McCain Continues to Distort, Change Record
Posted by Matt Ortega · July 1, 2008 · Comments (0)
Senator John McCain (R-Arizona) spoke at the National Association of Latino Elected Officials (NALEO) in which he continued to pander to Latino voters and obfuscate his constantly changing position on immigration.
In the appearance, McCain vowed to enforce the borders first and then claimed to support comprehensive immigration reform within a matter of minutes between each other.
The presumptive Republican nominee did not stop the “Pander Express” there. He later claimed to support the Immigration Reform & Control Act (IRCA) in 1986 but he, in fact, did not support it at all, found the Washington Times.
On Saturday, he mischaracterized his own record on the contentious 1986 amnesty law that continues to define the sides in the current debate. He told NALEO he “supported that legislation way back then,” when in fact he voted against it and was a critic.
The Arizona Republic newspaper in 1986 reported that he had called the bill racist and quoted him as saying the bill’s requirements for employers to verify workers “would institutionalize discrimination.” He said employers would refuse to hire Hispanics to avoid running afoul of the law.
After his speech Saturday, a McCain campaign official said the senator “was referring to his support for a comprehensive solution - going back to that time. He did oppose some provisions and didn’t end up voting for the bill - that’s a point of record.”
The one-time “maverick” senator from the southwest, John McCain has seriously fallen.
In his quest for the White House, John McCain flipped on the Bush tax cuts, privatizing Social Security, comprehensive immigration reform, offshore drilling, ethanol, Roe v. Wade, closing Guantanamo Bay, Jerry Falwell as an “agent of intolerance,” campaign finance reform, Grover Norquist, the estate tax, nuclear waste and Yucca Mountain, on the role of the National Rifle Association (NRA), and so on. The list seems endless, and continues to grow.
Last but certainly not the least — despite railing against the influence of special interests, his campaign is run by and for Washington lobbyists with some of the most unsavory client lists.
John McCain long ago abandoned the “independent streak” that he carefully crafted on the national stage. He will say and do anything to be president, and no previously-held political principle shall stand in his way.
McCain Makes the Case: Third Bush Term
Posted by Matt Ortega · June 14, 2008 · Comments (0)
Senator John McCain (R-Arizona) tried to counter charges from Democrats that his candidacy is offering a third Bush term in the infamous Green Monster Speech. Unfortunately for John McCain, he argued about his strident support for President Bush three years ago. Since that interview, according to Congressional Quarterly, McCain sided with the President 89 percent (2006), 95 percent (2007) and 100 percent (2008) of the time in the U.S. Senate.
Not a whole lot of “distance” there.
Obama Outlines Views on Abortion
Posted by Matt Ortega · October 6, 2007 · Comments (0)
The New York Times‘ Jeff Zeleny picked up on Senator Barack Obama (D-Illinois) answering a question about abortion while in Iowa.
The Questioner: “I see a great a contradiction going on in our society, right now, and I don’t understand it. Maybe you can help me out. On the one hand, we see a guy like Michael Vick, who will likely lose his livelihood and spend some time in jail and there’s been a tremendous outcry against this man because of fighting dogs. There’s been a huge, huge reaction. On the other hand, we have 34 years and counting where thousands of innocent, sweet babies are being killed every day through what we call abortion, yet that voice has seemingly died out. What would you do about that and what’s happening in our society when people can’t seem to see this contradiction?”
Mr. Obama: “The issue of abortion, I don’t think, has gone away. People think about it a lot, obviously you do and you feel impassioned. I think that the American people struggle with two principles: There’s the principle that a fetus is not just an appendage, it’s potential life. I think people recognize that there’s a moral element to that. They also believe that women should have some control over their bodies and themselves and there is a privacy element to making those decisions.
“I don’t think people take the issue lightly. A lot of people have arrived in the view that I’ve arrived at, which is that there is a moral implication to these issues, but that the women involved are in the best position to make that determination. And I don’t think they make it lightly. I don’t think they make it callously, so I reject a comparison between a woman struggling with these issues and Michael Vick fighting dogs for sport. I don’t think that’s sort of how people perceive it.
“Now, this is one of those areas – again, I think it’s important to be honest – where I don’t think you’re ever going to get a complete agreement on this issue. If you believe that life begins at conception, then I can’t change your mind. I think there is a large agreement, for example, that late-term abortions are really problematic and there should be a regulation. And it should only happen in terms of the mother’s life or severe health consequences, so I think there is broad agreement on these issues.
“One area where I think we should have significant agreement is on the idea of reducing unwanted pregnancies because if we can reduce unwanted pregnancies, then it’s much less likely that people resort to abortion. The way to do that is to encourage young people and older people, people of child-bearing years, to act responsibly. Part of acting responsibly – I’ve got two daughters – part of my job as a parent is to communicate to them that sex isn’t casual and that it’s something that they should really think about and not think is just a game.
“I’m all for education for our young people, encouraging abstinence until marriage, but I also believe that young people do things regardless of what their parents tell them to do and I don’t want my daughters ending up in really difficult situations because I didn’t communicate to them, how to protect themselves if they make a mistake. I think we’ve got to have that kind of comprehensive view that says family planning and education for our young people and so forth – to prevent teen pregnancies, to prevent the kinds of situations that lead to women having to struggle with these difficult decisions and we should be supportive of those efforts. That’s an area where there should be some agreement.”
Celebrate Life by Celebrating a Murder
Posted by Matt Ortega · June 20, 2007 · Comments (0)
If you were looking for a wholesome, family event and were in the Milwaukee, Wisconsin area, Ann Friedman of Feministing has the event for you.
If anyone still thinks we should refer to the anti-abortion movement as “pro-life,” this event next week should change their mind. The forced-pregnancy movement is holding a four-day rally to honor Paul Hill, who murdered abortion provider Dr. John Britton and his clinic escort in Pensacola, Florida in 1994.
George L. Wilson, the site’s proprietor, lists the itinerary and one item — which Friedman points out in her post — is a reenactment of Britton’s murder that Hill was executed for perpetrating. (The murder scene is featured prominently in the website’s banner image.)
Brownback Opposes Abortions for Rape Victims
Posted by Matt Ortega · June 14, 2007 · Comments (0)
While campaigning in South Carolina, Senator Sam Brownback (R-Kansas) spoke out against abortion — for rape victims.
“Rape is terrible. Rape is awful. Is it made any better by killing an innocent child? Does it solve the problem for the woman that’s been raped? We need to protect innocent life. Period.”
Sam Brownback — making South Dakota look like “dirty fucking hippies” on abortion.
(Hat tip: Jessica Valenti, Feministing)
Multiple Choice Mitt Strikes Again
Posted by Matt Ortega · February 20, 2007 · Comments (1)
Updated below
Oliver Willis provided a link to yet another Mitt Romney debate video, this one from 2002, where he vehemently defended his pro-choice stance. Also, Willis points to a Boston Globe article from June 2005 where Romney adviser Michael Murphy told the conservative National Review that he “faked” his pro-choice position.
Four days ago, ABC’s Political Radar posted the explanation the former governor gave to George Stephanopoulos for Sunday morning’s edition of This Week on his vote for Senator Paul Tsongas in 1992.
ABC News’ Jonathan Greenberger Reports: Republican presidential candididate Mitt Romney offered a new explanation today for why he supported a Democrat in 1992.
That year, Romney, then a registered independent, voted for former Sen. Paul Tsongas in the 1992 Democratic presidential primary. He told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, in an interview that will air Sunday on “This Week,” that his vote was meant as a tactical maneuver aimed at finding the weakest opponent for incumbent President George H.W. Bush. [emphasis added]
Mitt Romney, the James Bond of political maneuvering. Woodrow Eisenhower of race42008.com disputes the claim that Tsongas was the weakest opponent in the field. As Matt Mackowiak noted, Romney gave a different reason to the Boston Globe in 1992.
McCain Flip-Flops, Says Roe Should Be Overturned
Posted by Matt Ortega · February 19, 2007 · Comments (3)
Senator John McCain (R-Arizona), in an attempt to curry support from social conservatives, did a 180 degree flip on the 1973 Supreme Court decision that legalized abortions in the United States, Roe v. Wade.
McCain on Roe v. Wade, Associated Press, 2/18/07:
“I do not support Roe versus Wade. It should be overturned,” the Arizona senator told about 800 people in South Carolina, one of the early voting states. [emphasis added]
McCain on Roe v. Wade, Washington Post, 8/24/99:
“I’d love to see a point where it is irrelevant, and could be repealed because abortion is no longer necessary,” McCain told the Chronicle in an article published Friday. “But certainly in the short term, or even the long term, I would not support repeal of Roe v. Wade, which would then force X number of women in America to [undergo] illegal and dangerous operations.” [emphasis added]
The John McCain Presidential Pander Parade continues.
Updated 2/19/07, 12:22am [by Matt Ortega]: The General “likes candidates that are flexible.”