Democracy Has Prevailed.

July 25, 2008

A PAIR of Double Standards

First off there was the criticism the McCain campaign leveled on the Obama campaign for not visiting those hospitalized troops.

From the AP:

Sen. Barack Obama scrapped plans to visit wounded members of the armed forces in Germany as part of his overseas trip, a decision his campaign said was made because the Democratic presidential candidate thought it would be inappropriate on a campaign-funded journey.

A campaign adviser said the U.S. military saw the visit as a campaign stop.

The McCain folks criticized:
"Barack Obama is wrong. It is never inappropriate to visit our men and women in the military," said Brian Rogers, a spokesman for the Republican contender.
Turns out that it was the DOD's rules that precluded Senator Obama from visiting with his campaign staff. From TPM Election Central:

A Pentagon spokesperson confirms...that because of longstanding Department of Defense regulations, Pentagon officials told Obama aides that he couldn't visit the base with campaign staff. This left Obama with little choice but to cancel the trip, since the plan to visit with campaign aides had been in the works for weeks.

The Obama campaign yesterday announced that it had decided to cancel the visit to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, saying that it would be "inappropriate" to make such a visit as part of a campaign trip.

Note the spin from the McCain folks. They conveniently left out the "campaign" part of the "inappropriate" stuff.

But it's not like the McCain folks didn't know about the rules. Via Huffingtonpost, here's CNN:

With Department of Defense rules prohibiting political campaigning on military bases, it was determined that in some cases McCain could visit the installations as a senator but could not engage in any political activity or have news media present.

McCain campaign officials said Thursday they intentionally did not campaign on military property.

"We follow the rules," said senior McCain adviser Steve Schmidt.

They follow the rules? Really? Double Standard #1.

Moving on. I read with some mild interest this story about that huge rally in Berlin:

The U.S. Embassy in Berlin has instructed Foreign Service personnel stationed there not to attend Sen. Barack Obama's public rally today, which the State Department this week labeled a "partisan political activity" prohibited under its regulations for those serving overseas.

Government employees serving in the United States are permitted to attend such events under the Hatch Act, which bars other partisan activity, such as contributing money or working in behalf of a candidate.

But "we always maintain that no U.S. government Foreign Service person overseas should be seen to be advocating one side or the other," State Department Undersecretary for Management Patrick Kennedy said, adding that "it has nothing to do with who" the candidate is.


But remember when I wrote about McCain's speech to the Canadian Economic Club? Take a look at this from Thinkprogress.org:
The event was reportedly organized in part by U.S. Ambassador to Canada David Wilkins, whom President Bush appointed in 2005. But more than that, the U.S. Embassy in Ottawa confirmed to ThinkProgress that Wilkins also attended the event.
So it "has nothing to do with who" the candidate is.

Unless it does.

Double Standard #2

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

This isn't pertinent to the topic at hand, except in the sense that it is another McCain moment of hypocrisy/double standards.

He was interviewed on CNN Friday, in which he said about Maliki's 16 month timetable that it was a pretty good one...He still doesn't like Obama's 16 month timetable, the one that Maliki supported in the Der Spiegel interview.

After months and years of saying that a timetable was tantamount to surrender, John McCain now supports the same 16 month timetable that Obama has consistently proposed.

Maverick? Hardly.

Straight talk? More like a steady diet of B.S.

He'll try to argue semantics(as he already is) but he's on tape, he's put his finger to the political winds and backtracked on years of established rhetoric.

Anonymous said...

John K : The BS is coming from the left. Gee when McCain was criticizing Bush you left wing kooks loved the guy. Had him on all the left wing talk shows. What happened?

Anonymous said...

McCain's response to Obama's trip was pure silliness. He sounded like a 71 year old boy, who was just pissed that his buddy had gotten a new toy and he hadn't. What was interesting to me was that McCain was, essentially, denigrating the people who came out to see Obama, not just the candidate himself.

Obama is a motivating, captivating speaker. McCain is not. Whether you want to argue about whether that makes one a better potential President or not I won't debate here, but it is a fact. So clearly Obama is going to draw a crowd. He is also going to get people out on the European street, because many of them dislike GWB and believe this is there opportunity to see the next President of the United States.

Pilt

Anonymous said...

John K: McCain was denigrating the people who came out to see Obama? Well heck, there goes the German vote. And it is important that we allow Germans (and any other non-us citizens) to vote.
Before Obama spoke there were two rock bands playing and lots of beer. Heck the Pirates use the same tactic to fill PNC Park. Their sell out nights are when they have fireworks or rock concerts. And of course beer.
All the non Pirate fans show up on those nights and with some beer cheer anything. The Pirates still stink. So does Hussein Obama.

Anonymous said...

Hello everyone,
As you know I am not a very political person. I just wanted
to pass along that Senator Obama came to Bagram Afghanistan for
about an hour on his visit to 'The War Zone'. I wanted to share with
you what happened.
He got off the plane and got into a bullet proof vehicle, got to the
area to meet with the Major General (2 Star) who is the
commander here at Bagram.

As the Soldiers were lined up to shake his hand he blew them off and
didn't say a word as he went into the conference room to meet the
General. As he finished, the vehicles took him to the ClamShell (pretty much a big top tent that military personnel can play
basketball or work out in with weights) so he could take his publicity pictures playing
basketball. He again shunned the opportunity to talk to Soldiers to
thank them for their service.

So really he was just here to make a showing for the American's back
home that he is their candidate for President. I think that if you are going to make an effort to come all the way over here you
would thank those that are providing the freedom that they are
providing for you.

I swear we got more thanks from the NBA Basketball Players or the
Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders than from one of the Senators, who wants to be the President of the United States. I just don't understand how anyone would want him to be our Commander-and-Chief. It was almost that he was scared to be around those that provide the freedom for him and our great country.

If this is blunt and to the point I am sorry but I wanted you all to know what kind of caliber of person he really is. What you see in the news is all fake.

In service,
CPT Jeffrey S. Porter
Battle Captain
TF Wasatch
American Soldier

Anonymous said...

The anonymous contributor of the preceding message is a liar and a coward. The "Capt J" story is false.

http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/afghanistan.asp

Enjoy the Obama Administration, everyone! The Democratic Senate and Democratic House, too! And the immediate end to torture by the U.S. government. And the prompt withdrawal from Iraq.

Morning in America, friends.

Anonymous said...

Mark DeFrancisis:
I thought Mr McCain was to run a "respectable campaign."

Instead, we are getting a cross between a raving old man and an envious, bellicose adolescent.

His charges that Obama would "rather lose a war to win an election" are borderline lunacy and clear slander, and his incessant insistence that he "knows how to win wars" reminds me of the runt teenager who longs to engage in fight after fight, in order to veer away from (and compensate for) the deep sense of his relative inadequacies as a man.

I (rightly)thought Bush had personal problems that would fundamentally upset the world entire. But McCain in comparison is making his new mentor look like an innocuous oaf.

Anonymous said...

Johnny The K: Perfect right wing dipshit response! Bravo! Hey, screw the Germans! We're Amurikans! We don't need nobody else!

And ya know what? They couldn't give away enough beer to get people to show up for McCain. His only chance would be if they had Guy Lombardo playing and they gave away free Viagra.....

Cheers!

Pilt

Anonymous said...

John K: Do Germans vote in our elections? Hmm, do they? Liberals so want to be liked they will say and do anything.

Anonymous said...

John K: Just think, to attract people to a Hussein Obama crowd they have to have beer and rock music. LMAO Well at least they ain't passing out free cheese and cigarettes to the Democrat voters.

Anonymous said...

The Republicans need only show Iraqi war footage and hand out "We American Win Wars" pinis

For a Republican is a deluded, self-justifying television-watcher who likes to spin fantasies so as to feel that somehow he is participating in reality by watching it on television — and who experiences a special frisson of excitement when he can imagine that his votes somehow led to his watching a live-action shot on CNN of someone being blown up.

Anonymous said...

John K: To the previous post, are you stupid. I mean that exactly how I said it. Yah, Americans win wars. We win in business and we win in anything we decide to win in. We are Americans.
Your failure to recognize this fact, shows just how dumb you are.

Anonymous said...

My, what a comeback by our little conservative troll.

He has no answers, so in typical wingnut fashion, he launches into a tirade of false accusations and smears...

They can't defend "Cheapshot" McCain, who's attacking Obama for the very thing he did - making an overseas trip. Pathetic.

In a matter of one week, Obama was able to infuse our strained allies in Europe with a little confidence in American leadership, something that has been sorely lacking, at home and abroad.

These lunatic comments by John K. are just another sign of the growing desperation felt by conservatives, especially after all their lies and attacks couldn't derail what was a very successful overseas trip for Obama.

Just read what the clown says - he's just another moron who mindlessly chants, "We're No. 1," despite the realities of the hardships that Americans are facing and the decline in the American way of life under 8 years of brainless conservative rule.

Infant mortality up? "We're No.1."

Literacy rate just above Mexico and significantly lower than most other industrialized nations? "We're No.1."

Life expectancy down? "We're No.1."

Corporations run amok and fleecing the American people? "We're No.1."

Most expensive health care in the world? "We're No.1."

As a liberal, I want our country to excel in all of those areas, but I'll never ignore the truth; and I certainly won't mindlessly chant how "superior" over everyone else when it's not backed up with reality.

As a liberal, I consider it my patriotic duty to call out my own country first, to not rationalize it's shortcomings and demand that we truly are "No.1" before we go around saying it.

For a conservative fringe lunatic like John KKK., it's just simpler to say it, to accept empty slogans, rather than actually strive and work to build a country we can all be proud of.

And the Republicans/conservatives wonder why they're going to get romped in November?

Anonymous said...

Johnny K believes he is a decider-in-chief too. LMAO

Anonymous said...

John K: Yah that is easy what Hussein Obama did. He goes to Europe and tells them we suck and that we will surrender. And Jaywillie thinks this infuses confidence? LOL LOL LOL
Hussein Obama had to get the crowd drunk to buy into his speech. Typical liberal.

Anonymous said...

John K: No wonder Jaywillie likes this area. It is ruled by Democrats and everything they touch turns to failure. City in debt, school system in failure and they can't even get a casino built. As long as America fails, Jaywillie enjoys life. Sick LMAO Totally sick. LOL

Anonymous said...

Actually, school test scores are moving in the right direction and our HS graduation rate is far above many other cities of a similar size and makeup.

And....the casino (the GOP to answer to real development) is a victim of the GOP non-regulated credit market. But I know you're never dissuaded by the truth...

Pilt

Anonymous said...

John K: The casino is a product of Democrats, can we say a Gov who recently said Barden was financially sound. (LMAO) And the Pittsburgh Public Schools, according to a study done by John Hopkins Univ, there are 5 High schools that are listed as drop out factories. This is where less than 60% of those starting make it to their senior year.
So yah, along with the population moving to greener pastures, you Democrats sure do know how to run govt. That misery just makes you feel all tingly inside. LMAO LMAO Take pride in what you left wing kooks accomplished. Hussein Obama promises even more. LOL

Anonymous said...

John K: When is the next time Obama is coming to Pittsburgh. I could use some free beer and would like to watch a light show.