[Ninong]

Twins:

Awww, how sweet, they even dress alike. "Let me hold it for you."

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The "Poverty Tour"

The Straight Talk Express made a stop in the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans this week. John McCain blasted the "disgraceful response" of the Bush administration to Hurricane Katrina. I have to admit that I ignored the coverage of this ridiculous event because it was so shameful I found it hard to believe that even McCain would have the gall to try to pull it off.

McCain criticized FEMA's response but he has repeatedly voted against increasing FEMA's budget. He voted against taking FEMA out of the Department of Homeland Security and making it an independent agency again. He voted against extending unemployment benefits for people out of work because of Hurricane Katrina. He has consistently voted against any increase in the minimum wage. McCain believes you should get rich the old fashioned way -- you should marry an heiress.

A couple of days before McCain's walk through the Lower Ninth, he made a comment suggesting that maybe it should be "torn down." That option does not go over well with the former residents of the Lower Ninth. McCain now denies that he ever said anything about tearing anything down. The Lower Ninth is a low-income, mostly African American neighborhood on the other side of the Industrial Canal (now called the Inner Harbor Navigation Canal) that is prone to flooding for a variety of reasons. The Lower Ninth and neighboring St. Bernard Parish flooded terribly following Hurricane Betsy in 1965. One of the "variety of reasons" has to do with mistakes made over the years by the Army Corps of Engineers (the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet and other mistakes).

I just found it unbelievable that McCain would have the "audacity of hope" to show up in the Lower Ninth.

[Ninong]

McCain's Lack of Leadership Shows

McCain has been unable to get the North Carolina Republican party to pull an offensive, racist ad featuring the clip of Jeremiah Wright saying "God damn America."

“I’ll do everything in my power to make sure not only they stop it but that kind of leadership is rejected,” McCain said in an interview with CBS’s Early Show, adding that he has communicated his wishes “in every possible way.”

As the NY Times points out in an editorial today, this episode demonstrates the weakness of John McCain's leadership:

Unless Mr. McCain quickly gets control of his party, we fear there will be worse to come.

How can McCain claim to be a leader when he gets no respect from his own party? McCain has demanded that the North Carolina Republican party stop running this offensive ad and they have told him in no uncertain terms to go to hell.

It is clear that this is a carefully planned strategy, probably dreamed up by the McCain Campaign's senior adviser, Karl Rove. The McCain Campaign and the Republican National Committee will denounce these offensive, clearly racist ads and then they will say that they have no control over the 50 different state Republican parties.

The Chairman of the RNC has already voiced that excuse to NBC News. He said "this is a pluralistic society" and the individual state Republican parties are free to do as they please. He and Senator McCain have already expressed their opinion of this offensive North Carolina ad but they respect the right of the North Carolina Republican party to make their own judgments on what is right for their state.

Video clip of the offensive ad. Be sure to catch the grinning dingbat at the end of the ad, Linda Daves, explaining how happy she is to have sponsored this racist ad and how delighted she is that she just rolled John McCain. It's an ad supposedly aimed at two Democratic gubernatorial candidates, Beth Perdue and Richard Moore, but it's more anti-Obama than anything else and it's running just ten days before the North Carolina primary. Notice the photo of Barack Obama with his arm around Beth Perdue's shoulder. That's a message to a certain segment of the North Carolina electorate. Remember the racist ads the GOP ran against Harold Ford in Tennessee? Republicans can't help themselves, they're just a bunch of racist bigots.


This is Linda Daves, the dingbat racist bigot Chairwoman of the North Carolina Republican party, who cut John McCain down to size and proved how powerless he is to control the bigots in his own party. He may end up as their nominee but that doesn't mean they have to like him or pay any attention to him.

The Louisiana Republican party is running ads against local Democratic congressional candidates using the same theme but without the clip of Jeremiah Wright. The ads concentrate on "Barack Obama and his radical agenda" and warn that a vote for a Democrat is a vote for "Barack Obama and his radical agenda." Clearly this is a national strategy and it will probably get worse. They figure they have nothing to lose. The people most offended by these ads -- African Americans and white liberals -- aren't going to vote for them anyway. They're being funded by Freedom's Watch, the right-wing group founded by former Bush administration officials, including Ari Fleischer, and GOP fatcats.

P.S. -- Let us not forget that John McCain sort of backed into this nomination by accident. He is not the first choice, or even the second or third choice, of the conservatives in the Republican party. Republican loudmouths, like Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter, were incensed at the very possibility that McCain might be the nominee. Coulter has even promised to campaign for Hillary Clinton should McCain win the GOP nomination. That was back when the whole world thought Hillary's nomination was inevitable.

[Ninong]

New McCain ad.

[Ninong]

Another Republican Ad Featuring Jeremiah Wright

I see a national pattern here. The GOP has decided to use Jeremiah Wright and Barack Obama in ads against local Democratic candidates. In this ad, they're showing the Jeremiah Wright clip and Barack Obama and tying them to the Democratic congressional candidate because the Democratic candidate was endorsed by Barack Obama. I believe he was also endorsed by Hillary Clinton and the Democratic National Committee. After all, he's the official candidate of the Democratic party.

This is the MS-01 congressional seat vacated by Roger Wicker, who was appointed to take Trent Lott's place in the Senate. Both the Democratic candidate, Travis Childers, and the Republican candidate, Greg Davis, are conservatives. There is a runoff election in two weeks because Childers received 49% and Davis received 48% in the special election for someone to serve out the remainder of the term. There were two other candidates, one Democrat and one Republican, who qualified for the special election ballot but both later changed their minds and asked voters to not vote for them. Unfortunately, their names remained on the ballot and they received a few votes in spite of their plea that their supporters support the other candidate of their party.

John McCain announced yesterday that he has changed his mind about using the Jeremiah Wright issue against Barack Obama. He said he really didn't want to bring up the Jeremiah Wright issue but Obama is making him do it. Same with Hamas. He had no intention of making a big deal out of the obvious fact that O'Bomber is tied to all the Muslim terrorists, many of whom probably attended the same madrassa as O'Bomber, but he is now forced to point out to the American people that Hamas would like to see Obama win the election.

I have news for John McCain, probably 75% of the people in the world are hoping a Democrat wins the election in November.

[Ninong]

Rudy Giuliani Officially Admonished by Catholic Church

Edward Cardinal Egan, Archbishop of New York, is furious that Rudy Giuliani received Communion during the recent visit to St. Patrick's Cathedral by Pope Benedict XVI.

Statement of Cardinal Egan

April 28, 2008

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 28, 2008

The following is a statement issued by Edward Cardinal Egan:

“ The Catholic Church clearly teaches that abortion is a grave offense against the will of God. Throughout my years as Archbishop of New York, I have repeated this teaching in sermons, articles, addresses, and interviews without hesitation or compromise of any kind. Thus it was that I had an understanding with Mr. Rudolph Giuliani, when I became Archbishop of New York and he was serving as Mayor of New York, that he was not to receive the Eucharist because of his well-known support of abortion. I deeply regret that Mr. Giuliani received the Eucharist during the Papal visit here in New York, and I will be seeking a meeting with him to insist that he abide by our understanding.”

Here's my take: It was foolish of Giuliani to challenge his church by receiving Communion if he had been privately told by the Cardinal Archbishop of New York that he was forbidden to do so. That's the way it works. If you don't like the rules, you don't have to play the game. If you want to remain in the church, you play by their rules.

On the other hand, it was outrageous of Cardinal Egan to issue this public statement. A public rebuke by the church of a prominent American politician is so un-American. It could be that things have been brewing behind the scenes for the past eight years, since Egan took over as Archbishop of New York. I doubt that Egan was all that pleased with Giuliani's well-publicized extra-marital affairs leading up to the affair with Judith Nathan. Don't forget that Giuliani paraded his then-mistress, Judith Nathan, down the aisle of St. Patrick's Cathedral for Sunday Mass while still married to his former wife. Evidently they did not receive Communion. If I remember correctly, that was back when he and Judy walked together at the head of the St. Patrick's Day Parade even though he was still married to Donna Hanover. His divorce from Hanover wasn't finalized until July 2002. He acknowledged his relationship with Nathan in May 2000 and filed for divorce in October 2000. So it must have been the March 2001 St. Patrick's Day Parade, his last as mayor.

This is a twofer: The Church has no business going public with something like this and Giuliani is an idiot for providing them with the excuse.

P.S. -- Two-thirds of American Catholics are pro-choice.

[Ninong]

Tom Tancredo, Still Good For Laughs

Too bad Tom Tancredo has dropped out of the race for the Republican nomination. Last week he blasted Pope Benedict XVI as an immigrant-lover who wants to see more Mexicans cross over the border to steal our good-paying lettuce-picking jobs because most of them are Catholics and their contributions will help the church get richer.

Yesterday Tancredo was attending a congressional hearing in Brownsville, Texas on the border wall. Tancredo is in favor of building a wall along the entire length of the U.S. border with Mexico.

During the hearing, he told the Brownsville landowners, "I suggest that you build this fence around the northern part of your city..." implying that all of Brownsville should be on the Mexican side of the wall.

That Tom Tancredo is a barrel of laughs. Haha! I'm sure the people of Texas will just love this idea.

[Ninong]

Good News For McCain

Based on the classic definition, the U.S. economy is not yet in recession. The Commerce Department just released the preliminary reading on first quarter GDP and it came in at an annualized rate of 0.6%. That exactly matches the previous quarter's growth. This is not exactly unexpected. Most economists expected that the number would be in the black. However, those same economists believe that we did enter a recession sometime in February, which may not show up until the end of the second quarter.

We lost jobs in January, February and March. The Labor Department is due to release the April jobs report this Friday. It will be interesting to see if it's a positive number. Most economists expect another negative number. During the past seven years, we have lost 3.5 million manufacturing jobs. This is one of the consequences of globalization. Manufacturers will seek lower labor costs whereever they can find them. This is not necessarily a bad thing, as long as the economy continues to produce new jobs at a rate that keeps up with population growth. That hasn't happened over the past seven years. And many of the new jobs that were produced are in the low-paying service industry. Workers at McDonald's and Wal-Mart do not make the same as UAW workers, nor do they have comparable benefits.

It's quite possible that the impact of the bursting of the real estate bubble and the accompanying subprime mortgage meltdown won't be felt until the second quarter. For the time being, President Bush can continue to say that the economy is not in recession. The annualized rate of growth for the past six months is only six-tenths of one percent but at least it's still growth.

During the Republican debates, McCain insisted that the economy was "strong" and not in recession, then within the past couple of weeks he changed his tune and is now saying that he believes we're in a recession. So what will he do now? Will he return to claiming "the economy is strong and growing?" It's not strong and it's barely growing.

[Ninong]

Juan McCain Made Honorary American

The U.S. Senate has voted unanimously to make Panamanian strongman, Juan McCain, an honorary American so that he can become President of the United States once Billary finishes destroying the Democratic party.

This is absurd. There was no reason in the world for them to even bring up this resolution. Both of his parents were American citizens and he was born in the Panama Canal Zone, where his father was serving in the U.S. Navy. He could have been born in Mexico or in Mongolia and he would still be considered a "native born" American eligible for election to the office of President provided his parents were both American citizens. Children born to American citizens are considered "native born" no matter where they are born.

This issue was discussed to death back when George Romney ran for the Republican nomination. I remember reading then that the critical factor was whether his father had lived in the United States prior to moving to Mexico. His father was born in Utah but moved to Mexico when he was a teenager in the 1880's with his extended family after polygamy was outlawed in Utah. George Romney (Mitt's father) was born in Mexico but he and his family moved back to the United States when he was a young boy. Had he remained in Mexico, his children would not have been considered American citizens.

P.S. -- One of Mitt's great-grandfathers had five wives; one of his great-great-grandfathers (an apostle of the LDS church) had 12 wives. Mitt's family tree can be traced back to the founders of the LDS church in 1830. At least two of his ancestors were apostles of the church and several were polygamists.

Romney’s great-grandfather, Miles Park Romney, married his fifth wife in 1897. That was more than six years after Mormon leaders banned polygamy and more than three decades after a federal law barred the practice.

Romney’s great-grandmother, Hannah Hood Hill, was the daughter of polygamists. She wrote vividly in her autobiography about how she “used to walk the floor and shed tears of sorrow” over her own husband’s multiple marriages.

Romney’s great-great grandfather, Parley Pratt, an apostle in the church, had 12 wives. In an 1852 sermon, Parley Pratt’s brother and fellow apostle, Orson Pratt, became the first church official to publicly proclaim and defend polygamy as a direct revelation from God.

Romney’s father, former Michigan Gov. George Romney, was born in Chihuahua, Mexico, where Mormons fled in the 1800s to escape religious persecution and U.S. laws forbidding polygamy. He and his family did not return to the United States until 1912, more than two decades after the church issued “The Manifesto” banning polygamy.

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by Ninong

We lost jobs in January, February and March. The Labor Department is due to release the April jobs report this Friday. It will be interesting to see if it's a positive number. Most economists expect another negative number.

It Was Another Negative Number

Nonfarm payroll employment was little changed in April (-20,000), following job losses that totaled 240,000 in the first 3 months of the year, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today.

We have now lost 260,000 jobs so far this year and April marks the fourth straight month of job losses. Don't forget that it takes a minimum of 150,000 new jobs created per month just to stay even with population expansion. Anything less than that amounts to negative job growth. That means that for the first four months of the year we are 860,000 jobs short of just staying even with population expansion.

John McCain says we're doing great. He's married to a woman nearly two decades younger than him who's worth $100 million, so he's doing really great.

GDP has grown at an annual rate of 0.6% for the past six months, meaning that technically we are not in recession but very close to it. Many economists are predicting a long and painful recession, worse than anything we have experienced since the Great Depression. I sure hope they're all wrong.

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by Ninong

Name a word that rhymes with 'hunt' and 'punt' that John McCain used to describe his wife?

In front of at least three witnesses no less! He also called her a trollop.

Temper, temper.

Not exactly an appropriate question for a townhall meeting, but...

Video clip of Baptist minister asking McCain if it's true that he once called his wife a c--t.

The minister was escorted out of the meeting by Des Moines police and Secret Service agents.

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John McCain Takes Issue With John McCain

WALNUTS! is really, really upset with the latest ad put out by the DNC that uses a video clip of him answering a reporter's question about President Bush's comment that we should stay in Iraq for 50 years if necessary.

Here it is: New McCain ad.

It begins with a reporter saying, "President Bush has talked about staying in Iraq for 50 years," then plays a clip of McCain saying, "Maybe 100. That'd be fine with me."

The announcer then says: "If all he offers is more of the same, is John McCain the right choice for America's future?"

At issue is McCain's answer, in January, to a question about Bush's theory that troops could be in Iraq for 50 years.

McCain said: "Maybe 100. As long as Americans are not being injured or harmed or wounded or killed, that'd be fine with me, and I hope it would be fine with you, if we maintain a presence in a very volatile part of the world where al-Qaida is training, recruiting, equipping and motivating people every single day."

McCain is now claiming that the ad is a falsification of his position. It's not. It's his own statement. Period! That's what he said when asked to comment on President Bush's statement that we might have to stay in Iraq for 50 years.

Here is what McCain said this morning at a Jewish Community Center: "My friends, it's a direct falsification, and I'm sorry that political campaigns have to deteriorate in this fashion," McCain said. "Because there's legitimate differences between myself and Senator Obama and Senator Clinton on what we should do in Iraq."

"After we win the war in Iraq, and we are succeeding — and it's long and hard and tough, with enormous sacrifices — then I'm talking about a security arrangement that may or may not be the same kind of thing we had with Korea after the Korean war was over," he said.

"So it's too bad that they're deliberately falsifying, when there are legitimate differences," he said.

It's NOT a falsification. It's what McCain said. In fact, the ad uses the reporter asking the question and McCain answering it. McCain said he's willing to keep U.S. troops in Iraq for 100 years if that's what it takes.

As Hendrik Hertzberg put it: "McCain wants to stay in Iraq until no more Americans are getting killed, no matter how long it takes and how many Americans get killed achieving that goal--that is, the goal of not getting any more Americans killed. And once that goal is achieved, we'll stay."

P.S. -- This is the same John McCain who said that voters should consider the fact that Hamas, a terrorist organization, has said nice things about Barack Obama. Actually a Hamas spokesman compared Barack Obama to John F. Kennedy and said he hoped that if Obama is the next President of the United States, he might do a better job resolving problems in the Middle East than the current administration.

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by Ninong

Good News For McCain

Based on the classic definition, the U.S. economy is not yet in recession. The Commerce Department just released the preliminary reading on first quarter GDP and it came in at an annualized rate of 0.6%. That exactly matches the previous quarter's growth. This is not exactly unexpected. Most economists expected that the number would be in the black. However, those same economists believe that we did enter a recession sometime in February, which may not show up until the end of the second quarter.

Warren Buffett Says We're In Recession Now

The world's richest man and smartest investor told his shareholders yesterday that we are in a recession already. One point Buffett made that I had completely overlooked is that if GDP is not growing faster than population, then the economy is going backwards.

For the past six months, GDP has grown at an annualized rate of 0.6%. Population growth in the United States (according to the CIA) is 0.883%. On a per capita basis, GDP has been declining for the past two quarters.

Buffett also predicted that banks and other financial institutions will continue to suffer severe losses for another two years.

P.S. -- Crude Oil is trading above $120.00/bbl today. Happy Cinco de Mayo!

[Ninong]

The Bush-McCain Challenge

Can you tell the difference between Bush and McCain?

Try to answer these five questions and find out.

[Ninong]

WALNUTS! Had Another Oops! Moment This Morning

McCain appeared confused about where he was for a moment Tuesday, saying, "I appreciate the hospitality of the students and faculty of West Virginia," then correcting himself to say Wake Forest as the audience laughed.

Here.

It's not nice to laugh at someone who is obviously suffering from early-onset Alzheimer's.

[Ninong]

WALNUTS! - Older Than Anyone Knew

He's proposing a "League of Nations" to counter Iran. I wonder if he's just confused again? Probably another mental slip on McCain's part.

In March, he proposed a "League of Democracies."

Oh, well. What the heck. They both start with "league," just like West Virginia and Wake Forest both start with a 'W,' except that Wake Forest is in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. McCain has always had a problem with W's.

Do we really want a confused commander-in-chief answering the phone at 3 a.m.?

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Another Congressman From NY Busted For Drunk Driving

What is it with all these New York Republicans getting busted for drunk driving? You would think that all these 'law & order,' 'family values' types would be more responsible.

Rep. Vito Fossella (R-NY) admitted he was driving while drunk as a skunk. His blood alcohol level was twice the legal limit. And while he was in a confessing mood, he admitted to an extra-marital affair and a 3-yr-old daughter by his mistress. He's married with three children. Plus this extra child.

No doubt Vito has already confessed his "serious sin" to his wife and to his priest and, like David Vitter, he will be greeted with a "loud standing ovation" by his GOP colleagues for his courageous honesty.

P.S. -- Additional details:

Busted a week ago after running a red light in Alexandria, just outside Washington, Fossella's troubles have only mounted in recent days. After originally telling officers he was on the way to take his daughter to the hospital, Fossella later said he was simply going to visit friends, at 12:15 a.m. (Something else he will have to tell the priest about.)

He was later sprung from jail by a retired Air Force Lieutenant Colonel, Laura Fay, whose house is just a few miles from where Fossella was pulled over. Laura Fay is divorced with no children, but she now has a young daughter.

P.P.S. -- Maybe Vito should just email his confession to his parish priest. That might save a lot of time. No doubt his penance will be very mild because Vito keeps introducing a bill to give families a $4500/child annual tax credit if they send their children to parochial school. It never passes but he keeps trying.

Since being elected to Congress, Vito’s top legislative initiatives have included:

Authored legislation to provide every family a tax credit of $4500 a year to offset the high cost of private and parochial school tuition.

I feel another one of those David Vitter-type "I have sinned" tearful confessions coming on any day now.

The Democrats should have any easy time defeating this guy in November, assuming he chooses to run for reelection.

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Upstart Democratic Candidate Dares To Question Sen. McCain's "Bearings"

When asked about Sen. McCain's truthful observation that the terrorist group, Hamas, is rooting for Sen. Obama to be the next President of the United States, Obama had this to say.

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by Ninong

Another Congressman From NY Busted For Drunk Driving

What is it with all these New York Republicans getting busted for drunk driving? You would think that all these 'law & order,' 'family values' types would be more responsible.

Rep. Vito Fossella (R-NY) admitted he was driving while drunk as a skunk. His blood alcohol level was twice the legal limit. And while he was in a confessing mood, he admitted to an extra-marital affair and a 3-yr-old daughter by his mistress. He's married with three children. Plus this extra child.

No doubt Vito has already confessed his "serious sin" to his wife and to his priest and, like David Vitter, he will be greeted with a "loud standing ovation" by his GOP colleagues for his courageous honesty.

P.S. -- Additional details:

Busted a week ago after running a red light in Alexandria, just outside Washington, Fossella's troubles have only mounted in recent days. After originally telling officers he was on the way to take his daughter to the hospital, Fossella later said he was simply going to visit friends, at 12:15 a.m. (Something else he will have to tell the priest about.)

He was later sprung from jail by a retired Air Force Lieutenant Colonel, Laura Fay, whose house is just a few miles from where Fossella was pulled over. Laura Fay is divorced with no children, but she now has a young daughter.

P.P.S. -- Maybe Vito should just email his confession to his parish priest. That might save a lot of time. No doubt his penance will be very mild because Vito keeps introducing a bill to give families a $4500/child annual tax credit if they send their children to parochial school. It never passes but he keeps trying.

Since being elected to Congress, Vito’s top legislative initiatives have included:

Authored legislation to provide every family a tax credit of $4500 a year to offset the high cost of private and parochial school tuition.

I feel another one of those David Vitter-type "I have sinned" tearful confessions coming on any day now.

The Democrats should have any easy time defeating this guy in November, assuming he chooses to run for reelection.

Here Ya Go: Tearful Confession In Form Of A Statement

From NY Times article, May 9, 2008:

“My personal failings and imperfections have caused enormous pain to the people I love,” he said in the statement, “and I am truly sorry.”

The five-term congressman identified the woman with whom he had the affair as Laura Fay. She is a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel whom he apparently called after he was taken into custody early May 1, saying he was on the way to pick up his sick child. The police said his blood-alcohol level at the time was more than double the legal limit, and he faces a mandatory five days in jail if he is convicted.

P.S. -- This is a twofer: 'Law & Order' and 'Family Values.' And we can throw in 'Sanctity of Marriage,' too.

Vito made the news recently for something other than his drunk driving and marital infidelity. He demanded that HBO apologize for some "anti-Catholic comments" that Bill Maher made on his HBO program, Real Time With Bill Maher. Vito Fossella, Fidei Defensor.

[Ninong]

A Friend In Need Is A Friend Indeed

McCain Pushed Land Swap That Benefits Backer

Sen. John McCain championed legislation that will let an Arizona rancher trade remote grassland and ponderosa pine forest here for acres of valuable federally owned property that is ready for development, a land swap that now stands to directly benefit one of his top presidential campaign fundraisers.

Initially reluctant to support the swap, the Arizona Republican became a key figure in pushing the deal through Congress after the rancher and his partners hired lobbyists that included McCain's 1992 Senate campaign manager, two of his former Senate staff members (one of whom has returned as his chief of staff), and an Arizona insider who was a major McCain donor and is now bundling campaign checks.