John McCain = Uriah Heep

Inviting Gov. Palin to be his Vice President was like throwing a molotov cocktail into a broken and abandoned house.

How does he square last night's invective with today's hand across the aisle?

If you can't tell the truth, you can't be a successful partner in any long standing relationship.

surprisingly snarky for you, Hilzoy. This *was* a surprisingly mean-spirited convention.

Sujal

A bureaucrat already stands between my doctor. Except that bureaucrat is from a fucking company, and that bureaucrat's job is to deny my claim so they can get a fat bonus and the company can hit earnings this quarter.

Republicans know this. I know this. Republicans know I know this. But they don't give a shit.

He seemed very old. It underscored the danger of having an grossly underqualified Dominionist as his understudy.

Foreign leaders would eat them both alive.

It picked up when Schmuck Talk Express™ talked about fighting. Frickin warmonger. And, that's when you had the first real crowd enthusiasm of the whole night.

Otherwise, sounded like a 72-year-old has-been reading his own political obit.

"something bigger than yourself"

So, what cause is McCain calling us to? Being war prisoners?

CrooksAndLiars.com has good discussion on this too.

Actually, it's even worse. The theme of this convention was "American Christ": McCain has suffered for your sin, he descended into Hell (how many times did they use that word to describe the Hanoi Hilton?), he arose again from the dead, he fought to save you, and he has the "scars" to prove it. He is your redeemer, and he stands upon his Golgotha in front of the cross by which he was crucified (the flag), set against the azure blue heaven.

Obama, meanwhile, as we are told over and over, is the false messiah, a man who cares only for himself but claims to be a Christ. How explicit do they have to get?

Sorry. Didn't catch McCain's speech. Was too busy donating more money (than I can really afford) to Obama's campaign.

RMcD... Then, I say to Schmuck Talk ...

"Get off the cross. We need the wood!"

Save your money from Obama, JWK, since he's already gone outside public financing.

Cynthia McKinney will take pocket change or couch leavings. Visit the Green Party website.

Only one candidate celebrated his speech by playing a song that was written just for him and that is named after him and is entirely about him.

How does he square last night's invective with today's hand across the aisle?
My friends we must have bipartisan contempt for the uppity one.

I was so sleepy, I couldn't find the volume control on my remote.

The photo in the NYT (under the headline, "The Party in Power, Running as if it Weren't", good one) is not very flattering to the allegedly "hot" Governor Palin; her ass looks as wide as the CEO of General Motors' desk.

McCain's ass looks pretty bad, too. Just to forestall anybody who was about to suggest I would never make such a criticism of a man.

orange

now it is time for the Powell / Hagel sweepstakes.

Despite Powell's "bungling" of the WMD, he is still much respected among the non-progressive world and his support would be a newscycle unto itself. i find it hard to believe that Hagel would want to stay in the minority party with McCain as president or with Obama. His best bet to get out is to endorse Obama and take a cabinet position. Hagel trumps Lieberman.

this is more about last nite's main event, but remember:

jesus was a community organizer, pontius pilate was a governor.

(h/t mudflats!)

Do you even have a hat?

Pictures, please.

ps...

a bureaucrat already stands between my doctor

that's a mighty big doctor...

"something bigger than yourself"

So, what cause is McCain calling us to?

I'm pretty sure he wasn't referring to community organizing.

John McCain = Uriah Heep

You take that back.

Wow. What a STINKER.

Interesting contrast tonight with McCain's call to service with last night's dissing of community service. As I watched the speech, my mind kept drifting away to that Spencer Tracy movie, The Last Hurrah. At least in the movie, I had some sympathy for Tracy's character whereas I have none for McCain.

I think McCain also misled about Obama's position on nuclear power. I'm not clear how much Obama will push nuclear, but still the statement as presented by McCain is false.

McCain: "Senator Obama thinks we can achieve energy independence without more drilling and without more nuclear power."

Obama's plan: "Nuclear power represents more than 70 percent of our noncarbon generated electricity. It is unlikely that we can meet our aggressive climate goals if we
eliminate nuclear power as an option. However, before an expansion of nuclear power is
considered, key issues must be addressed including: security of nuclear fuel and waste, waste storage, and proliferation."

Wow. All the talk of war heroes and POWs at this year's convention ... and not a single purple heart bandaid being flashed to the cameras from the GOP faithful? What gives? I though that was their proudest moment from 2004?

Jeff

Don't confuse us with Obama's actual positions. St. John's will tell us what Obama believes.

i heard part on radio and saw part on TV and i have to say with the exception of the recounting of his POW experience, that was one of the worst major political speeches i've witnessed. his rhythm and flow got much better in the POW segment, otherwise it really sounded like he was hardly familiar with the text. it was flat, uninspired and uninspiring, and beyond vague.

i had to laugh - in one 3-5 minute segment it came across so choppy it was as if it wasnt a speech at all but rather the collection of John McCain's Lamest Hits - random pieces that had drawn applause in other speeches:

"Maverick!"

"I've fought for the right strategy and more troops in Iraq when it wasn't the popular thing to do."

"I'd rather lose an election than see my country lose a war!"

If Palin had created any momentum and energy, it was extinguished tonight (although I still expect the bounce will result in Obama being up about 2 points by next week when things start to shake out).

The hilarious thing is that "moderate" republicans I interact with were seriously fired up about Palin on friday. They believed the Wiki page and the pictures on the internet but had no idea she was a trainwreck. They'll still vote for McCain because of a defect in their brainwiring but the enthusiasm is gone. The only thing left is white fear. Pathetic.

I hadn't given Obama a cent since July but have donated a couple hundred bucks since Friday.

Anyone hear the sinister call by McCain that after they've won any patriots that stood with them will be invited to join the party? They're aren't even hiding it anymore.

I'm completely in agreement with McCain's call for us to get involved in something larger than ourselves, and to work to make history, as Americans have always done.

That's why I'm working to elect Obama, the first black President of the United States.

The focus on his POW experience has gotten positively pathological. John himself admits that a lot of prisoners had it worse, and a lot of others have gone through worse trauma. But despite that, they manage to go through life without wearing it on their sleeve, and mentioning it every chance they get.

There are adults who have grown up, gone to college, and entered into careers since McCain left Hanoi. It's time to Get Over It, John. Hell, Sarah Palin was, what, 9 years old when he got home?

Life goes on, John. A lot of us have suffered. You're not so special as you think you are.

McCain: "His plan will force small businesses to cut jobs, reduce wages, and force families into a government-run health care system where a bureaucrat stands between you and your doctor."

Because insurance company bureaucrats standing between us and our doctors now don't count?

What about a total lack of money standing between us and our doctors? That's a pretty big obstacle in my book, and about 46,999,999 other Americans as well.

oops spelling....tired and angry.

I noticed McCain's lying about Obama's positions almost immediately. I'm not sure if it's ignorance or just distortion. (I'm leaning towards ignorance.)

It was almost as if he were trying to tap into (unfounded) Republican fears about Obama's positions than critique the actual positions themselves.

Best I can figure is they spent all the speechwriting budget on Cindy's wardrobe, so at the last minute they found an old Bob Dole stump speech from '96 and told McCain to just say "my opponent" whenever it mentioned Clinton. Actually, check that, with all the "Democrats like Big Government and raising your taxes" rhetoric that might as well have actually been an old Alf Landon speech.

Here's my take now that the real race has begun:

1
John McCain was running against himself.

He’s been projecting onto Obama all of his weaknesses this entire campaign.

-He is the one who didnt put the country first when he picked Sarah Palin. You really can’t be serious that you sat down thought who would be best for America and the first name that came to mind was Sarah Palin.
-He is the one who has the naive foreign policy. We dont have the troops to push everyone around any more. Let’s be smart about it. Let’s exhibit some soft power too.
-He is the one who is wrong on the surge. Just wait until we stop the payoffs to the Sunnis. The violence will quickly resume, probably after the election.
-He is the one with suspect executive abilities even with his many years of experience
-He is the one who is elitist. Since when did community organizers become the problem?

2
As I see it his fatal flaw is this: he does not know how to communicate a clear and consistent message. He eventually contradicts himself leaving his followers scratching their heads.

For example,

-He pours resources into the experience argument for months and then picks Sarah Palin. If he thinks Sarah Palin is ready to be President on day one he must think Obama is too. Its that simple. All that time was wasted.

-He pours resources into the celebrity message, and then gets Fred Thomspon to be the attack dog. Hey John, he’s not a real prosecutor; he just plays one on TV.

-He virtually accuses Obama of being a traitor, and then in the same sentence says that he is the best person to cross the aisle.

All the demeaning talk about Obama’s speeches proves that he underestimates the importance of communication. Reagan was more effective in passing his agenda in 8 years, than John McCain has in 26, because Reagan was a great communicator, not a great leglislator, administrator, executive, or foreign policy expert. John McCain does not understand that an effective leader inspires just as much via words than by deeds, especially one of very large enterprises.

Leaders know how to communicate clearly. John McCain does not. Sarah Palin does. That’s why she has reinvigorated this campaign. Everyone knows the message now. Status Quo packaged as “Change. Conservatives Believe In”. Sarah is much more effective at communicating that message than John is. None of that silly celebrity stuff any more. The experience argument is moot. Everyone (Right-wing Republicans at least) is on board. The message is clear.

IMO, John McCain is not the leader here. Sarah Palin is. She is the one who rallied the troops. I know I cringed after that too. I have to qualify that by saying I think that integrity, vision, discipline, and compassion are also necessary to be a great leader. From all that I’ve read so far, Sarah lacks these. So, I think she can inspire people to follow her. I also think she’d have no qualms about misleading them.

Now, why would anyone vote for such an immensely unqualified candidate as Obama?

Could be because;

1) He's Black (well, actually half black... but in a sick twisted way you feel bad about slavery and this is your way to make it up)

2) He's A Socialist (some of you are lazy asses wanting the government to take care of you and overly tax those who work to get ahead) (btw, you can kiss my ass for this)

3) He's A Democrat (see note above)

4) He's A Radical (his friends are terrorists and a child molester, he was a drug dealer, he's an anti-white racist)

5) You Hate America (why else vote for someone who would be the biggest disaster of a president in U.S. history? yes, he'd even be worse than carter and clinton, believe it or not)

When people like you support a candidate like Obama, death is certain for America.

Now, why would anyone vote for such an immensely unqualified candidate as Obama?

Could be because;

1) He's Black (well, actually half black... but in a sick twisted way you feel bad about slavery and this is your way to make it up)

2) He's A Socialist (some of you are lazy asses wanting the government to take care of you and overly tax those who work to get ahead) (btw, you can kiss my ass for this)

3) He's A Democrat (see note above)

4) He's A Radical (his friends are terrorists and a child molester, he was a drug dealer, he's an anti-white racist)

5) You Hate America (why else vote for someone who would be the biggest disaster of a president in U.S. history? yes, he'd even be worse than carter and clinton, believe it or not)

When people like you support a candidate like Obama, death is certain for America.

The McCain-Palin up-is-down Newsspeak continues:

1. I saw one black person in the GOP convention audience, so of course Obama is the elitist.

2. Palin is under investigation for perjury and abuse of power, her husband was a certified anti-American member of the Alaska Independence Party, so they are the true patriots with character.

3. McCain crashes several Navy planes before getting shot down over Vietnam (including one he was flat-topping at low altitude over Spain) so of course he claims he has scars Obama doesn't have.

4. McCain votes witih George Bush 90% of the time, so of course he claims to be the true agent of change in Washington. "Trust me, I'm a man of my word."

5. Hearing all those white delegates resort to their jingoistic "USA, USA" chant over and over again while waving "Country First" signs looked and sounded like old newsreel footage from Germany between the two world wars. The parallels are eerie -- lots of angry white people, tough economic times, people seeking to fight pre-emptive wars to protect the homeland, fear of the outsider. And al the while these people advocate violating the very freedoms they accuse al Qaeda of hating us for -- freedom from torture, speedy trials, habeus corpus, privacy. And these are the true patriots? The real heroes???

First, McCain often distorted Obama's views.

Of course he did. The American people reject the Republican agenda and still agree with Democratic values of good governance, fair play and a level playing field. If McCain didn't lie about the contrast between him and Obama, the Democrats would win in a walk.

Why yes, Davie---when people like me vote for Obama, the death of "america" is certain.

The "america" that condones torture deserves to die.

The "america" that throttles the Constitutional Rights of its Citizenry deserves to die.

The "america" that lies, steals, cheats, and murders its way toward political dominance of the world at large deserves to die.

In short---the "america" of Davie; the "america" of George Bush and John McCain; the "america" of Resurgent Fascism---deserves to die.

Why, you say?

Because the "america" you proclaim for yourself and your ilk; the "america" you force down others' throats with the lies of profiteers and the truncheons of riot-gear-enveloped, hired thugs, is not the America established by the Founders; it is not the America brought to life by the Constitution, the Declaration, and the Revolution.

"I'm not running for president because I think I'm blessed with such personal greatness that history has anointed me to save our country in its hour of need."

The only confounding reason for McCain to even suggest something like this would be the equivalent of a guilty person denying the crime before being accused of that crime. It is, indeed, McCain himself---with his aura of "POW Greatness"---who believes himself anointed in this nation's hour of need. It is McCain who portrays himself as "Der Bannertrager" but, unlike one finds in the political glorification-portrait of Hitler, McCain finds himself in a suit of armor several sizes too large---sort of like that "Lord Farquad" character in the animated movie Shrek.

I am getting pretty sick of hearing about the time McPOW spent in prison. While it is comendable and told in his bio it is another to graphically speak about it YOURSELF. It was awful hearing him once again tell us the horror he went through - that is not humility.

Tell us instead details about your positions and how you are diff than W. Voting with him 90% of the time makes me VERY nervous. I heard nothing new last night - too light for me.

George Bush is the Midas-in-Reverse: everything he touches turns to s**t.

John McCain is the Coriolanus-in-Reverse. Coriolanus, if you're not a history or Shakespeare scholar, was a triumphant Roman general whom the people turned against because he refused to make a display of his wounds. McCain's a wee bit more of an exhibitionist.

Dave: When people like you support a candidate like Obama, death is certain for America.

Dave, America is already dead, thanks to people like you. It's the hypocrisy that killed it. The biggest being that conservatives want to limit government and yet have a 40-year history of making it larger, they want freedom but they legislate discrimination [protection of marriage act?], they fear Big Brother but spy on innocent Americans, they hate taxes but spend like a Bratz Girl with a credit card.

In his book "Conservatives Without Conscience" [a GREAT read] John Dean [a big Goldwater conservative] talks about the Republican party being taken over by authoritarians. Authoritarianism is more a mental characteristic than a political ideology. And, according to a lot of research, there are two types of authoritarians: leaders and followers. Authoritarian leaders believe in their own infallibility, don't trust anyone else to make decisions, and are willing to lie in order to promote their worldview because they believe it to be correct. Think Dick Cheney and Josef Stalin. Meanwhile, authoritarian followers seek out authoritarian leader/father figures to follow. They crave leaders who are unwavering. And this is what's amazing and has been proven: when facing a choice between verifiable fact from a neutral source and an obvious lie being told to them by an authoritarian leader, they will nearly always accept the lie as truth. Think Rush Limbaugh's followers and you, Dave. What they really want is someone who will never admit to being wrong. It's where religious fundamentalism [Christian and Muslim] comes from.

And, of course, it's frightening as hell because, by its own definition, authoritarianism is at cross purposes with democracy.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: The ultimate conservative hypocrisy is that they are fond of saying two things: "FREEDOM ISN'T FREE!" and "NO NEW TAXES!" In other words, your child should be willing to die for my way of life. But, if I'm rich, don't you dare ask me to pay my fair share.

All that needs to be done is look at the last eight years have you seen any improvements under the Dictators Watch, Hell No and now remember McCain voted for Bush's plan more than 90% of the time. Republicans are a total failure in everything they attempt to do.

Al: Republicans are a total failure in everything they attempt to do.

Well, not exactly. What they attempt to do is:

1. Lull common people into believing that America is under attack by: non-Christians, gays and high gas prices.

2. Portray themselves as the only party that can save them from these dangers.

3. Use these fears they have implanted to privatize the government response: a war fought by contractors, school vouchers, the military/industrial complex, Big Oil.

4. Make an assload of money.

5. Keep the fear amped up.

6. Repeat as needed.

In this formula they are extremely successful. In fact, they will tell you that the American people have only one real enemy: the government. Ironically, the government is the only entity that could possibly restrain big business.

"I'm not running for president because I think I'm blessed with such personal greatness that history has anointed me to save our country in its hour of need."

Wasn't there a line in the video biography stating that the stars were now aligned for McLame's point in history or something to that effect? Talk about speaking out of both sides of your mouth...

The corollary to Karl Rove's method of attacking your opponent's strength, is to accuse your opponent of exhibiting your own weaknesses. Prime example: "I'm not running for president because I think I'm blessed with such personal greatness that history has anointed me to save our country in its hour of need."

McCain says: "I'm not running for president because I think I'm blessed with such personal greatness that history has anointed me to save our country in its hour of need."

Hmm... interesting. So what presidential candidate said this?

"I feel like God wants me to run for President. I can't explain it, but I sense my country is going to need me. Something is going to happen... I know it won't be easy on me or my family, but God wants me to do it."

I'll give you a hint, John. You voted with him 90% of the time.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2003/nov/02/usa.religion

"A servant, you might think, should not draw attention to himself, or insist on his own humility."

"When it comes to humility, I'm tops!" - J.McShame