PERRspectives: September 2008 Archives

September 2008 Archives

	McCain Ban on Dowd Recalls Telling 1998 Interview Among the more telling details in the Washington Post column by Howard Kurtz Monday was a nugget about the McCain campaign's retaliation against New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd. McCain aides, he wrote, "have barred Dowd from the candidate's plane." But if that petulance provides a window into John McCain's soul, his 1998 interview with Dowd about his slanderous Chelsea Clinton joke was more revealing still. As David Corn reported in Salon, John McCain back in 1998 used the occasion... more Posted on September 30, 2008 \| Comments (0)

	The Party of Hate Strikes Again Faced with the prospect of a woman or African-American opponent in the 2008 presidential race, the Republican Party back in February initiated diversity training of sorts. The RNC commissioned focus groups and polls to learn how to safely attack either Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton because, as GOP strategist Kellyanne Conway put it, "You can't allow the party to be Macaca-ed." Sadly for the Party of Hate, top Republican officials in Nevada and New Mexico didn't read the memo. Over... more Posted on September 29, 2008 \| Comments (6)

	McCain Said It "Out Loud" in 2002: "Next Up, Baghdad!" On Saturday night Sarah Palin once again put John McCain in a tough spot, this time on the subject of Pakistan. Just hours after McCain blasted Barack Obama for saying "out loud" that the U.S. should - if necessary - unilaterally strike at Al Qaeda targets along Pakistan's western border, Palin in essence agreed with the Illinois Democrat. Of course, McCain himself never followed his rule that you don't announce possible American military action "ahead of time." As it turns... more Posted on September 28, 2008 \| Comments (4)

	McLovin: Politico's Roger Simon By almost any accounting, the past few days have been calamitous for John McCain. But not according to Roger Simon of the Politico. While McCain's transparently cynical ploy to play hero in the Wall Street bailout drama was widely derided as a stunt, Simon on Thursday insisted "it isn't as dumb or as desperate as it looks." Then as polls revealed American voters saw Barack Obama as the clear winner of Friday's generally even debate, Simon instead announced "the Mac... more Posted on September 27, 2008 \| Comments (2)

	Debate Night Cowardice from McCain and Palin Friday's first presidential debate may well be best remembered for the unique combination of cowardice displayed by the Republican ticket of John McCain and Sarah Palin. Unlike Barack Obama, John McCain couldn't look his opponent in the eye during the contest. And unlike Joe Biden, Sarah Palin wouldn't look into television cameras after. McCain's childish refusal to even acknowledge Obama's presence immediately struck commentators doing the event post-mortem. On MSNBC, Richard Wolfe noted that McCain "curiously couldn't look Obama in... more Posted on September 27, 2008 \| Comments (2)

	There's No Debate About McCain's Reign of Error on Iraq As he shows time and again, the only thing in life as certain as death and taxes is John McCain addressing Americans as "my friends." But just as predictable during tonight's first presidential debate was McCain's recycling of his tried and untrue talking points in the face of his horrendous track record on Iraq. Almost on cue, McCain regurgitated his past sound bite that about the surge and Barack Obama that "I was right, he was wrong." Sadly, when it... more Posted on September 26, 2008 \| Comments (1)

	McCain's M.O. - Our Pain, His Gain As John McCain heads to Mississippi for the presidential debate he held hostage for the past two days, his cynical ploy is being panned across the political spectrum. While Chris Dodd blasted the Republican's bungled bailout intervention as "a rescue plan for John McCain," GOP colleague Mike Huckabee called it simply a "huge mistake." Sadly, McCain's self-proclaimed white knight role is now a sadly familiar routine. Down in the polls and facing a national crisis exposes him at his weakest,... more Posted on September 26, 2008 \| Comments (1)

	McCain Camp Takes Credit for Advancing - and Killing - Bailout While the post-mortem on Thursday's collapse of the bipartisan Wall Street bailout deal is still being written, one aspect of John McCain's double-dealing is beyond dispute. According to campaign mouthpieces Tucker Bounds and Lindsey Graham, John McCain is responsible both for moving the $700 billion compromise package forward and for killing it. That act of political schizophrenia took only hours to accomplish. Early Thursday, Democrats led by Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT) and Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) announced that a consensus... more Posted on September 25, 2008 \| Comments (1)

	Palin Adopts Bush's "Ongoing Investigation" Plamegate Dodge With each passing day, Sarah Palin's handling of TrooperGate grows more and more reminiscent of George W. Bush's management of the PlameGate affair. President Bush, after all, in October 2003 proclaimed "I want to know the truth" about who outed covert CIA operative Valerie Plame and promised to fire anyone in his administration responsible. Now, after pledging in July that voters should "hold me accountable" in the dubious firing of Alaska Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan, Sarah Palin like Bush... more Posted on September 24, 2008 \| Comments (0)

	Two Financial Crises, Two McCain Tantrums On Tuesday, paleo-conservative columnist George Will joined Mitt Romney and a long list of Republicans in warning Americans about John McCain's decidedly unpresidential temperament. "Under the pressure of the financial crisis," Will wrote, McCain reacted "furiously." Alas, McCain's rage now is just a repeat of his 1989 temper tantrum as the Keating Five scandal enveloped him during the last U.S. financial meltdown. In a piece titled simply, "McCain Loses His Head," a horrified Will made the case that McCain's out-of-control... more Posted on September 23, 2008 \| Comments (0)

	McCain's Five Stages of Grief over the Economy The implosion of Wall Street last week resulted in a near-death crisis for John McCain's presidential campaign. His post-Palin bump eviscerated, McCain was staggered by the reemergence of the economy as the dominant issue in the 2008 election. His daily-changing positions revealed that McCain, a man who has repeatedly admitted his ignorance of economics, is struggling to cope with his diminished presidential prospects. Armchair psychologists might call the process John McCain's five stages of grief over the economy. Denial. McCain's... more Posted on September 22, 2008 \| Comments (1)

	McCain Keating Five Flashback: "You're a Liar" The implosion of Wall Street this week comes as a triple-dose of bad news for John McCain. No doubt, his daily-changing response to the crisis confirmed McCain's self-proclaimed ignorance of economics. Perhaps even more damaging, America's financial nightmare conjured images of the savings and loan scandal 20 years ago, one in which McCain's close ties to political sugar daddy Charles Keating almost ended his career. And to be sure, flashing back to McCain's 1989 temper tantrum in response to his... more Posted on September 21, 2008 \| Comments (10)

	McCain Support for New Trust Resurrects Keating Five Role Karl Marx famously said that historical events occur twice, first as tragedy and the second time as farce. Truer words were never spoken of John McCain's new-found support for a Mortgage and Financial Institutions (MFI) trust, the very type of agency he strenuously opposed until just this week. But completing the tragic-comedy is the fact that McCain is now inadvertently shining a spotlight on his own dark past in the 1980's Keating Five scandal, an episode central to the last... more Posted on September 19, 2008 \| Comments (2)

	Snub of Spain Just McCain's Latest Europe Bashing In one of the more bizarre developments of campaign 2008, John McCain's campaign has announced that he won't be rolling out the White House welcome mat for Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, prime minister of America's NATO ally Spain. But if McCain's posture seems like an adolescent temper tantrum aimed at a critical member of Washington's Atlantic alliance, it's hardly an isolated episode. With his vitriolic Paris and Berlin-bashing in the run-up to the Iraq war in 2003, John McCain stood... more Posted on September 18, 2008 \| Comments (1)

	McCain Excluded Workers from "Economic Fundamentals" - Until Now On Wednesday, the New York Times blasted John McCain's cynical attempt to escape from his repeated proclamations that "the fundamentals of our economy are strong." Facing a backlash over his latest declaration even as Wall Street imploded Monday that all is well, McCain just hours later tried to redefine "economic fundamentals" to refer to American workers. Noting that the "Mr. McCain lavished praise on workers, but ignored their problems," the Times branded McCain's double-talk "the real insult." But even more... more Posted on September 17, 2008 \| Comments (0)

	History Lesson: Wall Street, Economy Do Better Under Democrats As the meltdown on Wall Street continues, American voters would do well to regard John McCain and his Republican Party with suspicion when it comes to the resuscitating the economy. But McCain's acknowledged ignorance on economic issues, happy talk about strong "fundamentals," ties to lobbyists and disturbing involvement in the 1980's savings and loan disaster aren't the only reasons voters should flock to Barack Obama for solutions to the mushrooming financial crisis. As history has proven time and again, Wall... more Posted on September 16, 2008 \| Comments (6)

	Candidate McCain Violates U.S. Naval Academy Honor Code During the Republican convention in St. Paul, Fred Thompson offered a folksy if bizarre recounting of John McCain's rebellious days at the United States Naval Academy. But while McCain's bottom-of-his-class record there was "loaded with demerits," Thompson assured Americans, "he never violated the honor code." That may or may not have been true about John McCain's days at Annapolis. But there can be no doubt that with his avalanche of lies, distortions and smears, candidate John McCain is violating that... more Posted on September 15, 2008 \| Comments (5)

	McCain Camp Admits Issues, Truth Don't Matter There's an old saying that "everyone is entitled their own opinion, not their own facts." Not according to John McCain. In the face of an avalanche of criticism across the political spectrum over John McCain's endless lies, distortions and smears, his campaign continues to insist that the truth doesn't matter. For John McCain, facts themselves are subject to debate. The downward trajectory of the McCain, as I predicted months ago, was revealed by campaign chairman Rick Davis' admission two week... more Posted on September 15, 2008 \| Comments (0)

	McCain Lies About Palin's Expertise on Energy Reviewing the avalanche of lies, distortions and smears emanating from the presidential campaign of John McCain, NBC's Mark Murray asked Saturday, "Wheels come off Straight Talk Express?" But Wheeler's litany of McCain falsehoods omitted a whopper that goes directly to the heart of Sarah Palin's sham qualifications for the vice presidency. McCain, after all, claimed that "she knows more about energy than probably anyone else in the United States of America." As it turns out, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin has... more Posted on September 14, 2008 \| Comments (13)

	ABC's Gibson, The View Ignore Ultra Hard-Line GOP Platform On Friday, ABC's Charles Gibson and its hosts of The View again exposed the differences on abortion and stem cell research between John McCain and his hard-line GOP running mate Sarah Palin. But lost in their interviews is any mention of the 2008 Republican Party platform. As it turns out, that radical document demands far more draconian restrictions than either McCain or Palin will acknowledge. To be sure, John McCain now supports overturning Roe v. Wade, a reversal of his... more Posted on September 13, 2008 \| Comments (1)

	The Bush Doctrine for Dummies, Sarah Palin Edition No safe havens for terrorists. Preventive war. Democracy expansion. Those are the three central tenets of the Bush Doctrine, the guiding theory of unilateral American foreign and national security policy since 9/11. And today, on the seventh anniversary of the September 11 attacks on the United States, Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin revealed she never heard of it. Emerging Thursday from her undisclosed location for her first encounter with the press, John McCain's stealth running mate displayed a shocking... more Posted on September 11, 2008 \| Comments (3)

	9/11 and Bush's Law of Bin Laden With the anniversary of the September 11 attacks once again upon us, Bush's Law of Bin Laden is also again on display. That is, in the Bush playbook, the threat posed by Osama Bin Laden is directly proportional to the threat to the President's own political standing. At the White House on Wednesday, press secretary Dana Perino played down the Bin Laden danger to her lame-duck boss' flatline political standing, if not to the American people: Q: But Osama bin... more Posted on September 11, 2008 \| Comments (1)

	eBay McCain's Answer for Recession and Palin's Plane The mythical role of online auction powerhouse eBay in John McCain's presidential campaign took on a new dimension today. Not only did his running mate Governor Sarah Palin not sell an Alaska government jet on eBay (as she has repeatedly claimed), the state's chief procurement officer acknowledged "It was the practice of the state to dispose of items such as this via eBay." No doubt, John McCain will continue to peddle this eBay myth just as he has a previous... more Posted on September 10, 2008 \| Comments (0)

	*McCain on Lipsticked Pigs, Btches and Tar Babies** Once again, John McCain is proving the old maxim that a man who lives in 11 glass houses shouldn't cast stones. While his campaign feigns outrage over Barack Obama's labeling of the McCain change mantra as "lipstick on a pig," video footage surfaced of McCain using the same aphorism about Hillary Clinton's health care plan in 2007. And its effort to manufacture fury over bogus accusations of sexism, Team McCain must be betting that Americans have forgotten John McCain's troubled... more Posted on September 10, 2008 \| Comments (0)

	*Sexism Flashback: McCain Used Hillary Btch Episode to Raise Money** Judging by the recent polls, the McCain campaign has skillfully played the sexism card in defense of Sarah Palin. Last Tuesday, McCain surrogate Carly Fiorina decried the "sexist treatment of Governor Palin." And by Sunday, campaign manager Rick Davis declared that Palin would do no interviews until the media "is going to treat her with some level of respect and deference." (That first appearance has since been scheduled with the reliably subservient Charles Gibson of ABC.) What a difference a... more Posted on September 9, 2008 \| Comments (1)

	McClatchy, WaPo and Romney Warn About McCain's Out of Control Temper In a disturbing expose Sunday, the McClatchy papers joined the growing list of press, pundits and politicians to raise a red flag about John McCain's out-of-control temper. Following on the heels of the devastating revelations from the Washington Post in April, McClatchy documents many of the tantrums, outbursts and eruptions that continue to call McCain's presidential temperament into question. And as Mitt Romney's campaign revealed in January, those McCain tirades are directed at friend and foe alike. Starting with an... more Posted on September 8, 2008 \| Comments (0)

	McCain Caves on Draconian GOP Abortion Platform In an interview with CBS' Katie Couric Wednesday, Cindy McCain seemed surprised to learn that her husband John wants to see Roe v. Wade overturned. But as it turns out, the surprises hardly end there for the McCains when it comes to abortion and the 2008 Republican platform. By rejecting John McCain's limited proposed exemptions for cases involving rape, incest and the life of the mother, the GOP's hard-line abortion banning plank echoes not its presidential nominee, but his running... more Posted on September 7, 2008 \| Comments (0)

	McCain Recycled '04 RNC Riff to Close '08 Convention Speech For the most part, John McCain's Republican National Convention speech was generally panned. While former Bush speechwriter Michael Gerson called the performance ''pretty disappointing," CNN's Jeffrey Toobin deemed it "the worst speech by a nominee that I've heard since Jimmy Carter in 1980." But McCain did get some high marks for his rousing finish, which exhorted Americans to "stand up" and fight. As it turns out, he probably knew that part by heart. After all, he delivered pretty much the... more Posted on September 5, 2008 \| Comments (2)

	Abramoff Gets Four More Years. Delay to Get Off? Even as John McCain took to the stage of the Republican convention to belatedly decry his party's surrender to "the temptations of corruption", two of its leading miscreants were back in the news. In Washington, GOP lobbyist extraordinaire and scandal architect Jack Abramoff was sentenced to four years in prison. But meanwhile in Texas, indicted former House Majority Leader Tom Delay won a technical victory that could keep him out of jail altogether. Comparing himself favorably to Osama Bin Laden,... more Posted on September 5, 2008 \| Comments (0)

	Governor Palin, You're No Harry Truman In the run-up to Sarah Palin's speech Wednesday, many across the political spectrum were tempted to compare the Alaska Governor to Bush 41's dubious VP choice of legend, Dan Quayle. But while her admittedly powerful performance in St. Paul last night was surely never matched by Bush the Elder's master of the malapropism, it nevertheless featured its own Quayle moment. Seeking to pad her reed-thin resume as a small town mayor, Sarah Palin compared herself to President Harry Truman. Well,... more Posted on September 4, 2008 \| Comments (10)

	Exotic Dancers and Temper Tantrums: Fred and Mitt on McCain As McCain adviser Rick Davis cynically announced this week, "This election is not about issues," but instead "about a composite view of what people take away from these candidates." In that case, Fred Thompson and Mitt Romney did John McCain no favors in providing the bookends for his biography this week at the Republican Convention. Because while Fred introduced America on Tuesday to the rebellious hellraiser that was the young John McCain, Mitt back in January documented that the volcanic... more Posted on September 3, 2008 \| Comments (0)

	Opportunism First: McCain and the GOP Platform Coming on the heels of his pandering pick of Sarah Palin, the 2008 Republican Party platform is another case study in the opportunism of John McCain. On abortion, same-sex marriage, stem cell research and immigration, the GOP bucked McCain's stated positions each and every time. As it turns out, McCain's acquiescence doesn't merely reflect his weakness (which it surely does) as much as his disinterest. As McCain himself admits, he just doesn't care about details of policy; his campaign is... more Posted on September 3, 2008 \| Comments (3)

	McCain, Palin and Red State Failure on Teen Pregnancy The struggles of Sarah Palin's family with the pregnancy of her teenage daughter are their business. But the disaster of the abstinence-only sex education programs she and John McCain fervently support is all of ours. After all, abstinence programs aren't merely a complete - and well documented - failure. As it turns out, teenage pregnancy rates are highest in precisely those reddest of states that vote Republican. To be sure, the McCain/Palin ticket has a proven track record of opposing... more Posted on September 2, 2008 \| Comments (3)

	Palin Family Focus Recalls McCain's Chelsea Clinton Joke Once upon a time, the children of American politicians were off limits to the press and the public alike. But while an indignant McCain campaign announced today that the 17-year old daughter of Republican vice presidential Sarah Palin is pregnant, a revelation made in response to the "mud-slinging" of liberal blogs, it is worth remembering John McCain's own checkered past when it comes to slandering the children of his political foes. As the history shows, the same John McCain who... more Posted on September 1, 2008 \| Comments (3)

	Eight Years Ago: Bush at the Republican Convention Across the right-wing blogosphere and conservative commentariat, the water carriers of the Republican Party can hardly contain their glee that Hurricane Gustav has washed out an appearance by the wildly unpopular President Bush at their Minnesota conclave. Over at the Weekly Standard, "gets Bush out of St. Paul" tops their list of benefits that the national disaster of Gustav brings the GOP. In the everything-is-good-news-for-McCain department, the Politico reports that "for many delegates gathering here, that's not a bad thing"... more Posted on September 1, 2008 \| Comments (4)