A READER AT A MAJOR NEWSROOM EMAILS: “Off the record, every suspicion you have about MSM being in the tank for O is true. We have a team of 4 people going thru dumpsters in Alaska and 4 in Arizona. Not a single one looking into Acorn, Ayers or Freddiemae. Editor refuses to publish anything that would jeopardize election for O, and betting you dollars to donuts same is true at NYT, others. People cheer when CNN or NBC run another Palin-mocking but raising any reasonable inquiry into obama is derided or flat out ignored. The fix is in, and its working.” I asked permission to reprint without attribution and it was granted.
Barack Obama played the “me too” game during the Friday debates on September 26 after Senator John McCain mentioned that he was wearing a bracelet with the name of Cpl. Matthew Stanley, a resident of New Hampshire and a soldier that lost his life in Iraq in 2006. Obama said that he too had a bracelet. After fumbling and straining to remember the name, he revealed that his had the name of Sergeant Ryan David Jopek of Merrill, Wisconsin.
Shockingly, however, Madison resident Brian Jopeck, the father of Ryan Jopeck, the young soldier who tragically lost his life to a roadside bomb in 2006, recently said on a Wisconsin Public Radio show that his family had asked Barack Obama to stop wearing the bracelet with his son’s name on it. Yet Obama continues to do so despite the wishes of the family.
Jopek began by saying that his ex-wife was taken aback, even upset, that Obama has made the death of her son a campaign issue. Jopek says his wife gave Obama the bracelet because “she just wanted Mr. Obama to know Ryan’s name.” Jopek went on to say that “she wasn’t looking to turn it into a big media event” and “just wanted it to be something between Barack Obama and herself.” Apparently, they were all shocked it became such a big deal.
JEFFERSON CITY - Gov. Matt Blunt today issued the following statement on news reports that have exposed plans by U.S. Senator Barack Obama to use Missouri law enforcement to threaten and intimidate his critics.
“St. Louis County Circuit Attorney Bob McCulloch, St. Louis City Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce, Jefferson County Sheriff Glenn Boyer, and Obama and the leader of his Missouri campaign Senator Claire McCaskill have attached the stench of police state tactics to the Obama-Biden campaign.
“What Senator Obama and his helpers are doing is scandalous beyond words, the party that claims to be the party of Thomas Jefferson is abusing the justice system and offices of public trust to silence political criticism with threats of prosecution and criminal punishment.
“This abuse of the law for intimidation insults the most sacred principles and ideals of Jefferson. I can think of nothing more offensive to Jefferson’s thinking than using the power of the state to deprive Americans of their civil rights. The only conceivable purpose of Messrs. McCulloch, Obama and the others is to frighten people away from expressing themselves, to chill free and open debate, to suppress support and donations to conservative organizations targeted by this anti-civil rights, to strangle criticism of Mr. Obama, to suppress ads about his support of higher taxes, and to choke out criticism on television, radio, the Internet, blogs, e-mail and daily conversation about the election.
“Barack Obama needs to grow up. Leftist blogs and others in the press constantly say false things about me and my family. Usually, we ignore false and scurrilous accusations because the purveyors have no credibility. When necessary, we refute them. Enlisting Missouri law enforcement to intimidate people and kill free debate is reminiscent of the Sedition Acts - not a free society.”
Barack Obama got off to a good start when Jim Lehrer spent a half-hour on economic issues, where McCain is hobbled by the carcass of George W. Bush.
But when the debate got to the foreign policy issues that it was supposed to be about, the bracelet exchange summed it all up.
McCain mentions that he’s wearing a bracelet he got from the mother of a soldier slain in New Hampshire.
To which Obama responds: “I have a bracelet, too.”
For the last hour, McCain bested Obama at almost every turn. Even at the start, McCain mentioned Ted Kennedy’s seizure first, and later he beat him to the punch on global warming while simultaneously dropping Hillary Clinton’s name first. McCain even needled Obama on his presidential seal.
Barack’s leading in the polls, there were no killer soundbites, George Bush is not going away before Nov. 4, and foreign policy is, after all, McCain’s strong suit. But last night anyway, McCain bloodied Obama, again and again.
McCain is tough, Barack is Harvard.
Somehow, against all odds in this rotten year for Republicans, McCain hangs around. He seems to be on the ropes, and then he pulls another surprise. After an unimaginably bad 10 days for any Republican, he’s still there.
Barack Obama kept saying last night he “agreed” with “John.” McCain said “Sen. Obama” didn’t get it. McCain said he’s got the mojo because he went to Afghanistan, Obama said he’s got it because his running mate is Joe Biden. Joe Biden?
How about the closing statements, you know, the ones with the personal touches.
Obama: “My father was from Kenya.”
McCain: “When I came home from prison.”
Sometimes you forget how hard-nosed McCain is. He spent his formative years in a box at the Hanoi Hilton. At the same point in his life, Barack Obama’s biggest concern was getting his car booted in Somerville for nonpayment of parking tickets.
Obama does fine talking about “investing” in the future and those domestic programs that you just can’t cut, like “early childhood education.”
But then McCain called out Barack on his statement that if American troops were threatened, he’d strike Pakistan.
“You don’t do that,” McCain said, sounding like the Godfather. “You don’t say that out loud. If you have to do things, you have to do things.”
Obama kept saying he agreed with McCain. This is what McCain kept saying: “I’m afraid Sen. Obama doesn’t understand the difference between a tactic and a strategy . . . I don’t think Sen. Obama understands there was a failed state in Pakistan . . . Sen. Obama doesn’t seem to understand . . . What Sen. Obama doesn’t seem to understand . . . Again, a bit of naivete.”
McCain is out of his element on economics. He hates earmarks - we get it, John, we get it. Greed is not good either. We can quote him on how he believes fundamentally in the fundamental beliefs.
Boilerplate, on domestic issues. But on foreign policy, McCain is spot on. Unfortunately for McCain, this isn’t going to be a foreign-policy election.
ARLINGTON, VA — U.S. Senator John McCain’s presidential campaign today announced that 300 retired generals and admirals from around the country are endorsing John McCain for president. The retired generals and admirals announced their support with the following letter:
“We have had the honor and privilege of serving as career officers in the United States Armed Forces, and of serving shoulder to shoulder with so many of the fine young men and women who are the backbone of America’s Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and Coast Guard. It is that experience that informs our judgment that John McCain is the presidential candidate best suited to serve as America’s Commander-in Chief from the day of his inauguration.
“Our next president will confront national security challenges as significant as those faced by any administration in at least a generation. Success will require a leader with proven tenacity, judgment and courage. It will also require a leader with detailed knowledge of our military and other instruments of national power, and with years of experience dealing seriously with foreign leaders.
“John McCain’s entire life has been devoted to the service of America. Throughout a long and distinguished career in the military and in Congress, he has repeatedly displayed the courage and integrity to place America’s interests first — regardless of personal cost. And he has demonstrated the experience and wisdom to lead America — and, importantly, our allies — in effectively dealing with complex and vitally important national security challenges around the world.
“We unequivocally endorse him to continue his service to the country as the next President of the United States.”
Henry Kissinger believes Barack Obama misstated his views on diplomacy with US adversaries and is not happy about being mischaracterized. He says: “Senator McCain is right. I would not recommend the next President of the United States engage in talks with Iran at the Presidential level. My views on this issue are entirely compatible with the views of my friend Senator John McCain. We do not agree on everything, but we do agree that any negotiations with Iran must be geared to reality.”
Over at SilentRunning, there is an interesting thread on the current financial situation and how GWB is taking the fall for the good of the country and the Republican party. I also had similar thoughts about this when President Bush announced the $700 billion socialist plan. Wonder if the magnificent Rove was involved, too?
Consider the following pieces of information available about the current financial crisis -
- The mandates imposed upon Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac that created the sub-prime market, and fueled the ‘housing bubble’, were devised and pushed by the Democrats, and fully in place before the current administration took office.
- The Bush Administration recognized the situation as a problem pretty early on (2001), and repeatedly pushed to have the regulations changed to remove this distortion of the markets, without any success, due to the Democrats blocking the changes.
- John McCain recognized the problem, and pushed remedial legislation in 2005 (S190) to fix it, which again, was shot down primarily along party lines.
- None of the Republican’s issued warnings were heeded by the Democrats, nor greatly noticed by the media or the public.
- The ‘response’ from the Administration to the ‘crisis’ was remarkably swift, detailed and complete for such a ‘quick turn’, and entailed proposing one of the most socialistic remedies since Nixon’s wage and price freezes - almost 180 out from the usual ‘let the market forces self-correct’ approach one familiar with ‘the narrative’ might expect, and containing elements unpalatable to both sides of the aisle.
- Allowing the prime movers of the cause of the mess, Barney Frank and Chris Dodd, to be drawn to open media mikes like moths to the flame, talking specifically on this issue, raising their profiles and connection to these events, thus highlighting their central role in the whole mess.
- The Dem Congressional leadership making full use of opportunity to fully display their total knack for feckless incompetence and political buffoonery, which is almost a given, just as the American public is really, really paying attention, - Reid’s attempt to torpedo shale oil in the midst of it was an added bonus.
- A perfect opportunity for John McCain to take bold action, and to quietly, with subtlety, begin pointing the way to a solution which probably won’t cost 3/4 of a trillion dollars, and basically socialize several major Wall Street firms. Something which a) just might solve the problem, and b) would absolutely derail the Democrat’s mantra that the Repubs in general and John McCain in particularly are clueless on the economic front, and [Update] c) provide a ‘clean’ demarcation line severing John McCain (and the Repub Congresscritters that are revolting against it) from the Bush White House and ‘rendering inoperative’ the ‘more of the same’ line of attack.
- All within 6 weeks of an election.
Is this a strategy that he’s been underestimated on?
