Republican Frustration With McCain

According to David Paul Kuhn’s latest article in Politico, many Republican insiders have become more and more frustrated with the McCain campaign over the past few weeks. There are many reasons for this frustration, and some of it can be chalked up to ideological differences, but some insiders’ gripes go far deeper than that and give good reason to worry the GOP.

McCain has not found a consistent message to counteract Obama’s “Hope and Change” mantra. McCain’s campaign has mangled simple things like fundraising and orchestrating appearances, like the “event last week in Santa Barbara, Calif., where McCain sat on stage between California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and a local activist who ended up deriding McCain’s energy policy.”

But more importantly (or worringly if you’re a Republican), since McCain became the presumptive nominee, he has displayed a “my way or the highway” mindset which at the very least has put him at odds with his Republican base:

“‘They are just now opening up campaign operations in most states. The RNC was ready to go in most states in March,’ the state chairman continued, listing off grievances ranging from the campaign’s ‘dictating’ the members of various RNC committees to the state party’s having been ‘threatened’ that, though McCain ‘couldn’t afford not to play in our state,” the campaign would not ‘recommend us for resources’ if the state party did not abide by its requests.”

If it is reasonable to assume that the way a presidential campaign is run can give insight into how that candidate will govern as President, then Senator John McCain is in big trouble. The last thing the American people need is a disorganized, inconsistent, and selfish President who believes that threats and bullying work better than cooperation. 

John Fund Must Have Amnesia

From John Fund’s column in the Wall Street Journal entitled “No, McCain Isn’t Doomed:”

“After all, it isn’t easy for Democrats to win in a two-person race for president. Since FDR’s last victory in 1944, only one Democrat – Lyndon Johnson in 1964 – has won 50.1% or more of the popular vote. Both of Bill Clinton’s victories were aided by Ross Perot’s presence on the ballot.”

Mr. Fund has apparently forgotten that this will not be a two person race, but rather a four person race. Sure Bob Barr and Ralph Nader haven’t gotten that much coverage so far, but they are both still running.

And given the success Ron Paul had in energizing libertarians, it may be a little early to completely forget about Bob Barr.

The Science of Sarcasm

Fantastically interesting article from the NY Times about how the brain processes sarcasm and why, for various reasons, some folks just don’t pick up on it.

Click here for the article.

Bonnie Erbe: Poster Child for Sour Grapes, New Frontrunner for Spin Of The Year

Apparently Bonnie Erbe has not quite gotten over the fact that her favorite candidate, Hillary Clinton, lost the race for the democratic nomination. Not only that, she must not have gotten the memo that Sen. Clinton has since endorsed presumptive nominee Barack Obama. Bonnie Erbe has also officially unseated Marie Cocco and Lorne Gunter, taking her thrown as Queen of Spin. For this week, at least, she sits at the top of a very exclusive list, but her jaw-droppingly false column based solely on exaggeration, may just end up winning Spin Of The Year honors as well.

Here’s her piece entitled “Barack Obama, Serial Flip Flopper.”

We all knew the infamous flip flopper accusation would be thrown out there at some point in this election. Because human beings have a tendency to change their minds every once in a while, it was inevitable that one or both of the presidential candidates would be accused of this “sin.” What was completely unexpected was that it would be a pundit from the candidate’s own party who would throw the first stone.

And that’s just what Bonnie Erbe has done. Obviously still reeling from the emotional trauma that was Sen. Clinton’s failed presidential bid, Ms. Erbe has produced nothing short of a hatchet job on Sen. Obama. Here’s the quote that got us laughing here at Rebel:

“From where I sit, flip-flopping is an unbeatable addiction for Obama. For McCain, by comparison, it’s an occasional foible.”

Wow, that’s a bold statement. But where’s the evidence? Can’t we the readers have some sort of list so we can sort out whose flip flops are worse? What we get as readers is a list of Barack Obama’s flip flop greatest hits with nary a mention of the radical change Sen. McCain has undergone in the last few months in terms of policy. So, eventhough we may be stalwart supporters of Sen. Obama’s presidential bid, because we are fair at Rebel, we have chosen to present you with a more comprehensive list of flip flops than Ms. Erbe deemed necessary. We will use her list for Obama, but our list of McCain’s flip flops has been generated almost entirely from recent memory (we had to look up a few dates).

Sen. Obama (D-Ill.):

• He [Obama] ripped Hillary Clinton for months for voting to list Iran’s Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization. Days after Clinton conceded, Obama flipped and said he supported the definition.

• Obama repeatedly vowed to meet with various heads of terror states—most notably Ahmadinejad of Iran—”without preconditions.” Then, with the nomination in sight, he zigzagged: “There’s no reason why we would necessarily meet with Ahmadinejad. He’s not the most powerful person in Iran.”

• In October, he supported NAFTA expansion. In March, campaigning in the Ohio primary, he called for a “reopening” of the trade pact’s terms. This week, he called his own primary rhetoric “overheated” and said NAFTA has had a positive effect on the US economy.

• Yesterday, after signaling opposition to nuclear power, he told Democratic governors he’s open to expanding it.”

Sen. McCain (R-Ariz.):

• McCain was against Bush’s tax cuts before he decided to support them during his presidential campaign. On January 5, 2000 he told The Washington Post, “I’m not giving tax cuts for the rich.” The same day he told The LA Times, “I don’t believe the wealthiest 10% of Americans should get 60% of the tax breaks. I think the lowest 10% should get the breaks.” But at a republican debate in Boca Raton, Fla. in Jan. 2008, McCain said, “I think it’s very important that we make the Bush tax cuts permanent.”

• McCain referred to Jerry Falwell and preachers of his ilk as “agents of intolerance” in 2002, but while campaigning during the republican primaries, he suddenly changed his tune and began courting ”agents of intolerance” for their endorsements, most notably John Haggee, the Catholic bashing hate monger whose endorsement McCain actively sought and then quickly disavowed.

• McCain used to be one of the biggest supporters of campaign finance reform on Capitol Hill (remember McCain-Feingold?). Now that he has won his party’s nomination for president, Sen. McCain is opposed to legislation he helped pass.

• John McCain, a former POW who was tortured while held in the Hanoi Hilton, has repeatedly stressed his opposition to torture. However, when the Intelligence Authorization Bill was brought to the floor of the Senate in February of this year with a provision banning the use of waterboarding, Sen. McCain voted to uphold President Bush’s veto.

Now that a more balanced representation of the evidence has been presented, whose list of flip flops is more egregious, and, for that matter, whose list is even worth compiling?

After shilling for Hillary for the past few months, Bonnie Erbe is obviously unable to switch gears and focus on the general election. Op-Ed writers with a vendetta towards a certain candidate or an ax to grind in general are a dime a dozen, and Ms. Erbe has shown herself to be no different. What sets her apart though is the amateurish way she has gone about publishing this attack piece. She obviously made no attempt at writing a fair article, she has no semblance of balance, and, because of this, she has lost all credibility.

At least she’s earned her place in Spin Of The Week history as the most blatent offender yet.

If you would like to add to either candidate’s list of flip flops, feel free to use the comments section.  And if you think Bonnie Erbe is an idiot, read her coworker, John Mashek’s piece on the same topic with a completely different outlook.

Meteorite Holds Important Clues to the Origin of the Solar System

London’s Natural History Museum has acquired the Ivuna Meteorite, which fell to earth in Tanzania in 1938, and has the same chemical makeup as the sun. This extremely rare space rock could lead scientists to a better understanding of how our solar system was formed nearly 4.5 billion years ago.

Article from BBC News.

In Australia, Justice isn’t Blind it’s just not Paying Attention

Judge Peter Zahra was forced to abort the trial when the jury forewoman admitted to playing the number puzzle game, Sudoku instead of following the details of the trial.

Quote from The Sydney Morning Herald:

“She said four or five jurors had brought in the sudoku sheets and photocopied them to play during the trial and then compare their results during meal breaks.

“She admitted to having spent more than half of her time in court playing the game.”

The fact that this trial was a giant waste of time will cost Australian taxpayers more than $1 million.

Article from NY Times here.

Thomas Sowell’s Rant on Obama, the Military, and “Demographically Comparable Civilians”

Thomas Sowell, usually a clear headed if right-leaning columnist who bases his opinions on facts and figures, has written what can only be described as a loosely organized rant on presidential candidate Barack Obama.

The piece, titled Cocky Ignorance, can be found here.

Sowell clearly has problems with Barack Obama that stem from something deeper than policy disagreement. He chastises the freshman Senator from Illinois for having the audacity to write a letter to the Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates and the temerity to end it with “I look forward to your swift response.”

But what was the letter about? It must have been something bad to get Thomas Sowell so up in arms. Was Obama threatening to disband the military? Was the letter about criminal investigations in the Defense Department?

No, it was about the high suicide rate of military personnel and ways to combat mental illness in soldiers and veterans. Something Mr. Sowell, himself a veteran, says is not an issue.

However, in making his argument against the brash Illinois Senator, Sowell does something he supposedly abhors, he relies completely on generalities, mentioning vague statistics, but never substantiating or citing them.

Sowell makes frequent mention of “demographically comparable civilians” in his analysis:

“What has not been widely publicized is that this higher suicide rate [among soldiers] is still not as high as the suicide rate among demographically comparable civilians.”

“the media have managed to create the impression that it is military service overseas which is the cause of suicides among American troops, when civilians of the same ages and other demographic characteristics are committing suicide at an even higher rate at home.”

“the homicide rate among returning veterans is a fraction of the homicide rate among demographically comparable civilians.”

Who are these “demographically comparable civilians?” Where can they be found? And what makes them demographically comparable anyway? Do they all work in industries where violence is commonplace? Do they all suffer the same high levels of stress and separation from their families for months at a time?

The problem is that Mr. Sowell never explains what this mysterious group is or who is a part of it, but he relies on it as the basis for this borderline incoherent response to a letter written by Sen. Barack Obama and sent to Defense Secretary Gates.

And in the end, Mr. Sowell’s argument sounds remarkably similar to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s response when asked about homosexuals at Columbia University.

Suicides? That is not a problem. I don’t know where you are getting your information, but we do not have suicides.

Mr. Sowell, if you want to accuse someone of not having the facts when making their opinion; if you want to accuse someone of not knowing what they are talking about; then, sir, you must produce some facts yourself so that we the readers can be sure you know what you’re talking about.

Neil Young Working on his Next Release: the Electric Car

Rocker Neil Young is working with Wichita mechanic Johnathan Goodwin to convert his 1959 Lincoln Continental to run only on electricity.

“Ultimately, they said, they want the Continental to provide a model for the world’s first affordable mass-produced electric-powered automobile.”

–from the CNN article.

The car is almost finished, but one thing holding the process up is the fact that Young can’t decide whether he wants the horn to play “Heart of Gold” or “Rockin’ in the Free World.”

Pakistani Boy Hung from Fan, Killed, for Failing to Memorize Koran

Maulvi Ziauddin was the boy’s teacher and murderer. He has been arrested in Pakistan.

The boy’s name was Atif, and he was seven years old.

Here’s the story from BBC News.

Poetic Justice: Native American Tribes Across the U.S. are Taking Back their Land

Using casino profits, many Native American tribes across the U.S. are buying back land that once was theirs, and their neighbors aren’t happy about it. Whether the reasoning is a loss of tax dollars or a loss of developable land, many people are outraged by this “land grabbing.”

However, everything these tribes are doing is completely legal and they are paying compensation for these lands, which is a whole lot more than they received when they had their land stolen from them.

Newsweek has the story.