Tag: McCain

2008 ANAL-OCITY “ASSIE” AWARD WINNER

And The Winner Is!  MAY I HAVE A DRUM ROLL PLEASE!

2008

Lobotero’s Info Ink

The Anal-Ocity Award, “The ASSIE”

This award is given annually for the most ANAL Statement made by anyone in the news.  Duly chosen by the readers of Lobotero’s Info Ink.

Senator John McCain
Recipient

For his comment when speaking on Russia’s invasion of Georgia when he said
“In The 21st Century Nations Do Not Invade Other Nations.”
Category

01 February 2009                                                                              CHUQ/Info Ink

CONGRATS to the 2008 Republican candidate for president of the United States Of America for having uttered the most anal statement of the year.  Gets no better than this.  Now on to 2009 let the anal-ocities begin!

FINAL NOTE:  2008 was a really good year for Info Ink…THANK YOU my readers I appreciate all the participation and supoort.

A Question For John McCain

I heard Sen. McCain on ABC Sunday say that he voted against the auto bailout because the US auto makers need to get in line with foreign auto makers in the US, as far as wages, benefits and etc.

My question for McCain is, Why should American auto workers give concessions to be in line with foreign auto makers in the US?  Should not part of the deal of doing business in the US be that foreign companies should be more in line with US auto wages?  Why should American workers lower their wages so that foreign companies can make a larger profit?

Has anyone ever heard of “economic nationalism”?  That basically means that you take pride in the country’s business and workers and that they deserve first consideration in any industrial activity that takes place in this country.

Apparently the American worker means didley to Washington and to most of the American people.  This from a group that prefers that the US stay a consumer nation at the expense of our manufacturing sector.

Is it not time,Sen. McCain, that we stop crapping on the American worker and industry?  Is it not about time that special interests are eliminated?  Oh sorry, I forgot who I was questioning!

I am weary of listening the the manure these ideologues spread…..YOUR politicians, all of them, are self centered and worthless.  Not one has the best interests of the American worker at heart; only what they can get from the special interests and nowhere is that good for the nation or the working people of the country.

Here is a novel suggestion.  How about you guys climb out of the lobbyist’s pockets and do us all a favor–resign–ALL OF YOU!

copyright: CHUQ/Info Ink

Another Person Gets Thrown Under The Bus

Sen. John McCain said Sunday he would not necessarily support his former running mate if she chose to run for president.

Speaking to ABC’s “This Week,” McCain was asked whether Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin could count on his support.

“I can’t say something like that. We’ve got some great other young governors. I think you’re going to see the governors assume a greater leadership role in our Republican Party,” he said.

He then mentioned governors Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota and Jon Huntsman of Utah.

McCain said he has “the greatest appreciation for Gov. Palin and her family, and it was a great joy to know them.”

McCain was pressed on why he can’t promise support for the woman who, just months ago, he named as the second best person to lead the nation.

The whheels of the “Straight Talk Express” are getting bloody from all the people being thrown under it.  The Plumber threw McCain, McCain throws Palin, Palin throws everyone under the bus.  You gotta love the loyal within the GOP.

Random Thoughts

Once again, these are from notes I made and they never made it to a post….so I thought I would share them with my readers and get their input.

1–Being said of the Obama admin–they will leave the patriot act in place and put education on the back burner for now.

2–When did poker become a sport?  I missed that memo.

3–When did a car chase in Montana become national news–yet another missed memo, no doubt.

4–After all the socialist, communist, Marxist statement made by Republicans, a special instructor should be appointed to give remedial PoliSci 101 to them when they are in session.

5–Why did McCain lose?  I have been asked by several people and my standard answer is–He is BALD!  Americans have not elected a bald president since Ike.

6–Today it is called a financial rescue, tomorrow it will be called, “why daddy went to prison”.  Idea is thanks to Keith Olbermann.

7–Taxpayer is being treated like a mushroom–they are kept in the dark and fed sh!t.

8–Joe the Plumber skips a personal appearance to work on his new book….thinking….the book is destined to become like that fruit cake from Aunt Sally….save it for next year and give it as a gift.

9–Sarah Palin could get as much as $11 million for a book deal.  Goes to show that even a mental midget can find success as a writer.

10-My last note–Rush Limbaugh on his radio show has blamed Obama for the recession now in progress.  And Obama has not even been sworn in–pretty much indicate where Rush will be for the next 4 years, at least.

That is all for now…if you see something you want to comment on, please knock yourself out.

Did McCain Have A Chance?

An Info Ink Commentary.

The Fat Lady has sung.  The last vote counted.  Well crap!  The maverick must return to the drudgery of the Senate, McCain has lost.

McCain above all was a maverick–at least that is how the saga was playing–but was he?  Or was it a carefully orchestrated life?

He ran on a shoe string budget during the primaries–so how did he beat the monied boys?  Mitt was a Mormon–and that while no one will admit it played into his defeat.  Giuliani was a hollow shell with nothing but 9/11 to offer the voter and that did not play well in 2008.  Most of the others were one issue candidates–not good.

So as the race went on McCain became the logical choice.  He was an American hero–at least in the tag lines.  His military service played well with vets and his age played well in Florida.

He, McCain, became the logical nominee, so how did he lose the election?  The best answer is tactics.  He and his campaign were full of tactics, but they were devoid of any measurable strategy.  No depth, no game plan, they thought that the “hero” label would usher him into the White House.  They were sadly wrong.  He never had a substantial message other than war hero and national security.  He and his campaign flailed around trying to find a hook for the people , but sadly they had none.

The tactic was to hit Obama on his experience, they peed on that tactic when they picked Palin.  They then tried the celebrity attack and Palin crapped on that also.  The original tactic was to hit Obama on the national security thing and then the economy went in the toilet.  Unfortunately, McCain had no idea how the handle the economy and he struggled for 2 months before the election to find a hook that would work with the voter.  He failed.

Then the dumbest tactic was tried, attack Obama as a socialist, Marxist and his “redistribution of wealth” statement.  That was not so good either, because only old farts even knew what socialism was, at least the term, maybe not the definition.

And then along came Joe, the plumber that is.  The campaign tried, in vain, to turn this poor guy into a symbol of the struggling middle class.  The sad part was that it was shown that Joe would pay less taxes under the Obama plan.

The campaign kept throwing negative attacks at Obama trying to get him to respond and he would not.  Made him appear to have the moral high ground.  Obama stayed on his message of how tpo save the economy and McCain spent all his time telling voters how bad Obama was, but never offered a comprehensive plan of his own.  McCain appeared to be confused and out of touch at the start of the economic crisis and it continued until the last day of the campaign.

IMO, McCain was NEVER ready to be the nominee.  Yes, he would become the loveable underdog, but not ready for the party nomination.  He had a couple of really good speeches, but after that he and his once popular VP feel flat on their butts.  Neither one could make a case for them to run the country.  His BS strategy did not work on the voters and then he once again became the bitter old man.

McCain in the closing days of the election has told people they need to look at history, maybe he should have not said that because there are several like things in his candidacy as to that of McGovern.  And unfortunately, McGovern was a loser too.  In 1972 McGovern was the party reformer, just as McCain has been labeled that and we know how disastrous that label can be in the election.  McGovern’s VP candidate was not all that he was cracked up to be, sound familiar?  Will McCain’s campaign synonymous with lost causes just as McGovern’s did?

Just as he had NO strategy in the primaries; he had none in the election.  He may even go down in history as one of the worse presidential candidates to ever run of the office.

He was NEVER ready to be a presidential candidate.

Obama’s Free Ride–Revisited

For weeks now, if not months, I have heard this pundit or that pundit talk about the free ride that Obama’s campaign has gotten in the media.  Some blame the “Northeast elites”.  Most of the ones accussing the media of the free ride have been int broadcast media.  The whole time I never saw it that way, they continually beat up Obama on associations, etc they gave Repub surrogates all the time they needed to push the McCain saga and seldom asked important questions, just the ones the the McCain people wanted to answer.

I continually asked where was the free ride.  Never got a good answer to the question.  Last night on Countdown With Keith Olbermann, he mentioned something that may have answered my question.  He said in his campaign commentary and I quoite,

“And what would be happening tonight in the minds of tens of millions of voters if it had been Sen. Obama who had his people negotiate, behind the scenes and off the record, to force favorable coverage of his campaign at three television networks?”

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27522443/

Now if that is true, which I am beginning to think it is, that could explain the disconnect with me.  I even would go so far as to guess that NBC was one of those that cut the deal with the McCain people, why else was this not reported before the night before the election?

And you think that the media is fair and balanced, that it is not controlled by corporations…..sorry you are delusional.

Could There Be A Landslide?

It is likely, most experts and pundits say, that the polls will tighten, making it look like the election is getting closer. However there are a number of factors which, taken together, can lead to a much bigger landslide than the polls predict.

Many of the issues with poll numbers and other predictions have been discussed separately by experts, such as Nate Silver at http://www.fivethirtyeight.com. But usually they are not all put together.

1. The Cell Phone Issue: Many nowadays, especially young people, don’t have land lines, so most of the polls undercount a section of the populace that is heavily pro-Obama.
2. The African American Turnout Factor: Most polls have likely voter turnout models factored in, based on past turnout levels. If, as is very likely, African American turnout is significantly higher this year and even more Democratic than usual, that can change the outlook in states with a large African American population, mainly but not only in the South.
3. The Latino American Turnout Factor: The same is true for Latino voters, registered and energized by the immigrant rights upsurge several years ago. A greater Latino turnout can be enough to change the results in important swing states like Colorado and Nevada, and have a positive impact nationwide.
4. The Youth Turnout Factor: The same applies to younger voters, who likely will vote for Obama in numbers that this year may ssurpass other demographics, and who will likely vote in much higher percentages than previously.
5. The New Registrants Turnout Possibility: Newly registered voters tend to vote in higher percentages than the population at large, and with new registrations breaking records in most states and many new registrants motivated to vote Democratic, this too will improve Obama’s vote. If they turnout in higher percentages than in previous elections, this can improve his vote significantly.
6. The Reverse Bradley Effect: In some primaries, Obama’s vote was measurably higher than predicted by the polls, perhaps for some of the reasons already listed. It also may be partly caused by African American voters who are distrustful of pollsters and describe themselves in improbably large numbers as still undecided.
7. The Enthusiasm Gap: Obama voters have been much more enthusiastic. With the exception of an uptick when Sarah Palin was first named (which has largely disappeared), Republican voters are much less enthusiastic, which depresses right-wing turnout.
8. The Gender Gap: As has been true for many election cycles, women vote in a larger percentage for Democrats. With fears about McCain’s Supreme Court nominees who would support overturning Roe vs. Wade, with McCain’s sneering about women’s “health” in the last debate, and with more women voting in general, this will continue to be true this year. In even higher percentages, unmarried women trend Democratic, and make up almost 25% of the electorate.
9. The Early Voting Factor: More states are doing early voting, offering same day registration and voting, and more people are voting by absentee ballot and by mail, all resulting in increased turnout. Early voting also gives some voters a chance to correct any voter registration problems in advance of Election Day, and will decrease lines on Election Day resulting in fewer discouraged potential voters who turn away.
10. The Money Gap: For the first time in many decades, the Republicans are at a financial disadvantage. It is not as big as sometimes reported when you put all the Republican campaign funds together with right-wing 527 “independent advertising groups, but it is still important. Obama’s campaign is outspending McCain’s in many swing states (and reserving a half-hour for a political broadcast on October 29th on many networks). As well, the millions of smaller donors for Obama provide more people with a bigger direct stake in the outcome.
11. The Party ID Factor: Voters in many states that have voter party ID requirements show large changes in voter party ID, from Republican to Independent, from Independent to Democrat, and from Republican to Democrat. A generic party ID/turnout is factored into many polls, so if Democratic turnout is higher than what is expected for historical reasons, even by a few percentage points, that can have a huge impact on the results.
12. The Playing Offense Advantage: More Republicans Congressmen and Senators are retiring this year, meaning that there are more Republican open seats up for switching. Additionally, Obama is playing offense in “red” states while McCain is playing defense in those same states. The likelihood of any state switching from Democrat to Republican in the presidential race and in electoral votes is slim to non-existent.
13. The Iraq War: The lies of the Bush administration getting us into the war, the exorbitant costs of what has become our longest war, the disgraceful treatment of veterans, the overstressed military families suffering multiple deployments, the failure of most of Bush’s foreign policy, all have led to large majorities of voters demanding that we end the war.
14. The Reality-Based Program Advantage: Obama’s program is rooted much more in the actual needs of voters—on jobs creation, environmental protection and climate change, diplomacy, and health care, to mention just a few.
15. The Distrust of Bush Factor: In addition to his conduct of the Iraq War and the obvious problems he caused leading to the economic meltdown we face, Bush’s repulsive lack of action during and following Hurricane Katrina have exacerbated our general distrust of Bush’s policies, intensifying the desire for change.

16. The Third Term for Bush Perception: McCain’s inability to distance himself from Bush in any meaningful way ties him to the most unpopular President since polls started.
17. The Financial Crisis Reality: Partly due to McCain’s erratic actions and Obama’s calm, measured response to the financial crisis, but also to the generic preference of voters to trust Democrats more on economic issues, and partly to the size and scope of the crisis, this has accelerated and intensified all the other factors.
18. The “Most Important Election” factor: Every election is claimed to be the most important of our lifetime, but this year many more people believe it is and are more motivated to vote and vote Democratic. This is intensified by the financial crisis, by the last eight years of Republican domination, by the Republican Congressional corruption scandals and general incompetence of much of the Bush administration, by major demographic shifts, and by the sense that there is a real opportunity this year to make a difference on our country’s priorities.

Just a thought!

Something To Think About

As voting begins, the opinion polls indicate that Barack Obama is significantly ahead of his Republican opponent, John McCain. It is possible that Obama and the Democratic Party will win the election. However, the Democratic candidate has made only a limited appeal to popular discontent, one, moreover, which avoids any indictment of the social and economic interests which have determined the policies of the Bush administration.

This limitation, which flows from the logic of the class interests represented by Obama and the Democratic Party, is the principal vulnerability of the Democratic campaign. The continuous appeal of the Republican Party to racism and social backwardness, which remain significant factors in the reactionary political climate fostered in the United States, could really be fought and beaten back only on the basis of a direct appeal to the class interests of all working people.

In keeping with the norms of American politics, where no mention of the working class is permitted and the great mass of working people must be labeled the “middle class,” Obama has avoided any class appeal. To the extent that he has sought to capitalize on popular anger, he has to an extraordinary extent done so on the basis of his individual persona. The Democratic Party has sought to exploit the expectation that the election of Obama, by virtue of his personal background, will substantially change the direction of America. This belief is widely held not only in the United States but throughout the world. It is, however, an illusion.

Several Points To Consider

A vote for McCain, acoording to McCain, would be a “vote to create wealth not redistribue it.”

Way cool only I have a slight problem with that.  I ask how many working class people moved into the catagory of wealthy in the past several years?  How many people were removed from poverty?  Who creates the wealth during a Repub admin?

I believe the answer to those questions are.  1–less than 1% became wealthy, 2–about 7% more people entered into poverty and 3–the wealthy created more wealth for themselves.  So where would a vote for McCain help everyone create wealth?  He is correct that wealth will be created, but only by the wealthy for the wealthy.

Another point–With Obama’s health care proposal one would have to wait in long lines to get, say, a heart transplant.  Sorry, to tell you thgis, but there is already a line for the transplant, any transplant.  Sad part is now, if you cannot come up with the cash, you are skipped in favor of someone with the cash.  It is BS.  If you step in crap, call it by its name–CRAP!

McCain’s plans sound like a dream come true–but not once has he told me how he will provide all this success if he is elected.

A Historical Day, A Historical Election

Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain face the verdict of U.S. voters on Tuesday after a long and bitter struggle for the White House, with Obama holding a decisive edge in national opinion polls.

At least 130 million Americans are expected to cast votes on a successor to unpopular Republican President George W. Bush and set the country’s course for the next four years on the economic crisis, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, an overhaul of health care and other issues.

The first polls begin to close in parts of Indiana and Kentucky at 6 p.m. EST on Tuesday. Voting ends over the next six hours in the other 48 states.

All will be sitting on pins and needles, hands will wring, nails will be bitten, many trips to the restroom and then we will eventually know who will lead the US.  Just like only you can prevent a forest fire, only you can pick a president.  GO VOTE!