You know that Presidential Candidate named John McCain? To John McCain’s “Campaign to Nowhere”, I said, “Thanks, but no thanks!”.

They have much more sophisticated voter databases than the Democrats that allows them to target individuals who are susceptible to a specific message.  While Democrats were worrying about the grassroots part of a campaign, the Republicans polished and refined their voter mailing list.

For instance, the Republicans can target people having problems with their mortgage and send them mailers that say, “During these times of economic crisis, when Americans are struggling, Barack Obama wants to make things more difficult for you by raising your taxes.”

I have heard that line from his surrogates over and over today, so it is obviously a talking point that they believe will be persuasive.

Barack Obama has started to respond, though slowly.  We would like to see much more of this kind of video.

The common thread between John McCain’s fraudulent Straight-Talk Express and Bush’s disingenuous claims of talking to God, is that both men are professional liars. McCain has made a Faustian deal with the George Bush handlers, including Karl Rove, where McCain has exchanged his Maverick status for that of a spineless, lying hypocrite.

Here is a video showing how even the lap-dog corporate press is becoming sick of John McCain’s lies. I have heard a lot of people say, “That is just Karl Rove. McCain doesn’t even know what ads are being put out in his name.”

Yes, I smell Karl Rove all over the McCain campaign. Yes, Karl Rove’s fingerprints are on the slimy media that has characterized John McCain’s message. My answer to that is shown in this video. When John McCain says, “I approve this message”, he is signing off on the dishonest smears and assuming responsibility for his campaign’s actions. It cannot be allowed that John McCain does not speak for the McCain campaign, even though the lobbyists that run his campaign think that this is true.

This video shows that Google and YouTube are all you need to debunk McCain’s campaign lies.  Too bad McCain does not know how to use a computer!

Check out Rachel’s listing of scandals and malfeasance by Sarah Palin. Try to keep up if you can!

By the way, Karl Rove is lying. The village of Wassilia is not the second most populated town in Alaska. It had between 4000 and 5000 people when Palin was first elected. I heard another Republican talking head say the exact same thing, prefacing the remark with, “I think”, which supposedly excuses them from giving out information that was false.

This video outlines John McCain’s negligence toward the victims of Hurricane Katrina. It is sad to see that McCain has no empathy for those less fortunate than himself.

He made a joke last night, when asked about the definition of “wealthy”, and answered that the line separating the middle class and the wealthy was about $5 million. The average American knows nothing about millions in the bank, or even hundreds of thousands of dollars. The average American lives from paycheck to paycheck, one illness or catastrophe away from losing everything, all the while falling deeper into debt.

Phil Gramm, McCain’s long-time friend, was advising the McCain campaign at the same time that he was lobbying for UBS, hoping to persuade Congress to take the side of the investment banks, rather than the struggling consumer in the mortgage crisis.

John McCain had no problem with this obvious conflict of interest. The only time he withdrew his support for Gramm was when Gramm said that the Americans losing their homes where just a “bunch of whiners”. I guess anyone that suffers real substantial loss, whether it it one’s property, livelihood, or even their health, is just whining.

Only wealthy people can express reasonable concerns and complaints. Middle-class Americans are just cry-babies. Why, the middle-class “whiners” should be happy that the rich do not take them out and have them shot!

Phil Gramm, one of the architects of the free-wheeling sub-prime mortgage environment, was also John McCain’s presidential campaign co-chair and was advising him on McCain’s approach to the mortgage crisis and economic policy.

From Wikipedia:

While advising the McCain campaign, Gramm was being paid by UBS to lobby Congress about the U.S. mortgage crisis. During this time, “the mortgage industry pressed Congress to roll back strong state rules that sought to stem the rise of predatory tactics used by lenders and brokers to place homeowners in high-cost mortgages.”^[10] According to Politico.com, Gramm had input on McCain’s March 26, 2008 policy speech on the mortgage crisis.^[10]

In a July 9, 2008 interview explaining McCain’s plans in reforming the U.S. economy, Gramm downplayed the idea that the nation was in a recession, stating, “You’ve heard of mental depression; this is a mental recession,” and “We have sort of become a nation of whiners, you just hear this constant whining, complaining about a loss of competitiveness, America in decline.”^[11]

Phil Gramm finally stepped down in an official capacity from the McCain campaign after a flurry of criticism over Gramm’s remarks. John McCain, like most of his lobbyist advisers, made Gramm’s role in the campaign less public, though it is clear that Gramm still advises McCain.

Since the mainstream media will not portray John McCain for the elitist that he really is, Robert Greenwald has taken up the gauntlet with his series of videos on “The Real McCain”. Here is his latest entry, titled, “McCain’s Mansions”:

The question is whether American voters will be so enamored of the ultra-wealthy daddy’s boy, that they will once again turn out for a rich and out-of-touch candidate, who is anything but intelligent or compassionate, or will they have learned their lesson with George W. Bush?

John McCain was a bad pilot and wrecked several expensive jets before being shot down in only his 20th hour of combat duty.

John McCain was not a good P.O.W.  He broke immediately, and a made several dozen propaganda films for the North Vietnamese.

John McCain was a bad husband.  He played around his wife frequently and carried on an affair with Cindy McCain for months before telling his wife that he wanted a divorce.

John McCain was a bad politician, getting embroiled in a shady Savings and Loan scandal right from the start of his political career.

John McCain has been a bad “Maverick”.  He has adopted every Bush policy that he previously condemned.  From Right Wing “agents of intolerance” to torture to Bush’s tax cuts, those things that the earlier Maverick McCain stood firmly against, he now sheepishly endorsed.

John McCain has been a bad Presidential candidate.  He has talked about countries that do not exist, described borders that do not exist, failed to understand the difference between Shia and Sunni, failed to understand the difference between Shi’ite Iran and Sunni-based Al Qaeda.

McCain has forgotten and jumbled so many things that his own campaign says that McCain does not speak for the McCain campaign, and have limited his contact with the press.  His campaign has even limited John McCain’s cell phone use, as he tends to parrot the ideas of the last person he talked to, rather than the talking points he had been briefed on earlier.

The real questions is, where would McCain be without Lindsay Graham, Joe Lieberman, and Cindy McCain to stand at his side, guide him around by the arm, and make suggestions as to how questions should be answered in front of the media?

An even bigger question is, if McCain were elected President, who would serve as the real Commander-in-Chief?  Just like with George W. Bush, who has taken over two years of vacation time since he took office, John McCain would only be a figure-head for the real power behind the Presidential Seal.

Vacations and trips abroad would be expected to be regular fare for McCain, while the “acting President of the United States”, stayed behind to get the real work done, as Cheney has done every time he sends George W. Bush off on another Crawford vacation or fund-raising junket.

We need to elect someone that would actually serve as President of the United States, not a figure-head.  No matter how you look at it, John McCain is unfit to lead.

While we know that the Republicans love Hollywood, and Hollywood loves Washington, very few politicians can measure up to this degree of activity in Tinsel Town. I can only think of Ronald Reagan, and Arnold Schwarzenegger as having longer celebrity resumes.

Barack Obama represented our country well when he went overseas. There were no gaffes, no neck massages of foreign leaders, no vomiting on other dignitaries, no wrong or mis-pronounced names, and no leaving a summit, saying, “Goodbye, from the greatest polluter in the world”.

However, John McCain’s campaign does not offer any respect for that performance, instead labeling him as being of the same ilk as Paris Hilton and Britney Spears. John McCain sees a successful overseas tour by Obama, and mocks and scoffs, reducing the take-home message to, “So what, big deal. He’s just a celebrity”.

This week also saw John McCain take one simple recommendation by Barack Obama about inflating tires properly to save gas, and called tire gauges the centerpiece of Barack Obama’s energy policy. Mock, mock. Scoff, scoff.

Perhaps the myopia of the McCain campaign speaks to the short-sightedness of McCain in regard to almost any issue, none so ridiculous as the gasoline tax proposal and the mantra invented by New Gingrich, “Drill Here, Drill Now”.

McCain later admitted that inflating tires properly is a good idea. He still has not explained how a temporary suspension of the gasoline tax, which would at most save a family $28.00, or how drilling here and drilling now is going to produce any results before 2018. Mock, mock, mock. Scoff, scoff, scoff.

However, you can judge for yourself as to who is the biggest celebrity.

Watch the video below, and then take a look at the small “snippet” of appearances on TV and film for John McCain in just the last few years in the IMDb listing. This small sampling does not begin to cover the list of celebrity entries on IMDB.

The video is from GottaLaff. Enjoy:

Writer:

1. Democrazy (2007) (script collaborator)
   … aka Demopazzia (Italy)
2. Faith of My Fathers (2005) (TV) (memoir)

Actor:

1. “24″ …. Office Staffer (1 episode, 2006)
   - Day 5: 1:00 p.m.-2:00 p.m. (2006) TV episode (uncredited) …. Office Staffer
   

Thanks:

1. The Hanoi Hilton (1987) (thanks) (as Senator John McCain)

Self:

• 2000s
• 1990s

1. “Today” …. Himself (2 episodes, 2007-2008)
   … aka NBC News Today (USA: promotional title)
   … aka The Today Show (USA)
   - Episode dated 21 July 2008 (2008) TV episode …. Himself
   - Episode dated 28 December 2007 (2007) TV episode …. Himself
2. “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” …. Himself / … (3 episodes, 2004-2008)
   … aka Late Night with Conan O’Brien (Australia)
   - Episode dated 18 July 2008 (2008) TV episode (as Senator John McCain) …. Herself
   - Episode dated 25 May 2005 (2005) TV episode …. Himself
   - Episode dated 27 May 2004 (2004) TV episode …. Himself
3. “Entertainment Tonight” …. Himself (2 episodes, 2008)
   … aka E.T. (USA: informal title)
   … aka ET Weekend (Australia: weekend title)
   … aka Entertainment This Week (weekend title)
   … aka This Week in Entertainment (USA: weekend title)
   - Episode dated 4 June 2008 (2008) TV episode …. Himself
   - Episode dated 9 May 2008 (2008) TV episode …. Himself
4. “Saturday Night Live” …. Himself / … (2 episodes, 2002-2008)
   … aka NBC’s Saturday Night (USA: first season title)
   … aka SNL (USA: informal title)
   … aka SNL 25 (USA: alternative title)
   … aka Saturday Night (USA: second season title)
   … aka Saturday Night Live ‘80 (USA: sixth season title)
   … aka The Best of Saturday Night Live (USA: rerun title)
   - Steve Carell/Usher (2008) TV episode (as Senator John McCain) …. Himself
   - Senator John McCain/The White Stripes (2002) TV episode …. Himself - Host
5. “Live with Regis and Kathie Lee” …. Himself (1 episode, 2008)
   … aka Live with Regis (USA: new title)
   … aka Live with Regis & Kelly (USA: new title)
   - Episode dated 14 May 2008 (2008) TV episode (as Senator John McCain) …. Himself
6. “The O’Reilly Factor” …. Himself (4 episodes, 2005-2008)
   - Episode dated 9 May 2008 (2008) TV episode (as Sen. John McCain) …. Himself
   - Episode dated 8 May 2008 (2008) TV episode (as Sen. John McCain) …. Himself
   - Episode dated 27 December 2007 (2007) TV episode (as Sen. John McCain) …. Himself
   - Episode dated 26 July 2005 (2005) TV episode …. Himself
7. “The Daily Show” …. Himself (12 episodes, 2001-2008)
   … aka A Daily Show with Jon Stewart (USA: new title)
   … aka Jon Stewart (Australia)
   … aka The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (USA: new title)
   … aka The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Global Edition (International: English title: cut version)
   - Episode dated 7 May 2008 (2008) TV episode (as Senator John McCain) …. Himself
   - Episode dated 16 August 2007 (2007) TV episode …. Himself
   - Episode dated 24 April 2007 (2007) TV episode (as Sen. John McCain) …. Himself
   - Episode dated 24 July 2006 (2006) TV episode (as Sen. John McCain) …. Himself
   - Episode dated 4 April 2006 (2006) TV episode (as Sen. John McCain) …. Himself
   (7 more)
8. “WWF Raw Is War” …. Himself (1 episode, 2008)
   … aka Raw Is War (USA: short title)
   … aka WWE Monday Night RAW (USA: new title)
   … aka WWE Raw (USA: new title)
   … aka WWF Raw (USA: new title)
   - Episode dated 21 April 2008 (2008) TV episode …. Himself
9. “The View” …. Himself (2 episodes, 2005-2008)
   - Episode dated 10 April 2008 (2008) TV episode (as Senator John McCain) …. Himself
   - Episode dated 8 November 2005 (2005) TV episode (as Sen. John McClain) …. Himself
10. “Late Show with David Letterman” …. Himself / … (8 episodes, 2001-2008)
    … aka Late Show Backstage (USA: title for episodes with guest hosts)
    … aka Letterman (Australia)
    … aka The Late Show (USA: informal short title)
    - Episode #15.90 (2008) TV episode (as Senator John McCain) …. Himself - Guest
    - Episode #15.41 (2008) TV episode …. Himself - Pre-taped segment/’Late Show Candidate Spotlight’
    - Episode #15.40 (2008) TV episode …. Himself - Pre-taped segment/’Late Show Candidate Spotlight’
    - Episode dated 28 February 2007 (2007) TV episode …. Himself
    - Episode dated 9 February 2006 (2006) TV episode …. Himself
    (3 more)
11. “IFC News: 2008 Uncut” …. Himself (2 episodes, 2007-2008)
    - Episode #1.10 (2008) TV episode …. Himself
    - Introducing the Circus (2007) TV episode …. Himself
12. “Larry King Live” …. Himself (9 episodes, 2004-2008)
    - Jon McCain (2008) TV episode …. Himself
    - With President Bush address Tonight (2007) TV episode …. Himself
    - Sen. John McCain (2007) TV episode …. Himself
    - Sen John McCain (2007) TV episode …. Himself
    - Episode dated 10 January 2007 (2007) TV episode …. Himself
    (4 more)
13. “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” …. Himself / … (10 episodes, 2001-2008)
    - Episode dated 31 January 2008 (2008) TV episode …. Himself
    - Episode dated 29 August 2007 (2007) TV episode (as Senator John McCain) …. Herself
    - Episode dated 28 August 2007 (2007) TV episode …. Himself
    - Episode dated 7 August 2006 (2006) TV episode …. Himself
    - Episode dated 18 April 2006 (2006) TV episode …. Himself
    (5 more)

John McCain (I). Click the link for the full list.

Some of these people include supposed Biblical “End-Times” Scholars like Hal Lindsay, who has no problem with the fact that the other parts of the prophecy regarding the Anti-Christ have yet to come to pass. What’s ignoring a few Biblical prophecies, when distorting them will achieve your craven political agenda?

These people believe that Christians will swallow anything if it comes from a TV evangelist, a crooked pastor, a newsletter, email, or telephone campaign. In fact, Bill Moyers demonstrated just that this past Friday night, when he revisited the Jack Abramoff scandal with so-called Christian Ralph Reed shaking everyone down for money.

To Ralph Reed and his cohorts, Christians are just “wackos”:

BILL MOYERS: On the Coushatta’s tab, Casino Jack once again turned to Ralph Reed. The “Right Hand of God” was just the one Abramoff needed to stir up Texas Christians against gambling in the Lone Star State. Mike Scanlon told the Coushatta that paying Reed was crucial:

[Memo from MIKE SCANLON]: Simply put we want to bring out the wackos …The wackos get their information from the Christian right, Christian radio, the Internet, and telephone trees.

BILL MOYERS: “I do guerrilla warfare,” Reed once said of his political tactics. “I paint my face and travel at night. You don’t know it’s over until you’re in a body bag.” In Texas, his weapons included bogus Christian front groups.

BILL MOYERS: Reed’s e-mails to Abramoff were insistent - he needed money and he needed it now. At one point, Abramoff responded:

[E-mail from JACK ABRAMOFF]: Give me a number.

[E-mail from RALPH REED]: $225K a week for TV; $450K for two weeks of TV.

[E-mail from JACK ABRAMOFF]: Ralph, they are going to faint when they see these numbers.

BILL MOYERS: But Reed claimed he was worth it:

[E-mail from RALPH REED]: We have over 50 pastors mobilized, with a total membership in those churches of over 40,000…

MARVIN OLASKY: We have one of our reporters based in Dallas who did a lot of calling around and just asking pastors, “Well, were you involved in this?” And lo and behold, no one was.

BILL MOYERS: Marvin Olasky is editor-in-chief of World, the leading national journal of the evangelical right. The magazine spent seven months investigating Reed’s involvement with Abramoff.

MARVIN OLASKY: There was a lot of fooling going on - Abramoff, in a way, was manipulating Ralph Reed, Ralph Reed was manipulating others, but perhaps Ralph Reed was manipulating Abramoff and saying, “I’m accomplishing these things,” whereas he wasn’t. So, you know, there were millions of dollars changing hands, there were actually hundreds of millions of dollars at stake in this whole thing.

LOUS DUBOSE: You know, there’s something ironic and amusing in all that, is that while Abramoff was shaking down these Indians, it’s quite possible that Ralph Reed was shaking down Jack Abramoff.

This is the political and religious leaders’ view of Christians. Gullible and malleable, easily manipulated and misled, these are people that the Republicans believe get their information “from the Christian right, Christian radio, the Internet, and telephone trees.”

This whole “The One” campaign is supposed to be code for Obama being the Anti-Christ, and is meant to appeal to ‘wacko” Christians. Even if someone wanted to make a Biblical case for this, the prophetic evidence is not there, not even in Hal Lindsay’s, “Late, Great Planet Earth”.

So, even though this code cannot be taken seriously, it is supposed to inject an uneasy, subliminal fear that somehow Barack Obama, the Christian candidate, is secretly the tool of Satan, while the multi-millionaire, adulterer, lying, scandal-plagued, unethical, non-Christian is on God’s side, or better yet, God is on McCain’s side.

I’m sure that not a few Republicans are watching this video and asking themselves what they have gotten themselves into, as this is the most juvenile, irresponsible campaign in Presidential history. Obviously, John McCain’s handlers need handlers.

I will enjoy watching what Keith Olbermann, Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, and Rachel Maddow will have to say about this video in the coming week. Watch the video for yourself, and no laughing, please! Okay, you can laugh when Charlton Heston parts the Red Sea, but only then!

Where’s Joe Liebermann, McCain’s “Brain”?  You can’t let McCain wander around the country where there are cameras without Holy Joe around to do damage control!

This is just sad. I almost feel sorry for the GOP… Naaahhh!

It is reminiscent of the same bad judgment that Nixon used when going after the Democrats, when he could have done nothing, literally, and been re-elected easily.  No - he couldn’t let that remote possibility remain even a possibility, so Nixon pursued the events that lead to the Watergate cover-up and his resignation.

Does Barack Obama have the same bent for self-destruction?  Is he trying to pull defeat from the jaws of victory?  Millions of people have been shocked over his FISA betrayal.  Perhaps Obama has just calculated that these supporters of his would never vote for McCain.  After doing the math, Obama may have just said, let’s go for the crossover Republicans and Independents and support FISA.

I hope he has plenty of other donors lined up.  I was actually concerned that I would be reaching my donation limit too soon before the November election.  He will not get one thin dime from me ever again.

Talking Points Memo has some interesting video:

http://www.imvotingrepublican.com/

h/t Lisa Zanghi-Owen