Uhhhh ... Gosh ... Errrr ... Nope, I Got Nothin'

I'll just let it speak for itself. This, from the inimitable Iowa Hawk, is ... well ... special:

Oh, but that's not all:

http://twitchy.com/2013/05/07/meghan-mccain-any-republican-who-voted-for-sanford-but-is-against-gay-marriage-is-a-hypocrite/

http://twitchy.com/2013/05/08/generation-gestation-deleted-meghan-mccain-tweet-sparks-mockery-and-mccainhaiku/


Nope. Still got nothin'.


Previous Pro Ecclesia posts on this subject: 
The Powerful Political Insights of the Paris Hilton of Pundits  

Who Cares ...

"The Completely Unedited Ramblings of an Idiot"

Pot ... Kettle

Angry Old White Man

John McCain railing against Rand Paul's appeal to "impressionable" kids in dorm rooms is so politically tone deaf and out of touch that it makes Clint Eastwood look like a breath of fresh air by comparison. Yesterday, in a textbook example of EVERYTHING that is wrong about John McCain, just after scolding Paul on the Senate floor, McCain lamented the retirement announcement of 78-year-old Democrat Sen. Carl. Levin who has been in the Senate FOR 35 YEARS ... since the Carter Administration.

McCain's world: young upstarts inspiring people to take our liberties seriously and challenging the perpetual war establishment ... bad; crusty old farts clinging to power and enriching themselves on the public teet until they're octogenarians ... good.

Remember ... John McCain got absolutely SLAUGHTERED in a presidential campaign in large part because his opponent was able to inspire young people to turn out in droves for him. Apparently, "Maverick" hasn't taken the lesson to heart. He and his girlfriend Lindsey Graham represent the hyper-militarist, neo-con old guard of the GOP. Hopefully, they are a dying breed.

John McCain to Catholic Church: F*ck You

Here's the last RINO the GOP establishment told us we just HAD to vote for because he was "electable":

“I think we have to fix that,” the Arizona Republican said when asked by David Gregory on NBC’s “Meet the Press” about the idea of a Republican “war on women.” “I think there is a perception out there because of the way this whole contraception issue played out – we need to get off of that issue in my view. I think we ought to respect the right of women to make choices in their lives and make that clear — and get back onto what the American people really care about: jobs and the economy.”

This is what RINOs do. They accept the Dem talking points about the issues. So, instead of framing this as a First Amendment Free Exercise issue in which the Catholic Church has a vital religious freedom stake, the previous GOP nominee for president uses the verbiage of the left in defining this as a "woman's right to choose" issue, even if her choice is on the dime of the Catholic Church.

And the previous GOP nominee is a big supporter of the current RINO the GOP establishment is busy trying to shove down our throats. And don't think for one minute that Dullard Flip Rino doesn't share McLoser's sentiments and would sell the Church and the First Amendment down the river in a heartbeat if they think it will mean making social issues irrelevant during this election.

The GOP can go to hell.

The Powerful Political Insights of the Paris Hilton of Pundits

Just ... wow.



LOL! Seriously? Yes, conservatives, if only you could be as open minded as Meghan McCain ... so open-minded that your brain actually falls out.

The response to yet another of Ms. McCain's verbal lapses has not been without an "emoticon" of brutal ridicule:

McCain, known for her, shall we say, “creative” use of language more than her ability to, you know, like, think, immediately took to Twitter to explain herself ...

[...]

Twitter lit up with ridicule. Here are the highlights:

Slate’s Dave Weigel added, “Meghan McCain reporting that Jack Lew will take over as White House chef.”

Mike Flynn, Editor-In-Chief of BigGovernment, harkened back to another MSNBCer’s greatest his with, “Resist We Much the ‘Emoticon of Privacy’ #MeghanMcCainFail”

Townhall,com columnist Derek Hunter gave props to McCain’s ability to continually top herself by tweeting, “Every time I think @McCainBlogette has found her floor of stupid, she opens her mouth and out comes a shovel.”

Pajamas Media’s Stephen Green (VodkaPundit), added, “I have now watched @McCainBlogette‘s ‘emoticon’ video more times than I’ve watched Godfather I & II combined.”

From the woman who declared Rick Santorum to be a "moron". And just in case anyone has forgotten this gem from Ms. McCain:

“Joe the Plumber — you can quote me — is a dumbass."

Yeah, right back at ya, toots. And you can quote ME on that.


Previous Pro Ecclesia posts on this subject:
Who Cares ...

"The Completely Unedited Ramblings of an Idiot"

Pot ... Kettle

Who Cares ...

... what George W. Bush's or John McCain's daughters (or wives, for that matter) think about any subject? These women have done absolutely nothing to earn the public's attention regarding anything they wish to spout off about. Every time the Bush or McCain offspring (or wives, for that matter) opens their mouths, it makes me glad that Bush and McCain are basically done as prominent figures on the political scene.

Ladies, if I want your opinion about something, I'll elect you to some office suitable to your talents.

"The Completely Unedited Ramblings of an Idiot"

This is the last thing you will ever read about Meghan McCain on this blog because, quite honestly, this book review says all that needs to be said:

On June 20, 2002, the United States Supreme Court decreed, in the case of Atkins v. Virginia, that the mildly mentally retarded were categorically exempt from capital punishment, reasoning that fully functional adults of diminished mental capacity were as a matter of law not as culpable for their acts. Writing eloquently in dissent, Justice Scalia drew a sharp distinction between the severely mentally retarded (who are truly not responsible for their actions), and the merely stupid (the category into which Mr. Atkins undoubtedly fell). Scalia argued forcefully that, with respect to the merely stupid, at least sometimes they deserve to be punished for their antisocial and destructive behavior.

This article, of course, is not about capital punishment. It is a book review of Dirty, Sexy Politics by Meghan McCain. However, the above discussion is relevant because I initially had reservations about writing this book review at all. After all, it is clear to everyone who has read Meghan McCain’s twitter feed, her “articles” on The Daily Beast, or her ill-fated campaign blog that Meghan is not a paragon of clear reasoning, exemplar of familiarity with facts, nor a model of English language expertise. And after subjecting myself to 194 continuous pages of her “writing,” it became clear that none of the above-described works truly plumbed the depths of mental vacuity in which Ms. McCain aimlessly and cluelessly drifts.

This presented a dilemma.

It is impossible to read Dirty, Sexy Politics and come away with the impression that you have read anything other than the completely unedited ramblings of an idiot. This being a professional website for which I have a great deal of respect, I searched for a more eloquent or gentle way to accurately phrase the previous sentence – but could not find one.

It is important to know that I was repeatedly tempted just to put the book down, eat the relatively small price I paid to download it to my Kindle, and silently curse Hyperion for publishing this book. After all, they are the ones taking advantage of this particular idiot’s fifteen minutes of fame by exposing her idiocy for the entire world to see. By all appearances, they didn’t even have the decency to hire someone to edit the book – more on that later.

In the final analysis, however, I determined that most of Meghan’s flaws – such as her unbearable narcissism, delusions of persecution, anti-religious bigotry, and mendacity – couldn’t be chalked up to her manifestly below-average intelligence. These are blameworthy traits born of a malfunctioning moral compass, and they are laid bare in spades on every page of Dirty, Sexy Politics. Furthermore, it is important to address them because Meghan McCain’s book is an active attempt to split the Republican Party in two and thereby destroy its ability to win elections. And even though she is an idiot, she is a useful idiot in the hands of the media and other assorted Democrats, who also want to achieve this goal...

[Read the whole thing]

(emphasis added)

LOL!

Once the seemingly interminable 15 minutes are finally up, and the long-overdue political epitath is finally written, the above-quoted book review will no doubt be cited exhaustively as the definitive assessment of the political equivalent of Paris Hilton.


Previous Pro Ecclesia posts on this subject:
Pot ... Kettle

Immigration Bill in Arizona Would Allow Arrest Upon Suspicion of Being Here Illegally

"Ver are your paperz? Ve must zee your paperz!"

If you're brown and walking down the street in Arizona, you had better be carrying papers to prove that you're a citizen or a documented immigrant.

What sort of "conservative" supports this kind of intrusive police-state regulation?

Apparently, even the fake, "mavericky" sort of "conservative" does, or at least pretends to, if he wants to be reelected to the U.S. Senate.

Fortunately, the Catholic Bishops in Arizona provide the voice of reason.

Unfortunately, people who ought to know better don't seem to be listening.

Pot ... Kettle

God-hating, anti-Catholic, "squshy on abortion" RINO wants to know why conservatives "loathe" the shallow, dumb-blonde RINO offspring of the media-whore RINO who lost the race for the Presidency last year. Gee, I wonder why:

... [It's] news when the daughter of the guy who made Joe [the Plumber] famous [ED.: Really? McCain made Joe the Plumber famous? And here I thought it was Obama's "spread the wealth" answer to Joe's question that made Joe famous.] drops the bomb on him. Even so, isn’t she right? Just this one time? [ED.: Nope! At least not for the reasons she suggests.]

Yet even as the balance begins to shift, the old guard is still yapping in the foreground. Shortly before McCain sat for this interview, Samuel Wurzelbacher, aka Joe the Plumber, gave an interview to Christianity Today in which he complained about “queers” and declared, “I wouldn’t have them anywhere near my children.” Unprompted, McCain rails against the man her father’s presidential campaign touted as an American everyman and made a showpiece in the weeks before the election. “Joe the Plumber — you can quote me — is a dumbass. He should stick to plumbing.” [ED.: Good God, woman! Do you have any self-awareness at all? Have you ever even held down a job? A real job, not some gig your daddy got you or that you've been given because you like to crap all over conservatives. Perhaps you ought to stick to what you know (shopping, perhaps?) rather than trying to pass yourself off as anything more than the political equivalent of Paris Hilton. Talk about a "dumbass"! Apart from that pathetic milquetoast at HotAir, no one takes you seriously.]

If you missed his full interview with Christianity Today in May, you’ll find it here. Seriously: Gay adoption is practically mainstream these days and presumably welcome by conservatives as an alternative to abortion [ED.: Really? "Seriously ... practically mainstream"? Maybe that's considered "mainstream" among the elitists with whom you're hanging out, but it's not even close among the vast majority of the great unwashed ... i.e. most of the people in this country. And besides, are those the only choices? "Well, we can either kill the kids or adopt them out to same-sex couples." What, there aren't heterosexual couples literally waiting in line to adopt those kids who might otherwise be aborted? That unsubstantiated statement ... "seriously ... practically mainstream" ... is one of the stupidest, not to mention most UNCONSERVATIVE loads of BS I've ever read on a supposedly "conservative" blog.] — and yet JTP thinks gays are uniformly unfit to be around children? That’s not dumbass? ... [ED.: See above. Unlike you, most of us are more concerned about the best interests of children rather than impressing our friends at cocktail parties with our "enlightened" way of thinking. This commenter nails it: "Anyone who thinks a child does not deserve a mother and a father is a dumbass."]

Exit question I’m going to regret: Er, why exactly do so many of you guys seem to loathe Meggie Mac, who’s pro-life [ED.: Doubtful.], pro-gun [ED.: Again, I'm not buying it.], Christian [ED.: Seriously? How do you mean this? That she practices her faith? And, even so, how does this fact, alone, make her acceptable to conservatives? I mean, Obama is a Christian, too. So is John Kerry, for whom "Meggie Mac" voted in 2004, I might add. Practically the whole damn country is "Christian". What's your point? I suppose to "brights" we all look and think alike, huh?], and hawkish [ED.: And here we have it ... "hawkish" allegedly makes one who is otherwise contemptible to conservatives suddenly acceptable. Wasn't this the argument that folks like this were pushing with regard to Giuliani's presidential bid back in 2007-08? And besides, there is nothing particularly conservative about "hawkishness", regardless of what RINOs like this guy and David Frum have to say. We've had enough of this neocon nonsense.], while you tolerate an atheist who’s squishy on abortion like me? [ED.: As you can tell from the foregoing, I don't "tolerate" you at all. In fact, were it not for Ed Morrissey, I doubt I'd even read your blog. The fact that you're "squishy" on the killing of the most innocent is only the worst of your shortcomings.] Is it because she spends most of her time bashing the GOP on gay marriage instead of rubbing The One’s face in crap? [ED.: Ya think?] I’m puzzled. [ED.: Puzzled? Thick is more like it. You obviously don't understand what makes conservatives, especially social conservatives, tick.]

(emphasis and editorial commentary added)

As for the GOP-Johnny-come-lately, Kerry voting, narcissistically boorish trust-fund pundit, Ms. McCain, this commenter at HotAir said it best:

Meghan McCain calling anyone a “dumbass” is like Obama criticizing someone’s bowling skills.

And that she feels she actually has the gravitas to say “and you can quote me on that” only makes it worse.

Regular Guy Paul on What He'd Have to Believe in Order to be a "Conservative" Abandoning McCain Because of Palin

Here's a snippet:

... I've been thinking about what I'd have to believe in order to make a jump like that:

10. That two years as the chief executive of a state is less relevant experience for the presidency than two years as a back-bench senator with no major legislative accomplishments.

9. That a man who is revered as a "maverick" because he pisses off social conservatives is never allowed to do anything that pisses me off.

8. That the man who included his time in elementary school and his undergraduate degree in international relations among his presidential qualifications knows more about foreign policy than a war hero with two and a half decades in the Senate, or even more than a woman who for two years has received intelligence briefings on Russian incursions into Alaskan airspace.

7. That McCain's pandering to the base of the Republican party is more dangerous than Obama's pandering to the base of the Democratic party.

[More]

My Comments:
As usual, the Regular Guy cuts through the pseudo-intellectual self-justifying bullsh*t to the very heart of the matter. You'd have to be delusional to be "conservative" and supporting Barack Obama.

Intellectuals for McCain-Palin?

(Hat tip: Kathryn Lopez)

At least one "intellectual elite" is supporting the McCain-Palin ticket: my old law school "chum", Laura Ingraham (actually, Laura was a couple of years ahead of me, and I doubt she even remembers me; but, see, I can name-drop with the best of the elitist cocktail-circuit types):

Sam Brownback: "The Catholic Vote is Crucial"

(Hat tip: Feddie)

Kansas Senator Sam Brownback is heading the national Catholics for McCain committee. During a Catholic luncheon at the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis, Brownback urged Catholics to get out the vote for the McCain-Palin ticket.

McCain Talks "Joe the Plumber" in Toledo: "No American should be attacked for asking questions of a presidential candidate. No one."

If he wants to win, this McCain needs to hit on these themes every day for the next 2 weeks:

The reason why Joe won is because he’s the only person to get a real answer out of Senator Obama about his plans for our country. I think you all know very well that Joe didn’t ask for Senator Obama to come to his house. Joe certainly didn’t ask to be famous. He certainly didn’t ask for the political attacks on him from the Obama campaign.

Joe, if you’re watching, I’m sorry you’re being put through this. No American should be attacked for asking questions of a presidential candidate. No one.

We learned more about Senator Obama’s plans from Joe’s question than we’ve learned in months of speeches by Senator Obama. Joe has now reminded us all that we didn’t become the greatest nation on Earth by giving our money to the government to “spread the wealth around”. In this country, we believe in spreading opportunity for those who need jobs and those who create them.

Previous Pro Ecclesia posts on this subject:
Can a Real "Joe Sixpack" ... aka "Joe the Plumber" ... Win the Election for McCain?

So-Called "Catholic Natural" Falls Flat at Al Smith Charity Dinner; McCain Scores

Cardinal Egan to Sen. McCain:
"Are you sure you want to do that? He has blood on his hands."
Gee, I wonder why the most pro-abort presidential candidate in history might not be on his game while talking to a room full of Catholics, including the Cardinal Archbishop of New York?

Details to follow later.


UPDATE:
Here's a clip of the 1st portion of Sen. McCain's remarks:


The whole thing is funny, but that last line before the video clip ends is OUTSTANDING!


UPDATE #2
Here's the 2nd half of Sen. McCain's remarks:

Can a Real "Joe Sixpack" ... aka "Joe the Plumber" ... Win the Election for McCain?

Kathryn Jean Lopez asks whether a plumber from Toledo could change the dynamic in the presidential election:

... Joe the Plumber, as everyone by the end of this weekend is liable to know, is one Joe Wurzelbacher, an Ohio plumber who wants to buy a business but knows it’s going to hurt him, tax-wise, if Barack Obama becomes president.

To his concerns, Obama told Joe: “It’s not that I want to punish your success, I just want to make sure that everybody who is behind you, that they’ve got a chance at success, too. I think when you spread the wealth around, it's good for everybody.”

What does that sound like to you. Could it be . . . Marx? Could it be . . . socialism?

In an Internet interview this week, after his now-infamous run-in with Barack Obama, Plumber Joe worried about just that: “You start giving people stuff, and then they start expecting it — and that scares me. A lot of people expect it now. They get upset when their check’s late, they get upset when they don’t get as many benefits as they used to, or when different government agencies are cut or spending is cut here and there for whatever reason — people get upset at that. And that’s because they’re used to getting it and they want more. I mean, everyone’s always gonna want more. People work the system left and right to get more out of welfare, to get more out of state assistance, federal assistance. And if government’s there for them, they’re gonna keep on trying to manipulate it to get more out of it. You got people that come along and say, “Hey, I wanna help you people,” I mean, they’re all ears! They’re like, ‘Hey, you can help me more, I don’t have to work as hard, I don’t have to do as much, and you’re gonna give me this? Man, that’s great, you’re a good guy.’”

He continued, “So yeah, it goes down the socialist — His health-care plan scares me. You know, I don’t like people going without health care, but it’s not my job to pay for everyone else’s health care. It’s hard enough paying for my own. I like the idea of deregulation as far as — nationally, you know, you only get insurance companies that can work in this state — if you deregulate that then you have more people competing and then the prices would go lower. It seems pretty simple to me. It probably isn’t that simple — but you flood the market with more products, usually they go down cheaper.”

Whereas John McCain talked Wednesday night about things like choice — and not the murdering type Obama did — Barack Obama rightly worries Americans like Plumber Joe...

At American Catholic, Donald McClarey has more on Joe the Plumber, including video of Joe's confrontation with Sen. Obama, which you should definitely check out.


UPDATE
Gov. Palin: We agree with Joe the Plumber that taxing middle class entrepreneurs to "spread the wealth" equals socialism, unlike that "other Joe" who believes such taxes are a patriotic duty.


UPDATE #2
It seems the "other Joe" can't count, either.

And the pundits would have us believe that it's Gov. Palin who isn't smart enough to be Vice President. Could you imagine the media reaction if she'd said something like this?


UPDATE #3



UPDATE #4
McCain-Palin have come out with a Joe the Plumber ad:



UPDATE #5
Obama mocks Joe the Plumber:

Blame Game: McCain's Ad Very Effective

Palin Boosts McCain With Devout Catholic Voters

From Newsmax.com:

The McCain-Palin ticket may be locking its huge lead on a crucial voting bloc: church-going Catholics.

The development — contained Thursday in a poll by the Pew Research Center and backed by other polls — could be crucial to victory in November.

Why? Catholics are the ultimate swing voters and make up as much as one-third the population of battleground states like Ohio, Pennsylvania and Michigan. Moreover, some 40 percent of U.S. Catholics have no affiliation with either party.

Republican presidential candidate John McCain now has opened a 16-percentage-point lead over Democratic rival Barack Obama among observant Catholics, according to the Pew poll. The lead began to widen with the selection of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as McCain's running mate, who, unknown to most voters, was baptized in the Catholic Church but raised in primarily Protestant evangelical churches.

The gain was noted earlier this month in a Zogby Online Interactive poll that showed 54 percent of Catholic respondents endorsing McCain’s choice of Palin for his running mate. Thirty-one percent believed it would hurt the campaign. Seven percent believed it would not make a difference.

***
For decades, Catholics have been leaving their traditional home in the Democratic Party, with more-observant Catholics in the vanguard. Northeastern Catholics were a huge factor in the victories of Ronald Reagan in the 1980s. But over the last four years, pollsters and religious experts have detected a reconsideration of Democrats.

McCain may be winning them back.

“We have strong evidence that the Palin pick was the big part of it,” Scott Keeter, director of survey research at Pew, told The Christian Science Monitor. Palin’s large family and her decision to bear her fifth child despite a diagnosis of Down syndrome lit a spark with observant Catholics who are staunchly against abortion. Palin also reassured these voters on “a whole constellation of values issues that are important to conservative Christians,” Keeler said.

***
If conservative Catholics have any reservations now, it’s based on McCain’s support of stem cell research — Palin is on record against it — and the question of Palin’s devotion to motherhood over her skyrocketing political career, according to some Catholic bloggers.

[More]

Is Voting for a Candidate Who Supports Intrinsic Evil an "Objectively Evil" Act?

Mark Shea thinks so:

I think it is an objective evil to support a candidate who wishes to use his office to commit gravely immoral acts such as sign the Freedom of Choice Act or support stem cell research. I make no distinction between candidates who want to cannibalize babies who are big and candidates who want to cannibalize babies who are small. I think anybody voting for either candidate is committing an objective evil.

This assertion elicited a response from several commenters who took issue with Mark's thesis, including this one from me:

I thought one is not morally permitted to do an objectively evil act under any circumstances, even if good might result from it.

Yet, as Dave points out, "the Bishops clearly state, sometimes even with examples, that it is OK to vote for a candidate supporting some evil positions, in order to prevent an even worse candidate from winning".

So, if your formulation is correct, Mark, you're saying that the Bishops have informed the faithful that they may engage in an "objectively evil" act?

So, what say you? Is Mark correct that voting for either Sen. McCain or Sen. Obama is an "objectively evil" act? I just don't see how it could be, given the Bishops' guidance in Faithful Citizenship, which specifically lays out circumstances under which such a vote might be licit.

"Nonpartisan" Catholics United Hits McCain with Ad Questioning His Pro-Life Credentials

Catholics United, the self-proclaimed "nonpartisan" group headed up by former Democrat Party staff members, has come out with a 527 ad attacking Sen. McCain for not walking the pro-life walk (i.e. for not being a "progressive" Democrat).

According to Catholics United,

The ad – which will run on cable television in heavily Catholic areas of Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Michigan – comes as Catholic and other religious groups are calling for a national abortion dialogue that prioritizes effective and common good solutions over political rhetoric.

I must've missed the "nonpartisan" Catholics United's ad taking Sen. Obama to task over his abominable pro-life record.

Not to worry, once this Born-Alive Truth ad hits the "heavily Catholic areas of Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Michigan", there will be no doubt where Sen. Obama stands with regard to the unborn, and it will hit home for pro-life Catholics much more than the "nonpartisan" Catholics United ad will.

Streisand Sings Support for Sen. Obama at Hollywood Fundraiser

From FOXNews:

Barbra Streisand sang and spoke out Tuesday night for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama at a star-studded fundraiser in Beverly Hills, Calif.

She sang four songs, according to sources. They were interesting choices: "When the Sun Comes Out," "Make Someone Happy," "What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life?" and "Shining Hour."

In between songs, Streisand spoke a little bit about Obama and the reason she was there. She said, "I'm not here to make a political speech... Tonight my thoughts are only personal... I can't wait for the morning on November 5th when the people who said 'Yes we can' wake up and say 'Yes we did.'"

Sen. McCain offered this response.


UPDATE
Sen. McCain also had this to say:

Catholic Bishops Seek to Meet With McCain, Obama

From The Wall Street Journal:

BOSTON -- America's Catholic bishops have a few thoughts on politics, and this year they want to share them directly with the candidates.

For the first time in recent memory, leaders of the U.S. Catholic Conference of Bishops have invited the two presidential candidates to meet with them before the election. Neither Republican John McCain nor Democrat Barack Obama have replied to the invitations offered last month, said Sister Mary Ann Walsh, spokeswoman for the conference.

A spokeswoman for the McCain campaign said the senator wants to accept, but does not yet know if such a meeting will fit into his schedule. [ED.: I suggest you find the time in your schedule, Senator. Can we please get Sen. Brownback and Gov. Keating to stress the importance of this to Sen. McCain?] A spokesman for the Obama campaign could not be reached for comment.

Five bishops who lead policy committees -- delving into matters including abortion, education, migration, international affairs and communications -- want to discuss the candidates' views on social issues, said Bishop William Murphy of the Rockville Centre diocese in New York state. He is chairman of the bishops' domestic policy committee. The meetings, if they occur, will be private and off the record, he said.

***
The invitation was extended prior to last week, when bishops chastised two Catholics who support abortion rights -- Democratic vice presidential candidate Sen. Joe Biden, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi -- for their remarks concerning abortion. Bishops, in particular, faulted Ms. Pelosi for suggesting that the church has not agreed to the time when human life begins.