I don’t always agree with MoveOn.org, but I am on their email list and think that they do more good than harm. This is an example of when they disseminate useful information. Here’s an excerpt from an email they recently sent out with ten facts about John McCain that you probably don’t know, but should:
10 things you should know about John McCain (but probably don’t):
1. John McCain voted against establishing a national holiday in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Now he says his position has “evolved,” yet he’s continued to oppose key civil rights laws.1
2. According to Bloomberg News, McCain is more hawkish than Bush on Iraq, Russia and China. Conservative columnist Pat Buchanan says McCain “will make Cheney look like Gandhi.”2
3. His reputation is built on his opposition to torture, but McCain voted against a bill to ban waterboarding, and then applauded President Bush for vetoing that ban.3
4. McCain opposes a woman’s right to choose. He said, “I do not support Roe versus Wade. It should be overturned.”4
5. The Children’s Defense Fund rated McCain as the worst senator in Congress for children. He voted against the children’s health care bill last year, then defended Bush’s veto of the bill.5
6. He’s one of the richest people in a Senate filled with millionaires. The Associated Press reports he and his wife own at least eight homes! Yet McCain says the solution to the housing crisis is for people facing foreclosure to get a “second job” and skip their vacations.6
7. Many of McCain’s fellow Republican senators say he’s too reckless to be commander in chief. One Republican senator said: “The thought of his being president sends a cold chill down my spine. He’s erratic. He’s hotheaded. He loses his temper and he worries me.”7
8. McCain talks a lot about taking on special interests, but his campaign manager and top advisers are actually lobbyists. The government watchdog group Public Citizen says McCain has 59 lobbyists raising money for his campaign, more than any of the other presidential candidates.8
9. McCain has sought closer ties to the extreme religious right in recent years. The pastor McCain calls his “spiritual guide,” Rod Parsley, believes America’s founding mission is to destroy Islam, which he calls a “false religion.” McCain sought the political support of right-wing preacher John Hagee, who believes Hurricane Katrina was God’s punishment for gay rights and called the Catholic Church “the Antichrist” and a “false cult.”9
10. He positions himself as pro-environment, but he scored a 0—yes, zero—from the League of Conservation Voters last year.10
—
Citations
1. “The Complicated History of John McCain and MLK Day,” ABC News, April 3, 2008
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/04/the-complicated.html
“McCain Facts,” ColorOfChange.org, April 4, 2008
http://colorofchange.org/mccain_facts/
2. “McCain More Hawkish Than Bush on Russia, China, Iraq,” Bloomberg News, March 12, 2008
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aF28rSCtk0ZM&refer=us
“Buchanan: John McCain ‘Will Make Cheney Look Like Gandhi,’” ThinkProgress, February 6, 2008
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/02/06/buchanan-gandhi-mccain/
3. “McCain Sides With Bush On Torture Again, Supports Veto Of Anti-Waterboarding Bill,” ThinkProgress, February 20, 2008
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/02/20/mccain-torture-veto/
4. “McCain says Roe v. Wade should be overturned,” MSNBC, February 18, 2007
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17222147/
5. “2007 Children’s Defense Fund Action Council® Nonpartisan Congressional Scorecard,” February 2008
http://www.childrensdefense.org/site/PageServer?pagename=act_learn_scorecard2007
“McCain: Bush right to veto kids health insurance expansion,” CNN, October 3, 2007
http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/10/03/mccain.interview/
6. “Beer Executive Could Be Next First Lady,” Associated Press, April 3, 2008
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5h-S1sWHm0tchtdMP5LcLywg5ZtMgD8VQ86M80
“McCain Says Bank Bailout Should End `Systemic Risk,’” Bloomberg News, March 25, 2008
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aHMiDVYaXZFM&refer=home
7. “Will McCain’s Temper Be a Liability?,” Associated Press, February 16, 2008
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=4301022
“Famed McCain temper is tamed,” Boston Globe, January 27, 2008
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/01/27/famed_mccain_temper_is_tamed/
8. “Black Claims McCain’s Campaign Is Above Lobbyist Influence: ‘I Don’t Know What The Criticism Is,’” ThinkProgress, April 2, 2008
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/04/02/mccain-black-lobbyist/
“McCain’s Lobbyist Friends Rally ‘Round Their Man,” ABC News, January 29, 2008
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=4210251
9. “McCain’s Spiritual Guide: Destroy Islam,” Mother Jones Magazine, March 12, 2008
http://www.motherjones.com/washington_dispatch/2008/03/john-mccain-rod-parsley-spiritual-guide.html
“McCain ‘Very Honored’ By Support Of Pastor Preaching ‘End-Time Confrontation With Iran,’” ThinkProgress, February 28, 2008
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/02/28/hagee-mccain-endorsement/
10. “John McCain Gets a Zero Rating for His Environmental Record,” Sierra Club, February 28, 2008
http://www.alternet.org/blogs/environment/77913/
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If you’re any fan of the series of tubes known as the interwebs, you have no doubt heard about the ongoing battle about net neutrality. As a small-time blogger with some big opinions, an open Internet is essential to my operation.
In this excerpt from a November 2007 speech, Barack Obama discusses net neutrality in an intelligent and rational manner. I would also like to point out that you can tell that Obama understands the words that he is saying, and understands the issues he is talking about.
And isn’t that exactly what we need? A President who actually understands the Internet? Seriously, it’s 2008, and our President doesn’t understand what in the hell this series of tubes known as the Internet really is, although he does use “the Google” every now and then.
Anyway, check out the video, and think about whether Hillary or McCain would ever give a similar speech.
Unfortunately even masses of Ron Paul supports on the Internet and throughout the country were unable to make enough of a splash to get Dr. Paul in the running for President. We all made a good run, and did the best we could to try and convince this crazy country of what would be best for it. Unfortunately it doesn’t appear to have worked out.
I am thankful for Dr. Paul’s presidential nomination run, however. He forced many issues onto the table, and although they didn’t necessarily get addressed by other candidates, Dr. Paul has at least entered them into the public psyche. This means that when issues that he has brought up in his campaign are brought up again they will be familiar, or at least more familiar than they were the first time he brought them up.
In addition, Dr. Paul has made a name for himself. Since he was re-elected to Congress, this will work out quite nicely for him. The legislation that he supports and presents will now have a nationally-recognized name behind it, and will be backed by a huge number of citizens.
Despite John McCain’s win for the Republican nomination, Ron Paul’s campaign has served a great purpose and will still benefit everyone involved.
Unfortunately, yesterday was not at all decisive in the ongoing battle for the Democratic presidential nomination. As much as I am happy that the Democrats have put forth two highly electable candidates, it just seems that the party is becoming more and more divided, and that when it’s time to come back together and unite behind the chosen candidate, it’s going to be a tough process.
As an aside, would Ralph Nader really be all that bad?
If you’re as confused as the rest of the United States about the whole delegate vs. superdelegate thing, check out the CNN.com page about superdelegates. You can check who your superdelegates are by state, and also find out who they support.
As an aside, it’s really interesting to see how the superdelegates really don’t give a shit for the most part about who the citizens vote for. Another wonderful example of citizens decisions being invalidated by the elite. Nice.
Man, am I in a shit mood today? Sorry about that, I’m feeling a little under the weather with a runny nose and a nice little cough, which can’t be helping the situation at all.
With the Democratic race getting uglier and uglier, it will be interesting to see how the three primaries happening turn out. I fear that the Democratic party will end up fragmented and disagreeable, and that the chosen Democratic Presidential candidate will end up with a tough job ahead in repairing the damage done.
I almost wonder if the candidates honestly have the best interests of their party at heart. Are they in it for the good of the party, or to stroke their own egos? I hope or the first, but fear the last.
We’ll see how the primaries go today, hopefully a distinct winner will emerge, but we’ll see. If the Dems can’t beat McCain because of internal turmoil, it will be a sad day.
If you have any brains whatsoever, and haven’t been mindfucked by the mainstream media, your answer should be “Neither, dumbass! I’m voting for the issues that I’m concerned about!” But today’s voters aren’t thinking that way.
With probably the most diverse handful of Democratic Presidential hopefuls ever, gender versus race has become a huge talking point. Oprah Winfrey’s ever-loyal fans are outraged because they claim she has betrayed her gender to support her race by supporting Barack Obama. And I just heard a radio commentary talking about how black women in general are torn on whether they should be a (and yes, this word was used) traitor to their race or to their gender.
I don’t know about you, but voting for someone who isn’t your race or gender shouldn’t be a big deal in 2008. Maybe in 1850 it would be a big issue, but aren’t we past that? I know that we haven’t had a black president or a female president, and that either one would be a huge step forward in showing the tolerance and progessiveness of the American people.
But of all elections ever in the history of the United States, this is the last one where we should be throwing our votes away on a candidate that doesn’t represent out needs and concerns just in order to make a statement. But when the mainstream media, not to mention the candidates themselves, refuse to cover real issues and only focus on personal attacks and non-issues, it makes it pretty hard to stay focused on what matters.
I guess all I’m asking is that you take the time to learn what your candidate of choice stands for, and don’t buy into this race and gender nonsense that we’re all being fed. Now of all times is extremely important to make sure your vote counts for what you want it to.
Is it possible that Diebold is just really really bad at programming their voting machines? Or is there really some sinister motive behind their constant flubbing of the vote?
Whether it was a malicious attempt to steal votes or just a simple programming error, why in the hell are we still using Diebold’s products? They have consistently proven their products to be sub-standard, especially for the purposes of accrately counting votes. Turns out they’re great at undermining the democratic process though, so maybe that’s why they still have a job.
While driving into work today, I was trying to think of reasons not to vote for Ron Paul. I have been driven by my desire for the White Houes to become Republican-free again, but I really do like Ron Paul despite his party affiliation. Anyway, while driving into work, I thought “Ah hah! I bet his ideas on health care suck!” Of course, that was pre-coffee, and I wasn’t thinking that he is a medical doctor and has seen how fucked up the system is first-hand.
When I sat down at my desk, I immediately Googled “Ron Paul health care,” and up came a number of articles. From what I have read, the guy has some great ideas on ways to get the insurance companies out of the game (which is really here the problem lies), and make health care focused on the doctor/patient relationship like it should be.
Check out this video where Dr. Paul talks about his ideas on health care:
