Hang this Albatross Around Shays' and the GOP's Necks...

Now I'm looking for the correct bird simile for Shays. It can't be the dodo, that gawky, waddling, flightless, 40-pound joke of an animal that was killed off by the late 1600s on their Indian Ocean island.

Shays' defenses -- particularly in recent years as the demographics of the 4th Congressional District were changing -- were always formidable, and the 17-town district was surgically redrawn by state lawmakers back in 2001 for a Republican.

No need for a comedic double take there. In a district that was redrawn, Tom DeLay Texas style, to make it easier for a Republican to win... And Jim Himes won it. Handily.

Dixon is a dodo...

Proving once again what an out-of-touch right-wing rag Connecticut Post really is, its columnist Ken Dixon published this snarky cheap shot at congressman-elect Jim Himes in his Sunday column:

Himes is essentially a 42-year-old blank slate, a Greenwich millionaire who was in the right place at the right time.

The entire Republican party is a political albatross if the right place and right time for a communist/socialist/liberal/progressive is a district that was redrawn for Republicans.

Note To Chris Healy and Chris Shays

Healy is, still, clearly "Fat, drunk and stupid" if he thinks anyone is buying the Republican snake oil he sells. CT Bob has an "Obama endorsing Himes" ad at the top of his Blog, but if you scroll down you find this tear on the perpetually drunk with stupidity statements of Chis Healy that have come to represent the idiotic thought process of Republicans everywhere:

Yeah, it's just noise when Chris Shays tries to hitch his wagon to the Obama juggernaut in his mealy-mouthed ads. If the senator's endorsement means so little, why does Shays use the phrase "The hopefulness of Barack Obama" in his ads? Healy continues:

"Barack Obama talking about Jim Himes, whom I doubt he's ever met, it won't draw flies."

Uh, Chris, I hate to break it to you, but if you pull your head out of your butt long enough to look at Jim's website or catch his ads on TV, you might see this:

Oh well Chris, maybe you can photoshop your buddy Mr. Shays into the image where Jim Himes is standing right next to Barack Obama.

Unlike the spastic and erratic John McCain... Barack Obama actually takes the time to vet candidates BEFORE he endorses them. And, clearly, the Connecticut Republican party would do well to take away the keys from their 3 time DUI leader that has been integral in driving the local GOP into the ditch.

There is a huge difference between Jim Himes and Chris Shays, no matter how much the rubber stamp Republican, Shays, would like you to believe the opposite of reality:

There's no Republican in the House who has tried this exact same tactic more forcefully than Chris Shays of Connecticut. Shays is the last Republican member of the House from the 6-state New Hampshire region and his Connecticut congressional district has a PVI of D+5, the bluest district in America represented by a Republican.

Like his close ally, Joe Lieberman, Shays has managed to stay in office by persuading Democrats that he isn't really that Republican. His voting record, however, paints a very different picture. When Bush and the Republicans needed his vote-- no matter what the harebrained scheme they were pushing, he was always there for them. Take Iraq, for example. "Mr. Moderate" participated in 63 roll calls regarding Iraq since he voted 4 times on October 10, 2002 to authorize the use of force there. And "Mr. Moderate" voted against the Bush-Cheney agenda in Iraq exactly... 3 times, once to require competitive bidding on oil contracts when Cheney was caught trying to steal all of Iraq's oil, as did more than 4 dozen other Republicans, once to turn an Iraqi reconstruction grant into a loan (which was supported by 84 Republicans), and once on an inconsequential and unsubstantive budgetary matter. This week Shays, who is co-chairman of McCain's pointless Connecticut operation (he is polling just 36% against Obama) released an ad, very much like Gordon Smith's, trying to capitalize on Obama's immense popularity in Connecticut. Take a look-- and then consider donating to Blue America endorsee Jim Himes' campaign to replace him.

And Senator Obama's response?

"In this race, the good people of Connecticut should know that Barack Obama supports Jim Himes and believes Himes is the candidate who will bring the change American families need to Washington."

You want real change...

Not a desperate to hang onto his seat Republican like Chris Shays that is running from the McCain campaign that he has failingly chaired in the state of Connecticut. Both the national and the local Connecticut Republican party have proven, over and over again, that they are a top down driven failure. And none of them are willing to take responsibility for any of their own failures.

Republicans blame Obama for policies and ideas that are as American as apple pie. They blame those evil liberals and progressives for pointing out hypocritical Republican voting records. They blame their own ownership society that is ruining middle class Americans. They blame the economy that they ran into the ground with their free market run amok deregulation. They blame failed foreign policies that they created and chose to support. They even try to blame Bush for implementing their own ideas. And, now, some of these Republicans blame the incompetent and erratic McCain campaign and, even more so, the entirely absurd choice of Palin... The candidates they chose as their standard bearers and have failingly led the charge for themselves.

Not one of these Republicans are honest enough to look in the miror and see the failure that was and always will be theirs to own.

And that is what they try to call change?

That is Republican politics per usual... Connecticut and the rest of this nation cannot afford to remain on the same course that Republicans have, yet again, chosen. Their divisive political games and outright lies on the campaign trail to nowhere have caused nearly as much harm to America as their disastrous policies have. America needs real change.

Real change will come from electing Jim Himes.

Himes? Shays? There is a difference...

From Charles at the Himes for Congress Blog:

- Social Security privatization advocate Newt Gingrich holds a fundraiser for Social Security privatization advocate Chris Shays in Greenwich:

"You know that almost 100 people showed up at 7:30 a.m. on a cold Tuesday morning," said Michael Sohn, campaign manager for Shays. "I think that people are curious to hear what speaker Gingrich is saying. He's one of the most intellectual people in politics."

- The New Haven Register was at a press conference with Rosa DeLauro and Jim Himes in Shelton, on the importance of protecting Social Security:The two Democrats spoke about the faltering economy and the financial difficulties retirees face every day.

Himes said there is "a general need to preserve and strengthen the economy and preserve the security of our senior citizens."

Himes, a former executive at Goldman Sachs & Co., said he understands the need for senior citizens to save and invest prudently in the stock market.

However, he supports the "basic promise" made to retirees that because of Social Security benefits, they will not face poverty in their golden years.

- The Politico thinks Shays might be ousted this year...snip...

With differences like these between the candidates, is there any wonder why Shays will likely be sent packing?

And as far as Gingrich being an intellectual, that is certainly debatable as he has shown some cunning in driving wedges into the political and voting sphere - you have to consider that Gingrich was in the avant guard of framing every argument for politics sake, and still worries about it today - BUT the mere fact that both he and Shays advocated for privatizing Social Security shows that neither of them have a lick of common sense.

And the fact that Gingrich is still, to this day, more worried about dishonest framing of his arguments for partisan political gain than he is about solving America's many problems - problems that he and his voodoo-trickle-down-ownership-society Republican ideology created - shows that he has learned nothing from the partisan bickering and economic failure in the last eight years. Neither has Shays if he aligns himself with this kind of gutter level political hack.

Will Wachovia's Flood of Money End Up Financing Shays?

Teetering on the edge of failure, Wachovia manages to scrape up 8 million bucks to give to the RNCC:

Wachovia Corp., a once-thriving financial giant now teetering on the brink of collapse, confirmed today that it was extending an $8 million loan to the cash-strapped National Republican Congressional Committee for last-minute activites to support GOP House candidates.

Wachovia's decision to lend money to the NRCC -- itself reeling from a damaging financial scandal earlier this year -- is sure to draw charges of favoritism, as Wachovia denies credit and freezes assets for thousands of other customers.

Allegations of favoritism are especially delicate for Wachovia, given the company's disproportionate support of Republican campaigns and organizations.

Should be interesting to watch which campaigns the RNCC dumps money into over the next little while...

Considering how the Republicans are about to get the beating of their political lives in November, and putting aside the ethics and morality of Wall Street and the GOP, would you consider this to be a good investment by Wachovia? And people wonder how the economy could have tanked so badly with all of that conservative deregulation stuff coupled with the GOP/'lobbyists revolving door on K Street in an incestuous marriage of money and Republican politics.

McCain Playing Hide The VP Candidate

John McCain's poorly devised campaign plan to keep Sarah Palin hidden from the press and out of the debates revealed:

John McCain, his stepping stone wife
and Chris Shays with their pet neocon and
foreign policy poodle Joe Lieberman

try to hide the new Palin crap here...

Go here and get a mixed bag of the best the Blogosphere has to offer as the real news breaks.

Himes Tied with Shays

Yanked in its entirety from MissLaura at dKos:

How do things look for the last House Republican in New England? Not so good. This may be why he's been leading his ads with an image of Obama -- even as his statement just a couple weeks ago that "the fundamentals of our economy are strong" show that he really stands with McCain and the Republicans on the issues.

And as the collapsing financial markets show just how badly out of touch Shays' statement was, an internal poll from his challenger, Orange to Blue candidate Jim Himes show just how endangered Shays is.

The Feldman Group for Himes for Congress, 9/17-18, 500 sample (don't know MoE, sorry)

• Shays 45
• Himes 45
  (Via email)

A tied race at this point bodes well for the challenger, especially with a strong Democratic presidential lead -- the same poll shows Obama leading McCain in the district, 56% to 33%. Himes still faces significant challenges, given the difficulty of advertising in a New York City media market, which is why every dollar counts.

But it's looking good for cleaning House in New England.

On the web:

Jim Himes for Congress

Orange to Blue ActBlue Page

With Obama likely to pull in a lot of extra votes for Democratic party politicians everywhere... Things are looking good for the Himes campaign.

[update] Via Scarce at MLN:

The Himes campaign have released results for CT-04 by Democratic pollster The Feldman Group.

The campaign's tracking poll, fielded September 17th and 18th, shows that Democratic challenger Jim Himes has pulled even with Republican Congressman Christopher Shays. Each candidate has 45 percent support. Additionally, their support is equally strong with 27 percent certain to support Himes and 28 percent certain to support Shays. An even contest six weeks before Election Day means that the contest now favors Himes.

Our last poll, shortly before the Democratic convention in August, showed Shays in the lead. In the interim, however, Democrats have moved decisively toward Himes to give him a 69 percent to 23 percent lead among registered Democrats. Additionally, independents, who remain a plurality in this district, now break almost evenly between the candidates, with 45 percent for Shays and 43 percent for Himes.

In a district notoriously difficult to communicate in due to the dominance of the New York City media market, familiarity with Himes has continued to climb. Now, 60 percent of voters say they are familiar with Himes, compared to 49 percent in August. Meanwhile, 36 percent of voters feel Chris Shays deserves re-election, while 46 percent believe someone else deserves a chance. Only 43 percent of voters believe he is doing a good job in Congress and only a third reject the description that he is too close to unpopular President George W. Bush while 44 percent believe that is at least partly true.

Poll pdf

Eisenhower Dumps the GOP

Via idredit at the Booman Tribune:

Susan Eisenhower has given up on the GOP. In an essay posted at The National Interest she has aired her disgust with the GOP's direction and the McCain campaign on foreign and domestic issues ..... the "party has lost its way."

...snip...

- "The GOP [is] a political organization that has already consumed nearly all of its moderate "seed corn."

- "..as the party threatens to trivialize what promised to be a serious debate on our future direction, it will alienate many young people who might have come into party ranks.

- .."the McCain camp appears to be comfortable with running an unworthy Karl Rove-style political campaign. Will the McCain operation, and its sponsors, do anything to win?"

Is there any doubt why dishonest GOP warmongers like Chris Shays are grasping at the coattails of Barack Obama?

Chris Shays: I desperately approve of this message!

"Even though I voted for everything that is ruining this country right now, I am the candidate of hope AND straight talk... After 20 years in the House, vote for me for real change! I am candidate Chris Shays and I desperately approve of this message!"

Are you buying this? Scarce has the video up at MLN and isn't buying a word of it:

Christopher Shays is Wrong For America

Shays, co-chair of McCain campaign, claims "straight talk" in new ad but neglects to mention his support of Bush-McCain policies and 90% partisan GOP voting record on close House votes.

And Shays is not the only faux moderate in congress to use Obama's image in his ads in a brazen atempt to manipulate. Gordon Smith is also using it in Oregon, believing the voters are that gullible. I've included one such ad below.

Greg Sargent over at TPM gives his take on "Both Ways" Shays new ad:

Another fun thing about this ad is that Shays actually associates himself with both Obama and McCain, saying that he possesses "the hopefulness of Obama" and "the straight talk of McCain." Talk about fence sitting...

Brad Haynes over at the Wall Street Journal writes:

Another Republican incumbent running to keep his seat in Congress is linking himself to both Barack Obama and John McCain in a television ad.

While Politico.com writes:

Shays=Obama+McCain?

The last Republican congressman in New England, Chris Shays, has an unusual ad up that opens with an image of the Democratic nominee.

Shays, it says, combines the "hopefulness" of Obama and the "straight talk" of McCain.

Chris Shays is about to get slapped around by Jim Himes and Barack Obama the same way Jeff Merkely and Barack Obama slapped around Gordon Smith when he tried to tie himself to the Obama campaign.

You can run, Chris Shays... But you can't hide:

What was America talking about yesterday?

DemFromCT provides a pundit roundup:

Special Edition of John McCain and his seven eight houses. Do not swim with sharks while you cut your own jugular. See what happens when you do:

White House Contenders Trade Economic Attacks After McCain Home Gaffe (ABC)

McCain said that he wasn't sure of how many houses he and his wife, Cindy, own

Obama doesn't let up on McCain's homes (MSNBC)

In nearly every speech in recent days, he has argued that McCain doesn’t get what ordinary American are facing, reminding people of McCain advisor Phil Gramm’s comment about America being a "nation of whiners" and about McCain’s Saddleback quip defining rich as an income of $5 million.

Obama pounces as McCain unsure of how many homes he owns (CNN)

Sen. Barack Obama's campaign pounded Sen. John McCain for his failure to answer a question about how many homes he owns

McCain Homes Flap Is No Joke (CBS)

Barack Obama was handed a gift-wrapped package from John McCain on Thursday.

Obama raps McCain for ignorance of his own houses (IHT)

Hours after a report that the Republican presidential nominee-in-waiting didn't know how many homes he and his multimillionaire wife own, ...

The Danger of McCain's 'Seven Houses' Slip (Newsweek)

Asked yesterday in an interview with the Politico how many houses he owns with his wife Cindy, a beer heiress, John McCain was, well, not quite sure.

Does McCain have a Kerry problem? (KC Star)

Democrats Thursday ridiculed Republican John McCain for saying he couldn't recall how many homes he and his wealthy wife own

McCain not sure how many houses he owns (LA Times)

File this under "Problems most of us will never have" --

Obama Jumps on McCain House Comment (WaPo)

As part of an increasingly aggressive effort to redefine his opponent, Sen. Barack Obama on Thursday morning seized on ...

It's true; McCain has seven homes in five cities and three states (Chicago Sun-Times)

In an interview with Adam Nagourney of the New York Times, Obama strategist David Axelrod suggested McCain's campaign can't succeed by portraying Obama as out-of-touch because it reeks of hypocrisy.

Ouch. If this were a prize fight, the ref would call it. But it's politics, so he'll just keep bleeding.

I was well out ahead of the curve on this one...

McCain's Mansions: The Houses that Greed Built

From Robert Greenwald's BraveNewFilms:

Most working families today do not have homes that have anywhere near 10 rooms. John McCain has 10 houses. Many working people in America have to work two and three jobs to provide for their families and pay their car loans. John McCain hops on a private jet. Is it any wonder why McCain champions a George Bush agenda of cutting taxes for corporations and the wealthy, helping oil companies turn record profits, and leaving working families to fend for themselves? McCain's velvet world leaves him utterly unprepared to make the tough choices we need to restore the middle class and ensure that everyone in America has quality, affordable health insurance.

-Andy Stern, President, Service Employees International Union (SEIU)

John McCain is soaring to new heights of hypocrisy on his wife's personal jet. He flies around the country bent on duping the public into believing he's "one of them," a regular guy who can empathize with Americans facing an overwhelming economic crush. What's more, he disparages those who oppose his ridiculous policy proposals as "elitist." But who's the real elitist?

The REAL McCain is a multimillionaire who owns ten luxurious homes. The REAL McCain backs President Bush's tax cuts for big corporations. The REAL McCain empathizes only with the interests of our nation's wealthy minority, not its money-strapped majority. But far too many are buying into McCain's deceit because the corporate press won't present the whole picture, so we created this video to educate the public about the REAL McCain.

Together, you have been a force in making sure The REAL McCain videos have been seen by nearly 6.5 million people. But as Frank Rich noted in his NY Times column yesterday, 40% of Americans hear too little about McCain from the mainstream media, meaning "the public doesn't know who on earth John McCain is." That's why it's crucial you ensure this video is seen by as many as possible, and that we use each and every tool at our disposal to get the word out. Send this on to five friends and family members, and tell them to send it to five people they know. Get it to your local news outlets and blogs and networking sites like Digg. Raise hell about McCain's economic duplicity!

AFL-CIO President John Sweeney summed it up best when he said McCain "simply doesn't understand the challenges America's working families are facing because he isn't remotely affected by them." It's up to us to tell people who McCain really is, a personal jet-setting elitist more concerned with corporate lobbyists than hard-working Americans.

This video is also available onYouTube.

Let's just say that I know how this feels. Brewed here on my own Blog in May, 2008:

On the Sub-Prime Crisis

Many of you already knew that we were probably losing our home in the first wave of foreclosures hitting this state and the country. I have been sort of busy the last couple of weeks with this issue and (some of) you may have noticed that my Blog has been dormant because I have been so busy.

The bad news? We have given up trying to save our home.

The good news? Unlike the many American families that are, right now, living in tent cities (from the morgtage crisis, floods and also from hurricane Katrina) we have been fortunate enough to find a house to rent. And we will not have to move from New Milford, either. The kids are happy about that second part. They have made friends and like living here.

Finding a place to live has not been easy. Being in the first wave of foreclosures, many landlords refused to rent to us. This issue will likely resolve itself for others later on as more and more people with foreclosures and bankruptcies on their credit reports will flood the renters market. For now it is still an issue. An issue we that we kind of lucked our way around.

Lemons Meet Lemonade

The house we are renting? It is a little bit smaller than the home we loved but it does have some serious plusses that make this a better place for us. First, it has a nice little wood stove in the living room to curl up in front of on those chilly New England nights. It will also save us money on oil. Second, it has a nice, big and sunny room that I plan on turning into my media room that will look right out over the back yard. Third, it is not on a main street so the kids and the dog will be a little safer playing outside. Fourth, we will be saving hundreds compared to what our original mortgage payment started at, never mind how much our ARM was by the time it doubled.

As for the luck part? Well, we are renting the house from someone that was on the verge of losing it all, as well. She pretty much knows our situtation and, because of her own situtation, was a little more forgiving on our credit check. The lady who owns the house is where we were in the foreclosure process about 9 months ago. She did not have "ARM" or sub-prime issues, but employment/relocation issues. As the real estate agent that helped us find a place said, this is a win/win situation for everyone here. She won't be crushed financially like we were and we will have a roof over our heads.

I'll have more to write on this later but, for now, don't be surpised if my Blogging particiaption is a little bit irregular.

I have written plenty on Countrywide, the mortgage crisis and a myriad of other political and social issues since then. This problem is growing exponentially under the Bush administration's incompetent economic policies. The same failed economic madness that politicians like John McCain and Chris Shays want to continue follow.

[update] The NY Times Caucus Blog:

Labor, Film Co. Paint McCain as the ‘Real Elitist’

The A.F.L.-C.I.O. and the Service Employees International Union have feuded plenty in recent years, but they have banded together to help distribute and publicize a new online video that characterizes Senator John McCain as elitist and out of touch.

The four-minute video, produced by Robert Greenwald of Brave New Films, is called “McCain’s Mansions: the Real Elitist” and showcases various McCain homes and condominiums in Arizona, California and Virginia, with one valued at $4.66 million.

Get back to me later on today to see what the media will be talking about tomorrow... If you want a good idea of what the pundits will be talking about today just look in my archives for the past week or so. lol jk

McCain's Mansions: The Houses that Greed Built

From Robert Greenwald's BraveNewFilms:

Most working families today do not have homes that have anywhere near 10 rooms. John McCain has 10 houses. Many working people in America have to work two and three jobs to provide for their families and pay their car loans. John McCain hops on a private jet. Is it any wonder why McCain champions a George Bush agenda of cutting taxes for corporations and the wealthy, helping oil companies turn record profits, and leaving working families to fend for themselves? McCain's velvet world leaves him utterly unprepared to make the tough choices we need to restore the middle class and ensure that everyone in America has quality, affordable health insurance.

-Andy Stern, President, Service Employees International Union (SEIU)

John McCain is soaring to new heights of hypocrisy on his wife's personal jet. He flies around the country bent on duping the public into believing he's "one of them," a regular guy who can empathize with Americans facing an overwhelming economic crush. What's more, he disparages those who oppose his ridiculous policy proposals as "elitist." But who's the real elitist?

The REAL McCain is a multimillionaire who owns ten luxurious homes. The REAL McCain backs President Bush's tax cuts for big corporations. The REAL McCain empathizes only with the interests of our nation's wealthy minority, not its money-strapped majority. But far too many are buying into McCain's deceit because the corporate press won't present the whole picture, so we created this video to educate the public about the REAL McCain.

Together, you have been a force in making sure The REAL McCain videos have been seen by nearly 6.5 million people. But as Frank Rich noted in his NY Times column yesterday, 40% of Americans hear too little about McCain from the mainstream media, meaning "the public doesn't know who on earth John McCain is." That's why it's crucial you ensure this video is seen by as many as possible, and that we use each and every tool at our disposal to get the word out. Send this on to five friends and family members, and tell them to send it to five people they know. Get it to your local news outlets and blogs and networking sites like Digg. Raise hell about McCain's economic duplicity!

AFL-CIO President John Sweeney summed it up best when he said McCain "simply doesn't understand the challenges America's working families are facing because he isn't remotely affected by them." It's up to us to tell people who McCain really is, a personal jet-setting elitist more concerned with corporate lobbyists than hard-working Americans.

This video is also available onYouTube.

Let's just say that I know how this feels. Brewed here on my own Blog in May, 2008:

On the Sub-Prime Crisis

Many of you already knew that we were probably losing our home in the first wave of foreclosures hitting this state and the country. I have been sort of busy the last couple of weeks with this issue and (some of) you may have noticed that my Blog has been dormant because I have been so busy.

The bad news? We have given up trying to save our home.

The good news? Unlike the many American families that are, right now, living in tent cities (from the morgtage crisis, floods and also from hurricane Katrina) we have been fortunate enough to find a house to rent. And we will not have to move from New Milford, either. The kids are happy about that second part. They have made friends and like living here.

Finding a place to live has not been easy. Being in the first wave of foreclosures, many landlords refused to rent to us. This issue will likely resolve itself for others later on as more and more people with foreclosures and bankruptcies on their credit reports will flood the renters market. For now it is still an issue. An issue we that we kind of lucked our way around.

Lemons Meet Lemonade

The house we are renting? It is a little bit smaller than the home we loved but it does have some serious plusses that make this a better place for us. First, it has a nice little wood stove in the living room to curl up in front of on those chilly New England nights. It will also save us money on oil. Second, it has a nice, big and sunny room that I plan on turning into my media room that will look right out over the back yard. Third, it is not on a main street so the kids and the dog will be a little safer playing outside. Fourth, we will be saving hundreds compared to what our original mortgage payment started at, never mind how much our ARM was by the time it doubled.

As for the luck part? Well, we are renting the house from someone that was on the verge of losing it all, as well. She pretty much knows our situtation and, because of her own situtation, was a little more forgiving on our credit check. The lady who owns the house is where we were in the foreclosure process about 9 months ago. She did not have "ARM" or sub-prime issues, but employment/relocation issues. As the real estate agent that helped us find a place said, this is a win/win situation for everyone here. She won't be crushed financially like we were and we will have a roof over our heads.

I'll have more to write on this later but, for now, don't be surpised if my Blogging particiaption is a little bit irregular.

I have written plenty on Countrywide, the mortgage crisis and a myriad of other political and social issues since then. This problem is growing exponentially under the Bush administration's incompetent economic policies. The same failed economic madness that politicians like John McCain and Chris Shays want to continue follow.

[update] The NY Times Caucus Blog:

Labor, Film Co. Paint McCain as the ‘Real Elitist’

The A.F.L.-C.I.O. and the Service Employees International Union have feuded plenty in recent years, but they have banded together to help distribute and publicize a new online video that characterizes Senator John McCain as elitist and out of touch.

The four-minute video, produced by Robert Greenwald of Brave New Films, is called “McCain’s Mansions: the Real Elitist” and showcases various McCain homes and condominiums in Arizona, California and Virginia, with one valued at $4.66 million.

Obama and McCain - On the Economy

(h/t Crooks and Liars)

Nothing to add to this Barack Obama campaign ad showing the differences between Barack Obama and John McCain since it is factual and relatively straight forward and to the point:




Nothing to add, except for the fact that many of McCain's huge mistakes are the same ones that Chris Shays has made over and over again...

BTW, if you're the type who skips YouTube clips most of the time, don't this time.
("Psst" this at Brave New Films.)

As New Hampshire Republicans - unsatisfied with their terribly flawed candidates - start to glumly trickle into their voting booths today, a few may recall having seen Connecticut Congressman Chris Shays barnstorming around their state for the past week in support of John McCain.

This sight must have been particularly jarring: the former member of the Peace Corps, proudly displaying a reminder of that episode of his past life, while fighting for a candidate who wants a permanent American troop presence of Iraq:

Up in the McCain headquarters on the third floor of an old mill building, Connecticut's 4th District Rep. Chris Shays is sitting among the troops in a suit and Peace Corps cap, making the same get-out-the-vote telephone calls as everybody else. McCain has been using the Republican congressman as a surrogate at the smaller events he can't reach. Shays takes on the role a bit in headquarters at the lunch break...

Shays tells the workers their candidate is a reformer who can't be intimidated. He's got two things going for him, Shays says. "One is his character. The other is what we all hunger for in this country: straight talk."

Yes, that's right. "Straight talk."

Like this:

Where's the "straight talk" from Shays on Iraq, and his support for a Presidential candidate who would keep us there forever?

It's nowhere to be found :

"He has more positions on Iraq than Mitt Romney has on abortion," says Soltz, a veteran of the Iraq and Kosovo wars. "You never know where he sits on Iraq. He can tell you what he wants, but he is lined up with George Bush on this war."

"He likes to brag about how many times he's been to Iraq," Soltz adds, "but he's never served, and he doesn't really know how the military works...."

Fighting for endless occupation of Iraq... while wearing a Peace Corps cap. That pretty much says it all:

(Ilustration by Danny Hellman for Fairfield County Weekly.)

(Disclosure: Tparty, the author of that, proudly consults for Jim Himes.)

Do you support Bush as much as McCain does?

Just some food for thought:

"When the American public disapproves of Bush's Presidency more and more each day, why does McCain continue to increase his support of such increasingly unpopular policies and positions?"

Do you really want to be electing a president that will continue down the same failed path Bush has laid out? Do you really support the incompetent neocon fantasies that both Bush and McCain have consistently supported and embraced?

[update] Shays' continued support for most of the Bush administration's failed ideas is just as bad as McCain's ridiculous positions:

As their interviews in the above piece show, the differences between the two candidates on the economy could not be clearer. While Jim will protect Social Security and has proposed real middle-class tax relief, Congressman Shays continues to both proudly support privatizing Social Security and defends the failed Bush economic policies of the last eight years.

They also have a Crazy Shaysie video up there that is worth a peek... We simply cannot afford Chris Shays unfairly increasing the middle class' taxburden anymore. And I sure as heck don't want him messing up my retirement with another of the GOP's failed privatizing government schemes that amount to nothing more than corporate welfare for GOP donors and supporters.

Chris Shays: Running Up YOUR Tax Burden

Anderson Scooper at 4th street news has an interesting post up on Chris Shays politcal courage in standing up for tax cuts for the rich and against helping the middle class:

"Shays' stated views on which taxes should be lowered: slightly decrease corporate income taxes, slightly decrease the capital gains tax, (meaning even further), and greatly decrease the inheritance tax, which I take to mean doing away with it altogether.

As a side note, it's interesting that Shays wants to increase spending across the board, except for agricultural spending and a national missile defense.

Combining the two, does that make Chris Shays a borrow and spend Republican? It sure seems to!"

Is there any other kind of republican these days? As for Jim Himes position on this? He put out his Middle Class Tax Relief plan on July 22nd:

Today in Stamford, Jim Himes announced a plan for middle-class tax relief plan that will help middle-class families in three important ways: by expanding college tuition tax credits to make college affordable again, by creating a new tax credit for first-time homebuyers to make it easier for families to buy their first home, and by expanding the saver's credit to help middle‐class families build wealth for the future. The plan would restore opportunity and the American Dream for middle-class families by helping them afford college, buy their first home, and save for the future.

Read the full plan here: (pdf)

McCain's Connecticut Calamity

John McCain's Campaign has, thus far, been wobbly at best. But now he has even more campaign problems, as per BooMan:

I hadn't thought about the problem McCain will have trying to create a GOP platform. Good luck with that one.

The current GOP platform is a 100-page document, and all but nine pages mention Bush's name. Virtually the entire platform will have to be rewritten to lessen the imprint of the president, who has the highest disapproval rating of any White House occupant since Richard M. Nixon.

It is the prospect of a total rewrite that worries some.

McCain is "really out of step with the strong majority of his party," said Myron Ebell, director of energy and global warming policy at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, which opposes McCain's positions on climate change. "He might get what he wants. And he might get a change. But I don't think it's going to sit well with a lot of Republicans."

Climate change is the least of McCain's problems. How about immigration? How about campaign finance reform?

McCain's campaign has been self-undermining to this point - effectively tied to bush policy failures by not only the opposition but by his own incompetent self - and he only has five months left to turn around numbers like this:

Rasmussen filed a poll the other day that has Obama 52, McCain 35 in Connecticut,
sharply reversing their previous poll a month ago which supposedly
(*cough* BS) had it a close race, Obama 47 McCain 43. This makes the
third poll which has Obama up by between 17 and 22 points, effectively
putting Connecticut out of play, if it ever was in play.

Obama is viewed favorably by 62%/37, McCain 54%/43.

Research 2000: Obama 57 McBush 35 (7/03/08)

Quinnipiac: Obama 56, McSame 35 (7/02/08)

Good luck on that one, too.

I suspect that the current hostilities towards the GOP by voters in this state coupled with the likely down-ticket effects of the Obama campaign had Chris Shays worried and Jim Himes celebrating a bit this weekend when these numbers were released.

What Will Lunatic Shays Say About This?

Given his knowledgeable background in sports, as evideneced by his statements at the baseball/steroid hearings, I am looking forward to hearing Chris Shays comments on this blockbuster basketball news:

NBA referees rigged a 2002 playoff series to force it to a revenue-boosting seven games. That's what a former referee at the center of a gambling scandal is alleging. Without identifying anyone or naming teams, disgraced referee Tim Donaghy (DAHN'-uh-gee) also claims the NBA routinely encouraged refs to ring up bogus fouls to manipulate results but calls against star players. Speaking before the start of the NBA finals Game 3 featuring the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics, NBA commissioner David Stern calls the allegations baseless

Will we get to hear him be outraged about this serious sports issue instead of the minor issue of people dying in Iraq?

Previously brewed in New Milford:

The Twisted Republican Perspective

Nearly 4,000 dead American soldiers and over 29,000 wounded

U.S. Casualties By Calendar Year

Year	US Deaths	US Wounded
2003	486	2,416
2004	849	8,002
2005	846	5,947
2006	822	6,400
2007	901	6,084
2008	56	231
Total	3960	29080

And the senile old fart, Republican John McCain, thinks debating his age will distract us?

McCain campaign manager Rick Davis today sent an unmistakable message to Barack Obama over the Illinois Democrat's effort to stoke the obvious age contrast between himself and the 71-year-old McCain: Bring it on.

Hundreds of thousands of dead Iraqis...

We maintain a daily count based on news reports. It is not intended to be complete. There is no agency that keeps track of accurate numbers of Iraqis killed. JustForeignPolicy maintains a running estimate based on the Lancet study with the rate of increase derived from the Iraq Body Count.

And Republican Senator Arlen Specter is intent on hunting down football tapes?

"There was confirmation that there has been taping since 2000, when Coach Belichick took over," Specter said.

Specter said Goodell gave him that information during the 1-hour, 40-minute meeting, which was requested by Specter so the commissioner could explain his reasons for destroying the Spygate tapes and notes.

On the home front, the country is getting flushed down the toilet by failed conservative policies run amok:

The U.S. economy is faltering. Family debt is on the rise, benefits are disappearing, the deficit is skyrocketing, and the mortgage crisis has worsened. Conservatives have attempted to deflect attention from the crisis, by blaming the media’s negative coverage and insisting the United States is not headed toward a recession, despite what economists are predicting.

And Republican Rep. Chris Shays is in a steroid induced stupor:

Once again, Chris Shays embarrasses the state of Connecticut with one of the most embarrassing tirades to date. Our congressman from the fourth district took grandstanding to a whole new level with his browbeating of Roger Clemens trainer Brian McNamee during today's House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing on steroids in baseball.

After hearing Shays refer to McNamee as a "drug dealer" and spewing out what can only be described as complete nonsense, WFAN's sports radio personality (and former Shays supporter) Chris "Mad Dog" Russo saw the light.

Living up to his famous nickname, Russo took Shays to the woodshed and became Jim Himes' biggest supporter...all in the classic Mad Dog fashion that's made Russo famous.

It is obvious that the only campaign platform these spineless GOP candidates have to run on this election cycle is to avoid and deflect from every issue that is really important to this nation. These Republican children need to grow up and take responsibility for the failures they have created. There is no doubt about this fact:

The GOP has lost all perspective of reality.

And anyone would have to be a fool to vote for any of them...

[update] Changed video to add extended version of ctblogger's uploaded video. Original video is here... And normally I wouldn't ask this BUT... Help Connecticut Bob shut up:

"Shays struck out swinging with his ridiculous tirade. His wild pitch embarrassed everyone in the 4th District. Help Jim Himes hit a grand slam by contributing to Jim's ActBlue fund.

If you do, I promise I'll stop with the stupid baseball references."

JK Bob :)

The Extreme Ignorance Of Chris Shays

Via Connecticut Bob:

Yesterday Rep. Chris Shays admitted he never read the document that the Bush administration used to justify the invasion of Iraq. Over five years later, Mr. Shays still hasn't gotten around to it.

Let the congressman tell you in his own words in this brief video...

Probably the most important vote he has ever had to make in his political career and he couldn't bother to read the actual reports on the situation? 5 years later and he still hasn't managed to read the report?

ctblogger at MLN had an update to add to this:

Make sure to share this with your local print and broadcast media outlets. That Shays failed to read the intelligence before leaping into the Iraq war – even though he insisted at the time that he had to vote against his constituents because, in his words, "I know too much about this threat" – is genuinely newsworthy.

Comparing Joe neocon Lieberman To A Dog?

Jeff Huber, at ePM, may want to be careful because the SPCA could come after him for animal abuse with a comparison like this:

It must be a kick in the head to base your claim to the presidency on your savvy in foreign affairs only to have it get out that Joe Lieberman knows more about them than you do. I bet it’s a lot like how I feel when my dog corrects my grammar in front of people.

John McCain, his stepping stone wife
and Chris Shays with their pet neocon and
foreign policy poodle Joe Lieberman

Chris Shays Killer's Eyes

Via tparty (who works for Jim Himes) at My Left Nutmeg:

It sounds like Ted Mann asked the wrong question:

"The Iraqis," said Shays, before briefly threatening to end the interview on the subject, "are starting to like us, and that's a fact."

The congressman grew animated when asked if that was not an anecdotal judgment, explaining that he had gauged the opinion of Iraqis by going "outside the umbrella of the military" on his frequent visits to the country.

It is a bit of a sore spot, I suppose. In 2008, on the five year anniversary of the invasion, Shays says he regrets his vote on the IWR because we didn't find any WMD in Iraq:

"Knowing what I know now, I would not have voted (for it), on two accounts," said Shays, of the 4th District in Fairfield County, in a phone interview. "One, there weren't weapons of mass destruction. But the second count is if I had known how poorly we would fight the war the first three and a half years. So, you know we made horrendous mistakes."

Yet way back in 2006, when the war was a mere three and a half years old, Shays said we should have gone into Iraq "sooner" and "not for WMD"

MLN has the video of Shays being crazy, as per usual.

Chris Shays is no different than bush or McCain. They are all bloodthirsty warmongers in the GOP.

Add brought to you by Republicans For Fear!

"Republicans for Fear!" are also known as your local and national GOP candidates and politicians - like Chris Shays, Joe Lieberman and John McCain - that have lost their frickin' minds:



Please feel free to crap your pants in fear as the GOP tries to scare you into giving up what little freedom you have left in order to protect the bush legacy of illegally spying on Americans from being fully investigated.

Or you could be more logical and patriotic by impeaching bush to protect The Constitution and The Bill of Rights.

It all depends on whether you put bush, the GOP and partisan politics above The Constitution, OR if you put country over partisan politics.

Take your pick and make your stand so we know who and what you are...

The Twisted Republican Perspective

Nearly 4,000 dead American soldiers and over 29,000 wounded

U.S. Casualties By Calendar Year

Year	US Deaths	US Wounded
2003	486	2,416
2004	849	8,002
2005	846	5,947
2006	822	6,400
2007	901	6,084
2008	56	231
Total	3960	29080

And the senile old fart, Republican John McCain, thinks debating his age will distract us?

McCain campaign manager Rick Davis today sent an unmistakable message to Barack Obama over the Illinois Democrat's effort to stoke the obvious age contrast between himself and the 71-year-old McCain: Bring it on.

Hundreds of thousands of dead Iraqis...

We maintain a daily count based on news reports. It is not intended to be complete. There is no agency that keeps track of accurate numbers of Iraqis killed. JustForeignPolicy maintains a running estimate based on the Lancet study with the rate of increase derived from the Iraq Body Count.

And Republican Senator Arlen Specter is intent on hunting down football tapes?

"There was confirmation that there has been taping since 2000, when Coach Belichick took over," Specter said.

Specter said Goodell gave him that information during the 1-hour, 40-minute meeting, which was requested by Specter so the commissioner could explain his reasons for destroying the Spygate tapes and notes.

On the home front, the country is getting flushed down the toilet by failed conservative policies run amok:

The U.S. economy is faltering. Family debt is on the rise, benefits are disappearing, the deficit is skyrocketing, and the mortgage crisis has worsened. Conservatives have attempted to deflect attention from the crisis, by blaming the media’s negative coverage and insisting the United States is not headed toward a recession, despite what economists are predicting.

And Republican Rep. Chris Shays is in a steroid induced stupor:

Once again, Chris Shays embarrasses the state of Connecticut with one of the most embarrassing tirades to date. Our congressman from the fourth district took grandstanding to a whole new level with his browbeating of Roger Clemens trainer Brian McNamee during today's House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing on steroids in baseball.

After hearing Shays refer to McNamee as a "drug dealer" and spewing out what can only be described as complete nonsense, WFAN's sports radio personality (and former Shays supporter) Chris "Mad Dog" Russo saw the light.

Living up to his famous nickname, Russo took Shays to the woodshed and became Jim Himes' biggest supporter...all in the classic Mad Dog fashion that's made Russo famous.

It is obvious that the only campaign platform these spineless GOP candidates have to run on this election cycle is to avoid and deflect from every issue that is really important to this nation. These Republican children need to grow up and take responsibility for the failures they have created. There is no doubt about this fact:

The GOP has lost all perspective of reality.

And anyone would have to be a fool to vote for any of them...

[update] Changed video to add extended version of ctblogger's uploaded video. Original video is here... And normally I wouldn't ask this BUT... Help Connecticut Bob shut up:

"Shays struck out swinging with his ridiculous tirade. His wild pitch embarrassed everyone in the 4th District. Help Jim Himes hit a grand slam by contributing to Jim's ActBlue fund.

If you do, I promise I'll stop with the stupid baseball references."

JK Bob :)