NYT: McCain demonstrates leadership while Obama vacations
posted at 8:45 am on August 15, 2008 by Ed Morrissey
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The New York Times notices that a completely predictable reversal has taken place between Barack Obama, John McCain, and media coverage. Two weeks ago, the national media followed Obama devotedly as he toured Europe, straining to capture every word on what they considered a historic event. Now, though, the media has awakened to truly historical events in the Caucasus, and McCain has commanded their attention with his leadership — while Obama hides in Hawaii:
For the last several days, Senator Barack Obama has seemed to fade from the scene while on his secluded vacation here, as his opponent, Senator John McCain, has seized nearly every opportunity to display his foreign policy credentials on the dominant issue of the week: the conflict between Russia and Georgia.
Only once, at the beginning of the week, did Mr. Obama discuss the fighting in public, when he emerged from his beachfront rental home to condemn Russia’s escalation, in a way that seemed timed for the evening television news. He took no questions whose answers might demonstrate command of the issue.
Mr. McCain and his surrogates, however, have discussed the situation nearly every day on the campaign trail, often taking a hard line against Russia to the point of his declaring the other day, “We are all Georgians.”
It is as if the candidates’ images have been reversed within a matter of a few weeks. When Mr. Obama was overseas last month, Mr. McCain’s foreign policy bona fides seemed diminished, if only because he could not attract the news media attention received by Mr. Obama, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee. Now, Mr. Obama’s voice seems muted at a time when much of the world has been worriedly watching the conflict.
Team Obama tries to spin this as a quiet engagement on Obama’s part. They claim that he has been in constant contact with his team of foreign-policy advisers while vacationing on the islands. Those advisers, though, can’t agree among themselves, as Susan Rice and Richard Holbrooke demonstrated when they alternately criticized McCain’s approach and then bragged of having the same policy.
McCain spent the week leading the American response in a real way, forcing the White House to catch up. Obama spent the week … body surfing and golfing. For a candidate who already has a confidence deficit on national security and foreign policy among voters, Obama seems strangely disengaged on what is the most crititcal and emergent foreign-policy issue of the campaign. He has taken a strangely passive path, and the contradictory statements by his surrogates have made Obama seem even more vacillating than usual.
Most interestingly, the media has finally started to notice. Michael Falcone’s article acknowledges McCain’s superior performance, an acknowledgment that finds its basis in McCain’s experiential advantage. The media has flocked to McCain for answers on a genuine foreign-policy issue, and more or less abandoned Obama and his team. He has become almost irrelevant in the Georgian crisis, made so by his own abandonment of the field.
It’s an interesting and revealing parallel to the kind of media frenzy Obama attracted in Europe but did nothing to earn. McCain has earned the attention for being prescient and informed on the crisis in Georgia and the nature of Russia. The former is the attraction of celebrity, and the latter the attraction of leadership, and American just got an object lesson in the differences between the two.
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Look at that picture…and people think Larry Sinclair is full of it.
LtE126 on August 15, 2008 at 8:48 AM
Obama is probably having a pina colada,
and bitterly clinging on to his tire guage!Haha.
canopfor on August 15, 2008 at 8:50 AM
Bush: not allowed to take ANY TIME OFF. AT ALL PER KEITH OLBERMANANNN AND HIS VERY SPECIAL COMMENTARIES! NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO!!!
Barry: dude, chill, take as much time as you need to unwind from this very, very difficult tiring campaign. We know how tired you are right now, you can barely stand. It’s terrible, it’s not good for you to work yourself so hard my comrade.
benrand on August 15, 2008 at 8:51 AM
I really expected to see some movement in the polls over the last week because of this but there hasn’t been any. Still, this sure feels like a turning point in the campaign. Nothing hangs a lantern on the value of having a crotchety old hardass like McCain in the White House like the Russian Bear going on the move.
Dudley Smith on August 15, 2008 at 8:51 AM
That’s okay, as the candidate often holds more than one position on any given issue.
Karl on August 15, 2008 at 8:52 AM
Since when were ones “foreign policy bona fides” dependant upon whether the MSM was paying attention to you?
MarkTheGreat on August 15, 2008 at 8:52 AM
While WW III started, Barry was on vacation.
I see some juicy commercials.
benrand on August 15, 2008 at 8:52 AM
How exactly do you stay in close contact with 301 foreign policy advisors?
Leonidas Hoplite on August 15, 2008 at 8:53 AM
There is no doubt that Obama is the lightweight here, and he knows it. Might as well take an extra week in Hawaii.
2theright on August 15, 2008 at 8:54 AM
You don’t understand. There are huge differences between McCain’s policies and those of “The One” (TM). However these differences are sufficiently nuanced that only one as well versed in dipolomatic niceties as well as the price of arugula, such as “The One” (TM), would be able to perceive them.
MarkTheGreat on August 15, 2008 at 8:54 AM
DAY-O!
wildweasel on August 15, 2008 at 8:55 AM
Campaign, what campaign you annoying commoner. Don’t you know that this is merely the victory lap leading up to the coronation.
MarkTheGreat on August 15, 2008 at 8:55 AM
Wow, the honeymoon is officially over.
jimmy the notable on August 15, 2008 at 8:56 AM
Karl Rove, you magnificent bastard.
MarkTheGreat on August 15, 2008 at 8:57 AM
The NYT is spinning in their coffins, trying to somehow save a dying Liberal spin machine from the scrap yard while also protecting their candidate and their ultimate love “Liberalism”… One day they throw out a “bone of truth”, just after throwing out this kind of crap…
Yesterday the New York Times ran a story on a study by the General Accounting Office that was commissioned by Democratic Senators Carl Levin and Byron Dorgan. The study found that from 1998 to 2005, two out of three American corporations didn’t pay any corporate income taxes. Levin and Dorgan trumpeted this finding as though it meant something.
As usual, the Democrats were preying on ignorance. As Levin and Dorgan undoubtedly know, most small businesses, and many large ones, don’t pay federal income taxes because they don’t make any money. Most companies, especially small ones, pay their employees, after which there is nothing left to report as profit. Those salaries, of course, are taxed as ordinary income. If the corporations are Subchapter S, any earnings are passed through to the owner(s) and taxed at that level. The idea that “corporations” represent some kind of magical money pot for the government to steal from is just one more Democratic Party fantasy. On the contrary, the United States has the second-highest corporate income tax rates in the world, a fact that hurts our economy badly.
As dumb as the Levin-Dorgan press release was, however, it wasn’t dumb enough for the New York Times. The paper got out its calculator, multiplied the gross revenues of the companies in the GAO study by 35%, and came up with this classic of economic ignorance:
At a basic corporate tax rate of 35 percent, all the corporations covered in the study in theory owed $875 billion in federal income taxes.
In theory, a company pays 35% of its net income to the feds, not its gross receipts. That reporters and editors at the New York Times should be ignorant of this basic fact is shocking. How in the world can these people purport to instruct the rest of us on economic matters, when they lack the most fundamental understanding of how our tax system works?
Today, a red-faced New York Times issued this correction:
An article on Wednesday about a Government Accountability Office study reporting on the percentage of corporations that paid no federal income taxes from 1998 through 2005 gave an incorrect figure for the estimated tax liability of the 1.3 million companies covered by the study. It is not $875 billion. The correct amount cannot be calculated because it would be based on the companies paying the standard rate of 35 percent on their net income, a figure that is not available. (The incorrect figure of $875 billion was based on the companies paying the standard rate on their $2.5 trillion in gross sales.)
Unbelievable. Even for the New York Times, absolutely unbelievable. (powerline)
Keemo on August 15, 2008 at 8:57 AM
Maybe Obama believes that enough of his voter base has no more interest in events taking place on the other side of the world than he does.
jackmac on August 15, 2008 at 8:57 AM
Somebody posted on another thread, that somebody needs to find and start re-running Reagan’s bear in the woods commercial. In my opinion, that commercial was the beginning of the end for Carter.
MarkTheGreat on August 15, 2008 at 8:58 AM
Is that possible?
Nelsa on August 15, 2008 at 8:59 AM
I think Obama is just letting things play out while he’s on vacation — letting McCain be visible in the area that is his strength and letting the MSM wear itself out on the John Edwards story. Obama will resurface shortly, and he’s got a convention to prepare for.
Maybe the NYT sees this lull in Obama activity as a chance to give McCain a little air time so that when they begin their full court press for Obama in the fall they can still say they’ve been fair to both candidates.
BigD on August 15, 2008 at 9:02 AM
The Dems have no opinion on Georgia. Their only “foreign” policy is to attempt to confound Rep. foreign policy. Once the Rep. position is clearly established, the Dems will let loose.
The same can be said for the NY Times. Pot calling the kettle black. (Is that racist now?)
JiangxiDad on August 15, 2008 at 9:03 AM
Perhaps he can find his birth certificate.
Bigfoot on August 15, 2008 at 9:03 AM
McCain: “We are all Georgians”
Obama: “…now watch this drive”
BohicaTwentyTwo on August 15, 2008 at 9:06 AM
“And where is The Batman? He’s at home, washing his tights!”
- J. Nicholson, 1989
Spanglemaker on August 15, 2008 at 9:13 AM
Didn’t the NYT endorse Hillary? He’s not officially the….
Marcus on August 15, 2008 at 9:13 AM
I have to admit I hate expressions like, “We are all Georgians now.” They have meaning the first time they’re used; once you start bringing them out every time an incident happens they become diluted, trite and well, confusing. Did McCain really mean to compare this incident with 9/11?
BigD on August 15, 2008 at 9:15 AM
Part of the problem for the Obama team — if you look at some of the comments on the leftist blogs — is that there’s a significant number of folks who are going through a bit of nostalgia/wishful thinking right now that somehow Putin is about to revive the Great Soviet Experiment (as opposed to this merely being the latest example of Vlad’s Russian nationalism). There’s a good many folks who are core Obama supporters who are seeking ways to excuse the Russians’ behavior in Georgia, either by claiming Russia was provoked into attacking or by attacking McCain for coming down too strongly on the side of Georgia. And you’re about to see the same reaction to the U.S.-Polish deal on missile defense from the left that they had to Reagan’s effort back in ‘83 to put Pershing missiles in Germany (hint, they aren’t going to cheer the latest agreement, and are going to sound a lot like the editorial page of Pravda, which in its recent attacks on Bush has sounded a lot like the editorial page of the New York Times).
The knee-jerk reaction of the left to be for whomever the United States is against means that to avoid any type of ideological split within his supporters, Barack can only deliver pablum when discussing the new crisis. Odds are Team Obama are desperately hoping the whole this is settled in the next 10 days, so Russia can just be a minor footnote during the DNC convention, other that to come up with some convoluted explanation on why this is all Bush and McCain’s failt.
jon1979 on August 15, 2008 at 9:16 AM
Total Recall.
Televised ads
business conference table
brainiac shares a great idea, cold silent reception
lamebrain repeats exact words, brilliant reception
maverick muse on August 15, 2008 at 9:18 AM
World’s Stupidest Obama Handler:
“Senator, how about some windsurfing? I’ll videotape and put it up on YouTube. It’ll be kind of a ’sporty’ video shoot of you going back and forth, and back and forth, it’ll play right in to the whole ‘Olympics’ thing, you know, make you look real in-touch and presidential!”
jeff_from_mpls on August 15, 2008 at 9:21 AM
Is this Obama’s “Kerry Wind Surfing” moment?
carbon_footprint on August 15, 2008 at 9:24 AM
digital journal article. Obama fell down on Georgia, can he get back up? If he had stronger advisers maybe.
http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/258441
Dr Evil on August 15, 2008 at 9:24 AM
For the Georgians, this is worse. Much worse.
I don’t know how many Georgians have been killed, but on a per capita basis, I wouldn’t be surprised to find out they lost more than we did on 9/11. Additionally, Al Queda did not invade and occupy 1/3rd of the US after 9/11.
MarkTheGreat on August 15, 2008 at 9:25 AM
So? Doesn’t that flip-flopping fit into BO’s MO?
jgapinoy on August 15, 2008 at 9:26 AM
Let Obama stay on vacation. He’s not an elected official. He’s not an anything official. He’s a presidential candidate with no power whatsoever. Let Bush & Company take care of it. It’s near the end of his last term, I doubt the man wants to leave cowardice and impotence as his legacy.
Darth Executor on August 15, 2008 at 9:28 AM
What’s that you say? Obama only appears as a world leader when he is participating in his campaign’s carefully crafted event? No!!
jtorres138 on August 15, 2008 at 9:31 AM
I know, I know.
In reality the Russians know that the system won’t work, but they want the US to waste money on it, so they are using reverse psychology in order to trick us into thinking that they are afraid of it.
MarkTheGreat on August 15, 2008 at 9:32 AM
When
Pravdathe New York Times starts drawing attention to the fact that the Chosen One is an emperor sans attire, it’s a good sign that the Dem. party leadership is (or should be) already thinking hard and long about whether they want to play ball in November or concede this round and focus on 2012.Since Hillary’s name is going to be on the official convention ballot, there is a chance that the Dem’s might choose to ditch Obama and make November interesting (rather than the better-than-narrow Repub. victory it looks like it may wind up being).
Of course, this was supposed to be the Dem’s year to sweep into power. But the insubstantiality of Obama and the impressive ineptitudes of the Dem Congressional leaders is doing (and, very possibly, already has done) substantial damage to the Democrat brand. Possibly enough damage that the power brokers decide to strategically retreat to 2012 — and, incidently, shut up a large special interest group among their base by allowing a weak, young, hip black candidate lose spectacularly to a weak, old white guy.
In any case, the Denver convention’s gonna be interesting.
Harpazo on August 15, 2008 at 9:32 AM
So true. Vote Crotchety Old Hardass ‘08. Works for me!
Gilda on August 15, 2008 at 9:34 AM
That picture on the front page needs to be shown over and over and over again. Luau-ing while Georga burns.
crazy_legs on August 15, 2008 at 9:38 AM
One of the big prizes for the 2008 winner is SCOTUS (And a lot of appellate judgeships). Stevens is pushing 90, Ginsberg is not in the best of health, and Souter is supposed to mutter at times about retiring to NH. The Dems would be risking getting another Roberts or Alito, and the balance of the court (especially on abortion and affirmative action) swinging right.
(Of course, this assumes that McCain would nominate Robrets-Alito types. Since he voted for both and has spoken favorably of them, presumably he’d go for someone with a fairly conservative track record.)
Wethal on August 15, 2008 at 9:43 AM
If by “leadership”, you mean McCain has given his (toothless) opinion on Georgia and journalists have written it down , then yes, McCain has demonstrated leadership.
To suggest that Obama isn’t working while on vacation is ridiculous.
Dave Rywall on August 15, 2008 at 9:44 AM
If we see the DNC start shifting funds away from the presidential race to competitive congressional races, we will know that they have given up on Obama.
MarkTheGreat on August 15, 2008 at 9:44 AM
I see drywall has showm up again to defend the indefensible.
I wonder if he is on retainer to the Obama campaign.
MarkTheGreat on August 15, 2008 at 9:45 AM
Great post. Hopefully the MSM isn’t just waiting for Obama to return, so they can dump McCain, and start ‘carrying-the-water’ for Obama…again.
Karmi on August 15, 2008 at 9:46 AM
By the way, on last night’s Daily Show, Jon Stewart was attacking McCain for being “presumptuous” on the Georgia issue. The specific line of attack was that McCain allegedly “sent” envoys (Lieberman and someone else) to Georgia, even though McCain has no authority to do so. It’s the same line of attack we used against Obama on his whirlwind tour, when he started meeting with foreign leaders and discussing policy.
Just making a note, because I’m guessing Jon Stewart got an advance copy of Obama surrogate talking points on that issue.
Outlander on August 15, 2008 at 9:49 AM
The truth of the matter is there’s nothing either Obama or McCain can do about it. The fair attack on Obama, in my opinion, is his tepid and weak response to the crisis early on. He shouldn’t have to cancel his vacation over it, but we expect him to do a bit more than come out the day of the invasion and say “now you two kids play nice!!”
Outlander on August 15, 2008 at 9:51 AM
Um….. He is a U.S. Senator. I’m pretty sure that counts as an elected public offical.
highhopes on August 15, 2008 at 9:52 AM
I agree with you. I think a combination of forces have extinguished America’s rhetorical skills, like our failure to sustain the literary classics, and the omnipresent speech nazis who have trained political speakers to avoid creative turns of phrase for fear of the video-tape ending up on an attack-ad, or before a Human Rights Tribunal.
Remember the first anniversary of 9-11? If ever there was an occasion for an orator to craft a great, timeless speech, this was it. Yet none of the memorials I saw served up more than a tepid recitation of the victims’ names, and a rote reading of the Gettysburg Address, or some other historical speech.
jeff_from_mpls on August 15, 2008 at 9:52 AM
Lieberman and Graham, who are both on Foreign Relations committee, I believe.
Wethal on August 15, 2008 at 9:55 AM
Time for a new 3:00AM phonecall ad.
Only when Obama’s phone rings, the voice mail answers he is on vacation, leave your name and number, He will get back to you in a few weeks…
DJ Elliott on August 15, 2008 at 9:56 AM
Very funny you racist! LOL!
sabbott on August 15, 2008 at 10:00 AM
Bring on the debates.
Dr.Cwac.Cwac on August 15, 2008 at 10:01 AM
hmm.. Maybe Russia timed their invasion to coincide with Obama’s vacation so that he wouldn’t be able to stop them with his all powerful words.
pappy on August 15, 2008 at 10:04 AM
That’s probably because (as his first statement showed) he has no command of the issue.
AZCoyote on August 15, 2008 at 10:09 AM
“Major Speech” in 5…4…3…
franksalterego on August 15, 2008 at 10:12 AM
Sorry, I figured he gave up his senate seat if he’s running for president since he’s too busy with the campaign to do his actual job.
Darth Executor on August 15, 2008 at 10:14 AM
One of Obama’s greatest failings is his inability to admit that he is wrong. This prevents him from taking simple steps to minimize the damage when he makes a mistake.
He could have come right out and said that his first response on Georgia was uninformed and that he is on vacation, and followed that up with a considered and cogent position after putting in a half-days work with his team. But instead he has to “marry” his initial mistake and stick to his original plan to bodysurf his way through this crisis.
It was the same thing with his campaign-gaffe-elevated-to-doctrine position on negotiations without preconditions or his absolute statement that he could no more disown Rev. Wright than his own (typical white/racist) Grandmother.
Obama’s first inclination when faced with difficulty is to dig in his heels and try to bluff his way through. This reflects a narcissism that believes that the most important thing in any situation is that he makes sure he doesn’t look stupid. Unfortunately, it means he is often moving in the wrong direction in the critical first hours of a crisis, and is completely out of position when it comes time to recover.
In a President of the United States, such a tendency would be disasterous.
gridlock2 on August 15, 2008 at 10:15 AM
How can this be? Didn’t Russia heed Obama’s call for a ceasefire? Obama = politics lite.
TooTall on August 15, 2008 at 10:17 AM
Could that be because his top foreign policy advisor’s firm has taken in more than $800,000 lobbying for the country of Georgia?
Perhaps he could serve his country well by whispering in his best bud GWB’s ear some of that “prescient and informed” knowledge. According to John Bolton, Bush could sure use a heads-up!
J_Gocht on August 15, 2008 at 10:18 AM
.
Ouch. Even coming from a paper with as little credibility as this, that still has to sting.
Think_b4_speaking on August 15, 2008 at 10:22 AM
Well I walked into that one!
Public officials should be required to resign their seats if they want to run for President. McCain and Obama and Clinton all have been worthless Senators for years. If they aren’t AWOL campaigning they show up and vote present so as not to take a real position. The President doesn’t have 99 other critters to hide behind. If a Senator can’t show up do his/her real job and take positions while campaigning, they need to go home.
highhopes on August 15, 2008 at 10:22 AM
Although I quite agree that Obama has no official power in this situation, there’s something disconcerting about this. True that he’s just a senator from Illinois. But he’s running for President.
And for goodness sake, he just got back from his “victory lap” trip around the world, which basically had him all but claiming the Presidency without that pesky little election thing. Are we to interpret that if Obama becomes President, a pesky little war between the thuggish Russians and ANYONE will not be dealt with except with naive and soft statements? Are we to interpret that Obama will only get involved if it’s an “Important” country? It ain’t Germany or Iraq so Obama don’t care? He wants to play in the big pool before he’s elected to play there only when he deems it necessary. Sorry, buddy, you can’t pick and choose your battles anymore. Obama set the precedent, now he has to play by the rules he himself set.
mjk on August 15, 2008 at 10:24 AM
Can I get an “Amen” on Barry taking a permanent vacation?
Preferably overseas. He’s so above us all here, he should move immediately to ex-President.
NoDonkey on August 15, 2008 at 10:24 AM
Olbermann said Obama’s trip to Iraq was a “tour of duty”.
I guess his Hawaiian vacation is “overseas diplomacy”
marklmail on August 15, 2008 at 10:25 AM
While watching and listening to McCain during the past week, it has been exceedingly easy to perceive him as President. What changed for some reporters is that they actually were able to get past the minutiae of the campaign and see McCain as the go-to man for the appropriate response to Russian aggression.
Connie on August 15, 2008 at 10:29 AM
Yes, of course he is.
Working feverishly, along with his 300 foreign policy advisers, crafting the next “Major Historic Speech” to be given in front of a crowd of adoring fans.
teleprompters required
franksalterego on August 15, 2008 at 10:29 AM
Odd, the reversals are, hummm?
eh, that sounded a bit like ‘Yoda speak,’ there.
.
You must have conveniently missed all of the liberal news and opinion talking heads who claimed that Bush was AWOL while he was on vacations.
wise_man on August 15, 2008 at 10:49 AM
Absolutely right.
Never fear — the USA might act like it’s forgotten what consequential times we live in, but we can be jolted back to attention in a heartbeat.
I suspect a President Obama would be impeached soon after such a crisis, by a unanimous vote.
jeff_from_mpls on August 15, 2008 at 10:54 AM
This is an attempt to lead by example. The message of the day is:
When war breaks out, go bodysurfing Dude!
BobMbx on August 15, 2008 at 10:57 AM
I’m not bothered by Obama being on vacation - he can take as much as he likes. I’m sure he is in contact with staff, strategists and the like.
I am gratified to see somebody taking notice of the fact that when responding he issued a brief statement and took no questions. When you are POTUS you don’t always have the luxury of waiting until you have the right finely crafted speech - the job doesn’t work that way.
Such events seem to be wearing away at the veneer; when even the Times notices that you’re avoiding interactive Q/A times re: world events and you’re a dem….not good.
Does anybody else get the feeling that all one would need to do is change the ‘prompter like in “Anchorman” and you could get Senator Burgundy to say whatever you wanted?
RDuke on August 15, 2008 at 11:02 AM
Even the crazy-liberal Philadelphia Inquirer today is massively complimenting President Bush on his response to the Russian invasion. If this episode also causes Bush’s approval ratings to rise, it’s all over for Barry O.
I have thought for weeks that McCain was rising in the polls and Barry was flatlining because Bush had disappeared. He has reappeared at exactly the right time and the right way to be an asset to McCain and a problem for Barry.
Nothing about this election is turning out the way David Axelrod anticipated. And he appears incapable of changing his game plan to adjust to the new reality.
rockmom on August 15, 2008 at 11:12 AM
I just noticed the picture, too easy: Obama is like Clinton, when the country needed leadership, he goes and gets lei’d.
jeff_from_mpls on August 15, 2008 at 11:23 AM
Yeah… I forgot how understanding you guys always were when Bush took a vacation.
Chuck Schick on August 15, 2008 at 11:33 AM
It is?
After all the leftist hand wringing and panty wetting about Bush going to Crawford, you have the balls to say this?
Wow. Just wow…amazing. You have gotta love your hypocrisy.
benrand on August 15, 2008 at 11:35 AM
And let’s not forget the news stories of Bush and Cheney being AWOL just after the planes hit on 9/11. The Talking Heads seemed to think Bush should be at the White House giving press conferences and showing the country he was in charge, instead of flying around on Air Force 1 actually being in charge…
And Cheney was in some “undisclosed location.” The press couldn’t seem to figure out why the location of the VP should be a secret just because the country was under attack…
taznar on August 15, 2008 at 11:36 AM
I don’t remember claims of GWB being AWOL during the atrocities of 9/11/01. What I recall is criticism that upon hearing the initial (sketchy reports) he didn’t immediately start running around like a little girl screaming that the world was coming to an end.
I got a better example. The press was hyper-critical that GWB didn’t immediately fly into New Orleans from Crawford after Katrina. Apparently he was supposed to personally lead efforts to rescue all the idiots who were too damned stupid to evacuate their below sea level homes when (at the time) a Cat 5 hurricane was bearing down on the city. The reality is that a presidential visit would have only made a bad situation much worse but to hear the press tell it, Bush was ignoring New Orleans because it was a predominantly black city.
highhopes on August 15, 2008 at 11:43 AM
Katrina…New Orleans…nah, this is the Messiah. He has to reconnect with his white granny. He needs the pics for the fall.
Entelechy on August 15, 2008 at 11:57 AM
If McCain had been President last week there’s a fair chance we’d all be dead now.
Good for the Rapture Republicans…kinda bad for us sane folks.
alphie on August 15, 2008 at 12:01 PM
You really should keep your metaphorical mouth shut, so that while we may think you’re a fool, we’d have no proof of it.
Esthier on August 15, 2008 at 12:05 PM
Bambi’s probably just trying to figure out what positions he should have when he comes back to the trail.
Geronimo on August 15, 2008 at 12:10 PM
Badda Boom
heh,heh,heh
franksalterego on August 15, 2008 at 12:10 PM
Too bad Hillary didn’t step into the gap.
RushBaby on August 15, 2008 at 12:12 PM
Being in Hawaii hasn’t prevented him from spinning this one at least three ways, though.
Entelechy on August 15, 2008 at 12:14 PM
Sanity is indignant.
Entelechy on August 15, 2008 at 12:16 PM
No matter how many delegates and super-delegates vote for obambi i don’t think they counted on the Putin veto.
If the hildebeast does not do the right thing at the convention say hello to President McCain.
elduende on August 15, 2008 at 12:16 PM
I’m glad he’s in Hawaii. This week will mean a lot for hundreds of years to come. See China and Russia, and the U.S. in between.
This was a huge wake-up call and the entire world took notice, no matter how wussified it appears.
Entelechy on August 15, 2008 at 12:17 PM
Naw. this is Hawaii we’re talking about. Mai tais all the way.
Bingo, I was just about to mention that.
Brilliant satire!
Del Dolemonte on August 15, 2008 at 12:18 PM
elduende, shhhhhhh, cierre la
bocapluma, por favor. Es importante.Entelechy on August 15, 2008 at 12:20 PM
The Press throws Barry O under the bus?
pseudonominus on August 15, 2008 at 12:21 PM
It takes awhile to come down from the strong reefer they grow in Hawaii. He’s experimenting enthusiastically, leave him alone.
kirkill on August 15, 2008 at 12:21 PM
That picture should play well under the rainbow flag.
Hening on August 15, 2008 at 12:22 PM
OK, who farted?
Hening on August 15, 2008 at 12:22 PM
lulz
once his 300 foreign policy advisors prep him for it
pseudonominus on August 15, 2008 at 12:22 PM
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