5 posts tagged “mccain”

Every now and then, politicians hand us one-line lies that stick.

Like Sarah Palin did last week when she told

Gov. Palin has plenty to hide.  And it's not just Troopergate.

First, the emails and audio tape show clearly that people who answered directly to Palin pressured for the firing of the her brother-in-law trooper (Wooten), as well as the Commissioner (Monegan) when he refused to fire him.  A bipartisan Legislative Council has ruled that the Commissioner will stay, (actually, he is to be re-instated), in other words, that Sarah Palin was wrong in her efforts to fire him..

Today Sarah Palin announced that she REFUSES TO COOPERATE with an investigation. This is a reversal of her position when she said she would welcome an investigation.  Read the CNN report.

Ok, let's move on to what life will be like when Obama and Biden win the election.

But before we do that, let's also review what else Gov. Palin has to hide:

(1) The accepted the Bridge to Nowhere money, but never built the bridge.  She kept YOUR federal tax dollars.
(2) She failed to sell the Governor's jet, and then ended up losing money on the deal.  I wonder who profited?
(3) She was selected by (as Get Real put together in an earlier article) by the People for the New American Century, not by McCain.
(4) She has no (none, zero) foreign policy experience.  Worse than that, she is indescribably ignorant in the area.  She didn't know what the Bush Doctine is.  That's the war policy of the current president that has led to the deaths of so many American men and women have died in Iraq.

Now that both the trooper and the Commissioner report that she lied to ABC's Charles Gibson last week, it appears that Mrs. Palin has been.. um, no double standard here, ok, everyone?... caught with her pants down.

With nothing to hide.

Part of me thinks that the whole Sarah Palin thing is a smoke screen.  What about the RNC's candidate for president?  The thought for today:  Let's not forget that McCain is woefully inexperienced and ignorant in economic matters.  All he knows about money is how to help his wife spend hers and buy so many houses that he has lost count. 

That alone should disqualify him.

Related articles:

Get Real
Real Scoop
News Hounds: Fox News Pundits Overlook Palin's Lies
Lots O' Thoughts: Sarah Palin Lies, Gets Called Out On It
Paul Begala: The McCain-Palin Lies and the Neil Armstrong Principle

Freedom of assembly.  Freedom of association.  First Amendment.  Freedom of Speech.  Freedom of the Press. LIBERTY.

When they take these away, we have a Police State.

Well, we have a Police State.

Last week, outside the Republican National Convention, protesters and up to four members of the media were shot, beaten, maced, handcuffed and jailed for bond and some members of the press are now facing trial.

Read, for example, about Nick Brook's experience.  He is a freelance photojournalist with media (press) credentials.

Read, for example, about Associated Press photographer Matt Rourke's arrest.

Look at and read about the last shot that Matt took before his arrest.

Watch the video shot by Democracy Now! Producer Nicole Salazar:

Now watch the storm troopers swarm in and arrest Democracy Now's Amy Goodman (unlawful arrest):

Both presidential candidates should condemn these actions of the police in the strongest possible terms.  How can they say they will stand for what America means?

When their campaigns call your house, asking for money, tell them you'd like the candidate to say it, loud and clear.  Here is the type of statement that I would expect from the next president of the United States:

"I condemn the actions of the Minneapolis Police  and the individual police officers and the secret service agents who participated in the brutal and unlawful detention of members of the press.  All charges against credentialed press members should be dropped and they should be offered sincere apologies.  Steps must be taken in the future, including education and training of police officers and secret service agents on their role in safeguarding the rights of members of the press and the rights of protesters."

Call the Obama Campaign: (866) 675-2008 or write to them here.

Call the McCain Campaign: (703) 418-2008 or email them at info@johnmccain.com.

Ask them to join Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) in his condemnation of the intimidation of the press.
 
Then, and this is VERY IMPORTANT.... EXERCISE YOUR RIGHT TO PEACEFUL PROTEST.

Or is this what we want for our children?

 

The Washington Post published a list of the potentates behind McCain.  Here is part of that list, showing the members who are part of PNAC, the group that called for war on Iraq in BIG BOLD LETTERS.

WILLIAM KRISTOL, The Weekly Standard editor, informal foreign policy adviser.  CHAIRMAN OF THE PNAC.

ROBERT KAGAN; senior associate with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Washington Post columnist and former speechwriter for then-secretary of state George P. Shultz; informal foreign policy adviser.  PNAC PROJECT DIRECTOR.

RANDY SCHEUNEMANN, national security aide to then-Senate Majority Leaders Bob Dole and Trent Lott and now a lobbyist, defense and foreign policy coordinator (for this cycle and 2000). PNAC PROJECT DIRECTOR.

GARY SCHMITT, former staff director of the Senate Intelligence Committee and now an American Enterprise Institute scholar, foreign policy adviser. PNAC SENIOR FELLOW.

Sources: The Washington Post, PNAC Website.

Some others behind McCain include the usual suspects (bear with me, it's worth it...):

Richard Lee Armitage, President George W. Bush’s deputy secretary of state and an international business consultant and lobbyist, informal foreign policy adviser.  ADMITTED SOURCE OF THE PLAME CIA LEAK.

Smith, R. Jeffrey (September 8, 2006). "Armitage Says He Was Source of CIA Leak", The Washington Post, p. A03. Retrieved on 2007-01-27.

Bernard Aronson, former assistant secretary of state for inter-American affairs and now a managing partner of private equity investment company ACON Investments, informal foreign policy adviser

William L. Ball III, secretary of the Navy during President Reagan’s administration and managing director of lobbying firm the Loeffler Group, informal national security adviser

Stephen E. Biegun, former national security aide to then-Sen. Bill Frist, R-Tenn., and now Ford Motors vice president of international government affairs, informal national security adviser

Max Boot, Council on Foreign Relations editor and former Wall Street Journal editorial editor, foreign policy adviser

Brig. Gen. Tom Bruner, Iowa veterans advisory committee

Lorne W. Craner, International Republican Institute president, informal foreign policy adviser

Lawrence S. Eagleburger, President George H.W. Bush’s secretary of state and a senior public policy adviser with law firm Baker Donelson, endorsed McCain April 10

Brig. Gen. Russ Eggers, Iowa veterans advisory committee

Maj. Gen. Merrill Evans, Iowa veterans advisory committee

Niall Ferguson, Harvard historian and Hoover Institution senior fellow, informal foreign policy adviser

Michael J. Green, former Asia adviser to President George W. Bush and now Japan chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Asia policy adviser

Gen. Alexander M. Haig, Jr., President Reagan’s secretary of state, endorsed McCain April 10

Maj. Gen. Evan "Curly" Hultman, Iowa veterans advisory committee

Brig. Gen. Robert Michael Kimmitt, current deputy Treasury secretary, informal national security adviser

Henry A. Kissinger, President Nixon and President Ford’s secretary of state who met McCain in Vietnam and is now a consultant, informal adviser

Col. Andrew F. Krepinevich, president of the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, briefed McCain as well as Sen. Hillary Clinton and Gov. Bill Richardson

Adm. Charles Larson, former superintendent of the U.S. Naval Academy and now chairman of consulting firm ViaGlobal Group, informal national security adviser

Robert "Bud" McFarlane, President Reagan’s national security adviser and now a principal with Energy & Communications Solutions, energy and national security adviser

Brig. Gen. Warren "Bud" Nelson, Iowa veterans advisory committee

Brig. Gen. Eddie Newman, Iowa veterans advisory committee

Maj. Gen. John Peppers, Iowa veterans advisory committee

Maj. Ralph Peters, writer and retired Army officer, informal national security adviser

Brig. Gen. Maurice Phillips, Iowa veterans advisory committee

Gen. Colin L. Powell, President George W. Bush’s secretary of state, informal foreign policy adviser

James R. Schlesinger, President Nixon and President Ford’s secretary of defense, energy and national security adviser

Lt. Gen. Brent Scowcroft, national security adviser to Presidents Ford and George H.W. Bush and founder of business consultancy the Scowcroft Group, adviser.

George P. Shultz, President Reagan’s secretary of state and a Hoover Institution Fellow, endorsed McCain April 10

Brig. Gen. W.L. "Bill" Wallace, Iowa veterans advisory committee

Maj. Gen. Gary Wattnem, Iowa veterans advisory committee

R. James Woolsey, former CIA director and now a vice president at consulting company Booz Allen Hamilton, energy and national security adviser.

These are some mightly powerful allies.  But I'm puzzled... confounded.  Confused.   With all of these candidates, it leaves one to ask: WHY PALIN?

It's possible that the reason why McCain chose Tina Fey look-alike, Governor-Sarah-Palin-of-Alaska,-whose-is-currently-under-investigation-for-ABUSE-OF-POWER-for-her-apparent-retaliation-(by-dismissal)-against-Public -Safety-Commissioner-Walter-Monegan-for-refusing-to-fire-her-former-brother-in-law,-Alaska-State-Trooper-Mike-Wooten,-who-at-the-time-was-involved-in-a-divorce-and-child-custody-battle-with-Palin’s-sister,-Molly McCann....

Demer, Lisa (2008-08-29). "Palin's first scandal began as family feud", Anchorage Daily News, The McClatchy Company. Retrieved on 2008-08-31.

it's possible she was chosen because she would fit right in.

After all, she's quite the environmentalist:

And she's a member of the NRA (love those animals she's protecting!):

And she wears real fur, and here she shows her foreign policy experience by partying her ass off with Vikings:

And she's married to an oil company dude:

And, she was Miss Wasilla, 1984:

(Some photos shared by Grizzly Bay.)

And she's spot-on with women's issues:

According to GrizzlyBay.org, there are 10 Top Things We need to know about Gov. Palin:

1) She is presently under investigation in Alaska for abuse of power

2) She strongly supports big oil (her husband works for oil company BP)

3) She believes creationism should be taught in public schools

4) She is opposed to birth control even amongst married couples

5) She is opposed to abortion even in cases of rape and incest

6) She has no federal or international experience.  Prior to being governor (for less than two years) she was only the     mayor of a small Alaskan town and a beauty queen!

7) She believes global warming is a farce and is opposed to listing the polar bear as an endangered species

8) She supports drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and anywhere else big oil wants

9) She supports Pebble Mine which will destroy the richest salmon run in the world

10) She supports aerial shooting of bears and wolves in Alaska.

Ok, since I wrote a song about #10 (Cry of the Wolf), Gov. Palin lost me on that one.

Most people would ask "What does this say about McCain's judgement?".

Not me.

Now, my point, friends, is not that Miss Wasilla can't be VP.  Or P.  My point is that the PNAC needs someone who will do their bidding.  Someone who will answer to them.  When the PNAC first courted McCain, they promised, I'm sure, the candidate his spot at the top... as long as they could pick the VP spot.   They probably promised him all the oil in the world, too. 

Ok, I apologize to friends of McCain.  But the only other plausible explanation I can think of is that McCain wanted to throw the election.  He's lost the woman's vote.  He's lost all hope of ever getting ANY environmentalist' vote.  He's lost the black vote.  He lost the Asian vote long ago.  I predict he will lose the Hispanic vote in ANY DEBATE... just read McCain's lackluster and non-committal position on on immigration where he promises funding to Federal Funding to Attorney's Offices in Border States. To insure that the NeoCons do not ever run the White House again in his lifetime, McCain has secured the White House for Obama/Biden.  He's a true patriot.

Or it's all about oil, oil, oil.

It's all over this election.  The GOP is dripping in oil.  Follow the money.  Who has the money?  Think, think...

Here's PNAC Chairman William Kristol PREDICTING the Palin pick, and claiming that it will cause gas prices to plummet.  Who is in control, Mr. McCain?  Whose choice was this?

© 2008 Get Real.

BUZZ THIS!

STUMBLE THIS!

When Russia invaded Georgia, the world was surprised.  Surprised, but not stunned.  Bush II's unilateral cowboy-posse doctrine has informed the world that, in fact, might makes right.  When Bush II invaded Iraq, he was ignoring - blatantly - the advice of his father's cabinet members, the advice of the UN security council, and the advice of a vast majority of nations and people around the world.

When Putin came forward last week with his theory that the US orchestrated the Russian-Georgian war - and he called it a war - to manipulate the outcome of the US presidential election, he sounded a bit wacky, but something sounded about right.  Putin invaded Georgia because Georgia was cracking down on the breakaway of of the Georgian republic of Ossetia.  Putin sounded wacky because the US supports and recognizes Georgia, so why would the US support a break of the country?

But something about his comments sounded about right.

Today, in thinking of world events, it hit me.  Russia invaded Georgia and ignored the UN with impunity befitting Bush II.  I knew this would be a consequence of Bush's war in Iraq.  He has handed the major powers, indeed each nation, a permission slip to act according to their own national interest, regardless of the consequences to other countries and people.  In this way, Bush has given US foreign policy sociopathic tendancies, and he has isolated and distanced all people from all nations and lessened the moral standard for resolving international conflict.

Questions about the ultimate outcome of the Russian-Georgia war linger, but the question I am asking is: what is the next war?  Which country will be the next country to use their permission slip to invade which country?  Here are some possibile headlines that Bush II has made more likely:

China invades Taiwan
Russia invades Pakistan
US invades Iran

Personally, I believe that US will bomb but not invade Iran.  Why do you think McCain was chosen by the PNAC to succeed Bush?

Wake up, America!  Let's get real.  We prefer to live under so many delusions.  We sop up the lies, fabrications, justification, palliative comments.  We are willingly mislead when the truth is too hard to bear.  We ignore the truth even when it's right in front of our faces.

Without analysis, we consume positions as facts, adopt perspectives from leaders on how they make us feel, without any understanding of the long-term consequences of those perspectives to ourselves, our families, and our local and global neighbors.

Check back here for refreshing, in-depth, informed analysis of events & people.  Get Real will publish on issues that are important to us... even when many fail to realize their importance.