I'm of the general opinion that this is "joke week" for the '08 Presidential Election. The crumbling of the U.S. economy has pretty much negated any real campaign news and with three senators and a guv'ner involved in the campaign they represent 3% of 50% of the legislative body. Which is to say, they've all been made mostly irrelevant except for three (3) votes they might cast.
That being said, they are still out there talking. Everyone is waiting in high anticipation for the Vice Presidential debate tomorrow at Wash U in Saint Louis. Palin's supporters can't wait for her to show her real stuff and Obama's people are waiting for a bloodbath. No one is really pulling for McCain or Biden in this debate, curiously enough. Yes, I know it's strange, but that's the kind of week it has been.
So, continuing with the strangeness, here's the latest gaff-a-palooza (which is a chiche I like better thant -gate).
"So, with due respect, I strongly disagree with your premise that she doesn't have experience and knowledge and background," he said. "I fundamentally disagree, and I'm proud of her record."
Later, after continuing to counter Palin’s critics, he pointed to what he called a divide between the press and the public on their view of the Alaska governor. "...You and I just have a fundamental disagreement and I'm so happy that the American people seem to be siding with me," said McCain [1].
When editors pointed to similar recent assessments from conservatives, McCain responded "Really? I haven't detected that," [2] attributing those sentiments to the "Georgetown cocktail party" circuit.
"Some people allege that others may have spent too much time inside the Beltway, and too much time not out in touch with the American people," said McCain. "Some people that know that Franklin Delano Roosevelt didn’t address the American people on television." [3]
[full story]
Can someone please forward this website's URL to Senator McCain? I'm going to try and help him out here. Maybe jar some memories loose.
First. No, the American people haven't sided with you regarding Governor Palin's readiness to lead. If you read this site you would know that.
Second. Yes, you are freaking conservatives out. If you read this site you would know that.
Third. Not only did Franklin Delano Roosevelt address the American people on television, he was the first President to do so. If you are reading this site, now you know this.
<div class="question">
<h3>The Question:</h3>
Who was the first president to give a televised speech? My daughter answered FDR but her teacher says Truman. I have found several web sites, including The History of Television, that says FDR. I need a definitive answer. Please help.</div>
<div class="answer">
<h3>The Answer:</h3>
We'll do our best to set the record straight.
According to our sources, Franklin D. Roosevelt was the first president to speak on television. Roosevelt spoke at the opening session of the New York World's Fair on April 30, 1939.
Perhaps this is the source of your confusion: The first presidential address broadcast from the White House was Harry S. Truman's speech about food conservation and the world food crisis on Oct. 5, 1947.
We hope this helps.</div>
So not only did FDR address the American people on TV, Senator, and I really want to stress this point, HE DID SO DURING YOUR LIFETIME!!!!
John Sidney McCain III (born August 29, 1936) is the senior United States Senator from Arizona and presidential nominee of the Republican Party in the 2008 presidential election.
whew. That was tough to get out...wait till you see the video version...
Look, I understand McCain was trying to get in a quick barb at Biden, but the fact that he missed so horribly, and was so historically inaccurate, and that it reveals just how damn old the guy is...this should all mean something...I mean...it's hilarious. It's a joke. A really funy one.
Even funnier than this next one, as a matter of fact, which is itself a doozy. This one loses a bit bit of humor, however, because of how frighteningly revealing it is.
Asked later if he had benefited from taxpayer-subsidized health care his entire life, McCain replied that the question had no relation to his ability to understand the concerns of those Americans who had not.
"You know that's an interesting statement, isn’t it?" he responded. "And I have never been an astronaut, but I think I know the challenges of space. And I have never done a lot of things in my life that I think I am familiar with."
So here's a guy who's family has been in the military as long as the U.S. has existed. He's a real life Lt. Dan. Everything he every grew up with, or around was paid for by the U.S. This is just how it works. It's a job. You work and get paid. By taxpayers. For fighting. That's the deal.
This also apples to military universities. Once you get in and make the commitment, it's paid for. Including that whole health care thing. Then he goes to war, gets caught, comes back, and goes to Congress. And now, seventy-something years later, he's never once been off the dole. Ever.
And in order to communicate how this experience has given him the opposite knowledge, that he does, in fact know what it feels like to have absolutely no support from anyone (against the complete support of the most powerful nation on earth) he mentions that he isn't an astronaut but knows what it feels like to be one.
I'm waiting, on pins and needles, for Palin to defend his astronaut experience by mentioning how much space you can see from Arizona. Because, you know, you can see space from anywhere, but, I'll tell you what, those Arizonians, they see a lot of space.
Speaking of Jill Six-Pack, here's her latest nuggest of commonality.
Palin linked herself to the financial situation many Americans now face, telling Hewitt: "I know what Americans are going through. Todd and I, heck, we’re going through that right now even as we speak, which may put me again kind of on the outs of those Washington elite who don’t like the idea of just an everyday, working-class American running for such an office." The governor of Alaska received a salary of $112,895 in 2007, according to stateline.org. The McCain campaign has not released the Palins' financial records.
[full story]
It should be noted that they will most likely not be releasing those records. From the background I've read on Todd and his native ties, he is tied by blood into a very wealthy tribe [note: price of oil], and they have plenty of cash on hand. It's a big part of how she ran for Governor and took on the OBC, so to speak. That didn't stop her from getting favors to sell her house, but I digress.
Palin goes on to tell this "non-mainstream news source" [more on that in second] how she's just a regular gal running for VP.
Palin was asked in the interview about her reaction to "extreme hostility" from the media. "I think they’re just not used to someone coming in from the outside saying you know what -- it’s time that normal Joe Six Pack American is finally represented in the position of vice presidency," she said. "And I think that that’s kind of taken some people off guard, and they’re out of sorts, and they’re ticked off about it, but it’s motivation for John McCain and I to work that much harder to make sure that our ticket is victorious."
Umm, I dunno about that. After all, we just had a Joe Six Pack (literally) coming from outside to take over the Presidency in 2000. My guess would be that some of the suspicion is coming from that direction and recent barrage of wisdom regarding selecing leaders. BTW, "extreme hostility" is in quotes because it was a bullshit question asked by the notoriously biased Hugh Whoit?
Whoit? represents a "non-mainstream news [MSM]" source that is third in line behind Charlie Gibson and Katie Couric for the best media get of the month. Hannity doesn't count because he, like all right wing commentators that rail on the liberal media, are not part of the media themselves. Once anyone with right wing tendencies is excluded from the concept of "the media" is easy to see how liberal "the media" really is.
And so it goes, for one more day.
-------
Note: Links are relative to this original post.