The Real McCain

The war hero has something to hide.

McCain Promises U.S. Will "Win" In Iraq

I sure wish someone would remind the senescent Mr. McCain that, when it comes to winning wars, his track record leaves much to be desired.

McCain spent much of the one war that he participated in, the Viet Nam war, in the custody of the enemy. And, last time I checked, he didn't lead the U.S. to victory in Viet Nam. Indeed, no one did.

Whenever John McCain's war record is mentioned, or whenever McCain vows that he knows "how to win in Iraq," everyone genuflects. Nobody stops to think.

JOHN McCAIN DID NOT KNOW HOW TO WIN THE VIET NAM WAR; HE DOES NOT KNOW HOW TO "WIN" THE IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN WARS.

The fact of the matter is that no one who talks about "victory" in Iraq or Afghanistan ever articulates precisely what would count as a victory in these countries. Instead, they avoid interrogation on the matter by relying upon the warm feeling that Americans get in their pants whenever the words "win" and "war" are used in the same sentence.

Someone should have the guts to call McCain's "war hero" bluff; but no one ever does.

Titanic Corruption, Titanic Consequences

I can't help thinking about that scene from the film Titanic—right at the moment that the ship shudders as it grazes the iceberg and the people standing on deck pause and then pick up little slivers of ice to put in their drinks, not comprehending that, down below, the hull is torn and their fates are sealed. Has the crime syndicate of Bush-Cheney, Inc. booby-trapped our last best chance to break free from the consequences of the last eight years of orgiastic corruption?

I am baffled by the psychological state of those who would vote Republicans into the White House for another 4 years. Are they so busy performing self-colonoscopies that they are incapable of appreciating the present state of the nation? Or are they simply, as Richard Trumka has bravely pointed out, garden variety racists? Whatever the explanation, I find them analogous to those passengers on the Titanic who giggled as they were showered by splinters of ice on deck, and who blithely added the slivers to their drinks and returned to the ballroom.

Looks to me like we've got a date with Davey Jones.

Richard B. Cheney, MIA

As Sarah Pander would say, "Here's a shout out to all you people who voted for Bush-Cheney. Twice."

Where's your boy Dickie these days?

Remember how he was supposed to be the adult in the room? Remember how he was supposed to be the guy you could depend on to steer Brand-Name Bush in the right direction? You all said, "Look, we know monkey-boy can't think his way out of a paper bag. For Chrissakes, he can't even chew a pretzel and watch football at the same time. But don't you worry: when there's a crisis, Dick Cheney will be there to make the right decisions." Remember how you all said that? Hello? Remember?

OK, so, now that our economy is sliding off the cliff, and taking the rest of the world with it, where's the Dickster?

Having successfully spent the last eight years cashing in on his "public service" career to the tune of a multi-million dollar personal estate, while small fry homeowners are struggling to meet their mortgage payments, Dick Cheney has slunk back into the inky shadows.

Why aren't people howling for Cheney's head on a platter? He's done more damage to this country than Saddam Hussein ever did or ever could have dreamed of doing. Come to think of it, he's done more damage to Iraq than Saddam Hussein ever did or ever could have dreamed of doing.

Who in this nation's law enforcement establishment will stand tall and issue arrest warrants for George W. Bush and Richard B. Cheney?

McShame's Shameless Pander

Just when you thought the Republican Party would look at the last 8 years and find within itself the decency of contrition and try to steer a fresh course for this country and the world, they unveil the so-called "sarahcuda". She now blames the "mainstream media" for making her look like an idiot. I never thought Katie Couric did anything besides softball journalism, and my opinion of her hasn't changed. I do not doubt that the McShame campaign agreed to an interview with Couric for that very reason. Sarah Pander came out of her interview with Couric looking like an idiot because she IS an idiot. And as she continues to attempt to cover the tracks she left in that interview, she reveals herself to be a disingenuous idiot.

If, in November, the American people don't send these creeps packing back to Alaska and Arizona, god help us all.

In Her Own Words

In her debate with Sen. Joseph Biden (D-Del.), Sarah Pander offered these observations on the Office of Vice-President and the Constitutional provisions governing that office:

"Of course, we know what a vice president does. And that's not only to preside over the Senate and will take that position very seriously also. I'm thankful the Constitution would allow a bit more authority given to the vice president if that vice president so chose to exert it in working with the Senate and making sure that we are supportive of the president's policies and making sure too that our president understands what our strengths are...Our founding fathers were very wise there in allowing through the Constitution much flexibility there in the office of the vice president. And we will do what is best for the American people in tapping into that position and ushering in an agenda that is supportive and cooperative with the president's agenda in that position. Yeah, so I do agree with him that we have a lot of flexibility in there, and we'll do what we have to do to administer very appropriately the plans that are needed for this nation."

Be afraid. Be very afraid.

Some Call It Treason

Last night, Vice-Presidential hopeful Sarah Palin survived her one and only scheduled debate with Sen. Joe Biden, her Democratic rival. In so doing, she put on full display her formidable repertoire of statesperson-like talents: she can manage to be cutsie to the point of cloying ("Gosh Darn it America sure is great!") while spouting talking-points and delivering carefully coached one-liners. Of course, anyone who watched Palin's speech at the Republican convention knew what she is capable of. What would have been nice to see was Palin speaking off-the-cuff in response to Biden's assertions. This is probably something that she is incapable of doing (one suspects that, behind the lipstick and eyeshadow, she is decidedly vacuous) and, no doubt, she was coached to avoid any sort of engagement in the debate that might lead her astray into that treacherous territory known as "independent thought." [b/t/w, repeating the mantra, "John McCain and I are mavericks" is NOT equivalent to independent thinking; indeed, is not even evidence that one is in fact a maverick].

The most telling part of last night's debate was watching the Alaska Governor resist every attempt on the part of moderator Gwen Ifill to force her to think on her feet. Palin would say, "Well, the answer to that is [yes/no, fill-in-the-blank], but I want to get back to talkingpointtalkingpointtalkingpointtalkingpoint..."

Also, her claim to the effect that our "Founding Fathers in their infinite wisdom" built in a great deal of flexibility in the role of Vice-President makes one wonder if she has ever actually bothered to read the US Constitution or if she has simply been content to genuflect before it.

Wow. I never thought I'd miss Hillary Clinton.

In my view, the attempt to install this bimbo in high office is tantamount to treason.

A Message From Michael Moore

The Rich Are Staging A

Coup This Morning...

A Message From Michael Moore

9-29-8

Friends,

Let me cut to the chase. The biggest robbery in the history of this country

is taking place as you read this. Though no guns are being used, 300 million

hostages are being taken. Make no mistake about it: After stealing a half

trillion dollars to line the pockets of their war-profiteering backers for

the past five years, after lining the pockets of their fellow oilmen to the

tune of over a hundred billion dollars in just the last two years, Bush and

his cronies -- who must soon vacate the White House -- are looting the U.S.

Treasury of every dollar they can grab. They are swiping as much of the

silverware as they can on their way out the door.

No matter what they say, no matter how many scare words they use, they are

up to their old tricks of creating fear and confusion in order to make and

keep themselves and the upper one percent filthy rich. Just read the first

four paragraphs of the lead story

(http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/22/business/22lobby.html ) in last Monday's

New York Times and you can see what the real deal is:

"Even as policy makers worked on details of a $700 billion bailout of the

financial industry, Wall Street began looking for ways to profit from it.

"Financial firms were lobbying to have all manner of troubled investments

covered, not just those related to mortgages.

"At the same time, investment firms were jockeying to oversee all the assets

that Treasury plans to take off the books of financial institutions, a role

that could earn them hundreds of millions of dollars a year in fees.

"Nobody wants to be left out of Treasury's proposal to buy up bad assets of

financial institutions."

Unbelievable. Wall Street and its backers created this mess and now they are

going to clean up like bandits. Even Rudy Giuliani is lobbying for his firm

to be hired (and paid) (

<http://tinyurl.com/4rcd98>http://tinyurl.com/4rcd98 ) "consult" in the

bailout.

The problem is, nobody truly knows what this "collapse" is all about. Even

Treasury Secretary Paulson admitted he doesn't know the exact amount that is

needed (he just picked the $700 billion number out of his head!). The head

of the congressional budget office said he can't figure it out nor can he

explain it to anyone.

And yet, they are screeching about how the end is near! Panic! Recession!

The Great Depression! Y2K! Bird flu! Killer bees! We must pass the bailout

bill today!! The sky is falling! The sky is falling!

Falling for whom? NOTHING in this "bailout" package will lower the price of

the gas you have to put in your car to get to work. NOTHING in this bill

will protect you from losing your home. NOTHING in this bill will give you

health insurance.

Health insurance? Mike, why are you bringing this up? What's this got to do

with the Wall Street collapse?

It has everything to do with it. This so-called "collapse" was triggered by

the massive defaulting and foreclosures going on with people's home

mortgages. Do you know why so many Americans are losing their homes? To hear

the Republicans describe it, it's because too many working class idiots were

given mortgages that they really couldn't afford. Here's the truth: The

number one cause of people declaring bankruptcy is because of medical bills.

(http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/02/business/02insure.html )

Let me state this simply: If we had had universal health coverage, this

mortgage "crisis" may never have happened.

This bailout's mission is to protect the obscene amount of wealth that has

been accumulated in the last eight years. It's to protect the top

shareholders who own and control corporate America. It's to make sure their

yachts and mansions and "way of life" go uninterrupted while the rest of

America suffers and struggles to pay the bills. Let the rich suffer for

once. Let them pay for the bailout. We are spending 400 million dollars a

day on the war in Iraq. Let them end the war immediately and save us all

another half-trillion dollars!

I have to stop writing this and you have to stop reading it. They are

staging a financial coup this morning in our country. They are hoping

Congress will act fast before they stop to think, before we have a chance to

stop them ourselves. So stop reading this and do something -- NOW! Here's

what you can do immediately:

1. Call or e-mail Senator Obama ( http://my.barackobama.com/page/s/contact2

) . Tell him he does not need to be sitting there trying to help prop up

Bush and Cheney and the mess they've made. Tell him we know he has the

smarts to slow this thing down and figure out what's the best route to take.

Tell him the rich have to pay for whatever help is offered. Use the leverage

we have now to insist on a moratorium on home foreclosures, to insist on a

move to universal health coverage, and tell him that we the people need to

be in charge of the economic decisions that affect our lives, not the barons

of Wall Street.

2. Take to the streets. Participate (

http://truemajority.wiredforchange.com/event/distributedEventCalendar.jsp )

in one of the hundreds of quickly-called demonstrations that are taking

place all over the country (especially those near Wall Street and DC).

3. Call your Representative in Congress and your Senators. (Go here to find

their phone numbers: http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/ ). Tell them what

you told Senator Obama.

When you screw up in life, there is hell to pay. Each and every one of you

reading this knows that basic lesson and has paid the consequences of your

actions at some point. In this great democracy, we cannot let there be one

set of rules for the vast majority of hard-working citizens, and another set

of rules for the elite, who, when they screw up, are handed one more gift on

a silver platter. No more! Not again!

Yours,

Michael Moore

MMFlint@aol.com

MichaelMoore.com

P.S. Having read further the details of this bailout bill, you need to know

you are being lied to. They talk about how they will prevent golden

parachutes. It says NOTHING about what these executives and fat cats will

make in SALARY. According to Rep. Brad Sherman of California, these top

managers will continue to receive million-dollar-a-month paychecks under

this new bill. There is no direct ownership given to the American people for

the money being handed over. Foreign banks and investors will be allowed to

receive billion-dollar handouts. A large chunk of this $700 billion is going

to be given directly to Chinese and Middle Eastern banks. There is NO

guarantee of ever seeing that money again.

P.P.S. From talking to people I know in DC, they say the reason so many Dems

are behind this is because Wall Street this weekend put a gun to their heads

and said either turn over the $700 billion or the first thing we'll start

blowing up are the pension funds and 401(k)s of your middle class

constituents. The Dems are scared they may make good on their threat. But

this is not the time to back down or act like the typical Democrat we have

witnessed for the last eight years. The Dems handed a stolen election over

to Bush. The Dems gave Bush the votes he needed to invade a sovereign

country. Once they took over Congress in 2007, they refused to pull the plug

on the war. And now they have been cowered into being accomplices in the

crime of the century. You have to call them now (

<http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/>http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/ )and

say "NO!" If we let them do this, just imagine how hard it will be to get

anything good done when President Obama is in the White Ho

use. THESE DEMOCRATS ARE ONLY AS STRONG AS THE BACKBONE WE GIVE THEM. CALL

CONGRESS NOW.