This fall Republicans will trumpet John McCain’s experience and valor, and Democrats naturally will call into question McCain’s judgment and vigor. Barack Obama will throw a few sharp elbows during debates and on the stump, but the grassroots work of shaping the narrative on McCain will fall to Obama’s running mate and to other surrogates, including canvassers and ordinary voters at the precinct and neighborhood levels.
Below the break is a sampling of words and phrases to consider lobbing in McCain’s direction. Some are obvious. Some have already been used elsewhere. Some are wry. Some are harsh.
Surely McCain’s persona and positions will serve as magnets for such descriptive terms, some of which can be made to stick.
Without further ado, here is a modest first draft of a McCain Glossary. Consider the subtitle to be: Narrative Framing for Dummies.
An Unhinged McCain in Full Snarl On McCain’s Napoleonic inclinations and his inability to control his temper: –abusive –arbitrary –acrimonious –authoritarian –autocratic –bad-tempered –bellicose –belligerent –bent out of shape –beside oneself –blow a fuse –blow a gasket –blow his top –blow his stack –Bonaparte –browbeating –bullying –comandeering –contemptuous –cranky –crabby –cross –crotchety –despotic –dictatorial –dogmatic …
“It was Soviet troops that liberated Auschwitz, so unless his uncle was serving in the Red Army, there’s no way Obama’s statement yesterday can be true,” said Republican National Committee spokesman Alex Conant. “Obama’s frequent exaggerations and outright distortions raise questions about his judgment and his readiness to lead as commander in chief.”
The above is a confident statement from a confident American political operative, working for a jittery party that senses its own demise. Desperate for any political traction, they grasped today upon Obama’s mis-statement that his relative liberated Auschwitz, and not Buchenwald.
For this small historical gaffe, the GOP would have us infer that Barack Obama is not fit to be President of the United States.
But what is the greater gaffe, mislabeling one of several Nazi concentration camps, or misunderstanding the lessons of the Holocaust as our country stumbles, and trips, and reaches for light straws of hope as we seek to restore our moral authority as the world’s leader on human rights after the abuses at Abu Ghirab and the ongoing detention of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay?
Obama, speaking in Las Vegas this afternoon, slammed McCain on a number of issues, including the Bush-McCain fundraiser, noting McCain’s position on Iraq.
Earlier today, McCain had attacked Obama on foreign policy. Interupted four times by protestors, chanting, “End this War,” John McCain continued his attacks on Obama as being “naive” during his speech on Nuclear Security Policy.
As I see a certain “friend” of mine is occupying the top spot, on this the day after his birthday, to which so many of us have been celebrating, his mere existence, in fact, and with absolutely no wish to intrude, pre-empt or diminish the importance of the latest episode of “Through the Darkest of Nights,” of which episodes, I am a great fan, I really feel a great need to give you all something to think about — on this terribly sad eve of Memorial Day.
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First, I want to alert you all to a fact — I tried 5 times to post the following on www.johnconyers.com (I had successfully posted one just before this attempt). I received a pop-up message, as follows (was not able to copy), but wrote it down:
This diary is about the irresponsible statements made by Hillary Clinton on this 23rd Day of May, 2008. I’m not going to link to the statements. BooMan has done a sufficient job laying it out. I simply want to comment on the seriousness of what she has said.
As a trial lawyer, one of the cardinal rules I have been taught about a jury presentation is that it is most effective to lead a jury right up to the point of making a decision. But to pause on the door step. To let them take the last stride themselves. People want to make their own decisions. It makes their positions more firm. They become committed to the idea, because it is their own. Given that Mrs. Hillary Clinton and I were both educated in American Law schools in the same quarter century, I am almost certain she has come across, and probably internalized this rule.
Liveblogging a presentation at the 19th Annual Conference on Computers, Freedom, and Privacy by tech advisors to the Obama and McCain campaigns, entitled the Clinton Campaign was invited to participate, but declined. The official title of the session, Presidential Technology Policy: Priorities for the Next Executive
In attendance a blend of academics, dotgovs, corporados, civil liberties orgs, cyberpunks.
Opening, Conference Chair Eddan Katz of Yale reminds that the only tech question of the 2000 Predidential debate cycle, asked at the MYV/CNN debate, was “Mac or PC.” Apparently, the questioner had a more sophisticated question in mind, but was told to use the softball by debate organizers.
The boy just can’t seem to stop making an ass of himself, can he? John McCain, who can’t even tell Iraqi resistance fighters from Iranians, can’t distinguish between al-Qaeda and Iran — because as far as he’s concerned, they’re all the same — is criticizing Barack Obama for perceived foreign policy inexperience because the senator supposedly representing Illinois doesn’t see Iran as a threat on the same level as the Soviet Union in its day.
CHICAGO – Republican John McCain accused Democrat Barack Obama of inexperience and reckless judgment for saying Iran does not pose the same serious threat to the United States as the Soviet Union did in its day.
McCain made the attack Monday in Chicago, Obama’s home turf.
“Such a statement betrays the depth of Senator Obama’s inexperience and reckless judgment. These are very serious deficiencies for an American president to possess,” McCain said in an appearance at the restaurant industry’s annual meeting.
He was referring to comments Obama made Sunday in Pendleton, Ore.: “Iran, Cuba, Venezuela – these countries are tiny compared to the Soviet Union. They don’t pose a serious threat to us the way the Soviet Union posed a threat to us. And yet we were willing to talk to the Soviet Union at the time when they were saying, `We’re going to wipe you off the planet.'”
Let’s get something straight here, boy: you can’t even tell one Arab group or nation apart from another. Where the hell do you get off chastising Obama? And what, may I ask, leads you to think Iran is as big a threat as the old Soviet Union was? Come on, I know you’re a liar, but you’re not stupid. You know as well as anyone else what the National Intelligence Estimate last year declared: that Iran is not developing nuclear weapons; that it abandoned any such attempts in 2003; and that its nuclear ambitions now seem to be geared more toward energy production than weapons.
An honest man might, in attacking his potential opponent over foreign policy naïvety, might have at least taken care to mention the NIE, why he disagreed with it — based on available evidence, and pointed out any rhetorical flubs that might indicate said potential opponent might engage in talks incompetently. But John McCain is neither honest, or a man. He is a liar, a subhuman beast trying to pander his way into the White House by terrorizing the American public.
McCain needs to admit he was lying, apologize for having done so, and drop out of the race for the presidency. These are the only honorable things he can do. Anything less is unacceptable.
Just moments ago, Obama fired back on Bush’s outrageous comparison to “Appeasement of Hitler” stating:
“I want to be perfectly clear with George Bush and John McCain, if George Bush and John MCain want to have a debate about protecting America, that is a debate I am willing to have anytime and any place, and that is a debate that I will win, because George Bush and John McCain have a lot to answer for.”
Obama Fires Back on Bush & McCain
Obama set the record straight, saying that he has never stated he will negotiate with terrorists and pointed out McCain’s hypocrisy on this issue which McCain readily denied today:
The McCain campaign said Friday that his position had remained consistent: no dialogue with rogue or suspected terrorist nations or parties without pre-conditions.
“There should be no confusion, John McCain has always believed that serious engagement would require mandatory conditions and Hamas must change itself fundamentally — renounce violence, abandon its goal of eradicating Israel and accept a two-state solution,” McCain spokesman Tucker Bounds said.
The Arizona senator has criticized Barack Obama for his stated willingness to speak with hostile nations like Iran, and repeatedly raised what he has described as Hamas’ approval of Obama’s candidacy.
In perhaps the first major act of unity of the General Election, Democratic leaders are standing up to Bush’s despicable comparison to “appeasement of Hitler” remarks.
This morning, John Edwards appearing on the Today Show, defended Obama on Bush’s comparison of “apppeasement of Hitler” stating, “It is beneath the President of the United States to make these kind of clearly political accusations when he is addressing the people of Israel on the 60th anniversary of Israel. It shouldn’t have been done, particularly in combination with what has been an absolutely disasterous foreign policy.”
Edwards also said he’s not interested in taking the Vice President position but will work with Obama’s team during the campaign and his administration stating, “right now we’ve got to focus on getting Barack Obama elected as the President of the United States.”
Rubin stated, “The Obama campaign was right to criticize the president for his remarks and for engaging in partisan politics while overseas.”
Biden weighed in by calling it “bullsh*t:”
Joe Biden, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said that if the president disagrees so strongly with the idea of talking to Iran, then he needs to fire his secretaries of state and defense, both of whom Biden said have pushed to sit down with the Iranians.
“This is bulls**t. This is malarkey. This is outrageous. Outrageous for the president of the United States to go to a foreign country, sit in the Knesset … and make this kind of ridiculous statement,” he said.
“He’s the guy who’s weakened us. He’s the guy that’s increased the number of terrorists in the world. His policies have produced this vulnerability the United States has.”
Even Chris Matthews offered a reality check on Bush’s remarks pointing out that appeasement is not talking with leaders but giving up the farm.
As Obama stated today, Bush and McCain have a lot to answer for. The days of lies and fear mongering are quickly coming to an end.
It is sad that President Bush would use a speech to the Knesset on the 6Oth anniversary of Israel’s independence to launch a false political attack. It is time to turn the page on eight years of policies that have strengthened Iran and failed to secure America or our ally Israel. Instead of tough talk and no action, we need to do what Kennedy, Nixon and Reagan did and use all elements of American power — including tough, principled, and direct diplomacy – to pressure countries like Iran and Syria. George Bush knows that I have never supported engagement with terrorists, and the President’s extraordinary politicization of foreign policy and the politics of fear do nothing to secure the American people or our stalwart ally Israel.”
Today’s New York Times features a column by David Brooks wherein Brooks claims that Obama’s statements about the current violence in Lebanon, “has the whiff of what President Bush described yesterday as appeasement.” The statement which Brooks feels has that whiff is:
It’s time to engage in diplomatic efforts to help build a new Lebanese consensus that focuses on electoral reform, an end to the current corrupt patronage system, and the development of the economy that provides for a fair distribution of services, opportunities and employment.
Leaving aside the question as to whether or not that would actually appease Hezbollah in some way (I would contend that Hezbollah is plenty enthusiastic about corrupt patronage systems and unfair distribution of goods and services, merely wishing that they be in charge of the corruption and unfair distribution), let’s focus for a moment on what is actually happening in Lebanon, and what Obama is saying should be done about it by the United States.
“The reason I am here tonight,” Edwards declared, “is the voters have made their choice and so have I.”
snip
“When this nomination battle is over, and it will be over soon, brothers and sisters,” Edwards said, “we must come together as Democrats and in the fall stand up for what matters in America and make America what it needs to be.”
John Edwards, throughout this primary season, has first and foremost been a populist. Sometimes that means standing in front of folks, meeting their gaze with a clear-eyed vision of what needs to be done to help people in this country and abroad. Sometimes it means talking and leading.
And sometimes it means listening.
John Edwards has done a lot of listening these past few months, and that led him to where he was tonight, under the glare of white lights in front of news cameras, the subject of countless pundits making countless predictions and counter-predictions.
