DISTRACTION ALERT:  The McCain campaign is up in arms about a comment made by Sen. Barack Obama yesterday regarding the “scare” campaign tactics of the other side. The exact quote from Sen. Obama: 

Nobody thinks that Bush and McCain have a real answer to the challenges we face. So what they’re going to try to do is make you scared of me,” Obama said. “You know, ‘he’s not patriotic enough, he’s got a funny name,’ you know, ‘he doesn’t look like all those other presidents on the dollar bills.” 

This is completely ridiculous! Obama was preempting what is to come. Something McCain is very aware of since he has done the same thing many times over with respect to his age.  How many times have John McCain referred to the fact that he is “old” in an attempt to take it off the table.  The gander certainly cannot accuse the goose for something that it has been doing in the hen house for months prior.  How many times has John McCain alluded to Obama’s alleged “inexperience” or “arrogance” for doing things that he himself has done except that Obama is perceived as having done them better.  The trip to the Middle East for example.  McCain made the exact same trip but perceived not to have been as successful.  What Obama completed brilliantly yesterday was a preemptive strike against the “race card.”  No one can deny, not even the main stream pundits, that there has been several right-wing pundits, whisper campaigns, talk radio shock jocks, right-wing bloggers,  527 groups etc., who have used race left, right, sideways, and center in ”their” attempt to punt the Illinois senator.  So with this knowledge, why is the McCain campaign so up in arms about Obama comment?  With all the right-wing lunatic fringe groups focusing at every opportunity on the fact that Obama is different because he is black, how else do you combat such distracting noise but mention the fact that you have been very upfront about the fact that Obama is different because he is black. So it’s dumbfounding how the campaign can conclude that Obama is playing the race card.  It seems that the double standard in the McCain campaign is in full force. This is a stretch beyond elasticity and the main stream media is jumping all over it.  Remember folks, CNN, NBC, CBS, ABC, all have a very big horse in this race….RATINGS.  The greater the perception of a horse race, the more advertising dollars.  And by the way, Obama has made the same comment many times prior to yesterday. This is an extreme and disproportionate reaction from the McCain campaign.  It’s called the politics of destraction and deflection….deflect from the positive press from Obama’s overseas trip and distract from the weaknesses of McCain, economy, gas prices, EXXON Mobil record profits (11.68 billion), mortgage crisis, etc.  Karl Rove tactics on full blast. 

Rupert Murdoch owned Wall Street Journal columnist Daniel Henninger evaluates John McCain’s tax policy and responds, “This isn’t a flip-flop. It’s a sex-change operation.” The columnist goes on to ask the question of whether McCain is losing his way. Henninger writes :

What I’m asking is, does John McCain have the mental focus, the intellectual discipline, to avoid being out-slicked by Barack Obama, if he isn’t abandoned by his own voters?
 

It’s not just taxes. Recently the subject came up of Al Gore’s assertion that the U.S. could get its energy solely from renewables in 10 years. Sen. McCain said: “If the vice president says it’s doable, I believe it’s doable.” What!!?? In a later interview, Mr. McCain said he hadn’t read “all the specifics” of the Gore plan and now, “I don’t think it’s doable without nuclear power.” It just sounds loopy.

Why as well shouldn’t the Obama camp exploit all of this? If Sen. Obama’s “inexperience” is Mr. McCain’s ace in the hole, why not trump that by asking, “Does Sen. McCain know his own mind?”

…

Yes, Sen. McCain has honor and country. Another month of illogical, impolitic remarks and Sen. McCain will erase even that. Absent a coherent message for voters, he will be one-on-one with Barack Obama in the fall. He will lose.

Looks like the McCain campaign has received its wish for more media attention and being given the scrutiny that the Obama campaign has received throughout this election process.  Like we said last week, be carefule what you wish for.

Yesterday, George W Bush held a press conference urging Congress to take up a vote on off-shore exploration thereby lifting its ban on off-shore oil drilling.  Even though his administration has done absolutely nothing, for seven years, toward energy independence.  But when it comes to drilling for more oil, this administration and McCain has concluded that it is the only way we can become more energy independent.  McCain voted against a bill that would have increased fuel economy standards in 2006 while Obama voted for the bill.  An increase in fuel economy standards would require that automobile manufacturers increase the number of miles per gallon of gas on all newly manufactured cars.  In China, because of a mandate by the Chinese government, cars get 43 miles per gallon.  Such a bill would have made a significant difference in today’s gas prices had it been adopted in 2006 when it was proposed.

Something else that this writer finds a little disturbing is a Washington Post report that campaign contributions from oil industry executives to Sen. John McCain increased dramatically at the end of June, right after McCain made a high-profile split with environmentalists and flipped from his orginal position against off-shore drilling.  As for the Bush administration’s hand in the oil well, the Wall Street Journal reported that influential former Pentagon official Richard Perle is going into the oil business in Iraq and Kazakhstan according to sources close to the deals.  Perle was one of the security experts helping to make the case to the Bush Administration for taking down Saddam Hussein. 

Therefore, when the current President and John McCain continually push the idea that off-shore drilling is the best solution for the American people, I tend to suspect their motives.  I would trust their motives more if they at least had a past record of working toward energy independence and were not so inextricably linked to the oil industry.

Alluding to his temper when things don’t go his way, Sen. John McCain told George Stephanopoulos on This Week  that with respect to the Pentagon policy preventing Obama from visiting the military hospital in Germany as part of a campaign trip, ”if I was there and wanted to be there there would have been a seismic event” had they prevented him from seeing the troops.  However, McCain’s track record with respect to our wounded warriors and their healthcare very much suggest otherwise.  McCain has repeatedly either voted against pro-veteran legislation, or not bothered to even show up to vote at all for such legislation.  So my question to John McCain is….where was the “seismic event” when key pieces of legislation that provided our “gravely wounded” veterans with healthcare, and other services, came up for a vote in the Senate and in many cases you opposed the legislation or didn’t even bother to show up to vote?  One could only conclude, given your statement on This Week, that you really didn’t “want to be there.”  Perhaps you can provide an explanation for your vote or lack thereof on the following pro-veteran legislation.  The following list is courtesy of the AFL-CIO.

McCain did not support the Medicare Bill that prevented a decrease in medical services for Military Families.  Cuts in physicians Medicare payments would have resulted in an inability of physicians to continue to treat Medicare patients. This bill is important to veterans because of Tricare.  Tricare payouts are indexed to Medicare, therefore, if Medicare payments are cut so are Tricare payments.  If the bill had not passed, it would be much more difficult for military families to find doctors willing to treat them. Apparently, the insurance companies were against this bill also.

McCain Opposes the 21st Century GI Bill Because It Is Too Generous.McCain did not vote on the GI Bill that will provide better educational opportunities to veterans of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, paying full tuition at in-state schools and living expenses for those who have served at least three years since the 9/11 attacks. McCain said he opposes the bill because he thinks the generous benefits would “encourage more people to leave the military.” (S.Amdt. 4803 to H.R. 2642, Vote 137, 5/22/08; Chattanooga Times Free Press, 6/2/08; Boston Globe, 5/23/08; ABCNews.com, 5/26/08)

McCain Voted Against Increased Funding for Veterans’ Health Care.Although McCain told voters at a campaign rally that improving veterans’ health care was his top domestic priority, he voted against increasing funding for veterans’ health care in 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007. (Greenville News, 12/12/2007; S.Amdt. 2745 to S.C.R. 95, Vote 40, 3/10/04; Senate S.C.R. 18, Vote 55, 3/16/05; S.Amdt. 3007 to S.C.R. 83, Vote 41, 3/14/06; H.R. 1591, Vote 126, 3/29/07)

Opposed an Assured Funding Stream for Veterans’ Health Care.McCain opposed providing an assured funding stream for veterans’ health care, taking into account annual changes in veterans’ population and inflation. (S.Amdt. 3141 to S.C.R. 83, Vote 63, 3/16/06)

McCain Voted Against Adding More Than $400 Million for Veterans’ Care.McCain was one of 13 Republicans to vote against providing an additional $430 million to the Department of Veterans Affairs for outpatient care and treatment for veterans. (S.Amdt. 3642 to H.R. 4939, Vote 98, 4/26/06)

Voted Against Establishing a $1 Billion Trust Fund for Military Health Facilities.McCain voted against establishing a $1 billion trust fund to improve military health facilities by refusing to repeal tax cuts for those making more than $1 million a year. (S.Amdt. 2735 to S.Amdt. 2707 to H.R. 4297, Vote 7, 2/2/06)

McCain Opposed $500 Million for Counseling Services for Veterans with Mental Disorders.McCain voted against an amendment to appropriate $500 million annually from 2006-2010 for counseling, mental health and rehabilitation services for veterans diagnosed with mental illness, posttraumatic stress disorder or substance abuse. (S. 2020, S.Amdt. 2634, Vote 343, 11/17/05)

McCain Voted in Support of Disabled Veterans Only 25 Percent of the Time from 2004-2005. While McCain claims he “has been a leading advocate” for veterans with disabilities, statistics show he supported the Disabled American Veterans’ interests only 25 percent of the time in 2004-2005. In 2006, that figure slipped to 20 percent of the time. (Project Vote Smart)

McCain Voted Against Providing Automatic Cost-of-Living Adjustments to Veterans.McCain voted against providing automatic annual cost-ofliving adjustments for certain veterans’ benefits. (S. 869, Vote 259, 11/20/91)

INCLUDING BETTER ACCESS TO HEALTH CARE FOR GUARD AND RESERVISTS

McCain Opposed Increasing Spending on TRICARE and Giving Greater Access to National Guard and Reservists.Although his campaign website devotes a large section to veterans issues, including expanding benefits for reservists and members of the National Guard, McCain voted against increasing spending on the TRICARE program by $20.3 billion over 10 years to give members of the National Guard and Reserves and their families greater access to the health care program. The increase would be offset by a reduction in tax cuts for the wealthy. (www.johnmccain.com/Informing/ Issues/9cb5d2aa-f237-464e-9cdf-a5ad32771b9f.htm; S.Amdt. 324 to S.C.R. 23, Vote 81, 3/25/03)

McCAIN ALSO VOTED TO OUTSOURCE JOBS AT MILITARY FACILITIES

McCain Supported Outsourcing VA Jobs.McCain opposed an amendment that would have prevented the Department of Veterans Affairs from outsourcing jobs, many held by blue-collar veterans, without first giving the workers a chance to compete. (S.Amdt. 2673 to H.R. 2642, Vote 315, 9/6/07)

He Also Supported Outsourcing at Walter Reed.McCain opposed an amendment to prevent the outsourcing of 350 federal employee jobs at Walter Reed Army Medical Center—outsourcing that contributed to the scandalous treatment of veterans at Walter Reed that McCain called a “disgrace.” (S.Amdt. 4895 to H.R. 5631, Vote 234, 9/6/06; Speech to VFW in Kansas City, Mo., 4/4/08)

AND HE REPEATEDLY VOTED AGAINST FUNDING FOR THE VETERANS AFFAIRS DEPARTMENT

2003: McCain Voted Against $122.7 Billion for Department of Veterans Affairs. McCain voted against an appropriations bill that included $122.7 billion in fiscal 2004 for the Department of Veterans Affairs, Housing and Urban Development and other related agencies. (H.R. 2861, Vote 449, 11/12/03)

2001: McCain Voted Against $51 Billion in Veterans Funding. McCain was one of five senators to vote against the bill and seven to vote against the conference report that provided $51.1 billion for the Department of Veterans Affairs, as well as funding for the federal housing, environmental and emergency management agencies and NASA. (H.R. 2620, Vote 334, 11/8/01; Vote 269, 8/2/01)

2000: McCain Voted Against $47 Billion for the Department of Veterans Affairs. McCain was one of eight senators to vote against a bill that provided $47 billion for the Department of Veterans Affairs. (H.R. 4635, Vote 272, 10/12/00)

1999: McCain Voted Against $44.3 Billion for Veterans Programs. McCain was one of five senators to vote against a bill providing $44.3 billion for the Department of Veterans Affairs, plus funding for other federal agencies. (H.R. 2684, Vote 328, 10/15/99)

1996: McCain Voted Against a $13 Billion Increase in Funding for Veterans Programs. McCain voted against an amendment to increase spending on veterans programs by $13 billion. (S.C.R. 57, Vote 115, 5/16/96)

1995: McCain Voted to Underfund Department of Veterans Affairs. McCain voted for an appropriations bill that underfunded the Departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development by $8.9 billion. (H.R. 2099, Vote 470, 9/27/95)

1995: McCain Voted Against Closing Tax Loopholes to Increase Veterans Funding by $74 Million. McCain voted against eliminating tax breaks and closing tax loopholes to provide revenue to restore some of the proposed cuts in Veterans Affairs spending. (S.C.R. 13, Vote 226, 5/25/95)

1994: McCain Voted Against Funding the Department of Veterans Affairs. McCain was one of nine senators to vote against appropriating $90 billion in budget authority for the Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development departments. (H.R. 4624, Vote 306, 9/27/94)

So Sen. McCain though you say that you visited the troops abroad, you do not seem to support their interest back at home.  Why is that?  Though you said that you would never use the troops as a political issue, in your latest television ad you do just that.  You star the troops front, line, and center in an attack aimed at Sen. Obama.  Never mind that in your allegation that Obama does not visit the troops, you use footage of him shooting hoops….WITH THE TROOPS in the Middle East.  You also use the troops in your false allegation that Obama did not visit the troops because there could be no television cameras.  The allegation is disproved by the many visits that Sen. Obama has made to Walter Reed as well as several visits with the troops sans television cameras during his Middle East trip.

And by the way, McCain’s Republican colleague, Chuck Hagel, said the following about Obama’s decision regarding the German military hospital visit on Face the Nation on Sunday:

BOB SCHIEFFER: Senator Reed, now you’ve done a lot of these trips. They call them “codels,” “congressional delegations,” go. Are you ever allowed to take cameras when you go in to visit wounded troops? I thought that was sort of the general rule that everybody knew about.

JACK REED: I don’t think Senator Obama would have done that. Senator Hagel, Senator Obama and I visited the combat support hospital at Baghdad to thank those nurses, those doctors, to see patients that were there, to bring a bit of greetings from home and profound thanks. That should be in the ad that Senator McCain is running. I think Senator Obama made a very wise choice. Any suggestion that a visit to a military hospital would be political, he made the wise choice not to go. But when you were in Baghdad we made a point at the end of a very exhausting day to go in and see these magnificent young Americans and those doctors and nurses that give such tremendous care without a lot of fanfare, just to say thanks. He did it-the same thing. We went-we didn’t stay in Kabul. We went to Jalalabad to see the soldiers of the 173rd. We stopped in Basra to see our soldiers down there. We went into Anbar province to see soldiers there. That is a completely distorted, and, I think, inappropriate advertisement.

CHUCK HAGEL: Let me add to that. As you know, Bob, the congressional delegation that you referred to ended when we parted in Jordan. At that point, it was a political trip for Senator Obama. I think it would have been inappropriate for him and certainly he would have been criticized by the McCain people and the press and probably should have been if on a political trip in Europe paid for by political funds-not the taxpayers-to go, essentially, then and be accused of using our wounded men and women as props for his campaign. I think the judgment there-and I don’t know the facts by the way. I know what you’ve just read. No one has asked me about it other than what you’ve just asked about. But I think it would be totally inappropriate for him on a campaign trip to go to a military hospital and use those soldiers as props. So I think he probably, based on what I know, he did the right thing. We saw troops everywhere we went on the congressional delegation. We went out of our way to see those troops. We wanted to see those troops. And that’s part of our job to see those troops, by the way, and listen to those troops, Bob. And we did.

BOB SCHIEFFER: Do you think that ad was appropriate?

CHUCK HAGEL: I do not think it was appropriate.

BOB SCHIEFFER: You do not.

CHUCK HAGEL: I do not.

First Condoleeza Rice issues a memo to Foreign Service workers and diplomats abroad stating that they are banned from attending Obama’s speech given in Berlin yesterday because they are not allowed to show favoritism for a specific candidate.  Rice issued the memo, all of a sudden, just before Sen. Obama’s arrival in Berlin. 

Now the Pentagon tells Obama that he is not allowed to visit the military hospital as part of a political trip (Pentagon policy) and the McCain campaign (with full knowledge of the Pentagon policy) criticizes Sen. Obama for not visiting the hospital.  Unbelievable!!  Andrea Mitchell from MSNBC explained the situation this morning.

Mitchell:The background on the military flap is that they [Obama campaign] had clearly planned a trip to Ramstein [AFB].  They were planning to visit the injured troops. And then the Pentagon explained that they couldn’t go as part of a political trip.  The Obama campaign thought that they could go, leave the press corps on the tarmac, and then take off with military escort and make this one last visit.  As he did in Iraq, by the way.  He visited a casualty unit in the Green Zone, without photographers, as part of the congressional delegation. But the military said that the rules are that he could only go as part of a previously-arranged congressional delegation, to Ramstein

Clearly, people in the campaign are really angry. They had wanted this to be the final stop on the trip here in Germany, and to do it without the press corps, just to do it on his own.  But the objections of the military are that he is now being staffed by campaign aides, not by his Senate staff, who are the people of course with him when he went with Hagel and Jack Reed in Iraq. So, you know, the anger here in the campaign is pretty intense at the Pentagon. They feel that the military are drawing some lines–they’re not saying this publicly of course–but drawing lines that they might have drawn for other people.  He was planning to just go by himself, not with cameras, not with any entourage, as he had done in Walter Reed in the past in Washington, as he did in Iraq. Joe

JOE SCARBOROUGH: It’s curious, if that’s the case, why the campaign didn’t make that announcement yesterday, and allowed stories to go like this.  I’m sure there’s going to be a lot of he said/she said in the days to come about this.

MITCHELL: But they thought that they couldn’t win. Yeah. They thought that they were, you know, you know, no-win situation, that the Pentagon, perhaps the military with cooperation from some Republican operatives and, that’s the sort of scuttlebutt, that there have been some foreign policy advisers of John McCain with connections in the Pentagon who had something to do with this. But that is, perhaps, just the normal political paranoia of the season

It appears that the McCain campaign may have played a part in this sabotage as well. It is also apparent that the White House has become an inside McCain campaign operative….with our tax dollars by the way. 

If this is not a reason to suspect Sen. John McCain’s judgment I don’t know what is.  Last Monday, Rush Limbaugh suggested on his show that John McCain go out to an oil rig and give a speech in support of his proposal to drill offshore.  A great photo-op said Limbaugh.   Yesterday, all of sudden, the McCain campaign announces that it will be giving a speech from an oil rig to counter Obama’s speech in Berlin. Are you serious???  McCain is taking strategy suggestions from the guy who proclaims himself the leader of the dittoheads…seriously…….I mean seriously!! 

A funny thing happened on the way to the rig.  The actual rig where McCain was set to deliver his speech is very near the 400,000 gallon oil spill that occurred yesterday in the Mississippi River.  There is a time when you have to ask yourself……is the universe trying to tell me something?   I can’t remember when the last time we had an oil spill this big….and the day before McCain campaign is scheduled to give a speech on how offshore drilling is the panacea for solving all our energy problems. 

This is a description of the disaster by a local paper:

Residents in Algiers, Gretna, St. Bernard Parish and Plaquemines Parish are also being asked to conserve water, as water intakes for those communities are closed to prevent contamination of the drinking water supply. Water flowing through the tap is from reserve supplies, which could run out in many areas by afternoon or early evening, officials said.

Oil from the spill is visible along the New Orleans riverfront, with a thick coat of black muck washing up along the rocks near the Moonwalk. Farther away from the bank, the muck broke off into small islands.

A thick blanket of oil stuck to the hull of a Coast Guard cutter patrolling the area between the wrecked barge and the riverfront near the Aquarium of the Americas. The surrounding air there smells like it would near a gas station or in a traffic jam, only stronger.

The McCain campaign claims that the photo-op was cancelled due to weather.  WE THINK NOT!  An oil spill of this magnitude does not exactly bolster McCain’s position for offshore drilling.  Can you say poetic justice??!

Not to mention the fact that this is what happens when you take campaign strategy advice from, of all people, Rush Limbaugh!!  Are you kidding me? 

Why the media is not shining a bright spotlight on these huge lapses by Sen. John McCain is beyond the belief of this writer.  This person is auditioning to run this country for petes sake!!!!  Sen. John McCain has consistently demonstrated his inability to keep track of world events, names, places, past positions, and past statements.  Just last week, McCain released security information regarding Obama’s Middle East trip!  Such a slip is unprecedented in presidential politics, yet the main stream media continues to ignore or treat such gaffes as insignificant.  The MSM continues to rely on McCain’s lengthy history in the Senate and POW status as proof of his competency for the job of President of the United States of America. Yesterday, the Senator accused Obama of wanting “to lose a war in order to win a political campaign.”  Unprecedented!  No presidential candidate in history has ever accused another candidate of such nefariousness. Once, maybe twice, but McCain’s continuous memory lapses, or confusion, or blatant untruths, or all of the above, are causing serious doubts as to whether he is capable of being the next leader of the free world. 

And the latest is a DOOZY! 

In an interview last night with CBS anchor Katie Couric, John McCain made a huge blunder while claiming that Barack Obama does not understand foreign policy.  The IRONY!!!!!

Couric: Senator McCain, Sen. Obama says, while the increased number of U.S. troops contributed to increased security in Iraq, he also credits the Sunni awakening and the Shiite government going after militias. And says that there might have been improved security even without the surge. What’s your response to that?

McCain: I don’t know how you respond to something that is such a false depiction of what actually happened. Colonel McFarlane (phonetic) was contacted by one of the major Sunni sheiks. Because of the surge we were able to go out and protect that sheik and others. And it BEGAN the Anbar awakening. I mean, that’s just a matter of history. Thanks to General Petraeus, our leadership, and the sacrifice of brave young Americans. I mean, to deny that their sacrifice didn’t make possible the success of the surge in Iraq, I think, does a great disservice to young men and women who are serving and have sacrificed.

They were out there. They were protecting these sheiks. We had the Anbar awakening. We now have a government that’s effective. We have a legal system that’s working, although poorly. And we have progress on all fronts, including an incredible measure of security for the people of Iraq. There will still be attacks. Al Qaeda’s not defeated. But the progress has been immense. And to not recognize that, and why it happened, and how it happened, I think is really quite a commentary.

Senator McCain says that it was the SURGE that BEGAN the Anbar Awakening. Well Senator, the Anbar Awakening BEGAN in 2006 and the SURGE did not happen until 2007.  This is a basic fact that even a congressional page is able to grasp.  Yet McCain is unable to recall this basic timeline to make his faulty point that Obama does not understand the significance of the SURGE.  McCain has been pushing how he was right about the SURGE and it is because of the SURGE that violence in Iraq has decreased.  The problem is….McCain seems to have lost track of when the SURGE began.  Had he recalled the proper order of events he may have realized that his point was built on a faulty premise.  The McCain campaign attempts damage control by claiming that McCain’s explanation is in line with General Petraeus’ explanation.  However, Petraeus said that the Anbar Awakening began in 2006 and that the SURGE may have helped the process when it began in 2007.  Had McCain consulted with Gen. Petraeus, like he accuses Obama of not doing, about how and when the Anbar Awakening began, Petraeus could have explained to him that the Awakening began way before even he, Petraeus, came onto the scene and thus at least six months before the SURGE happened.  Side note to Joe Scarborough: apparently you think that viewers should substitute your judgment for that of  Gen. Petraeus.  Scarborough claimed that like the Invasion of Normandi helped during World War II, the SURGE helped the war in Iraq, and it was only the SURGE that caused conditions on the ground to improve.  Wrong.  Your conclusion is incorrect on its face but lets get to the point.  Mr. Scarborough, that is not what John McCain claimed.  And in your failure to grasp the gaffe, you are attempting to introduce a red herring to the argument.  The gaffe is that McCain said that the SURGE BEGAN the Anbar Awakening, not that it helped.  That my friend is a BLUNDER because the ANBAR Awakening BEGAN a year earlier.  Your smug disengeniousness tells this writer that you are attempting to change the focus in order to change the narrative….cover up?  Nice try.

Lets discuss an even bigger story.  Why did CBS fail to report on such a significant gaffe?  CBS edited out McCain’s original response from the video and replaced it with a different answer given by McCain in response to a completely different question.  However,  CBS neglected to delete the Arizona senator’s original response to the question from the transcript. Why would CBS  not report on such a blunder?  Incompetence? Cover-up? I look forward to hearing the network’s explanation. This is irresponsible and incompetent journalism at best and duplicitous at worst.  Absolutely UNBELIEVABLE! 

Write to CBS to express your outrage and demand an explanation.

CBS Email: evening@cbsnews.com

As for McCain, Sen. McCain goaded Obama for weeks to go to the Middle East in his effort to set a trap for the Illinois senator.  Turns out that thus far the trip has been a boon for Obama and backfired on McCain.  The McCain campaign and the RIGHT has been ”whining” all week about the amount of press coverage Sen. Obama is receiving.  Looks like McCain is the candidate that has been caught up during Obama’s Middle East trip.  This is the person whose alleged grasp of foreign affairs and basic political facts has never been questioned or tested, just ASSUMED.

So the Right and the McCain campaign want more media attention on its candidate, this writer agrees.  John McCain definitely needs more media attention and scrutiny.  Message to the McCain campaign……..be careful about what you wish for.

UPDATE x1:  So, the McCain campaign cancelled its press availability for today without giving a reason.  I wonder what happened (snark)?? Ben Smith from Politico notes possible reasons:

He hasn’t explained what he meant by juggling the timeline on the surge and Awakening (though his staff did the best salvage job possible); whether he meant that Obama was deliberately selling out the country; whether he shares his campaign’s grievance with the press; or what he thinks of his staff’s genocide-themed attack.

UPDATE x2:  Apparently, CBS has decided to imploy the don’t believe your lying eyes defense.  Today the network released the following statement in response to the charge of unethical and deceitful journalism. CBS News Senior Vice President Paul Friedman said:

The report was edited under extreme time constraints and one piece of tape was put in the wrong order. Fortunately, this did not in any way distort what Senator McCain was saying.

To claim that its editing did not in any way distort McCain’s answer is insulting to its viewers.

Roll the tape…….Nuff said.

Uh Oh Sen. McCain!  The McCain campaign might not want to continue its narrative of ”the SURGE is working” regarding Iraq.  In the original interview from SpiegelOnline, Maliki fails to mention the SURGE as one of the contributing factors responsible for the decreasing violence in Iraq.

SPIEGEL: In your opinion, which factor has contributed most to bringing calm to the situation in the country?

Maliki: There are many factors, but I see them in the following order. First, there is the political rapprochement we have managed to achieve in central Iraq. This has enabled us, above all, to pull the plug on al-Qaida. Second, there is the progress being made by our security forces. Third, there is the deep sense of abhorrence with which the population has reacted to the atrocities of al-Qaida and the militias. Finally, of course, there is the economic recovery.

Today on the Today Show, Meredith Vieira calls Sen. John McCain on the carpet regarding his criticism of Obama for not holding Afghanistan hearings when he, Sen. McCain, has missed all six Senate hearings held by the Senate Armed Services Committee on Afghanistan of which he has been a member for the last two years.  Vieira pointedly asked McCain “where is your accountability???”   McCain rambled on for a bit about how he has been to Afghanistan a few times and how the SURGE worked.  He continued his ramble, the SURGE is working, completely dodging the question.  Meredith then questioned him about his past statements on the economy and Phil Gramm! He rambled and dodge again.  Even continued talking over Meredith in an obvious attempt to ignore follow-up questions.  Great interview!  Finally, someone in the main stream media wakes up. 
Follow link to video

The hypocrisy of John McCain continued yesterday when he self-righteously accused Obama of not holding a hearing on Afghanistan.  Under the headline: Hearing-Gate Exposed! McCain Has Worse Afghanistan Hearing Record Than Obama, ABC reports that John McCain has a worse record of Afghanistan hearing attendance than Barack Obama ever had.  

ABC Reports: It turns out that presumptive Republican nominee Sen. John McCain has attended even fewer Afghanistan-related Senate hearings over the past two years than Obama’s one. Which is a nice way of saying, McCain, R-Ariz., the top Republican on the Senate Armed Service Committee, has attended zero of his committee’s six hearings on Afghanistan over the last two years.

ABC furter reported: The findings are surprising given the fact that the McCain campaign loudly criticized Obama this week for failing to schedule any hearings on Afghanistan in the last year and a half.  Obama chairs the European Affairs Subcommittee of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which has oversight of military operations in Afghanistan.

The McCain campaign has a lot of chutzpah continuing to criticize Obama over and over again for things that he himself is guilty of.  Does he not realize that all of his statements are easily verifiable?  John McCain has not showed up for a single vote in the Senate since April.

Sen. John McCain made a major foreign policy shift with respect to Afghanistan yesterday when he said that we should transfer US troops from Iraq to Afghanistan.  Prior to yesterday’s change in strategy, McCain had been pushing for NATO to send troops to Afghanistan rather than the US troop transfer that Obama has been proposing for almost a year now.  But wait, Obama’s position has always been to send at least TWO brigades from Iraq to Afghanistan.  Months and months later McCain all of sudden has an epiphany and says, lets send, “THREE brigades from Iraq to Afghanistan.”  McCain changed his policy yesterday after Obama wrote an Op-Ed last Sunday highlighting this approach.  As for who makes the better Commander-in-Chief, it looks like McCain is doing more following than leading in his approach to Iraq and Afghanistan.  Judgment.

There was also another interesting development that occurred last night.  The Bush administration announced that it will be making a major policy direction shift and following Obama’s “naive” foreign policy strategy.  After a year of criticizing Obama for his willingness to meet with our enemies, the Bush administration has decided to do just that…..again!  First, with Korea and now with Iran. Our third highest ranking diplomat, William Burns, will meet with Iran’s top nuclear negotiator.  Up until this point, the Bush administration has refused to even sit down with Iran.  Obama hates to say I told you so.  But he did tell you so.  The disastrous foreign policy of the current administration has resulted in severe consequences to our nation.  It’s nice to see that they are following a sound foreign policy approach for a CHANGE.  Judgment

Yesterday the Senate voted to override the President’s veto on a Medicare bill that would protect doctors from cuts in Medicare payments.  This is the fourth bill to become law over President Bush’s veto.  This is a huge bit of good news for seniors, veterans, and the disabled.  Cuts in physicians Medicare payments would have resulted in an inability of physicians to continue to treat Medicare patients who are made up primarily of seniors and low income.  Has anyone mentioned to McCain that Arizona has a huge senior population that rely heavily on Medicare for obtaining healthcare?  In addition, another significant group that stands to benefit enormously are veterans.  Yet Sen. McCain was nowhere to be found.  What does McCain have against veterans?  This is the second vote significantly affecting veterans that the Arizona senator has failed to support.  He did not support the GI bill and now he did not show up to support this one.  This bill is important to veterans because of Tricare.  Tricare payouts are indexed to Medicare, therefore, if Medicare payments are cut so are Tricare payments.  If the bill had not passed, it would be much more difficult for military families to find doctors that will treat them.  I have said this before but this is still shameful.  Why would McCain not support such an important bill you ask?  Well, it seems that the opposition opposed the bill because it decreases insurance company payouts that were being used by such companies to bankroll increasing physician fees.  This is the reason why Obama is leading McCain in McCain’s home state of Arizona.  The Zogby poll has Obama leading McCain in Arizona 42% to 39%.  McCain actually had to campaign in his own home state this past weekend.

After Phil Gramm last week calling the American people have become”a nation of whiners,” and that the United States was in a “mental recession.”  It is being reported that McCain has released him from his duties. 

It is surprising that McCain chose as one of his top advisers a person that had one of the highest profile, disastrous campaigns in recent history.  Gramm spent 20 million dollars in his 1996 presidential bid to receive a total of 8 delegates.  This is McCain’s top economic advisor and the person who designed McCain’s economic plan? 

Judgment.

Max Bergman listed several reasons why McCain’s candidacy should have ended this week.  One must admit that this week the McCain campaign has made some race-breaking blunders.  Yet the main stream media seems to brush off his mistakes as “McCain being McCain.”  Voters must ask themselves….is this the person that we want representing us to foreign nations and leading our country?  One must also recognize that if Sen. Barack Obama had made even one of these mistakes this race would be over.  This writer appreciates that McCain is perceived as a “maverick” rightly or wrongly.  However, what should concern voters is whether McCain’s judgement can be trusted with respect to this nation’s challenges?  For a voter to make that decision, the voter must examine the candidates decisions and character leading up to the election.  Below are some of McCain’s decisions made in a single week courtesy of Max Bergman.

1. McCain unambiguously called Social Security “an absolute disgrace.” This is not a quote taken out of context. John McCain called one of the most successful and popular government programs, which uses the tax revenues of current workers to support retirement benefits for the elderly “an absolute disgrace.” This is shocking – and if uttered from Obama’s mouth would dominate the news coverage and the Sunday shows, as pundits would speculate about the massive damage the statement would cause him among retirees in Florida.

2. McCain’s top economic policy adviser calls Americans a bunch of “whiners” for being worried about the slumping economy.Words cannot fully explain how devastating this statement should be from Phil Gramm. You would think it would be enough to sink McCain’s campaign. Of course McCain only thinks that the economic problems are psychological.

3. Iraqi leaders call for a timetable for U.S. withdrawal, McCain gets caught in a bizarre denial and flip flop. The Iraqis now want us to begin planning our withdrawal – McCain however wants to stay foooorrreeevvveerrrr. So what does McCain say – First, he refuses to accept Maliki’s statement as being true. Then he concedes that it was an accurate statement, but was probably just a political ploy to curry favor with his own people and WOULD NOT influence his determination to keep US troops in Iraq indefinitely. Yet, McCain in 2004 at the Council on Foreign Relations said that if the Iraqis ask us to leave, we would have to go.  No matter what.  But that was apparently a younger and less experienced John McCain.

But let’s just look at his comment that Maliki’s statement is “just politics.” If that is true, then it must also be true that the American military presence in Iraq is so unpopular with Iraqis that the government is forced to push for a timetable in order to survive at the ballot box. That’s a reason to stay for 100 years.

4. McCain’s economic plan to cut the deficit has no details and is simply not believable.  There are so many things out there.  McCain pledges he would eliminate the deficit by the end of his first term (the campaign latter flip flop flipped about whether it was four years or eight years), but does not provide any details about how he would do it. Economists on both sides of the political aisle said that this was simply not believable, especially given McCain’s other proposals to a) cut individual and corporate taxes even further, b) extend the Bush tax cuts and c) massively increase defense spending on manpower (200,000 more troops) and d) maintain a long-term sizable military presence in Iraq.

5. McCain’s deficit plan includes bringing the troops home represents a major Iraq flip-flop. Speaking of the long-term military presence – a story that has gotten absolutely no attention is that McCain now believes the war will be over soon. The economic forecasts made by his crack team of economists predict that there will be significant savings during McCain’s first term because we will have achieved “victory” in Iraq and Afghanistan. The savings from victory (ie the savings from not having our troops there) will then be used to pay down the deficit. The only way this could have any impact on the deficit in McCain’s first time is if troop withdrawals start very soon.So McCain believes victory is in our grasps and we can begin withdraw troops from Iraq pretty much right away — doesn’t sound that different from Obama’s plan does it. Someone should at least ask McCain HOW HE DEFINES VICTORY – and why he thinks we will achieve it in the next couple of years.

6. McCain campaign misled about economists support. In the major press release the McCain campaign issued to tout its Jobs for America economic plan that would balance the budget in 4 years, it included the signatures of more than 300 economists who the campaign claimed to support the plan. Only problem is that the economists were actually asked to sign up to SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT.  Um, hello?

7. McCain makes a joke about killing Iranians.  Haha… that’s just McCain being McCain. I am sure that is exactly how it is being reported in Tehran. This guy is running for President not to become a talk radio pundit. Yet according to the AP this was just a humanizing moment between candidate and spouse – I am not sure when joking about the deaths of civilians became humanizing.

8. McCain denies, flatly, that he ever said that he is not an expert in economics. Are you kidding?

9. McCain distorts his record on veterans benefits in response to a question from Vietnam Veteran, who then proceeds to call McCain out on it.

10. McCain demonstrates he knows nothing about Afghanistan and Pakistan.McCain said “I think if there is some good news, I think that there is a glimmer of improving relationship between Karzai and the Pakistanis. ” Pat Barry notes how crazy this comment is….”Just what “glimmer” is McCain talking about?? Maybe he’s referring to President Karzai’s remarks last month, which threatened military action in Pakistan if cross-border attacks persisted? Or maybe McCain is talking about Afghanistan’s allegations that Pakistan’s ISI was involved in a recent assassination attempt on Karzai? Maybe in McCain’s world you could call that a silver-lining, but in reality-land I’d call it something else.”

Any one of these incidents and comments would dominate the news cycle if they came from the Obama campaign. Yet McCain barely gets a mention.

Sen. John McCain has been MIA for three very important votes; FISA, Medicare, and the GI bill.  Is it possible that the Senator has decided that he has much more important things to do than his job as a United States Senator?  The Arizona senator was in Ohio yesterday doing a town hall meeting while 90 of his colleagues, including Sen. Ted Kennedy and Sen. Barack Obama, made it to the senate floor to vote on the Medicare bill.  All three previously mentioned bills have serious implications to his Arizonan constituents as well as to the American people. It is perplexing as to why McCain didn’t show up.  Just to put this in perspective, McCain has a history of missing votes.  According to the Washington Post, in 2007 McCain missed 374votes which represents 62 percent of the total votes.  To be fair, Obama missed 263 votes or 43 percent of the total votes.  Still, McCain has missed more votes than a Senator who suffered from a brain hemmorage and spent several months in 2007 recovering.  It’s not just that he missed a significant amount of votes, what is significant is the votes that he missed.  The Senator from Arizona not voting for the Medicare bill????  Where is the focus on the people?  Where is the courage of convictions?

Yesterday, the Senate reversed course and voted to pass a Medicare bill that would avoid deep cuts in Medicare reimbursements for physicians.   McCain not showing up for this vote, when even Sen. Ted Kennedy showed up, is absolutely shameful.  Yes, Sen. Kennedy left his post-surgical sick bed to vote for the reversal of medicare cuts.  McCain’s absenteeism is even more shameful because he is the senator of a state, Arizona, where a significant portion of his constituents (seniors) would be negatively affected by the medicare cuts.  If this bill had not passed, it would have massively decreased medicare benefits for veterans, seniors, and the disabled.  My question to you Sen. McCain is….are you so busy seeking a promotion that you can’t be bothered to do the job that your constituents elected you to do??  Let us know.  McCain’s absence lead many to conclude that he sided with the insurance companies instead of with senior citizens and the military. If the bill had not passed, Medicare fees to physicians would  have been drastically cut and physicians would have lost so much money treating Medicare patients that they would have stopped taking new Medicare patients.  This bill affects real people in their daily lives.  It is a bill that can put the lives and quality of life of  ordinary Americans at risk.  Is this a lower priority to you Sen. McCain?  I guess I can understand how your 200th town hall meeting would be more important.

One of McCain’s colleagues, Pete Stark (D-CA 13), had this to say:

“Senator Kennedy managed to make it back from treatment for cancer, but Senator McCain couldn’t be bothered. Senator McCain, who wants to be our next President, has skipped this vote three times now. Clearly, he’d rather hide than face up to the insurance industry. You can do that when you’re in the U.S. Senate, maybe voters should leave him there.” 

Sen McCain’s position and lack of support for the GI bill is also very disturbing.  The bill increased educational benefits for veterans.  Why on earth would the most famous veteran in America not bother to vote on such an important bill?  And, even though McCain missed the vote on this bill …..he and Pres. Bush took full credit for its passing.  Sen. Jim Webb worked tirelessly to get this bill passed and was THE person responsible for getting it passed.  McCain and Bush did their best to obviate its passing.  McCain was recently called on the carpet for his record of non support of veterans by a fellow Vietnam veteran at a town hall meeting in Denver.  The flustered senator cited a number of veterans organizations that support him in an attempt to dodge the question of why he did not support or vote for three different vet bills.  The derailed talk express.  Oh…and by the way, it turns out that none of the organizations that McCain rattled off support him at all.  Not sure why the Senator continues to make false claims even when confronted with easily verifiable contradictory evidence. 

One other tidbit, when the vote for the Immigration bill came up in May, McCain did deem the Senate with his presence…..for the photo ops!!  Yes, McCain showed up to Capitol Hill, spoke with the press, and left without voting yay or nay on the bill.  Prorities people!! 

John McCain Speech on the Economy 

Thank you very much. I appreciate the hospitality of the National Federation of Independent Business. And I am honored to be in the company of so many men and women who represent the best of American enterprise.

I have never run a small, struggling enterprise — unless you count my presidential campaign last year. But I do know that more than anything else, small businesses are what make the American economy run. You’re the ones who take the risks, often with little start-up money and nothing to fall back on. You are the ones who do most of the innovating in this country, and most of the hiring, too. For women, for immigrants and for people of every background, small businesses are the path to success and to the American dream.

In this very tough time for our economy and for workers and families across our country, job creation among small businesses is crucial. The African-American and the Hispanic-American small business communities are one of the fastest growing segments of our economy. That is a credit to the entrepreneurs of America, and America’s prosperity depends on your success.

Job creation is just one reason why the government should never take the hard work, sacrifices, and earnings of small businesses for granted. As president, my goal will to get our economy running at full strength again. And that starts by supporting small businesses across America.

Now that we know who I will be facing in the general election, the real debate over economic policy can begin. And as you may have heard, Senator Obama and I might well be meeting soon in a series of town hall discussions. Just the two of us, in direct conversation with voters. No need to turn it into a big media-run production with process questions from reporters, a spin room, and all the rest of it. To keep things friendly, I also suggested that my opponent and I travel to these town hall meetings together in the same plane.

Our disagreements in these town hall meetings will be civil and friendly, but they will also be clear for all to see. On tax policy, health-care reform, trade, government spending, and a long list of other issues, we offer very different choices to the American people. And those choices will have very different consequences for American workers and small business owners.

Read the rest of this entry »

Mississippi Republican Senator Thad Cochran recounts a frightening story about John McCain’s negotiation skills.

One of John McCain’s Republican colleagues says he saw the presumed GOP presidential nominee roughly grab an associate of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega and lift him out of his chair during a diplomatic mission to the Central American nation in 1987.

Are you kidding me???

Cochran said he saw McCain, who has a reputation for being hot tempered, rough up an Ortega associate during a trip to Nicaragua led by former Sen. Bob Dole, R-Kan………

“McCain was down at the end of the table and we were talking to the head of the guerrilla group here at this end of the table and I don’t know what attracted my attention,” Cochran said in an interview with the Sun Herald in Biloxi, Miss. “But I saw some kind of quick movement at the bottom of the table and I looked down there and John had reached over and grabbed this guy by the shirt collar and had snatched him up like he was throwing him up out of the chair to tell him what he thought about him or whatever.  I don’t know what he was telling him but I thought, good grief, everybody around here has got guns and we were there on a diplomatic mission. I don’t know what had happened to provoke John but he obviously got mad at the guy and he just reached over there and snatched him.”

Cochran stands by his story.  When asked about it, the Mississippi senator’s spokesperson responded to the Associated Press: “I think his quotes in the Sun Herald speak on that issue.” This explains Sen. Cochran comment to the Sun Herald.

McCain sought to smooth things over with Cochran this year after the Mississippi senator said the idea of McCain as the GOP presidential nominee sent a “chill down his spine.”

We looked up the exact quote, what Cochran said was, “[t]he thought of his being president sends a cold chill down my spine.”  Though Sen. Cochran may now claim that the incident occurred a while ago and McCain has changed,  Cochran made the statement in 2006! 

I guess my post earlier today was pretty much spot on.  Unbelievable!

First, I would like to thank Sen. John McCain for his sacrifice and service to our nation.  He deserves our utmost respect for what he endured and his defense of country.  However, the candidates for President of the United States also deserve our utmost scrutiny before receiving a single vote for the nation’s highest office.  Especially with respect to leadership style and methodology.  Recently, I published a post  listing Sen. McCain’s various approaches to difficult political and personal issues.  As previously stated, I believe that this information is vital in determining whether the Arizona senator should be the next President of the United States.  I have come across additional information profiling the McCain method of dealing with a challenging political issue he faced in his home state of Arizona.  Because McCain is not this writer’s senator, I find illuminating the opinions of the people who know him best.  His fellow Arizona republicans.  This is from the people who have a birds-eye view of how McCain leads.  The leadership of the Arizona GOP have very strong opinions about Sen. McCain and his ability, or inability, to lead.  They are also very dissatisfied with his conservatism.  According to Max Blumenthal of the Nation, Bob Haney, the Republican state committee chairman in Arizona’s 11th District, had this to say:

“People would be calling in to [state committee] headquarters every week, absolutely enraged, threatening to leave the party because of some comments McCain made,’ Haney told me. ‘The guy has no core, his only principle is winning the presidency. He likes to call his campaign the ‘straight talk express.’   Well, down here we call it the ‘forked tongue express.’”. .

Dissatisfied with McCain’s commitment to the state, Haney introduced a resolution to censure the U.S. Senator for “dereliction of his duties and responsibilities as a representative of the citizens of Arizona.”  The resolution was introduced before Arizona’s largest GOP county committee and passed by almost unanimous vote.  That was the wrong move as far as McCain was concerned.  Rather then let stand what was viewed by most as a mere symbolic gesture, McCain wanted revenge.  Target:  Bob Haney and his allies.  McCain recruited a  candidate slate to oust Haney and his allies in that November’s state committee election.  Concerned about a loss and potential rebuke by his party, the Arizona senator put himself on the ballot in effort to makeover his image and increase his odds of winning this battle.  Both McCain and his slate suffered a resounding lost.  Arizona republicans gave their take on McCain’s handling of the situation.

Per Blumenthal: “McCain’s botched revenge has solidified his reputation in Arizona’s Republican circles as a divisive, untrustworthy and even dangerous figure. Haney hopes the general public meets this side of McCain before his penchant for angry reprisals is invested with the powers of the presidency. ‘This just shows that McCain is mentally unstable and out of control and vindictive,’ Haney told me. ‘If he is determined to go through that much trouble to attack a district committee chairman, what does that say about his ability to handle real political problems?”

Yes, what does that say indeed.  Is this the way McCain will handle America’s allies and enemies if they happen to anger him?  Will diplomacy or military might be the first line of defense in a McCain administration?  There are too many instances such as this that raise questions as to his ability to handle, not to mention effectively handle, the litany of challenges facing our nation.  In the Senate, checks and balances on each Senator’s power make it difficult for an individual senator to make a catastrophic blunder.  Not so in the Executive Office.  One word…Iraq.

As a voter, this writer is much more concerned that this person has a fifty percent chance of becoming the next President of the United States.

Again, with so much at stake in this election it is really important to know the temperament of our next Chief Executive.  This will give us as voters an idea of how that person reacts in stressful situations.  See ten additional examples of McCain losing his cool in tense situations

courtesy of jwilkes.

10. Volunteer Campaign Aide

Back on November 5, 1999, the Arizona Republic ran a story about one particular example of McCain’s mistreatment of his own campaign staff, an outburst that would haunt him for years to come. Just hours after McCain was elected to the Senate for the first time, a campaign volunteer was setting up a podium, from which the newly-elected Senator was to deliver a victory speech.  When the 5′9 McCain saw that the podium was being set up to accommodate a taller man, McCain snapped, hurling expletives and epithets at the young aide as members of the press and supporters watched. 

9.  Judy Leiby, Senior Aide to Sen. Dennis DeConcini (D-AZ)

In Ron Kessler’s July 5, 2000 Newsmax piece titled, “McCain’s Out-of-Control Anger: Does He Have the Temperament to Be President?” the author recounted McCain’s encounter with Judy Leiby, a senior member of Senator Dennis DeConcini’s staff.  DeConcini, an Arizona Democrat, had announced his retirement, and McCain had stopped by to wish him well.  Seeing a large crowd, McCain shook the hand of everyone in the office – except Leiby, who had differed with him on a number of issues during her time in DeConcini’s office.  Sensing the awkwardness, one of the other staff members asked McCain if he’d been introduced to Leiby.  “Oh,” he said,  “I know her.”  McCain wheeled back to Leiby and said, “I’m so glad you’re out of a job, and I’ll see to it that you never work again.”  McCain admitted that he’d made the comment, saying that he hadn’t held Leiby in “particularly high esteem.” 

8.  Jim Abbot, Coronado National Forest Supervisor

In the same Newsmax piece mentioned above, Kessler interviewed Jim Abbot, a park ranger who oversaw operations at Coronado National Forest, a large forest located in McCain’s home state.  Abbot had become concerned that construction on a new building at the University of Arizona was threatening some of the park’s endangered wildlife, and petitioned for a temporary halt to construction.  When it was granted, McCain got in touch with him.  “If you don’t cooperate on this project,” he threatened, “you’ll be the shortest tenured supervisor in the history of the Forest Service.” 

7.  Robin Silver, Bob Witzeman – Medical Doctors

Stemming from the issue of construction and the endangered species in Coronado National Forest, McCain received a visit from two doctors who had been involved in local environmental preservation: Robin Silver, and Bob Witzeman.  At the very mention of the matter, McCain exploded, slamming his fists on his desk, scattering papers about the room, and unleashing a tirade of expletives and threats that lasted for 10 minutes.  Silver commented that McCain’s outburst was uncalled for, and McCain apologized. 

6.  Rep. John LeBoutillier (R-NY)

A New York Republican on the House Armed Services Committee, Rep. John LeBoutillier had interviewed McCain in a meeting regarding POWs.  During the meeting, LeBoutillier had placed a tape recorder on the table. Later, LeBoutillier encountered McCain in the course of House business, but McCain refused to speak to him without confirming that he wasn’t tape recording the conversation.  “Are you wired up?” McCain demanded.  Despite LeBoutilliers assertions that he was not, McCain insisted that he lower his pants and prove that he was not wearing any kind of listening device. “He’s a vicious person,” LeBoutillier said of his former colleague. 

5.  Senator Richard Shelby, (R-AL)

In a piece that ran in the January 28, 2000 edition of Investor’s Business Daily titled, “Can McCain Control His Temper?” the editorial board raised the issue of an incident between McCain and another of his Senate colleagues, Republican Richard Shelby of Alabama. Shelby had cast a vote against the nomination of Defense Secretary John Tower, and McCain became enraged, getting an inch away from Shelby’s face.  McCain screamed at him, letting expletives and names fly.  Mcain was “half boasting” when he said, “I was madder than hell when I accosted him.” 

4.  Delegation of Female Air Force Pilots

Former editor of the Arizona Republic, Pat Murphy, wrote a detailed editorial that was carried by a number of different papers in December of 1999.  Murphy pointed to an incident in which a delegation interested in expanding opportunities for female pilots visited McCain at his Senate office back in 1991.  McCain greeted them by calling them “honey,” and “sweetie,” and then proceeded to disparage them, calling them “a bunch of Pat Schroeders.”  Schroeder was a Colorado Democrat who had championed women’s rights issues while in office. 

3.  Diane Smith, a McCain Constituent

Murphy also mentions Diane Smith, a constituent of McCain, who wrote to the Senator to criticize what she perceived as unfair treatment of Anita Hill, the woman who claimed to have been sexually harassed by then-Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas.  McCain personally called the 60 year-old woman and berated her for “questioning [his] integrity.”

2.  Sandra Dowling, Maricopa County School Superintendent

In a 60 Minutes interview with Morley Safer, Sandra Dowling, the Maricopa County (Arizona) superintendent of schools, recounted the time she’d refused McCain’s demand that she retract her support of a political rival of one of McCain’s protégés.  McCain screamed at her, threatening to “destroy” her.  Her son soon thereafter lost his appointment to the US Naval Academy (of which McCain is an alum).  McCain denied any connection, though he sits as an ex officio member of the Board of Visitors. 

1.  NBC

The television network NBC refused to support a television rating system that McCain had proposed be introduced.  McCain wrote to the network’s president, Robert Wright, threatening to work to have the Federal Communications Commission lift NBC licenses on locally-owned stations.

The non-partisan group, the Tax Policy Center, studied the tax plans of both Barack Obama and John McCain.  The group concluded that Obama plan benefits low and middle income families while McCain plan benefits those making 2.5 million or more.  See an excerpt from the analysis below.

The Tax Policy Center 

The two candidates’ plans would have sharply different distributional effects. Senator McCain’s tax cuts would primarily benefit those with very high incomes, almost all of whom would receive large tax cuts that would, on average, raise their after-tax incomes by more than twice the average for all households. Many fewer households at the bottom of the income distribution would get tax cuts and those whose taxes fall would, on average, see their after-tax income rise much less. In marked contrast, Senator Obama offers much larger tax breaks to low- and middle-income taxpayers and would increase taxes on high-income taxpayers. The largest tax cuts, as a share of income, would go to those at the bottom of the income distribution, while taxpayers with the highest income would see their taxes rise.

The impact of the tax code on economic activity under each candidate’s policies would differ in several important ways. With Senator McCain’s proposed policies enacted, the top marginal rates (35 percent on individual income and 25 percent on corporate income) would be significantly lower than under Senator Obama’s plan (39.6 and 35 percent, respectively). McCain’s reduced individual and corporate rates would improve economic efficiency and increase domestic investment, but the larger deficits he would incur to do so would reduce and could completely offset any positive effect. In contrast, Senator Obama’s proposed new tax credits could encourage desirable behavior, particularly if the childless EITC and payroll tax rebate encourage additional labor supply among childless low-income individuals. However, he would also direct new subsidies at an already favored group-seniors -and an already favored activity-borrowing for housing-which could probably be better directed elsewhere.  Read analysis

I am publishing this post because after seven-and-a-half years of cowboy diplomacy, I believe it is important that we the voters know the temperament of the next person who enters the White House as the leader of the free world.  I want to know that in these turbulent times exactly how our next Commander-in-Chief will react when faced with the inconceivable pressures that such a position brings.  The instances below do not come close to what our next President will be faced with upon his entrance to the White House but it does give an indication as to how the Senator reacts in tense and demanding situations.

Courtesy of Jwilkes:

As former GOP Senator Rick Santorum put it, “Everybody has a McCain story.”  Over his tenure in Congress, McCain has had angry, expletive-laced exchanges with a number of his colleagues and peers,- both Democrat and Republican alike- many of which have been covered extensively by local Arizona and nationwide news sources.  Below are the ten most notable among them.

10.         Senator Ted Kennedy – On August 6, 1993, the Boston Globe ran a story detailing a heated verbal exchange between Democratic Senator Ted Kennedy and McCain.  Kennedy was at the lectern delivering remarks, when McCain began walking toward him from across the Senate floor, mocking the Massachusetts legislator.  McCain shouted at Kennedy to “shut up.”  A stunned Kennedy fired back at McCain, telling him, “you shut up…and act like a Senator.” 

9.         Democratic Rep. Marty Russo (D-IL) - In its December 1985 issue, Atlantic Monthly described an altercation that took place just a few years after McCain had been elected to the House for the first time.  Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX) found himself in the crossfire between the two Congressman, who were angrily shouting “seven-letter and twelve-letter” epithets back and forth at one another, when the exchange became violent and they began pushing and shoving one another.  The two were separated from their tangle by a few other legislators who were nearby.

8.         Former Phoenix Mayor Paul Johnson – Newsmax, the “conservative perspective” political publication run by Chris Ruddy, didn’t cut McCain any partisan slack in a July 2006 article, in which it recounted a dust-up between McCain and some local government officials in his home state.  Speaking at a luncheon at which McCain was in attendance, former Phoenix Mayor Paul Johnson was among a group of local mayors fielding questions from the Arizona Congressional delegation about local land issues.  In the midst of one answer from Johnson, who helmed the city from 1990 to 1994, McCain blurted out, “Hold it a minute.  Somebody write down everything this guy has to say.  You know what, we need to record him.  It’s best to get a liar on tape.”

Taken aback, Johnson offered the Senator a chance to speak privately, saying, “Senator, if you have a problem with me, why don’t we go out in the hallway and talk about it.”

McCain fired back: “You’re God-damn right I have a problem with you!  They’ve been treating you like a princess in Phoenix while they’ve been burning me over this damn deal, and I’m sick of it!”

7.         Unidentified GOP Senator – Accounts of McCain’s outburst at a Senate GOP policy lunch has reached near-epic proportion, having been written about by just about every blog and news site from Newsmax, to DailyKos, to the Huffington Post, to Wonkette, and so on.  During a vitriolic exchange between McCain and another unnamed Senator who took a position contrary to that of his colleague from Arizona.  McCain became infuriated, jumping from his chair and calling his fellow Republican a “shithead,” prompting an immediate demand for an apology.  McCain stood up again and issued it…sort of.  “Okay, I apologize,” he said.  “But you’re still a shithead.”

6.         Senator Pete Domenici - Newsweek’s February 21, 2000 edition highlighted an exchange between McCain and Republican Senator Pete Domenici of New Mexico, Chairman of the Budget Committee.  In staunch disagreement with a particular portion of a budget amendment, McCain exploded.  “Only an asshole would put together a budget like that.”  Domenici, who’d been in the Senate nearly 30 years by that point, gave a restrained reply, noting that even in the most heated debated throughout his entire career, no one had ever used that kind of language toward him.  McCain didn’t back down.  “I wouldn’t call you an asshole unless you really were an asshole.”

5.         Unidentified GOP Senator- In 2006, Ron Kessler of Newsmax wrote that much of McCain’s unpopularity in the Senate stems from his 2000 campaign, when the vast majority- in fact, all but four- of his colleagues backed George W. Bush in the GOP primary.  One of McCain’s top aides recounted a telephone conversation between McCain and another Senator, who was explaining that he’d already committed to supporting Bush.  When he finished, McCain bristled.  “Fuck you,” he said, and hung up, never to speak to him again.  

4.         Senator Strom Thurmond – In an article titled “Senator Hothead,” The Washingtonian recounted one particular encounter between McCain and then-92-year-old Senator Strom Thurmond of South Carolina.  McCain was giving an opening statement at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing when Thurmond, the committee chairman, interrupted to inquire as to whether McCain was finished so that the proceedings could be moved along.  McCain glared at Thurmond and thanked him for his “courtesy.”  McCain later confronted Thurmond on the Senate floor, and a “scuffle” ensued.  “The two didn’t part friends.”

3.         Senator Chuck Grassley – The same Newsweekarticle that outlined McCain’s confrontation with Domenici pointed to a similar incident with Republican Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa.  The two were debating issues related to soldiers who had been reported Missing In Action in Vietnam.  After a blistering commentary by McCain, Grassley took offense.  “Are you calling me stupid?” he asked. 

McCain didn’t miss a beat.  “No, I’m calling you a fucking jerk.”

2.         Senator John Cornyn - On May 18, 2007, The Washington Post reported that McCain had locked horns with another one of his GOP colleagues, this time Senator John Cornyn of Texas.  The Comprehensive Immigration Reform Bill of 2007 had caused an enormous rift among Republicans, and the two Senators found themselves on opposite sides. Cornyn objected to a provision of the bill that allowed for what he perceived as too many judicial appeals for illegal immigrants.  McCain called his objections “chicken shit” and accused Cornyn of making petty tactics to sabotage the whole bill.  Cornyn took immediate offense. 

“Wait a second here.  I’ve been sitting in here for all these negotiations and you just parachute in here on the last day.  You’re out of line.”

Then McCain, who’d been spending a lot of time away from Washington on his presidential campaign, got a little more out of line. “Fuck you!” he shouted. “I know more about this than anyone in this room!” McCain apologized shortly afterword.

1.           His Own Wife, Cindy McCain- In his new book, The Real McCain, Cliff Schecter, a journalist and frequent contributor at the Huffington Post related perhaps the most disturbing of McCain’s tirades. During his 2000 White House bid, the Senator was joined on the campaign trail by his wife, Cindy, his aides, and three journalists who spoke to Schecter on condition of anonymity, but independently confirmed each other’s accounts of the incident. Cindy McCain playfully ran her fingers through the Senator’s hair and teased, “You’re getting a little thin up there.” McCain reddened and fired back, “At least I don’t plaster on the makeup like a trollop, you cunt.” After he’d cooled down, McCain apologized, saying he’d had a long day.

Attorney barred in the District of Columbia and California currently looking for opportunities in the private and government sectors.  Specializes in ediscovery/litigation efficiency project management but can do straight litigation or litigation management.  Feel free to contact me with opportunities at progress@progresspolitics.com

Sen. John McCain has reiterated and put in writing the policy of his campaign regarding 527 groups. 

No person with a McCain Campaign title or position may participate in a 527 or other independent entity that makes public communications that support or oppose any presidential candidate.

Yet two top McCain Surrogates Sen. Joe Lieberman and Sen. Lindsay Graham are on the Board of Advisors of the anti-Obama 527 group Veterans For Freedom.  Not only that, but Sen. Graham is using and allegedly helping to frame the messages of the group.  Is McCain and his campaign coordinating with this group in developing its anti-Obama messages in violation of not only McCain’s stated policy but also campaign finance laws?  See time line below.

This is the Vets for Freedom anti-Obama attack ad released on 5/22

Sen. Lindsay Graham Suggestion on 5/25 and Sen. Durban’s response.

Vetsforfreedom Board of Advisors

Pastor John Hagee says that the Holocaust was Hitler’s way of doing God’s will.  After seeking out and pursuing Hagee’s endorsement for a year, John McCain has repeatedly said that he is happy to have the Pastor’s  endorsement.  It has been discovered that Pastor Hagee has a few more skeletons in his closet.  See excerpt from sermon below courtesy of Sam Stein..  What does this say about McCain’s judgment? 

 ”‘And they the hunters should hunt them,’ that will be the Jews. ‘From every mountain and from every hill and from out of the holes of the rocks.’ If that doesn’t describe what Hitler did in the holocaust you can’t see that…..Theodor Herzl is the father of Zionism. He was a Jew who at the turn of the 19th century said, this land is our land, God wants us to live there. So he went to the Jews of Europe and said ‘I want you to come and join me in the land of Israel.’ So few went that Herzl went into depression. Those who came founded Israel; those who did not went through the hell of the holocaust….Then god sent a hunter. A hunter is someone with a gun and he forces you. Hitler was a hunter. And the Bible says — Jeremiah writing — ‘They shall hunt them from every mountain and from every hill and from the holes of the rocks,’ meaning there’s no place to hide. And that might be offensive to some people but don’t let your heart be offended. I didn’t write it, Jeremiah wrote it. It was the truth and it is the truth. How did it happen? Because God allowed it to happen. Why did it happen? Because God said my top priority for the Jewish people is to get them to come back to the land of Israel.”

John McCain was all for talking with Hamas two years ago before he started running for president.  Now the Arizona senator has flip flopped on the double-talk express.  A pattern is developing here.  This was written in response to McCain’s outrageous statement yesterday in support of President Bush’s outrageous and unprecedented comments regarding “appeasement” that Bush made about Sen. Obama on the 60th anniversary of Israel’s independence.  Bush also violated 60 years of uninterrupted american foreign policy in that you do not criticize american foreign policy on foreign soil.  See interview with James Rubin:

RUBIN: “Do you think that American diplomats should be operating the way they have in the past, working with the Palestinian government if Hamas is now in charge?”

McCAIN: “They’re the government; sooner or later we are going to have to deal with them, one way or another, and I understand why this administration and previous administrations had such antipathy towards Hamas because of their dedication to violence and the things that they not only espouse but practice, so . . . but it’s a new reality in the Middle East. I think the lesson is people want security and a decent life and decent future, that they want democracy. Fatah was not giving them that.”