John Donne, on the Passing of John McCain

No man is an island entire of itself
Every man is a piece of the continent
A part of the main
If a clod be washed away by the sea
Europe is the less
As well as if a promontory were
As well as if a manor of thy friend's
Or of thine own were
Any man's death diminishes me
Because I am involved in mankind
And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; 
It tolls for thee

Call Me Cassandra?

Cassandra of Troy, as the legend goes, was given a true gift of prophecy by the gods...who, being fickle, also gave her the curse that no one would believe her. I can identify with that.

In 2008, I thought that John McCain was probably the worst candidate in the primaries. Sure, Huckabee gave him a run for the title, but McCain, who was not a fiscal conservative, and one of the original Keating Five, became the Republican candidate. I supported him in the general election, because he was a better man than the candidate the Democrats fielded (who wasn't?), and he lost to Barack Obama.

In 2012, I thought that Mitt Romney was the worst possible choice in the primaries. Obamacare was disliked by a majority of the electorate at the time, and the worst possible person to make the case against Obamacare was the author of Romneycare. Mitt was a moderate, trying to sound like a conservative, but failing at it rather badly.I supported him, too, in the general election, because he was a better man than the candidate the Democrats fielded (who wasn't?), who had proven himself inadequate to the job of being president (as he has continued to this day), and he lost to Barack Obama.

In 2016, I thought that Donald J. Trump was the worst possible choice in the primaries. (Are you starting to see a pattern here?) Barring some unforeseen miracle or the SMOD, Trump will become the Republican nominee. Barring the gift of a spine to Obama and his Justice Department, Hillary will be his opponent. (I almost said "running mate". I keep forgetting which side he's supposed to be on!)

She is a venal liar who apparently is the author of most of Obama's failed Middle East policies. She underestimated Putin, the Muslim Brotherhood and her horndog husband and overestimated her cleverness as a politician, money launderer, and her ability to hide her correspondence without compromising national security.

I would never vote for Hillary, and the thought of her in the Ovum Office is enough to make one's skin crawl. However, I believe that there are already a large number of people who feel exactly the same way about Donald J. Trump, even before he expressed his lunatic ideas about Ted Cruz's father and Lee Harvey Oswald. Dude. You were winning! Why in the world are you incapable of just keeping your big mouth shut when the occasion calls for it?

In addition to those who already feel this way, Democrat and Republican alike, I believe there are vast numbers yet to be persuaded to this opinion, but who will be.


So, there you have it! I feel as though I'm about to hit the presidential trifecta, and I'm not happy about it one bit. Should the White House, possibly the Senate and SCOTUS all tilt Left in the next four to eight years, there will be no comfort in saying "I told you so". Not that it would do any good. I'm convinced that should this election "go South", Trump supporters will blame everyone except their candidate (and themselves). Like Obama blaming Bush for the last eight years, it will never be the Donald's fault. No, of course not. That would be too obvious!

Al Franken: He's Stupid. He's Slimy. And Doggone it, Not Enough People Voted for His Opponent to Overcome Democrat Voter Fraud!

Al Franken, chiming in on what the adults are talking about, because he has no original thoughts of his own, piled onto John McCain with some inane comments about how McCain "sat out the war" as a POW. Because five and a half years of torture, beatings, malnutrition, solitary confinement and lack of medical treatment is kind of like the green room at Saturday Night Live?

Franken's brain could not be reached for comment.

Quote du jour

"I spent all those years in a North Vietnamese prison camp, kept in the dark, fed scraps. Why in the hell would I want to do that all over again?"

-John McCain, on why he didn't want to be vice president

Quote du jour

"As you may know, not long ago a couple hundred thousand Berliners made a lot of noise for my opponent. I'll take the roar of 50,000 Harleys any day."
-John McCain at Sturgis S.D.

"Huff Po Hackery"

Anyone who hasn't a clue as to what hackery really looks like, we have a prime example:

"McCain Planned To Attack Obama If He Visited Troops Abroad"-Huff Po

NRO's Media Blog, calls it HuffPo Hackery of the Day. The Huff Po blather is based on David Kiley's statement:

What the McCain campaign doesn’t want people to know, according to one GOP strategist I spoke with over the weekend, is that they had an ad script ready to go if Obama had visited the wounded troops saying that Obama was...wait for it...using wounded troops as campaign props. So, no matter which way Obama turned, McCain had an Obama bashing ad ready to launch. I guess that’s political hardball. But another word for it is the one word that most politicians are loathe to use about their opponents—a lie.

Only Kiley has had to retreat from his statement, because he had no corroboration. A spokesman for the McCain campaign gave three reasons why Kiley was not credible:

One, the McCain camp did not know Obama's schedule in advance- How could they have scripted a visit they knew nothing about?

Two, McCain has praised Obama for visiting the wounded at Walter Reed - Why would this visit be different?

and three, McCain himself has visited wounded soldiers -Why would he criticize Obama for doing what he himself does?

It's every bit as bogus as Obama's repeatedly playing the race card, casting himself as a victim before imaginary Republican criticism. Make up false charges about your opponent and argue against the straw man of your own imagination!

Cross Posted at Say Anything

Quote du jour

Sen. Obama says that I'm running for a Bush's third terms. It seems to me he's running for Jimmy Carter's second.

-John McCain

Hillary, McCain and Obama on American Idol

John McCain gets off a great line on American Idol!

American Idol is a lot like a Presidential Primary election, except for Michigan and Florida...where their votes actually count !

Cross posted at Say Anything