McCain Scores Major Endorsement

The logic of al-Qaeda's McCain choice
30/10/2008 03:00:00 PM GMT from aljazeera.com

Al-Qaeda says it wants McCain to win because it thinks he is most likely to continue Bush’s ‘war on terror’.
By Ivan Eland

In the battle for endorsements in the presidential campaign, Barack Obama snared a strong nod from former Secretary of State Colin Powell – and John McCain received an equally strong recommendation from al-Qaeda.

Al-Qaeda? Yes, you read that right, al-Qaeda!

This endorsement indicates what has long been known: al-Qaeda is fairly sophisticated politically. And this doesn’t mean McCain is the more accomplished candidate — in fact, apparently the group believes he is the more gullible of the two men. Quite bluntly, al-Qaeda says it wants McCain to win essentially because it thinks he is most likely to continue Bush’s macho bull-in-the-China-shop “war on terror.” There has been a lot of bull in the China shop, and al-Qaeda wants to make sure it continues.

According to al-Hesbah Web site, which has close ties to the group, “Al-Qaeda will have to support McCain in the coming election.” The Web site was confident that McCain would continue the “failing march of his predecessor.” The site argued that a terrorist attack could push the election into McCain’s column, and thus lead to an expansion of U.S. military commitments in the Islamic world in an attempt take revenge on al-Qaeda.

The Web site already brags about having lured the Bush administration and the U.S. into a trap that has “exhausted its resources and bankrupted its economy” and expects that to accelerate if the even more hawkish McCain gets elected. Most terrorism analysts would agree that al-Qaeda has successfully duped the Bush administration. Al-Qaeda is betting that McCain is an even bigger stumbling cowboy than Bush. 

With talk of terrorist strikes this close to the election, it is possible that al-Qaeda could be once again trying to influence the outcome. In late October 2004, bin Laden released a video tape several days before the U.S. presidential election that warned of an attack, which John Kerry’s campaign believed tipped the electoral balance against them. Let’s hope that the rhetoric on al-Qaeda’s Web site is just bluster, as in October 2004, rather than turning into an attack, as it did in Spain in March 2004. We want a fair election with no outside interference from evildoers.

Are You a McCain, or a McCaint?

'Those polls have consistently shown me much farther behind then we actually are. We're doing fine.'

-John McCain, at a campaign stop in Waterloo.

Yes, Waterloo.

I Approved This Post

"[Barack Obama] has both style and substance. I think he is a transformational figure. I come to the conclusion that because of his ability to inspire, because of the inclusive nature of his campaign, because he is reaching out all across America, because of who he is and his rhetorical abilities as well as his substance -- he has both style and substance. He has met the standard of being a successful president, being an exceptional president.

"[McCain] is essentially going to execute the Republican agenda, the orthodoxy of the Republican agenda with a new face and a maverick approach to it, and he'd be quite good at it, but I think we need more than that. I think we need a generational change. I think Senator Obama has captured the feelings of the young people of America and is reaching out in a more diverse, inclusive way across our society.

"We have got to say to the world, it doesn't make any difference who you are or what you are, if you're an American you're an American. And this business of, for example a congresswoman from Minnesota going around saying let's examine all congressmen to see who is pro America or not pro America, we have got to stop this kind of non-sense and pull ourselves together and remember that our great strength is in our unity and diversity. That really was driving me."

Colin Powell, 65th United States Secretary of State (2001–2005), Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (1989–1993), 4-Star General (retired) in the United States Army, National Security Advisor (1987–1989)


"The American people need a strong leader who has the experience and the judgment to be the next President of the United States, and that man is John McCain."

Katie Barberi, Telemundo Soap Opera Actress

A Life Is Death Situation

No, I'm not depressed, or feeling morbid. The only Suicidal Tendencies I have got thrown out with my cassette collection. I just read a great quote from Katharine Hepburn, who said, "of course life is hard- it kills you doesn't it?"

Eye luff hurr

Seriously, death is the leading cause of lives lost in the world. Imagine how little fear would be left if we didn't die. Nice thought, huh? Well guess what? You're going to die, so get over it. Like Pops would say, "are you living, or just existing?"

When I was really little- er... young- I loved heights. I used to love running across the Royal Gorge Bridge in Colorado (the world's highest suspension bridge- 1 mile above the Arkansas River). Then I got older, and realized that if I was on something really high up, I could fall off and get injured. I didn't like heights so much anymore. A little later it occurred to me that the worst that could happen would be dying, which I've never done before- and no one has told me empirically what it is like- and which I'm going to have to do sometime, so why worry about it?

Some would think that this attitude is too morbid and and devalues life, but it is quite the opposite. Look at how much fear is in our lives, and how so many of us are hiding our true selves because of it. We are afraid of heights because we are afraid of falling. We're afraid of falling because we don't know how we'll land, and if we don't land just right, we might not get back up. So we don't climb the heights, and miss out on something life has to offer us. We don't let go of our preconceived notions and allow ourselves to fall and find that there might be someone or something there to catch us, or that we might just land on our feet.

...or we might not, but since it really doesn't matter, what are we afraid of?     

The Second Person

Keenan is drunk as he writes this. In his drunkenness he has clarity. A certain lack of inhibition allows him to document truth. This is also his chance to write the long awaited (in his mind) Post In Second Person.

So, Keenan is smitten. He feels a sense of adoration. He is cryptically (and the next word will make it obvious whom he writes about, if only to whom he writes about) appreciative of the new friend he has made.

Now here it is, tying in to previous posts about seeking a special someone, and about breaking The Rule of Mates. He realizes that if that special someone actually reads this, it will most likely throw her into a bout of turmoil and indecision, because hypersensitivity to emotional situations is how she rolls. However, Strong and Wrong is how Keenan rolls. If things go in his favor, Keenan is not wrong, and isn't going too strong.  Breaking The Rule of Mates is something he does not take lightly, nor is it something she feels strongly about. But the (drunken) truth is, rightness has no bounds.  That's not a Dubya sort of "god is on our side" manner of rightness, but a John Cusack with a boombox over his head manner of rightness.

Miss Alaskaville

The fact that she counts wonk-eyed weirdo James Galway as her favorite musician should be reason enough to discount Sarah Palin as the person who crosses your name off the list when you go to vote, let alone anyone that should ever hold a public office of any kind. Nevermind the fact that you don't know who James Galway is, just trust that he's a creepy wonk-eyed weirdo. 

She starts off doing a passable job for a pageant talent show, but runs into problems about halfway through. Then I remembered she's supposed to have 10 years experience- I don't even play flute and I could probably play this song with a couple days preparation. Kinda sounds like her campaign, thus far...

As long as I'm at it, how brilliant was Tina Fey last week, and how scary is it that the funniest part was very nearly quoted verbatim from the real Palin/Couric interview:

Palin: That's why I say I, like every American I'm speaking with, we're ill about this position that we have been put in where it is the taxpayers looking to bail out. But ultimately, what the bailout does is help those who are concerned about the health-care reform that is needed to help shore up our economy, helping the—it's got to be all about job creation, too, shoring up our economy and putting it back on the right track. So health-care reform and reducing taxes and reining in spending has got to accompany tax reductions and tax relief for Americans. And trade, we've got to see trade as opportunity, not as a competitive, scary thing. But one in five jobs being created in the trade sector today, we've got to look at that as more opportunity. All those things under the umbrella of job creation. This bailout is a part of that.

Fey: Like every American I'm speaking with, we are ill about this. We're sayin' hey, why bail out Fanny and Freddie and not me? But ultimately, what the bailout does is help those that are concerned about the health care reform that is needed to help shore up our economy, to help, uh --- it's got to be all about job creation, too. Also to shoring up our economy and putting Fannie and Freddie back on the right track, and so health care reform and reducing taxes and reining in spending, 'cause Barack Obama, ya know. [makes gesture with index finger] Ya know, we've got to accompany tax reduction and tax relief for Americans, also having a dollar value meal at restaurants, that's gonna help. But one in five jobs being created today under the umbrella of job creation, that, ya know, also.