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This is a new low. First McCain and the GOP reject the Constitution's guarantee of fair trials in US courts for those who attempt to do US citizens harm. Then McCain claims he's never been a maverick. And now we have this from the ever-more-senile senator from Arizona (who also supports the "You look too brown to be here" law).
"Don't give this guy his Miranda rights until we find out what it's all about," McCain added.
Sure is interesting to watch various parts of the GOP machine flying off in all directions as it continues to try to "reinvent itself". Palin is stumping for McCain (an excellent idea!), Frum has been banished from the fold, Scott Brown has been marked as a traitor to the cause (watch out for them thar crosshairs, Scott), the hits just keep rolling in!
Reinvent? Maybe they should just repeal themselves and start over.
After featuring "I hate Messicans" Tancredo, Birther-conspiracy nut Farah, and Sarah "Real Americans (wink, wink)" Palin at their convention, I think it's clear that true reformers of all parties need to steer clear of the Tea Party movement, which looks more & more like Know Nothings, John Birchers and similar nativist movements.
It will eat itself. Viva Meghan McCain, frankly, for being one of the few (only?) nationally known Republicans with the guts to call the movement out for what it is.
Republicans often accuse Democrats of trying to scare seniors about GOP plans for Medicare and Social Security. However, Democrats' warnings are rooted in reality. Republicans have tried to undermine these critical social insurance plans for years. Unfortunately, McCain and Palin are no different.
Take Medicare. The non-partisan Tax Policy Center estimates that McCain's health plan would cost $1.3 trillion over ten years. To pay for this, Senator McCain has proposed some minor changes in Medicare; however, no expert believes these can achieve the savings needed to finance the McCain-Palin health plan. The Wall Street Journal has reported that McCain will pay for his plan by making major cuts in Medicare
and Medicaid (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122315505846605217.html).
Although the McCain campaign has denied this story, he has not explained where he will find the money. Senator McCain is also likely to support Republican efforts to undermine fee-for-service Medicare and replace it with HMOs. He revealed his true attitude towards Medicare this past summer, when he skipped critical votes on a bill that benefitted "doctors and patients at the expense of overpaid private health plans" (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/05/opinion/05sat2.html?_r=1&oref=slogin).
As for Social Security, Senator McCain supports privatization. Although Republicans have said this would not impact current beneficiaries or those near retirement, seniors should worry about how it would affect their children and grandchildren.
Where will we find the trillions of dollars needed to create the private investment accounts? These would need either to be borrowed from general revenues, which of course would explode the deficit, or taken from funds needed for future retirees, requiring deep cuts in benefits.
Republicans believe the private accounts will provide enough to make up the difference. Unfortunately, we have learned the hard way that markets do not go up forever and can crash with little warning. Moreover, recoveries do not always happen quickly. It took more than two decades for stock prices to surpass their peak in 1929. It may be true that stocks pay in the long run, but we live in the short run, on a day-to-day basis. We can ill afford to gamble with Social Security, which, for most of us, is our retirement safety net.
In contrast with John McCain, Barack Obama opposes privatization and any effort to cuts benefits or raise the retirement age. Seniors should reject McCain-Palin and vote for Obama on November 4.
There are but three days to go, Gentle Reader, and the McCain campaign is now down to fear and Joe The Plumber.
Those who seek to spread The Fear are resorting to fantastic schemes and amazing leaps of logic in an effort to find something to make The Fear rise in voters.
But to be honest, the crazy speculation lacks...imagination.
I believe I can present crazy speculation that is at least as interesting as what they've put out-and funnier to boot-and with that and the Halloween just past in mind we present the final weekend edition of the 2008 campaign cycle's blogging.
So, ya wanna hear a few debunked made up rumors that, frankly, have a lot more creative style?
When last we met, Gentle Reader, we were talking about more or less $150,000 in clothing and beauty services that had been purchased mostly for Sarah Palin's use by the Republican National Committee.
Since then, we have learned that John McCain himself once tried to outlaw the very type of contribution that led to this situation, we've heard McCain's campaign offer a very non-maverick-y denial...and we've learned that the highest paid member of the McCain campaign staff-the person who presumably has the magic touch needed to turn this thing around-will be working her magic with a makeup brush.
As we discussed yesterday, I think I could have dressed Palin for 1/3 of what the RNC paid. Yesterday we "purchased" five of the outfits I think she needs...and with half the shopping done, we're $670 over budget.
Can she be dressed for a mere $43,000?
Let's see if we can pull it off...
The message of the Republican Presidential campaign has been stripped down to this one naked, stark and simple racist message, expressed directly, indirectly, and with provocative code words, but the underlying message is always the same: "Are you really ok with a black president? Are you insane? America is under attack! If you elect him, the country you know & love will be destroyed!" The only thing left for the lily white Republican ticket to offer is that they are not the scary black one. Roughly 75% of the country is disgusted with Bush, Cheney, and the Republicans for the utter destruction they've wrought to our country. On the pressing issues of the day, the overwhelming majority of Americans stand with Senators Obama and Biden.
If not for the invocation of a visceral and racist image of a black man as President, any moderate or progressive Democratic candidate would run away with this election.
Its ideas and policies discredited, the only tactic left the floundering "Straight Talk Express" is stoking the flames of racism and fear, echoing images of Hitler's rabble-rousing beer hall Putsch and the Nazi's hateful propaganda.
John McCain's campaign slogan is "Country First", but with his and his party's Karl Rove driven devil-may-care lust to retain power, his actual slogan is: "Country Be Damned". Now we will all have to live with the consequences and fallout from their destructive, divisive wickedness in the final days of this campaign.
Joe McCarthy would indeed be proud of Senator McCain today, so what was said to him, must now be said to John McCain: "Have you no sense of decency sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?" Now as then, the American public view McCarthy (now McCain) with well-deserved disdain. On television, the senator from Wisconsin (now Arizona) comes off as cruel, despicable and reckless.
How very tragic for John McCain to have made so terrible a mistake so late in life. To paraphrase a line from the movie, "The Godfather" - even for old times' sake, Americans cannot let him off the hook for this.
CNN reports one McCain aide saying Palin is "going rogue", and from yet another insider:
"She is a diva. She takes no advice from anyone," said this McCain adviser. "She does not have any relationships of trust with any of us, her family or anyone else."
Maverick as in straying cattle is one thing (and odd enough as it is), but "rogue" as in wild elephant is by far the better metaphor for the party it currently represents.
Looks like one mahout made a major miscalculation choosing this ride.
But on the other hand, it's starting to smell a little like a (scape)goat may be the next animal we'll see on the way to the elephant graveyard...
Adding (Dean): Andrew Sullivan wonders if this rogue behavior is why she was in Iowa yesterday. I sure hope so! Please please please, Sarah Palin '12, come back to our First in the Nation Primary State, please! You have such a fine effect here on our undeclared voters...for Barack Obama. '08.
So you're the Governor of a State...but the next thing you know, you're running for Vice President. The boss says you gotta bling up the ol' Governor clothes-and the next thing you know, you're having to explain how you can be the common "hockey mom" from Wasilla and how you can be clothed in more than enough money to buy Joe The Plumber's house...both at the same time.
In the interests of telling the story fairly, I decided to conduct my own online shopping experiment.
Let's head over to Saks and Neiman's...and Bergdorf and Goodman's to boot...and let's just find out exactly what you would need to spend to look fabulous-and what you should probably be avoiding if you really want to project that whole "woman of the people" kind of thing.
That's right folks, today, we play "Joe The Personal Shopper" for Sarah Palin.
In an article addressed to "senior citizens of America," Doug Holtz-Eakin, Senator McCain's chief domestic policy adviser, assures us that John McCain poses no threat to Medicare (http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/opinion/letters/orl-mywordeakin2108oct21,0,3852125,print.story). According to Holtz-Eakin, "seniors will receive higher quality care at lower costs and reduced premiums." This sounds good, but when it comes to Medicare, seniors should beware Republicans bearing gifts.
Like George W. Bush, McCain seeks to undermine our system of employer-based insurance (EBI), under which most people receive coverage. Many experts have noted that McCain's proposal to remove the tax exemption for EBI would give businesses an incentive to stop covering their employees and force millions into the unregulated, nongroup market, which typically offers fewer benefits than EBI. Companies continuing to offer coverage would face an exodus of younger and healthier workers attracted by ostensibly lower prices in the nongroup market. This would concentrate older and less healthy workers in the employer based system and cause premiums there to skyrocket. Ultimately, this system would collapse, leaving many individuals, particularly those with preexisting conditions, unable to find coverage.
Independent estimates place the cost of Senator McCain's plan at $1.3 trillion over ten years (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122315505846605217.html). McCain believes he can pay for this in part through cuts in Medicare that would leave seniors with 'exactly the same benefits'" (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/19/us/politics/19health.html?ref=health). However, a report by the Center for American Progress Action Fund (CAPAF) (http://www.americanprogressaction.org/issues/2008/pdf/mccain_health_strategy.pdf) questions this. CAPAF estimates that as a result of Senator McCain's reductions, Medicare's expenditures will not "keep pace with inflation and enrollment growth-thereby requiring cuts in benefits, eligibility, or both." While the McCain campaign has identified some ways they would reduce Medicare spending that would not impact beneficiaires, it is difficult to see how these amount to the vast sum needed to subsidize the Senator's health care plan (http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/10/obama-attacks-m.html).
In the long run, we can only solve Medicare's problems by reining in health care costs generally. Compared in this regard with Barack Obama, John McCain's proposals fail miserably (http://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/publications_show.htm?doc_id=707948). Obama and Biden have pledged to protect and strengthen Medicare and have the votes to back it up (http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/07/09/kennedy-returns-to-the-senate/).
We all know that actions speak louder than words. This past summer, Senator McCain had a real opportunity to defend Medicare when the Senate voted on a bill that would have benefitted "doctors and patients at the expense of overpaid private health plans" (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/05/opinion/05sat2.html?_r=1&oref=slogin). Unfortunately, McCain skipped this critical vote. When the bill was reconsidered a few days later, even an ailing Senator Kennedy made it to the floor to vote. The only Senator not to vote on this critical bill was John McCain (http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/07/09/kennedy-returns-to-the-senate/). Obama and Biden voted for the bill.
New Hampshire seniors should think twice before trusting Medicare, and their vote, to John McCain.
John McCain is all excited today, because, in his mind, Joe Biden has really Screwed It Up This Time by claiming that Obama will be tested by a foreign policy challenge, that Obama will act in a way we might not immediately trust, and that we should stand by him if it happens.
Oh My God You Have To Vote For Me, is the McCain response, because we can't afford someone who will be tested in office.
As it turns out, Joe Biden is the smarter guy in this argument, a few calm words are in order...and I'm here today to offer a response that will set McCain's foolishness right back on its heels.
We're not one of the states mentioned by Chuck Todd yesterday on Meet the Press, but we are a battleground. Make every senior you know aware of the damage McCain-Palin will do to Social Security & Medicare and urge them to vote Obama-Biden.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27...
MR. BROKAW: And, Chuck, as I've been listening to these two campaigns and watching their ads, it seems to me if you're a senior citizen in America, they're probably calling you up and say, "We'll come over and do your
laundry and drive you to the early bird special if that's what it takes to get you to vote for us."
MR. TODD: Well, you know, we talk all about young voters, and we talk about African-Americans, we talk about this, we talk about that. This thing is
about seniors. The difference between Obama fighting for 270 and Obama sailing past 270 is older, white voters. The thing keeping McCain still with a boxer's chance here is older, white voters. Florida,Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana--these are some of the old--have some of the oldest populations in the country. So, when these voters, if they start moving in
one direction, if they move in towards Obama, which we've seen a little bit of evidence that way, that's how this thing becomes from a close electoral college battle to a landslide.
The McCain campaign is beyond desperate, at this point, and as you might expect, the emails are full of things McCain supporters would like us to know.
I had one of those emails cross my inbox yesterday morning...and I thought to myself:
"Self...since the author of this email asked me to look up her facts, maybe I should."
So I did.
Next thing I knew, I realized I was looking at a giant load of hooey.
Follow along, and I'll show you what I mean.
Barack Obama is a Threat To America, we are told, because he served on a board of directors and had other contacts with William Ayers, who, in the 1960s, was, or was not, involved in terrorist acts for which he was never convicted of any crimes.
So imagine how serious of a Threat To America we would have if, last month, one of the two candidates hired someone to lead their transition team-the person who would recommend who should be selected for every appointed office of the new Administration-who, at the time of the 9/11 attacks, actually worked for Saddam Hussein...and who ended up working for him for five years.
Well, one of the candidates did, and I'll give you a hint: it wasn't Obama.
Ladies and Gentlemen, it's time to meet William E. Timmons, Sr.
(Why do people vote against their best interests? - promoted by Mike Hoefer)
I am beginning to believe (big surprise) that there are simply things in this world for which I can find no explanation.
Case in point: for the longest time this cycle I have been casually observing the front yard of a neighbor up the street, which up until just recently, had been devoid of any political signage.
In 2000 and 2004 this particular address sported signs supporting the current incumbent in the Oval Office (just can't bring myself to utter the name without a (ahem) liberal dose of antacid). The fact that nothing at all had appeared so far this time around seemed to me to be a hopeful sign (sorry) that things were, um, changing.
Now, the McCain signs have suddenly sprouted like mushrooms in the night, and it makes me feel a little sad. Why sad? Given past history and practice, why shouldn't I just be resigned to the fact that these folks are simply being consistent and voting their party affiliation, and respect that for what it is?
"All of the things they said about Barack Obama in the TV, on the TV, at their rallies, and now on YouTube ... John McCain could not bring himself to look Barack Obama in the eye and say the same things to him ... In my neighborhood, when you've got something to say to a guy, you look him in the eye and you say it to him."
After the election, in the interests of national reconciliation, I imagine Obama and Biden may allow McCain to make special non-custodial visits to his testicles.
So the second debate is in the books, my friends, and it seems that McCain is not getting out the message as well as he might wish.
I have no doubt that some of the problem is related to McCain's policies as he presents them...but to be completely honest, there may be an additional factor.
To put it as bluntly as possible: McCain looks a little...creepy.
And it's not just me: The Girlfriend was mentioning how creepy he looked in the debate as we talked about it this morning. Ask around, and someone might describe him that way to you.
Why is that so, how is this observation going to affect McCain going forward; and most important of all...how does this connect to the Burger King and the design of video game characters?
To help answer the question, let me introduce you to Dr. Masahiro Mori.
