican.

Joe, you violated Ronald Reagan's 11th commandment. You spoke against a fellow Democrat. Whatever leverage you had with the caucus disappeared last night, and the caucus now has no option but to evict you when the new congress convenes.

What is beyond my understanding is why you would take this action at a time when the Dems are going to take a significant majority in th Senate, where you have served so long and honorably? You could have kept your mouth shut and avoided this unseemly mess. I certainly understand your bitterness when the party quit you after the primary (which reminds me of the old saying that if you want a friend in Washington,get a dog), but they did what they had to do and you did what you had to do. Fair enough. But you're a big boy and you know how the game is played. Last night, though, you just didn't praise your buddy McCain, but you attacked the Democrats and you attacked Obama. Yours was an act of political suicide.

Bye, Joe!

Pergrine1 Writes...

How well will the McCain/Palin team stand the next several weeks of paparazzi-like scrutiny into every aspect of the nominee's selection that goes BEYOND what has already been exposed in the Lower 48:
-Bridge-to-Nowhere flip/flop?
-Trooper-gate?
-Husband's involvement with BP?

Questions should arise about how well she can simultaneously satisfy her conflicting roles as parent and Vice President, whether she will try to deal with political opponents in the same backwoods manner as she did in Alaska.

Some pundit opined that her selection was the equivalent of "Dan Quayle in a dress". I subscribe to the more likely theory that she's "George W. Bush in a dress". Imagine being invited to go on a moose hunting trip with her...


I would rather go on a moose hunting trip with her than with Dick Cheney-TRM