[Ninong]

McCain Throwing Slumber Party At His Sedona "Cottage"

John McCain has invited a couple dozen close friends to his ranch for barbeque and cocktails and romantic walks and sunset watching. He included Mitt Romney, of all people, just to appease the conservatives in the party. Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal and Florida Governor Charlie Crist will also be there. That's nice. That way if Jindal detects any demons in Crist's closet, he can exorcize them. And Romney can bring along some of his magic underwear to share with his buddies.

Jindal is telling everybody down here that he's not at all interested in the VP spot on McCain's ticket; he's just going to Arizona to share his thoughts with the Republican party's new leader and potential next president. Romney's there to beg for the VP spot. Hey, what about Rev. Mike Huckabee? He's been begging for it himself lately. Maybe he'll be invited last? Maybe the guys invited for this first round are not serious contenders?

I know the GOP would love to see Romney on the ticket but this is the guy that McCain called a "pig." "Never get into a fight with a pig because you will both get dirty and the pig loves it."

Charlie Crist would be a hilarious choice. I don't see that happening but you never know. Talk about a closet full of surprises!

Bobby Jindal would be an interesting pick. He's young enough to be McCain's grandson. He's extremely anti-choice! No abortions under any circumstances -- NO exceptions. He's a Catholic convert. He was raised Hindu but converted to Catholicism at the age of 18 after deciding he might want to pursue a career in politics. Roman Catholicism is the dominant religion in this part of Louisiana. Bobby is not only a Catholic, he once participated in an exorcism of a fellow Brown University student who was possessed. Maybe she just had a crush on him?

[Ninong]

McCain Finally Rejects 'Pastor Disaster' John Hagee's Endorsement

What a pity. They had so much in common. They both want to "bomb, bomb, bomb...bomb, bomb Iran!"

Pastor John Hagee has long called for the United States to bomb Iran as part of a plan for the Last Days that would include, according to Pastor Hagee, Russia and the Arab countries attacking Israel. This would somehow lead to Armageddon and the Rapture and all that good stuff. The Jews would be given a choice of accepting Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior or of going straight to hell. Hagee endorsed McCain thinking McCain was his best shot at starting Armageddon.

Is that why McCain rejected Hagee's endorsement?

No.

Was it because of the part where Hagee says that the Catholic Church is the "Great Wh0re," "the Antichrist system," "the apostate church" and a "Satanic Cult?"

No.

That part didn't seem to bother McCain all that much and he even defended Pastor Hagee, saying that Hagee had told him that his remarks had been "taken out of context." He was merely repeating what he claims he read in the bible, specifically the Book of Revelation.

Was it because Pastor Hagee said that "New Orleans had a level of sin that was offensive to God and they were the recipients of God's judgment on that" and that Hurricane Katrina was God's punishment because New Orleans planned to "hold a gay pride parade the Monday that the Katrina hit?"

No, that didn't do it. After all, McCain kissed and made up with the dearly departed Rev. Jerry Falwell, the founder of the Agents of Intolerance Movement (the Moral Majority), who said that 9/11 was God's judgment on America for accepting gays and lesbians and abortionists and pagans and feminists and the ACLU and People for the American Way.

So why did McCain finally reject Hagee's endorsement?

It's because one of those commie pinko left-wing liberal blogs posted an audio clip of one of Pastor Hagee's sermons from a few years back during which Pastor Hagee proclaimed that Adolph Hitler was sent by God to create the holocaust as a way of driving all the Jews out of Europe and into what would become the state of Israel. Hitler was the "hunter" sent by God to carry out His will. You see, we have to get all the Jews back into their biblical homeland before we can start Armageddon. This is why Pastor Hagee supports all the right-wing Israelis, the ones who want to keep building new settlements in the West Bank. According to Hagee, it would be against God's will for the Israelis to give back any of the lands captured in the 1967 war.

Hagee doesn't want peace between Israel and the Arabs. He wants war! He has made that point perfectly clear for years now. This is nothing new.

McCain, however, was caught by surprise. He didn't seem to know any of this before. "I have denounced statements he made immediately upon learning of them, as I do again today," McCain said.

He has been sucking up to Hagee for the past year and a half as part of his campaign to suck up to ALL the "agents of intolerance." All McCain knew was that this guy had a huge following of right-wing crackpots and McCain could certainly use some of those on his side in his battle against Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee in the Republican primaries.

Pastor Hagee beat McCain to the punch today. Hearing that McCain was about to reject his endorsement, Hagee withdrew his endorsement before McCain's announcement. So there was nothing for McCain to reject.

[Ninong]

When Will They Ever Learn?

You would think that after losing a "safe" Republican seat in Louisiana and a "safe" Republican seat in Mississippi to Democratic challengers that congressional Republicans would give up on the tactic of trying to tie local Democratic candidates to "Barack Obama and his radical agenda" and "Nancy Pelosi and her San Francisco values" but you would be wrong.

Check out this ad paid for by Rep. Sam Graves (R-MO) against his challenger, former Kansas City Mayor Kay Barnes, a Democrat. That's an actual TV ad the Republican congressman is running. That's all he has to go on. That's why the people should vote for him. What? Is that for real? Yes, I'm afraid it is. Are there actually people in Missouri who would take something like that seriously? You got me there. I guess so, otherwise why would the GOP keep running stupid crap like this.

Here is the response ad from Kay Barnes.

There is a pattern here. It started in North Carolina with that batsh!t crazy broad who is the state chair of the Republican party telling John McCain to take a hike when he asked her pretty please to pull her offensive TV ads that opened with a video clip of Rev. Jeremiah Wright and showed photos of Barack Obama with his arm around the shoulder of a local white female Democratic candidate. That was two weeks before the North Carolina primary. The ad was ostensibly against two local Democratic gubernatorial candidates but they were really anti-Obama ads.

Then they ran similar ads down here in the Baton Rouge area in an attempt to hold onto the LA-06 seat. Instead of running substantive ads, they ran attack ads featuring "Barack Obama and his radical agenda" and "Nancy Pelosi and her San Francisco values." They lost that "safe" seat. Then ten days later they lost another "safe" seat in Mississippi after running the same sort of attack ads tying the local Democratic candidate to Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi. Both the Louisiana Democratic candidate and the Mississippi Democratic candidate are considered conservatives and both are pro-gun, anti-gay marriage and anti-abortion. Maybe that's why the GOP's silly ads didn't work all that well. Most people down here just laughed at them, even the Republicans.

P.S. -- I live only 40 miles from Baton Rouge, so I saw a lot of the TV ads the GOP ran down here in LA-06. They were so silly they were hilarious. But wait, there's more. Mucho mas! You should have seen some of the TV ads the Republican candidates were running against each other in the GOP primary! They were hauling out the wife and kids and posing under the oak tree or in front of the local church with a cross in the background as they accused their Republican opponents of not being pro-Jesus enough. One guy promised to return prayer to public schools, outlaw "murder" of unborn children, make sure that the Ten Commandments were displayed in all government buildings, make sure that parents received vouchers to pay for tuition to the school (hint: religious school) of their choice, and, most importantly, put an end to illegal immigration. And, of course, he declared that he was better able to fulfill those promises than his Republican colleagues who were running against him.

[Ninong]

McCain Just Rejected Another Fundie Pastor

Earlier today McCain rejected the endorsement of Pastor John Hagee and then, later this evening, he announced that he is also rejecting the endorsement of another Christian fundie preacher with a mega-following, Pastor Rod Parsley of Ohio.

Parsley is the crackpot who insists that America was founded with the goal of destroying Islam. He also has the power to cure leukemia by just touching people on the forehead. Actually, it's more than a mere touch, he sort of shoves them down. Check it out, it's hilarious. I bet they save a lot on medical bills that way.

" And I'm very honored today to have one of the truly great leaders of America, a moral compass, a spiritual guide, Pastor Rod Parsley." -- John McCain praising Pastor Rod Parsley.

[Ninong]

McCain's Mixed Messages

The right-wing Christian fundamentalists, who were so influential in the Republican party for the past fifteen years or so, are now confounded by John McCain's public statements attacking two of their high-profile leaders, Pastor John Hagee and Pastor Rod Parsley. They don't understand what McCain is up to. And then there's his appearance on the Ellen DeGeneres show. What the heck was that all about?

"Neither party should be defined by pandering to the outer reaches of American politics and the agents of intolerance, whether they be Louis Farrakhan or Al Sharpton on the left, or Pat Robertson or Jerry Falwell on the right." -- Sen. John McCain, February 28, 2000.

"I must not and will not retract anything that I said in that speech at Virginia Beach. It was carefully crafted, it was carefully thought out." -- Sen. John McCain on Hardball, March 1, 2000 explaining that he was dead serious about his view that Rev. Pat Robertson and Rev. Jerry Falwell were "agents of intolerance" who were harming the Republican party and the American people.

Just six years later (April 2006) McCain had flip-flopped completely:

Tim Russert (Meet the Press): "Do you believe that Jerry Falwell is still an agent of intolerance?"

Sen. McCain: "No, I don't."

Had Rev. Falwell's outrageously intolerant views changed between 2000 and 2006? Not at all. Therefore, one can only conclude that McCain had violated his conscience and his so-called principles and was now sucking up to the agents of intolerance in an attempt to win the White House. Whatever it takes, right WALNUTS!?

McCain was now able to embrace (literally) someone like Jerry Falwell who said that the problem with feminists was that they needed a man in the house to tell them what to do. Here's the exact quote: "These women just need a man in the house. That's all they need. Most of the feminists need a man to tell them what time of day it is and to lead them home." McCain obviously disagreed with that statement in 2000 but embraced it in 2006.

Falwell once said that "AIDS is not God's punishment for homosexuals; it is God's punishment for the society that tolerates homosexuals." McCain obviously disagreed with that statement in 2000 but accepted it in 2006. McCain now sees nothing unusual about the claim that a disease like AIDS is an act of God as punishment for "homosexual sin." This is exactly what Pastor Hagee said about Hurricane Katrina striking New Orleans. God sent Hurricane Katrina to wipe out New Orleans because they were planning a gay pride parade for that Monday. McCain now embraces these lunatics! (P.S. -- OK, McCain finally dumped Hagee but it was only after he discovered that Hagee had said that Hitler was sent by God to drive the Jews out of Europe and into Israel. McCain was apparently not offended by Hagee's comments about Hurricane Katrina being sent by God to wipe out a gay pride parade in New Orleans.)

Falwell wrote in 1999 that the cartoon character Tinky Winky on the hit children's television show Teletubbies was "a gay role model designed to promote the gay lifestyle." And yes, he was serious when he wrote that in an article in his National Liberty Journal entitled "Tinky Winky Comes Out of the Closet." Most sane people dismissed it as hilarious nonsense but Falwell was dead serious. McCain obviously thought this was silly nonsense in 2000 but embraced it in 2006.

In October 2003, Jerry Falwell explained on Crossfire that God arranged for President Clinton to be elected (and reelected). This is a little bizarre but try to follow it, it's hilarious. "I think we needed Bill Clinton, because we turned our backs on the Lord and we needed a bad president to get our attention again. To pray for a good president. That's what I believe." So sayeth the dearly departed Rev. Jerry Falwell, founder of the Moral Majority and a leader of the Agents of Intolerance Movement. God answered Rev. Falwell's prayers by giving us George W. Bush????

As you can see, Sen. McCain openly embraced crackpots like Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell after his conversion sometime in the beginning of 2006, when he decided that he would need these people to help him win the White House. So it is understandable that some of these agents of intolerance are shocked that McCain should find fault with Pastor Hagee or Pastor Parsley. How could they possibly be more offensive than someone like Jerry Falwell, whose public statements are no less ridiculous than those of Hagee and Parsley.

Another convenient conversion McCain experienced a few months before the South Carolina primary is that his religion suddenly changed from Episcopalian to Southern Baptist. His official biography on his campaign website listed his religion as Episcopalian until sometime late in 2007. McCain himself said he was Episcopalian when asked by a reporter during 2007. However, he now says that he is a Baptist and has been one for years. When asked when he was actually baptized in the Baptist faith, he responded that he didn't see any need for that. So McCain is a Baptist who has never been officially baptized. That little sprinkle that the Episcopalians and Catholics do doesn't count.

[Ninong]

Bush-McCain Fundraiser Cancelled Because...

...not enough people wanted to come.

A Tuesday fundraiser headlined by President Bush for U.S. Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign is being moved out of the Phoenix Convention Center.

Convention Center personnel confirmed the event has been canceled at their venue.

Tickets to the event were to range from $1,000 to $25,000 for VIP treatment. Money was to go toward McCain's presidential bid and a number of Republican Party organs.

Poor ticket sales caused the cancellation of the mega-event originally planned and a much smaller event will be held at a private home in the Phoenix area. Let's hope it's a very small private home.

[Ninong]

Libertarian Party Picks Bob Barr

Former Republican congressman Bob Barr of Georgia won the nomination of the Libertarian Party on the 14th ballot. This could be interesting, thanks to his name recognition and the fact that Ron Paul, an on again, off again Libertarian, has been generating publicity for libertarian views with his candidacy for the Republican nomination.

What if some of Ron Paul's supporters decide to vote for Barr in the general election as a sort of protest vote against McCain? I believe the LP is already on the ballot in 28 states and could be on the ballot in 40 before November. Back in 1988, when Ron Paul was the nominee of the Libertarian Party, he received a little less than half a million votes, 0.5%. No Libertarian candidate has ever draw a million votes in the general but that could change this year.

I don't think there's any question that most of the votes for Barr will come at McCain's expense. He could be the GOP's nightmare just as Ralph Nader was Gore's nightmare in 2000 and Ross Perot was Bush's nightmare in 1992. Maybe the comparison to Perot is wishful thinking. I doubt that Barr will come anywhere near the percentage of the vote that Perot got in 1992.

I wish him well. He will be knocking both the Republicans and the Democrats but his anti-war position will get the most attention from the media, especially with him being a former Republican. He just switched to Libertarian in December 2006 so that he could run for their nomination. Ron Paul, you might remember, is a Republican who switched to Libertarian and ran as their nominee in 1988, and then switched back to Republican again.

Barr is a typical Republican "family values" hypocrite. He led the effort to impeach Bill Clinton for lying about marital infidelity while engaging in the same conduct himself. He has some really, really hilarious sexual escapades in his closet. I believe he's on wife number three right now. Way to go Bob Barr, sponsor of the Defense of Marriage Act.

[Ninong]

21st Century G.I. Bill Passed Senate 75-22

It wasn't even close. Bush and McCain lost their battle to defeat the new G.I. Bill sponsored by Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA) and Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE), both decorated Vietnam war veterans. McCain, probably sensing a humiliating defeat, kept his ass in California and didn't even bother to show up to vote. Ninety-seven senators voted but McCain couldn't be bothered. He did get extremely upset upon hearing that Sen. Obama had attacked his opposition to this bill as misguided on the floor of the Senate. McCain said that Obama had no right to criticize him on any veterans matters because Obama chose not to join the military.

What is significant about this victory is that 25 Republican senators voted FOR this bill in defiance of orders from the White House Mitch McConnell and John McCain. There are 23 Republican senators up for reelection this year and some of them are obviously feeling the heat from veterans groups and veterans' families back home.

NYT Editorial:

President Bush opposes a new G.I. Bill of Rights. He worries that if the traditional path to college for service members since World War II is improved and expanded for the post-9/11 generation, too many people will take it.

He is wrong, but at least he is consistent. Having saddled the military with a botched, unwinnable war, having squandered soldiers’ lives and failed them in so many ways, the commander in chief now resists giving the troops a chance at better futures out of uniform. He does this on the ground that the bill is too generous and may discourage re-enlistment, further weakening the military he has done so much to break.

So lavish with other people’s sacrifices, so reckless in pouring the national treasure into the sandy pit of Iraq, Mr. Bush remains as cheap as ever when it comes to helping people at home....

Mr. Bush — and, to his great discredit, Senator John McCain — have argued against a better G.I. Bill, for the worst reasons. They would prefer that college benefits for service members remain just mediocre enough that people in uniform are more likely to stay put.

Will President Bush veto the bill and risk having his veto overridden? This was a strategic blunder on the part of the Bush administration and the McCain Campaign. They really thought they could hold the line in the Senate and prevent this bill from even coming to a vote. What they didn't count on was tens of thousands of letters, emails and phone calls to Republican senators opposed to the bill from constituents, many of them veterans and family members of veterans, demanding that they support this bill.

[Ninong]

"You can have your Tiger Woods, we've got Senator McCain."

This is not the first time that McCain has been introduced with a comment alluding to Barack Obama's mixed-race background. If it were something McCain found inappropriate he would have stopped it by now, but he hasn't.

The introduction with the comment about Tiger Woods comes in the middle of this clip. The clip begins with Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) pointing out that this group, "Vets for Freedom," is a 527 running anti-Obama TV ads. McCain's two little acolytes, Lindsey Graham and Little Joe Lieberman, both have a leadership role with "Vets for Freedom." The McCain Campaign has a written policy that no one with a McCain Campaign title or position may participate in a 527. Both Graham and Lieberman hold positions in McCain's Campaign and in "Vets for Freedom," a 527 that is running anti-Obama political ads.

According to the policy: "No person with a McCain Campaign title or position may participate in a 527 or other independent entity that makes public communications that support or oppose any presidential candidate."

The reason any candidate's campaign would have such a policy is because it is against the law for a campaign to coordinate advertising or strategy with a 527. Campaigns are required by law to keep their distance from 527s that advocate for or against any political candidate.

[Ninong]

"You can have your Tiger Woods, we've got Senator McCain."

This is what the Bush administration has brought us. Just think of how much better things will get under Senator McCain, who admits he doesn't know much about economics.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Prices of single-family homes plunged a record 14.1 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier, marking a pace five times faster than the last housing recession, according to the Standard & Poor's/Case Shiller national home price index reported on Tuesday.

The S&P/Case Shiller composite index of 20 metropolitan areas fell 2.2 percent in March from February and plummeted a record 14.4 percent from March 2007.

[Ninong]

New McCain Ad Running In Arizona: Two of a Kind


They walk alike, they talk alike, sometimes they even dress alike. "Let me hold it for you."


Trivia: Bush was admitted to Yale as a "legacy admission." He was NOT qualified academically but they accepted him anyway because his father and grandfather were both Yale graduates.

You could say that John McCain was a legacy admission to the Naval Academy. His father and grandfather were both 4-star admirals.

Bush was a cutup at Yale but he somehow managed to graduate in the bottom 15% of his class with a C- average. John McCain was a troublemaker at Annapolis but he was not expelled thanks to his family connections. He graduated 894th in a class of 899 students -- in other words, he was in the bottom one-half of one percent; 99.5% of the students in McCain's class finished above him.

Both Bush and McCain are proud of their below average intellectual prowess. Bush applied for admission to the University of Texas Law School following Yale but he was rejected in spite of his very famous father's political position at the time. Harvard was less picky and agreed to admit young Bush to it's MBA program. McCain became a Navy flyer. He was not known for his flying skills, having lost a total of four planes, counting the one he was flying when he was shot down over Hanoi. One of the planes had mechanical problems but two of them were lost due to McCain's inadequate flying skills. I'm not counting the shoot-down as McCain's fault.

[Ninong]

WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE.....

23%

The Reuters/Zogby poll last week found Bush's approval rating had fallen 4 percentage points to 23 percent, a record low for pollster John Zogby.

P.S. -- No wonder McCain's having Bush speak behind closed doors in a private home with no cameras allowed.

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by Ninong

Libertarian Party Picks Bob Barr

Former Republican congressman Bob Barr of Georgia won the nomination of the Libertarian Party on the 14th ballot. This could be interesting, thanks to his name recognition and the fact that Ron Paul, an on again, off again Libertarian, has been generating publicity for libertarian views with his candidacy for the Republican nomination.

What if some of Ron Paul's supporters decide to vote for Barr in the general election as a sort of protest vote against McCain? I believe the LP is already on the ballot in 28 states and could be on the ballot in 40 before November. Back in 1988, when Ron Paul was the nominee of the Libertarian Party, he received a little less than half a million votes, 0.5%. No Libertarian candidate has ever draw a million votes in the general but that could change this year.

I don't think there's any question that most of the votes for Barr will come at McCain's expense. He could be the GOP's nightmare just as Ralph Nader was Gore's nightmare in 2000 and Ross Perot was Bush's nightmare in 1992. Maybe the comparison to Perot is wishful thinking. I doubt that Barr will come anywhere near the percentage of the vote that Perot got in 1992.

I wish him well. He will be knocking both the Republicans and the Democrats but his anti-war position will get the most attention from the media, especially with him being a former Republican. He just switched to Libertarian in December 2006 so that he could run for their nomination. Ron Paul, you might remember, is a Republican who switched to Libertarian and ran as their nominee in 1988, and then switched back to Republican again.

Barr is a typical Republican "family values" hypocrite. He led the effort to impeach Bill Clinton for lying about marital infidelity while engaging in the same conduct himself. He has some really, really hilarious sexual escapades in his closet. I believe he's on wife number three right now. Way to go Bob Barr, sponsor of the Defense of Marriage Act.

Back When He Was Still Republican, Barr Appeared In Borat Film

Brief, but hilarious video clip. Aug. 4, 2006. Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan.


P.S. -- I forgot to mention that after Barr decided to become a Libertarian, he renounced the Defense of Marriage Act that he himself authored and sponsored back in 1996. He now holds the Libertarian view that same-sex marriage is a states' rights issue and that the federal government should stay out of it. He opposes a federal constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage and approves of the California Supreme Court ruling overturning California's ban on same-sex marriage.

During his acceptance speech before the Libertarian Party convention last week, Barr apologized for his part in authoring and sponsoring DOMA. He also apologized for his part in passing the Patriot Act and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) and promised to work hard to repeal DOMA, the Patriot Act and FISA. He also apologized for all the harm he did during his "30 years with that other party." This is a complete flip-flop from his previous Republican position on these issues but it's in line with Libertarian thinking. When in Rome, do as the Romans do. Barr is also on the board of the National Rifle Association.

[Ninong]

McCain Film Fest

The Real McCain

The Real McCain, 2

[Ninong]

Scott McClellan's Book, "What Happened," Is Due Out Next Monday

Based on the already leaked excerpts, there's nothing in there that is startling or new but it sure is shaking up the White House and the Republican party.

We are now being told:

Scott is "disgruntled."

They're all "surprised" and "puzzled."

Ari Fleischer is "surprised," "puzzled," and "heartbroken."

President Bush has more important things to do than comment on some stupid book by a "disgruntled former employee."

So far no one has mentioned anything about JimmyJeff, so I guess we can assume that he's not in the book in any way, shape or form. How can it be a complete confession of all that happened if we aren't told about the really juicy stuff?

JimmyJeff posted the following comment about Scotty's book on his blog: “What I hear about the book does not sound like the Scott McClellan I knew for two years. I can say without fear of contradiction, that I knew Scott better than any other White House correspondent or Washington reporter.”

Yes, JimmyJeff, we're all quite sure that you knew Scott better than any other White House correspondent or Washington reporter. That's why we wanted Scott to tell us all about it. BTW, who else on the White House staff did you know, if you know what I mean?

[Ninong]

WALNUTS! Still Clueless On Iraq

Sen. John McCain is totally clueless on Iraq. Right now he's attacking Sen. Obama for not having made as many visits to Iraq as he has. McCain has made eight visits and Obama has made only one in January 2006. McCain says that if Obama made another visit to Iraq he would see how wonderful things are over there now.

The last time McCain visited Iraq (with little buddies Lindsey Graham and Joe Lieberman), he told us that al-Qaida operatives were being taken into Iran for training. Little Joe Lieberman had to whisper in his ear that it was "terrorists" who were being taken to Iran for training, "not al-Qaida." McCain immediately corrected his ridiculous assertion that Iran was actually training any al-Qaida operatives. As a matter of fact, any al-Qaida operatives caught in Iran are immediately thrown into jail, if they're captured alive and not killed on the spot. Two of Osama bin Laden's sons have been rotting away in Iranian prison cells for years now, along with a dozen other fairly high-ranking members of al-Qaida that Iran has chosen to incarcerate rather than exterminate.

Just yesterday Sen. McCain, speaking of the Surge, told us: "I can tell you that it is succeeding. I can look you in the eye and tell you it's succeeding. We have drawn down to pre-surge levels. Basra, Mosul and now Sadr City are quiet and it's long and it's hard and it's tough and there will be setbacks."

In fact, as the Obama Campaign was quick to point out, the troop level in Iraq is about 155,000 right now, well above the 130,000 that would mark a return to pre-surge levels.

Furthermore, the Bush administration has no plans to reduce troop levels to pre-surge levels. The plans are to reduce to 140,000 troops, which would be 10,000 more than pre-surge levels.

McCain has no idea what our plans are in Iraq. He's totally clueless. His campaign is trying to pretend he was just having another "senior moment" and misspoke.

P.S. -- Thirty Iraqis were killed in Mosul yesterday while McCain was telling us how "quiet" it is there.

[Ninong]

McCain's Previous Statements On The Iraq War

How would American troops be greeted?: "I believe that the Iraqi people will greet us as liberators." (March 20, 2003)

Did Saddam Hussein have a nuclear program that posed an imminent threat to the United States?: "Saddam Hussein is on a crash course to construct a nuclear weapon." (October 10, 2002)

Will a war with Iraq be long or short?: "This conflict is going to be relatively short." (March 23, 2003)

How is the war going?: "I would argue that the next three to six months will be critical." (September 10, 2003)

How is it going (almost two months later, from the war's "greatest critic")? "I think the initial phases of [the war] were so spectacularly successful that it took us all by surprise." (October 31, 2003)

Is this war really necessary?: "Only the most deluded of us could doubt the necessity of this war." (August 30, 2004)

How is it going? (Recurring question for the war's "greatest critic"): "We will probably see significant progress in the next six months to a year." (December 4, 2005)

Will the President's "surge" of troops into Baghdad and surrounding areas that the senator had been calling for finally make the difference?: "We can know fairly well [whether the surge is working] in a few months." (February 4, 2007)

P.S. -- And let's not forget that McCain doesn't care if we have to keep troops in Iraq for the next 100 years! That would be fine with him.

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by Ninong

When Will They Ever Learn?

You would think that after losing a "safe" Republican seat in Louisiana and a "safe" Republican seat in Mississippi to Democratic challengers that congressional Republicans would give up on the tactic of trying to tie local Democratic candidates to "Barack Obama and his radical agenda" and "Nancy Pelosi and her San Francisco values" but you would be wrong.

Check out this ad paid for by Rep. Sam Graves (R-MO) against his challenger, former Kansas City Mayor Kay Barnes, a Democrat. That's an actual TV ad the Republican congressman is running. That's all he has to go on. That's why the people should vote for him. What? Is that for real? Yes, I'm afraid it is. Are there actually people in Missouri who would take something like that seriously? You got me there. I guess so, otherwise why would the GOP keep running stupid crap like this.

Here is the response ad from Kay Barnes.

Oops! He Did It Again!

Missouri Republican retard Sam Graves is running a new San Francisco values teevee ad against Kay Barnes. This one is just as hilarious as the first one.

Notice how he manages to work in the recent California Supreme Court decision declaring same-sex marriage a constitutional right. Kay Barnes will make same-sex marriage the law in Missouri and then everybody will have to get gay married whether they like it or not. "Californication of our midwest values."

"Kay Barnes, taking their San Francisco money and pushing their San Francisco values."

"I'm Sam Graves and I approved this message" because I am even more retarded than you thought.

The hilarious teevee commercial, which is for real, shows what are supposed to be members of the California Supreme Court. They show a white man, a black man and a white woman. There are no black members of the California Supreme Court. There are four men and three women on the court, including a Chinese-American and a Hispanic, but no African-Americans.

The California Supreme Court has a reputation as just about the finest state supreme court in the nation.

Of the seven members of the court, six were appointed by Republican governors.

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by Ninong

Scott McClellan's Book, "What Happened," Is Due Out Next Monday

Based on the already leaked excerpts, there's nothing in there that is startling or new but it sure is shaking up the White House and the Republican party.

We are now being told:

Scott is "disgruntled."

They're all "surprised" and "puzzled."

Ari Fleischer is "surprised," "puzzled," and "heartbroken."

President Bush has more important things to do than comment on some stupid book by a "disgruntled former employee."

So far no one has mentioned anything about JimmyJeff, so I guess we can assume that he's not in the book in any way, shape or form. How can it be a complete confession of all that happened if we aren't told about the really juicy stuff?

JimmyJeff posted the following comment about Scotty's book on his blog: “What I hear about the book does not sound like the Scott McClellan I knew for two years. I can say without fear of contradiction, that I knew Scott better than any other White House correspondent or Washington reporter.”

Yes, JimmyJeff, we're all quite sure that you knew Scott better than any other White House correspondent or Washington reporter. That's why we wanted Scott to tell us all about it. BTW, who else on the White House staff did you know, if you know what I mean?

Hillarious Video Clip Compilation of White House Reaction

Check out this video clip of various White House spokespersons all using the exact same words to describe their reaction to Scott McClellan's book.

So far JimmyJeff GannonGuckert is the only one to use the outing approach as a reaction.