Showing posts with label Rebuttals. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rebuttals. Show all posts
Monday, November 3, 2008
McCain/Palin 24x7 Smear Machine Didn't Work
Numbers like this bolster my sometimes-flagging faith in the American people's resistance to lies and distortions:
Obama's favorable rating is 62% -- the highest that any presidential candidate has registered in Gallup's final pre-election polls going back to 1992.
Yep, after two solid months of nothing but lies, slime, derision and smears being volleyed from McCain's Fortress of Doom, Obama's favorables have climbed to the highest of any Presidential candidate in 15 years. Stay classy America -- you impress me with your ability to tune out the B.S.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Sen. Chuck Hagel Rips into Sarah Palin
Thank God for the ever-reasonable Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE):
Hagel may be the only senior Republican elected official who has publicly criticized McCain’s choice of Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate. “I don’t believe she’s qualified to be President of the United States,” Hagel told me. “The first judgment a potential President makes is who their running mate is—and I don’t think John made a very good selection.” He scoffed at McCain’s attempts to portray her as an experienced politician. “To try to make the excuse that she looks out her window and sees Russia—and that she’s commander of the Alaska National Guard.” He added, “There is no question that this candidate is arguably the thinnest-résumé candidate for Vice-President in the history of America.”
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Obama: There are no 'fake' parts of America - Video
Here is Obama responding to what appears to be a deliberate, concerted effort by McCain and the Republican Party to paint parts of the country as "pro-America" and "anti-America":
Transcript Here
Monday, October 20, 2008
Fleeting Breath of Temperance from McCain Supporters
I needed to see a bit of this today. At a recent McCain rally, some right-wing nutjobs were out peddling hateful rhetoric against Obama and falsely accusing him of being a Muslim. A journalist captured a refreshing moment of sanity, where some rational folks and a few McCain-supporting Muslims drove the wingnut bigots off the grounds:
Quote of the Week: Obama Special!
Speaking about the McCain campaign's never-ending sleaze campaign, Obama let loose this powerful zinger at a recent rally:
It's getting so bad that even Senator McCain's running mate denounced his tactics last night. As you know, you really have to work hard to violate Governor Palin's standards on negative campaigning.
Friday, October 17, 2008
Joe the Plumber Acknowledges Obama Tax Savings
McCain really should have thought the whole "Joe the Plumber" gambit through.
Master Plumber, who turned out to be a right-wing Republican all along, has now acknowledged that Barack Obama's tax plan would result in more tax savings for him and his family:
So today, Joe, who said he makes much less than $250,000, reluctantly admitted Obama would lower his taxes.
“I would, if you believe him, I would be receiving his tax cuts,” Wurzelbacher said.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
ADN: Sarah Palin is 'Ignorant' or 'Orwellian'
The Alaska Daily News put up a scathing rebuke in a new editorial in reaction to Sarah Palin's Troopergate scandal.
Quote of the article:
Sarah Palin's reaction to the Legislature's Troopergate report is an embarrassment to Alaskans and the nation.
She claims the report "vindicates" her. She said that the investigation found "no unlawful or unethical activity on my part."
Her response is either astoundingly ignorant or downright Orwellian.
Read the whole thing.
Friday, October 10, 2008
Ex-Governor Un-Endorses McCain
Republican ex-Governor William Milliken of Michigan today un-endorsed McCain, saying he is disappointed with McCain for the tenor of his campaign and his increasingly negative personal attacks against Barack Obama.
Chief Ayers Prosecutor Defends Obama
This is pretty remarkable. The chief prosecutor in the Weather Underground case has come out with a letter to the editor in the New York Times decrying McCain's attempts to smear Obama by trying to exaggerate Obama's fleeting acquaintanceship with Ayers:
As the lead federal prosecutor of the Weathermen in the 1970s (I was then chief of the criminal division in the Eastern District of Michigan and took over the Weathermen prosecution in 1972), I am amazed and outraged that Senator Barack Obama is being linked to William Ayers’s terrorist activities 40 years ago when Mr. Obama was, as he has noted, just a child.
Although I dearly wanted to obtain convictions against all the Weathermen, including Bill Ayers, I am very pleased to learn that he has become a responsible citizen.
Because Senator Obama recently served on a board of a charitable organization with Mr. Ayers cannot possibly link the senator to acts perpetrated by Mr. Ayers so many years ago.
Friday, September 19, 2008
WSJ Slams McCain for Scapegoating SEC Chairman
McCain truly has become unhinged in the last few days. I worry for his sanity.
Apparently, so do the good folks over at the Wall Street Journal, who slammed McCain for his imprudent and inaccurate attacks on... the Chairman of the SEC, Christopher Cox:
[McCain said,] "The chairman of the SEC serves at the appointment of the President and has betrayed the public's trust. If I were President today, I would fire him."
Wow. "Betrayed the public's trust." Was Mr. Cox dishonest? No. He merely changed some minor rules, and didn't change others, on short-selling. String him up! Mr. McCain clearly wants to distance himself from the Bush Administration. But this assault on Mr. Cox is both false and deeply unfair. It's also un-Presidential...
In a crisis, voters want steady, calm leadership, not easy, misleading answers that will do nothing to help. Mr. McCain is sounding like a candidate searching for a political foil rather than a genuine solution. He'll never beat Mr. Obama by running as an angry populist like Al Gore, circa 2000.
Read the Whole Article
Thursday, September 18, 2008
McCain Continues Offshore Drilling Lies
Lies, mistruths, prevarications - name them what you will. McCain is up to his old tricks and in one speech today on offshore drilling, he manages to pack in three easily disprovable lies about offshore drilling:
LIE 1: Hurricanes won’t damage oil rigs.
TRUTH: The U.S. Minerals Management Service estimates that Hurricanes Katrina and Rita destroyed 113 offshore oil platforms and caused 124 offshore spills for a total of 743,700 gallons. In fact, damage to offshore producers accounted for 77 percent of the oil industry’s storm costs. In the wake of Hurricane Ike, there are at least three offshore oil rigs missing and “presumed to be total losses.”
LIE 2: Fish love oil rigs.
TRUTH: McCain is pushing an oil industry talking point. While marine biologists have seen fish congregating around oil rigs, it doesn’t mean they are good for wildlife. “That’s like taking a picture of birds on a telephone wire and saying it’s essential habitat,” said the Environmental Defense Center’s Linda Krop. Without the platforms, fish would likely return to natural reefs.
[This] is especially silly, [considering that] [n]ot too long ago, conservatives were also trying to argue that the United States should start drilling in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Reserve because oil pipelines would “become a meeting ground and ‘coffee klatch‘ for caribou.”
LIE 3: Cuba is allowing China to drill near the U.S. coast.
TRUTH: The Congressional Research Service has unequivocally concluded that Cuba has not permitted China to drill near the U.S. coastline in the Gulf of Mexico. Even Vice President Cheney has admitted this talking point is false.
(from Think Progress)
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Quote of the Day II: Oooh! A 'Commission!'
A nice riposte by Megan McArdle to McCain's brilliant idea, released yesterday, of -- gasp! -- creating a "Commission!" (Blue Ribbon, no doubt) to address our looming economic crisis:
"Here's my modest suggestion: John McCain could convene a commission right now. He could get a bunch of economists and bankers together, and they could hash out the problem and present him with a plan. Then he could tell us what it is. Then we could decide if we liked it. It would be almost like this election was about selecting someone who will make good policy."
Change Your Signature to Praise McCain's Inventing of Blackberry
For any of you who have a job that would tolerate a quippy signature line, may I encourage you to do the same as Jed Lewison:
TO: Everybody
FROM: Jed Lewison
SUBJECT: Suggested new BlackBerry/PDA signatureMESSAGE:
John Aravosis has a really good idea. To honor John McCain's invention of the BlackBerry and other wireless communications devices, people who use PDAs ought to recognize his his historic achievement in their signatures -- just like mine below.
--------
Sent from my BlackBerry, a miracle made possible by John McCain
CNN Excoriates McCain Campaign for Its Lies
Wow. Color me impressed. CNN ran a scathing exposé on the McCain's campaign's lying ways and debunked nearly every recent lie they've put out. Here's the video:
Crooks and Liars sums it up thusly:
Obama wants to teach sex to kindergarteners? Lie.
Palin opposed the Bridge to Nowhere? Lie.
Palin hasn’t taken earmarks as Governor? Lie.
Alaska produces 20% of America’s energy? Lie.
Palin visited Iraq and Ireland? Lie.
Monday, September 15, 2008
McCainPedia - Anthology of McCain's Lies
The DNC is putting in overtime to meticulously catalog and source fact-checks for all of McCain's lies. Check it out.
Here are some doozies:
FactCheck.org: McCain Energy Claim "Not true. Not even close." Palin says Alaska supplies 20 percent of U.S. energy. Not true. Not even close. "Palin claims Alaska 'produces nearly 20 percent of the U.S. domestic supply of energy.' That's not true.... It's simply untrue that Alaska produces anything close to 20 percent of the U.S. 'energy supply,' a term that is generally defined as energy consumed. That category includes power produced in the U.S. by nuclear, coal, hydroelectric dams and other means -- as well as all the oil imported into the country. ...Sen. John McCain has also has used this inflated, incorrect figure. On Sept. 3, McCain told ABC News' Gibson: 'McCain: Well, I think Americans are going to be very, very, very pleased. This is a very dynamic person. [Palin's] been governor of our largest state, in charge of 20 percent of America's energy supply.' McCain repeated the false figure more recently, in a September 11 interview with Portland, Maine, news station WCSH6." [FactCheck.org, 9/12/08: http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/energetically_wrong.html]
Bloomberg: McCain Campaign Misleading on Crowd Sizes. "McCain aide Kimmie Lipscomb told reporters on Sept. 10 that an outdoor rally in Fairfax City, Virginia, drew 23,000 people, attributing the crowd estimate to a fire marshal. Fairfax City Fire Marshal Andrew Wilson said his office did not supply that number to the campaign and could not confirm it. Wilson, in an interview, said the fire department does not monitor attendance at outdoor events...The campaign attributed that estimate, and several that followed, to U.S. Secret Service figures, based on the number of people who passed through magnetometers. 'We didn't provide any numbers to the campaign,' said Malcolm Wiley, a spokesman for the U.S. Secret Service. Wiley said he would not confirm or dispute the numbers the McCain campaign has given to reporters." [Bloomberg, 9/13/08: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601070&sid=a1J0tfV3XJYs&refer=politics]
Obama Ad Hits Hard on McCain Camp's Lies - Video
This new ad from the Obama campaign hits back hard on the McCain campaign's two-week lie fiesta. I think Obama did a very shrewd thing by waiting for the "John McCain is a liar; a damn liar!" meme to sink into the MSM. Well, now we see the lightly sleeping tiger that Obama is:
Sunday, September 14, 2008
The 'Enough!' Club
This is pretty striking. Kevin Drum has come up with The "Enough" Club, comprised of media figures who went from loving to fearing McCain after watching his campaign's penchant for shameless smears and lies. Here's a few compiled by him and Steve Benen:
* The Washington Post's Michael Kinsley: "In a democracy, obvious lies and obvious liars should be self-defeating. Why aren’t they? One reason is that the media have trouble calling a lie a lie, or asserting that one side is lying more than the other — even when that is objectively the case. They lean over backwards to give liars the benefit of the doubt, even when there is no doubt... But that shouldn’t let John McCain off the hook. He says he’d rather lose the election than lose the war. But it seems he’d rather lose that honor he’s always going on about than lose the election."
* The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Tony Norman: "You once said you'd rather lose an election than lose a war. Is it worth winning an election if it means forfeiting your soul on the altar of political expediency? How does a man survive five years in a Vietnamese dungeon only to allow himself to be turned into a cynical marionette by the nihilistic disciples of Karl Rove?"
* The Atlanta Journal Constitution's Jay Bookman: "The volume and audacity of lies pouring from the McCain campaign is startling and even historic…That's really something, lying straight out about a FactCheck group, knowing that you're going to get caught but not giving a damn about it. With stuff like this, the McCain camp has cut any remaining tethers to reality and integrity and is now floating wherever the winds of illusion and whimsy may take them. It's quite remarkable, and quite insulting to the intelligence of the American people."
* The Kansas City Star's Barb Shelly: "These are old tricks we've been seeing in local elections for years. Distort. Twist. Deceive. Damage. And the winning candidate drags a load of public contempt into office. I had hoped for better from McCain.... John McCain may win the presidency this way, but he will lose the respect he has acquired over the years."
* The Boston Globe's Scot Lehigh: "Here's the question voters should be asking themselves this week: Just how stupid does the McCain-Palin campaign think I am? The answer: Dumb enough to hoodwink with charges so contrived and cynical they make your teeth ache.... The McCain campaign has shown it's ready and willing to say preposterous things to win."
Friday, September 12, 2008
A Compilation of McCain's Lying Lies
Here's a very simple video exposé that catalogs a litany of McCain's lies this year:
Smacking Lying Republican Hacks 101
This is a clip from MSNBC yesterday where democratic strategist Ari Melber takes lying Republican hack Brad Blakeman to task for trying to keep alive one of the most despicable smears I've ever heard:
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