Category: Politics

FactCheck.org: A New Stitch in a Bad Pattern

FactCheck.org: A New Stitch in a Bad Pattern:

“McCain’s new ad puts another stitch in what we’ve called his pattern of deceit on Obama’s tax plan. This one claims Obama and congressional Democrats plan to push forward ‘painful tax increases on working American families’ and that they will bring about ‘years of deficits,’ ‘no balanced budgets’ and ‘billions in new government spending.’ 
The ad is plain wrong about higher taxes on working families. In fact, Obama’s economic plan would produce a tax cut for the majority of American households, with middle-income earners benefiting most. As for ‘years of deficits,’ exactly the same claim could be made about McCain’s program. It’s unlikely either Obama or McCain would balance the budget, and both are projected to increase the debt by trillions.”

(Via FactCheck.org.)

I guess McCain learned Bush’s lesson political campaigns. He said in an interview, “If you tell a lie often enough, people will start to believe it.”

A-PUHLEASE!-ment

When you know GOP rhetoric is full of ish.

Chris Matthews really lays into this whole “appeasement” crap. The rhetoric only works if you are uneducated about history and basic vocabulary.
appease to pacify or placate (someone) by acceding to their demands
How is that talking?
As for history, the quote he used was a Republican senator’s!!!

Print Story: Barack Obama’s counterpunching style on Yahoo! News

Print Story: Barack Obama’s counterpunching style on Yahoo! News:

“‘She’s running around talking about how this is an insult to sportsmen, how she values the Second Amendment, she’s talking like she’s Annie Oakley!’ he said at a stop in Pennsylvania. ‘Hillary Clinton’s out there like she’s on the duck blind every Sunday, she’s packin’ a six shooter! C’mon! She knows better. That’s some politics being played by Hillary Clinton. I want to see that picture of her out there in the duck blinds.’”

(Via Yahoo! News.)

Obama is a tough cookie!

Political Maneuvering and Condescension

Most of the articles I’ve read in the media put Barack on the defensive. Watching the video, I don’t get a sense of defensiveness although his opponents will twist his words. Word twisting is part and parcel of a campaign. But the reports I’ve read don’t seem to portray Obama’s demeanor at all.

Powell Has Praise for Obama

Powell Has Praise for Obama – New York Times:

“‘I thought that Senator Obama handled the issue well,’ Mr. Powell told ABC’s ‘Good Morning America.’ ‘He didn’t abandon the minister that brought him closer to his faith, but at the same time he deplored the kinds of statements that the Reverend Wright had made.’”

(Via NY Times.)

I wonder with the hit job on Rev. Wright and his church, if Powell’s statement will have an effect.

Rigging Justice

Cheney, others OK’d harsh interrogations – Yahoo! News:

“Bush administration officials from Vice President Dick Cheney on down signed off on using harsh interrogation techniques against suspected terrorists after asking the Justice Department to endorse their legality, The Associated Press has learned.
The officials also took care to insulate President Bush from a series of meetings where CIA interrogation methods, including waterboarding, which simulates drowning, were discussed and ultimately approved.”

(Via Yahoo! News.)

I actually saw this on The West Wing. General would fall on his sword if Bartlett’s assassination of a terrorist is found out. Great drama, but highly disturbing in real life. It’s always easy to go along when they aren’t coming for you. That’s why we have to stand up against torture regardless of whose the target. Even if you have no morals whatsoever the poem First they came… provides good enough reason to do so. Ashcroft’s quote at the end of the story is great.

“Why are we talking about this in the White House?” the network quoted Ashcroft as saying during one meeting. “History will not judge this kindly.”

More than Moving the Goalpost

Political Punch:

“In Eugene, Ore., Saturday. Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., attempted to change the measure by which anyone might assess who criticized the Iraq war first, her or Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., by saying those keeping records should start in January 2005, when Obama joined the Senate. (A measure that conveniently avoids her October 2002 vote to authorize use of force against Iraq at a time that Obama was speaking out against the war.) She claimed that using that measure, she criticized the war in Iraq before Obama did.
But Clinton’s claim was false.”

(Via Political Punch.)

Is it me or is Hillary turning into George Bush in Democrat drag? This isn’t even a clever misleading lie half-truth. It’s an easy fact check call. Wow. Talk about looking desperate.

Heavy Troop Deployments Are Called Major Risk – washingtonpost.com

Heavy Troop Deployments Are Called Major Risk – washingtonpost.com:

“Senior Army and Marine Corps leaders said yesterday that the increase of more than 30,000 troops in Iraq and Afghanistan has put unsustainable levels of stress on U.S. ground forces and has put their readiness to fight other conflicts at the lowest level in years.”

(Via The Washington Post.)

What are you left with when you kill the goose to get more and more of those golden eggs?

AlterNet: The Top 10 Myths Keeping Hillary in the Race

AlterNet: The Top 10 Myths Keeping Hillary in the Race:

“Myth: Well, I say they are disenfranchised, and Hillary Clinton is their champion.
Only when it suits her. Last fall, when the decision was first made to flush 100% of Michigan and Florida delegates, Clinton firmly ratified it.”

(Via AlterNet.org.)

Usually, I’m not a fan of AlterNet’s writers. So liberal, they lose touch with reality a bit too often for my taste, but this piece was amusing with a good ol’ fashioned sprinkling of&#8212gasp!&#8212facts thrown in!

The Center Cannot Hold

Huff TV: Roy Sekoff with Dan Abrams, Lanny Davis and Marc Lamont Hill on Clinton’s Statements on Bosnia and Rev. Wright – Media on The Huffington Post:

(Via The Huffington Post.)

If Hillary misspoke, how can you misspeak in a book? How do you misspeak repeatedly? I don’t think I’d ever forget, misremember being shot at, ever.
My problem isn’t that she did the ol’ resumé puff up. After all, she is trying to sell herself to us voters by the very definition of political candidate. I expect puffery and I’ll even tolerate a small fish story here and there. But this is about substantiating her central claim to in her own words, “crossing the commander-in-chief threshold.” She has repeatedly belittled Obama on this score. My take: you live by the sword, you die by the sword. Her experience warrants scrutiny and if it is found lacking, whether because of lies, misspeaking, or faulty memory, it’s still lacking.