[Ninong]

It's bad enough McCain has to worry about his pro-escalation in Iraq stance pissing off voters, now he has to worry about Daddy Dobson telling the base that he's the new Antichrist.

According to WingNut Daily:

Dobson says 'no way' to McCain candidacy
Christian leader declares he couldn't support senator 'under any circumstances'

I wonder if Dr. Dobson realizes that McCain is a changed man now? He recently begged for and received absolution from Pope Jerry Falwell and has even made it known that he would welcome an invitation to speak at Bob Jones University. He is truly not the same person he was back in 2000 when he said all those awful things about Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson and criticized George W. Bush for speaking at Bob Jones. No, siree! McCain now thinks Bob Jones is a wonderful school that represents the best in Republican style American values, especially fundamentalist, narrow-minded, bigoted, ignorant, hate-filled, wingnut values.

When asked to comment on Dr. Dobson's statement of non-support, McCain said that he hoped to meet with Dr. Dobson in person to explain to him what a changed person he really is now and how he would be willing to do or say anything to be elected president.

[Ninong]

OK, we all know that Ronald Reagan changed his registration from Democratic to Republican after he had a few talks with the Chairman of the Board of General Electric (the guy before Welch), who was his nominal employer when Reagan was hosting Death Valley Days on TV. And we all know that George H. W. Bush changed his position on abortion so that he could run as Reagan's VP candidate. Bush used to be pro-choice. His wife, Barbara, is still pro-choice but she keeps her mouth shut in public about it.

But what about the current crop of GOP contenders? Good question. It's hard to keep track of who's pro-choice and who's anti-choice and who's still on the proverbial fence.

For instance: Mitt Romney used to be strongly pro-choice, but not quite as strongly pro-choice as Rudy Giuliani. Romney always insisted that he was personally against abortion but still pro-choice, just as his mother always was. Giuliani did him one better by proclaiming that he was not only pro-choice, he was even in favor of late-term abortions. Lately Giuliani says he never favored late-term abortions. True, but he did say he didn't want the courts to restrict late-term abortions. St. John McCain in the past has tried to have it both ways -- he's anti-abortion but doesn't think Roe v. Wade should be overturned.

That was way back when St. John was running against Gov. George W. Bush of Texas for the GOP presidential nomination.

In an August 19, 1999 interview with the San Francisco Chronicle, McCain said: "I'd love to see a point where it is irrelevant, and could be repealed because abortion is no longer necessary. But certainly in the short term, or even the long term, I would not support repeal of Roe v. Wade, which would then force X number of women in America to [undergo] illegal and dangerous operations."

That was then, this is now: "I do not support Roe versus Wade. It should be overturned," the Arizona senator told about 800 people in South Carolina, one of the early voting states. That's according to the RNC's propaganda arm, Fox News.

I guess it all depends on your definition of "long term." In 1999 he was against overturning Roe v. Wade even in the long term but now he wants to see it overturned. Maybe this is tied in with his pending endorsement by Jerry Falwell. You remember, Jerry Falwell, don't you? He and Pat Robertson are the two guys St. John called "agents of intolerance" during his 2000 presidential campaign. McCain now says that Jerry Falwell is not an agent of intolerance. They kissed and made up and then Falwell invited McCain to deliver the commencement address at Liberty University.

So, in order to get Falwell's blessing, McCain now favors the repeal of Roe v. Wade and he thinks Falwell is no longer an agent of intolerance. No word on what he thinks of Pat Robertson but I have a feeling it doesn't really matter because Robertson has invited Mitt Romney to address Robertson's Regent University. I think that means Robertson will endorse Romney.

So who's left for Daddy Dobson to endorse? He can't possibly endorse Giuliani. Will he endorse an Opus Dei Catholic, Sam "Brokeback" Brownback? A guy who ran as a Methodist, then changed to a nondenominational evangelical church and then finally went all out as an Opus Dei convert to Catholicism. It's either Brownback or Romney. I can't see Big Daddy going for McCain or Giuliani.

We all know about Mitt Romney's past, when he was pro-gay rights, pro-gun control, pro-stem cell research and pro-choice. That was a long time ago, according to Romney. Yeah, like way back in 2004, for instance! Guess what else we just learned about Gov. Romney? He's now a card-carrying NRA member! Yep, he joined up in August 2006. Maybe he can borrow John Kerry's cammy hunting outfit and shotgun for a photo op? Kerry won't be needing that anymore.

P.S. -- I don't think St. John McCain is going to like this poll that shows him trailing Rudy Giuliani badly among Republican voters.

That raises an interesting dilemma for the religious right-wing of the GOP, the guys who supposedly make up "the base." What will they do if it appears that Giuliani is the strongest GOP candidate?

[Ninong]

At Donald Rumsfeld's retirement ceremony, Vice President Cheney praised him as the best secretary of defense in the history of this country.

Yesterday, during a campaign appearance in South Carolina, St. John McCain said, "I think that Donald Rumsfeld will go down in history as one of the worst secretaries of defense in history."

Here.

P.S. -- Even a broken clock is right twice a day.

[Ninong]

YouTube video clip of St. John McCain telling "the truth, always."

[Ninong]

Check out the latest John McCain for president commercial.

[Ninong]

The latest Quinnipiac University poll of Republican voters nationwide gives Giuliani a huge lead over McCain!

Quinnipiac University Poll. Feb. 13-19, 2007. N=578 Republican voters nationwide. MoE ± 4.1.

.

"If the 2008 Republican primary for president were being held today, and the candidates were [see below], for whom would you vote?"

.

Rudy Giuliani 40%
John McCain 18%
Newt Gingrich 10%
Mitt Romney 7%
Duncan Hunter 2%
Mike Huckabee 2%
Sam Brownback 1%


Looks like "the base" have their work cut out for them if they want to avoid a Giuliani nomination. Don't you just love the fact that the top three GOP contenders have a total of eight wives between them and all three of the top GOP contenders have admitted to serial adultery?

I can't wait to see what Daddy Dobson, Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson do next. It's getting harder and harder to find a candidate with good national poll numbers who hates all the right things.




P.S. -- Schadenfreude ist die schönste Freude (denn sie kommt von Herzen): "Schadenfreude is the most superb kind of joy (since it comes directly from the heart)."

P.P.S. -- What about Mitt Romney? I mean after all, if they can just get past the inscribed gold plates buried in the hillside and the magic underwear and all that other good Mormon stuff, what's wrong with him? He's a Christian, right? Has anyone asked him his views on the origin of Native Americans lately? He's no longer pro-abortion, he's no longer pro-gay rights, he's no longer pro-stem cell research, and he's no longer pro-gun control. Hell, he even signed up for full membership in the National Rifle Association (as of August 2006) just to make himself more acceptable to the religious right. And if they ask him, I'm sure he would be willing to attend a few NASCAR races in spite of the loud noise and the nauseating smell!

[Ninong]

We know Daddy Dobson won't support John McCain "under any circumstances" and now Dr. Richard Land of the Southern Baptist Convention says Giuliani's lack of moral character is more than he can stand:

NASHVILLE, Tennessee (AP) -- A Southern Baptist leader said Tuesday that evangelical voters might tolerate a divorced presidential candidate, but they have deep doubts about GOP hopeful Rudy Giuliani, who has been married three times.

Richard Land, head of public policy for the Southern Baptist Convention, told The Associated Press that evangelicals believe the former New York City mayor showed a lack of character during his divorce from his second wife, television personality Donna Hanover.

"I mean, this is divorce on steroids," Land said. "To publicly humiliate your wife in that way, and your children. That's rough. I think that's going to be an awfully hard sell, even if he weren't pro-choice and pro-gun control."

Giuliani married his longtime companion, Judith Nathan, in 2003. They had dated publicly while Giuliani was married to Hanover. His first marriage ended in an annulment.

Here.

P.S. -- Dr. Land is referring to the fact that Giuliani informed his second wife that he was filing for a divorce during a nationally televised news conference. She had not been informed in advance and stated that she still had hopes that their marriage could be saved in spite of the fact that Rudy was publicly flaunting his relationship with Judith Nathan, even going so far as to take her to Mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral while still married to Hanover. Rudy's such a classy guy. No wonder he and Bernie Kerik were such good friends.

P.P.S. -- I forgot to mention that Giuliani was married to his first wife for 15 years. They had known each other since childhood. Giuliani moved in with TV personality Donna Hanover a full year before his marriage to his first wife was ended by annulment. Rudy claimed that he and his first wife were married for 14 years before they learned for the first time that they were second cousins. They had no children. The Catholic Church granted the annulment, believe it or not! There is no prohibition against marrying your second cousin in either secular or canon law.

[Ninong]

He thinks he is. He also thinks he's not a hypocrite for pursuing the impeachment of President Clinton over the Monica Lewinsky affair while engaging in an extramarital affair himself at the same time.

Newtie admitted to Daddy Dobson that he has been a naughty boy in the past but he's older and wiser now. Christians should forgive and forget, right?

Gingrich argued in the interview, however, that he should not be viewed as a hypocrite for pursuing Clinton's infidelity.

"The president of the United States got in trouble for committing a felony in front of a sitting federal judge," the former Georgia congressman said of Clinton's 1998 House impeachment on perjury and obstruction of justice charges.

[As a reminder, Bill Clinton got in trouble because he failed to mention all of his previous extramarital affairs when giving a sworn deposition in the Paul Jones suit. He mentioned Gennifer Flowers but he didn't say anything about Monica Lewinsky because, as he later said, he didn't consider that to be "sexual intercourse" in the biblical sense. Obviously, lying about your private sex life is much, much more serious than lying about national security matters. That's why Scooter Libby's perjury and obstruction of justice charges are really just minor infractions and he deserves the Medal of Freedom for keeping Big Time off the stand.]

More excerpts:

Gingrich has said he is waiting to see how the Republican field shapes up before deciding in the fall whether to run.

Reports of extramarital affairs have dogged him for years as a result of two messy divorces, but he has refused to discuss them publicly.

Gingrich, who frequently campaigned on family values issues, divorced his second wife, Marianne, in 2000 after his attorneys acknowledged Gingrich's relationship with his current wife, Callista Bisek, a former congressional aide more than 20 years younger than he is.

His first marriage, to his former high school geometry teacher, Jackie Battley, ended in divorce in 1981. Although Gingrich has said he doesn't remember it, Battley has said Gingrich discussed divorce terms with her while she was recuperating in the hospital from cancer surgery.

[Newtie married his first wife, his geometry teacher, because he got her pregnant. She was eight years older. She worked while he attended Tulane University in New Orleans for something like eight or nine years to earn a Ph.D. in history. The real reason Newtie stayed in school so long was because the Vietnam war was taking forever and he certainly didn't want any part of that. Once he was finished using his geometry teacher as his meal ticket, he dumped her for a younger woman. Later, he dumped his second wife for an even younger woman. Like Rudy Giuliani and St. John McCain, Newtie is a serial adulterer.]


_________________________________________________

"It is now public knowledge that Newt Gingrinch was having an affair with a staffer during the entire impeachment crisis. Clearly, men with such secrets are not likely to sound a high moral tone at a moment of national crisis." -- Tom DeLay

[Ninong]

...to give the commencement address at Liberty University!

Continuing a recent trend, Rev. Jerry Falwell has invited another well-known serial adulterer to speak to the student body at Liberty University on family values and the defense of marriage. Newtie has quite a bit of experience in the field of family values and marriage. He's already on his third family. He started at a young age by boinking his high school geometry teacher. They were once discovered by the local police when their car got stuck in the mud in a field in the middle of the night. Newtie's step-father was against his young son marrying a woman so much older than he was but Newtie wanted to do the right thing and make an honest woman out of her. Besides, he needed someone to support him for the next nine or ten years while he avoided Vietnam by going to college forever.

This invitation followed Newtie's scripted appearance on Daddy Dobson's Focus on the Family radio show. Daddy Dobson thinks family man Newtie is a wonderful Christian who would make a great president but he hasn't decided yet about endorsing anyone. Jerry Falwell is expected to endorse St. John McCain but he couldn't pass up the opportunity to invite another serial adulterer who has confessed his sins to speak to the students at Liberty.

I'm waiting for Falwell to invite Mitt Romney next. Oh, wait! Romney has already been invited by Falwell's rival, Pat Robertson, to speak at Regent University. And besides, Romney's still on his first wife, so he doesn't fit the current trend at Liberty. Unless you include ancestors. Then Mitt would win hands down. He has one great-grandfather who had five wives and a great-great grandfather who had 12 wives! All at the same time. Let's see Newtie or Rudie match that! I wonder if Mitt will explain to the students at Regent that only Mormons will get to have sex in heaven? They might want to know that. Then he can tell them that all Native Americans are Jews (Lamanites) who came over to North America in 689 B.C.E. I'm sure he'll want to explain to them that his Christian religion is so much better than theirs because it has so much more stuff in it. Stuff that Jesus told them during his extended visit to North America in 34 C.E., after he had arisen. The students at Regent should be interested in learning all about that. And about Mitt's magic underwear, too.

I can see where 2008 is going to be a fun year.




______________________________________________

"It is now public knowledge that Newt Gingrinch was having an affair with a staffer during the entire impeachment crisis. Clearly, men with such secrets are not likely to sound a high moral tone at a moment of national crisis." -- Tom DeLay

[Ninong]

When asked why he was divorcing his first wife, Newtie said then, "She's not young enough or pretty enough to be the wife of the president of the United States; and besides, she has cancer." That was reported in the L.A. Times and Newtie has refused to deny it.

Another question Daddy Dobson forgot to ask Newtie during his nationally broadcast "confession" was why he refused to pay court-ordered child support. How can you claim to be a champion of family values when you are a deadbeat dad? Focus on the Family sure knows how to pick 'em!

What a lovely bunch of coconuts the Republicans have to choose from this cycle.


_______________________________________________

"It is now public knowledge that Newt Gingrinch was having an affair with a staffer during the entire impeachment crisis. Clearly, men with such secrets are not likely to sound a high moral tone at a moment of national crisis." -- Tom DeLay

[Ninong]

Mitt took his magical mystery tour to Miami's Little Havana last week where he shamelessly pandered to Cuban-American voters. He mispronounced the names of two local Cuban-American politicians and he referred to the Speaker of the House as Mario Rubio. His name is Marco Rubio.

Mitt punctuated his speech with "Libertad, libertad, libertad!" to show his support for a free Cuba but that's a line from Scarface, a movie Cuban-Americans despise.

But Mitt was not done yet, not by a long shot. He used the slogan Patria o muerte, venceremos! to emphasize his support for a free Cuba but that's the line that Fidel Castro has been using for decades to end all of his speeches. In English = "Fatherland or death, we shall overcome!"

Maybe he should have ended his speech with "Mitt, over and out!"

P.S. -- Maybe Mitt was going after the vast pro-Castro vote in Miami?

[Ninong]

Mitt’s Commie phrase sparks rage

Cubans in Miami are steaming mad at former Gov. Mitt Romney for shooting his mouth off in stumbling Spanish, mispronouncing names and erroneously associating a notorious Fidel Castro-spewed Communist catch phrase with freedom fighters.

Politicians in South Florida have lashed out at the former Massachusetts governor and 2008 presidential hopeful for describing the socialist saying “Patria o muerte, venceremos” as “inspiring” and for claimingthe phrase was swiped from liberty-seeking Cubans by leftist admirers of Castro.

The phrase, which means “Fatherland or death, we shall overcome,” was bellowed as a political speech sign-off by the dictator for decades.

At another point in the speech to the Miami-Dade Republican Party, Romney bungled the names of prominent Cuban GOP politicians, referring to Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio as “Mario.”

Romney also garnered criticism for his hard-line stance on immigration and ending the talk with the phrase “Libertad, Libertad, Libertad,” a revolutionary saying made famous in the gangster movie “Scarface,” which many Cubans feel plays on cultural stereotypes.

But it was the former Bay State governor’s use of an infamous Fidel Castro line that sparked the most controversy.

"Hugo Chavez has tried to steal an inspiring phrase - Patria o muerte, venceremos,” Romney said. “It does not belong to him. It belongs to a free Cuba.”

But scholars and prominent Cubans contend the saying has always been a Communist rallying cry and that it represents the very essence of Fidel Castro’s oppressive regime.

“It means communism. It means Fidel Castro,” said Florida state Rep. Rene Garcia, a Republican who was at the March 9 speech. “It’s a Communist catch phrase.”

P.S. -- Remember when then Gov. George W. Bush was running for president and he was on Chris Matthew's TV show and they were talking about Cinco de Mayo and Bush volunteered that "Cinco de Mayo is not Mexican Independence Day, that's Dieciseis de Septiembre." Chris asked him, "What's that in English?" Bush replied: "Fifteenth of September!"

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by Ninong

When asked why he was divorcing his first wife, Newtie said then, "She's not young enough or pretty enough to be the wife of the president of the United States; and besides, she has cancer."

Hey, maybe Newtie should have held onto his first wife? Looks like John Edwards is getting a boost in the polls thanks to his wife having a recurrence of her cancer.

I'm sure a few of Rudy Giuliani's ex-wives have had cancer or something just as attention grabbing. Rudy himself had prostate cancer, which is supposedly why he dropped out of the senate race against Hillary. And Rudy's current wife just remembered another ex-husband that she had completely forgotten about all these years. Seems it was somebody she married when she was 20 and it completely slipped her mind. Turns out Judy and Rudy have the same number of former spouses.

P.S. -- The Mitt Romney campaign is reminding everyone that his wife has MS. That should count for something, right?


________________________________________________

"It is now public knowledge that Newt Gingrinch was having an affair with a staffer during the entire impeachment crisis. Clearly, men with such secrets are not likely to sound a high moral tone at a moment of national crisis." -- Tom DeLay

[PerryinCA]

Originally Posted by SPasse

Ninong,

"Brownback is to the right of Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell. He may very well be to the right of Louis XIV. He doesn't want to reform government, he wants to abolish it. Brownback was elected to Congress back in 1994 in the Republican sweep led by Newt Gingrich. At first he refused to sign Gingrich's Contract with America because he thought it didn't go far enough. One of his first acts in Congress was to propose the abolition of the departments of education, energy and commerce. His proposals failed but he got the attention of the far right."

Well although I am not a Brownback apologist, he does bring up an interesting point.

I believe that any number of government departments/programs could/should be eliminated. I believe that rather than doing any sort or measurable good, they have just become permanent, bureaucratic government employment programs and notoriously inefficient ones at that.

Companies are constantly forced to eliminate departments and programs that are "dead weight" to stay in business; it is too bad that we can not come up with some sort of equivalent oversight organization that would do the same to/for our government.

If the "tax and spend species of liberals" were intellectually honest about this, they would be all in favor of it because more money would be left over for programs that actually help solve problems.

Regards,

Scott

Brownback makes me sick, and I would be the first person on a plane to the Netherlands if he were ever elected, but I do agree, bloat needs to go.

I am very conservative fiscally, quite liberal socially (not much changin there ), and tend to share a lot of views with the Libertarians. I think bureaucracies are inherently inefficient and privatizing much of our government would make things better - assuming there was limited oversight and control to prevent monopolies and abuse. I see nothing wrong with regulated but private education, policing, firefighting, transportation.... ect. As long as standards are kept and fair open bidding allowed, I think the nation would benefit.

That being said, I much prefer the tax and spend liberals and their compassionate social agenda vs the "tax the middle class and spend even more on BS imperialistic/righteous agenda's" of the neo-cons.

I have actually been impressed with Arnold lately (relatively). I used to love McCain, but he sold his soul to the devil when he started stumping for Bush and supporting that agenda. I don't know enough about Rudy to judge, but I have a good impression of him ATM.

I honestly see myself supporting Obama this go-round (my first choice would probably be Bill Richardson, but I don't think he is going to get far). I DON'T want someone in there who has been a lifetime politician and is completely corrupted by interest groups. While Richardson is a lifer, if he has sold out, it has been to causes I can agree with for the most part.

-Perry

Oh damn... I should not be reading these forums. Homework is calling me.

[Ninong]

Hey, Perry! Haven't seen you around in some time. You're in Folsom now?

[PerryinCA]

Originally Posted by Ninong

Hey, Perry! Haven't seen you around in some time. You're in Folsom now?

Hiya George! Yuppers! Back in CA, had to get out of Washington. It is pretty up there, but I was gonna have to hang myself if I went through another Portland winter.

I wanted to go back to school and Davis had a degree I was interested in for a BS. My better half has family in the Sac area and we wanted to be close to family. Her former employer (before the move from CA) begged her back so we came back. We will only be here another year or two (hopefully) before we need to move somewhere for grad school. I am really, really hoping to get into UCSF and will be campaigning for some research dollars for sirtuin research, but really we will most likely have to move away again. Also now have a beautiful daughter who will be 1 year old on 4-7 who is my motivation to work my butt off and get into a school closer to family.


Back to the topic, where can I view a comprehensive list of where the candidates (both Dem and Rep) stand on the issues? Not the crappy stances they claim on their campaign sites (with a bunch of half and non-answers) but actual voting history and lesser known personal positions?

Also, know of any-place I can view a breakdown of US budget, spending and trade #'s for the last 10-20 years?

[Ninong]

Perry,

Congrats on the new daughter!

I'm sure the info you're asking about on the candidates is available online but I haven't looked for it. The historical info on the budgets is definitely available and I have seen that several times over the past few years but I haven't looked for it lately.

The bottom line is that we were better off with that no-good, lying, womanizing, budget-balancing, surplus-generating Democrat than we have been with the current compassionate "conservative" occupant of the White House.

[Ninong]

St. John's mind is going fast. He has no idea what his positions are and he can't remember from one day to the next what he said on a given subject.

He has no idea if condoms are effective in preventing HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases! When asked by a reporter if he thought distributing condoms would help stop the spread of HIV in Africa, he first said this:

"The guy I really respect on this is Dr. Coburn. He believes – and I was just reading the thing he wrote– that you should do what you can to encourage abstinence where there is going to be sexual activity. Where that doesn’t succeed, then he thinks that we should employ contraceptives as well. But I agree with him that the first priority is on abstinence. I look to people like Dr. Coburn. I’m not very wise on it.”

(Then McCain turns to take a question on Iraq, but a moment later looks back to the reporter who asked him about AIDS.)

McCain: “I haven’t thought about it. Before I give you an answer, let me think about. Let me think about it a little bit because I never got a question about it before. I don’t know if I would use taxpayers’ money for it.”

Q: “What about grants for sex education in the United States? Should they include instructions about using contraceptives? Or should it be Bush’s policy, which is just abstinence?”



McCain: (Long pause) “Ahhh. I think I support the president’s policy.”

Q: “So no contraception, no counseling on contraception. Just abstinence. Do you think contraceptives help stop the spread of HIV?”

McCain: (Long pause) “You’ve stumped me.”

Q: “I mean, I think you’d probably agree it probably does help stop it?”

McCain: (Laughs) “Are we on the Straight Talk express? I’m not informed enough on it. Let me find out. You know, I’m sure I’ve taken a position on it on the past. I have to find out what my position was. Brian, would you find out what my position is on contraception – I’m sure I’m opposed to government spending on it, I’m sure I support the president’s policies on it.”

Q: “But you would agree that condoms do stop the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. Would you say: ‘No, we’re not going to distribute them,’ knowing that?”

Mr. McCain: (Twelve-second pause) “Get me Coburn’s thing, ask Weaver to get me Coburn’s paper that he just gave me in the last couple of days. I’ve never gotten into these issues before.”

This went on for a few more moments until a reporter from the Chicago Tribune broke in and asked Mr. McCain about the weight of a pig that he saw at the Iowa State Fair last year.

[Ninong]

Monday, St. John McCain (aka Walnuts!) told radio host Bill Bennett that President Bush’s escalation is working. “There are neighborhoods in Baghdad where you and I could walk through those neighborhoods today,” he said.

When CNN’s Wolf Blitzer asked McCain why Americans still aren’t able to safely leave the Green Zone in Iraq, the senator replied that Blitzer was giving three-month-old talking points: "General Petraeus goes out there almost every day in an unarmed humvee. I think you oughta catch up. You are giving the old line of three months ago. I understand it. We certainly don’t get it through the filter of some of the media."

But according to CNN reporter Michael Ware, who has been in Iraq for four years, McCain is “way off base.” He stated, “To suggest that there’s any neighborhood in this city where an American can walk freely is beyond ludicrous. I’d love Sen. McCain to tell me where that neighborhood is and he and I can go for a stroll.”

Ware also rebutted McCain’s assertion that Petaeus travels in an unarmed humvee: “In the hour since Sen. McCain’s said this, I’ve spoken to military sources and there was laughter down the line. I mean, certainly the general travels in a humvee. There’s multiple humvees around it, heavily armed.”

Yesterday, during an interview with McCain, CNN’s John Roberts rebutted McCain’s assertions, stating, “I checked with General Petraeus’s people overnight and they said he never goes out in anything less than an up-armored humvee.” He added that a new report by retired Gen. Barry McCaffrey “said no Iraqi government official, coalition soldier, diplomat, reporter could walk the streets of Baghdad without heavily armed protection.”

Faced with overwhelming evidence that he was wrong, McCain denied he’d ever said it: “Well, I’m not saying they could go without protection. The President goes around America with protection. So, certainly I didn’t say that.”

McCain now denies saying what he said just the day before. It's on tape. It's on YouTube! If anybody is living in the past, it's poor John McCain. He must have been channeling Tom DeLay, who famously said a couple of years ago that Baghdad was "just as safe as Houston."

[Ninong]

Blitzer is still showing the clip of McCain scolding him about "giving the old line of three months ago" that Baghdad is not a safe place for an afternoon stroll. Then he shows a clip of McCain saying that he didn't say any of that. Wolf just won't drop this. In fact, it will probably be shown on Anderson Cooper tonight, too.

So Wolf asks James Carville what he thinks about McCain's statements that some neighborhoods in Baghdad are safe enough to walk around in and that Gen. Petraeus rides around "unarmed."

Carville said he thinks McCain is under pressure because his campaign is falling apart. Everything is going wrong! Carville then said, "I think Sen. McCain is an extraordinary American. I think he needs to get a good night's sleep."