This week, I had the opportunity to chat with a friend, author and blogger Cliff Schecter, about his new book, The Real McCain.
BOB CESCA: Hey Cliff. Before we get into it, I'd like to thank you for injecting the word "trollop" into the 2008 debate.
CLIFF SCHECTER: Well as you know Bob, and as I am sure William Safire knows too, trollop comes from Old English.
Trol-lop n. - Old guy who uses words from 1672 to denigrate his wife in front of strangers.
BOB: I'm not so sure the McCain campaign ought to be throwing down on "the facts". The whole "surge is working" thing -- the whole "Sunnis aren't al-Qaeda" thing and the whole "Iran is arming the Sunnis" thing, to name a few examples. Just saying. Anyway, you mentioned the progressive blogs. I have this theory that many blog readers are exhausted with hearing about how bad Iraq is going; they're embarrassed about torture and therefore don't want to hear about it; and they're also hesitant to criticize Senator McCain. Or, at least, they're not getting excited about dissecting his chicanery. Are you noticing this around the tubes, and if so, why are people seemingly ambivalent about McCain?
CLIFF: It was fun seeing his attack dogs trying to deflect the story by going after me in The New York Daily News. I commend them as the first to actually get McCain to respond to the very factually based charges I make in the book. You may have also seen him hem and haw on FOX yesterday when he was asked about the story I broke in the The Real McCain, and first reported here, that he physically assaulted another member of Congress (in his defense, it was Rick Renzi).
As for the Intertuboblogosphere, I sadly have to agree with your analysis. It is most definitely the primary. With the Obama/Hillary Thrilla in Manila still going on, it seems many have dug in and are more content to bash the other one than McCain. Which is a problem, as he is a scary guy, and people need to know it. I also think some may have internalized the media message. You know the "he's not that bad for a Republican" line or the "he's an independent-minded guy" David Brookisms. But mostly I think it is the primary that has given him a free pass, and that is why I am so excited The Real McCain is out now, because we need to remind progressives where the real danger lies: WIth a right-wing, dunderhead who likes to sing songs about bombing Iran when hopped up on a few shots of Sanka.
BOB: In researching for The Real McCain, did you find that the lenient treatment from the traditional media comes from a similar place as their post-9/11 patriotic hypnosis -- out of respect for his terrible Vietnam ordeal? And based on your anonymous source for the trollop story, do you think we'll see more and more reporters break from the cole-slaw and spare-ribs pack to tell the real story? And in your estimation, which is worse from a journalistic integrity perspective: accepting a BBQ picnic from someone you have to treat with objectivity, or telling a story to an author on condition of anonymity?
CLIFF: All good questions Bob. I found that much of the lenient treatment comes from the fact that he wines and dines them with BBQ as you said, but also that reporters, like many Americans, are a sucker for a man in uniform. Even if it is George W. Bush in a cheerleder outfit (give me an M, give me an O, give me a R, give me a O, give me an N, what's that spell?). But he has also had a media machine behind him, from the neocons who control many conservative publications and outlets to many others in the MSM who have been convinced by good marketing that he is a straight-talker, when he is anything but. I think if we can change the conventional wisdom, many in the media will then feel safe to report what they see: That he is temperamental, politically ambitious, not knowledgeable on foreign policy, scary on economics and overall a third term for Bush. The bubble needs to be pierced, and I hope this book can do that.
As for your last question, interesting. Obviously, the fact that those who are supposed to expose the malfeasance of those in power are actually rubbing elbows with them at DC soirees on a weekly basis is a problem. A big one. So I find it funny when the moralizing begins, whether from atavistic right-wing bloggers or some in the MSM. These are the people who know Bush lied about why we are in Iraq. Some of these people pushed the story that the Clintons killed Vince Foster, or Obama is a Muslim, knowing both to be demonstrably false. But now they are just so darn angry that I dared report what unimpeachable sources told me about McCain, sources who didn't allow their names to be public because they don't want to lose their jobs.
Some people are just simply in dire need of an enema.
BOB: There definitely appears to be a pattern here. Centrist uniter with a war mongering agenda artificially elevated by a complacent traditional media. Plus, he's neck-and-neck with the Democrats despite eight years of Republican crimes and disasters. Eight years ago at around this time, then-Governor Bush couldn't name the leader of Pakistan. And now, we have a Republican who can't tell the difference between Sunnis and Shia. To that point, is Senator McCain willfully ignorant about Iraqi sectarian divisions, or does he try really hard and the smart just rolls out of his skull and down his neck -- gathering in a puddle inside his cranky cortex?
CLIFF: First, kudos on that last sentence. That was art my friend. It is amazing that with over 80 percent of the country thinking things are headed in the wrong direction -- the other 20 percent ostensibly waiting for the Bubonic plague to occur or locusts to descend from the Heavens -- that McCain is even in this thing. But it is a perfect storm for Democrats to lose the White House. Any other GOP nominee would have been no problem. And if our two candidates weren't the Jets and the Sharks right now, I still think it's game over for McCain. But with our guys duking it out, and McCain's having successfully separated himself from a Republican brand that rivals scurvy in its popularity, he could win.
As for Republicans, what can I say that hasn't been said about how they pick their leaders. Looks good in a cowboy hat. Check. Has a chip on his shoulder bigger than Ann Coulter's Adams Apple. Check. Wasn't caught--at least in the last week--in a public bathroom making passes at any other dudes. Check (as far as we know). Knowing the leader of Pakistan is a liability. So much like in the case of Bush, I am not convinced that McCain is being purposely ignorant, knowing he won't be called on it by the media.
As my book shows, he is that cynical, having switched his positions on everything from foreign intervention to taxes to whether Martin Luther King was an "issue" to be studied or an American hero. Don't believe the hype on any of them. It is what he needs to do or say to get elected president. And that is all he cares about. I go into these kinds of details in the book, and was pleased when I a U.S News & World Report editor who interviewed me earlier today referred to the book as a blueprint for Democrats to beat McCain. It certainly is, in my humble estimation, but that is because it tells the truth about the man, "straight-talking, bipartisan, maverick, centrist" be damned.
BOB: And I don't know if you chased down this information, but I have it on good authority that Senator McCain is a Muslim. So it ought to be "straight-talking, bipartisan, maverick, centrist, Muslim." As for the blueprint, if you could mastermind one big national ad buy against Senator McCain, would you target the economy, Iraq, his temper, his age or his on-going selling-out to the Bush administration?
CLIFF: Interesting. I heard McCain was a Buddhist Separatist, homosexual, vegetarian. Pssst, don't tell the base. As for a big national ad, I would very simply have an image of George W. Bush floating around, mixed in with images like the one on the cover of The Real McCain, where McCain is basically prostrating himself to Bush, and simply ask with a large picture of Bush on the screen: "Would you vote for 4 more years of this man?"
I then would point out in a series of ads why voting for McCain is voting for Bush. Same temper and petulance. Same lack of knowledge on foreign and economic policy, and continuation of both of these disastrous Bush hallmarks. Same proclivity to climb in bed (metaphorically....of course) with lobbyists, sleazy characters (like brawl-buddy Rick Renzi, who became a "good friend" afterwards in McCain's own words on FOX yesterday and is now headed for the Big House), racists (Trent Lott, white supremacist Richard Quinn) and Armageddon-seeking preachers (late Rev. Falwell, Hagee, Parsely, Land, Mahoney)...
It is simple: For all these reasons, four more years of McCain is four more years of Bush. And I was heartened to see in a writeup at US News & World Report yesterday, by Liz Halloran, she called this book a blueprint for Democrats to beat McCain. Because, as I laid out above, by just telling the truth about him at the risk of losing some quality BBQ invites, it is.
BOB: So when can we expect to see you back on cable news making Republican "strategists" cry? I know that many people credit you and Olbermann for breaking through the noise machine -- for being the first liberals to bring along your flame-throwers to various cable news shows and to really be incendiary towards the Bush-apologists. And now with campaign season heating up, can we expect you to hit the shows and face off against Pat "Whitey Is Awesome (Food Stamps, For Example)" Buchanan or the latest shrink-wrapped FOX News Barbie Doll?
CLIFF: I am certainly hoping so! Sometimes Republicans just need to cry. Ask John Boehner. Or even tough-guy W. I certainly want to go on TV to talk about The Real McCain and also chat with some of my kind Republican friends. Many of these guys act so tough, but then they're scared to have you on. Sean Hannity, any time pal. Any time.
Otherwise, as the MSM gets copies of this book and sees it is a lot more than what has been reported already, but a pretty thorough compendium of McCain's history of changing positions whenever it suits him, Livin' La Vida Loca with any lobbyist within arms length and constantly losing control of his temper, not to mention his intention to continue Bush foreign, economic and social policy, then I think there will be much more TV. Let's hope so, because somebody needs to tell Bill Kristol to put down the pipe.
BOB: Yeah, how does Kristol hold the pipe with a striaght-jacket on? Thanks, Cliff. Let's get a radio show together.
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John Mc Cain is not a Muslim or a War Monger, THAT I KNOW OF......
obama'08
As John McCain leans his grisled head upon Bushican's broad shoulders, his eyes close and I hear his doting whimper,"My Lord and Master!"
Great article! Vintage Ceska! I think that Barack Obama will measure well against that salty old codger who doesn't despair of hiding under Hillary's skirts! I think that that measurement will decide the election for Senator Obama.
McCain is certainly vulnerable, but can also appeal to large doses of sympathy in his defense. We'll need to circle him many times to get deep enough into our own craniums to effectively criticize him, and the obvious things, while true, may not be very productive. The simple progressivity of a smart candidate like Barack may be our very best attack.
John will parody himself often enough! He is much like Robert Dole. He has waited his turn. The problem may well be the abundance of material from which to choose. Senator Obama has already been attacked from every direction. Who would have thought that those attacks would become one of his most valuable assets. The Republican attack machine will have a difficult time effectively adding to the litany of negatives already spewed at Barack.
If Barack has been effectively sanitized by Hillary's heavily funded machine, and John McCain is treated with soft and witty jabs, then the lack of negativity in the general election may permit the voters to decide based on what they see and hear of the candidates. The utter irony of Senator Obama's seemingly naive stategy may ultimately enrich the tapestry of American and world history in a marvellous way.
The 2008 presidential elections are becoming less and less important as time goes on. There is a high probability that Republicans will yield the White House due to errors made relative to Iraq war.
So fast forward to 2010 mid-term elections, hop a step if you will. If Democrats fail to deliver on their promises of bringing to a head the war in Iraq, then they face decimation in Congress. The Republicans will scream bloody murder as they will force feed their 'I told you so' argument to a war weary America.
Losing congress will tantamount to grid lock in Capitol Hill and a weakened Democrat president. If we don't really want this scenario to play out, Democrats need to put forward a realistic and workable alternative in Iraq. A precipitous withdrawal may not be the answer that will solve this problem. It may just aggravate it.
Better slow down there hu man. I don't know how high of a probability that assumption is yet!! On paper It should definately be a landslide, but for some reason I thinks it's going to be a horse race because of democratic stupidity. Hillary Clinton keeps pretending she's still in the race, and the rest of the party is believing her. Therefore allowing her to spew crap about the great speech maker that probably wouldn't even be an issue if she would just go away, as everyone knows she should. It's really turning the general election into a horse race, and for once, the republicans really appreciate what the phony is doing for them. I know that the clintons are master manipulators and cheats. What amazes me is that their own party can't tell her to shut the hell up and go away. I guess with an idiot like Dean in charge, it's to be expected. Go Hillllllary.
If Hillary is to pack it in now, then why do we even have primaries after the Super Tuesday when things seem to be all but decided in most election cycles? The primary process is broken and hence the ensuing discussion.
Democracy is an evolving process. I think we need a fresh dose of reality check about the primary processes that seem to be favoring who parties want to force-feed people. Although in this cycle things aren't turning out how party bosses envisioned, usually the favored candidates are the one who gain the trust of party insiders.
About the only good that come out of Hillary's continuous running in the primaries is that things can get so screwed up and everyone will get so fed up of this arcane primary process that a consensus will emerge for a new system for electing presidential candidates.
I am predicting that we will be seeing law suits, mud slinging, no decision prior to convention, Republican buyer remorse, name calling, raging accusations of race baiting and misogyny. In other words, more of the same of what we are seeing now to the point of nauseating exhaustion.
We should have changed things around in 2000 with the Bush-Gore fiasco but it doesn't seem like people paid any attention to how broken the electoral process has become. This time, I am afraid, it looks like we are heading toward a fiasco of gargantuan proportions and that WILL get our attention, I hope.
This cliff guy is a tool...
interrupting the other side with "Sure, whatever you say" and "On the run, sure"
He is proving the point of right wing people that liberals are more arrogant than Bush, which is hard.
According to Cliff, he is right, every one else is wrong.
Of course he's a Muslim. That's why he's always going to the Bagdad markets looking for goat meat.
Noun: Maverick (mavurik)
2. An unbranded range animal (especially a stray calf); belongs to the first person who puts a brand on it
According to the second dictionary definition, McCain certainly was a maverick. He was branded a long time ago.
How could anyone vote for him after the way he humiliated himself by sucking up to those responsible for the dirty tricks used against him in South Carolina in 2000? He has no self-respect but wants people to make him President.
Je pense, donc je suis populiste.
Don't get me wrong i support America. i am just having a problem with the lack of direction! McCain will change nothing, we will still have no economy, no education system,no congressional movement on any bill that helps the people. No affordable health care, and the war will go on, and on, and on, Congress will give itself another pay raise for all the good work it has done. All the liars who got elected last November on the premise that they would end the war or at least challenge King George "W"! I see no direction we are going in that will change anything. The housing market will continue to falter, jobs will be lost,gas will go up until the people have been pushed into a corner and squeezed until we push back. Remember all the Veterans who's benefits got cut to save money? Do you think the fighting men and Women we have now can't see this? remember the military is made up of mostly average people who got screwed by the government at close range!
McCain is too scary, and his opponents aren't scary enough. They'll have to supply nose plugs at the voting booths this year.
LMAO. Too true.
Love Cliff, he's a freakin' pit bull, that guy! It's so great to see someone on the Democratic side who doesn't shy away from attacking the total bullshit thrown out by the Republican party. That first clip where he just eviscerated the pollster who probably wasn't even human, but a robot, in the way he trotted out the old GOP talking points, was classic. Then in the second clip he just roasted that nice, well-coiffed matronly southern gal who tried to minimize what kind of trouble the GOP was in. "A party of criminals and pedophiles" (!) Fantastic!
I have long maintained that all the democratic party has to do is run an ad, continuously, of McCain hugging Bush (the cover photo from the book) with the line 4 more years?. They should start now. Then moveon.org and some of the other liberal 527s can take over with the stuff about his temper and lack of knowledge on foreign affairs and economics etc.
I think once the mud fest is over between Clinton and Obama then the democratic canidate and the party can go about notifying the public about the true McCain. I do not know why he thinks he can get away with lying about his famous temper when there are so many witnesses to it.
I dare the MSM (CNN especially) to have on Schecter on for an interview. They are probably scared that they would not be invited back for BBQ. McCain has learned how to bribe the media from all his lobbyist pals and the media has proved to be a pretty cheap date.
Everytime I see the iconic photo of the "embrace" between Bush and McCain I cant help but think to myself that the Old dude is going to grasp the Pres' thigh and start dry humping it. His "love" is so obvious and continues to shape his ever changing views on all things!!!!!!!!
The problem with tying McCain too closely to Bush is that Bush could actually get reelected for a third term. He would have had to ignore the Constitution, that's his specialty..
Despite low approval numbers, he would still have the white South and the red states of the West. Trot out the hate issues in swing states like Ohio and Florida and he could be home free once more.
Some people think McCain will stay away from Bush during the campaign, but I think he will actually bring McCain some creds with the base.
McCheney is not a violent demented old man ... as far as I know
While John Sidney McCain tries to meet & greet America's common folk, he hasn't been introduced to John Feces, aka Jack Shit. Sen McCain still doesn't know Jack Shit.
McCain has the moronic media in his pocket and this includes many so called liberal journalists. They think he is the second coming of Jesus on earth simply because he was a prisoner of war. He shares many of the neocon's basic assumptions on foreign policy and is quite frankly not too bright but this has almost never been a handicap in american elections. The country is much farther to the right than you realize and one evidence of this is the support for someone like Hillary Clinton within the democratic party. She shares many of the neocon's beliefs and has used ugly right wing tactics throughout her campaign and now we see that about 30 percent of her followers would rather vote for McCain which is no surprise at all.
According to her voting record and history of employment, Hillary is left of everybody but Kennedy and Obama. Because she also supported the war when most of the country did was a refection of her triangulation tactic more than any core beliefs. McCain liberal leanings are sadly consistent and the honeymoon with the MSM will last until the Thrilla is completed and nominee chosen. Soros spending 50 million on trashing McCain will start the Shiite fest soon enough. Being a combat pilot and POW is real. He didn't kinda swift boat or fly with the National Guard. If he says he was shot at, i would believe it(I don't know if he has). McCain is not too old but B Hussein is too inexperienced. I like him because he doesn't move too fast but I am just a typical white boy.
Knowing you call him B Hussein is pretty much all anyone needs to know to figure out your stand on the issues.
"According to her voting record and history of employment, Hillary is left of everybody but Kennedy and Obama. Because she also supported the war when most of the country did was a refection of her triangulation tactic more than any core beliefs."
Ummm, I think you should check your facts before you start spouting junk like that. She didn't only support the war, she was one of it's biggest cheerleaders. She didn't just vote for it because everyone else was doing it. She worked actively to convince others to vote with her.
What exactly is liberal about her record? Is it the cheerleading for the war, the vote for Kyl-Lieberman war with Iran act, the machismo "isolation and condemnation" diplomacy, her belief in a secretive all-powerful executive branch, her shady business dealings, her close ties with corrupt lobbyists, or her days of union-busting at walmart?
Hillary Clinton is NOT a liberal. She is a Republican in sheep's clothing.
PS: Experience doesn't necessarily mean wisdom, either.
Not to denigrate anyone's creds, but didn't combat pilot mean men who sat in airplanes and shot at each other? McCain ran some missions where his plane was shot at, but what he did, mainly, was drop bombs on combatants and innocents alike, and in my book, that hardly qualifies him for hero status. His plane was eventually shot down, and he became a POW, but, again, in my book, that hardly qualifies him as a hero... especially considering that, according to some, he wasn't really a model POW... now THAT'S a subject worthy of some form of swiftboating... but wait, swiftboaters don't attack their own, now, do they?
For a scary list of McCain's "accomplishments" and likely attitudes, check out this link: moveon-help@list.moveon.org
"Not to denigrate anyone's cred".... buuuut Ill just go ahead and denigrate someones creds. Who is a hero to you if you dont mind me asking? Fidel probably, yes? Well... whatever the truth of McCain is, I suspect he's not really much worse than Castro and Che, so you should love him, no? Maybe he needs to put a few journalists and artists to death... That might win the left over. It definitely worked for Castro and Che!
For the record, I plan to vote for Obama, but the dementia on this site really does need continual challenge.
I'm more than ready for "The Main Event"
This Opening Act has grown tiresome and worrisome.
Let's get to exposing McCain for the demented senile angry mean war-mongering old fart he really is!
Bring It On!
Not to denigrate anyone's candidate, but why in a country of over 300 million, do we constantly face the prospect of picking the " least worst" bozo or bozoette? It seems that DC sucks the brains and integrity out of anyone who spends more than a year there. Both Dems are pretty close policy wise. McCain wants to copy off of a D students paper. All the good hair guys have gone back to their hedge funds.
the election process is all about the money. usually provided by the lobyists. Hopefully Obama is changing this with his $25 donation scheme.
Maybe because the nations best and brightest are out making it happen for themselves? Because the only people who get in to government are on a power trip and are some of the most devious people to be encountered? Because no one is doing it "for you" but you and if you believe they are then you deserve exactly what you are going to get?
No, no that wouldn't be it.
How can MCCAIN be taken seriously as our President? Will we have another SHADOW government ....where the V.P. is really running the show?
I love the man and know he has done much that is good for America.......but he is too old and too irradic to be our President.
He is our crazy old uncle..........OBAMA has his Reverend Wright , and the GOP has MCCAIN. He is tempermental,out of touch...but we honor his WAR record....just as we honor the Reverends WAR wounds.......amazed THAT THEY SURVIVED AND EVEN THRIVED THEIR PAINFUL YOUTHS.
But Pastor Wright is NOT running for leader of the free world......MCCAIN is.....and he is not equiped to handle TODAYS problems....
WE need a change in our government from the top down, and not someone we cant have full confidence in.
Donna Breckenridge
"how can McCain be taken seriously?"
if people can seriously elect George W. Bush, they are more than capable of thinking McCain is fit for office.
"how can McCain be taken seriously?"
He's the only old white guy left running. To some people, that qualifies him over the other two. Not me, not a lot of people, but apparently the majority of people that actually vote instead of ranting about it will vote for the old white guy if you believe the polls. As kellygrrrl said above, that's how we got Bush. The only way to change the outcome is to register and vote - preferably for Obama!
Posted April 10, 2008 | 12:26 PM (EST)