Is there anything that the pharmaceutical giants WON'T do to sell their product?

I feel very disturbed right now.

We've all heard all those drug ads on television:

Why continue to suffer with painful and debilitating hemorrhoids? Live a hemorrhoid-free life with new Putridex, from Glutton Pharmaceuticals.

Be advised that not everyone should take Putridex. Women who are pregnant or nursing or may become pregnant should not take Putridex. Neither should anyone under 30 or older than 35. Side effects may include nausea, diarrhea, upset stomach, vomiting, dizziness, dandruff, rabies, scabies, bari-bari, scurvy, hair loss, gangrene, gout, hiccups, sexual dysfunction, loss of appetite, gallstones, kidneystones, blindness, insanity and an uncontrollable desire to play golf with Jack Abramoff.' So next time you visit your doctor be sure to ask about Putridex. Ask for it by name.

You know the gig. But if you are reading this you are also probably an adult. You know that what is advertised on television should always be taken with a grain of salt. You know that all these medical advertisements are out there not necessarily to educate you, but because pharmaceutical companies have figured out that one way to get customers to buy their products is through direct marketing in which the customer, based mainly on the information in the ad, decides on their own course of treatment and gets their physician to write a prescription for that particular product instead of a competing or generic drug that may do the same thing.

But this is what bothered me-- my 12 year old came to me a few minutes ago, scared to death of getting meningitis, having just heard it will kill rapidly and asking if she could be vaccinated with a product called menactra (I had to look it up.) And do you know where she saw the commercial? ON NICKELODEON! She and her sister it turns out were watching Spongebob Squarepants and that was the commercial that came up.

Now, I have no problem with protecting my kids against deadly diseases (meningitis certainly included.) Two years ago I made a point of going to their doctor and insisting that both of my daughters get the HPV vaccinations that may someday prevent them from getting cervical cancer.

However I have a real problem with a pharmaceutical company (in this case an outfit called Sanofi Pasteur) pushing drugs-- any kind of drugs on kids, and in particular by scaring them about getting a deadly disease. While I don't discount the information in the ad or the need to protect kids (and I certainly intend to have them vaccinated against meningitis sometime before they go to college) I really feel that scaring kids into asking their parents for a shot is unethical.

Of course lots of companies advertise their wares to children. I've become used to telling my kids 'no' by now when they come and ask me for the New Nuclear Barbie (decontamination suit that glows in the dark). That's to be expected, I suppose. But pushing vaccines and drugs is over the line, and I hope I'm not the only one who thinks that way. I might add as a parent this gives me a dilemma. Do I tell my daughter she can't have the vaccine (meaning that she now thinks I'm willing to risk her death to save a few bucks) or do I get it (meaning they've now succeeded in writing my household budget for me by manipulating my twelve year old.)

I intend to contact NICKELODEON once their offices open tomorrow and let them know how I feel. If they are going to show kids programming they should categorically reject any ads from pharmaceutical companies (I'm sure there is precedent for this-- can you imagine for example watching Spongebob and seeing an ad for, say, Budweiser?)

Alaskan Road To Ruin

Alaska Senator Ted Stevens has been indicted on seven counts of failing to report more than $250,000 in gifts and has resigned from two committees, stepping down as ranking member of both the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee and the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense. Now, Ted Stevens' Senate seat is in serious jeopardy. His indictment might not only hurt his chances of being re-elected, but also squash the GOP hopes for a gaining back a majority in the Senate.

How did Ted Stevens get from the Bridge to Nowhere to the Road to Ruin? Let Kate Klonick give you a guided tour:

The Ted Stevens' Road to Ruin

We've had a lot of coverage today at TPMmuckraker on the freshly indicted Sen. Ted Stevens (R), but we've actually been following Uncle Ted and his son, Ben, here at TPMm for more than a year.

So for the benefit of our readers we thought we'd wrap it up into one neat little package so you can see how an 84 year-old U.S. Senator can go from free gas grills to federal indictment.

Ladies and gentleman, we present:

The Ted Stevens' Road to Ruin, the ultimate in Ted Stevens' timelines.

DoJ Politicization

Conyers, Sanchez Consider Criminal Referral Concerning DoJ Politicization Report

House Judiciary Committee - Chairman John Conyers:

"Today's report describes ‘systematic’ violations of federal law by several former leaders of the Department of Justice," said Conyers. "Apparently, the political screening was so pervasive that even qualified Republican applicants were rejected from Department positions because they were ‘not Republican enough’ for Monica Goodling and others. The report also makes clear that the cost to our nation of these apparent crimes was severe, as qualified individuals were rejected for key positions in the fight against terrorism and other critical Department jobs for no reason other than political whim. The Report also indicates that Monica Goodling, Kyle Sampson, and Alberto Gonzales may have lied to the Congress about these matters. I have directed my staff to closely review this matter and to consider whether a criminal referral for perjury is needed."

“The House Judiciary Committee’s investigation into the politicization of the Department of Justice has been criticized by the Minority as a fishing expedition that has caught no fish," said Sánchez. “This report, which found that Monica Goodling and many other Justice Department officials committed misconduct by violating both federal law and Department policy, adds to a growing public record that this Administration has tainted our system of justice.” [snip]

On Inspector General And Office Of Professional Responsibility Report On Politicization At The Department Of Justice

Senate Judiciary Committee - Chairman Patrick Leahy:

“Today’s report from the Inspector General and the Office of Professional Responsibility about their investigation into improper political influence in the hiring of attorneys for key career positions throughout the Department of Justice provides a close examination of another troubling chapter at the Department. The policies and attitudes of this administration encouraged politicization of the Department and permitted these excesses. It is now clear that these politically-rooted actions were widespread, and could not have been done without at least the tacit approval of senior Department officials.

“The report reveals decisions to reject qualified, experienced applicants to work on counterterrorism issues in favor of a less experienced attorney on the basis of political ideology. Rather than strengthening our national security, the Department of Justice appears to have bent to the political will of the administration. Further, the report reveals that the ‘principal source’ for politically vetted candidates considered for important positions as immigration judges was the White House– a clear indication of the untoward political influence of the Bush administration on traditionally non-political appointments. The report finds that this politicization caused delays in filling immigration judge positions just as the workload and importance of those judges was increasing. The report documents similar improper politicization in the hiring of career attorneys to crucial positions throughout the Department.

“Like some in the administration who would place blame for the actions at Abu Ghraib solely onto the shoulders of a few bad apples, the Attorney General has tried to dismiss the Inspector General’s first report on politicization issued last month as documenting the actions of just a few bad apples. But it was obvious from that first report, and becomes more so with this second joint IG/OPR report, that the problems of politicization at the Department are rooted deeper than that. In this report, we once again see that the Bush administration has allowed politics to affect and infect the nation’s chief law enforcement agency’s priorities. [snip]

Sunshiny Delight

Let me enjoy the earth no less
Because the all-enacting Might
That fashioned forth its loveliness
Had other aims than my delight.
~Thomas Hardy

Get Thee To A Nuttery

Friday: “I think it’s a pretty good timetable”

[ 0:44 ]
Sunday: “I didn’t use the word timetable”



[ 2:42 ]
McCain Denies He Used The Word 'Timetable'

Think Progress:

Later in the interview, McCain claimed he was right in his pre-war prediction that America would be “greeted as liberators.”

- - - - -

Thrown off by the converging political consensus around a timetable for withdrawal, McCain can’t seem to figure out what his position on Iraq is. First, he denied that the Iraqis wanted the U.S. to leave on a timetable, then he said that Maliki had floated “a pretty good timetable.” Defending his shifts today, he claimed, “Anything sounds good to me.”

Obama, U.S. troops, and two bogus smears

Carpetbagger Report:

There are two competing, conservative, anti-Obama smears going on at the same time regarding Barack Obama, his trip last week overseas, and U.S. troops. Both are completely wrong.

The first is the basis of the McCain campaign’s new television ad, which argues that Obama blew off wounded troops to go to the gym, because the Pentagon “wouldn’t allow him to bring cameras.” This is, as we discussed this morning, a blatant and disgusting lie.

The second is an email that’s making the rounds in far-right circles, ostensibly written by a National Guardsman stationed in Afghanistan.

- - - - -

All of this has been added to the Obama campaign’s “Fight the Smears” site.

When the email arrives in your inbox from your crazed, right-wing family member, feel free to set the record straight. It may not do any good, but it’s probably good to have the information on hand anyway.

About that gym visit cited in McCain's new ad:

Obama was shooting hoops in KUWAIT! Sheesh!



Kuwait: Obama Hoops w/ Troops [ 1:05 ]

Whiner McSame's Delusions

If The Media Isn't Too Busy...

BarbinMD:

There has been a lot of attention paid to John McCain’s apparent flip-flop yesterday on timetables for withdrawal from Iraq, and given his frequent attacks on Barack Obama’s call for a 16 month timetable (or if you prefer, horizon), McCain’s words were rather stunning:

BLITZER: So why do you think he said that 16 months is basically a pretty good timetable?

McCAIN: He said it’s a pretty good timetable based on conditions on the ground. I think it’s a pretty good timetable, as we should — or horizons for withdrawal. But they have to be based on conditions on the ground.

But why don't we just add this to his ever growing list of flip-flops since McCain will dismiss any questions on this about-face and the media will go along with whatever he says because he is the foreign policy expert (despite his confusion or outright lies about his past statements on the war, Sunnis, Shiites, Iran and the Anbar Awakening). But since McCain has spent the past week whining about the press, perhaps the media could oblige him with some primetime coverage and ask him to clarify a couple of other comments he made during yesterday’s interview. None that would call into question his foreign policy expertise, of course. After all, he was a P.O.W. nearly 40 years ago. But just to have him clear up a couple of points he made. [snip]

John McCain wants more media coverage, so by all means, bring it on.

McCain: We won the Iraqi civil war

smintheus:

Ever since Nouri al-Maliki endorsed Barack Obama's plan to withdraw most US troops from Iraq within about 16 months, John McCain has been agitatedly trying to find a cloud in the silver lining. He's opted to belittle Obama's judgment for opposing the "surge" - implying somehow that the US has won the sectarian civil war by placing more troops in the middle of it. What we won is left unclear, but whatever it is McCain is keen to take the credit.

Bullshistory: a timeline

Kevin Holsinger


The Truth About John McCain

Texas Cowboy


Nice Trick

dday:

I guess conservative bloggers are pitching a fit because Obama didn't pay his respects to the troops at Landstuhl AFB in Germany. That might be because the Pentagon nixed it. [snip]

This of course, won't stop anyone, including McCain, from making it an issue.

It is a nice trick by the supposedly apolitical Pentagon, however. Allow Obama to plan a trip to the Air Force base, then lay down the rules at a time when Obama has no choice but to cancel it, and then watch the political fur fly.

Political Participation - The Real Fascism

dday:

Jesse Taylor at Pandagon had a remarkably insightful piece today about the wingnut carping over the Barack Obama speech in Berlin, the media reaction, and his popularity generally. I really think this is important to understand. The right has always held a goal of minimizing political participation; normally this is done through voter suppression, onerous voter ID or ballot access laws, and generally disenfranchising those for whom it is hardest to engage in the process. Now they've taken it a step further, basically planting the seed that ANY participation whatsoever, not just voting but showing up for a rally or working a phone bank or donating money, is toxic and inherently fascistic. Because their deficit in this election year is enthusiasm, they're trying to make such support and excitement untenable. [snip]

Yep. And because McCain is running such an awful campaign, conservatives must then rationalize that there's something deeply wrong with the popular and competent campaign that Barack Obama is running. [snip]

But that's all subtext, of course. The idea is to create the connection between large crowds and enthralled supporters in the 1930s and in the Obama campaign today. And that is meant to induce feelings of revulsion and shame, not just in those voters who are more passive and see these images on television, but among the very participants themselves. Going to an Obama rally? You're a mindless pawn. Send him money? You are funding a cult. Work on his behalf? You have drank the Kool-Aid and are pathologically creepy. [snip]

Entertaining, but also dangerous. They're taking a hip campaign and trying to make it radioactive. Those silent masses could easily be turned off by something they are browbeaten into considering the work of wild-eyed cultists. It's absurd, but it can be effective if we don't head it off. With growing numbers of the politically active and engaged, the Republican Party withers and dies.

Codpiece Delusion

Digby:

Like so many of you, I have long thought that electing McCain is a third Bush term. His differences in policy really are minimal and his temperament is equally arrogant and angry. What I didn't realize until recently is that he's equally delusional. That's the Bush trifecta. [snip]

So McCain has gone from a heroic prisoner of war who survived to tell the tale to someone who "knows how to win wars." But then, why not? Bush was hailed as the second coming of Winston Churchill because he made a speech that included the word "axis" in it.

McCain is getting crispy. He attacked Obama in a really ugly way by saying that he's willing to "lose a war to win an election" and now he's telling everyone he knows how to win them. This is delusional. Codpiece delusional. McCain has never "won" a war. [snip]

This type of personality can be brave but they aren't leaders. In fact, they are temperamentally completely unsuited to be leaders. The fact that both of these men feel the need to baldly state that they "know how to lead" should be a tip-off. That's something people can sense and see and it doesn't need to be articulated.

McCain is just like George W. Bush, only old.

Younger Than Springtime

Digby:

I love this. Via Maha, I see that right wingers are now arguing that Obama is too young to be president. The man is 47 years old. Old enough to be a grandfather. (But hey, I'm only four years older than him and I've been feeling pretty damned old lately so this is good news. I feel young again!) [snip]

I think, frankly, we should stop worrying about age and gender and race and the rest and start thinking about IQ. Bush is quite clearly on the lower end of the scale, no matter what age he is, and I'm seeing some quite serious signs that McCain's lousy record at the Naval Academy wasn't due to his carousing.

I'm not saying you have to be a genius to be president but you should have to meet some kind of intellectual thresh hold to be considered for the job. We've see how badly it can turn out when you ignore the fact that the president is a blithering idiot, no matter what the age. I'll take a thoughtful, intellectual, young person over a hidebound, rigid, intellectually deficient older jackass any day. They are, after all, the ones who have fucked things up to kingdom come.

Boorish Media Hate Jocks

Boor: someone who behaves in a crass, insensitive, or ill-mannered way

Boorish: uncultured, rude, ill-mannered, impolite, coarse, rough, loutish, uncouth, crude, ignorant, churlish, base

See also: Shock Jock Savage Spews Hate...

McSame Mud Slinging, Stone Throwing Campaign

John McCain's week-long temper tantrum

John Aravosis:

You won't like him when he's angry.

• McCain Ad: Obama Is Responsible For Rising Gas Prices. [AP, 7/21/08]
  
  
  
• McCain Ad: Obama Voted Against Funding For Our Troops. [Politifact, 7/21/08]
  
  
  
• McCain Said That "Obama Would Rather Lose A War In Order To Win A Political Campaign" [Joe Klein, Time Magazine, 7/22/08]
  
  
  
• McCain Web Ad Linked Obama To Castro. [Politico, 7/24/08]
  
  
  
• McCain Adviser Said That The Obama Campaign's Attempt To Point Out That McCain Had His Facts Wrong On The Anbar Awakening Undermines "The American Troops And Their Sacrifice And Their Effort." [Talking Points Memo, 7/23/08]
  
  
  
• The McCain Campaign Implied That Obama's Commitment To Preventing Genocide Was Not Sincere And Attacked Him For His Comments At An Appearance At The Israeli Holocaust Memorial. [Huffington Post, 7/23/08; McCain release, 7/23/08]
  
  
  
• McCain's Campaign Released A Video Documentary Attacking Obama That Concludes That Obama's Position On Iraq Are Shaped By "Whatever The Politics Demand." [McCain release, 7/17/08]
  
  
  
• McCain Said Obama Has The "Most Extreme" Record In The Senate And When Asked If He Though McCain Was A Socialist, Said "I Don't Know." [Kansas City Star, 7/18/08]
  
  
  
• McCain Aides Said They Have Every Intention Of Continuing Their Attacks On Obama On His Overseas Trip. [CNN, 7/19/08]
  
  
  
• McCain Said Obama Is "Someone Who Has No Military Experience Whatsoever." [Politico, 7/21/08]
  
  
  

McCain's Foreign Policy Frustration

Joe Klein, Time:

You could see McCain's frustration building as Barack Obama traipsed elegantly through the Middle East while the pillars of McCain's bellicose regional policy crumbled in his wake. It wasn't only that the Iraqi government seemed to take Obama's side in the debate over when U.S. forces should leave (sooner rather than later). McCain was being undermined in Washington as well, by his old pal George W. Bush, who seemed to take Obama's side in the debate about whether to talk to Iran. Bush sent a ranking U.S. diplomat to negotiate with the Iranians on nuclear issues — and also let it be known that a U.S. Interests Section could soon be established in Tehran, the first U.S. diplomatic presence on Iranian soil since the 1979 hostage crisis. [snip]

McCain's greatest claim to the presidency — his overseas expertise — now seems squandered. He has appeared brittle and inflexible, slow to adapt to changes on the ground, slow to grasp the full implications not only of the improving situation in Iraq but also of the worsening situation in Afghanistan and especially Pakistan. Some will say this behavior raises questions about his age. I'll leave those to gerontologists. A more obvious explanation is that McCain has straitjacketed himself in an ideology focused more on enemies (real and imagined) than on opportunities. "It is impossible to ignore the many striking parallels between [McCain] and the so-called neoconservatives (many of whom are vocal and visible supporters of his candidacy)," writes the Democratic diplomat Richard Holbrooke in a forthcoming issue of Foreign Affairs. "I don't know if John has become a neocon," says a longtime friend of the Senator's, "but he sure has surrounded himself with them."

From a glass house, the straight talker throws stones

Alex Koppelman, Salon War Room:

Remember when the right was complaining about the fact that Barack Obama's overseas trip was getting more coverage than John McCain's three recent overseas ventures had? Well, now the rhetoric has shifted, and the McCain campaign is slamming Obama for going abroad at all. In an interview he gave to NBC, McCain specifically questioned Obama's decision to give a speech in Berlin.

"I would rather speak at a rally or a political gathering anyplace outside of the country after I am president of the United States," McCain said during the interview, which will air Thursday night. "But that's a judgment that Sen. Obama and the American people will make."

Considering those three supposedly undercovered trips McCain went on, think there might be some hypocrisy at work? You bet.

Full Text Of Obama's Berlin Speech

Mr. Negative

Pay attention to the candidates for a week. One of them is laying out ideas and plans for the future, talking about what needs to be done both in America and around the world and what he will do.

The other candidate is mainly talking about his opponent.

Guess which is which?

John McCain actually caught a break this week when the New York Times refused to publish his letter to them after they had published Senator Obama's letter. The reason was because McCain's letter was not, unlike Obama's, a thoughtful treatise on how to improve things, but rather was just another attack. And if it had been published it would have gone together with the rest of the steady stream of attacks that Senator McCain has been leveling (instead of actually plugging himself) over the past week or so. In fact the refusal by the NYT became a net plus for McCain. There is nothing that seems to rally the nutbag right behind a candidate faster than being attacked or otherwise dumped on by the New York Times. But had the letter been published it would have made it clear that McCain's main tactic in the election is to impugn Senator Obama, with little else he can say.

Now, granted this is a campaign and attacking your opponent when you are behind is standard strategy and is as old as politics itself. And while Senator Obama has refrained from more than a passing mention of Senator McCain most of the time, he certainly has surrogates (as does McCain) out there doing the job for him. The difference is that it is ununsual for the candidate himself to personally get out in front on the mud wrestling. That may be why McCain is toying with the idea of choosing his running mate early. But my guess is that he won't but will instead just continue launching the spitwads himself.

It also says volumes about McCain's lack of anything meaningful to say. His plans for the economy and continuing to stay in Iraq are virtually the same as George Bush's, a President who if he were running today would lose in a landslide. He's praised Bush's Supreme Court appointments and said he would appoint the same kind of judges. I wrote a post three months ago pointing out that McCain's website never even mentions the words "social security" one time. I went back there the other day and it still doesn't. The man is devoid of new ideas, other than to continue the present path of the Bush administration on virtually everything. So I understand why he doesn't want to talk about any of that, so what's left is to attack Obama.

Is Obama vulnerable to attack? Sure, all candidates are. But at least he has some new ideas and some new plans for doing something in the next decade that is different from what we've done in this one.

In the meantime though I don't think these attacks will succeed. McCain has been called a 'grumpy old man,' and he's doing everything to live up to that rap. Maybe after the election Bob Dole (another guy famous for going on the attack himself) will let him co-star in another of those Viagra commercials.

Barack, Iraq, McSame Old McQuack

McCain Gets History Of The Surge Wrong, CBS Doesn't Air Footage
[Transcript and video at link]

During a CBS interview on Tuesday, John McCain made a stone cold error on a subject about which he claims expert knowledge: the "surge" strategy in Iraq. In an interview with anchor Katie Couric, the Arizona Republican said, inaccurately, that the surge strategy was responsible for the much-touted "Anbar Awakening," in which Sunni sheiks turned against Al Qaeda, helping in turn to reduce violence in the country.

McCain Makes False Claims On Iraq Timeline (VIDEO)

In an interview with CBS News' Katie Couric tonight, John McCain made the false assertion that the Surge brought about the so-called Anbar Awakening. Except, as MSNBC"s Keith Olbermann points out, the Surge was announced after the Awakening. Olbermann also explains that CBS News edited the gaffe out of the final interviewed that aired Tuesday night.

Not a Gaffe: A Fundamental Misunderstanding of Iraq

John McCain made a mistake this evening, which as far as I'm concerned, disqualifies him from being president. It is so appalling and so factually wrong that I'm actually sitting here wondering who McCain's advisers are. This isn't some gaffe where he talks about the Iraq-Pakistan border. It's a real misunderstanding of what has happened in Iraq over the past year. It is even more disturbing because according to John McCain, Iraq is the central front in the "war on terror." If we are going to have an Iraq-centric policy, he should at least understand what he is talking about.

JedReport's Latest Devastating Video: McCain's Neverending War"

Am I trying to say that there are some inconsistencies in McCain's backstory on Iraq? Uhm, yyyyyyyyyeeeeeessssss. And now Jed Lewison of JedReport.com has just released his latest video, an extremely comprehensive collection of McCain clips (never-before-seen for most people) which chart the Arizona Senator's position on Iraq over the last several years, and puncture one of the candidates central contentions.

Lewison writes:

My newest video features John McCain talking about the Iraq war from 2002 through the present, exposing -- in his own words -- the lie behind his claim that he was the war's "greatest critic." It demonstrates his chilling commitment to fighting this war no matter what the people of America -- or Iraq -- want.

It is long -- nine minutes, thirty seconds -- but much of the material it contains will likely be new to you...and devastating to McCain.

Take a look.

McCain Camp "Frustrated" With Obama's Trip: Reports

Is John McCain frustrated, or maybe a little of jealous, of Obama's headline grabbing trip? Looks like all signs point to yes as Iraq's Prime Minister gives new confidence to Obama's withdrawal plan, Bloomberg News says "Middle Eastern and European leaders are lining up to hear what Barack Obama has to say," and General Petraeus gave photographers fresh photo-ops with the Democratic leader.

Tell Me Again, Why Is Obama Being Popular With Our Allies a Bad Thing?

I understand why John McCain's campaign is desperately looking for negatives in Obama's overseas trip. But why have so many in the media internalized the McCain campaign's claptrap? [snip]

Of course, at no point does the McCain campaign or anyone in the media point out what, exactly, is the danger to America if our closest allies actually, you know, don't hate us.

They also fail to mention that along with being our allies, the European countries Obama is visiting are also democracies -- so it's a lot easier for their leaders to make nice with us if their constituents don't view our president as an object of disdain and ridicule. [snip]

It's also no surprise that McCain isn't willing to admit that our allies' antipathy toward Bush and his policies -- exacerbated by the contempt the Bushies always seemed to delight in directing at them (see Rummy on "Old Europe") -- has cost us dearly in blood, treasure, and goodwill. But it is a surprise that the media are so eagerly parroting the "popular is a problem" meme.

Thankfully, most Americans understand that having a president who is lauded around the world is infinitely better than having one who is loathed.

Iraq-Pakistan Border?

[ 0:34 ]
Ummm....

Senator Obama overseas

Obama: Iraq now needs a political solution
By DAVID ESPO –

AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said Tuesday that security in Iraq has improved and that the country's needs must now begin to be addressed politically and diplomatically.

"There is security progress, but now we need a political solution," Obama said in the first news conference of his highly publicized trip abroad.

He reiterated his goal of withdrawing combat troops from Iraq within 16 months of becoming president. But he said he would consult with military commanders to determine how many troops to keep in the country to protect diplomatic and humanitarian operations, to train Iraqis and to conduct counterterrorism operations against al-Qaida in Iraq.

"My goal is to no longer have U.S. troops engaged in combat operations in Iraq," he said.

Obama and his two traveling Senate companions, Democrat Jack Reed of Rhode Island and Republican Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, emphasized the need to turn U.S. attention to Afghanistan and to help Pakistan confront a growing terrorist presence within its borders.

"The situation in Afghanistan is perilous and urgent," he said. "We must act now to reverse that deteriorating situation."

Afghanistan is now the "central front in the war against terrorism," he added.

Obama arrived in Jordan after a tour of war zones in Afghanistan and Iraq. He stepped off his military aircraft carrying body armor, orange earplugs sticking out of his ears.

His joint news conference with Reed and Hagel was at the Amman Citadel, an ancient hilltop ruin that bears evidence of settlements dating to 2000 B.C. The skyline of modern-day Amman, cement dwellings and the occasional mosque, formed a made-for-television backdrop.
Article link

Senator Obama's overseas trip has been a resounding success in my eyes. He has looked more Presidential then the Chimp in Chief or whatever he wants to be called, spoken more Presidential then Sen. McCain ever has, or will and represented his foreign policy skills very well. All those pundits that say he has a weakness in foreign policy, go screw, this man's foreign policy is far better then Sen. McCain's.

McSame Economic Stupidity

It’s the Economic Stupidity, Stupid

Frank Rich, NYT:

Mr. McCain’s fiscal ineptitude has received so little scrutiny in some press quarters that his chief economic adviser, the former Senator Phil Gramm of Texas, got a free pass until the moment he self-immolated on video by whining about “a nation of whiners.” The McCain-Gramm bond, dating back 15 years, is more scandalous than Mr. Obama’s connection with his pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. Mr. McCain has been so dependent on Mr. Gramm for economic policy that he sent him to newspaper editorial board meetings, no doubt to correct the candidate’s numbers much as Joe Lieberman cleans up after his confusions of Sunni and Shia. [snip]

But no one in the news media seemed to notice Mr. Gramm’s naked expression of the mind-set he’d bring to a McCain White House. And few journalists have vetted the presumptive Treasury secretary’s post-Senate history as an executive at UBS. The stock of that banking giant has lost 70 percent of its value in a year after its reckless adventures in the subprime lending market. It’s now fending off federal investigation for helping the megarich avoid taxes. [snip]

The term flip-flopping doesn’t do justice to Mr. McCain’s self-contradictory economic pronouncements because that implies there’s some rational, if hypocritical, logic at work. What he serves up instead is plain old incoherence, as if he were compulsively consulting one of those old Magic 8 Balls. In a single 24-hour period in April, Mr. McCain went from saying there’s been “great economic progress” during the Bush presidency to saying “Americans are not better off than they were eight years ago.” He reversed his initial condemnation of mortgage bailouts in just two weeks.

In February Mr. McCain said he would balance the federal budget by the end of his first term even while extending the gargantuan Bush tax cuts. In April he said he’d accomplish this by the end of his second term. In July he’s again saying he’ll do it in his first term. Why not just say he’ll do it on Inauguration Day? It really doesn’t matter since he’s never supplied real numbers that would give this promise even a patina of credibility.

Mr. McCain’s plan for Social Security reform is “along the lines that President Bush proposed.” Or so he said in March. He came out against such “privatization” in June (though his policy descriptions still support it). Last week he indicated he isn’t completely clear on what Social Security does. [snip]

Given that Mr. McCain’s sole private-sector job was a fleeting stint in public relations at his father-in-law’s beer distributorship, he comes by his economic ignorance honestly. But there’s no A team aboard the Straight Talk Express to fill him in. [snip]

Zeitgeist From July 18

AlterNet's Weekly Zeitgeist:

Phony Drilling, Afghan Escalation, Never-Ending Financial Crisis and Much More

From Bush's oil hoax to the New Yorker's sorry attempt at satire, our Zeitgeist list tracks the progressive issues of the week.

This week's Zeitgeist rundown shows new issues have busted through to the consciousness of progressives, including the escalating war in Afghanistan (and with it the serious complexities of Pakistan), the rescinded presidential moratorium on offshore oil drilling, which critics say is all for show, and the huge brouhaha provoked by the New Yorker magazine's extremely provocative cover of Michelle and Barack Obama.

Still, the AlterNet Zeitgeist has some unfinished business, including the residue of anger about the newly passed FISA law, the constant reminder that Iraq is still all about the oil, and the ongoing debate about the future of feminism.

1. Phony drilling: once again the oilman in the White House is doing Big Oil's bidding

   ~ Faiz Shakir

2. Afghan War escalates: more American solders killed there than in Iraq

   ~ Tom Hayden

3. Our seemingly never-ending financial crisis

   ~ Paul Krugman

4. Provocative New Yorker cover jolts nation into heated debate

   ~ Don Hazen

5. Nuclear power is an illusion as a solution to the climate change crisis

   ~ Linda Gunter

6. Feminism's generational debate, provoked by the Hillary Clinton candidacy, is still going strong

   ~ Heidi Schnakenberg

7. In Iraq it is still about the oil

   ~ Noam Chomsky

8. Feds launch their annual reefer madness campaign

   ~ Sign On San Diego and Jim Hightower

9. Progressives licking their wounds over painful FISA defeat

   ~ Chris Hedges

10. Progressive audience keeping satirical flick "War, Inc." alive despite blackout

    ~ Joshua Holland

Major Blunder

The spin and twist on this is going to be interesting, if not humorous, to watch.

Instead of sending the email to an internal distribution list, a White House employee inadvertently sent the email to an extensive list of reporters, which alerted them to a Der Spiegel news story that Iraqi Prime Minister al-Maliki supports Obama's proposal about U.S. troops leaving within 16 months:

Stupid is as stupid does.

VA Disenfranchising Veteran Votes

Top Senator And 10 States Attack VA for Banning Voter Registration Drives

Officials overseeing the VA and state elections say the VA's policy is unnecessary and insulting to veterans who sacrificed for our country.

Steven Rosenfeld, AlterNet:

The Senate Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman, Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-HI), has called on the Department of Veterans Affairs to reverse its new policy barring voting rights groups, "partisan or otherwise," from holding voter registration drives on campuses where injured veterans are living or receiving medical care.

"Veterans receiving care at VA facilities risked life and limb to defend the freedoms we enjoy, including the right to vote," Akaka said in a July 10 letter to Veterans Affairs Secretary James B. Peake. "Current VA policy makes it unnecessarily difficult for some veterans to participate in the electoral process." Akaka said the VA's most recent explanation for barring registration drives -- that they would violate the Hatch Act, which prohibits government employees from engaging in political activities on official time or federal property -- made no sense.

- - - - -

"There is no reason why the Department of Veterans Affairs should not proactively assist veterans in exercising their right to vote. To do otherwise is an insult to the sacrifices these men and women have made for our country," the joint letter said.

- - - - -

So far, 10 secretaries of state have joined the effort, including officials from Ohio, Minnesota, Vermont, Montana, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Maine and Kansas.

Despite the new political pressure, it is not clear if the VA will change its policy long enough before the close of registration in early fall for the 2008 presidential election.

- - - - -

"We recognize and respect the need for VA to guard against any activities that might interfere with carrying out the Department's mission to furnish quality health care services to veterans," the senators wrote. "However, we are confident that voter registration activity can be permitted that would not impinge on fulfilling that responsibility."

[Steven Rosenfeld is a senior fellow at Alternet.org and co-author of "What Happened in Ohio: A Documentary Record of Theft and Fraud in the 2004 Election" with Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman (The New Press, 2006).]

More McSame Old BS

Just like McCain claimed to have had the support of “literally every veterans organization in America”, at the NAACP convention he claimed that every campaign survey questionnaire is filled out.

Uh huh.

georgia10:

It's fascinating that John McCain lies not only about the big things ... but he has an uncanny ability to fib even about the most mundane of items -- like filing out campaign questionnaires:

John McCain at the NAACP convention today assured a questioner that he will indeed fill out the group's civil rights survey, a comment that prompted a smattering of applause.

"I'll look forward to filling it out," McCain said. "We fill out literally every survey, so I'll be more than happy to do that."

...Except, as Hotline points out, the Project Vote Smart Survey:

Every survey? Well ... not quite. Rewind to April 10, 2008, when Mother Jones reported that McCain was booted from the Project Vote Smart board for not completing the organization's Political Courage Test.

And as a commenter at Hotline points out, he also didn't fill out the AFL-CIO survey. He also did not respond to the Midwest Democracy Network questionnaire. Or the Human Rights Campaign questionnaire. Or the Oregon Fair Trade questionnaire. Or the American Association of People with Disabilities questionnaire...

You get the idea.

Write Your Own Punchline

Comedy From the McCain Campaign

by BarbinMD:

Once again, you just can't make this stuff up:

...The McCain camp held a conference call today where McCain's foreign policy advisor said:

I think the American people have had enough of inflexibility and stubbornness in national security policy... We cannot afford to replace one administration that refused for too long to acknowledge failure in Iraq with a candidate that refuses to acknowledge success in Iraq.

The Recession Is Only Psychological!

Bad Bush economy? Recession?? It's all in your head!!!

How to recover from a mental recession:

McCain's Top Economic Adviser Says You Should Stop Whining, Get Off Your Big Fat Ass, and Start Imagining Yourself Rich...

"Awaken Your Inner Elephant"
[ 1:02 ]

McCain rape joke.

One of my favorite Arizona bloggers, Tedski, did a post on the worst side of John McCain's sense of sick 'humor' in which he dug up this image of a Tucson newspaper article from 1986 in which John McCain is quoted as telling the following joke:

Did you hear the one about the woman who is attacked on the street by a gorilla, beaten senseless, raped repeatedly and left to die? When she finally regains consciousness and tries to speak, her doctor leans over to hear her sigh contently and to feebly ask, ‘Where is that marvelous ape?’

But, hey this is a guy who publically called his own wife the c-word.

All I have to ask is DO WE WANT THIS KIND OF A NEANDERTHAL SEXIST AS PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES?

Incidentally, Tedski has been selected as the state blogger representing Arizona at the Democratic convention. I put in for it, but I don't mind saying that the credentials committee made an excellent choice.

Our National Disaster

OUR TRUE NATIONAL DISASTER / GEORGE W BUSH

George W Bush is completely unaware that he is both laughed at by world leaders and scorned by 75% of the planet. Masquerading as a world leader ~ he has become America's true national disaster and it may take years to undo the careless damage and permanent grief he has wrought: Allen L Roland

Our National disaster, President George W. Bush, encourages all World leaders by assuring them they are not the biggest idiot on the Planet.

Pass This One Around!

Kudos to the author.

And a tip o' the hat to KA {{Cate}}, for recommending this.

The Right to Remain Silent

By Saje Williams:

When your President declares war on a oil-rich nation that poses no threat to the United States, you have the Right to Remain Silent. If you choose to give up that right, you will be harassed, insulted, threatened, and otherwise treated as if you are no longer an American.

When you watch America's name being dragged through the mud by power hungry fools in incidents of torture and kidnapping--you have the Right to Remain Silent.

When you hear your President comment that he thinks the Constitution is just a "damned piece of paper," you have the Right to Remain Silent.

When you learn that the plans for war were already on the table before 9/11, you have the Right to Remain Silent.

When a CIA operative has her cover blown because her husband is considered an enemy of the administration, you have the Right to Remain Silent.

When that same Administration, and its corrupt partners in Congress pass laws that strip away the safety nets for vulnerable American citizens, you have the Right to Remain Silent.

When a powerful hurricane levels a great American City and you watch people suffering on television for days, while aid is turned away by the authorities, you have the Right to Remain Silent.

While this administration continues to subsidize the oil companies during times of RECORD profits, you have the Right to Remain Silent.

When viciously obnoxious pundits are welcomed onto American news programs and treated as if they're decent, hard-working folks, you have the Right to Remain Silent.

While thousands of our soldiers are sent to a dry and dusty land to kill or be killed, you have the Right to Remain Silent.

When you finally begin to see the light at the end of the tunnel, having elected a majority of allegedly like-minded citizens to Congress to fight against the abuses of this administration only to find that they don't have the spine to pull it off, you have the Right to Remain Silent.

When you realize that the Iraqi people are NOT, in fact, better off than they were under a brutal dictator, you have the Right to Remain Silent.

When you discover that there's no easy way out of the war and our troops will continue to die while Iraq staggers its way through a horrific civil war, you have the Right to Remain Silent.

When you find that this administration, after nearly breaking our military with its incompetence and corruption, is trying to come up with a way to go to war with even MORE Middle Eastern countries, despite the fact that it hasn't managed even the ghost of a victory in either front it's currently fighting, you have the Right to Remain Silent.

While a sizeable portion of the population of your fellow Americans think you should be killed or thrown in prison for daring to have a different opinion about the way all this is going, and an unfavorable view of THEIR chosen leader, you have the Right to Remain Silent.

While this administration is busy carving a canyon of debt for you and your children to carry forward into perpetuity, you have the Right to Remain Silent.

While this government's economic policies are driving more and more people into poverty and a lifetime of debt, you have the Right to Remain Silent.

If you choose not to exercise this right, rest assured, the Corporate Media will exercise it for you.

* * * * * * * * * *

"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

And this is an accomplishment he's PROUD of?

President Bush went to his last G-8 summit this week, and spent the week with other leaders of developed countries discussing a variety of topics, not the least of which was curbing the emissions of greenhouse gases and other pollutants. Of course President Bush has always been the one sticking his foot in the way of any real attempt to do anything about pollution. So when it was over, as his successor will go to the next G-8 summit, he decided to say goodbye to his old (and some new) partners.

"Goodbye from the world's biggest polluter," said the President with a broad grin on his face.

And just to show what a huge accomplishment he thought that was he gave it some extra emphasis.

He then punched the air while grinning widely, as the rest of those present including Gordon Brown and Nicolas Sarkozy looked on in shock.

Some joke, huh? And just a day after the White House had to issue an official apology to Italy after President Bush was given travel notes describing Italy as a 'country known for corruption and vice.'

Of course this isn't the first time that Bush has embarrassed America at the G-8 summit. Remember two years ago when he goosed Angela Merkel in an episode that was so bizarre that I still have trouble comprehending it (though it's been hard to not notice that since then Merkel, who was elected as a Bush ally, has been noticeably cool toward Bush and kept her distance from him.)

I've watched lots of Presidents, including some conservative Presidents who I disagreed with, like Nixon, Reagan and Bush's father. But I've never seen a President who has so consistently been a poor representative of our country on international trips (and that's even counting the time when Jimmy Carter vomited in the lap of the prime minister of Japan after eating sushi.) Bush's behavior is strange, bizarre and disjointed. The only thing I wonder about is whether he behaves that way all the time, just that on these international trips it's harder for his handlers to keep it under wraps.

Everybody Knows

FISA Senate Roll Call

[ 3:16 ]

Weekly Zeitgeist

AlterNet's Weekly Zeitgeist List -- The 10 Hottest Issues of the Day

July 8, 2008:

1. Is Obama shifting rightward? What should supporters do?

   ~Arianna Huffington

2. Is the economy in free fall?

   ~Dean Baker

3. Gas prices through the roof; SUV and truck sales headed to the basement.

   ~Michael T. Klare

4. The Iraq war has always been about oil.

   ~Bill Moyers and Michael Winship

5. Obama's shifting position on FISA

   ~Glenn Greenwald; Bob Ostertag

6. Will Bush bomb Iran?

   ~Jim Lobe; Amy Goodman

7. The debate over intergenerational feminism following Hillary's loss.

   ~Courtney Martin

8. Campaign for universal health insurance.

   ~Roger Hickey

9. California Supreme Court recognizes gay couples' right to say "I do."

   ~Gilbert Herdt and Robert Kertzner

10. A Supreme Court on the Brink.

    ~NY Times Editorial

And one for the road:

Professor Ticketed for "No to Empire" Bumper Sticker

The police state in the mirror is closer than it appears:


Professor Robert Ovetz was driving through San Francisco on the morning of June 30 when he saw the lights of a police car behind him.

Ovetz pulled over.

"When the officer came up to my window, he asked the typical police requests: registration, drivers’ license, insurance card," says Ovetz. "I asked him why he was pulling me over. And he said because of the bumper sticker on my back window."

That sticker says, "No to Empire," in large bold letters, and on the bottom in very small letters, "www.thenation.com," Ovetz notes. It’s a bumper sticker from The Nation magazine.

Ovetz’s first reaction was to laugh, he says.

Then he recalls the following conversation:

"How could it be illegal for me to have a bumper sticker on my back windshield?"

"It’s obscuring your view."

"You’re just trampling on my free speech rights."

"No sir, I’m just doing my job."

At that point, the officer went back to his squad car for a few minutes.

When he returned, he gave Ovetz a ticket.

That ticket cited part of the vehicle code that prohibits driving a car if the "driver’s clear vision" is "obstructed by snow or ice" on the car windows.

"I’ve never seen snow in June in San Francisco," says Ovetz’s attorney, Ross Dreyer. [snip]

[Ed: You can buy your very own "No To Empire" bumper sticker (pictured above) at the Nation Store.]

FEMA-- Brownie's gone but someone is still doing a Heckuva Job. (a screw job, that is.)

How do you figure out a way to hide millions in relief supplies from the people who need it, and then give it away to other state agencies instead?

Easy-- you create an obscure office that no one knows about, send them there and then declare that since no one applied for them they are actually not needed.

Then if you have a state government run by good ol' boys (somebody must have tipped them off) they can jump in and claim the loot to plug budget holes in their own agencies.

That's what the Bush administration did with millions of dollars in supplies that never made it to Katrina victims, many of whom are still waiting (I guess it would be a good opportunity to mention that today is July 7, 2008 which makes it officially 1,043 days they have been waiting.)

BILOXI, Mississippi (CNN) -- Prisons in Mississippi got coffee makers, pillowcases and dinnerware -- all intended for victims of Hurricane Katrina.

The state's Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks took more coffee makers, cleaning supplies and other items.

Plastic containers ended up with the Mississippi Department of Finance and Administration.

Colleges, volunteer fire departments and other agencies received even more.

But the Mississippi hurricane victims who originally were intended to receive the supplies got nothing, a CNN investigation has found...

Last month, CNN revealed that the Federal Emergency Management Agency had stored $85 million worth of household items in warehouses for two years. Instead of giving the supplies to victims of the 2005 hurricane, FEMA declared them surplus and gave them all away to federal agencies and 16 states in February.

The state of Louisiana -- the most hard-hit by the storm -- had not asked for any of the supplies, prompting outrage in the community after the original CNN report.

CNN's investigation showed that Mississippi was one of the 16 states that took the FEMA supplies, but it did not distribute them to Katrina victims.

Jim Marler, director of Mississippi's surplus agency, failed to return repeated phone calls over several months to explain what happened.

Agency spokeswoman Kym Wiggins said, "There may be a need, but we were not notified that there was a great need for this particular property."

That doesn't sit well with most aid groups in Mississippi. "You would have to be living under a rock not to know there is still a need," said Cass Woods, the project coordinator of Coastal Women for Change.

Wiggins said that nonprofit organizations must meet federal guidelines and register with the state and that no such groups helping the needy or homeless were registered with Mississippi's surplus agency.

"There is no specific designation outside of a disaster period that says we have to have sustained properties going to the disaster area," Wiggins said.

CNN interviewed the leaders of eight nonprofits helping Katrina victims at a Biloxi, Mississippi, church used as a staging area for community groups. All said they had no idea these items were available, and most had no idea the surplus agency existed.

Yeah. There are thousands of people who are still waiting for help, and they haven't gotten it.

Ultimately the fact that the state of Mississippi, where the story is focused knew about the goods but chose to give it to other state agencies instead of to the victims it was intended for is something which both the Bush administration and Governor Haley Barbour's office is going to have to answer for. In Louisiana, neither former Governor Kathleen Blanco nor current Governor Bobby Jindahl apparently even bothered to apply for the aid at all.

Like I said above, it is 1,043 days and counting that some people are waiting for assistance.

And Brownie's long gone, so it must be someone else who's doing a Heckuva job.

A Rant About The MSM

Too much of the corporate mainstream media shirks in its responsibility to report current events back to the people and adversely restricts the flow of information to the public. Generating more revenue and bigger profits is the bottom financial line, and the only ones to benefit are the stockholders, sponsors and advertisers and other corporate interests of the MSM. The corporate media is only interested in its own financial standing. Rather than fulfilling its ethical responsibility to inform and enlighten, it prefers to use bias to distract us from the basic and fundamental issues affecting our society, our country and our world.

The MSM fails the American public in their role as guardians of truth, justice and the American way. They fail to demand responsibility and accountability from journalists, politicians and our government. The only accountability they have is to themselves and their Mammon financial bottom line.

The war on poverty doesn't sell, outsourcing our jobs doesn't sell, the list of foreign policy screw-ups doesn't sell, the countless list of lies doesn't sell, the burdens and hardships placed on our troops doesn't sell, shredding of our rights under the Constitution doesn't sell, the failing economy doesn't sell, the nation's foreign debt doesn't sell, and the erosion of our democracy doesn't sell. That might hurt their bottom line.

The illegal invasion and occupation in the guise of "spreading democracy" does sell. And BS infotainment and fluff pieces sell. They are aiders and abettors in the dumbing-down of America.

War sells, sex sells, gossip sells. Got a headache? Take this pill. Got a romance problem? We're here to "pump" you up. Depressed? See your doctor and ask for this... even though your insurance may not cover it.

"Corporate media whores" isn't even a good enough phrase to describe most of the shills who pretend to bring "news" to us. By and large, they are failures in their duty to relay to the American people the necessary information on issues that need attention.

They should be thoroughly ashamed of themselves.

Main-Stream Media: The Parrot sNEWS Network


[ 1:15 ]

McCain, GOP Heart Bush

McCain and the GOP try to keep secret the on-going love affair with George W. Bush, but they love the money

Joe Sudbay:

It's not easy running for Bush's third term.

Articles in two of the big papers show the internal conflict McCain and the Republicans are having over the on-going relationship with their leader, their hero, their mentor: George W. Bush. It's sounds tawdry: clandestine meetings, lots of money, secret love and the fear of public exposure. [snip]

In other words, McCain is still dependent on Bush to be his sugar daddy. So, like so many other tawdry relationships, McCain and the Repubs. love Bush for his money, but they're trying to hide how close they really are.

The Girl With The Beautiful Swing

For the sake of the girl with the beautiful swing

For 10-year-olds everywhere -- Little Leaguers or not -- I hope we get a better president than the incompetent we've wasted eight years of our national life on.

By Garrison Keillor

It's July and I hadn't been to a ballgame yet this year, the sign of a misspent spring. I got there just as the runner pulled up at second and the next batter came to the plate, a girl, the only girl on the field, and I climbed into the bleachers, a meager crowd, and the moment I sat down I knew I was sitting next to the batter's father.

He was silent and yet bursting with feeling. Rays of fatherly devotion emanated from him.

She looked good at the plate, nice easy stance, hands cocked behind her right ear, bat high and straight up.

"How's she doing?" I said. He said she was doing great. He didn't take his eyes off her. She took two low pitches and the third was a fat one down the middle and she put the wood to it and the centerfielder, who had been playing her shallow, turned and ran helter-skelter toward the fence and got there as the ball caromed off it and the girl was steaming toward second with her mind on third.

----
A ballgame is a great place to get to know somebody. You talk sideways during the interludes of which baseball has many, and since the game itself is so orderly, you can converse in non sequiturs, and after I told him about my 10-year-old girl, who loves to swim, and we agreed on what a great age 10 is and what intense pleasure a kid is capable of, we got to the grim business of What Do You Do For A Living. He said he was a cop. I said I was unemployed. (You tell people you're a writer and they tend to clam up.)

"Tough times," he said. I nodded. We might've gotten onto politics then, but we got onto music and Ireland and so forth, but I thought, "Here is a guy the candidates have to talk to this summer." A cop is a realist and he knows where Rockwell leaves off and surrealism begins, and here is his girl taking a big lead off third base and he loves her so beautifully and unabashedly and wants the world to be there for her when it comes her time to fly.

I'm 65 and have a good life and can't claim that the Current Occupant has done me much harm at all. It's when I think about 10-year-old girls I start to get hot under the collar. This clueless man has dug a deep hole for them and doesn't seem vaguely aware of it. He has spent us deep in a hole, gotten us into a disastrous war, blithely ignored the long-term best interests of the country, and when you think of the 4,000 kids who now lie in cemeteries, and for what? -- you start to grind your teeth. For the sake of the girl with the beautiful swing, I hope we get a better president than the disgusting incompetent we've wasted eight years of our national life on.

What The Hell??

Bush praises McCain for the GI Bill? The bill that McCain opposed? The same bill that McCain didn't even show up to vote for?

This is rank dishonesty by Bush and maybe the straight talker will correct the record for Bush. You know, since he’s such a straight talker.

[ 6:36 ]