Forget all the talk about what it takes to make it as a POW. Let's talk about the job McCain is actually running for. What does it take to make it as Chief Executive?
One of the hallmarks of an effective executive is their ability to attract and retain talent. It doesn't matter whether they work in the public or private sector, whether they are running a sports team or a political campaign.
Executives with a pattern of churning through talent eventually get a reputation for being difficult to work with and people with real talent start avoiding them. That's a major problem. Once you are tagged with that label, it's just a matter of time before the bottom falls out. No surprise then McCain's campaign is in shambles.
It's clear the corporate media is going to bend over backwards to avoid looking at this story in detail, so why not take a look for yourself at McCain's history for churning through talent? Watch your step as you head over the fold ... this guy runs through top advisors the way some people run through wives.
They love to tell us we live in the GREATEST COUNTRY ON EARTH... but like VICTORY IN IRAQ they never bother to explain what exactly that phrase means. Greatest.... greatest what? Greatest land mass? Greatest economy? Greatest quality of life? Greatest number of millionaires? Greatest concentration of wealth? Greatest military power? Greatest nuclear power?
I think we all agree life here is generally good. Certainly beats the crap out of Haiti or Yemen or Sudan or Zimbabwe. Hell, we are nowhere near Nigeria in mortality rates (~20%) from botched abortions. Here abortion is still legal and safe. There it is illegal. However, when I was growing up we set the bar a little higher. We talked about the strength of our economy ... although we worried about the national debt. We talked about the strength of our schools ... although we worried about the Russians and the Japanese. We talked about our overall health... and didn't worry about much of anything. Well, Russia has turned into a kleptocracy, Japan is suffering a long-term economic funk (after a real estate bubble like ours) and now we learn, life expectancy is decreasing in America for men and women...
So why did they bury the story as part of the Friday evening news dump? First off, because SETTLING the case is not the same as SOLVING the case.
The anthrax case they settled was brought by Steven Hatfill. He's the guy Ashcroft identified as a "person of interest" when people were agitating for a real investigation. Turns out Hatfill was innocent. That means the government wasted millions of dollars harrassing him, and now they have to pay millions of dollars more to settle the lawsuit he filed for invading his privacy and ruining his life. Heckuva job Ashcroft!
That is the legacy of this administration when it comes to terrorism. They don't catch the guys. They can't even find the guys. And they blow tons of money pissing people off in the process. That's all bad, but here's something worse. The guy who did this is still out there. And there is a very good case to be made for who the likely suspect really is. If you think that is important, read on ...
LEAR: And my poor fool is hang'd! No, no, no life!
Why should a dog, a horse, a rat, have life,
And thou no breath at all? Thou'lt come no more,
Never, never, never, never, never!
King Lear, Act V, Scene III
The real tragedy of Carlin's death hit me when I realized his greatest performance was still ahead of him. Now it's been lost forever. Only a week ago, America's Court Jester -- the Man Who Never Bought The Bullshit -- was chosen to receive this year's Mark Twain Award. Twain would have approved, I'm sure. Carlin was every bit as insightful as Twain and even more inciteful than Menken.
I was looking forward to the Kennedy Center's Mark Twain Awards this year with glee. The president attends. The honoree performs. Everyone laughs. But this time, everyone wouldn't be laughing because the joke would be on them. It's hard to explain how daring and confrontational Carlin's humor was to people who grew up with the world already transformed by his wit. The best I can do is describe what I think Carlin's performance would have been like: Imagine Colbert showing up to speak at the Correspondent's Dinner with a baseball bat...
I was walking through the neighborhood today and came across this car. A diehard Bush fan. A hardcore Republican who voted for Ehrlich for governor, and supported Steele's run for the Senate. (I couldn't fit the Steele bumper sticker in the shot, but you see the start of it on the far right.) But that's not why I am sharing this. No....
It's the Obama sticker on the upper left! I blurred the vanity plate because it's the woman's name.
So why the conversion? Why did this hard-working Escort driving Republican decide she is not only going to vote against McCain, she is going to ADVERTISE the fact of her conversion? Simple. "McCain means no choice for women!" I couldn't have said it better myself. I realize this is totally anecdotal, but you know there are many like her flying under the radar and even more ready to convert. They just need to hear McCain speak:
Old "Weathervane" McCain said he would run a civil campaign characterized by "straight talk" and transparency. The general has barely started and he's already 0 for 3!
In an excellent report, davefromqueens described McCain's response to a question about education:
It was laughable when McCain tried to talk about education. He was ill informed and elitist. First it was the usual gobbly-gook about private schools and school choice, which of course isn't school choice at all. Then McCain had the audacity to equate him and Cindy sending their kids to super rich, super well funded private schools as if everybody would have access to this. It was bizarre.
Let's take a swing at John and Cindy McCain, their taxes and their "charitable" foundation. This piñata is chock full of goodies. Here's a real treat:
The McCains received major tax deductions for supporting elite schools attended by their children. Sweeeet.....
All aboard, The $traight Talk Expre$$ is leaving the station! (h/t to pat208 for a brilliant label!)
It turns out the video of the Marine tossing a puppy off a cliff and laughing about it was.... real. Lance Corporal David Motari, based in Hawaii with the 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment (the puppy throwing Marine) has been "processed for separation" and received non-judicial punishment, according to ,an official statement released Wednesday night by the Marine Corps.
When the video first surfaced on YouTube, it sparked outrage world-wide. Of course, that begs the question of why people got so exercised over that atrocity when that and worse are done to humans every day in Iraq. New footage has surfaced of a US soldier tossing an unarmed Iraqi kid off a bridge and people shrug because it's "no big deal." I guess our sense of outrage has atrophied after all.
Don't be fooled by the lack of response. The lack of outrage in the US ignores the fact that this is just one more "isolated event" that will leave a mark.
We can all agree McCain is right to say, "Elections have consequences." He uses that line whenever he talks about the Supreme Court. He knows Supreme Court appointments are the most enduring legacies presidents can leave behind. After that is where we part company.
With 4 conservatives already on the court, this recent Wall Street Journal article raises an interesting point:
A March poll of 1,200 women in 16 battleground states, commissioned by Planned Parenthood, showed that about half of the women who backed McCain also support abortion rights.
Given McCain's solid anti-choice voting record, it is not suprising the poll found:
Half of the women surveyed in the poll also said they didn’t know "enough about McCain’s views on abortion to say whether he is in step or out of step with their own outlook."
I understand some of Hillary's most ardent supporters are angry. A few even talk of venting their anger by voting against Obama and for McCain. If you know any women like that, I suggest you send them a link to this video and ask them to take 30 seconds to watch it. I doubt any Clinton supporter over 40 could live with herself if she knew what a vote for McCain would mean for her, her daughters and her granddaughters.
A lot of people have been needlessly worrying about Larry Johnson's (false) claim of a video waiting to surface that shows Michelle Obama saying something truly outlandish. It turns out the whole "Whitey Tape" is ripped off from Steven Frey's The Power Broker.
That's the good news.
Unfortunately, something much more damning of Barack has surfaced on YouTube. Now the whole mythology of him being "cool", "a trendsetter", and -- most importantly -- representing "change" is under attack. Hard to believe it was all.... a lie. The really tragic part is that we didn't learn about this until AFTER he became the Democratic Nominee!
Anyone who saw the "fist bump" moment needs to see this damning piece of video:
On July 22, 1998, McCain filled out the National Right to Life Committee's 1998 Congressional Candidate Questionnaire, including this question:
"Do you support the complete reversal of the Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton decisions, thereby allowing the state legislatures and the Congress to once again protect unborn children?"
McCain responded, "Yes."
On August 19, 1999, McCain told the San Francisco Chronicle, "I'd love to see a point where [Roe v. Wade] is irrelevant, and could be repealed because abortion is no longer necessary. But certainly in the short term, or even the long term, I would not support repeal of Roe vs. Wade"
The NRLC objected to McCain's "pro-Roe" statement. McCain's campaign staff defended his position, claiming it was similar to that of his opponent, Texas Governor George Bush. NRLC disputed that, noting Bush consistently favored overturning Roe v. Wade
How did McCain respond to this in his next interview on Meet The Press? Good question....
I think it was nice of Hillary to demand respect for the millions of people who voted for her. It shows a sense of proportion. Unfortunately, I don't think she went far enough. I think she should have been more specific. I think she should have drawn a line in the sand.
Her candidacy wasn't merely about breaking glass ceilings or gaining entry to the Boys' Club. It was about empowering women and reversing the reactionary tide that threatens the gains of the last half century. It's about the power of choice.
Unfortunately, Hillary doesn't get to carry that message forward. That doesn't mean the message dies with her candidacy. Au contraire, if we are to truly respect the women who supported Hillary, we have to pick up that standard and make it ours.
To help promote that message, I have developed several logo treatments (below the fold). Please vote on the one you think best communicates the message we need to promote as part of the general election. The sooner we get this out into public awareness, the sooner McCain will have to confront it.
Last week, a fellow I know came looking for me and said, "You gotta see this, it is the funniest damn thing I've seen all week!" he laughed as he pulled up the YouTube video.
Originally, when I wrote my snarky piece titled,A Glimpse Into Cheney's Mind about Cheney and handwriting analysis, I said
"It's an ordinary note scrawled in pen on unlined paper as part of the normal business routine. Many people focus on it due it's content. That is appropriate. It clearly shows the cover-up following the betrayal of a CIA agent goes all the way to the Pres the highest levels of the White House."
Like everyone else, I took that as at best circumstantial evidence of the President's involvement. Like most, I took it to mean Rove was the guy Fitz should nail.
Now comes Scotty's book telling us the President admitted he was the one who told Scooter to stick his neck in the meat grinder. People have been executed for treason on less evidence than testimony like Scotty's, especially when it is backed up with contemporaneous notes by people like Cheney.
The responses from principals are all variations on the following formula:
It's sad.... this isn't the Scotty we knew....
Here's what I find interesting about that: no one is denying anything he wrote is true. From where I sit, that means everything he wrote is true. That means they have to destroy him. Why would they change their M.O. at this point? That's a rhetorical question, but it raises a second point. Say what you want about this crew, they aren't exactly subtle. The only question is how bad do they have to hurt him? That's not a rhetorical question. I think their initial response indicates their plan of attack ...
She's a well-heeled, older white woman of means. She lives on the toney side of town and has a glamorous job as a broadcast journalist. Unlike most New Yorkers, she probably shuns the subway, preferring cabs, the occasional bus or having a "car sent around" to pick her up. She is not part of that nouveau riche set or the well-to-do, but she is comfortable. She's lived in New York most of her adult life and bought her apartment ages ago, before it went condo.
If you saw her ordering a latte at the trendy coffee shop down the street, you would not think there is anything remarkable about her. You'd be right. That's part of the horror. The perfectly ordinary nature of this woman capable of saying the most hateful things... and laughing about it. Ironically, it is her ordinariness that protects her and her kind.
The outrage over her comments is palpable. Not just here. The Youtube clip is generating tremendous traffic. At last count, one of them has almost 300,000350,000400,000450,000 500,000 views since it was posted yesterday.
Some stats:
It clearly dominates the News & Politics category:
#1 - Most Viewed (Today) - News & Politics
#1 - Most Discussed (Today) - News & Politics
#1 - Top Favorites (Today) - News & Politics
#1 - Most Responded (Today) - News & Politics
#2 - Top Rated (Today) - News & Politics
It also has a large impact overall:
#2 - Most Viewed (Today)
#3 - Most Discussed (Today)
#7 - Top Favorites (Today)
#3 - Most Responded (Today)
Outrage is not enough. This event raises two questions. One about the lack of resonance in the media, and one about effectively publicizing this sort of monster to her neighbors ...
Forget all the talk about what it takes to make it as a POW. Let's talk about the job McCain is actually running for. What does it take to make it as Chief Executive?
The anthrax case they settled was brought by Steven Hatfill. He's the guy Ashcroft identified as a "person of interest" when people were agitating for a real investigation. Turns out Hatfill was innocent. That means the government wasted millions of dollars harrassing him, and now they have to pay millions of dollars more to settle the lawsuit he filed for invading his privacy and ruining his life. Heckuva job Ashcroft!
I was walking through the neighborhood today and came across this car. A diehard Bush fan. A hardcore Republican who voted for Ehrlich for governor, and supported Steele's run for the Senate. (I couldn't fit the Steele bumper sticker in the shot, but you see the start of it on the far right.) But that's not why I am sharing this. No....
On August 19, 1999, McCain told the San Francisco Chronicle, "I'd love to see a point where [Roe v. Wade] is irrelevant, and could be repealed because abortion is no longer necessary. But certainly in the short term, or even the long term, I would not support repeal of Roe vs. Wade"
Originally, when I wrote my snarky piece titled,
