A Maverick or a Gambler ?

Jo Becker and Don van Natta Jr from The New York Times delivered a very interesting paper on John McCain and his relationship to gambling and the gambling industry*.

The man is a gambler, and members of his team as well as major sponsors of his campaign have close ties with the industry.

This doesn't come as a surprise and explains a lot about the man, and his behavior... particularily after a week during which the wheel kept turning in the wrong direction for him.

I want to raise the issue of timing. Why raise this issue right now ?

It sounds like more and more people, including in the GOP, are not feeling so comfortable with the McCain-Palin ticket.

Palin is a magnet for theocons, but a scarecrow for voters who want a reliable vice-president instead of a theocon puppet. McCain and Bush will have to invent a major diversion to cancel her "debate" with Joe Biden (even if the format of the meeting protects her : no direct confrontation, this impostor can safely recitate Schmidt's mantras)

McCain was relatively spared, but the media will be more focusing on his character in the days to come : a gambler, often bad tempered, a womanizer who dumped his first wife because she didn't look as nice after a dramatic car incident... not exactly a poster child for the religious right.

True Republicans will feel relieved if this ticket fails. It's the only way of reforming the GOP, of getting rid of the Bush-Cheney theocon-neocon clique who disgraced the party and the country over the past 8 years.

Expect more circumstantiated character destruction about John McCain and Sarah Palin in the days to come.

This character destruction will prevent the character assassination of the US of A**.


* see "McCain and Team Have Many Ties to Gambling Industry" (NYT 20080928)
** see "Change is coming" and Mac "will fight", but for whom and for what ?"

The Washington Dodgers

Meet the Washington Dodgers : Bush-McCain-Palin

Rookie Sarah Palin proved a perfect match for the "franchise" : she refuses all kind of accountability and expects voters to trust her in a few weeks.

George W. Bush was the first to join the roster, during the Vietnam war. Ever since, he kept breaking all Sluggish Average records, smacking budgets well over the fence. His trademark home run ? Crawling back to Crawford, TX, and from there signing the orders for thousands of coffins to be sent to Iraq.

While Bush avoided Vietnam, John McCain was stuck there, playing for a very different team. But this All Star favorite faded into an opportunist, ready to sell himself to his former enemies. He is now a proud Dodger and refuses to face the press, the facts, his rival Obama, and ultimately History.

Now John McCain wants to skip the debate, a "time out" in the middle of the financial crisis. What kind of leader cries Uncle so clumsily ? Why not say "sorry, my staff can get back to you but as far as I'm concerned, I can't handle several problems at the same time" while you're at it ?

This is no time for cowardice and denial : it's time to face the problems, the nation and History.

The only truly presidential leader remains available on every front : Obama keeps his cool and authority, and he firmly reminds his opponent that this is the very best moment for voters to know exactly where the candidates stand on key issues.

I guess the campaigns should modify the debate agenda : domestic and economic issues should be coped with this friday instead of foreign issues.

I can't wait to have my staff get back to me and introduce me to economics

Collapses in Wall Street and Alaska

The fundamentals of the McCain-Palin ticket sound as good as those of the US economy...

The Palin Imposture :

- a "Maverick" shaking DC... with Cheney's neocon agenda and Bush's theocon agenda

- an "independent" reaching across the aisle... but firing anybody who disagree with her

- an agent of change... who doesn't even believe in Evolution

- in favor of investigation... but not of subpoenas

- ready to protect the country... but running Alaska from an unprotected Yahoo! account

- ...

Q "Well John, don't you think it's time to accept you're not good at casting people fit for the job ?"

A "I haven't changed my mind: I think... I'll have my staff get back to you"

PS / bonus : for the road, Fey / Palin's premiere at SNL with Poehler / Hillary :

Change for Bush ? Thanks, but no thanks, John McCain

Indy John, raider of the lost Arch-rival ?

I'm John McCain and I approved this mess-up.

Prisoner Of Wasilla - A short sighted Maverick

John McCain is a POW now. Prisoner Of Wasilla, he'll have to go all the way to November with the caricature of a Veep he picked in a last minute "hail Maria pass" (as Jonathan Atler splendidly put it).

Old Noah had to fill his Arch before the Gustav flood, but didn't have enough time to find a member of each species. With Sarah Palin, he filled a few checkboxes in one shot : Mac is targeting hardcore Hillarists ? Palin is a woman. Mac is turning 72 ? Palin is 44. Mac wants to rally ultraconservatives ? Palin is a mother of 5, against abortion rights, and a NRA activist. Mac wants to please Bush's fundamentalist base ? Palin prones the teaching of creationism / Intelligent Design at school.

Even better : as Mark Brown put it, "Palin gives them the reason (excuse?) they needed to vote for McCain, assuming they weren't already there. Now they won't be voting AGAINST the black man. They'll be voting FOR the woman." So the Palin quick fix is solving both the gender and race issues. Another way for McCain of evading the direct comparison with Obama.

Brilliant...

And pathetic.

This isn't a daring move but a purely defensive, tactical, and short sighted one. The kind of moves a cornered rookie chess player would try in an embarrassingly childish final display of bravado. John McCain has no long term vision whatsoever : he is simply everyday more desperate to please everybody, everyday more hollow and inconsistent.

Mac says he’s been keeping an eye on his Pal for years, but he actually met her 6 months ago, and called her only once about the job*. The "maverick" is gone, replaced by either a compulsive gambler, or someone who totally despises the Vice Presidency (after all, this very man already delivered a cristal clear definition for the job : "The vice president has two duties : one is to inquire daily as to the health of the president, and the other is to attend the funerals of Third World dictators").

What a contrast with the Obama - Biden ticket ! Barack chose Joe because he respected him for his judgement and his ability to challenge him a positive way for the good of the country, like a trustable and unbiased partner would do.

McCain-Palin ? They don’t respect each other. They don’t even know each other, never worked together. Can’t work together... unless, of course, John McCain decides to give up totally to his darker side, and accepts to lose the McCainistan war. I don't know whether he's lost his bearings, but I hope Independents won't lose theirs and follow such a dangerous path.

Let Obama take care of him in the Presidential debates.

Meanwhile, Hillary has unfinished job to do and I expect her to come out and expose Palin's imposture (she personifies what feminists abhorr : a former beauty queen**, a militant against abortion rights, a NRA activist willing to nuke Roe vs Wade). That would prove she really meant what the said the other night.

Before Hurricane Hillary touches down, the McCain-Palin duet intends to surf on Hurricane Gustav, the perfect Weapon of Mass Distraction : imagine them facing the elements in a spectacular New Orleans acceptance speech - what a dramatic, un-Conventional, un-big-stadium-extravaganza change ! The perfect PR op' at the best moment.

And far less risky than facing a mob of dubious and angry Reps.

* read "The story behind the Palin surprise" (Jonathan Martin on Politico 20080829)
** When you say "I think that’s a pretty, pretty event-filled and record-filled resume", are you talking about the Miss Wasilla 1984 line, John ? Do you really believe in this "agent of change" who doesn't understand evolution ?, this untested, small town celeb one heartbeat away of leading 300 million Americans ?

Riding The Bullet

"Where Have You Gone, John ?"

Good question and excellent answers by Jonathan Atler*.

McCain 2008 is definitely becoming a caricature of Bush 2004, and doesn't have much left in common with McCain 2000.

Already swiftboated in muddy waters by 527 Groups**, Barack Obama is now being parishiltoned by John's own Nightmare Team of campaigners, headed by The Bullet himself, Steve Schmidt, the ant behind The Architect in Karl Rove's masterpiece : George W. Bush 2004 election (remember ? Dubya lost in 2000 but Jeb won Florida for him).

How low can it go indeed ? Back in 2003, The Dixie Chicks would clearly denounce Bush's invasion of Iraq. Five years later, Paris Hilton is actually campaigning for John McCain. No wonder : compared to Nathalie Maines, this perfab rehab celeb has the IQ of a fencepost. Ever the superficial caricature of herself, she is not criticizing the Republican candidate for his program or character but for his age, the only field where she can outscore him (Mac also underwent cosmetic surgery, but for serious reasons - and no, I never considered dumbness a sexy attribute).

The air is almost getting fouler in pre-election America than in pre-olympic Beijing. Yet, even under this blanket of slime and mud, a serious debate seems to be emerging on energy issues. Obama knows the quickest way to curb emissions is to change behaviors, and McCain knows nuclear power should remain a major option.

Even nowadays, after the World's leader in percentage of electricity generated by nuclear plants disclosed series of embarassing incidents involving its beloved plants.

After all, there's been some improvement since 2004 : if France is still not really helping the GOP champion, at least Paris joined the Party.



* see his latest column (Newsweek 20080811) - and my previous blogules on this tragic Mac Drive : "The McCainistan War" (20080718), and "Values Question Marks" (20080512)
** see "The Case Against Barack Obama ? More propaganda from mud loving PIGs" (20080703)