Back in August, I noted that McCain reported the results of his quarterly skin cancer screening from <a href="http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/07/29/mccains-biopsy-negative/">late July</a>.  No such report has come out for this quarter, so either: McCain is putting the country at risk by not getting screened, or he has been screened and is putting the country at risk by not releasing the results as they indicate a problem.

In either case, and in combination with Palin failing to reduce to her medical records as promised, it's clear the GOP ticket is putting their own political campaign ahead of the good of the country.

John McCain claims to be a maverick reformer, but he has been working along side a Convicted Felon for decades.  Yes, ever since he was first elected to the Senate, John McCain has been 'caucusing' with Alaska Senator Ted Stevens who has been convicted on seven counts of corruption in a longterm bribery investigation.   Not only that, McCain's running-mate has also worked with this felon in her role as the so-called reformer governor of Alaska.

Who do you trust to bring change to Washington?  A trusted family man still married to his first wife, or a Senator still haunted by his own ethics scandals who 'pals around' with a convicted felon?

Anyone else going?
Starts at 7, I probably won't get there until about 8, though.
Maybe we could have a TPMCafe' table?

<a href="http://www.hawkanddoveonline.com/index.php">Hawk and Dove</a>
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From Sam Stein at HuffPo today:
"I understand and appreciate the enormity of the challenge we face from radical Islamic extremism," the Senator declared. "I am prepared. I am prepared. I need no on-the-job training. I wasn't a mayor for a short period of time. I wasn't a governor for a short period of time."

Video here

But of course even if Governor Palin doesn't undertand Islamic Extremists, at least she understands ENERGY!

From today's Swampland blogpost:

A new rule here: Rather than do the McCain campaign's bidding by wasting space on Senator Honor's daily lies and bilge--his constant attempts to divert attention from substantive issues--I'm going to assume that others will spend more than enough time on the sewage that Steve Schmidt is shoveling and, from now on, try to stick to the issues.

Here's a suggestion for the Obama campaign.  Whenever McCain uses the POW-POW-POW argument, flip it on its head and imply that he is saying X is just as bad as being held in the Hanoi Hilton for 5.5 years.

For example, he says he knows what it's like to not have a house or a kitchen table, well then, let's flip that to be: because of the Bush/McCain economic policies, millions of Americans are suffering as prisoners of another war, the Bush/McCain war on America's middle class.

Or spin it a little harder the other way:  Does John McCain really think that his fellow veterans who were held captive manacled to the walls of dirt cells were only as bad off as the millions of American families his chief economic adviser called a bunch of whiners?  Is McCain calling his fellow POWs a bunch of whiners?

This was just mentioned on the Bill Press Show.   It's not just bloggers changing their nicks anymore, now dedicated Obama supporters are going to court to legally change their middle name to Hussein, or to add it as an additional middle name.

backup copy of the link, in case it doesn't take:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/29/us/politics/29hussein.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

I think this is more an empty threat just to be able to have a stronger hand in negotiations with the Bush Administration (someone needs to sit down with Maliki and explain to him that Bush already has the weaker hand as the U.S. President can't unilaterally make a treaty without Congressional ratification - didn't they put this into the Iraqi Constitution, as well?), but there is news out today that Maliki is threatening to end negotiations <a href="http://www.mcclatchydc.com/251/story/41047.html">kick out all International forces at the end of the year</a>" (yes, that would include the U.S. forces).

I think a better strategy for Maliki is just say that there is no need to negotiate with the Bush administration, and that he will instead begin negotiating with the President Elect Obama on the day following the U.S. election.

In her <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/13/us/politics/13text-clinton.html?_r=1&pagewanted=3&oref=slogin">victory speech</a> tonight in WV, Hillary cited two particular supporters, a elderly woman born before women had the vote who cast her absentee ballot for her just before dying.  And the contributions from am 11 year-old who was selling his possessions to give money to her Campaign.

This made me wonder, are either of those legal?

While no laws were broken, neither should benefit Hillary.  In SD, where the absentee voter lived, <a href="http://legis.state.sd.us/statutes/DisplayStatute.aspx?Type=Statute&Statute=12-19-49">the law</a> is clear that the ballot is not to be counted.

As for the donation from the 11 year-old.  The Supreme Court struck down the provision in McCain-Feingold that would have simply made that contribution illegal, so unless it falls under the straw-man provisions of someone donating money that is not theirs to give, <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/23/AR2007102301882_pf.html">a child is allowed</a> to knowingly make campaign contributions.   I don't know what Hillary's (who voted for McCain-Feingold when it contained the provision that was struck down) policy is, but the Obama campaign returns checks from anyone under 15.

Maybe Hillary should return this kid's money so he can go see Iron Man, and stop talking about an absentee vote that can not be legally counted.

I've been searching news sources via Google and the foreign press seems a little less reserved about predicting Hillary's chances going forward.  Here's a sample:
 * Clinton's dream all but over - Sydney Morning Herald
 * Obama Inches Closer to Nomination - CBC News
 * Despite win, Hillary may drop out of Democratic race - CNN-IBN [India]

Here in the US, I'm listening to the Bill Press Show and Bill who is normally an all-but-declared Clinton booster, while not saying it's over, did say that going forward his emphasis will be that progressives all come and support the Democratic nominee whoever that turns out to be.

Just as proposed by this other TPM Cafe'r (why is the author field blank?) the media has begun to 'onion belt' McCain with clips linking him to caricatures of the elderly including clips from The Simpsons and Futurama. Today, Stephanie played the actual Simpson's clip where the term 'onion belt' comes from.

Anyone else notice that Ron Paul is no longer flatlining on Intrade? All of a sudden he's at 13% while Hillary's slow decline since Obama recovered from the Wright controversy has brought her down to 12.1%, which means for the first time Paul is being given a better chance by intrade traders (or possibly just by a few recalcitrant Paul-heads who found a way to rig the system) of getting his party's nomination than Hillary is.

Update: I checked the InTrade site and Hillary has gotten a little bounce in after hours trading upto 13.1% and while Paul's last trade is at 13% the current bid and ask are under 2% indicating there is no new sudden consensus of a Paul upset at the convention.

I just got back from seeing the new Jim Carey, CGI version of Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who. While watching it, I came to the realization that in some ways (I'll try not to stretch the analogy too far) it parallels the current Democratic primary race.

In my view, Horton is Obama trying to get the public to hear what he is hearing, which in the campaign is not tiny persons living on a dust speck, but the silent hopes of the American People.

Clinton is the traditionalist kangaroo who is afraid of change and wants to boil the hope out of the speck in a cauldron of beezlenut oil. In fact she denies that hope even exists.

What Obama (and the American people) need is that one additional little voice to yell out and let the doubters know that hope is alive. I don't know if that voice is the voters of PA, or Al Gore finally weighing in, or perhaps - and this is a stretch of the parallel - the child of the 'kangaroo', which in this campaign would be Chelsea Clinton. But its clear the voices of 13 million Americans that have ready yelled out "We Are Here" (or perhaps it was 'Yes We Can!') have not yet been heard by the Kangaroo.

GAH! I'm getting so frustrated with people (who should know better) incorrectly reporting how much time Obama has been in the Senate. I'm listening to today's Thom Hartmann show on 3 hour delay and he just said that Hilary has a full term more time in the Senate than Obama. But she actually only has FOUR years more, not SIX.

Bill Clinton on the Charlie Rose show kept saying Obama began running when he had only been in the Senate ONE year, but Obama announced his over a month into his THIRD YEAR.

And NPR's Juan Williams on FOX News' Sunday show said Obama has only been a Senator for two years, but he passed his third anniversary in the Senate last week.

Fine, he is still in his first term, but don't exaggerate how 'little' time he has spent in Washington.