McCain-McCarthy-McKamikaze
It was inevitable, no? Unable to win this election with the honesty, integrity, straight-talk and lofty tone he once promised, John McCain is now suiting up for a nosedive into a world of filth. Says the Saturday edition of The Washington Post:
Sen. John McCain and his Republican allies are readying a newly aggressive assault on Sen. Barack Obama's character, believing that to win in November they must shift the conversation back to questions about the Democrat's judgment, honesty and personal associations, several top Republicans said...
"We're going to get a little tougher," a senior Republican operative said, indicating that a fresh batch of television ads is coming. "We've got to question this guy's associations. Very soon. There's no question that we have to change the subject here," said the operative, who was not authorized to discuss strategy and spoke on the condition of anonymity...
Two other top Republicans said the new ads are likely to hammer the senator from Illinois on his connections to convicted Chicago developer Antoin "Tony" Rezko and former radical William Ayres, whom the McCain campaign regularly calls a domestic terrorist because of his acts of violence against the U.S. government in the 1960s...
Translation: We are now going to use an old-fashioned red-baiting, race-baiting smear against Barack Obama because we have nothing else to offer. So here we go. A grand GOP Swift-boating finale of lies and innuendo and gutter-level accusations that Obama is a dangerous mobster and radical -- that as a 12 year old he was already supporting bombings by the Weathermen.
A nice coincidence. I spent part of the day today at the Newseum a few blocks from Capitol Hill. As part of the exhibition on Edward R. Murrow there was a continuous loop video running about his infamous clash with Joe McCarthy. Don Hewitt, speaking on camera however reminds us that it wasn't Murrow who brought down McCarthy. Nope, it was McCarthy himself who, in a desperate panic, blindly lashed back at Murrow and wiped himself out.
So, I say, bring it on, John. No Obama supporter should fear this coming assault. On the contrary, we should rejoice as it is sure to be an appropriate and unsuccessful flame-out of the already tragi-comic McCain-Failin' Palin campaign.
McCain strategists who believe that the American people, now faced with record job losses, the unraveling market, foreclosed neighborhoods, failing banks and the squeeze-off credit cards and even student loans are now gonna worry, instead, about Bill Ayres and Reverend Wright really will prove the Republicans are "the stupid party."
It's a sure loser, my friends. But what the hell? After his near-death experience with the Keating Five, McCain spent two decades rebuilding his political capital only to recklessly squander most of it in the last six miserable months. All he's got left is some pocket change. Let him piss away those last few coins with a final, sweaty pull on the handle. When it all comes up short we can send him off with these words:
"John McCain, good night. Good Luck. Good riddance."
October 4th, 2008 at 12:29 am
McCain 2.0 is Dubya + Hoover
October 4th, 2008 at 3:46 am
Josh Marshall linked to this exchange between McCain and Obama two and a half years ago. It’s an indication of the difference between the two – one guy has class and the other doesn’t.
http://obama.senate.gov/letter/060206-sen_obama_and_sen_mccain_exchange_letters_on_ethics_reform/
October 4th, 2008 at 4:28 am
“No Obama supporter should fear this coming assault.”
It’ll be obvious desperation. And besides, they’re running with the great unequalizer on the ticket: http://www.stopthinkvote.com/whatsnew/palinmichigan.html
October 4th, 2008 at 7:18 am
I do give Sarah Palin credit for one thing: She’s smart enough to know that she has no choice but to run AGAINST the legacy of George W. Bush.
Now if we could get Woody, Bob Williams, GM Roper or another of the preznit’s fans to explain why they loved Palin’s debate performance, even though she emphasized, more than any other issue, that she will push for change away from the Bush worldview.
I think it pretty much says it all that Palin insists she represents change, yet she is targetting, and winning, the 30 percent or so of the American public that say Bush has done a good job.
October 4th, 2008 at 7:21 am
I’ve been following the O.J. conviction in Las Vegas. Why hasn’t Marc been covering that?!
October 4th, 2008 at 7:50 am
Marc: Unable to win this election with the honesty, integrity….
Newsweek – Obama Won’t Stop Lying About McCain: An Obama-Biden TV ad once again twists McCain’s position on Social Security. …This is becoming a pattern. …the new ad is still deceptive, and doubly so.
But. let’s worry about ads, while the Democrats are running underground vote fraud in Ohio by shamelessly rounding up and taking advantage of homeless people, not necessarily even from that state, and taking them to vote for Obama with no proof of residency or elibility or means to challenge them–thanks to Democratic mischief to allow registration and voting on the same day within thirty days of the elections. Just take them where they want to go, offer them a meal, and flip them some cigarettes. Oh, that’s okay.
October 4th, 2008 at 8:41 am
Homeless people have no civil rights in Woody’s World. I should have guessed…
October 4th, 2008 at 8:51 am
Do you really want to parse whose ads are more prone to distorting the opponents’ positions ?
You’ll get chewed up on that score.
What’s telling is that McCain has now decided to run NOTHING but negative ads against Obama. No ads explaining why he’s the better choice. This is what it’s finally come to – McCain simply mimicing the Limbaugh-Malkin brigade. What a slimy old coot. He’s starting to look more and more like a desperate, mean-spirited creep as this thing drags on. Hopefully the election can put him out of his misery. Then he can start the process of re-ingratiating himself with his Beltway reporter buddies, his celebrity friends and the ladies who host cocktail parties in Georgetown. Poor Mark Salter is gonna have to work real hard on that next book.
October 4th, 2008 at 9:36 am
So now we’re going to start hearing about a candidate’s troubling associations? Excellent! That means the name ‘Charles Keating’ will finally start appearing in the campaign! The timing couldn’t be better.
October 4th, 2008 at 9:40 am
In my world, people who claim to be concerned about the homeless shouldn’t be taking advantage of them–especially when the homeless who have been interviewed have shown no interest or knowledge about the elections except to be told how to vote.
It takes an ignorant mind to say that the homeless have a “civil right”* to vote and that the Democrats are somehow “helping” them with that right.
It’s disgraceful for the Democrats to use the homeless as they do. If they really cared, the Democratic activists would help them straighten up their lives instead of using them a political pawns and duping them.
* The U.S. Constitution does not explicitly guarantee a right to vote.
October 4th, 2008 at 9:40 am
If I remember correctly, in one of his last appearances on The Daily Show before he realized that the media were no longer his base (ha ha), McCain tried to argue that opponents of the Iraq war were unpatriotic and Jon Stewart immediately compared that with McCarthyism and told him it was beneath him. Thus, a couple of points:
1. As usual, Jon Stewart is more honest than the supposed journalists.
2. McCain has been a McCarthyite all along. The difference is that McCarthy was an alcoholic and therefore could have cited a medical excuse for being the biggest liar this side of Adolf Hitler. Oh, wait, that’s right, McCain spent five years as a POW. That gives him the right to lie about his opponents, shove people in wheelchairs, call his wife a c&*t, screw around on his wife, and do whatever he likes.
October 4th, 2008 at 10:29 am
Although it would likely be judged unconstitutional for a variety of reasons, unless Ohio has a statute denying people who are functionally homeless the right to vote, Woody’s contrived trivia answer is irrelevant to his assertions. The same-day registration and voting window is based on enforcing a GOP-backed law enacted by Ohio’s legislature in 2005. So Ohioans are doing what they have every right to do under the U.S. Constitution, which gives leeway on the details of voting law to the states – excluding discrimination on race, gender, age at 18, etc. This is a state matter and has nothing whatever to do with the constitution.
October 4th, 2008 at 10:32 am
When did being conservative imply being some combination of an idiot and a self-pitying whiner ? Must have been around the time the National Review passed from the hands of William F. Buckley to the likes of Richie Lowry.
October 4th, 2008 at 11:00 am
I don’t know what world you’re in Woody.
I think I can speak for THIS PART of world. People ARE GOING TO VOTE.
Suggested reading:
* Article 1, Section 4 of the U.S. Constitution
* Amendment XV
* Amendment XIX
* Amendment XXVI
If you’re not happy with the decision of the state of Ohio to allow for same day registration and voting, you need to book a flight to Columbus for Monday morning. Then you may petition that state’s legislature for the terrible crime of allowing it’s citizens to vote in a way you’re not comfortable with. Otherwise, you’ve got nothing.
October 4th, 2008 at 11:06 am
reg, please tell me from the Bill of Rights where there is a Constitutional right to vote. …I didn’t think that you could, so quit saying that it is a right, civil or otherwise.
In cases where voting by citizens is permitted, the Constitution requires that it be limited to those who meet constitutional standards–such as citizenship. Some states require proof. States run by Democrats don’t want proof.
On Obama’s voter registration website, “Vote for Change,” if you answer that you are not a U.S. ciitizen, this is the apology that you get, which tells you where Obama’s intentions lie.
“Unfortunately, only U.S. Citizens Are Eligible to Register To Vote”
Unfortunately? UNFORTUNATELY?!!!
FORTUNTELY for him, his organizers have found a way around that–by cheating. Unfortunately for us, he would probably permit his “fellow citizens of the world” to vote in our elections if he gets a chance.
- – -
Michael Green, McCarthy turned out to be right about the communists.
October 4th, 2008 at 11:08 am
Rob, I didn’t see your last comment before I made mine. Maybe you need to do a little more research, too.
It’s a shame that you think that the votes of legal citizens mean so little that you’re willing to lower the value of their votes by letting illegal and/or disqualified citizens vote.
October 4th, 2008 at 11:11 am
Google: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Is+there+a+constitutional+right+to+vote%3F&btnG=Search
October 4th, 2008 at 11:12 am
My understanding is that there is no constitutionally guaranteed right to vote, even though there are provisions that prevent voting from being denied on certain grounds.
But, even though, Woody, you may technically be correct on that score, you’re engaging in your usual distortions and tendentious crapola. The Republicans aren’t after proof, they’re after control. They want to control election procedures so that the wrong people don’t vote. That’s all they’ve ever been up to in voting. Anything that makes it easy for people to voe make it easy for the wrong people to vote–not unqualified, no, not at all, simply people who are less likely to vote Republican.
Stop pretending there is anything high-minded about their perpetual opposition to making voting easy for people.
And, all of the reports of vote cadging this year (and in 2000 and in 2004), are coming from your ridiculous party. All of them. You’re the most anti-democratic bunch of thugs since J Edgar.
October 4th, 2008 at 11:16 am
Dan O: (Republicans) want to control election procedures so that the wrong people don’t vote.
Woody: Democrats don’t want to control election procedures so that the wrong people do vote.
October 4th, 2008 at 11:21 am
Woody, I think DanO is being kind with only calling your assertion “tendentious crapola.” Reg has it exactly correct when he said, “The same-day registration and voting window is based on enforcing a GOP-backed law enacted by Ohio’s legislature in 2005.” I merely footnoted the relevant Federal sections that bring the decision down to the state level. I guess I’m guilty of assuming you have the reading comprehension necessary to understand what this means.
October 4th, 2008 at 11:24 am
“Unfortunately, only U.S. Citizens Are Eligible to Register To Vote”
Duh! Sheesh, this is printed on voter registration forms. Who knew?!
October 4th, 2008 at 11:42 am
Woody – you obviously didn’t understand my response, which asserted absolutely nothing that you contend. So go fuck off and enjoy your much-deserved retirement.
It’s really sad that when confronted with the beginning of the end of WoodyWorld, we’re subjected to crap about which citizens should have the right to vote and which shouldn’t. There is, incidentally, in addition to the well-known amendments to the constitution, voting rights LEGISLATION which guarantees the right to vote, including the 17th which guarantees the right to directly vote for one’s Senator.
This is just the dumbest, most pernicious shit in the world. Nothing is beneath these clowns – including challenging foundations of our democracy. I have to say that I think one “unintended effect” of the Obama presidency is that, at least for a time, MORE – not less – racist and reactionary sludge will rise to the surface. Tighten your seatbelts because things are going to get very ugly at the margins. Some folks are on the verge of going completely crazy. Limbaugh, Malkin and the rest are going to be turning up the heat among the crazies and stirring their soup. President Obama is going to need superb protection to avoid the worst that this reactive swill is going to call forth. I hate saying this, but as I see more and more of the degenerate crap bubbling up, I’m afraid it’s true.
October 4th, 2008 at 11:43 am
“the 17th” was misplaced in that jumbly sentence and referred to the 17th amendment.
October 4th, 2008 at 11:48 am
Also, I haven’t checked this one re Ohio, but the right to vote is guaranteed in many STATE constitutions. So Woody’s complaining about the impact of a state voting act by referring to the Federal Constitution – which allows the states to regulate voting, as long as they don’t violate those key provisions regarding race, gender, age, etc. covered by the Fed – is the height of irrelevance.
October 4th, 2008 at 11:49 am
Frankly, Woody pretty much shot his intellectual and moral wad in these threads with that picture of Obama shining Palin’s shoes.
October 4th, 2008 at 11:54 am
Rob, I’m not against voting by blacks, the homeless, 18-year old kids who think that they know everything, or even women. I’m against people being registered and voting illegally. Forgive me for respecting the rule of law, but I think it’s better than anarchy, as being practiced by the left.
Democrats have had months and years to help people to register LEGALLY, which they have done. So, what’s the rush now to register other people and dash them to the polls on the same day? Why didn’t they help these people earlier? Clearly, there is only one reason–to slip illegal voters by the system, a system which could have identified them earlier but now has no chance to catch them.
The Democrats get away with a lot of early illegal registrations as it is, as evidenced by catching some of that by Obama and his ACORN “community organizers.” They ignore the information printed on the forms, and probably many Democrats can’t even read.
So, learning their lessons, Democrats wait until the last minute when there is no time to check voter eiligibility, and they opposed even making those quick votes conditional upon subsequent verification.
So, when Marc makes a post on “election honesty and integrity,” give more weight to vote fraud rather than to arguable campaign claims. I can tolerate campaign disputes before an election more than I can tolerate election disputes that should have been avoided and may steal an election from the wishes of legal voters.
October 4th, 2008 at 11:56 am
reg, I can read, but you had too many words for my interest level.
October 4th, 2008 at 12:04 pm
The Democrats get away with a lot of early illegal registrations as it is, as evidenced by catching some of that by Obama and his ACORN “community organizers.”
Woody, while you’re ’schoolin” yourself on election law, you might want to take a refresher on libelous actions. Just saying.
October 4th, 2008 at 12:05 pm
But, but, his pastor said “God damn America.”
Trump that, my friend.
October 4th, 2008 at 12:09 pm
Rob, please google ACORN and election convictions.
Bradley, Obama has called our troops murderers. Does that trump his pastor?
October 4th, 2008 at 12:16 pm
Marc,
It’s really all they have left. None of McCain’s defenders and the Palindrones who post are have been able to make a convincing case that McCain/Palin will win on the merits of their policies. Palin could not even bother to defend McCain’s stupid health care plan.
October 4th, 2008 at 12:56 pm
Rob, please google ACORN and election convictions.
I did. Here’s what I found.
October 4th, 2008 at 1:11 pm
It is already starting, with Palin talking about Obama “palling” (note the faux folksy touch) around with terrorists. She is a happy foot soldier in the march through the mud–of course she’s doing it for the sweet love of Jesus–which justifies bearing false witness.
They sink to the depths, taking, I hope their discredited ideology with them.
October 4th, 2008 at 1:19 pm
The really good part is that if any of those friggin russians try to sneak across the Bering Straits to illegally vote in Alaska, Piper or Truck or Tramp will see see them from their backyard and shoo them away, doggone it.
Woody, here’s the distressing part of your shtic: if u just said u were a guy who had conservative principles, who believed in free markets, small govt, individual enterprise etc and for that reason you were a die-hard cnservative, you MIGHT get some respect. But the endless amount of characterizing Democrats as illegal, evil, taitorus etc etc really wears thin and undermines any credibility you might have. Just saying,
October 4th, 2008 at 1:35 pm
I didn’t realize that the mainstream media ignored ACORN’s illegal activities to such an extent that google was so empty. Boy, that shows how much they are the tank for Obama. Well, since you live in a liberal vacuum, let me provide these articles for you.
and
and
and
and
and
The Democratic motto: Make every vote count, and count and count and count and count and ……
And, you guys pretend to want honest elections and have the nerve to lecture about integrity.
October 4th, 2008 at 1:38 pm
Marc, please refer to my post above as to the extent of Democratic fraud. If Democrats quit cheating so much, I might ignore them and have time to espouse conservative principles. Still, I’ll consider your advice.
October 4th, 2008 at 2:56 pm
Woody,
I read an article about two weeks ago that as I recall discredited much of your ACORN BS. I was going to post it because reg and others here had been talking about ACORN, but I decided it was too far off topic. But never mind that distraction.
ACORN is a non-issue. Let’s talk instead about the elected Republican officials in numerous states who have been throwing people off the voter rolls with the express intention of suppressing the Democratic vote. For the larger institutionalized violence done to voting see RFK Jr.: http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=10386
Or would you rather talk about the New
Hampshire phone scam. The NYT sumes it up nicely (I know liberal rag, unlike that truth squad Newsbusters) “The Bush administration has spent a lot of time talking about mythical cases of voter fraud and election improprieties, but the New Hampshire phone jamming case was the real thing. Republican operatives hired an Idaho telemarketing firm to jam the lines to prevent people who needed help in voting from getting through. The scheme was a direct attack on American democracy.”
Oh, never mind…..I’m wasting my time.
October 4th, 2008 at 4:07 pm
Somehow all that voter registration hasn’t helped Democrats on election day. For the past few decades, Democratic presidential candidates have always underperformed the most current average opinion poll numbers.
That couldn’t happen if there were significant voting fraud in their favor, could it?
October 4th, 2008 at 4:30 pm
DanO: I read an article about two weeks ago that as I recall discredited much of your ACORN BS. ACORN is a non-issue.
Please share that article. We need to let the courts know that they are picking on innocent people, and we need to inform the ACORN people who confessed to crimes that an article has declared them innocent.
It’s only a non-issue for people who live in the world of situational ethics and try to justify crimes by saying that others do it. Driving bums to the polls and standing over them to vote, with still a month left in campaigning in which anything can change, is desperation of s*c*al*st revolutionaries.
You don’t want a legal vote. You want to win.
October 4th, 2008 at 4:36 pm
Sarah Palin’s kids have a message for Marc Cooper and Reg.
http://i35.tinypic.com/2czc1ua.jpg
October 4th, 2008 at 4:49 pm
Marc: But the endless amount of characterizing Democrats as illegal, evil, taitorus etc etc really wears thin and undermines any credibility you might have.
Marc, I agree, but then I look at your most recent posts, like this one, and only see you characterizing Republicans as illegal and evil (not traitorous, as you know better.) So, is it okay to do that when you’re preaching to the choir?
- – -
DanO, ACORN is off topic only if the subject is about smearing candidates instead of honest campaigns. I think that honesty is the emphasis of the post.
According to Marc, the Swift Vets for Truth should be attacked–not because they lied, but because they were making important information known that the opposition wanted to hide.
Likewise, Obama’s past associations represent important information for voters. Since the press ignores Obama’s past in its effort to elect him, the Republicans have a duty to explain it to voters themselves.
October 4th, 2008 at 4:54 pm
Woody: “You don’t want a legal vote. You want to win.”
No, I want both.
For the sake of argument, I concede everything you say about ACORN. Let’s stipulate that they reward their workers in a way that encourages them to play loose with the names they gather.
Still, not governmental, not sponsored by the Dem party, and a drop in the bucket next to the active cadging that’s been happening. Go read the Conyers report.
Also, you totally ignored my comments about New Hampshire and the observations of RFK Jr. Too uncomfortable for you? I love your brass balls style of debate: just pretend contrary evidence doesn’t exist. I wonder if I can do that with my credit card balance?
October 4th, 2008 at 4:55 pm
messenger, from that picture, Marc might appreciate how Gov. Palin lets her daughter express herself–just as he has his daughter.
October 4th, 2008 at 4:56 pm
“ACORN is off topic only if the subject is…” sorry Woody. I meant to say I nearly posted it a couple of weeks ago, but it wasn’t germane then. Wasn’t talking about now. Anyway, carry on.
October 4th, 2008 at 5:21 pm
DanO, ACORN takes and misuses millions in taxpayer money, courtesy of the Democrats, to register stupid, poor, and illegal people, aka known as Democratic voters.
Obama worked with them doing the same thing, and organization employees admit to telling these dupes to vote for Obama, in violation of the requirements for tax money and not-for-profit tax status.
ACORN knows full well that its workers are committing vote fraud but refuses to introduce training and controls. It is intentionally structured into many pieces to make proof of responsibility and prosecution more difficult.
But, you think it’s okay. You don’t really want a legal vote, do you?
Thank goodness the Republicans had the millions in pork for ACORN cut from the bailout bill. Can you imagine Democrats trying to stick such a provision into such an important bill?
RFK, Jr. is a total idiot, as is anyone who takes him seriously.
October 4th, 2008 at 5:46 pm
Christ, that’s a lot of snorkeling Woody. But it’s true that Acorn has a lot to answer for. In every one of the convictions noted above, we should all hope that those found guilty got severe sentences.
Note, however, what kind of cases of fraud these are: venders cheating clients for money. Field staff that submit fraudulent cards in hopes of collecting a commission per card. These are ‘fake’ registrants. Fake registrants are people who don’t exist or are in jail. As such, they can’t show up to vote. The cards get scrubbed/purged from the rolls. Can one show that an election was actually stolen based on these fake voters showing up? The crime is financial first, and wasting the time of county registrants second.
I’ll have to take responsibility though, for Woody chewing up the bandwidth, though. What the heck was I thinking, daring him to check libel and getting Acorn thrown in the mud? I actually know a few Acorn organizers and they’re good people. They put up with enough grief as it is.
October 4th, 2008 at 5:54 pm
Last reference and then I’m breaking off.
The Huffington Post Is Lying October 4, 2008 – 14:51 ET
October 4th, 2008 at 6:30 pm
Re: http://i35.tinypic.com/2czc1ua.jpg
That is just adorable! I wonder at what point they’re planning to squeeze the humanity out of that child. Maybe the Pentacostals have an exorcism rite for it.
October 5th, 2008 at 12:33 am
Re: http://i35.tinypic.com/2czc1ua.jpg
Do you have the original source for this? I imagine some would claim it’s a PhotoShop job.
October 5th, 2008 at 9:18 am
But the endless amount of characterizing Democrats as illegal, evil, taitorus etc etc really wears thin and undermines any credibility you might have. Just saying,
It’s all he’s got, Marc, it’s really all he’s got.
October 5th, 2008 at 9:22 am
Apparently Palin lied about encouraging divestment from Sudan.
October 5th, 2008 at 9:45 am
Why does John McCain have a convicted criminal and a man who advocated the murder of federal agents conduct fundraisers for him?
October 5th, 2008 at 9:46 am
Screwed up the link. Here it is.
October 5th, 2008 at 10:14 am
Let’s look at that last series of comments.
Apparently, that’s all that Randy has.
October 5th, 2008 at 5:29 pm
Imitation is the most sincere form of flattery. Thanks, Woody.
Palin did lie and it’s there for all to see. McCain has a long ongoing close association with G. Gordon Liddy.
Those are facts. You’re right: all I have are facts.
Thanks again.
October 6th, 2008 at 2:55 pm
Woody, you clearly think that the poor should not be voting in this and any other election: “stupid, poor and illegal people, aka known as [sic] Democratic voters.”
This is an anti-democratic, not to mention “elitist” (in the true meaning of the word) position.
Congress passed and the requisite number of states confirmed a constitutional amendment banning poll taxes. Congress and the states did so because the poll tax barred the poor and especially black people from voting (known to your friends as a “two-fer”]. I know that makes you sad, but it is the law of the land.
October 8th, 2008 at 12:44 am
“Obama worked with them doing the same thing”
You’re a lying piece of shit, Woodrow.
February 27th, 2009 at 8:08 am
I just found your blog on google. I really liked it and now I will share it with my friends.
February 28th, 2009 at 11:29 pm
These are ‘fake’ registrants. Fake registrants are people who don’t exist or are in jail. As such, they can’t show up to vote. The cards get scrubbed/purged from the rolls. Can one show that an election was actually stolen based on these fake voters showing up? The crime is financial first, and wasting the time of county registrants second.
March 3rd, 2009 at 5:20 pm
well said, finally a good report on this stuff
April 6th, 2009 at 6:24 pm
Well said, finally a good report on this stuff