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Arianna has a few words about the latest John McCain flufferama in the New Yorker:
Despite an avalanche of evidence showing that McCain the Maverick has long ago been replaced by McCain the Pandering Pawn of the Party's Right Wing, the press refuses to believe its own eyes.
The latest demonstration of the enormous lag time between the presentation of a new reality and the media's willingness to update the conventional wisdom comes via those bastions of the traditional media, The New Yorker and the New York Times.
The latest New Yorker features a loving 7,000+ word profile of McCain by Ryan Lizza that portrays him as a moderate who has "the rare opportunity to reinvent what it means to be a Republican."
Let's see, McCain has bowed to the party's lunatic fringe on tax cuts, immigration, the intolerance of religious bigots, and torture... so exactly how is he reinventing what it means to be a Republican? By shortening the amount of time it takes before a candidate is hijacked by the Right, perhaps?
Lizza has a history of codpiece devotion. His article on The Invasion of the Alpha Male Democrat was a real winner, which Factesque summarized quite succinctly: "Chuck Schumer and Rahm Emmuel make Lizza's nipples hard and they know how to find Manly Men." Shakes was equally impressed: "I can't tell you how pleased I am to know that the Democratic Party planned a strategy predicated on not asking women to run."
And then there's this fine moment in Lizza punditry, on the occasion of Russ Feingold's move to censure Bush for eavesdropping on Americans without a warrant:
So the partisans on the left cheering Feingold appear to have both the policy and the politics wrong. Censure is meaningless. Changing the FISA law is the way to address Bush's overreach. And the only way for Democrats to change FISA is for them to take back the Senate. This week, Feingold's censure petition has made that goal just a little bit more difficult to achieve. What an ass.
Yeah, taking back the Senate. Worked out real good. The Democrats in the Senate sure slapped Bush down good over FISA, eh? If by that you mean gave him everything he wanted, I suppose so.
I know it's hard to cough up a 7,000 word profile, especially with such finely tuned political instincts. But if you're padding it out by reprinting the candidate's own press releases, size may not be all it's cracked up to be.
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Hi, Jane! This general election is gonna be uggggly.
I love it, Jane!
Oh, no comments? And I even read the whole article! Hey Jane.
It’s not? ;-)
Heh, you wish! Congrats, Physio!
But you hafto admit, McCain’ll look more commanding striding around in a flightsuit than Hillary will. If Hillary wins, she’ll have to invent a whole new look for dominant power - the female equivalent of a codpiece. I’m thinking something from a Wagnerian opera - like those conical breastplates and a Viking helmet?
Comedy Ninja Chins!
Hi Jane!
lolz
well, you’re not going to believe this, on news radio today they show mccain only 7 points behind hillary or obama in the state of new york
now that is frightening, that new york, who NEVER votes for a republican is going to be close to mccain
imagine what the states that aren’t as blue are gonna do
this poll is very unsettling to me
Ninjas!?!?!? Where!!!111
Why does this toothy, wrinkleless, photo of McCain so remind me of the McCain that isn’t there, as I see him? When you see him on TV, he isn’t anything like this moment captured in time. It might be his best photo, but will it stand up over an election cycle?
cool, i’ll vote for that.
I find reassurance in the fact that the Dem turnouts have dwarfed the Repug’s numbers virtually across the board in all the primaries/caucuses held to date! My State’s Dem caucuses are preparing for record numbers tomorrow nite…!
I still think the caption of the photo should be (”Oh God, I hope I didn’t just sh*t my pants with that f*rt”)
ABC continuing its over-the-top anti-Obama bias tonight on Nightly News…just in case Kurtz needs a sequel for next Sunday’s Reliable Sources. Words have meaning and ABC mis-uses them again today to fan flames.
Advice to journalists: “IF you are going to embed on the Straight Talk Express, try to maintain a little objectivity.
Well you have the absolute beauty of all that is, and then someone like this opens her mouth and rains on the parade, seems to be SOP these days(years)-not mine honey
Of course that is so, because for 10 years the mainstream media has offered up this narrative. John McCain is a ‘war hero’ who has been ‘tested’ ‘moderate’, a ‘maverick’, he ‘bucks the party’ and he ’stands up for what is right’. He’s a ’straight talker’ who ‘tells it like it is’.
The above sentence should be read with the voice of Chris Farley as the narrator in mind.
Let’s not forget the economy is in full tank and the war is looking dicey as always. So once the Democrats start beating the the Third Term drums…… hopefully sometime in late August after the long bloody primary where Obama has proven Hillary is shown to be an icy racist and Hillary has shown Obama to be a slick plagiarizer the Democrats should be in great shape to define McCain.
-G
Because he shot his entire upper head with botox and can no longer squint or wrinkle his forehead?
I’m torn between thinking the doctor overdid it or that’s just the Arizona aesthetic embodied by his wife.
But, if they did maintain a modicum of objectivity, they’d end up under the tires of the express bus…!
Those quickest to brag about their manliness often have little of it. Lizza doesn’t seem to bother asking whether McCain pitches or catches, figuratively and politically speaking, just that he’s big.
Pity that the New Yorker is going the way of Sulzberger’s NY Times: both seem to tremble in anticipation of what the big Australian will do with his new sissy, the WSJ. Attentive people already know what he’ll do; combating it demands a louder and more articulate progressive voice, not bending over and holding one’s ankles.
I am getting very disturbed by the internecine warfare. It’s going to all cancel out in the primary, but give Repubs a big fucking cudgel for the general.
We’ll those that do better by a lifetime supply of KY jelly
Jane, I think that’s my all-time favorite photo of John McCrazy. He’s the geek who caught the football in the game by mistake and now thinks he can boss the whole entire school around…
The Truth About St. John McCain
I’d appreciate a cease fire in the circular firing squad…!
If Botox Boy wins the White House, I’m swearing off politics and moving to Sweden or Denmark.
I wonder if the candidates themselves think this shit is a good idea, or if it’s over-zealous “advisors”.
What about the POW’s and MIA’s Senator McCain???
Please please please. Ted Sampley is the most vile scumbag on earth.
that’s what i said about Bush in 99 :/
this is the fawning of the age of (f*ck!) weary us
That’s comparable to my plans and distance, Hawaii to Nova Scotia…! ;-)
Ryan Lizza always looks–and always acts–like a wimp anytime I see him with Tweety or Tucker on MSNBC…
Hi Jane…Good early evening to you…
Obama’s sister on CNN now.
The candidates still have power jobs in Washington next year no matter what happens.
I’m saying campaign staff.
Well, with Penn still at the helm… I wonder…!
Meanwhile, Roger Stone is on said Tucker now laying out Rethug f*ckery for Obama in the fall…of course this implies they have written off Hill(ary)…
Oppose McCain for his stance on the war in Iraq not this bullshit put out by these maniacs. Goddamn!
When will the media ask McCain how he intends to pay for this war? We on the other hand need to tell the American people that we will only raise taxes on the rich TO PAY FOR THE WAR which we plan to end.
Income and expense McCain will keep the war going and not raise taxes so the question is what government spending programs will he cut? What Government program is big enough to cut to pull us out of the Bush deficit?
SOCIAL SECURITY!
We need to force McCain to deny that he will cut Social Security. We need to force him to explain how privatizing Social Security will magically pay for the war.
McCain might not officially be for privatization YET but what else can he cut? We need to expose his after November surprises before he becomes President.
Not that I think he will win but we need to hit the GOP before they try again.
We should work now while were strong to discredit every GOP idea.
That is amazingly sad, for the two soldiers then, and us now.
Oppose McCain for having abandoned his military service record to become a Bush toady.
Gotta love it: Tucker hosting Roger Stone, a guy who literally pimps out his wife. Wonder if they’ll bring it up?
Particularly for the next hundred years, and, if he’d finally include it into the actual budget…
Yeah you can already see the worm (Kurtz) beginning to turn. We’ve now entered the second cycle. A build up is no fun for the media unless it is followed by a vicious tear-down.
I heard him asked. He said things would get better and then the war would be less expensive. George Steph asked him. No follow-up.
We need to get the Press to ask McCain what he would do to the war profiteers who sold all those defective helmets. We need to ask him what he would do as President if his State Dept gave KBR the DNA evidence in a rape trial that their workers did.
We need to push a wedge between either the GOP war Profiteer wing and McCain, or the American People and McCain.
Divide and Conquer!
There is a bogus story floating around about Larry Carrigan, Jane Fonda, torture of POWs, death of POWs, strips of paper, notes given to Jane, etc. I just thought you should know that this is all bull crap propagated by someone for some unknown purpose….probably to bolster some hate against the traitorous witch. I’m not defending her, we all hate her as much as the next person, but you need to get your stories straight. Jerry Driscoll is my Secretary/Treasurer. I just talked to him. Same for A.J. Myers. They had nothing to do with the article attributed to them. They ask that we get their names off that bunch of crap. Tonight I talked with Larry Carrigan. He asked that we get his name off all that crap as well. He never left a room to talk to anyone like that. No torture or beatings to see Fonda. He was living with Bud Day, John McCain and a bunch of hard nosed resistors during the Fonda visit…lots of witnesses if you want to question him (or them). Larry was never near Jane. There were never any POWs killed on account of Jane. (Did anyone ever provide a name of one of these tortured fellows?) That story about the notes has a nice theatric touch, but no such thing ever happened. The only ones who met with Jane willingly, to my knowledge, were CDR Gene Wilber and LCOL Ed Miller. One NAM-POW was forced to go before the Fonda delegation. And I think that was only to sit at a table for a photo opportunity. I doubt he even got a chance to talk to her let alone slip her a note. To my knowledge, the worst that happened to the rest of us was that we had to listen to the camp radio (Radio Hanoi and Hanoi Hannah) with the Fonda propaganda. It pissed us off, but I doubt you can call that “torture.” So, if you get a chance to SHUT THIS STORY DOWN to the groups who are forwarding it, PLEASE DO SO. You can cut and paste this paragraph is you want to. Doubters can come to me if they need to. Mike McGrath,
If the media did ask, they would then dutifuly report on the magic of how tax cuts always raise revenue.
Next, the false stories of John McCain’s conduct. Again, there are false stories floating around the net about McCain. He was never missing from our group for six months. He never co-operated with the enemy. We have dozens of us who lived with and around John for his entire time (10-26-67 to 14 March 73). Larry Carrigan, for one, lived with or near both John and Ted Guy. Larry says Ted would never make the statements which are being attributed to him …and Ted can’t set the record straight because he is dead. We have dozens of roommates who will vouch for the loyalty and courage and conduct of John McCain. Here is a more accurate story: John had both arms and at least one leg badly hurt on ejection. He was bayoneted near the groin by a soldier as they were pulling him from the lake. After three days of interrogations and no cooperation, he was near death. They found out his father was Admiral McCain. They stopped the interrogations, gave him medical care, brought in a French reporter (with camera), and let him make a statement to his family that he was alive and would recover and come home. After laying off the rough stuff, and trying to get John to cooperate by the “good guy” treatment for a couple of weeks, they got pissed off that he would not give information or cooperate. So, they threw him in a cell with Bud Day (MOH recipient) and Maj Norris Overly. McCain was in danger of dying from maltreatment. Maj Overly had to nurse both men back to health. From that point on, McCain resisted just as hard as any other POW. He went through the same interrogations and treatment. His roommates can testify to his valor and patriotism. In short, I think that the slanderous reports by faceless people (and some are attributed to Ted Guy…which I doubt are true) are from the bunch who are really pissed off that McCain made a political decision to back Clinton when Clinton decided it was time for “normalization” of diplomatic and trade relations, and it was time to have Ambassadorial level representation. To many, that made John a traitor. To most, it was just a political reality. It opened the door to better cooperation for a host of areas, including a full accounting of the POW/MIA issue (which is still an ongoing issue today. We have 2,060 yet to account for). If you want to get the straight story on McCain’s conduct, please contact his roommates. Start with the Honorable Orson Swindle at ( OrsonIII@aol.com ). Thanks for helping shut down these Phony stories. Again, you can copy this paragraph if it will help. Mike McGrath, President of NAM-POWs.
What was the Obama smear on ABC?
And speaking of tv news, I must have dreamt that there was an attack on the Baghdad airport because I haven’t seen anything on it since this morn.
Anyone else see anything? It’s not on the news websites either.
Who’s he?
Is he one of the Swiftboat mooks?
-G
Yea, he has a concession stand next to the Wall, he is really fucking nuts. This afternoon we had people dissing the troops for being “low IQ” now this. I’m gettin a bit annoyed.
Hmmm… the ole ‘rising tide will float all boats’… Hasn’t that boat left port already? ;-)
There was an attack near the airport…a woman suicide bomber…2 or 3 people killed. It’s on google news.
And who thinks that the MSM didn’t foresee something like this when they refused to cover Edwards’ campaign, Edwards, who defeated every Republican by the widest margins of any Dem. The fix has been in for a good, long time, and it is going to be short, tough fight to upset their applecart.
Just remember the The McBush Corruption Cover-Up of Jack Abramoff.
Sampley
A former Green Beret with multiple Bronze Star awards from Vietnam, Sampley has the outward appearance of the stereotypical downtrodden veteran outfitted by the local Army surplus store. But he is in fact a savvy businessman who is forth- right about earning money off “the cause” and is a key figure in the MIA issue.
Unlike his colleagues who uncover POW “evidence” and solicit funds to embark on rescue missions, Sampley specializes in media manipulation and public relations. He has been invaluable to the activists, who rely on him to fan the flames of existing MIA stories, either through phone calls to legitimate journalists or on the pages of his own newspaper broadsheet, U.S. Veteran News and Report. In addition to his work in support of fellow activists, Sampley specializes in orchestrating stunts that are dramatic and at times dangerous.
You know that it is only going to get worse. That is what these fucking wars do.
Bush has been so fortunate to have a media that is almost wholly in the tank for him.
Just what do you think would be going on in the US if the media was half of what it was during Vietnam?
-G
And you guys know, that Botox stuff can travel in the body and in some cases can kill you. Not so smart!
There are those who will find this unbelievable, but here goes: I spend a huge amount of my time with people who are non- or minimally political, and the general impressions these people have of the candidates, IMHO, are going to make John McCain a very dangerous opponent in November, and probably the best possible candidate the R’s could have fielded. People are going to vote for McCain because he is a war hero, talks tough, and is not as stupid as Bush. He will be seen as a much safer vote than HRC or Obama.
I’m truly disappointed that I won’t be able to caucus for Edwards tomorrow nite…!
I feel like we are in the Truman movie…everything seems real and normal…but it’s not.
o that how he got to be GOP front runner! *g
So much safer.
An unadulterated warmonger.
1972 baby.
-G
George Orwell must be spinning in his grave…!
A post on this comment and your comment at 51 would be a good way to get the word out.
Thats actually a state secret! perpetual source of energy.
Yea, Helberstam, Sheehan, Schell, Hersch. . .
OT - but election related. I just posted down below a primitive time line on the Lamont-Lieberman support stuff (of importance to some in selecting a Dem candidate). Since Jane is here - and alot of the Big Dog FDLers too, I thought I would repost it here so you can correct it. Mods: feel free to remove this if too off topic:
I think the time line (if accurate) makes a clear distinction between how Obama and Clinton were addressing Lamont’s campaign.
Lamont officially announced during March, 2006 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ned_Lamont).
On March 31, 2006, Obama, on the stage with Lieberman, announced his support (http://www.talkleft.com/story/2006/04/02/164/90446).
In July Biden, Boxer and Salazar all campaigned for Lieberman; Schumer and Reid pledged support to him as well (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/05/AR2006070501143.html).
On July 17, Bill Clinton makes it known that he is supporting Lieberman’s Iraq stance (http://flapsblog.com/?p=3042).
In late July, Bill CLinton announces he will campaign for Lieberman, which he does along with Boxer, Lautenberg and Inouye.
By August, however, many others of the Democratic leadership are supporting Lamont (including Reid, Schumer, Kerry, Fengold, Bayh Dodd, Feingold and Pelosi) - http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITI.....ndex.html.
During this same August period, Bill Clinton is allowing Lieberman to use his name (and support) in publicity ads.
August 26, Hillary says she will help raise money for Lamont,offering him $5,000. Dan Gerstein is skeptical about Hillary’s level of support for Lamont, saying she will not appear with him (http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/26/nyregion/26lieberman.html)
October 27 - Obama is urging voters to rally behind Lamont (http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/10/27/ap/politics/mainD8L0MB280.shtml
{However I would have loved for Obama to come to Ct. and do a big splashy series of events for Lamont. Would it have helped counter Clinton’s impact? I Don’t know]
Late 2007/early 2008 Lamont comes out in support of Obama not Hillary!
I think the important thing about the Fonda piece is that the dudes who were there don’t want shit that didn’t happen to be the focus.
I wouldn’t be so sure of that, I personally think his being the offspring of two Admirals allowed him to eke out graduation from Annapolis… He finished in the bottom 5 of his class… I think even Shrub received better grades…!
Remember. The Pukes hate McCain. They chose him, because they think his military and torture history makes him untouchable.
Good lord. What is wrong with people that they make this shit up — do they not realize that there are people who had to live through this who can call it out for the lie it is? Or is it the same false equivalence hope of the asinine Swiftboater idiots, hoping it catches on with a segment of the media that doesn’t bother to check its facts at all?
Yup.
Rachel is airing Fiore’s ‘Spies who love you’… ;-)
Not just the portion of the media that doesn’t check it out but the public.
From the link above by John @ 30…John McCrazy got out of Vietnam, but many POWs/MIAs did not…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CazKanlYDg
Sick! And this man thinks he’s qualified to run America? Hell, he can’t even listen to a sister whose brother is MIA in Vietnam without running off like a big baby for crying out loud!
ruh-roh… I think Michelle Obama just stepped in it… made some sort of statement that “this is the first time I’ve been really proud of my country”… sorry, no ref - saw it on tv…
I wonder if the press will ask McCain if he will refuse political contributions from companies that are accused of war profiteering or HAl and KBR because of the rape accusations? The embarrassment to Darth and the White House would be hilarious.
That and I wonder if Darth will campaign for McCain?
Or will Bush campaign for McCain before an audience that is not prescreened loyal Bushies?
I give up, this is unreal bullshit.
This says it all:
http://video.aol.com/partner/h.....bfyotpe4ZZ
OK
Yeah, I know. I’m certain my FIL and my dad will get it from their vet buddies at some point or other. SIGH People who deliberately lie like this seriously piss me off. As if people who were held in captivity under those conditions need some lie to deal with on top of the truth of what happened to them. Jeebus, that’s disrespectful on so many levels.
hard to find words more true then that, we have picked the two candidates that the republicans have a chance against
it is unbelievable we have been this irresponsible, just unbelievable
Another Gentleman’s C President Noooo! Give me a community college President who earned their grades without Clout, Pull etc.
Ane we have some FDL regulars who are spreading this by postinf this, I better be cool or I have to get moderated.
Or maybe a beard like Hatesphut?
Dangerstein is an authority?
Sent Lou Dobbs all atwitter too!
Hey Raven, congratulations on being president of NAM-POWS! Good proactive work on your part.
Raven, I’m sorry….is the ‘bullshit’ you speak of about McCain or is it that we here at FDL are not putting him in the positive light he deserves? Sorry, but I’m a little confused by your comment at the moment. ;-)
If they didn’t know anyone involved, they would have had no way to check it out. I’m sure once they’ve seen what you are saying - knowing your background with the vet community — they’ll understand that spreading it is inaccurate, to put it mildly. Deep breath — reading the comments takes a bit to catch up sometimes. You post a note, and a response to it is several comments down by the time you realize you have posted something potentially inaccurate, you are another twenty comments or so from there.
I think the reason he and Bush hate each other so much is that they essentially are each other, only McCain’s got the macho cred Bush pretends he has and Bush got the unearned ascenscion McCain figured he ought to have been handed.
Loo Hoo, you just answered my question I had to Raven! I see now…the “bullshit” is McCain and his disgusting behavior over the years when it comes to POWs/MIAs still in Vietnam. Nevermind. LOL ;-)
whatever that was, it sure didn’t come out right…
You are right, I just did a rough quick and dirty, hoping for feedback. I would remove that entry, if I could. It might be elsehwere too, however.
Excellent point! However, Pappy seems to be on board the straight talk express…!
“Actually”, as my 5 year old granddaughter would say, I think he has a “wedgie”. (g)
Start back here.
It’s about this Ted Sampley/League of Families crap and the youtube link you posted. McCain’s stance on Iraq is ridiculous. It also has nothing to do with the poison these people are spreading. I don’t give a fuck if they go after Kerry or McCain with their bullshit, it will be challenged and I’m doing it.
“So the partisans on the left cheering Feingold appear to have both the policy and the politics wrong.”
Partisans uhh we are the 70% majority thank you.
We are the Majority that is to the left of our own Presidential candidates on bringing the troops home Now, Healthcare at least as good as Freakin Cuba has, the Environment etc.
Its our MSM Press which is injecting their bias into the media.
We will beat you John McCain. Soundly. Now I have to fix supper.
Surrounding the MIA issue is a number of individuals and groups who claim that the US government knowingly abandoned men who were known to be held by the Vietnamese (or the Laotians, or the Cambodians, or others). These people further claim that the government has conducted a monstrous cover-up of these abandoned POWs. In spite of a mountain of evidence that such cover-up-and-conspiracy theories are groundless, the tales persist.
At the core of the cover-up-and-conspiracy theory is a small number of people who generate phony stories, pass along phony stories, attack government officials, con families, publish newsletters, publish worldwide web pages, hound members of Congress, and do everything else they can to promote their theories. Some of their antics are laughable but, for the most part, these people are shameless and their antics are despicable, preying on the emotions of families of missing men and promoting themselves. Some — former POW “Red” McDaniels, former Congressman Billy Hendon, and Ted Sampley — have made nice livings from their phony stories. Others have made themselves into minor heroes with their nonsen