Archives for July 2008
Another Question
I hate the new bookmarks feature that Firefox 3.01 has- any suggestions on a plugin?
Also, how do I stop my computer from going into powersaving mode and prompting me for a pssword every 30 mins?
Finally, the computer came with goodle desktop or something spamming the entire right side of the computer. Is there anything worthwhile there, or should I uninstall it?
And before I head off to dinner, a quick screenshot:
I initially misread the last word in the title of that Mike Memoli post.
Shoot
This upsets me:
Former GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney told 850 KOA Newsradio in Denver that he’s not planning to be on the Republican ticket with John McCain.
In an interview with Dave Logan and Lois Melkonian on The Ride Home, Romney was asked about being number two on the ticket.
He said, “I think there’s some great people he could choose from and I expect he will do that. But I don’t plan on being part of the ticket.”
I know all the bobbleheads are talking about Pawlenty or Crist for McCain as VP, but for some reason I still think he is going to pick Huckabee. I think people are radically underestimating how important it is for McCain to be surrounded by people he likes. Part of the reason his campaign has gone off the rails is because he feels comfortable with a bunch of people who are really leading him astray. For whatever reasons, McCain has become quite comfortable with the fetid bilge that is the right-wing Rove retreads, and that is why his campaign has gone off the rails:
In recent days Senator John McCain has charged that Senator Barack Obama “would rather lose a war in order to win a political campaign,” tarred him as “Dr. No” on energy policy and run advertisements calling him responsible for high gas prices.
The old happy warrior side of Mr. McCain has been eclipsed a bit lately by a much more aggressive, and more negative, Mr. McCain who hammers Mr. Obama repeatedly on policy differences, experience and trustworthiness.
By doing so, Mr. McCain is clearly trying to sow doubts about his younger opponent, and bring him down a peg or two. But some Republicans worry that by going negative so early, and initiating so many of the attacks himself rather than leaving them to others, Mr. McCain risks coming across as angry or partisan in a way that could turn off some independents who have been attracted by his calls for respectful campaigning.
The piece goes on to state they “learned” from the Clinton campaign, and are not waiting to drive up (or attempt to) Obama’s negatives. maybe, but I think it is more than that. McCain is now comfortable with Schmidt and the new staff, and is, as always, insular and thickheaded when he is in his comfort zone. He doesn’t realize the damage he is doing to himself because the people he is surrounded with all are telling him this is what needs to be done. You would think at some point he would begin to realize he is damaging his greatest asset, the media subservience he has enjoyed so far, but he has not yet begun to recognize that problem.
So that is why I think he is going to choose Huckabee. He is comfortable with him, and with McCain, that is all that matters.
Open Thread
Via Glenn, Susie Madrak is having some temporary financial troubles, so if you have a few bucks to spare, go help her out, please. You can donate here.
Also, it is the end of the month, so now would be a good time to chuck some cash to Obama, who will need it to fight the never-ending smears.
If you can spare the money, that would be great.
McMavericky Priorities: GOP Fiscal Conservatism, 2008 Edition
I just love the way our fiscal conservatives have managed the books:
The Bush administration gave details Wednesday on how it plans to borrow the billions of dollars it will need to cope with the soaring budget deficits.
Those plans include raising $27 billion by selling a new 10-year note and a new 30-year bond at the regularly scheduled quarterly auctions to be held next week. The government needs to borrow $171 billion during the current July-September quarter, the second highest quarterly borrowing total on record.
The increased borrowing needs reflect the exploding federal budget deficit which is projected to more than double in size this year and to hit an all-time high of $482 billion in the 2009 budget year.
As a commenter noted, this is like paying off interest on your credit card using… another credit card. And remember, John McCain has admitted to not knowing much about the economy. And, if you look at his current press releases, you can see it isn’t much of a priority for him. A current screenshot:
I have taken the liberty of marking the posts. Of the last 19 press releases, seven have been the McCain smear about Obama not visiting Landstuhl that the mainstream media is now openly calling a lie (and, amusingly enough, the McCain campaign is now calling a lie). Approximately one (1) is about the disastrous deficit.
Before someone accuses me of cherry-picking from the McCain website, let me nip that in the bud. This is from THEIR website. Front and center in the news releases. This is what THEY have chosen to focus on these past few days. Smearing the opposition. That is their main priority as indicated by the things THEY have chosen to release to the press.
Overall, I guess, this is probably a good thing, since McCain has stated several times that he doesn’t know much about the economy. In his one press release about this current financial disaster that has us borrowing at the second-highest rate in history to pay interest on our other debts, McCain states the following:
Strong economic growth is the first step to getting back to a balanced budget. My Jobs for America plan — a comprehensive strategy that includes keeping taxes on individuals, investment, and small businesses where they are today; incentives for businesses to invest more and keep well-paying jobs in this country; and leading to more jobs, higher pay, and — ultimately — growth in revenues.
John McCain’s solution to this crisis is a novel one- tax cuts and smearing the opposition. Attention, media. I just did your job for you. Again.
McMavericky Priorities: GOP Fiscal Conservatism, 2008 EditionPost + Comments (44)
Liar
And the Washington Post says so:
For four days, Sen. John McCain and his allies have accused Sen. Barack Obama of snubbing wounded soldiers by canceling a visit to a military hospital because he could not take reporters with him, despite no evidence that the charge is true.
The attacks are part of a newly aggressive McCain operation whose aim is to portray the Democratic presidential candidate as a craven politician more interested in his image than in ailing soldiers, a senior McCain adviser said. They come despite repeated pledges by the Republican that he will never question his rival’s patriotism.
***The Obama campaign has denied that was the reason he called off the visit. In fact, there is no evidence that he planned to take anyone to the American hospital other than a military adviser, whose status as a campaign staff member sparked last-minute concern among Pentagon officials that the visit would be an improper political event.
***McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds said again yesterday that the Republican’s version of events is correct, and that Obama canceled the visit because he was not allowed to take reporters and cameras into the hospital.
“It is safe to say that, according to press reports, Barack Obama avoided, skipped, canceled the visit because of those reasons,” he said. “We’re not making a leap here.”
Asked repeatedly for the “reports,” Bounds provided three examples, none of which alleged that Obama had wanted to take members of the media to the hospital.
***A reconstruction of the circumstances surrounding Obama’s decision not to visit Landstuhl, based on firsthand reporting from the trip, shows that his campaign never contemplated taking the media with him.
Excellent work, Steve Schmidt. You now have the WaPo calling your candidate a liar because of a hit ad that you designed for… media consumption only. Additionally, this is bad for the future McCain campaign efforts because they have now called all those reporters questioning their claims liars, because they were there, first-hand, and know that the McCain camp is making things up. Finally, nothing better than disgracing your spokesman, forcing him to lie several times. Well played.
The McCain campaign forgot one basic thing on this attempted smear- the ego of the reporters and the mainstream media. These folks are fine with printing any lie you can come up with, as long as they have plausible deniability. You can feed them all sorts of shit about someone possessing WMD, or about Obama being Muslim, etc., so long as you cite unnamed sources or undisclosed sources in the government or anonymous experts, and you leave the blame somewhere else. They will print any old rumor if you do that.
But when you try to make them part of the lie, you just can’t get away with it. They were there on the trip- and the McCain idiots tried to make them part of the lie. And they might have gotten away with it had the Obama camp not fought back and had Andrea Mitchell not started the groundswell of media pushback. Now, when the McCain team tries to spread this lie, the egos in the media see it as an attack on their integrity, because they are named accomplices if they do not push back. Again, the ego of the media is the most important thing, and the McCain geniuses forgot it.
One small caveat- this is actual reporters at the Washington Post. I have no doubt that Richard Cohen or one of the other defenders of the prevailing narrative, the Hiatt hacks, if you will, will no doubt attack Obama on the op-ed pages for not visiting the troops. It will probably happen in October, right before the election, when it will be too difficult to re-fight the lie again. That is just how they roll.
That Explains A Lot
Ahem:
Before Ron Fournier returned to The Associated Press in March 2007, the veteran political reporter had another professional suitor: John McCain’s presidential campaign.
In October 2006, the McCain team approached Fournier about joining the fledgling operation, according to a source with knowledge of the talks. In the months that followed, said a source, Fournier spoke about the job possibility with members of McCain’s inner circle, including political aides Mark Salter, John Weaver and Rick Davis.
Salter, who remains a top McCain adviser, said in an e-mail to Politico that Fournier was considered for “a senior advisory role” in communications.
“He did us the courtesy of considering the offer before politely declining it,” Salter said.
A reminder of Ron Fournier’s greatest hits can be found here at the Carpetbagger, but personally, this is my favorite:
Karl Rove exchanged e-mails about Pat Tillman with Associated Press reporter Ron Fournier, under the subject line “H-E-R-O.” In response to Mr. Fournier’s e-mail, Mr. Rove asked, “How does our country continue to produce men and women like this,” to which Mr. Fournier replied, “The Lord creates men and women like this all over the world. But only the great and free countries allow them to flourish. Keep up the fight.”
He would fit right in with the Rove proteges at the McCain campaign.