Barack Obama - Savior of the Republican Party

I'm going to blaspheme a bit, but stick with me here.

Regulars here know that in the last two elections, I voted - reluctantly - for John McCain and Mitt Romney. Neither were my first choices, I was a Giuliani and Pawlenty guy, but as I have a natural aversion to leftists, entitled snobs, I could not even think of voting for President Obama. Oh well, such are the glories of democracies.

It wasn't long after the 2008 election - actually it started for me before the election - that it became clear that a President McCain would be the one could put the Republican Party in the bin with the Whigs.

He liked nothing more than sticking it to those who were supposed to be closest to him, and it seemed his second joy was to the the one who showed how awesome he was by being the one that let the other political side win.

That would have been what would have destroyed what little loyal Republican base he should naturally have. What would have brought the rest of the country naturally against him and further destroyed the Republican brand, would have been his desire to put American boots on the ground hither and yon.

Our nation is tired of foreign wars. Though I think Obama has been too detached - imagine the political left of this nation with a killer drone policy even more robust than it is now, along with thousands of American forces across the swath of the Maghreb and the Levant from Tripoli to Aleppo and who knows where else.

No.

Then in 2012 we have Mitt. Mitt would have been a much better leader and President than either McCain or Obama - especially in foreign policy - but he would have been the death of the Republican party, as his tendency to act in a way that delights his enemies and confounds his friends is well outlined by John Tamny at RCM;

Perhaps what's most offensive about Romney's flip flop is that he no doubt knows the minimum wage is superfluous for the majority, while harmful to a small, impoverished minority. Romney's hardly a fool, and having revived sick businesses on the way to great wealth, he surely knows wage mandates help no one, and certainly don't help businesses.

All of this is offensive because it speaks to a politician who will say anything to curry favor with voters; the real world implications of his views be damned. Looking back to 2012, Romney was no doubt similarly aware that his professed policy of getting "tough on China" was not only an economically illiterate stance, but also one that, if implemented, would bring about global economic harm, a stock market crash, and if world history is any guide, perhaps war.

When we consider Romney's overtly political utterances in a broader sense, what's increasingly apparent is that the former candidate is rather self-unaware when it comes to winning votes. This matters because despite what we hear, the electorate in total isn't stupid. Not only has the electorate historically tuned out politicians running on economy-sapping protectionist planks, but the electorate is increasingly wise to politicians so public with their lack of conviction.

Considering the Republican Party itself, members of it should view the 2012 results with relief. Not only were Romney's promises about what he would do about China easily more economically crippling than anything President Obama proposed, it should also be said that Obama's re-election was the best thing that ever happened to the freedom movement. Indeed, the electorate got to see up close the horrors of big government in the form of Obamacare's implementation, and the long-term result will be a more skeptical electorate about politicians who define themselves through promises made with the money of others.

The Republicans dodged a bullet in 2012 with Mitt Romney's aimless candidacy. This was obvious back then, but was made even more obvious last week in light of his latest utterance. The former candidate will truly "Say Anything," and because Romney's that way, the GOP would have lost ground had he won.

Part of me believes that both the Republican party and the nation are better off with McCain being elected. I have grown to think that with Romney, the nation would have been better, but the Republican party would have imploded.

Doesn't really matter - we have President Obama until early 2017.

Oh, in case you are wondering who Salamander of Lost Causes prefers at this point - Gov. Scott Walker (R-WI).

McCain Off Centerline - Work Looks Good on the PLAT

There was nothing "maverick" about Sen. McCain's (R-AZ) performance on The Hill earlier this week.

Sen. John McCain is blocking President Obama's picks to fill senior Pentagon positions, calling their answers to questions at a Senate Armed Services Committee confirmation hearing Tuesday "naive" and "nonsensical."

The Arizona Republican was visibly frustrated that Robert Work, Obama's nominee for deputy Defense secretary, was not intimately familiar with a critical government report detailing cost overruns from the Littoral Combat Ship program.

Separately, McCain ripped Christine Wormuth, Obama's pick for undersecretary of Defense for policy. The nominee, he said, was either ignorant of the threat al-Qaida poses or was refusing to answer his questions about the terrorist group's spread.

"Their answers were not only naive but nonsensical," McCain told reporters Tuesday.

Good people can agree or disagree about LCS, and Sen. McCain is spot on about accountability - but to call Bob Work "naive" or "nonsensical" is just wrong and not worthy of the Senate.

Both Bryan and Galrahn over at InfoDis have been very good on this sad little episode. First Bryan;

Senator McCain seems to have been troubled that Mr. Work had not read a 2013 GAO report on LCS, and all things considered, Work probably should have had some familiarity with it, if for no other reason that it is common knowledge that Senator McCain does not like LCS, Bob Work does, and McCain has a seat on his nominating committee. That said, Senator McCain's demeanor and approach in the hearing today bespoke petty score settling, and his suggestion that Work may not be qualified for the post of Deputy Secretary of Defense is just silly.

... and now Galrahn;

How many folks involved in the Littoral Combat Ship program from 2005 - 2008 have been nominated and approved by Senator McCain to become a Flag Officer? The only person in this conversation who was legitimately in a position to hold people accountable for failures in the LCS program was Senator John McCain. The only person in this conversation whose record reflects a positive contribution to the Littoral Combat Ship program problems is Bob Work.
...
Senator John McCain today is attempting to publicly slap Bob Work with the LCS program, which makes no sense because every data point suggests Bob Work was part of a team that took a really bad LCS program suffering from enormous cost problems, and clearly turned it around and got it back on track. If the Senator will publicly attack people who do a good job, and the same Senator voted affirmative for promotions to Navy officers who were directly involved in the problems of LCS, the Senator is hardly qualified to pass on judgment regarding qualifications, because the Senator is the one demonstrating clear lack of good judgment.

Bob Work and I disagree on LCS, but that is fine - again - good people can disagree on some things, but as Ronald Reagan said,

“The person who agrees with you 80 percent of the time is a friend and an ally – not a 20 percent traitor.”

Heck, give a listen to the 1-hr conversation we had with Work on Midrats.

Bob Work is a smart, dedicated professional who knows this business well. He has an open mind and an even temperament, and our nation would be well served in any position she found for him to serve. 

If he is kept out of this post as a result of McCain's obtuse behavior, then we have yet another black mark on the record of a man whose record deserves better; not Bob Work, but John McCain.

Why you need to find original sources whenever possible

It also helps to understand a Naval Aviator's sense of humor.

If all you did was do a surface skim of reading today, you would have read this;

Senator John McCain just interviewed Apple CEO Tim Cook about the company's taxes and offshore profits.

But the kicker came at the end, when McCain stopped his line of questioning by asking, "Why the hell do I have to keep updating apps on my iPhone?"

McCain does have a point. It's really annoying to pop open the App Store every time there's a new update. We wish iPhones worked more like Android phones in that respect, letting you update apps automatically.
...
You know, updating apps means that the developers are improving them and there's a new version and it's gonna do more, and it's gonna maybe be faster, and it's gonna use less of your battery, it's gonna have more features to it. App updates, I can't wait to get app updates. I love getting app updates. I don't get enough of 'em. I wish Apple was updating the iPhone far more often than they are, but McCain is just one of these just buy it... never mind.
...
... crotchety old John McCain wanted some answers on another matter while he had Mr. Cook’s attention: “Why the hell” does he have to keep updating the apps on his iPhone?

Bill Gates might want to steer clear of D.C., in case Senator McCain decides he needs an explanation for why Microsoft Office doesn’t include the funny little talking paperclip any more.

Come on people. You can have your issues with Sen. McCain (R-AZ), heck I do ... but at least make the effort.

Here, watch the video yourself. Even TPM got it right for goodness sake, he's having fun.

McCain Pauses to Notice LCS?

Well ... what do we have here? Tony over at Bloomberg is still on the LCS beat - and he found the Senior Senator from Arizona feeling quite Salamanderesque;

“We need to fix it, or find something else quickly,” McCain, an Arizona Republican, said today at a Senate Armed Services subcommittee hearing.
...
The fourth of 52 planned ships is scheduled for delivery in July, 13 months behind original plans, according to information provided by the Naval Sea Systems Command. The fifth through eighth vessels are five to eight months late.

The delays may add to increased scrutiny of the $37 billion program aimed at building a small, speedy and adaptable ship to patrol waters close to shore. A confidential Navy study reported yesterday by Bloomberg News found the ships are too lightly manned and armed to meet their promised missions.

“The Navy plans for the Littoral Combat Ship to comprise over one-third of the nation’s total surface combatant fleet by 2028, and yet the LCS has not demonstrated to date any adequate performance of assigned missions,” McCain said.

There is nothing really new here for the regulars on the front porch, but read it all.

I have been critical of Senator McCain in the past as I thought we didn't see enough of "Captain McCain" that our Navy has needed over the last decade - but he's been busy.

I think his comments are a few years late to "find something else quickly" - but with his attention, perhaps he can help us to "fix it" as best we can so that when we send it in harm's way; our Sailors have the best we can give them - and not a sub-optimal Fleet Experiment pushed forward too early, with too little.

Hat tip MS.

Captain McCain, the floor is yours

Forget your politics. Just for a moment - I will.

Look at the below - then read it all.

“My grandfather, who commanded a carrier task force in the Pacific during WWII, lived large and was always larger than life to me. He rolled his own cigarettes, smoked constantly, swore and drank more than he should have. He was known as one of the Navy’s best cussers, probably not the sort of recognition one would want today. ‘Slew’ was his call sign. James Michener described him in Tales of the South Pacific as ‘an ugly old aviator’ but he was more than that, especially to his men. He was revered for his gregarious, salty attitude, and for his keen interest in his sailors and their thoughts on just about any subject. He made it a point to talk with pilots after they returned from a strike, asking them, ‘Do you think we’re doing the right thing?’ Here was a 3-star admiral, taking time during the course of war to receive honest feedback from men under his command. My grandfather knew that if you ever stopped learning, especially from your men, then you also stopped leading. And he knew how to lead.

“Today, we hear a lot about ‘management’ and not enough about leadership. That worries me. One thing of which I am certain – there is a great difference between managers and leaders. Good managers are plentiful – in fact, our nation graduates over 150,000 MBAs ever year. But true leaders are rare. And believe me, there is a difference

--Leaders inspire people; managers, well, they “manage” people and assets.

--Leaders think about protecting and promoting their people; managers think about protecting their own careers.

--Leaders take charge and accept responsibility; managers often pass the buck to higher authority for fear of making a wrong decision.

--Leaders take risks when necessary; managers are taught to avoid risks whenever possible.

“Ronald Reagan was a leader – Jimmy Carter was a manager.
...
“My father – who was not an aviator but knew something about leadership – used to say that technical experts are a ‘dime a dozen’. You can always find a man who can tell you how many foot-pounds of force are in a piston, or what the aerodynamic effects on a plane will be at a certain airspeed and altitude. But, he said, ‘The business of leadership is another matter entirely. It’s one of the most difficult subjects there is – to inspire in people subordinate to you, the desire to do a better job.’ That is where true leadership trumps management – in the art of inspiring others to perform far beyond their self-imposed limits.

“In recent years, I have often wondered if we have forgotten some of the more salient lessons of history, particularly as they apply to the development and selection of our military leaders. Have we allowed ourselves to be knocked off course to the point that we strive now to produce the ‘ideal manager’ rather than the next generation of true leaders? Have we focused too much on the strategy and tactics of the battle – and not enough on the leadership skills of those who really decided the outcome, not just at Midway, but at countless other critical battles throughout the past century?

“I am at heart, and always will be, a Naval Aviator. It was my first profession and will always be my favorite. And just in case there is someone here tonight who does not understand why I place so much emphasis on leadership over management, let me be clear. The very nature of our profession demands it. No manager, however competent, will ever be able to inspire people to endure the hardships and make the sacrifices that we all know must come with Naval Aviation. Enduring those hardships and making those sacrifices is the price we pay for the privilege of defending our great nation.

Verily.

Now, I'm going to get a drink; I think I have a cigar somewhere ...

Hat tip Paul.

---

UPDATE: Having slept on it ... I've had a few thoughts. All this happened on his watch. Ditto Webb. Even though John Lehman (interesting article in last month's USNI Proceedings) has been out of power - he hasn't lost influence.

The CAPT today were junior officers in Tailhook. Many of the Flag Officers were LCDR and above - they got the message just fine. No one stood up for them when things were tough. If you think "we" as a Navy have lost something - then look to yourselves. You allowed outside - and inside - forces use the officer corps as their own little socio/political experiment. You let the bullies win. Where were you?

Chap knows what this means

Don't you Chap; kind of simple?

So, how are you feeling?

If you are a supporter of Sen. Obama (D-IL), you are probably a bit light-headed and giddy with wonder. If you are a supporter of Sen. McCain (R-AZ) then you are probably irritated and grumpy.

Congrats, you are expressing the desired effects of one of the most lopsided campaign advocacy by the 4th Estate that this Republic has ever seen - mostly to drive down the "R" vote in any way possible.

Whatever way you feel - make sure and vote, just once if you don't mind. Whoever wins, if you don't vote - you can't complain or praise. Slaves keep quiet.

Vote, and if you haven't made up your mind yet, then I would ask you to vote for McCain.

I already voted; my conscience is clean.

That's it. Nothing long, rambling or profound. Just vote.

The Obama Navy's new PT uniform

VOTE!

Not that there is anything wrong with that ...

---

Happy to be wrong

As usual, VDH boils it down.

Individually, the extra-electoral efforts are irrelevant. But in the aggregate, they start to add up. In 1996 Obama goes to court, challenges the petition signatures of mostly African-American voters, and gets all his rivals eliminated from the ballot and so de facto runs unopposed.

In 2004 sealed divorce records were strangely released destroying the chances of his chief Democratic rival Blair Hull; then in the general, lightning again struck, and Republican front-runner Jack Ryan's sealed divorce records were likewise mysteriously released—and he too crashed, in effect, leaving Obama without a serious primary or general election rival.

In this campaign, Acorn galvanizes to register voters and almost immediately runs into serial charges of voter registration fraud. Now an Obama ad runs asking Americans simply to take the day off to help get out the Obama vote: apparently American businesses, universities, and the government all are supposed to sacrifice hundreds of millions of dollars in lost collective work days to subsidize the Obama campaign in order "to change history"?

When one marries all that with the swarming of radio stations when someone like Stanley Kurtz goes on, the threats to go to court to stop ads, or the blacklisting of TV stations who dared to conduct tough interviews, the same old pattern reappears of by any means necessary. And in turn the explanation for all that?

The messianic style—the cosmic tug to "change history", or stop the seas from rising or the planet from heating, juxtaposed with the creepy faux-Greek columns, Michelle's "deign to enter" politics snippet, the fainting at rallies, the Victory Column mass address, the vero possumus presidential seal, and the 'we are the change we've been waiting for' mantra—reflects the omnipresent narcissism: the exalted ends of electing a prophet always justify the often crude and all too mortal means.

If this is considered 'right', I'd rather be wrong with McCain.

My debate failure

Amy is exactly right chastising me on McCain's LCS quote. From the transcript, it shows that, yes, we are on the same sheet of music. I like the fact it is #2 on his shi'ite list.

LEHRER: Are you -- what priorities would you adjust, as president, Senator McCain, because of the -- because of the financial bailout cost?

MCCAIN: Look, we, no matter what, we've got to cut spending. We have -- as I said, we've let government get completely out of control.

Senator Obama has the most liberal voting record in the United States Senate. It's hard to reach across the aisle from that far to the left.

The point -- the point is -- the point is, we need to examine every agency of government.

First of all, by the way, I'd eliminate ethanol subsidies. I oppose ethanol subsidies.

I think that we have to return -- particularly in defense spending, which is the largest part of our appropriations -- we have to do away with cost-plus contracts. We now have defense systems that the costs are completely out of control.

We tried to build a little ship called the Littoral Combat Ship that was supposed to cost $140 million, ended up costing $400 million, and we still haven't done it.

So we need to have fixed-cost contracts. We need very badly to understand that defense spending is very important and vital, particularly in the new challenges we face in the world, but we have to get a lot of the cost overruns under control.Thanks Amy for keeping me focused.

If you are not up to speed on the LCS problem - click back on the LCS post and read what I have been saying for YEARS.

What about the debate?

Nope, you didn't see much about it here; and you won't.

1. More important things have sprung up, like they do on Fridays, that kept me a bit distracted and busy.
2. Sen. Obama (D-IL) is what he is; I know, I grew up with the type. He is an exceptionally gifted man, provided with the best schooling this nation can provide. Unlike the folks I grew up with, he hasn't had a real job. He hasn't been an executive. He hasn't sacrificed or served anyone but his ambition. Ambition is fine - he is what he is. He is also, as well documented, one of the - if not the - most left-wing Senators and candidate for President we have seen in over 30 years. Nice guy, just wrong. There is no reason I would vote for the guy. None. The fact taht ~46% are willing to vote for the guy just tells me that the nation has forgotten what it is like to give Democrats the ability to have full power not seen since 1994. I do.
3. I have about reached my limit this season anyway. I also have an absentee ballot in front of me that will go in the mail this week after I ping some of my betters on their opinion WRT some local issues, candidates, and Constitutional Amendments.
4. You would rather learn how ghey Skippy is anyway, so go down a few posts to read the details.
   

I am going to vote for McPalin, and I hope you do as well. All the phony, poseur bracelet posturing by Obama won't make my vote against him any more powerful.

McPalin has some of my money, and my best wishes - barring McCain being found in bed with a dead girl or live boy; he is getting my vote.

Temp suspense of the Ralph ban

I know a year or so ago I said I wouldn't comment on Ralph Peters anymore - but this was too good not to pass up.

Speaking of Reagan (Eureka College, Illinois), every chief executive we've had since the Gipper snapped his final salute as president has had the imprimatur of an Ivy League university. And we've gone from bad to worse:

* George Herbert Walker Bush: Yale.

* William Jefferson Clinton: Georgetown, Oxford, Yale Law.

* George W. Bush: Yale and Harvard Business School.

The first lacked the sense to finish the job in Desert Storm; the second lacked the guts to go after al Qaeda when it was just a startup - and the third, well, let's just say he disappointed our low expectations.

Now we have the Ivy League elite's "he's not only like us but he's a minority and we're so wonderful to support him" candidate, Sen. Barack Obama (Columbia and Harvard Law).

Our country can't afford another one of these clowns. Harvard isn't the answer - Harvard's the problem.

So here's the message Palin is sending on behalf of the rest of us (the down-market masses Dems love at election time and ignore once the voting's done): The rule of the snobs is over. It's time to give one of us a chance to lead.

Sen. John McCain's one of us, too. He raised hell at Annapolis (quadruple ugh: military!), and he'll raise the right kind of hell in Washington.

McCain's so dumb he really loves his country.

Sarah Palin's dumb that way, too. How terribly unfashionable.

Ban back in place now, but I am open to change again if needed.

McCain's whod-a-thunk endorsement

OK. Take it and run.

"If I had a vote in the U.S., I would choose McCain," beams retired Col. Tran Trong Duyet, the camp's former commander. "I want him in the White House."

This unlikely sentiment is widely shared in this fast-growing country of 85 million. "The majority of the people in Vietnam know Sen. McCain and feel comfortable about him," says Duong Trung Quoc, a member of Vietnam's National Assembly and secretary-general of the Association of Vietnamese Historians. "Nobody here knows about Obama."

Hat tip PowerLine.

Class and Giggles

Class.

(BTW, based on Mrs. Salamander's reaction, I am glad I didn't have to compete with Levi).



Giggles. Close. Oh, and for Kristen; potty mouth alert.

Playing Twister with Vaseline

After my, "Dude, you owe me a beer!" call last Friday, I had one of those curve-ball weekends that didn't give me much time to do anything near a computer -- so let me catch us up on McCain-Palin. (be-still my fluttering heart).

I am still a bit off-bubble from this weekend, so mostly I am going to steal from others -- starting with the title of this post.

My support for Palin is mostly that she is just what we need as a nation and a party -- and offers the Republican Party an opportunity to break the dead hand of the old leadership and shift to a new Generation (like Rep. McCotter (R-MI), Gov. Jindal (R-LA), and Rep. Putnam (R-FL) and others ). That is the Strategic view. The Operational view though is that this just twists the Democrats in knots -- not the XX vs XY one that many jerk towards, no --- something much more substantive. Do they really want underestimate this? (full video here)

You need to read it all, but here is a sampler.

In fact, McCain's pick of Governer Palin has lathered the Presidential game of Twister with a nice coat of Vaseline. Obama and Biden best be wary how they contort themselves here. In the words of comedian Brian Regan: "Right foot red... BROKEN! Left foot green... BROKEN."

Let's review the minefield that Team Obama/Biden must navigate with Palin on board.

Palin has more executive experience than Obama himself (having run a company, a PTO, a town and then Alaska).

• WARNING: Bring up the experience issue at your own peril.
• SAMPLE: "When Senator Obama started his first run for local office I was already a two-term mayor. If you simply count the years of experience, I win, frankly."

• Palin fought corruption in an AK GOP party that was (and still is) full of it
  
  • WARNING: Careful around the "ethical" issues
  • SAMPLE: "Like Chicago politics, Alaska politics can sometimes get dirty. In my case I fought my own party tooth and nail for substantive change. I'll let voters decide what Barack Obama did in Chicago."

Her parents sound like they have a nice story too!

The father of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin says he's been left "speechless" by the announcement that his daughter is John McCain's running mate.

Chuck and Sally Heath got a call from Palin's husband, Todd, yesterday as they were driving to a remote camp in Alaska to hunt caribou. Todd Palin told them to make sure they listen to the radio news because the camp is out of cell phone range.
...
The announcement has proven amusing to Heath. After dealing with constant phone calls, he says he'd "rather go moose hunting than be involved with politics."

Rich Lowry, I think, hits just the right note.

Palin is the Republicans' first woman vice-presidential nominee and, of course, has a chance to be the nation's first woman vice president. But "firsts" aside, she's potentially so compelling because she has lived so close to the everyday experience of Americans.

Both McCain and Obama come out of elites removed from middle-class life - in McCain's case, the aristocracy of the Navy; in Obama's, the Ivy League and uber-liberal Hyde Park politics.

Obama tried to pick someone with a connection to working-class life, and got Joe Biden - who's famously from Scranton, but has marinated in the US Senate for the last 35 years.

Palin's the real thing. She met her husband of 20 years in high school. As she said yesterday, she and her husband "grew up working with our hands." A fisherman and snowmobiler, he's a member of the United Steelworkers union and works in the oil fields of Alaska's North Slope.

She was "just your average hockey mom," then joined the PTA, got elected to City Council and mayor and won an upset campaign for governor two years ago.

Alaska's Republican Party is a cesspool of cronyism, earmarking and gross self-dealing - and Palin took direct aim at it when she challenged incumbent Republican Gov. Frank Murkowski and beat him in a primary. She went on to defeat ex-Gov. Tony Knowles, a Democrat, in the general.

And I bet they have no idea what the price of Arugula is a Wholefoods.

Finally, if like me life took you away from the tube - here it is. I like part 2 better, but see both.





Anyway -- she looks better than GWB in a flight suit - and more importantaly takes time to visit her troops.

If you haven't already, please read BeldarBlog's bit, and do like I did - order the book.

---

Enough seriousness. RedState Update, as usual hits the high points.



And remember that Gov. Palin was once a Sports Anchor? Check out that '80s hair!

---

Just to be fair and balanced. One of the leaders of the Obama camp offers this erudite, balanced, argument.

NB: actually Diddy - it's 1 out of 20 --- if you must know. And it is Meth, not Crack that is the issue; if you cared to know.

I'll roll the bones --- its Palin

You know I am a big fan of her -- but I am going to let the Economist in me do the talking. Note the DTG in case I am ultimately right or wrong, but let's look at the Intrade charts as they are as of last night -- nothing they are showing since midnight.

Palin:


Pawlenty:


Romney:


No one else is showing upward strength. If I was buying a stock this AM, it would be Palin.

Remember, the markets are smarter than all of us. If I'm right, you heard it here first months ago - if I am wrong, then, well, Economics is a dismal science. We'll see.

McCain heading to Georgia

Cindy McCain that is.

It's not every aspiring First Lady whose comfort zone is a war zone, but such is the case for Cindy McCain, who left today on a mission to Georgia to assess the civilian casualties of the Russian invasion.

McCain is traveling with the U.N.'s World Food Programme, whose work she monitored in Southeast Asia and Africa this spring and summer. McCain plans to meet with Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili and to visit wounded Georgian soldiers. She would also visit representatives of the HALO Trust, which works to remove land mines and on whose board she serves.

Cindy and John McCain visited Georgia together last year; in an interview with TIME at her Sedona, Ariz., ranch before she left, she emphasized that her years of work on overseas missions was an "important part of what I'm about, what makes me tick."

Cindy McCain said she has been trying to get into Georgia since the conflict started, but it took time to arrange the logistics. Her husband, she said, is "very supportive. As soon as he saw what was happening — he and I, we connect on many levels. I mean, he knew immediately [that I would want to go]. I've been to Georgia with him; I know the country."

Her aides say that the timing of the trip, during the Democratic National Convention in Denver, was never a consideration. But that doesn't mean they're ignoring the subtext. "She's on the phone with the World Food Programme; he's on the phone with Saakashvili," McCain adviser Nicolle Wallace told me. "It was a great picture of what they'll be like in the White House."

Just saying.

I think this will be about as talked about as the fact that she has two sons on Active Duty. Just saying.

MSNBC's 1120s

Salamander quote of the week. See the bold.

CHRIS MATTHEWS: Let me ask you Mike: are we to, to place the credibility of you as a pundit on your belief, that you've just asserted, that the Clintons will vote for John McCain?

MURPHY: Absolutely. I really believe Hillary Clinton will vote for McCain. Look, they're friends. [Crowd boos]. Ah, come on, don't shout me down: let me talk. I mean come on, this is, you guys are so in the tank we ought to be filming this on a submarine. The fact is, Barack Obama, to his credit, has moved closer to Hillary Clinton and John McCain on foreign policy, Hillary and John McCain have worked --

Read it all over at NewsBusters, or just watch the zoo below.




Having your credibility called into question by "tingle leg" Chris Matthews. At least, as usual, Harold Ford has class.

Now THAT is a love me wall!

Speaking of Sen. McCain (R-AZ) and houses ...


I all of a sudden feel very small ....

McCain & Obama: in their own words

The same question - different answers from different men.

There is so much partisan editing on both sides from this weekends forum at Saddleback that it took awhile to find what I thought was the most balanced summary on YouTube.

Watch and decide for yourself.