McCain lost his pants!

So, today we have McCain "needing" to know the "full extent of" Obama's relationship with William Ayers. Though the full extent of that relationship has been explained repeatedly, the Republican party is feeling a bit desperate and is falling back on their old tactic: fear-mongering. You know - the idea that they are the only ones adequate to protect this country against radicals from the 60's. A specific radical who has served on a couple of non-profit boards (BTW - those generally are *not* the kind of place where terrorism plans are created.) and happens to live in the same neighborhood as Obama. Or, let me put it this way: I know a few jackasses, a couple of whom live in my neighborhood. Does that make me a jackass too?

However, I don't hear a single outcry from McCain and his cronies about Palin's dealings. Let's see...she is in the middle of an investigation regarding inappropriate use (abuse) of power. In this investigation ("Troopergate"), she promised to cooperate fully with the bi-partisan committee (Yep. You read that right. This was no democratic crap-shoot. This came from both parties, fully committed to examining Palin's potential abuse of the Governor's Office.). Up until she was tapped for the VP nomination, that is. Suddenly, the investigation is too political? Politically motivated? Please. This investigation was ongoing long before McCain even thought of Palin as a partner. Now, state employees are afraid to testify, she's denying everything, and using McCain's lawyers to fight it all. What happened to full cooperation? Oh, wait. Those running for the White House are no longer required to follow the same rules as us regular mortals. They are now above the law - including refusing subpeonas. Talk about jackasses.


Then there's the newest issue. Palin is getting ready to become involved in another investigation as to whether her claim for $17,000 in per diem is legitimate, and whether or not she should have paid taxes on that money. See, Palin claimed that while she was home in Wasilla (her workplace is considered Juneau), she should get per diem since "a governor is on call around the clock". Which might technically be true...However, the state will, when requested, consider changing the work area when so much time is spent in another place. Palin never requested this. Instead, she just took the Alaskan taxpayers for $17,000 in "free" money. Could this be yet another reason her tax records were released early? On a day when most people are not paying attention to the news? "Middle-Class Soccer Mom" with an income of $170,000 also claims another $17,000 in per diem as non-income, which the taxpayers of her state are now responsible for. Hm. I'd have issues with that. Can you imagine the fun she would have in the White House? Lord, they'd have to fasten the furnishings down, and keep the vaults under guard when she was around! Her Secret Service name could be "Sticky Fingers"...

Then you have McCain. The big corporations must love that man. When McCain passed around his version of the homeowner bailout, it specifically said that the government would be allowed to buy these bad mortgages at discounted rates (Housing version of Costco?). This would show the declining value, and allow the homeowners to keep their homes. Sounded great - he even included a line that said, "Lenders in these cases must recognize the loss that they’ve already suffered.” (Can you see the glow from his halo?). Here's the problem. When McCain actually submitted his proposal, he took out the part about helping the homeowners. So now, his proposal suggests that the government will buy the mortgages at *face value* rather than the discounted price. If the housing market does not recover, then the homeowners stand to lose even more than if things were just left alone (Oops. So much for that halo.). Even many *conservatives* were upset by this glaring omission (that seems less like an accident than an attempt to deceive). Chalk one up for the idiotic banks that got us into this mess in the first place, and screw you to the homeowners who face losing everything.

So, we have a man who professes to live for this country and the people in it. Who says he's gonna be the man we all want. Who claims to be a "maverick". A man who is once again helping the corporations and not the people. Who may be the cause of many more people losing their homes. A man who picked, as his VP running-mate, a woman who is being investigated for abuse of power. The same woman who is now under suspicion for what amounts to stealing from her own constituents.

And McCain is worrying/preaching fear about someone knowing someone who did something somewhere in the vicinity of 40 years ago? There's a verse in that Bible that Sarah Palin likes to thump: "And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?" (Book of Matthew).

In other words, McCain - When you've lost your pants, it's kind of a waste of energy to be laughing at someone who only has holes in his.