Rats from a Sinking Ship

Not much time today, so here are a few links:

Congressman Mark Kirk from Illinois is a bundler for the McCain campaign. He's the first elected official to publicly voice concerns about SlickSarah.

It's so common that it's not news any more, but McCain gets "testy" with the media...and mis-states (oops, lies?) yet again. HuffPost

In case you missed the fact that Maureen Dowd was banned from the McCain plane, here's an excerpt of her thoughts on the matter. Couldn't have said it better myself. Slick=Cheney in a skirt; McShame=Cheney in a shirt.
"It was disappointing because I didn't think John McCain would ever be as dismissive of the First Amendment as Dick Cheney."

Bill's smokin' (no, he didn't inhale this time)...
And though (Clinton) repeated his mantra that Democrats don't have to "say one bad word" about their Republican opponents to win the election, Clinton actually snuck in a dig against Sarah Palin.

"So (Barack's) got a better philosophy. He's got better answers. He's got a better understanding, and better advisers on these complex economic matters. He's got a better vice presidential partner," More here.

Polls are lookin' good for Barack and Joe.

Gotta run...check out HuffPost and ThePoliticalCarnival for other goodies including:

• McCain claims to look to Slick for foreign policy advice - now, THAT's reassuring,
• New RapeKit ad
• Being gay is a choice (SlickS)
• And more...
  

WOW...and from FOX (FIXED?) News

And, from CNN via HuffPo:
Who Did the Best Job In the Debate?

Obama 51%
McCain 38%

Who Would Better Handle Economy?
Obama 58%
McCain 37%

Who Would Better Handle Iraq?
Obama 52%
McCain 47%

GObama!

Adolescents at Play

Yesterday it hit me why the repubs and this bailout are so offensive. They remind me of adolescent boys - "you can't tell me what to do!...oh, Dad, I wrecked the car now you have to pay to get it fixed."

On the "you can't tell me what to do front, this post via the NYTimes
Senator John McCain’s campaign manager was paid more than $30,000 a month for five years as president of an advocacy group set up by the mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to defend them against stricter regulations, current and former officials say....The value that he brought to the relationship was the closeness to Senator McCain and the possibility that Senator McCain was going to run for president again,” said Robert McCarson, a former spokesman for Fannie Mae..."

And, we have only to look at China to see what "less regulation" gets us - 13,000 sick babies because of melamine in their formula, lead paint on children's toys and tainted prescriptions. Less regulation, my @$$.

Well at least the Dems are developing some backbone about it. Nancy Pelosi:
“We will not simply hand over a $700 billion blank check to Wall Street and hope for a better outcome. Democrats will act responsibly to insulate Main Street from Wall Street."

I love Warren Buffet (who, not long ago, chided the repubs because he pays lower taxes than his secretary)! Read his 2003 warning about this collapse.

George Will (really? George Will, the conservative??) said yesterday that McCain looked "unpresidential" last week. On the other hand, Obama was comfortable, conversant and presidential. The result: "Tellingly, three former SEC chairmen, a Democrat, Arthur Levitt, and two Republicans, David Ruder and Bill Donaldson, have endorsed Obama."

By the way, shouldn't we be going after the Wall St high rollers' assets to defray the cost of the bailout?

And, did anyone else notice the difference between McCain's comments and Obama's on 60 Minutes last night? McCain's actions as president would be to take the political office out of the White House (commendable, but pretty irrelevant at the moment). Obama laid out clear actions on the national and international stage. Take your pick of Google links about the interviews.

Gobama!!

Flip Flop - And Payoff

I loved when at the DNC "candidate" McCain was compared with "Senator" McCain (I can't remember whose speech it was - need more blueberries). Anyway, the CarpetbaggerReport lists 76 issues on which McCain has flipped his positions. They are categorized into areas including:

• National Security
• Foreign Policy
• Domestic Policy
  
• and more.

I sure hope the Obama/Biden campaign will find this website for the inevitable and stale flip-flop attack that is bound to come from the repubs. Seventy six!! Scary.

Now, take a look at this analysis of the proposed bailout of the economy. Here's an excerpt:

• No one who foresaw the crisis, such as Krugman or Stiglitz, is involved in making the plan to fix it.

• The man overseeing the bailout is the ex-CEO of Goldman Sachs, a Wall Street Company. He helped cause the crisis.
• Paulson helped obtain the SEC exemption which allowed brokerages to increase leverage to 60:1 from 12:1.

Folks we really have to get active! Work for Obama/Biden this week.
www.barackobama.com

What I'm Seeing Tonight

"Lies, lies, everywhere are lies" FactCheck.org slams McCain for another ad that lies about Obama's tax proposals.
"In what has become an ongoing theme, the McCain-Palin campaign has released yet another ad that makes false claims about Barack Obama's tax plan."

Very cool polling site shows Obama has regained the lead: http://www.fivethirtyeight.com/

Questions about McCain's fitness. It began last week with a group of docs requesting full release of his medical records and continues in light of his daily flips on issues. What else could he do when the fundamentals (pun intended) of the Republican platform (trickle-down economics and free markets) have brought us to this financial crisis.

Check out the REAL McCain. These 5 videos are something!

The absolute BEST overall assessment of the pro-Palin propaganda makes for a VERY funny take on all the praise the repubs are heaping on Palin. Watch out Joe!

More direct talk from Barack...




...and Joe

"I’ve done a lot of press, I’ve done, I don’t know, I was told I did 68, 70 press conferences, and the person says, "What do you think about Sarah Palin?" I said, “When she does three, I’ll let you know." I don’t know! I don’t have any idea! I don’t know! I don’t know!" Biden said as the crowd rose to their feet.

"You know, I mean, look, and it’s not, look guys, it’s not just Sarah Palin," he continued. "When’s the last time John, when’s the last time John’s had a press conference? I’m serious.”

Biden then turned to Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland, who introduced him.

"Ted, you and I know, when an elected official stops having press conferences, it ain’t because he’s found a way to communicate," Biden said. "It’s because he doesn’t want to communicate. Look folks, I mean, I, I, it’s just, if I sound angry it’s because I am angry. I mean, it’s like I don’t get it, I don’t get it!”

Hagel: Palin Has NO Foreign Policy Credentials

BREAKING NEWS

"Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska on Wednesday became the nation's most prominent Republican officeholder to publicly question whether Sarah Palin has the experience to serve as president.

"She doesn't have any foreign policy credentials," Hagel said in an interview. "You get a passport for the first time in your life last year? I mean, I don't know what you can say. You can't say anything."

... Palin has cited the proximity of Alaska to Russia as evidence of her international experience.

Hagel scoffed at that notion.

"I think they ought to be just honest about it and stop the nonsense about, 'I look out my window and I see Russia and so therefore I know something about Russia,'" he said. "That kind of thing is insulting to the American people."

Read the whole story.

Obama/Biden '08

The Non-Answer Answers

I've been writing to the media about what I consider misguided attempts at "fair and balanced" coverage. For example, after the Obama campaign released an ad pointing to McCain's career-long votes against equal pay, the media repeated the campaign's allegation that women in McC's senate office make more than those in Obama's. To me, an accurate media portrayal would be: when asked about the ad, the McC campaign had no facts to rebut it.

Here's another example of a non-answer, answer from the McC/SP "town hall" yesterday (which, unlike former meetings only permitted pre-ticketed supporters to attend). As you read, please note these things.

1. Palin never responded to the questions about "specific skills".
2. Palin never answered the implied question about foreign policy experience.
3. McCain had to get her back to her scripted talking points about energy = foreign policy and a son heading to Iraq = foreign policy experience. (Boy am I glad he didn't repeat the "we can see Alaska" line.
4. AND, drum roll, please - don't we women rail agains the sexism of men having to remake our points for us. Oh, John, you just don't get women!
   

But one woman challenged Palin on her qualifications.

“Gov. Palin, there has been quite a bit of discussion about your perceived lack of foreign policy experience, and I want to give you your chance,” the questioner said. “If you could please respond to that criticism and give us specific skills that you think you have to bring to the White House to rebut that or mitigate that concern.”

Palin replied at first by saying that opponents look for things to criticize her about because she is a “Washington outsider.” As for her credentials, she did not offer anything specific but asserted she will be prepared for the job by the time she assumes it — suggesting, perhaps, that the four months between now and then will add to her knowledge.

“As for foreign policy, you know I think that I am prepared and I know that on Jan. 20, if we are so blessed as to be sworn into office as your president and vice president, certainly we’ll be ready. I’ll be ready. I have that confidence. I have that readiness.”

McCain jumped in after that to tout her experience with energy issues, saying that dependence on foreign oil is one of the greatest threats to U.S. national security. He also suggested she was prepared because her son is headed off to serve in Iraq." SOURCE: the conservative WSJ

I don't watch TV, so I don't know how the MSM is covering the dissembling, but the blogsphere is ripping into the repubs as are some noted conservatives.

Obama/Biden '08