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Democracy for America group blog for The Young Turks ~ ENOUGH!
John McCain: The Opacity Of NOPE!
Linked to groups: DFALA, Netroots Activism!, California for Democracy, The Young Turks ~ ENOUGH!
In this historic election year, the people have a choice of unprecedented clarity. The presidential candidates for 2008 offer a uniquely stark contrast of policy and vision. One has embraced a theme of hope that is inspiring millions and setting a new course for national renewal and unity. He has ignited a grassroots revolution of citizen activists committed to bringing change to an arrogant, unaccountable, dishonest, and incompetent government.
The other is John McCain.
In contrast to Barack Obama's campaign of optimism and hope, McCain offers a vision that is squarely focused on obstacles. Its opaque negativity fairly precludes it from even being described as a vision at all. It might be more accurately expressed as The Opacity NOPE!
Peace? Nope. Health care? Nope. Fair trade? Nope. Tax equity? Nope. Choice? Nope. Environment? Nope. Get the idea?
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McCain's concentration on what CAN'T be done poses a challenge for his candidacy. A recent poll by the Pew Research Center shows that McCain trails Obama on most of the issues that voters rank as their top priorities. That may explain why the poll also shows that 75% those who have an unfavorable opinion of McCain, do so because of his political views. Only 54% cite that reason for Obama. McCain has saddled himself with a campaign that touts his alleged foreign policy experience in an election year where majorities of Democrats (65%), Independents (61%), and even Republicans (57%), want the next president to focus on domestic issues, a category that favors Obama. Even on the war in Iraq, voters are swinging toward Obama, who has gained eight points in just one month, moving into a statistical tie with McCain.
The negativity of McCain's record of public service stands as affirmation of the tenor of his present pursuit of the presidency. Documented examples of an acutely abusive temperment include encounters such as the following:
- "Fuck you...This is chickenshit stuff." Directed Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) in an immigration debate."
- "Only an asshole would put together a budget like this...I wouldn’t call you an asshole unless you really were an asshole." Directed at Sen. Pete Domenici (R-NM) while marking up legislation.
- Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA) to McCain during a debate on MIA's: "Are you calling me stupid?" McCain: "No. I’m calling you a fucking jerk!"
That's how McCain treats fellow Republicans. However, if you are the teenage daughter of a Democratic president, expect to be treated with something McCain regards as humor:
"Why is Chelsea Clinton so ugly? Because her father is Janet Reno."
In one masterful stroke, McCain insulted an innocent and impressionable young girl, the Attorney General, the First Lady, and the President. This should not surprise anyone, because McCain frequently describes himself as "the worst nightmare" of Democrats, as well as many others:
- John McCain Ad: The Democrats’ Worst Nightmare.
- I think that people should understand that I will be Hamas' worst nightmare.
- My presidency will be al Qaeda’s worst nightmare.
- On Congressional Spending: I’m their worst nightmare, my friend.
The problem for America, should John McCain become president, is that his self-identification will become a self-fulfilling prophesy; that McCain will manifest the nightmare he is so fond of invoking. And with his comments in the public record indicating that he is "fine with" keeping troops in Iraq for a hundred years, and that he thinks it would be fun to "bomb bomb bomb bomb bomb Iran," it isn't much of a leap to presume that his commitment to a national bad dream is genuine.
Therefore, it is incumbent upon the American people to take up the call that John McCain so generously volunteers. We must rally around the anthem that defines the course of true progress. When McCain comes calling for our votes we must reflect back on him the only answer that will deliver us from the dreadful future he promises. We must summon our courage, steady our resolve, and stare into the face of pessimism and futility, and in a certain, unyielding voice - Just Say NOPE!
Tom, is that a photo of you are a famous hockey player?
I don't get into paid sports much. Women's tennis a little. Though I did go to school in a big hockey town where we were consistently #1 in our division. I knew most of the hockey players.
Fingers and head not connecting today
This kid did well for himself. Became a multi-millionaire very quickly. He was very nice but dumb as dirt. We used to laugh at him during televised interviews. When I first met him, I gave him a fake name. The rest of the team knew my name and told him. Two years later he would still call me by the fake name, yell it across campus. Not as a joke. He really thought it was my name. Ha! I guess if you are good at sports in our money driven sports culture, you don't have to be bright, lol. Here is a photo.
I went to one hockey game in college and left at the half-way mark. Too violent. Not the players...the audience. So I partied a lot with the players but never saw them play, lol.
What I wanna know is: why doesn't this positively damning stuff about McCain make it outside of the blogosphere into the world of commercial media?
They're still treating him like the straight-talkin' war hero with all sorts of military and foreign policy experience, of which he has next to none, apart from blowing Vietnamese peasants to bits until he was shot down, then collaborating big-time to save his miserable ass.
I'd give this a plus John IF BFA had allowed me the privilege to do so but I can't rate -- who knows why.
It all began with his Father. And all this war hero crap is bull. Time and all the major publications have printed lie after lie for decades. Not only was he not injured to the degree they claim, but he gave away US secrets to the enemy and cooperated to the extent of even doing radio broadcasts. You don't survive 5 years where he was without cooperating pretty heavily. A lot of it is documented but he was given a free pass while others who surrendered but did not give up secrets were court marshalled. He did not crack after weeks, months or years either. It was DAYS. The 4th day is when he cracked.
Luck Of The Admiral's Son Not For "Grunts"
"McCain said the communists were so effective with their interrogation techniques that he broke on the fourth day after being captured and began cooperating. "Demands for military information were accompanied by threats to terminate my medical treatment if I [McCain] did not cooperate. Eventually, I gave them my ship's name and squadron number, and confirmed that my target had been the power plant." Pages 193-194, Faith of My Fathers, by John McCain."
A former Vietnamese Communist Party official is claiming Sen. John McCain was "quickly singled out for softer treatment" as a POW because "he was the son of an American admiral. Phung Van Chung, 70, who was a Communist Party official at the time McCain was captured said "top" Vietnamese leaders wanted to use McCain "for negotiations."
http://educate-yourself.org/cn/earlhopperinterview08feb08.shtml
After two-years of being held as prisoners of war under the most brutal circumstances in the steamy, mosquito infested jungle of South Vietnam, Army Staff Sgt. George E. Smith and Sp/5 Claude McClure could take the torture no more. They asked for and were granted parole. In November 1965, the two demoralized POWs were led across the Cambodian border and released by their Viet Cong captors.
Following their release, Smith and McClure held a press conference in Phnom Penh and made statements that opposed U.S. involvement in Vietnam.
Smith, 27, of Chester, West Virginia told the press: "I have known both sides, and the war in Vietnam is of no interest to the United States."
McClure, 25, a black American from Chattanooga, Tennessee added, "The Saigon government is not the government of the people . . . The Viet Cong are the people."
U.S. government officials were infuriated. Both Smith and McClure were Green Berets and they had clearly violated the military code of conduct which among other things, specifies; "If I am captured . . . I will accept neither parole not special favors from the enemy . . . [and] will make no oral or written statement disloyal to my country and its allies . . ."
After the press conference Smith and McClure were met by representatives of the Australian government who made travel arrangements and flew the two former POW's to Bangkok, Thailand. There, US officials took them into custody and read them their rights under Article 31, which is the military version of the rights against self incrimination.
The two former POWs were then loaded aboard a military aircraft and hustled out of Thailand to Okinawa where they were placed under house arrest and turned over to intelligence agents for "debriefing."
"Tell us everything that happened that's important," the intelligence agents instructed them at the beginning of the debriefings. "It will be helpful for Americans who become prisoners of war."
During the debriefing, which lasted approximately three weeks, Smith and McClure were not allowed to talk to anyone without prior clearance by the intelligence agents and their mail was read and censored.
After the debriefing the Army informed them that they were being charged with violating Article 104 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice by "preparing, furnishing, and delivering to the Viet Cong certain documents, statements and writings inimical to the interest of the U.S."
Shocked and demoralized, Smith and McClure quickly learned that the charge of aiding the enemy carries the death penalty and that they could be tried by a military tribunal without witnesses.
Then, the Army dropped another bomb shell in their laps. Their debriefings, which they had given freely and openly were to be used as evidence against them.
The Army moved Smith and McClure to a secret location away from the press and the Pentagon issued press releases implying that they had turned official papers over to the Viet Cong.
Members of the press accepted the Pentagon's accusations against the two enlisted men without investigation or verification of the facts. Some elements of the media printed stories which referred to them as "turncoats."
Prior to being captured November 24, 1963, there was nothing in the service records of Smith or McClure that indicated any lack of loyalty to the United States.
Collaborator, liar, abuser, corrupt...yes. Hero, no f@##ing way.
Huron, the CM is heavily invested in war and more war so it may be doing its best to influence the voters. Withholding the whole truth is an insidious form of lying and prevalent in and out of politics.
Hopefully the debates will show him as he is.
I'm disheartened that Keithie isn't pursuing impeachment. I suspect even HE has handlers that won't let him. And those handlers will push McC, sadly. JMO
- John McCain: War Hero or North Vietnam's Go-To Collaborator?
By Huron John on Jun 15, 2008 6:31 PM EDThttp://www.counterpunch.org/valentine06132008.html
McCain, in his carefully prepared statements, claims he was tortured while in solitary confinement, and that is why he signed a confession saying, “I am a black criminal and I have performed the deeds of an air pirate. I almost died and the Vietnamese people saved my life, thanks to the doctors.” (3)
However, on March 25, 1999, two of his fellow POWs, Ted Guy and Gordon "Swede" Larson told the Phoenix New Times that, while they could not guarantee that McCain was not physically harmed, they doubted it.
As Larson said, "My only contention with the McCain deal is that while he was at The Plantation, to the best of my knowledge and Ted's knowledge, he was not physically abused in any way. No one was in that camp. It was the camp that people were released from."
Guy and Larson’s claims are given credence by McCain’s vehement opposition to releasing the government’s debriefings of Vietnam War POWs. McCain gave Michael Isikoff a peek at his debriefs, and Isikoff declared there was “nothing incriminating” in them, apart from the redactions. (4)
McCain had a unique POW experience. Initially, he was taken to the infamous Hanoi Hilton prison camp, where he was interrogated. By McCain’s own account, after three or four days, he cracked. He promised his Vietnamese captors, "I'll give you military information if you will take me to the hospital."
His Vietnamese capturers soon realized their POW, John Sidney McCain III, came from a well-bred line of American military elites. McCain’s father, John Jr., and grandfather, John Sr., were both full Admirals. A destroyer, the USS John S. McCain, is named after both of them.
While his son was held captive in Hanoi, John McCain Jr., from 1968 to 1972, was the Commander-in-Chief of U.S. Pacific Command; Admiral McCain was in charge of all US forces in the Pacific including those fighting in Vietnam.
One can only wonder when the concierge at the Hanoi Hilton started taking calls from Admiral McCain. Rather quickly, one surmises, for the Vietnamese soon took John Boy McCain to a hospital reserved for Vietnamese officers. Unlike his fellow POWs, he received care from a Soviet doctor.
“This poor stooge has propaganda value,” the Vietnamese realized. The Admiral’s bad boy was used to special treatment and his captors knew that. They were working him.
For his part, McCain acknowledges that the Vietnamese rushed him to a hospital, but denies he was given any "special medical treatment."
However….two weeks into his stay at the Vietnamese hospital, the Hanoi press began quoting him. It was not “name rank and serial number, or kill me,” as specified by the military code of conduct. McCain divulged specific military information: he gave the name of the aircraft carrier on which he was based, the number of US pilots that had been lost, the number of aircraft in his flight formation, as well as information about the location of rescue ships. (5)
So McCain leveraged some details to get some medical attention. That’s not anything too contemptible. And who among us civilians is to judge someone in the position?
On the other hand, according to one source, McCain’s collaboration may have had very real consequences. Retired Army Colonel Earl Hopper, a veteran of World War II, Korea and Vietnam, contends that the information that McCain divulged classified information North Vietnam used to hone their air defense system.
Hopper’s son, Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Earl Pearson Hopper was, like McCain, shot down over North Vietnam. Hopper the younger, however, was declared “Missing in Action.” Stemming from the loss of his son, the elder Hopper co-founded the National League of Families, an organization devoted to the return of Vietnam War POWs.
According to the elder Hopper, McCain told his North Vietnamese captors, “highly classified information, the most important of which was the package routes, which were routes used to bomb North Vietnam. He gave in detail the altitude they were flying, the direction, if they made a turn… he gave them what primary targets the United States was interested in.” Hopper contends that the information McCain provided allowed the North Vietnamese to adjust their air-defenses. As result, Hopper claims, the US lost sixty percent more aircraft and in 1968, “called off the bombing of North Vietnam, because of the information McCain had given to them.” 6
The Psywar Stooge
McCain was held for five and half years. Collaborating during the first two weeks might have been pragmatic, but he soon became North Vietnam’s go-to collaborator for the next three years. Given the quality of the military information he allegedly shared, his situation isn’t as innocuous as the pragmatic French barber who cuts the hair of the German occupier. McCain was repaying his captors for their kindness and mercy.
This is the lesson of McCain’s experience as a POW: a true politician, a hollow man, his only allegiance is to power. The Vietnamese, like McCain’s campaign contributors today, protected and promoted him and in return, he danced to their tune.
Not content with divulging military information, McCain provided his voice in radio broadcasts used by the North Vietnamese to demoralize American soldiers.
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We can only hope Joan.
They still have voter supression, swift-boating, and vote theft going for them
that would be enough to convince voters not to export him to the rest of the states as Pres. We rank at the bottom of everything except crime. He hasn't done anything for this state. He is a crazy hothead.
and yet, McCain returns to America, to find a wife (Carol) handocapped by an auto accident, one that crippled her, yet she kept the news from John, not wanting him to be troubled by news of her accident, whilst he was suffering as a POW in North Vietnam.
He then dumped her for Cindy.
show NO love for his wife!! He doesn't even look at her and she walks BEHIND HIM!!
- I've traveled through six counties so far and the word i would use to describe the countryside is "ravaged".
By Phil Specht on Jun 15, 2008 7:31 PM EDThundreds of rural wells are compromised and livestock can't use bottled water (those that have been found)
but the erosion on the uplands is very severe
one reason, the growing season has been difficult and the crops not high enough to provide cover
that said I wouldn't bet against a ten billion bushel national corn crop because close to 90% of the plants have survived
don't come to Iowa pheasant hunting this fall though because I doubt there is a chick left in the state
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/webguide/internetlife/2008-06-15-web-politics_N.htm?csp=34
Study: Americans use Web to look beyond political sound bites
Posted <script type="text/javascript"></script> 1h 1m ago
In a report Sunday, the Pew Internet and American Life Project said that nearly 30% of adults have used the Internet to read or watch unfiltered campaign material — footage of debates, position papers, announcements and transcripts of speeches.
...
Google's YouTube and other video sites have become more popular. Thirty-five percent of adults have watched a political video online during the primary season, compared with 13% during the entire 2004 presidential race.
The study also found that 10% of adults have used online hangouts like Facebook and News Corp.'s MySpace for political activity, whether it's to add a campaign as a friend on their personal profile pages, discover a friend's political interests or join an online political group.
Oh, Phil, that is so sad. America has been orphaned by this regime.
This came in an email and it's long but noteworthy.
Dear
Last Thursday the largest newspaper in my congressional district - the South Florida Sun-Sentinel - published an editorial lambasting my enthusiastic support for immediately holding impeachment hearings for President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney. Numerous letters to the editor have also criticized my support for this movement.
Below, you'll find the original Sun-Sentinel editorial, followed by my response, which was printed yesterday.
I assure you that I will not back down from this fight – no matter the consequences or political cost. The only thing that maters is that we deliver accountability for the Bush Cheney Administration and defend our government and our constitution.
If you would like to write a letter to the Sun Sentinel, you can email letters@sun-sentinel.com.
Thank you for your continued support.
Robert Wexler
DONATE
Sun-Sentinel Editorial
Impeachment not worth another minute of anybody's time
South Florida Sun-Sentinel Editorial Board
June 12, 2008
ISSUE: Some in Congress want an impeachment.
The nation does have a few pressing issues pending that could use some attention from our federal lawmakers.
Let's see. There are a couple of wars going on, unemployment is on the rise as the value of a house continues to fall, millions of Americans have no health insurance, and did we mention that gas prices are expected to hit $5 a gallon? You get the idea. And still, some in Congress feel the nation is just itching for another presidential impeachment.
Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio, who has made a career out of eye-rolling issues like these, said this week he wants the House to consider a resolution to impeach President Bush. Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Delray Beach, who is smarter than this, supported the Articles of Impeachment, which won't go anywhere and thankfully have been buried in a committee not likely to hold hearings before Bush leaves office.
Last year, Kucinich led the misguided charge to impeach Vice President Dick Cheney, and Wexler supported that. In the case of Bush, Wexler called it a "sworn duty" of Congress to act.
Actually, it's nobody's sworn duty to take up any time to go after a badly battered president with only a few months left in office. This is a president so unpopular, presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain won't make many public appearances with him. This is a president who is such a non-entity, peace activists didn't even
bother to protest his appearance in Berlin this week.
Nor should Congress bother with the ridiculous idea of impeachment, which Kucinich contends is warranted because Bush deceived the nation into war.
There's plenty of evidence to fuel Kucinich's ire, but not his choice of remedy. If Congress needs more things than impeachment to keep lawmakers busy, it has myriad options.
BOTTOM LINE: Get on with REAL issues.
Copyright (c) 2008, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
The Wexler Response:
The Sun-Sentinel recently ran an editorial criticizing my support for the articles of impeachment against President Bush opining that Congress should instead "get on with REAL issues" such as the Iraq war. In fact, it is this very war -- entered into following an unprecedented campaign of lies and manipulated intelligence by the Bush Administration -- that necessitates impeachment hearings. This war has cost us the lives of 4,090 US soldiers, injuries to over 30,000, and more than a trillion taxpayer dollars when it is all said and done.
It is a dark day when the Sun-Sentinel has the gall to tell the parents of the soldiers who have died in Iraq that pursuing
consequences for those that prosecuted this war of choice based on outright deception is not a "REAL" issue that Congress should address.
Sadly, the war is only the beginning. We now know that this Administration illegally ordered the torture of prisoners, obstructed justice by lying about the outing of a covert CIA agent and authorizing warrantless spying on American citizens.
No one can deny that if proven these allegations amount to High Crimes. Our failure to act sets an awful precedent and enables future Presidents to break the law and violate our Constitution without sanctions from Congress.
The Sentinel says impeachment is the wrong "remedy" for this litany of crimes. What then is the proper remedy? A harsh lecture? A strongly worded editorial? Or how about doing absolutely nothing in the face of these outrageous abuses of power?
Impeachment hearings need not distract us from other important priorities such as the economy, gas prices and bringing the troops home from Iraq. Congress can and should address all important issues - including safeguarding our constitutional rights and obligations.
--------
I've seen quite a few fields that haven't been planted yet, and I'll remark that two farmers with 12 row planters and 1000 acres to plant apiece are a better bet than one guy with a 24 row planter.
Phil, how long will it be before fields are dry enough to plant? and won't they have to be planted w/ crops other than corn? soy beans is what I hear about most, are there others? will the 'extra' soy beans mess with that market? and how are the two 12 row planters better? :-)
Phil, did I explain that well enuf so that you don't put me in the same category as Norquist? :-)
- explanation sufficed but I still don't want to see it on a screen spoiling my morning coffee lol
By Phil Specht on Jun 15, 2008 7:54 PM EDT
Monday 16 June 2008
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I'd love to--how do I do it?
Also based on 30+ years of energy research (with USGS) and post retirement reading, I'd like to contribute a thread post on oil.
It's all on back burner at the moment (my creative MO), but I could spew it out fairly quickly.
To whom do I submit it when it's done??
I'd appreciate advice.
at the bottom of the post, next to the number of comments, click 'recommend'.
You're welcome--now how do I start my "Oil" post through the system?
I figured out how to recommend-- and I did
I have written some about my experiences in Argentina and posted photos from my last trip.
I ask a lot of questions about politics and in general, the people were pro-Hillary, having liked Bill. They didn't trust the "unknown" factor with BO. The taxi drivers are a fountain of info and speak with people, obviously, from all over the world.
Some of my posts, when I quoted the taxistas, were met with derision here.
I don't know enuf to write a good diary - just a personal diary - since I'm learning as I go and my emphasis is so heavy on tango.
But I'll do what I can since it is a fascinating culture and the city of Buenos Aires appears to be made of marble from the quarries in Carrara, Italy.
Yes, why do the journalists play gotcha with Dean and Kucinich, and avoid Impeachment, even though most of them have heard of the Constitution?
An artist, over time, can become very facile with the tools and rules of the trade, but no amount of expertise will show the way to a great painting. That comes from a different place, inside of us.
Olbermann may give us some great works, but the others are missing something. Howrd and Dennis keep giving from that place where artists reach for the truth.
Neither Howard nor Dennis will ever be preznit, but both have a secure niche in history
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=121858
US soldier refuses to report for active duty in Iraq
Agence France-Presse
WASHINGTON - A month after US army reservist Matthis Chiroux publicly refused to deploy to Iraq, the former sergeant on Sunday set himself up for possible prosecution by failing to report for active duty with his unit in South Carolina.
"Tonight at midnight, I may face further action from the army for refusing to reactivate to participate in the Iraq occupation," Chiroux told reporters in Washington.
"I stand here today in defense of those who have been stripped of their voices in this occupation, the warriors of this nation...", Chiroux read from a statement as his father Rob, who had travelled to Washington from Alabama to support his son on Father's Day, stood beside him.
Last month, Chiroux rejected an order calling him back to active duty in Iraq, saying he considers the war "illegal and unconstitutional."
...
- Well, you know
By Tom Bearse on Jun 15, 2008 6:15 PM EDTDean is first.