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[reilo]

Quick question:

When was the last time Bush was in Iraq?

 

[Chichikov]

Quick question:

When was the last time Bush was in Iraq?

Does the USS Abraham Lincoln count as Iraq (rimshot).

IIRC, last September, one of those secret quick visits.

 

[Tamanon]

I want to say it was last year, but I can't even remember.

And Jack Reed voted against the war also? Hrm.......

Apparently McCain is having a meeting out of nowhere with Bobby Jindal on Wednesday. That'll be a pretty crappy Veep pick, IMO, although it'll mean more people will learn about the exorcism!

 

[reilo]

Huh. They finally captured Karadzic.

 

[PhoenixDark]

....so I'd rate the chances of this happening about 7 out of 10:



Novak

That doesn't make any sense. There were reports that McCain wouldn't reveal his VP until Obama did in order to blunt any polling bump Obama could get. Announcing this early, especially while Obama is dominating the headlines, makes no sense whatsoever

 

[Incognito]

That doesn't make any sense. There were reports that McCain wouldn't reveal his VP until Obama did in order to blunt any polling bump Obama could get. Announcing this early, especially while Obama is dominating the headlines, makes no sense whatsoever

It's the McCain campaign...of course it doesn't make sense. If this decision were made this week, it would jump to the top of the list of McCain blunders this campaign season, leaping over the current #1 dumbass decision: green backdrop.

 

[Tamanon]

Plus the Euro wing is going to be the one that McCain could sow the most distrust with, he doesn't want to blunt those headlines. Or he shouldn't.

 

[Deus Ex Machina]

Today in images...guess who wins?

http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0708/The_day_in_images.html?showall

 

[syllogism]

http://www.politico.com/blogs/jonathanmartin/0708/McCain_closes_in_on_VP.html?showall

Doesn't sound like they are seriously going to announce it this week

 

[Tamanon]

BTW, if anyone missed it, Andrea Mitchell is going off on the military reporters for no reason on the Hardball repeat.

 

[scorcho]

I never agree with NYT editorial page or much else in that biased paper, but they're completely within their rights to reject anything they want as it is in their OPINION section and thus represents the views of their editorial staff.

actually, none of the editorials represent the views of the editorial staff sans those presented sans byline.

 

[StoOgE]

This is going to be a very very very good week for Obama.

Andrea Mitchell is doing her best to try and spin it though.

 

[Tamanon]

"You have to admit that the surge is a great success and that all this stuff that happened is because of the surge"

Andrea Mitchell, completely unbiased!

It's especially funny since she was talking about how much message management was going on, but then saying that the military was the one to release everything......so....is she trying to say that they're helping him?

 

[Macam]

If anything, the NYT is doing us a goddamn service by refusing that garbage. We've all heard enough of the same platitudes to last us a fucking lifetime.

What bob said. I may disagree with McCain, but it's pretty apparent that the NYT did everyone a favor by asking him to revise it. Of course, while they're at it, I'd love to see a pair of economic policy editorials, especially one from McCain detailing his magical plans to balance the budget in the face of two open-ended wars and lots of proposed tax cuts.

 

[Clevinger]

That doesn't make any sense. There were reports that McCain wouldn't reveal his VP until Obama did in order to blunt any polling bump Obama could get. Announcing this early, especially while Obama is dominating the headlines, makes no sense whatsoever

It's to try and take the spotlight off of Obama and his foreign trip, and in turn dominate the headlines with VP talk.

 

[Tamanon]

If anything I guess they were just trying to pry SOME headlines by leaking that they MAY pick. They won't this week, but just wanted some headlines, heh.

 

[Karish]

Obama's foreign tour is going very well so far. I expect a 2-3 point bump next week

 

[esbern]

You mean like the ethnic cleansing and sectarian segregation that has been occuring in places like Baghdad since the end of shock and awe?

here are some fun maps:

Note the way that the city polarizes into shi'a and sunni divisions over time down from the mixed muslim areas in 2006. Also note that violence has gone down as well-there's no more fuel for the fire,so to speak.

i can't tell anything from this map. do you have a bigger image of it/source?

 

[scorcho]

i can't tell anything from this map. do you have a bigger image of it/source?

http://www.democracyarsenal.org/2007/09/putting-your-be.html
http://media.npr.org/documents/2007/sep/jonesreport.pdf

 

[scorcho]

In case you want to read on the actual development of the Internet, here you go. It's short but it gives you all the inner details about it.

btw, started reading this on the way to work this AM and am already a third of the way through. great recommendation.

 

[Macam]

btw, started reading this on the way to work this AM and am already a third of the way through. great recommendation.

Glad you liked it;-)

 

[Agent Icebeezy]

It's to try and take the spotlight off of Obama and his foreign trip, and in turn dominate the headlines with VP talk.

It will leave him nothing for his speech in Minnesota though. How do you go from 75k people to 15k people and your VP already announced?

 

[KilledByBill]

Firstread is saying Reed looks like Obama's VP pick but I think Bayh is very high on the list. He could definitely help with Indiana and possibly help out with Ohio, MI, and PA.

I'm starting to think it's going to be Bayh. He appeases the Clinton-wing since he's good friends with Bill & Hill and was a longtime surrogate for her during the primary. He has executive experience as Governor of Indiana but he's only been in the Senate since 1999 so he's not really a "Washington insider." He's got experience with National Security and intelligence in the Senate. He doesn't balance the ticket geographically, coming from Obama's neighboring state, but he could really put Indiana in play and radiate more support into Michigan and Ohio.

He did vote for the Iraq War Resolution which kills a lot my enthusiasm. I think Obama is best served by having no one tainted by the decision to go to war. I still hold out hope for Tim Kaine but Jack Reed is also starting to sound very promising.

 

[Door2Dawn]

Hillary Clinton.

 

[Agent Icebeezy]

I'm starting to think it's going to be Bayh. He appeases the Clinton-wing since he's good friends with Bill & Hill and was a longtime surrogate for her during the primary. He has executive experience as Governor of Indiana but he's only been in the Senate since 1999 so he's not really a "Washington insider." He's got experience with National Security and intelligence in the Senate. He doesn't balance the ticket geographically, coming from Obama's neighboring state, but he could really put Indiana in play and radiate more support into Michigan and Ohio.

He did vote for the Iraq War Resolution which kills a lot my enthusiasm. I think Obama is best served by having no one tainted by the decision to go to war. I still hold out hope for Tim Kaine but Jack Reed is also starting to sound very promising.

On Hardball today, they made Jack Reed sound like Superman.

 

[Jason's Ultimatum]

Hai guys:

O'S HEALTH RX: COVER ILLEGALS

By DICK MORRIS & EILEEN MCGANN

Published in The New York Post on July 21, 2008.

Printer-Friendly Version (lol)

Democrats' single most important domestic proposal - universal health insurance - may blow up in Barack Obama's face when voters are exposed to the deadly details.

Obama has said, proudly and often, "I am going to give health insurance to 47 million Americans who are now without coverage." But are they "Americans?"

That 47 million statistic includes illegal immigrants - who virtually all lack insurance. In fact, about one in four of those lacking insurance is here illegally. And they are, by far, the group most in need of health insurance.

About 15 million of the remaining uninsured are eligible for Medicaid but haven't signed up - mainly because they haven't gotten sick. When they do, they enroll in Medicaid and we pick up the full tab for their health care relatively cheaply. (About 80 percent of each Medicaid dollar goes to nursing-home care for the elderly, only about 20 percent for the medical needs of the poor.)

The rest of the uninsured pool? Virtually all the children are eligible for the State Children's Health Insurance Program. Some aren't enrolled because the parents haven't bothered, but most are eligible. That leaves about 20 million uninsured adults who are US citizens or legal immigrants. There are far better ways to handle their needs than to turn our entire health-care system upside down.

Care for illegals is the biggest unmet medical need in our nation, and Obama's program targets it squarely. But do we really want to give them federally paid coverage equal to what US senators get, as Obama proposes?


Covering illegals adds dramatically to the cost of any program - and would encourage more folks to enter America illicitly.

Obama's plan will likely have a horrific effect on some local health-care systems.

Illegals now get free emergency-room treatment for life-threatening conditions - as any other American who's entered an ER in an area with lots of illegals recently well knows. (Three-quarters of the illegal-immigrant population is concentrated in five states: California, New York, Florida, Texas and Illinois.)

But now they'd be eligible for the entire range of medical services, all free of charge. That would trigger severe rationing: bureaucrats deciding who gets to see an oncologist, who can have an MRI - and even who can have bypass surgery and who'd die for lack of it.

These decisions would be made not on the basis of legal status but on the brutal facts of triage: Treat the 37-year-old illegal with his whole life to live before you spend scarce resources on an overweight, diabetic, 80-year-old citizen with high blood pressure who smokes.

John McCain hasn't raised this issue, perhaps for fear of offending the Latino vote. But polling suggests the case against rationing of health care would be as persuasive to Hispanic-American citizens as it is to the rest of us. Nobody wants to die waiting in line - especially not behind someone who snuck in ahead of us.

McCain needs to hit the Obama plan for treating illegal immigrants to free, federally subsidized health insurance - and hit it hard.

 

[reilo]

Hai guys:

Isn't the only way you can be a part of Obama's plan by actually contacting the government and telling them to put you on the government funded insurance policy?

So, how many illegals would risk that?

 

[Jason's Ultimatum]

How would they be able to sign up? I mean, don't you need legal documents to do so or do you just need a social security card and you're set? I remember a debate here on GAF about how the only document illegals need is a SS card even then they're fake.

 

[Particle Physicist]

Isn't the only way you can be a part of Obama's plan by actually contacting the government and telling them to put you on the government funded insurance policy?

So, how many illegals would risk that?

exactly. these are just scare tactics.

 

[siamesedreamer]

Apparently McCain is having a meeting out of nowhere with Bobby Jindal on Wednesday. That'll be a pretty crappy Veep pick, IMO, although it'll mean more people will learn about the exorcism!

Jindal is the perfect pick and kills two birds with one stone:

1) the McCain campaign - its really already dead right now, but Jindal makes it even deader

2) the argument by the fundamentalist wing of the GOP that the loss was a result of not having "one of their own" on the ticket

Seems like the perfect scenario if you ask me...

 

[Frank the Great]

Jindal is the perfect pick and kills two birds with one stone:

1) the McCain campaign - its really already dead right now, but Jindal makes it even deader

2) the argument by the fundamentalist wing of the GOP that the loss was a result of not having "one of their own" on the ticket

Seems like the perfect scenario if you ask me...

You forgot to add that if Jindal is associated with such an abomination of a campaign that will most likely lose in a landslide, it will neuter his future in national politics. Every time I hear a talking head refer to Jindal as "a rising star in the Republican Party" I want to punch something.

 

[grandjedi6]

Jindal is the perfect pick and kills two birds with one stone:

1) the McCain campaign - its really already dead right now, but Jindal makes it even deader

2) the argument by the fundamentalist wing of the GOP that the loss was a result of not having "one of their own" on the ticket

Seems like the perfect scenario if you ask me...

:lol

 

[Tamanon]

:lol at the Daily Show coverage of Obama Quest.

With bonus Ed Helms!

Barack O'Boner.:lol :lol

 

[Frank the Great]

BARACK OBONER

 

[adamsappel]

The only thing that worries me about McCain's VP pick is if it's a woman (and Obama's isn't). All things being equal, I don't think bitter Hillarians would end up voting for McCain out of spite. But with the only chance to elect a woman VP, I can see a lot of votes swinging over.

 

[grandjedi6]

The only thing that worries me about McCain's VP pick is if it's a woman (and Obama's isn't). All things being equal, I don't think bitter Hillarians would end up voting for McCain out of spite. But with the only chance to elect a woman VP, I can see a lot of votes swinging over.

No one votes for the VP. And worrying about disappointed Hillarys fans is so June-ish

 

[KilledByBill]

The only thing that worries me about McCain's VP pick is if it's a woman (and Obama's isn't). All things being equal, I don't think bitter Hillarians would end up voting for McCain out of spite. But with the only chance to elect a woman VP, I can see a lot of votes swinging over.

The real concern about disgruntled Hillary supporters (men and women alike) is more that they will just stay home on election day rather than that they would vote for McCain out of spite. Most of these people foaming at the mouth-types who aren't going carry a grudge from June to November, I'd wager they're normal people disappointed that their candidate of choice lost out in a very tight contest.

 

[Tamanon]

Like those old Jewish people on Daily Show

 

[The Chosen One]

Wow, very good news day for Obama. The White House and McCain failed at spinning Maliki's comments.

 

[GhaleonEB]

Wow, very good news day for Obama. The White House and McCain failed at spinning Maliki's comments.

The way the whole drama played out couldn't have been better. First the initial report from the paper, which was almost buried. If nothing else happened, it might have stayed that way.

Then someone from the White House "accidentally" emails the story to the press.

Then they apply pressure to get Maliki to walk back the statement, which gets it even more attention.

Then Obama shows up and they reiterate the initial statement - in English. And now it's front page news everywhere.

And the whole time, McCain is flopping back and forth like a dying fish trying to explain each new iteration.

Really, can't do much better than that. Great cycle for Obama. McCain flubbing the Iraq border statement was the icing on the cake.

 

[Bishman]

What has been going on for the last 3 weeks?

 

[AniHawk]

Because even with all the TDK craze, I know people still like their Obama avatars:

 

[The Lamonster]

Because even with all the TDK craze, I know people still like their Obama avatars:

very nice. just changed mine though.

 

[maynerd]

Because even with all the TDK craze, I know people still like their Obama avatars:

I'll take it! Thanks!

 

[The Chosen One]

And the whole time, McCain is flopping back and forth like a dying fish trying to explain each new iteration.

That was the hilarious part.

His current theme seems to be, "Bu bu but I was right about the surge!". But Obama was right about not going to war in the first place, so that argument is a push at best.

The other theme seems to be, "Well Obama is in favor of a withdrawal and timeline that ignores the conditions on the ground! We are in favor of timetable for a withdrawal but we will make adjustments based on conditions the ground." That's nice and all but too bad that's already Obama's position. In fact, that's why Obama got flack a couple of weeks ago because he said he would listen to the generals on the field, so the 16 month timetable might be a little more fluid. Considering how hardline McCain was just a week ago, he can't all of a sudden take Obama's position and pretend no one will notice.

What I'm loving about this is how foreign policy was suppose to be Obama's weak point but at least in the past 2 weeks, everybody has been following his lead and reacting to him in regards to Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, and etc. Obama is the one who successfully shifted the conversation to Afghanistan. It's nice to see a Democrat control the message and look confident on foreign policy. It makes for a much more meaningful debate between the two parties.

 

[UltimaKilo]

Didn't know where to put this, but I just saw one of McCain's sons for the first time and he looks almost exactly like Sen. McCain when he was young.

 

[Farmboy]

I'm not wild about Reed, considering the alternatives. Kaine and Bayh are both helpful in potential swing states: if they deliver their home state, that's pretty much a wrap for this election. Another advantage they have over Reed is that they can run in 2016 - Bayh especially is seen as prime presidential material - while Reed is probably just a bit too old, not interested and less electable. Also, by reputation, Reed would likely be tarred with the 'librul' brush, even though he did serve in the military.

None of these choices really balance the ticket in terms of foreign policy experience, by the way.

Because even with all the TDK craze, I know people still like their Obama avatars:

:lol I am the only one getting a Terminator 2 vibe? You can practically hear him say "Get. Out."

 

[The Chosen One]

I'm pulling for Biden as the VP pick.

 

[Rur0ni]

:lol I am the only one getting a Terminator 2 vibe? You can practically hear him say "Get. Out."

:lol

 

[Diablos]

Country first... golf second?

Also, lol @ the sign.

HANDS OFF! YEAH!!!!!!

....so I'd rate the chances of this happening about 7 out of 10:

*Possible McCain early VP pick*

Novak

I hope this happens. It would put Obama at a huge strategic advantage.