Action beats Words - Feel free to sign it Roo....

Dear Eric,

Earlier this week Joe Sudbay of America Blog and Reverend Lennox Yearwood of the Hip Hop Caucus delivered 32,000 of your signatures on our complaint against John McCain to the Federal Election Commission.

Check out the video of the delivery

This morning at a McCain event in Alexandria, McCain was introduced as a "hero" because of his work in campaign finance reform. Right. The guy who helped to write the law now doesn't want to obey it, just because there's nobody around to enforce it (thank you George W. Bush for gutting the FEC). The McCain campaign's defense is "Obama did the same thing," but that's a crock. John McCain applied for public financing. Obama never did. John McCain was accepted into the public financing system. Obama never was. The chairman of the FEC, David Mason, says McCain is therefore still in the system and bound by its limitations, but McCain is just ignoring him.

It goes to McCain's character. He believes the law is for someone else, not for him. He's chiding Obama for not agreeing to public financing, even as he's 4 million dollars over the $54 million spending cap imposed by the public financing system.

For Thee But Not For Me. The John McCain story.

This by no means marks the end of our efforts. We're going to keep putting pressure on McCain and pushing the media to cover this issue.

In the meantime, make sure that you and all of your friends have signed the letter to the FEC.

http://aciton.firedoglake.com/mccainfec/

Thank you for taking action,

Jane Hamsher

Can You Guess What These Statements Have in Common?

1) "Capital punishment is our way of demonstrating the sanctity of life." (Sen. Orrin Hatch)

2) "President Washington, President Lincoln, President Wilson, President Roosevelt have all authorized electronic surveillance on a far broader scale." (Alberto Gonzalez)

3) "It does not affect your daily life very much if your neighbor marries a box turtle. But that does not mean it is right ... [N]ow you must raise your children up in a world where that union of man and box turtle is on the same legal footing as man and wife." (Senator John Cornyn [speech draft])

4) "You know that old Beach Boys song, Bomb Iran? Bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran... Ha Ha Ha Ha! Hee Hee Hee! Ho Ho Ho Ho!!!" (John McCain)

5) "We just want Jews to be perfected." (Ann Coulter)

6) "I couldn't get over the fact that there was no difference between Sylvia's restaurant and any other restaurant in New York City. I mean, it was exactly the same, even though it's run by blacks, primarily black patronship. ... There wasn't one person in Sylvia's who was screaming, 'M-Fer, I want more iced tea.'" (Bill O'Reilly)

7) "And so, General (Odierno), I want to thank you for your service. And I appreciate the fact that you really snatched defeat out of the jaws of those who are trying to defeat us in Iraq." (George W. Bush---last month)

9) "I believe that the Bible teaches that when you violate the law of God, that God brings punishment sometimes before the Day of Judgment, and I believe that the Hurricane Katrina was, in fact, the judgment of God against the city of New Orleans." (Evangelical Minister John Hagee)

10) "Let me begin by thanking your founder, Pastor John Hagee. I would describe Pastor Hagee with the words the Torah uses to describe Moses, he is an "Eesh Elohim," a man of God because those words fit him." (Joe Lieberman)

11) "The insurgency is in its last throes, if you will." (Dick Cheney)

That's right there all Republican Statements.....except Joe.

Iron Man Challenge or Presidential Election?

Ryan,

Anyone can cut and paste a biography of there aspirant candidate and hide behind a landslide of sham legislative accomplishments but this is not a dick-sizing contest. (Although I am sure Obama would win that, you know what they say)

No one is arguing that McCain did not rise above and beyond the call of duty and serve his country in the most admirable of ways. This does not equate to a presidential resume. Unless he will be a naval aviator in Afghanistan or a Bush approved instrument of torture where he can train our military personal the best practices in extracting information through pain and suffering this all adds up to an amazing lifetime of military service that he should be planting himself on a porch somewhere, with a grandkid on his lap, relaying to them what Grandpa went through in the old days.

And I know, it has become cliché to say that beltway insiders, those party heads that have been in Washington too long, have inundated our politics with special interest groups, lobbyist and corporate fuck heads that limit our ability to get things done as a nation. It is not as simple as reaching across the aisle. It is about removing them from the process. Is John “I have been in Washington for 100 years” McCain going to revolutionize Washington? No. He will aid the same people that polluted the Clinton’s and receive aid from the same people that drive Bush now.

As your favorite Commander in Chief, Bush pointed out several times during the bloody primary in 2000:

Sen. McCain has said, "At no time have I ever done anything to betray the public trust." In 1990, McCain, as one of the Keating Five (and as a close friend of Charles Keating), was involved in a savings-and-loan scandal that cost taxpayers $2.6 billion and cost investors $190 million.
In the years leading up to the scandal, McCain received $112,000 in campaign contributions from Keating and accepted nine family trips to the Bahamas from Keating.

I think this is small potatoes and in a lot of ways think McCain is cleaner then many that have been there for years. Now he's just another hungry politician, happy to pander if it helps him win. Which eliminates the very reason people, hell even I were excited about him in 2000 - his honesty.

And that is the problem with John McCain. He is pandering his beliefs that made him a great politician in years past. Why else have you not supported him until this year. Well I know why:

1) He believes in Global Warming although for some odd reason he isn’t talking about that now.

2) In 1999: "Certainly in the short term, or even the long term, I would not support repeal of Roe vs. Wade , which would then force x number of women in America to illegal and dangerous operations," In 2007: "I do not support Roe vs. Wade . It should be overturned."

3) He was for the tax cuts because they screwed the middle and lower class: "I cannot in good conscience support a tax cut in which so many of the benefits go to the most fortunate among us at the expense of middle-class Americans who most need tax relief," Now that he needs that upper class corporate campaign money he is for the tax cuts

4) Don’t even get me started on immigration and his mind boggling excuses for flip flopping….

5) He went to an Episcopalian high school. For at least 15 years, he has been listed as an Episcopalian in authoritative directories such as the Almanac of American Politics and Congressional Quarterly's Politics in America 2008. Suddenly, in September 2007, he's campaigning in South Carolina, the heavily Baptist state where George W. Bush barely managed to stop McCain's presidential campaign 8 years ago. And guess what? McCain tells a reporter "By the way, I'm not Episcopalian. I'm Baptist."

6) And the one that disgust me the most! He has been an avid supporter of torture ban as well as closing GITMO. But he didn't even show up when congress voted to ban water torture. The one thing i loved about him...he had been through torture and it disgusted him...and he didn't even show up! Why? Well, he can't piss off all his new neocon friends now can he? This compromise is UNFORGIVABLE.

And on and on....

So this is what 26 years of experience in Washington produces??…umm…No Thanks!

But lets examine Presidential experience in a deeper, more intellectual way. Experience is developed and filtered through a person’s character. Experience never exists in isolation but involves and needs character, it seems to me — not just what they've done but how they've done it and what they've learned from doing it.

Presidential experience means a familiarity with the levers and dials of government, knowing how to deal with congress from an executive level, understanding when to differ to your staff and when to call on the National Security Council. But if knowing the system is so useful, then second term presidents would be more successful then first term. Instead the bulk of presidents lose there effectiveness as they go along, thus the lame duck theories. Was it FDR’s experience as governor of NY that he called upon to lead this nation in it’s darkest hour, an hour darker then any “Islamic” threat we currently are involved in? Or was he drawing on his experience with his battle with polio that allowed him a unique view into despair and how to overcome it? Lincoln with 2 years of experience often summoned lessons he learned on the farm in addressing his presidential duties. Richard Nixon served as Congressman, Senator and Vice President; a resume far outdoing McCain’s and watched from the front row as Eisenhower assembled one of the best organized administrations in American history (Civil rights, highways, Social Security). When his turn came his CORE character and “experience” led him to create a White House doomed by it’s own dysfunction.

More recently Ronald Regan, who never served in Washington, and who you hold so dear famously quoted:

“There is no such thing as presidential experience outside of the office itself.”

In my view it will take a lot more then touting credentials and military experience to convince me that he is a more ready president then Obama. Our history has shown that some of the greatest presidents we have had are limited in there government experience. And some of the worst have had an abundance.

George Washington had zero years experience and Lincoln had 2. Obama is in good company….

McCain the Great

Eric-

McCain The Great-

I cant think of the last presidential nominee that has come into the primaries with as many presidential credentials. He was a naval aviator in 1958, flew 23 missions in the vietnam war, was shot down on his 24th mission in 1967. He was held as an American POW for five and a half years, and retired from the Navy in 1981. He served in the House of Representitives for four years, was then elected to the senate in 1986 and has held that post for 22 years. He co-sponsered the bipartisian campaign reform act in 2002, and has been known as the Maverick in political circles because of his willingness to break away from partisian politics. When Obama was asked recently why people should vote him over McCain, he said because McCain is more of the same old Bush policies, with the above mentioned I hardly think anyone would stand behind him on that. When ou compare Obama and McCain its like comparing a seasoned vet to a rookie. When John McCain says Barracks call for change is eloquoent but empty, I believe as a seasoned vet he would know. Please in detail let me know what experience Obama has that would prepare him for the presidency, that can even come close to McCain......

A proven patriot, thats been in politics as long as Obama had been drawing breath, easy choice!

I would like to start off by noting I only mentioned Sept. 11th twice in my last piece, but like all things Iraq, Bush, or his administration, you like to embellish and exaggerate, I have grown accustomed to this and expect it. You noted some of our CURRENT economic problems, and as reliably as a trusty old pocket, you lay all the blame on W's White House doorstep.

First off I would like to point out George Bush, or his administration, determines the price for a barrell of oil. Im sure you have heard of The Organization Of The Petroleum Exporting Countries, or OPEC fo short. Bush has been, and continues to demand an increase in the amount of oil they refine, and ship for exporting to other countries. Everytime he has tried to increase the amount the US imports, these member countries have refused to boost output. Got a problem with gas prices take it up with them. While I understand we dont have the best relations with some of the OPEC members, and that can cause them to be hesitant on increasing output, we do have great relations with the number one oil producing nation, Saudi Arabia. The other issues we can debate, but as to get on with the point of this piece we can find a better time to discuss those issues. I do however want to take a minute and laugh at the vets are homeless comment, did you run out of stuff man? Ya some vets are homeless, but so are 774,000 American citizens, it sucks man! Let me know when you and the left can fix that.

The comment about GI Joes and Transformers is comical and while i understand were keeping this light, I would like to point out were not chasing boogeyman in Iraq, rather were chasing Al Qaeda, and Irans Sunni militias. Far from the light hearted discription you put forth. Like you said best to stay away from that subject.

McCain-
I cant think of the last presidential nominee that has come into the primaries with as many credentials

Obama and the Right

"Hearing self-professed conservatives like Andrew Bacevich and Douglas Kmiec talk about the potential that Obama brings to the table helps to counter-balance an all too pervasive perception about Conservatism and the state of American politics that is promoted and reinforced by the likes of Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, and Anne Coulter. The unconventional tone of Obama's campaign finally allows some of the more level headed and intelligent proponents of the political right a chance to step around the outrageous and bitterly partisan discourse that has plagued American politics for so long and present a useful and, indeed, vital discussion about possible ways forward. There isn't another campaign out there that has contributed to this measured dialectic of views and values, which is greatly to merit, whether he in fact becomes the nominee or not, of Barack Obama, and to the benefit of Americans as a whole.

That this dialogue is starting to occur at all lends weight to what Obama may be capable of achieving in the White House, and serves to undercut many of the "empty change" allegations leveled at his campaign,"

To Bush's Boy Toy,

Dearest Fear Monger Rooster,

You invoked September 11th more times in your rebuttal then Georgie did in his economic speech Monday. I hope, unlike him, you know gas IS rising above 4.00 a gallon, public schools are falling apart, our volunteer army is shrinking, vet’s are homeless, infrastructure is falling apart, rich get richer, we have the biggest federal debt deficit ever and so on. I won’t bore you with these sissy things but because of your “ILKY” conservative cocoon you may want to be privy to the harsh realities facing OUR people. Busy chasing boogieman in Iraq or setting up your GI Joes and Transformers to begin an Iran invasion can be tiresome, I know or rather assume. But we have both established our feeling on the "wars", best to stay out of that fox hole.

There is a great deal of inaccuracies regarding my position in your reply, but I will save the tit for tat when I feel more offended. I do want to broach 3 specific subjects that I thought would elevate the dialogue:

1) I never have believed that there was a Manchurian Candidate type conspiracy in regards to 9/11. On the contrary I , like most Americans, gave Bush my 100% support. I looked to him (blindly) to lead us in the aftermath. I did however feel like the ball was dropped from Richard Clarke’s detailed transitional reporting. But, you cannot blame this on anyone but Al Qaeda. People change and my days of conspiracy dreaming ended when I found out Oliver Stone fabricated the movie JFK and Gore Vidal, with all his insider knowledge advised everyone it was pretty simple: The Mob Did It…and YES…it was ONE MAGIC BULLET!

2) John Kerry’s corpse has Karl Roves fingerprints all over it. Because he was weak and trying to play the election game “safe” is the reason he lost the democratic base. I backed him not because I didn’t agree with his issues (ending the war, SS policy, immigration) but because I went along with a man that lost his balls in Vietnam, Or rather his nuts were removed by Dick and Karl with a pick axe and a blow torch. Am I bitter about the way the election was handled? Yes. Am I embarrassed that it was our election to lose and we fucked it up? Yes. Do I think John Kerry would have made a good president? I don’t think we got an altogether clear picture. Thanks to the media and of course the evil doctor Rove.

There is an Arabic Proverb (thought you would like that):

When the angels present themselves, the devils abscond.

My dear Brother you mistook my political choices for political confusion. And my weakness is a by-product of our flawed 2 party “democratic?” system. You point out I supported Kerry, but you damn well know I had no choice. He failed to stand up to smears and muffed a few hail marys. He was an after thought in the post Howard Dean media tarnishing hit job. It was a kitchen sink strategy in a must win game for Republicans and he failed, yes embarrassingly, to rise to the occasion. Although it was very close. Hardly a landslide that repubs like to envision.

3) I understand that all parties go through varied phases of political cohesion. I also understand that you cannot be all things to all people. Bill Clinton made a career out of being a moderate and centrist. But in all fairness Bill ran on that. He believed the country was more center then partisan. How quickly he found out that is a dangerous place to operate your politics. But Bush ran on a right-wing compassionate conservative. In other words, he was conservative in politics, but open to social and economic policies that would improve America. Both of which, compassionate and conservative are lies. A torch bearer for conservatism that is setting fire to the party is a more accurate vision.

I know that Bush has had problems to deal with unlike any have in the last 30 years. I am not naïve in thinking that 9/11, Katrina and the War in Afghanistan were not going to have a negative impact on our society. But Bush, in the wake of these tragedies, had something that no other president as had in the last 30 years as well: Almost 100% support from every corner of this great country. In an unprecedented command of the American populace both democrats, republicans and independents were integrated through a heartbreaking disaster and willing to bond together despite there differences continue to heal the American soul. Not even Obama can drum up this kind of unified coalition.

Bush could have fulfilled his self diagnosed compassionate conservative role. But he didn’t. He became a rougue. A Neo-con with the help of those around him. There was so much promise.

Taking out the great costs of the war for “argument” sake is futile in examining his record. Remember FDR had WWII to contend with and he grew the Union State of America to a World Super Power, so I do not buy that 9/11 and the current wars prevent him from following the path of a true conservative. But I will concede the point. Even though he has run the federal debt to the largest it has ever been.

As stated by the Father of modern conservatism, William F Buckely:

“I think Mr. Bush faces a singular problem best defined, I think, as the absence of effective conservative ideology — with the result that he ended up being very extravagant in domestic spending, extremely tolerant of excesses by Congress. And in respect of foreign policy, incapable of bringing together such forces as apparently were necessary to conclude the Iraq challenge."

An Absence of Effective conservative ideology. Amen. The facts are the facts. Because of circumstances you cannot change your ideology. Bush has made the same mistakes as his Father in this regard: He was elected on a Reagan-esque, tax cutting platform but the White House veered to the left. President Bush has signed a bill to regulate political speech, issued protectionist taxes on imported steel and lumber, backed big-spending education and farm bills, endorsed massive entitlements for mental health and RX Drugs. In his first 2 years in office Bush presided over more government expansion then took place during Bill Clintons entire 8 years! It has been argued, in looking at his record, that he has betrayed every ideal American Conservatism has. Ryan you cannot change the fundementals of your beliefs and ideals within your party, even in crisis. Hell, especially in the wake of a tragedy, National emergency or a full blown WAR! That is the moment you search for the roots of what has made Republicans great. Not abandon them. The heart and soul of conservatism is FISCAL CONSERVATISM: the government should be responsible for how it spends money. The basic economic view has always been very simple: balance the budget, and quit deficit spending.

So no.... I do not believe you can take conservatism, and blame 9/11 or terrorism on "evolving" your party. History shows us that through worse things then 9/11, standing for your core values as a party can lift you to great heights.

The idea that Iraq somehow washes his sin’s of spending OUR money unwisely is incredible. A true Conservative would have found a way to pay for it, if it was necessary, and certainly would have made sure we wouldn’t take the brunt, that the responsibility would have been shared. Remember the oil was supposed to pay for it? Now were borrowing from China.....

John Quincy Adams:

"Wherever the standard of freedom shall be unfurled, there will [America's] heart, her benedictions, and her prayers be. But she goes not abroad in search of monsters to destroy."

Pat Buchanan:

“It is remarkable how complacent Americans seem to be, as our freedoms are gradually restricted, and more and more power and wealth flow to Big Government to protect us from terrorists."


Those are 3 really big conservatives speaking truth to power Ryan….

I don’t fault you for standing by our president. I don’t fault you for agreeing with him, even when he is wrong. What I don’t agree with is the “War Party” that bush created is not to be confused with Conservatism or even Republican. It is truly Neocon.

I will post a seperate piece answering your questions and adressing Obama's patriotism.

But here is another topic I want to establish while we are laying the groundwork for this blog, and that is religion. I noticed it had ALWAYS been a really important topic for you. When Bush was running you consistently alternated your defense with fighting terrorist and being a good Christian…..So…..what do you make of McCain. Is this time different? (And please remember your argument with Kerry was he didn’t “really” practice his catholic faith….not going to work here either.)