McCain to Mark Birthday, Katrina Anniversary with VP Pick
By Jon Perr Sunday Aug 24, 2008 11:00am
In the latest chapter of their campaign of contrasts, Barack Obama and John McCain are set to mark two very different milestones this week. On Thursday, Obama will accept his party's nomination on the 45th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.s' "I Have a Dream" speech. But in an altogether different act of symbolism the next morning, John McCain will announce his running mate on his 72nd birthday. That date also just happens to be three years to the day President Bush presented McCain with a birthday cake in Arizona even as Hurricane Katrina slammed ashore in New Orleans.
In Denver, an estimated crowd of 75,000 people will fill Invesco Field on Thursday to hear Obama accept the Democratic presidential nomination. The symbolism of Obama, the first African-American nominee of a major American political party, harkening back to Dr. King's "fierce urgency of now" won't be lost on the convention delegates, some of whom saw King deliver his speech in Washington, DC on August 28th, 1963. (No doubt, that symbolism is lost on the National Review, which proclaimed "quite probable that King, were he alive today, would not vote for Barack Obama." John McCain's country club economics, dismal record on civil rights and consistent opposition to the creation of the Martin Luther King holiday itself suggest otherwise.)
That debate aside, McCain's image management problems begin in earnest the next day with his scheduled VP announcement in Dayton. McCain's decision to highlight his birth in 1936 can only resurrect the age issue, one which he has tried to laugh off by joking, "I am older than dirt, with more scars than Frankenstein." Whoever McCain picks - Mitt Romney, Tim Pawlenty, Rob Portman, Tom Ridge, Joe Lieberman or even Colin Powell - the timing is not without risks, to say the least.
And it only gets worse.
Three years ago, as Hurricane Katrina barreled ashore the Gulf Coast, McCain joined President Bush on the tarmac at Luke Air Force base near Phoenix. Even as New Orleans was being inundated, McCain and Bush were all smiles as the President helped his former foe celebrate his 69th birthday. Their literal "let them eat cake" moment is one of the indelible images of the Bush administration's disastrous handling of the catastrophe.
To be sure, the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina didn't redound to John McCain's benefit, either. During a June 4th, 2008 town hall meeting in Baton Rouge, McCain turned revisionist historian about his own role in the reconstruction:
"I’ve supported every investigation and ways of finding out what caused the tragedy. I’ve been here to New Orleans. I’ve met with people on the ground. I’ve met with the Governor...I’ve been as active as anybody in efforts to restore the city."
As it turns out, not so much. McCain's rewriting of the record neglects to mention that in 2005 and 2006 he twice voted against a commission to study the government's response to Katrina. He also opposed three separate emergency funding measures providing relief to Katrina victims, including the extension of Medicaid benefits. And as ThinkProgress pointed out in June, "until traveling there one month ago, McCain had made just one public tour of New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina touched down in August 2005."
For John McCain and the American people alike, August 29th is a day of great symbolic import. He would do well to postpone his Friday running mate choice by a day. Instead, he and his family could quietly share his birthday cake at one of his homes.
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Seems only fitting to mark the anniversary of one disaster with the announcement of another disaster.
mccain is just so darned proud of the hensley family's success!
Let them eat donuts with sprinkles (lovingly provided by the AP).
The unauthorized McSame campaign graphics store is open for pilfering. I will add to the inventory ongoing.
I think McCain is going to pick Condoliar Riigght.
Ruthless People @ 1:
His fucking cake should have over a thousand candles....in memory of the "looters".
But, he suffered for many years as a POW...
I live in a Dayton suburb and plan on showing up to this event with the biggest Obama sign I can find...
I cannot wait for Obama to hit back with the Katrina thing....birthday cake, Bush, and all!
Remember Debra Bartoshevich who was stripped of her delegate status. She's got a new ad out.
Debra Bartoshevich Joins the Straight Talk Express
Bart @ 7:
With ZERO kitchen tables, to boot. Only fitting that he now has seven.
factanonverba @ 10:
here's the link:
http://www.bythefault.com/2008/08/25/debra-bartoshevich-joins-the-straig...
I accept the nomination as VP on the Republican ticket
alongside McSame and pledge to do my best to float. Thank You.
BobbyG @ 11:
Only John Kerry has five. Al Gore has four. Your point is moot.
What genius in his campaign thought this appropriate. He deserves all the ridicule he will get and more.
They are houses... but are they really homes?
factanonverba @ 12:
Good luck to her.
I hope she has a clear conscience while she's getting coffee for the male delegates in the GOP.
The Obama campaign needs an ad up on McCain's birthday with the 2005 picture of Bush / McCain tagged:
In 2005 McCain cheerfully celebrated his birthday with Bush while New Orleans drown.
We know how much he cared for the well being of average Americans back then.
Do you really think he cares more about them today?
http://www.televisiontunes.com/Patty_Duke_Show.html
. . . but they're cousins, identical cousins . . .
This should be the themesong for the McCain/McSame campaign.
Liberals sing MLK's praises now that he is safely in the grave. When MLK was alive they called him a communist, an outside agitator, a trouble maker. Even the National Review broken clock is right twice a day. King would follow his conscience and vote for Cynthia McKinney, African American Women and genuine social democrat.
tricia m @ 18:
Of course, he's running for office.
Off topic:
August 29th is a great day.........it's my B-day!! Horray!
McCain's VP pick will finally reveal just how far the BushCo neocons are up his @ss. I'm guessing they're far enough to be able to look out through his eyes.
Prediction: Tom Ridge
I've got my fingers crossed and my stance widened, for Tim. He's Pawlenty cute!
Obama should have a BIG coming out rally on August 29,2008, in an Ohio city to be named. Have it in a 20-30,000 stadium, have it start five minutes after McSHAME announces his VP. Make sure there is no Green Screen behind them, and make it a joint first appearance together, and a happy birthday message to McSHAME by going over his political career accomplishments, or lack of them. A little MLK, a little GI Bill history, a little history of 2000, and how McSHAME now embraces those who called him a POS with illigetimate black child, through being against tax breaks for the rich to loving them,etc.. through 5 years of disaster in IRAQ, which is still nowhere near having political reconciliation.
McSHAME did this to Obama on the night he clinched the nomination. McSHAME had a hundred people with him then; let Obama have 20,000+ people with him when McSHAME will be lucky to draw 10,000 for his first BIG decision.
New at the McSame store:
http://www.bgladd.com/McSameStore/BushMcCainKatrina.jpg
Just outa the Photoshop oven...
McCain criticizes Katrina response as 'disgraceful'
but.......
McCain Voted Twice Against Establishing A Commission To Study The Response To Hurricane Katrina.
What happened in New Orleans looked like the curse of God, in time if New Orleans recovers and becomes the pristine city it can become it may in time be called a blessing. But at this time it's called a curse.- Hagee
but.........
McCain aggressively sought the endorsement of conservative evaneglical leader John Hagee
tricia m @ 18:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvoEiBnpCc8
Replace the song in this video with Happy Birthday to You and intersperse pictures of George and McSame with the birthday cake. Powerful.
karen marie @ 2:
You know, I generally don't begrudge wealthy people their money, as long as it's been earned by hard work and done with integrity and legally....and as long as they don't flaunt their wealth and belittle those who might be middle class or poor.
However, this is becoming more and more disturbing with McCain being tied to very wealthy people. He is NOT the common man he wants us to believe.
Bush tried to make himself "folksy," the guy you'd want to have a beer with. But his family, too, is down right wealthier than hell. I live in the St. Louis area, close to Ladue, one of the most wealthy communities in the country (5th, maybe)....Chimpy's brother Bucky Bush lives there. The Walker family (as in G.W. Bush) lives in Huntleigh, MO....also very wealthy, very exclusive. Like the Dixie Chicks were ashamed to be from Texas because of Bush, I'm ashamed to be living very close to where those bushies and walkers live.
Bush had that infamous statement at a fund-raiser, "This is an impressive crowd - the haves and the have-mores....Some people call you the elites; I call you my base."
McCain hugging Bush, especially on the Katrina anniversary....McCain with a very wealthy family....and apparently loving Bush with those hugs....I'm sure McCain also calls those "elites" his base.
The problem for us here in New Orleans is that while the immediate response to the disaster was a certifiable clusterfuck of the sort clearly identifiable as a Bushco specialty, the actual cause of the flooding (improperly designed and faultily constructed levees that failed well below their design specs) is a bipartisan screw-up dating back to the original mandate given to the Army Corps of Engineers in 1965.
Now, admittedly the ensuing 43 years have contained more republican administrations than democratic ones ( 28 years`of republicans versus 15 years of dems), but that still doesn't give the democrats a convincing stick to use on the GOP. "You guys screwed up 70% of it" doesn't quite cut it.
That said, McCain's timing really is a thumb in the eye to New Orleanians. But since he's about as popular in Orleans Parish as ring worm there's`really no political downside for him in doing it this way, and pooping on lazy democrat nigras in New Orleans really turns on his base.
BobbyG @ 26:
That's classic! I love it!!!!
How'd they get Goofy and Pluto to hold a cake semi-straight while taking their pic ?
I drove through N.O. in late 05' and it was a grand party.
Mr. Magoo (R) 08' @ 33:
Because you were driving through and didn't stop is why.................
Mr. Magoo (R) 08' @ 33:
They're gonna rebuild it into Six Flags Over NOLA.
I wonder if anyone is even concerned with the potential health of McCain if he does some how get elected.
Well, McCain SHOULD pick Romney, because he got the most votes after McCain. I mean, that's the standard he's pushing in his latest anti-Obama ad, that Hillary should be the VP pick because she has all those votes.
Shadowgm Hussein @ 37:
McSame has to pick Mork. Huckabee would be redundant in the Bible Belt, and McSame has gotta have an anti-abortion running mate to placate the fundie nitwits. Mork will complicate things here in Nevada, given the large LDS population here.
McCain will announce on his 72nd birthday.
Gee, he doesn't look a day over 71.
The McSame campaign is right on, stubbornly consistent. This time it's a double dipper. Remind everyone of how old he is and remind everyone about Katrina. Pick Judy G. and he might just mention 9/11. What a day of celebration! Keep up the good work GOP.
What a terrible set of VP picks...what a god awful candidate. But if I had to choose:
McBush/Mitt Griswald 08
the flipflop continental express
Romney is the obvious pick for the White Supremacist crowd, another rich religious fruitcake, although Ridge could be a close second. Lieberman is McCain's Dick but that won't make him Veep. Lieberman would probably get Sec. of Defense in a McCain administration.
Powell is finished politically.
Neither of them are running for president. You point isn't a point at all.
Lovely:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2X9LypdiQFo
LOL!
Barack's acceptance speech. So, will the rightwing Bushian scumbags who play games with national security make this a Code Blue, Code Red, or Code Orange week? And will the 'liberal media' (AKA: the rightwing corporate media) once again not question the sudden "terra" threats this week?
You're not considered wealthy unless you presently own a house for every decade you've been alive. Congratulations ......7 in 7!
I hear catcher's Mitt has 5,..... so far
Noah @ 43:
The hilarious thing is that they'll call it a bipartisan ticket with Lieberman. McSkids attack ad #2421: "You see, McCain is a maverick, he picked a democrat as his vp. Obama is partisan and is the anti-christ"
BobbyG @ 45:
Great ad, thanks! I hope to see more of the same!
factanonverba @ 14:
Both five and four are less than seven.
next.
makes since as Obama celebrates Dr. King and McCain celebrates letting thousands of blacks beg for help and some died on that that of the Katrina Strom. Makes you know what's important to each candidate. Maybe McCain will wish for another Katrina storm for more African Americans and poor Whites to die while he celebrates his birthday. At lease as President people now know don't look for help when needed but Iraq will get everything they want and more from Teflon John. Oh John did say Americans who need a job can work for 50 dollars an hour in the fields picking veggies that way the immigrants wont be needed. Yes even a person with a BA, MBA can get a job in the fields per Teflon John.
What if he picks Dub or Cheney? Is that possible under US law?
Looks like the weather will be BEAUUUUUUUUUTIFUL in Denver on Thursday for Obama's acceptance speech.
Why does God hate the GOP ??
McCaint Remember @ 50:
You notice I didn't take the bait. Do Not Feed.
Caveat @ 52:
I dont think convicted criminals can serve.
Any constiotutional lawyers here ?
Caveat @ 52:
Cheney is a good pic.
He brings in the draft dodger vote.
john j @ 27:
You know, if the Ancient One wins, it will be because of this,... too many people who actually believe this. Down here in Dixie, McCain stickers, as well as campaign signs for all those kneejerk right wing senators outnumber everything else overwhelmingly.
As ugly as it sounds, I think the racism in this country is prevalent enough so people are GLAD about what happened in New Orleans,...
BobbyG @ 54:
Hostile confrontations churns my juices !
JohnnyThief @ 57:
There is no racism in this country. I'm sure that the hired help in McCain's seven (eight? nine?) homes represent a wonderful cross section of minority groups.
reprise!
boosh was celebrating mcKeatingFive's B'day when katrina hit and he player i GIT-tar.
I wonder if John McCain's adopted daughter cries when she sees that picture of Bush giving her father a birthday cake.
I really hope that if McCain is elected, he doesn't try any photo ops where he attempts to land a fighter plane on an aircraft carrier.
A cake? They deserve the cake right between their eyes.
Caveat @ 52:
US law? You're talking about 2001. This is 2008. This is a different world.
Liberal AND Proud @ 62:
He'd have to do a go-round to take out all of the parked aircraft.
The Obama campaign is welcome to use my commemorative video:
http://www.progressiveindependent.com/shalom/UsAndThem.htm
Hey! Be nice. Not only was McCain a POW, he is also one of the few remaining people that saw the Cubs win their last World Series.
Margaret Thatcher has dementia. She can't "distinguish between the 1982 Falklands War and the conflict in Bosnia." It is a shame, a terrible disease. McCain never forgets a war. Then again, he can't remember where he lives.
Here's a video I made, what do you think?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HAu_MBRx5k
Caveat @ 52:
As far as I know, there's nothing in the Constitution explicitly forbidding political suicide. Seriously, though, he couldn't go with Dubya since according to the twelfth amendment to the Constitution no person ineligible to be president may be vice president and the twenty-second amendment limits a person to two terms as president, but Cheney (I believe) is fair game.
The timing of McCain's announcement probably has more to do with trying to mitigate a post-convention bump for Obama/Biden than it does to give himself a birthday present. Can we have a commercial ready to go about how McCain spent his birthday back in 2005 to counter his campaign move? I like tricia's idea up at #18. It might not be sporting to go after him on his birthday, but the GOP sure didn't waste any time with anti-Biden ads.
Also, I cannot imagine Powell agreeing to be McCain's VP. He already seems to loathe himself for his involvement in getting us into the mess in Iraq and he passed up the opportunity last time around when he had a better reputation. If McCain goes with Lieberman I'll be laughing uncontrollably for days.
BobbyG @ 65:
Is the Forrestal still in service?
A McCain-Cheney ticket would secure the conservative vote of the near dead and undead wings of the Republican Party.
factanonverba @ 14:
John Kerry and Al Gore are not calling Obama an elitist... so... your point is moot. :P
BobbyG @ 65:
For the sake of nostalgia, maybe they'll let him fly a Sopwith Camel.
While we're calling ♠'s, ♠'s I thought I should bring this up.
FLASHBACK: McCain Called Chalabi ‘A Patriot’ With Iraq’s ‘Best Interests At Heart’»
Iraqi exile leader Ahmad Chalabi was one of the most sordid figures in the run-up to the Iraq war. Paid by the Bush administration to muster pre-war intelligence, Chalabi drummed up claims that Saddam Hussein had WMD, helping lead the United States into war. More recently, he promoted the “surge” to the Iraqi government.
A new book by Aram Roston reveals that Chalabi supported John McCain (R-AZ) for president in 2000, believing that the senator would be the most receptive to his agenda.
i actually considered placing a bet on mccain choosing lieberman but decided that it's not a bet i would win.
mccain's getting (he thinks) mileage out of chatter about the possibility of a "split ticket" (hahahaha) but would never do it because the vp-ship is a potential launching pad for the next presidential election and the republican party machine won't let it get squandered just to get johnny in on this go round.
☻Bangkok Bob ☻ @ 75:
The Obama campaign needs to make this a high-profile talking point.
When McCain says that he spoke to Jesus...we might actually have to take him at his word.
If elected, McSame will whip out the POW excuse to soften the media hits whenever he needs to. Anyone who chooses ABBA as their favorite music should just default their candidacy anyway.
"Highlander - The Campaigning"
Coming to a resthome near you.
say what you want... just photograph my right side
Flashforward!
Jan. 20, 2009 - BREAKING NEWS - Sources say that President John McCain woke up today. We are awaiting confirmation from the White House.
Liberal AND Proud @ 78:
Of course he is a POW
Carol @ 83:
No. He was the guy holding the camels steady for the 3 Wise Men.
announce mcCake's birthday at the democratic convention 72yo
New, just in, that the McSame Store:
http://www.bgladd.com/McSameStore/CarrierCrash.jpg
In the spirit of the high-tech times in which we live, McCain has decided to announce his VP selection via 1,000,000 carrier pigeons dispatched to the homes of his supporters.
I'll be attending a McCain rally in O'Fallon, MO, this coming Sunday. Huckabee and Mittens are supposed to be there also, so I may or may not see the VP nominee as well. I'm doing this either because scouting out the enemy is wise, or because I'm some sort of masochist. Your choice.
Jeon Ji-Yung @ 87:
To reaffirm his committment to ecology, he decided against using smoke signals.
Has the chimperor learned to play an open G chord yet?
The Rove machine is afraid of Joe Biden. As they should be! Joe is going to tell us ALL about their incompetence. And he's going to say it like a broken record. Over and Over and Over again. Come election day, Bush, Cheney, Rove incompetence will be imprinted in our brains -- just like Weapons of Mass Destruction.
Sen. John McCain @ 81:
I noticed that too. Maybe it's some kind of answer to his being accused of being two-faced.
Joe Biden has the goods on Bush. By the way, the father of Nick Berg, Mr. Michael Berg is also from Delaware, Joe Biden's state.
To John Galt (#8) - You'll never get near the Nutter Center with an Obama sign. What an appropriate venue for McCain: NUTTER CENTER!!! It holds a maximum capacity of 12,000 people. And if they can't fill it, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base is literally next door - they can bus over a bunch of civilians and enlisted people to fill the seats.
If McCain picks Rob Portman, he has the unenviable task of explaining to everyone outside of Cincinnati "who the hell is Rob Portman?" If I were a journalist, my next question would be, "Is there not a single Republican senator or governor who would have made a qualified Vice-President? You had to go to the House to find someone not tainted by scandal or corruption?"
Pull-eeeze pick Mitt, McCain--pull-eeze!
Oh how we've been missing hearing from the biggest self-serving nut-job in the GOP!
Mitt is the champ: utterly phony, utterly smarmy, utterly unintentionally hilarous.
Mitt happens!
.......77 Bobby G says: RE: Chalabi
The Obama campaign needs to make this a high-profile talking point.......
Chalabi is a relative of Iyad Allawi, isn't he? By the way, is his first name Iyad or Ida? I'm always confused by this, LOL.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU
you're old as the hills, can't remember your houses, have early signs of Alzheimer's, keep using POW as an excuse, have a terrible temper, divorced your first wife when she went gimpy, are rich and can't relate to normal people, can't use the internet so you're not reading this, want to bomb and drill until the cows get dead, have no knowledge of economics, have no plan other than suck up to bush
HAPPPPPPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFhakR_dork&feature=related
Bush-McSame So Happy Together
Yes, the rethuglicans called him all of those things, the liberals didn't.
Any truth to the rumor that the "free-speech zones" set up at the Republican National Convention will informally be known by the McCain Campaign as Hanoi Holiday Inns?
Shadowgm Hussein @ 37:
I love that ad!!
Especially since the other attack ad XOJ has out now is Biden criticizing Obama.
Yeah, I think Obama really should have followed the advice of McCain’s concern troll attack ad and picked HRC.
Wha? … No, no, he wouldn’t then have put out TEN TIMES THE ATTACK ADS WITH HILLIRY ATTACKING OBAMA.
That wouldn’t have happened … no
factanonverba @ 14:
Yeah it was moot in "04" too ... but that didn’t stop the GOP then so I see no reason why it shouldn’t be an issue now.
Do you?
What's the difference?
This is apples to apples as much as anything ever has been!
Shadowgm Hussein @ 37:
Actually, I think Hil deserves some props...I heard her on the news this a.m. giving a speech in which she denounced McCain for this ad and said something to the effect of, "Well, I *AM* Hillary Clinton, and I do NOT endorse or support this message."
Not only is Hillary going to do the right thing, I think, the Obama camp is going to make sure she's treated regally and receives a plum position for it--I'm not sure what they can offer, but I have the feeling she's going to get whatever she'd like. The Presidency of the Senate would be a nice place to start...or anyplace where she can drive her policy priorities and make the Faux Noise crowd's heads explode.
Noah @ 43:
Anybody else know if there's any truth to the rumor than Powell will endorse Obama at the Democratic convention?
I don't think Powell wants anything further to do with holding office. He's already been used by the GOP--why would we put himself in the position of being screwed over again?
bateman @ 91:
I was wondering the exact same thing! LOL! In band practice, we call that chord "the bush chord." Try it; it's sour.
I've loved Martha Radditz at ABC ever since she took that photo--she clearly was clever enough to notice Chimpy's faux pas and the implications for Katrina that it held at the time. It was great commentary without having to say a thing: "Bush diddles as Rome burns," only he couldn't even do *THAT* right.
BobbyG @ 38:
Romney is only anti-abortion in red states.
StirFry @ 42:
Anyone who didn't catch that, its a dog/car-trip reference.
songtraveler @ 96:
HAHAHAHA!! "Mitt Happens!"
Joe Max @ 44:
And the chances are pretty good that both Kerry and Gore are smart enough to remember how many homes each has. Incidentally, McCain's total apparently is upwards of seven.
RobertD @ 106:
Kind of poetic how he figuratively and literally struck the wrong chord, don't you think?
Worst chord ever btw.
/guitar geek
Bush and McBush. This is a reason why I don't McCain in office. That ignorant bastard!
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