From politics (moderates who lean to the right) to Pogo (drools during poker stare) to rants (Whatcha expect from savvy, sassy sexagenarians?) to raves (Have you had your kudo today?) -- we never take ourselves too seriously.
We do, however, reserve the right to slaughter an occasional sacred cow. And in case we fail to mention it -- we will never forget....
The Detroit News is likely priming its readers for a McCain endorsement, if the story line it ran today is any indictor ....
John McCain made innumerable false and misleading statements about Mitt Romney's positions and credentials on several issues, including national security. Granted, McCain's criticisms were made in a campaign speech, but I'm wondering if he will be asked to defend these claims in a debate?
And on that thought --
What specific experience has McCain had in national security? He crashed planes; he broke under VC pressure; he commanded a state-side Navy squad; he crooned his solution to Iran by altering the Beach Boys' "bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran" lyrics; he's been in the Senate 20+ years.
Impressive.
Sitting in on briefings is hardly "experience" or evidence of decision-making.
Mitt speaks fluently on issues that McCain only blabbers about. IMO -- securing the 2002 Olympics would be more "experience" than any briefing McCain may have ever attended.
If there's a remake of "On Golden Pond," John McCain should audition. He'd be perfect as Norman Thayer.
Senator McCain has also been quick to charge Romney with flip-flops, but the Arizona maverick went from a Thursday night debate lecture on how Michigan jobs were gone and not coming back to extolling his optimism about the ability of Detroit to get those jobs back.
I was wondering today if Her Thighness would be attending memorial services for her namesake, Sir Edmund. Maybe send flowers? Lay a wreath on the slopes of Everest?
You remember how Hillary and Bill claimed that she was named after Sir Edmund, don't you? Neither Hill, Bill nor the MSM have ever corrected that false claim: Sir Edmund Hillary and his Sherpa guide, Tenzing Norgay, became known to the world in 1953, after becoming the first men to reach Everest's summit. Sen. Clinton was born in 1947.
My wish is that she and Bill personally climb the slopes and lay that wreath. Somewhere between swings between Nevada and South Carolina.
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Mitt in Michigan .... It's going to be difficult. But I'm optimistic. Supporters must remember that tallies in both Iowa and NH were foiled by a liberal base. Neither Huckabee nor McCain have faced a truly conservative voter-base.
I want Mitt to continue to hit hard on the problems in Washington. I want him to remind voters that (fine man that he is yadayadayada) McCain has been part of the problem in Washington .... McCain has been no friend to conservatism; no friend to the issues of immigration, free speech, ethics, low taxes.
I want Mitt to demonstrate his expertise in economics. He must set his own agenda and refuse to be distracted. He must remain optimistic about the revival of the auto industry market. He must remind voters that, while education and retraining are critical to industry revival, McCain's trillion-dollar educational reform package is not going to relieve the state's economy. And no one has yet asked McCain how he's going to pay for it .... ASK!
As for Kos suggesting that dems cross over and vote for Mitt, come on over, kidlets! You crossed-over in NH -- what's new? The "newness" will be in getting it right this time!
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I'm sick of FoxNews. No matter what is said, there's always a Rudy undertone .... This may become the chink in their "fair and balanced" armor. Even CNN "out-viewed" them during the last debate coverage. Not a good sign. Especially when their concept of an "all star" panel to discuss the Republican debate consists of democrats.
Disclaimer: I have and will continue to contribute to Mitt Romney's campaign. Sean Hannity needs to declare his fundraising support for Rudy. Everyone else has to .... why not Sean?
And get those damn democrat "all stars" out of a "fair and balanced" discussion of Republican candidates.
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Luntz focus groups and approval ratings: Are we surprised that quips and snippy one-liners rank high? One problem (for me, at least): I don't want to be entertained by a President. I want a POTUS who responds with sound decisions -- not sound bytes.
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Reckon John Kerry would accept the V-P slot with Obama? Nahhh. He just wants to be on-stage again. He probably wanted to upstage Al Gore's Obama endorsement .... That'll leave a bruise on Hill's ego. Not.
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Excuse me while I continue my second z-pack to knock out this "walking pneumonia." The more I hack and cough and wheeze, the more convinced I am that the best cure-all remains a hunk of cornbread crumbled in a bowl of pintos, smothered with raw onions with a sprinkle of garlic. Might not cure every ill, mind you -- but it will keep others at a safe distance ....
Make no bones about it. Mitt Romney is facing the battle of his political life. Not just in New Hampshire. Not just in Iowa. In every state. In the headlines of newspapers, in the lead stories in alleged "news" reports and on the Internet via allegedly unbiased bloggers.
With the MSM (including Fox news) portraying Mitt's "comparison" ads as negative -- while ignoring the personal attack ads by the Huckster and John McCain -- it's going to be a fight to the finish. Keep up the campaign, Mitt. America needs you.
The Huckabee affront to honesty and Christian ethics: He announced that he was going to withdraw his negative ad against Mitt --- yet it ran ten times on three Iowa stations .... In addition:
Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee personally apologized to rival Mitt Romney previously about a disparaging remark Huckabee made about Romney's Mormon religion. But Huckabee's Web site continues to host comments blasting the Mormon faith and littered with rhetoric about Mormonism. Source
Factcheck also notes:
The ad Huckabee said he decided not to run has now appeared at least three times in Iowa anyway. It accuses Romney of being "dishonest" but shades the facts in the process.
Update, Jan. 4: The ad ran at least 10 times on four different stations in Davenport and Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The Huckabee campaign called those airings a mistake.
In another ad Huckabee claims to have signed the most broad-based tax cut in Arkansas history. But as we've noted repeatedly, he signed bigger tax increases than cuts.
Huckabee's ad .... misleads when it holds Romney accountable for the state health care program's coverage of abortion. The Romney campaign points out that the former governor was not the one who made the decision to provide abortion coverage for a $50 co-pay. Indeed, the health care legislation Romney signed declared that an independent agency, the Commonwealth Connector, would implement the law and would "develop criteria for plans eligible for premium assistance payments." (The state subsidizes coverage for those making less than 300 percent of the federal poverty level.)
News groups hint at the likelihood (ha!) that the Huckster rode a wave of bigotry to win in Iowa. And he had a bunch of support --- namely, John McCain who chose not to run in Iowa. An alliance between Huck and McCain? Of course. It's that historic alliance of convenience ....
And John McCain -- the most backstabbing, inconsistent and anti-conservative candidate in modern history -- has the MSM ignoring his use of negative, personal attacks.
Media Matters contradicts the "McCain claim that 'negative campaigns don't work,' ignored his own negative ads ...."
Similarly, the Washington Post (and here), the AP, the Los Angeles Times, the Politico, and USA Today all reported McCain's statement that "negative campaigns don't work" without noting that he has run negative ads of his own.
And just wait until pundits begin to talk about Soros financial link to McCain's PAC.....
Fair and Balanced? We know what to expect from MSM, but is FoxNews now slanting their reporting?
Hannity helped raise funds for Rudy .... Dick Morris, a regular analyst for The Factor and Hannity, is an adviser to Huckabee .... former-Speaker Newt Gingrich, another regular guest on Fox, is also being touted as a Huckabee adviser (see the joint health care article linked previously and the fact that Newt's top staffer has joined Huckabee's staff) .... Why must the wife of a Romney advisor who is also a frequent analyst routinely state her husband's status? Is there any correlation to Fox News current slanting of reporting showing it's disfavor of Mitt's candidacy? If not --- how do they explain the obvious bias of it's "fair and balanced" coverage by Carl Cameron -- or in particular, the rude shouting match between Greta (the legal analyst) and Shep (hyperventilating cute guy) last Tuesday night during a guest-spot with a Senator representing Romney?
What gives, FoxNews? Will the king of cable's "fair and balanced" act have to change it slogan?
Mitt Romney's campaign is the one I support. In the short and long run, he faces a major challenge. To win, he needs openness and unbiased access to the most "open" new agency. I'm beginning to question, however, the subtle role FoxNews is trying to play in "re-defining" the conservative base.
It may just play into the hands of the MSMand liberal democrat groups -- those bastions of opponents to all that is "fair and balanced."
Possibly this video will also "move" you to re-examine your priorities for the coming year .... to be kinder, more understanding, more accepting, more appreciative of our friends and families, our freedoms, our blessings -- and of those who have historically defended our rights to believe, to cherish, to hope, to pray, to love, to share ....
I've always held the Vietnam vet in high esteem. I was with them -- literally and figuratively -- and experienced first-hand the harassment and spite they have endured. That being said -- I have historically distrusted John McCain for how he has used his military service (particularly as a POW) as a crutch to further his political career.
His political career always has that subliminal disclaimer: "...yeah, but he was a military hero ..." As if he's "entitled" to forgiveness when straying from his conservative roots.
My contention is that, had his father not been an admiral, his lack-luster record (including the loss of at least 2 airplanes) would have gotten him thrown out of the military or notably demoted. For whatever he didn't accomplish -- it was not until his POW status that he gained any esteem.
Is this relevant to his run for an office to which he has always aspired?
I think so. There are too many correlations and incidents of self-service, entitlements and compromise in his background to qualify him as a reliable conservative candidate for POTUS. Much less as commander-in-chief in a volatile time.
If you choose to disagree -- fine. But when you do, keep in mind his voting record, his defense of amnesty, his history of sanctions by his peers, his emotional instability, his flip-flops and inconsistencies in promoting basic conservative tenets.
Those who've known John McCain since he began his Arizona political career two decades ago made two mistakes. First, we underestimated the Washington media's gullibility for a political schmooze job. Second, we underestimated McCain's mastery in reincarnating himself as a lovable maverick glowing with political virtue and amiable charm while camouflaging his bullyboy and deceitful ways.
If McCain were to become president, Americans would wake up to more than a commander-in-chief with a prickly temperament and a low boiling point. McCain is a man who carries get-even grudges. He cannot endure criticism. He threatens. He controls by fear. He's consumed with self-importance. He shifts blame. McCain's thin skin and demand to have it his way have been obvious since infancy, when he held his breath until he was unconscious, and later in Washington, where he has resorted to pushing and shoving colleagues when irritated.
McCain is a man obsessed with political ambitions but plagued by self-destructive petty impulses. It was vintage McCain who exploded when the Arizona Republic questioned whether the man dubbed "Senator Hothead" in Washington is fit to be entrusted with presidential powers. Instead of conceding what's common knowledge about his volcanic personality, McCain exploded in denial, blaming a newspaper vendetta and George W. Bush for "orchestrating" the criticism. When his claims drew snickers, McCain shifted to another explanation: He explodes when he sees "injustice."
But this sort of blame-fixing works where it counts--with reporters who've come to blindly lionize McCain as a high-minded champion of political virtue fighting demons of political corruption. Perhaps McCain's master stroke in inoculating himself from serious media
scrutiny was his early fusillade of confessions--his adultery ruined his first marriage, the Keating Five scandal was a blemish on his reputation, he indulged in wild and reckless misbehavior as an Annapolis midshipman. He finally endeared himself to the media with
his Quixotic promise to reform campaign financing and by holding court with reporters aboard his "Straight Talk Express" bus.
The new journalism of dwelling on personalities rather than tedious investigative digging gives McCain a free ride from the national media. Swooning media ensure McCain special treatment in the right places: 60 Minutes correspondent Mike Wallace cooed on the air that he likes McCain so much, he might leave TV to become his press secretary. Salon's Jake Tapper dubbed him "basically just a cool dude." Newsmen of another generation note that reporters covering McCain also are reluctant to seem tough on a man with McCain's painful experience as a prisoner of war.
One who hasn't been so quick to fall in line is Washington Post columnist David Broder, who warned on NBC's Meet the Press that "after the experience we all had with President Clinton [ignoring Arkansas reports of his misdeeds], I'm not inclined to discount the view of home-state reporters and journalists who have covered a candidate over the years." A few enterprising non-Arizona journalists have peeled back the McCain veneer. Boston Globe reporter Walter Robinson spent several weeks digging into McCain's Arizona behavior and reporting his dark side. Ditto Ted Rose of Brill's Content. And the acknowledged Arizona media expert on
McCain, reporter Amy Silverman of the Phoenix New Times (more on her later), gave readers of Playboy a McCain portrait not found elsewhere. ABC's Sam Donaldson came close to giving millions of viewers a clearer picture in a taped interview with Silverman for 20/20. But
the segment was canceled the night before airing, fueling speculation that McCain's oversight of broadcasters as Senate Commerce Committee chairman makes the networks wary of offending him. Several years ago, when NBC refused to support his TV-rating system, McCain wrote a letter to NBC President Robert Wright, threatening to ask the FCC to review licenses of the network's locally owned stations.
I'm among the swelling ranks of onetime McCain acquaintances ostracized for not being slavishly loyal. After McCain settled in Arizona with his young second wife, a millionaire, he asked me at dinner for help with a political career. As editorial page editor (and later publisher) of the Arizona Republic, I declined to be his political coach. However, we socialized, including dinners at his home. We even discussed writing a book. The relationship ended, however, when our newspaper exposed McCain as a liar who used an underhanded political trick.
Here is what happened: McCain boasted to my wife and me over lunch in Washington that he had planted complex questions with the Senate Interior Committee chairman to sabotage the testimony of Arizona Gov. Rose Mofford, a Democrat, about the Central Arizona Project, the multibillion-dollar Colorado River water delivery system for Arizona urban areas. When I protested to McCain that the project had enjoyed bipartisan support for nearly 50 years, from conservative Barry Goldwater to liberal Morris Udall, McCain retorted: "I'm duty bound to embarrass a Democrat whenever I can."
When reporters later asked McCain about planted questions, he feigned insult and injury and denied any such ploy. Editors in Phoenix were informed of McCain's deceit. After a news story and editorial appeared, McCain went into meltdown, shrieking on the phone: "I know you're out to get me!" (Several years later, McCain admitted the dirty trick and apologized to Mofford, who was then out of office.)
When Barbara Barrett, wife of Intel CEO Craig Barrett, ran against McCain's protégé, Gov. Fife Symington, McCain offered to buy her out of the 1994 GOP primary. She refused. Furious, McCain threatened revenge. Barrett lost, but Symington later was forced out of office after being convicted of seven counts of fraud (his conviction was overturned and is under appeal). McCain's wife was a front-row regular at Symington's criminal trial in Phoenix. McCain still calls Symington "my friend."
While Barrett, a successful attorney, emerged mostly unscathed, others weren't so lucky. Maricopa County (Phoenix) schools superintendent Sandra Dowling, a Republican, refused McCain's demand to abandon support of Barrett. Dowling told Morley Safer during a 60 Minutes interview about Arizona politics (which never aired) that McCain exploded and threatened to "destroy" her. Thereafter, her son lost his appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy, where McCain sits as an ex officio member of the Board of Visitors. McCain denied any connection.
Even former Arizona Attorney General Grant Woods, McCain's onetime senior aide who
considered succeeding him in Congress, was purged from the senator's circle for investigating Symington and refusing to seek McCain's advice as a loyal understudy.
More of McCain's style:
McCain indulges in hypocrisy with a flair. He attacks tobacco but ignores alcohol. Why? His wife's millions flow from the family beer and wine distributorship, Arizona's largest.
The affable, candid, gregarious candidate, who mingles with reporters and yuks it up in the back of the bus, is no friend of free speech, and merely tolerates and uses the press as part of his political strategy. In Arizona, McCain tries to subdue reporters by threatening to have them fired when he's displeased with their pieces. Upset about critical reporting in the Phoenix New Times by Amy Silverman, McCain complained to her father, Richard, general manager of the Salt River Project, an Arizona hydroelectric utility. McCain's intent seemed clear: muscling the federally chartered SRP in hopes Silverman would pressure his daughter to back off.
One of my Arizona neighbors, Dianne Smith, wrote McCain protesting his criticism of Anita Hill in confirmation hearings for Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas. A widow then in her sixties, Smith was flabbergasted when McCain telephoned her, shouting at her for "questioning my integrity."
McCain promised Arizona voters, "I've never tried to exploit my Vietnam service to my country because it would be totally inappropriate." But his presidential campaign is festooned with reminders of his POW years, from campaign videos to speeches to best-selling books, trying to capture the veterans vote.
Even as he moralizes about corrupt corporate money, McCain rakes in hundreds of thousands of dollars from Washington lobbyists and asks corporations for use of their jets for campaigning. Last year, the Washington Post documented thousands of dollars of donations to McCain's political war chest from K Street lobbyists who do business before the Senate Commerce Committee.
McCain himself has acknowledged that he intervenes before regulatory agencies with letters on behalf of campaign donors, but claims he's merely performing a "constituent service"--the same explanation he used when initially defending himself in the Keating Five scandal. As a peevish lobbyist told Newsweek: "He sees no connection between twisting our arms for money and then talking about how corrupt the system is."
The John McCain glamorized by the national media is a total stranger to Arizonans who are painfully familiar with a far coarser and more foreboding man. His victory in the New Hampshire primary may bring greater scrutiny. Instead of treating him as a lovable maverick and quotable long shot, the national media that have been fawning over him are certain to begin digging seriously into the McCain background that has turned so many of his home-state Republicans against him.
Google John McCain's military record, his dismal flight history and his "American Royalty" status as a POW. Read his autobiography if you want to hear it in his own words.
Nobody knows tailspins like John McCain knows tailspins.
Other than calling out McCain on his shortcomings, what did Mitt's ad prove?
It's NOT a new revelation that McC can be so easily prodded to demonstrate his volatile temper by reminding him of his political shortcomings: the Senate sanction for his role in the Keating debacle, his McCain-Feingold first amendment affront, siding with his vacation buddy on the McCain-Kennedy Amnesty shamnesty, his anti-Bush tax votes, his role in the Gang of 14, and his own state party's censure for his "liberal, anti-Republican views and votes." (The above examples are only the tip of the iceberg.)
He exacerbated the terrorist prison scandals; his own mental dysfunction befuddled the waterboarding brouhaha. The press caught him in lies about shopping in the streets of Baghdad months before sections of the city were safe.
He's a dysfunctional nutwing masquerading as a dubious war hero and military expert (extended to national security and foreign affairs) -- and on what basis? His father's and grandfather's status as Navy admirals? Sitting in committee meetings? Junkets and travel perks? And if you wanna refute this by supplying facts, also explain 1) why he retired (get it?) at the rank of capt and 2) why he felt compelled to defended the lies of John Kerry (criticizing the Swiftboaters). Do you think McCain's defense of Kerry might have had anything to do with their role(s) and personal rewards in getting Vietnam on the "favored nation" trade list?
The guy can't win his own state! He's an errant cannon looking for a fuse. And if he doesn't get the Republican nomination, watch for him to move to his true left and run as a 3rd party pooper. Remember when he and John Kerry "discussed" the option of a V-P slot in 2004?
There are real reasons McCain couldn't respond to Romney's comparison ad with substance.
First, he has little to nothing in his background to indicate that he IS a conservative. (Calling him RINO is an insult to RINO's.) Secondly, his best "reclarification" of HOW his immigration policy is NOW changed is that "he has learned ...." What a crock.
What he's learned is that if he gets angry and spouts personal attacks -- he doesn't have to explain anything!
Why do you think he's receiving endorsements from the Clinton liberal press? The same press that criticized him earlier????
.... maybe he's waiting for Her Thighness to invite him to be her V-P. Assuming, of course, his pal-in-waiting Fred doesn't join his bandwagon in exchange for a V-P run ....
Ann Coulter deserve a Pulitzer for what she can do with the human language. Take her on and you better watch out --- better not cry!
All I want for Christmas is for Christians to listen to what Mike Huckabee says, rather than what the media say about him. The mainstream media keep flogging Huckabee for being a Christian, apparently unaware that this "God" fellow is testing through the roof in focus groups.
Huckabee is a "compassionate conservative" only in the sense that calling him a conservative is being compassionate.
He responded to my column last week -- pointing out that he is on record supporting the Supreme Court's sodomy-is-a-constitutional-right decision -- by saying that he was relying on the word of a caller to his radio show and didn't know the details of the case. Ironically, that's how most people feel about sodomy: They support it until they hear the details.
First, I'd pay a lot of money to hear how a court opinion finding that sodomy is a constitutional right could be made to sound reasonable. But the caller had the right response when Huckabee asked him, "What's your favorite radio station?" So he seemed like a reliable source.
Second, Huckabee's statement that he agreed with the court's sodomy ruling was made one week after the decision. According to Nexis, in that one week, the sodomy decision had been the cover story on every newspaper in the country, including The New York Times. It was the talk of all the Sunday news programs. It had been denounced by every conservative and Christian group in America -- as well as other random groups of sane individuals having no conservative inclinations whatsoever.
The highest court in the land had found sodomy was a constitutional right! That sort of thing tends to make news. (I was going to say the sodomy ruling got publicity up the wazoo, but this is, after all, Christmas week.)
So this little stretch-marked cornpone is either lying, has a closed head injury, is a complete ignoramus -- or all of the above.
Huckabee opposes school choice, earning him the coveted endorsement of the National Education Association of New Hampshire, which is like the sheriff being endorsed by the local whorehouse.
He is, however, in favor of school choice for kids in Mexico: They have the choice of going to school there or here. Huckabee promoted giving in-state tuition in Arkansas to illegal immigrants from Mexico -- but not to U.S. citizens from Ohio. "I don't believe you punish the children," he said, "for the crime and sins of the parents."
Since when is not offering someone lavish taxpayer-funded benefits a form of punishment? That's almost as crazy as a governor pardoning a known sex offender so he can go out and rape and kill.
Huckabee claims he's against punishing children for the crimes of their fathers in the case of illegal immigrants. But in the case of slavery, he believes the children of the children's children should be routinely punished for the crimes of their fathers. Huckabee has said illegal immigration gives Americans a chance to make up for slavery. (I thought letting O.J. walk for murdering two people was payback for slavery.)
Just two years ago, Huckabee cheerfully announced to a meeting of the Hispanic advocacy group League of United Latin American Citizens that "Pretty soon, Southern white guys like me may be in the minority." Who's writing this guy's speeches -- Al Sharpton? (Actually, take out "Southern" and "white," and I agree with Huckabee's sentiment).
He said the transition from Arkansas' Southern traditions would "require extraordinary efforts on both sides of the border." But, curiously, most of the efforts Huckabee described would come entirely from this side of the border. Arkansas, he pledged, would celebrate diversity "in culture, in language and in population." He said America would have to "accommodate" those who come here.
All that he expected from those south of the border was that they have a desire to provide better opportunities for their families. Basically, we have to keep accommodating everyone but U.S. citizens.
For those of you keeping score at home, this puts Huckabee just a little to the left of Dennis Kucinich on illegal immigration and border control. The only difference is that Kucinich supports amnesty for aliens from south of the border and north of Saturn.
In a widely quoted remark, Huckabee denounced a Republican bill that would merely require proof of citizenship to vote and receive government benefits as "un-Christian, un-American, irresponsible and anti-life," according to the Arkansas News Bureau. Now, where have I heard this sort of thing before? Hmmm ... wait, now I remember: It was during the Democratic debates!
In his current attempt to pretend to be against illegal immigration, Huckabee makes a meaningless joke about how the federal government should track illegals the way Federal Express tracks packages. (Can a Mexican fit in one of those little envelopes?)
In other words, Huckabee is going to address the problem of illegal immigration by making jokes. It's called leadership, folks.
Huckabee confirms for liberal TV hosts their image of conservatives as dorks by bragging about how cool he is because he "likes music." What's he doing -- running for president or filling out his Facebook profile? Arkansas former fatty loves to make jokes and play the bass guitar. Remember what happened to the last former fatboy from Arkansas trying to be "cool" by liking music? I'll take "Stained Dresses" for $400, Alex.
According to Huckabee, most people think conservatives don't like music. Who on earth says conservatives don't like music -- other than liberals and Mike Huckabee? This desperate need to be liked by liberals has never led to anything but calamity.
Huckabee wants to get kids involved in music at an early age because he believes it leads to a more balanced and developed brain. You know, as we saw with the Jackson family. Maybe someone should tell him the Osmonds are voting for Romney.
He supports a nationwide smoking ban anyplace where people work, constitutional protection for sodomy, big government, higher taxes and government benefits for illegal aliens. According to my calculations, that puts him about three earmarks away from being Nancy Pelosi.
Liberals take a perverse pleasure in touting Huckabee because they know he will give them everything they want -- big government and a Christian they can roll.
My own humble efforts at seasonal lyrics (borrowing another's score and scheme, of course) are below!
Hummmm "Angels We Have Heard on High" as you read along .....
