Bush and McCain: NOW or THEN? Make your own judgment

It is interesting to me how controlled and quiet McCain's words are in all his speeches and comments--much like a metronome...that puts you to sleep ZZZZzzzzzz. I've also noticed in the years I've been on this planet that, often, people who speak this way are trying to hide anger that lurks just under the surface of those apparently calm, controlled, measured words. And, without warning--IT CAN ERUPT AT ANY TIME!!! With McCain, I've heard it often does. Is this the kind of man we want at the helm of our government, with his hand on the nuclear buttons? Just asking.

Imagine the kind of anger McCain may now be hiding about how the Bush campaign smeared him in 2000 and how he has had to remain "loyal" to Bush (even HUG him--YUK!) and cowtow to the right-wing fundamentalists he used to despise. Did you ever read all the smears Bush/ROVE said against McCain in 2000? Following is a sample (you can just imagine how much rage McCain must have stowed away about all of this!) Particularly, note how Bush/ROVE not only questioned McCain's temper, but also his SANITY! And now Bush is praising him and saying what a great president McCain would make. What a difference eight political years make! How could anyone trust this bunch of liars who will do or say anything to achieve their own ends--and then deny what they did--even though it is recorded in video, audio, and written media for all to see and hear?! Let's do a rewind to the 2000 campaign--and then tell me if you would vote for the McCain that Bush described in those not-so-long-ago days. To remain loyal to an evil bunch like the Republican neocons must take a lot of self-deception and denial! What a dilemma! Who do you believe, Bush NOW?--or your lying eyes and memory about what Bush said THEN?:

What Bush did to McCain in the 2000 S. C. primary

FACT SHEET: Bush Waged Nasty Smear Campaign Against McCain in 2000 Bush Supporters Called McCain “The Fag Candidate.” In South Carolina, Bush supporters circulated church fliers that labeled McCain “the fag candidate.” Columnist Frank Rich noted that the fliers were distributed “even as Bush subtly reinforced that message by indicating he wouldn’t hire openly gay people for his administration.” (But of course there are many gay Republicans--as we all have seen--but, since they are abhorred by their own party members who will shun them if they are truthful, they have to hide and deny their sexual orientation--until it gets outed in some sad way.) McCain Slurs Included Illegitimate Children, Homosexuality And A Drug-Addict Wife. Among the rumors circulated against McCain in 2000 in South Carolina was that his adopted Bangladeshi daughter was actually black, that McCain was both gay and cheated on his wife, and that his wife Cindy was a drug addict. Bush Campaign Used Code Words to Question McCain’s Temper. “A smear campaign of the ugliest sort is now coursing through the contest for the presidency in 2000. Using the code word "temper," a group of Senate Republicans, and at least some outriders of the George W. Bush campaign, are spreading the word that John McCain is unstable. The subtext, also suggested in this whispering campaign, is that he returned from 5 1/2 years as a POW in North Vietnam with a loose screw. And it is bruited about that he shouldn't be entrusted with nuclear weapons.” Bush Supporters Questioned McCain’s Sanity. “Some of George W. Bush's supporters have questioned Republican presidential candidate John McCain's fitness for the White House, suggesting that his five years as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam drove him insane at the time.” Bush Supporters Spread Racist Rumors About McCain’s Daughter. Bush supporters in South Carolina made race-baiting phone calls saying that McCain had a “black child.” The McCains’ daughter, Bridget, was adopted from Mother Teresa’s orphanage in Bangladesh. In August 2000, columnist Maureen Dowd wrote that the McCains “are still seething about Bush supporters in South Carolina spreading word of their dark-skinned adopted daughter.” Rove Suggests Former POW McCain Committed Treason and Fathered Child With Black Prostitute. In 2000, McCain operatives in SC accused Rove of spreading rumors against McCain, such as “suggestions that McCain had committed treason while a prisoner of war, and had fathered a child by a black prostitute,” according to the New Yorker. After Rove Denied Role In McCain Whisper Campaign, Reporters Concluded He Was Behind It. A December 1999 Dallas Morning News linked Rove to a series of campaign dirty tricks, including his College Republican efforts, allegedly starting a whisper campaign about Ann Richard being too gay-friendly, spreading stories about Jim Hightower’s involvement in a kickback scheme and leaking the educational history of Lena Guerrero. The article also outlined current dirty tricks and whisper campaigns against McCain in South Carolina, including that “McCain may be unstable as a result of being tortured while a prisoner of war in North Vietnam.” (DMN, 12/2/99) After the article was published, Rove blasted Slater in the Manchester, NH airport, “nose to nose” according to one witness, with Rove claiming Slater had “harmed his reputation,” Slater later noted. But according to one witness, “What was interesting then is that everyone on the campaign charter concluded that Rove was responsible for rumors about McCain.” Rove Was In Close Touch With McConnell, McCain-Feingold’s Chief Opponent. Senior White House adviser Karl Rove was in close contact with Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) during McConnell’s effort to fight the McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance Bill in the U.S. Senate. According to Newsweek, though Rove and Bush have publicly kept their distance from McConnell on the issue, “sources tell Newsweek that Rove is, in fact, in close touch with McConnell as GOP experts study the bill for hidden land mines.” Bush Campaign Accused of Using Push Polls Against McCain. College of Charleston student Suzette Latsko said she received a telephone call from a woman who identified herself as an employee of Voter/Consumer Research, and that the caller misrepresented McCain’s positions and asked if Latsko knew McCain had been reprimanded for interfering with federal regulators in the savings and loan scandal. Voter/Consumer Research is listed as a polling contractor on Bush’s Federal Election Commission filings; the Bush campaign has paid Voter/Consumer Research $93,000 through December 31, 1999. Bush spokesman Ari Fleischer denied the call was a push poll, but said it was important that the Republican Party remember McCain’s role in the S&L crisis. Bush Campaign Acknowledged Making Phone Calls. Tucker Eskew, Bush’s South Carolina spokesman, acknowledged the Bush campaign made such calls, but claimed they were not “push polls.” Eskew added, “Show me a baseless comment in those questions.” Bush Used Fringe Veterans Group to Attack McCain as “Manchurian Candidate.” “In the case of Ted Sampley, the same guy who did Bush's dirty work in going after Sen. John McCain in the 2000 Republican primaries is doing the job against Kerry this year. Sampley dared compare McCain, who spent five years as a Vietnam POW, with ‘the Manchurian Candidate.’” Sampley Called McCain a “Coward” and a Traitor. “Sampley… accused McCain of being a weak-minded coward who had escaped death by collaborating with the enemy. Sampley claimed that McCain had first been compromised by the Vietnamese, then recruited by the Soviets.”