Crazy Johnny is at it Again

The AP says it's "surprising". Not sure where they've been. Nothing surprising about this wolf in Republican's clothing:

In a surprising rebuke to the warriors who fought for him through tough times, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) on Sunday sided with President-elect Barack Obama and scolded the Republican National Committee for fanning the Illinois corruption scandal.

On ABC’s “This Week,” host George Stephanopoulos asked: “The chairman of the Republican National Committee, Mike Duncan, has been highly critical of the way President- elect Obama has dealt with this. "He's had a statement every single day, saying that the Obama team should reveal all contacts they've had with Governor [Rod] Blagojevich. He says that Obama's promise of transparency to the American people is now being tested. Do you agree with that?”

McCain replied: “I think that the Obama campaign should and will give all information necessary. You know, in all due respect to the Republican National Committee and anybody — right now, I think we should try to be working constructively together, not only on an issue such as this, but on the economy stimulus package, reforms that are necessary. And so, I don't know all the details of the relationship between President-elect Obama's campaign or his people and the governor of Illinois, but I have some confidence that all the information will come out. It always does, it seems to me.”

Yeah crazy Johnny. It always seems the information comes out. Always.

RUSSIAN OBSERVERS TO MONITOR U.S. ELECTIONS: RUSSIANS SAYS MAINSTREAM MEDIA BIASED FOR OBAMA

You know it's bad when the Russians see the media bias too. Frankly, I think they should monitor our election. To me, there is far more to this story than just sour grapes by the Russians. They are making it abundantly clear that they are not caught up in all this cult of personality B.S. surrounding Obama and that they have no plans on succumbing to the powers of "the One".

Stung by international criticism of its presidential and congressional elections, Russia is striking back by sending a team of observers to monitor the U. S. presidential poll on Nov. 4.

Andrei Nesterenko, a spokesman with Russia's Foreign Ministry, says Moscow will have eight election observers attached to a monitoring mission conducted by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

The OSCE, which has infuriated the Kremlin in the past by criticizing elections in Russia and other post-communist states, is sending 62 election observers to the United States.

In addition to visiting polling stations on Nov. 4, they will study the election campaign, media coverage and issues of voter registration, identification and voters rights.

A preliminary report prepared by the group, after studying U. S. media coverage on the NBC, CBS and ABC television networks since September, has concluded Barack Obama, the Democratic presidential candidate, has a "hidden advantage."

A preliminary report obtained by the Russian daily online newspaper Kommersant concludes the U. S. television networks devoted more time to Republican candidate John McCain, but "the material that makes up that time difference can be assessed as negative."

The Russian study also said Sarah Palin, the Republican vice-presidential pick, has been subjected to more criticism than her Democratic counterpart, Senator Joe Biden.

It adds that when the presidential candidates' platforms are described, Mr. Obama's is described last, to make it look better, and when platforms are compared, "Obama's is presented preferable."

NEW RNC AD: GUILT BY PARTICIPATION

All this seems way late in the game for McCain. True as it is, he now risks appearing desperate with these ads.

McCAIN AD LAYS THE SMACK DOWN ON OBAMA AND ACORN

Youtube has taken the video down. But you can view it here.

WHY McCAIN WILL CLOSE AND WIN

An interesting take from Hugh Hewitt:

Because the country cannot afford the greatest gamble in its modern history at this moment in time.

A confrontation with Iran looms and instability in Pakistan grows. The Islamist threat has been beaten back in Iraq, but continues to nurse its fanatical hatreds in many other places, from Waziristan to London. Israel is ringed not with an enemy that wants a state but by two enemies that want Israel to be destroyed.

The world's financial system is teetering, and the estrangement between the American people and their government has never been this deep in modern times.

The cost of energy has soared and will continue to climb. The entitlement trap has only grown worse in the three years since George Bush asked the Democrats to work with him on Social Security and they said no. The corrupt, self-dealing culture of the Beltway has poisoned the decision-making of many bureaucracies and in ways only the burdened know, and the credibility of the big media is shattered even as their audiences shrink and many of their news rooms come close to shuttering.

So, despite the rapture of college students and the registration of the homeless in Ohio, the common sense of Americans will override curiosity about Barack Obama and infatuation with his celebrity, and trust John McCain to pilot the country for the next four years.

Obama is a wholly untested Illinois state senator with less than 200 actual days on the floor of the U.S. Senate.

Obama has never run anything or faced any significant political crisis in his life requiring the expert exercise of wisdom and judgment, much less this perfect storm of crises.

Obama's rise has been because of machine politics and hard-left coalitions, and his past is checkered with the most radical and the most corrupt sort of characters imaginable --Ayers, Rezko and Wright to name just the big three.

His party is led by hard-left partisans in the House and Senate, and the "grassroots" manning his campaign and ready to demand their patronage jobs are of the Michael Moore-Daily Kos variety. There is hardly anything left of the old Democratic Party. It isn't about a New Deal or a Fair Deal or a New Frontier. It is about radical change, and creepy children singing praises to their leader. It is about a thorough-going contempt of ordinary Americans best expressed in Obama's own description of the bitter God-and-gun clinging small town and rural voters of Pennsylvania.

Obama would be a huge risk in even placid times of peace, full employment, and robust growth, a radical break with America's political traditions even as measured against the McGovern candidacy of 1972.

In a time of war and precarious economic uncertainty, it would be near suicidal to turn the world's most important job over to him.

LAPTOP STOLEN AT McCAIN MISSOURI OFFICE

Is this the work of the "Truth Squad"?

The Republican Party is tightening security at four Missouri phone banks after a break-in and theft of a laptop at one of the offices.

Police in the Kansas City suburb of Independence said Thursday that a rock was thrown through a window to gain entry to the McCain/Victory Office. A campaign staffer's laptop and satchel were taken between 10 p.m. Tuesday and 6 a.m. Wednesday.

The theft took place in the hours before GOP presidential nominee John McCain's speech Wednesday at the Truman Presidential Library and Museum in Independence, Truman's hometown.

Missouri Republican Party spokeswoman Tina Hervey said 24-hour security is being established at GOP offices in St. Louis, Independence, St. Charles and Springfield.

Hervey said the laptop contained information about areas that Republicans are targeting for support.

McCAIN AD: BILL CLINTON KNOWS WHO CAUSED THE FINANCIAL CRISIS

CAUSE WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH...

the tough roll up their sleeves and help with a solution...and the man who took more than a $100,000 from the primary culprits stays on the campaign trail...and blames other people

McCain suspends campaign to help solve financial crisis...Obama?...Well, he's spending his time trying to come up with an excuse as to why he took so much money from the institution that ruined America...Just as well...Does anyone really think he has any ideas that would help in this situation?

UPDATE: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid refuses help.

A Democrat tells ABC News that, in a phone call late this afternoon, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., told Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., that it would NOT be helpful for him to come back to Washington, D.C., to work on the Wall Street bailout bill.

McCain this afternoon suspended his campaign and said he would skip the first presidential debate in order to return to Capitol Hill to work on the log-jammed Bush administration legislation, which, as of Wednesday afternoon, was in peril.

McCain had phoned Reid to ask about the prospects of him, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., and others to sit down and work together on hammering out a bipartisan proposal.

"Sorry," Reid said to him, a Democrat close to Reid says.

Reports are speaking of a joint statement to be issued by the candidates said to be forthcoming. Here's a crazy idea. How about a joint solution from the candidates? McCain has expressed his willingness. All I see from Obama is the desire to stay in front of his teleprompter.

Wait a second. I thought Obama already had plans in place? What gives?

UPDATE: Obama says he'll return to Washington if he can be "helpful". Does anyone hear anyone calling for Obama's help? Anyone? Crickets...

NEW McCAIN AD GOES AFTER OBAMA'S CHICAGO TIES

ANOTHER PROMINENT HILLARY BACKER ENDORSES McCAIN

Some Democrats are immune from the hope and change spell:

Lynn Forester de Rothschild, a prominent Hillary Clinton supporter and member of the Democratic National Committee's Platform Committee, will endorse John McCain for president on Wednesday, her spokesman tells CNN.

The announcement will take place at a news conference on Capitol Hill, just blocks away from the DNC headquarters. Forester will "campaign and help him through the election," the spokesman said of her plans to help the Republican presidential nominee.

Forester was a major donor for Clinton earning her the title as a Hillraiser for helping to raise at least $100,000 for the New York Democratic senator's failed presidential bid.

In an interview with CNN this summer, Forester did not hide her distaste for eventual Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama.

"This is a hard decision for me personally because frankly I don't like him," she said of Obama in an interview with CNN's Joe Johns. "I feel like he is an elitist. I feel like he has not given me reason to trust him."

Rothschild joins John Coale as another prominent Democrat donor to back McCain.

ZOGBY POLL: McCAIN TAKES 4 POINT LEAD OVER OBAMA IN POST-CONVENTION POLL

Here you go:

Republicans John McCain and Sarah Palin left St. Paul, Minnesota, with a smallish bounce overall and some energy in key demographic groups, as the race for the presidency enters a key stage and voters begin to tune in to the contest, the latest Zogby Interactive poll finds.

The McCain/Palin ticket wins 49.7% support, compared to 45.9% backing for the Obama/Biden ticket, this latest online survey shows. Another 4.4% either favored someone else or were unsure.

HILLARY SUPPORTERS TRASH OBAMA FOR RUNNING TO HILLARY FOR SUPPORT

This is just great...and 100% correct. From the Hillary supporter site Puma Pac:

News last night from The NY Times, via Riverdaughter, that Obama has run home to Big Sister to plead with her to fight his battle with Saracuda Palin for him. Oh, the poor Precious! Can’t face a tough woman on his own, huh? What’s the matter Barack? Just tell Saracuda that she’s likable enough. Call her a Sweetie and tell the media that she gets moody and bitchy periodically when she’s feeling down. That oughtta work. Or send Sebelius — woo-hoo! I’m sure she can take on Palin and come out of the encounter victorious.

Or, in the words of Anglachel (”Audacity Defecit”):

“Biden is a sign of weakness because of who Obama passed over.Whether or not you would have wanted to see Hillary as VP, that choice would have been a measure of his confidence in working with a more senior politician with her own dedicated power base. There is no corollary for McCain to choose from on the Republican side because there is no one of that stature in his party. I mean, can you think of anyone? To have selected Hillary would have fallen somewhere on the “no guts, no glory” scale between JFK offering the post to LBJ (grudgingly, wanting a rejection, knowing it was the key to victory) and Bill asking Al (unafraid of the competition, respectful of Al’s greater national statute, gambling on a powerful adminstrative team). Biden has mocked Obama in public, there is no synergy in the pairing, there is not enough contrast to produce creative counter balance, and Biden stands as repudiation of all the message of change.”

OR, BARACK — IF, AS HAS BEEN THE CASE SINCE JANUARY WHEN YOU FIRST DECIDED TO SIT BACK AND ALLOW THE SEXIST ONSLAUGHT FROM YOUR CRONIES IN THE MAINSTREAM AND NEW MEDIA DO YOUR DIRTY WORK FOR YOU, YOU CAN ALWAYS COUNT ON “LIBERAL, PROGRESSIVE” POLITICAL THINKERS LIKE THE GEMS AT THE DEMOCRATIC UNDERGROUND TO PUT THIS KIND OF STUFF OUT THERE FOR YOUR BENEFIT. (h/t to Taggles for finding this scum)

CBS POLL: ALL TIED UP

It appears that McCain pulled a rope a hope with the Sarah Palin pick:

The presidential race between Barack Obama and John McCain is now even at 42 percent, according to a new CBS News poll conducted Monday-Wednesday of this week. Twelve percent are undecided according to the poll, and one percent said they wouldn't vote.

This is in contrast to a poll conducted last weekend, where the Obama-Biden ticket led McCain-Palin by eight points, 48 percent to 40 percent.

McCain has also closed the enthusiasm gap some with Obama, but it still exists. Fifty-five percent of Obama's supporters are enthusiastic about their choice, and now so are 35% of McCain's. Last weekend, just 25 percent of McCain's supporters were enthusiastic about him, compared to 67 of Obama's supporters.

McCAIN MAKES OBAMA LOOK LIKE THE GOOFY RETARD HE IS AT SADDLEBACK CONFERENCE

Stark STARK differences in the ability to address the issues of the day. Obama stutters and stammers while trying to recall his canned talking points. McCain answers forcefully and with obvious knowledge. Obama is a straight up retard.

McCAIN GIRL AND THE ENCHANTED REPUBLICAN FOREST

I prefer this wholesome young lady over that Obama skank any day.

I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS McCAIN AD

The One...

FORMER BIDEN CAMPAIGN WORKER ASKS McCAIN IF HE EVER CALLED HIS WIFE A CUNT?

Well, I guess if you didn't attend a racist church for 20 years, this is the kind of questions you get asked. And McCain doesn't answer. Can we take that as a "yes"?

HEY JOHNNY MAC! HOW'S THAT "RESPECTFUL CAMPAIGN" WORKING OUT FOR YA?

John McCain will get it sooner or later. He is going to find that his calls for a "respectful campaign" are going to fall on deaf democrat ears. Point of fact, those calls already are falling on deaf democrat ears.

In what is becoming almost weekly protocol, Sen. McCain condemned officials his own party for going over the line in attacking Barack Obama.

This time the North Carolina Republican party has launched a new TV spot tying local Democrats who support Obama to incendiary remarks made by the Democrat’s longtime preacher, Jeremiah Wright. (below)

The ad declares that Obama is “just too extreme for North Carolina,” noting that local officials should “know better” than to support the Democratic presidential frontrunner.

McCain repeatedly called on the state party to pull the ad Wednesday, vowing again to run a “respectful campaign.”

Meanwhile, Democrats have released the following campaign attack ad:

I'm not sure about the wisdom of a man who wants to be President if he's too daft to know that regardless of what he calls for with respect to campaign etiquette, the left is going to tear him to shreds between now and November. And this notion that Obama's relationship with Reverend Wright is off limits is just ludicrous. Especially when Obama himself says that his relationship with Wright is a legitimate issue. Obama is an unknown quantity. Accordingly, his character is an issue. And few things are more telling of a man's character than the thoughts of his church and his mentors. Of course, I suspect McCain is taking the high road publicly while allowing the right wing blogs to do his dirty work as it relates to Obama and his past dealings. This tactic, however, is going to fail. Sooner or later McCain is going to have to get down and dirty with Obama.

UPDATE: I had no sooner finished writing the above than I noticed the following from John McCain today:

“I’ve stated my position very clearly that I don’t like the ad. I was interested that this morning Senator Obama said it was a legitimate political issue. If he believes that, then it will probably be a political issue. I saw yesterday some additional comments that have been revealed by Pastor Wright, one of them comparing the United States Marine Corps with Roman Legionnaires who were responsible for the death of our Savior, I mean being involved in that. It’s beyond belief. And then of course saying that Al Qaeda and the American flag were the same flags. So I can understand, I can understand why people are upset about this. I can understand why Americans, when viewing these kinds of comments, are angry and upset. Just like they view Senator Obama’s statements about why people turn to their faith and their values. He believes that it’s out of economic concerns. We all know it’s out of a fundamental belief, a fundamental faith in this country and its values and its principles. Again, Senator Obama, out of touch. I can’t control, and will not in future, control. I will voice my opinion. And I will continue to say that I think that ad should not be run. But I won’t continue to try to be the referee here.”

Translation: McCain's isn't concerned about what his conservative base thinks, but if the Messiah says it cool, than it's cool.
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VOICES FROM THE BLOGOSPHERE: SELMA FREAKING ALABAMA???

The Big Feed is proud to present this article from the esteemed Robert Stacy McCain who writes for the blog, THE OTHER MCCAIN.

Reprinted with full permission.

Monday, April 21, 2008

Selma Freaking Alabama???

So I'm lying in bed this morning, half-awake, getting ready to get up, get dressed and get on the road to Harrisburg.

The TV's on Fox News. They go into the 10 o'clock hour, and suddenly it's Carl Cameron talking about John McCain kicking off something he calls the "Time For Action Tour" in Selma, Alabama.

Selma. Alabama.

Holy freaking crap! That's when I notice that Cameron is telling me this while standing in front of an arched bridge over a river and now I realize that John McCain is about to speak at the Edmund Pettus Bridge.

Edmund. Pettus. Bridge.

Some clever Republican political strategist has just proven himself too clever by half. Whatever PR value there is in having a Republican talk about the need to "take action" on poverty, it's more than canceled out by the glaring idiocy of sending him to the Edmund Pettus Bridge to talk about civil rights and John Lewis:

"There must be no forgotten places in America, whether they have been ignored for long years by the sins of indifference and injustice, or have been left behind as the world grew smaller and more economically interdependent. In America, we have always believed that if the day was a disappointment, we would win tomorrow. That's what John Lewis believed when he marched across this bridge. That’s what he still believes; what he still fights to achieve: a better country than the one he inherited."

What the bloody hell is this? Going to the buckle of the Bible Belt and talking about "the sins of indifference and injustice"? Talking about "places left behind"?

To start with, nobody in Alabama needs or wants a lecture about "injustice," and certainly not from a Republican senator. Look at the calendar: 2008. Anybody old enough to have marched with John Lewis in the 1965 voting-rights march is now more worried about Social Security and Medicare than anything else.

Second, if you want to talk about "places left behind," leave Alabama out of it. Anybody with Google can easily discover that the economy in Alabama has been growing faster than the overall U.S. economy for several years, for example:

In 2006 and 2007 24 new auto plants opened in Alabama. Although Birmingham residents are most familiar with Lincoln's Honda Manufacturing and the Mercedes-Benz U.S. International plant in Vance, supplier plants also play a significant employment role. Since 2003, supplier plants have reported 6.8 percent growth in jobs. Jefferson County's supplier job growth has increased 41 percent.

But the most obvious blunder involved in John McCain going to Selma and talking about John Lewis is that John Lewis is a Democrat. And not just a generic Democrat, but a feisty liberal Democrat.

John Lewis, partisan Democrat, is sure to be enraged by watching the McCain campaign attempt to co-opt Selma and the Edmund Pettus Bridge for a GOP campaign photo-op. And if the McCain campaign tries to use that photo-op in an advertisement, the Democrats will immediately trot out Lewis to preach a sermon about the transparent bogusness of John McCain.

For crying out loud, while John Lewis was preparing to march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge, John McCain was preparing to kill Commies in Vietnam.

Who can account for the fathomless idiocy of a GOP strategist who, not content to have a genuine Commie-killing war hero as his candidate, decides it's a clever move to co-opt the most famous episode in the life of a Democrat like John Lewis?

Maybe once Crazy Cousin John figures out what a dumb move this Selma trip was, his infamous temper will take hold of him and he'll strangle the GOP strategist who dreamed up this idiotic stunt.

If any Republican campaign wants to stage a photo-op at a famous bridge and invoke the name of a famous Democrat, my suggestion would be Chappquiddick and Ted Kennedy.

Posted by Robert Stacy McCain
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IS McCAIN TO OLD TO BE PRESIDENT?

This isn't the first attack by democrats on John McCain's age and it certainly won't be the last. But is particularly intriguing considering it is coming from John Murtha, who is 75 years old himself.

Presumptive Republican nominee John McCain is under fire from a Democrat in the House, but it's not for his economic policy or campaign financing. Rather, the Arizona Senator was blasted by Rep. John Murtha Wednesday for his age of 71 years, which Murtha said made him too old to be president. “This one guy running is about as old as me,” the 75-year old Pennsylvania Democrat told a union audience. “Let me tell you something, it's no old man's job.”

McCain's age has drawn concern from Republicans and Democrats alike. If elected, McCain would be the oldest first-term president, turning 72 before the inauguration. Murtha spoke at the AFL-CIO's Building Trades National Legislative Conference before introducing Democratic hopeful Hillary Clinton. “I've served with seven presidents,” Murtha told the audience. “When they come in, they all make mistakes. They all get older.”

Dude's Old
I thought it would be interesting to put our technology department to work and have them enhance some photographs to show what McCain would look like at the start of his term, and how he would look at the end of his term. This is what they came up with:



Of course, this all makes McCain's vice-president pick all the more important.