Where’s his flag pin?

McCain Chooses Palin as Running Mate [NYT]

• On a conference call with reporters just now, senior Obama foreign policy adviser Susan Rice argued that there is “a pattern here of recklessness” when it comes to McCain’s approach to various national security issues. (TPM, August 20)
• Rice says the Republican’s “tendency is to shoot first and to ask questions later,” saying he “cheerled Bush’s decision to take our eye off the ball and start a war in Iraq that had nothing to do with 9/11.” (Time, August 20)
• [Richard] Clarke compared McCain to “extreme neo-conservative” policy types because of his early support for the Iraq war and suggested he was “reckless” and “trigger happy.” (MSNBC, August 20)
• Democratic Congressman Adam Smith of Washington, sitting in the audience, rose to ask [former Navy Secretary Richard] Danzig for advice on how Democrats can deliver a tough foreign-policy message that will be credible to voters. When Danzig started to back euphemistically into the question, Smith — a proponent of tougher Obama campaign tactics generally — jumped back up. “Don’t be subtle!” he implored. “Just hit! Just say, ‘John McCain does not have an even temper, and how is that going to factor into national security?”
   
  At that, Danzig played ball.

  “I think John McCain is well-known for ‘losing it’ in a variety of circumstances,” he said — something which has potential policy implications. (TNR, August 26)

• “He has a huge anger problem,” [Barbara] Boxer said. “And he never hid that… I have seen it happen on the Senate floor many, many times… He has exploded at me a couple times.” (Politico, August 26)
• If John McCain wants to have a debate about who has the temperament, and judgment, to serve as the next commander in chief, that’s a debate I’m ready to have. (Barack Obama, Thursday night)

Senator Hothead [Washington Monthly, August 27]

The Geezer has a Dayton playdate with his new Vice Geezer on Friday, although there’s some buzz that he might try to steal some headlines by announcing today. If so, it could be Droopy, the Baby Killer, the Mormon, Governor Placenta, or even Kay Bailey Hutchison (nickname pending), but since we haven’t been paying any attention, we’ll wait for the “surprise”.

Why the quotes? Well, the Post reports that McCain “dropped from public view after a fundraiser Tuesday night in San Diego.” We won’t tell you the identity of the confused elderly gentleman we found wandering on Washington Street that night, but as he watched the convention on our couch, we heard him mutter “Fuck. Now I’ll have to go with that exorcist.”

McCain Is Said to Be Set to Unveil Running Mate Tomorrow [WaPo]

Cannot bear to watch. What is happening? (andy85719, 10:43 pm)

What does this color pantsuit mean? (roxy4hill2, 10:43 pm)

Notice how she is shaking her head “no” as she speaks…. (pumetta, 10:48 pm)

IT’S SOO GOOD TO SEE HER AND HEAR HER SPEAK, BUT I REALLY WANT TO READ BETWEEN THE LINES (Rancho, 10:48 pm)

very nasty look on michelle’s face. i hope somebody gets it on utube (jody in florida, 10:49 pm)

I may never vote for a Democrat again. (mpdamon, 10:57 pm)

why doesn’t she stand up for herself?? (Sunshinelvr, 10:58 pm)

Her heart’s not in it; it sounds canned, or should I say “obotamized”? (Leosroar, 11:00 pm)

Hillry just sold out america (TrishfromCanada, 11:01 pm)

Bill Kristol is talking and he said it was a generic speech so she didn’t sell us out.. (slyt2, 11:12 pm)

she did not give up!!!!!! She did not release her delegates!!! (FLgayGuy4Hill, 11:15 pm)

Delegates Mad as Hell: Scramble for Floor Vote [Puma Pac]

In an announcement that by sheer coincidence came the afternoon before Michelle Obama’s speech, John McCain told a waiting world that Cindy is traveling to Georgia.

No, not that Georgia. The other one. The Christian one. The other Christian one.

Wait: The Georgia with the pipelines. And Russian tanks. That one.

Cindy, whose humanitarian efforts are legendary among McCain staffers, will meet with Mikheil Saakashvili (thanks, copy & paste!), visit wounded Georgian soldiers, talk to representatives of the land-mine removal organization she works with, and not be criticized by the Fox News hosts who would rake Michelle Obama over the coals if she did anything similar.

Her aides swear the timing has nothing to do with the Democratic convention. Even if she does plan to return Wednesday night — checking off every item on her list in a whirlwind 36 hours.

Cindy McCain’s Mission to Georgia [Time]

Lieberman? Smokescreen.

Update: The nice lady in the video is Debra Bartoshevich, a pro-choice Democrat who also appeared Monday at a Republican-sponsored press conference — apparently unaware that her new candidate is a diehard opponent of Roe v. Wade. You go, girl!

The Blind Leading the Blind [Washington Monthly]

Did you know John McCain is a former POW? Strange but true! Seems the Geezer spent a few years cooling his heels in Hanoi while Democrats were figuring out new ways to disgrace America.

Or maybe you have heard — McCain’s been using his POW experience as a political cudgel since his first race for Congress, in 1982. Some fatuous opponent accused him of being a carpetbagger, and the Geezer’s response is legend:

“I wish I could have had the luxury, like you, of growing up and living and spending my entire life in a nice place like the first district of Arizona, but I was doing other things. As a matter of fact, when I think about it now, the place I lived longest in my life was Hanoi.”

Good day, sir! And for any voters who missed that thrilling exchange, here’s the ad that saturated local television:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAi2cJZSLvo

That would be McCain limping off a plane after his release as a POW.

As for the carpetbagging, we know McCain married an Arizona beer heiress, so what’s the problem? Turns out it’s not Arizona as such — instead, a Congressional seat opened up, and the McCains quickly moved to that district.

In other words: One of those houses the Geezer tends to forget is the one that qualified him to run for Congress. Cindy bought it. And soon as he won his first Senate race in 1986 and no longer needed the district residence — she sold it.

Which brings us back to the quote. Opportunistically moving into a Congressional district may have raised uncomfortable questions during McCain’s first candidacy. He learned in 1982 how to shut up such questions, and he’s been pulling that move ever since.

POW status was key factor in McCain’s first race [AP]

Long Lost McCain Video Exhumed [TNR]

Tempe homeowners own piece of McCain history [East Valley Tribune, Phoenix]