Every once and a while, I like to take a look at John McCain's website to see what stupid stuff is on it.  For example, there's his "Stop the Pork" game based on the old "Alien Invaders" arcade games that really shows just how old McCain is.  To be fair, McCain and a fairly substantial part of his supporters probably thought it was cutting edge.  Then there was the "Cribs:  Straight Talk Express"video that tried to make McCain seem hip--and failed miserably.  Well, I checked out the site today and found something that rivals these gems for awkwardness.

Its Friday and I'm sure we could all use a little bit of Daily Show humor at the end of this hard work week.

Last night on the show Jon's opening headlines covered the little-known reversal of Bush administration policy on negotiation or as they would inaccurately refer to it - appeasement. Despite the fact that Bush has criticized his political enemies for attempting to negotiate with evil "terrorist" countries like N. Korea and Iran... that is exactly what his administration has been doing (with success, actually) with North Korea and now with Iran.

He also takes a look at McCain & Obama's speech at the NAACP and the art of pandering to minorities. He tries to evaluate how each candidate is doing at pandering to Hispanics by using a Lou Dobbs meter.

Enjoy the videos and weigh in with comments -

Wow,he wowed them with that line. I took the line a little out of context,so I will  quote from official text. You tell me if that is not what he meant?

Let me begin with a few words about my opponent. Don't tell him I said this, but he is an impressive fellow in many ways. He has inspired a great many Americans, some of whom had wrongly believed that a political campaign could hold no purpose or meaning for them.

His success should make Americans, all Americans, proud. Of course, I would prefer his success not continue quite as long as he hopes. But it makes me proud to know the country I've loved and served all my life is still a work in progress, and always improving.

And sometimes I can't believe my own eyes. WashPost::

CINCINNATI -- Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) called for sweeping educational reforms today in a speech before the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, an association which he said "means more to me than any other," despite his historic opposition to many of its policies.

McCain, who has received an F grade from the NAACP for his votes in each of the past four Congresses, acknowledged that he might not win the votes of the group's members in his race against Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.)

It wasn't exactly a full hall when John McCain spoke to the NAACP at its 99th annual convention in Cincinnati Wednesday, but he did manage to coax a respectful, if not thunderous, standing ovation from the crowd by the time he was finished speaking and answering a few questions. Besides lauding Barack Obama, the Arizona Senator again favorably mentioned Teddy Roosevelt - something some right-wingers are unhappy about - noting TR's controversial 1901 decision to invite black educator Booker T. Washington to dine at the White House.

Somebody might have let McCain know ahead of time that NAACP leaders, especially W.E.B. Du Bois, were quite critical of Washington for being too accommodating to racist white society and for the endorsement of segregation he gave in his 1895 Atlanta Compromise speech. But mentioning Washington was a perfect introduction to the centerpiece of McCain's speech, a standard, if tepid, right-wing rap on the failure of American public education, depicted as the fault of federal bureaucrats, teachers' unions, state credential approvers, and inflexible school administrators.

He didn't mention, of course, that the NAACP itself gave McCain an F rating for his legislative work in the 109th Congress. In the organization's estimation, he cast a wrong vote on eight of nine education-related issues. (Overall, McCain cast a wrong vote on 26 of 28 issues of interest to the NAACP. Obama got an A.)

Among those votes, said Think Progress, he:

- Voted Against Head Start Programs: In 2005, for instance, McCain voted against increasing "federal spending on Head Start programs by $153 million."

   - Voted Against Expanding Pell Grants: While 45 percent of African Americans rely on Pell Grants to pay for college, McCain has consistently voted to cut the value of Pell Grants.

   - Voted Against Title I Education Grants: McCain voted against increasing spending on Title I education grants, which are designed to help public schools that serve predominantly low-income students, by $3 billion."

Indeed, McCain has consistently voted against funding Head Start and against appropriating enough money to cover the mandated costs to schools for implementing the No Child Left Behind program. He also voted against reducing the five-year tax cut by $5.4 billion so the money could be spent on education, voted for $40 billion in cuts to entitlement programs, including student loan programs, and voted against an amendment to increase by $7 billion spending on education, training and low-income support programs.

Talk is cheap. Praising Barack Obama costs nothing. Reforming education, something everyone agrees needs doing - costs money. Experience has taught us that Senator McCain has far more heart for cutting rich people's taxes than for appropriating enough dollars so America's kids will get the education they deserve.  

McCain said many things yesterday that pissed me off in his NAACP Convention speech. Yes, I commend him for going even though he really didn't have much of a choice. When he wasn't the "presumptive nominee" he didn't bother to show up to talk to the Black folks. Remember last fall when Tavis Smiley hosted debates for all of the presidential candidates. ALL of the Democrats showed up, but the four Republicans that were in the lead at the time didn't bother to show up:

"Let me take a moment right here and now to say hello to those of you viewers from home: Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Senator John McCain, Gov. Mitt Romney and Senator Fred Thompson," Tom Joyner, the syndicated radio host, said in his opening remarks, to knowing laughter from the audience.

And it's not that he was too busy, because he was willing to go on the Hispanic debate:

The debate comes shortly after Univision, a Spanish-language network, canceled a Republican debate only Mr. McCain agreed to participate.

But I digress, this diary is about education and his very WRONG policies.

Jump

Via The Cincinnati Beacon

Photo courtesy of here.

John McCain came to Cincinnati this week to court the black vote at the national NAACP convention.  McCain has a miserable record with the NAACP, receiving multiple grades of "F" from the organization in prior years.  Meanwhile, the McCain campaign has just named Hamilton County prosecutor Joe Deters as its local chair, a move which has already caused Ohio Democratic State Chair Chris Redfern to issue a denunciation.  

At 11:30 today, John McCain will speak at the NAACP convention in Cincinnati today.

Republican John McCain will have a tough act to follow when he speaks in Cincinnati at the 99th annual convention of the NAACP

McCain, who recently has a chance at getting 1% of the black vote, will try his best pandering to not make him look like a racist.

The things that he will most likely say to kiss ass
-Talk about the NAACP's history
-Talk about his mistake of not voting for MLK in Arizona in 1992
-Make awkward ass jokes that will look even MORE AWKWARD in this setting
-The school bull crap

I challenge our leaders of color to stand up to John McCain's history of disturbing racial politics.

NAACP, the nation's oldest civil rights organization, has broken with tradition and chosen Benjamin Jealous, a young, radical organizer as its new president. A former-teenage protest organizer and later Rhodes scholar, Jealous would be the youngest leader of the organization in its 99-year history, and a leader whose track record very much parallels Barack Obama's. The rest over the fold.

We all figured Hillary would win West Virginia, but none of us figured she would score a stunning blowout ACROSS EVERY AGE GROUP, SEX, AND INCOME BRACKET.  This was supposed to be the "racist poor white crackers for Hillary" primary.  What happened?

So I got some requests that folks wanted to know how bad Jeff Sessions really is for all of us. This race is really important to take a strong stand on for several reasons. This in-depth analysis will show us why he is so bad on so many issues and references him to some other vulnerable senators. Also provides some idiotic quotes he has made.  I've already posted some diaries on why Vivian Figures can be a really exciting candidate. She really needs money now to get through the primary with a strong showing and into the general. Please help me reach my goal.

Most of us who have watched whole speeches of the Reverend Wright -- especially, say, his address to the NAACP -- come away impressed with his creativity, his wit, and, often, his logic. A typical reaction from a commenter on a HuffPost essay:

I take back some of the comments I made. I just listened to the NAACP speech he made (in it's entirety) and I see why Obama went to his church for 20 years. He shocks you, but into reality and you learn a lot.

Still, as much as I can appreciate Wright's brain, I keep wondering why he won't make a few relatively minor adjustments to mitigate the opportunities for Fox News (et al.) to pounce on tempting soundbites. For instance, if Wright would just add "I'm generalizing here" when he talks about the different learning styles of whites and blacks, it could make a world of difference.

Now we learn that a hard-core Hillary backer was the one who set up Wright's (unfortunate) appearance at the National Press Club.

Was this a conspiracy? More Clintonian sleazeball politics?

Doubtful.

(this is reposted from my blog, www.richieville.com)

Dear White People,

Rev. Jeremiah Wright is back in the news, thanks to his interview with Bill Moyers and his speech to the NAACP and we know that once again he's making you pretty nervous. So we all got together and decided it was time to say something to you, something we probably should have said a long time ago.
We don't hate you.

On his interview with Bill Moyers, when Wright was asked about how he responded to Obama's denounciation of Wright's controversial statements, Wright responded that Obama is a politician and he (Wright) was a pastor and they spoke to different audiences. Many pundits have seen this as an attack on Obama, but I see it differently.

According to Reverend Jeremiah Wright in his NAACP dinner speech.  You see, Black people are right-brained and White people are left-brained.

After hearing Rev. Wright speak to the NAACP last night via CNN, I was feeling hopeful, that maybe just maybe a change is going to come. Even here on the Kos everyone was duly impressed by the man’s words. I am different, but I am not deficient. Simply thinking a different way makes no one man or woman any better than the other. We are all equal in God’s eyes, and as such we are all entitled to the same respects and courtesies.

I thought maybe, just maybe the media would have learned their lesson. Even showing his entire speech uncut two or three times allowed me to think that maybe the media would stop with the character assassination of Rev. Wright and of Barack Obama by proxy. I thought I would wake up this morning feeling that sense of hope that I’m losing the longer this primary season goes on. America is ready for change... or so we thought.

Rev. Jeremiah Wright spoke last night at the NAACP's Freedom Fund dinner in Detroit and this morning at the National Press Club, delivering a compelling message of understanding and reconcilliation. The black church, like many celebrated American traditions, is "different, not deficient."

"A change is coming because we no longer see others as being deficient," he said. "One is not abnormal and one normal — it’s just different."

I, for one, found myself applauding on one and three.