Old Town Tac, WA -
My favorite piece of spin so far definitely belongs to John Edwards.
"What is clear is that [voters] are not interested in status quo," Edwards said. "They're interested in change. They want to see a candidate of change, and so they now have two choices in making that decision, and this choice is somebody who will fight for the change that makes America what it's capable of being.
He then went on to steal a line from Bill Richardson. "I am not the candidate of glitz. I am not the candidate of glamour."
TWO choices? I guess that means the top two placers in Iowa, percentages be damned! But hey, its a winner-take-all business!
My least favorite bit of non-spin comes from McCain.
"When Tiffany asked if he intended to keep Americans in Iraq for 50 years, McCain shot back, 'Make it a hundred.'"
This, folks, is why the more I hear John McCain the more I grow to dislike John McCain. He is on the verge of replacing Rudy Giuliani as the most war-clamoring, fear-mongering candidate in the race. And THAT, is what I despise most of all.
Showing posts with label John McCain. Show all posts
Showing posts with label John McCain. Show all posts
Friday, January 4, 2008
Sunday, December 2, 2007
Media Tries to Blow Down Straw Poll Paul
Plymouth, NH -
Ron Paul puts his pants on just like the rest of the GOP candidates - one leg at a time. Except, once his pants are on, he wins straw polls. This time he dominated in Virginia. I think this is something like the 12th straw poll he has won now. I know they don't mean much, but at some point they have to mean something.
Paul - 38%
Thompson - 23% (whose surrogate was VA GOP's favorite son George Allen)
Huckabee - 11%
Giuliani - 9%
Which bring me to my other point, why was the MSM afraid to give Ron Paul any propers for his debate performance Wednesday?
Although his speaking time, 7:11, put him in the middle of the pack and very near Mike Huckabee (9:47) and the drawling Fred Thompson (10:25), Paul was widely ignored in most debate reviews.
The New York Times' sole mention of Paul had to do with his quip about fundraising.
In The Fix, Chris Cilizza gave Paul only passing mention as the object of a motion by John McCain.
Furthermore, there was absolutely no mention of the exchange that drew McCain's real ire in the first place. The Arizona Senator is fond of repeating a line, which he has been saying for years, about the Republicans going to Washington to change it, but how Washington changed them. Well, Ron Paul went out of his way with his first chance to say "I don't think that applies to me. Washington didn't change me." You could see McCain bristle while Paul exposed McCain's establishment credentials.
There was another tete-a-tete between the two white hairs later on when McCain interrupted once again to point out that America never lost a battle in Vietnam. Paul instantly hit back with the point that the Vietnamese Colonel Tu said in a meeting with the American Colonoel Summers, who made the same point, "yes, but that is irrelevant." Again, the crowd cheered on Ron Paul's sentiment.
Over at First Read, the editorial crew gave Paul some credit for sounding rational in the face of irrationality.
My initial reaction to the debate was the Huckabee put in a great performance, Romney was all over the place mostly due to his overtly visceral pandering instinct, and Giuliani stunk up the joint. The MSM picked up on this loud and clear. But the thing they didn't notice is that Ron Paul bitch slapped John McCain left and right with sound reasoning in the face of patriotistic jingoism. Its not about the troops winning. Its about life and death, human dignity and Iraqi freedom, and the honor of American values. Ron Paul understands this, and if you watch the video again, so did the voters in the crowd. MSM - don't be afraid.
Ron Paul puts his pants on just like the rest of the GOP candidates - one leg at a time. Except, once his pants are on, he wins straw polls. This time he dominated in Virginia. I think this is something like the 12th straw poll he has won now. I know they don't mean much, but at some point they have to mean something.
Paul - 38%
Thompson - 23% (whose surrogate was VA GOP's favorite son George Allen)
Huckabee - 11%
Giuliani - 9%
Which bring me to my other point, why was the MSM afraid to give Ron Paul any propers for his debate performance Wednesday?
Although his speaking time, 7:11, put him in the middle of the pack and very near Mike Huckabee (9:47) and the drawling Fred Thompson (10:25), Paul was widely ignored in most debate reviews.
The New York Times' sole mention of Paul had to do with his quip about fundraising.
And Representative Ron Paul of Texas, whose libertarian, anti-war candidacy has made him a surprise fund-raising sensation on the Internet, allowed that he was “struggling to figure out how to spend the money.”
In The Fix, Chris Cilizza gave Paul only passing mention as the object of a motion by John McCain.
Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) challenged Rep. Ron Paul over the idea of whether American troops should be removed from Iraq immediately. "That kind of isolationism, sir, is what caused World War II," McCain said to a mixture of cheering and booing from the crowd. "We allowed Hitler to come to power with that kind of attitude and appeasement." Paul responded that he had more campaign donations from active military men and women than any other Republican candidate.Yet he completely failed to include a key component of that back-and-forth, when Paul told McCain he didn't understand the difference between isolationism and non-interventionism, and furthermore that the crowd wildly cheered Paul as he gave his anti-war answer that led McCain to go after him.
Furthermore, there was absolutely no mention of the exchange that drew McCain's real ire in the first place. The Arizona Senator is fond of repeating a line, which he has been saying for years, about the Republicans going to Washington to change it, but how Washington changed them. Well, Ron Paul went out of his way with his first chance to say "I don't think that applies to me. Washington didn't change me." You could see McCain bristle while Paul exposed McCain's establishment credentials.
There was another tete-a-tete between the two white hairs later on when McCain interrupted once again to point out that America never lost a battle in Vietnam. Paul instantly hit back with the point that the Vietnamese Colonel Tu said in a meeting with the American Colonoel Summers, who made the same point, "yes, but that is irrelevant." Again, the crowd cheered on Ron Paul's sentiment.
Over at First Read, the editorial crew gave Paul some credit for sounding rational in the face of irrationality.
Paul does a pretty good job of sounding rational when posed with somewhat irrational questions. His trilateral commission answer didn't sound conspiratorial even though the whole premise of the question is just that: conspiratorial.In other words, a backhanded compliment. They're saying he is an articulate coot. It is oddly reminiscent of the Kucinich UFO question.
My initial reaction to the debate was the Huckabee put in a great performance, Romney was all over the place mostly due to his overtly visceral pandering instinct, and Giuliani stunk up the joint. The MSM picked up on this loud and clear. But the thing they didn't notice is that Ron Paul bitch slapped John McCain left and right with sound reasoning in the face of patriotistic jingoism. Its not about the troops winning. Its about life and death, human dignity and Iraqi freedom, and the honor of American values. Ron Paul understands this, and if you watch the video again, so did the voters in the crowd. MSM - don't be afraid.
Monday, November 19, 2007
Serving the Secret
Snow Pond, NH -
Sometimes it is the little things that make voters choose a candidate. I wonder if one of those little things will be what The Trail reported from John McCain’s recent North Country trip.
Exactly. Why? I have actually thought of that question myself a few times this fall, whether it was during a room clearing dog sniff exercise at an Obama restaurant gig or watching the SS guys stare down war protesters at Hillary rallies. Is it really necessary for that security all day every day?
More importantly, doesn’t it ruin the candidate’s life? That politicians reside in a bubble of wealth, controlled meetings and yes-men supporters is one thing, adding a safety net of hard looking men in dark suits and sunglasses that surround their every move is a step beyond. McCain seems to agree, and when it comes to his own safety, here is the money shot:
Sometimes it is the little things that make voters choose a candidate. I wonder if one of those little things will be what The Trail reported from John McCain’s recent North Country trip.
"It's my intention, if we win this nomination, to reject Secret Service. Why do I need it?"
Exactly. Why? I have actually thought of that question myself a few times this fall, whether it was during a room clearing dog sniff exercise at an Obama restaurant gig or watching the SS guys stare down war protesters at Hillary rallies. Is it really necessary for that security all day every day?
More importantly, doesn’t it ruin the candidate’s life? That politicians reside in a bubble of wealth, controlled meetings and yes-men supporters is one thing, adding a safety net of hard looking men in dark suits and sunglasses that surround their every move is a step beyond. McCain seems to agree, and when it comes to his own safety, here is the money shot:
“The day that the Secret Service can assure me that if we're driving in the motorcade and there's a guy in a rooftop with a rifle, that they can stop that guy, then I'll say fine. But the day they tell me, 'well, we can't guarantee it,' then fine, I'll take my chances.”
Friday, September 14, 2007
From Maverick to Goose
Concord, NH -
I had to get the hell out of the VFW Hall.
I’ve said that before, but never under these circumstances. Tonight it was just too damn hot. And besides, McCain wasn’t saying anything, anyway. Things had been much better up in Franklin where the day started for me, halfway into the No Surrender Tour.
But now I was sweating more than I had at any point since mid-August, wearing a suit and a tie and stuck in the back of the room with the kids and the drunks who couldn’t have cared less who was the special guest unless he was raising beer prices. I could feel a growing number of drips snaking their way down my legs as the temperature grew with every cigarette puff and every fidgety movement by the peanut gallery. It wasn’t pretty.
Humble servant of the truth that I am I stuck it out, with only slightly damp pant legs to show for it, and came away with little to no new insight on the candidate than I had an hour earlier. Suddenly I could sympathize with the Big Media schmucks who pay a thousand dollars a day to follow candidates around on the press bus and hear the same schlock four times daily.
We gentle country bloggers pay the price for that in our pocketbook, but not in our souls.
…
It was a warm early September day, with sunshine so beautiful that it caused a complete change in venue from the porch of the Grimm household to the shade of the bus for sun-fragile John McCain. If you have ever seen the pale hue of my stomach, you will know that I say this as a brother and not as an insult.
The house sat on the banks of the Merrimack River, with a large hayfield off to the right and a small thicket of woods beyond the field. The garage, clearly belonging to a long-time GOP supporter, was decorated with dozens of campaign signs from elections past, including a wall full of nothing but McCain 2000 gear. There was also a terrific spread of cheese and crackers. And beer.
The Senator arrived about fifteen minutes late, and walked out of the bus behind a long file of veterans who took their place alongside the bus, a veritable squadron of surrogates at the ready to show off their scrambled eggs for the crowd and vouch for John McCain if called upon to do so.
McCain’s wife Cindy was also on hand, as was his daughter and her Nicole Ritchie-like sidekick. The missus introduced her husband with a story of her brief reluctance to allow him to campaign yet again, ans how she was overruled by his strong sense of duty and unparalleled leadership skills. The daughter hung out in the back, gossiping with her friend and spying the Diet Coke bucket over in the garage. A remarkably beautiful family all around, but a lot of make-up going on there. I mean a lot.
John McCain’s first move upon taking the mic was to poke fun at the party host’s lovely home, apologizing for appearing at such a modest place. He then joked that the difference between him and Hillary Clinton is that she wants every American to own a home, but John McCain wants everyone to own a home like this.
As usual it wasn’t McCain’s only joke of the day. But also as usual, it was his only joke that wasn’t directly related to the military. Whether at a VFW hall in Concord or a town meeting in Merrimack, there are two things that strike me most about John McCain:
Number one, he is usually quite witty and honorable in his discourse. Number two, the axis of his entire life seems to revolve on the axis of the US Military. Every anecdote, every joke, every compliment he pays somehow relates to the military.
In Franklin he joked about how Marines are “generally ugly” and said how he once tried to get into the USMC but was denied entry because parents were married. Hey-o! He apologized for a few of his veteran colleagues having flown in the Air Force. Ooooh! Down in Concord he re-told a long joke that I had heard in Merrimack a month ago that had to do with a trained monkey flying a plane in the Pacific in WWII. I mean, I like monkeys and all, but if I were the comedy consultant I would tell John to stick to the Daily Show and calling high school kids little jerks.
Understandably, these jokes fall flat on my tin ear. I grew up in a Navy town for six years and was even the first person to make a three pointer in the year 1989 at the NAS Whidbey gym, where my mom worked as fitness coordinator, when my lucky heave banked into the net much to the chagrin of a dozen or so sober sailors at 12:01AM. Then again, if these guys were celebrating New Years at the base gym they deserved to get embarrassed by an eight year old. Point being, I am not a total greenhorn when it comes to military culture. I just think it isn't exactly the richest material at McCain's disposal.
The same can be said for his stump this time around. On the No Surrender Tour, McCain’s stump would be more appropriately compared to a cut-down tree for it’s intellectual strengths than for the age old venue where frontier political speeches began. In other words, it was short on nearly everything.
I understand he wasn’t hosting town hall meetings about the details of health care and economic policy here, but I can literally boil down his conversation to four bullet points:
Did I mention let the troops win? Furthermore, I love the allusion to the 1995 Mariners with the choose to lose thing, but give me a break.
This literally took less than ten minutes and was followed up by three or four of the surrogates coming out to attest to McCain’s impeccable judgment and leadership abilities. This included former CIA chief James Woolsey comparing John McCain to Winston Churchill.
No doubt about it, there are few things as impressive out here on the campaign trail as listening to former POW’s telling stories of McCain’s heroism in Hanoi. In fact, there is probably nothing as impressive on the merits. But it takes more than a tragic and brave military career to gain the nomination, and this No Surrender Tour struck me as a blown opportunity to use Iraq’s renewed momentum to catapult McCain back into the forefront. Why not use it to buttress some of his centrist policy arguments and maybe pull in some moderates? Why not accompany it with a long-term view of the region to try to pull some anti-war Republicans back off the fence?
Instead John McCain treated this tour like a dog and pony show, and he seemed annoyed to do so. Now, that either had to do with real anger and frustration over the way that America is regarding the war right now or else he would rather be out there talking straight to the people and he bowed to his ever-shrinking consultant pool. These are just some thoughts of mine, with no basis whatsoever. But if you ask me, this No Surrender Tour waved the white flag on attracting new voters.
McCain is better than any other top-tier Republican has the ability and honor to erect the Big Tent that the GOP has falsely spoken about for years. In Merrimack a month ago he respected the war protesters outside of the town hall. He spoke empathized with an anguished immigration hater. His war stance obviously leaves a lot to be desired by a LOT of people, but if there is one Republican who has a chance to capture some of the respectable middle, its John McCain.
Right now, as far as I can tell, his base relies entirely upon veterans and the upper middle class. If he talks like he did at the Town Halls, about sound energy policy and common sense immigration fixes, he might expand that base. But if he really is so obsessed with the honor and wishes of our military, as opposed to the honor and wishes of our nation as a whole, that he thinks his best bet is to go around touting the victory capability of our military, he might as well give up on winning the GOP nod.
I had to get the hell out of the VFW Hall.
I’ve said that before, but never under these circumstances. Tonight it was just too damn hot. And besides, McCain wasn’t saying anything, anyway. Things had been much better up in Franklin where the day started for me, halfway into the No Surrender Tour.
But now I was sweating more than I had at any point since mid-August, wearing a suit and a tie and stuck in the back of the room with the kids and the drunks who couldn’t have cared less who was the special guest unless he was raising beer prices. I could feel a growing number of drips snaking their way down my legs as the temperature grew with every cigarette puff and every fidgety movement by the peanut gallery. It wasn’t pretty.
Humble servant of the truth that I am I stuck it out, with only slightly damp pant legs to show for it, and came away with little to no new insight on the candidate than I had an hour earlier. Suddenly I could sympathize with the Big Media schmucks who pay a thousand dollars a day to follow candidates around on the press bus and hear the same schlock four times daily.
We gentle country bloggers pay the price for that in our pocketbook, but not in our souls.
…
It was a warm early September day, with sunshine so beautiful that it caused a complete change in venue from the porch of the Grimm household to the shade of the bus for sun-fragile John McCain. If you have ever seen the pale hue of my stomach, you will know that I say this as a brother and not as an insult.
The house sat on the banks of the Merrimack River, with a large hayfield off to the right and a small thicket of woods beyond the field. The garage, clearly belonging to a long-time GOP supporter, was decorated with dozens of campaign signs from elections past, including a wall full of nothing but McCain 2000 gear. There was also a terrific spread of cheese and crackers. And beer.
The Senator arrived about fifteen minutes late, and walked out of the bus behind a long file of veterans who took their place alongside the bus, a veritable squadron of surrogates at the ready to show off their scrambled eggs for the crowd and vouch for John McCain if called upon to do so.
McCain’s wife Cindy was also on hand, as was his daughter and her Nicole Ritchie-like sidekick. The missus introduced her husband with a story of her brief reluctance to allow him to campaign yet again, ans how she was overruled by his strong sense of duty and unparalleled leadership skills. The daughter hung out in the back, gossiping with her friend and spying the Diet Coke bucket over in the garage. A remarkably beautiful family all around, but a lot of make-up going on there. I mean a lot.
John McCain’s first move upon taking the mic was to poke fun at the party host’s lovely home, apologizing for appearing at such a modest place. He then joked that the difference between him and Hillary Clinton is that she wants every American to own a home, but John McCain wants everyone to own a home like this.
As usual it wasn’t McCain’s only joke of the day. But also as usual, it was his only joke that wasn’t directly related to the military. Whether at a VFW hall in Concord or a town meeting in Merrimack, there are two things that strike me most about John McCain:
Number one, he is usually quite witty and honorable in his discourse. Number two, the axis of his entire life seems to revolve on the axis of the US Military. Every anecdote, every joke, every compliment he pays somehow relates to the military.
In Franklin he joked about how Marines are “generally ugly” and said how he once tried to get into the USMC but was denied entry because parents were married. Hey-o! He apologized for a few of his veteran colleagues having flown in the Air Force. Ooooh! Down in Concord he re-told a long joke that I had heard in Merrimack a month ago that had to do with a trained monkey flying a plane in the Pacific in WWII. I mean, I like monkeys and all, but if I were the comedy consultant I would tell John to stick to the Daily Show and calling high school kids little jerks.
Understandably, these jokes fall flat on my tin ear. I grew up in a Navy town for six years and was even the first person to make a three pointer in the year 1989 at the NAS Whidbey gym, where my mom worked as fitness coordinator, when my lucky heave banked into the net much to the chagrin of a dozen or so sober sailors at 12:01AM. Then again, if these guys were celebrating New Years at the base gym they deserved to get embarrassed by an eight year old. Point being, I am not a total greenhorn when it comes to military culture. I just think it isn't exactly the richest material at McCain's disposal.
The same can be said for his stump this time around. On the No Surrender Tour, McCain’s stump would be more appropriately compared to a cut-down tree for it’s intellectual strengths than for the age old venue where frontier political speeches began. In other words, it was short on nearly everything.
I understand he wasn’t hosting town hall meetings about the details of health care and economic policy here, but I can literally boil down his conversation to four bullet points:
- We need to let the troops win.
- If we leave then we “choose to lose.” And we can’t “choose to lose.”
- The moveon.org ad was contemptible.
- The troops want to win. Let the troops win.
Did I mention let the troops win? Furthermore, I love the allusion to the 1995 Mariners with the choose to lose thing, but give me a break.
This literally took less than ten minutes and was followed up by three or four of the surrogates coming out to attest to McCain’s impeccable judgment and leadership abilities. This included former CIA chief James Woolsey comparing John McCain to Winston Churchill.
No doubt about it, there are few things as impressive out here on the campaign trail as listening to former POW’s telling stories of McCain’s heroism in Hanoi. In fact, there is probably nothing as impressive on the merits. But it takes more than a tragic and brave military career to gain the nomination, and this No Surrender Tour struck me as a blown opportunity to use Iraq’s renewed momentum to catapult McCain back into the forefront. Why not use it to buttress some of his centrist policy arguments and maybe pull in some moderates? Why not accompany it with a long-term view of the region to try to pull some anti-war Republicans back off the fence?
Instead John McCain treated this tour like a dog and pony show, and he seemed annoyed to do so. Now, that either had to do with real anger and frustration over the way that America is regarding the war right now or else he would rather be out there talking straight to the people and he bowed to his ever-shrinking consultant pool. These are just some thoughts of mine, with no basis whatsoever. But if you ask me, this No Surrender Tour waved the white flag on attracting new voters.
McCain is better than any other top-tier Republican has the ability and honor to erect the Big Tent that the GOP has falsely spoken about for years. In Merrimack a month ago he respected the war protesters outside of the town hall. He spoke empathized with an anguished immigration hater. His war stance obviously leaves a lot to be desired by a LOT of people, but if there is one Republican who has a chance to capture some of the respectable middle, its John McCain.
Right now, as far as I can tell, his base relies entirely upon veterans and the upper middle class. If he talks like he did at the Town Halls, about sound energy policy and common sense immigration fixes, he might expand that base. But if he really is so obsessed with the honor and wishes of our military, as opposed to the honor and wishes of our nation as a whole, that he thinks his best bet is to go around touting the victory capability of our military, he might as well give up on winning the GOP nod.
Thursday, September 13, 2007
McCain Setlist 9/13/07
Franklin, NH -
Here is McCain's setlist from the house party in Franklin, NH on Thursday, September 13, 2007.
Brand New Girlfriend - Steve Holy
Redneck Yacht Club - Craig Morgan
Where the Stars and Stripes and Eagle Fly - Aaron Tippin
I'll Take Love Over Money - Aaron Tippin
Breathe - Faith Hill
My Town - Montgomery Gentry
Right Now - Van Halen
Definitely the most country set on the campaign yet, and wayyy too heavy on the Tippin. I guess you could say that they were really tippin' the scales toward shitty with those choices.
Here is McCain's setlist from the house party in Franklin, NH on Thursday, September 13, 2007.
Brand New Girlfriend - Steve Holy
Redneck Yacht Club - Craig Morgan
Where the Stars and Stripes and Eagle Fly - Aaron Tippin
I'll Take Love Over Money - Aaron Tippin
Breathe - Faith Hill
My Town - Montgomery Gentry
Right Now - Van Halen
Definitely the most country set on the campaign yet, and wayyy too heavy on the Tippin. I guess you could say that they were really tippin' the scales toward shitty with those choices.
Monday, September 10, 2007
Surrender Your Free Time to 3Q (Please!)
Nation,
It has been a long, crazy and multi-state weekend for the Quabblogger. It has also been a relatively politics-free weekend, unless you count running slower (!!) than 20 minutes in the WESXC Alumni race an act of old man diplomacy. However, I did make it down to see a surprisingly soft spoken Tommy the Tank in Merrimack on Thursday and a not-surprisingly tongue-tied Freddy Southern in Nashua on Sunday. Check out all the pictures (plus some more from Liz Edwards) on the facebook group homepage (and join it if you haven't already)! Things should be low key here in the Granite State all week in honor of 9/11, and I don't foresee any candidates coming to town before John McCain's No Surrender Tour hits on Thursday. Keep checking in for more goodies between now and then, and maybe even a few BIG suprsises. See you on the trail.
BREAKING NEWS: Unfortunately, I have just confirmed that Corey Hart won't be joining the Senator on his No Surrender tour.
So if you're lost and on your own
You can never surrender
And if your path won't lead you home
You can never surrender
And when the night is cold and dark
You can see, you can see light
Cause no-one can take away your right
To fight and never surrender, to never surrender
Honestly, it's the perfect theme song for McCain in New Hampshire.
It has been a long, crazy and multi-state weekend for the Quabblogger. It has also been a relatively politics-free weekend, unless you count running slower (!!) than 20 minutes in the WESXC Alumni race an act of old man diplomacy. However, I did make it down to see a surprisingly soft spoken Tommy the Tank in Merrimack on Thursday and a not-surprisingly tongue-tied Freddy Southern in Nashua on Sunday. Check out all the pictures (plus some more from Liz Edwards) on the facebook group homepage (and join it if you haven't already)! Things should be low key here in the Granite State all week in honor of 9/11, and I don't foresee any candidates coming to town before John McCain's No Surrender Tour hits on Thursday. Keep checking in for more goodies between now and then, and maybe even a few BIG suprsises. See you on the trail.
BREAKING NEWS: Unfortunately, I have just confirmed that Corey Hart won't be joining the Senator on his No Surrender tour.
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So if you're lost and on your own
You can never surrender
And if your path won't lead you home
You can never surrender
And when the night is cold and dark
You can see, you can see light
Cause no-one can take away your right
To fight and never surrender, to never surrender
Honestly, it's the perfect theme song for McCain in New Hampshire.
Thursday, August 16, 2007
They Don't Really Hate Them. Right?
I've said it before. I'll say it again. Republicans Hate Immigrants. Yesterday John McCain let it be know that he had received death threats for his perceived "amnesty" on immigrants. Meanwhile my boy Newt is going over the top claiming America's "war" on illegal immigrants is more deadly than the one in Iraq. Ahh, Newt, you're going a little Almond Joy on us. Sometimes you feel like a Nut.
But seriously, what kind of psycho wants to kill lovable John McCain over an issue whose hard-line stance is completely unachievable? Seriously, we haven't heard the last from these fringe characters. Are you Fired up? They are fired up!
Tommy: I can't believe he called me a psycho.
Richard: Hey were you in there just now-you are a psycho... and comb your hair.
But seriously, what kind of psycho wants to kill lovable John McCain over an issue whose hard-line stance is completely unachievable? Seriously, we haven't heard the last from these fringe characters. Are you Fired up? They are fired up!
Tommy: I can't believe he called me a psycho.
Richard: Hey were you in there just now-you are a psycho... and comb your hair.
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
Plans
Bill Richardson finally released his health care plan. It is pretty streamlined here on the website, so I will be interested to hear if there are more details. But in the meantime it has pretty bullet points to read.
Hillary Clinton also said some stuff about lending practices. Being a life-long renter, I had no idea what she was talking about. It is probably mushy, though.
Speaking of plans, I'll be in New Hampshire again on Thursday for a Dodd stop in the morning, and then expanding my new GOP blogging capability with a visit to John McCain's town hall meeting in Merrimack. Seeing as how I intend to start calling myself the Merrimack Daddy once I fully move into the Granite State, I think that will be an important step on the road to the blog house. That said, the event will cause me to miss the Manchester CIGNA 5k but I fully intend to hit up Strange Brew with some runners afterward. Hit me up if you're around.
Getting personal,
BTB
Hillary Clinton also said some stuff about lending practices. Being a life-long renter, I had no idea what she was talking about. It is probably mushy, though.
Speaking of plans, I'll be in New Hampshire again on Thursday for a Dodd stop in the morning, and then expanding my new GOP blogging capability with a visit to John McCain's town hall meeting in Merrimack. Seeing as how I intend to start calling myself the Merrimack Daddy once I fully move into the Granite State, I think that will be an important step on the road to the blog house. That said, the event will cause me to miss the Manchester CIGNA 5k but I fully intend to hit up Strange Brew with some runners afterward. Hit me up if you're around.
Getting personal,
BTB
Friday, July 20, 2007
Pride and Poise
I fully realize that I bailed on that McCain article I promised about a week or so ago. I did a lot of thinking about it and I set up the links that I wanted to use, but by the time I got around to writing it, the issue was pretty well kicked. Not to mention my theory that McCain was done for and would potentially drop out of the race by July's end was all but squashed by everyone and their brother. Well, maybe not the Five Brothers. This viewpoint was just reiterated in Jonathan Martin's GOP blog on The Politico. He reports that McCain has released a 7-page memo about his latest campaign strategy - some magical combination of "living off the land" to preserve funds and adopting Al Davis' motto of "Just win, Baby!" Yes! Now that is a strategy that we can believe in here at 3Q, as long as it includes building fires with flint stones and using pine boughs as mattresses.
Entirely unrelated, but speaking of the Five Brothers, is this Craig Romney or Max Piana?
Yet more unrelated news, boy am I getting old. It was an ugly day down at Holyoke's Ashlie Reservoir.
Entirely unrelated, but speaking of the Five Brothers, is this Craig Romney or Max Piana?
Yet more unrelated news, boy am I getting old. It was an ugly day down at Holyoke's Ashlie Reservoir.
Saturday, April 28, 2007
McNeill's for Realz.
Brattleboro, VT -
I am sitting halfway down a long, German beer hall-styled table on a moderately warm spring night in the upper Connecticut River Valley pondering how my life was completely altered not but ten minutes ago. What could cause such a stir? Quite simply, it is the unlikely bedfellow of wireless internet and McNeill's Brewery. Coming home from Middlebury this evening I stopped in at my old watering hole, thinking I would turn on the laptop and try to churn out some words that I could later cut and paste into my blogspot interface, and was shocked to find a real-deal wireless connection. The potential of drastically altering 1) the face of McNeill's, 2) my social life and 3) the utter fabric of Western New England is real, very very real. Let me tell you, brothers and sisters, how the cask beer goes down easier than water after a ten mile run. Let me tell you how sweet it is, like the perfect match of coffee and a chocolate chip cookie on a brisk fall eve.
Although now that I have opened everything up I realize that I don't have much to say. The Clyburn fish fry and California Dem caucus mean little to me, as does the GOP bickering circuit. On the McCain trail, there have apparently been lots of railings against Harry Reid and his comments on a lost war. As McCain puts it, " if you declare this war lost, then who won? Who won? Al-Qaeda? Are we ready to acknowledge that Al Qaeda has won the war in Iraq? I don’t think so." You are missing the point! Of course Qaeda didn't win the war. Qaeda was never involved in Iraq! Hello, McFly! It is all one big moot point. So shame on both of those guys. Reid for being a bitch and trying to embarrass the administration with the "loss" thing and McCain for trying to exploit it without any real basis. I hate to beat a dead horse (unless it is a McNeill's Dead Horse IPA on cask) but I won't be undersold on this issue! As my boy Zak says, "No more lies!"
On the bright side the spring peepers are out, the rivers are flowing fast and furious and the running career is back in full swing. Plus I'm just really excited about McNeill's. Regrettably, I live an hour away.
Duck's Breath,
BTB
I am sitting halfway down a long, German beer hall-styled table on a moderately warm spring night in the upper Connecticut River Valley pondering how my life was completely altered not but ten minutes ago. What could cause such a stir? Quite simply, it is the unlikely bedfellow of wireless internet and McNeill's Brewery. Coming home from Middlebury this evening I stopped in at my old watering hole, thinking I would turn on the laptop and try to churn out some words that I could later cut and paste into my blogspot interface, and was shocked to find a real-deal wireless connection. The potential of drastically altering 1) the face of McNeill's, 2) my social life and 3) the utter fabric of Western New England is real, very very real. Let me tell you, brothers and sisters, how the cask beer goes down easier than water after a ten mile run. Let me tell you how sweet it is, like the perfect match of coffee and a chocolate chip cookie on a brisk fall eve.
Although now that I have opened everything up I realize that I don't have much to say. The Clyburn fish fry and California Dem caucus mean little to me, as does the GOP bickering circuit. On the McCain trail, there have apparently been lots of railings against Harry Reid and his comments on a lost war. As McCain puts it, " if you declare this war lost, then who won? Who won? Al-Qaeda? Are we ready to acknowledge that Al Qaeda has won the war in Iraq? I don’t think so." You are missing the point! Of course Qaeda didn't win the war. Qaeda was never involved in Iraq! Hello, McFly! It is all one big moot point. So shame on both of those guys. Reid for being a bitch and trying to embarrass the administration with the "loss" thing and McCain for trying to exploit it without any real basis. I hate to beat a dead horse (unless it is a McNeill's Dead Horse IPA on cask) but I won't be undersold on this issue! As my boy Zak says, "No more lies!"
On the bright side the spring peepers are out, the rivers are flowing fast and furious and the running career is back in full swing. Plus I'm just really excited about McNeill's. Regrettably, I live an hour away.
Duck's Breath,
BTB
Thursday, April 19, 2007
The Substance and the Shadow
There has been a lot of talk about Fred Thompson looking Presidential. Yesterday he spoke on the Hill with little substance, and today I watched a month-old clip of a FOX News interview (part 1, part 2). I, too, found little substance. I am not condemning him by any stretch, given that he is merely a citizen right now and not a candidate, but nor am I impressed. He doesn't even look presidential. As Dana Milbank writes, "Actually, Thompson looked old and sallow as he faced the cameras for a few seconds before hopping into a waiting GMC Envoy." It's true! Thompson is jowlier than Alfred Hitchcock. Combine him with McCain and GOP suddenly stands for Geriatric Old Party. The article I linked in the previous post talks of Thompson as a Cuban-smoking, pickup-driving everyman, but based on the interviews I have seen he is far from receiving my vote as the GOP beer candidate. I would be afraid he would keel over or lecture me on being more pious. Plus, he's a shitty actor.
We will close on a lighter note. Everybody sing along with John McCain, "Bomb bomb bomb..."
HI-larious, right??
We will close on a lighter note. Everybody sing along with John McCain, "Bomb bomb bomb..."
HI-larious, right??
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Never Surrender!
Earlier today I was on The Weekly Standard's website reading this article about Fred Thompson, and I scrolled over an ad, paid for by McCain 2008, with the blue-sheened stars of our great Flag framing the words "SURRENDER IS NOT AN OPTION" and with a plea to sign this petition to "tell Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid that withdrawal will endanger America." Take that, Madame Speaker! What I have never understood about the withdrawal of troops from Iraq is how it equates to surrender. To me, surrender only exists in a well-defined battle with two distinct sides. Are we surrendering to the state of Iraq? We are the state of Iraq! Are we surrendering to "the terrorists"? If that is the case it implies that we will let them have their way with us, whoever they are. Even the most Colbert-hating traitorous liberal wouldn't agree with that statement. The idea of leaving as surrendering also implies that we will otherwise stay until they surrender, whoever they are. Given that scenario 2 is impossible, I argue that scenario 1 is also illogical and false. Instead, we surrender our dignity by staying over there. We surrender the happiness and livelihood of the families of our fallen soldiers. We have surrendered $417 billion dollars. Isn't it about time we replaced our white flag with those beautifully evocative stars and stripes?
Sunday, April 8, 2007
Gaffes
With the quarterly earnings posted, the campaign is back in the swing of things. Everybody got their day in the sun (or, if they earned less than $10M, their day under a rock) and now is the time to rock that hott suntan. Ah, who am I kidding? It was a week full of gaffes.
Leading the charge was Johnny Mac, who last weekend gave a press conference from a Baghdad market talking progress on the war effort. Wearing full body armor, flanked by dozens of soldiers and heavy artillery, McCain said "never have I been able to drive from the airport, never have I been able to go out into the city as I was today." He quickly reverted to damage control, telling 60 Minutes (among others) "Of course I'm going to misspeak and I've done it on numerous occasions and I probably will do in the future." Given the harsh response to his Baghdad visit, McCain needed to play politics to placate his numerous critics especially after the shellacking he took in fundraising the week before. He is a wounded man trying to stay on life support long enough to heal up for the summer. But, if you actually look at his comments, which the sound byte media does not allow us, McCain really didn't misspeak in Baghdad. What he said was that there "are reasons for cautious -- very cautious optimism" in Iraq, and based upon his reasons, that is a valid argument. His only true gaffe was insensitivity. It is incredibly disrespectful to the people in Iraq everyday without an armored posse to flash the cameras, smile, and talk about progress when people are dying by the handful every single day without
body armor and tanks to back them up. He should have apologized about that, and not about misspeaking. He didn't misspeak, and therein lies the twofold problem. Number 1, why is he backing down from a statement that he could easily stand behind? And number 2, does he really feel the need to seek out optimism? Straight talk? More like fate talk. Like, I think he is fated to a slippery slope away from the wide respect he used to hold.
A few days later, Mitt Romney gaffed about much more benign guns. The kind of guns that kill critters, and not neighborhoods full of civilians. My watchdog homeys up in Keene badgered Mitt into saying "I've been a hunter pretty much all my life." Pretty much. Kind of like I pretty much get every girl I go after. By pretty much, they meant once when he was a teenager he shot a rabbit with a BB gun, and then last year he shot at some quails while at a posh resort with the Republican Governors Convention. Ultimately, the campaign decided to stop lying and just came out and said "Governor Romney never said he was Teddy Roosevelt. He’s more like Jed Clampett." By the way, I was up in Keene yesterday, however briefly. Just wanted to give a shout out to the Elm City. I anxiously await next time I get to kick it at Margarita's with all the Owls.
In other news, Newt came out on Fox to call for Gonzo to get, well, gone-zo. "This is the most mishandled, artificial, self-created mess that I can remember...the buck has to stop somewhere and I am assuming it is the Attorney General and his immediate team and I think it is amazing that there's any doubt about the fact that they have totally mishandled this." Damn.
What the gaffes really come down to is this: its a damn shame that these politicians can't just Ghost Ride their campaigns when they become too hard to handle.
Ghost Ride
Go Crazy
Who's That Drivin?
Quabbin Qountry.
Leading the charge was Johnny Mac, who last weekend gave a press conference from a Baghdad market talking progress on the war effort. Wearing full body armor, flanked by dozens of soldiers and heavy artillery, McCain said "never have I been able to drive from the airport, never have I been able to go out into the city as I was today." He quickly reverted to damage control, telling 60 Minutes (among others) "Of course I'm going to misspeak and I've done it on numerous occasions and I probably will do in the future." Given the harsh response to his Baghdad visit, McCain needed to play politics to placate his numerous critics especially after the shellacking he took in fundraising the week before. He is a wounded man trying to stay on life support long enough to heal up for the summer. But, if you actually look at his comments, which the sound byte media does not allow us, McCain really didn't misspeak in Baghdad. What he said was that there "are reasons for cautious -- very cautious optimism" in Iraq, and based upon his reasons, that is a valid argument. His only true gaffe was insensitivity. It is incredibly disrespectful to the people in Iraq everyday without an armored posse to flash the cameras, smile, and talk about progress when people are dying by the handful every single day without
body armor and tanks to back them up. He should have apologized about that, and not about misspeaking. He didn't misspeak, and therein lies the twofold problem. Number 1, why is he backing down from a statement that he could easily stand behind? And number 2, does he really feel the need to seek out optimism? Straight talk? More like fate talk. Like, I think he is fated to a slippery slope away from the wide respect he used to hold.A few days later, Mitt Romney gaffed about much more benign guns. The kind of guns that kill critters, and not neighborhoods full of civilians. My watchdog homeys up in Keene badgered Mitt into saying "I've been a hunter pretty much all my life." Pretty much. Kind of like I pretty much get every girl I go after. By pretty much, they meant once when he was a teenager he shot a rabbit with a BB gun, and then last year he shot at some quails while at a posh resort with the Republican Governors Convention. Ultimately, the campaign decided to stop lying and just came out and said "Governor Romney never said he was Teddy Roosevelt. He’s more like Jed Clampett." By the way, I was up in Keene yesterday, however briefly. Just wanted to give a shout out to the Elm City. I anxiously await next time I get to kick it at Margarita's with all the Owls.
In other news, Newt came out on Fox to call for Gonzo to get, well, gone-zo. "This is the most mishandled, artificial, self-created mess that I can remember...the buck has to stop somewhere and I am assuming it is the Attorney General and his immediate team and I think it is amazing that there's any doubt about the fact that they have totally mishandled this." Damn.
What the gaffes really come down to is this: its a damn shame that these politicians can't just Ghost Ride their campaigns when they become too hard to handle.
Ghost Ride
Go Crazy
Who's That Drivin?
Quabbin Qountry.
Sunday, December 17, 2006
Bye, Bayh
Whatever song is playing over the speakers here at the M&D sounds awfully similar to Bob Dylan's Tryin' to Get to Heaven from Time Out of Mind, but there are no lyrics this time around, and it is becoming more and more Celtic with each passing bar. I wish that it were Tryin', because that's a beautiful song about hopelessness and optimism, and it references both Missouri and New Orleans. Most people might say Texas or California, but I think that Missouri and New Orleans are the two most visceral US locations out there. I have no personal basis for this claim, and I think that is why I feel the need to make it.
My favorite editorial columnist, the smug and biting Frank Rich, wrote a particularly insightful article today about the possible pitfalls of GOP moves to the right socially when the rest of the country appears to be headed in the opposite direction. In it, he calls out John McCain for his blunder on ABC's "This Week":
"Are you against civil unions for gay couples?” he asked the senator, who replied, “No, I’m not.” When Mr. Stephanopoulos reiterated the question seconds later — “So you’re for civil unions?” — Mr. McCain answered, “No.” In other words, he was not against civil unions before he was against them.
Now that is leadership.
My favorite editorial columnist, the smug and biting Frank Rich, wrote a particularly insightful article today about the possible pitfalls of GOP moves to the right socially when the rest of the country appears to be headed in the opposite direction. In it, he calls out John McCain for his blunder on ABC's "This Week":
"Are you against civil unions for gay couples?” he asked the senator, who replied, “No, I’m not.” When Mr. Stephanopoulos reiterated the question seconds later — “So you’re for civil unions?” — Mr. McCain answered, “No.” In other words, he was not against civil unions before he was against them.
Now that is leadership.
On the same side, Newt Gingrich has announced that he will be sitting on the sidelines until the fall, leaving the frontrunners to duke it out through the summer and hoping that his late splash will prove beneficial to his campaign. In the meantime he called today's social challenges, presumably gays, God, and guns, "greater than any since 1861," and is touting his new slogan "Real Change requires Real Change." Hey, we here at 3Q approve of that motto because, hey, let's start with the obvious. As for likening same-sex marriage to slavery, we might be getting ahead of ourselves a little bit.
Getting back to the title of the post, Sen. Evan Bayh has changed his mind after years of preparation and decided to end his courtship of the Democratic nomination. Every article about this says the same thing, how everyone is shocked to hear the news. Well, I am, too. Not to mention disappointed. From what I could gather he seemed to lack charisma, but I was nevertheless interested to hear what he had to offer, especially in contrast to the Big 2. Indiana, the Crossroads of America, has lost it's hope for the big stage.
The warm winter is continuing here in Quabbin Qountry, which made for a great run this afternoon. Yesterday as I was running toward Knight Pond I was flagged down by one of the local residents asking me if I had seen any xmas tree poachers on her property. I hadn't, but I used the opportunity to ask the woman if she would allow me to run on her property, which was dotted on either side of her house for a few hundred meters with dozens of No Trespassing signs. She obliged my request, saying that the signs were only there to deter ATV riders who illegally and dangerously romped through her woods on a regular basis, destroying trails and annoying anyone in earshot all the while. Today I took her up on her offer, and set off into the trails, which are wider than singletrack, and not too rugged. Ideal for running with a small group of people. I anxiously await the days that I can show them off to my cohorts, from the early pine forests to the rickety marsh bridges, and through to the clearcuts that remind me of my childhood days in Oak Harbor.
It has been a long and trying weekend here at QQHQ, time to go home, rustle up some grub and read until I fall asleep. Should only take about ten minutes.
Early on the campaign trail,
BTB
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
It Begins, again
Briefly, the news has been fast and furious on the 2008 front lately. As soon as I figure out links, the 3Q should be quite a bit more informative (editor's note - I figured it out and have since added links). But the rundown for those not in the know - a couple days ago Barack took his first trip to NH since all the speculation. Clinton met with governor-elect Spitzer to discuss the viability of a run. Pataki met with a half dozen governors who were in office ca. 1995 for a tour of ground zero and more Presidential feasibility chat. That same day, McCain was the keynote speaker at a prominent gathering of a Jewish group in the city. Today's Dowd column in the times compares Obama and Clinton vis-a-vis their respective whiteness and manliness. Tom Vilsack of Iowa officially threw his hat into the ring, and a bunch of people set up exploratory committees.
I don't know if it is just because I am paying more attention (possibly) or because it is an open contest (probably) but it seems like this cycle's primary season will be far more high profile than the past few elections. I wasn't in NH for 2000 but I was able to stand, alongside a German exchange student and a croud of ghetto children, behind Bill Bradley at a Boys and Girls Club in Hilltop Tacoma for a photo op without any scrutiny. Meanwhile, it seemed like loads of people were being gladhanded by McCain and Teve Torbes on the television. In 2004 I shared a Sam Adams and a few words about xc with Senator Kerry at a Portsmouth pub, watches John Edwards among a crowd of roughly 25 mostly homeless people who were only there for the free hot dogs that the Sunshine Boy handed out afterward.
Am I being cynical when I wonder aloud that no such grassroots action will be achievable with Hillary, Barack, McCain, and Giuliani? Or am I just starstruck?
In other news, I spoke with the Holyoke High track coach and it looks like I will be volunteering a couple times a week with the distances squad with the hope of an asst. coach position opening up for the outdoor season. GO KNIGHTS?
I don't know if it is just because I am paying more attention (possibly) or because it is an open contest (probably) but it seems like this cycle's primary season will be far more high profile than the past few elections. I wasn't in NH for 2000 but I was able to stand, alongside a German exchange student and a croud of ghetto children, behind Bill Bradley at a Boys and Girls Club in Hilltop Tacoma for a photo op without any scrutiny. Meanwhile, it seemed like loads of people were being gladhanded by McCain and Teve Torbes on the television. In 2004 I shared a Sam Adams and a few words about xc with Senator Kerry at a Portsmouth pub, watches John Edwards among a crowd of roughly 25 mostly homeless people who were only there for the free hot dogs that the Sunshine Boy handed out afterward.
Am I being cynical when I wonder aloud that no such grassroots action will be achievable with Hillary, Barack, McCain, and Giuliani? Or am I just starstruck?
In other news, I spoke with the Holyoke High track coach and it looks like I will be volunteering a couple times a week with the distances squad with the hope of an asst. coach position opening up for the outdoor season. GO KNIGHTS?
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