Cindy McCain Supports Gay Marriage

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From The Guardian:

John McCain’s staunch opposition to gay marriage was one of the key parts of his presidential campaign. But it has become clear this was not supported in his own household. His daughter, Meghan, is a vocal advocate of gay rights. Now his wife, Cindy, has appeared in a poster campaign against California’s proposition 8 – a law banning same-sex marriage.

[…]

Cindy McCain appears in the poster with silver duct tape across her mouth and the campaign slogan, “NOH8”, marked on her cheek.

[…]

“Aligning yourself with the platform of gay marriage as a Republican still tends to be very stigmatic, but Cindy McCain wanted to participate in the campaign to show people that party doesn’t matter.”

John McCain’s office said in a statement that he respected the views of his family but remained opposed to gay marriage. “Senator McCain believes the sanctity of marriage is only defined as between one man and one woman,” it said. In 2008 McCain backed a measure in his home state of Arizona to ban same-sex marriage.

Meghan McCain also appears in the poster campaign. “I couldn’t be more proud of my mother for posing for the NOH8 campaign,” she wrote on Twitter. “I think more Republicans need to start taking a stand for equality.

“I was there when she did it and I almost started crying during the photo shoot.”

Totally uncalled for cheap shot:

Pam Spaulding, who blogs on gay issues, was reminded of an infamous and foul-mouthed bust up between John and Cindy during a campaign in 1992. “Given the Senator’s hot temper, and the fact that he called his wife a trollop and ‘you c*nt’ … this was a nice ‘screw you’ for picking that dimwit Palin and derailing the campaign,” Spaulding wrote.

Kudos, props and thumbs up for Cindy and Meghan McCain. Shame on John McCain and Pam Spaulding.

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Your Breakfast Read, Served By The Confluence

The war against Judge Sonia Sotomayor. Already
It all started with this excerpt from an article in The Politico:

The top candidate, on paper, is Sotomayor, 54, a Clinton appointee to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. She meets the empathy criteria, having grown up poor in the South Bronx, as well as Obama’s preference for sterling credentials, having graduated from Yale Law School.

Even before Souter’s retirement was formally announced, some in the GOP already say they’re gearing up for a fight with Obama over his nominee, particularly if he picks Sotomayor.

It didn’t take long for some to begin the GOP’s bidding.

Jeffrey Rosen started with a hatchet job in the “esteemed” TNR: The Case Against Sotomayor

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been talking to a range of people who have worked with her, nearly all of them former law clerks for other judges on the Second Circuit or former federal prosecutors in New York. (…) Nearly all of them acknowledged that Sotomayor is a presumptive front-runner, but nearly none of them raved about her. They expressed questions about her temperament, her judicial craftsmanship, and most of all, her ability to provide an intellectual counterweight to the conservative justices, as well as a clear liberal alternative.

Wonkette had an excellent summary of the article:
Is Frontrunner Mexican Lady Judge A Dumb? Anonymous Sources Think So!

Matt Yglesias responded To Jeffrey Rosen after making a very intriguing catch in the piece:

I haven’t read enough of Sotomayor’s opinions to have a confident sense of them, nor have I talked to enough of Sotomayor’s detractors and supporters, to get a fully balanced picture of her strengths.

Eric Boehlert has a simple question for Jeff:

Isn’t it probably a good idea, journalism-wise, to do that before publishing a take-down piece that’s filled with anonymous quotes and is headlined, “The Case Against Sotomayor”?

Glenn Greenwald has a thorough analysis of Rosen’s article:
Jeffrey Rosen, TNR and the anonymous smears against Sonia Sotomayor

Watch Rebecca Traister smack down Jeff
Her Honor: Domineering and dumb

Political headaches
Barack Obama hints at tougher line on Israel

Pakistani President Tries to Assure U.S. on Taliban

Barack Obama to meet Afghanistan and Pakistan presidents

US investigating Afghan reports of 70 civilians killed

US, Karzai seek to mend fraying relationship at summit

Washington has been increasingly critical of the Afghan president. But with Karzai likely to win reelection this year, both sides will want to dial back the recriminations.

Economic headaches
Ben Bernanke says things are not as bad as they could have been
Bernanke’s Outlook a Bit Brighter

The U.S. economy seems to be contracting at a slower rate than it was a few months ago, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke told lawmakers yesterday, delivering a message of optimism that was tempered by his forecast that the economy could perform well below its potential for some time to come.

Didn’t we hear for days that it was $10,000,000,000?
BofA Faces $35 Billion Gap

Glenn Hubbard, Hal Scott and Luigi Zingales join Richardson and Roubini
Banks Need Fewer Carrots and More Sticks

This is really scary
Latest round of Microsoft layoffs may not be last

Our daily GOP Quo Vadis
Republicans on the Hunt for Messengers as Party Moves to Reconnect With Voters

Palin joins old pal McCain to rescue GOP from extinction

D.C. determined to ruin my heterosexual marriage
D.C. to Recognize Gay Marriages

Congratulations, House Dems
Matthew Shepard Act

Latest from “Torturegate”
Torture Memos: Inquiry Suggests No ProsecutionsAn internal

Justice Department inquiry has concluded that Bush administration lawyers committed serious lapses of judgment in writing secret memorandums authorizing brutal interrogations but that they should not be prosecuted

How to Handle the Guantanamo Detainees(By Lindsay Graham and John McCain) So now beyond preemptive war there is preventive detention?

Third, preventive detention will continue to have a place in the war on terror . Under the law of war, the idea that an enemy combatant has to be tried or released is a false choice. Rather, it is well-established that combatants can be held off the battlefield as long as they present a military threat.

John Bolton is a Bag of Douche
Obama’s Prosecutions by Proxy

Huh???
Chinese civil servants left fuming by order to smoke more

That wasn’t too long, was it?
After 1,000 years, women can see treasures of Mount Athos

For the first time in almost 1,000 years, many of the legendary Byzantine treasures of Mount Athos in Greece are on view to women

In today’s absolutely unnecessary gloating
Red Sox clearly better than Yanks
Let’s not even get in that painfully ridiculous New Yankee Stadium. We will have the next decades to laugh at it.

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John McCain Suppressing Free Speech in Missouri!

Josef Stalin, Obama's Role Model

Those Republican ratfuckers. They’re actually using prosecutors and sheriffs in Missouri to “truth squad” any so-called “lying” political advertisements that Barack Obama puts out in that state. Can you believe it? The government clamps down on political advertisements, which are free speech protected by…the government?! What is wrong with these people?

Oh, wait. (adjusts reading glasses) My bad. It’s the Obama for America Party that believes in suppressing free speech.

Now, I sympathize with the Obama campaign’s frustrations. It’s infuriating to be lied about constantly and to not be able to do anything to fight back. I mean, with the backing of the entire Democratic leadership, currently “in power” in Congress; the continual fawning of the corporate media and the Obamasphere; the cooperation of Moveon.org, which gives Obama millions of volunteers to go spread The Word; and the hundreds of millions of dollars to blanket the 57 states with advertising, well…it must be hard to be so powerless!

Here’s an idea, Obama: Suck. It. Up. Or, as Missouri Governor Matt Blunt said,

“Barack Obama needs to grow up. Leftist blogs and others in the press constantly say false things about me and my family.Usually, we ignore false and scurrilous accusations because the purveyors have no credibility. When necessary, we refute them. Enlisting Missouri law enforcement to intimidate people and kill free debate is reminiscent of the Sedition Acts – not a free society.”

I don’t recall Bill Clinton using his power as President to mobilize sheriffs and prosecutors to crack down on all the pundits and authors and politicians that were constantly lying about him. Do you? Yet Obama is not even the President yet, and he is already abusing his power as the Democratic nominee, and a most frightening and anti-American way.

I have believed for a long time that Obama has Stalinist tendencies, but I have not stated so in writing because I have thought there was not enough evidence to support my gut instinct. But now, the Senator from Illinois is making it clear: Any kind of dissent is unbearable to him.

It is my fervent conviction that Barack Obama must not be allowed to become President of the United States, or he will use the tools Dubya has created (the wiretapping, the cameras, the “free speech zones,” the Patriot Act) to force America to take the final steps into becoming a fascist state.

Update from angienc in comments:

The prosecutors in MO (who are state employees) may be prohibited from obeying Obama’s orders under MO state law. They should be investigated by the bar and sanctioned. They should also be removed from their jobs because as attorneys they should know that what they are doing is unethical and an abuse of their position.

If you would like to join Angie in registering a complaint about these prosecutors, here is the contact info for the MO bar:

The Missouri Bar PO Box 119 Jefferson City, MO 65102
Phone: 573-635-4128| FAX: 573-635-2811

Up all Night

PUMA Roar of Approval created by MadamaB

I just thought of a new basis for my vote.

Issues? I don’t trust a word Obama says so his speeches (with their laundry lists) and plans mean nothing to me. He’s already taken Universal Health Care off the table and that’s my “one issue” if there is such a thing. And McCain on the issues (giggle) I know people think I’m a Republican but believe me McCain does not speak for me.

Personality? I’ve got NO desire to have a beer with Obama. Much less spend the next four years listening to his speeches. I’ve got nothing in common with McCain either. And I’ve no illusions — none of them want to have a beer with me either.

Trust? I don’t trust any politician. Well, except maybe Hillary.

But Spite — Ah: This might be the first time I cast a vote almost wholly based on spite. It sounds absurd; could I really do it? Could I cast an important vote based on my frustration with Barack Obama’s disgusting supporters?

(gagging) At the rate this campaign is going, I’d say it’s a nearly sure bet.

Why would a Hillary supporter endorse McCain?

From Newsweek via the comments:

John Coale, a prominent Washington lawyer, husband of Fox TV host Greta Van Susteren and a supporter of Sen. Hillary Clinton, announced today that he was supporting John McCain for president. Coale, who traveled with Sen. Clinton, President Clinton and her family through out the primary season, complained of sexism, and said the Democratic Party is “being taken over by the moveon.org types” in an exclusive interview with Newsweek.com’s Tammy Haddad.

I can’t embed the video but here’s the link.

I promised myself after Kerry dumped Ohio in 2004 that I wasn’t going to hold my nose for a vote again. And as hard as Obama supporters are trying they still haven’t convinced me to vote for McCain (voting for him would make my nose bleed). But, I’m very interested in hearing how one Hillary supporter made the switch.

And I had no idea that Greta’s husband was so involved in Hillary’s campaign.