In no particular order;

So, I've been thinking:

Senator McCain hasn't had the best of weeks.  Or, really, the best of the past few weeks.  He is extraordinarily gaffe-prone.  Which is another way of saying that Senator McCain makes mistakes.  He makes a lot of mistakes.

So I've got a project for the community - and to keep it interesting, I'd like to keep it equal.

Follow the link for more!

I admit it. I wrote a diary a couple days ago called, A Note to Barack Obama (with feeling). In it, I posted the text of a letter to Bill Burton, of the Obama campaign, slamming the FISA decision.  

I still hate the decision. I still have hopes that Senator Obama will take the lead on this at the last moment in a way that will put the issue to rest.  I still believe it will be too little too late. I'm really disappointed.

But, even after putting all my anger and bluster and rhetoric out there for all to see; and even though I argued effectively in the diary that we should withhold some personal resources from the Obama campaign to get his attention; and even though I agree with every single word Glenn Greenwald wrote on the subject, especially this,

Mea Culpa below the fold.....

One of the big mistakes Republicans make is the assumption that there are only upsides to their plans and that it’s possible to get everything they want without negative repercussions. For example, they think they can woo racist votes without being stuck with the racist label. Or that they can woo rabid cultural warriors who refuse to compromise on cultural issues without actually giving them any cultural victories. Or that they can bully everyone as much as possible without facing any kind of backlash or pushback, and that the more you bully people, the more they’ll allow themselves to be bullied. But the truth is that every action has a reaction and there’s always a downside to every decision you make.

Not Ready To Rumble
By WBRAMH

Wisconsin ended it.  
The pre-fight favorite never saw the punch, and while the latest bell saved her the knockdown, she had fallen far behind in points. Now, her corner worked feverishly to find an effective counter.  These men, after all, were seasoned Cut Men and Strategists who knew how to stop the blood flow and turn a contest. They included the very commissioners that made the rules - and then ignored the rules.  The ref wouldn’t flatten their chances – hubris would cause their demise.

The enigmatic Democratic Primary process was born from the ashes of 1968 Chicago. The young backroom doyens on the Hughes Commission (corner-men like Harold Ickes) set out to make it easier for alternative, under-funded candidates to go fist-to-fist against the establishment’s champion – a Bobby versus a Lyndon.  Someday, a smart promoter might even choose a black or female to champion the cause.  The new Commissioners wanted to smooth the way for future RFKs – challengers to the establishment who could save us from future social inequalities and Vietnams.

Check this out.
Link to exactly what I'm talking about: http://www.johnmccain.com/...

So not only is John "Xerox" McCain copying most of Obama's slogan (We Can Believe In) and his catchphrase ("change"), but now it appears McCain is copying his logo, deliberately.

But wait, there's more.  I don't have the link for it, but McCain is also reportedly trying to jump on board with a governmental accountability bill Obama and Senator Corbin are working on.

I know Senator McCain's only chances this fall involve blurring the distinctions between the parties and distancing himself from President Bush, but isn't all the platently obvious copying of Obama going a tad too far?

Yesterday, Grandpa McSame said that he wanted to school Obama and teach him a thing or two about Foreign policy.  It seems to me that in order to understand foreign policy you need to understand history.  It seems that McSame needs a course in History 101.

Five Mistakes Hillary Made by Time.com
(Make that Six)

1. SHE MISJUDGED THE MOOD

That was probably her biggest blunder. In a cycle that has been all about change, Clinton chose an incumbent's strategy, running on experience, preparedness, inevitability — and the power of the strongest brand name in Democratic politics.

There were times when I thought I could have run a better campaign. She also misjudged the anti war sentiment of the Democratic voters in the primary. If she were smart she would have said "I made a mistake on the Iraq vote but I'm against the war now and I will bring home the troops as soon as possible". She said too little too late. And the voters wanted her to be more honest. More straight talk than spin and games. She misjudged.

I know the MSM is math averse, but this is ridiculous. After the Pennsylvania primary, the press started trumpeting Clinton's "double digit" win over Obama, when her lead was actually 9.2%. The problem was that they were rounding vote percentages before subtracting -- a common statistical error.

So did the media learn their lesson? Let's look at Indiana, where they are saying that Clinton won by 2%. If you start with the raw number of votes you get the following: Obama has 49.44% of the vote, Clinton has 50.56% of the vote. If you -- like the media -- round these first (to 49% and 51%) and then subtract (which is wrong) it looks like Clinton has a 2% lead. But if you subtract first (which is correct) then you see that Clinton has a 1.11% lead, which rounds to 1%. So correctly, Clinton won by 1% of the vote in Indiana.

How about North Carolina? Ignoring the "no preference" vote, Obama has 57.3% of the vote, and Clinton has 42.7% of the vote. If you round then subtract (wrong) it looks like Obama leads by 14%. But if you subtract and then round (correct) then Obama leads by 15%.

That's three strikes against the media.

Obama's gaffes have been mistakes of integrity.

I realize this may make me a bit unpopular in some areas here.  So, let me remind you that I am an Obama supporter.  That said - the interpretation of the audio on this clip sucketh.

Five big mistakes by the Obama campaign in the last six weeks...

(Apologies to John Houston)

Suppose, just for a moment suppose that there haven’t been any mistakes made by the Bush administration.  Sure Bush himself may well be a moron and or a clown but that is irrelevant because those around him, Cheney and his Neocons, are neither.  Accept, for purposes of this discussion, that Cheney and his buddies are smart, tough and focused and they believe, with the same conviction as a religious fundamentalist, that corporations not governments should and soon will run this country and the world.

What if the only mistake was thinking these folks have made mistakes. Do a Google search for ‘Bush mistakes’ and you get lots of lists. What if, while we have been focused on the clown OZ, Cheney and the others behind the curtain have been diligently, purposely and successfully executing a plan?

There is more but it is strongly suggested that you rest and drink plenty of fluids before continuing.

Hillary's repeated gaffes over claims about her past-- about the patient who died without health insurance-- they tell us she does NOT have what it takes to acquire information, process it, and make those three AM decisions.

Hillary's campaign is starting to remind me of that famous song from the movie 'Gigi"

http://www.youtube.com/...

I'm surprised more people haven't caught on to the fact that Vladimir isn't exactly a traditional German forename:

This man would be an absolute nightmare on the international political scene.  

Sens. Obama and Clinton both want to end the war in Iraq. Never mind how quickly; anyone who says "We will end it in six months, I don't care what else happens" is playing to voters at the expense of reality. I don't need a specific exit strategy right now; that's what you'll develop, without broadcasting it to the world, with the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

They both want to alleviate poverty. If either of them substantively helps 25 percent of the population that struggles to find money to pay bills, that'll be a hell of an accomplishment. But that isn't just a president; that's a party approach achieved through legislation and a fundamental change in mindset from "Will we get caught" to "Will we get the lower class caught up?"

They both want to clean our country up — in terms of emissions. I'm least worried about this one. So many dirty-energy supporters are going to be gone this time next year that the president will pretty much have to pass a proper energy and environment bill or get his veto overridden.

Your efforts worked.