A walk down memory lane w/Cindy McCain

Just thought I'd remind all of you Cindy McCain's hilarious lie from a Today Show interview back in May, when she said with a straight face, "If there's any negative campaigning, it won't come from our side." I said it was b.s. then, and it certainly came to pass.

I'm no Nostradomus, but the record will reflect that it was McLame's surrogates who decided to start throwing mud pies, not Obama's. Viewed from that angle, I guess it does make sense; after all, it's McCain who's tanking in the polls, not Obama.

I'm still waiting for that "honorable campaign" we were promised, Senator McCain.

Vanity Fair's version of a New Yorker cover

[Click image for larger view]

From Vanity Fair:

We had our own presidential campaign cover in the works, which explored a different facet of the Politics of Fear, but we shelved it when The New Yorker's became the "It Girl" of the blogosphere. Now, however, in a selfless act of solidarity with our downstairs neighbors here at the Condé Nast building, we'd like to share it with you. Confidentially, of course.

Pretty good, although there's one big difference between last week's New Yorker cover with the Obamas on it, and the one above - everything depicted on last week's cover was false (and absurd), except the Obamas bumping fists.

The depiction of the McCains above? I see nothing that looks false. If anything, it's too friendly - Cindy McCain's been airbrushed *Smirk*, McCain isn't doing that fabulously creepy smile of his, and Lindsay Graham isn't licking McCain's boots.

Here's another alternate cover, if you're still in the mood.

The would-be first ladies take center stage

This morning, Cindy McCain appeared on ABC's Good Morning America for an interview while she's in Vietnam. It was a pretty interesting interview for several reasons, but first, I must give her heartfelt and much-deserved praise for her work with Operation Smile. I mean that in all sincerity, and good for her and Senator McCain for putting their money where their mouths are by adopting a baby from Bangladesh, Bridget, in 1991.

I don't know too much about either Cindy McCain or Michelle Obama, but it certainly seems like the media is keeping the whole pseudo-controversy alive about Michelle Obama "not being proud of her country." It probably wasn't a very smart thing to say, but so what? I have to be honest with you, I haven't been proud of my country in recent memory in many (but not all) ways - Bush's ill-advised War in Iraq has cost us hundreds of billions, and resulted in hundreds of thousands of deaths. What's to be proud of there? Or Hurricane Katrina? Or Abu Ghraib? Or Haditha? Guantánamo Bay? Torturing terrorists? Valerie Plame? Bush, in a thinly veiled threat that cheapened the presidency (he's beyond cheapening at this point) calling Barack Obama an appeaser in front of the Knesset? The Bush presidency, aside from the immediate aftermath of 9-11, has given me very little to be proud about. Does that make me (or Michelle Obama) any less of a patriot? Please.

Tonight, Dan Abrams unearthed a pretty interesting piece of John McCain footage from March of this year...

I really didn't love America until I was deprived of her company.

I'm not a veteran of the military, and God willing, unless tragedy strikes, I won't be in this lifetime, but I've read enough about the military to appreciate what McCain is saying here. I don't really see anything wrong with what he said, and Dan Abrams is right on - McCain's comments are eloquent.

But, at the very least, this ought to blunt the stupid criticism that the media is keeping alive about Michelle Obama (like the interview at top).

Will Abrams' footage end this stupid distraction? Fat chance.

Oh, and Lars Larson? Another Rush Limbaugh wannabe that we can add to a growing roster of right wing jackasses polluting our airwaves.

It's America, and Larson has the right to say what he wants, but it irks me to no end that a company will give him any sort of job to spew his hateful comments. It's totally amazing to me that the left has Air America Radio and little else, and right-wing talk radio has dominated the airwaves for decades now. Hmm - I wonder if the corporate media has anything to do with that? You don't need an MBA to make that connection.

A PSA on the "C" word

Warning: This is not work-safe, and not for kids. Call this one rated "M" for Mature audiences. You've been warned.

Pretty funny. The video, that is, not that McCain has so little respect for the trollop his wife that he would use that language toward her.

As for the person(s) who posted this on YouTube, the message with the video is about as succinct as I could ever hope to be about the incident:

An f-you to those too squeamish to discuss an incident speaking directly to the temperament and character of a guy who'd like to be President.

McCain's freaky-mean '92 outburst is a well-sourced story found in Cliff Schecter's book, The Real McCain. [Which I'm reading right now] Due to the particularly profane nature of the offense it would probably be useless to wait for the press to give it the full-on, endlessly repeating, 24-7 Reverend Wright treatment. So we'd love to help.

Money. I echo those sentiments to people to squeamish to talk about McCain's potty mouth. I can tell you this - if Barack Obama said it about his wife, Michelle, what kind of media treatment would it be receiving? Good Christ - it would probably all that Fox News would run for 48 hours straight, along with Rush Limbaugh and Bill O'Lielly and Michael "Wiener" Savage and Ann Coulter and Michelle Malkin and Sean Hannity and... Well, you get the idea.

Cindy McCain on Today: high comedy

This morning, I saw Cindy McCain, the wife if John McSame, on NBC's Today Show, and the interview, quite frankly, was stunning in many aspects.

I find it totally outrageous that Cindy refuses to release her tax returns. And she was pretty defiant about it, too. Considering how big of a deal both of the Clintons' tax returns were in 1992 AND this year, there's no way Cindy McCain should get away with this. The huge question here is, will the press let her get away with it? I'd bet my bile duct that the mainstream media will collectively yawn, and then proceed to chase down more important stories, like whether Barack Obama is wearing a lapel pin.

The reason that Mrs. McCain, who, according to reports, is worth in excess of $100 million, doesn't want to release her tax returns should be obvious - John McCain is learning heavily on her wealth. She can talk about "separate tax returns" all she wants, but no one can convince me that he doesn't benefit from her wealth in a multitude of ways.

If the press doesn't hold the McCains to the same standards that it's been holding the Clintons to for the past 16+ years, or that it held the Kerrys to in 2004, (and I'm predicting it won't) - the Democratic nominee had better ROAST the McCains over it, period. I seem to remember the Kerrys being called "elitists" by the media because of their wealth at just about every opportunity in '04, and not just by the blowhards on the far right - the mainstream media picked that up and ran with it on numerous occasions.

Equally as amusing was Cindy's assertion that her husband will not indulge in negative campaigning: "it will not come from our side." That one doesn't even pass the smell test. A few weeks ago, the North Carolina Republican Party ran a particularly cutting ad about Barack Obama and Jeremiah Wright in that state, and McCain went out of his way to "condemn" it. In the process, the ad was rerun over and over on cable news channels. My favorite part was how he expressed his outrage - he sent a letter via snail mail. Wow, talk about urgency in the Information Age. I guess his cell phone was dead and he didn't have Internet access on the Straight Talk Express.

I can't write about this "interview" without commenting about Mrs. McCain's comments about Myanmar in the aftermath of last weekend's devastating typhoon, especially when she said, "I want to be there." Here's a thought - what's stopping you? You're worth tens of millions of dollars - get on a plane if you feel that strongly about it and stop the pseudo sympathy. Better yet, get out your checkbook. And her outrage about the Myanmar government's response is pretty amusing, considering the Bush administration's track record in "responding" to natural disasters in this country. She's "shocked, appalled and angry." Yea, I'm sure you are. In a week, when it fades from the front pages of newspapers and television coverage, Myanmar will be as relevant to Cindy McCain as global warming is to President Bush. Where was her outrage over the Bush administration's handling of Hurricane Katrina? I know where - hidden away, just like her tax returns.

What's our oil doing under their soil?

I do have to give the McCains credit and credibility for their thoughts about being concerned parents when their son was in Iraq. I can't possibly know what that feels like, nor will I pretend to. But, to me, that doesn't make McSame's opinions on Iraq any less misguided and myopic. Her assertion that an American life is worth Iraqis' "freedom" (a word she repeats about 10 times in 5 seconds, a pace that would make our asinine president proud) is beyond absurd. Our government wouldn't care one iota about Iraqis' freedom if they didn't have all of that oil. Oh, and by the way, a lot of good this War for Oil is doing us - what's gas going for these days? Only an administration this incompetent could invade a country with the second largest oil reserves in the world, resulting in gas prices doubling in the United States. Nice going, George - the rich get richer, and the poor get poorer die in Iraq. Over 4,000 American lives, $2 trillion (in the end, or probably more) and our gas prices double. Stupefying.

Anyway, most people may brush off and dismiss Cindy McCain's comments, and my response is simply this: You can't have it both ways. If Hillary Clinton's tax returns and political opinions were so relevant in the 1990s (and Bill Clinton's and Michelle Obama's this year), then Cindy McCain must be held to the same standard.

It isn't going to happen, but it should be, and I sure hope voters remember it in November, and I hope the Democratic nominee remembers it come campaign time.

Michelle Obama is un-American! Riiight.

Did anyone catch the latest useless media sensationalization of the '08 campaign? In case you didn't, it was Barack Obama's wife, Michelle, had this to say this past week:

For the first time in my adult life, I'm proud of my country, and not just because Barack is doing well, but because America is crying out for change.

Not surprisingly, her entire quotation wasn't played on every network that I saw. What was replayed was simply, "For the first time in my adult life, I'm proud of my country." I guess playing the whole thing wouldn't have fit the profile of Obama's wife being "un-American" or worse, depending on where you get your commentary.

I don't happen to agree with Michelle Obama - in my adult life, I've been plenty proud of my country on a number of occasions - 1992, when Bill Clinton defeated who was thought to be an unbeatable incumbent president - George H.W. Bush; how America pulled together in the wake of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing; when America played a key role in toppling Slobodan Milošević; American resolve following the 9-11 attacks; and many others. But, quite frankly, I haven't felt this disenchanted with our government in my lifetime, so I can totally relate to what Michelle Obama said. In 1992, I couldn't wait to vote against President Bush, because I felt he was so out of touch, but that was it - I didn't revile and despise Bush Sr. nearly as much as I do his son.

Of course, the hysterical right, including John McCain and his wife, Cindy, jumped all over the Obamas as if they had just spit on, burned and shredded the American flag. With glee.

I don’t know if you’ve heard those words, but I’m proud of my country!" intoned Cindy McCain a short time later.

Well, good for you, Cindy - not all of us feel that way.

Going back to the ridiculous, disgraceful spectacle that was the Clinton Impeachment in 1998-1999, I haven't felt all that wonderful about our government. In fact, since President Bush ascended the throne courtesy of the Supreme Court in '00, the only time or incident I can point to with pride is our nation's resolve following 9-11.

Does that make me un-American? I surly don't think so. What it makes me is angry, very angry, and I'm ready to do something about it during the '08 election, just as I did in '04.