Another 4 Years of a Bush-league Presidency?

I was giving McCain too much credit. He is a Republican conservative ideologue after all.

Michael D. Shear reports in the Washington Post:

McCain dismissed his Democratic rivals' proposals for universal health care as riddled with "inefficiency, irrationality, and uncontrolled costs." He said the 47 million uninsured Americans will only get covered when they are freed from the shackles of the current, employer-dominated medical insurance system.

Do I understand this correctly, McCain? You're going to do what? You're going to free us from "the shackles" of employers providing insurance for their employees? Oh, yes, that will fix everything.

"Captains Courageous"

Tara, the kids, and I watched the 1937 film "Captains Courageous" last night. It's a Rudyard Kipling tale, based on his 1897 novel. It's the story of Harvey, who is a spoiled rich kid who has no mother and feels neglected by a father who is too busy to spend time with him. Finally, his father is persuaded to take him on his business travels, but Harvey falls overboard. He is rescued by a Portuguese fisherman named Manuel, played by Spencer Tracy, and the rest is about Harvey learning how to be a decent human being while learning to work with the crew of Captain Disko's boat. It's a very good cast. Freddie Bartholomew plays Harvey. Lionel Barrymore is terrific as the captain. John Carradine (David's father) is excellent as crewman "Long Jack." Micky Rooney plays the captain's son, Dan, in a small yet effective role. But the central character is the PoManuel, played by Spencer Tracy in one of his first major roles. Tracy won an Oscar for Best Actor for the performance. I will never forget Manuel's songs, his playing of a Herty Gerty, his tales of a heavenly fisherman's paradise where he hopes to join his father someday, or his calling the boy (with a heavy accent) "Little Fish." This is a very good film, directed by the excellent Victor Fleming.

"The Men"

Tara and I watched "The Men," this week, which was Marlon Brando's first major film. It was made in 1950. In it, he plays a soldier named Ken Wilcheck, who was shot in the back during WWII. This occurs in the opening scene of the film. Then, we follow him to a Veteran's hospital, where we learn that he is with others like himself who are paraplegics. The result is an impressive film with a number of characters that we get emotionally invested in. Jack Webb, who later played Joe Friday in 'Dragnet' is very good as Captain Norm Butler. And Arthur Jurado plays the memorable character Angel Lopez. With the exception of Angel, these men struggle with the meaning of their lives now that they've lost the use of their lower bodies. The biggest problem is whether and how they can relate to women. Teresa Wright plays Ellen, a classic 1950s "stand by your man" kind of woman, who enters into the struggle of her life in dealing with the tortured feelings of Ken (played by Brando). It's a good film.

Washington Mutual

Washington Mutual (like many lenders) was poorly managed, and suffered huge setbacks. Do they end up in the street like many of the people they lent money to? No, of course not. They received what's being called a "cash infusion" of $7 billion to help them overcome their losses. Was the CEO, Kerry Killinger fired? Did he suffer a setback like the one the company suffered? Did he have to worry about ending up on the street? Of course not. He's a deserving capitalist... well, I'll refrain from adding to that. He was "compensated" with $14.4 million. Al Capone, wherever he is, wishes he got into this racket. It is technically legal in our system... for some reason. See this story in the Washington Post for details.

On McCain

I haven't been blogging recently, but this came to me from MoveOn.org, and I thought it was something I really should share. I had no idea that McCain supported Bush's veto of the ban on waterboarding. My opinion of McCain was obviously misguided before.

10 things you should know about John McCain (but probably don't):

1. John McCain voted against establishing a national holiday in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Now he says his position has "evolved," yet he's continued to oppose key civil rights laws.¹

2. According to Bloomberg News, McCain is more hawkish than Bush on Iraq, Russia and China. Conservative columnist Pat Buchanan says McCain "will make Cheney look like Gandhi."²

3. His reputation is built on his opposition to torture, but McCain voted against a bill to ban waterboarding, and then applauded President Bush for vetoing that ban.³

4. McCain opposes a woman's right to choose. He said, "I do not support Roe versus Wade. It should be overturned."⁴

5. The Children's Defense Fund rated McCain as the worst senator in Congress for children. He voted against the children's health care bill last year, then defended Bush's veto of the bill.⁵

6. He's one of the richest people in a Senate filled with millionaires. The Associated Press reports he and his wife own at least eight homes! Yet McCain says the solution to the housing crisis is for people facing foreclosure to get a "second job" and skip their vacations.⁶

7. Many of McCain's fellow Republican senators say he's too reckless to be commander in chief. One Republican senator said: "The thought of his being president sends a cold chill down my spine. He's erratic. He's hotheaded. He loses his temper and he worries me."⁷

8. McCain talks a lot about taking on special interests, but his campaign manager and top advisers are actually lobbyists. The government watchdog group Public Citizen says McCain has 59 lobbyists raising money for his campaign, more than any of the other presidential candidates.⁸

9. McCain has sought closer ties to the extreme religious right in recent years. The pastor McCain calls his "spiritual guide," Rod Parsley, believes America's founding mission is to destroy Islam, which he calls a "false religion." McCain sought the political support of right-wing preacher John Hagee, who believes Hurricane Katrina was God's punishment for gay rights and called the Catholic Church "the Antichrist" and a "false cult."⁹

10. He positions himself as pro-environment, but he scored a 0—yes, zero—from the League of Conservation Voters last year.¹⁰

John McCain is not who the Washington press corps make him out to be. Please help get the word out—forward this email to your personal network. And if you want us to keep you posted on MoveOn's work to get the truth out about John McCain, sign up here:

http://pol.moveon.org/mccaintruth/?id=12407-8394043-0wOjWs&t=232

Thank you for all you do.

–Eli, Justin, Noah, Laura, and the MoveOn.org Political Action Team
Saturday, April 5th, 2008

Sources:
1. "The Complicated History of John McCain and MLK Day," ABC News, April 3, 2008
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/04/the-complicated.html

"McCain Facts," ColorOfChange.org, April 4, 2008
http://colorofchange.org/mccain_facts/

2. "McCain More Hawkish Than Bush on Russia, China, Iraq," Bloomberg News, March 12, 2008
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aF28rSCtk0ZM&refer=us

"Buchanan: John McCain 'Will Make Cheney Look Like Gandhi,'" ThinkProgress, February 6, 2008
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/02/06/buchanan-gandhi-mccain/

3. "McCain Sides With Bush On Torture Again, Supports Veto Of Anti-Waterboarding Bill," ThinkProgress, February 20, 2008
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/02/20/mccain-torture-veto/

4. "McCain says Roe v. Wade should be overturned," MSNBC, February 18, 2007
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17222147/

5. "2007 Children's Defense Fund Action Council^® Nonpartisan Congressional Scorecard," February 2008
http://www.childrensdefense.org/site/PageServer?pagename=act_learn_scorecard2007

"McCain: Bush right to veto kids health insurance expansion," CNN, October 3, 2007
http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/10/03/mccain.interview/

6. "Beer Executive Could Be Next First Lady," Associated Press, April 3, 2008
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5h-S1sWHm0tchtdMP5LcLywg5ZtMgD8VQ86M80

"McCain Says Bank Bailout Should End `Systemic Risk,'" Bloomberg News, March 25, 2008
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aHMiDVYaXZFM&refer=home

7. "Will McCain's Temper Be a Liability?," Associated Press, February 16, 2008
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=4301022

"Famed McCain temper is tamed," Boston Globe, January 27, 2008
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/01/27/famed_mccain_temper_is_tamed/

8. "Black Claims McCain's Campaign Is Above Lobbyist Influence: 'I Don't Know What The Criticism Is,'" ThinkProgress, April 2, 2008
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/04/02/mccain-black-lobbyist/

"McCain's Lobbyist Friends Rally 'Round Their Man," ABC News, January 29, 2008
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=4210251

9. "McCain's Spiritual Guide: Destroy Islam," Mother Jones Magazine, March 12, 2008
http://www.motherjones.com/washington_dispatch/2008/03/john-mccain-rod-parsley-spiritual-guide.html

"Will McCain Specifically 'Repudiate' Hagee's Anti-Gay Comments?," ThinkProgress, March 12, 2008
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/03/12/mccain-hagee-anti-gay/

"McCain 'Very Honored' By Support Of Pastor Preaching 'End-Time Confrontation With Iran,'" ThinkProgress, February 28, 2008
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/02/28/hagee-mccain-endorsement/

10. "John McCain Gets a Zero Rating for His Environmental Record," Sierra Club, February 28, 2008
http://www.alternet.org/blogs/environment/77913/