McCain hearts Osteen

McCain's transformation is so complete that at a recent town-hall meeting in Nashville, when asked to name an author who inspired him, the candidate — who once described televangelists of the Jerry Falwell genus as "agents of intolerance" — put none other than Joel Osteen at the top of his list. "He's inspirational," McCain said.

 More of this outrage below...

Even by McCain standards, this is pretty outrageous.  McCain fights against the bill to increase GI benefits -- in fact, nearly kills it.  Then, when it passes the Senate, McCain doesn't even show up to vote.  Then, after it's done, he boasts about "we" have accomplished.  Obama, by the way, supported and showed up in the Senate to vote for the bill.  

Stop!  My sides are hurting!  This is toooooo funny!
Larry Craig and David Vitter — “two United States Senators implicated in extramarital sexual activity” — have named themselves as co-sponsors of S.J. Res. 43, the Marriage Protection Amendment. If passed, the bill would amend the Constitution to declare that marriage “shall consist only of the union of a man and a woman.”

Weekend edition, because it's happenin'!  See below.

All Hail McDifferent!

See how CNN manages to get through a list of policies where Bush and McCain agree without mentioning Iraq or the War on Terror ...

 Liberal media my ass.

McCain IS the greater cause!

As is common with John McCain, the idea of supporting a cause greater than self-interest is invoked. But in this case, it's an invocation to give money to John McCain.
The cause, in short, is greater than your self -- it's the greater glory of John McCain. That, my friends, is the kind of change you can really believe in.

 
Yep, there's Jesus, Allah and John McCain...

Your mind-boggling banquet awaits below...

My hero (my senator) strikes again  Feingold Will Filibuster Telecom Immunity

The sound of unity:  Obama Asks Donors To Help Hillary With Her Campaign Debts

The sound of unity II: Clinton Urges Donors To Unite Behind Obama

More below.

Bush and McCain Both Flip For Offshore Drilling The day after McCain announced that he now favors offshore drilling, the president suddenly follows suit. He's calling on Congress on Wednesday to end a federal ban.

What real journalism looks like

The Washington Post has a great A1 article examining yesterday's argument between Obama and McCain on giving detainees the right to seek habeas corpus. The piece got the politics right, usefully contextualizing the advisers involved in the back-and-forth, but also gave a nuanced discussion of the policy dispute, and even attempted to quietly adjudicate the argument and provide readers with a real-world baseline.

More below.

McCain says "it’s tough, it’s tough in some respects" to be proud of America

Jumpin’ Jehoshaphat, this man redefines the term "being confused."  He just nicely obliterated the right wing’s chances to smear Michelle Obama with that whole "she’s proud for the first time" stupidity.  Wasn’t that nice of him?  

More below.

Minnesota (Not So) Nice: Partisan Pastor Claims Right To Violate Federal Tax Law Americans United asked the Internal Revenue Service to investigate a Warroad, Minn., church whose pastor told congregants in a sermon that no Christian can vote for Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama.

News clips on Youtube show us the real McCain  Most of it is devastating and ought to be played and replayed throughout the coming campaign.

On your mark. Get set. Grind your teeth!  McCain Campaign Agrees With CNBC Pundit: Americans Making $200,000 Are ‘Not Rich’

Look out below....

Phase II: What Bush Said, What He Knew  Besides the simple absence of intelligence, it has also been revealed that the Administration advanced arguments in contradiction of what the intelligence actually showed, in making its case for war.

More news below.

Much is being written and said about the Hillary voters who say they will now jump to supporting McCain for president, rather than Obama.  No matter how many times I see it or hear it, it never rings true.  I started mulling it over when I got into a discussion of whether Hillary's female supporters would vote for McCain, and I could find no reason for them to do so.  Then I started wondering:  Who are these Hillary-McCain voters and why do they make that leap?

“Life is a constant interchange between human will and divine providence.  We need both the courage to plan and create a life and piety of the most profound kind in relation to the mysteries that undergird it.”1

A special Thursday edition, just because there's so much going on.

"Report on Whether Public Statements Regarding Iraq by U.S. Government officials Were Substantiated by Intelligence Information"

"Report on Intelligence Activities Relating to Iraq Conducted by the Policy Counterterrorism Evaluation Group and the Office of Special Plans Within the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy"

Spoiler: They lied to us.  You're shocked, I know.  More below.