Bye Bye Love: It's Time For Media, Independents To Break Up With McCain
By Logan Murphy Monday Feb 11, 2008 2:14pm
Old habits die hard. The media has had a tough time coming to grips with the reality of John McCain 2008 -- The Maverick is dead. Chris Matthews is probably the worst offender, but the media narrative that McCain is the darling of Independents has run its course and needs to be put to bed. Arianna Huffington writes the Dear John letter:
I hate to be the one to break up a love affair, especially with Valentine's Day just around the corner, but I can no longer stand idly by and watch the media and independent voters continue to throw themselves at the feet of John McCain.
The John McCain they fell in love with in 2000 -- the straight-shooting, let-the-chips-fall-where-they-may maverick - is no more. He's been replaced by a born-again Bushite willing to say or do anything to win the affection of his newfound object of desire, the radical right.
So, please, stop pretending that McCain is still the dashing rebel that made knees buckle back in the day -- and stop referring to him, as the New York Times did this weekend, as "moderate" and a "centrist." Read on...
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BAM!!!!
Amen from an Atheist!
Yep... I might have voted for McCain 2000, but there ain't no way in hell, I'd vote for McCain 2008.
Yesterday somebody had a good idea:
Goad McCain in public till he throws a temper fit, so the world can see he's unfit for office.
i just would like to know who slipped the pod into his bedroom
ot, if you want to here scalia defend torture, go to this site....its truly amazing
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/law_in_action/7238665.stm#
Arianna is someone for whom I have no respect.
She talked about "falling in love with" McCain.
Now she is in love with Obama.
Her true obsession is Heellary Cleenton, but she would have to reveal something about her sexuality to admit that.
When we first saw McCain sucking up to bush after the horrible way bush's campaign treated him, I really felt the guy was desperate to get his chance in 08. At first the repubs just ignored him as he began his campaign last year, but the longer they looked at their other choices, the better he began to look.
I kind of feel sorry for him. He tries too hard to be funny. He tries too hard to sound tough. And he says, "my friends" so often that it takes away from whatever content his speech might have. He looks desperate as hell to fill a life long desire, and he knows this is his last chance. After what we have seen from him over these past seven plus years, he is no more a maverick, but he may be about to become a tool.
Who are these "Independents" that support McCain? I want to meet one. Because I think it's just a media lie myself.
McCain sent a pretty clear message when he sucked up to Jerry Falwell.
Lets not forget that Bush was with McCain eating cake and having a good ol time while people were drowning in New Orleans.
The Senate just passed the Telecom Immunity Bill.
So both Houses have agreed that they want the Telecom Corporations to commit felonies and crap on the US Constitution as they betray the USA.
I knew they would pass telecoms immunity. The democrats need to be replaced.
This is the same mistake people made about Joe Lieberman (and George W. Bush). McCain hasn't actually changed. There's just eight more years of him to look at. He's still the same guy he was in 2000, just 72 instead of 64. People just get more like themselves as they age, they don't generally go through some grand transformation. McCain sees war around every corner. Lieberman's even more of a lying weasel than he was a decade ago. Bush's words get more difficult to understand every year and he gets even more bumbly. How hard is that to figure?
No immunity, retroactive or otherwise. [Deleted]
December 5, 2001:
http://www.cooperativeresearch.org/context.jsp?item=complete_timeline_of...
Congressmen Urge Bush to Use Military Force Against Iraq US Congressmen write a letter to President Bush urging him to take military action against Iraq. Among those who sign the letter are
--> John McCain (R-AZ)
Jesse Helms (R-NC)
Joseph Lieberman (D-CT)
Henry Hyde (R-IL)
Trent Lott (R-MS)
Wednesday, February 20th, New York, NY
5:30 PM Pre-Event Dinner with Willie Nelson, Danny Glover, Jackson Browne, Amy Goodman, Juan Gonzalez, Dick Gregory, Sarah Jones, Wallace Shawn, “Blackwater” author Jeremy Scahill, StoryCorps’ David Isay, John Perkins, author of Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, Greg Palast, Michael Ratner of The Center for Constitutional Rights, and many others.
http://www.democracynow.org/willie
Everybody run for cover! He's having another Hanoi Hilton flashback!
OT but here goes:
This is a list of turncoat Dems who voted for telecom immunity:
Clinton D-NY) - No Vote
Bayh (D-IN)
Carper (D-DE)
Conrad (D-ND)
Feinstein (D-CA)
Inouye (D-HI)
Johnson (D-SD)
Kohl (D-WI)
Landrieu (D-LA)
Lieberman (ID-CT) - Yeah, I know there should be an R next to the name of this POS
Lincoln (D-AR)
McCaskill (D-MO)
Mikulski (D-MD)
Nelson (D-FL)
Nelson (D-NE)
Pryor (D-AR)
Rockefeller (D-WV)
Salazar (D-CO)
Stabenow (D-MI)
Webb (D-VA)
Please do not forget that Arianna Huffington was in LOVE with Bush in 2000.
Gimme a break Arianna....
According to you, anyone who doesnt drink constantly from the wellspring of Liberal policy must be a "Bushite".
This guy has agreed with Republicans about as many times as he's disagreed with them. Of course he runs to the "base" to get through the primary. That's what happens in Primaries. Clinton is doing it, Obama is doing it, Edwards did it, etc...etc....
Everyone knows very well as soon as each has the nomination completely locked up they run right to the center as they always do. Thats what general elections are for, and that is teh problem with a predominately two party system. You think Hillary is going to keep going on and on about fining workers who dont buy into Universal Health Care? You think mcCain will give a damn about demands coming from those such as Dobson and other CPAC nutjobs?
McCain does have a history of working with the other side of the aisle for years on issues such as Campaign Finance Reform, Immigration, Taxes, etc... I'd like to think that it is THAT past performance that would be a a window to what a McCain administration would look like. Everything else is nonsense. The man is for the Iraq War and that is the only reason for the vitriol from the left. I have news for you.... Hillary voted for it, Edwards voted for it, and if Obama had been a US Senator then, HE would have voted for it. That was simply the political climate of the day. No nonsense please about how the vote wasnt for the war, or how Edwards apologized for it, or how Clinton claims to regret it, etc...etc... The VOTED for it and subsequent funding bills thereby owning every bit of the current mess as the current administration.
If the vast majority of Democratic voters really were against the war, then Dennis Kucinich would be their nominee. It's that simple.
LionelB @ 6:
it's not obsession as much as it is jealousy. arianna is just not as smooth with the metaphor as moron odowd.
Jay @ 19:
actually, arianna is a 'reformed' repug. that's where she got her wealth and her power.
Terrible @ 8:
Me for one...
The Maverick lives on in reruns!
Jay @ 22:
Some people want the wars expanded into several other countries.
How did Obama vote? I'm assuming against, but I dont want to assume.
Weaseldog @ 24:
Has nothing to do with that. Anyone that can enrage James Dobson, Rush Limbaugh, and all the other loons on the far right is OK in my book....
Yellow Elephant Safari @ 17:
The last one's the most annoying! What happened Jim Webb?? Asshole.
Jay @ 26:
I need better criteria than whether he can make monkeys dance and holler. I don't believe that is a sound basis for choosing a President.
Weaseldog @ 28:
Then vote for who you want to. I think someone who enrages both republicans and Democrats cant be all bad. Besides, I think it's time we had a COmmander and CHief who actually wore the uniform and served honorably....
CoIntelPro @ 20:
Hahahaha......you think? Listen to her on tv for a couple minutes and that's enough for anyone.
Please don't bring Arianna into it.
This woman invites the worst of the corrupt to her lavish parties at her Brentwood estate.
She's a very confused individual.
"[Hunter Thompson's] truths are, I suspect, larger than the truths of most of the rest of us and allow him to be a man of Gonzo and yet have such a great resonance with the non-Gonzoists among us. He helps fill an immense vacuum in the world of journalism. For in America these days print journalism is in sharp decline, significantly more anemic than it was thirty five years ago, and television journalism, more often than not, is a mockery of itself. We live in a communications society where image is more important than truth and spinning is our great new growth industry; even television reporters now have their own public relations people, the better, if not to spin their viewers and the ever admiring celebrity magazines, then at least to spin themselves on the value of what they do. Therefore in a culture like ours Hunter's truths seem like laser beams cutting through the fog of lies and obfuscations, an industrialized man-made fog that is now so easily manufactured, bought, and paid for in the wealth of contemporary America. Hunter is a fog immune. Or at least man-made fog immune". David Halberstam, August 2000
RIP to both good men.
L.A. Confidential @ 31:
That's true. If she is a reformed Republican, I'm Donald Trump.
I wonder if he's going to be asked about the torture and waterboarding the Bush Administration has recently admitted to and what will be his reaction?
Jay @ 19:
Oh, they are against it alright, but it's just not their highest priority. People not wanting to be associated with the loony antiwar left, e.g. Code Pink, ANSWER, Downing Street Memo, World Can't Wait, etc. has also had a tendency to dampen the public outcry and support for a candidate like Kucinich.
c_ray_86 @ 25:
Obama voted against it.
I used to ALMOST like McCain...so without repeating instances that others have on this thread before me...I don't like him now, fer shit sure...
Looks like Obama is pickin up some steam and Hillary is starting to really sweat...
On a slightly different note...my cousin and her husband are visiting from Germany...they say that Germany, and most of Europe is VERY interested in the outcome of this pending election...we CAN'T screw this one up folks...the world is watching.
The point everyone is missing is that the Democrats have saddled themselves with two such unelectable candidates, so long as McCain can get Huckabee on board to win over the Bible Belt it does not matter what he does, he is home and hosed.
Tough, and just as bad news for those of us outside America as those within.
But if I had a vote it would go to Jello Biafra.
The repigs have to nominate someone, don't they???
So for all those Barack haters who saw he never votes......He voted today on a huge bill that would have stripped immunity from telecoms. He voted Yay. Hilliary did NOT vote. Was she too busy? She's in Washington for Godsakes!
Yellow Elephant Safari @ 36:
Obama voted for the bill. Hilliary did not vote!
bradda @ 39:
She's not in DC, she's in TX focusing on NEXT MONTH'S primary down there! Nice priorities.
liberalNmoderation @ 37:
My friends in France are also following very closely.
ConcernedCanuck @ 33:
It's true, so let me hear you say: "You're fired!"
The vote also provided an opportunity to showcase the key differences on national security between presidential candidates, as Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) voted against immunity for telecoms, and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), voted to keep immunity in the bill. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) did not show up for the vote. All three candidates were in the Washington area for the region's three primaries today.
Quote is from Politico.
bradda @ 40:
Dems Fall Well Short Of Stripping Immunity From Spy Bill, only got 31 votes in the Senate. Obama voted against immunity for telecoms, McCain voted for immunity, and Clinton did not show up for the vote 2/13
Chris Matthews was just spotted in the men's room with McCain ..........
I received an email from a buddy for this really funny "No We Can't" video for John McCain. It's actually more scary than funny, anyway you can check it out here.
John McCain "No We Can't" Video
Yellow Elephant Safari @ 17:
There have been 7 votes held today in the Senate. Which one are you talking about?
http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/vote_menu_110_2.htm
bradda @ 44:
politico is drudge-light.
Geez, another student was shot today by a fellow student. Doesn't it seem that is happening more frequently now that it used to? I know this is about McCain and all but I can't help but believe if our country didn't talk so much about being tough guys and fighting them there and all that shit, that maybe kids wouldn't be going nuts so rapidly.
Ya know, this election is just so damned close, the only fair way to settle the issue is to have Obama and Hillary toss a coin.
The winner would get to catch McCain in the Senate caucus room, and beat the sh*t out of him. McCain would get so pissed at being beat-up by either Hillary, a woman, or Obama, a 'young twerp', in McCain's eyes, that his blood pressure would pop aneurisms all over his body.
After McCain's state funeral, the coin-toss loser would become president, and pardon the coin-toss winner/McCain assassin, who would get his/her pick of government positions.
Bye bye Love?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKEjvy9q1Pw&feature=related
bradda @ 40:
That's what I meant. He voted against immunity.
Jay @ 22:
WOW! So I was wrong, there really are "Independents" who hate America and want to see it destroyed in favor of endless wars for our new corporate masters gain. DAMN! Learn something new everyday on the internet tubes.
CoIntelPro @ 43:
LOL! Oh, this is another "tagline" from Arianna's site. Does anyone see a difference between this and what the MSNBC dude said?
Filed under: Chelsea Clinton, whore?, more likely to be Jenna
Arianna is like the pot calling the kettle black. Very inappropriate tagline regardless.
They say presidential years in office equal dog years, as far as aging goes.
This means that after one term, McCain would look like a ONE-HUNDRED-YEAR-OLD MAN.
After two terms, ONE-HUNDRED-TWENTY-EIGHT-YEARS-OLD.
Perhaps, were he to win, we should embalm him and wrap him in strips of linen on inauguration day, to spare him and us the embarrassment of the folly of his election.
And yet, McCain is still a better option for pres than Hillary.
Ron Paul is still running! http://blog.myspace.com/ronpaul2008
Jay @ 29:
Actually, he can be all bad.
He admits he knows nothing about economics. His platform is simply that he'll expand the war and dig us in deeper. He is making it clear that he'll be like Bush but even more Bushy.
I'm sorry, why are we giving a shit what Arianna has to say about anything? People like her are why we are in this mess in the first place. She goes from new-age right-wing beard for a Santa Barbara empty suit to firebrand of the left? What does she believe in? Or does she just like being on the underdog side? I really can't figure her out except that she is just like Maureen Dowd. She hates EVERYBODY.
Weaseldog @ 59:
Mr. Anon @ 57:
McCain will give us more dead Americans than Hillary.
Armchair Generals will love the way he'll feed young Americans to the new wars.
I think that Hillary will keep us in Iraq, but I'm not sure that she'll be as anxious to start WWIII as McCain is.
"This guy has agreed with Republicans about as many times as he’s disagreed with them..."
I don't mean to single out the person who said this, but it is so typical of conventional opinion.
John McCain has a lifetime ACU rating of 83%. His ADA rating last year was 15%. McCain is a party-line conservative, and has always been one. He is not pandering to right-wingers, he is one of them. His pandering occurs when he (rarely and very publicly) opposes the conservatives, in order to play up his phony maverick status.
tony @ 61:
Dont know why people still buy the maverick shit, he's as right wing as can be. Why people don't look at his record and understand this is beyond my comprehensive abilities.
bush got us into a war because he was ticked at Iraq because his daddy didn't invade them. And mccain wants to restart the war in Vietnam after he bombs Iran because he's ticked that he was held as a POW there.
Fun, fun, fun ain't it?
Lotsa luck with the MSM losing affection for McTurtle. Three days in a row in our local paper we got Broder championing his reslience, Fields slumming for the young Jew vote for the new American Century, and today Parker telling the hate radio crowd that their guy is the lesser of three evils. The puckering has hardly begun.
I'm waiting for the announcement that Liebermann will be his running mate. That would make the "Independent" joke even funnier.
Man, that is one horrible, horrible photo.
WALNUTS!!!!!!!
http://youtube.com/watch?v=3X8dLXvqu8k
February 12, 2008
Smoke and Mirrors @ www.antiwar.com
John McCain and the Neocon Resurgence
By Philip Giraldi
(A former CIA officer, Philip Giraldi, is a partner in Cannistraro Associates).
The neoconservatives, who have never been right about anything, have lately suffered more knockdowns than "The Bull of the Pampas," Luis Firpo, did in his first round with Jack Dempsey in 1923, but hopes for their demise as a political force have unfortunately proven to be premature. Part of the problem is that the blog and counterculture world where the neocons have been eviscerated is not the world of the New York Times, the Washington Post, Fox News, or the Wall Street Journal, where they continue to set the pace on the editorial and opinion pages. The presence of two neoconservatives, William Kristol and David Brooks, at the ostensibly liberal New York Times is a testimony to their resiliency, as is the Times' endorsement of John McCain as the Republican presidential nominee. Beyond the media, the neocons have deeply embedded themselves in the political system and continue to play a major role in the campaigns of the various presidential candidates of both parties, frequently as foreign policy advisers.
With the withdrawal of Romney, Washington pundits unanimously agree that John McCain will defeat Huckabee to become the Republican nominee. McCain is the neocons' anointed choice for president of the United States, and has been so for many years. He was their candidate when he ran against George Bush in the primaries in 2000 and again when he announced his candidacy for 2008. When McCain's campaign underachieved last summer and it appeared that Rudy Giuliani would be the Republican candidate, many leading neocons, including Norman Podhoretz and Daniel Pipes, joined the New Yorker's campaign. Now that Giuliani has withdrawn, they will presumably return home again, rejoining Robert Kagan and James Woolsey, both of whom have been with McCain since early 2007. That McCain is no traditional conservative if measured by his views on cultural and fiscal issues matters not at all, because the Israel-and-empire-fixated neocons consider such issues unimportant. Nor is there any concern for McCain's hypocrisy on other issues, such as torture, where he publicly opposed the administration before agreeing to a White House-supported bill that permitted waterboarding and other practices.
[Site Monitor: Please do not do long cut & pastes. Just link and excerpt]
Read the entire article @:
http://www.antiwar.com/orig/giraldi.php?articleid=12345
He really is coasting on the past. It's always shocking to me to see how dumb my fellow americans are. It's like a race to the bottom of the stupid barrel.
Mr. Anon @ 57:
Uh, sorry. You are TOTALLY wrong.
tony @ 64:
Because they are fuckin' MORONS! That's why! We are surrounded by a bunch of slack-jawed, flag wavin', simpletons!
bubba @ 70:
It's a loooooooooong way to the bottom but I think we're getting close.
It's like there is John McCain and Vichy John McCain. Vichy McCain trumps the old McCain.
That's a puss that could scare Crispin Glover.
Dr. Acula @ 71:
I agree wit yas Doc!
No way is even MORE, never-ending war gonna be a good thing.
So....um no...Mr. Anon...McCain would be horrible for this country....as bad as Bush has been, still is, and will be...McCain is a raging warmonger.
Not that I am a fan of any republican but the flaming has started. The good old boy system of blogs out there have hammered away at Hillary since she announced her candidate position for president, are starting to do the same thing to McCain.
Now the same good old boy system, knowing full well obama can't beat McCain are starting to hammer him the way they hammered Hillary. I don't think it will work with McCain because he's a man and they don't have the ammo they had against a WOMAN. You know like, she's a woman she can't possibly be allowed to be president.
Nobody loves McCain. Every one I've spoken to who is a republican might have voted for him in the parimary but only because, they A) Hate Huckabee, B) Hate Romney (the liar) and C) didn't know who the hell Ron Paul was since he gets zero media coverage.
It just boggles my mind how long it has taken for you liberal blogers to notice this. I was pointing this out about McCain two years ago in my comments on various blogs here and there, just as I started to point out Lieberman's true colors on this blog and sites like Raw story back in 2004, when you guys were still kissing his ass.
You are just too kind for too long. You need to learn to be more vigilant and less willing to forgive those initial few sins that first give these guys away. You need to be the eyes for your good politicians because they, being in the middle of the battle, don't have the benefits of a birdseye view that you still have.
Remember that politicians like Lieberman and McCain almost never do or say anything by mistake, but are always following a plan, so those initial signs are always the beginning of a larger pattern, and never just lapses of judgment.
The only one of you that seems to have learned this lesson is Glenn Greenwald, who has turned into a real tough guy from once having been the softest of you all.
Go Glenn! The rest of you, Shape up!
Nice screen cap, dude. Reminds me of my 2 weeks of (hospital induced) Dilaudid nightmares in 2002. Very vivid, a lot of ugly close ups.
And Optisizer, I've never seen your name here, I don't know what took you so long to catch up to this site. Your "I've been telling you so" doesn't work here. No one's kissed his arse on C&L. They've been hip to these tricks for ages. Unless you can show me where. Which articles here kissed arse on any of these guys?
See ya in a couple days, when you've scoured the C&L archives and come up empty.
The media are going to make Mccain the strait talker centrist and after Obama gets the nomination the media is going to turn him into Willy Horton. Mccain will be president.
Fuck Arianna.
Sorry, but I will never forgive her for her major role in the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy that pushed this type of politics into the mainstream.
She should just Shut. The. Fuck. Up.
Marge @ 78:
What does criticizing and questioning McCain for his positions and stances (such as his "Straight Talk Express" business) have to do with your neverending complaint that any criticism of Clinton is misogny? I know that you like to play that card in any thread discussing Clinton but do you seriously believe that everyone is supposedly picking on Clinton simply because of misogny and some kind of good old boys network? I've seen you in other threads use the misogny card rather then ever defend any position. You can't make her character, voting record, stance on the issues, etc into untouchable positions simply by calling foul and claiming that legitimate discussion and debate automatically equal misogny and flaming. Shame on you.
Oh Yea.
--> McCain Collected $100,000 From Abramoff's Firm
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/02/12/mccain-received-100000-_n_86245...
Optisizer @ 80:
Actually, C&L has been saying this for quite some time, it's nothing new to us or anyone who has been paying attention to McCain.
http://www.crooksandliars.com/index.php?s=john+mccain+maverick
if mccain had won the 2000 primary against Shrub, i'd have voted for him to be prez. BUT, After the way he was treated by the bushies in south carolina in 2000, ya know, the black baby and all that, what does mccain DO? he plays footsie with bush and is his hardiest supporter. he called the wingnut right wing zealot fundelmentists, "agents of intolerance", and what does he DO? plays paddy cake with them and becomes a baptist. if there's ONE thing i can't stomach, is a PHONIE. Sorry johnboy, ur a phonie. and i will NOT vote for a phonie. now... ya wanna know how i Really feel?
Independent righties have their guy, Ron Paul....get over mccrain, he's toast.
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/02/12/ron-paul-calls-mccains-foreign-...
mccain is 'down' with getting advice from Karl rove
bush says mccain will be the best candidate to carry out PNAC/Carlyle Groups agenda.
electing mccain is voting for a Third bush term.
vote mccain if you want to stay in iraq for 100 years and bomb bomb bomb iran based on more fictional intelligence cooked up by cheney's war profiteering think tanks.
mccain is a NEOCON FASCIST, not an independent...besides he'd be way over 80 years old, provided he actually lived out two full terms. He doesn't have all his mental faculties now, much like ronnie raygun, do you want his itchy trigger finger on the button to nuclear holocaust?
I get Code Pink, but why is ANSWER crazy?
The Smiths - Expose the Crooks @ 85:
Also - let's not forget that the was part of the Keating 5 scandal.
He has been a "Crook and Liar" for a long, long time.
"Bye Bye Love: It’s Time For Media, Independents To Break Up With McCain"
Absolutely, Ariana Huffington is spot on.
McCain is not a conservative.
McCain is not a centrist.
McCain is neoconservative who would bankrupt this country. Anyone who votes for him hates America.
miss_kitty @ 81:
Hey miss_kitty! Haven't seen you post in a long time.
The close up of McCain reminds me of the end of Brazil when the interrogators are trying to figure out where Sam went:
MR HELPMANN: He's got away from us, Jack.
JACK: I'm afraid you're right, Mr.Helpmann. He's gone.
And few listen to Houston , we have a Problem Houston .
wronrg ( wrong ) channel ( chanell ) its 5 am and your waking up , me its 5 pm and good luck .
Before the November election, I honestly think Texas should secede from the United States. Then we could hold our own elections - get some "good old boys in office" - heheheh
Thing Fish @ 93:
Yeah Thing...I've been frying other-erm-fish...Heh. Actually I just can't stand it anymore. I can't stand to watch the circus. There are no surprises and even the road to being pwnd is so predictable...I say it's not going to change, "meet the new boss same as the old boss (Even worse)," people jump on me, "you asshole troll!" and six months down the road everyone's singing my original tune and trying to teach it to me.
Fuck 'em, I say. I've pretty much had it. And I don't know what to do here any more, so I'm doing other things now. But I do lurk from time to time... :)
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