Lighter posting for one more week…

Such a plethora of reasons to vote for a tube of chapstick instead of John McCain, and so little time! What with the campaign finance “maverick” now accepting donations of up to $70,000 and making such fabulously respectful comments about his refusal to vote for women getting equal pay for equal work, I can barely keep up!

Alas, I’m one of those crazy grad students, coming to the end of a crazy semester. I’ve got four papers due this week, and another due next Monday. Once this hellishness ends, posting will be daily, I promise.

I’ll be sure to put something up every coupla days ’til then.

Reason #25

In February, John McCain actively sought and won the support of Rev. John Hagee. What does Hagee stand for? Well, for one thing, that Hurricane Katrina was God’s punishment for homosexuality in New Orleans and that the Catholic Church is “the great whore of Babylon.”

Not at all terrifying.

Reason #24

McCain talks a big game about his support for environmental measures, but his record just doesn’t add up. The Center for American Progress breaks it down.

Some highlights:

-McCain’s “plan” for ending global warming involves a huge increase in the use of nuclear energy… Kind of like dealing with that gash on your foot by cutting off your leg, if you ask me.

-McCain has repeatedly voted to destroy natural habitats such as the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge by opening them for drilling (for what are relatively inconsequential amounts of oil, unless you’re the oil company making millions from it).

-McCain has opposed three fourths of legislation intended to protect the environment.

Yet again, the “maverick” proves to be just another boring Republican.

Reason #23

Unsuprisingly, it looks like McCain’s votes against a Martin Luther King holiday were part of a larger pattern:

In 1990, McCain was one of the deciding votes in helping then-President George H.W. Bush sustain a veto against the relatively benign Civil Rights Act of 1990.

In doing so, the senator found himself at odds with majorities in both chambers of Congress, most senior African Americans within the Bush administration, and the Republican-led U.S. Civil Rights Commission. He also helped Bush became the first president ever to successfully veto a civil rights measure — Andrew Johnson in 1866 and Ronald Reagan in 1988 both had vetoes overridden.

In the end, the override lost by one vote. McCain still defends his decision today. Looks like all that “growth” McCain has been doing since his MLK vote hasn’t had much impact on his ideas about whether women and people of color should have an equal shot at employment.

Reason #22

Straight talk my butt.

Reason #21

McCain has now confused Sunnis and Shiites at least three times in the past month.

For comparison, this would be kind of like confusing Catholics and Protestants… If you were responsible for diplomacy in Northern Ireland in 1972.

Why I would vote for a housplant before I’d vote for John McCain

Unlike John McCain, houseplants are often quite attractive. They really spruce up a room in a way that a grumpy 70-year-old just doesn’t.

Houseplants also clean the air, removing carbon dioxide and other pollutants. I can’t say the same for John McCain.

Reason #20

From The Huffington Post:

A close look at John McCain’s Senate voting record on judicial confirmations makes it painfully clear that progressives need to ignore the rantings of the Ann Coulter crowd and believe John McCain when he says he will listen to Sam Brownback and appoint judges like Samuel Alito and Antonin Scalia. On judges, McCain’s no moderate: if given the chance, he will appoint justices that move an already conservative Supreme Court sharply to the right.

Indeed, one looks in vain for a judge who is too ideologically conservative for McCain: he voted to confirm Robert Bork, Clarence Thomas and, unless I’ve missed something, every other Republican judicial nominee voted on in his 22 years in the Senate.

Even more tellingly, as part of his negotiation in 2005 of what has been dubbed the “Gang of 14 Deal” (more on this later), McCain pushed, hard, for the confirmation of both William Pryor and Janice Rogers Brown, the two hardest-edged conservatives appointed to the federal bench by President George W. Bush.

For background, there are nine people on the Supreme Court.  Currently, five of them support Roe vs. Wade, while four do not.  In all likelihood, the next President will get to appoint at least one Supreme Court Justice.

Oh, and the Supreme Court doesn’t just make decisions about abortion. They do everything from choosing a President (wasn’t 2000 fun?) to making decisions about global warming and disability rights. You name an issue you care about—the Supreme Court has an impact on it. Any time there’s a 5-4 decision that narrowly averts disaster of one kind or another, we should think about what a complete and utter mess we would have on our hands if McCain were President.

Just sayin’.

 

Reason #19

You do not want this guy’s finger on the red button.

Via The Raw Story:

John McCain’s temper is well documented. He’s called opponents and colleagues “shitheads,” “assholes” and in at least one case “a fucking jerk.”

But a new book on the presumptive Republican nominee will air perhaps the most shocking angry exchange to date.

Three reporters from Arizona, on the condition of anonymity, also let me in on another incident involving McCain’s intemperateness. In his 1992 Senate bid, McCain was joined on the campaign trail by his wife, Cindy, as well as campaign aide Doug Cole and consultant Wes Gullett. At one point, Cindy playfully twirled McCain’s hair and said, “You’re getting a little thin up there.” McCain’s face reddened, and he responded, “At least I don’t plaster on the makeup like a trollop, you cunt.” McCain’s excuse was that it had been a long day. If elected president of the United States, McCain would have many long days.

First off, this is typical abusive behavior and I have no doubt that if he’s willing to be this nasty with people watching, McCain is even more abusive toward his wife when cameras aren’t rolling. Gross. But beyond that, anyone with a temper like this should never be anywhere near a weapon, and they certainly shouldn’t be in charge of an entire nuclear arsenal.

Get it together

This is bad news. Basically, Democrats are spending their money on a primary when the real fight hasn’t even started. I know that for my part, about $100 that would have gone to Moveon ended up going to my primary candidate.

I don’t care how we do it, but this primary season has got to end. The only one who will win this fight is McCain