Visit the front page for rants, reviews, and stories about Nacho's Hammer
Total Members Voted: 12
0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.
NEW YORK (CNN) -- Russia invades Georgia and President Bush goes on vacation. Our president has spent one-third of his entire two terms in office either at Camp David, Maryland, or at Crawford, Texas, on vacation. His time away from the Oval Office included the month leading up to 9/11, when there were signs Osama bin Laden was planning to attack America, and the time Hurricane Katrina destroyed the city of New Orleans.Sen. John McCain takes weekends off and limits his campaign events to one a day. He made an exception for the religious forum on Saturday at Saddleback Church in Southern California.I think he made a big mistake. When he was invited last spring to attend a discussion of the role of faith in his life with Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, at Messiah College in Pennsylvania, McCain didn't bother to show up. Now I know why.It occurs to me that John McCain is as intellectually shallow as our current president. When asked what his Christian faith means to him, his answer was a one-liner. "It means I'm saved and forgiven." Great scholars have wrestled with the meaning of faith for centuries. McCain then retold a story we've all heard a hundred times about a guard in Vietnam drawing a cross in the sand.Asked about his greatest moral failure, he cited his first marriage, which ended in divorce. While saying it was his greatest moral failing, he offered nothing in the way of explanation. Why not?Throughout the evening, McCain chose to recite portions of his stump speech as answers to the questions he was being asked. Why? He has lived 71 years. Surely he has some thoughts on what it all means that go beyond canned answers culled from the same speech he delivers every day.He was asked "if evil exists." His response was to repeat for the umpteenth time that Osama bin Laden is a bad man and he will pursue him to "the gates of hell." That was it.He was asked to define rich. After trying to dodge the question -- his wife is worth a reported $100 million -- he finally said he thought an income of $5 million was rich.One after another, McCain's answers were shallow, simplistic, and trite. He showed the same intellectual curiosity that George Bush has -- virtually none.Where are John McCain's writings exploring the vexing moral issues of our time? Where are his position papers setting forth his careful consideration of foreign policy, the welfare state, education, America's moral responsibility in the world, etc., etc., etc.?John McCain graduated 894th in a class of 899 at the Naval Academy at Annapolis. His father and grandfather were four star admirals in the Navy. Some have suggested that might have played a role in McCain being admitted. His academic record was awful. And it shows over and over again whenever McCain is called upon to think on his feet.He no longer allows reporters unfettered access to him aboard the "Straight Talk Express" for a reason. He simply makes too many mistakes. Unless he's reciting talking points or reading from notes or a TelePrompTer, John McCain is lost. He can drop bon mots at a bowling alley or diner -- short glib responses that get a chuckle, but beyond that McCain gets in over his head very quickly.I am sick and tired of the president of the United States embarrassing me. The world we live in is too complex to entrust it to someone else whose idea of intellectual curiosity and grasp of foreign policy issues is to tell us he can look into Vladimir Putin's eyes and see into his soul.George Bush's record as a student, military man, businessman and leader of the free world is one of constant failure. And the part that troubles me most is he seems content with himself.He will leave office with the country $10 trillion in debt, fighting two wars, our international reputation in shambles, our government cloaked in secrecy and suspicion that his entire presidency has been a litany of broken laws and promises, our citizens' faith in our own country ripped to shreds. Yet Bush goes bumbling along, grinning and spewing moronic one-liners, as though nobody understands what a colossal failure he has been.I fear to the depth of my being that John McCain is just like him.
Straight Talk Express Rider Leaked: '5 Gallons Prune Juice, Cases of Animal Crackers, Werther's Originals'
I've heard that some of McCain's stuff is paraphrased from Koestler's "Darkness at Noon" as well, but I always figured that was leftist conspiracy talk... maybe it's not.
Obama Tears Into McCain For Houses RemarkAugust 21, 2008 11:45 AMBarack Obama lashed into John McCain during a campaign stop in Virginia on Thursday, ridiculing the presumptive Republican nominee for being painfully out of touch on the economy and not even knowing how many houses he owns."Yesterday, [John McCain] was asked again what do you think about the economy, he said I think the economy is fundamentally strong," said Obama. "Now this puzzled me. I was confused what he meant. But then there was another interview where somebody asked John McCain how many houses do you have and he said 'I'm not sure. I'll have to check with my staff.' True quote. 'I'm not sure ill have to check with my staff.' So they asked his staff and they said, 'at least four.' At least four. Now think about that. I guess if you think that being rich means you make $5 million and if you don't know how many houses you have then it is not surprising that you think the economy is fundamentally strong. But if you are like me and you've got one house, or if you are like the millions of people struggling now to keep up with your mortgage payments, you might have a different perspective. By the way the answer is John McCain has seven homes."Obama's remarks come just hours after McCain admitted, during an interview with Politico, that he wasn't sure of the extent of properties he owned. Democrats have, for the majority of Thursday morning, been champing at the bit, viewing the admission as a golden opportunity to paint the Arizona Senator as a rich elitist. And Obama certainly took the cue."There is just a fundamental gap of understanding between John McCain's world and what people are going through every single day here in America and you don't have to be a Nobel Prize laureate economist," he summarized. "You just have to have a little bit of sense to understand that we cannot go through the same eight years of the failed economic policies that George Bush has put in place."The McCain campaign clearly sees an area of vulnerability, throwing a kitchen sink of personal attacks at Obama to counteract his charge."Does a guy who made more than $4 million last year, just got back from vacation on a private beach in Hawaii and bought his own million-dollar mansion with the help of a convicted felon really want to get into a debate about houses?" wrote spokesman Brian Rogers. "Does a guy who worries about the price of arugula and thinks regular people "cling" to guns and religion in the face of economic hardship really want to have a debate about who's in touch with regular Americans?"The elbows, indeed, have been sharpened. And the Obama camp smells blood. As the candidate was speaking, his campaign put out a scathing new ad on the McCain-house gaffe that aides said would go on national cable:"It's seven," the spot says of the number of homes McCain owns. "Seven houses. And here's one house America can't afford to let John McCain move into." The screen pans to the White House.During Thursday's speech, which was preceded by an introduction from Virginia governor and possible VP candidate Tim Kaine, Obama hammered home the economic populist theme even further. Again playing off a McCain gaffe, he chastised his opponent both for the policies he pursued and company he kept."Some of you saw the Saddleback Forum where [John McCain] was asked what was rich and he said 'I don't know maybe if you make $5 million, $5 million then you are rich,' which I guess means if you are only making $3 million a year you are middle class," said Obama. "I guess that's what he meant. His top economic adviser said the other day that Americans should stop complaining, that they've become a nation of whiners, that all these economic policies we are talking about is a mental recession. That if you just changed your mind you would be ok...."UPDATE: Obama is really going all in on this issue. The campaign emails that it will be sending supporters to "battleground states across the country" to host events in front of houses to illustrate "how out of touch Senator McCain is." Among the big events being scheduled include: DES MOINES, IA: Kansas Governor, Kathleen Sebelius campaigns in Des Moines this afternoon where she will discuss McCain losing track of how many homes he owns OH: Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen will talk about McCain losing track of how many homes he owns at events throughout southeast OhioIn addition, some of the Obama state organizations are launching "a statewide search to find [voters] who, like John McCain, have so many homes that they just can't keep track of the number." Should be fun, or funny. This will be taking place in Pennsylvania, Florida, and North Carolina, among other states.
Obama raps McCain for ignorance of his own housesBy MATT APUZZO, Associated Press Writer Thu Aug 21, 7:29 PM ETWASHINGTON - John McCain may have created his own housing crisis. Hours after a report that the Republican presidential nominee-in-waiting didn't know how many homes he and his multimillionaire wife own, Democratic rival Barack Obama launched a national TV ad and a series of campaign stops aimed at portraying McCain as wealthy and out of touch.With the economy ranking as the top issue in the race, Obama sought to turn McCain's gaffe into one of those symbolic moments that stick in voters' minds.Think John Kerry sailboarding or the first President Bush wowed by a grocery store checkout scanner, Michael Dukakis riding in a tank or Gerald Ford eating a tamale with the husk still on."I think — I'll have my staff get to you," McCain told Politico when asked Wednesday how many houses he owns. "It's condominiums where — I'll have them get to you."Later, the McCain campaign told Politico that McCain and his wife, Cindy, have at least four in three states — Arizona, California and Virginia. Newsweek recently estimated the two owned at least seven properties.Last week McCain cracked that being rich in the U.S. meant earning at least $5 million a year. With most Americans feeling the pinch of a worsening economy, the remarks allow Democrats to suggest that McCain cannot relate to ordinary voters.Campaigning in Chester, Va., Obama told voters, "I guess if you think being rich means you've got to make $5 million and if you don't know how many houses you have, it's not surprising you might think the economy is fundamentally strong." He returned to the McCain remark later, saying of teachers: "Most teachers hold themselves accountable. They didn't go into teaching to make money. They don't have seven houses."The Obama campaign also announced 16 campaign events across the country to highlight the comment and try to turn the tables on McCain's effort to cast him as an elitist. In the battleground state of Michigan, Obama's campaign asked volunteers to guess how many houses McCain owned, a contest dubbed, "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire: McCain Edition."While both sides are trying cast the other as too rich to understand the needs of the working class, it's all about image. In modern politics, presidential candidates don't struggle to pay the mortgage. They don't often stand in line at the grocery store or frequent tamale stands either — unless accompanied by hoards of traveling reporters.The truth is, neither candidate is hurting for money.McCain's tax returns showed a total income of $405,409 in 2007. According to her 2006 tax returns, Cindy McCain had a total income of $6 million. Her wealth is estimated by some at $100 million, based on her late father's Arizona beer distributorship. She has not released her 2007 returns, which she files separately from her husband.Obama and his wife, Michelle, reported making $4.2 million in 2007.In the 2004 campaign, Republicans tried to use wealth against Kerry even though President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney were multimillionaires themselves. In 2005, Kerry reported a net worth between $165 million and $235 million, most of it controlled by his wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry.Underscoring how seriously the McCain campaign takes the house controversy, the Republican National Committee responded with a Web site highlighting Obama's ties to Chicago businessman Antonin "Tony" Rezko, a friend and contributor who was convicted in June on more than a dozen felonies in a corruption scandal.Obama and his wife bought their home in Chicago in 2005 for $1.6 million after getting advice from Rezko. The corruption case had no connection to Obama, and Obama has said it was a mistake to work with Rezko on buying the house."Does a guy who made more than $4 million last year, just got back from vacation on a private beach in Hawaii and bought his own million-dollar mansion with the help of a convicted felon really want to get into a debate about houses?" McCain campaign spokesman Brian Rogers asked. "Does a guy who worries about the price of arugula and thinks regular people 'cling' to guns and religion in the face of economic hardship really want to have a debate about who's in touch with regular Americans?"However, the McCain campaign got one thing wrong: Hawaii has no private beaches. Obama, who was born in Hawaii and spent most of his youth there, visited relatives during a recent vacation and joined the public swimming and surfing in the ocean.In a forum last week with the Rev. Rick Warren, McCain was asked to define the word "rich" and to give a figure. After promoting his tax policies, McCain said: "I think if you are just talking about income, how about $5 million?" The audience laughed, and he added: "But seriously, I don't think you can — I don't think seriously that — the point is that I'm trying to make here, seriously — and I'm sure that comment will be distorted — but the point is that we want to keep people's taxes low and increase revenues."Obama, asked the same question at the forum, said those making $250,000 and higher are in the top 3 to 4 percent and "doing well."
Well, technically McCain owns zero houses. They should have asked him how many his wife owns.
Poll