in goes on to write:  As Russian tanks and troops moved through the Roki Tunnel and acrossthe internationally recognized border into Georgia, the Russiangovernment stated that it was acting only to protect Ossetians. Yetregime change in Georgia appears to be the true Russian objective.  Speaking of regime change, is Iraq not the perfect example of what regime change looks like? McCain continues:  The world has learned at great cost the price of allowing aggressionagainst free nations to go unchecked. A cease-fire that holds is avital first step, but only one. With our allies, we now must stand inunited purpose to persuade the Russian government to end violencepermanently and withdraw its troops from Georgia. Internationalmonitors must gain immediate access to war-torn areas in order to avertan even greater humanitarian disaster, and we should ensure thatemergency aid lifted by air and sea is delivered.  I have said this before, but it is worth repeating until in sinks in. When the US thumbed its nose at international law, treaties, and obligations, it lost all credibility to question - let alone pass judgement - on another nation acting per US example. That is the problem that we find ourselves in now. This is what I have been trying to explain for years. I have been nothing but critical of Putin from day one, and I too am horrified by what happened in Georgia, but the US has no moral, legal, or honest leg to stand on and John McCain is especially guilty of this hypocricy.  Here is a man who is busy proclaiming himself a Georgian because Russians carried out a several-day attack, yet does not proclaim himself an Iraqi while the US continues to occupy, attack, degrade, and pillage Iraq for YEARS. The absolute naked politicizing of the Russian attack on Georgia shows once again that when it comes to integrity, the right is lacking on every count - and the world knows it.My very wise father always says to me "you cannot ride two horses with one ass." McCain and his entire party seem to think that such a trick is possible, but it is not. The world sees this and the American people understand this too, despite the billions of dollars in illegal domestic propaganda.I do have one question for John McCain, however, and that is: who told Georgia that they would have back-up should they make a move in South Ossetia? Because this sure smells a great deal like an October Surprise, despite the absolutely naked aggression of the Russians - which I do not condone - by all appearances, a trap appears to have been set. Shame on John McCain, who continues to sink lower and lower in my opinion of him. A man once called a maverick and whom I once respected - although  rarely agreed with - is now just as politically whorish as the people who I criticized for playing politics by attacking his family. My God, but this man has sold his soul.
 Really? I don't like tracking blunders. I don't think it says much to have a couple slips of the tongue, but come on dude, this is getting crazy.
  McCain and Obama both seem to be playing the same game of VP expectations with their parties' respective bases. Obama has held out a few examples of truly horrific reactionary Democrats from the far right of the party, Governor Tim Kaine of Virginia and Senator Evan Bayh of Indiana being two particularly horrible ones. After throwing those two out, who would complain about Hillary or even Biden? Well... plenty, but not as loudly. Plenty of fingers are still crossed that he picks Wes Clark but more and more people are thinking Hillary would be a good move.Late yesterday one of the far right propaganda sheets printed an interview Stephen Hayes did with McCain on his wife's jet. "McCain said that he is open to choosing a pro-choice running mate and named former Pennsylvania governor Tom Ridge as someone who merits serious consideration despite his support for abortion rights." Last week the religious right drew a line in the sand and said that McCain could not under any circumstances pick Ridge or Lieberman or anyone else with even moderately pro-choice leanings. McCain is far too cowardly to stand up to the religious right at this point and, despite his rhetoric he will never pick anyone who is less of an anti-choice fanatic than himself. Defensively, McCain, who admits he wants Roe v Wade overturned, made the point that as long as the pro-choice Republican isn't moderate on anything else-- especially gays-- he could go for it. "I think that the pro-life position is one of the important aspects or fundamentals of the Republican Party," McCain said. "And I also feel that--and I'm not trying to equivocate here--that Americans want us to work together. You know, Tom Ridge is one of the great leaders and he happens to be pro-choice. And I don't think that that would necessarily rule Tom Ridge out."McCain's comments came in response to a question about comments he made to several reporters during the Republican primary season. During that exchange, McCain was asked whether New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg would make a good running mate. McCain offered strong words of praise for Bloomberg but said that Bloomberg's position on abortion--he is also pro-choice--would make it difficult to choose him as a vice presidential candidate.In the interview this morning, McCain suggested that Ridge would be more palatable to social conservatives than Bloomberg."I think it's a fundamental tenet of our party to be pro-life but that does not mean we exclude people from our party that are pro-choice. We just have a--albeit strong--but just it's a disagreement. And I think Ridge is a great example of that. Far moreso than Bloomberg, because Bloomberg is pro-gay rights, pro, you know, a number of other issues."  Yesterday another of the far right GOP warlords, Tony Perkins, ran to the Moonie Times to reiterate that McCain better get any moderates out of his head or he would be toast.
 Joe Lieberman  John_McCain  McCain on Video  McCain Press ConferencesMcCain in Michigan  Missouri  video  Here is video in three parts of Sen. John McCain holding a press conference in Michigan on August 13, 2008. McCain took questions during a day of campaigning and fundraisers in the Wolverine State.  PART I
Senator Russ Feingold (D-Cheese) says he won't vote for JohnMcCain, but he does bolsters the Senator's "maverick" meme,stripping some cred from Axelrod's assertion that McCain is justanother Bush Republican, "four more years of," etc.From the LAT's Top of the Ticket blog:  Feingold, for his part, is a strong Barack Obama supporter --but one with a good feeling about his old legislative ally.In a recentinterview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that gainedattention, he did not hesitate to veer from his party's line on thepresumptive Republican presidential nominee, scoffing at thecontention that a McCain White House would simply represent a thirdterm of the Bush administration.Said Feingold: "The notion that somehow [McCain] is going to getin there and be some kind of ideological Newt Gingrich right-wingeris a joke. There's no way that he would do that."  Feingold's words will do McCain no good whatsoever withconservatives, but at least they put the lie to Axelrod's "ThirdTerm of Bush" line. And since Obama repeats Axelrod's line like agood, little candidate, I call on Russ Feingold to publiclyrenounce his support for Obama, whom he has just called a liar.
  John McCain is taking advantage of Barack Obama’s “  foreign vacation” in Hawaii and using the crisis in Georgia to showcase his foreign policy prowess.He’s dispatched his minions, Joe Lieberman and Lindsey Graham, to Georgia.  TPM’s Greg Sargent figures,  The idea is to showcase himself as a man of action during a time of international crisis and to remind people that the world is a dangerous place that’s still filled with aggressive actors, something that the McCain camp presumably thinks will play in his favor.McCain’s announcement of his key campaign allies’ trip abroad also seems designed to shoulder Bush aside as the primary GOP leadership figure here.  Politico’s Jonathan Martin agress and observes, “McCain’s declaration has something of a shadow government feel to it, as though he’s sending his own emissaries into the war zone.” Over at News Hounds, Melanie finds that FOX News — or at least Neil Cavato — is treating McCain like he’s already president.  Why, they’re even covering McCain’s foreign policy speeches!  Andrew Sullivan thinks we’re getting a preview of what a President McCain would look like and he’s less than impressed:  He’s giving press conferences. He’s warning of a new Tsarist empire. You can tell what sends him into high-energy zones: a clear enemy abroad. He knows black and white; and he knows war. It gives him clarity and strength. Up next: Iran and China. Oh, the conflicts we can have …  Various comment sections have the inevitable jokes about McCain being “presumptuous” and “uppity” for acting like he’s already president, an allusion to recent controveries over Barack Obama’s overseas adventures and various campaign logos.Even AllahPundit thinks this is a bad idea.  Do Committee members really need to conduct their own fact-finding missions in the middle of a hot war? State and Defense briefings could probably get them up to speed. And what would the reaction have been if The One had made this move first with Bayh and Webb in the surrogate roles? Would have seemed to me like a transparent attempt to squeeze a photo op from a crisis that the administration’s already straining to manage without needing any extra distractions.  Foreign policy isn’t golf.  One doesn’t get to shush the galleries.  Presidents have to juggle multiple international crises, make domestic policy decisions, and deal with political campaigns all at the same time.I say:  More of this, please.  After months of campaigning about nothing, we’re seeing how the two men who could plausibly get elected president less than three months from now are reacting to a big time foreign policy situation.  While I’m frankly not sure what Lieberman and Graham could possibly accomplish by going to Georgia, at least we see that McCain gets how important this is.Interestingly, as Dave Schuler and I discussed on last night’s installment of OTB Radio, there’s very little light between McCaina and Obama on this issue, at least on substance.  Obama is more low key and McCain is more emphatic about Russia’s outrageous conduct but they’re landing in pretty much the same place: work with our NATO Allies, use the G8 and WTO for leverage, and otherwise engage in diplomacy; military force is decidedly not an option.McCain’s more visible on the issue, to be sure, which points to both his being behind in the race and thinking foreign affairs is his long suit.   Aside from Obama surrogate Bill Richardson’s bizarre suggestion of having the UN Security Council — where Russia has a veto! — solve this and McCain’s rather humorous suggestion that “In the 21st century, nations don’t invade other nations,” both teams are playing this rather well.Photo: Shakesville
From Rex Nutting of MarketWatch:  Since last January, Sen. Obama's fitness for the presidency has been the only question that matters in American politics. The pollsters and pundits agree that if Obama can show the voters that he's up to the job, he'll win. If not, he won't.But that begs another question: Is McCain fit to lead America?That question hasn't been asked, nor has it been answered.The assumption seems to be that McCain's years of experience in the military and in Congress of course give him the background and tools he'd need in the White House. As Britney might say, "Duh! For sure he's qualified!!! He's Mac!!!"But is that true? Does McCain have the right stuff?A careful look at McCain's biography shows that he isn't prepared for the job. His resume is much thinner than most people think.Here are some reasons why McCain would be a mediocre president.  Lack of accomplishmentsLike the current occupant of the White House, McCain got his first career breaks from the connections and money of his family, not from hard work.The son and grandson of Navy admirals, he attended Annapolis where he did poorly. Nevertheless, he was commissioned as a pilot, where he performed poorly, crashing three planes before he failed to evade a North Vietnamese missile that destroyed his plane. McCain spent more than five years in a prison camp.After his release, McCain knew his weak military record meant he'd never make admiral, so he turned his sights to a career in politics. With the help of his new wife's wealth, his new father-in-law's business connections and some powerful friends had made as a lobbyist for the Navy, he was elected in 1982 to a Congress in a district that he didn't reside in until the day the seat opened up. A few years later, he succeeded Barry Goldwater as a senator.McCain hasn't accomplished much in the Senate. Even his own campaign doesn't trumpet his successes, probably because the few victories he's had still rankle Republicans.His campaign finance law failed to significantly reduce the role of money in politics. He failed to get a big tobacco bill through the Senate. He's failed to change the way Congress spends money; his bill to give the president a line-item veto was declared unconstitutional, and the system of pork and earmarks continues unabated. He failed to reform the immigration system.Every senator who runs for president misses votes back in Washington, so it's no surprise that McCain and all the others who ran in the primaries have missed a lot of votes in the past year. But between the beginning of 2005 and mid-2007, no senator missed more roll-call votes than McCain did, except Tim Johnson, who was recovering from a near-fatal brain aneurysm.  ShallowMcCain says he doesn't understand the economy. He's demonstrated that he doesn't understand the workings of Social Security, or the political history of the Middle East. He doesn't know who our enemies are. He says he wants to reduce global warming, but then proposes ideas that would stimulate -- not reduce -- demand for fossil fuels.McCain has done one thing well -- self promotion. Instead of working on legislation or boning up on the issues, he's been on "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" more than any other guest. He's been on the Sunday talk shows more than any other guest in the past 10 years. He's hosted "Saturday Night Live" and even announced his candidacy in 2007 on "The Late Show with David Letterman."McCain has not articulated any lofty goals. So far, his camp