Login HereYes, McCain actually said this a few days ago at a campaign event in Florida, and only the AFL-CIO was good enough to notice:
We have made progress toward this vision by expanding the benefits of free commerce, through [the North American Free Trade Agreement], the Central American Free Trade Agreement, and our free trade agreements with Peru and Chile. But the progress has stalled; our longstanding bipartisan commitment to hemispheric prosperity is crumbling. We see this most vividly in Barack Obama’s and Hillary Clinton’s opposition to the free trade agreement with Colombia. The failure of Congress to take up and approve this agreement is a reminder why 80 percent of Americans think we are on the wrong track.
What a breathtaking statement. No, it is not lost jobs, the lack of access to healthcare or being mired in a disastrous war that McCain wants to expand. None of those things have people feeling down. People are saying to themselves: "Everything is great! But damn it, we can't pass a trade deal with a repressive government that will export more American jobs, and I am just not satisfied with that!"
Yes, that is how Americans see it. That is why President Bush has an approval rating that rivals scurvy. Because he hasn't gotten the trade deal passed.
Who is the elitist again?
Update: Of course, I forgot, one of McCain's top staffers, Peter Madigan, lobbied McCain in favor of that trade agreement on behalf of the Colombian Government, while working for McCain, so it must be that the whole nation understands the plight of Peter Madigan. He just can't seem to catch a break, and the American electorate feels very bad about that.
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Americans are dispirited because the Republics have led the country straight into the shitter for the last 8 years.
Well, McCain has a point - freer access to Colombian cocaine would certainly makes some Americans feel better. Oh, McCain wasn’t arguing for legalizing narcotics? Nevermind…
Good point…Although it hasn’t stopped Bush
Advice please - I was going to flip a coin - spend the day cleaning closet or contacting super delegates to urge them to bring an end to this primary so the media can spend time on McCain’s foibles rather than have to listen to Terry McAuliffe explain again about how now Hillary thinks Florida and Michigan are very important - even though they didn’t seem to matter much back in the day when she was courting Iowa and N.H. Seeing this article sealed the deal for me. Super delegates it is. But I don’t know how to proceed. Anybody have a suggestion?
Is that why I feel dipirited?
here’s a link
here’s a link
Arianna has a list of them up on a post from this last week (HuffPo). I was thinking go to that list and start the google process to locate contact info. It’s a list of 200+ people. That’s a LOT of googling and contacting. Perhaps if we’re working on that we could post what we find here or somewhere so we all not “REgoogling”.
Thanks for the effort, but the link isn’t showing up for me - does it show up for you?
yes, it does. i got to it by googling “uncommitted super delegates”.
Maybe these super delegates are dispirited over the free trade agreement too. Thanks for that list!
DailyKos also has one of Reps with phone #’s
The failure of Congress to take up and approve this agreement is a reminder why 80 percent of Americans think we are on the wrong track.
After Ian’s post last night and Dakinikat’s and his great answers to my questions I was starting to doubt my own knowledge of economic matters.
Then I saw John McCain try and blame a trade deal with Columbia that most Americans have not heard of for why Americans are pissed about the economy.
And I realized that ignorance is relative to both your actual knowledge and your ability to admit that yes you do need to learn more when confronted with superior knowledge.
John has people to tell him things about the economy so he cannot claim ignorance about gas prices and higher wheat and rice prices. John has lived through the 70’s once the Bush years must seem awful familiar.
Yet he still picks economic advisers who tell him that a Columbian trade deal will save the economy? How will such a deal lower gas prices? Just who is McCain’s adviser on economic matters. How bad are John’s skills picking advisers?
I have to say that in I’ve had a free trade bias for years. I haven’t rethought the issue- and it would take a lot of work to do so. Maybe this would be a good place to have a serious dialogue. I don’t think that there’s a simple answer to whether or not to protect american industries.
Well I don’t think free trade can save us from higher gas prices unless we were to break up OPEC. Or charge Saudia Arabia for our services protecting them from Iran.
Last fall in one of the debates, McCain said something like “The US would be energy independent, 5 years after he won the Presidency”
I thought he was nutty at the time, but then there were still 9 people in the race, now it is either a lie or he is nutty.
D’oh! It does work - I didn’t understand. I was looking for more words I guess. Thanks a million!
Wait I know why America is angry about the economy Bush is trading away Nuclear Tech to the Saudis and he still is getting turned down by the Saudis for his
requestsdown on his knees begging for more oil.If this war is really about oil then I guess American troops really are dying in vain.
The Bush administration has pledged to support Saudi Arabia’s nuclear power program, including supplying enriched uranium for nuclear reactors. The agreement came out of President Bush’s visit to the Saudi kingdom last week, during which Bush also pledged new US assistance in guarding Saudi oil reserves. [includes rush transcript]
http://i1.democracynow.org/200....._enriching
Free trade is an interesting concept, on CNBC the head of a bottle water company said that 90% of China’s drinking water is contaminated. Is letting coutries use prison labor, slave labor and child labor, Free trade? We are competing against countries who have no rules. Is it Free trade for countries to dump steel into the US market because they needed the dollars, to support their own currency? (Back when the dollar was strong) Now China is buying up the steel from South Korea and US Steel hits a 52 week high.
I think free trade is nice if the workers are paid well but Columbia seems to have a problem with killing Union organizers so right there I have a problem with that.
I think Mexico should pay its workers more money its not like “Carlos Slim, the richest man in the world”
http://money.cnn.com/2007/08/0.....m.fortune/
Can’t afford it.
I think we should include environmental concerns into our trade packs. China’s pollution is affecting us here in America because our politicians didn’t think Chinese pollution would reach all the way back to America.
Well, this explains why Hillary Clinton has people on her staff who are lobbying for the Columbia free trade agreement! Yep, McCrazy & Neocon Hillary are working in sync with each other to continue George Bush’s 3rd term, you know, another 4-8 years of saying, “The economy is great! We are winning in Iraq! All is swell! And we can thank Columbia for it!”.
No wonder Hillary is invoking RFK’s assassination all this year! She and McCrazy are waiting to be together again helping to protect George Bush and his Warmongering Thugs. A vote for either one will do it.
Spit. I hate them all.
Okay, back to planting bushes/flowers in my yard.
Just how does he plan to make America energy independent Invade Iran? There is noway in 5 years we could make America energy independent with green power we couldn’t build enough factories to make enough solar cells and wind mills to do that in 5 years.
Plus I just don’t see that happening without a lot of government investment. Why doesn’t the MSM ask McCain about his energy plans?
Mornin’ Folks!
Dang u guys. I’d promised myself not to read any McSame jokes today.
but then… no joke eh? wanna bet? his whole candidacy is one big bad joke. admit it dammit.
my head hurts.
if this stuff keeps happenin’, my garden definitely will be free of thistles.
Have a safe weekend all. That’s Junior’s new campain, ya’know. Make gas so expensive, no one can afford to go out & wreck th’ car. What a nice fella… Must-a forgot our musician fella who gets ta’ go play concert for the nice folks, but gets no mileage reimbursement.
go soak yer head dumbya.
apologies for the attytood…
Yes, I was stunned when he said it, but back then he was only 1 of 9 and he had about 30 seconds or a minute. It is crazy talk, not possible.
Mods, Techs: What’s happening with this thread? Why does it start with May 23 and then continue to May 25? And why do the before and after threads only show up as Cliff Schecter threads at the top and bottom, instead of the firedoglake before and after threads?
Haven’t you ever heard of time zones?
Some sort of technical glich, I will stop typing now and maybe someone smarter than me can answer.
I heard somewhere, from a pretty-dang-reliable source, that Ecuador has trubble selling it’s nice bananas to the great states of US, UNLESS they are RE-labeled as being from Colombia.
Yes. You heard me right.
boosh has succeeded in turning our whole world upside down and backwards…
as long as they print our comments in order, what’s to worry?
must be party-weekend in techville. nebberdeless, i’ll bet they’ll answer yer queries in short order.
I suspect that this post was written and posted into a queue to load on the front page on Friday….. that may be why the actual post is dated May 23rd. Then the browser/web editor caught up with the server system time to the current date/time
that’s “its”. i knew that. more. coffee….
Obama needs to pick a VP who will scare the Washington Elites so much that they will call off their plans to replace Obama with Hilary by stealing the nomination at the Democratic Convention.
Or by having McCain win in an
electionmilitary takeover,.Dennis Kucinich is that man, Dennis as VP stops Hilary from continuing her campaign because she can’t even claim anymore that she is running for VP.
Dennis’s pledge to get the troops out day one and on National Healthcare are more popular with voters than Hilary or McCain.
Plus by picking Dennis the MSM will talk about how crazy he is but to quote Elvis Costello
(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding?
By picking Dennis we force the media to talk about Dennis and his signature issues. Which may seem nuts to the media but the American public sure likes them, we win when we talk about the issues!
DENNIS AS VP NOW!
We’re contacting OUR superdooperdelegates, some of which undoubtedly drive by our humble abode on occasion, by setting out our Obama sign. 2 nights ago. Sign and mailbox and conservation-easement sign(!?!) were all ripped out, along with those on down the road.
fair trade, fair charade!
fair warning: touch that sign again, buddy, and… well… tis not advisable. i hear peanut butter makes a fairly decent cleaning solution for some types of “problems”. that’s the only help you’ll get from me.
no, please. i like Dennis. i really do but, having lived in OH over 35 yrs, i have yet to see proof that he knows how to get anything done. his intentions these days are lovely, but please let him munch along with the herd in the House. things might work a whole lot better that way. just sayin’…
I agree….. Obama ticket needs a combination of someone from the south, some foreign/military experience and someone that will STFU McBush on those issues. Personally I would love Edwards but also think that Webb or Clark would be good choices……
I wish the Obama campaign and supporters would make more of McCain’s nasty reply to Obama on the issue of the new GI Bill. People have mentioned that it sounded a little mean, etc., but they haven’t bothered to actually interpret what he said. What he said was, that if Obama had actual military experience, he would want to deny veterans increased benefits. If a few talking heads would point that out, it would emphasize the degree to which McCain blows his lid and refocus on the fact that he opposes the measure and has yet to give his true reasons.
You’ll notice at the top of the page a menu bar with firedoglake, emptywheel, etc. All part of the fdl network. Each blog stands alone. Want to go to fld or emptywheel, click on their button at the top. Cliff apparently didn’t blog anything yesterday.
Wow. I can just imagine the response if one of the Dems had said something so stupid…
And McCain arguing a position that his staff is being paid to promote to him by a foreign freaking government?!?!
What the hell! Isn’t that like, the stuff of scandals? And this happened like last Wednesday?!
Those better have been some good god-damn Costco ribs the press were eatin.
Webb?
Edwards would scare the DC political elites too:) The goal is to keep Obama alive by scaring the Elites about who would replace him. That and stop Hilary, and by Obama moving past Hilary to name a VP we make her seem silly with this impossible quest.
I talked to a guy at work who was pretty pleased with McCain’s response. He thought McCain was putting Obama right in his place.
Naturally he had not a clue what Obama had said to “deserve” it…
The GOP and the MSM did say a lot about Bill and his China connections which to be honest I never understood?
if we spent all our time stringing together McSame’s every nasty comment, we’d end up with a list longer than Hugh’s.
at least Hugh’s list is useful.
has anyone ever suggested possibility of dementia, or is that out of bounds?
i oncet had care of someone dear who was ‘not quite all right’ up there. one minute, it was level and o.k. next, the bile spewed for no apparent reason, and with no apparent aim. it hurt, but it wasn’t particularly dangerous. still, it was instructive.
I DON’T WANT NO MORE hair-triggers on our little OR big black boxes of dangerous toys. NO! NO MORE!
Ok …. heading up to the attic….. I think I have everything I need…. if ya don’t hear from me in a couple of days…. send out the rescue squad…
OT, but mentioned in an earlier thread and deserves to be spread around for memorial day.
This animation on Iraq war fatalities by day and location is really powerful.
Stephanopolis tells his audience that Rove is working for McCane.
Did anyone see McCain adviser Holtz-Eakin blame the weak dollar on Nancy Pelosi and congress.
Talk about an easy liar.
-G
At LEAST he didn’t say we were bitter. If he did I’d have to take my guns to church.
And Rove sure tried to weasel the explanation too …..
Naturally he had not a clue what Obama had said to “deserve” it…
30%ers are low information voters they decide things on emotional levels within an often racist, religious fundamentalists, and authoritarian personality ingroup/outgroup mental framework.
The longer this election goes on the more of them should suffer cognitive dissonance. This election is a great experiment in psychology and group dynamics.
Maintaining conflicting principles (e.g. logically incompatible beliefs) or rejecting reasonable behavior to avoid conflict can be increasingly maladaptive (non-beneficial) as the gap being bridged widens, and popular usage of the term “cognitive dissonance” tends to stress the maladaptive aspect. It is often associated with the tendency for people to resist information that they don’t want to think about, because if they did it would create such dissonance, and perhaps require them to act in ways that depart from their comfortable habits. They usually have at least partial awareness of the information, without having moved to full acceptance of it, and are thus in a state of denial about it. This “irrational inability to incorporate rational information” is perhaps the most common perception of cognitive dissonance, and this or another example of extreme maladaption would appear to be underlying many conceptions of the term in popular usage.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_dissonance
Oh Goodness Me. Let the poor gal vent & try to hold the scold. A good rant once in awhile beats putting a fist thru the wall, or sending 1000’s to a dreadfully untimely and cruel fate just for the he## of it.
((((((KayInMaine))))))
An example of cognitive dissonance could be a prowar GOPer who has avoided thinking about why we America the worlds biggest military power still has not won the war in Iraq when we won WW 2 in less time.
Suddenly confronted with $ 4 a gallon gas to fill his SUV which he bought after 9/11 with 0% financing fully expecting very cheap gas prices after Bush invaded Iraq.
Now that Prowar GOPer suddenly is thinking about buying a Toyota as his next car.
He does still qualify as a 30%, but he is pretty dang disillusioned right now. He’s having a rough year, he dislikes McCain in general, and has the winger-required hatred of Hillary.
Obama sorta interests him, but he wants to dislike him really badly.
He’s my favorite winger at work, and he is kinda my project this year.
10 out of 10 Terrists want John McBu’ush as our next President, to keep a $400 billion a year military stymied ad infinitum by an aggregate force of irregulars fighting in large measure with the most crude weapons this side of rocks and spears.
My family was the first people on the block to buy a Volkswagon and later Toyotas during the 70’s buy American car days. I think money and a group identity lets people hold on to their illusions/ideology long past events and facts have proven them untrue.
Obviously my folks didn’t fit in I wonder how much money 30 years of driving fuel efficient cars has saved my entire family? The benefits of not belonging? Whats the last line of the book of Mencius?
New post up over at FDL…
10 out of 10 Terrists want John McBu’ush as our next President,
True McCain would continue Bush’s war policy for Ossama a vote for McCain is a Return on Success.
For Ossama the Surge is working…as the Best Al Quieda Recruiting tool ever!
I dare ya to find one and try to explain it to him/her. *g*
i got caught in conversation with 2 of ‘um yestidie & mentioned my reconstituted Obama sign, just in passing, dontchaknow…
The guyfellah, who refuses to have a tv in his house and, to my knowledge, won’t enter a building that contains ‘puters (something about the dangerous computer waves…), proudly announced to the other 2 of us that he “reads everything the candydates have written” - um - “except that Obama was too boring [so he didn’t get past the 1st few pages in his book.]”
The gal nodded at him with a knowing-sounding, “Ohhhhhh. Uhhhh Huhhhh. Hmmm.” Then suddenly said with great emphasis, “I’ve got to go get that tractor started, because I’ve lost my keys and it’s getting dark.”
Say what???!?!?! I apologize, folks, but I was utterly slack-jawed/speechless in their commanding presence. The beautiful Obama sign will just have to speak for itself to those 2. I got nuttin! egad…
just call me dumb-struck! *sigh*
Interesting….but bringing up the assassination of RFK as a hint to the crazies who want Hillary on the ticket is okay? Wow. Again, I hate them all. If you can’t handle the word “hate” then maybe it’s time for you to get out of politics and leave it for the thick skinned people no matter what the color of it is. Okay?
Okay, back to mowing the yard.
aye thick-skin? read 51 too. ;->
oh, and don’t mow in your sandals…
Mine too…. the Toyota dealer gave us all Christmas presents as three families bought a care in the same month - me, sister & my parents….. two of my parents Toyota wagons were passed down to the grandkids as their first cars… Grandma got a new car and recycled the old one…
I think he is counting on the PSA’s from the oil law in Iraq. He doesn’t understand why the Iraqis are not thrilled with the idea. But he expects they will be within 5 years. But the truth is he really thinks it will take 100 years.
Personally, I think he is nutty.