Red Neck Nation

This piggy-wiggy hubby of Scientologist/Fox News thingamajig Greta Van Susteren just switched from Clinton to McCain, bitching that MoveOn.org has taken over the Democratic Party; if only! More likely this was the piggy-wiggy who didn't like his hotel accommodations for the DNC. Watch the video and you'll see how stupid and brain dead this guy. His reason, he says, for switching to McCain is because of McCain's position on torture. I'm guessing he doesn't even know that, in the end, McCain voted for torture for all his posturing. When they call him "one of Hillary's biggest supporters" I wonder what they mean?

I switched too, about two or three weeks ago-- from CNN to MSNBC. So I never see Jack Cafferty anymore. Fortunately a friend sent me this commentary about the Republican Party and it's much-diminished yawner of a convention:

This week the Republicans gather for their convention. For four days, they will labor under the illusion their party is still relevant. It's not.

It is entirely fitting that the headliner for this masquerade is a feeble looking 72-year-old white guy who doesn't know how many homes he owns.

It's more than symbolic that when a million Americans are losing their homes to foreclosure, the Republican candidate for president has lost track of his holdings.

McCain surrounds himself with people like former Republican Sen. Phil Gramm who called America a "nation of whiners" and said we are only suffering a "mental recession."

That's the same problem the Republican Party has. It has lost track of what it used to stand for: small government, a disciplined fiscal policy, integrity.

In a way, the perfect storm of a rapidly changing population-- old white people aren't going to be in the majority very much longer (and isn't that who most of the Republicans are?)-- has combined with the total abdication of principles, Republican or otherwise, of arguably the worst president in the nation's history to mark the beginning of the end of the Republican Party as we know it.

Republican Congressman Tom Davis of Virginia said it best: "The Republican brand is in the trash can. If we were dog food, they would take us off the shelf."

It is so bad that more than 10 percent of the Republican members of the United States Senate aren't even bothering to attend their own party's convention. They recognize dog food when they see it.

...Republicans stand to be turned out of office at every level-- from the U.S. Congress to governors' mansions and state legislatures. Republicans who remain in office will be rendered impotent by their shrinking numbers.

Republicans under George W. Bush have done a lot of damage to this country in the last eight years-- but they have done more damage to themselves. It will take a good long while and a great deal of soul searching before their brand returns to the shelves in good standing.

Don't look for it to happen in St. Paul, Minnesota. This week, Republicans will be happy in the land of make believe.

John McCain has no honor, no dignity whatsoever

But McCain isn't giving up without a fight! In fact he signed up someone he knows, from first hand experience is a fighter-- South Carolina smearmesieter Tucker Eskew. Former colleagues of McCain's were shocked and disgusted, mostly because Eskew smeared McCain and his family to high heaven in 2000. He's being put in charge of Palin. At least we know what we can expect from her now! Among the charges against McCain that Eskew used to help Bush win the GOP primary were that he was "the fag candidate," had a black baby and other illegitimate children and that Cindy McCain was a drug addict (which was true at one time, although she claims she is no longer addicted).

Levi Johnston, the nice-looking young man who knocked up Palin's 17 year old, Bristol, is a senior at Wasilla High School. On his My Space page he brags about being a red neck-- and then proves it.

"I'm a fuckin' redneck" who likes to snowboard and ride dirt bikes.

"But I live to play hockey. I like to go camping and hang out with the boys, do some fishing, shoot some shit and just fuckin' chillin' I guess."

"Ya fuck with me I'll kick [your] ass," he added.

He also claims to be "in a relationship," but states, "I don't want kids."

Since the very backward governor of his state opposes contraception and any education about reproduction other than abstinence, it was inevitable that his red neck semen would impregnate some foolish and equally ignorant girl whose parents had let her down by keeping her in ideologoly-based-darkness. Ironic that it was the governor's own daughter. Fitting. More fitting is that what Cafferty calls a party in the and of make believe has turned itself, willfully into the party of the Red Neck Nation, one that feels perfectly comfortable nominating someone with bizarre, far from the mainstream views who was advocating that her state secede from the Union a few years ago. Forget about Willow and Track and Sarah and Levi and all these drunken kooks from Alaska. America needs to know more about McCain's vetting process. Can you imagine what he's liable to stick us with when it comes time for cabinet posts and, Heaven Forbid-- a Supreme Court post? (In fact, Jesus' General speculates on what McCain's all White Trash Cabinet would look like. Meet Earl J. Poteet, Chastity Screed and Malcolm Witherspoon.)

Right now, office pools around the country are collecting money on two bets-- what day will Palin drop out and who will be willing to replace her? So while Obama basks in his post-convention bounce, McCain's #1 strategist is reduced to calling Senator Joe Biden a doofus.

Even Jack Cafferty is wondering if, intellectually speaking, McCranky is another Chimpy the Prez

"His academic record was awful. And it shows over and over again whenever McCain is called upon to think on his feet. . . .

"I am sick and tired of the president of the United States embarrassing me. The world we live in is too complex to entrust it to someone else whose idea of intellectual curiosity and grasp of foreign policy issues is to tell us he can look into Vladimir Putin's eyes and see into his soul.

"George Bush's record as a student, military man, businessman and leader of the free world is one of constant failure. And the part that troubles me most is he seems content with himself."

-- Jack Cafferty, in a CNN commentary, "Is McCain another George W. Bush?"

by Ken

There are two ways to look at this:

(1) Jack Cafferty has developed into one of the shrewdest commentators in the whole of the infotainment media.

(2) If even Jack Cafferty has figured this out, how hard can it really be?

Either way, what he has to say here about the fitness of Chimpy the Prez and Young Johnny McCranky for the presidency couldn't be said much better. ("The part that troubles me most is he seems content with himself" -- yes!!! In both cases.)

Commentary: Is McCain another George W. Bush?

By Jack Cafferty

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Russia invades Georgia and President Bush goes on vacation. Our president has spent one-third of his entire two terms in office either at Camp David, Maryland, or at Crawford, Texas, on vacation.

His time away from the Oval Office included the month leading up to 9/11, when there were signs Osama bin Laden was planning to attack America, and the time Hurricane Katrina destroyed the city of New Orleans.

Sen. John McCain takes weekends off and limits his campaign events to one a day. He made an exception for the religious forum on Saturday at Saddleback Church in Southern California.

I think he made a big mistake. When he was invited last spring to attend a discussion of the role of faith in his life with Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, at Messiah College in Pennsylvania, McCain didn't bother to show up. Now I know why.

It occurs to me that John McCain is as intellectually shallow as our current president. When asked what his Christian faith means to him, his answer was a one-liner. "It means I'm saved and forgiven." Great scholars have wrestled with the meaning of faith for centuries. McCain then retold a story we've all heard a hundred times about a guard in Vietnam drawing a cross in the sand.

Asked about his greatest moral failure, he cited his first marriage, which ended in divorce. While saying it was his greatest moral failing, he offered nothing in the way of explanation. Why not?

Throughout the evening, McCain chose to recite portions of his stump speech as answers to the questions he was being asked. Why? He has lived 71 years. Surely he has some thoughts on what it all means that go beyond canned answers culled from the same speech he delivers every day.

He was asked "if evil exists." His response was to repeat for the umpteenth time that Osama bin Laden is a bad man and he will pursue him to "the gates of hell." That was it.

He was asked to define rich. After trying to dodge the question -- his wife is worth a reported $100 million -- he finally said he thought an income of $5 million was rich.

One after another, McCain's answers were shallow, simplistic, and trite. He showed the same intellectual curiosity that George Bush has -- virtually none.

Where are John McCain's writings exploring the vexing moral issues of our time? Where are his position papers setting forth his careful consideration of foreign policy, the welfare state, education, America's moral responsibility in the world, etc., etc., etc.?

John McCain graduated 894th in a class of 899 at the Naval Academy at Annapolis. His father and grandfather were four star admirals in the Navy. Some have suggested that might have played a role in McCain being admitted. His academic record was awful. And it shows over and over again whenever McCain is called upon to think on his feet.

He no longer allows reporters unfettered access to him aboard the "Straight Talk Express" for a reason. He simply makes too many mistakes. Unless he's reciting talking points or reading from notes or a TelePrompTer, John McCain is lost. He can drop bon mots at a bowling alley or diner -- short glib responses that get a chuckle, but beyond that McCain gets in over his head very quickly.

I am sick and tired of the president of the United States embarrassing me. The world we live in is too complex to entrust it to someone else whose idea of intellectual curiosity and grasp of foreign policy issues is to tell us he can look into Vladimir Putin's eyes and see into his soul.

George Bush's record as a student, military man, businessman and leader of the free world is one of constant failure. And the part that troubles me most is he seems content with himself.

He will leave office with the country $10 trillion in debt, fighting two wars, our international reputation in shambles, our government cloaked in secrecy and suspicion that his entire presidency has been a litany of broken laws and promises, our citizens' faith in our own country ripped to shreds. Yet Bush goes bumbling along, grinning and spewing moronic one-liners, as though nobody understands what a colossal failure he has been.

I fear to the depth of my being that John McCain is just like him.

The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the writer.

Note to CNN: Not to worry, CNN guys 'n' gals, it would never occur to us to think that "the opinions expressed in this commentary" belonged to anyone except the writer -- and certainly not to you, CNN. We know you have no opinions, except perhaps how wise (not to mention strong and tall and good-looking) people in power are. Especially the really rich corporate ones.

#

How Rich Do You Have To Be To Own Ten Homes?

Pastor Rick gave Obama and McCain the same questions Saturday night at the Saddleback mega-Church. Even though McCain, who managed to evade the "cone of silence," had an opportunity to hear the questions as they were being asked of Obama, he must have not thought the one through where Pastor Rick asked him to define "rich." Obama had explained that to pay for the functioning of government-- the international eradication of slavery Pastor Rick and his followers are clamoring for and the extending a hand that the least among us needs like Jesus was urging at one time (a time when Republicans were going by the name "Romans")-- it would be immoral to keep charging it to our children and grandchildren, the way the Republican Party does. He admitted that under his tax plans, people making over $250,000 a year would get a slight tax increase (while the vast majority of Americans-- those making under $150,000 a year-- would get a tax decrease. Like most Americans, Obama thinks that the wealthy need to start paying their fair share again. McCain may think the same, but he defined the "rich" as someone with more than a $5 million annual income. That might be because in the rarefied world he married into, people own their own jets and... well ten to thirteen homes. McCain's immense wealth is reflected in his voting record, a voting record that has helped drive up the deficit, unemployment, health care costs, the price of gasoline, and inflation, while driving down the dollar, the real estate market, the stock market, and the American standard of living.

Our pals at Brave New Films did this great video that shows what a hypocrite and lying sack McCain is. I wonder why Pastor Rick didn't ask him about camel's getting through the eyes of needles.



Meanwhile, Jack Cafferty's analysis of McCain's shallow and pandering performace at the Rick Warren show sums it up better than anyone else I've read.

Russia invades Georgia and President Bush goes on vacation. Our president has spent one-third of his entire two terms in office either at Camp David, Maryland, or at Crawford, Texas, on vacation.

His time away from the Oval Office included the month leading up to 9/11, when there were signs Osama bin Laden was planning to attack America, and the time Hurricane Katrina destroyed the city of New Orleans.

Sen. John McCain takes weekends off and limits his campaign events to one a day. He made an exception for the religious forum on Saturday at Saddleback Church in Southern California.

I think he made a big mistake. When he was invited last spring to attend a discussion of the role of faith in his life with Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, at Messiah College in Pennsylvania, McCain didn't bother to show up. Now I know why.

It occurs to me that John McCain is as intellectually shallow as our current president. When asked what his Christian faith means to him, his answer was a one-liner. "It means I'm saved and forgiven." Great scholars have wrestled with the meaning of faith for centuries. McCain then retold a story we've all heard a hundred times about a guard in Vietnam drawing a cross in the sand.

Asked about his greatest moral failure, he cited his first marriage, which ended in divorce. While saying it was his greatest moral failing, he offered nothing in the way of explanation. Why not?

Throughout the evening, McCain chose to recite portions of his stump speech as answers to the questions he was being asked. Why? He has lived 71 years. Surely he has some thoughts on what it all means that go beyond canned answers culled from the same speech he delivers every day.
He was asked "if evil exists." His response was to repeat for the umpteenth time that Osama bin Laden is a bad man and he will pursue him to "the gates of hell." That was it.

He was asked to define rich. After trying to dodge the question-- his wife is worth a reported $100 million-- he finally said he thought an income of $5 million was rich.

One after another, McCain's answers were shallow, simplistic, and trite. He showed the same intellectual curiosity that George Bush has-- virtually none.

Where are John McCain's writings exploring the vexing moral issues of our time? Where are his position papers setting forth his careful consideration of foreign policy, the welfare state, education, America's moral responsibility in the world, etc., etc., etc.?

John McCain graduated 894th in a class of 899 at the Naval Academy at Annapolis. His father and grandfather were four star admirals in the Navy. Some have suggested that might have played a role in McCain being admitted. His academic record was awful. And it shows over and over again whenever McCain is called upon to think on his feet.

He no longer allows reporters unfettered access to him aboard the "Straight Talk Express" for a reason. He simply makes too many mistakes. Unless he's reciting talking points or reading from notes or a TelePrompTer, John McCain is lost. He can drop bon mots at a bowling alley or diner-- short glib responses that get a chuckle, but beyond that McCain gets in over his head very quickly.

I am sick and tired of the president of the United States embarrassing me. The world we live in is too complex to entrust it to someone else whose idea of intellectual curiosity and grasp of foreign policy issues is to tell us he can look into Vladimir Putin's eyes and see into his soul.

George Bush's record as a student, military man, businessman and leader of the free world is one of constant failure. And the part that troubles me most is he seems content with himself.

He will leave office with the country $10 trillion in debt, fighting two wars, our international reputation in shambles, our government cloaked in secrecy and suspicion that his entire presidency has been a litany of broken laws and promises, our citizens' faith in our own country ripped to shreds. Yet Bush goes bumbling along, grinning and spewing moronic one-liners, as though nobody understands what a colossal failure he has been.

I fear to the depth of my being that John McCain is just like him.

IN DEFENSE OF JACK CAFFERTY'S "JINGOISTIC" COMMENTS ON CNN

First the comments:

"We continue to import their junk with the lead paint on them and the poisoned pet food and export... jobs to places where you can pay workers a dollar a month to turn out the stuff that we're buying from Wal-Mart. So I think our relationship with China has certainly changed. I think they're basically the same bunch of goons and thugs they've been for the last 50 years."

Yesterday Chinese-Americans and Chinese ex-pats living in the U.S. protested against CNN commentator Jack Cafferty in L.A. and Atlanta.

Touchy, touchy. Cafferty is right and these people-- particularly not the Chinese-Americans-- shouldn't have a beef with him. But they're demanding CNN fire him. Did anyone see if they had their American flag pins on? Chinese flag pins?

The protesters lined Sunset Boulevard from Cahuenga Boulevard to Wilcox Avenue chanting "Fire Cafferty" and "CNN liar" and singing the Chinese national anthem and other patriotic songs. They waved Chinese, American and Taiwanese flags and directed their anger at the news channel's dark glass tower.

"It's really unacceptable," said John He, an organizer of the event. "It maliciously attacks all Chinese. This would not be accepted if it was directed at any other ethnic group."

Fact is, ethnic Chinese people are protesting all over the world-- and it isn't all directly towards Cafferty or CNN. They're angry that western media has been unsympathetic to the Chinese point of view on Tibet and they're angry over talk of an Olympics boycott. Today
s NY Times reports that in China there is talk of a different kind of boycott, one "against American chains like McDonald’s and Kentucky Fried Chicken."
I just noticed that my old usenet wars comrade, Milt Shook, also picked up on this story. And, like me, he realizes Cafferty's position should be defended. He goes though the speech phrase by phrase to do just that:

Do we import Chinese-made junk? Have you ever been inside a Wal-Mart, or any "dollar store" in the country? Yes, we do import a lot of crap from China, and most of it is of low quality, which is why it costs a dollar.

Have the Chinese been reckless with their quality control? Well, yes, of course they have. Lead paint on toys that children might put into their mouths; toys that turn into roofies if swallowed; pet food that killed many a pet (full disclosure; I can't prove it, but I'm pretty sure that's how my son's cat died last year).

Do the Chinese take advantage of lower labor standards to put out their junk, and sell it to us by the boatload? Well, yeah. There are factories over there that serve as de facto slave quarters, for Chrissakes. And why should that surprise anyone? How the hell do you think they make a spatula that can be sold to you for a dollar, with everyone along the supply chain making money?

In other words, there is nothing untrue in what Jack Cafferty said, and these Chinese-Americans who are protesting have a lot of nerve, if nothing else. If they really want to protest something, how about protesting the shitty conditions under which the Chinese workers labor under? How about demanding that the United States start demanding that the Chinese government stop cracking down on people who dare express themselves? If you don't like the truth, then change the truth of the situation. But don't blame Jack Cafferty.

We have shipped boatloads of jobs to China, China does make a lot of junk, and the government over there is oppressive, and they do act like a bunch of thugs. That's not an insult to "the Chinese," those are stone cold facts.

Dave Gibson at News By Us also points out that Truth is getting lost in these protests and he also examined the facts that show that Cafferty wasn't making anything up or exaggerating at all.

Because our Congress and president have deleted the federal Treasury and bankrupted our grandchildren’s future with earmarks and the ongoing war in Iraq (which has already cost $500 billion), this nation is being crushed under our own debt. The National Debt now stands at $9.3 trillion. Since September 2006, the debt has been growing by $1.6 billion a day. In order to keep the government running, we borrow from foreign nations. In particular, China now owns 33 percent of our foreign-held debt.

According to the statistics kept on foreign trade by the U.S. Census Bureau, the U.S. had a $256 billion trade deficit with China in 2007 alone. That figure has doubled just since 2003. Our trade deficit with China has continued to grow by leaps and bounds since 1986, when we imported only $6 billion more than we exported to China.

We all remember the reports thousands of pets poisoned last year by wheat gluten imported from China. The food product conduct the highly toxic chemical melamine which is used in China as a fertilizer, but was banned in the United States. Though very dangerous, Chinese farmers continue to use it as a cheap alternative to safer products.
In addition to our pets, many of our children have been poisoned by Chinese-made products.

Shortly before Christmas, the product known as Aqua Dots was recalled when several children in the United States as well as abroad became violently ill and slipped into comas after sucking on or swallowing the tiny beads. The “Dots” were manufactured in China with a chemical which converts to GHB (gamma-hydroxy butyrate), commonly known as the ‘date-rape drug,’ once ingested. The craft toy was sold mostly at Wal-Mart and Toys “R” Us stores.

The day before the much talked-about Aqua Dots recall, the government announced a recall of 405,000 toys, most of which were toy cars due to toxic levels of lead. Included in the recall were 308,000 Pull-Back Action Toy Cars imported and sold by Dollar General, wind-up toys, music boxes, toy robots, Winnie-the-Pooh Spinning Tops, and 7,200 “Big Red” wagons imported and sold by Northern Tool & Equipment Co.

In September 2007, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission recalled one million Simplicity brand cribs which were made in China. The recall came after a 6-month-old and a 9-month-old baby became pinned and died in the cribs due to a defect. Several more children became trapped in the cribs but survived.

The following list represents only a small fraction of the imported Chinese products recalled in 2007:
-baby overalls (imported by Samarra Brothers, metal snaps contained toxic levels of lead)
-ceramic heaters (Family Dollar Stores imported the heaters which overheated and gave off toxic smoke)
-hair dryers (Metropolis Beauty imported travel hair dryers which had no electric shock protection devices as required for all hand-held dryers)
-remote controls (Best Buy recalled 10,000 Insignia DVD Player remotes after they were found to overheat and cause burns)
-children’s jewelry (rings imported by Rachel Rose Kidz which contained high levels of lead)
-batteries (JAKKS Pacific recalled 240,000 battery packs made for toy cars after reports started pouring in about the batteries bursting into flames)
-lamps (Currey &Company imported lamps with defective light sockets that presented fire and shock hazards)
-art sets (Toys “R” Us recalled 27,000 Wooden Coloring Cases which were found to contain toxic levels of lead)
-bicycles (imported by Target Stores were recalled after it was discovered that the bike frames were easily broken)
-easels (Distant Learning School Supply imported chalkboard easels which contained toxic levels of lead)
-baby seat (Infant Bouncer Seats imported by Oeuf LLC were recalled after reports of the metal frames breaking began to surface)
-toothpaste (the FDA discovered that many brands of Chinese-made toothpaste contained diethylene glycol (antifreeze) and caused kidney and liver failure)
-tires (Foreign Tire Sales in New Jersey recalled 450,000 tires manufactured in Hangzhou, China posed a serious safety hazard due to tread separation)
-key chains (Dollar General recalled 400,000 key chains which contained toxic levels of lead)
-heaters (Holmes Group was forced to recall 300,000 heaters which contained faulty wiring and presented a serious fire hazard)
-baby clothes (Disney Stores imported sleepwear which failed to meet U.S. flammability standards)

According to China Labor Watch, 80 percent of the $22.3 billion of toys sold in this country are manufactured in China. All of the major U.S. toy companies have turned to cheap Chinese labor to produce their toys. As a result, American factory jobs are becoming non-existent and our children are being poisoned. The importation of so many cheaply-made toys from China is in fact a lose-lose situation for Americans.

On Feb. 8, 2004, the Washington Post ran an article which reported: “More than 80 percent of the 6,000 factories in Wal-Mart’s worldwide database of suppliers are in China. Wal-Mart estimates it spent $15 billion on Chinese-made products last year, accounting for nearly one-eighth of all Chinese exports to the United States. If the company that Sam Walton built with his “Made in America” ad campaign were itself a separate nation, it would rank as China’s fifth-largest export market, ahead of Germany and Britain.”

In that same article, Post reporters Peter S. Goodman and Phillip P. Pan interviewed a Chinese labor activist Li Qiang. He said that factories that supply Wal-Mart and manufacture goods for American companies such as Dell and Mattel require workers to work 80 hours a week, while paying them $75 to $110 a month.

The minimum wage in China varies from each province but ranges from about $35 to $120 a month.

Cafferty went on to describe the Chinese government as “basically the same bunch of goons and thugs they’ve been for the last 50 years.”

Considering China’s abysmal record on human rights, their role in the ongoing massacre taking place in Darfur, and their policies of oppression toward Tibet and Burma… How could any thinking person disagree with him?

No one should ask Jack Cafferty to apologize for his words, doing so would be similar to asking an historian to apologize to the Nazis.