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St. Louis Post-Dispatch

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Thursday, August 21, 2008 7:36 PM CDT
LETTER: Mock letter to Putin from Sen. John McCain

By KEITH M. WILSON, Charleston

I enjoyed Ms. Kathleen Parker’s mock letters from President Bush, Senator Obama and Senator McCain to Russia’s Prime Minister, Mr. Putin. In the spirit of her clever satirizing of Bush and Obama, I would like to do the same with Senator McCain. Here it is:

Dear Putin,

Did you see my letter in Ms. Parker’s column (“Don’t make me come over there” (ha,ha)). I just wanted to follow up and make sure there are no misunderstandings.

Our friends in the oil industry are very pleased with recent events in Georgia. Of course we, just as you, are very pleased with the current price of oil, but they ask that we not rest on our laurels. If you and I do our part in convincing the markets that Eastern Europe’s oil and natural gas supplies are endangered, the potential for even greater profits (and campaign contributions) is excellent. Similarly, many of our friends in the military-industrial complex are very excited about the situation in Poland and the “missile crisis.” If you would please, remind your people that there is enough money here for everyone. The Republican Party is especially excited. They have run the focus groups and have done some polling and see a huge upside in the Poland situation. Everyone has just loved your people’s saber rattling in response to our intent to place anti-ballistic missiles there. For my part I will continue making bellicose comments myself (don’t make me come over there (ha,ha)).

Frankly, I think we have a perfect storm going here. If we both can generate enough fear and nationalistic fervor, this can be 9/11 all over again! But let’s face it, too many people are wising up to the terrorism card. It’s time for another Cold War, don’t you think? Of course neither of us want this to get out of hand if we can help it, but I think this can be win-win for all of us.

As we in the Republican party like to say, “Four more years!”.

Yours, McCain

KEITH M. WILSON

Charleston

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gringa wrote on Aug 22, 2008 12:55 AM:

" Uh, Dear Keith, not exactly what we were looking for in terms of clever satirizing. Come back after your world view has matured, OK?

Thanks, all my love,

Kathleen "

injustice85 wrote on Aug 22, 2008 11:04 AM:

" I think Keith's letter was right on the money, people keep complaining that we are falling for the Obama spell when all along the republicans have had us under the 9/11 spell for quite some time "

Jay C. wrote on Aug 22, 2008 11:27 AM:

" I think you've got the wrong person here............. it's Obama that wants to "talk" and play nice. Not that McCain would'nt talk but he's not the one who wants to tax, tax, tax. and talk, talk, talk......you have to do as Winston Churchill said.."Walk Softly AND carry a big stick! Obama wants to talk softly but forgets the "big stick." "

The Question wrote on Aug 22, 2008 3:47 PM:

" McCain doesn't need to earn money. He gets his the old-fashioned way. He MARRIES it. "

The Question wrote on Aug 22, 2008 4:21 PM:

" To review, John McCain went to bat for convicted racketeer Charles Keating after Keating gave McCain large campaign contributions and trips. Keating gave McCain more than $100,000 in contributions. McCain also took nice trips on Keating's private planes, three of them to Keating's luxurious retreat in the Bahamas.    McCain chose not to disclose those trips (as required under House rules) until the scandal broke. Keating hosted a $1,000-a-plate dinner for McCain. McCain wanted to get the investigation into Charles Keating shut down.
And when a reporter from The Arizona Republic approached him about all this, McCain called him, a liar.
Oh, and the Keating scandal cost U.S. taxpayers billions. "

injustice85 wrote on Aug 22, 2008 5:12 PM:

" Obama wants to tax tax tax!? Yeah those who make over 200,000 dollars a year! Here in coles we don't draw the rich man poor man line at 5 million "

Harry Potter wrote on Aug 22, 2008 5:45 PM:

" Summary
On the defensive over the extent of multiple McCain homes, the GOP candidate strikes back. But his TV spot gives an oversimplified and misleading account of how Obama bought his own $1.6 million house in Chicago.

The ad says Chicago power broker Tony Rezko got "political favors" including "$14 million from taxpayers." But there's no evidence of any connection to the Obama home purchase. The $14 million was to build apartments for low-income seniors. Obama wrote a letter supporting the "worthy" project, but both men say Rezko didn't ask for the letter.

It says Rezko "purchased part of the property [Obama] couldn't afford." Rezko's wife did buy an adjoining tract but later sold the land at a profit. Obama paid market price for his home.

McCain launched the attack after Obama ran one capitalizing on McCain's inability to recall for an interviewer how many homes the McCains own. Obama's ad says it's seven. The best tally we've seen puts the figure at eight, counting all the apartments and homes owned by McCain's wife, Cindy, and various family trusts, for themselves and their children.

from Factcheck.org "

Harry Potter wrote on Aug 22, 2008 6:31 PM:

" Rumor has it that workers are removing all of the partitions in the public restrooms rooms in Minneapolis-St Paul in anticipation of the Republican convention that is coming up. It is also rumored that Senator Larry Craig and congressman Mark Foley have threatened a boycott if this happens. Rush Limbaugh said it wouldn't cause him a problem because he started using private quarters ever since his arrest in Pittsburgh several years back. "

Harry Potter wrote on Aug 22, 2008 7:15 PM:

" From an Arizona newspaper:

Cindy McCain lied about drug treatment she claims to have undergone. Although she told reporters she went into a residential drug treatment program earlier this year, she told investigators she had treatment during 1991 and 1992. Whom did she lie to--investigators or reporters?

If Cindy McCain did undergo treatment before 1994, as she told investigators, the senator's claim that he didn't learn of his wife's addiction until this January simply defies credibility.

Cindy McCain and Jay Smith lied about her status with federal prosecutors. She told a Tucson reporter she had already completed a pretrial diversion program. Smith told another reporter that the case had come to "resolution." In fact, Cindy McCain hasn't even been accepted into a diversion program.

The McCain's seem to have an honesty problem. "

Mike P wrote on Aug 22, 2008 7:26 PM:

" I wonder if they will have commemorative bobble foot figures made for the festivities. Minor league team up in Minn. had them as a game give away, and a few were on ebay soon after. "

Harry Potter wrote on Aug 22, 2008 7:31 PM:

" The Bush/Cheney Administration seems to have more to do with worship of the almighty dollar than truly believing in the Almighty. They have taken every opportunity to diminish individual rights, through scare tactics and heightened terror levels, labeling detractors; or just "Staying the course."
Poor John McCain seems to be suffering from the "Stockholm Syndrome." The "Rove-ites" have convinced this once plain talking man that he is one of them. I have a feeling that Senator McCain is a victim of nano-mites in the brain; placed there sometime after his Rovesque dismantling in South Carolina, in 2000. Then again, he may just have "Presidential Blindness;" an affliction that affects one"s judgment of truthiness.
John Adams, the second President of the United States, was one of the principal framers of the Declaration of Independence, and the son of a Deacon. He was, debatably, a religious agnostic. During his term in office, John Adams resisted the call to war against France.
James Madison, undoubtedly, the major influence for the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, successfully fought valiantly to keep religion from being used as a parameter for political office.
Bush: In the beginning, there was terror. Then there was the erosion of our freedom, with the Patriot Act. Remember "enemy combatants?" What about warrantless wiretaps? Abu Ghraib? Torture?
What about the lies to start a War: Colin Powell holding up a vial of white powder. Where are the weapons of mass destruction in Iraq? Failed/Non-existent military planning. Diplomats (L. Paul Bremer III) unfamiliar or ignorant of Arabic-Muslim country, making desperately horrendous decisions. Did I mention OIL?
I think the picture is getting clearer for people. The Bush Administration is a clear example of what happens when profits of friends/contributors outweigh the needs of a nation.
These religious right-wing nuts do pray to the God�"In God they Trust", the dollar.
Maybe I"m idealist; I always believed that we are better than this.
Ben Franklin said, "They that can give up an essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither liberty nor security."

from an astute Internet blogger.... "

Mike P wrote on Aug 22, 2008 8:00 PM:

" It is usually well into their term, they don't recall, or deny any knowledge of things. Perhaps he has beginning alzheimers, and is trying to get a beter health plan, and retirement package, before comming out with it. Someone who is so unsure of things directly related to him, being a candidate for the president, is astounding. Can they still fall back on Dan Quale, or Arnold?

Election is going to be a like Obamma or don't vote, not a McCain is the best man for the job. Not that votes decide the outcome, but its something to do on a tuesday in November. Hope there is no E-chad controversies with the electronic voting machines, or the electoral college isn't of a mind of its own again, only if VP DC doesn't announce his new expanded covert office powers, make him president as long as he wants, when the sock puppet from texas serves out his term or the two of them go hunting, how ever this farce has to go. I am sure they have suites waiting in Dubai, they can run things from, or flee extradition to. "

Early Bird wrote on Aug 23, 2008 5:26 AM:

" Get ready for a barrage of reporting from Fixed news and the radio zealots on Biden. Over the next several weeks Fixed news will be doing smear pieces on him on a regular basis, and the bombastic windbag Limbaugh will be twisting history(as usual) to support his theory that Biden is nothing more than a communist in disguise. I have a hunch that the Swift Boating on the two Dems will make the Kerry right wing reporting look like kindergarten play. "

Harry Potter wrote on Aug 23, 2008 9:33 AM:

" With the ink barely dried on the news Saturday morning that Barack Obama had chosen Joe Biden as his running mate, John McCains campaign released a TV ad using Bidens own words against Obama.

Hmmm... I guess maybe old John didn't think ahead on this one. Considering how old John and Mitt went after each other, does this mean hat Mitt is out of the picture. If not, John is going to look rather foolish again if he caves into the ultra right and picks Romney.

I have a feeling old John is going to stick it to the ultra right faction and pick his own running mate. This would be the ultimate payback to Bush and Rove for sticking it to him in 2000.

In spite of the claims from Limbaugh and his ilk, I have to wonder if McCain really needs the far right side of his party. By picking a moderate pro choice running mate, McCain could possibly pick up a lot of the Dems who are uncomfortable with Obama, that might help offset the radical right loss who might sit it out or vote for one of the fringe candidates, as well as the Hillary supporters who no doubt feel betrayed.

And you were right, Bird, the slime machine was in full swing on Faux news the early AM. I'll bet old John Edwards is relieved that they will be leaving him alone now. LOL!

Now let's just set back and wait to see what old Doh aka RushBaby has to say about all of this. "

Harry Potter wrote on Aug 23, 2008 9:54 AM:

" From the net:

This is what Wikipedia says about McCain's involvement in the Keating Five scandal. The scandal that caused the savings and loan crisis in the late 1980's. The crisis that caused thousands of innocent American's to loose their life savings. (Even if McCain wasn't guilty it certainly gives reasons to question his judgement.)

QUOTE: "McCain and Keating had become personal friends following their initial contacts in 1981.[8] Between 1982 and 1987, McCain had received $112,000 in lawful[14] political contributions from Keating and his associates.[15] In addition, McCain's wife Cindy McCain and her father Jim Hensley had invested $359,100 in a Keating shopping center in April 1986, a year before McCain met with the regulators. McCain, his family, and their baby-sitter had made nine trips at Keating's expense, sometimes aboard Keating's jet. Three of the trips were made during vacations to Keating's opulent Bahamas retreat at Cat Cay. McCain did not pay Keating (in the amount of $13,433) for some of the trips until years after they were taken, when he learned that Keating was in trouble over Lincoln.[6][16]"

Even though he wasn't found guilty of anything, it sure does seem like McCain was in bed with this guy. As they say, where there is smoke, there usually is fire.

And to think the Obama foes want to discuss Rezko. LOL! "

sapient wrote on Aug 23, 2008 9:54 AM:

" How about the sweet loan deal Obama got to purchase his home. I guess we should just overlook that. "

Harry Potter wrote on Aug 23, 2008 10:01 AM:

" Here's a novel thought about Mr Magoo and his memory problems: When he admitted that he doesn't know how many houses he and his liquor heiress wife own, it might not have been because he owns too many houses to count. Instead, it could be that he simply couldn't remember how many houses he owns.

Mike P might very well be onto something. LOL! "

Harry Potter wrote on Aug 23, 2008 10:49 AM:

" This is a preemptive comment directed toward those who will inevitably bring up the plagiarism comment that happened over 20 years ago with Biden:

From an Internet blogger-

Give the voters some credit, even if the media is lazy and chooses to frame the issue that Biden has a past plagiarism problem, instead of Biden was the subject of a Dukakis campaign smear, Biden can handle that easy, "21 years ago in a speech I hadn't properly prepared for, because I had been busy preparing for Judge Bork's Supreme Court confirmation hearings, I accidentally forgot to attribute a story to Neil Kinnock, I had given the speech a dozen times prior, where I properly attributed Kinnock." End of story. Seriously if this is even part of the negatives, then you had to search pretty hard.

I'm sure this would not stop the good people at Faux news who will no doubt be doing a feature on this issue. Watch for it, I know I will. Ill be sure to mention it when it happens, which will probably sometime this week end and probably some time today. LOL!

Mr Magoo's confusion over how many houses he owns will be less of a story than Biden's momentary lapse of over 20 years ago.` "

injustice85 wrote on Aug 23, 2008 12:17 PM:

" sapient wrote on Aug 23, 2008 9:54 AM:

" How about the sweet loan deal Obama got to purchase his home. I guess we should just overlook that.

KEY THOUGHT: ONE HOME! "

Mike P wrote on Aug 23, 2008 3:30 PM:

" With all the people politically and civicly involved here, who came out of Omega dealings unscathed or relatively so. It is possible to have had dealings with questionable people, and to be unaware of it. Look at the difference between Blago's ties to it, and Obamas. How someone responds to dealing with being accused, proven guilty or not, says something about their overall charachter. Blago's response kinda points to this being but one shovelfull of the dirt this fella wheels around with him, between springfield and chicago. Obama was involved in politics, on the southside of chicago. That a home loan, not gift or kickback, and some investing, is the substance of what appears to be a rubbed elbows with the wrong person situation, is what dirt keeps getting recycled to smear with, is pretty petty, but trivial in the scope of political digging.

Who does a full background check on every person they talk to, work around, or even do personal business with? Of course around here we don't have to now. The post Omega climate, has the local hard nosed news hounds ready with their ear to the ground. Still dissapointed they were scooped, by a matter of days, I am sure. They were so close to breaking the foundations of Omega, and were made to look a little foolish all this was going on, rather openly right on their news beat. They long for redemption, and are kinda glad the comments section, wasn't running around then. Can't wait for their next, I mean first, we did some digging into things around here and this is what we found, non press release, accounting. I hope it is attributed, and not an Our View, but anonymous might keep their shovel in the dirt, instead of in the shed a little more. "

CHILL! wrote on Aug 23, 2008 3:47 PM:

" sapient wrote on Aug 23, 2008 9:54 AM:
" How about the sweet loan deal Obama got to purchase his home. I guess we should just overlook that. "

Well of course lol! "

RushBaby wrote on Aug 23, 2008 4:56 PM:

" Yeah Harry, yeah, Biden's plagiarism was all just a simple laps in memory wasn't it buddy.

Say, Harry, why don't you go ahead and use that sizable mouth of yours, and explain Joe's OTHER little gaffes:

"A barrage of subsidiary revelations by the press also hammered Biden's image: a serious plagiarism incident from his law-school years, boastful exaggerations of his academic record at a New Hampshire campaign event, and the discovery of other quotations in Biden's speeches pilfered from past Democratic politicians." - By Jim Geraghty (Jan 22, 2003)

LOL!!!!!

Obama Bin Biden 2008 Landslide LOSERS - ROFLMAO!

p.s. The HildaBeast supporters are P!$5ED that she was never even considered for VP. You Liberal lemmings can kiss that party unity gooooodbye. Operation CHAOS....still alive and about to pay huge dividends. LOL!

"Hell hath no furry as a woman scorned." "

RushBaby wrote on Aug 23, 2008 5:02 PM:

" Hey Harry, here's a fresh example of your "articulate" ObamaBoy without his teleprompter.

Obama introducing- Joe "Foot-n-Mouth" Biden today in Springfield:

"Let me introduce to you THE NEXT PRESIDENT (OOPS!) ..... the next Vice-President of the United States of America .... Joe Biden!"

ROFLMAO! Man I can't wait to see McCains ads using THAT Obama gaffe! He simply writes his own! "

RushBaby wrote on Aug 23, 2008 5:08 PM:

" Oh and Harry, speaking of housing problems- can you explain how Barry Hussein bought his lavish Chicago home?

Here's how McCain's ad explains it:

"Barack Obama knows a lot about housing problems. One of his biggest fundraisers helped him buy his million-dollar mansion.

Purchasing part of the property he couldnt afford.

From Obama, Rezko got political favors including 14 million from taxpayers. Now, hes a convicted felon, facing jail.

Thats a housing problem."

Care to address Barry Hussien's sweet little Chicago real estate deal Harry?
LOL! "

The Question wrote on Aug 23, 2008 5:44 PM:

" How do you know if a politician is an elitist? Well, there's a mathematical formula. You are an elitist if you have at least two to five more houses you don't remember than the five planes you were permitted to crash when you were in the military, thanks to your admiral daddy's connections. "

RushBaby wrote on Aug 23, 2008 6:10 PM:

" Harry Potter -

KEY THOUGHT: TONY REZKO! "

RushBaby wrote on Aug 23, 2008 6:46 PM:

" The Obama-Rezko house deal for dummies - The inside dope
August 2008

Read a post called How to buy a mansion you cant afford, it tells the entire story. This property was a single parcel for 80 years,

Obama and Rezko got the owner to split the parcel because Obama couldnt afford it.

Michelle Obama found out about the property being for sale because she was on the Landmarks Commission in Chicago and Hyde Park is a Historic District.

The property was split in record time and both sales closed on the same day, which was a condition of the sale. (HOW CONNECTED IS THAT!)

If you look at the entire parcel you can see the part that Rezkos wife bought for $625,000 is about 1/3 of the land and was NEVER worth $625,000. This was all done to allow Obama to get his Mansion.

Rezko was already in trouble at this time, it had been in the Papers for over a year that the FEDS were on Rezko, yet Barack and wife wanted this house and did business with a crook to get it. Rezko didnt have the money for this deal so he was able to borrow $3.5 million from a middle-eastern billionaire, Nadhmi Auchi, to make this happen.

They wanted to help a sitting U.S. Senator and possible President. This might not be CORRUPTION in Daleyville or Kwametown but it is everywhere else. "

RushBaby wrote on Aug 23, 2008 6:53 PM:

" Obama's "NEW" OUT-SIDE WASHINGTON POLITICS- eh! Not so "new".

Web of Illinois connections abound in Biden pick

ChicagoTribune Aug 23 2008- "DENVER---Sure there's all the talk that Sen. Joe Biden brings to Sen. Barack Obama's presidential campaign some gravitas on the issues of foreign affairs and national security. But the choice of Biden as Obama's running mate also reflects some of the synergy among Obama's senior strategists.

One of Biden's top advisers for his short-lived 2008 presidential campaign was David Wilhelm, an ex-Chicagoan who formerly chaired the Democratic National Committee and was the 1992 campaign manager for Bill Clinton.

Wilhelm, who is a superdelegate from Ohio, also was Biden's Iowa campaign director in the Delaware senators ill-fated 1988 presidential run. This time around, after Biden dropped from the race, Wilhelm jumped to the Obama camp in February, serving as a strategist and wooer of superdelegates in the extended primary battle against Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York.

Wilhelm also was a key player in the first political campaign run by Obama campaign manager David Axelrod: the 1984 U.S. Senate race in which Paul Simon defeated Republican incumbent Charles Percy.

Wilhelm and Axelrod also worked together on Clinton's presidential campaign. And Wilhelm ran the 1989 and 1991 campaigns of Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, one of Axelrods major political clients.

And who served as a political director of Biden's brief 1988 campaign? Bill Daley, the brother of the Chicago mayor, who went on to become a commerce secretary under Clinton and is now exploring a potential 2010 run for Illinois governor." "

sapient wrote on Aug 23, 2008 7:20 PM:

" I don't care if McCain or his wife have 15 homes if they can afford them. Looks like we have a little left wing class warfare going on here. I don't think Tony Rezko provided any money for any of them. "

Harry Potter wrote on Aug 23, 2008 11:11 PM:

" Let's see now, on one hand we have a college freshman stupidly not properly footnoting a term paper, that is taking credit for someone Else's work and on the other hand we have a grown man cheating on his wife. Now which of these incidents is a real judge of character? That seems like a no brainer to me. LOL! But then again perhaps we should only take the word of a noted right wing ideologue like Jim Geraghty. No spin going on with that guy, LOL! "

Harry Potter wrote on Aug 23, 2008 11:28 PM:

" From Factcheck.org

Rezko Reality
August 22, 2008
McCain misfires as he attacks Obama's home purchase.
Summary
On the defensive over the extent of multiple McCain homes, the GOP candidate strikes back. But his TV spot gives an oversimplified and misleading account of how Obama bought his own $1.6 million house in Chicago.

The ad says Chicago power broker Tony Rezko got "political favors" including "$14 million from taxpayers." But there's no evidence of any connection to the Obama home purchase. The $14 million was to build apartments for low-income seniors. Obama wrote a letter supporting the "worthy" project, but both men say Rezko didn't ask for the letter.
It says Rezko "purchased part of the property [Obama] couldn't afford." Rezko's wife did buy an adjoining tract but later sold the land at a profit. Obama paid market price for his home.

McCain launched the attack after Obama ran one capitalizing on McCain's inability to recall for an interviewer how many homes the McCains own. Obama's ad says it's seven. The best tally we've seen puts the figure at eight, counting all the apartments and homes owned by McCain's wife, Cindy, and various family trusts, for themselves and their children.
Analysis
On Aug. 21, Barack Obama released an ad chiding Sen. John McCain for his inability to remember how many houses he owns, and McCain responded the same day with a counterattack charging that Obama got help buying his house from a "convicted felon" who got $14 million in "political favors" from Obama. We find McCain's ad is careless with the facts and could easily leave a false impression.

Oh those pesky folks at Factcheck.org

I'm sure the objective writings of someone like a Jim Geraghty is much more accurate than those silly folks at factcheck.org. LOL!

I'll let our delusional friend keep using his right wing pundits and I'll stick with sources like Factcheck. LOL! "

RushBaby wrote on Aug 24, 2008 12:28 AM:

" Oh so it's real judgement of character eh, Harry?

Well now, you must be talking about that exemplary judgement of ObamaBoy's taste in friends and churches. Let's see.....Tony Rezko and sweetheart real estate deals, William Ayers and terrorist attacks on the U.S., Rev. Wright and militant racist vile...is that the "judgement" you're looking for Harry?

Or could it be Barry Hussein's vote to allow infanticide, and then lie about it?

Hope and Change! Yes We Can! "

RushBaby wrote on Aug 24, 2008 12:45 AM:

" This one's for my good buddy Harry (I play with a Obama Bin Laden doll) Potter:

Biden Was Accused of Plagiarism in Law School

By E. J. DIONNE JR., SPECIAL TO THE NEW YORK TIMES

Published: September 17, 1987

"According to the people familiar with the record of the 44-year-old Senator from Delaware, he was called before the disciplinary body at the law school during his first year because of charges that he had committed plagiarism on a paper. Mr. Biden entered the school in 1965 and graduated in 1968.

CBS News tonight quoted an aide to Mr. Biden as saying he had been exonerated. However, an academic official said Mr. Biden had been found guilty, threw himself on the mercy of the board and promised not to repeat the offense. This, according to the official, persuaded the board to drop the matter and allow Mr. Biden to remain in law school. Mr. Bidens office declined to clarify the circumstances surrounding the case, saying the Senator had insisted on handling the matter himself at the news conference."

Yes yes Harry, this was just a simple freshman error- LOL! "

Harry Potter wrote on Aug 24, 2008 7:49 AM:

" John McCain is unstable. He is too prone to emotional outburts. He relies too much on other people to do his thinking for him. This man can NOT be trusted with nu-kew-ler weapons."

George Bush, talking about John McCain in 2000 campaign "

Harry Potter wrote on Aug 24, 2008 8:57 AM:

" The latest, in a growing list of embellishments comes from the McCain camp. Cindy McCain has repeatedly referred to herself as an only child. This week came news that she actually has two half sisters, although apparently she had very little contact with them.

First she lied about stealing drugs, that were supposed to go to poor people, to feed her own drug habit, then it was the stolen cookie recipe debacle, then she lied about Mother Theresa's involvement in her daughters adoption, by falsely claiming that Mother Theresa encouraged her to adopt her daughter, and now we find out she lied about being an only child. Is there anything that women won't lie about?

Oh wait a minute, I'll bet all of the other lies were really errors on the part of some poor intern, like they tried to say about Cindy's phony cookie story. LOL! "

Harry Potter wrote on Aug 24, 2008 9:02 AM:

" The Chicago Tribune editorialized, "Obama has been too self-exculpatory."

The truth: Obama has been honest about the mistake he made, and the fact that Rezko was trying to buy future influence with him. Obama declared, "I am the first one to acknowledge that it was a boneheaded move for me to purchase this 10-foot strip from Rezko, given that he was already under a cloud of concern. I will also acknowledge that from his perspective, he no doubt believed that by buying the piece of property next to me that he would, if not be doing me a favor, it would help strengthen our relationship." Obamas mistake was in allowing the appearance of impropriety. He never actually did anything wrong. And thats the key issue here.

Despite all of these rumors about Obama and Rezko, none of the evidence indicates any actual wrongdoing. Conservative Republican Tom Bevan called the evidence against Obama "pretty darn weak." Conor Clarke of the New Republic reported that Obamas real estate deal with Rezko was a "nonscandal." According to Clarke, "journalists have followed the smoke and havent found the fire. At that point, accusing someone of something that looks wrong stops making sense."

Hmmmm.... "

Harry Potter wrote on Aug 24, 2008 9:06 AM:

" Myth; Obama did favors for Rezko

Claim: Chicago Sun-Times revealed that in 1998, Obama wrote a letter endorsing a low-income housing development for which Rezko was a codeveloper. As the Sun-Times put it, "NOT A FAVOR? As a state senator, he went to bat for now-indicted developers deal." Chicago Tribune columnist John Kass wrote, "No favors? When you transcend politics and walk on water, I guess it all depends on what your definition of favor is."

The truth: The common definition of a favor in this context is a political action done in exchange for donations. Rezkos lawyer reported that Rezko had not asked Obama to write the letter. Instead, Obama (along with a local state representative and an alderman) endorsed the project because it had widespread community support. Its difficult to imagine any politician on the south side of Chicago who wouldnt have a routine letter written to endorse government funding for affordable housing and social services for low-income senior citizens in that area. When it came to political influence, Obama didnt do any favors for Rezko. The Chicago Tribune reported, "when Rezko pushed for passage in Springfield of a major gambling measure, Obama vocally opposed it."

Hmmmm... "

The Question wrote on Aug 24, 2008 9:10 AM:

" This morning on C-Span, a McCain supporter called in to suggest that all the Democrats, blacks and Hispanics be rounded up and shipped off to Canada. And he was talking to a black host.
A typical Republican racist. "

Harry Potter wrote on Aug 24, 2008 9:39 AM:

" The Question wrote on Aug 22, 2008 4:21 PM:

" To review, John McCain went to bat for convicted racketeer Charles Keating after Keating gave McCain large campaign contributions and trips. Keating gave McCain more than $100,000 in contributions. McCain also took nice trips on Keating's private planes, three of them to Keating's luxurious retreat in the Bahamas.    McCain chose not to disclose those trips (as required under House rules) until the scandal broke. Keating hosted a $1,000-a-plate dinner for McCain. McCain wanted to get the investigation into Charles Keating shut down.
And when a reporter from The Arizona Republic approached him about all this, McCain called him, a liar.
Oh, and the Keating scandal cost U.S. taxpayers billions. "

While this is all true, TQ, you left something out. Magoo also brought up his being a POW during that exchange. But at least he didn't remind the reporter of his pet name for his wife, you know the infamous "C" word. LOL! "

injustice85 wrote on Aug 24, 2008 10:22 AM:

" ah good morning as usual everyone lol, well said harry, i just think mcCain is simply an idiot lol, it's the same old scripted speeches where he spends more time staring at a piece of paper than his audience,Obama isn't quick about his answers because he actually stops and thinks, quick answers are hollow "

RushBaby wrote on Aug 24, 2008 10:50 AM:

" Golly gee Harry- The folks at FactCheck.org! Wow- and they take Obama and Rezko's own words at face value too. Well- that's certainly good enough for me....no wait, no it's not.

I guess we should all assume that Jim Geraghty is the original and only source for this story huh? Well- no. No he's not.

Well now, let's take note that The Chicago Sun-Times found that Rezko and his associates provided THREE TIMES as much money for Obama than the presidential candidate had admitted:

ChicagoSun-Times June 18 2007-

"During his 12 years in politics, Sen. Barack Obama has received nearly three times more campaign cash from indicted businessman Tony Rezko and his associates than he has publicly acknowledged, the Chicago Sun-Times has found.

Obama has collected at least $168,308 from Rezko and his circle. Obama also has taken in an unknown amount of money from people who attended fund-raising events hosted by Rezko since the mid-1990s.

Obama has collected at least $168,308 from Rezko and his circle. Obama also has taken in an unknown amount of money from people who attended fund-raising events hosted by Rezko since the mid-1990s.

But seven months ago, Obama told the Sun-Times his "best estimate" was that Rezko raised "between $50,000 and $60,000" during Obama's political career.

But seven months ago, Obama told the Sun-Times his "best estimate" was that Rezko raised "between $50,000 and $60,000" during Obama's political career."
------

Hmmmmm...So here we have ANOTHER example where Obamessiah "mispeaks" "can't remember" "isn't sure" "clarifies" or as most common folks would say "LIES"! "

RushBaby wrote on Aug 24, 2008 11:04 AM:

" Obama never "lies"- he simply "didn't know" "never heard" "wasn't aware" had a "lapse of memory" or made a "boneheaded move". Oh- and got REAL LUCKY with the purchase of his Chicago mansion!

"Are we starting to see a pattern here? When Obama has an associate who proves to be an embarrassment, he says he simply didnt know anything about their activities. I never heard those sermons. I never asked him about the rumors of his legal troubles.
Well, did he ever think to check it out? After all, the Chicago papers hadnt exactly shown reticence in covering Rezkos financial and legal troubles. Before going into business with Rezko, were expected to believe that the president of the Harvard Law Review was so naive that he didnt read the papers or ask around about his business associate, especially when going in on a real estate deal with a man who was also a major contributor.

Lets also take a look at that. When Obamas connection to Rezko first came to light, he initially told reporters that Rezko didnt raise any more than $50,000. Chicago reporters then dug up almost $150,000 in fundraising last summer, and Obama was forced to admit that he underestimated Rezkos contributions. Now hes telling us that its over $250,000. How many more revisions on this story can he make? Will the figure get closer to a million dollars by the time November gets here?

In both situations, the best Obama can ask us to believe is that he is a benighted idiot. He managed to attend a church with a race-baiting, America-hating pastor for twenty years without noticing it. During that time, he did business with a corrupt politico without ever noticing that, too, and he blithely went from election to election without being able to tell the difference between $50,000 and $250,000.

Thats the best case. And that is supposed to instill confidence in his ability to lead the nation?
These revelations reveal that the best for which we can hope about Barack Obama is that hes an empty suit. And an empty suit wont bring any kind of change to the Beltway not for the better, anyway." By Ed Morrissey "

Harry Potter wrote on Aug 24, 2008 1:16 PM:

" Well now let me see, on one hand we have the factcheck folks who dispel myths and rumors put out by both sides and on the other hand we have right wing pundits like Morrissey and Geraghty. Now this will be a tough decision. Well....uh...I think I'll stick with the folks at factcheck and let the village idiot, Doh, go with his right wing pundits, who are of course known for their Fox news like objectivity. LOL! "

Harry Potter wrote on Aug 24, 2008 1:29 PM:

" More on the McCain Keating scandal:

In a May 30 Los Angeles Times article about Sen. John McCain's early political career, staff writer Richard A. Serrano wrote that "[a]nother influential friend [of McCain] was financier Charles H. Keating Jr. The Phoenix resident raised more than $100,000 for McCain. (Keating went to prison in the 1990s for his role in the failure of Lincoln Savings & Loan.)" Yet while noting Keating's role in the Lincoln Savings & Loan scandal, the Times ignored McCain's own alleged involvement; a Senate Ethics Committee investigated allegations that McCain -- along with four Democratic senators, together called the Keating Five -- had exerted improper influence when he met with federal bank regulators on behalf of Keating. The committee found that while McCain didn't break any rules, he "exercised poor judgment in intervening with the regulators."

Moreover, contrary to the Times' suggestion, Keating was not simply a fundraiser for McCain. As The New York Times noted, Keating "gave Mr. McCain free rides on his private jet, a violation of Congressional ethics rules (he later said it was an oversight and paid for the trips). They vacationed together in the Bahamas. And in 1986, the year Mr. McCain was elected to the Senate, his wife joined Mr. Keating in investing in an Arizona shopping mall." In a November 15, 1990, article (accessed via the Nexis database), the Los Angeles Times itself noted Keating's close relationship with McCain, stating that McCain took "nine trips to the Bahamas on Keating's plane before he was elected to the Senate in 1986. He and his wife stayed at Keating's vacation home during three of the trips and his wife invested money in a Keating venture."

Hmmmm...and someone wants to talk about Obama's relation with Rezko? LOL! "

Harry Potter wrote on Aug 24, 2008 1:50 PM:

" Rezko ties with other politicians (including, guess who, and you're gonna love this one):

Tony Rezko's first significant political act was hosting a fundraiser for Harold Washington during Washington's successful campaign to become Chicago's first black mayor. He has since raised funds for many other politicians, both Democrats and Republicans. In addition to Blagojevich and Obama, prominent Democrats that Rezko and his company, Rezmar, have contributed money to, or fund-raised for, are Comptroller Dan Hynes, Attorney General Lisa Madigan, Lieutenant Governor Pat Quinn, former Chicago Mayors Daley and Washington, and former Cook County Board President John Stroger. Rezko has also raised money for REPUBLICANS: former Illinois Governors JIM EDGAR and GEORGE RYAN, chaired a multimillion-dollar fund-raiser for PRESIDENT GEORGE W BUSH- I repeat, GEORGE W BUSH in 2003.

What? Rezko chaired a fundraiser for Bush? I sure hope our friend, Doh, doesn't hear about this. LOL!

Seriously, will our friend have to start criticising Bush now?

It would seem to me that if Obama gets criticised for taking money from a powerful donor, then Bush should also be criticised for his involvement with Rezko, or am I missing something here? Oh yeah, only Dems get criticised from "the fair and balanced" Doh.

Care to discuss the Bush fundraiser?

The spin on this one ought to be good. LOL! "

Harry Potter wrote on Aug 24, 2008 2:19 PM:

" ZZZzzzzzzz

Registered: Jun 2004
Posts: 18383
More on the corruption of Dick Cheney: :

08-24-08 12:51 AM

A two-year-old letter by Vice President Dick Cheney that pushed a controversial Alaska natural-gas pipeline bill is getting renewed scrutiny because of recently disclosed evidence in the Justice Department's corruption case against Sen. Ted Stevens.

In a conversation secretly tape-recorded by the FBI on June 25, 2006, Stevens discussed ways to get a pipeline bill through the Alaska Legislature with Bill Allen, an oil-services executive accused of providing the senator with about $250,000 in undisclosed financial benefits. According to a Justice motion, Stevens told Allen, "I'm gonna try to see if I can get some bigwigs from back here and say, 'Look you gotta get this done'."

Two days later, Cheney wrote a letter to the Alaska Legislature urging members to "promptly enact" a bill to build the pipeline. The letter was considered unusual because the White House rarely contacts state lawmakers about pending legislative matters. It also angered state Democrats, who accused Cheney of pushing oil-company interests.

Anyone surprised? "

Harry Potter wrote on Aug 24, 2008 2:24 PM:

" NBC: "It's striking" that Ralph Reed is raising money for McCain and that McCain is letting Reed raise money
Submitted by crew on 18 August 2008 - 10:52am. Jack Abramoff John McCain Ralph Reed
From NBC's First Read:

Will Ralph Reed actually show up at todays McCain fundraiser in Atlanta? We said it last week and well say it again: Given the fact that McCains Senate Indian Affairs Committee helped uncover the Abramoff scandal and given that McCain has railed against Abramoff on the campaign trail, its striking 1) that Reed -- Abramoffs former business partner -- has helped to raise money for todays event and 2) that the McCain camp didnt disassociate themselves from Reeds participation.

Yeah, keep talking about Rezko. LOL! "

Harry Potter wrote on Aug 24, 2008 2:27 PM:

" Here's how the Times-Picayune described the FEC proceedings:

Dividing along partisan lines, the Federal Election Commission couldn't agree Thursday on whether Sen. David Vitter, R-La., can use campaign money to pay all the legal costs related to his involvement in a Washington escort service scandal.

In a 3-3 vote, with all three Republicans voting yes and all three Democrats no, the commission deadlocked on whether Vitter could use campaign money to pay more than $160,000 in legal fees accrued in monitoring the federal criminal case against Deborah Jeane Palfrey, the so-called "D.C. Madam," and quashing her defense team's subpoenas of the senator. A majority vote is required for passage of a resolution.

Yeah that's a good use of campaign funds. LOL! "

Harry Potter wrote on Aug 24, 2008 2:31 PM:

" More on the party of family values:

Melanie Sloan on CREW's FEC complaint against Rep. Buchanan: "It's our understanding that Vern Buchanan was involved."
Submitted by crew on 20 August 2008 - 9:17am. Vern Buchanan
The Associated Press picked up CREW's FEC complaint against Rep. Vern Buchanan (F-FL) and it's been running in papers around the Sunshine State. While we've heard the perfunctory denials from the Buchanan camp , Melanie Sloan made it clear that CREW believes Buchanan played a role in this scandal:

Buchanan, a Republican, was elected in 2006 and represents an area that includes Sarasota and Bradenton. The complaint was filed by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington and two former dealership employees. It alleges at least seven employees at two Buchanan-owned dealerships were either reimbursed or coerced into making $1,000 campaign contributions.

Buchanan is not said in the complaint to have directly asked for the contributions, but he did know about them, according to Melanie Sloan, the executive director of the watchdog group.

"It's our understanding that Vern Buchanan was involved. These are Vern Buchanan's dealerships, so none of this could have been happening without Vern Buchanan knowing about it," Sloan said.

A spokeswoman for Buchanan responded that it is the campaign's policy "that all contributions comply fully with FEC regulations."

Sounds like this guy has something in common with the now imprisoned Ryan when it come to coercing campaign donations from your employees. LOL! "

Harry Potter wrote on Aug 24, 2008 2:44 PM:

" What's this? Cheney might not be off the hook after all.

The criminal investigation of Halliburtons Nigerian operation widens.

Evidence of corruption during Cheneys tenure.

Criminal investigations of former Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg Brown and Root (KBR), for alleged bribery in the construction of Nigerias $10 billion liquefied natural gas (LNG) export plant on Bonny Island, have been widened to cover the past 20 years of Halliburtons operations in Nigeria. Investigators will also probe accusations of embezzlement by senior executives, and Halliburtons relations with other multinationals, including Royal Dutch Shell.

Halliburton recently dismissed two of its most senior executives, Robert Stanley and William Chaudin, on suspicion of embezzling $5 million from a Nigerian energy project.

The initial claim, which started the investigation some six years ago, was that Halliburton and others working on a gas export project conspired to win a $5 billion construction contract in 1995 by establishing a $180 million slush-fund to bribe Nigerian officials, and to reward Western contractors between 1994 and 2002, which includes the period when US Vice-President Dick Cheney was Halliburtons chairman and CEO (1995-2000). Such payments are illegal under a 1997 convention barring bribery of foreign public officials in commercial negotiations, adopted by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

Cheney was also at the helm when, on March 18, 1999, Halliburton and the consortium paid $37.5 million to British lawyer Jeffrey Tesler, who served as a consultant to KBR after it was formed in a 1998 merger between Halliburton and Dresser Industries, which Cheney engineered. This and three other similar payments to Tesler are some of the key points in the investigation by French, British, US and Nigerian police

Maybe they'll let Cheney share a cell with George Ryan, or Duke Cunningham or maybe even Tom Delay. LOL! "

Harry Potter wrote on Aug 24, 2008 2:51 PM:

" The following is a list of John McCain's Top 10 Misstatements and Outright Deceptions:

1. McCain doesn't even know who is in charge in Iran.

2. Iraq/Iran, Sunni/Shia: McCain doesn't know the difference.

3. McCain still thinks Czechoslovakia (which split into two countries in 1993) exists.

4. McCain wrongly claimed that Baghdad was mostly normal.

5. McCain called Baghdad market safe.

6. McCain can't even remember how little he knows about the economy.

7. McCain falsely claimed he never requested pork.

8. McCain falsely claimed that tax cuts increased government revenues.

9. McCain's claim to be untainted by special interest money is false.

10. McCain wrongly claimed he never supported amnesty.

Hmmmm.... "

injustice85 wrote on Aug 24, 2008 6:56 PM:

" thats what i'm saying man, McCain doesn't know jack about foreign affairs, just because of his military experience doesn't mean he has any foreign affairs experience, i like how all these people are so much more experienced than Obama yet we have yet to see their accomplishments! "

Harry Potter wrote on Aug 24, 2008 7:46 PM:

" FRo Illin;is Reason:

By the way, Mr. Rezko also raised thousands of dollars for Pres. Bushs White House run, money which (to my knowledge) was not given back or donated to charity. (That BuzzFlash article is a bit off on its numbers. Rezko co-hosted the 2003 $3.8 million Bush/Cheney fundraiser in Chicago. He didnt necessarily raise all $3.8 mil by his lonesome. But, the minimum amount to qualify as a co-host was $100,000 and Rezko had given a few grand directly to Bush/Cheney in addition to that 100k over the years.)

Now isn't that interesting? "

291953 wrote on Aug 24, 2008 8:43 PM:

" Hey Potter!! You forgot to mention that McCain doesn't know how many houses he and his wife own!! "

RushBaby wrote on Aug 24, 2008 10:14 PM:

" Barack Obamas home loan has more questionable aspects than just the Tony Rezko connections, according to the Washington Post. After ten years as a prominent Chicago politician and in his first year in the Senate, Obama got a $1.32 million loan below market rates without paying the normal extra fees a rate which saved him $300 per month on his mortgage. Obama managed to do this despite the extraordinarily large mortgage and his lack of history with the lender:

TheWashingtonPost- "The couple wanted to step up from their $415,000 condo. They chose a house with six bedrooms, four fireplaces, a four-car garage and 5 1/2 baths, including a double steam shower and a marble powder room. It had a wine cellar, a music room, a library, a solarium, beveled glass doors and a granite-floored kitchen.

The Obamas had no prior relationship with Northern Trust when they applied for the loan. They received an oral commitment on Feb. 4, 2005, and locked in the rate of 5.625 percent, the campaign said. On that date, HSH data show, the average rate in Chicago for a 30-year fixed-rate jumbo loan with no points was about 5.94 percent.

Jumbo loans are for amounts up to $650,000, but the Obamas $1.32 million loan was so large that few comparables are available. Mortgage specialists say that many high-end buyers pay cash."
-----

Northern Trust has helped out Barack Obama in other ways, too. According to the Post, their employees have donated $71,000 to Obamas campaigns. When Obama rejected public financing, were these donations the kind that he insisted represented the moral equivalent of the system he championed until he found that he could outraise and outspend his opponents? By Ed Morrissey

LOL!!! "

RushBaby wrote on Aug 24, 2008 10:16 PM:

" Tell me Harry- did Rezko help Bush buy a mansion he couldn't afford?

Didn't think so- lemming-head. LOL! "

injustice85 wrote on Aug 25, 2008 11:47 AM:

" no rush bush has bigger criminals to hang with like good old dick c. "

Harry Potter wrote on Aug 25, 2008 8:08 PM:

" Yeah 291953, and your forgot to mention Bush's fundraising buddy (over 2.5 million dollars) Rezko too. LOL! "

Harry Potter wrote on Aug 26, 2008 7:16 AM:

" Nothing from Doh yesterday? I'll bet he stayed up late last night watching the Democratic convention, and got so busy taking copious notes that he forgot all about posting his usual inane palaver. LOL! "