I wonder why?

Steve Schmidt, Sen. John McCain’s (R-AZ) top campaign strategist, yesterday accused the media of being “on a mission to destroy” Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK) by displaying “a level of viciousness and scurrilousness” in pursuing questions about her personal life. Schmidt said the McCain campaign feels “under siege” by news inquiries on Palin.

1. McCain picks Sarah Palin as his running mate.
   
   
2. A - Barrage - Of - Epic - Proportions - Casting - Serious - Doubt - On - This - Reckless - And - Incompetent - Decision - Is - Unleashed - Upon - McCain.

Image taken from here

Palin's abuse of power is reminiscent of CT Governor Granny Rell's abuse of power when her son got caught with the stolen jet ski.

This will be oh-so fun!

In McCain's fragile mind the real problem isn't about paying a man or woman fair wages for an honest day's work... McCain thinks the problem is that Americans just aren't good enough - hard working enough - to do these jobs.

I guess McCain thinks that you need to work harder at finding a pill-popping sugar momma beer heiress 2nd wife, like Cindy McCain, to pay your bills for you if you want to be able to succeed like he did?

I know that the work he is talking about is hard as hell. And it is only made worse by companies that hire undocumented immigrants and put the workers through hellish conditions that are often nothing more than modern day slave labor. Those are the very real issues that McCain would rather ignore.

Instead of having these companies hire by honest free market rules McCain and the GOP would rather let these companies continue to exploit fellow human beings and claim that Americans can't or won't do the work.

Originally posted at drinking liberally in new milford:
"McCain Thinks American Workers Aren't Good Enough"

In news that could eclipse the announcement of either party's Vice Presidential running mate, McClatchy reports:  

Now come at least three men -- coincidentally all in the Bigfoot business -- promising evidence at a Friday news conference in Palo Alto, Calif., that the elusive creature has been found at long last.

"A body that may very well be the body of the creature commonly known as 'Bigfoot' has been found in the woods in northern Georgia," says a news release. It describes the carcass as that of an animal 7 feet 7 inches tall, weighing more than 500 pounds that "looks like it is part human and part apelike."

Stay tuned as we follow up on this historical event tomorrow. And if there really is a Bigfoot, he (or she) will undoubtedly be more exciting than any of the names I have seen leaked as potential running mates for the 2008 election.

Note to News Busters: Face the facts you right wing nut busters... With the pitiful performance of the McCain campaign you are lucky that Bigfoot isn't winning the media cycle against your recycled reject of a second best to bush candidate from 2000. Even an Obama on vacation story is cleaning your cuckoo clocks and making you look silly in the process.

People who sign up for McCain's program receive reward points each time they place a favorable comment on one of the listed Web sites (subject to verification by McCain's webmasters). The points can be traded for prizes, such as books autographed by McCain, preferred seating at campaign events, even a ride with the candidate on his bus, known as the Straight Talk Express, according to campaign spokesman Brian Rogers.

...snip...

More chillingly, dissidents alleged earlier this year that the Chinese government has paid Chinese citizens token sums for each favorable comment about government policies they post in chat rooms and on blogs.

If there were dogs nearby they would be sniffin' that fear oozing out of McCain. It's like he stands there stupefied awaiting for someone to explain the question to him again. I mean... HOLY CRAP! It only takes two simple questions coupled together to neuter his ability to schlep his talking points and send him into a paralyzed fear of what to do next. Another doe in the headlights reaction from John McCain. Remember when he was asked the viagara/birth control question?

During the awkward exchange, with several lengthy pauses, McCain said he had no immediate knowledge of the vote. "I've cast thousands of votes in the Senate," McCain said, then continued: "I will respond to--it's a, it's a..."

"Delicate issue," the reporter offered, to a relieved laugh from McCain.

"I don't usually duck an issue, but I'm--I'll try to get back to you," he explained.

Though John McCain broke his promise to get back to everyone on that question, NARAL did it for him:

"Let me give you a real, live example, which 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," she said.

But as the abortion rights group NARAL Pro-Choice America was happy to point out, McCain twice voted against measures that would have required insurance companies to cover birth control -- in 2003 and 2005.

The Republican said Wednesday that he did not recall those votes. "It's something that I had not thought much about," he added.

A campaign aide who refused to speak by name said the Arizona senator opposed all mandates.

Bill O'Reilly Says He Will "Destroy" Daily Kos Today Hotlist

Today, Father Coughlin -- er, sorry, frog in my throat -- Bill O'Reilly is planning another in his ongoing attacks against Daily Kos and YearlyKos. Fox News has apparently been emailing the Democratic campaigns asking them for "comment" on Bill's ongoing Jihad of Jackassery: the following email was sent on to us from one of those Democratic campaigns:

 

From: Mitchell, Ron [mailto:xxxxxxx@FOXNEWS.COM]
Sent: Friday, July 27, 2007
To: xxxxxxx
Subject: Fox News Request

 

This is Ron Mitchell with Bill O'Reilly at the Fox News Channel.

 

The O'Reilly Factor plans an update on issues involving DailyKos website the story for Monday.

 

There are some disturbing images on the DailyKos depicting Sen. Joe Lieberman and others along with some very offensive language.

UBS, LGT Helped Hide Assets, Evade Taxes, Senate Says
By David Voreacos and Carlyn Kolker

July 17 (Bloomberg) -- UBS AG and Liechtenstein bank LGT Group aided rich U.S. clients who wanted to disguise ownership of accounts and evade taxes on hidden assets, a Senate subcommittee said.

UBS, the world's largest wealth manager, hid as much as $17.9 billion for 19,000 Americans who didn't declare assets to the Internal Revenue Service, the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations said in a report released in Washington late yesterday. LGT, owned by Liechtenstein's ruling family, fostered a ``culture of secrecy and deception'' while assigning code names to U.S. clients, the panel said.

Remember that Phil Gram works for and lobbies for one arm of UBS in the USA. More below...

U.S. army study says Iraq occupation was understaffed
DENVER - A nearly 700-page study released Sunday by the army found that "in the euphoria of early 2003," U.S.-based commanders prematurely believed their goals in Iraq had been reached and did not send enough troops to handle the occupation.

FULL STORY

It must be a kick in the head to base your claim to the presidency on your savvy in foreign affairs only to have it get out that Joe Lieberman knows more about them than you do. I bet it's a lot like how I feel when my dog corrects my grammar in front of people.

John McCain, his stepping stone wife
and Chris Shays with their pet neocon and
foreign policy poodle Joe Lieberman

The Politico hits the reality nail on the head with this:

Story behind the story: The Clinton myth

One big fact has largely been lost in the recent coverage of the Democratic presidential race: Hillary Rodham Clinton has virtually no chance of winning.

Her own campaign acknowledges there is no way that she will finish ahead in pledged delegates. That means the only way she wins is if Democratic superdelegates are ready to risk a backlash of historic proportions from the party's most reliable constituency.

Unless Clinton is able to at least win the primary popular vote -- which also would take nothing less than an electoral miracle -- and use that achievement to pressure superdelegates, she has only one scenario for victory. An African-American opponent and his backers would be told that, even though he won the contest with voters, the prize is going to someone else.

People who think that scenario is even remotely likely are living on another planet.

Yesterday, the FBI disclosed that it has launched criminal investigations against 17 companies "in the fallout of the subprime mortgage collapse." Two Justice Department officials have confirmed that Countrywide Financial is one of the companies under investigation.

My first political YouTube. Watcha think? Some stuff on Chris Shays being batshit loopy Below...

The "Iraqi Perspectives Project - Phase II" is up for your reading pleasure:

ABC News has requested and obtained a copy of the Pentagon study which shows Saddam Hussein had no links to Al Qaeda.

(READ THE FULL REPORT HERE.)

It's government report the White House didn't want you to read: yesterday the Pentagon canceled plans to send out a press release announcing the report's availability and didn't make the report available via email or online.

Based on the analysis of some 600,000 official Iraqi documents seized by US forces after the invasion and thousands of hours of interrogations of former officials in Saddam's government now in US custody, the government report is the first official acknowledgment from the US military that there is no evidence Saddam had ties to al Qaeda.

Go figure?

I am glad they posted it because I didn't like waiting for my copy in the mail. You can find the "Iraqi Perspectives Project - Phase I" over here. Both of the reports are some pretty heavy reading and won't make as much sense if you aren't familiar with the background of the many organizations mentioned (Which would explain the right wings confusion, since they never understood any of it from the beginning as evidenced by their screwing it all up) and they are not exactly written in an entertaining style..