More McCain Of The Moment

The folks at Brave New Films & The Real McCain.com bring us ‘The Real McCain Part 2”. The bottom line is McCain clearly has a problem here…..he cannot keep his story straight. And now he takes on the Bush Tactic and refuses to even acknowledge ever making mistakes.

“The McCain campaign still can’t explain why John McCain could be so clearly and factually wrong in stating that our troops are at ‘pre-surge’ levels,” Obama campaign spokesman Hari Sevugan said in a statement.

And Democratic National Committee spokesman Damien LaVera released a statement questioning whether voters can trust McCain.

“John McCain is now trying to claim he didn’t mislead the public about troop levels,” LaVera said. “Either John McCain doesn’t know the facts on the ground in Iraq or he is continuing the Bush Administration’s pattern of intentionally misleading the public.”

Celebrating Their Heritage - As LOSERS

Confederate group plans giant flag in Hillsborough County

Next year, a giant Confederate flag may tower above the tree line near the junction of Interstate 75 and Interstate 4.

The Sons of Confederate Veterans wants drivers in the Tampa area to see the massive flag — 30 feet high and 50 feet long — atop a 139-foot pole, the highest the Federal Aviation Authority would allow. It would be lit at night.

With the pole already in the ground and building permits in hand, the group is on its way to having what it calls the "world's largest" Confederate flag in place by mid 2009. The group just needs about $30,000 more, said Douglas Dawson, Florida division commander.

………………...

 

Adams insists the flag isn't about racism or slavery. "It's about honoring our ancestors and about celebrating our heritage," he said. "It's a historical thing to us."

He hopes people who are offended by the flag will drive to the memorial and view the plaques honoring Confederate soldiers. They plan to have one dedicated to black Confederate veterans, he said.

…………………………………..

Dawson, the Sons of Confederate Veterans' Florida commander, said he knows a giant Confederate flag flying 24 hours a day over two of the Tampa area's busiest roads will cause controversy.

"We can't do anything but explain to people what the truth is," said Dawson, of Pensacola. "If they don't want to accept that, they're closed-minded, and Jesus Christ couldn't change it."

 

You ignorant crackers, we have had this conversation before……The Confederate Separatists LOST. I just do not understand the desire to celebrate ones heritage as a loser!

The Theft Of Democracy

County to investigate latest election snafu

One error in last week's election "should not have been possible," Faulkner County Election Commissioner Bruce Haggard said, if an electronic voting machine had been functioning correctly.

The error contributed to a reversal in the District 45 State Representative Democratic Primary election.

In the East Cadron B voting precinct, Haggard said, the district 45 representative ballot was entirely absent from the touch-screen voting machines. The error was caught by county clerk Melinda Reynolds before the polls opened, Haggard said, stressing that no voters were disenfranchised.

Paper ballots were prepared for the district 45 race before voters came to the polls, he said, and these ballots were accurately counted on election night.

But the error that deleted the electronic district 45 representative ballot hid another error that went unnoticed.
...
One error in last week's election "should not have been possible," Faulkner County Election Commissioner Bruce Haggard said, if an electronic voting machine had been functioning correctly.

The error contributed to a reversal in the District 45 State Representative Democratic Primary election.

In the East Cadron B voting precinct, Haggard said, the district 45 representative ballot was entirely absent from the touch-screen voting machines. The error was caught by county clerk Melinda Reynolds before the polls opened, Haggard said, stressing that no voters were disenfranchised.

Paper ballots were prepared for the district 45 race before voters came to the polls, he said, and these ballots were accurately counted on election night.

But the error that deleted the electronic district 45 representative ballot hid another error that went unnoticed.
...
"We assumed, erroneously, that it would not record that race since it was not on the ballot," he said, adding that the votes for the constable race were later found to have recorded accurately on the voter-verifiable paper trail and therefore would not have appeared erroneous to voters either.

As it happened, Fiddler's name had been paired with the vastly more popular constable candidate. This falsely inflated his total number of votes and, as the race was so close, indicated that he had won.

A?recount requested by Tyler proved otherwise.
...
What makes the situation all the more baffling, he added, is that the machine in question, along with its associated software and coding, were found to have worked to perfection during early voting.
...

Let’s see we are going to bring in the company that made the defective machine in the first place to audit and determine how the machine failed, boy how much you want to bet that that official result will be “human error” at county level. It’s not rampant voter fraud(like those pesky old nuns), we need to worry about but the stealing of our elections by the likes of Diebold(Premier) and ES&S.

How Low Will He Go!!

“Mr Straight Talk”, “The Straight Shooter”, “The Washington Reformer”……….. Not!!!! We are going to see just how low John will go in his quest to be the most powerful man in the world. He is so close he can taste it, and all those things he has told us he so despises over the years will now start to become standard operating practice for John and his team.

McCain Campaign Calls; A Nonprofit Steps In

For weeks, Republican presidential candidate John McCain had been hammered for supporting the Air Force's February decision to award a $40 billion contract for refueling tankers to Northrop Grumman and its European partner. Democrats, labor unions and others blamed the senator for a deal they say could move tens of thousands of jobs abroad.

McCain's advisers wanted to strike back against key Democratic critics. But they did not mount an expensive advertising campaign to defend the candidate's position. They called a tax-exempt nonprofit closely aligned with the senator from Arizona, seeking information and help.

Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) partnered with Northrop and one of its consultants to produce a vitriolic advertising campaign defending the tanker deal.

"Rep. Jack Murtha, Mr. Porker himself, has threatened to hold up funding," CAGW said, referring to the Pennsylvania Democrat, in an e-mail soliciting support. "Plus, there is great outcry from some in the media claiming we are turning over the Air Force to the French and giving Europe a gazillion jobs too. Nothing could be further from the truth."

Although the campaign and the group deny any cooperation, CAGW's willingness to jump into the tanker controversy illustrates what some experts describe as potentially improper political activity by nonprofits, an issue that is gaining attention as the presidential contest heats up.

This week, two key McCain supporters in the Senate, Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.), backed out of their advisory roles with another nonprofit, Vets for Freedom, after the group ran ads online attacking Sen.. Barack Obama (Ill.), the likely Democratic presidential nominee.

CAGW's advertising campaign falls into a murkier space. The group's work on the Northrop deal offered indirect support of McCain on a highly controversial issue while costing his campaign nothing. It never explicitly mentioned McCain's name.

"This is the public relations equivalent of air cover: You saturate debate with your rhetoric so people start talking about your message and stop talking about McCain. . . . It's a classic third-party technique," said Sheldon Rampton, research director for the Center for Media and Democracy, a liberal organization that tracks the use of public relations by corporations and politicians.

Because of their tax-exempt status, nonprofits, or 501(c)3s, are not supposed to engage in political activity. They are allowed, however, to set up a separate political arm -- known as a 501(c)4 -- that may donate money to candidates and lobby on policy issues as long as political activity is not its primary purpose. The Internal Revenue Service is charged with enforcing the rules.

"The question is: What is lobbying and what is campaign intervention?" said Frances R. Hill, a University of Miami law professor who specializes in charitable organizations. "The difficult issue that arises with these kinds of relationships, especially in election years, is whether a candidate for public office is benefiting improperly from an organization's activity."

 

Media Genius At Work

Must have been the only Black person to attend a McCain event…………….yep sure looks like she is wearing an Obama shirt.

Proud Dad

Just had to post a shot of my little one dancing. She is the apple of her Daddy's eye that is for sure.

Back When Oil Was $30 A Barrel - George Made Promises

THE 2000 CAMPAIGN: THE TEXAS GOVERNOR; Bush Would Use Power of Persuasion to Raise Oil Supply

June 28, 2000

Gov. George W. Bush of Texas said today that if he was president, he would bring down gasoline prices through sheer force of personality, by creating enough political good will with oil-producing nations that they would increase their supply of crude.

''I would work with our friends in OPEC to convince them to open up the spigot, to increase the supply,'' Mr. Bush, the presumptive Republican candidate for president, told reporters here today. ''Use the capital that my administration will earn, with the Kuwaitis or the Saudis, and convince them to open up the spigot.''

Implicit in his comments was a criticism of the Clinton administration as failing to take advantage of the good will that the United States built with Kuwait and Saudi Arabia during the Persian Gulf war in 1991. Also implicit was that as the son of the president who built the coalition that drove the Iraqis out of Kuwait, Mr. Bush would be able to establish ties on a personal level that would persuade oil-producing nations that they owed the United States something in return.

''Ours is a nation that helped Kuwait and the Saudis, and you'd think we'd have the capital necessary to convince them to increase the crude supplies,'' he said.

Asked why the Clinton administration had not been able to use the power of personal persuasion, Mr. Bush said: ''The fundamental question is, 'Will I be a successful president when it comes to foreign policy?' ''

He went on to suggest, as he did in answer to other questions, that voters should simply trust him.

''I will be,'' he said in answer to his own question about whether he would be a successful president. ''But until I'm the president, it's going to be hard for me to verify that I think I'll be more effective

So George, based on your own criteria from 2000, you and your foreign policy are clearly a miserable failure.

 

Let’s see, that trip to grovel at the Saudi Kings feet, how’d that turn out for you?

 

Saudis see no reason to raise oil production now

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - Saudi Arabia's leaders made clear Friday they see no reason to increase oil production until customers demand it, apparently rebuffing President Bush amid soaring U.S. gasoline prices.

It was Bush's second personal appeal this year to King Abdullah, head of the monarchy that rules this desert kingdom that is a longtime prime U.S. ally and home to the world's largest oil reserves. But Saudi officials stuck to their position that they will only pump more oil into the system when asked to by buyers, something they say is not happening now, the president's national security adviser told reporters.

 

 

What Do You Expect In Texas?

The GOP War on (Democrats) Voting

Two years ago Texas' Republican Attorney General Greg Abbott declared war on what he claimed was rampant vote fraud in Texas. He set up a special vote fraud unit and got a $1.4 million grant from the feds for the work.

Now, two years on, courtesy of the Dallas Morning News, we have a run-down of what Abbot came up with -- 26 cases.

The details tell the story: All 26 cases involved Democrats, and almost were either blacks or Hispanics.

Of the 26, 8 appear to have been genuine cases of fraud, two of which were cases of people actually casting fraudulent ballots, as opposed to bogus registrations.

The remaining 18 cases all involved eligible voters casting legitimate mail-in ballots. The 'fraud' was that others collected the ballots and deposited them in mailboxes without putting their own name and address on the envelope in which the mail-in ballot was sent. These latter instances were almost all cases involving elderly or disabled voters who could not easily mail their own mail-in ballots. In other words, the great majority of the cases in his meager haul were technical violations that non-politicized prosecutor's offices most likely never would have pursued.

So, 8 legitimate cases of voter fraud found, 1.4 million, hey that’s only 175,000 dollars each, wow I feel better knowing our democracy has been protected.

Just in time for the Hurrican Season

Should not the safety of everyone, regardless of their county of origin be the first concern?

McALLEN,
Texas (AP) -- Federal border agents say they will search for illegal immigrants at inland Texas checkpoints even during a hurricane evacuation, a plan state and local officials say could lead to disastrous delays and discourage some people from getting out.

Texas and federal officials have argued about the checkpoints roughly 75 miles from the border for years, but emergency managers only recently learned that the Border Patrol also plans to check the immigration status of people boarding buses at evacuation hubs in the Rio Grande Valley. State and local officials are concerned not only about delays, but that the checkpoints could deter illegal immigrants from fleeing dangerous conditions. "That puts me in a dilemma because those people will stay behind in a potential surge zone," said Johnny Cavazos, emergency management coordinator for Cameron County, a coastal county on the U.S.-Mexico border.

"These people live in the most fragile of homes. I'm going to have a search and rescue problem to deal with," he said, adding "that federal and local officials need to come up with a much better plan."

The screenings at evacuation hubs are intended to prevent bottlenecks at then inland checkpoints, said Dan Doty, a Rio Grande Valley s?okesman for the U.S. Border Patrol.

"Our local policy is checkpoints will not close, we will check for immigration status," Doty said. "We have to do our jobs."

Gov. Rick Perry wants the Border Patrol to share the state's priority of putting public safety first during an emergency, said spokeswoman Krista Piferrer.
"If there is any significant delay in having people move from harm's way, then that could run the risk of endangering lives," she said.

Closer to the Louisiana line, most of the more than 100 deaths from 2005's Hurricane Rita were related to the disastrous evacuation where cars were jammed for days on highways leading from the Gulf Coast, perishing from heat exposure or accidents. Only a dozen died in the actual storm.

More than 1 million people live in Cameron County and its inland neighbor Hidalgo County. Hurricane Allen, a Category 3 storm, struck just north of the coastal city of Brownsville in 1980 with sustained winds of 115 mph.

"We, emergency management, are in essence shepherding the people to safety - that is what we're telling them," Cavazos said. "My job is to save lives, not to ask for documentation."

TheReality of Healthcare in the US

I wonder how John McCain's plan would address this recent truth.

Recently released government research on the health of the American people brought the nation some troubling information -- our life expectancy, which many proudly assumed was steadily climbing, is actually declining in many parts of the country.

This was especially true for women, the reports revealed. Women in 180 counties across the country can expect to live 1.3 fewer years than their life expectancy as recently as 1999. That same 1.3-year drop occurred for men, too, but only in 11 counties. Most of the counties that saw the declines, as one would expect, are populated by poor people.

What troubled the researchers was the newness of this phenomenon. Americans in all walks of life have experienced longer life expectancies for the past several decades. From 1969 to 1999, for example, life expectancy for men increased steadily from 66.9 years to 74.1, and for women it rose from 73.5 years to 79.6.
Interestingly, while our life expectancies continued to climb, we were never higher than 11th best in the world. And now, we've dropped to an unremarkable 42nd.

?ccording to numbers from the Census Bureau and the National Center for Health Statistics, a baby born in the U.S. (factoring in both boys and girls) will live an average of 77.9 years. A kid born in England can expect to live about a year longer. Meanwhile, the German baby's life expectancy is 79 while a Norwegian child can expect to live 79.7 years. Our neighbors to the north, Canada, have a life expectancy of 80.3 years and the Australians, Swedes and Swiss are even better at 80.6. Japan beats them all with a life expectancy of 81.4 years.

U.S. medical officials have dozens of answers for all this, ranging from Americans' propensity to smoke to their lack of exercise while eating too much. But Germany, for one, isn't exactly noted for its puritanical lifestyle.

The real reason is one that the defenders of the U.S. health system, if it deserves to be called that, refuse to admit: We're letting too many Americans go without adequate health care.

More McCain Of The Moment

McCain of this moment was quick to back our moronic President’s ignorant speech in Israel and attack Obama:

 

Asked if he thought Mr. Obama was an appeaser — the Democratic candidate has said he would be willing to meet with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the president of Iran — Mr. McCain sidestepped and said, “I think that Barack Obama needs to explain why he wants to sit down and talk with a man who is the head of a government that is a state sponsor of terrorism, that is responsible for the killing of brave young Americans, that wants to wipe Israel off the map, who denies the Holocaust. That’s what I think Senator Obama ought to explain to the American people.'’

 

But once again  John forgets we are in the 21^st century and people have video cameras, and interviews are usually taped and stored and they will come back to haunt you:

 

Courtesy of The Moderate Voice – McCain of that moment:     

[Rubin] asked: “Do you think that American diplomats should be operating the way they have in the past, working with the Palestinian government if Hamas is now in charge?”

McCain answered: “They’re the government; sooner or later we are going to have to deal with them, one way or another, and I understand why this administration and previous administrations had such antipathy towards Hamas because of their dedication to violence and the things that they not only espouse but practice, so . . . but it’s a new reality in the Middle East. I think the lesson is people want security and a decent life and decent future, that they want democracy. Fatah was not giving them that.”

 

Our Fascist Government - Looking Out For Consumer Safety - Not

Government asks court to block wider testing for mad cow

The Bush administration on Friday urged a federal appeals court to stop meatpackers from testing all their animals for mad cow disease, but a skeptical judge questioned whether the government has that authority.

The government seeks to reverse a lower court ruling that allowed Kansas-based Creekstone Farms Premium Beef to conduct more comprehensive testing to satisfy demand from overseas customers in Japan and elsewhere.

Less than 1 percent of slaughtered cows are currently tested for the disease under Agriculture Department guidelines. The agency argues that more widespread testing does not guarantee food safety and could result in a false positive that scares consumers.

"They want to create false assurances," Justice Department attorney Eric Flesig-Greene told a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

But Creekstone attorney Russell Frye contended the Agriculture Department's regulations covering the treatment of domestic animals contain no prohibition against an individual company testing for mad cow disease, since the test is conducted only after a cow is slaughtered. He said the agency has no authority to prevent companies from using the test to reassure customers.

"This is the government telling the consumers, `You're not entitled to this information,'" Frye said.

Chief Judge David B. Sentelle seemed to agree with Creekstone's contention that the additional testing would not interfere with agency regulations governing the treatment of animals.

"All they want to do is create information," Sentelle said, noting that it's up to consumers to decide how to interpret the information.

Larger meatpackers have opposed Creekstone's push to allow wider testing out of fear that consumer pressure would force them to begin testing all animals too. Increased testing would raise the price of meat by a few cents per pound.

Mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy, can be fatal to humans who eat tainted beef. Three cases of mad cow disease have been discovered in the U.S. since 2003.

The district court's ruling last year i? favor of Creekstone was supposed to take effect June 1, 2007, but the Agriculture Department's appeal has delayed the testing so far.

Just how inane can you get, the Government telling a producer then cannot test all of their product to ensure it is safe, they must only test a small fraction of it. Only with the Bushies in charge can it get this stupid.

Score One For Neo-Con Fascist SCOTUS

From Crooks and Liars:

Here’s your first case of voter disenfranchisement from Indiana’s new draconian anti-voter law.

Judge Roberts must be so proud:

About 12 Indiana nuns were turned away Tuesday from a polling place by a fellow bride of Christ because they didn’t have state or federal identification bearing a photograph.

Sister Julie McGuire said she was forced to turn away her fellow sisters at Saint Mary’s Convent in South Bend, across the street from the University of Notre Dame, because they had been told earlier that they would need such an ID to vote.

The nuns, all in their 80s or 90s, didn’t get one but came to the precinct anyway.

“One came down this morning, and she was 98, and she said, ‘I don’t want to go do that,’” Sister McGuire said. Some showed up with outdated passports. None of them drives.

They weren’t given provisional ballots because it would be impossible to get them to a motor vehicle branch and back in the 10-day time frame allotted by the law, Sister McGuire said. “You have to remember that some of these ladies don’t walk well. They’re in wheelchairs or on walkers or electric carts.”

Nonetheless, she said, the convent will make a “very concerted effort” to get proper identification for the nuns in time for the general election. “We’re going to take from now until November to get them out and get this done. You can’t do this like school kids on a bus,” she said. “I wish we could.”

It breaks my heart.

Wow, I feel so good that the integrity of our voting process has been protected from these undocumented Nuns.

More McCain Of The Moment

What McCain of this moment has to say:

McCain's statement as reported by Fox News: "To state the obvious, I thought it was wrong at the time … all of those comments contributed over time to the frustration and sorrow of Americans because those statements and comments did not comport with the facts on the ground. In hearing after hearing in the Armed Services Committee and forums around America I complained loud and long that the strategy was failing and we couldn’t succeed … Obviously the presidents bare the responsibility. We all do. But do I blame him for that specific banner? I have no knowledge of that. I can’t blame him for that."

What McCain of that moment had to say:

 CAVUTO: ... Senator, "after a conflict" means "after the conflict," and many argue the conflict isn't over.

MCCAIN: Well, then why was there a banner that said 'mission accomplished' on the aircraft carrier? The conflict...the major conflict is over, the regime change has been accomplished.