If Bristol Palin was the Star of ‘Juno’

Hilarious. There’s way too much material to work with this election cycle, and we finally have the technology to really take advantage of that material. You have to love this day and age (except for the economic crisis, war, famine, and all that stuff).

Thanks Tyranny of the Mooses for pointing out the video! Great Blog, check it out!

McCain-Sept, 1998-Is Bin Laden a Bad Guy?

In the November/December issue of Mother Jones Magazine, John McCain questioned whether going after Bin Laden was a good idea, and also questioned whether he was even a bad guy. Seriously.

Q: You not only have had combat experience in Vietnam, but you were also a prisoner of war. When you look at terrorism right now, with people like Osama bin Laden, do you have any reservations about watching strikes like that?

John McCain: You could say, Look, is this guy, Laden, really the bad guy that’s depicted? Most of us have never heard of him before. And where there is a parallel with Vietnam is: What’s plan B? What do we do next? We sent our troops into Vietnam to protect the bases. Lyndon Johnson said, Only to protect the bases. Next thing you know…. Well, we’ve declared to the terrorists that we’re going to strike them wherever they live. That’s fine. But what’s next? That’s where there might be some comparison.

Remember when President Clinton was blowing up terrorist camps with cruise missiles, and all the Republicans wanted to do was cry ‘Wag the dog! Wag the dog!’? Well, this is McCain doing the whole song and dance of the day. Give me a break. By the way, if you hadn’t heard of Bin Laden in 1998, you either were too young, or you didn’t pay enough attention to world news and politics. John McCain wasn’t too young.

Not only did he question whether or not Bin Laden was such a bad guy, but he actually compared going after him to Viet Nam — the very thing he’d decry today as unpatriotic.

John McCain, a man of principles*

*principles may change hour to hour, day to day, depending on the prevailing winds

Shocking, Explosive Exposé on McCain

Rolling Stone has been a bastion of rock & roll, revolutionary writing by icons, and, every once in a while, terrific journalism. This incorporates two of the the three. No, I don’t mean it’s a great piece of journalism by an icon (maybe someday, Mr. Dickinson). It’s a terrific rock & roll piece of political journalism.

Tim Dickinson hits Senator McCain where it hurts, right in the cavity that should house John McCain’s soul. It’s not Mr. Dickinson’s (or Rolling Stone’s) fault that they found an empty, dank crevasse where ethics, morality, and humanity should be stored within John McCain–it’s the Senator’s fault alone.

This piece uses a crowbar where the major media tries to use a feather. The writer hammers out the discombobulating contradictions in the Senator’s life and politics into a smooth sheet of paper on which he wrote the most truthful profile of John McCain yet. Dickinson doesn’t shy away from telling the story from the Senator’s pampered beginnings to his gilded twilight. He gives praise, albeit begrudging, when it is due, yet narrows his focus upon what Americans of all backgrounds and beliefs should know–the real John McCain.

From McCain’s glory days as a boozing and gallivanting Navy pilot*, to his back door dealings in the Keating Five scandal, from the shunning of his crippled wife to his verbally abusive rants at his current, Dickinson explores the John McCain that wants to lead this nation. It is shocking, and it is terrifying at times, but do yourself a favor and read this account.

Just a small glimpse of what you’ll miss if you ignore my heed:

In the Senate — where, according to former GOP Sen. Bob Smith, McCain has “very few friends” — his volcanic temper has repeatedly led to explosive altercations with colleagues and constituents alike. In 1992, McCain got into a heated exchange with Sen. Chuck Grassley over the fate of missing American servicemen in Vietnam. “Are you calling me stupid?” Grassley demanded. “No, I’m calling you a fucking jerk!” yelled McCain. Sen. Bob Kerrey later told reporters that he feared McCain was “going to head-butt Grassley and drive the cartilage in his nose into his brain.” The two were separated before they came to blows. Several years later, during another debate over servicemen missing in action, an elderly mother of an MIA soldier rolled up to McCain in her wheelchair to speak to him about her son’s case. According to witnesses, McCain grew enraged, raising his hand as if to strike her before pushing her wheelchair away.

Read the full exposé at Rolling Stone Magazine

*What’s the difference between a fighter pilot and his aircraft?

The aircraft stops whining when you shut down the engines.