Former secretary of state and current McCain supporter told NPR what he thinks of Palin:
I don't think at the moment she is prepared to take over the reigns of the presidency. . Give her some time in the office and I think the answer would be, she will be . adequate. I can't say that she would be a genius in the job.
This is making the rounds. If it's not real, it should be! Just in case you haven't seen it, here it is:
October 24, 2008
Dear Joe the Plumber,
My name is Joe the Soldier. I noticed you have been getting a lot of attention in the national media lately. I even saw a couple clips of interviews with you on the Armed Forces Network while I was eating in our chow hall in Diyala Province. I watched you complain about everything from immigration to taxes while I ate an omelet which was prepared by Pakistanis and sponsored by Uncle Sam. I tried to ignore your rant, but as I peered over the crowd of smiling, laughing Infantrymen who wolfed down their breakfast before rolling out to patrol the streets of Iraq, my gaze kept returning to the plumber from Ohio who seemed so unhappy to be standing in his driveway with the liberty to complain about his government. And it was at that moment that I was inspired by your shiny head to reflect; you and I have some similarities, but quite a few more differences.
Let's start with the similarities. Like you, my name really isn't Joe. We both use that moniker because...well, it sounds good. You made $40k last year. That is pretty close to my base pay in 2007, and far more than that of the Soldiers which I just described. I believe we both genuinely want to live the American Dream. Let's look at the differences. You recently showed up at a Barack Obama rally to ask him why he will raise your taxes. Apparently you didn't hear that he will only raise taxes on those with a quarter million dollars of income, or you actually believe that, as a plumber, you will make that much money. Either way, as a Soldier, I can't afford to be that inattentive or unrealistic.
You cast yourself as a regular guy, a common man in Middle America. Yet in each interview you continue to complain about the price you pay for membership in the world's greatest nation. I could find many things to complain about too, but my sense of duty shifts my focus to the fruits of our labors and the benefits of all the sacrifices that I have witnessed. I hope you enjoy your freedom as much as you enjoy complaining about how much it costs you, but I honestly don't mind if it is such a high price that you may have to sacrifice a little to keep it...join the club!
Possibly the most striking difference between us is that you have forgotten the legacy which the great generations in our history passed down. It is a legacy of mutual sacrifice and shared hardship. During World War Two, most people didn't complain when they were drafted, they gladly went to fight in a just war. Those who were unable to fight were a part of the war effort at home. They put their cars on blocks and rationed goods to ensure that the troops had what they needed. Taxes were much higher back then. But there were no tax cuts in those days because the country could not afford it in a time of war and it seemed immoral to pass the cost on to...us.
Times have really changed since then, haven't they Joe? Since the start of this war, our national debt has risen to almost $11 trillion thanks to multiple tax cuts to the richest Americans. I can't understand why you, Joe, as a plumber, are fooled into advocating for these millionaires who complain about their taxes returning to the level they were under Ronald Reagan. Isn't it strange that a plumber making $40k per year is complaining on behalf of the top 1% of income earners while our Armed Forces, comprised mainly of middle and low-income Americans (the sons and daughters of plumbers you might say), are sent to fight two wars because "Freedom isn't Free?"
I am sorry Joe the Plumber, I can't sympathize with your complaints. Partly because I don't believe that a plumber will make $250k, meaning you will actually get a slight tax cut if Obama becomes President. But mainly because I think you can handle the taxes you are currently paying. You supported this war, right? You think we should have the best military in the world, don't you? Well, those things cost money. As an American making $40k, you already paid close to the lowest tax rate of any similar wage-earner in the Industrialized World. And look at the return on your investment: you get to live in America and complain about all those taxes you paid! I do believe that we both want to live the American Dream, but after 14 months in Iraq with a unit that lost 12 heroes to the Ultimate Sacrifice, I am sorely disappointed that you whine so much about the meager price you are asked to pay for it.
- Captain William H. Smith
United States Army
Just love this quote attributed to the father of Powell chief of staff Larry Wilkerson:
My father used to say, 'Larry beware of the left because they will bankrupt you; beware of the right because they will kill you.'
From Huffpost:
John McCain, who has harshly criticized the idea of sitting down with dictators without pre-conditions, appears to have done just that. In 1985, McCain traveled to Chile for a friendly meeting with Chile's military ruler, General Augusto Pinochet, one of the world's most notorious violators of human rights credited with killing more than 3,000 civilians and jailing tens of thousands of others.
Since January, the 300,000 members of the United Association of Plumbers and Pipefitters have been supporters of Barack Obama. From the group's endorsement:
Barack Obama is the choice of the UA because he has always fought for working people throughout his career and will do the best job of bringing badly-needed change to Washington. Obama will help us keep existing jobs and work to develop new, higher paying jobs here in America, reform our health care system, fix our ailing schools and make sure that the pensions of our retirees are safe.
So, with McCain traveling the country boasting about "Joe," what can we do to get the real word out about Obama and the real plumbers? Why isn't this union campaigning aggressively? How can we get their message out?
Great anecdote from Ben Smith:
I voted today. I'm a 33 year old, white criminal defense lawyer in southwest Kansas. The early voting is at the courthouse. I arrive to find 12 old white people occupying all the voting machines. I wait. A machine opens up. The 80 something white male who had been using the machine is now up at the front table asking if he can vote again. The lady running the table says "no, one person, one vote." He replies, "well, I just want to make sure we don't have some terrorist running the country."
This obviously catches my attention so I look at the old man. Our eyes meet. He points a bony finger at me and says, "Don't let it happen." Thinking this old man could one day kill someone and need my services, I don't say anything and proceed to vote.
As I'm leaving the voting room, the young black janitor is in the hallway in front of the room with his cleaning cart. "Did you do the right thing?" he asks me. "You know it." I say and we exchange a terrorist fist jab.
Very moving item on Obama's grandparents:
. I was looking at this picture of Obama's grandparents and thinking how much he looks like his grandfather. And suddenly, for whatever reason, I was struck by the fact that they had made the decision to love their daughter, no matter what, and love their grandson, no matter what. I'd bet money that they never even thought of themselves as courageous, that they didn't give much thought to the broader struggles in the the world at the time. They were just doing what right, honorable people do. But the fact is that, in the 60s, you could be disowned for falling in love with a black woman or black man.
After her initial open-mic slip-up, I was afraid Noonan would revert to the party line. And for a while, I think she did. But now she's back and being refreshingly honest:
We have seen Mrs. Palin on the national stage for seven weeks now, and there is little sign that she has the tools, the equipment, the knowledge or the philosophical grounding one hopes for, and expects, in a holder of high office. .
In the end the Palin candidacy is a symptom and expression of a new vulgarization in American politics. It's no good, not for conservatism and not for the country. And yes, it is a mark against John McCain, against his judgment and idealism.
So, let me get this straight. Joe "the plumber" Wurzelbacher has no license to practice plumbing, has neglected to pay his taxes and is a relative of the Keating family. The first two points are largely irrelevant, though they will no doubt be studied by the media for hours. But the question the media should be asking is this: Is Wurzelbacher a McCain campaign plant, who was deliberately placed in Obama's path in Ohio? And if so, what does this say about John McCain's relationship with the Keatings, which he insists ended years ago? And if they say he wasn't a plant, is this just too much of a coincidence to believe?
From the inside of the McCain campaign:
Every time John mentioned "Joe the Plumber," some of us in the campaign banged our heads against the wall. If Steve Schmidt had any hair left, I hear he would have been pulling it out tonight. He reportedly screamed at John's debate prep team tonight (out of earshot of reporters, of course). "You idiots - he's related to Charles Keating. of the Keating Five scandal!" They thought they had a real live Joe Six-Pack who's spurned Barack Obama's tax plan. But what they forgot to do was check on Joe Wurzelbacher's background.
Turns out that Joe Wurzelbacher from the Toledo event is a close relative of Robert Wurzelbacher of Milford, Ohio. Who's Robert Wurzelbacher? Only Charles Keating's son-in-law and the former senior vice president of American Continental, the parent company of the infamous Lincoln Savings and Loan. The now retired elder Wurzelbacher is also a major contributor to Republican causes giving well over $10,000 in the last few years.
From a friend of mine:
One troubling (for Obama) point about "Joe," is that he represents a much broader definition of "white working class male." Joe seemed to admit to making close to $250K, putting him in a pretty nice income bracket, especially for Ohio. When McCain sarcastically said, "Congratulations, Joe, you're rich," he could have been playing it straight. Of course, reality is much more complicated; Joe now claims to be earning much less. However, by implying that you could make $250K and still be "working class," McCain has embraced a whole group of largely ignored voters: successful whites who don't think of themselves as rich. These are the folks who started out in Brooklyn apartments and now have big houses on Staten Island; they're the ones who rose through the ranks in fields like contracting, sales and, yes, plumbing, and now do very well, but still think of themselves as working class, based on their roots and career paths.
From Thomas Frank, one of the paper's token liberals:
The McCain campaign has made much of its leader's honor and bravery, but now it has chosen to mount its greatest attack against a man who poses no conceivable threat to the country, who has nothing to do with this year's issues, and who cannot or will not defend himself. Apparently this makes him an irresistible target.
There are a lot of things to call this tactic, but "country first" isn't one of them. The nation wants its hope and confidence restored, and Republican leaders have chosen instead to wave the bloody shirt. This is their vilest hour.
Matthew Dowd, Bush's 2004 chief campaign strategist, sums up the way many GOPers feel about Palin:
Saying that Palin was a "net negative" on the ticket, he went on: "[McCain] knows, in his gut, that he put somebody unqualified on the ballot. He knows that in his gut, and when this race is over that is something he will have to live with... He put somebody unqualified on that ballot and he put the country at risk, he knows that."
Republican machers Walter and Leonora Annenberg gave the former terrorist $50 million. ... Annenberg was Nixon's ambassador to Britain. If Obama is "palling around with terrorists," the Republican Annenbergs are funding them. Yesterday, the McCain campain put out a press release boasting that Leonore Annenberg had just endorsed him for president. Why is McCain happy to accept the endorsement of a funder of terrorism?
