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Enough of the Free Ride for John McCain!
Multi-Millionaire McCain dares to call Obama insensitive to poor people! I would love for you all to read this and knowing that I met a woman from the Arizona area that was at the Birthday Party with the McCains awaiting the arrival of President Bush, understand that I intend to keep pushing this story regarding McCain’s hypocrisy. I have had enough of the carte blanche that the press has given to John McCain.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/04/27/mccain-calls-obama-insens_n_98882.html
What do you think about a man who pretends to be outraged at the obscene conditions of the post Katrina areas, who as a sitting Senator was sitting at home ‘eating cake’ instead of touring the New Orleans area and advocating for the poor that he claims to care so much for now? As far as I am concerned, as long as the GOP in any state runs hateful and dishonest slander ads against Obama, John McCain’s very own words will come back to condemn Mr. McCain. Enough is enough! What say you fine minds of RFO?
He who has hope has everything!
MaggieCat
Maggie, I think that saying McCain is "insensitive to poor people" is a gross understatement of fact. This article made me sick, but only scratched the suface of the insensitivity shown by McCain.
I don't know if you are aware of this, but I live in the area hit by Katrina and Rita, only one month apart. I was fortunate enough to not be hit directly by either, but was in the crosshairs of both. I had house and property damage, a week without power, and 14 evacuees in my house for over two months. McCain gives a whole new twist Marie Antoinette's saying. He says "Let ME eat cake"! In the aftermath of Katrina, especially, McCain's voting record was pitiful, and totally callous. Yes, callous!!
He voted agains relief measures for Katrina victims multiple times, including emergency housing assistance, and temporary Medicaid benefits, if I recall correctly. He voted against an investigation into the failures of the government response, and also voted against providing additional funding for first responders' communication systems. You have no idea how difficult communications were when the complete infrastructure of a large city is shut down. As Americans, we have never seen this before or since. Even 9/11, as horrid and tragic as it was, left New York functional. Tornadoes and earthquakes, etc, may devastate portions of a city or area, but not shut it down completely. As you can see, I"m very passionate about this. I saw it all first hand.
Yet when McCain came into New Orleans last week, saying "never again" and critizing the response, no one called him on the fact that he was a big part of the immediate and on-going recovery failure. I wanted to scream.
I did just a little research to see if my memory was correct, and found that McCain's record is even worse than I recalled. Read this link that pretty well sums up what my research revealed, and tell me what you think. Living in an area that faces the threat of a hurricane each year, McCain's "insensitivity" frightens me. It should also give pause for thought to anyone who lives in an area threatened by any type of natural disaster. Or a man-made one. McCain is NOT one we can count on at such times.
Suzi,
Do you think all this will come out during the general election? I had no idea about his record. Right now he's being largely ignored in favor of the Democratic primary, but surely the media (or at least the Democrats) will catch on to this.
Barbara, I think it will definately come out, and the Democrats are on it now. After researching to refresh my memory, I came across the link I posted that is a release by the DNC. That release is accurate, as far as I can tell, and pretty well sums up the result of what I found. Even if there is some partisan slant to it, (and I'm not saying there is) there is more than enough truth to it for me to not be able to vote for him.
McCains excuse that he voted against these bills because they had pork attached doesn't wash. If that were the case, he would have to vote against every bill that made it's way through Congress.
I find it interesting that the media has paid zero attention to this, but maybe that is a good thing. It will be powerful ammunition for Obama to use in the GE.
Just a reminder: While we welcome comments from all points of view, we do not tolerate profane, antagonistic, or slanderous posts.
This has been a public service announcement from Republicans for Obama.
Note: This reminder is not intended for those whose comments are still visible. Please carry on.
Excuse me, what was said that merited the admonition? Are you saying that Suzi is not allowed to relate her experiences without being called slanderous. She also provides background material to go along with one of her postings. How has she done anything wrong?
MaggieCat
She didn't. The offending post is not visible. It was too, well, offensive. It was not from any of our regular members.
Barbara,
Forgive me for being so paranoid. I posted factual and challenging entry to the DNC and it was removed and then I was disallowed to post again, as I may have mentioned before. I am still a little shell shocked. Please forgive me.
MaggieCat
Suzi misconstrued the post the same way (she emailed me), so obviously the mistake was mine. I don't know what made me think you guys would somehow magically be able to tell that I was talking to my invisible friend here.
You know, for months and months we left everything posted up, no matter how unreasonable the poster, but finally we realized we had to have *some* guidelines.
Never hesitate to email me or John (the director) or Erik (the moderator) @republicansforobama.org if you have any questions or concerns.
Suzi,
Yes, I read these things before. I didn't want to provide that list in my original posting as I thought perhaps you folks might consider it too biased. After all, even though you support Obama, sometimes it is hard to hear negative things, even if they are true, about one of your own and I thought that you would appreciate something more independent.
The crazy thing is that while I am no longer allowed to post things to the DNC blog site, as a mayor's wife, and rural community activist/advocate, the state's party higher ups keep me plugged in to the research. In some instances, I feed them some of the research that they are too lazy to get as some in my party tend to rest on laurels of party rhetoric more often than fact. Also my hubby is a county chair of the donkeys in our state, so...... The good thing is that my husband supports me stirring the pot and is proud of my progressive perspective, most of the time. By the way, you don't have to be a dem to be progressive, you just have to be truly egalitarian in your perspective of public service and politics.
As for your statement about staying home. I can truly relate. If Billary is on the ticket, I can not and will not vote for her or McCain. I am an emotional wreck regarding the many things you first shared regarding the plight of poor, working poor. The appalling state of our nation is serious and the theory as proposed by Tim Wise in 'The Creation of Whiteness' is crucial to our understanding of what we need to fix in our nation along with fixing our whole system of money and the Federal Reserve. This may in fact be the last time we ever have to make our country into a more perfect union.
Have any of you been watching the John Adams miniseries on HBO? It is powerful and telling of our nation's birth and intent by our first leaders. They were human and flawed, but mostly earnest about our country's purpose. We have come so far, and yet we are still so trapped by many of the first flaws and if we do not overcome these things, we will fall further and further behind. We can't seem to bring ourselves to mention, for fear of likely white backlash, that whites are over seventy percent of drug users, but only about ten percent of persons incarcerated for a drug possession offense, while blacks and Latinos combined are about twenty-five percent of users, but comprise roughly ninety percent of persons locked up for a possession offense? You tell me, is this racism or not?
The desire to forget history dooms us in the end. Remember, the history of France and their people's revolution and the guillotine's consequence to an elite system that refused to care for its poor and working class, regardless of color. This is a strong and extreme example, but one that we must not forget.
Suzi, I cry and worry over these things and feel frustrated over the manner in which Anderson Cooper who was so intrumental in bringing to light the failure of the Bush Administration in Katrina, now takes delight in harping on non-issues regarding this election and then allows McCain to get away with such despicable hypocrisy and lies. He can hardly argue that he does not have the means with which to research the facts. I can hardly watch CNN anymore. It is almost as onerous to me as FOX News.
What does someone like me do? Maybe we can form a support group for progressives of every kind. I pray that we meet someday. God Bless you for allowing me to give voice to these things. The point is that we are stronger as a nation together rather than divided.
He who has hope has everything.
MaggieCat
One more piece of information to ponder. Surely the bigwhigs of this site can get this blog thread into the hands of Obama strategists. After being vetted so viciously by the Clinton camp, the McCain camp and now by his former minister, we can use these things to turn around the unfair assessment of Obama as an elitist.
"I noticed again today that Sen. Obama repeated his opposition to giving low-income Americans a tax break, a little bit of relief so they can travel a little further and a little longer, and maybe have a little bit of money left over to enjoy some other things in their lives," McCain said. "Obviously Sen. Obama does not understand that this would be a nice thing for Americans, and the special interests should not be dictating this policy." This passage is from the above referenced article in the opening of my thread post.
Tell me good people, is this not patronizing and condescending to the little people, or what? Who is the elitist? The three month tax break would affect 300,000 jobs in the highway industry, not to mention the maintenance and upkeep of our highways. Please tell me that Americans are smarter than what McCain and Clinton are proposing. We have to educate as many people as possible and the tax break in gas prices will only average about $35 per family for the whole summer. What gain is that?
He who has hope has everything.
MaggieCat
McCain will not get a free ride in the fall, is my thinking. There is just so much to call this guy out on. So very, very much.
Good news for Clinton Supporters: Post-Bosnia, Hillary now has up to a 2.5% chance of winning the dem nomination if she keeps her mouth shut until December.
Maggie, I provided that list as a summary. In my research to refresh my memory from a horrible time, I found more than I remembered. More that I probably ever knew in the first place, due to the conditions my area was in at the time. Following the news, other than disaster related, was not a top priority. As I found more and more, I became angrier at the thought of McCain standing in New Orleans saying "never again". As I read of each vote that damned my part of the country to extended agony, I was more appalled. Finally, I came across the DNC list that summed up my research. So I posted it. It doesn't matter to me where it came from, just that it was truth.
You know, I'm not real sure that I know the correct meaning of progressive in the political sense. But I can tell you what it means to me. To me it is someone who wants to change the way things are done, to focus on the social issues of our country. Move forward, out of the right wing version of conservatism that is ruining our nation, with their corporate control of our lives, without moving into socialism. To realize that nothing is more important than people and their lives....not money, not power, not military might. We don't have to go to the extreme left to do this. We can be fiscally responsible, prioritizing how our tax dollars are spent, to best serve our citizens. We can care. It's that simple and that complicated. We can care about each other and about our citizens as a whole, while still remaining strong and respected players on the world stage. If that is what a progressive is, then I guess I am one.
I think we fully agree on the power wielded by huge corporations and their greed for more. I am coming to believe that if we were to know the true extent of that power, it would be almost more than we could take. As a nation, we are nearing our last chance to change this, and our first opportunity to really inact that change. I almost feel guilty for placing this on Obama's shoulders, but feel that he knowingly goes into it, aware of what he is up against. We must pray for his pretection and safety. He will have a heavy burden, and face much opposition.
I usually watch MSNBC now. Then I flip to the others to see what their take on a given situation is. I never cease to be amazed at the lack of coverage some things are given, and the over saturation of non-issues.
I hope we can meet someday too. I would love to sit and share stories and thoughts. How amazing that a Dem and a Rep feel so strikingly alike about so many issues. It proves Obama right. We have more in common than our differences would indicate. God bless you Maggie, and your huge heart.
Izzy,
Thank you for your commentary. Sometimes as I go through my concerns and in particular, concerns about racial inequalities, I wring my hands and wonder if and when people will start to acknowledge these things. I also agree that we have an opportunity to grow and improve as a nation.
God Bless us all.
MaggieCat
Is anyone watching the CNN reports on the American military barracks and the deplorable conditions at Fort Bragg? Now they are discussing the veterans benefits and the failed promises of the existing GI bill. Finally! I just want to scream, will McCain claim that funding the full benefits of veterans is full of pork, too? No money for college.
Suzi, they showed the extreme conditions of the hospitals in New Orleans too. It means once again that unless you are one of the privileged, you are likely to wait and wait for treatment, many hours before being seen. Knowing that treatment is crucial within 10-15 minutes for heart attack and stroke victims, I wonder how many die as a result. They made no correllation to the bulls-it coming out of McCain's mouth. Oh Suzi, how do you not lose your mind watching this first hand?
MaggieCat
Just a few minutes ago, I read McCains "reason" for voting against the new GI bill. Get this....(paraphrasing) He is afraid that the bill will encourage military personel to leave the military too soon, in order to avail themselves of the benefits. In other words, he would prefer them to re-enlist and go back to Iraq. A pretty cold thought process, if you ask me.
Maggie, it is hard and heartbreaking to watch this all unfold. What the media doesn't show, is the outreaching effects. Baton Rouge (which I am closer to than I am to New Orleans, their being about an hour apart, and I am between the two) and it's outlying area has almost doubled in population due to Katrina. That population increase has added an unimaginable burden to our existing medical facilities. There have been times when there have been NO available beds in any area hospital available for any but the most dire emergency. The ER waits are so long that my daughter recently chose to go to the pediatricians office and wait for them to open rather than take her very sick 3 yr old to the ER in the very early morning hours, and have to wait hours longer. The hospitals here do have good triage systems in place so that hopefully the most serious will be seen as soon as possible. But when you consider that we now have a large population that has been denied access to routine healthcare, there are a lot of serious problems that force people to emergency rooms. It is an ugly situatiion, and one we are coping with as best we can, with no relief in sight.
One last rant before I go; Does anyone remember how quickly our government came to the rescue of the California fires. I am sorry, but I can not help thinking that because it was an afluent region with more white people, that they merited more from our government. It also makes me wonder how quickly their lives are being restored as opposed to the people still waiting in post-Katrina areas. My heart is exploding over this inequity.
You know there was a horrible rumor that Bush and his cronies wanted to let the New Orleans area, well the waterways in the Gulf area, to stay ruined so that they could build more oil refineries there and then have their wealthy developer friends create a Disney version of the New Orleans region. According to the premise, that is the reason that they are making it impossible for the poor people, especially the black people, to return to their homes and neighborhoods. Money, money, money, money..........
If this happens, we will know that this conspiracy rumor was true. Remember in the Tim Wise video, he spoke about the deliberate attempts to put in racially motivated ordinances. Part of the plan? It has to make one think that this is possible.
MaggieCat
Maggie, assuming your permission, I am going to copy this post, and use it to start another thread. The Katrina issue is one very close to my heart, and one that bears a lot of discussion, and revelation of things that are not obvious in reading the news stories about it. If I continue to write at length about it here, I will take this thread extremely off topic. With a new thread, we, and anyone else that is interested in the subject, can discuss it at length. Personally, I would like to hear various thoughts on the subject, answer any questions that I can, and see if we can figure out how things such as this can and should fit into a candidates plans.
I had up close and personal experience with Katrina and it's aftermath, and incompetence is exactly the right word for what happened. And to be fair, the incompetence was on the local, state (both Dems) and national levels.
We also have to factor in the fact that nothing of this magnatude had ever occured in our country before. But none of this excuses the reaction that followed, such as Bush and McCain sharing birthday cake while a major city was destroyed. Brownie (FEMA) was more concerned with how he appeared on camera than with getting relief to the people. When you find yourself facing a disaster, that is the time to put everything else aside and find answers and solutions as quickly as possible. It was a very complicated situation as far as logistics and communications were concerned, so IMO, that calls for immediate and hard work, doing any and everything possible to work together to bring help and relief to the citizens. It didn't happen.
Thank you Suzi.
A new thread is good, but since McCain made a show of himself in the NOLA region recently, it is all relevant.
See you there at the new blog thread.
MaggieCat
Maggie, you're right of course, that it's relevant. Extremely relevant. But for those that are not interested in the Katrina issue, I didn't want to stop them from reading and posing about the shortcomings of McCain in general.
Thanks so much for your interest and caring about this important subject. I will be most interested in seeing your thoughts on the new thread.
The media will be all over McCain once the Democatic nomination is settled. I still can't believe what he said to his wife.