McCain Screws The Pooch

I suck and haven't updated this blog in a while. But since we've got less than thirty days until the election, I figure I might as well put in the effort for the home stretch.

Before I do, though, I need to recap the various gaffes I've missed in my absence. Since I've been gone, the following events have transpired.

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-When asked whether, as president, he would meet with Prime Minister Zapatero of Spain, McCain gave an insane answer implying that he either doesn't know who Prime Minister Zapatero is, thinks Spain is in Latin America, has forgotten that Spain is our ally, or all of the above. Listen to the insanity.

-On the morning of September 15th, 2008, when the Dow Jones plummeted 500 points in its worst day in seven years, McCain stated that the fundamentals of our economy are strong".

-A whole slew of new Sarah Palin firing scandals have come to light.

-Sarah Palin claimed that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac had "gotten too big and too expensive to [sic] the taxpayers," seemingly ignorant to the fact that that Mae and Mac are private companies, and thus not funded by taxpayers.

-McCain released an ad stating that Obama supported teaching "comprehensive sex education to kindergardeners," when in actuality, the legislation in question was meant to protect young children from pedophiles. Furthermore, the articles cited by the ad were more critical of McCain then they were of Obama.

-The Washington Post revealed that, as Governor, Sarah Palin charged taxpayers for 312 nights of "business expenses," despite spending those nights in her home.

-McCain released an ad that included a quote from Katie Couric, wherein she mentions the sexism present in the campaign. The McCain ad implied that Couric was talking about Palin, despite the fact that her comments were made in reference to Hillary Clinton. CBS later forced YouTube to remove the ad.

-This video from the primaries resurfaced, wherein McCain says: "I am prepared. I need no on-the-job training. I wasn't a mayor for a short period of time. I wasn't a governor for a short period of time," in response to the type of experience needed for the presidency.

-In an interview with ABC, Sarah Palin revealed that she doesn't know what the Bush Doctrine is.

-It was also revealed that, as Mayor of Wasilla, Sarah Palin cut funding that covered medical testing for rape victims, resulting in rape victims paying for their own forensic tests.

-In response to the Wall Street crisis, McCain told Matt Lauer that executives "need to be held accountable and stop walking away with these fat-cat packages," apparently unaware that Carly Fiorina received a $42 million payout when ousted as CEO of HP.

-While speaking at a rally, Sarah Palin referred to a "Palin and McCain administration", going one step further in confirming my theory that she plans to poison John McCain and seize the presidency once elected.

-The New York Times reported that McCain has been exploiting legal loopholes in campaign finance law that he previously fought to close.

-This one's from back in June, but I missed it at the time, so I'll mention it here. McCain said in June, "I'm not for, quote, privatizing social security. I never have been, I never will be.". In 2004, he said, "Without privatization, I don't see how you can possibly, over time, make sure that young Americans are able to receive Social Security benefits.". Here's a clip with the two quotes side by side.

-Another article in The New York Times revealed that Rick Davis, McCain's campaign manager, was paid $2 million by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac over the course of five years to shield them from harsher regulations. More info here and here.

-McCain spokesman and noted weasel Tucker Bounds refused to confirm that Phil Gramm (the former McCain economic advisor who stated that America was merely going through a "mental recession" felt by "a nation of whiners") would not be part of a McCain administration.

-Word got out that, when running for Mayor of Wasilla, Sarah Palin ran an incredibly dirty campaign against the incumbent mayor, a former mentor of hers.

-The Katie Couric/Sarah Palin interview happened. I don't think I need to say anything else.

-McCain threatened not to show up for the first presidential debate in order to deal with the economic crisis, even though doing so would have resulted in $5.5 million in losses for the University of Mississippi, where the debate was ultimately held.

-Steve Schmidt, a top McCain campaign advisor, claimed that McCain called for the firing of Donald Rumsfeld. This is not true.

-McCain released a peculiar ad in which Obama is criticized for agreeing with McCain.

-McCain said that Obama "has still not offered any plan of any kind" for dealing with the economic crisis. CNN called him out on it, and remarked that McCain himself hasn't laid out any specific plans for dealing with the crisis.

-Newsweek reported on yet another misleading McCain ad.

Let me know if there's anything I missed. Cheers.