I mean lookit Shrub in that pic….still can’t believe this has, and still is happening.

Point well made, Attaturk, drolly and solidly! Sky King (I am aging myself) instead of Pres. Reagan? Oh wait, that probably would have been better….

Here’s a troubling video about oil and u.s. economic woes and euros … and Iraq. FWIW.
http://www.informationclearing…..e20210.htm

…and yet has anyone remarked on the Presidential cod piece? I have been snugged into a parachute too many times to want to remember, and the straps do grab your crotch, but bush must have had three athletic sox stuffed in there, and a keep sake of Laura’s.

C’mon, folks. The guy totalled two planes, and flew into some power lines, and had a plane blow up on him on the deck of the Forrestal, and was shot down by an enemy missile. This combination of skill and luck makes John McSaim extremely well qualified to fill Bush’s shoes.

Oh the Commander Codpiece nickname is still used quite often whenever somebody posts a picture of inaction figure Bush in the Top Gun flight suit.
That and someone normally mentions just how Manly Tweety thought Bush looked in his flight suit.
Him and Karl both seem to have a serious man crush.

where is raven when we need him?

Good morning, pups. The Nice Polite Republicans are all busy on the radio this morning missing the point of what was said and by whom during the Wesley Clark interview. Feh. I’m off to scrounge around in the NYT.

Mornin’, twin! :-)

THERONLEVIN @ 4 -

Attaturk’s title exemplifies the exceptional quality of progressive humor. *g*

I still have a gag reflex on remembering tweety’s comments on the subject. One would have thought the Christianists would have been screaming “pOrnO” but IOKIYAR………blergh!

SKY KING!

brought to you by Nabisco.

Hey you… long time no paths cross… or however you would put it… hope all is well…

Gen Clark is right about command experience even at the Mcdonalds Manager level some people just can’t make decisions they can’t call a bin (decide how many and what kind of burgers everyone should make) think about it like being against and then for Bush’s tax cuts.
A bad Manager often waffles on sending people home/ cutting labor costs/having enough people on shift to handle the lunch rush, because they will do anything to be liked.
Think about that as Crony Capitalism how many stories at the Lake have their been about solders not having Bullet Proof Vests, Armored Humvees, Kevlar Helmets with the right amount of thread count per sq inch?
Now what did John McCain do about that as a member of the Armed Services Committee has any Bush Crony gone to jail?
KBR locks an American woman up in a freight container loses her rape kit and they still have an army contract!
I’ve seen plenty of Managers at McDonalds get played by blue eyed blondes who bat their eyelashes when they want to go home, but a good boss has to tell them No sometimes, if he thinks he will need them to handle the expected business.
John McCain is not doing his job when he and his fellow Republicans let big business screw the troops, John like the McDonalds Manager is getting played.

How cool are you!!! TY!!! And what was Sky’s daughter’s name? can almost remember. And wasn’t there a jolly sidekick like Gabby Hayes but not?

And you must have eaten at that time the “skybar” … is that still around?

Hey Wes Clark gots a Spine! He just moved up on my VP list.

#13 was meant for you…. looks like I am congratulating myself for being cool. Oy vey..

You two are Twins really?

cyber-twins!

OK I’ll bite whats a cyber-twin:)

Good morning again, pups. It’s Bobo and Herbert today. Bobo typed a thingy called “Obama’s Money Class,” in which he gurgles that the real core of Barack Obama’s financial support is not just small donors but the rising class of information age analysts. He’s thoughtfully included a laundry list of statistics he copied, which is as innocuous a way as any for him to fill up four paragraphs of his column. Mr. Herbert’s column is titled “Oh, Happy Day,” and he says being a Western oil giant with a no-bid contract in Iraq is a prize, yes. But at what cost?

http://mgpaquin.wordpress.com/

The coffee and tea are ready, and I’ve got bagels and cream cheese this morning. I was at Fresh Market yesterday, so there’s some smoked salmon too if that appeals. I agree with ThingsComeUndone that Wes Clark certainly has a spine. I wonder if he could be prevailed upon to discuss its meaning and use with other Democrats… Have a grand day.

KBR locks an American woman up in a freight container loses her rape kit and they still have an army contract

This was the most horrifying story. And in the shadows protected from justice, evil escalates.

When I went to War Inc. Cusack captured the surrealism with his set, but …making a comedy … who could make that work? Strangelove was made, they were right that captured the insanity. Catch 22. Slaughterhouse 5. Fahrenheit 451.

Except on my mind right now is The Firm. I am beginning to feel like Tom Cruise did in the firm when he “got it”. Except the “firm” is my country.

Kinship sans DNA.

You want Wes to divvy up his vertebrae?

Lurkin’ as time allowed; been goin’ bonkers in dealing with a three month deck replacement project………finally, IT BE DONE! In and out at the moment doing bits of yard stuff before getting ready to leave for a 9:00 appointment.

TCU – spirit but not body. *g*

Sounds very wholesome. Congrats!

I’ve been distracted by contracting food poisoning 5 days ago. An office goodbye party for a coworker and 5 of us were felled by something in the buffet. Not a pretty sight. And the days before I had been making chastising FISA calls to senators… and then got hit with that. Where is the justice I ask????? No good deed goes unpunished?

John McCain less command ability than the 19 year old who asks you if you want fries with that.
After all how many times has John changed his mind about the issues?
How many times has he confused Sunni and Shia despite being on the Senate Armed Services Committee?
I’ll tell you what at McDonalds they will fire you if you can’t tell the difference between a Coke and a Sprite after a week.
Now then we have been at war in Iraq for how long and John still can tell the difference? You would think that a war is a little more important than getting a customers drink order right but apparently the Senate has a lower threshold than McDonalds about hiring.
So Yes I stand by my statement John McCain, less Command ability than the 19 year old who asks you if you want fries with that.

the real core of Barack Obama’s financial support is not just small donors but the rising class of information age analysts. He’s thoughtfully included a laundry list of statistics he copied,

I am not even going to bother looking at bobo and his statistics after all if Bobo does turn out to right about something the news will be all over the net.

I read a quote this week that said if half the entire congress at least did not have the jobs they have, they would be arrested.

McCain’s temper and probably PTSD and nepotism, etc. How ironic that Wes Clark was first in his class at West Point and McCain was… well… 4th from the bottom of his?

Digby wrote a good piece this week about hypocritical hissy fits, which is just what the Repubs are throwing about Clark. And I can’t believe the MSM is running with it so hard, or the Dems are so nervous about it. And Mr. Axelrod had to “detach” from ol Wes. Ugh. I think its time for BO to not let Axelrod speak for him. That was Dem primary MO.

Great Film I hope Obama starts standing up for that lady who was raped never mind the politics of elections we need a President who will stand up for the little people.

The picture of CommanderCodpiece always reminds me of a skit of an ever growing codpiece that Steve Martin did on SNL.edwrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Cats are typing again.

What is it with oshama and his idiocy over MoveOn. Does the man have no idea of how the “toobz” helped him in his primary? Does he not care or is he just so deep in the pockets of big business that he feels he does not need us any more?

Maybe the Blogs should stand up more to support him?

all the wrong stuff……..

Fascist, constitutional usurper, law breakers, and fabricators. We need independence from these dysfunctional aristocrats who view “US” as a means to their wealth. In less than 250 years we have become that which we severed our ties from. Corpo-Arisotocrats are the enemy from within. Jefferson warned us, Washington warned “US” and all we do is listen to misguided misfits???

No, good gracious, no! I think/hope/pray that the rest of the Democrats have vestigial spines and that he can be an instructor in their nurturing, maintenance and use.

these old, threadbare arguments” to level criticisms and specifically pointed to MoveOn.org’s controversial newspaper ad last fall that attacked the top U.S. general in Iraq, David Petraeus.

http://politicalticker.blogs.c…..at-moveon/

Sorry if Petraeus had told Bush the truth ever about what was really needed to win the war or that we can’t win well then either we would have won the war, Lost the war or Dave would have been fired.
Our problem with Dave is that NONE OF THESE THINGS HAVE HAPPENED.
You can’t attack Bush on the war without attacking General Petraeus. Its like having a book burning without books.

Not only adding insult to injury by thanking JohnnyMacs support for the G.I Bill,the other side ot that insult is Barack disavowing Gen.Clarks comments about JohnnyMac.Barack your handelers need to tell you to get a pair and stop trying to be so nice.For if you think whats happening now is rough,I can imagine you “ain’t seen nothun yet”.
Bring out that Souhtside toughness that we know is there,For no wimps have come this far in that enviorment,without having some brass ones.

Maybe the Blogs should stand up more to support him?

do you mean support like this:

Barack Obama on Monday seemed to take a direct swipe at MoveOn.org, the powerful liberal group which endorsed the Illinois senator’s candidacy earlier this year and was at times instrumental to his organization in several key battleground states.

no thank you.

i’ll support obama when he supports some of what i care most about. i’m not his monkey.

I guess the only “good” thing that oshama did was not attend the DLC meeting in chytown. As for the silly patriotism spiel that he delivered…… garbage for the middle america red masses and pandering to the MSM.

Bobo is saying rich donors are gonna be so sorry whether Dem or Republican if BO wins … but Bobo sounds like he’s looking forward to the educated rich ones gettin theirs, eh? Did I read it right?

And those oil companies. Sigh. I just learned Bush has relatives at McGraw Hill, who, so very coincidentally publish educational testing for no children left behind. So oil cronyism… well… that is of course a given. And the SC gave Exxon a BIG BREAK about the Valdez spill. So Happy Day in Iraq now. Gotta get those dysfunctional fields working cuz… well, it was all very expensive, wasn’t it?

I should have been more clear by him I meant Wes Clark. Obama is getting nothing more from me because of FISA.

Wasn’t that when moveon.org offered a vote between Barack and Hillary while Edwards was still in play? I remember sending them an email, “et tu, moveon”?

Well, I am sorry moveon… but BAD karma boomerangs back! Though once again I say, Barack, ya gotta let go of the support you don’t have and take hold of the support you do.

So sorry about the food poisoning……is it still on-going? Hospital?

The food situation in this country is getttin’ WAY beyond insane; every day ya turn around and it’s some new screw-up on an different level with no solutions in sight (other than growing your own if circumstances allow and look what happened recently with that in England). Been some excellent posts here recently on assorted aspects of the problem.

The 10 Most Awesomely Bad Moments of the Bush Presidency

Morning giggles

Thanks, W — no hospital just the first day of just-shoot-me-misery and then slowish, wobbly recovery. Amazing how the body fights though, to eject the poison. Blessedly, but violently sigh. All 5 of us are on our feet again, and we can appreciate the tomato connundrum because we can’t figure out what the common denominator food was. So many people and variables in and out of the party. Oy vey. But we are doing less communal food giving… paranoia will prevail for a while.

sorry.. above for you… my reply thingy rebellious at times.

Im peeved with Obama too. When the time comes I will work hard to get him elected. But I’m hoping that his fund raising plummets for awhile. He does not appreciate the liberal wing of his party.

Glad to hear no worse for all concerned! Paranoia sometimes ain’t a bad thing. *g*

Gotta get cleaned up and head out; catch up with y’all later.

my mistake – not enough coffee.

fortunately there are lots of military types standing up for clark, which is probably the most effective group that could do so.

i confess to a little frustration with clark, since he is one who said regular citizens should not criticize petraeus for lying to congress – only senators like hagel were supposed to do that.

but clark is right now, and imo it would be wrong to withhold support now just because he got it wrong last time.

nomolos @ 41 — my reply not working…

the giggles are deliciously written.. I am still reading but came back to quote this one … an explanation as to why some mistakes didn’t make the list:

”So while Bush’s awkward groping of German Chancellor Angela Merkel may be personally humiliating to everyone, it doesn’t have the same heft as, say, the Iraq War.”

now my quotes aren’t working… will this even post?

Obi is not a progress. He’s no MLK, Jackson or Sharpton. Closer to a Roy Innis in fact. He’s trying to mainsteam his ass so he can be taken seriously by the puppet masters.

No Hassle

clark, since he is one who said regular citizens should not criticize petraeus for lying to congress –

I did not know that about Clark, Petraeus is fair game he works for us his plan, Bush’s plan I don’t care its not working if we voters can’t point out that we are losing a war then what war would ever end?

not a progressive… I am typochalleged.. sorry

Clark has also said some pretty whacky things… which I can’t recall now, but which as the time were a disappointment.

But most of these critters will say whacky things from time to time. You don’t get deep into the power structure without a corporate, free enterprise, play by the rules approach to life. Oh and that includes signing on to the conventional wisdom most of the time.

The post was understood! We are all challenged, we are human!

Oh, no. If this is right it looks like Obama is making another move to the right.

Obama to expand Bush’s faith based programs

By JENNIFER LOVEN
Associated Press Writer

CHICAGO (AP) — Reaching out to evangelical voters, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama is announcing plans that would expand President Bush’s program steering federal social service dollars to religious groups and – in a move sure to cause controversy – support their ability to hire and fire based on faith.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/s…..TE=DEFAULT

regarding the first picture, I am amazed a president of the united states deliberately walks in front of international tv in what amounts to “hey everybody, take a look at my package”

and there is no outrage, tweaty sounds like he wants to date the man

so the man is standing there in what looks like a man’s thong, after landing a flying phallus

and then the world came tumbling down

man, I do not need to be reminded of these events and how the media handled them

nomolos @41… the most awesome bad moments continue… Terri Schiavo

After much Tasmanian devil-style screeching and hollering from the GOP base, the Republican Congress passed a bill transferring jurisdiction of the Schiavo case to federal court. Bush, who seemingly never misses an opportunity to take a naked ride on the crazy train, interrupted one of his frequent Texas vacations to sign the damn thing into law.

Obama’s running true to my expectations.

ok, this is now getting scary, what the FRIG is going on here?

“hey everybody, take a look at my package” Socks

Faith is the new patronage for the Right and Left.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/s…..TE=DEFAULT

“Obama does not support requiring religious tests for aid recipients nor using federal money to proselytize, the official said.”

“Obama’s announcement is part of a series of events leading up to Friday’s Fourth of July holiday that are focused on American values.”

“hey everybody, take a look at my package”
Socks

The other day I laughed about blaming Oprah. Maybe I do. Who the heck is Barack Obama?

As Wesley Clark’s comments show, the Far Left’s hatred of America knows no limits.

That’s why I’m proud that John McCain has true patriots on his side.
Like Richard Armitage, Karl Rove and Ari Fleischer.

obama is kicking us now that he has us by the balls, this is really really disturbing

man I wish he said these things while we still had a race and to be honest, I am hoping something comes out that makes him unelectable before the primary so we can get someone else in there

it seems to me clinton played this ticket perfectly if she was going to lose and I hope there is a way to nominate someone besides hillary if obama self destructs, which it seems as if he is doing right now

here’s the thing with obama, he still gets the democrats to vote for him who are going to vote no matter what, but he loses the voter who would not have voted unless they felt inspired

obama has lost the imagage of inspiration, I don’t know who is handling him but they are clearly trying to get the religious who are pissed with bush to vote for obama

news flash obama, the people who think faith should be a part of government are not voting for you unless you turn into a republican

oh, yuu are

man I am pissed off

Insert “fascists” for instead of true patriots…

Chavez is looking better and better as a write in candidate. Much as I would love to vote for a “minority” for pres. I do not think I can vote for yet another bloody right wing puppet.

Get real. Obama’s our guy for better or WORSE. He does have us by the balls, so get used to it.

Morning Maid Marion and all pups. Thanks Attaturk for making the simple point that the McCain military pilot experience was not a credential unique to him. Nor is POW experience. WTF had it taken this long for anyone to make a point this logical, this obvious? Is it MSM’s need for an angonistical* theme post-primary? BTW, the word agonistic/al seems to describe our punditocrats perfectly.

*1. combative; striving to overcome in argument.
2. straining for effect: agonistic humor.
3. of or pertaining to ancient Greek athletic contests.
4. Ethology. pertaining to the range of activities associated with aggressive encounters between members of the same species, including threat, attack, appeasement, or retreat.

He had clinton’s cat in his pants?

obama should not support government giving faith based organizations anything BUT tax relief

that’s it

if they want federal funding for other programs they can apply for them like any organization, NOT based on their “base of faith”

this is really disturbing

I’ll tell you what;

I used to run around the tubes defending obama and making the case why he would be a great president

since his fisa treachery I have not once jumped in on a conversation to defend him and point out what progressive positions really mean for our families, our economy and our national defense

nor can I do it, I have no faith he will do anything progressive at all, he has corrupted himself and failed the constitution already, along with his promise to fight any fisa bill with immunity and along with his oath to his office

he has lost me in defense of him and I guarantee when I become part of a conversation about politics I persuade swing voters

I am not doing any persuading anymore, I don’t have it in me and my thoughts go dry

If so call Hugh to add another thing to his list Peta I’m sure would call that an impeachable offense.

In no way is he my guy better or worse

well, I see he’s got us by the balls, I am not however going to get used to it

I am pissed

must earn, see all later

From what I’ve seen,they just want to interpret Clark’s remarks as a cheap attack on McCain’s patriotism, courage, etc., rather than an obvious statement of truth; i.e., pilot training and imprisonment are not prerequesites for the presidency. I kept wanting someone to tell Mika Brezhinski to ask her father.

Then who’s your guy?

obama should not support government giving faith based organizations anything BUT tax relief

Why the hell should religious edifices be given tax relief. Years ago when those monuments to fairyland were the only meeting place in town I could see a little tax relief but now we are just subsidizing the, declining, few that still feel the need to demonstrate their faith in the absurd. Tax the bastards out of business I say.

obama should not support government giving faith based organizations anything BUT tax relief

But doesn’t JC say in the Bible something about if you get a reward on earth then you won’t get one in heaven?
Imagine all those people who gave to charity or a church but wrote off the gift on their taxes going to hell because they got their reward on earth.
We must save them from the fire! A true Christian would not expect a reward for a good deed.

At the moment no one. They are both corporate shills.

Fair enough. If vote were today, what would you do, not vote for prez? That’s what I’m thinking at the moment. But I live in NYS, which is safe D, so it doesn’t matter what I do.

Bloomberg is always ready as an independent and richer than God. And New Yorkers polled all say he is doing great… though can’t define why they say that.. not exactly — many. I always was alarmed at his flipping from Dem to Republican to become mayor… seemed rather boldy opportunistic. But nobody got excited about that flip flop. Kind of a teflon guy. Now he is an Independent. Promoting gun control. And his popularity percentage is the exact reverse of Bush’s right now.

Anyway…. what did Elliot call it the other day with Barack … root-strapping. Wow. I thought he was doing some compromise hiccups…but this sounds like a total re-invention. Wow.

I usually write in my neighbour’s name for jobs that I do not like the candidates we have been given. He usually writes in my name. In this instance I would write in Chavez for Pres and Castro for VP.

And all of that proves what?

As much stuff about McSFB in the Senate is available to thrash him with these people want to harp on his crashing aircraft.

If those crashes were as serious as you make out the Navy would have court-martialed him or revoked his flight status. The Navy does not take kindly to pilots crashing their multi-million dollar aircraft. Since neither of those actions were taken by the Navy those crashes amount to nothing worth discussing. And blaming him for an air-to-ground missile blowing up his aircraft on the deck of a carrier is just pure bullshit.

If you can’t come up with something with more substance than that, don’t waste my time.

I think I’ll withold judgment on the church thing. It’s one rather vague AP article. I suppose if there were some method of using organizations strictly for distribution, and rather strongly enforcing prohibitions against proselytizing, I might could stomach it. The Red Cross does pretty much that.

Bloomberg’s been OK as mayor, especially when you compare him to some of the others in the past. He has run it like a business. But that doesn’t qualify him to be prez. Think he has limited views of thing like foreign policy. Strikes me as not even being interested in the subject, as an example of substantive reasons why he’s not prez material. On the nonsubstantive side, there’s all that party switching that you mention, a gold mine for satirists, and his negative charisma.

Lefties have to stop looking for saviors. The only alternative is the “more & better Ds”, especially the latter. Until we have a better bench, we won’t have good leaders.

a good point, however that kind of platform would get mccain elected, though I agree with you

I consider MSM drama addicts playing “Let’s you and him fight”. But I love the new word. TY

I’m off to shovel some dirt before it gets too hot. Later.

I saw a bumper sticker the other day that pissed me off royally.

EVILution

Attaturk’s got a new thread upstairs…

Attaturk, What a great post.

What Nomo says

Yeah, I hear you. Some pro=Clinton friends were putting his name forth. I do admire him for not being a hypocrit about things. Seems to be a serious need for all of us.

I am just feeling like Mr. Change just sucker-bunched a massive number of people. And my sorrow having lost Edwards so long ago is resurfacing.

Well, there’s Nader’s open arms. Oy vey. C’mon Barack…do or say something liberal… quick.

I have a new label for those who want to scream, shout, whine, whatever, about McSFB’s crashing aircraft – “Crash Trolls.” You got nothin’ better to bring to the game, stay the fuck home.

Really. Will the real Barack Obama now stand up.

Why do we allow this every 4 years. We have candidates that run one way in the Primary and one way in the General Election. Why do we and the media allow this bait and switch ritual?

He is still on his knees sucking the d**k of big business

And his rhetoric was strong but general. And he never got into specifics, protected by the hype and assumptions we all projected desperately onto him. We live in a plutocracy. There is a new book out called This Land is Their Land. The corporations and the rich conservatives win on this tilted desk seems like.

tilted deck … not desk…sorry

My guess is because those that don’t, at least to some extent, never get elected. Even FDR ran on more vague, conservative policies than he actually implemented. So, I think it’s always a gamble, based on an assessment of what we think the politician really believes and can get the support to enact and put into effect, as best we can tell.

Your thought [hearts] new word. new word [hearts] your thought.

I agree about his rhetoric in the Primary. I was an Edwards supporter and saw Obama for what he was when he practically channeled Edwards in an effort to attract votes away from Edwards. I thought his willingness to copy Edwards stump speech almost verbatim was very revealing. I tried to vote for him in my Kentucky primary but I just couldn’t do it and voted for Edwards even though he was out of the race and had already endorsed Obama. I also thought that he’d cave on all kinds of issues (never dreamed it would be the Constitution) because he just didn’t have the fight in him like Edwards and Clinton.

The Primary/General Election bait and switch routine is nothing more than institutionalized lying to the people and it’s in our interest to put an end to this practice. It used to be that they would at least get challenged for doing this and now everyone just gives them a pass when they do it. I blame the pragmatist/centrist crowd for this. I think it’s their way to make sure that we don’t have a progressive candidate.

Well, I also am taken aback by the blatant recognition of lying and even criticsm of a candidate who fails to do it. I don’t know a very good answer. You could refuse to vote for “the better” candidate in the general, as I suppose you are suggesting, but I think you could do that for election after election and just repeatedly end up with the worse candidate. To some extent, that explains the Nixon victory in 1968, the Reagan victory in 1980 (given the animosity of Kennedy supporters), and the Bush |”victory” in 2000 (if you think Nader had an effect). On the other hand, it can be argued that Clinton turned to the right and won twice. Even though you may not be a fan, he was arguably the better of the candidates from a progressive point of view. So, I don’t know a perfect answer.

Yes, without President Lindbergh, we’re strapped with England, England. Such a joy. Haute cuisine!

George McGovern on John McCain:

…in McCain’s first opening remarks, he said, well we all know that George McGovern knows little about national defense.

Let me tell you what I would say to John McCain: neither of us is an expert on national defense. It’s true that you went to one of the service academies but you were in the bottom of the class. It’s true that you were a pilot in Vietnam, that you were shot down and spent most of the war in prison and we all sympathize with that and honor you for your courage. But you and I both had these battle experiences, you as a Navy fighter plane, I as an army bomber. I am not going to criticize your war record and your knowledge of national security but I don’t want you criticizing mine either.

If I’d be allowed just one little dig at Senator McCain, since he gave me. I would say, ‘John, you were shot down early in the war and spent most of the time in prison. I flew 35 combat missions with a 10-man crew and brought them home safely every time.’

War Hero?
yes.
qualified to be president?
not so much.

Bait and Switch?

Is there anyone that did not think this was goig to happen step-by-step.

I do not think the people who were saying Clinton and Obama are essentially the same were smoking crack – its all in the votes and speeches.

I think people forgot during the whole fight between Cliton and Obama. Both very similar, same votes, same run toward the middle. With Obama you perhaps have less of an outsider (but perhaps easier to control by the power brokers due to his relative inexperience) and with Cliton more of an insider (but perhaps harder to control due to a bit more experience – but again she is likely already bought into the DLC, etc, etc, etc).

The lies are supposed to be fore the new supposed “8 minute” voter. Those who read and study really should not be fooled at this stage.

Brandon Friedman’s response, and those he’s assembled from Iraqi and other war vets, about General Clark’s comment, is an essential read. The bottom line, I think, is in this quote from Peter Granato of Washington, DC, an Army veteran who served in Iraq (emph. mine):

In no way has General Clark questioned the honorable service or the patriotism of Captain McCain. Rather, he questioned the judgment of Senator McCain who has foolishly endorsed the failed neo-conservative foreign policy of the Bush administration.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/…..665/544457

If Obama keeps triangulating to find that mythical center (more accurately, a bull’s eye) that his so-called advisers tell him he should be in, he’ll end up like Charlie Brown trying to kick Republican Lucy’s football. He’ll miss it every time, end up on his backside and keep coming back for more. Obama is smarter than that. He should stop playing the other team’s game and play his own. His apparent ability and willingness to do that is why he’s the nominee and not Hillary. For more, see today’s Glenzilla.

As for McCain, becoming a skilled Naval Aviator is a considerable achievement. Using a military aircraft as a weapon, not just flying it, is tough business. And even the bravest aviator needs a stout pair of brown corduroy trousers to make night carrier landings (the target is a 30×100 foot section of pitching, rolling and yawing deck, sixty feet above inhospitable waves). Crashing his aircraft in combat goes with the territory. (Losing four more, including one en route to an Army-Navy football game in Phila. is another matter.)

But apart from longterm PTSD, I’m more worried about what McCain learned in order to endure five years of POW treatment. He learned to tolerate anything. He learned to move in and out of a fantasy world whenever the real one was too brutal. If he just “stayed the course”, kept his head down and took it night after night, he’d survive. He need never change or give in; he couldn’t, it could lead to defoulment or dishonor. That’s a lot of baggage that would come into play in the tense, daily decision making that is the President’s lot.

I’m also worried about what McCain didn’t learn, which is the heart of General Clark’s comment and why he was qualified to make it. He never learned to command multiple forces with different missions. He never learned to lead large groups of men and women from diverse backgrounds, with ambitions, talent and failings as great as his own. As a Navy Congressional liaison, he did learn to find Congressmen the best drinks away from home, and how to get them home when they’d had too many. He learned to disobey policy and encourage his Congressmen to fund weapons programs his President and Navy Secretary didn’t want.

More importantly, John McCain never learned to distinguish between missions that were worth putting men on the line for, and which were worth losing his stars over in order to say, “No, sir” to his President. He never learned that restraint is as potent a weapon as a missile or a “fuck you”.

Don’t know if anyone else answered this but Sky King’s daughter’s name was Penny… I only know this because I had a serious crush on her until Laurie Partridge came along…

Are you suggesting that the President’s appearance, including his “landing” on a carrier, was staged? That the manly appearance that sent MetroDCsexual Chris Matthews swooning in his “I’m capable of asexual reproduction” sort of way was handcrafted? I’m shocked.

I too voted for Edwards in the primary, though he had just suspended his campaign. I thought both Hillary and Obama, but more Hillary had been a quick study for Edwards’ rhetoric and his passion. And Obama was patronizing to Edwards a few times during the debate, mascotting him, and that made me cringe, about being the token white middleaged male. It had an archness to it I didn’t like. And when it seemed Hillary was taking up a more specific blue collar laundry list and Obama still with the general rhetoric and googoo eyed kids … and then Edwards … well…why didn’t Edwards endorse him post haste … since he was supposedly more liberal and more anti-war than Hillary… and why didn’t Obama reach out to Edwards people. Obama had those cards close to his chest.

And I am still super pissed with Oprah, America’s trusted teacher, who enabled Bush to have his armchair appeal in 2000. Well, Obama will take care of Oprah’s needs I am sure. Oprah’s trusted viewers… not the liberals or those economically struggling.

Thank you. I do remember that name. And Songbird… was that the plane?

Thanks for confessing the crushes. I had one on Spin and Marty at the same time. Remember them?