Election 2008

CBS goes against journalistic ethical standards and attempts to deceive the American people by censoring an interview with John McCain where he made a false statement about the Anbar awakening in Iraq.

McCain  likes to toot his horn as a Foreign Policy Expert and someone that “knows how to win wars,” apparently does not even know the timeline of what is going on in Iraq. Steve Benen adds, “The surge has, after all, become the raison d’etre of McCain’s entire presidential campaign. Why would he announce his belief that the surge prompted the Anbar Awakening?” Spencer Ackerman claims, “For McCain to say that the Anbar Awakening is the product of the surge is either a lie or professional malpractice for a presidential candidate who is staking his election on his allegedly superior Iraq judgment.”

What is the bigger issue though? Is it that McCain does not know what the heck is going on in Iraq and makes up events? Perhaps, it is that CBS chose to edit the interview and in an Orwellian fashion they doctored the footage to protect McCain. Steve Benen asks, “Why would CBS News cover-up arguably the biggest candidate error of the entire presidential campaign? Why would CBS News mix-and-match McCain’s responses to make him appear less incompetent? Why would CBS News broadcast a question but not the answer to the question? Why would CBS News post the entire actual interview online, making it easy for us to see their mischief? Why would CBS News deliberately take the most newsworthy element of the interview, and leave it on the editing room floor? Why didn’t Katie Couric hear McCain’s ridiculous answer, and ask a follow-up question seeking clarification?”

Today . . . CBS took a step backwards and unfortunately the United States was forced along for the ride. McCain clearly demonstrated how wrong he is for America. He confirmed his ignorance about U.S. policy in Iraq as CBS did its best to cover it up. What the American people do not know can’t hurt them. Ignorance is indeed Strength!

In a new television advert released today, McCain attributes the high gas prices to Obama. McCain would like to persuade the American public that Obama not Bush is responsible for the failed Energy  policy we currently have.

Steve Benen does a great job in breaking down the ad. The ad claims gas prices are high “because some in Washington are still saying no to drilling in America." Benen quickly notes, "No one is saying no to “drilling in America.” There’s all kinds of drilling in America. There’s drilling in U.S. waters, and on U.S. land. I don’t know of a single U.S. policy maker who wants “drilling in America” to stop."

The ad would like to create the false perception that "drilling in America" (which we already do) will some how lower gas prices in today's market. Alan Stewart Carl of Donklephant gives his two cents on that particular notion. He claims, "If we canceled the ban on offshore drilling today, we wouldn’t be able to add any additional oil/gasoline to market until 2030." Even after that small amount of gasoline hits the market, it would only lower prices by 30 cents for 6 months at the most.

So at the end of the day McCain does not offer any true solution to the high gas prices . . . he just offers a short time solution for a long term problem. There is no secret that oil is a non-renewable resource. It will cease to exist one day. Instead of endorsing a pragmatic Energy Plan for America . . . McCain will rely on the failed antiquated policy of W. Thank you for giving us insight into another reason why McCain does not know what the heck is going on.

Either the general public does not care to have another 4 years of an incompetent running the Oval office or the media has failed to disclose how wrong John McCain is for America. Barack Obama has endured critiques for trivial things such as fist bumps to what his Pastor says. I believe that if Obama had mentioned any of these things . . . the media would not let him see the light of day and his campaign would be over.

Nonetheless, I will attempt to at least chronicle a few of McCain’ shortcomings.

Only McCain . . .

1. can make a joke about Chelsea Clinton asking “Why is she so ugly?” and then justify himself by claiming that it is a good example of “McCain being McCain.”
2. can claim that child is better off being an orphan than being adopted by a loving gay family.
3. can miss all 6 of his committee’s six hearings on Afghanistan over the last two years, yet claim that he knows “how to win wars.”
4. can admit that he is “dumber than Bush” but no one seems to be concerned.
5. can tell a sexist joke about rape, yet receive no flack.
6. can refer to a country (Czechoslovakia) that does not exist multiple times.
7. can claim that, “No one has supported President Bush on Iraq more than I have,” but then attack President Bush on Iraq and make the extreme claim that it is Obama who is like Bush on the war.
8. can state that Social Security is “an absolute disgrace” yet provide no evidence on how he reached that conclusion.
9. can choose to ignore Iraqi leaders call for a timetable for U.S. withdrawal and pompously argue that we should keep U.S. troops indefinitely even though in 2004 he stated, “if the Iraqis asked us to leave, we would have to go. No matter what.”
10. can claim that the Economy will recover once we win the War in Iraq.
11. can joke about killing Iranians by singing, Bomb Iran to the tune of the Beach Boy’s Barbara Ann, or claim “that’s a way of killing them [Iranians]” when it was disclosed to him that the main U.S. export to Iran is cigarettes.
12. can claim that 300 economist support his Economic Plan but when questioned those same Economist never claimed to have endorsed the plan and some were far from embracing it.
13. can tout that he supports women’s right, yet his voting record speaks otherwise because he opposed a bill seeking equal pay for women and any investigations on the matter simply claiming that women need “education and training.”
14.  can state that as a Prisoner of War he claimed the Green Bay Packers as his squadron mates to interrogators yet when in Pittsburgh this year he claimed it was the Pittsburgh Steelers he recited during his interrogation.
15. can claim that he supports Veterans of roll yet undermine them by not supporting legislation that favors them such as the GI Bill.
16. can use expletives and go on temper tantrums, yet the media finds it rather normal.
17. can joke about beating his wife . . . and this is the GOP candidate, really?
18. can not know the difference between  the Sunnis and the Shia or their history of turmoil.
19. can flip-flop on 64+ issues and still claim that he is the “Straight Talk Express.” He is more like the “Double Talk Express”

Steve Benen did a great job on entertaining the implications of this topic, straight from The Double-Talk Express. John McCain is asked by a member of the audience at the National Council of La Raza on his position on the DREAM Act. In front of Hispanic voters that would be the ones to benefit the most from this piece of legislation he did not hesitate to claim support.

Benen adds, "That’s clearly the right position for McCain to take. The Dream Act should be a no-brainer: “Roughly 65,000 children graduate each year from high school into a constrained future because they cannot work legally or qualify for most college aid. These are the overlooked bystanders to the ferocious bickering over immigration. They did not ask to be brought here, have worked hard in school and could, given the chance, hone their talents
and become members of the homegrown, high-skilled American work force."

But, of course we forgot that McCain is driving the Double-Talk Express. He usually says one thing to one group and the opposite to another. Included in the YouTube clip of McCain supporting the DREAM Act is an audio snippet claiming to oppose the measure.

So, what is it McCain . . . are you for it or against it. It is a quite simple response. This begs the question though . . . Who is McCain lying to? Who should feel duped and used? Are the voters that support the DREAM Act and heard McCain endorse it- the mistress or the wife? Someone is being lied to? It does not matter who it is because both groups should feel disrespected because McCain has attempted to deceive them both.

A 19 year old college student from Minnesota decided to auction his vote for the upcoming election in November on eBay. At a starting bid of $10, he claimed that the winner would get to chose his vote. Abby Simons of the Minneapolis Star Tribune adds, "He'd even go so far as to photograph himself in the voting booth with his ballot."

Minnesota officials saw a problem with Max Sanders auction. He has been officially charged with "one count of bribery, treating and soliciting, a felony under an 1893 Minnesota law that makes it a crime to offer to buy or sell a vote." Sanders claims that it was a joke. Unfortunately for him, he may be facing up to 5 years in prison and $10,000.

Michael Arrington of TechCrunch thinks that the authorities response is "absurd." In fact, he is going to protest by auctioning his vote although I doubt that he would even entertain such a foolish idea. Nonetheless, there are those in the blogosphere that do not see anything inherently wrong with Sander's predicament. Some claim that votes are sold to the highest bidders in Washington.

Although, I agree that our political system and its culture may not be the most ethical at times, I digress from the notion that it some how becomes permissable for an individual to sell their vote because a politician does it anyways. Two wrongs do not make a right. Just because Washington may not be perfect does not mean that we should add fuel to the fire. The issue at hand is not whether "vote selling" is wrong or not . . . the answer is quite simple it is wrong, but whether Sanders should be prosecuted. There are those, like Arrington, that may think the penalty is a bit stiff and although I concur, I also understand that the punishment will be handled with discretion. No matter what the true intentions of this individual were, he attempted to sell his vote and would have provided proof. It is up to the Minnesota courts to decide what punishment if any this individual will be rendered. One thing is for sure, this should not be taken lightly . . . but delievering a harsh sentence will undermine the original purpose of the prosection of Sander's foolish actions.

There is no lack of documentation on John McCain’s anger management problems. The Media has done its share to report on just a few of those incidents but its true implications have never been entertained. What does this character flaw mean and what are some examples of McCain loosing his cool?

Psychologists claim that, “anger causes a loss in self-monitoring capacity and objective observability.” The Washington Post wrote an article about 10 years ago on McCain and his temper tantrum. So here is a list of McCain behaving non-Presidential like by stating:

1) "F- - - you!" @ Senator John Cornyn [New York Post]
2)  “A - - hole” @ Senator Pete Domenici [Newsweek]
3) “F- - -ing Jerk” @ Senator Charles Grassley [Newsweek]
4) Yelled and Humiliated Young Volunteert [The Arizona Republic]
5) Told Senator Kennedy to “Shut-up” [Boston Globe]
6)  “Sh- - Head” @ fellow Senator [NewsMax]
7)  “F - - - you” @  Republican Senator [NewsMax]
8) “C- - -” @ Cindy McCain [Raw Story]
9) Got Mad at Foreign Diplomat [The New York Times]
10)  Screamed and Acosted Senator Richard Shelby [Boston Globe]

Olberman does a great job of reviewing this issue in the YouTube video to the right. This begs the question of whether this type of behavior is appropriate for a President. It is fellow Republican Senators that do not agree with McCain’s approach. In fact that is why most of them did not support him during his bid in 2000. Those actions speak loudly. People that know him well and interact with him on a daily basis are turned off by his behavior. Bob Smith, a New Hampshire Republican claims, “His temper would place this country at risk in international affairs, and the world perhaps in danger. In my mind, it should disqualify him." McCain has even admitted that as an “angry 2-year-old, he would hold his breath until he lost consciousness.”

We dealt for 8 years with an incompetent President . . . can we really afford an someone that can not control their emotions? If the qualifications for U.S. President are someone that can not control their temper and is a geriatric . . . then all of sudden folks across America that live in retirement homes have become front runners for the GOP.

The rumors that continue to develop about Obama’s character never fail to amaze me. That is until I realized that countless of people actually entertained some of those claims and took it as fact even when Obama took the steps to dismiss any false claims about his background. Steve Benen sheds some commentary on a Washington Post article regarding this subject. Jon Stewart added some comic relief by coining a new term: Barcknophobia – The irrational fear of hope.

The Washington Post article states, “On the television in his living room, Jim Peterman has watched enough news and campaign advertisements to hear the truth: Sen. Barack Obama, born in Hawaii, is a Christian family man with a track record of public service. But on the Internet, in his grocery store, at his neighbor’s house, at his son’s auto shop, Peterman has also absorbed another version of the Democratic candidate’s background, one that is entirely false: Barack Obama, born in Africa, is a possibly gay Muslim racist who refuses to recite the Pledge of Allegiance.”

Benen adds, “Peterman sounds sincere, and inclined to vote Democratic, but conflicted. A friend told him that Obama refuses to wear an American-flag pin. Another friend told him that Obama is a radical Muslim. Peterman’s friends, in other words, are lying to him, but he doesn’t realize it.”

Leroy Pollard, who lives in Peterman’s neighborhood,  claims, “I understand [Obama’s] from Africa, and that the first thing he’s going to do if he gets into office is bring his family over here, illegally. He’s got that racist [pastor] who practically raised him, and then there’s the Muslim thing. He’s just not presidential material, if you ask me.”

Obama has taken steps to counter any false rumors by setting up  “Fight the Smears” website so that people can inform themselves. As I claimed earlier, How Lies Become the Truth, the best way to counter the rumors is not to repeat them but instead inform voters of the actual facts.

Benen’s over argument is that these individuals may just be willfully ignorant. I concur but does it help that there is someone out there that is fueling the fire? Should I be surprised? As a cynic, I can state no but as an idealist I am saddened. Ideally, America should be comprised of some of the most intelligent people in the world but sadly that is not a fact. The truth is that open-minded, progressive thinking; intelligent individuals comprise a small minority of our population. It doesn’t matter if someone has an “education” if that individual cannot think for himself or herself and ignore talking points. As long as there is a television that broadcasts pointless hours of brain candy to Americans, our political discourse will be undermined. A combination of apathy and willful ignorance is detrimental to democracy and that is why we are in the current economic and political state. Stupid people do deserve a Stupid President.