McCain's Sedona Survivor? I vote for 'Bobby' J

While most Americans are spending Memorial Day at picnics and barbeque's with friends and family, Presidential hopeful John McCain is spending the weekend with what looks like the Survivor: Sedona Republican VP edition.

Among the contests are America's favorite Republican governors, Mitt Romney of Massachusetts, Charlie Crist of Florida, and Bobby Jindal of Louisiana.

The first two I understand but Bobby Jindal?! Jindal is the 36-year-old second generation Indian immigrant who recently swept his way into Louisiana's highest office. Apparently he is highly thought of...as the conservative publication Human Events gave gave him this glowing report.

I'm not sure if John McCain is looking for any advice, but I say pick Jindal. Pick Jindal!

Is there any other one candidate who so effectively neutralizes practically every argument John McCain could have against Barack Obama? Experience? Gone. Jindal was just elected as governor of Louisiana just eight months ago and has barely had time to learn his way around the mansion, much less build up a track record or any achievement.

How about age? Can't say Obama is too young any more, Jindal is 10 years his junior. TEN full years. There are grad students all around the country who are older then Bobby Jindal.

Oh yeah...the people won't vote for somebody who isn't a white man argument? Poof! "Bobby" Jindal is an Indian American of Punjab decent. He was born in Baton Rouge, but he is clearly not going to fool any of our Appalachian friends who are known for their 'tolerant' views.

Think Republicans will have fun with the name Barack HUSSEIN? Bobby's real name is Piyush Jindal. So much for the name game.

We could go on and on. I'm not sure who's been voted off the island out in Sedona this weekend, but I'm rooting for Bobby J. With him on the ticket, McCain might be forced to abandon the usual Republican shenanigans and focus on something entirely different.

Issues.

Isn't there a 1-900-number I can call to vote for my favorite contestant?

Assasination?!

I am utterly speechless at Hillary Clinton's defense of her continued candidacy that used the memory of Bobby Kennedy's assasination. Of all the outrageous things she has said, this has got to be the very worst, and as Keith Olbermann says, unforgiveable.

Give the bike back, Hillary

Am I the only one who shudders whenever Hillary brags that an 11-year-old boy sold his bike and video games to contribute to her campaign? I am thinking she should be ashamed to take the money not bragging about it.

Apparently someone found the lad, and he's pretty media savvy.

Dalton, 11, answered the phone himself when we called his home in McAndrews, Ky. An aspiring politician, he speaks clearly, deliberately and authoritatively – and any contemporary politician would admire his ability to stay on-message.

“I believe Mr. Obama is a very good speaker, and I believe that he could run our country, also but I really believe that Hillary has very good views on specific issues that are important to this election,” he said, including “the war, the economy and health care.”

And apparently, he was moved to do something to help.

Dalton said he was driven to donate about two months ago. “I saw that her funds were running low,” he said.

“I just saw so much that I did not need such as like my video games, and I thought, ‘What can I do with them?’”

He sold them, as well as his bike, and also collected other donations. He got to tell former President Bill Clinton at an event two weeks ago, and Mrs. Clinton on Monday.

“He was speechless, and he almost got tears, he was very emotional,” Dalton said of his favorite president’s reaction.

He said he was “nervous” meeting Mrs. Clinton.

“I believe that she helped her husband run the country and that’s why I’m supporting her today,” he said.

Now I'm wondering who his parents are. Who brainwashed this poor boy into memorizing all of Hillary Clinton's talking points? How did he just happen to be in the position to meet Hillary AND Bill Clinton. This isn't feeling like the innocent and heartwarming anecdote anymore.

Oh yeah, and there is no need to worry about him not having his bike. A group of politicians raised money to replace his it — with one he says is better than the old bike. Something about this whole story is fishy to me. In any event, the politicians shouldn't have had to "raise money" to buy a new bicycle. The senator who is worth $109 million should have returned it.

Why fight to the floor?

Hillary Clinton today laid out how she would try to justify contesting the Primary all the way to the Democratic convention — she would blame it on Florida and Michigan.

In an article by Brendan Farrington, Clinton is reported as saying:

In an interview with The Associated Press, Clinton said she is willing to take her fight to seat Florida and Michigan delegates to the convention if the two states want to go that far.

Asked whether she would support the states if they appeal an unfavorable rules committee decision to the convention floor, the former first lady replied:

"Yes I will. I will, because I feel very strongly about this."

"I will consult with Floridians and the voters in Michigan because it's really their voices that are being ignored and their votes that are being discounted, and I'll support whatever the elected officials and the voters in those two states want to do."

How convenient. She is taking up the mantle of the disenfranchised states, of which she is the sole beneficiary. Hillary Clinton's willingness to press her campaign to the convention floor at the risk of the elections and the Democratic party is not an altruistic move. It's selfish. It's time party elders called her on it.

STFU Lifetime Award: Keith to W

Last month, I unveiled the STFU award, and with Keith Olbermann's help, it is time to award it again. If you recall, the STFU award is given to an individual who says something so ridiculous, so inane, so utterly stupid, there is only one rational response.

Today's recipient has earned the award so many times over, I am tempted to give him a lifetime achievement. But first, the citation. I'll let Keith do the honors.



Keith got as close as he could on National TV, but I'll say it for him. George W. Bush, SHUT THE FUCK UP!!!!

John McCain's bearings

One commentator called it "the most wince inducing moment of the campaign." He might have been right.

While retaliating to a John McCain statement that Barack Obama is the candidate of Hamas, Obama bristled that John McCain had "lost his bearings."

Not wanting to be left out of the victimhood game that seems the enthrall all the candidates this year, McCain's campaign shot back that Barack Obama was poking fun at McCain's age.

Later at a press event, while McCain was defending his comments, Joe Lieberman stepped to the microphone and volunteered this: "I just want everyone to know that I checked John McCain's bearings this morning, and they are just fine."

Wince. Yuck!

This is the guy who brought us Jomentum, just for a bit of context.

Awkwardness aside, if I were fighting the perception that I was too old for a job, I wouldn't want to do it by putting out the message that someone has to check my bearings for me. I'll check my own bearings, thank you very much. I'm young enough to do that.

But Joe Lieberman thought it would be cute to say he checked John McCain's bearings. That gives me a visual that I just didn't need. What two consenting adults do in the sauna when nobody is watching is their business. I don't need to hear about it at a press conference.

Not that there's anything wrong with that. :-)

How Obama courts the Clintonites

I know Hillary Clinton supporters say they won't vote for Barack Obama in the Fall, but John McCain yesterday made it easier to bring the Clintonites back home.

In a speech laying out his judicial philosophy, McCain all but promised judges who would overturn Roe v. Wade.

He didnt say it explicitly, but he used all the code words as he addressed the largely conservative crowd.

So now the question would be to Clinton supporters, who are largely activist women, do you really want to play a role in reversing a woman's right to choose what to do with her body?

You might think Obama is an empty suit, but you can count on him to fight for the issues you support most passionately. Think about it.

-Sent from my mobile device.

The Wright Pun

Even before I knew what I wanted to write about the Rev. Wright episodes, I knew what the headline would be. I initially leaned toward a tale about right wing hypocrisy called "Wronging Wright." Or after that firebrand performance at the National Press Club, "Wright back at ya" seemed fitting. But it was so bad and earned so many bad reviews, I leaned toward Chris Rock's catch phrase in Head of State, "That ain't Wright!"

It's not just me. Survey the headlines, and you'll see there is almost this unspoken competition to find the most clever, most Wright pun for each headline. To all of them I say, Wright on!