McCain Talks to Jindal

McCain will meet with Bobby Jindal.

John McCain Speaks to Democratic Voters

This is interesting on a few levels.

1) It is pretty funny to be honest, in light of what is happening in the Democratic party, and

2) It strikes me as odd that the political arena and the entertainment arena would be mixed so blatantly, especially in an election year.

What do you guys think? Is this appropriate at any time? Is it appropriate in an election year? Shout it out.

McLies

The video says it all:

Cheers for Hillary Clinton

Hillary Clinton has come to the defense of Barack Obama over recent attacks by George W. Bush and friends:

“President Bush’s comparison of any Democrat to Nazi appeasers is offensive and outrageous on the face of it, especially in light of his failures in foreign policy,” Clinton said. “This is the kind of statement that has no place in any presidential address.”

If this signifies a new (non-destructive) direction for the Democratic race—and if she can turn all of her attacks toward Bush and McCain—well then I might be changing my position on it and possibly on the idea of an Obama-Clinton ticket.

But will C-SPAN cover it???

Reuters is running a report that John McCain would like to hold UK style question and answer sessions with Congress if elected. 

This is actually one policy of his that I could get behind. I've always wondered why the POTUS doesn't do this kind of thing. 

McCain "Flip-Flop" on Iraq?

McCain now says we'll be out by 2013.

Interesting ...

McCain previously had resisted offering target dates for troop withdrawals, saying that to do so would be tantamount to giving terrorists a timeline for defeat. During the Florida primary, he blasted former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney for what he said was support of a withdrawal timeline. Democrats, meanwhile, pilloried McCain for saying American troops could remain in Iraq for up to 100 years -- a reference McCain later likened to the presence of U.S. bases in Germany or South Korea.

Just last month, McCain said that "to promise a withdrawal of our forces from Iraq, regardless of the calamitous consequences to the Iraqi people, our most vital interests, and the future of the Middle East, is the height of irresponsibility. It is a failure of leadership.''

The straight-talker is turning out to be quite the "flip-flopper."

Keep It Up George

Bush criticizes Obama ... in Israel.

In a speech to Israel's Knesset, Bush said: "Some seem to believe that we should negotiate with the terrorists and radicals, as if some ingenious argument will persuade them they have been wrong all along.

"We have heard this foolish delusion before. As Nazi tanks crossed into Poland in 1939, an American senator declared: 'Lord, if I could only have talked to Hitler, all this might have been avoided.' We have an obligation to call this what it is — the false comfort of appeasement, which has been repeatedly discredited by history."

Keep it up George, because the American people aren't buying your bullshit anymore. Every time you pull a stunt like this, your party comes that much closer to losing the White House.

update:

McCain and Lieberman jump in.

Obama pushes back:

"It is sad that President Bush would use a speech to the Knesset on the 60th anniversary of Israel's independence to launch a false political attack," Obama said in the statement his aides distributed. "George Bush knows that I have never supported engagement with terrorists, and the president's extraordinary politicization of foreign policy and the politics of fear do nothing to secure the American people or our stalwart ally Israel."

McCain "Flip-Flop" on Abortion?

In this video from a 2000 debate, John McCain attacks George W. Bush for supporting the GOP's abortion platform—which allows no exceptions for abortion, even in cases of rape, incest, and when the pregnancy would constitute a life-threatening danger to the mother—while Bush's own position allows for these exceptions. McCain has favored changing the Republican platform even up until 2007. What about today?

From ABC News:

While McCain has not addressed the abortion platform since becoming the presumed Republican nominee, he reaffirmed his desire to change the GOP's official abortion stance following a multicandidate forum that took place in Des Moines, Iowa, April 14, 2007.

Despite McCain's support for changing the platform in 2000 and 2007, Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan., the co-chairman of McCain's Justice Advisory Committee, significantly downplays the possibility that McCain would revise the party's call for a nationwide constitutional ban on abortion with no exceptions.

"I don't think that's going to happen. I think you're going to see a platform process that is going to maintain that plank," said Brownback, a leading abortion rights opponent who endorsed McCain after ending his own White House bid.

...

"If he doesn't change the platform, then he's being the same kind of hypocrite that he accused Bush of being in 2000," said Jennifer Blei Stockman, the co-chairwoman of Republican Majority for Choice. "To not accept abortion in cases of rape and incest, give me a break. That's sick. That's inhumane."

"And the life of the mother?" she added. "These are things that we can't even put our arms around because they are so inhumane."

...

Stockman said that McCain's team is ignoring his previous commitments on this issue and is intentionally downplaying his clout.

"If McCain chooses not to revise the platform, I think he will say it's 'the system' and he will try to distance himself from it," said Stockman. "But he absolutely has the power to change it."

"Many people think of him as a moderate," she said. "But when it comes out that he doesn't want to change this extreme, right-wing Republican platform, the word 'moderate' is going to disappear from any description of McCain."

Shenanigans

John McCon: I don't wan't to run a smear campaign, but the public demands it.

John Hagee

Pastor John Hagee, who has endorsed Sen. John McCain, reiterated his belief that the devastation of Hurricane Katrina was brought on by a "sinful city" and its plans for a "homosexual rally."

I find it amazing that people are willing to accept such a grotesque construction of God—one that would cause so much suffering to so many people out of a distaste for, of all things, gay pride. One would think Hagee's followers would take great offense to such a blatant and malicious perversion of the thing they hold most sacred.

And what of John McCain? Does John McCain support the practice of contorting and corrupting the idea of God in order to advance a political agenda of hatred and bigotry? He may have distanced himself from some of Hagee's comments, but why has he not rejected and denounced the endorsement of John Hagee altogether? Does that mean that he secretly believes this stuff too? How much of an influence would Hagee be on John McCain should he win the presidency? What would a presidency governed by this sort of ideology—an ideology of hate—mean for the rest of us?

Most importantly, does John McCain really believe that the victims of Katrina got what they deserved? These are legitimate concerns, and the people of Louisiana as well as everyone else affected by Hurricane Katrina have a right to know whether or not John McCain loathes us as much as his friends do.

"Better Off?"

McCain's Environmental "F"

The Daily Advertiser has an article which suggests that the environment is bound to benefit from a new president, whether it's Clinton, McCain, or Obama. Of McCain, the article says:

Unlike Bush, presumptive Republican nominee John McCain has been a leader in efforts to fight global warming, sponsoring 2003 legislation to reduce carbon dioxide emissions at a time when many in his party were still doubting the existence of climate change. The Arizona senator was by far the most pro-environment Republican to seek his party's nomination for president this election cycle, environmental groups say.

Notice that the author had to cite an example from 2003 to illustrate McCain's "maverick" status as a Republican who votes pro-environment.

Why not give a more recent example? Well, because there aren't many.

In 2007, John McCain received a score of 0% from the League of Conservation Voters. This is a drop of 41 percentage points from 2005-2006 (his second-best year). Averaging his scores from 1999 until 2007, McCain comes up with a rating 27.8% overall. Applying GPA standards to McCain's environmental record shows that he would have received an "F" every single year.

By comparison, Barack Obama scored 67% in 2007 and 96% in 2005-2006, giving him an average of 81.5% overall (a "B" average). Similarly, Hillary Clinton has an 85.5% overall average (also a "B").

This failure to give an accurate representation of McCain's record has become commonplace this campaign season. The idea that John McCain is a moderate (or even an independent) has become so entrenched in the media, that it is distorting the facts surrounding McCain's record. This report, which implies that McCain's environmental record is on par with Clinton's and Obama's, is just one more example of the sloppy and negligent coverage surrounding John McCain's campaign for president.

LA: McCain over Obama

A new Rasmussen poll has John McCain leading Barack Obama by 11 points in a hypothetical matchup in Louisiana. The same poll shows McCain leading Hillary Clinton by 22 points.

What exactly is Louisiana looking for here? More war? Greater economic inequality? Is Barack Obama right about "bitterness" leading people to vote on polarizing philosophical issues rather than on issues that have a more immediate and direct effect on them?

In a related story, the NRSC has released a shameful video which asks whether or not Sen. Landrieu will support Obama in light of his recent remarks. Lets see how the issue plays out in Louisiana.

John McCain: You've Stumped Me

John McCain shows his ignorance (or his servile allegiance to G. W. Bush's supporters) on contraception and other issues:

"Are we on the Straight Talk express? I’m not informed enough on it. Let me find out. You know, I’m sure I’ve taken a position on it on the past. I have to find out what my position was. Brian, would you find out what my position is on contraception – I’m sure I’m opposed to government spending on it, I’m sure I support the president’s policies on it."

— John McCain