February, 2008 archive

Josh Marshall:

I pointed out a while ago that the persons citing Iraqis returning to Iraq as somehow a sign that Bush had done something right was, well, a pile of Bushie crap.

Here’s a little more information which pretty much supports my position:

The Iraqis continue to flee toward Syria, and the number of those who cross the border is much greater than that of those returning home. The motives of those who decide to come back, moreover, are not connected to an improvement in security, but mostly because of the expiration of residency permits and economic difficulties. These are the findings of the latest report from the UN high commissioner for refugees (UNHCR) on the numbers on Iraqi emigration into Syria. The result of the study clearly contradicts the scene depicted by the Baghdad government, according to which a drop in the number of attacks and the level of insecurity is bringing thousands of refugees back home each month.

Ya know, you can wrap the doggy poop up in a box, put fancy paper and a bow on it, but, when it’s unwrapped, it’s still doggy poop.

(Afterthought: Now that Empty Suit is out of the race and his sons are no longer serving America by trying to convince the voters that well-tailored material equals presidential material, maybe they can join my son in serving in the uniform of the United States Army.)

Via upyernoz.

John McCain is a conservative hack.

He’s probably one of the few conservative hacks with some integrity left, but his “maverick” reputation is sorely overblown.

It seems to have more to do with his willingness to actually talk to reporters while not reading from a teleprompter than with his voting record.

So why are the wingnuts so unhappy with him? According to Brendan, who is strong-willed enough to subject himself to right-wing talk radio, Glenn Beck went into full meltdown mode today.

Kojo Nnamdi promised to explore that question on his show today. From the website:

John McCain is public enemy number one to many conservative talk show hosts, who’ve been criticizing his presidential bid with growing intensity in recent weeks. While many of these hosts have audiences in the millions, McCain’s aides say they don’t expect the attacks to hurt them much at the polls. We look at the rift between talk radio and the senator from Arizona, and the role it’s playing in the Republican primary.

So I devoted 32 minutes of my evening to listening to that segment (Realplayer), and, when it was done, I had had a few chuckles and was 32 minutes older.

But there were no answers to the question of “Why is the Republican Party determined to devour its young (or, in McCain’s case, its old)?”

I do have a few stray thoughts, but they are not well-formed enough to stand on their own.

Perhaps it is that he opposes torture, the wingnuts’ Viagra;

or that he can see that illegal immigrants, in addition to being illegal, are also human beings (Oh! I forgot! He sold out on that one. Hack.);

or that he thinks candidates should not necessarily be for sale to the highest bidder (whereas it is a principle of wingnutism that everything is for sale to the highest bidder).

It seems clear that, of the candidates for the Republican nomination, McCain is the one who has the best chance of winning the general election.

He’s a conservative hack, but he’s not an empty suit.

Let’s hope the wingnuts have their way, he loses the nomination, and, for the good of the nation, the Republican Party disappears from political discourse so that the nation can redeem its virtue and save itself from both moral and financial bankruptcy

I just got back from my polling place. No lines–that’s why I chose to go at 10:00 a. m–but one of the poll workers told me that turnout had been pretty good. As I left, three people were arriving.

We shall see what we shall see.

. . . should be fun on Super Tuesday. Tangier Restaurant, 18th and Lombard, Center City Philadelphia, 6 p. m. tomorrow.

Looks like a great day to vote for Obama.