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McCain Doesn’t Know Where He Lives?

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said in an interview Wednesday that he was uncertain how many houses he and his wife, Cindy, own.

“I think — I’ll have my staff get to you,” McCain told Politico in Las Cruces, N.M. “It’s condominiums where — I’ll have them get to you.”

The correct answer is at least four, located in Arizona, California and Virginia, according to his staff. Newsweek estimated this summer that the couple owns at least seven properties.

Remember when McCain said $5 million was the point at which “rich” applies? I would add not knowing how many houses you own is also a pretty damn good indicator.

Do we want this guy answering a 3AM phone call at the White House and not knowing which house he’s in?

But to be fair, it seems as if McCain’s wife is the primary breadwinner in the family… (And he’s already publicly said that he doesn’t understand economics. Economics, adding up your properties… McCain is too much of a “maverick” for math.)

Maybe I’m just being mean now. No, wait, now I remember how Kerry was lambasted for his rich wife four years ago. Gee, that guy had an impressive military career too. Where’s the Bomber Veterans for Truth group? *

But in all seriousness… Is it too much to hope for that McCain continue to make a fool out of himself, by himself?

On a bit of a tangent, CBS News has posted this Nation piece written by Robert Scheer, which I can get behind (for the most part):

McCain’s Warped Worldview

The world according to John McCain is one in which America is triumphant at home and abroad thanks to the Bush legacy, rolling to victory internationally and mastering its domestic economic problems. If daily news, like reports of the ten French soldiers killed by a resurgent Taliban in Afghanistan and the US government’s imminent nationalization of much of the American mortgage-lending industry, would seem to deny such a rosy scenario, then that only shows skeptics lack the courage that sustained McCain as a prisoner of war in Vietnam.

There you have it encapsulated, the McCain campaign for President, an irrational mélange of patriotic swagger and blindness to reality that is proving disturbingly successful with uninformed voters. How else to explain the many millions of Americans who tell pollsters they prefer a continuation of Republican rule when so many of them are losing their homes to foreclosure and the nation is devastated by out-of-control military spending?

The economy is in a downward spiral, the national debt is at an all-time high, the dollar is an international disgrace and inflation in July had the steepest rise in twenty-seven years, driven by oil prices fivefold higher than when George W. Bush invaded the nation with the world’s second-largest petroleum reserves.

Big bonus points for using melange.

* EDIT: All I can say is “LOL” for this gem: Vietnam Veterans Against John McCain. When are these guys going to get the publicity the swiftboaters got (and are again this year)? Liberal media my ass.

Electoral Reform Starts With The Primaries

Anyone following this year’s primary season can recognize its shortcomings. Front-loading, voting regulations that vary widely from state to state, states not even receiving delegates, political fatigue, the value of campaign contributions, and the rush to judgement as poll numbers change. Popular opinion and voting outcomes are affected as polling numbers are released: this is ass-backwards.

I’ve always been an advocate of electoral reform in all shapes and sizes, and reforming the primary season is a critical first step in reshaping the way in which government officials are elected. By fixing the primary season, we can reduce the importance of campaign contributions, create an informed and motivated electorate, and get politicians who’re worth voting for.

At the 2000 Republican National Convention, the Delaware Plan (one proposed alternative) was cock-blocked by Karl Rove. Today, the similar American Plan garners much interest as being a fair and functional alternative to the current madness. The order in which states vote is random, with smaller states weighted to vote earlier in the season. This allows more candidates more time to be competitive, with a de-emphasis on money and more importance placed on grassroots politicking.

For a longer read, see John Nichols’ piece in the January 22nd issue of The Nation. For more information on the American Plan or other proposed alternatives, see Fix The Primaries, a bipartisan coalition seeking a saner primary season.

Eric Alterman On Newsweek

For those following this whole Newsweek saga (I’m not one of them, thus why I’m so late commenting on it), Eric Alterman had a great column on the topic in June 20th’s The Nation. In it, he rejects ties between the Newsweek article about Koran flushings and rioting in Afghanistan, evidenced by quotes from Gen. Richard Meyers and Afghan Prez Hamid Karzai.

Alterman ends the piece on a note that rings particularly true.

The Bush Administration, in its campaign to eliminate democratic accountability, has consistently sought to undermine already faltering public confidence in the media, thereby further weakening the press’s ability to fulfill its essential role in our delicate system of checks and balances. The jihad against Newsweek, like that against Dan Rather and others, seizes upon honest media mistakes to discredit the very idea of neutral, reality-based reporting. The longer the mainstream media fail to awaken to this unhappy reality, the greater will be our collective impotence when they finally realize it’s time to fight back. For that reason–and despite its error–Newsweek’s fight is our fight too.

In the same issue, there is also an interesting piece (subscription req’d) by David Corn, talking about how stem cells could be a wedge issue for Democrats to exploit.

Meanwhile, the religious right–already furious that Republican senators had not nuked the judicial filibuster–accused antiabortion Republicans who advocate stem cell research of betraying the cause. Tom McClusky of the Family Research Council warned that his and other like-minded groups would no longer accord these Republicans 100 percent ratings. And the dust-up caused House majority leader Tom DeLay to return to Schiavo-style rhetoric. He called stem cell research–which uses cells extracted from leftover blastocysts (early embryos composed of 100 or so cells) stored in fertility clinics–”the dismemberment of living, distinct human beings.”

Dismemberment. mmm…. Tasty.