I have much more respect for him now than I did when he was running against Obama, with Palin. The man has integrity. Maybe not as much as he should have, but more than the rest of his party.

It is heighth of ridiculousness that Hannity was trying to argue with McCain who has more knowledge of foreign affairs than Hannity has in one of teeny little brain cells.

Probably still doesn't know how many houses he owns. But anyone who smacks down Hannity like that gets props from me.

He stood up to that woman when he said that Obama was not a Muslim. he was a good man that he had differences with. He also gave a classy concession speech when he lost.

McCain earned my respect with how he conducted himself in the latter months of the election in 2008. He knew he'd lose and he wanted to lose with honor. He did despite everything that Sarah Palin was doing.

After reading this I tried to find the video on youtube. It's the same one where someone in the audience yells "HE'S A N****R!"

It really shows the true colors of the willfully ignorant.

I sort of think McCain lost his soul, but found it again.

out of him by a few hilariously humiliating events. LIKE THIS ONE!
Remember all that bloviating he did against gays in the military? How it was essential for the military to remain macho and heterosexual...blah blah blah...

Then he made this stupid "COMPLETE THE DANGED FENCE" commercial with this macho, shaved-headed Sheriff who later turned out to be not only gay, but into COS-PLAY. HAH! Poor Johnny. He's so clueless.

McCain knew by then that she was unfit for office, and he wasn't going to turn his concession moment into a farcical display of her own twisted ambition. That took guts, and good judgment.

that I've heard a politician give in my lifetime. His own personal loss was irrelevant to the History that was made that night, and he knew it, and he conducted himself accordingly. Much respect is due him for that (I think, anyway).

guts. Turning the lights out on her so she can't act like a crackpot in front of the TV cameras was more farcical than 'gutsical.'

of the Republican party was at stake. At some point he must have known he was going to lose, but made the calculation that he'd drive the ship onto the rocks, where it could be salvaged later, rather than scuttle it completely by turning it over to the craziest part of the base.

But the Palin thing was hilarious. Especially the part about them having to TURN THE LIGHTS OUT on the stage to STOP bat-shit crazy Palin from going out after him to make her OWN concession speech.

another dot in an ellipsis.

MSNBC is not perfect by any stretch, but none of their hosts would have done this.

In fact, I think he already has.

I think he was quite upset with Tweety recently.

Time will tell how quickly Tweety appears on that show again.

I was thinking more about the prime time lineup.

went to Libya to talk about Libya's abandoned WMD program, terrorism, and arms sales.

SUBJECT: CODEL MCCAIN MEETS MUAMMAR AND MUATASSIM AL-QADHAFI
http://wikileaks.org/cable/2009/08/09TRIPOLI677.html#

3.(C) Characterizing the overall pace of the bilateral relationship as excellent, CODEL McCain opened its August 14 meeting with National Security Advisor Muatassim al-Qadhafi by noting the drastic change that the relationship had undergone over the last five years. "We never would have guessed ten years ago that we would be sitting in Tripoli, being welcomed by a son of Muammar al-Qadhafi," remarked Senator Lieberman.

...

4.(C) Muatassim welcomed the high-level visit, describing it as a good sign for the relationship - a relationship that Libya wants to develop. He explained to the Senators the recent requests that the National Security Council had made to procure defense equipment. He stated that there were three categories of requests: one which was approved by the USG, another which awaited congressional approval, and a third which waited USG agreement. He reiterated the refrain he conveyed to Secretary Clinton during his April visit (ref C) -- Libya has not been adequately rewarded for its decision to give up WMD and needed some sort of security assurance from the United States. He emphasized the need for Libya to purchase U.S. non-lethal equipment in order to enhance its defense posture.

There isnt a war/conflict that McCain doesnt want to get involved in. Egypt and Libya were more stable before.

[font color="navy" face="Verdana"]That's bad for business.

The contractors (especially execs and shareholders) are losing out on big war-time profits -- and all the rethugs have their fingers in that pie.

It's just another way to gouge taxpayers, of course, and our soldiers' blood spilled is merely "collateral damage" to them (or an excuse to intensify/extend war), but they want more war.

driving our foreign policy.

Well, the bottom line is that we won't be able to change the fact that big business drives the political agenda overnight, so I agree with Obama's ATTEMPTS to transfer the wealth (that is able to drive elections) to PEACEFUL and RENEWABLE industries.

ie-Substitute the HEALTH CARE INDUSTRY for the Military Industrial Complex with the Affordable Care Act, and substitute GREEN ENERGY corporations for FOSSIL FUEL corporations.

He was pretty much thwarted on the second one, but it's too late to give up on it. The first one (putting more money and therefore political clout) into healthcare industries is under way and irreversible. The log jam was the HMO industry, which actually PRODUCED NOTHING, but controlled most of the money.

[font color="navy" face="Verdana"]Thar's profits to be made, boys! Yee-ha!

bust up a major Democratic Party contributor (teacher's unions) at the same time! You couldn't ASK for a better target for GOP sabotage!

The republican check list for assassination is as follows:

1. Voter registration groups for the poor. ie-ACORN CHECK
2. Public sector unions CHECK
3. Private sector unions CHECK
4. Tort Lawyers....um...okay, that one might have been a f-ing bridge too far, given that lawyers can actually FIGHT BACK.

I realize that's not enough to scratch it off the 'hit list', but it is encouraging.

You have to put your brain in a twist to even try to make any sense out of that horsemitt. It's still excrement. Takes more cognitive dissonance than I could ever muster in ten thousand years.

to be a very CONSERVATIVE Republican. Now his own party is screaming that he's a communist Manchurian Candidate. My guess is that his trying to run with Lieberman as a VP candidate in 2008 was a misguided attempt to drag the GOP, kicking and screaming, a couple of inches back towards the center. No dice. Instead they FORCED Palin on the poor old bastard. I almost feel sorry for him.

looks reasonable now. McCain, Lugar, Graham, Snowe, Collins. All the moderate Repubs that are left are either retiring or have been primaried out over the last few years. The price of the "teaparty" on the Republican party has been to ensure that it has a very narrow reach. It will come back to haunt them as demos change in the America.

Because, as soon as Obamacare kicks in in full in 2014 it will be obvious that government IS or CAN BE a force for the good. Ditto for the Consumer Protection Bureau. So, if they don't win THIS election (by hook or by crook or by DOG WHISTLE) and REPEAL all those things, they won't ever win again anyway. So, may as well go for broke. Write off latinos, women, african americans, private sector unions, and throw everything you've got into winning JUST ENOUGH cranky, middle aged, male votes to squeak by, and then repeal everything that Obama has done. It's their only hope of survival as a party.

Last time McCain will appear on Fox, but he destroyed Hannity. Beautiful.

I mean, heck, even CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS got waterboarded. What a chickenshit.

the enormous mess that Bush left for Obama to handle.

Some members of the brotherhood would certainly like to impose Sharia law, even though the leadership is aware that they have to tread very carefully due to substantial opposition from many sectors of the population.

The replacements for Ghadafi are a mixed bag. Ask any black African who hasn't yet fled the country. The leadership may want Al Qaida to go away, but while the US is indirectly protecting them in safe zones, they aren't going to.

It's hard to take Faux news seriously on any level when they consistently demonstrate a lack of integrity for truth and decency...

Same thing that we are building up to with Iran right now.

Same groups pushing it. Same media cheerleading effort.

A dumbass empty suit in the White House who's willing to RUBBER STAMP another neo-conservative PNAC war.

(Well, that ingredient is missing for the moment, at least. Four months from now it might be a different story.)

Soften up the target with years of economic sanctions, and keep the imaginary crisis alive by pretending that Iran is a major threat. Laying the pseudo-legalistic and propaganda groundwork for a future war, instead of establishing a framework for peace. It's still the same agenda.

....that map of the Middle East showing all of those countries highlighted even if the protests are peaceful. I'm surprised they didn't have them marked with a little graphic of a burning American Flag.

What's REALLY funny is talking to a Right Winger and they get all outraged at property damage. They're OBSESSED with property. That makes them madder than the idea of people getting killed and they act like a broken car window means EVERYBODY needs to die.

Edited to add: Back when Nixon was the Vice President under Ike his limo came under attack by an angry mob:

http://www.budgetfilms.com/clip/457/

Republicans really are so obvious. They can't admit Obama did anything right, even where it's what they would have praised Bush for.

I mean, having Republicans criticizing Obama for keeping GITMO open has to be the HEIGHT of ridiculousness. They party that CREATED IT is criticizing the party that merely failed to CLOSE it?

Or the party that did everything they could to block the CREATION of Medicare, and has done everything they can to destroy it since 1965 is suddenly criticizing Obama for making it MORE EFFICIENT by cutting $700 billion out of a wasteful program within it? That's like Colonel Sanders criticizing wild life rescue for not handling birds with due care.

Drone strikes ARE bad. We're targeting funerals and rescuers. Drones have been killing women and children in OUR NAME for years now, but our media minimizes these casualties. Would it surprise you to know that more women and children have been killed in drone strikes by US forces than were killed in the 9-11 attacks?

but I would wager more women and children were killed during "shock and awe" as well. Using B52s to carpet bomb Afghanistan likely took a pretty large toll as well. The fuel-air bombs we used on the caves where people were hiding in Afghanistan I am sure racked up some numbers. Who even knows the toll in Falluja taken by soldiers with conventional weapons on the ground?

I am no fan of any of these approaches. I just don't see why one is more special than another.

At least, not true democracy. Instead, they wanted a sham of a democracy, in which they could guarantee that "pro-Western" leaders would get elected, and serve as US puppets.

with something that looks like an election for decoration. See Nicaragua, "we will stop blowing up schools, bridges, health clinics, and supporting death squads, if this party wins". You hold a gun to their head and then let them "vote".