First Door on the Left

Johnny McCain is not having the best of weeks (or months or years, for that matter) is he?

McCain says he’d prefer to speak in Germany as president

(CNN) — Sen. John McCain sharpened his attacks against Sen. Barack Obama on Thursday, saying he’d rather give a speech in Germany as president than as a presidential candidate.

Obama was in Berlin for the latest leg of an international trip intended to bolster his foreign policy credentials at home and set out his vision for a new era of transatlantic cooperation.

McCain was campaigning Thursday in Ohio, focusing on health care.

Speaking to reporters outside Schmidt’s Restaurant and Banquet Haus, a German eatery in Columbus, Ohio, McCain responded to Obama’s Berlin speech, which attracted large crowds at the Victory Column.

“Well, I’d love to give a speech in Germany … a political speech or a speech that maybe the German people would be interested in,” he said. “But I would much prefer to do it as president of the United States rather than as a candidate for the office of the presidency.”

Sounds like the old geezer has a case of the sour grapes, doesn’t it? Buck up, Johnny, it’s not going to get any better.

UPDATE: You know, I knew Johnny McCain reminded me of someone, but I could never quite put my finger on who it was. It took the above cartoon to bring it on home…

It isn’t even August yet. The parties have not even held their national conventions yet. And still, the McCain campaign has hit rock bottom. Is it really too late for the Republicans to pick someone else?

I’m a visual kind of guy. Really. Take a few moments and look around here. Lots of images. To me, a picture really does say a thousand words, and more. (Which may explain my magazine collection dating back to my teen years… all kinds of magazines… and that’s a lot of years.)

The use of images to spread propaganda particularly intrigues me. Especially propaganda of the political kind. Which, I guess, is why I found these two images I happened upon while browsing the internets this afternoon quite fascinating. I cannot fathom in my mind why right wingers (and even some on the left) would not find both of them equally amusing. I know I do.

The first, by the way, is a cartoon (in case you cannot tell). It depicts how some on the right believe some on the left feel about Senator Obama. (I have met him in person. He did not seem to be quite that skinny… though he did definitely appear to be fit… and he has a very firm handshake.) The second is an actual poster distributed by the McCain campaign (and a true tribute to the art of airbrushing). Nothing really says “peace” more than a red sky full of fighter planes unless it is a red sky full of fighter planes being watched over by the huge visage of Johnny McCain. Again, I personally find them both equally amusing, if not downright silly. I do not understand how some people can chuckle while viewing the first and yet take the second quite seriously.

Clicking on either image will make it appear bigger.

P.S. For Melissa Couthier: Does Mr. McCain’s pose in the above pictured poster remind you of anything?

This is about artistic tone. The profile view. The serious expression. The shading. When I saw the Obama flier picture McCain poster, my mind immediately called up this Hitler image and I was struck by how similar they are in feel the color choice differences aside. Unnerving really.

Sheesh. Stupidity really does rule the right, doesn’t it?

Jed Lewison (The Jed Report) has put together another excellent video. If you are even thinking of voting for Johnny McCain, you need to watch this video. If you know anybody who is even thinking of voting for Johnny McCain, you need to share this video with them. John McCain’s Neverending War…

(I have closed the comments on this post. If you have a comment about this video, please leave it on Jed’s blog. It’s okay, however, if you tell him that I sent you.)

P.S. Videos such as the one posted above really do make stories such as this one appear all the more ludicrous. Besides, does anyone actually watch “World News with Charles Gibson?” (Do any of the major media outlets have anybody on staff who is not receiving a weekly check from the RNC?)

I don’t pay much attention to Robert Novak. Neither should you.

The Odd Couple

Can you just imagine the screaming and outrage from the right had it been Barack Obama showing this level of ignorance? It seems to be alright, though, when it comes from Senior Citizen McCain.

See also: “McCain shows his expertise on foreign policy.” The old codger also believes that Czechoslovakia still exists.

Wait a minute…

McCain gets Social Security but criticizes system

John McCain

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - Although Republican presidential candidate John McCain has called Social Security “a disgrace,” he still cashes his own retirement check every month.

“I’m receiving the benefits, the system is broken and, unfortunately, my children and grandchildren, according to the trustees of the Social Security system, will not have the same benefits the present retirees have,” McCain told reporters Thursday on his campaign bus.

McCain’s 2007 tax return shows Social Security benefits of $23,157 for the year, an average of $1,929.75 a month. He said he started receiving the payments “whenever I was eligible.”[..]

McCain, who will turn 72 next month, was eligible to receive full-retirement benefits when he turned 65. In 2008, the maximum benefit for a person retiring at full retirement age was $2,185.

McCain reported a total income of $405,409 in 2007. As a senator, he is paid $169,300 a year. Last year, he donated $105,467 to charity, his return shows.

McCain’s wife, Cindy, reported a total income of more than $6 million in 2006, according to the campaign. She files her tax return separately from her husband and has received an extension for 2007. Heiress to a large Arizona beer distributorship, she is reportedly worth more than $100 million.

People are not required to take Social Security payments, according to B.J. Jarrett, a spokesman with the Social Security Administration.

(Emphasis added.)

In addition, Senator McCain’s pension from the senate will be the average of the highest 3 years of his salary (currently $169,300). If, gods forbid, he is elected president, his annual salary will increase to $400,000. Will he still collect Social Security?

So, basically, this hypocrite is sucking at the teat of the animal of which he is so critical. (Not right, Johnny. Not right at all.)

I would say he’s a typical Republican, but… Oh, what the hell? He’s just a typical Republican.

If the old coot had any dignity at all, he would be paying the government back for all the Social Security benefits he has received. Plus interest. What does the old geezer need money for anyway? His wife pays all the bills.

George W. Bush, during his press conference yesterday, said this:

“I’m 62, I’m having trouble remembering a lot of things.”

Not very helpful for Johnny McCain, who will turn 72 next month (on August 29, the day after the Democratic National Convention ends and three days before the Republican National Convention begins)…

John McCain: 'I cannot believe George said that!'

Is it any wonder that McCain’s people would rather that Mr. Bush just stay home?

Wow. Did you happen to catch CBS’ 60 Minutes this evening? I did. I have to tell you that I honestly was shocked by the ignorance that was on display.

Duncan Hunter (R-California) is an idiot.

Talk about being open, the Royal Navy now allows sailors to march in gay pride parades, in uniform. And gay couples are even eligible for married military housing.

Duncan Hunter

“We aren’t the Brits. We’re not the Europeans. We’re not the Swedes,” says Republican Congressman Duncan Hunter, who is the ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee.

Hunter argues that gays do not belong in the U.S. military because American troops need to be hardened warriors, unlike soldiers in the 15 NATO countries where gays serve openly.

“The Fallujahs of the world, the Ramadis of the world that require heavy combat and lots of fire-fighting capability - those are the places the Americans go. The other countries tend to go to the so-called peacekeeper zones, where they have fewer fire fights and less contact with the enemy,” Hunter says. “And the European nations show little will to send large contingents of their military people into dangerous places.”[..]

Rep. Hunter says with the Pentagon starting to meet its recruiting goals, now is not the time for change. “Would we risk doing away with this system that works, where American families sit around the dinner table and they make a decision that their young man or their young woman is going to go into this military because they share the values of that military. Or should we experiment at a time when our military is totally volunteer, when it’s extremely capable and perhaps lose that capability and perhaps lose those numbers? Perhaps lose those re-enlistments and perhaps lose that effectiveness?” he asks.

This imbecile actually went on national television and said that “American troops need to be hardened warriors, unlike soldiers in the 15 NATO countries where gays serve openly.” Everybody knows that a homosexual cannot be a hardened warrior, just as everybody knows that the soldiers in the 15 NATO countries where gays serve openly are all prissy pansies.

Can you believe that this idiot actually ran for the Republican presidential nomination this year? He actually thought that America would accept his idiocy and his ignorance. Unbelievable. Our Republicans really dodged a bullet on that one!

Related: “Army Documents Show Lower Recruiting Standards.”

UPDATE: Video added (Rep. Hunter appears in part 2)…

Part 1:

Part 2:

(Download video: Part 1; Part 2)

This is truly amazing stuff and I think we are going to be seeing a lot more like it as this campaign wears on…

McCain dodges Viagra, contraceptives question

PORTSMOUTH, Ohio - Republican John McCain prides himself on being a straight talker. But he resisted being dragged into a discussion Wednesday about insurance companies that cover Viagra but not birth control products.

“I certainly do not want to discuss that issue,” the presidential candidate said when a reporter asked him about it on his campaign bus, the “Straight Talk Express.”

A few seats away was Carly Fiorina, a top McCain supporter who stirred talk about the topic at a recent Washington breakfast with reporters. The former Hewlett-Packard chief executive, discussing consumer-driven health insurance, mentioned something “I’ve been hearing a lot about from women: There are many health insurance plans that will cover Viagra but won’t cover birth-control medication. Those women would like a choice.”

Fiorina is among McCain’s most prominent female advisers, and seen by some as a possible choice to be his running mate.

When asked Wednesday if he had voted in the Senate against a proposal to require insurance companies to cover contraceptive products, McCain replied, “I don’t know enough about it to give you an informed answer because I don’t recall the vote… I don’t usually duck an issue, but I’ll try to get back to you.”

Actually, he does. He ducks a lot of issues and has flip-flopped on even more. He seems to have a lot of difficulty recalling many of his votes in the Senate. The “Straight Talk Express” should be a running joke in the United States, if it isn’t already.

The video is even more amazing. Remember, this is the man who the Republicans believe should be the next President of the United States…

(That was, by the way, MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow discussing the issue with Chris Hayes of The Nation.)

Related post: “McCain and condoms.”

“I think the time has come for Sen. McCain to not just repudiate Phil Gramm, but to cut him loose.”

Hey, what’s good for the goose is good for the gander. Right? Right?! You can’t really expect others to do as you say and not as you do. It’s time to belly up to the bar. Either crap or get off the crapper. (Okay, I’m done now. Thank me later.)

McCain breaks with adviser over ‘whiners’ remark

Phil Gramm and John McCain

BELLEVILLE, Mich. (AP) - John McCain sharply broke from an economic adviser who dubbed the United States “a nation of whiners” in a “mental recession” as the Republican presidential candidate sought to counter criticism that he’s weak on the economy.

Sensing an opening, Democrat Barack Obama turned the remarks against his rival.

“I strongly disagree” with Phil Gramm’s remarks, McCain told reporters in what amounted to nothing short of a smackdown against one of his top surrogates and longtime friends. “Phil Gramm does not speak for me. I speak for me.”

The Republican presidential hopeful said a person who just lost a job or a mother struggling to pay for a child’s education “isn’t suffering from a mental recession.”

“America is in great difficulty. And we are experiencing enormous economic challenges as well as others,” McCain said, seeking to stem the fallout from Gramm’s comments.

Gramm, a former Texas senator who is a vice chairman of the Swiss bank UBS and has a doctorate in economics, made the remarks in an interview with The Washington Times. Friends and colleagues for years, McCain served as a top surrogate when Gramm ran for president in 1996, and the Texan has returned the favor this year, campaigning frequently on McCain’s behalf.

Cut him loose, Johnny. Let’s see if you really practice what you preach!

Phil Gramm was an idiot when he was a senator from my state and he’s still an idiot. It’s good to know that some things just never change.

UPDATE: Video of Senator Obama’s response…