1. Charlie Black simply verifies what Ed Schultz has said repeatedly - John McCain is a warmonger.

Of course war or the threat of it would help the mcbush campaign, and the idea that somehow the little admiral didn't know it is crap. They just don't want it said out loud, like the other thing I quoted from Schultz on babymama news -

John McCain is a warmonger. We can't have oil colonies without war.

Clif Kuplen at 11:30PM on Jun 23rd 2008

2. McCain’s real military file is unflattering. To end all the speculation, McCain should authorize the Navy to release all his military record.
In June 2005, seven months after he lost his bid for president, Senator John Kerry signed the 180 waiver, authorizing the release of his complete military service record to the Boston Globe, the Los Angeles Times, and the Associated Press. ** Unlike Kerry, McCain shouldn't wait until after the election to do so. The Navy may claim that it already released McCain's record to the Associated Press on May 7, 2008 in response to the AP's Freedom of Information Act request. But the McCain file the Navy released contained 19 pages -- a two-page overview and 17 pages detailing Awards and Decorations. Each of these 17 pages is stamped with a number. These numbers range from 0069 to 0636. When arranged in ascending order, they precisely track the chronology of McCain's career. It seems reasonable to ask the Navy whether there are at least 636 pages in McCain's file, of which 617 weren't released to the Associated Press.
Some of the unreleased pages in McCain's Navy file may not reflect well upon his qualifications for the presidency. From day one in the Navy, McCain screwed-up again and again, only to be forgiven because his father and grandfather were four-star admirals. McCain's sense of entitlement to privileged treatment bears an eerie resemblance to George W. Bush's.
Despite graduating in the bottom 1 percent of his Annapolis class, McCain was offered the most sought-after Navy assignment -- to become an aircraft carrier pilot. According to military historian John Karaagac, "'the Airdales,' the air wing of the Navy, acted and still do, as if unrivaled atop the naval pyramid. They acted as if they owned, not only the Navy, but the entire swath of blue water on the earth's surface." The most accomplished midshipmen compete furiously for the few carrier pilot openings. After four abysmal academic years at Annapolis distinguished only by his misdeeds and malfeasance, no one with a record resembling McCain's would have been offered such a prized career path. The justification for this and subsequent plum assignments should be documented in McCain's naval file.
McCain's file should also include records and analytic reviews of McCain's subsequent sub-par performances. Here are a few cited in two highly favorable biographies, both titled John McCain, one by Robert Timberg and the other by John Karaagac.
Timberg:
"[A]fter a European fling with the tobacco heiress, John McCain reported to flight school at Pensacola in August 1958.... [H]is performance was below par, at best good enough to get by. He liked flying, but didn't love it. What he loved was the kick-the-tire, start-the-fire, scarf-in-the-wind life of a naval aviator. ...One Saturday morning, as McCain was practicing landings, his engine quit and his plane plunged into Corpus Christi. Knocked unconscious by the impact, he came to as the plane settled to the bottom....McCain was an adequate pilot, but he had no patience for studying dry aviation manuals.... His professional growth, though reasonably steady, had its troubled moments. Flying too low over the Iberian Peninsula, he took out some power lines, which led to a spate of newspaper stories in which he was predictably identified as the son of an admiral.... [In 1965] he flew a trainer solo to Philadelphia for the Army-Navy game. Flying by way of Norfolk, he had just begun his descent over unpopulated tidal terrain when the engine died. 'I've got a flameout,' he radioed. He went through the standard relight procedures three times. At one thousand feet he ejected, landing on the deserted beach moments before the plane slammed into a clump of trees."
Adds Karaagac:
"In his memoir, everything becomes a kind of game of adolescent brinksmanship, how much can one press the limits of the acceptable and elude the powers that be....The [fighter jocks'] ethos of exaggerated, almost aggressive sociability becomes an end in itself and an excuse for license. There is a tendency for people, not simply to believe their own mythology but, indeed, to exaggerate it.... Fighter jocks, like politicians around their campaign contributions, often press the limits of the acceptable. It is a type of mild corruption that takes place in a highly privileged atmosphere, where restraints are loosened and excuses made....McCain gives some hint in his memoirs about where he stood in the hierarchy among carrier flyers. Instead of the sleek and newer Phantoms and Crusaders, McCain flew the dependable Douglas A-4 Skyhawk in an attack, not a fighter squadron. He was thus on the lower end of the flying totem pole."
The genius of McCain's mythmaking is his perceived humility amid perpetual defiance. Having been a rebel without cause, and often a rebel without consequences, McCain apparently was not surprised when his Vietnamese captors went relatively easy on him compared to his fellow POWs. The Vietnamese military secretly and frequently filmed the American POWs to learn their propensities. Col. Pham Van Hoa of the Vietnamese People's Army Film Department was in charge of the filming. Asked recently for his dominant impression of McCain, the now-retired Van Hoa said that McCain "seemed superior to other prisoners." How so? "Superior in attitude towards them."
But when Mark Salter, McCain's closest aide and co-author, was asked by the Arizona New Times about the first McCain memoir, Faith of My Fathers, that he was then working on, Salter said "the book will showcase a humble McCain. When I worked on this book with him, he just kept saying, 'Other guys had it a lot worse. I think they took it easier on me because of who my dad was. . . . When they tied me in ropes, they'd roll my sleeve up to give it a little padding between the rope and my bicep, you know, little things I noticed. The only really hard time I had was when I didn't go home, and then it only lasted a week, and sometimes I felt braver, I felt I could get away with more.'"
Is McCain now getting away with more by hiding his official history and by having his national security adviser inflate McCain's resume with a bogus promotion to admiral humbly declined? If so, McCain may be attempting to hide why the Navy was in fact slow to promote him upwards despite his suffering as a POW and his distinguished naval heritage.
One possible reason: After McCain had returned from Vietnam as a war hero and was physically rehabilitated, he was urged by his medical caretakers and military colleagues never to fly again. But McCain insisted on going up. As Carl Bernstein reported in Vanity Fair, he piloted an ultra-light, single propeller plane -- and crashed another time. His fifth loss of a plane has vanished from public records, but should be a subject of discussion in his Navy file. It wouldn't be surprising if his naval superiors worried that McCain was just too defiant, too reckless and too crash prone.
Regardless, McCain owes it to the country to release his complete naval records so that American voters can see his documented history and make an informed decision.

iynaroc02 at 11:57PM on Jun 23rd 2008

3. Charlie Black is simply telling the truth. These neocons don't even bother to lie about it. Terrorism works in the neocns' favor.

Pearl Harbor II, was a GIFT to the Neoconservative agenda of shredding the Constitution, creating an imperial presidency and starting a new cold war. It's good for business.

Lots of people are speculating on what the October Surprise is going to be. Maybe Rush gave us a hint when he "dreamed" of riots at the Democratic National Convention.

Captain Negative at 12:26AM on Jun 24th 2008

4. Statements like these scare the crap out of me. Is this a leak of something more ominous? Sorry, but it's the conspiracy theorist in me. What do you guys think?

Robert at 12:27AM on Jun 24th 2008

5. Cenk

What a bunch of c--p.

That has been said over and over in reference to Bush and prior to coming into this Presidential election.

Political analyists have said another attack of any kind by terrorists would tend to be helpful
for Republicans and harmful to Democrats.
They also have said a recession or sharp downturn, said by Democrat Political experts would be helpful for Demcorats.
Bush 1 was extremely popular with his Gulf War quick victory, but lost a re election because of an economic downturn.
Right now Iraq is going good, majority of public believes the troop surge is a success, but the economy is in a slowdown, which will work against McCain. Republican stron point with public-national security/ war against terrorism. Democrat strong point economy and social issues. Has been that way for a long time.

So what was said by a Republican as a terror attack helping McCain in the voting booth, is an old theory spelled out again.

To say Democrats would , on purpose, bring the economy to a slowdown/recession because they want more votes for Obama, is just as stupid as saying this about McCain.

Just look at the sounce of this stupid analysis, Cenk.

Obama is failing on the issues, so lets not talk about them.

See Obama pulled his fake Obama Presidential seal.

Hey, hear the lastest, Rev J. Wright was at one time a MUSLIM. HMMMMMMMM. Is that why Obama sought him out??????????????

Robert OKane at 1:22AM on Jun 24th 2008

6. why don't you do your own research instead of picking up and running with lies..McCain's TEAM didn't say anything..One man made a comment, McCain didn't even agree..

Bug at 1:22AM on Jun 24th 2008

7. .One man made a comment, McCain didn't even agree..

Bug at 1:22AM on Jun 24th 2008

xxx

the head of the campaign....

The gaffe was everywhere on every network.

If anyone who was your political enemy said that your other face would be all over him, right?

You're not smart enough to recognize your own hypocrisy? You're the type of voter that Karl Rove could jump through flaming hoops, but the babymama fist jab vote isn't that important this time.

McCain is a warmonger. The only hope he has is selling, mongering, this war to the american public. At present it's the main issue to only about 4% of the voters.

If he and Charlie Black and Phil Gramm can't be salesmen, or mongers for the war, they'll lose and they know it.

So warmongering is their only hope. If you want a perpetual 'surge' (if they don't go home, it's an escalation) and war with Iran, vote for the warmonger, john W McSame, the mavericky little admiral's kid who can't control his temper and votes against VA benefits and the GI bill.

....warmongering on the cheap, ala Donald Rumsfeld, that great 'experienced' washington insider.

Clif Kuplen at 2:33AM on Jun 24th 2008

8. "The Case Against Barack Obama" a new book to be released end of summer 2008, authored by David Freddoso. This book is being written as a full length Political Biography of Barack Hussein Obama.

Feddoso, co-authored a best seller and very famous book about John Kerry, called "Unfit for Command"

A big September surprise for Obama?? There is very little written and published as a book about Obama, so this book will be a very big seller.

Order your book early because getting copies will be next to impossible when the book is released around the end of summer.

The Scott McClellan book, which the Left Wingnuts thought would lead to Bush and or Cheney having criminal charges against them, and turned out to be more of a defense for any Bush/Cheney criminal wrong doing.

This Obama book will come out and will be the talk of the Presidential Race until election day, and could well mean a big loss for Obama in the November election.

I just preordered my book yesterday.

Robert OKane at 2:35AM on Jun 24th 2008

9. Oh come on, this military record thing is what was said about John Kerry, only iynaroc02 thinks no one knows that. What do you think is in John Kerry's records that have been held back, especially after he lied to Congress, giving aid and comfort to the communist enemy. He also met privately with our enemies in Paris. What a chump!

lafn at 2:36AM on Jun 24th 2008

10. As usual, stink, the young turd, has blown everything out of proportion, but then again, what would one expect from it and it's ilk?

lafn at 2:41AM on Jun 24th 2008

11. I just preordered my book yesterday.

Robert OKane at 2:35AM on Jun 24th 2008

xxx

Oh, the swift boat cowards for communism!

This year, there's no T. Boone Pickens money behind the book, so your copy will at least be rare. I wouldn't look for a second edition.

Here's what will happen: everywhere the swift commies attack, the same area will be carpet bombed with pro Obama advertisement. They've been waiting.

At the same time, there will be negative attacks on mccain where they need to be laid down in other states. They'll be factual, but he'll get the worst of his history reviewed.

It's sort of rope a dope. They'll run out of money, and there'll be nothing left but discussion of the issues voters want to know about, not the warmongering and rev babymama fist jab shtick.

The book and the babymama rev fistjab ads won't have the support - in addition, the shtick has had consistently diminishing returns each time they tried it.

It's getting either tiring or laughable to most voters - Obama keeps gaining every week.

Big money is backing away from mcsame. They don't trust him. If he flipflopped back to his 2002 opinions, he'd hurt them more than help, so it's no surprise they're backing off throwing millions at an unknown.

Remember, the neocons thought he was the dregs. They haven't changed much. The money tells the story. Enough private citizens believe in the guy that he can cleanse himself of any tax support and come out ahead.

Clif Kuplen at 2:49AM on Jun 24th 2008

12. I knew it. When Robert Okane mentioned, "The Case Against Barack Obama" I KNEW that on checking, I would find out that it is published by, "Regnery Publishing."

Regnery is the publisher of the likes of Ann Coulter and Dinesh D'Souza.

Look at the books Regnery has published. All of them, right wing lunatic material for the Dittohead/Fux Noise crowd.

Captain Negative at 2:50AM on Jun 24th 2008

13. Captain negative and Clif

Yep, books get printed and people make money.

Regnery publishes books for Coulter and Dinesh, the Kerry book and now the Obama book. Smart company, how is there stock price?? They do make bundles of money. Smart company.

The "Case Against Barack Obama" will be Regnery Publishers best seller ever. Bet Cenk has also pre-ordered this book.

And what an election bombshell this could be.

Robert OKane at 4:14AM on Jun 24th 2008

14. As usual, you have manipulated the statement to serve your own purposes! However, I should expect that from one of Obama's disciples. He was answering a question asking him if an attack would help or be good for McCain. The interviewer is the malevolent one that composed such a question. And the media ADORES Obama!!! EVERYONE has noticed that, Democrats and Republicans alike.

Sue at 4:48AM on Jun 24th 2008

15. A crashing bore it could be as well. Why give it more attention than it desrves?

A lot of respected conservative authors are published by major houses. If it comes from Regnery, it's going to be crap from some shill. That doesn't mean that it won't be a "bombshell" amongst those predisposed to swallow the innuendo, half-truths, character assassination and appeals to the basest emotions.

A lot of people have purchased the last book Robert Okane was hawking. "Liberal Fascists" is a very popular object of derision. The title itself has become a joke. Almost as funny as, "Terrorist fist jab."

Captain Negative at 5:05AM on Jun 24th 2008