MCCAIN SUSPENDS CAMPAIGN
Republican presidential candidate John McCain has temporarily suspended his campaign for the White House to go to Washington to help with the emergency bailout plan for the economy. He is suspending all campaign stops, commercials and everything campaign-related
He is also backing out of the first scheduled debate with his Democratic opponent, Barack Obama, which was to take place Friday night.
My take: Guys, I want to like and believe McCain, I really do. But this smells like a political stunt more than anything else.
Why not continue his campaign, but focus on the economic issues? And if he’s going to suspend his campaign, why not have Sarah Palin out on the stump for him?
McCain’s first postponement/cancellation yesterday was for the Late Show with David Letterman; here is the clip from it:
I thought Letterman was very fair and balanced — especially with his lavish praise of McCain and what the guy means to America.
BURRESS SUSPENDED FOR A GAME
New York Giants wide receiver Plaxico Burress was suspended for a game (Oct. 5, they have a bye week this week) for not showing up to practice on Monday. He didn’t call or let anyone know why he wasn’t coming to practice.
He will lose approximately $235,000 in salary because of his unexcused absence.
My take: Good for the Giants. Combined with the Carolina Panthers’ two-game suspension of Steve Smith, this is showing those high-priced prima donnas that they’re not above the law. I like it.
And I wish Burress’ agent would quit whining. Tell him to pick up his damned cell phone and make a call next time — like the rest of us have to do.
DAVID BLAINE FINISHES STUNT
Magician David Blaine completed his 60-hours of hanging upside down in Central Park on Wednesday on ABC-TV by bungee-jumping 44 feet. He then “disappeared” into the night sky as the credits rolled on TV.
My take: What was the big deal here? I wouldn’t hang upside down for 60 hours — but what was the point? Holding your breath for 10 minutes, I can see that. But being upside down?
And the whole thing — which, yes, I got suckered into watching — was so anticlimatic. He basically bungee-jumped 44 feet, then was pulled into the sky by his tether.
So what? This blogger agrees with me and says all this much more succinctly.
The iPod shuffle
Magna Cum Nada — The Bloodhound Gang
N****s Bleed — The Notorious B.I.G.
Hound Dog — Elvis Presley
Amityville — Eminem
Send Her My Love — Journey
Blogging with Bryan C. Hanks 
September 25, 2008 at 10:13 am |
Fair and balanced? A 9:00 minute clip with 1 minute of praise, and 8:00 minutes of ridicule is fair and balanced? The replacement was Keith Olbermann, enough said.
September 25, 2008 at 10:23 am |
Flagan — it was more like 2 1/2 minutes, but why quibble? I was just shocked that someone as left-winged as Letterman would even say anything nice about a Republican candidate.
But then again, McCain is just a Democrat in Republican’s clothing…
September 25, 2008 at 10:25 am |
Speaking of fair, if McCain believes that a Senator’s duty is to take part in Senate discussions on what they are saying is the biggest financial crisis since the depression, that would insinuate that he thinks Obama and Biden should be there also. If Obama and Biden were there, would it be fair to let Palin be the only one of the four continue campaigning?
September 25, 2008 at 10:31 am |
Go back and look at the clip Bryan. He didn’t begin praising McCain until after the 1:00 minute mark.
I agree that McCain is semi-Democrat. If the Dems were running a moderate candidate this election would not be that big a deal. But you have McCain who is in the middle and you have Obama who is far, far to the left of the mainstream which makes McCain a little more palatable.
September 25, 2008 at 10:37 am |
Flagan — Excellent final point there; it is a moderate vs. left election, I guess.
Do you, though — in your heart of hearts — think this wasn’t a campaign stunt? There’s not 1 percent of your being that thinks this was intended to be a well-calculated (although polls are showing it’s backfiring) move 5 weeks before the election?
September 25, 2008 at 10:54 am |
Hanks- what polls are you talking about?
September 25, 2008 at 10:56 am |
An AOL poll — http://news.aol.com/article/mccain-to-halt-campaign-due-to-economy/172887?icid=100214839x1210436675x1200619928
September 25, 2008 at 10:58 am |
David Letterman characterized as fair and balanced, now there’s a collection of words I never thought I would see together in the same sentence.
Is it possible that McCain genuinely cares more about the country, and the financial crisis the banks and investment houses are in now, more than his run for President at this moment. If Obama would have suggested this, he would be lauded as a self-less patriot, who is reaching across party lines for the good of the country. They would probably have pushed ‘Ol George off, and stuck his mug on the dollar bill.
September 25, 2008 at 10:58 am |
Bill Clinton doesn’t seem to think it’s a stunt, he believes it was a sincere move by McCain.
September 25, 2008 at 10:59 am |
The famous AOL, home to political junkies everywhere.
September 25, 2008 at 11:08 am |
Flagan, you are correct, McCain is a moderate, who thank God, from my point of view, he: A. Chose Sara Palin to shore up the conservative base (me), and B. Is running against the most liberal oponent he could possibly be up against.
As I’ve stated before, McCain wasn’t my first choice as the Republican nominee. I could not have disagreed more with his failed immigration bill, that thankfully was shot down due in large part to the public outcry from people like me, that saw it as amnesty, which it was. He does however bring that maverick attitude that sometimes doesn’t go lock-step with what I believe, but in other instances allows us to come together, Republicans and Democrats, for the good of the country. His suspension of his campaign is a great example of him doing whatever it takes, to work out a solution to a major problem facing our country, that affects us all, regardless of your polictical affiliation.
September 25, 2008 at 11:10 am |
Couldn’t have said it better myself Heelatious.
September 25, 2008 at 12:46 pm |
heelatious, I’m with you. His choice of Sarah Palin and his opponent are the reasons I will vote for McCain. His stance on immigration and his being for cap and trade are the reasons I wasn’t for him in the primary. You also nailed it in your second paragraph.
Bryan, I would believe it was a political stunt if I didn’t have his past history to go on. When he supported the surge most thought that spelled the end of his presidential hopes. When he could have came home from the Hanoi Hilton he chose to do what was right. His past history shows that he always chooses his country over himself.
September 25, 2008 at 2:59 pm |
Sure, pay no attention to the man (McCain) behind the curtain. Of course its a stunt, Bush is still the president, there is a bipartisan committee working out the details behind closed doors, which McCain is not a part of. By his own admission McCain is weak on economic issues as evidenced by his statement that the “fundamentals of the economy are strong” a week ago. McCain admitted that he never even read the Bush 3 page plan. Now he wants people to beleive it is an absolute emergency that he be in Washington, despite having missed more votes than any other Senator.
His campaign is taking a nose dive and this is merely a ploy to make it look like he knows something about economic issues and is somehow taking the lead. His economic advisers will tell him to say yea or nay. McCain could have just as well have used his wife’s corporate jet (as usual) to fly in, vote and be out of there in ten minutes. Bush threw McCain a bone by inviting him and Obama to the White House to make it look like McCain is actually serving a purpose there.
September 25, 2008 at 4:56 pm |
I knew this topic would smoke out the cynical McCain haters. You might want to check the latest polls before talking about nose dives. Gallup has it all tied up and Zogby has McCain ahead by 2. The only thing taking a nose dive is your credibility.
September 25, 2008 at 5:58 pm |
Native Son,
I guess you haven’t been paying attention to Obama getting on his 767 jet-setting all over the country.
I think you’ve got the facts crossed, again. McCain came on his own accord, Obama was the one that had to be summoned off of his tour, I mean, campaign trail, to actually show up and offer his services. I guess he figured why should I be there, I haven’t actually done anything in the time I’ve been in the Senate, why start now.
September 25, 2008 at 6:50 pm |
Gentlemen,
I don’t hate McCain he’s almost a Democrat, he’s tried to be one a few times.
Heels, reading is fundamental. I never said he was summoned, I said Bush threw him a bone in inviting him to the White House, to make it appear that he was serving a purpose in Washington. However, summoned is good since McCain has missed more votes than any other Senator.
But don’t worry I know you’re only accustomed to hearing half the truth at best like “I said no to the bridge to no where” (after she said yes, campaigned on it and then it became unpopular).
Or even better if your campaign slogan isn’t working just “change” to your opponent’s. Wow, what a maverick!
Flagan, credibility, obviously you missed these polls:
CNN Obama up by4
CBS News/NY Times Obama by 5
Rasmussen Obama by 3
Hotline Obama by 4
Fox News Obama by 6
NBC/Wall St Obama by 2
ABC News/Washington Post Obama by 9
LA Times Bloomberg Obama by 4
CNN Opinion Obama by 4
September 26, 2008 at 5:53 am |
Nope, didn’t miss them. I just gave you the two that came out AFTER lunch yesterday. Like I said , “THE LATEST POLLS.” But like you said, “reading is fundamental.” I guess, fundamentally speaking, you didn’t read the word, “latest.”
But looking at your polls, it’s strange to hear you use the words, “nose dive” to describe polls that are narrowing.
It turns out that McCain was right several days ago when he said that the bailout plan would not go forward, while Dodd was announcing it was a done deal. It also turns out that Secretary Paulsen knew it was in trouble when he contacted McCain and asked him to come to Washington and help with the House Republicans.
You must be proud of Obama who made a speech last night after coming out of the meeting. He says that a bi-partisan effort is needed after it is reported that Senate Democrats are shouting at House Republcans for not signing off on a bill that no one thought to talk to them about beforehand.
You must be proud of Obama who says that presidential politics should not play a part in this deal and then in the next breath says that the American public should hold McCain accountable for this bill’s collapse.
Democrats played politics all day yesterday and blamed McCain for doing that very thing all night. They set the stage to blame McCain for blowing up a done deal when Dodd said they had a deal that they obviously never had.
I am glad the House Republicans are standing against the taxpayers having to finance bad loans. Companies that made loans to people that weren’t qualified to get them should go bankrupt.
September 26, 2008 at 2:37 pm |
Flagan,
Don’t confuse him with the facts, libs don’t like that.