Gregarius » Crooks and Liars

Crooks and Liars (15 unread)

Open Thread

Posted: August 17th, 2008, 11:30pm EDT by bluegal

(click image for larger) McCain as the GOP’s fatal exception error by Darkblack. Open thread below….
Late Night Music Club with Beck

Posted: August 17th, 2008, 11:00pm EDT by bluegal

Enclosure: [download]

From his new album, Modern Guilt.
McLaughlin Group: God Love McCain for Trying to Use the Internets.

Posted: August 17th, 2008, 10:00pm EDT by bluegal

Enclosure: [download]

Monica Crowley on The McLaughlin Group is just the gift that keeps on giving. She says that the downside of Obama’s internet juggernaut is that “bloggers” use his platform to plant “reverse racism” (huh?) on his website. But “God love” John McCain for trying to use the internets because he’s of a different generation.

Download | Play Download | Play h/t Heather

Monica? Maybe sometime you’d like to talk to my dad, who is six months older than McCain. Call him on Skype anytime, except when he’s busy photoshopping. Geez.
Godwin’s Law Notwithstanding

Posted: August 17th, 2008, 8:30pm EDT by Bill W.

This is funny cuz it’s true.
New Obama ad slams McCain’s war policy for hurting economy

Posted: August 17th, 2008, 7:00pm EDT by SilentPatriot

Enclosure: [download]

It’s about time Obama starts exposing the Real McCain by drawing factual contrasts.

“Economics by John McCain. Support George Bush 95 percent of the time. Keep spending $10 billion a month for the war in Iraq, while the Iraqis sell oil for record prices, giving Iraq a $79 billion oil surplus and hurting our economy. […] Barack Obama: The Middle Class First.

As we’ve seen so far, facts and context don’t seem to enter the equation on the other side, as is evidenced by this “response” from McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds: (via HuffPo)

“In the Senate, Barack Obama has voted in lockstep with President George W. Bush nearly half the time, including the Bush-Cheney Energy bill which gave close to 3 billion dollars in new giveaways to Big Oil - a terrible policy that John McCain opposed. The truth is Barack Obama’s plan is a job killing machine that ignores the struggling economy and raises taxes on family savings, social security and small businesses.”
Bobby Jindal Can’t Think of Any McCain Ideas

Posted: August 17th, 2008, 6:00pm EDT by bluegal

Enclosure: [download]

from Think Progress:

This morning on NBC’s Meet the Press, host David Gregory asserted that the Republican Party “used to be the party of big ideas.” Gregory then asked his guest Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R-LA), “What’s the big idea Senator McCain is campaigning on?” Jindal responded, “I think there’s several,” but couldn’t provide an answer. Gregory asked again, “Where are the new big ideas of the Republican Party that John McCain is, is championing?” And again Jindal couldn’t provide an answer.

Download | Play Download | Play h/t Heather

Mitt Romney had a similar problem with Wolf Blitzer.

BLITZER: All right, a serious charge. Can you cite one legislative accomplishment that Senator McCain produced during those 26 years in Washington, in order to achieve energy independence?

ROMNEY: Well, I’m not a historian that goes through all of the pieces of legislation John McCain has worked on.
Digby Speaks on Corsi

Posted: August 17th, 2008, 5:00pm EDT by John Amato

Digby discusses the Corsi book and how the press reacts to it:

Rutten says this is all about making money, and I don’t disagree that there’s probably some money to be made by the wingnut welfare recipients in the food chain. But money isn’t the motive of the people who buy those books in bulk. They are making an investment in Republican politics. And the most telling thing about it is that one of the most mainstream Republican figures in the country — so mainstream that she regularly appears with her Democratic operative husband on Meet the Press with their two daughters at Christmas time — is giving her imprimatur to a book written by a known delusional, right wing racist. On that side of the dial the separation between the mainstream and the violent fringe isn’t even one degree.

<>

As long as the villagers are in agreement that the only people who are truly beyond the pale in American politics are on the left, then this will continue. Mary Matalin will still be considered a perfectly respectable person by both the “right” and the “left” (as if there’s any discernible difference among the cognoscenti) and there will be no professional or social repercussions. Meanwhile even staid, old organizations like the ACLU suffer from the myth of being some sort of far left fringe organization and Democratic politicians run for cover when the right wing publicly “tars” them with guilt by association.

This is an ongoing problem that we see being played out once again in a national election. And I don’t think the progressive movement has fully come to grips yet with just how powerful this image of scary left wing freaks still is in the national imagination — or how thoroughly the right’s extremist views have been accepted by the political establishment. It’s something…read on.
How dare McCain act like he’s the President!

Posted: August 17th, 2008, 4:00pm EDT by John Amato

[image from the MoveOn ad] A memo to the media: did you look at McCain’s record and his actions pertaining to the Georgia/Russian conflict… Didn’t he act like he was the President? Wow, The Washington Post noticed that too:

Standing behind a lectern in Michigan this week, with two trusted senators ready to do his bidding, John McCain seemed to forget for a moment that he was only running for president.

Asked about his tough rhetoric on the ongoing conflict in Georgia, McCain began: “If I may be so bold, there was another president . . .”

He caught himself and started again: “At one time, there was a president named Ronald Reagan who spoke very strongly about America’s advocacy for democracy and freedom.”

With his Democratic opponent on vacation in Hawaii, the senator from Arizona has been doing all he can in recent days to look like President McCain, particularly when it comes to the ongoing international crisis in Georgia.

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili says he talks to McCain, a personal friend, several times a day. McCain’s top foreign policy adviser, Randy Scheunemann, was until recently a paid lobbyist for Georgia’s government. McCain also announced this week that two of his closest allies, Sens. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) and Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.), would travel to Georgia’s capital of Tbilisi on his behalf, after a similar journey by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

The extent of McCain’s involvement in the military conflict in Georgia appears remarkable among presidential candidates, who traditionally have kept some distance from unfolding crises out of deference to whoever is occupying the White House. The episode also follows months of sustained GOP criticism of Democratic Sen. Barack Obama, who was accused of acting too presidential for, among other things, briefly adopting a campaign seal and taking a trip abroad that included a huge rally in Berlin.
Mid-day Open Thread

Posted: August 17th, 2008, 3:00pm EDT by bluegal

Enclosure: [download]

from The Jed Report. Open thread below…
Condi Rice says Russia has hurt their international reputation

Posted: August 17th, 2008, 2:00pm EDT by John Amato

Condi Rice went on the Sunday talk shows this morning to send out a little propaganda to the peoples on the Russia/Georgian front and she had the usual help from everyone. There wasn’t much background on the US involvement that has fueled Russia’s anger.

Kevin Drum and JPM has some thoughts on what actually happened. The Sunday Shows backed up McCain’s position as much as they could and gave no context to Putin’s response that I saw. (Please let me know in the comment section if anyone did) I heard Gregory read Condi a NY Times quote and it seemed like he was going to include real background on the issue, but that didn’t happen.

As PublEuS says: Since when does the Bush Admin think international “reputation” matters a lick?

Download | Play Download | Play (rough transcript)

Condi: …this forward leaning modern Russia, well, you know, that reputation is frankly in tatters and so, that in itself is a significant consequence…

Yes, Europe grabbed a newspaper and hit Russia on the nose with it and said: Bad Russia, you’re a very bad Russia. Stop making messes in Georgia…
Bill Kristol’s weekly moment of shame “…if countries don’t have confidence in our ability to help them, it’s going to be a much more dangerous world.”

Posted: August 17th, 2008, 1:00pm EDT by John Amato

Enclosure: [download]

(video and post sent in by PublEuS via email)

Neo-Con Man Bill Kristol had one of his weekly ironic moments…

Download | Play Download | Play

“…if countries don’t have confidence in our ability to help them, it’s going to be a much more dangerous world.”

Uhhhh…. In which case, maybe we should have (1) finished the job in Afghanistan, and (2) not invaded Iraq in the 1st place????
Michael O’Hanlon tries to justify the US Invasion of Iraq while condemning Russia

Posted: August 17th, 2008, 12:00pm EDT by John Amato

Enclosure: [download]

We have a twofer. If you’re a warmonger from a Think Tank then you are guaranteed a spot on TV. That’s the way the media works. And Michael O’Hanlon is one of those war hawking monsters that will not go away. He was on This Week in Politics with Robert Kagan and tried once again to justify the US invasion of Iraq. It’s pretty difficult to tell the world that our invasion is somehow different than what Russia did in Georgia. Bush’s preemptive doctrine gives any nation the justification it needs to invade. Kagan did get honest and say that many people can see the difference between what we did and what Russia is doing. What is that exactly? Did we poke Russia in the eye? That’s the question.

Download | Play Download | Play (h/t Heather)

His rationale is to say Saddam was an evil dictator-man. And the Russian conflict is only a blip on the radar screen as far as invasions go. It’s the 21st century now and as McCain says: In The 21st Century Nations Don’t Invade Other Nations” that’s just not cool. Except when we did it. Trying to bring Georgia into NATO and set up Poland and the Czeck Republic with missiles is not a big deal. Get over it, Putin. And Obama has caught up to McCain in the latest PEW Poll that asks: Who would make better decisions on foreign policy? Of course O’Hanlon does not believe this poll.

Foreman: Do you think people can see the difference? Because certainly some people who are enemies of George Bush who don’t like this White House say there’s not much of a difference. They’re bothered by it. They’re bothered by what Russia did but they’re equally bothered by what we’ve done in Iraq.

O’Hanlon: I would say with both Iraq and the case of Kosovo which is something Russia invokes a lot as an analogy here, we dealt with brutal dictators. There was a question about whether we had gone through all the proper diplomatic preparation. I do not think George W. Bush did a great job at preparing the ground work for the Iraq war. But come on, we overthrew a guy who killed a million people.

Foreman: As opposed to essentially a territory dispute of some sort.

O’Hanlon: Exactly a far lower level of violence regardless of who fired what shot first.

Foreman: Good explanation.

And how many innocent Iraqis died because of this, Michael? If we’re using ” the bad man” as the criteria for invasion, well, there are many, many evil men in the world MO that we could have taken out already, but the country would never allow that to hapen except when people like yourself help spread propaganda in the media. Why did Colin Powell go to the UN and give a false presentation to out allies? Why did Cheney and “his friends” place lying information in the NY Times and other publications so that they could be used as propaganda tools for Bush’s surrogates to lie to the American people on the Sunday talk shows? And as Ron Suskind just reported—Why did the CIA try to plant false information to make connections between al-Qaeda that were not there? I’d say Bush did a great job in America with the help of the press to set the ground work in place for the attack of Iraq.

These warmongers never—ever talk about what they call collateral damage. Foreman gives him kudos for coming up with a nonsensical explanation. Bravo! I have a question for MO. Wasn’t our invasion of Iraq a territorial dispute also except on a much larger scale? Let’s see, Georgia has oil….Iraq has oil…Russia has oil….Oh, well….

Foreman: You brought up Iraq and I think that’s an important point here because Vladimir Putin and many pundits have said both the candidates, George Bush, everybody had their legs cut out him, from them a little bit because of the Iraq war, because the United States went into a country without waiting for this gigantic UN consensus to say let’s go. So how, Russia itself says “How do you criticize us? We’re protecting our national interest too”. Is this a real problem Bob?

Kagan: Not really. I wouldn’t say that many pundits have said that. I uh, if you look at what’s happening in Europe right now which is where this whole action is taking place uh, European leaders are condemning uh Moscow’s action uh from the British government to the Swedish government. Uh there’s, there’s pretty good, I mean there’s some difference between about exactly how to move, but there’s very strong trans-Atlantic unity condemning this action. No one is waving ah Iraq or anything else. So people can see the difference between what Russia has done uh and what the United States and many European allies did in Iraq.

Foreman: Do you think people can see the difference? Because certainly some people who are enemies of George Bush who don’t like this White House say there’s not much of a difference. They’re bothered by it. They’re bothered by what Russia did but they’re equally bothered by what we’ve done in Iraq.

O’Hanlon: I would say with both Iraq and the case of Kosovo which is something Russia invokes a lot as an analogy here, we dealt with brutal dictators. There was a question about whether we had gone through all the proper diplomatic preparation. I do not think George W. Bush did a great job at preparing the ground work for the Iraq war. But come on, we overthrew a guy who killed a million people.

Foreman: As opposed to essentially a territory dispute of some sort.

O’Hanlon: Exactly a far lower level of violence regardless of who fired what shot first.

Foreman: Good explanation.
Mike’s Blog Round Up

Posted: August 17th, 2008, 11:00am EDT by Mike Finnigan

CQPolitics: You don’t forget that your mother sued your ex-wife–unless your mind is going.

uggabugga: WaPo B.S.

GOPnot4me: Nebraska rethugs follow the playbook.

American Torture: Physicians, Psychologists and “The Dark Side“

The Opinion Mill’s Sunday Bookchat asks: Will the credibility of a major publishing house be the last casualty of the Bush administration? Will a list of books make you a better citizen? Will Hanif Kureishi finally get the recognition he deserves? Will Ron Suskind be the reporter who finally gets the impeachment ball rolling?

OFF THE BEATEN PATH: moose & squirrel, one good move, Walled-In Pond, The Whole American Hog
Sunday Morning Bobblehead Thread

Posted: August 17th, 2008, 8:30am EDT by bluegal

Everyone’s talking about the Georgia/Russia hostilities, and the big question for the Sunday Shows is, will Condoleeza be upstaged by the neverending evening gown competition of potential Vice-Presidential nominees? They all SAY they’re for “world peace” during the interview portion, but…

Face the Nation Georgia and Russia: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Politics: Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.); Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R-Minn.).

Meet the Press Georgia and Russia: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Politics: Gov. Tim Kaine (D-Va.); Gov. Bobby Jindal (R-La.). Panel: Joshua Green, the Atlantic; Andrea Mitchell; Chuck Todd.

This Week With George Stephanopoulos Georgia and Russia: Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates. Politics: McCain supporter former Gov. Mitt Romney (R-Mass.); Obama supporter former Sen. Tom Daschle (D-S.D.). Panel: E.J. Dionne, the Brookings Institution; Michael Gerson, Council n Foreign Relations; Jan Crawford; George Will.

Fox News Sunday With Chris Wallace Georgia and Russia: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Politics: McCain supporter former Gov. Tom Ridge, (R-Pa.); Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.). White House Press Secretary Dana Perino. Panel: Jill Zuckman, Chicago Tribune; Bill Sammon; William Kristol; Juan Williams.

Late Edition With Wolf Blitzer Georgia and Russia: Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates. Politics: McCain supporter Rep. Eric Cantor (R-Va.); Obama supporter Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.). Georgia and Russia: Gov. Bill Richardson (D-N.M.); Sen. Richard G. Lugar (R-Ind.). Panel: Candy Crowley; William Schneider; John King.

Dress image [click for larger] found at Princess Sparkle Pony, of course.
Open Thread

Posted: August 17th, 2008, 12:00am EDT by bluegal

Enclosure: [download]

Another great video ad from Plisko at Mediacrashers. Open thread below…