Olbermann: Divisive politics is anti-American. GOP ticket’s willingness to say anything to win ultimately damages America.
In a Special Comment, Keith Olbermann lists examples of hateful, divisive politics from the right that actually do more to undermine America than the bogus accusations of anti-Americanism being leveled against Barack Obama.
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The St Petersburg Times: “McCain’s straight talk has become a toxic mix of lies and double-speak. — John McCain and Sarah Palin stand accused of trying to “lie” their way into the White House with discredited claims and advertising.
The Palin Lie Dossier
1. She never went to Iraq — Her trip was to an Iraq/Kuwaiti border post.
2. Her claim that she is in charge of 20% of America’s ENERGY SUPPLY is a monstrous exaggeration — Alaska’s share of domestic energy production last year was 3.5 percent, according to the official figures kept by the U.S. Energy Information Administration….[FactCheck.org].
And, if by “supply” Palin meant all the energy consumed in the U.S., and not just produced here, then Alaska’s production accounted for only 2.4 percent.
Alaska is the ninth largest producer of ENERGY(includes oil and natural gas) in the United States, more specifically — Alaska produced the second largest amount of CRUDE OIL (771,000 Barrels/Day) in 2006, behind Texas, which produced 1,088,000 Barrels/Day. — [Ref: Historical U.S. Crude Oil Production, 1954 to 2006]
Alaska produces very little Natural Gas, most of which (76.6%), was produced in the Gulf of Mexico area.
Also, McCain’s claim that Palin is a “major world authority” in Energy is ridiculous and laughable.
3. To bolster her foreign policy credentials, she lied that she has traveled to Ireland — She never went to Ireland. The Ireland trip was a refueling stop on her trip to military installations in Germany and Kuwait. Maybe she went to Bosnia Too — and was under fire while landing.
Is this lying a woman thing? — Hillary Clinton’s List of Many Lies.
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| More Lies Below (Article & Video) | …and here: Incontinence + Incompetence = GOP Ticket |
Jon Stewart — Sarah Palin Won’t Blink
Non-partisan fact-check operations, newspapers and opinion columnists are also charging McCain, once a darling of the press, of cloaking the election in sleaze and unfairly smearing Democrat Barack Obama.
With the United States locked in two foreign wars, punished by its thirst for Middle Eastern oil and with the economy plummeting, the race was consumed for two days last week by McCain camp claims Obama called Palin a “pig.”
US election campaigns and hardball advertising always push the limits of truth and often amount to outright distortion — the Obama camp has not hesitated to blur McCain’s record too.
Cartoon — By David Horsey
Campaigns and experts usually steer clear of blatantly accusing a candidate of lying, but the term is being bandied about following McCain’s latest hard-hitting assault on Obama’s character and defense of Palin’s record.
Last week, the McCain campaign accused Obama of wanting to teach sex education in kindergarten. In reality, the bill he voted for as an Illinois lawmaker mandated warnings for young children about sexual predators.
Palin was accused of saying she visited Alaskan troops in Iraq when it emerged her trip was to an Iraq/Kuwaiti border post.
She is also taking heat for repeatedly saying she blocked a notorious multi-million dollar project to build a bridge to a sparsely-inhabited island in her state which she initially backed and of not fully returning all the federal dollars doled out for it.
“Generally those come out as outright lies, not just not incorrect,” said Larry Powell, a professor of communications of the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
The McCain camp is also now being accused in news reports of embellishing attendance figures at campaign rallies.
The Obama camp derided the volley of accusations as “disgusting lies” and questioned McCain’s honor.
Newspapers and independent fact-checking groups also accused Republicans of peddling untruths.
“The claim is simply false,” said FactCheck.org of the sex education ad.
The St Petersburg Times complained: “McCain’s straight talk has become a toxic mix of lies and double-speak.
“It is leaving a permanent stain on his reputation for integrity.”
Republicans, like President George W. Bush’s guru Karl Rove, have been playing hard knocks-style politics for more than 20 years, often taking a Democrat’s perceived strength and turning it into a liability.
Ironically, McCain was a victim of such treatment, bowed out embittered by the 2000 primary campaign against Bush and apparently not willing to take the high road again.
Governor Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota Sunday said Democrats were descending into “hysteria.” Another top McCain aide Carly Fiorina said McCain’s foes were panicking and accused them of unfairly exploiting McCain’s age.
McCain himself denied on Friday that his attacks were rooted in untruth.
“Actually, they are not lies,” McCain said on the ABC show “The View.”
“This is a tough campaign.”
Whatever its morality, the final judgement on McCain’s strategy will be dictated by whether it works.
An earlier negative barrage that branded Obama an empty “celebrity” seemed to jolt the Democrat last month, changing a race McCain appeared to be losing.
Latest broadsides slowed Obama again: for every hour he spends defending himself, he is not talking about the failing economy or comparing McCain to Bush.
“They are trying to put Obama on the defensive… to make a whiner out of him,” said Powell.
Latest polls give McCain a slight edge, but can a scorched earth policy work all the way through to November 4?
“If that is the only thing they are doing, then they would be in serious trouble,” said Kathleen Kendall, a communications professor at the University of Maryland.
“A lot of things are happening at once,” she said, mentioning positive advertisements the campaign is running and speeches by McCain on issues. Palin is also reinvigorating Republicans.
Obama’s response is also critical.
“I love this country too much to let them take over another election with lies and phony outrage,” he said before launching a fight-back.
But he does not seem comfortable in the political gutter.
“He doesn’t want to go as sulphorously negative as his opponents are if he can avoid it,” said Bruce Buchanan, of the University of Texas at Austin.
McCain’s aides are like “guerrilla fighters fighting those who are following Marquis of Queensbury rules,” he said.
The sleaze debunked
Reference: Moo — People should stop picking on vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin because she hired a high school classmate to oversee the state agriculture division, a woman who said she was qualified for the job because she liked cows when she was a kid. And they should lay off the governor for choosing another childhood friend to oversee a failing state-run dairy, allowing the Soviet-style business to ding taxpayers for $800,000 in additional losses….[Read More]
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Utter Incompetence!
Top 10 Dumbest Sarah Palin Quotes — Idiotic Quotes by Republican Vice Presidential Candidate Sarah Palin
1. “As for that VP talk all the time, I’ll tell you, I still can’t answer that question until somebody answers for me what is it exactly that the VP does every day?” –Sarah Palin, interview with CNBC’s “Kudlow & Co”, July 2008
2. “I’ve been so focused on state government, I haven’t really focused much on the war in Iraq.” –Sarah Palin, interview with Alaska Business Monthly, March 2007
3. “Pray for our military men and women who are striving to do what is right. Also, for this country, that our leaders, our national leaders, are sending soldiers out on a task that is from God. That’s what we have to make sure that we’re praying for, that there is a plan and that that plan is God’s plan.” –Sarah Palin, on the Iraq war, speaking to students at the Wasilla Assembly of God, June 2008
4. “I think God’s will has to be done in unifying people and companies to get that gas line built, so pray for that.” –Sarah Palin, on the $30 billion national gas pipeline project that she wanted built in the state, speaking to students the Wasilla Assembly of God, June 2008
5. “I told the Congress, ‘Thanks, but no thanks,’ on that Bridge to Nowhere.” –Sarah Palin, who was for the Bridge to Nowhere before she was against it, multiple
[Cartoon By: David Horsey]
6. “We need to come to the defense of Southeast Alaska when proposals are on the table like the bridge and not allow the spinmeisters to turn this project or any other into something that’s so negative.” –Sarah Palin, on the Bridge to Nowhere, interview with the Ketchikan Daily News, Oct. 2006
7. “And our congressional delegation, God bless ‘em. They do a great job for us,” Palin said at the forum hosted by the Alaska Professional Design Council. “Representative Don Young, especially God bless him, with transportation — Alaska did so well under the very basic provisions of the transportation act that he wrote just a couple of years ago. We had a nice bump there. We’re very, very fortunate to receive the largesse that Don Young was able to put together for Alaska.” –Sarah Palin, on federal pork and earmarks secured by Rep. Don Young (R-AK)
8. “A changing environment will affect Alaska more than any other state, because of our location. I’m not one though who would attribute it to being man-made.” –Sarah Palin, dismissing global warming as influenced by human activity, Newsmax interview; August 29, 2008
9. “When I hear a statement like that coming from a woman candidate with any kind of perceived whine about that excess criticism, or maybe a sharper microscope put on her, I think, ‘Man, that doesn’t do us any good, women in politics, or women in general, trying to progress this country.” –Sarah Palin, on complaints from Hillary Clinton’s campaign about sexist coverage, Spring 2008
10. “It’s great to see another part of the country.” –Sarah Palin, campaigning in Pennsylvania, Aug. 2008
~Compiled by Daniel Kurtzman
Gina Gershon Strips Down Sarah Palin
Sarah Palin answers her critics.
[By: icanhascheezburger.com]
Notes:
2. Gov. Sarah Palin’s visceral style and tendency to attack critics contrast with her public image, her record shows. Once Elected, Palin Hired Friends and Lashed Foes — Gov. Sarah Palin lives by the maxim that all politics is local, not to mention personal. So when there was a vacancy at the top of the State Division of Agriculture, she appointed a high school classmate, Franci Havemeister, to the $95,000-a-year directorship. A former real estate agent, Ms. Havemeister cited her childhood love of cows as a qualification for running the roughly $2 million agency. Ms. Havemeister was one of at least five schoolmates Ms. Palin hired, often at salaries far exceeding their private sector wages…..[Read More]
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The Democratic nominee for president will be an African American or a woman. The prospect of history being made has brought millions of new voters to the Democratic party. Democrats are delighted with both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. Read the full story
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