Nothing much can be said about a man who now supports the repeal of Roe v. Wade, a repeal he once opposed. Nothing much can be said about a man who opposed the indefinite detention of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, and then decided he actually supported the policy, and then went on to publicly denounce a Supreme Court ruling on the matter that was exactly in line with his prior opinion. He used to support diplomatic engagement with Hamas, but not any more. He used to support diplomatic engagement with Syria, but not anymore. He used to believe the NRA should not be allowed to play a role in the setting of GOP party policy, but not anymore.
Nothing much can be said about a man who has given his support to the NSA's warrantless wiretapping surveillance program which was initiated by the Bush administration, which has violated the Constitutional rights of millions of American citizens, and which McCain once believed was entirely illegal. This man helped to establish the legal legitimization of torture, and looked on mutely while Mr. Bush and his people not only ravaged the entire Department of Justice in the name of politics and personal protection, but went further into the realm of abject criminal corruption by refusing to honor every legally issued subpoena they were served with.
Bluntly, [the] Palin choice not only failed to prop up his outsider credentials, but has also raised serious concerns about whether his basic judgment and understanding of simple reality can be relied on under any circumstances. This ugly reality is McCain's well-earned, supremely deserved reward for deciding to abandon any pretense of character or integrity, with deliberation and intent, while crowing to all within hearing about the importance of character and integrity. Everything he abandoned had nothing at all to do with what he believes or doesn't believe as an American or as an elected representative. He abandoned these things because he wants to live in the White House, period. He wants this with every...unprincipled fiber of his being; and through this has become a living, pathetic, abhorrent example of the damage to heart and soul such lust for personal gain can cause.
The following blog by an Alaskan is a must read for people looking to get factual information and background on Sarah Palin. It has several well sourced, footnoted articles on McCain's VP choice. Make sure you scroll down far enough to see the picture of fabulous downtown Wasilla, the town where Sarah Palin was Mayor. It really puts the "Executive Experience" argument into perspective. http://mudflats.wordpress.com/
She’d better learn how to spell “potato…” (a reference to Dan Quayle--Poppy Bush's VP pick. Quayle questioned a student's correct spelling of potato -- telling him it should be potatoe.) Quayle gave us tons of laughs, just as Duhmbya Bush Jr. has with his stupidity and gaffes -- but we don't need any more laughs. We need leadership!!!)
It shows me once again he lacks the judgment to be commander in chief. Is he for real? And what an insult to all the real Republican qualified women he could have chosen from. I guess poor Mitt is pissed, all that sucking up for nothing!
Just the fact that she pronounces nuclear the same as Bush (nuke-yu-ler) is enough to make me scream, ENOUGH! Four more years of that kind of linguistic torture would be TOO MUCH for anyone to bear!
Ready to Lead?: McCain taps Alaska Gov. Palin as VP
From www.crooksandliars.com August 29, 2008
Wow. This one came out of left field. Sen. McCain today chose first-term governor Sarah Palin as his Vice Presidential running mate.
The choice is problematic for McCain on a number of fronts.
- Palin is the least qualified and experienced running mate in the history of the office, having served a total of 20 months in office, and none on the national level.
- Does anyone really want Sarah Palin a heartbeat away from the Presidency should McCain become unable to serve?
- Although known as a reformer, Palin is a product of the corrupt Alaskan political machine, and is even under criminal investigation herself for abusing the power of her office.
- Can she possibly face off against Joe Biden on any issue?
- She pronounces “nuclear” like George Bush. I knew that the GOP ticket wanted to continue Bush’s policies….but four more years of Bushisms too!?
- She supports Obama’s energy plan, all but undercutting the one supposed strength she brings to the ticket.
Rahm Emmanuel pretty much sums it up:
“After trying to make experience the issue of this campaign, John McCain celebrated his 72nd birthday by appointing a former small town mayor and brand new Governor as his Vice Presidential nominee. Is this really who the Republican Party wants to be one heartbeat away from the Presidency? Given Sarah Palin’s lack of experience on every front and on nearly every issue, this Vice Presidential pick doesn’t show judgement: it shows political panic.”
Andrew Sullivan says:
(C)ompare McCain’s pick with Obama’s: a man with solid foreign policy experience, six terms in Washington and real relationships with leaders across the globe.
One pick is by a man of judgment; the other is by a man of vanity.
She may be a fine person, but she’s my age, she has zero Washington experience, and no foreign policy expertise whatsoever.
McCain has just told us how seriously he takes the war we are in. Not seriously at all.
MSNBC has a good pro/con rundown.
It does appear that some people are more susceptible to the radiation waves
constantly surrounding us in this electronically souped-up world of ours.
We are witnessing a historic movement in the United States that will result in the election of Barack Obama to the highest office in the land. And when that happens, we will have voted, in overwhelming numbers, for the reclamation of our nation. With the election of Barack Obama, the citizens of this country will be casting their votes for hope, for a reunification of a divided people, for a return to the values that made us what we were at the best of times in our history.
With that Obama victory will come a firm renunciation of the Bush policies that have shamed and degraded the image of the United States throughout the world.
See entire article at: http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/16636
In his first truly presidential decision, Barack Obama acted like a president and chose a presidential-caliber candidate for vice president. I recently wrote that this choice would speak volumes about the kind of president he would be, that if he chose one of the heavyweight contenders, such as Sam Nunn or Joe Biden, over the less-qualified candidates it would be an enormously positive sign. Obama came through, big time. Joe Biden's arc began when his first wife and one of his children were sadly killed in a tragic auto accident before he was sworn into the Senate; today his son is headed to Iraq in uniform: Biden is a military dad.
Here is a big thought about Barack Obama: He usually takes a while, but then gets the big decisions right. The pundits will soon label Biden "the good Cheney," but the truth is far different. Obama has a world vision; now he has a proven statesman to make it happen. The world will soon see what those of us who have seen Biden up close have seen: Joe is a regular guy. He not only commutes by Amtrak back home, almost every night, instead of living in Washington, but he knows the conductors on a first-name basis, and many are his pals. Little things often tell us big things.
Joe Biden is a family man, a real guy, a Catholic who will have enormous appeal in the Rust Belt and heartland of America. Joe Biden has an international reputation as a serious, thoughtful and substantial man with deep knowledge of the world, boasts of long relationships with many world leaders, and would be described in the JFK tradition of "idealists without illusions.”
No knock on Evan Bayh or Tim Kaine, but their choice would have been very troubling to me and I could not have written these words about them. This was the first and only presidential decision Barack Obama would make from the moment he announced his candidacy until the moment voters choose in November.
In his first presidential decision, Barack Obama acted like a president. Barack Obama chose a vice president of presidential stature, substance, experience and depth. The voters will like Joe Biden, trust Joe Biden, and think even more highly of Barack Obama for making a decision worthy of a president.
OH voting machines contain critical vote-dropping glitch
How are these things still legal?
WaPo:
A voting system used in 34 states contains a critical programming error that can cause votes to be dropped while being electronically transferred from memory cards to a central tallying point, the manufacturer acknowledges.
The problem was identified after complaints from Ohio elections officials following the March primary there, but the logic error that is the root of the problem has been part of the software for 10 years, said Chris Riggall, a spokesman for Premier Election Solutions, formerly known as Diebold.
The flawed software is on both touch screen and optical scan voting machines made by Premier [formerly known as Diebold] and the problem with vote counts is most likely to affect larger jurisdictions that feed many memory cards to a central counting database rapidly.
It never ceases to amaze me that eight years after the whole Florida debacle, and four years since the shady Ohio vote count, that virtually nothing has been done to fix all these voting “irregularities.” It’s really inexcusable.
For an idea of how easily these electronic machines are hacked, see HBO’s Hacking Democracy.
This is hilarious: The guy who makes the phony-baloney charge that Barack Obama is elitist can't remember how many houses he owns! He tells reporters: "I'll have my staff get the number and get back to you"!!!
It is four? Is it six? Is it 11? Do we count only those houses McCain lives in, properties he and his wife own and can hang out in, or all of them? Do you know how many houses you own? If not, ask your staff!
What a guy, this McCain. He puts on his $500 shoes, with over $100 million of assets (speaking of first wives, and second wives, I might add -- for those interested in double standards after the John Edwards case -- that this $100 million was not earned income by McCain, you understand).
The guy with so many houses he can't count them, the $500 dollar shoes and the $100 million of assets that are not earned income -- this guy calls Obama an elitist?! Obama, who grew up in a single-parent home, worked his way through law school, earned his success the old-fashioned way, and worked with churches to help jobless workers find jobs?
What a class act, this guy who launches cheap-shot personal attacks against Obama; who is so out of touch he can't remember how many homes he owns.
Anybody check his shoe closet recently?
A performance on the Russian Bar, recorded for Chinese television at the Circus Festival of Monte Carlo. The final stunt is unbelievable!
FBI wants power to investigate citizens “without any basis for suspicion”
Because everyone knows the terrorists win if we don’t forfeit our Fourth Amendment rights…
A Justice Department plan would loosen restrictions on the Federal Bureau of Investigation to allow agents to open a national security or criminal investigation against someone without any clear basis for suspicion, Democratic lawmakers briefed on the details said Wednesday.
The senators said the new guidelines would allow the F.B.I. to open an investigation of an American, conduct surveillance, pry into private records and take other investigative steps “without any basis for suspicion.” The plan “might permit an innocent American to be subjected to such intrusive surveillance based in part on race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, or on protected First Amendment activities,” the letter said. It was signed by Russ Feingold of Wisconsin, Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island.
In all the discussion of John McCain's recently recovered memory of a religious epiphany in Vietnam, one thing has been missing. The torture that was deployed against McCain emerges in all the various accounts. It involved sleep deprivation, the withholding of medical treatment, stress positions, long-time standing, and beating. Sound familiar?
According to the Bush administration's definition of torture, McCain was therefore not tortured.
Cheney denies that McCain was tortured; as does Bush. So do John Yoo and David Addington and George Tenet. In the one indisputably authentic version of the story of a Vietnamese guard showing compassion, McCain talks of the agony of long-time standing. A quarter century later, Don Rumsfeld was putting his signature to memos lengthening the agony of "long-time standing" that victims of Bush's torture regime would have to endure. These torture techniques are, according to the president of the United States, merely "enhanced interrogation."
No war crimes were committed against McCain. And the techniques used are, according to the president, tools to extract accurate information. And so the false confessions that McCain was forced to make were, according to the logic of the Bush administration, as accurate as the "intelligence" we have procured from "interrogating" terror suspects. Feel safer?
The cross-in-the-dirt story - although deeply fishy to any fair observer - is in the realm of the unprovable. But the actual techniques used on McCain, and the lies they were designed to legitimize, are a matter of historical record. And the government of the United States now practices the very same techniques that the Communist government of North Vietnam once proudly used against American soldiers. When they are used against future John McCains, the victims will know, in a way McCain didn't, that their own government has no moral standing to complain.
Now the kicker: in the Military Commissions Act, McCain acquiesced to the use of these techniques against terror suspects by the CIA. And so the tortured became the enabler of torture. Someone somewhere cried out in pain for the same reasons McCain once did. And McCain let it continue.
These are the prices people pay for power.
"Most working families today do not have homes that have anywhere near ten rooms. John McCain has ten houses. Many working people in America have to work two and three jobs to provide for their families and pay their car loans. John McCain hops on a private jet. Is it any wonder why McCain champions a George Bush agenda of cutting taxes for corporations and the wealthy, helping oil companies turn record profits, and leaving working families to fend for themselves? McCain's velvet world leaves him utterly unprepared to make the tough choices we need to restore the middle class and ensure that everyone in America has quality, affordable health insurance."- Andy Stern, President, Service Employees International Union (SEIU)
John McCain is soaring to new heights of hypocrisy on his wife's personal jet. He flies around the country bent on duping the public into believing he's "one of them," a regular guy who can empathize with Americans facing an overwhelming economic crush. What's more, he disparages those who oppose his ridiculous policy proposals as "elitist." But who's the real elitist?
The REAL McCain is a multimillionaire who owns ten luxurious homes. The REAL McCain backs President Bush's tax cuts for big corporations. The REAL McCain empathizes only with the interests of our nation's wealthy minority, not its money-strapped majority. But far too many are buying into McCain's deceit because the corporate press won't present the whole picture, so we created this video to educate the public about the REAL McCain.
Watch the video and send it to everyone you know.
Together, you have been a force in making sure The REAL McCain videos have been seen by nearly 6.5 million people. But as Frank Rich noted in his NY Times column yesterday, 40% of Americans hear too little about McCain from the mainstream media, meaning "the public doesn't know who on earth John McCain is." That's why it's crucial you ensure this video is seen by as many as possible, and that we use each and every tool at our disposal to get the word out. Send this on to five friends and family members, and tell them to send it to five people they know. Get it to your local news outlets and blogs and networking sites like Digg. Raise hell about McCain's economic duplicity!
AFL-CIO President John Sweeney summed it up best when he said McCain "simply doesn't understand the challenges America's working families are facing because he isn't remotely affected by them." It's up to us to tell people who McCain really is, a jet-setting elitist more concerned with corporate lobbyists than hard-working Americans.
From Robert Greenwald and the Brave New team
That he doesn't even realize the outrageous ridiculousness of his statement shows the man is not fit to be president. He stands there, as an American, knowing that Bush and Cheney, the White House leaders he seems to so much admire, DID INVADE another nation in the 21st century--without cause, using lies to justify that invasion. The whole world looks on, scoffing and pointing their fingers at us -- yet "leaders" like McCain, Bush, and Cheney have no sense of shame about their unjustifiable words and deeds. They live in a dark bubble of their own imagination.
McCain To Russia: "In The 21st Century Nations Don't Invade Other Nations"
Can't even be embarrassed anymore -- we've come to expect this kind of thing from him...
George W. Bush, American Idiot
(click for larger image)
BEIJING - AUGUST 10: President of the United States, George W. Bush holds up the American Flag the wrong way before wife Laura Bush instructs him to turn it around at the swimming arena at the National Aquatics Center during day 2 of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games on August 10, 2008 in Beijing, China.
Write your own caption.
From Crooks and Liars
August 12, 2008
Thank you for contacting me regarding your frustration with the many failures of the Bush Administration.
They have wreaked havoc on this country through both their domestic policies and their international policies. Their warrentless domestic spying program, their poorly prioritized budget, the Patriot Act, their defiance of the international community in stubbornly continuing operations at Guantanamo, their condoning of torture of prisoners, their lying to the American public to get the US into Iraq and their continued mismanagement of the war, their elimination of habeas corpus - to name just a few among their many other abuses, have taken this country down a path that it will take years to recover from.
In addition to their domestic policy failures, the Bush Administration has totally alienated the
I share your frustration over the many failures of the Bush administration. Let me assure you that I have fought them every step of the way and will continue to work to hold this Administration accountable.
Thank you for contacting me concerning this important issue and please feel free to contact me in the future.
Sincerely,
SAM FARR
Member of Congress
Please be sure to visit my website at www.farr.house.gov.
EXCERPT:
Lawrence Lessig, a respected Law Professor from Stanford University told an audience at this year's Fortune’s Brainstorm Tech conference in Half Moon Bay, California, that “There’s going to be an i-9/11 event” which will act as a catalyst for a radical reworking of the law pertaining to the internet.
Lessig also revealed that he had learned, during a dinner with former government Counter Terrorism Czar Richard Clarke, that there is already in existence a cyber equivalent of the Patriot Act, an “i-Patriot Act” if you will, and that the Justice Department is waiting for a cyber terrorism event in order to implement its provisions.
The Patriot Act, as well as its lesser known follow up the Domestic Security Enhancement Act 2003, also known as USA Patriot Act II, have been universally decried by civil libertarians and Constitutional scholars from across the political spectrum. They have stripped back basic rights and handed what have been described by even the most moderate critics as “dictatorial control” over to the president and the federal government.
Many believed that the legislation was a response to the attacks of 9/11, but the reality was that the Patriot Act was prepared way in advance of 9/11 and it sat dormant, awaiting an event to justify its implementation.
In the days after the attacks it was passed in the House by a majority of 357 to 66. It passed the Senate by 98 to 1. Congressman Ron Paul (R-Tex) told the Washington Times that no member of Congress was even allowed to read the legislation.
Now we discover that exactly the same freedom restricting legislation has already been prepared for the cyber world.
READ MORE:
See: http://www.prisonplanet.com/law-professor-counter-terrorism-czar-told-me-there-is-going-to-be-an-i-911-and-an-i-patriot-act.html
How Obama Should Respond to the “Celebrity” Charge
By: Anonymous Liberal (From Crooks & Liars site)
Over at the The New Republic, Michael Crowley writes:
More handwringing about Obama’s optics: I see that tickets for his acceptance speech at Denver’s Invesco Field stadium sold out instantly. In light of the apparent traction Republicans got with their ‘Celebrity’ meme you have to wonder if the Obama team is reconsidering the wisdom of this move. I would recommend any possible stagecraft to minimize the event’s scale.
No. No. No. Crowley’s instinctive response here demonstrates much of what’s been wrong with the Democratic approach to politics over the last decade or so. Obama’s ability to draw large enthusiastic crowds is one of his chief political strengths. It is ludicrous not to showcase that strength just because your opponent has–in classic Rovian style–tried to turn it into a liability. That’s how you lose elections.
The way to deal with the “celebrity” charge is not to lower your profile; it’s to turn that charge back around on McCain. If I were advising Obama, I’d tell him to get up there in front of that sold out stadium and say the following:
My opponent has taken to calling me a “celebrity” in all of his commercials. The suggestion, I can only assume, is that all of you (gesturing to the crowd) show up at events like this and donate your time and your money to this campaign because you’re all adoring groupies who are obsessed with me. Now, that would certainly be flattering if it were true, but I’m not going to delude myself. The reality is I can’t act, I can’t sing, and my personal life is incredibly boring.
The truth is that no one would be paying any attention to me at all if I wasn’t talking about things that really matter to a lot of people. You’re not here tonight–and you’re not watching at home–because you want to be entertained. Lord knows there are plenty of things that you could be doing with your time right now that would be far more entertaining than listening to me. No, you’re here tonight because you love your country and you’re concerned about the direction it’s been heading over the last eight years.
You’re not here tonight to see what kind of outfit I’m wearing or to hear my latest hit single–and if you are, I think you’re probably going to be disappointed. No, you’re here because you want change, you want a government that fights for people like you and not on behalf of powerful special interests; you want a government that keeps you safe by pursuing a rationale foreign policy abroad and keeps your family secure by creating jobs, ensuring access to affordable health care, and fighting for energy independence.
That’s why you’re here. That’s why you’re volunteering your time at record levels. That’s why you’re contributing your hard-earned money in record amounts.
So remember, when John McCain and his surrogates call me a “celebrity,” they’re not insulting me; they’re insulting you. They’re insinuating that you are a mindless groupie rather than a concerned citizen, a fan rather than a voter.
But it’s not going to work. You know why you’re here, you know why you’re watching, and you’re much smarter than they give you credit for.
John McCain’s Greatest Campaign Hits
From time to time, I receive anti-Obama e-mails from McCain/Bush/Cheney supporters. Among many other outrageous accusations, they try to tell me that Obama is unable to speak without a teleprompter and will be done in by McCain in the debates. I consider this to be laughable (~.~), and I submit the following (from the Crooks & Liars site) as my response to them:
TPM put together this hilarious montage of John McCain’s blunders and awkward moments from the 2008 campaign trail. Do we really need four more years of this? (Haven't eight years of a dunderhead in the White House been enough?)
Can you spot any they may have missed? I can think of two: First, his creepy smirk after proclaiming at one of the GOP debates that he would follow bin Laden to the gates of hell (but presumably not into Pakistan. Go figure.); Second, his uncomfortable deer-in-the-headlights moment when he was asked about his contradictory Viagra position. Feel free to add your own via the comments.
Gee, what a surprise (NOT!) to hear that Cheney is a manipulating conniving liar who created a forged letter to justify the Iraq invasion! IMPEACHMENT should be on the table, Ms. Pelosi!!!
Tape: Top CIA Official Confesses To 9/11-Iraq War Forgery Came From White House
A forged letter linking Saddam Hussein to the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks was ordered on White House stationery and probably came from the office of Vice President Dick Cheney, according to a new transcript of a conversation with the Central Intelligence Agency’s former Deputy Chief of Clandestine Operations Robert Richer.
The transcript was posted Friday by author Ron Suskind of an interview conducted in June. It comes on the heels of denials by both the White House and Richer of a claim Suskind made in his new book, The Way of The World. The book was leaked to Politico’s Mike Allen on Monday, and released Tuesday.
On Tuesday, the White House released a statement on Richer’s behalf. In it, Richer declared, “I never received direction from George Tenet or anyone else in my chain of command to fabricate a document … as outlined in Mr. Suskind’s book.”
The denial, however, directly contradicts Richer’s own remarks in the transcript.
“Now this is from the Vice President’s Office is how you remembered it–not from the president?” Suskind asked.
“No, no, no,” Richer replied, according to the transcript. “What I remember is George [Tenet] saying, ‘we got this from’–basically, from what George said was ‘downtown.’”
“Which is the White House?” Suskind asked.
“Yes,” Richer said. “But he did not–in my memory–never said president, vice president, or NSC. Okay? But now–he may have hinted–just by the way he said it, it would have–'cause almost all that stuff came from one place only: Scooter Libby and the shop around the vice president.”
“But he didn’t say that specifically,” Richer added. “I would naturally–I would probably stand on my, basically, my reputation and say it came from the vice president.”
“But there wasn’t anything in the writing that you remember saying the vice president,” Suskind continued.
“Nope,” Richer said.
“It just had the White House stationery.”
“Exactly right.”
Later, Richer added, “You know, if you’ve ever seen the vice president’s stationery, it’s on the White House letterhead. It may have said OVP (Office of the Vice President). I don’t remember that, so I don’t want to mislead you.”
Suskind posted the transcript at his blog, saying, “This posting is contrary to my practice across 25 years as a journalist. But the issues, in this matter, are simply too important to stand as discredited in any way.” It was first picked up by ThinkProgress and Congressional Quarterly’s Jeff Stein.
But wait, there’s more…
Which do you prefer?
(Cartoon by Steve Greenberg.)
For a good laugh, check out the Obama ‘08 bumper sticker on the back of the Straight Talk Express. Damn kids!
The single word that strikes the most fear in the heart of George Bush's press secretaries, especially when it emanates directly from their own mouths:
"Helen..."
Because the next voice he'll hear is Helen's -- as in, Helen Thomas. And today the queen/dean of the Washington Press corp; the one person more than any other who has kept the spinning White House occupants and their surrogates' feet to the fire, turns a thoughtful and feisty 88 years.
You have to give Bush White House press secretaries a bit of credit for some nerve. Their boss doesn't seem to have any, because he won't dare call on Helen.
While it took most every member of the White House press corp, years of unquestioned submission to the lies supporting going into an illegal war before they began to rediscover their spine, it was Helen Thomas, one who never lost touch with hers, leading the way; even if, every so often, this president and his spokespeople forget to call on her.
"9/11 has made reporters fearful of being called unpatriotic if they asked tough questions," Thomas had told me. "Then, when we were in the war, if you asked tough questions you would be accused of jeopardizing the troops. At the same time you had some of the corporate (owners) breathing down their necks to not rock the boat."
Thomas has no question that we went to war without good reason. "It's clear that nothing was proved and you just don't send people to die without (absolutes). It's very clear this president wanted to go to war."
Thomas has never held back asking a question, but this White House has frozen her out like none other. Since Bush doesn't seem to want to go to battle with Helen, j'ever wonder what she might ask if she had the chance?
"I would ask him how he could go to war without cause," she says, obviously at the ready with the question. "How could you go to war without provocation? Of course, that's why he doesn't call on me."
And after the president evaded the question, what would be her followup?
"How could you? Don't you know what war is?" Nailed, Thomas style.
"The press is the last line of defense. If we don't ask the questions, this president could rule like a dictator. All presidents should be sassed. Who are they? We don't have to worship at their shrine. They're public officials. We pay them. They have to answer to us."
And so, thank you, Helen. Thank you for being there for the American people.
Ah, that we could have Helen Thomas around until White Houses stop spinning the truth.
That way, we'd have her forever.
McCain's War on Reality
By Allen Uthman
The guy has referred to “Czechoslovakia” at least four times this year, after it was already a minor gaffe for him in 2000. He’s called the Sudan “Somalia.” He’s referred to “President Putin of Germany.” He’s worried about the “Iraq/Pakistan border” -- perhaps an oblique reference to Iran? He doesn’t know Shiite from Sunnis, and thinks the Iranians are helping al Qaeda. He thinks the surge caused the Awakening. All of these mistakes would be deeply damaging to a less coddled candidate. But McCain is an elderly war hero, and there is a natural tendency to hold back on blasting him for his poor information retention.
But what about the football story? McCain has been telling a story, at least since he wrote it in Flags of our Fathers in 1999, of substituting the names of the Green Bay Packers defensive line for his squadron mates when pressed by Vietnamese interrogators. It’s a great story, as All-American as can be. He discussed it in 2005, when A&E did a movie version of the book, including the inspirational scene. Again in 2005, McCain used the story to illustrate how torture yields bad information. On July 9th, McCain told the story again at a press conference in Pittsburgh—only this time is was the Steelers defensive line.
Setting aside the rank stupidity of destroying a great piece of image work for a cheap hometown shoutout to a regional media market, this fib stabs at the heart of McCain’s straight-talking war hero mythology. It’s a breathtakingly brazen and completely unnecessary lie, at least as bewildering as Hillary Clinton’s “sniper fire” silliness, except that Hillary wasn’t running as a special forces agent. It calls into question every unconfirmed detail about McCain’s POW years—how many other stories is he just making up? And what kind of man would sully his service with such pointless embellishments? But, dissimilarly to Hillary’s sniper snafu, McCain’s Packers/Steelers switcheroo slid by largely unnoticed, chuckled at by the media momentarily and tossed away. And they’re in the tank for Obama?
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