McCain Nabs Ridge

The more that McCain ties himself to the Bush Administration, the more of the independant and crossover vote he will lose.

Ridge, while a fine man I'm sure, bears responsiblity for the disfunctional nature of DHS that was demonstated in Katrina. Ridge also was a key participant in the political use of the alert system. Does McCain really want to be tied to that?

Maybe Ridge can keep him awake and alert during the campaign.

Funny how the "liberal" media couldn't help themselves to show 24/7 Howard Dean's "I Have a Scream" and they never show Sen. McCain sleeping during the annual State of the Union Address. If it was unPresidential to show enthusiasm, why isn't it unPresidential for a Republican Senator seeking the nomination for his party to nap during a State of the Union Address?

Will someone please wake him up and remind him that he's running for President??

Give it up already, McCain.

Stop picking on Walnuts.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3X8dLXvqu8k

Would you morons give it a rest? Everybody with half a brain knows McCain had his blackberry on and was reading the text of the speech.

Notice that two veterans, Ridge and Warner, have now endorsed the only candidate with battlefield experience. McCain-Giuliani or Giuliani-McCain would be an unstoppable ticket in 2008.

Both poll WAY ahead of "he who walks on water."

Tony, Ridge wasn't in DHS at the time of Katrina so it'll be difficult for you to tie any of the response to him.

"Tony, Ridge wasn't in DHS at the time of Katrina so it'll be difficult for you to tie any of the response to him.

Posted by: Jeff | Feb 28, 2007 1:08:12 PM

Jeff- Who was the first Homeland Security Secretary, and was as a result, responsible for oragnizing the department and setting it's standards and procedures?

I'm glad you acknowledge that the Bush Administration used the terror alert system for political gain, though.

Hey Jeff/Bill,thanks for taking time out from working for the Sleepy McSurge campaign to talk to us.

On top of finishing 895th out of 900 in his class at Annapolis,I found these other "qualifications" that McCain would bring to the Presidency of the United States:

This is relavent because McCain is running as the heir of the Presidency of George W. Bush.

McCain was one of the "Keating Five" Congressmen investigated on ethics charges for strenuously helping convicted rackateer Charles Keating after he gave them large campaign contributions and vacation trips.

Charles Keating was convicted of racketeering and fraud in both state and federal court after his savings and loan collapased,costing the taxpayers 3.4 billion.

McCain intervened on behalf of Charles Keating after Keating gave McCain at least $112,000 in contributions.
In the mid-1980's,McCain made at least 9 trips on Keating's airplanes,and 3 of those were to Keating's luxurious retreat in the Bahama's.
McCain's wife and father in law also were the largest investors ($350,000) in a Keating shopping center;the Phoenix News called it a "sweetheart deal."

In 1995 McCain sent birthday regards,and regrets for not attending to Joe "Joe Banana's" Bonano,the head of the New York Bonano crime family,who had retired to Arizona.
Another politician to send regards was Arizona Governor Fife Syminington who has since been kicked out of office and convicted of 7 felonies relating to fraud and extortion.

McCain has a reputation as a politician who has difficulty keeping his pants zipped,according to to Republican sources.
He ackowledges that his adultery broke his first marriage.His second wife Cindy,the daughter of a wealty Budweiser beer distributer was addicted to prescription narcotics and even stole hard drugs from a medical charity that she ran.
McCain acknowledges that that she wouldn't let him run for the Presideny unless she didn't have to appear in Iowa and New Hampshire.

Jeff,
He was reading the speech while President Bush was giving it at a microphone no more than 30 feet in front of him?? What is wrong with McCain's hearing if you are to believed? What other faculties are diminishing in his aging body?

Jeff,

I would love to see Gore/Obama vs McCain/Giuliani. Great theater. Unfortunately for McCain, his surge support in Iraq will get him nowhere.

I think you should loosen up a bit. Maybe roll a fatty and relax. That kid on Youtube is hilarious.

Your half-brained loser moron friend, Bubba.

Jeff- Who was the first Homeland Security Secretary, and was as a result, responsible for oragnizing the department and setting it's standards and procedures?

By Tonys' logic George Washington, (being the first president) was
partially responsible for Bill Clinton not taking advantage of intel.
on Bin-Laden and taking him out with the 13 or so chances that
we know he had. Just check with Sandy Burglar, that is if he still has
the paperwork !!!

Why should I lighten up when the "insightful" commentary that goes on in this topic is nothing more than schoolyard name-calling?

Look at the sock puppet, John E. (still not serving in Iraq like he said he'd be by now) cherry-pick half-truths and post slander about McCain.

Anyone who read his book knows he finished 895th out of 900 in his class. This is, incidentally, only a little higher than John Kerry woudld've finished if he'd ever gone to the Naval Academy.

Seriously, what is that supposed to mean? Henry V was pilloried for his misspent youth before conquering France. John F. Kennedy had similar numbers and grades before he became president. It's McCain's lifetime of public service that makes him a good choice for Prez, not what he did in the 1940s.

Then there's the mind-blowing expose that McCain sends people birthday cards. Well shut me down! Tony Rezko's lot next to Obama, the millions he accepted from the likes of David Geffen and all of Hillary's soft money is A-Okay but McCain is compromised because he sent some people birthday cards.

Everything about Keating Five is public record and it has been for years. It never stopped McCain and John Glenn from winning reelection to their Senate seats and if anyone thinks it'll be an issue in this election they're sadly mistaken. It was McCain's experience with the flawed campaign finance process that led him to co-author McCain-Feingold.

And John E's last paragraph, this is just lower than low. I can't believe the Tribune would allow filth and slander like this to be associated with its website. But sadly typical of the reactionary left.

You people sit here on this web site day in and day out and complain about how your candidate was "swiftboated" but whenever the polls plainly show your candidate is far behind you crank up the old swiftboat yourselves, eh?

We truly get the government we deserve and I have no doubt that most of you stayed home yesterday with more than 75% of the residents of this city.

I'm sure you'll all be the first to complain about negative campaigning whenever "he walks on water" falls flat on his face or when Hillary runs into a scandal. You should all look in the mirror. You're every bit as bad as what you claim to hate.

p.s. Tony, McCain's said he was reading ahead in the text of the speech that had been e-mailed to his wireless during the President's remarks. I didn't address the political use of the alert system because it never happened. Period. There was no reason to dignify such an untruth with a response.

Ridge was the first director of DHS but while setting and "oragnizing" the department's standards and procedures was something Ridge did, I think any first responder or disaster relief professional will tell you that practicing and setting procedures is a MUCH different thing from dealing with the real thing for the first time. For all you know Ridge set the right procedures and they simply weren't followed. No one will ever know now.

Don B-

Washington would be if Bin Ladin would have been a problem occuring within a year of Washington leaving office, directly due to the systems and procedures Washington set up. That's the logic you Republicans all use to blame Clinton for 9/11, right?

Or is your theory that Chertoff is an incredible incompetent who screwed up all of Ridge's good work? If so why does he still have the job?

"I didn't address the political use of the alert system because it never happened. Period. There was no reason to dignify such an untruth with a response."

Well, then, why did Ridge admitted that alerts were issued that the intelligence did not call for?

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2005-05-10-ridge-alerts_x.htm

"For all you know Ridge set the right procedures and they simply weren't followed. No one will ever know now"

Why won't we know? Maybe because the Republicans blocked the creation of an independant Katrina Commission? Or because their creature Senator Joe Lieberman flip flopped and stopped asking for the White House documents on Katrina?

Wow! Based on cash involved, blatant use of influence peddling, and the obvious favor-for-favor, Keating would make the Obama/Rezko real estate thing, which was totally above-board, pretty paltry, wouldn't it? Now, I hasten to add that McCain committed no crime (neither did Obama), but McCain was actually rebuked by the Ethics Committee, something that seems to have not happened for Obama (mostly because Obama didn't violate any ethics). Both Obama and McCain have indicated they regret having gotten themselves involved with their respective "situations."

Jeff has a problem with Obama because of the Rezko deal, yet he supports McCain in spite of Keating. I'm wondering about the explanation of that.

If it was me, I'd say that a candidate is sometimes more than what people say about him and sometimes you just plain have to deal with him as a human being, but that's just me, and it would have to serve both sides of the coin. Many times, it seems that Democrats get hung out to dry while Republicans walk away scott free -- but then, haven't we heard the same argument going the other way? I wonder why that is?

"Would you morons give it a rest? Everybody with half a brain knows McCain had his blackberry on and was reading the text of the speech.

Notice that two veterans, Ridge and Warner, have now endorsed the only candidate with battlefield experience. McCain-Giuliani or Giuliani-McCain would be an unstoppable ticket in 2008.
Both poll WAY ahead of "he who walks on water."

Bill,

These polls mean nothing at this time, other than as money
generation levers.

As I stated before, most of these people, Republic or Democratic, will be out of the race sometime in 07. We will never get a chance to vote for any of them. We (Swampies) will all be puking when we hear their names by 08 because we will all be sick to death of the lot.

As far as Giuliani's run, here is a great little campaign clip:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IrE6FMpai8

'Dressed to Kill'

C.Morris, is that addressed to me? I agree it's way too early to jump on a horse as a "winner" but you can't deny that money will push some good candidates out if they don't get it now.

Tony, it's quite simple. Nobody can predict natural disasters. No matter what defenses and procedures you set up, you're going to leave some other place on the Gulf Coast vulnerable when dealing with response to a hurricane that big. In reality the Army Corps of Engineers should've known Louisiana would be vulnerable to a category five in the '80s but nobody thought one would hit. Terrible planning, but pretty typical of the attitude that pervaded government on both sides of the aisle before the hurricane.

Tom Ridge was busy "oragnizing" the bureaucracy and many departments of DHS. That you hold him accountable for a lower agency's (FEMA) response to the first natural disaster it faced as part of DHS is ridiculous considering the monumental task he faced. Heck, FEMA was around for years before DHS was. Today DHS is still a work in progress. Now, if we were talking about FEMA itself, I'd be right with you.

The FEMA investigation has already been done (it recommended FEMA be broken up). How would creating another federal investigation of the overall response help any more?

Ridge called for those alerts because he was erring on the side of caution. In that position you can never be too cautious. What you posted does NOT prove at all that they were politically motivated.

John, Rezko is indeed much worse than Keating because Keating has been thoroughly investigated and the right people were punished. The Rezko situation has not been investigated. McCain and Glenn were found to be minor characters in Keating Fiver while Obama's the only connection to Rezko in the Senate.

In August 1991, the senate ethics committee concluded that Cranston, DeConcini, and Riegle's conduct constituted substantial interference with the FHLBB's enforcement efforts and that they had done so at the behest of Charles Keating. The committee recommended censure for Cranston and criticized the other four for "questionable conduct." That's all. Not even Clinton-style censure. McCain was criticized in the public record and I'd say what he's done since then to clean up campaign financing has more than made up the debt.

Obama, however, still maintains he got his house for below market and that he didn't even know Rezko was overpaying for the lot next door. It demands answers.

John's campaign song:

(I'm Only Sleeping, Beatles)

When I wake up during the SOTU speech,
Lift my head, I'm still yawning
When I'm in the middle of a flip flop
Stay in bed, cool the hip hop

Please don't wake me, no
don't shake me
Leave me where I am
I'm only sleeping

Everybody seems to think I'm crazy
I don't mind, I just hazy
Running everywhere with such a need
To stay awake, I want more speed

(Need more speed) chorus

Please don't spoil my day
I'm miles away
And after all
I'm only sleeping

Keeping an eye on the world going by my window
Taking your dime

Sittn' there and staring at my Berry
Waiting for a good luck fairy

Please don't spoil my run
I've miles to run
And after all
I'm only sleeping

Why should I lighten up when the "insightful" commentary that goes on in this topic is nothing more than schoolyard name-calling?

Posted by: Jeff | Feb 28, 2007 3:12:53 PM

John E., how's Iraq today? Or Mom's basement?

Posted by: Jeff | Feb 28, 2007 3:19:53 PM

Come on, Jeff. I've taken your side with some of John E.'s attacks against you since you usually have something constructive to say. I thought some of here were trying to make our points through sound argumentation, not sticks and stones.

Jeff- Who was the first Homeland Security Secretary, and was as a result, responsible for oragnizing the department and setting it's standards and procedures?

Jeff: What Tony is implying is that Mr. Ridge should of hired Miss Cleo the famous physic to warn him about the impending disaster
of Hurricane Katrina, so he could of instituted preventive measures.
That was really simple, i can't believe i didn't figure that out on your first posting Tony.

""Would you morons give it a rest? Everybody with half a brain knows McCain had his blackberry on and was reading the text of the speech."

Bill,

And everybody knows Al Gore did not pass enabling legislation to create the Internet, and that Al was wooden, etc.

And everybody knows John Kerry was a coward in Vietnam.

And everybody knows John McCain has an illegitimate child.

I know it's hard when 'conventional wisdom' sweeps away the truth.

McCain 'sleeping' has become 'conventional truth'. It doesn't matter what you think about it, or even what is really 'true'.
Nothing is 'really anything' anymore.

The 'truth' has become whatever the current smear happens to be.

Therefore the truth is; John McCain was sleeping during the SOTU speech.

Welcome to Karl Rove's brave new world.

"How would creating another federal investigation of the overall response help any more?"

How about to answer the very question that you said was unanswered?

Jeff, that doesn't wash. The Obama/Rezko deal WAS investigated, and nothing was found. Zip. I don't know how many times I have to repeat that.

I don't really care if you decide to support McCain knowing he was involved in the Keating scandal. McCain has a lot to offer -- he's ceretainly got the best military experience of any of the candidates right now, and had he not caved in to Bush on torture and decided to get in bed with the Religious Right, I'D think he was pretty terrific, too. What I DO care about is that you're absolutely fine with him being dirtied by this (he actually WAS dirty, as opposed to Obama who was NOT) AND that you're saying that anybody who thinks Obama ISN'T dirty is a "rube" at the same time. It comes down to whether you are consistent in what you're saying. If you're all over Obama for even LOOKING like he got involved in something he shouldn't have, then you need to re-think your support of McCain for doing the same thing. If McCain isn't dirty despite actually having traded favors to a felon AND being called before the Ethics Committee, then your attack on Obama is plain hogwash. Which is it?

Ridge's first innovation:

McCAIN CAMPAIGN THREAT LEVELS--

Red = Someone mentioned McCain's Anger Management Issues.

Orange = Someone's mentioned McCain's Health Issues.

Yellow = Someone's mentioned McCain's Age.

Blue = Someone's mentioned McCain's Previous Marriage.

Green = Someone called McCain a "maverick."

"Jeff, that doesn't wash. The Obama/Rezko deal WAS investigated, and nothing was found. Zip. I don't know how many times I have to repeat that."

googolplex

bb,
You forgot Threat Level Black:

Someone mentions he seriously violated the Military Code of Conduct by trading "military information" and making public statements that appeared favorable to the communist war effort in exchange for "special treatment."

Jeff,

"Ridge called for those alerts because he was erring on the side of caution. In that position you can never be too cautious. What you posted does NOT prove at all that they were politically motivated."

Do you actually believe that, or are you just saying that because they are "your guys?" Here is a chart of terror alerts plotted against Bush's popularity. http://img70.imageshack.us/my.php?image=aproval_vs_alert_chart_NEW.gif
You'll note that after each and every uptick in the threat warning, Bush's popularity receives a boost.

Of particular note is the increase in terror warnings that coincide with the campaign season's leading to the 2002 midterms and the 2004 presidential election. In September of '02 with Bush's popularity free-falling, they raise the terror alerts and keep them there until the start of the Iraq War, when magically the terror alert is brought down to its usual resting place. The mission was accomplished: Republicans prevailed in the midterm elections and the Neoconservatives got the war they'd been hoping for since the early 1990's.

The same pattern repeats itself in the run-up to the 2004 election. After a "period of calm" that begins in 2003, suddenly in July the terror warning is raised, and Bush receives a slight uptick in popularity. The data does not continue to the election, but I'd be willing to bet that the terror level was not lowered until after the election.

Finally, how many terror alert warnings have we received since the election? Once Bush was safely reelected did that really mean that the nation was suddenly safer?

I acknowledge that it is only anecdotal evidence, but I really find it hard to believe that all of these ever-so-conveniently timed terror alerts had nothing to do with political calculation. I accept that I cannot prove that they are not huge coincidences with no political calculations involved (like 9/11?), but it does seem, at least to this skeptic, that there was nothing inately special about the days leading up to the elections that demanded raising the threat alert, and nothing inately settling about their successful completion (to Republicans) that should have cause them to be promptly lowered.

P.S. When are we ever gonna catch Bin Laden and the Anthrax guys? Does anyone even care anymore??

Aww, Bryan's mad about the alerts. We've actually had a bunch of alerts this year and I'd assert the same thing that not one of them had a thing to do with politics.

C.Morris? Who was the Rezko deal investigated by? Other than the Chicago Tribune. I'll be satisfied ONLY when it's investigated by the Senate Ethics Committee, the same as Keating Five.

Jeff,
(OK Bill, from here on I will call you Jeff, but no more changes!)

"C.Morris? Who was the Rezko deal investigated by?"

I'm not really involved in that one. Only to say that 'Rezko' and
'Keating' will be part of the political assaults to come.

C.Morris, I'm not Bill but he sounds like a sensible person. I can send you my birth certificate if you'd like to see the name Jeffrey on it.

Jeff, You've never explained what exactly is to be investigated in the Rezko deal.

Exactly what unethical or illegal act are you alledging?

Exactly what unethical or illegal act are you alledging?

Posted by: Tony | Mar 1, 2007 4:25:13 PM

Mr. Obama got jobs in Washington for two pages at the behest of Mr. Rezko. The pages were related to a donor who contributed to Mr. Obamas' campaign. I'm thinking that may circumvent the usual procedure for page employment. I believe Mr. Obama said later he regreted his actions.

Wow Don B- Obama recommended someone loosely connected to Rezko for a month long internship! Lock him up!

Exactly what unethical or illegal act are you alledgi

Posted by: Tony | Mar 1, 2007 4:25:13 PM

You asked the question Tony, now you don't like the answer ?

It was two pages, and the" loosely connected" person is the godfather of Mr. Rezkos' kid. Those pesky facts' again,!

Exactly what unethical or illegal act are you alledgi

Posted by: Tony | Mar 1, 2007 4:25:13 PM

You asked the question Tony, now you don't like the answer ?

It was two pages, and the" loosely connected" person is the godfather of Mr. Rezkos' kid. Those pesky facts' again,!

Don-

And what's unethical about the Recommendation? Are you alledging that the two were in some way unqualified? What are you alledging that Obama got in return for the recommendation?

Don B,
Ohmagosh!!! Obama recommended 2 high schoolers for an internship to fetch coffee and other miscellaneous errands in exchange for a lower price on a large home!! How foolish to do something perfectly legal just so you can save money on a large expensive home.

Don-

And what's unethical about the Recommendation? Are you alledging that the two were in some way unqualified? What are you alledging that Obama got in return for the recommendation?

Posted by: Tony | Mar 2, 2007 11:20:55 AM

Last time on this one Tony, these kids got jobs right away, it was more than a recomendation , they skirted the waiting time. Kind of like joining a union and starting out a journeyman and by-passing the appenticeship. On the second point i never said Mr. Obama got anything in return, you did. He did manage to pick up some fleas' though....you know the phrase Tony , you lie down with dogs... Mr. Obama is just starting out, the one thing he should avoid is picking up bad habits from the Chicago/ Cook County machine crap, it will only come back and bite him in the ass later. That's good, sound advice no matter what party you belong to.

What waiting time Don? It was a one month internship in Obama's office. He gave out about 100 of them that year. He went into the internship pool like evryone else.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/chi-061224obama-intern-story,1,202648.story?page=1&coll=chi-news-hed

Again, where's the ethical violation?

more lost posting here