Racist and Ignorant McCain/Palin Supporters in Ohio
Oct 10 at 11:11am by Jagwire X
I ran across a couple of interesting blog posts in which some enterprising bloggers (Blogger Interrupted and BlueOhioan) got their cameras out and asked people standing in line for a McCain Palin rally in Ohio what they thought about Barack Obama, John McCain and Sarah Palin. It’s truly scary. I don’t mean like kind of scary like Halloween, I mean really truly terrifying like Nazi Germany.
From Blogger Interrupted:
It’s no wonder that the slightest incitement from Sarah Palin or John McCain will turn one of their rallies into a lynch mob. Just talk to the folks who attend.
My camera was rolling for literally seconds before people happily said to me, on camera, that Barack Obama is a terrorist. If I hadn’t spent most of my time at the event inside, waiting for the candidates to show up, I could have gotten dozens of these people on tape.
The McCain-Palin mob in Strongsville, Ohio
The McCain-Palin mob in Strongsville, Ohio
Anthony Fossaceca of BlueOhioan:
These people will stop at nothing to further spread the lies and hate that surround that campaign. Bill Ayers, Osama bin Laden, Muslim terrorists, Hamas, PLO, Arab - all things we heard in connection to Barack Obama in yesterday’s crowd line at the Strongsville McCain rally.
Hate First
The one of the things that strikes me in these videos is how ill-informed these people are, and how hateful. These people want John McCain and Sarah Palin in office because it will allow their magnificently tiny worlds to go on existing in their heads. I got news for you people, the future is coming and you my sad pathetic creatures are the dinosaurs.
The other thing that really gets me is how these people just seem to think that, well, how well do we really know Barack Obama? And I think, how well do you really know John McCain?
Well, let me tell you, he known to be unethical. He cheated on his first wife (who was disabled due to a car accident in 1969) with his soon to be second wife, he was involved in the Savings and Loan Scandal in the 1980’s and was known as one of the Keating Five. I don’t care that he’s expressed remorse for these acts - it shows that he is capable of them and reflects on his character. The fact that John McCain is veteran of the Vietnam War and was a POW does nothing to bolster my faith in him. I’ve know a lot of ‘nam veterans and everyone one of them is unstable and suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder. That doesn’t mean they aren’t war heroes and it doens’t mean their bad people but if we need a “steady hand at the tiller” then John McCain certainly isn’t it.
McCain and Palin’s allegations toward Barack Obama are, if you bother to look at the facts, completely unfounded, and are being used to create a boogey-man out of Obama. To his credit Obama has remained very steady and unlike McCain has stayed focused on the issue which is what you as citizens should really care about!
There seems to be a strange attraction to the right wing of the political eagle in this country of the very wealthy and the ignorant despite the rather large gap between the two. It’s as if being a dumbass has now become some sort of badge of honor for the right. This is something I am going to have to write about in a follow up post, so be on the look out for that.
Racist, Fascist and Lying Their Heads Off
Oct 8 at 2:02pm by Jagwire X
McCain is behind in the polls because he has no real plan for the average citizen and Obama does and anyone that’s paying the least bit of attention knows it. So how does the McCain campaign react? Do they get their shit together and come up with a plan other than “the heels are on, the gloves are off?” No, they don’t, they rely on attacks against their opponent, more and more lying and general fascist attitudes. It’s become clear now that the McCain/Palin team is composed of and attracts racists and fascists. There is little doubt about the kind of administration we would get should they get into office. One that would transform America from the Land of the Free to the Land of the Oppressed.
At this point Sarah “Pit-Bull” Palin’s campaign rallies have apparently degenerated into some sort of neo-nazi pseudo-pogroms against the media and Barack Obama.
Dana Milbank of the Washington Post wrote:
Barack Obama, she told 8,000 fans at a rally here Monday afternoon, “launched his political career in the living room of a domestic terrorist!” This followed her earlier accusation that the Democrat pals around with terrorists. “This is not a man who sees America the way you and I see America,” she told the Clearwater crowd. “I’m afraid this is someone who sees America as imperfect enough to work with a former domestic terrorist who had targeted his own country.” The crowd replied with boos.
McCain had said that racially explosive attacks related to Obama’s former pastor, the Rev.Jeremiah Wright, are off limits. But Palin told New York Times columnist Bill Kristol in an interview published Monday: “I don’t know why that association isn’t discussed more.”
Worse, Palin’s routine attacks on the media have begun to spill into ugliness. In Clearwater, arriving reporters were greeted with shouts and taunts by the crowd of about 3,000. Palin then went on to blame Katie Couric’s questions for her “less-than-successful interview with kinda mainstream media.” At that, Palin supporters turned on reporters in the press area, waving thunder sticks and shouting abuse. Others hurled obscenities at a camera crew. One Palin supporter shouted a racial epithet at an African American sound man for a network and told him, “Sit down, boy.”
Palin says, “This is not a man who sees America the way you and I see America.” You’re right Sarah he doesn’t see America the way you see it, he sees it the way our founders saw it. He sees it as Benjamin Franklin saw it when he wrote: Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.
She goes on to say, “[Obama] is someone who sees America as imperfect enough to work with a former domestic terrorist who had targeted his own country.”
In February 2008 (long before it even became a “topic” of the McCain campaign), Obama spokesman Bill Burton released a statement from the senator about the relationship between the two: “Senator Obama strongly condemns the violent actions of the Weathermen group, as he does all acts of violence. But he was an eight-year-old child when Ayers and the Weathermen were active, and any attempt to connect Obama with events of almost forty years ago is ridiculous.”
CNN’s review of project records found nothing to suggest anything inappropriate in the non-profit projects in which the two men were involved. Internal reviews by The New York Times, The Washington Post, Time magazine, The Chicago Sun-Times, The New Yorker and The New Republic “have said that their reporting doesn’t support the idea that Obama and Ayers had a close relationship”.
That’s a lot of news sources saying the same thing for them to all be wrong.
Oh, and, dear Sarah, your interview with Katie Couric went off so awfully because you are an idiot. You think the mainstream media is liberal but you are wrong, if anything in their attempt to be impartial they favor the conservatives because of the Right’s over vocal attacks. In this case I am referring to the fact that if the McCain campaign attacks Obama the media will generally not look into facts but will rather just say, “Oh, well here’s the equivalent attack from the Obama campaign.” That’s not journalism, that’s equivocation.
Meanwhile rallies that McCain himself attends the crowd is no better.
Greg Sargent from Talking Points Memo writes:
After John McCain delivered the central question of his speech today — “Who is the real Barack Obama?” — the first, and loudest, supporter seems to yell:
“Terrorist!”
McCain listens as his planted crowd member yells terrorist
That’s what John Aravosis and Marc Ambinder heard, and it does sound like it.
Who is the real Barack Obama? Are you really asking? Who the fuck is the real John McCain and what have you done with him?
This really pisses me off to no end. I hate smear tactics, and have no tolerance for people who are so desperate for their power grab that they will sink to these depths, demonstrating their obviously racist bent using typical fascist tactics of scaremongering and party supporters planted in the crowd to whip them into a frenzy. What will the McCain/Palin campaign October Surprise be? A black man committing a domestic terror act?
Which one is the Elitist?
Sep 22 at 8:08pm by Jagwire X
Which One is the Elitist Again?
Talk about fucking ridiculous. The GOP continues to make Obama out to be an elitist and yet he lives relatively humbly while McCain can’t even remember how many homes he owns at times.
Seriously, McCain is a disgusting pig whose sanity is questionable and is unfit to lead anything. Palin is gold digging political opportunist who doesn’t know jack about national, not to mention international, politics. McCain has totally abandoned the issues (and in fact he is incapable of handling questions about most of them) and his campaign tactics have switched to manipulative name calling, outright lies and even thinly veiled racism. McCain calls Obama an elitist but, as is often the case, he’s the true elitist: White, Rich and Protestant.
Obama may not be the perfect candidate but I think he’s pretty honest for a politician and at least he seems to have a degree of integrity. I generall like Biden and he is certainly fully knowledgeable in foreign affairs. I do think his campaign is not aggressive enough toward McCain/Palin.
If I was hiring the president and vice-president based on their educational backgrounds the choice would be even more clear:
Obama - B.A. Political Science from Columbia University, J.D. of Law (magna cum laude) from Harvard Law School
Biden - B.A. History, B.A. Political Science from University of Delware, J.D. of Law from Syracuse University College of Law
McCain - Graduated from the United States Naval Academy
Palin - B.S. Communication-Journalism from University of Idaho (after attending five different colleges)
Educationally they come out of the wash as Obama/Biden representing Diplomacy, Community and Order while McCain/Palin come out at Marketing and War.
So if having a good education makes you an elitist then everyone should want to be one.
General Clark’s Comments on John McCain
Jul 10 at 3:03pm by Jagwire X
Face the Nation
There’s been a bunch of hub-bub about what Wes Clark said about John McCain. It took no time for the what he actually said to get completely distorted.
GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Because in the matters of national security policy making, it’s a matter of understanding risk. It’s a matter of gauging your opponents, and it’s a matter of being held accountable. John McCain’s never done any of that in his official positions. I certainly honor his service as a prisoner of war. He was a hero to me and to hundreds of thousands and millions of others in Armed Forces as a prisoner of war. He has been a voice on the Senate Armed Services Committee, and he has traveled all over the world. But he hasn’t held executive responsibility. That large squadron in Air- in the Navy that he commanded, it wasn’t a wartime squadron. He hasn’t been there and ordered the bombs to fall. He hasn’t seen what it’s like when diplomats come in and say, ‘I don’t know whether we’re going to be able to get this point through or not. Do you want to take the risk? What about your reputation? How do we handle it-’
Bob Schieffer: Well-
GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: ‘ -it publicly.’ He hasn’t made those calls, Bob.
Bob Schieffer: Well, well, General, maybe-
GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: So-
Bob Schieffer: Could I just interrupt you. If-
GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Sure.
Bob Schieffer: I have to say, Barack Obama has not had any of those experiences either, nor has he ridden in a fighter plane and gotten shot down. I mean-
GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Well, I don’t think riding in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to be President.
Bob Schieffer: Really?!
Note that Bob Schieffer is the one that says “ridden in a figher plane and gotten shot down.” Clark does not in anyway question John McCain’s military service. Clark does state the fact that McCain’s command was not a wartime command but even then doesn’t do anything but state known facts. What he’s saying is that McCain military experience doesn’t make him any more qualified to be president than Barack Obama.
When it comes to experience Obama is more qualified than our current president, who, if you will recall, was a state governor and had absolutely no experience on the national level when he took office.
The plain truth of the matter is that getting riding (was McCain really riding and not piloting?) in a fighter plane and getting shot down and having military service don’t really count as qualifications for president.
See, the thing is, it isn’t.
Loading ...FISA Passes Senate
Jul 9 at 2:02pm by Jagwire X
Talking Points Memo
From Talking Points Memo - FISA Passes Senate
FISA Passes Senate
07.09.08 — 3:10PM
By David KurtzThe final vote was a rout: 69-28.
No surprises here. Just the weight of disappointment.
Late Update: Worth noting that Hillary voted against the bill, while Obama –as we’ve noted here before — changed positions on telecom immunity and voted for the bill.
To paraphrase Mark Twain:
Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of the Senate (Congress). But I repeat myself.
An Open Letter To Senator Obama: Vote NO On Telecom Immunity
Jul 9 at 11:11am by Jagwire X
Barack Obama
Barack Obama, the people who support you are speaking loudly and clearly. I believe you will hear them and will uphold your promise to oppose any FISA bill which includes immunity for for the telecommunications companies which unlawfully went along with President George W. Bush’s program of warrantless wiretapping of ordinary American citizens.
March 4th Primaries
Mar 4 at 10:10pm by Jagwire X
Republicans & Democrats
Well today is the day. Well not THE day. But it’s the day that will most likely decide who the presidential contenders are.
At this point John McCain is already the presumptive nominee for the GOP. Not too surprising there - another militaristic rich white guy is what Republican constituents think this country needs. I think not.
Meanwhile on the Democrats side of the fence we seem to have all sort of craziness going on. The nomination is down to Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Either way it’s historical precedent. There are reports of voters overwhelming caucuses and claims by the Clinton camp that Obama supporters are illegally obtaining caucus packets in the several Texas caucus precincts. I don’t know the ground rules for caucuses and I probably should but I am to understand that to some degree it’s a first come first server sort of deal where the packets are concerned. Then there are allegation about the Clinton campaign regularly claiming caucus irregularities with the Obama campaign to the point that it seem to have become a tactic of the Clinton campaign.
There are also reports in Ohio of precincts closing down early because they have run out of ballots because a large number of people wanted to vote on paper. I can understand that. Otherwise in Ohio the only real problems seem to be the winter weather making it difficult for people to get out and vote.
So right now the democratic nomination could go either way. From what I see in the various media Obama is ahead by a small but significant margin. Now just to make things interesting the Democratic Party does not use a winner takes all approach to the votes in the primary - it’s proportional. So even if Clinton wins in Ohio it doesn’t mean she gets all the delegate - if she wins 60% of the vote she gets 60% of the delegates and Obama gets the remaining 40%. So this primary could remain close until the very end. Superdelegates are another story - they can vote for whoever they like and can be persuaded by the nominees (or even the voters) to vote one way or the other. It’s all very exciting and tomorrow morning we may well have a better idea of who is likely to be the next president of the United States.
For the record I prefer Obama to Clinton but, as I said before, either way it’s historical precedent. And I frankly just don’t want another rich white guy to be president. That is hardly representative of a country that is comprised of so many non-rich, non-whites and non-guys. Not to mention people who just are fed up with politics as usual. Being a politician shouldn’t be a career option - it should be a duty.
For those interested in hard numbers you can check CNN (they also have a lot of information about how the primary process works) or look a the latest Daily Kos post.
Election Year
Jan 28 at 3:03pm by Jagwire X
Ballot Box
Well it’s that time again folks. That’s right I speak of election year - two thousand eight. And once again we are presented with such a limited bunch of self-serving ego maniacs that I continue to wonder how this country keeps together at all. Really, my biggest complaint is the party system. We have a two party system, Democrats and Republicans. We allegedly have a multi-party system, with Greens, Socialist, Libertarians and other, but they are never in contention. It sort reduces the choice from an array of candidates to, well, two. The National Football League has a better selection process for how teams get to the Super Bowl. I don’t buy all the crap about uncommon and unconventional ideas remain non-influential and so a two party system flourishes. It’s a strategy to keep any other parties from gaining traction. It’s not like various Socialist ideals don’t overlap with Democrat ideals, or Libertarian ideals don’t have companion ideals that find traction in with Republicans.
Actually are some interesting candidates, Barack Obama (D, IL), Ron Paul (R TX), Mike Gravel (D AK) and Dennis Kucinich (D OH) for example, less self serving that most I’d say, but still full of sound and fury and a bit of demagoguery, you don’t run for president without a formidable ego at very least, even if you aren’t maniacal. You’d go home in tears every night.
Of course we’ve been dropped into an economic, social, political, and diplomatic mire, for which mitigation will be difficult at best, by the current Republican administration, so I shouldn’t hold too high hopes for the next CEO of the USA. Which is the problem, this is a government of the people, for the people and by the people - not a corporation to be run as so. We, citizens all, are stockholders in this nation and it is up to us to decide what we want. Or are we to lazy to make decisions for ourselves?
But I do hold out hope that things will get better. In any event this being an election year should provided plenty of fodder for blogging. We don’t intend to be another DailyKOS or Crooks and Liars (you should read them too) but we do hope to provide a skeptical (or perhaps cynical) view of the political landscape.
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