The Smear Gap

"Today, CNN posted an article online summarizing the Tax Policy center's report comparing John McCain and Barack Obama's proposed tax plans. It is available here. The numbers are remarkable, but CNN failes to notice the obvious punchline: more than 85% of Americans will pay less in taxes under Obama than McCain."

McCain was asked the exact same question, and I want to republish his response in full, because I think it offers a peek at McCain???s way of thinking.

???Some of the richest people I???ve ever known in my life are the most unhappy. I think that rich is ??? should be defined by a home, a good job and education and the ability to hand to our children a more prosperous and safer world than the one that we inherited. I don???t want to take any money from the rich. I want everybody to get rich. I don???t believe in class warfare or redistribution of the wealth. But I can tell you for example there are small businessmen and women who are working 16 hours a day, seven days a week that some people would classify as, quote, ???rich,??? my friends, who want to raise their taxes and raise their payroll taxes. Let???s have ??? keep taxes low. Let???s give every family in America a $7,000 tax credit for every child they have. Let???s give them a $5,000 refundable tax credit to go out and get the health insurance of their choice. Let???s not have the government take over the health care system in America.

???So I think if you???re just talking about income, how about $5 million. But seriously, I don???t think you can ??? I don???t think, seriously that ??? the point is that I???m trying to make here seriously ??? and I???m sure that comment will be distorted, but the point is ??? the point is ??? the point is that we want to keep people???s taxes low and increase revenues. And my friend, it was not taxes that mattered in America in the last several years. It was spending. Spending got completely out of control. We spent money in a way that mortgaged our kids futures. My friends, we spent $3 million of your money to study the DNA of bears in Montana. Now I don???t know if that was a paternity issue or a criminal issue, but the point is ??? but the point is it was $3 million of your money. It was your money.

Dear Abby,

I am a crack dealer in Beaumont, Texas who has recently been
diagnosed as a carrier of HIV virus. My parents live in Fort Worth.
One of my sisters lives in Pflugerville and is married to a
transvestite. My father and mother have recently been arrested for
growing and selling marijuana. They are financially dependent on my
other two sisters, who are prostitutes in Dallas.

I have two brothers: one is currently serving a life sentence at
Huntsville for the murder of a teenage boy in 1994. My other brother is
currently in jail awaiting charges of sexual misconduct with his three
children. I have recently become engaged to marry a former prostitute
who lives in Longview. She is a part time (working girl).

All things considered, my problem is this. I love my fiancee and look
forward to bringing her into the family. I certainly want to be totally
open and honest with her.

Should I tell her about my cousin who supports Barack Obama for
President?

Signed, Rashime

Worried About My Reputation

Just as a note -

I've been as guilty of letting the angry liars on here get my goat as anyone else, but I just want to say, the more I think about it, the more I'm sure that the right course of action is to ignore them.

These are not happy people. They're miserably angry and unhappy, putting on a show of laughter and condescension to try to anger people they dislike by tricking them into thinking they have no problems. Nobody with an honest life built on genuine principle feels the need to belittle other people and harass them - and there's a really salient point to make here. One of the few times I see people like Roller and Sportlock *genuinely* happy is when they have a group of people to condescend to. They mock, they laugh, then they congratulate themselves on belittling those who they're "superior" to.

But there's a trick. If we take ourselves out of the equation, that source of happiness goes away for them. We disengage, and suddenly they have nobody to latch on to and make themselves feel better about by disparaging. And that's the true weakness of people who define themselves by their hatred to others - you take away those others, and there's nothing left but an empty shell and probably a lot of feelings of emptiness.

So, God willing, I'm going to focus on the positives and stop engaging with them, even to "fight" the smears - it just gives them more ammunition to lie about. If we even respond to this nonsense, these people feel stabs of joy because we've given credulity to the attempts at being provocative and getting attention. I can't control anyone else's response, but I strongly urge the people that Roller, Sportlock, et al are trying to provoke to just shine it on - ignore them - and focus on the positives. We'll all do a lot better when we realize these are just empty people trying to get attention and give condescension to fill themselves up with something.

HE was Just TRYING TO DEFEND GEORGIA !!

From Huff Post:

'...McCain Adviser Arrested Once For Gun Violation On Capitol Hill

John McCain's chief foreign policy adviser, Randy Scheunemann, is known for his aggressive posture on foreign policy, having served as an architect of the Iraq war and, more recently, a fierce supporter of and lobbyist for the former Soviet nation of Georgia.

But apparently he takes the notion of cowboy diplomacy to a new level. A Democratic source tipped off the Huffington Post that back in 1997, when he was serving as a top adviser to Sen. Trent Lott, Scheunemann was arrested by Capitol Hill police for a gun violation.

According to a Washington Times article from February 1997, Scheunemann was spotted by a police unit with a shotgun case through the window of his car. They stopped him to ask if the case contained an actual gun. It did. Moreover, Scheunemann had several rounds of ammunition as well.

"The congressional aide was arrested, taken to police headquarters, fingerprinted and charged with possession of an unregistered firearm (an unloaded 12-gauge) and unregistered ammunition (two rounds)," the story went. Scheunemann, who would spend several hours in jail before his release, would eventually plead guilty to a lesser charge and pay a $500 fine.

The McCain campaign declined to comment...'


McCain has assembled a 'crack' advisory team !!

Just another 'red blooded' American 'patriot' !!

Gimme back my bullets


John McCain, Rebpulican 'Mimbo'

TURN THE PAGE

This is how Americans feel about our gun carrying McCain. War first, take care of our troops later and the H with the family who lost a loved one.

In '04, at the Republican National Convention, there were all of these people waving "Flip-Flop" thongs, mocking Kerry's supposed change of vote on a bill. Never mind that the bill had been modified, going through the approval process, as all bills do, it was Flip flop, flip flop, flip flop.... Now, a short 4 years later, McCain has reversed himself on Tax cuts for the wealthy, immigration, off shore drilling, evangelical ministers and not a peep from any Republicans. Amazing... how can those on the right be such hypocrites??? And to Dems are bad for America.. if you REALLY think we're safe with BushCo in office, that's pretty amazing. Our army is broken, our national treasure has been squandered and given away to Blackwater and other private companies via no bid/no responsibility contracts, and our nation is viewed as a joke by the rest of the world. Russia is mocking us, laughing their @sses off, knowing we no longer have the military forces to do ANYTHING to them! And Iran is stronger then ever, now that we've eliminated their #1 adversary, Iraq. This are FACTS, not talking points. Great job, Bush!

To Cloudsmoke: McCain has not gone negative in my opinion, he has simply poked fun at Obama. McCain wants short term energy (drilling, oil shale) AND far term (development of alternative sources of energy, etc.) which I think is a good strategy. Drilling will not solve our energy problems and alone, and alternative sources won't provide any relief for at least 20 years. McCain has been to war and knows better than anyone what our troops will go through, so in my opinion, will not commit troops to combat unless absolutely necessary. What has Obama done? Give a good speech, so what? McCain has a lifetime of experience, Obama has done nothing that entitles him to be President. Obama is untried and inexperienced, and in the world today, we can't take that risk.

McCain is a fraud. Have you heard the man speak lately, he's worse than Bush. I didn't think anyone could be worse than the shrub

President Obama will wash away the sins of Yankee Imperialism, hirsutism, nationalism, hypogonadism, militarism, botulism, racism, priapism , fascism, albinism, conservatism, sensationalism, Republicanism, hyperthyroidism, sexism, stoicism, individualism, Darwinism, capitalism, empiricism, jingoism, Romanticism, and industrialism.