SWAMPLAND EXCLUSIVE!! McCain Reacts to Heidi Montag Endorsement!

Hard hitting stuff.

But maybe you can ask him about his reaction to the release of the Yoo memo.

I thought April Fool's was yesterday.

Christ, I didn't know that "Us" even had words. Did Heidi use semaphore to "spell-out" her endorsement?

Great job, Ana! You forgot the flashing light thingy, and you have to make sure to put "Developing....." at the end, but you're almost there!

Maybe YOU'LL rule Halperin's world someday!

McCain can't remember if condoms prevent AIDS or who the players are in Iraq, but he knows who the actresses are on The Hills?

Incredible.

Remind me, is this a hooker or the one who manages all the hookers?

"Remind me, is this a hooker or the one who manages all the hookers?"

No. This is the "actor" with the horrible boob job.

hmmm...
so when are you going to ask him about the fact that he is violating election finance laws?
or is that topic one of those things that your hubby is going to write about?
maybe i missed why you're not offering his thoughts here anymore, but he sure had a lot of smart things to say.
i do miss that.

Here's an interesting story about McCain's love affair with lobbyists:

McCain’s website tells visitors, “Too often the special interest lobbyists with the fattest wallets and best access carry the day.”

This has, of course, become an increasingly amusing line as the senator’s presidential campaign has unfolded. We now know, for example, that McCain’s campaign staff is dominated by corporate lobbyists, and he adds new ones all the time.

But the Davenport hire is of particular interest.

First, the DCI Group is one of the more offensive conservative outlets in DC. Josh Marshall noted that DCI is “the Republican outfit when it comes to ‘astroturf’ (i.e., phoney) grassroots campaigns and sundry campaign bamboozlment.”

Second, with regards to McCain, the senator’s campaign defended his practice of hiring corporate lobbyists for key campaign roles.
...
McCain is perceived by the media as a reformer who doesn’t kowtow to K Street, so he can abandon his reform principles and hire lobbyists by the dozen without looking too bad.

Now, I think Ana's fracking with us.

Sometimes I think she posts stuff to see what the groundlings do. Well I for one will not take the bait...

BTW Ana... how'd you enjoy Bloggingheads?

See I knew that posting all those questions we wanted to be asked would pay off.

Or not......

Good point, Paul Dirks, where did Scherer go? I thought he was "covering the McCain beat."

Doh! I just looked at the post above this one. That's where Scherer went.

The question is, I suppose, is Heidi Montag Shiite or Sunni? Has she been trained in Iran?

Didn't McCain claim Nine Inch Nails to be his fave band in 2000? I think Meghan is whispering in his ear again. Really good post Ana.

I'm shocked! Shocked!

Mr. Scherer did not ask McCain the tough questions we gave him. He didn't even ask McCain how long he would continue fighting in Iraq.

I'm shocked, I tell you.

"Has she been trained in Iran?"

Have you watched her show? It's entirely possible that she has been sent by terrorists to punish us.

Who's your source on this, The Onion?

"Who's your source on this, The Onion?"

That's too high brow. I prefer "The Insider." So sorry to see Pat O'Brien back in rehab. But thank heavens Donny Osmond was there to pick up the slack.

Ana Marie, I just saw your (lengthy) podcast with Glenn Greenwald! Very cool of you to do that - especially because Glenn was clearly on an intense anti-McCain-fluffer rampage and you were cast as the villainous McCain fluffer and evil MSM apologist. Very entertaining!

What you could have said is that Senator McCain (rather than being either senile or deceitful - a good artfully crafted Greenwald question) was simply wrong. Wrong about the alleged Iran-AQI ties. Wrong to over-emphasize Iran in his strategic thinking. Wrong in signaling that he would be far more likely to attack Iran than Senators Obama or Clinton. Wrong to ignore the real AQ in Waziristan. Wrong to constantly war-monger. Or, in your "journalist's" role, you could merely have said that the gaffe highlights the issue of whether McCain is wrong. That's what the media could have (and still could) done with the gaffe story - as you correctly pointed out, they only did a brief media-on-media thang.

What we horrible bloggers are asking for is for you to treat Senator McCain's utterances the way you do with your husband's - i.e., with no credulity whatsoever. Let him have it with both rhetorical barrels. Scrutinize him. Criticize him. What is his health care plan? Why does he think waterboarding should be legal? Why is GITMO still open for business? What are his plans for the mortgage crisis? How is a cap-and-trade post-Kyoto accord going to be implemented? Why does he constantly conflate AQI with Iran?

We're listening. We're sympathetic. But we've seen precious little "real" coverage from the MSM so far.

But we've seen precious little "real" coverage from the MSM so far.

Indeed. Although far from mainstream, Bob Somerby has taken up the slack.

'"I'm a Republican and McCain has a lot of experience," she explains.'

Wanna bet this empty head also thinks McCain is a 'maverick' and a 'foreign policy expert'? It's almost as if some pre-fabricated narrative has seeped into her brain, and those of comparable intelligence. I wonder by what mechanism that happens and I wonder if BBQ sauce is involved?

No discussion of new polls, financial disclosures, Mukasey (sp?)misspeak or anything really going on???

If you want to be an Us reporter, it's okay. They probably get paid just and well and do less work.

Ana, care to reply to Glenn Greenwald on your recent discussion with him?

[The dialog] took a somewhat strangely acrimonious turn towards the end when Cox began arguing that mean, unreasonable liberal bloggers and commenters are making the job of the journalist (i.e. her) excessively difficult and unpleasant (she'd likely object to whatever paraphrase of her argument I offer, so those interested should watch to hear it directly from her). What I found most interesting about the whole exercise is that Cox -- as she continuously denied that the media's affection for McCain skews its coverage of him, and further denied that excessive socializing among reporters makes them less adversarial -- went to great lengths repeatedly to defend both McCain and her journalistic colleagues.

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/04/02/book_news/index.html

Yeah GG nails it, and as someone who was previously banned for pointing out AMC's precarious position vis-a-vis stays in luxury resorts and their inconsistency w/ journalistic ethics, I can attest to AMC defensiveness on this subject. During this dialog, for some reason, AMC tryed to argue that she's not biased by reflexively defending Maverick's position. She's pretty defensive w/ GG, and it indicates that deep down inside, she know there's at least a kernel of truth to the criticism.

It's 10pm and your children are safe and asleep. There's a phone in the White House and it's ringing. Something's happening in the world. But the president is watching The Hills. He never misses an episode.

The world can wait, Heidi and Spencer are breaking up again.

Best Post in Months! Years! Finally news I can use and understand!

Who cares about Spencer! Everyone knew Heidi was pro-McCain. She has always liked older, crazy men.

What about Lauren? Who does she support? Wasn't she always drinking lattes? That's Obama support if you aks me.