Obama v McCain Debate II - LiveBlog

I love it, two debates in one week. Politics junkies like myself are definitely getting our fix.

This should be an interesting debate. McFAILin's campaign has taken a nasty turn this week, both in tone and in polling. They have apparently decided that discussing the issues facing the nation is a losing strategy, and looking at the polling as of late, coupled with McCain's disastrous policy history and proposals, I kinda have to agree with them.

So he's taken a drubbing in the polls, but this debates format is supposed to be McCain's strong point. For some reason, the conventional wisdom is that McCain excels in "town hall" style events, while Obama does not. I know, I laugh too. The idea that in any speaking role, McCain could surpass Obama in coherence, eloquence, or poise is completely ridiculous.

The bottom line, the economy is still the number 1 issue facing Americans today, followed by the Bush/McCain wars. Both issues are losers for McCain; public opinion and reality both favor Obama's positions in each area. So whatever character assassination, slime politics, "Johnny Drama" bullshit McCain wants to throw around is only going to further alienate him in the eyes of American voters. Americans are smart, whatever McCain may think, and they want to see answers. They want strong leadership, not playground politics. We shall see tonight which candidate can offer us what we are looking for.

Edit: Damnit Barack, that was such a non-answer. Gonna need to do better than that. Eh, McCain's answer was no better.

Edit: Did McCain just tell that questioner that he was wrong? Bailout vs rescue, who gives a damn? And here he goes on a Freddie and Fannie rant. Johnny Drama, there are more than 2 companies involved in this crisis. Jesus.

Edit: Fantastic rebuttal by Obama. Well done.

Edit: What the hell is he talking about? An overhead projector? Who gives a damn? Can McCain please answer a question?

Edit: I hate it when Obama starts talking about offshore drilling and "clean coal." Bullshit proposals that don't offer any solutions. We need to move away from these archaic energy sources, towards new, cleaner types of energy. And damn it, he should be leading on that point, not merely co-signing the same tired policy that has gotten us where we are.

Edit: I'm not happy. Obama keeps making the same points over and over again. Move on man. Make a new point, or change the damn topic. I know, 95% of tax payers will get a cut under your plan. Move the fuck on! Talk about McCain's plan to tax employers healthcare expenditures. Something. McCain is actually talking about policy, Obama is floundering. Shit...

Edit: Shut the hell up Tom.

Edit: Ok, Obama recovered a little on the healthcare debate. M looked petty and spiteful on his "how much is the fine?" comment. On to foreign policy.

Edit: Shit. I give the debate to McCain. It was exactly what he needed to do to get his campaign back on track. I hate to admit it, but Obama looked befuddled and slow. McCain was crisp and likable. I'm going to have a drink and try to not think about politics for a while. As a better man than myself likes to say, good night and good luck.

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Biden Palin Debate - LiveBlog

Let the madness begin. How will Palin embarrass herself, her campaign, her party, and her country tonight? Let us count the ways.

Seriously, Biden needs to just sit back, answer his questions succinctly, and let Palin talk. If he does that, he will win. But what the R's are praying for is for him to lay into her (i.e. he is picking on the poor little hockey mom), or for him to be overly-respectful (i.e. patronizing the powerful and respected Governor of Alaska. They'll bitch either way. Biden doesn't need to beat Palin, he just needs to stay out of the way while she beats herself.

Edit: Palin sounds good. Doesn't sound smart, but she's speaking English, so its a start.

Edit: HAHA! Holy shit, did she just say that she may not answer the questions the moderator asks? Awesome. Nice burn by Biden, calling her on the bogus charge that Obama voted all those times to raise taxes.

Edit: She's just like McCain, smiles at the wrong times.

Edit: Oh damn! "the ultimate bridge to nowhere." Well said.

Edit: Oh my God, a plan to remove troops from Iraq is a "white flag of surrender"? Jesus....

Edit:This is intense. Good debate so far. Biden seems sure of himself and knows his stuff. Palin is cute, I guess. Still lacking some substance as I see it.

Edit: "Dog-gone-it Joe?" Are we electing fucking Howdy Doody to the VP office?

Edit: Jesus, these "beauty pageant" answers are freakin' killing me. Can she answer a damn question?

Edit: I dunno, Biden looked great, but Palin didn't piss herself either, so I'll reserve judgment for tomorrow.

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I Need to Stop Talking About Sarah Palin

But she makes it so easy. Does Palin even have a running mate? I've lost track.

Interesting article over at Culture11.com. A conservative argument for Sarah Palin excusing herself from the GOP ticket to save McCain's chances in November. Seems pretty compelling to me, but I'd also be dancing naked in the streets if the McPalin ticket imploded like that (The author, Conor Friedersdorf, is a HuffPo writer, so apply grains of salt as needed).

Then on the same site, some guy, Joe Conor, rebuts Conor's position, claiming that Sarah is only bad on television. Outside TV, she's got a great personality, and personalities, not issues, are what this election (supposedly) is all about.

Making judgments about Palin — or any candidate — based on how they come across on television seems to me to be irrational and dangerous.

Did this guy see those interviews? Sarah Palin isn't just bad on TV. John Kerry was bad on TV, so was Nixon. Sarah Palin is an atrocity, on TV and in person. She's a god damn journalism major who can't name a single newspaper or magazine she reads to keep up on the news; she shouts contradictory campaign positions in Philly sandwich shops; she lies her damn head off!

She has, however, revealed she has the character to make the right decision on such issues, even at great personal cost. This, in my view, is the core of leadership and the primary reason she is more qualified to be the chief executive than anyone on the Democratic ticket.

More of that gut-feeling decision making, W. style. That hero-worship of "instinctive" leaders and demonetization of intellectual prowess has done wonders for the country these last 8 years, hasn't it?

The folks at Redstate are feeling pretty down about this stuff lately.

Makes me all warm and fuzzy inside.

Yes, I'm sorry, I visit Redstate from time to time. I guess I like the pain. Teh stoopid, it hurtz.

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The Palin Expectations

Ya'll seen this Palin chick? She's freakin' hilarious! I don't know who her writers are, but she is a comedic genius. That Borat guy better look out, there is a new kid on the block of awkward humor, and she looks like the big leagues. This whole PR stunt she's puling with the faux-VP bid is revolutionary. Obviously, no one really believes she wants to be the Vice President, but the publicity Palin and her comedy troupe have received is priceless. /snark

Seriously, Sarah Palin is a train wreck by any standard. Her anti-science, fiscally unsound policy and debilitating lack of experience should be enough to disqualify her for the 2nd highest office in the country. The woman wants Creationism taught on par with Evolution and actually tried to ban books from the Wasilla Library. Done. The argument is over at this point, she should not be VP. Period.

But oh no, Palin is the candidate that keeps on giving. Get comfortable. Pour a second cup of coffee and settle in.

She's packing major baggage in the "personal" area, such as the influence of "first dude" Todd Palin in her administration, her 17 year old daughter Bristol's pregnancy (not a problem at all in itself, but a poignant highlight of Palin's defunding Alaskan programs to help teenage mothers and emphasis on abstinence-only sex education), and the infamous "Troopergate" scandal. So this religious wacko who (allegedly) acknowledges the existence of witchcraft has been using her government office to wage personal vendettas against the former husband of a slighted family member. Again, done. The argument against her election is over, a second time. She should not be VP.

And friends, there is more. Apparently, Sarah Palin has a little problem with coherence and sentence structure. Her (few and meager) media interviews have been physically painful to watch. I seriously had to leave the room when I saw that poor Governor sputtering on about Russia and Canada sharing boarders with Alaska and Putin "rearing his head" over her state. During her interview with Couric, Palin's answer about the bailout bill will go down in history with that Miss Teen America contestant's response.

Notice the similarities? I did.

She has exhibited less-than-perfect message discipline as well, contradicting McCain's Pakistan policy when talking to voters. Then when called on it, McCain issues this doosy:

"I don't think most Americans think that that's a definitive policy statement made by Governor Palin,"

Come on guys, just because she said it, doesn't mean she meant it.

So this debate looks like its over before it began. On both substance and style, Palin looks dead in the water. Biden, a career vet of foreign policy and the intricacies of policy and government, ought to be able to pick her apart with relative ease at the VP debate on Oct. 2nd. The man is a hell of a speaker and an amazing personal story as well.

So on paper, this thing is over. Whatever happens with the top of the tickets, the VP question has been answered. Yet if my party affiliation has taught me anything, it is to never underestimate the Democrats ability to really knuckle down, do some hard work, and completely blow a "gimme" election. Or issue. Or vote. Democrats are pretty much the leading experts in the field of professional fuck-ups and are more than capable of adding this VP debate to the long list of pathetic foot shots in our history (for further reading, see 2004 Presidential Election, or even better, the FISA debate).

So we need to shut the hell up. Palin is a joke, we all know that. Even the Republicans know she's isn't even approaching "ready," as is evident by the Great Palin Media Blackout of 2008. She has been ridiculed into the ground. Tina Fey, of SNL, doesn't even change her dialogue when she mocks Palin. She doesn't need to. Palin mocks herself. The poor woman must cry herself to sleep at night, I know I would. But then, I don't have an army of handlers insulating me from the scary media, or any outside contact at all for that matter.

At this point, if Palin spells her name correctly on the debate sign-in sheet, she's going to be a freakin' all-star. The media and the public are going to expect her to tank in epic fashion; come on stage with her head shaved or with a plug of chewing tobacco in her lip or something. So now, if she shows up fully dressed and speaks passible English, this debate will be a "win" for the McCain/Palin ticket. She is already expected to make very little sense and play defense the whole 90 minutes, so when she does just that, the talking heads are going to be crowing about her "meeting expectations" and "holding her own." She is already being held to a lower standard for success than anyone else on this campaign trail, and it is only getting worse. We used to care about a candidates qualifications in this country. We ought to still. As citizens, we should be demanding well-qualified, educated, knowledgeable statesmen and women run this country, not just some lady who manages to make it through a debate without wetting herself.

There is enough to disqualify Palin to be the VP without running her mental capacities into the ground. All we are doing is making it easier for her to exceed those expectations. So lets be honest, Sarah Palin is dumb, vicious, and incompetent, but you don't become the governor of a state by being a complete waste of oxygen. She will eventually exhibit some ability during this campaign, and we should be asking if that paltry offering is enough. I'm sure there is some kind of mental process going on behind those glasses, but the issue should be the quality of that process, not that we are all "so impressed" that this infant-woman actually does possess a functioning mind.

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Bears to Blame for Failing Economy

I'm taking a short break from my NYC trip today to bring you a post about reality and rationality. If you watched the first presidential debate last night you saw a lot of talk about the economy.

When questioned about what to do about the financial crisis in the US John McCain fired away at the government for funding a $3 million study on the DNA of bears in Montana.  This was his first attack on the financial subject and of course as a science guy I was a little pissed that he would go after the funding status of science agencies (which have seen stagnation and declines in funding under Bush).  Here's a nifty chart put together to keep funding and government excess in perspective when you hear the candidates speak about stuff like this.

3 million is 0.0005% of 600 billion (cost of Iraq war so far).  Perspective and priorities noted.

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McCain Suspends Campaign

McCain is apparently putting his campaign on hold in response to the economic crisis at hand. He is calling for a meeting of both party's leaders, himself, and Obama to address the financial meltdown and the governments response.

Seems very level headed, responsible, and surprisingly bipartisan. Damn. So that means the post about McCain's unacceptably partisan tone during this crisis that I have been writing is now worthless.

We must meet as Americans, not as Democrats or Republicans, and we must meet until this crisis is resolved.I am directing my campaign to work with the Obama campaign and the commission on presidential debates to delay Friday night's debate until we have taken action to address this crisis.

I know, its from Drudge. It hurts me to even admit that I read that garbage. But damn, the man breaks some stories.

So, is this some cheap trick to give McCain some breathing room for the debate he is about to lose and to give him further excuse to keep Sarah "Delicate Little Flower" Palin out of the harsh, scary media sunlight? Doesn't seem so at first blush. This does actually sound like a smart idea. As the economy veers towards the cliff of depression, maybe a little time away from soap opera politics and some focus on nuts and bolts legislation is a good thing.

Or perhaps what we need is precisely that, a focus on the politics that will determine the next 4 or 8 years of our country's future. Honestly, I cannot think of a more pertinent question to this crisis than which governmental philosophy we will follow going forward.

I am not ready to make a pronouncement yet, but my political lean obviously makes me slightly skeptical of this new-found love of legislation that John "Absentee Senator" McCain has developed.

I eagerly await Obama's response.

Update: Obama wont play McCain's game.

"I believe that we should continue to have the debate," Obama said. "It's my belief that this is exact time when the American people need to hear form the person who in approximately 40 days will be responsibly for dealing with this mess and I think that it is going to be part of the president’s job to deal with more than one thing at once."

Obama said that unlike McCain, he will not suspend ads, or campaign events scheduled between now and Friday's debate.

"I think it's very important that the American people see the people who potentially could be in charge of this problem within the next couple of months and so my attitude is that we need to be focused on solving the problems, as I have been," Obama said. "It's also important that we communicate where we need to go in getting us out of the situation."

Obama said he will stay in Florida for the time being and will not return to Washington unless asked by Congressional leadership.

"I've told the leadership in Congress is that if I can be helpful then I am prepared to be anywhere at anytime," he said.

Emphasis mine. I like it. I'm still not sure if McCain's idea is a good one or not, but it is nice to see a Democrat not asking "How high?" when a Republican says "Jump."

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Elitism Definied

Via Kos. I love it.

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Layman Economics

Today the Dow closed at 10609.66, a full 50 points lower than the day George W Bush took office (how's that market economics working out for you?). That means that in 8 years of Republican stewardship the economy has shown a net negative movement.

I wish I had more time to devote to this subject, but as a lowly medical school student I honestly don't know much about the economy, probably about as much as John McCain.

What I do know is the Bush administration, as well as his surrogate nominee John McCain have proposed that our tax money to fund Social Security should be placed in private markets.  Some of the names mentioned for these holdings should sound familiar right about now; Lehmann Brothers and the no-longer-independent Bear Stearns and Merrill Lynch.

Say we would have bet our Social Security future on the market in 2001 assuming that the stewardship of the Republicans would have led to larger gains in those investments.  Remember a lot of their platform is based on larger tax breaks for the wealthy which leads to higher investment in the market and large returns.  Those assumptions would have been wrong.  According to the Center for American Progress, the Bush economic plan (the same one John McCain is pushing, "make the Bush tax cuts permanent", let Phil Gramm who created this mess continue his policies as he is McCain's top economic advisor to the campaign) has stifled the average familial income (PDF) and given large gains to the yacht riding wealthy of the country.

Again, I know next to nothing about the economy, but I can read a chart and seeing the Dow Jones head down down down is not a good sign.  More of the Same????

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John McCain Reveals His Jackassery Once Again

John McCain has been in the news quite a bit recently. His comments on the economy are the definition of irony, and the media has finally begun calling a spade a spade, and McCain's campaign press, well, bullshit. Not to mention the Palin soap opera/Law & Order episode.

Little noticed news item, McSame finally answered the ScienceDebate2008 presidential candidate questionnaire. Obama's answers here. On the energy question, McCain made a passing reference to wind, solar, geothermal, tide, and hydroelectric energy potential, without mentioning a serious effort to increase the use of these technologies. Seems like he was primarily concerned with explaining away all those votes he had cast against renewable energy. He mumbles something about "reforming" the tax credits for the industry (in repubspeak: remove all responsible regulation). Just more lip-service, no policy.

Then he rants about nuclear power. He proposes building 45 new reactors by 2030. Thats a lot of nuclear power plants folks. You want one in your backyard? I don't. And he completely whitewashes the reality of this option as well.

Nuclear power is a proven, domestic, zero-emission source of energy and it is time to recommit to advancing our use of nuclear energy.

"Zero-emission?" Yucca Mountain, anyone? Was he even awake when his lobbyists/advisers were writing this tripe?

Under the previous topic "Climate Change," he plugged for 30 billion dollars over the next 15 years for the freakin' coal industry. "Clean coal" is still coal, my friend, euphamisims wont change the fact. Filtered cigarretes will still kill you. And really? I'm no econimist, but $30 billion seems like a lot for an industry we should be moving away from anyway.

Read his other answers at your own peril.

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Drill Baby Drill!!!

A Picture is worth a thousand words and although I've previously covered why offshore drilling is a pander with no real substance I think this graph does a much better job of getting the message across.

Props to Ezra for the graph and check out his article accompanying it, energy expert indeed!

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I Need A New Dictionary

reform - noun
   1.  the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc.  The Bush policies have shown a great need for reform.

Psst...voting with someone 90% of the time is not reforming their policies.  At least Sarah Palin only said it 9 times tonight in her acceptance speech.

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Preparedness in the White House

 Great question Sarah, maybe you should take a look at the last 200 years of our republic and figure it out.  It looks like we have our first candidate for "Fucking Moron of the Week" incumbent.

I can't believe this lady will be 1 heartbeat away from being the most powerful person in the world if McCain is elected.  Judgement in politics has reached an all-time low.

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President Palin

John McCain made an interesting pick for VP in Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin. The 44-year old mother of 5 is a heartbeat (or heart attack) from being the President if McCain is elected. John McCain's grandfather died of a heart attack at the age of 61 and his father died at the age of 70 of a heart attack. McCain is currently 71 years old so this isn't me being cynical but rather taking account of his family history.

Anyway, on to Sarah Palin. Here's the only two things you need to know about her. She opposes all forms of abortion (fair enough) and severely wants to limit women's reproductive rights. And in possibly the stupidest comment said in the last year here is her response to Newsmax regarding global warming.

What is your take on global warming and how is it affecting our country?
Palin: "A changing environment will affect Alaska more than any other state, because of our location. I'm not one though who would attribute it to being man-made."

Its called judgment and obviously this beauty pageant winner of 44 years old has more of it than the overwhelming majority of scientists (and even recently the Bush administration) on whether global warming is a man-made phenomenon.  I hate to do it to such a pretty lady but you're getting the first of our new weekly award for "Fucking Moron of the Week".  Let's not even consider McCain's judgment in putting this woman one accident/heart attack/dementia induced resignation away from being the most powerful person in the world.

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Logical Fallacies in Politics

On Sunday, George Stephanopoulos presented Justin Wolfers "gas tax challenge" to John McCain. The challenge, which still remains unanswered, is to find any coherent economist willing to support Senator John McCain's proposed gas tax holiday. Here's the bizarre conversation:

Stephanopoulos: Not a single economist in the country said it'd work.

McCain: Yes. And there's no economist in the country that knows very well the low-income American who drives the furthest, in the oldest automobile, that sometimes can't even afford to go to work.

This is a pretty good example of the fallacy of ad hominem (Latin: "argument to the man, argument against the man), something that has taken the political world by storm. Th fallacy works like this; Person A makes claim X, there is something objectionable about Person A, therefore claim X is false.

Using that formula we can break down the argument into it's pieces.

Economists claim that the gas tax holiday will not benefit the public.
Economists are not part of the lower class who struggle to pay for gas.
Therefore the claim that the gas tax holiday will not benefit the public is false.

This type of logical fallacy can be powerful and cause people to shake their heads in agreement, "those who aren't like me can't understand." The reality of the situation though should be clear using a few other examples. By McCain's reasoning only those infected with HIV should be allowed to assess the potential good or harm a new treatment program will offer HIV patients. Also by his reasoning only those in government are able to hypothesize about the effects of a new law or directive. These examples should make it pretty clear that this type of reasoning in false.

Dissenters love this type of attack because it avoids the question of whether or not the policy would work and falsely associates the presenters faults as faults of the argument. Here's the real truth behind this type of fallacy. It doesn't matter whether Hitler or Gandhi was the person presenting the argument, their personal characteristics have no bearing on whether or not the statement is true or false. If both were alive today to give their assessment of the gas tax holiday there is a possibility that they would reach the same conclusion. On the same token two people who have lived awfully similar lives and hold the same values could come to different conclusions. A gas tax holiday will act according to the laws of the market and large economic principles I don't understand, nobody's personality will change its effect so it is false logic to attack the personalities and characteristics of those presenting an argument.

Economists by and large base their decisions off of the optimal societal outcome, that is, they analyze the proposal and base their judgments off of the merits of the argument in question alone in determining whether there will be a net gain, loss or push due to the proposal. It is disturbing that we can appeal to expertise when it is convenient, yet dismiss it as out of touch and irrelevant with it conflicts with illogical policy prescriptions. Who turned on the rationality vacuum?

Besides, wasn't this supposed to be a summer gas tax holiday, my calendar says summer is almost over!

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Quote of the Day

Via Kos:

"In the end, Senator McCain and President Bush are like two sides of the same coin and it doesn't amount to a whole lot of change."

- Hillary Clinton

Thats awesome! I want to buy that t-shirt.

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Why Offshore Drilling is a Pander

"The worst thing we can do as a nation is taking the easy way out. ...If you start opening up offshore drilling, then you are buying time and you are not addressing the fundamental problem with fossil fuels." -Lindsey Graham (one of McCain's top boosters)

Sounds like a pretty reasonable argument to me, but for some reason that argument has changed lately. Now Graham and McCain are supporters of legislation that would open a 27 year moratorium on offshore drilling. This is a political pander and nothing more. 8 years ago, while running for the Presidential nomination, John McCain espoused on the reasons offshore drilling would not help Americans in the long run, now the tune has been reversed and he is going public with his idea that offshore drilling will lower prices of oil and open up a new supply of domestic oil. The only problem with this is that it will not help. This is simply a political line that Republicans are using just like they used terrorism in 2004. People are scared of rising gas prices squeezing extra income from their households, scared that they will have to start sacrificing the needs of their family simply to commute to work or the grocery store. And these are real concerns unfortunately, but let's look at why an expanded offshore drilling program will not address the issue of price or supply.

First, in 2006 legislation was passed that opened up 8.3 million acres in the Gulf of Mexico to oil exploration. From these 8.3 million acres there has been a 0% increase in US oil production, the returns have yet to be seen. The federal government also leased 91 million additional acres for domestic production, most of which is going unused. So we know that opening up offshore drilling will not produce benefits within 2 years. We also know that there is plenty of offshore drilling space that has been granted but is yet to be used, so why do we need more? We really don't until we have used what has been granted so far, but don't take it from this liberal Dem, here's Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio, a Republican, calling out McCain:

"For anyone to represent that someone drilling off the coast in Florida is going to lower gas prices here or anywhere in this country is disingenuous and a flawed argument...Oil drilling could take 10 years before any oil is pulled out of the ground, and there are a large number of leases held by oil companies that are not being exploited right now. We can't say we need more until we've exploited these."

But wait Marco, John says "There are areas off our coasts that should be open to exploration and exploitation, and I hope we can take the first step by lifting the moratoria...[drilling] would be very helpful in the short term in resolving our energy crisis."

Well let's ignore the fact that since 2006 (the short term) we haven't seen any help in resolving our energy crisis or help with gas prices since opening up about 100 million acres to drilling. What do you need to get to the oil at the bottom of the ocean? Ships.

Unfortunately for us there are no ships! This New York Times article says that the world's existing drill-ships are booked solid for the next five years. And shipyards have ramped up production on new ships, unfortunately they fall prey to the same workings of every market and with the increased demand, the price of the ships have increased. In fact, in Asia (where most shipbuilders are located) the prices of a drill-ship have increased over $100 million a vessel to about a half a billion dollars. All of this demand also raises the price of running the rigs as costs for the newer rigs have reached about $600,000 a day, compared to $150,000 a day in 2002. Even those in Big Oil, like the American Petroleum Institute, the oil industry trade group, says drilling offshore is unlikely to provide Americans with more oil for at least 7 to 10 years.

So we've seen that what he have opened to offshore exploration has not yielded any results (we are talking about short term relief, right?) and that even if we allow drilling we don't have the capabilities to exploit it. The third problem facing John McCain's idea that offshore drilling will ease short term fears about oil is that there simply isn't that much oil down there. Let's hear what people from the Bush administration have to say about the supply of oil offshore (Remember that McCain is running on a platform of being less oil dependent as well as easier on the environment).

From the Energy Information Administration (Official Energy Statistics from the U.S. Government) we have a report that says reserves found on the outer continental shelf for the lower 48 states will yield enough oil to supply the U.S. for 2.5 years at our current consumption rate. 2.5 years is not enough to make a difference in our supply, and what happens after we've exhausted those 2.5 years worth of oil? Where do we go drilling next to lower the price of oil? Unfortunately the answer is probably the north pole (which is a whole other can o' worms) where technically nobody owns the land or rights to drill, can't wait for that war for resources.

So we have established three points against the ability to relieve our dependence on foreign oil and alleviate rising gas costs. 1) Past legislation opening up offshore drilling areas has yet to yield any rise in production and has done nothing to alleviate the price expansion over the last two years; 2) There is a shortage of infrastructure (ships) that is required to extract oil from deep sea floors; 3) The supply of oil in proposed drilling areas will provide at most 2.5 years of oil at our consumption rate.

It should be clearly established now that either the McCain campaign has done little research and doesn't understand the requirements to extract oil from deep sea floors or they are trying to give the voters a false sense of security in an election year. This is the definition of a pander, expressing views during an election cycle that will resonate with the fears of the voters in lieu of the fact that the policy will do little to change the situation. So next time you hear John McCain talk about how he is doing everything he can to help the public pay less for gas, or that his opponent doesn't care about the welfare of the people, make sure to do a little fact checking yourself to determine if there is value in what he is saying, or if he's just playing off of your fears of $5/gallon gas.

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John McCain: Straight (bullshit) Talker

I love this video, via jedreport.com. That cocky, condescending, "I don't quite know where I am" smirk on his face reminds me of another Republican jackass.


America, please do not be duped by another rethuglican lying his ass off to win an election, saying whatever is politically expedient to appease whoever the audience of the moment may be.

This is your "Straight Talker" America, vote wisely.

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Campaign Update

Delayed post from StifledMind's Junior Senior Political Correspondent Alex K

On the anniversary of D-Day, we are at a momentous time in this country. I think we can all feel it, when you turn on the TV, read a newspaper, or talk with people there's a sense of excitement. We now have an official presumptive nominee, a nominee with great oratory skills and a huge base of young motivated citizens. The other presumptive nominee is amazing as well. He's got the oratory ability of a 10th grader (watching that speech was brutal). He's packing them in by the 10's with old vets hopped up on pepto bismol and cialis. Vets looking to the promises of the past, and not the opportunities of the future.

The last year has been a whirlwind for all the candidates McCain has come back from near death early in the season to capture the nomination from a flip flopper and social liberal republican. A very difficult season to say the least. Barack has dealt with the inexperience card, the unpatriotic card, the bad preacher card, the slumlord ties, and the fact he's still a minority in a racially divided nation. I would say that Barack has repeatedly got up from the mat to show he has the mettle to lead the nation. He has broken ground in fund raising, energized the general public, and with ad visors mapped a winning campaign strategy overcoming insurmountable odds. If he runs the country the way he runs the campaign the American people should be in great shape.

Both sides of the political spectrum, i believe see this and are mentally preparing. The conservatively leaning right are bashing their own candidate. The base seem to be taking slow steps to recede in the shadows. The blogosphere are making Obama administration jabs, and what the future holds rants. The other side is having meetings to set campaign agenda allegedly and trying to unify the party.

Anyways, I firmly believe that Ronald Reagan would be spinning in his grave if he knew how much McCain is trying to stake a claim as an heir to his political legacy. Especially after being inseparable with the Bush White House.

Here's a speech truly worthy taking the time to watch.

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John McCain is a Dumbass

Too funny not to post. Via Canuckoo at DailyKos.com:

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Empty Suit (and Words), My Ass

Today, Barack Obama and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) took an enormous step towards reforming the corrupt, archaic cash-fixation that is D.C. politics. They have made a joint declaration that the Democratic Party, in stark contrast to the McBush campaign, will no longer accept donations from Washington lobbyists or 527's. It is unclear whether this will extend down-ticket, forbidding any Democrat from accepting lobbyist or 527 cheddar, but it does apply to the Obama campaign and to the DNC general election fund. This represents a historic departure from previous campaign cycles, where candidates and parties have traditionally pandered to whichever groups or firms offered the greatest financial boost to their efforts.

This, of course, flies in the face of the message issued by the Rightwing Noise Machine, claiming that Obama is an "empty suit," a man of lofty rhetoric without substance. Revolutionizing the fund raising standards of one of the two major political parties in the country? I think that counts as substance if anything does. This is that Change, with a capital C, that Obama and the Dems have been advancing and the Republicans have been failing to embrace.

Good to see our Man Obama follow through on his "people power" talk. I'd love to see Obama call the McCain/K Street campaign on this issue during on of McBush's proposed townhall meetings. Lets see if McCain's "strength" really is getting burned, rhetorically, in a small setting instead of getting burned on the national stage. Either way, this move is a huge victory for the voice of the people and for Democracy in general, and its going to make the whole "Obama is out of touch of the average American" argument seem pretty silly, seeing as Obama will be refusing the pander-cash from the D.C. powerhouses that outspend the People's Voice in Washington while McCain's floundering presidential bid will be lapping it up. He sure is "A Leader We Can Beleive In," if by "we" he means "we the D.C./K Street Elite."

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