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Ted Kennedy, sick with a brain tumor, has voted more often than McCain

Saturday, July 12, 2008

On Thursday, Ted Kennedy, who is suffering from a brain tumor that needs daily treatment, flew from Boston to DC in order to cast a vote on a Medicare bill. With this one vote — the only vote he has cast since he was diagnosed on May 20 — he now has voted more often in the last 3 months than McCain.

The last time McCain bothered to show up for work was April 8, missing 76 votes since then, including at least one where the bill in question lost by only a single vote. He has given speeches calling Social Security “a total disgrace” but he didn’t bother to show up to vote on it. Most frustrating was the GI benefits bill, which he vocally opposed, then didn’t bother to vote on. And when it passed, he tried to take credit for its passage.

While it is true that Congress critters running for the presidency often miss a few votes, this is ridiculous. During the current session of Congress, McCain has missed a total of 374 votes, more than any other Senator.

http://themoderatevoice.com/at-tmv/newsweek-blogitics/20974/an-ovation-for-ted-a-raspberry-for-john/

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The many personalities of Obama

Saturday, July 12, 2008

The election statistics site FiveThirtyEight has a new (and wonderful) set of statistics. They have collected the number of times that Obama has been compared strongly to other politicians. For example, there are two articles about how Obama is the new Bush (that would be the current president Bush — there are three articles on how Obama is the new George H. W. Bush).  Here’s the whole list with the number of articles — Obama is the new:

George W. Bush: 2
George H. W. Bush: 3 
Ronald Reagan: 7
John Kerry: 4
Al Gore: 2
Bill Clinton: 3
Bob Dole: 1
Michael Dukasis: 2
Walter Mondale: 2
Jimmy Carter: 4
Gerald Ford: 1
Richard Nixon: 3
George McGovern: 3
Hubert Humphrey: 1
Lyndon B. Johnson: 3
Barry Goldwater: 1
John F. Kennedy: 5 (you’d think there would be more of these!)
Dwight Eisenhower: 2
Adlai Stevenson: 4
Harry Truman: 2
Thomas Dewey: 2

See their site with links to all the articles.

Some of these articles are hit pieces, trying to equate Obama with some failed or unpopular politician, but not all of them. But it is ironic how Obama has been equated with just about every possible politician, from Reagan to Kennedy, with everything in between.

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Brought to you by the Number 9

Friday, July 11, 2008

Gary Varvel
© Gary Varvel

For the first time since they started tracking this, the approval rating for Congress has hit single digits.

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Late Night Humor

Friday, July 11, 2008

“Jesse Jackson is now apologizing to Barack Obama for some extremely crude comments he made about Obama after an interview on Fox News. Jackson didn’t know the microphone was on and he said some nasty stuff. So yet another reverend Obama has to distance himself from. What is this, this guy has the worst luck with preachers of anybody I know! Oh man!” -Jay Leno

“They’re now investigating why Barack Obama’s loaner charter jet had mechanical problems the other day. Remember, he had to make an emergency stop in St. Louis. ABC News says the jet was previously used by Hillary Clinton. See, so Hillary let Barack borrow her plane and it had problems — I wonder what that was all about!” -Jay Leno

“The African-American cable network TV One is coming under fire for its plans to cover the Democratic convention, but not the Republican convention. And believe me, black Republicans are very upset — both of them.” -Jay Leno

“President Bush is in Japan for the G-8 summit. Again, another embarrassing incident at dinner. I guess President Bush sent his sushi back cause it was cold. Throw it on the grill a little bit there!” -Jay Leno

“Osama Bin Laden’s teenage son Timmy Bin Laden has released a poem calling for the destruction of America and the killing of all its allies. Imagine a kid writing something like that. Here’s my question: where are the parents?” -Jay Leno

“This is what I love about America. According to a new report, after people started getting their government stimulus checks in the mail, internet porn sites had a 30% increase. You know what that means? People use their stimulus package to stimulate their packages.” -Jay Leno

“The Democratic party announced this week that Barack Obama will give his acceptance speech at an 80,000-seat stadium, and that they will not serve fried food at the Democratic convention. Those are the two things they announced. Yeah, which begs the question: where are they gonna find 80,000 Americans who don’t eat fried food? It’s not gonna happen.” -Conan O’Brien

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FISA PR

Friday, July 11, 2008

People who don’t like the new FISA bill just aren’t thinking about the positive benefits of increased government surveillance.
FISA
From the Drucker Brothers (more FISA ads on their site)

UPDATE: 23/6 has a hilarious FAQ on the FISA Bill. All of your answers questioned, err, or something like that.

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Pay no attention to that Liberal behind the curtain

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Just who is this Obama guy, anyway?
Glenn McCoy
© Glenn McCoy

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We have met the enemy and he is us

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Two interesting columns that point out that the problem isn’t our politicians, the problem is us:

Robert Samuelson writes in Real Clear Politics about how politicians are instantly punished if they dare to mention any real issues. For example, he discusses our aging population and increasing immigration, and the resulting ballooning demands on social services. But the candidates don’t dare talk about them:

What we do, or don’t do, about these issues will profoundly affect the character of the country in 10, 20 and 50 years. Doing nothing is a policy — a bad one. That’s what Obama and McCain essentially offer. It’s easy to explain why. To discuss these issues candidly might be political suicide. It could alienate crucial blocs of voters: retirees, Hispanics. Blunt talk would expose a candidate to charges of being mean-spirited (against retirees) or racist (against Hispanics). What political consultant advises such a course?

People complain about governmental gridlock. But what often obstructs constructive change is public opinion.

Ironically, we voters claim we want politicians who will deal with big issues, but we refuse to vote for them. Meanwhile, a recent poll says that only 9% of Americans think Congress is doing a good job, despite the fact that we are the people who elected them.

In the New York Times, Gail Collins writes about how the current meme that Obama is shifting right to move the political center is just silly. Obama has gladly told us since day one that he is all about eliminating partisan differences, building consensus, and compromise. If we only heard what we wanted to hear, and didn’t think that compromise also applies to federal wiretapping legislation, then that is not Obama’s fault.

Obama is not about any particular ideology. If you listen to his words and look at the political fights he has picked in his political career, it is that he hates stupidity. When he spoke out against the war in 2002, he clearly said that he was not against war, but that he was against a “dumb” war.

Sometimes, the progressives like his “anti-dumb” positions, as when he opposed McCain’s gas tax holiday. Other times, they hate them, like when he backtracked on his former anti-NAFTA rhetoric.

But if you have suddenly found yourself wondering if Obama is the same person you fell in love with, you have nobody to blame but yourself.

Incidentally, Walt Kelly first used his famous Pogo quote for a poster for Earth Day in 1970.

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McCain’s spin control on birth control

Thursday, July 10, 2008

First, Carly Fiorina, a top advisor to the McCain campaign, told reporters this week that it was unfair that insurance companies cover Viagra but not birth control, suggesting that a McCain presidency would offer these women “a choice”.

Second, reporters and women’s organizations point out that Fiorina is misrepresenting McCain’s positions, since he voted against a proposal that would have required insurance companies to cover prescription contraception in the same way they cover Viagra.

A few days later, a reporter for the Los Angeles Times asks McCain himself to clarify his position on this issue. Here is video of that amazing and awkward exchange:

Mainstream media pundits notwithstanding, McCain’s nervousness is not due to talking about Viagra, it is about trying to not offend conservatives who are against birth control while trying to court women voters at the same time. This is what happens when straight talk runs up against political reality.

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Police State We Can Believe In

Thursday, July 10, 2008

After Obama’s capitulation on FISA and retroactive immunity for phone companies that illegally tapped your phone, we have a new campaign poster for his presidential campaign:

Police State

Of course, McCain didn’t even bother to vote, as usual. And then he had the nerve to trash Obama for his vote, even though McCain supported the FISA bill.

By the way, click here to have fun creating your own poster.

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New GOP Elephant?

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Cam Cardow
© Cam Cardow
History of the original Republican mascot.

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McCain lies about support for his economic plan

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

On Monday, John McCain presented his new economic plan, a plan he says is enthusiastically supported by over 300 professional economists.

This seems a bit suspect, since McCain’s gas tax holiday was quickly dismissed by economists a few months ago as pandering that would put money into the pockets of oil companies instead of consumers, and the gas tax holiday is a key component of his new economic plan.

So the online magazine Politico decided to call some of these economists, and sure enough:

In interviews with more than a dozen of the signatories, Politico found that, far from embracing McCain’s economic plan, many were unfamiliar with — or downright opposed to — key details.

One of the listed economists is even an Obama supporter.

What the economists signed was actually a 403-word-long letter that supported vague economic priorities such as free trade and a reduction in corporate tax rates, not his economic plan. The letter doesn’t mention the gas tax holiday. Nor does it mention the deficit, which is projected to approach $400 billion this year. McCain’s economic plan, on the other hand, is 15 pages long, mentions the gas tax holiday on the second page, and promises to balance the budget by the end of his first term.

But that didn’t stop the McCain campaign from claiming that the economists support his economic plan. So much for straight talk.

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Late Night Humor

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

“Well, happy birthday to President Bush, he turned 62 on Sunday. 62 years old. … He is now twice his approval rating, that’s amazing.” -Jay Leno

“President Bush is now in Japan for the big G-8 summit, which is going on right now. The G-8 Summit is where the world’s top economies get together. The bad news — we are no longer one of them. I wouldn’t say the U.S. economy is doing bad, but you know how Bush got to Japan? Southwest.” -Jay Leno

“Well, the Democrats are now preparing for their convention in Denver, and they have hired the first ever director of greening. They say that this year that everything about their convention will be green, including nominating a candidate who’s only been a senator for a couple of years.” -Jay Leno

“Actually, you know what’s interesting, here’s some interesting political trivia for you. The last time that the Democrats had their convention in Denver was when they nominated William Jennings Bryant in 1908. And coincidentally, you know who the Republican nominee was that year? John McCain. It’s amazing.” -Jay Leno

“McCain, of course, also out there. In Denver, a 60 year-old woman was kicked out of a John McCain rally for heckling him. Yeah, afterwards McCain said ‘I’m just not popular with young women.'” -Conan O’Brien

“Hey, big scare today for Barack Obama. His airplane had to make an unscheduled landing because of mechanical problems. While the pilot was steering to the left the plane was apparently drifting to the right, nobody could really quite figure out what was happening ” -Jay Leno

“No I tell you though, shows you how scary these kind of things can be. Obama’s wife Michelle, pretty distraught when she first heard the news that his plane had problems, although not nearly as distraught as Hillary Clinton when she heard everything was okay. She was inconsolable!” -Jay Leno

“And Barack Obama is now denying that he is email pals with the beautiful actress, Scarlett Johansson. Remember that story? They were saying that Scarlett Johansson and Barack Obama were emailing each other. He says no, it’s not true. In fact his exact words were ‘I did not have textual relations with that woman.'” -Jay Leno

“It seems a Republican party operative, a man named Grover Norquist, told the LA Times that Barack Obama was just John Kerry with a tan. That’s what he said, stupid thing, that’s what he said. Well using that logic, if Barack Obama is John Kerry with a tan, then John McCain is George Bush with an enlarged prostate.” -Jay Leno

“I thought this was nice, John McCain went to North Carolina last week to visit 89 year-old evangelical legend, the Reverend Billy Graham, and he was frail and confused and couldn’t visit for long. But Billy Graham looked great … very sharp.” -Jay Leno

“China has announced that they’re shutting down several of their largest factories for the rest of the summer — so that there will be less pollution for the Olympics. Chinese officials say: ‘Sorry, but for the next few months, you’re going to have to buy your lead-coated toys somewhere else.” -Conan O’Brien

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Gaffe-o-matic

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

In a (an) hilarious satire of the media’s obsession with political gaffes, a blogger reports that Obama has ignited a scandal today by saying “a historic challenge” instead of his earlier phrase “an historic challenge”. They nail Rove, with the (satirical) quote:

This is a major turnaround of great concern to the American voters. Obama drew millions of new voters to the Democrats by talking about ‘an’ historical challenge. But now he’s saying ‘a’ historical challenge. Will the voters tolerate this reversal on an issue of great concern to the voters?

But the best line is the last one, attributed to a “host of a corporate media program”:

We are creating an image of Obama. Is he a man who changes his opinions when he learns new facts? Is America really ready for that sort of leadership?

The whole entry is definitely worth a read.

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McCain’s “straight talk” is BS

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

McCain likes to boast about his “straight talk” brand, claiming that he will answer difficult questions with straight answers, but it looks like this claim is just PR.

Candidates all hold conference calls with reporters, sometimes on a daily basis. Conference calls are like press conferences, but held on the phone. But it appears that McCain’s campaign is only taking questions in these calls from friendly reporters. What kind of straight talk is that?

Reporters who have been less than flattering to McCain report that they are never called on to ask questions during the conference calls, and one even was asked to leave a call (even though they had not asked a question). The McCain campaign has been asked if they are screening reporters during the conference calls, but their response is disingenuous, and the campaign has yet to deny that they are doing it. In contrast, the Obama campaign (and even the now mothballed Clinton campaign) strongly denied any screening of reporters.

In addition, a 61-year-old librarian was arrested at a “public” McCain event in Denver because she had a sign that read “McCain = Bush”. Recall that in 2005, the White House had three activists expelled from an event in Denver, which seems to prove the librarian’s point.

UPDATE: In his book, McCain wrote that:

I would henceforth accept every single request for an interview from any source, prominent or obscure, and answer every question as completely and straightforwardly as I could. … It is a public relations strategy that I have followed to this day, and while it has gotten me in trouble from time to time, it has on the whole served both my interest and that of the public well.

Sigh.

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The Summer Political Olympics

Tuesday, July 8, 2008


From Walt Handelsman

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