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John McCain, Sex, Drugs and Insurance

From The New York Times …

The normally voluble Senator John McCain found himself at a loss for words Wednesday when he was asked aboard his campaign bus on its way to Portsmouth, Ohio, whether he thought it was fair that some health insurance companies covered Viagra but not birth control.

“I don’t usually duck an issue,” he said, “but I’ll try to get back to you.”

Link (subscription required).

265 replies on “John McCain, Sex, Drugs and Insurance”

Max-@65
it’s all ok. William decided it was time we moved out of home, so we have all gone and found new premises with catrina as teh kindy landlady.9although I wouldn’t want to cross her…)
All your friends are here and there’s a room for you.
There’s one or two who may have to beg and grovel to gain entry but right now welcome to our happy new home. Ypu’re even allowed to not like Obama, as long s you express why in reasonable terms.

Hiya jen. I know KR has been the neighbourhood bear. He has got me thinking we’ll all be rooned. There’s lots of bad news around too, especially on the climate and the food crisis, the tensions with Iran. It is easy to feel troubled.

OMG- I got a winking face-thingy and I don’t even know how. Is this site psychic?
Just realised won’t have to keep on synchronised swimming or ride my high horse. Yippeee!!!

Hey Catrina, Jen, Kirribilli, all others!
Gee, it’s great having no Ron, ESJ and GG over here, let’s hope they don’t find the new board. I was getting very frustrated at 3 anti Obama trolls hogging the original threads.
Question: Will Bush launch an invasion/bombing raid on Iran before November, in an effort to help out McCain?

Blindoptimist –
when I’m not making light of things, I find the prospect of what we are facing utterly terrifying. I have no idea why Obama would want the job of POTUS in the coming time, but I’m glad he does. For the people who scoff at the notion of “vision” as a desirable quality in a president I see it as the only thing that really matters for what we are facing environmentally, politically, economically and socially.
So my advice is drink good wine and get laid.

Hey Progressive!!
Great to see you here.
re Iran – surely he can’t!!
Is anybody really allowed to be that insane and not be physically removed from office?

I agree about Obama. I think political leadership is merely human and necessarily suspect, but sheessh, it’s all we’ve got to run with.

As another side ( God, his red is just lovely) I would actually be happy to see Finns and GG here, as we have a long history from way before the uS elections and sans Ron they may be less defensive. I’m actually quite fond of the buggers.
Hope ESJ never shows up though. I am in complete agreement with Kirri there.

…THIS red, not HIS red. Although I spose if you’re a believer you’d put it down to God. I’m putting it down to a winery called Alexander Park.

Yup, Kylie’s the one. She could swing him towards a cooler papacy. You know, more like the 21st century than the 11th.

I have noted their absence, but I’m mystified: why have they bailed? It’s a very short taxi ride from Bill’s place to Cat’s.

Thanks Jen for the welcome!
And G’day to Blindoptimist!
I pray Ron doesn’t find this board, his hysterical rantings are too much for my brain!

104 Progressive

The Pentagon knows they’d be in for stoush, and given their vulnerability in Iraq, it’s just not possible. The Shiite backlash would be overwhelming and catastrophic, as we must remember that Iran is now seen as an ally by the majority Shiites.

But the real possibility is Israel doing a very foolish thing. They’ve been buying Ahmadinejad’s crazy dogwhistling talk and whooping up the Israeli public with doomsday scenarios that are way out of proportion.

So my guess is no for a US strike, but the area is very hot, and silly things happen under those conditions. The Israelis would act unilaterally and stick the US with the blowback, so I wouldn’t put much store on Washington deterring them if they suddenly got hot under the collar.

Sheez Kirri- you are a bundle of joy.
Th thought of where this could all end is truly frightening.
More red.

Hiya Progressive. It can’t be too difficult to find your way from Mr Bowe’s – there’s a sign up on his site. He was a very attention-seeking bludger and an inflammatory one too. Maybe there’ll be more drinking and less fighting from now on.

119 jen

Just calling it as I see it Jen. Blame the human condition, not the commentator! LOL

sulking….lol…..i hope he takes from now til december to get over it….

Kirri my love, you know I would never blame you for anything.
ESJ on the other hand…
global warming.

Kirribilli: yes, I’d be worried about Israel!
Maybe if we’re very quiet, Ron and his mates won’t find us?

I’m with Kirri,
the Israelis will hit Iran before the U.S does.
Cheney will give them the nod befor they go though.

Evening All, first attempted toony got spaminated , let’s see how this one goes. Sems it’s only the Yahoo ones that get jagged, but I can often get them from other sites.
http://news.yahoo.com/edcartoons/tonyauth;_ylt=ArccYUilSvwj0SVgshf4NnYV2r8F

Remember it was (Ta-Dah!!) Kirri, who first called the current Sep Economic meltdown on Father William’s site:) and was duly pilloried for the call by two obnoxious Amigos. Time for them to eat muchos caga if they have the cojones to ever front Sep PB.

GOP hopeful McCain campaigns in suburban Detroit.

Republican presidential candidate John McCain said today he’s concerned about the tens of thousands of jobs lost in Michigan and the slump in employment nationwide. “We’ve got big problems, and we’ve got big challenges,” he said during a midday town hall event with more than 250 undecided voters and auto industry employees gathered at auto supplier Bayloff Stamped Products in Wayne County’s Van Buren Township.

http://www.battlecreekenquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080710/NEWS01/307100004/0/NEWS01

Had to put the Battle Creek Enquirer up. Battle Creek is the home of two famous people. Mr Kellogs and Mr Kellogs. They founded the Kellogs Company and the Sanitarium Company. If you want to read about two weirdo’s try these links.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelloggs

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corn_flakes

There is plenty more than just Wiki for reference. You’ll be shocked as to why they invented Corn Flakes, but to give you a hint, to prevent kids going blind.

131 Enemy Combatant

Thanks for the accolade Ecky, but it really wasn’t hard if you’d been reading about the financial mess that was brewing, for well, the last decade or so! LOL

What astonished me was how ignorant some people were, even in the face of the evidence that it was all turning pear-shaped before their very eyes. It seems any critical comment on the US got you branded as an ‘ignorant loathing leftie’ from more than one quarter. (Funny how Herr Doktor dropped off the blogs, isn’t it? LOL)

Still, I have to say, it’s going at breakneck speed downhill and the poor Yanks must be terrified at what their incompetent government has allowed to befall them.

This stuff focuses the mind and looks desperately for remedies, and the big one is coming in November, as it rightfully should.

Hiya Megan.
love to see another girl on board.
and isn’t it jus swimmingly lovely right now?

Apart from the end of the world as we know it of course, so… more red.
I’va also let Ferny Grover know that we have moved out of home too,, so I hope he shows up at some stage. .

Ah ‘the Serenity’ as Daryl Kerrigan would say.

134 Kirribilli Removals I have never seen so many stars in alignment for a party. The next election after 911 never saw this many stars in aligment. If there is not a super sunami at this election the Democrats have not done their job. Even the drovers dog could win this.

Yes, hi Megan, nice to see you around too, in the air-fresh zone sans Eddy.

Big hugs to Catrina for biting the bullet and doing this job, we are all so very impressed with how efficiently she’s done it.

It used to be called “the Jesse Jackson problem”: Democratic presidential candidates fearing they would lose black votes if they got on Mr. Jackson’s bad side, given the influence he accrued as a civil rights activist and his history-making races for the White House in 1984 and 1988.
But if his recent critical comments about Senator Barack Obama prove anything, Democrats and political scientists said Thursday, it is that a Jesse problem these days can actually help a candidate like Mr. Obama — with white voters who have questions about whether Mr. Obama shares their values, and with black voters who see Mr. Jackson as a figure of the past.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/11/us/politics/11jackson.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&adxnnlx=1215763784-WzNEgbkiX5OXurC7+ZzQKg

136 Chris B

God, you’d have to think so CB. A near perfect candidate out of left field (culturally), a powerful orator with a knack for getting the young fired up, and an aging warmonger in a party so degraded with corruption and incompetence from the top down, you’d have to call it the perfect storm for the Republicans, eh?

Throw in an economy in freefall, a tsunami of debt, crumbling infrastructure, a couple of suppurating wars, and it’s not likely the Republicans could emerge without a serious savaging at the polls.

The end of Reaganism brought to you by its idiot son, GW Bush.

Hi Jen,Kirri,

Yes,isn’t it great…feels like a house-warming party around here.
Will share a red to toast the new digs.

Yep Megan- party time!!!
And the icing on the cake is that the fcking-‘what -McCain -said about- Cindy’s” who have brought the whole of the Western world into such disrepute and involved us in untold horror and bloodshed just so they could flex their oiled up muscles ((ha! -they’re all fossils), are about to get exactly what they deserve.
Minus the water-boarding.
Anyway – party on.

Howdy megan, everybody is being so sweet to each other, it’s almost as if we’re all blogging on eccies. Wowie! Get a load of that butterfly!!
—————————
http://editorialcartoonists.com/cartoon/display.cfm/56035

http://editorialcartoonists.com/cartoon/display.cfm/56067

True, KB at 134, but you argued the R-word case with the authority, eloquence and passion of someone who has perhaps taught the subject at tertiary level or maybe written about it for a living.

Just speculatin’ 🙂

Sorry,Jen……my conscientious side slipped out for a mo’!

Back to the red!

Yes,Catrina,will check it out in next couple of days….too

many little mouths to feed this weekend.

megan, “The Diebold” black box voting theft/rort question is Veeery Inteeeresting! My understanding is that the individual State Governors get to decide how the Electoral College votes are counted. GOP Govs are perfectly poditioned to pull the same rorts as Fl 2000 and OH 2004 come November. Be instructive to get a decent make on all the Swing States.

Remember how HRC won the NH primary after being well behind in the polls? Whaddya know, it was Diebold machinery set up by the DLC that delivered the stunning turnaround although C.W. as interpreted by the MSM spruiked that it was HRC’s weepy kinda teary moment that got her up.

Happy, Catrina, to do a post on the topic(How Diebold Could Do It Again) next week. We’ve got a house full of teenagers who are “making a movie” in this Qld. school hols, and “Poppykins” has to schlep the creative little manipulative scoundrels hither and yon to “locations” over this w/e. They’re keen as bloody mustard with story boards, script and sound track completed. Rehearsals are proceeding downstairs as one blogs. Cast of 4 with lots of “creative differences”, but so what, they’re having a load of fun and they are 100% occupied. Parents dream, really.
Cat, please send me an email address where I can forward the post to you when done.

I well remember the pain of the year 2000, and sobbing uncontrollably when Gore finally conceded that election!
I hope something similar never occurs again, and everyone’s right to vote this time is respected!

Progressive at 151-2, can remember the overhead shots of the long lines of black voters long after normal booth closing time in Cleveland Ohio in 2004 and thinking “the bastards have stolen it again”. Didn’t weep, but there was a hollow feeling in the pit of my stomach. Took myself off to bed for a few days in a deep depression.

One would assume that Team Obi are onto the scam, but there has been bubkes said about it by anybody in his “War Room” so far. And there’s less than four months to E-day. Bit of a worry I reckon.
Did you see the scenes of Environmental Al in the Senate slapping-down the complaining black officials from Dade County et al. from FL in the US Senate? It was featured in Mike Moore’s Farenheit 9/11.
As George Carlin said: “It’s a big club and YOU ain’t in it….YOU AND ME…. AIN’T IN IT!”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qj2iVgx_VS4

153 Enemy Combatant The interesting thing is that it will b really hard ot pinpoint the seats they can target this time. Plus the fact that they stole those elections, may not mean anything to a lot of people. But they led to the current situation where the Democrats could oblitiorates the Repugs. Sweet revenge!

Catrina,
Possible solution to lack of paging – IF it is possible to start numbering responses from a value other than 1, you could simply start a continuation thread, with the same title as the original, just marked part 1 part 2 etc. Part 1 may be numbers 1 to 105, part 2 numbers 106 onwards. No real need to start a new page each hundred, just when you are doing your daily blog housekeeping. Not sophisticated, I know, but if you can start with a set value, at least dead easy.

kerneels at 156

Not possible – the default implementation does not allow any real in-depth manipulation of the content management stuff – for that you need to be able to get in deep to the PHP pages (Jen – don’t ask). So long as we are hosted for free we need to suck it up – but really it’s no so hard – start a new thread and close of the previous, after all, in all of the history of the PB the relevance of comments to posts has been debatable. I figure we can embrace this principal and view new threads as simply guess appearances with varying levels of substance.

And guess what, John McCain, Sex, Drugs, and Insurance thread has already been picked up by Yahoo.

We must be doing something right.

Hi Catrina,

Best thing about this new site – it feels like our very own (despite being a humble lurker!!)

153 Enemy Combatant

“it’s called the American dream because you have to be asleep to believe it”

….classic.

The prospect of another stolen election is too much to contemplate. I wonder if anyone is on to this in the US? Is it taken seriously?

KR, Bloomberg is full of cheerful news tonight: trouble in India, Japan, Europe & UK as well the US. It has been a long time since all the major economies contracted at the same time. The most ominous thing for me is this feels like the overture to the main performance. It is possible to discern the main themes, but the resolution of the drama cannot yet be foreseen.

I do think the coincidence of economic crisis with environmental trauma and military/strategic tensions is highly alarming, especially given the lamentable quality of political leadership available these days.

162 blindoptimist

You’re right there Blindy, there’s a weirdly synchronous feeling to a lot of worsening things at the moment. There’s the US meltdown, and it’s long term ravaging of their economy, (plus the considerable damage of trillions of US dollars held by foreigners getting devalued in the process), the hitting of peak oil, the climate change problems, and the old perennial standby, just in case things are aren’t tense enough, a simmering Middle East.

Gotta say, it’s a cauldron out there! LOL

Seriously however, big changes are hurtling down on us, just which way they break is anyone’s guess. But the glorious boom of endless credit and asset inflation is one balloon that’s met its prick.

Likely Rise In Voter Turnout Bodes Well For Democrats.

Obama’s Support is More Committed than McCain’s but Many Remain Undecided.

The outlook for the presidential election at mid-year is substantially different than at comparable points in time in recent campaigns. First, turnout is likely to be higher this fall — perhaps much higher than in previous elections — as voter interest continues at record levels. Second, as has been the case since the start of the campaign, Democrats enjoy a substantial engagement advantage over Republicans that may significantly alter the composition of the November electorate.

http://pewresearch.org/pubs/893/obama-mccain-july

Well Jen,a quick glance at US futures markets tells me it won’t end tonight, coz they are seriously down again tonight.

It’s a rocky road down this hill for some ways yet I am afraid.

168 Enemy Combatant

piercing comment! LOL

…off for some Spooks and a splodge in front of the brain evacuator.

Plese allow me the honour of being the first to say this on our new site-
Obma – upright, breathing, pulse.
McCain- none of the above. Plus saddled with GWB.
The Repugs Are TOAST.

god that feelsgood.

McCain’s broken marriage and fractured Reagan friendship.

The nature and timing of his divorce from Carol Shepp alienated key friends — and his version doesn’t always match that in court documents.

Outside her Bel-Air home, Nancy Reagan stood arm in arm with John McCain and offered a significant — but less than exuberant — endorsement.

“Ronnie and I always waited until everything was decided, and then we endorsed,” the Republican matriarch said in March. “Well, obviously this is the nominee of the party.” They were the only words she would speak during the five-minute photo op.

http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-divorce11-2008jul11,0,2177702.story

Chris @ 164……lol.

GWB is like daylight saving: responsible for all of life’s difficulties…

EC @ 163…..Bobo?…lol….I will bring my squirty plastic flower thing to the next performance…..now that doesn’t sound good either…bobo indeed….

ooooohhhhh….the smell of new paint and carpets!! Love what you’ve done to the place Cat! And everyone’s soooooo friendly too!

Hello all…..so this is where you’ve been hiding?

Hey Ferny Grover!
I think I’ll get stuck into the cold beers immediately!
Seriously, I think it’s agreed by almost all pundits that regardless of the result of the presidential race, the Democrats will make gains in the house and the senate.

And a big thank you to Catrina, I think we can agree she’s done a wonderful job getting our new home ready!

Beer????? I thought by now you’d have realised Im a wine drinker!

As for the Presidential race, Progressive, it’s Obama in a canter.

Lovely to see you’ve found us, Ferny. Hope jv does too when he gets off the boat:)
———–
No doubt about it, Progressive at 178, the Dems sure do deserve those gains. Well, as much as any bunch of jelly-back-sliders do, anyway. Shame it’s by default instead of real leadership.

http://editorialcartoonists.com/cartoon/display.cfm/56084

http://editorialcartoonists.com/cartoon/display.cfm/56080

http://editorialcartoonists.com/cartoon/display.cfm/56086

Oooh dear, Fannie and Freddie getting near 50% shellacking before the market opens!

Lehman Brothers is getting kicked in the guts too, and the overall tenor is downright freaky.

Another wild night on the US markets coming up soon.

And oil has taken off on this:

Israeli Air Force war planes have practiced in Iraqi air space, possibly in preparation for a potential strike on Iran’s nuclear sites, the Jerusalem Post reported Friday, citing remarks by Iraqi defense ministry sources to a local news network. The report was also carried by Iranian news outlets, the newspaper said, and claimed that recent, massive, nocturnal activity by Israeli planes was noted at several U.S. bases. The Jerusalem Post said it could not confirm the veracity of the report

Oh well, that leaves all the beer for me and Kirribilli, assuming he’s a beer drinker too!
Our old troll friend Nostrodamus on another board just predicted McCain will win: now I know for certain Obama is a sure bet in November LOL

I’m a bit off alcohol at the moment Prog, but don’t let me stop you! LOL

Hiya EC, my friend! My desire for a cab sauv last weekend marked the demise of a hearty and much appreciated Redman.

Sadly, I won’t be able to enjoy the ‘new improved PB’ company much over the next week as I’ll be off to otherparts hobnobbing and generally giving the benefits of my wisdom to my profession. And being interviewed by the ABC too, apparently.

OK Ferny- ‘Fess up.
Why are you being interviewed by the ABC?
Can we watch it?(need time/ channel etc)
Will you have make-up on?
Are you Andrew Denton????
Or Kerry O’briern?
or B1?

It’s ugly. A huge meltdown in the financials from Fannie and Freddie getting blown away. 50% drops!

George Bush must be wondering what he did in a past life (coz he ain’t done much of any value in this one! ) to deserve being the Prez when this goes down.

This is the twin towers of the US mortgage market, and Uncle Sam now has no choice but to pick up the pieces and cover the debts, since they can’t borrow their way out of it now. The punters are basically calling the stock worthless and will cash out now at any price.

What an historic moment, it really is like watching the twin towers implode, but without the screaming.

Well Jen, I think in the USA, if Nancy returned your affections it would exclude her from high office. They’re wierd about things like that.

And no I’m not B1 – though have occassionally been known as Banana without Pyjamas.

And it’s ABC Radio not TV

One analyst sums it up:

“I think Freddie and Fannie equity may be toast, which means the government will simply take over both, as [it] can’t let $5 trillion in mortgages vaporize.”

Truly monumental collapse, and it must feel like Rome has just been sacked by the barbarians. The empire is in flames, the result of huge folly.

well Ferny babe- when I sy I love her it’s in a spiritual kind of way. But what the heck- if she’s prepared to support an impechment motion against Bush, then I will love her in whatever way is fitting.
as for ABC radio: if it’s radio National (ie the law report) then we can all tune in.

Ecky @181
that last cartoon is a pearler.
how far we have fallen in our so-called ‘democracies’?
remember the Paddington Bear affair, where Mick whathisname (love this red) got sacked for not declaring a toy through customs?
Now we can wage war, sell wheat to the very regimes we are waging war against, allow people to hang (vale Van Nguin, and good riddance Saddam- but all to the same effect: nil), allow a company like Halliburton that is connected to the eyeballs to the gov’t of te day to make obscene profits, etc etc.

fck -I long for the Paddington Bear Affair days.

Bongiorno (Branch) Bludgers,

“But in later trading(Sep-side Friday), Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae recouped most of their losses.”
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/07/12/2301845.htm?section=justin

Fri July 11: Kirri, probably just a Dead Dog Bounce.
http://news.yahoo.com/edcartoons/jeffdanziger;_ylt=Avj4slZa3PpTJvsZe0ztWchX_b4F

And a prominent Northern Territory online gaming establishment is quoting the following POTUS Board Odds:

OBAMA, Barack…………..1.40 (firms 8 cents)
MCCAIN, John…………….3.50 (drifts 35 cents)

This will be a major issue in the election.

Dodd seeks to quell panic over mortgage giants’ losses.

Senate Banking Chairman Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) on Friday sought to calm investor fears about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, saying the mortgage giants have enough capital and won’t need a federal bailout.

Dodd cited assurances he received from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and the companies’ chief executives that the two mortgage giants could cover their losses.

http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/dodd-seeks-to-quell-panic-over-mortgage-giants-losses-2008-07-11.html

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