Tag Archives: John McCain

Uncategorized

Early Morning, April 4

1 Comment

(While it’s not state-based, I thought I’d cross-post this from my site and Hullabaloo due to the importance of this day.  Also, Dr. King was shot at 6:01pm on April 4, so blame Bono and U2 for the technical error…

– promoted by David Dayen)

…shot rings out, in a Memphis sky,

free at last, they took your life

but they could not take your pride…

And then I got into Memphis. And some began to say the threats, or talk about the threats that were out. What would happen to me from some of our sick white brothers?

Well, I don’t know what will happen now. We’ve got some difficult days ahead. But it really doesn’t matter with me now, because I’ve been to the mountaintop.

And I don’t mind.

Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I’m not concerned about that now. I just want to do God’s will. And He’s allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I’ve looked over. And I’ve seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land!

And so I’m happy, tonight.

I’m not worried about anything.

I’m not fearing any man!

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord!!

Just to contextualize, Martin Luther King was in Memphis working with striking sanitation workers who wanted a fair contract from the city.  He was a civil rights leader but understood civil rights as an economic justice issue, as an issue of equality, not just of humanity but opportunity.  The workers were threatened and attacked and kept on marching for their rights.  King’s fight was for freedom of assembly, for equal protection, for justice in all its forms.  To me, this was actually the most powerful portion of that speech:

Now the other thing we’ll have to do is this: Always anchor our external direct action with the power of economic withdrawal. Now, we are poor people. Individually, we are poor when you compare us with white society in America. We are poor. Never stop and forget that collectively — that means all of us together — collectively we are richer than all the nations in the world, with the exception of nine. Did you ever think about that? After you leave the United States, Soviet Russia, Great Britain, West Germany, France, and I could name the others, the American Negro collectively is richer than most nations of the world. We have an annual income of more than thirty billion dollars a year, which is more than all of the exports of the United States, and more than the national budget of Canada. Did you know that? That’s power right there, if we know how to pool it.

We don’t have to argue with anybody. We don’t have to curse and go around acting bad with our words. We don’t need any bricks and bottles. We don’t need any Molotov cocktails. We just need to go around to these stores, and to these massive industries in our country, and say, “God sent us by here, to say to you that you’re not treating his children right. And we’ve come by here to ask you to make the first item on your agenda fair treatment, where God’s children are concerned. Now, if you are not prepared to do that, we do have an agenda that we must follow. And our agenda calls for withdrawing economic support from you.”

And so, as a result of this, we are asking you tonight, to go out and tell your neighbors not to buy Coca-Cola in Memphis. Go by and tell them not to buy Sealtest milk. Tell them not to buy — what is the other bread? — Wonder Bread. And what is the other bread company, Jesse? Tell them not to buy Hart’s bread. As Jesse Jackson has said, up to now, only the garbage men have been feeling pain; now we must kind of redistribute the pain. We are choosing these companies because they haven’t been fair in their hiring policies; and we are choosing them because they can begin the process of saying they are going to support the needs and the rights of these men who are on strike. And then they can move on town — downtown and tell Mayor Loeb to do what is right.

The power of collective action.  The power of bottom-up organizing.  The power of seeing a world where everyone is in it together, where everyone has a stake in one another.  The power of fighting for justice and fairness and right, and moving mountains just by walking together.  We get cynical in this medium a lot, and maybe we have a right to; after all, forty years ago they shot Dr. King for leading such a movement.  But the legacy lives on, and I believe in his aphorism that “the long arc of history bends toward justice.”  This movement, this place where we’ve all gravitated, is but a small kernel of that legacy.  But it’s growing, and regardless of the President or the Congress or whoever it will continue to move forward.  And one day, we will get there.

…oh yeah, just so you know, and want to tell a friend, John McCain voted against making Martin Luther King’s birthday a holiday in 1983.

Arnold Schwarzenegger, Environment

McCain Gets an ‘F’ from Schwarzenegger Climate Advisor

Think Progress went ahead and connected all these dots, but suffice it to say that despite his blustering pronouncements blasting Sens. Clinton and Obama, McCain’s environmental policy isn’t exactly a model among Governor Schwarzenegger’s climate staff:

Terry Tamminen, an adviser on energy and environmental policy to California Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, looked at what the presidential candidates have said they’d do and graded them: She gave Clinton and Obama B’s, but McCain got an F because he hasn’t put out a specific plan.

As you may recall, Governor 44% (pdf) rather dramatically endorsed Sen. McCain shortly before the Feb. 5 primaries, promptly barnburning all over the place including an election day swing through San Diego.  The crux of the endorsement and the stumping was that McCain was a maverick, no-nonsense, get-er-done moderate blah blah blah.  I guess maybe the environment isn’t included in McCain’s moderation- at least by the standards in Schwarzenegger’s own office.

Think Progress adds a bunch of other great points- like endorser Mel Martinez giving McCain an “incomplete” based on his lack of policy specifics.  And notes that McCain, as usual, talks a better game than he legislates, since both Clinton and Obama have better records on the environmental legislation that’s actually IN the Senate.  Remember when there was concern over Obama’s lack of specifics? Anybody want to hold their breath until the media starts hammering McCain for the same?  Remember in 2000 when we got a president that lacked policy specifics?

California

Bring It On, John McSame

This is fantastic.

Senator John McCain does not plan to make any public statements during today’s brief visit to The Inn at Spanish Bay in Pebble Beach.

But union families, organized through the Monterey Bay Labor Council, intend to make some of their own.

A union demonstration against the senator’s economic policies will take place at noon at the Highway 1 entrance to Pebble Beach during McCain’s $2,300-per-person fundraising luncheon. The demonstration is part of the AFL-CIO’s recently launched $53 million “McCain Revealed” campaign, which focuses on McCain’s support of President George W. Bush’s economic policies, which the AFL-CIO claims have hurt working Americans.

McCain’s spent three days here in California, giving speeches that show he’s as out of touch with America’s domestic and foreign policy challenges as he is unsuccessful with a teleprompter.  Please come back, John, we’ll leave the light on for ya.  Between this labor muscle and a general distaste for Republicans, the more McSame wastes his time arguing for a third Bush term in California, the better.

UPDATE by Robert The Monterey County Democrats also held a rally to mark McSame’s visit to Pebble Beach, this one on the steps of Colton Hall in Monterey, where California’s first constitution was written and signed in 1849. It was billed as a “unity rally” to bring Hillary and Obama supporters together to train their fire on McSame, instead of on each other.

Vinz Koller, chairman of the Monterey County Democrats, gave an excellent speech noting McSame’s visit to Orange County yesterday, where he said the best action on foreclosures was no action, as well as his visit to the ultra-wealthy, private Spanish Bay resort to raise money; as well as his ongoing support for the ruinous Iraq War.

More pictures over the flip.



Vinz Koller reframing the 2008 election as Democrats vs. more-of-the-same



AD-27 candidate Emily Reilly



A beautiful day. I love this town.

Coachella Valley

Bush, McCain, Bono Baxely Mack 100 Years War and Occupation: Devastating U.S. Troops’ Mental Health

So-called Pres. George W. Bush initiated a war of aggression and limitless occupation against the sovereign nation of Iraq in order to exact revenge on Sadaam Hussein over Hussein’s assassination attempt on former Pres. George H.W. Bush and to secure Iraqi oil for Bush’s Texas oil cronies.  Sen. John McCain and Rep. Mary Bono Baxely Mack, absentee Congresswoman, have supported every Bush war policy without reservation.  In fact, McCain is prepared for the U.S. to continue the occupation of Iraq ‘for 100 years.’

The U.S. Army recently released a study on the impact of the Bush war of aggression on the mental health of U.S. troops (The Associated Press, by Pauline Jelinek, dated March 7, 2008).  The findings of the report are devastating to the Bush occupation efforts and reveal the harmful impact on a significant percentage of U.S. troops.

More below the flip…

More than 27% of U.S. troops on their third or fourth combat tour suffered anxiety, depression, post-combat stress and other problems.  More than 12% of U.S. troops on their first tour suffered similar mental health problems

Suicide rates “remained elevated” in both Iraq and in Afghanistan.  Four suicides occurred last year in Afghanistan and 34 either confirmed or suspected suicides in Iraq.  If all suicides are confirmed, this would be the highest suicide rate since the Bush war of aggression began

The percentage of soldiers reporting depression in Afghanistan was higher than that in Iraq, and mental health problems in general were higher than they had previously been in Afghanistan.  The adjusted rate in 2007 for depression in Afghanistan was 11.4% compared with 7.6% in Iraq

83% of U.S. troops in Afghanistan reported exposure to traumatic combat events, a key risk factor for poor mental health among the troops

Spreading U.S. troops out in Afghanistan tended to isolate troops and made it more difficult for them to obtain mental health services in Afghanistan

About 29% of U.S. troops in combat outposts in Iraq reported that it was difficult to obtain mental health services in Iraq.  About 13% of U.S. troops not at outposts reported similar difficulty

U.S. troops receiving “Battlemind” training reported fewer mental health problems than those who did not.  The training teaches U.S. troops and families what to expect before troops depart for the Bush occupation of Iraq and what common problems to look out for when troops readjust to Stateside life following deployment

29% of U.S. troops feared seeking mental health services would harm their careers, down from 34% in 2006.  Fears of seeking mental health services would prevent many from getting help for anxiety, depression, and post-combat stress and would exacerbate the symptoms

89% of U.S. troops reported that their unit’s morale was neither high nor very high, down from 93% in 2006.  79.4% reported neither high nor very high individual morale, down from 81.7% in 2006.

In Iraq, 72% of soldiers reported knowing someone seriously injured or killed

U.S. troops reported an average of only 5.6 hours of sleep nightly in Iraq, significantly less than that needed to maintain optimal level of performance.  This puts U.S. troops at greater risk for harm.  Officers appear to significantly underestimate the impact of sleep deprivation.

Almost 33% of U.S. troops in Afghanistan were highly concerned that they were not getting sufficient sleep, and about 25% reported falling asleep during convoys last year thereby increasing their risk for harm.  16% of U.S. troops reported taking psychiatric medications during 2007 (there was no figure for the percentage of troops who were prescribed psychiatric medications and who were not taking them), and about half of those were sleep medications

Uncategorized

No, California is not in play for Mr. 3rd Term

5 Comments

PhotobucketOver at the National Journal (via MSNBC, John Mercurio thinks that California is in play this November. Let me make this clear.

No. It. Is. Not.

There is no way that McCain wins California barring some last minute revelations that the Democratic nominee is in fact not a human, but one of those aliens that appears every Halloween in the Simpsons. Perhaps that would give pause to California voters. But to tell you the truth, I bet either Kang or Kodos would poll pretty strongly against McCain, and, perhaps might win with a strong mail vote campaign. It worked in 1996, right? Perhaps we should just nominate Kodos, that Kang is quite violent.

So, let’s get in to just why Mercurio thinks John McCain will win, and why Mercurio, in fact, knows less about the California electorate than, say, Bill Jones, whom he quotes as an excellent source. You know the one, Bill Jones, former SoS, and the guy that lost to Barbara Boxer, one of America’s most progressive Senators by 20 freaking points. Yeah, that guy thinks McCain can totally take California. Totally.

“California can be won by a Republican,” McCain campaign chair and former California secretary of state Bill Jones told the San Francisco Chronicle. “I did it twice. The governor [Schwarzenegger] has done it.”

I see where Jones thinks he can make the comparison between McCain and Schwarzenegger. I mean, both like to present themselves as moderate “mavericks.” But, Arnold is not McCain, and the opposite is true. In fact, Arnold basically played McCain for the 2005 special election. He spoke out against unions (check-McCain is not a friend of organized labor.) Arnold spoke out about changing the way things are done, and then went around business as usual. He said “the money comes in and the favors go out” and then went about bringing the money in and sending the favors out.  Oh look, McCain likes to play nice with campaign finance reform too (like say, using it as a collateral for a loan). Flip it.

But where did Arnold’s McCain act get him? Well, he took a beating in the 2005 special election. A thumping, if you’d like to borrow Bush’s words. When Arnold has been successful it’s been by moving quite visibly to the left. It’s been when he signed AB 32, when he tried to get health care legislation passed, when he increased the minimum wage.  Oh, and by the way, he signed legislation increasing the strength of domestic partnerships.

But McCain? Mr. 100 Years? In a state that overwhelmingly opposes the Iraq War? SUSA shows Obama leading by eleven points, and Clinton leading by ten points. (By the by, that SUSA poll shows McCain only beating Obama in Texas by a single point.) In other words, McCain’s maverick rhetoric isn’t working here.

California’s Republicans might be among the nuttiest of the country, but our DTS votes go strongly to Democrats and Democratic ideals. So, Arnold ripped off our ideas for a while. But that has proved to be something of a one-off in California. All of the Democratic statewide candidates won, save the inept Cruz Bustamante. The Republican Party is at war with its own Governator.  The Guy got booed at the last CRP convention he attended, and yet, somehow, that guy is going to help McCain win?

But there is one way for McCain to make the Golden State a red state, or at least give it an honest shot. And he’s just sitting there in Sacramento, waiting to be asked.

Well, to correct one obvious point, Arnold isn’t sitting in Sacramento, you’re far more likely to find him back in his posh LA County compound, but that’s neither here nor there. Arnold can get one man elected, and that’s Arnold. Arnold can’t carry Republicans for anybody else in the state, let alone for a statewide ballot.

And if McCain does try to win California, well, hell, to quote Bush again, Bring it on! Let’s see him veer to the left and freak out his party’s base.  Spend lots and lots of resources here. Drown the state in Freedom’s Watch money. Every penny spent here is a penny not going to the winnable states of Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, etc. We can reach in and nab Virginia too.

But sure, we’ll work to make sure that we maintain the strong leads, but I’d love to see McCain waste resources here. In the end, I think this is just the GOP saber rattling what turns out to be a might skimpy saber.

Coachella Valley, education

Children’s Defense Fund 2007 Scorecard: McCain Ranks as Worst Senator at Ten Percent

(XPosted 2/29/2008 6:14 PM PST on MyDesert.com)

The Children’s Defense Fund’s (CDF) Leave No Child Behind® mission is to ensure every child a Healthy Start, a Head Start, a Fair Start, a Safe Start, and a Moral Start in life and successful passage to adulthood with the help of caring families and communities.  CDF began in 1973 and is a private, nonprofit organization supported by foundation and corporate grants and individual donations.  CDF has never taken government funds.

Annually, the CDF Action Council compiles a Nonpartisan Congressional Scorecard for U.S. Senators and Representatives.  In the Scorecard, 100% represents an excellent voting record on children’s issues while 0% represents a terrible record in the estimation of CDF.  Sen. John McCain ‘achieved’ a score of 10%, the lowest of any U.S. Senator.  McCain supported only one CDF position, opposed one other CDF position, and voted ‘Not Voting’ on the other eight bills.  Either McCain is anti-children or is yet another absentee Republican leader when it comes to important issues.

More below the flip…

In 2007, U.S. Senators were graded on their votes on ten different issues that CDF supported:

(1) 2008 Budget Resolution (Measure was Agreed To)

(2) Extend Health Coverage to 3.1 Million More Uninsured Children (Agreed To)

(3) Extend Health Coverage to 3.2 Million More Uninsured Children (Passed)

(4) Fund Child Health and Education (Agreed To)

(5) Give Children a Head Start (Agreed To)

(6) Help Youth Pay for College (Agreed To)

(7) Increase Funding for Education for Children with Disabilities (Failed)

(8) Increase the Minimum Wage (Passed)

(9) Protect Children from Unsafe Medications (Passed)

(10) Support Education for Children of Immigrants (Failed).

In 2007, 50 U.S. Senators, including 44 Democrats, 4 Republicans, and 2 Independents had excellent scorecards, that is, 80% or higher.  The following Senators had excellent records: Blanche Lincoln D-AR (80%), Mark Pryor D-AR (90%), Barbara Boxer D-CA (90%), Dianne Feinstein D-CA (100%), Ken Salazar D-CO (90%), Joseph LIeberman I-CT (100%), Tom Carper D-DE (100%), Bill Nelson D-FL (90%), Daniel Akaka D-HI (100%), Daniel Inouye D-HI (100%), Tom Harkin D-IA (100%), Richard Durbin D-IL (100%), Evan Bayh D-IN (100%), Richard Lugar R-IN (80%), Mary Landrieu D-LA (80%), Edward Kennedy D-MA (90%), John Kerry D-MA (90%), Benjamin Cardin D-MD (100%), Barbara Mikulski D-MD (100%), Susan Collins R-ME (90%), Olympia Snowe R-ME (90%), Carl Levin D-MI (100%), Deborah Stabenow D-MI (100%), Norm Coleman R-MN (80%), Amy Klobuchar D-MN (100%), Claire McCaskill D-MO (80%), Max Baucus D-MT (80%), Jon Tester D-MT (80%), Kent Conrad D-ND (90%), Byron Dorgan D-ND (90%), Ben Nelson D-NE (90%), Frank Lautenburg D-NJ (100%), Robert Menendez D-NJ (100%), Jeff Bingaman D-NM (100%), Harry Reid D-NV (100%), Charles Schumer D-NY (90%), Sherrod Brown D-OH (100%), Ron Wyden D-OR (90%), Bob Casey D-PA (100%), Jack Reed D-RI (100%), Sheldon Whitehouse D-RI (100%), James Webb D-VA (90%), Patrick Leahy D-VT (100%), Bernard Sanders I-VT (90%), Maria Cantwell D-WA (90%), Patty Murray D-WA (100%), Russell Feingold D-WI (100%), Herb Kohl D-WI (100%), Robert Byrd D-WV (90%), and Jay Rockefeller D-WV (100%).

Five of 100 U.S. Senators had failing grades, that is, 20% or lower:  Jim DeMint R-SC (20%), James Inhofe R-OK (20%), Tom Coburn R-OK (20%), David Vitter (20%), and John McCain R-AZ (10%).

Yes, out of 100 U.S. Senators, McCain ranked the lowest of any on the CDF scorecard, lower than any Democrat and lower than any other Republican.  McCain voted ‘nay’ to Extend Health Coverage to 3.2 Million More Uninsured Children, a measure that passed in the Senate.  McCain voted ‘not voting’ on all of the other bills except for Increase the Minimum Wage where he voted ‘yea’ on a measure that passed.

In comparison, Sen. Hillary Clinton D-NY obtained a 70% rating while Sen. Barack Obama obtained a 60% rating.

You be the judge.

Uncategorized

Call Dan Schnur for a Quote

7 Comments

Dan Schnur is a go-to guy for quotes when it comes to the GOP, especially with California reporters. In 2000, Schnur was Communications Director for John McCain. The New York Times is now reporting that there was a crisis within that “small circle of advisers” about what is now a major scandal:

A female lobbyist had been turning up with him at fund-raisers, visiting his offices and accompanying him on a client’s corporate jet. Convinced the relationship had become romantic, some of his top advisers intervened to protect the candidate from himself – instructing staff members to block the woman’s access, privately warning her away and repeatedly confronting him, several people involved in the campaign said on the condition of anonymity.

When news organizations reported that Mr. McCain had written letters to government regulators on behalf of the lobbyist’s client, the former campaign associates said, some aides feared for a time that attention would fall on her involvement.

Mr. McCain, 71, and the lobbyist, Vicki Iseman, 40, both say they never had a romantic relationship. But to his advisers, even the appearance of a close bond with a lobbyist whose clients often had business before the Senate committee Mr. McCain led threatened the story of redemption and rectitude that defined his political identity.

Who will be the first reporter to pin down Schnur on this?

Coachella Valley, Marriage Equality

Election 2008: John McCain Disdains LGBT Community and Its Issues

XPosted 2/14/2008 12:00 AM PST on MyDesert.com

Sen. John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee for President has little to say about the rights of the LGBT community or its issues on his campaign website at JohnMcCain.com.

Under the link “Human Dignity & the Sancitity of Life,” McCain lists (1) Overturning Roe V. Wade, (2) Promoting Adoption, (3) Protecting Marriage, (4) Addressing the Moral Concerns of Advanced Technology, (5) Protecting Children from Online Predators, and (6) the Greatest Concern is to Serve the Cause of Human Dignity.  As you might guess from the above headings, McCain and his campaign is pandering to the so-called Religious Right community.

More below the flip…

More specifically, according to About.com: Gay Life, McCain has a spotty record at best on the LGBT issues themselves.

(1)  McCain on Gay Marriage: McCain opposes Marriage Equality, but believes the issue should be left up to the states.  McCain voted against the Federal Marriage Amendment, but according to McCain’s campaign website,

“[He] believes the institution of marriage is a union between one man and one woman. It is only this definition that sufficiently recognizes the vital and unique role played by mothers and fathers in the raising of children, and the role of the family in shaping, stabilizing, and strengthening communities and our nation.”

I am guessing that in the case of Marriage Equality, McCain does extend his greatest concern to serve the cause of LGBT dignity or, perhaps, does not include the LGBT community within the context of the Human community.

(2) McCain on Gays and Lesbians in the Military: McCain believes the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy has been effective and should be left untouched.  At the 2007 GOP debate at Saint Anselm College on Jun 3, 2007, McCain said,

“We have the best-trained, most professional, best- equipped, most efficient, most wonderful military in the history of this country, and I’m proud of every one of them. There just aren’t enough of them. So I think it would be a terrific mistake to even reopen the issue. The policy is working. And I am convinced that that’s the way we can maintain this greatest military. Let’s not tamper with them.”

How is including LGBT community members in the Armed Forces “tampering” with the military?  McCain fails to explicate his position or clarify his terminology.

Allowing LGBT community members to serve openly in the U.S. military is a matter of Human Dignity, and McCain refuses to accord respect to the LGBT community in a fashion similar to that accorded to the heterosexual community in the military.  McCain also does not address the fact that the U.S. military loses millions of dollars of tax payer money each year in attempts to enforse the DADT policies.

McCain fails to address the fact that many Arabic-English and English-Arabic translators are discharged from the U.S. military each year due to DADT.  Finally, the United States is one of the few Western countries to disallow LGBT members from serving in the its Armed Forces, yet, the military leadership is coming around to a more progressive perspective.

McCain on Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA): McCain voted against ENDA and prohibiting job discrimination based upon sexual orientation.

McCain on Federal Hate Crimes Legislation: While in the Senate, McCain voted against extending the definition of hate crimes to include sexual orientation and opposed the so-called Matthew Shepard bill on the floor of the U.S. Senate.

McCain on HIV/AIDS: McCain’s stance on HIV/AIDS is ambiguous at best. When asked in the New York Times political blog McCain Stumbles on H.I.V. Prevention about the use of contraceptives or counseling to help prevent the spread of HIV and AIDS, McCain said,

“You’ve stumped me. I’m not informed enough on it. Let me find out. You know, I’m sure I’ve taken a position on it on the past. I have to find out what my position was.”

“You’ve stumped me?”  “I’m not informed enough on it?”  “I have to find out what my position was?”  The United States, California and the Coachella Valley have been ravaged by HIV/AIDS, and McCain is either uninformed or incompetent on the issue.

How can a World Leader be unaware of the impact of HIV/AIDS on the Nation?  Oh, I forgot, the Republican Party has a long history of neglect on the people affected by and infected with HIV/AIDS from former President Ronald Reagan who refused to utter the words “HIV” or “AIDS” throughout most of his Presidency, to President George H.W. Bush and so-called President George W. Bush who attempted to either reduce funding for HIV/AIDS, attempted to pit the HIV/AIDS community against other chronic illness communities, or attempted to gut HIV/AIDS programs in this country.

McCain is more of the same.  Ignorant, ill-informed, AIDS-phobic, and incompetent on the issue.

Arnold Schwarzenegger, California, San Diego

This Just In (Again): McCain is Nervous about California

2 Comments

So I just got back from a McCain rally here in San Diego and aside from feeling dirty, he’s definitely a bit worried about California.  He brought out every gun he’s got, big, little, whatever.  He was introduced by Mayor Jerry Sanders, former CA SoS Bill Jones and Governor Schwarzenegger (McCain “will say ‘Hasta la vista’ to wasteful spending in Washington.”).  On stage but silent were locals such as my councilman Kevin Faulconer and County Supervisor Ron Roberts.  Along for the ride on the plane and the photo ops were wife Cindy, mother Roberta, and his murderers row of pseudo-moderates: Governor Crist from Florida and Senators Richard Burr, Lindsay Graham and Joe Lieberman.  They didn’t say anything but they stood there very moderately.

And then Senator McCain went ON AND ON about the evils of radical Islamic extremism (radical extremism? Is it also exceptionally unique? Largely big?).  He told people that it’s a titanic struggle against people who want to destroy everything and that there is nothing more evil than what we’re up against.  He gave “my friends” plenty of “straight talk” about…evil.  Troops aren’t coming home because that would be surrender (does that mean that we can’t win if the troops come home?).  He said that he was the only one who knew Rumsfeld’s plan would fail and the Petraeus plan was necessary (presumably not even Petraeus knew).  Spent about two seconds on making tax cuts permanent and saying that it’s bad when Congress spends money (just like the Constitution says. Oh wait…).  

Closed things off trying to roll around in the filth of the Reagan legacy and then noting that $35 billion in earmarks could have gone towards $1000 for every child in the country.  How much would the $2 trillion in Iraq money have translated into for the kids? McCain was mum on this point (the answer because I like math is…a whole lot more).

Point is, McCain is desperate to make everyone scared because he’s scared of Romney.  Rally in San Diego seven hours before the polls close to talk about fear? Hm.