“Nigal's stirring the pot!”

“General Wesley Clark drew fire recently for saying the obvious. Just because Sen. John McCain served with both distinction and great personal sacrifice in the United States military, this in itself is not necessarily experience of the sort that automatically adds to his credentials for serving as commander in chief.

Something he (Clark) obviously never took to heart, lol.”

“Clark ran on his military record in 2004 and failed. Perhaps he is projecting. LOL”

“Yeah the bottom line to every argument tilt brings is 'I'm smarter than everyone else.'.

That's some bottom of the barrel self esteem right there.”

“hmmm...”

“Imagine Gramm in the Oval Office.

Hard to imagine a worse outcome, but still....”

“Wait a second. You mean to tell me that a republican is supporting another republican? Holy effing shyt get the Daily KOS on the line we got a scandal brewin' here! This is gonna be bigger than when Bush farted in the Lincon bed room!

I liked this part of the article....

With the U.S. economy now battered by a tsunami of mortgage foreclosures, the $30-billion Bear Stearns Companies bailout and spiking food and energy prices, many congressional leaders and Wall Street analysts are questioning the wisdom of the radical deregulation launched by Gramm’s legislative package.

Translation: "Only I feel this way but I can say many congressional leaders and Wall Street analysts because I don't have to support my claims.".

And how dare this hack blame Gramm for the mortgage problem, the battered economy, Bear Sterns, spiking food costs and energy prices! That's all George Bush's fault...at least it was last week.”

“The loans themselves must be separated from concerns from the bundling and dumping of those loans.”

“GULFPORT -- Notably mild-mannered Republican Sen. Thad Cochran shocked many earlier this year with comments about John McCain's volatile temper. He has since mended fences with the GOP presidential nominee.
But as first reported at sunherald.com, Cochran told the Sun Herald he witnessed a confrontation between McCain and a Sandinista rebel decades ago in which McCain "got mad at the guy and he just reached over there and snatched him."

Elected to the U.S. House in 1972 and then to the Senate in 1978, Cochran, a consummate gentleman, measures his words and his actions carefully. But he said something that surprised many in a Boston Globe article in January about his longtime Senate colleague McCain.

"The thought of his being president sends a cold chill down my spine," Cochran told the Globe. "He is erratic. He is hotheaded. He loses his temper and he worries me."

The two senators have made peace since the remarks. Cochran said McCain included him on a recent campaign visit to Meridian. He told the Sun Herald on Monday that McCain, whose ancestors lived in north Mississippi, is the best man for the job.

But Cochran said he observed McCain engage in a physical confrontation with a Sandinista while participating in a diplomatic mission led by Sen. Bob Dole and others in the fall of 1987. Cochran, McCain - who had won election to the Senate that year - and other members of a bipartisan committee of lawmakers called the Central American Negotiations Observer Group - met with Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, head of the left-wing political party known as Sandinistas, about tensions in the region.

The atmosphere was tense, as the U.S. was pressing "pretty hard." Cochran noticed a disturbance at the meeting table in a room lined with armed personnel.

"McCain was down at the end of the table and we were talking to the head of the guerilla group here at this end of the table and I don't know what attracted my attention," Cochran said. "But I saw some kind of quick movement at the bottom of the table and I looked down there and John had reached over and grabbed this guy by the shirt collar and had snatched him up like he was throwing him up out of the chair to tell him what he thought about him or whatever. I don't know what he was telling him but I thought, good grief, everybody around here has got guns and we were there on a diplomatic mission. I don't know what had happened to provoke John but he obviously got mad at the guy and he just reached over there and snatched him."

No punches were thrown and the two sat back down, Cochran said. The man, who appeared ruffled after the confrontation with McCain, was an Ortega associate, but Cochran said he was unsure of his identity.

http://www.sunherald.com/newsupdates/v-print/story/660742.html”

“Not good.”

“
July 5th, 2008; Vol.174 #1 / Feature
Simpleminded Voters
By Bruce BowerJune 20th, 2008

-- Informed citizens avoid information overload by taking strategic shortcuts before casting their ballots --

As the 2008 U.S. presidential election approaches, tens of millions of voters have to make up their minds. They face the task of sifting through media reports, televised debates, political advertisements, campaign literature and conversations with family and friends to identify a candidate who best reflects their political views.

That just may be too much to ask, though. As political scientists have long lamented, the general public knows depressingly little about politics. Most Americans can identify the president but barely half know the name of even one cabinet member and only one-third correctly identify their two U.S. senators or their congressional representative. In surveys, roughly half of registered voters display little understanding of how government works or of current political issues.

Even if a voter knew enough to evaluate each presidential candidate’s positions on diverse issues, he or she would still need to tally pros and cons on those issues for each candidate and determine who most deserved support. Decision researchers in various fields have long favored this exhaustive, coldly logical approach, even if only as an ideal that less methodical thinkers should strive for.

Yet according to many psychologists, people will never think that way. We shun rationality and seek as little information as possible when making judgments, the experts assert. Instead, individuals use strategic shortcuts, also known as rules of thumb or heuristics, to decide. The latter term, of Greek origin, means “serving to find out or discover.” Heuristics require minimal mental effort but prompt irrational and biased judgments — or at least so say some psychologists.

”

“.
last edited: 7/06/08 2:39:20 PM”

“Sad Irony of the Day:

McCain has swiftboater George E. "Bud" Day on his "Truth" Squad.  When the first swiftboater ad was aired, McCain's reaction was:   "I condemn the ad. It is dishonest and dishonorable. I think it is very, very wrong."

In contrast, Bush said:   "As someone who truly understands the risk of standing up for something, I simply cannot express in words how much I value their willingness to stand up against John Kerry."

Sure, George --- tell us how tough it was in the Champagne Squadron.   Those hangovers must've been pure Hell.”

“Magic checkbook ride?”

“Congrats violin. You are now officially the Stove Stomper of the left.”

“He has not posted any cartoons yet.”

“I was referring to the picture.”

“You even smoke spinach?”

“
Iraq raises idea of timetable for US withdrawal
By QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA and SEBASTIAN ABBOT
Associated Press Writers
Mon Jul 7, 3:11 PM ET

BAGHDAD - Iraq's prime minister said Monday his country wants some type of timetable for a withdrawal of American troops included in the deal the two countries are negotiating.

It was the first time that Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has explicitly and publicly called for a withdrawal timetable — an idea opposed by President Bush.

He offered no details. But his national security adviser, Mouwaffak al-Rubaie, told The Associated Press that the government is proposing a timetable conditioned on the ability of Iraqi forces to provide security.

In Washington, the State Department declined to comment on the ongoing negotiations and said officials in Washington were not yet entirely sure what al-Maliki had said.

(yeah, there’s more)


And a quote!     No extra charge ---

So how can McCain and his gang now accuse Obama of being a defeatist surrender-monkey when his call for a timetable for withdrawal is echoed by the leadership of Iraq?

      --- David Corn

”

“Now if Irag can give us a timetable for when the Iraqi forces will be able to provide security, everything would be perfect. Otherwise it all talk isn't it.”

“Was it the Clash; Should we stay, or, should we get kicked out.”

“Know where I can get a sticker like that?”

“did you ppl see the moveon.org ad... the one where the woman says that mccain wants to run out the war and that means her baby son will have to deal with it... and that "he can't have him"... tough.

well now i have made up my mind about moveon.org after seeing this ad.

american servicemen and woman CHOOSE to serve their country. talk about freaking insulting to the people serving in the armed forces.”

“Food and gas prices got you down? Lost your job? Facing foreclosure?

The McCain team has a plan for America:



With the economy on the top of voters' minds, Republican presidential candidate John McCain's top economic adviser said the Arizona senator will lay down a detailed program to revive dynamic growth with dramatic tax and spending reforms.
[...]
"We have sort of become a nation of whiners," he said. "You just hear this constant whining, complaining about a loss of competitiveness, America in decline" despite a major export boom that is the primary reason that growth continues in the economy, he said.

http://www.washtimes.com/news/2008/jul/09/mccain-adviser-addresses-mental-recession/

last edited: 7/11/08 3:38:54 AM”

“Suck it up, whiners!”

“

”

“I'm no fan of McCain (just the opposite in fact) but he really nailed it. Obviously some people aren't going to like hearing the truth.”

“I agree with him. Violin is proof too.”

“I used to think McCain had some sense, but if he's elected Gramm will be in a position to cause even more damage.”

“The growth in the economy they speak of is Red Number debt.”

“Noncons shoe is black to represent to coal we traded for it. That coal can't be burned here, but the fumes from China can be shipped back to California via the Pacific westerly winds.”

“FNM,FRE and FDA(not a financial), but it also gave it's top fools a big boneus.Good job Brownies.
last edited: 7/11/08 6:56:57 AM”

“Welcome to Californias 'New Saudi Nevada', all you backpackers.”

“That coal can't be burned here, but the fumes from China can be shipped back to California via the Pacific westerly winds.”
salebored
8:40:33 AM
7/11/08


You might want to consider moving because the last thing you need is more fumes.”

“Hey v, Marko say this in inappropriate.”

“Funniest thing is V has his share of gray hairs too. Right Gramps?”

“Has he figured out that Czechoslovakia doesn't exist anymore?”

“Phil Gramm hits the bricks, but it's too late.   Letting a creep like Gramm into his inner circle demonstrates extremely poor judgement on McCain's part.  

What Was He Thinking?

And what's to keep Gramm from returning from beyond the grave if McCain is elected?   Screw that!”

“Has tilt figured out that no one gives a damn about his opinions?”

“

Ehh?

last edited: 7/21/08 4:01:55 AM”

“It is reassuring that the only thing Violink has on McCain is bumper stickers and cheap shots.

I think Link might vote for the old man.”

“What happened to the greasy guido in your profile, violin?”

“Guess "V" didn't get marky's memo that commenting on McCain's age wasn't appropriate.”