Standing Before the Fire

Yesterday, in Israel, President Bush attacked Senator Obama as an appeaser for wanting to talk to nation’s such as Iran. Interestingly enough, President Bush’s own Secretary of State has stated his intention to hold talks with the Iranians. This is how idiotic Mr. Bush is. As head of the executive branch, he is completely clueless regarding the activities of the executive branch.

More importantly, this attitude of comparing everyone to Hitler is what gets us involved in unnecessary wars. Every time our leaders want to lead us into another war, they compare the object of their desire to Hitler.   Saddam was the new Hitler and now  Ahmedijan is the new new Hitler. I wonder who the new new new Hitler will be.

I’m still reeling from the Wednesdays despicable performance by ABC’s duo of idiocy George S. and Charlie G. David Brooks and Larry Kudlow are defending their performance, claiming that Senator Obama is complaining about being asked tough questions. Hilary Clinton is taking it a step further, insinuating that Obama’s complaining shows a lack of readiness on his part to be President. No, its not that the questions were tough, its that they were stupid and irrelevant. Case in point: Do you believe in the American Flag? This was a legitimate question because he wasn’t wearing a flag lapel? The media, at its best, should look beyond candidates faux, shallow, superficial acts of patriotism, like wearing a flag, and examine what candidates have done and plan to do for their fellow citizens. Instead, Charlie Gibson gives comfort to the village idiots who want to go after the guy who doesn’t wear an American flag on his suite. Further, I’ve probably watched hundreds of debates since the year 2000. I can’t remember any white men being asked why they weren’t wearing flag lapels.

This is what Senator Obama said.

Here’s how it is: in a lot of these communities in big industrial states like Ohio and Pennsylvania, people have been beaten down so long, and they feel so betrayed by government, and when they hear a pitch that is premised on not being cynical about government, then a part of them just doesn’t buy it. And when it’s delivered by — it’s true that when it’s delivered by a 46-year-old black man named Barack Obama (laugher), then that adds another layer of skepticism (laughter). […]
But the truth is, is that, our challenge is to get people persuaded that we can make progress when there’s not evidence of that in their daily lives. You go into some of these small towns in Pennsylvania, and like a lot of small towns in the Midwest, the jobs have been gone now for 25 years and nothing’s replaced them. And they fell through the Clinton administration, and the Bush administration, and each successive administration has said that somehow these communities are gonna regenerate and they have not. So it’s not surprising then that they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.

Hilary accuses him of being an elitist. But this is what Bill Clinton said years ago.

You know, he [Bush] wants to divide us over race. I’m from the South. I understand this. This quota deal they’re gonna pull in the next election is the same old scam they’ve been pulling on us for decade after decade after decade. When their economic policies fail, when the country’s coming apart rather than coming together, what do they do? They find the most economically insecure white men and scare the living daylights out of them. They know if they can keep us looking at each other across a racial divide, if I can look at Bobby Rush and think, Bobby wants my job, my promotion, then neither of us can look at George Bush and say, ‘What happened to everybody’s job? What happened to everybody’s income? What … have … you … done … to … our … country?’”

And this is What Senator McCain observed in Iowa.

Anti-immigrant passion also owes much to the disproportionate influence of a few small states in the nominating process. National polls show that, as an issue, immigration is far behind the Iraq war, terrorism, the economy, and health care as a concern to most Americans; a recent Pew poll shows that, nationally, only six per cent of voters offer immigration as the most important issue facing the country. But in Iowa and South Carolina, two of the three most important early states, it is a top concern for the Republicans who are most likely to vote.

“It’s the influx of illegals into places where they’ve never seen a Hispanic influence before,” McCain told me. “You probably see more emotion in Iowa than you do in Arizona on this issue. I was in a town in Iowa, and twenty years ago there were no Hispanics in the town. Then a meatpacking facility was opened up. Now twenty per cent of their population is Hispanic. There were senior citizens there who were–’concerned’ is not the word. They see this as an assault on their culture, what they view as an impact on what have been their traditions in Iowa, in the small towns in Iowa. So you get questions like ‘Why do I have to punch 1 for English?’ ‘Why can’t they speak English?’ It’s become larger than just the fact that we need to enforce our borders.”

All three men said the same thing. All three are probably right. God forbid the American people be criticized instead of praised. Real leaders point out societal flaws instead of covering them up. Senator Obama’s comments created an uproar, while McCain’s passed without notice. Its not enough anymore to just fight back against Republicans for this behavior, but for the village idiots themselves.

John McCain: Do you still view al Qaeda in Iraq as a major threat?David Petraeus: It is still a major threat, though it is certainly not as major a threat as it was say 15 months ago.

McCain: Certainly not an obscure sect of the Shi’ites overall?

Petraeus: No.

For the last time, Al Qaeda is Sunni, not Shia. You would think after getting this wrong in the past he would have learned from his mistakes. Guess not.  Six years into the war, he is still clueless about what is happening in Iraq. Its amazing such a clueless person has convinced Republicans voters he should be President- or maybe not.

Judas. A traitor. Backstabber. These adjectives and others have been used to describe Governor Bill Richardson’s decision to endorse Senator Obama instead of Senator Clinton. President Clinton chose Bill Richardson to be Secretary of Energy and Ambassador to the UN. To the Jame’s Carvilles of the world, he should have returned the favor to the Clintons by endorsing Hilary. This reminds me all too much of President Bush putting unqualified hacks in positions of importance, such as making Micheal Brown the Head of FEMA, not because he was the best person for the job, but because he had raised $$$$ for President Bush’s 2004 reelection campaign. Many think Governor Richardson should have lied to the world and claimed he thought Hilary would make the better President despite his belief to the contrary.  President Bush and James Carville would do well to remember what Bill Richardson does, that loyalty to nation should come before loyalty to political allies.

The clowns we call “the press” are strangely obsessed with Reverend Wrights comments, but not so interested in McCain’s spiritual adviser accusing the U.S. government of being guilty of committing genocide against. Or the well documented statements of John Hagee, who John McCain desperately sought an endorsement from.   There is not much McCain or Obama can do about what the leaders of their church say. But they can avoid seeking to ally themselves with hard core bigots, which is exactly, exactly what John McCain did.

No one on TV is mentioning the comments of McCain’s “spiritual adviser.”  This after days of obsession over Wright’s comments.  Its amazing how biased the media is.

He said several times that Iran, a predominately Shiite country, was supplying the mostly Sunni militant group, al-Qaeda…McCain said he and two Senate colleagues traveling with him continue to be concerned about Iranian operatives “taking al-Qaeda into Iran, training them and sending them back.”

Pressed to elaborate, McCain said it was “common knowledge and has been reported in the media that al-Qaeda is going back into Iran and receiving training and are coming back into Iraq from Iran, that’s well known. And it’s unfortunate.” A few moments later, Sen. Joseph Lieberman, standing just behind McCain, stepped forward and whispered in the presidential candidate’s ear. McCain then said: “I’m sorry, the Iranians are training extremists, not al-Qaeda.”

And the scary thing is That Senator McCain says he knows more about Foreign policy then economics…….

Haven’t blogged for sometime, was vacationing in lovely Allentown, PA. Its lovely this time of year, couldn’t bring myself to stare at a computer screen. Much has happened in over the last week. The media has worked itself into a frenzy, again straying from the important conversation about how the Republican party is destroying civil liberties, protecting telecom companies from getting their just deserves in court, and otherwise destroying the Republic. They have instead invested their energy into obsessing over the supposed dire consequences of the democrats continuing to battle for the presidential nomination. Desperate to make this election close, they continue to sell their pal John McCain as a straight-shooter, despite him now standing against everything he supposedly once believed in. Yet, with all the attention remaining on the Democrats, the polling data doesn’t seem to back up the notion that the continuing battle is hurting them in head to heads with John McCain. Everyone needs to calm down. The Republic is not crumbling. Yet.

Watching Russert on MSNBC. I am convinced he is a tool for the Republican party. He is parroting republican talking points, rambling that this primary continuing between the democrats is terrible for them, despite no statistical evidence to show that point. Its not like Obama is sinking in the polls against McCain. But thats not really why I’m angry with Tim Russert. Lets take a slight flashback to the last debate. He incessantly tries to tie Minister Farakhan to Barack Obama, merely because Farakhan said something nice about him. Obama never sought his support, met with him, associated with him, and further denounced and rejected him. Yet, he and his cohorts at MSNBC don’t care that McCain has embraced hard core bigot John Hagee. Its amazing how the media just takes it for granted that the Republicans align themselves with bigot, like thunder going with lightning.

it’s clear that McCain shares the views of disgusting bigot John Hagee or is just a man willing to do disgusting things for political gain. The latter in my opinion is far worse. Real bigots are too idiotic and confused to know what they are doing is wrong. The John McCain’s of the world are too low in character to stand up to hatred.

Mr. McCain, who has been on a steady search for support among conservative and evangelical leaders who have long distrusted him, said he was “very honored’’ by Mr. Hagee’s endorsement. Asked about Mr. Hagee’s extensive writings on Armageddon and about what one questioner said was Mr. Hagee’s belief that the anti-Christ will be the head of the European Union, Mr. McCain responded that “all I can tell you is that I am very proud to have Pastor John Hagee’s support.’’

Quotes from Mr. Hagee.

Calling the Catholic Church “The Great Whore.”

I believe that New Orleans had a level of sin that was offensive to God, and they were recipients of the judgment of God for that.

Islam in general — those who live by the Koran have a scriptural mandate to kill Christians and Jews

military confrontation with Iran is foretold in the Bible as a necessary precondition for the Second Coming.

This is just a sampling of the man’s insanity. This, folks, is the company that Senator McCain keeps and will keep if he becomes president. Racists, bigots, and people who want war because it is biblically foretold.