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05 Mar 2012 19:48

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Politics: Three conversation-starting moments from HBO’s “Game Change”

  • oneAides realize early on that Sarah Palin, John McCain’s running mate, will have to learn a lot about history and current events to keep up in the public spotlight. When asked if she needed to take a break, she declined, saying “this is flippin’ awesome!”
  • two “I am not your puppet! You have ruined my reputation! I am ruined in Alaska,” Palin said in a meltdown over the phone due to when Nicole Wallace, a campaign press guru, pushed a series of talking points on the vice-presidential candidate.
  • three Near the end of the campaign, when Palin was a “loose cannon” and had a “swelling ego,” she told McCain: “We have to win this thing — I so don’t wanna go back to Alaska!” Despite this, Palin returned to her job for nearly a year after the election. source
  • » Sure to stir presidential emotions: The made-for-TV movie regarding the “rise of Sarah Palin” airs March 10. Though HBO claimed the movie is a “balanced portrayal” of events, Palin’s Super PAC has already labeled the movie “fact change.” Which may be true. “Game Change” may have taken some dramatic liberties from the book, but you’ll be the judge of that.

04 Jan 2012 20:45

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Politics: Sen. John McCain endorses Mitt Romney for President

  • Not much of a shock, we admit. After all, it was last night that news broke that Senator John McCain, the GOP’s standard-bearer in the last presidential election, would be throwing his support behind Mitt Romney (who really hasn’t stopped campaigning for the top job since McCain beat him those years ago). You may recall that in 2008, McCain suffered somewhat for a strained and kind of awkward manner, and this video conjures those memories — he sounds like he’s really working hard to muster some enthusiasm in support of his old, bitter rival. source

27 Jul 2011 23:52

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Politics: McCain invokes “Lord of the Rings” in debt ceiling tirade

  • The Republican House that failed to raise the debt ceiling would somehow escape all blame. Then Democrats would have no choice but to pass a balanced-budget amendment and reform entitlements, and the tea-party Hobbits could return to Middle Earth having defeated Mordor.
  • John McCain • Ripping the Republican Party on the Senate floor. He later derided House Republicans’ approach to the debt-ceiling discussions as “the kind of crack political thinking that turned Sharron Angle and Christine O’Donnell into GOP Senate nominees.” source

03 Jul 2011 20:31

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Politics: Two Senate Republicans budge on raising revenue. Well, kinda.

  • I think it’s clear that the Republicans are opposed to any tax hikes, particularly during a fragile economic recovery. Now, do we believe tax reform is necessary? I would say absolutely.
  • Sen. John Cornyn • Opening the door for the possibility of raising revenue … very slightly. See, Cornyn is OK with changing the tax code so as to fix loopholes in it. But he won’t willingly offer to raise taxes, no ifs, ands or buts. Sen. John McCain is in the same boat, willing to consider “revenue raisers” — without offering details. Now, this all seems like “whatever,” until you realize that this is the closest any members of the GOP have gotten to the idea of raising taxes — or any revenue at all, that is. How pathetic is it that this as far as the GOP has been willing to compromise on this issue? Why should Democrats have to do all the compromising? This isn’t even a step forward. This is like kicking your foot forward a quarter-inch by accident. This redefines movement. source

20 Jun 2011 17:07

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Politics: McCain worried about “isolationism” in GOP circles

  • Old school vs. new school: “He [Reagan] would be saying: That’s not the Republican Party of the 20th century, and now the 21st century. That is not the Republican Party that has been willing to stand up for freedom for people for all over the world.” Senator John McCain is right to warn of an “isolationist” streak growing within the GOP, as the default political positioning of the party is now simply the opposite of whatever President Obama supports. Therefore, as Obama continues to wage war (and enter a new foreign conflict in Libya), suddenly the “war party” of the last decade is tilting towards giving peace a chance. This strikes a violent discord with old hands in the GOP, McCain predictably among them — and will continue to cause internal strife for Republicans. source

16 May 2011 14:56

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Politics: John McCain is having none of this torture talk

  • I have sought further information from the staff of the Senate Intelligence Committee, and they confirm for me that, in fact, the best intelligence gained from a CIA detainee… was obtained through standard, non-coercive means. … it was not torture or cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment of detainees that got us the major leads that ultimately enabled our intelligence community to find Osama bin Laden. I hope former Attorney General Mukasey will correct his misstatement.
  • Senator John McCain • Speaking on the effort made by some — former Bush administration Attorney General Michael Mukasey among them — to claim that “enhanced interrogation” (or torture, as it was unabashedly known and is in many quarters still known today) was vital to gaining knowledge of Osama bin Laden’s whereabouts. This is the sort of non-partisan candor that made him popular from the start, and it’s well-founded; the effort by some to cast torture as key to the bin Laden raid, a claim made absurdly quickly after his death, when reports of what had happened in the compound were changing by the moment, was as clear and crass an attempt at hijacking a national narrative as you can get. (note: Mukasey has responded) source

09 May 2011 23:14

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Politics: Dynamic duo losing steam

According to Public Policy Polling, John “Maverick” McCain and “Cowboy Joe” Lieberman are now the two least popular Senators in the country amongst their constituents. source
 

13 Apr 2011 11:26

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U.S.: Two losers try to save face by introducing online privacy bill

  • “GUYS! Guys. Come on, you know us.” “I’m the guy who lost the presidential election in 2004. Flanking me on my left is the guy who lost in 2008. Despite the fact that we’re both losers, we still have some winning moments, and this is one of them. We’re introducing this online privacy bill to ensure that consumers still have rights on the Internet and that their info isn’t being shared by anyone like those jerks at Rapleaf. I know my boy didn’t even discover Twitter until like a year ago, but we’re totally on top of this thing. Give us some credit, guys!” source

06 Apr 2011 14:44

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Politics: John McCain more into the internet than in 2008

  • awakening Senator John McCain, amidst the 2008 Presidential contest, was a self-avowed technological illiterate — now he champions Twitter, crediting it for Middle Eastern uprisings and swapping anti-tax tweets with Snooki.
  • thanking Inspired by a woman in Egypt, McCain phoned Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg to thank him for his role in Egypt’s uprising. This is cool, but in Egypt’s case it seems rather overplayed; after all, they had no internet for much of that time. source

27 Jan 2011 12:24

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Politics: Ex-McCain staffer Mark Salter behind anonymous Obama book “O”

Step One: Write an anonymous novel about your ex-boss’ former opponent. Name it “O” Step Two: ??? Step Three: Profit! source