Big Blog Roundup - Federal

While we try and keep the focus on Mississippi here at Cotton Mouth, the next couple of months offer too much good stuff at the federal level to let it all pass. I am going to include links to several good stories from the blogosphere, and limit this to one post.

Huffington Post: Gutter Politics: McCain Campaign Called Out For Half-Truths

ABC: McCain's 'Truth Squad... Full Of Half-Truths'...
Time Mag: McCain "Responsible For One Of The Sleaziest Ads I've Ever Seen"...
Washington Post: "Untrue Accusations, Rumors Have Started To Swirl ... They Become Regarded As Fact"....
MSNBC: Evidence Palin, McCain Not Telling Truth About Bridge To Nowhere...
AP: Fact Check... McCain Ad About Palin Is Misleading...

Daily Kos: The Truth about those sacry earmarks

In other words, when McCain talks about earmarks, he is talking about 3% of our annual budget deficit, .6% of our annual budget, and a number too small to even report when discussing our national debt. Or, put another way, he is talking about two months in Iraq, something he wants to keep going indefinitely.

FiveThirtyEight: Lipstick

My first reaction upon hearing Barack Obama's "lipstick on a pig" remark was that it was deliberate. Not a deliberate attempt to smear Sarah Palin per se, but a deliberate attempt to provoke exactly the sort of fanatical reaction that they have gotten from the Republicans. The McCain campaign has spent a week campaigning on big themes and big personalities, and gotten a fair amount of mileage out of it. This takes everyone back down a notch, back down to the tedium and banality of partisan politics. It would be wishful thinking to call it a momentum-changer, but it may by default be a momentum-stopper. The convention/Palinmania phase of the news cycle -- a phase the Republicans clearly thought they were winning -- is now over.

Think Progress: Just Like Bush White House, Palin Uses Personal E-mail Accounts And Claims Executive Privilege»

The Washington Post reports that Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK) is “being asked by a local Republican activist to release more than 1,100 e-mails she withheld from a public records request, including 40 that were copied to her husband, Todd.” Invoking a favored practice of the Bush administration, Palin has claimed executive privilege to keep the e-mails secret — despite the fact many of them were sent to Todd, who is not an elected official.

Crooks and Liars: Contempt For Those Who Serve

But that’s not where McCain and his party end on their false “support. As a diary at Booman Tribune detailed back in February, Mr Straight Talk is full of doubletalk.

McCain voted against the Webb amendment calling for adequate troop rest between deployments.

McCain voted against an amendment that would provide $20 million to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for health care facilities.

McCain voted against increasing Veterans medical services funding by $1.5 billion in FY 2007 to be paid for by closing corporate tax loopholes.

McCain voted to table an amendment by Senator Dodd that called for an additional $322,000,000 for safety equipment for United States forces in Iraq.

McCain urged other Senate members to table a vote (which never passed) to provide more than $1 billion for National Guard and Reserve equipment in Iraq related to a shortage of helmets, tents, bullet-proof inserts, and tactical vests.

McCain voted against increasing the amount available for medical care for veterans by $650,000,000.

When it comes to their claim to support the troops, John McCain and his party are flat-out liars. The message is simple - if you really support the troops, stop voting Republican.

Picture of the day: From TPM