Five Foreign Policy Questions for McCain

1. Will you pursue Bin Laden in Pakistan given that "leaders" there have threatened the safety of US troops who do so?

2. What can we do about expanding the UN to take more of a leadership role so we do not always have to?

3. How do you propose we deal with illegal immigration?

4. Would you appoint Joe Lieberman to your cabinet as Secretary of State?

5. Why would Barack Obama make a good President given his total lack of foreign policy experience?

Five Foreign Policy Questions for Obama

1. Should the US support NATO membership for Georgia and the Ukraine, even if we invite angering Russia?

2. Should the US militarily defend Georgia and the Ukraine if they are attacked?

3. How do you fix Palestine?

4. How do you fix Mexico other than annexation?

5. Should the US curtail production of Flex Fuel in order to export more corn and grain to ease world hunger?

McCain: Genius to Idiot in 48 hours

The first Presidential debate starts in roughly 5 minutes. McCain has gone from genius to idiot in 48 hours by doing the following:

1. Suspend the campaign to fix the economy: brilliant! Make yourself look statesman-like and Obama a follower if he does the same, a political hack if he declines. Say you want the debate postponed until an economic fix-it plan is done.

2. Blow off David Letterman because "it's not a time for comedy," but instead of proceeding to DC:
a. Go down the street and do an interview with Katie Couric
b. Go have dinner
c. Stay overnight in NYC
d. Go to a Bill Clinton event, then
e. D'oh! Almost forgot! Have to go to DC!

3. Say nothing in the meeting you called (as opposed to your opponent, who allegedly yelled a lot). Go back on your word after the $700 Billion (with a B) plan falls apart and head to Mississippi. Lower expectations by having your spinners say Obama's a much better debater, even though foreign policy is your expertise.

4. Hope everyone starts asking about what exactly Obama did during his short time in DC too.

McCain campaign ends - FLASH

Despite a warm reception from delegates in St. Paul, Sen. John McCain announced the end of his presidential campaign on Friday. Aides pointed out to an ashen-faced McCain early this morning that he forget to wear his American flag lapel pin during last night's speech. While he was standing in front of a video of a huge American flag, apparently this did nothing to quell conservative outrage.

"Yeah, I know he was standing in front of a big flag and he was a POW and tortured for years, but since he wasn't wearing his lapel pin, that just ruined it for me. I'm voting for that Muslim guy now." said one man in Grand Island, Nebraska, who cried while watching the speech last night.

The Republicans and their Picks

Sarah Palin - what an inspiring choice. For comedians, that is. Random notes on a very quick week:

Fox News reported that the McCain camp is getting tired of answering questions about Palin's vetting:

Senior McCain adviser Steve Schmidt said Wednesday the campaign will no longer answer questions about the vetting process.

“This nonsense is over,” he said. “Her selection came after a six-month long rigorous vetting process where her extraordinary credentials and exceptionalism became clear."

Contrast this with The Washington Post story that led off today's stories with details on Palin's meetings with McCain and his campaign officials:

McCain did not speak face to face with Palin until Thursday morning, at his retreat in Sedona, Ariz. He also talked to her by telephone the previous Sunday. McCain had spoken with all of the others on his shortlist over the course of a selection process that went on for several months, but he was least familiar personally with the person he finally chose.

Aides said he went with a gut reaction, but as Michael Smerconish of WPHT-1210 AM noted, what was the rush if this vetting allegedly took place over months?

Equally troublesome are the multiple accounts from Alaskan Republicans who say no one contacted them to go over Palin's background or to assess her qualifications as a VP pick.

Over on Fox News.com, McCain backer Carly Fiorina went off on the media and the Democrats:

“The Republican Party will not stand by while Sarah Palin is subjected to sexist attacks,” said top McCain adviser Carly Fiorina, defending Palin as qualified and declaring women would not “stand for it” when she is subjected to such attacks. “As women, I think all of us are sensitized and outraged when we see sexist treatment.”

Fiorina backed off a bit when asked which allegations specifically were sexist.

Do I have a problem with Palin being a mother of five running for VP? No.
Do I have a problem with Palin's daughter being pregnant? Nope. None of my business. But it's my business if she pushes abstinence-only sex ed on the entire country with such a shitty track record of success. And how 'bout that boyfriend who is being shoved into marriage and got on a flight to St. Paul? Country first? Or political expediency first?

In fact, this pick makes me question whether McCain, who preferred Joe Lieberman and Tom Ridge, but was rebuffed since both are pro-choice, made this pick to put "country first." More like "party first."

Two side notes:

I knew Smerconish was tired this morning when he took a call from a man by saying, "Thank you for your call and your pregnancy," meaning to say "your patience."

When I typed "John" into the post labels field, my choices presented were, in order:
John McCain, John Simm and Pope John Paul II. In other words, a man who hasn't figured out how to use the Internet and whose music choices end in the 1970's; an actor who played a cop transported back to the 1970's, and a Pope who took the papal throne in the 1970's. Coincidence?


- P