McCain to star in new movie

[arnaldoabru 11]

"FLIPPER'

Courtesy of "Mugsy's Rap Sheet"

(last updated: 6/30/08)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Republican Presidential candidate Senator John McCain has become a Gaffe Machine since hitting the campaign trail last year. As the November election nears, the frequency and severity of his gaffes & flip-flops has grown to the point where I felt it necessary to have a MASTER LIST (with confirming links) of the multitude of missteps coming out of the McCain campaign, all in one place. Seeing as what a big deal Republicans made out of Senator John Kerry's supposed "flip-flops" during the 2004 Presidential race, it only seems fair that we pay attention when their nominee for 2008 does the same thing.

This is a starter-list of McCain's Greatest Hits. I will add items to the list as I find them or you tell me about ones I missed, with corresponding links and credit to the site and/or person providing the item in question. I am continually working to improve the graphics and readability of the index, but with the gaffes flying at the rate of one new gaffe every other day, the list is growing SO fast, I barely have time to work on esthetics . I will update this index, adding past gaffes as I find them, as I continue to work on making it look nice.

Note: Mistakes are bound to happen maintaining such a huge list, so on the off-chance you catch the rare error, please let me know immediately. Thanks - Mugsy.

2008

June

May

(various)

(monster list of McCain flip-flops with confirming links @ The Rx Forum)

(general past gaffes)

June Comment link Date

McCain jokes about "wife beating":

19. Gaff: (via Crooks & Liars) The Huffington Post reported, McCain in an interview with the Las Vegas Sun headed for the gutter while trying to explain why he did not choose Republican Governor Jim Gibbons (now in the midst of a messy divorce and previously the subject of sexual assault allegations) as his Nevada campaign chair:

McCain: I appreciate his support. As you know, the lieutenant governor is our chairman.

Q: Why snub the governor?

McCain: I didn’t mean to snub him. I’ve known the lieutenant governor for 15 years and we’ve been good friends….I didn’t intend to snub him. There are other states where the governor is not the chairman.

Q: Maybe it’s the governor’s approval rating and you are running from him like you are from the president?

McCain: (Chuckling) And I stopped beating my wife just a couple of weeks ago…

...misquoting the "have you stopped beating your wife? Yes or No?" courtroom joke. A simple flubbed attempt at humor? Imagine the reaction if Senator Obama had said it.

Keep in mind that earlier this month (see general gaffe #2), McCain had to cancel a Republican fundraiser that was scheduled at the home of Texas Millionaire Clayton Williams, who lost his 1990 Gubernatorial bid after comparing "rape" to "the weather". McCain's notorious temper has, according to aides & reporters present at the time, resulted in him telling his wife Cindy during his '92 re-election campaign:

At one point, Cindy playfully twirled McCain's hair and said, "You're getting a little thin up there." McCain's face reddened, and he responded, "At least I don't plaster on the makeup like a trollop, you c*nt."

Is this the man Hillary supporters would REALLY vote for over Senator Obama simply over sour-grapes? link - Crooks & Liars 6/27/08

McCain on Passage of the new "21st Century GI Bill"

18. Flip: While Senator McCain says he supported "increasing benefits" for soldiers that have fought in the "War on Terror", he actively fought against passage of Senator Webb's new "21st Century GI Bill" on the following grounds:

“There are fundamental differences,” McCain told Politico. “He [sen Webb] creates a new bureaucracy and new rules. His bill offers the same benefits whether you stay three years or longer. We want to have a sliding scale to increase retention." [CBS News - 4/30/08]

Flop: Despite not even showing up to vote (a common occurrence since hitting the campaign trail) on passage of the GI Bill (which passed 92-6), McCain still took credit for passage of the historic bill, telling a crowd of supporters:

"I'm happy to tell you that we probably agreed on an increase in educational benefits for our veterans..."

Ibid - Crooks & Liars 6/27/08

McCain On Terrorist threats helping Republican candidates:

17. Flip: On June 23rd, Fortune Magazine released an interview with McCain's chief strategist Charlie Black who said that, like the assassination of Pakistani leader Bhutto last year, another terrorist attack on U.S. soil “would be a big advantage” for McCain. Senator McCain responded:

“If he said that, and I do not know the context, I strenuously disagree.”

Flop: But during President Bush's 2004 re-election campaign, McCain's response to Osama bin Laden's video taped message just days before the election was:

“I think it’s very helpful to President Bush,” said McCain, R-Ariz., while stumping in Stamford for U.S. Rep. Christopher Shays. “It focuses America’s attention on the war on terrorism. I’m not sure if it was intentional or not, but I think it does have an effect.” [AP, 10/30/04]

link - ThinkProgress 6/24/08

McCain criticizing the Supreme Court's "Boumediene" ruling on detainees.

16. Gaffe: According to Time Magazine, Senator McCain criticized the Supreme Court's "Boumediene" verdict... allowing GiTMO detainees to challenge their imprisonment... during a June 13th New Jersey Town Hall with:

"30 of the people who have already been released from Guantanamo Bay have already tried to attack America again, one of them just a couple weeks ago, a suicide bomber in Iraq."

Problem is, it's not true. According to Seaton Hall Law, last July, the Defense Department had issued a retraction:

"The “30” number, however, was corrected in a DoD press release issued in July 2007, and a DoD document submitted to the House Foreign Relations Committee on May 20, 2008 abandons the claim entirely."

(h/t Perrspectives via Crooks & Liars) link - ThinkProgress 6/13/08

Cindy McCain on Michelle Obama: (corrected)

15. Flip: In response to Michelle Obama's comment that "For the first time in my adult life, I'm ["really"] proud of my country" ("really" being used in a second recitation later that same day), the wife of Senator John McCain responded at a campaign rally:

"I don know about you, but I'm PROUD of MY country!"

Flop: On June 14th, responding to a questioner at a town hall meeting in New York on "how to be proud of the country" with all that is happening today, Senator McCain responded:

"I’ll admit to you … that it’s tough in some respects. We have not always done things right and we mismanaged the war in Iraq very badly for nearly four years.”

Flop-flop: After MSNBC found a clip of her husband in an interview with Fox News earlier this year stating:

"I didn't really didn't love America until I was deprived of her company" (referring to his time as a Vietnam POW)

...wife Cindy continued to defend her attack on Michelle Obama's comment while defending her husbands own suggestion that he "didn't really didn't love America until..."

(Note: AmericaBlog... via the Huffington Post... is reporting that Senator McCain had made a near identical statement back in 1999, but lacks a confirming link):

"It wasn't until I was deprived of her company that I fell in love with America."

Flip-flip-flop: While Senator McCain has not admonished his wife for her attacks on Michelle Obama for saying the same thing he himself has said repeatedly, he did tell CNN's Dana Milbank at that same town hall one day earlier (June 13th):

[E]very candidate's wife "should be treated with respect, and if there's any disrespectful conduct on the part of anyone, those people should be rejected."

No word yet as to whether Senator McCain has "rejected" his own wife from his campaign. (special thanks to Democratic Underground's "Top 10" for the references.) link - CNN's Political Tracker Ibid

McCain on running a respectful campaign with "no negative attack ads":

14. Flip: On Mar 11, 2008, McCain's campaign manger Rick Davis sent out a memo to reporters citing:

"It is critical, as we prepare to face off with whomever the Democrats select as their nominee, that we all follow John's lead and run a respectful campaign focused on the issues and values that are important to the American people.

...

Throughout his life John McCain has held himself to the highest standards and he will continue to run a respectful campaign based on the issues."

On Apr 5, 2008 - McCain himself called for a "respectful" campaign. Pledging:

"I intend to wage this campaign and to govern this country in a way that they would be proud of me," ... McCain also said that if elected, he would attempt to govern in the same spirit...

Flop: June 19, 2008 - "McCain Launches Negative Ad Against Obama, with side-by-side images of Iranian President Ahmadinejad and Obama that states:

"Is it OK to Unconditionally Meet With Anti-American Foreign Leaders?"

Obama has never claimed willingness to "unconditionally" meet with U.S. adversaries.

("The Jed Report" provides an illustration explaining why such an add is so offensive.) link - Associated Press 6/19/08

McCain on windfall profits tax on oil companies:

13. Flip: Criticized Obama's support of a "windfall profits" tax on oil companies as "If the plan sounds familiar, that's because that was Jimmy Carter's big idea too! And a lot of good it did us."

Flop: Said he'd be "glad to look at the idea of a windfall profits tax" on oil companies during a speech to the Charlotte, NC Chamber of Commerce on May 5th. link - CNN video on YouTube 6/17/08

McCain on off-shore drilling:

12. Flip: Stated he would "end the federal ban on offshore oil drilling" during a speech to reporters.

Flop: In 1999 and during the 2000 Presidential campaign, McCain scolded the “special interests in Washington” that sought offshore drilling leases. link - ThinkProgress 6/16/08

McCain on "Privatizing" Social Security:

11. Flip: During a campaign speech in Sioux City, Iowa along side former GOP rival Mike Huckabee, McCain stated, "I've never been for, quote, privatized Social Security. I never have been. I never will be."

Flop: During the 2004 campaign (11/18/04), McCain stated, "Without privatization, I don't see how you could possibly, overtime, make sure young Americans are able to receive Social Security benefits." link - Democrats.org YouTube video 10/25/07 (repeated denial on 6/13/2008)

McCain on funding National Defense:

10. Flip: In the November 2007 issue of Foreign Affairs, McCain argued “we can also afford to spend more on national defense, which currently consumes less than four cents of every dollar that our economy generates - far less than what we spent during the Cold War.”

Flop: Facing the $2 trillion budgetary hole the McCain tax plan is forecast to produce (a sea of red ink even the Wall Street Journal noticed), Team McCain changed its tune. As Forbes scoffed in amazement:

“McCain’s top economic adviser, Doug Holtz-Eakin, blithely supposes that cuts in defense spending could make up for reducing the corporate tax rate from 35% to 25% and the subsequent shrinkage in federal revenues. Get that? The national security candidate wants to cut spending on our national security. Wait until the generals and the admirals hear that.”

link - Crooks & Liars 6/13/08

McCain on balancing the budget:

9. Flip: During a February 15th rally in La Crosse, Wisconsin, “McCain promised he’d offer a balanced budget by the end of his first term.”

Flippity: Days later, McCain’s senior economic adviser Douglas Holtz-Eakin announced a deficit-ending target of 2017. In mid-April, Holtz-Eakin proclaimed, “I would like the next president not to talk about deficit reduction.” McCain, too, signaled the retreat from his first-term balance budget commitment, explaining to Chris Matthews on April 15th that “economic conditions are reversed.”

Flop: On June 6, Holtz-Eakin announced, “That plan, when appropriately phased in, as it has always been intended to be, will bring the budget to balance by the end of his first term.”

link - ThinkProgress 6/6/08

McCain on attacking the media:

8. Flop: During his disastrous “green screen” speech on June 3, McCain reached out to Hillary Clinton’s supporters by proclaiming, “The media often overlooked how compassionately she spoke to the concerns and dreams of millions of Americans, and she deserves a lot more appreciation than she sometimes received.”

Flop: June 7, McCain denied to Newsweek that his critique of the media never passed his lips, “I did not–that was in prepared remarks, and I did not–I’m not in the business of commenting on the press and their coverage or not coverage.” link - (Ibid) 6/3/08

McCain on The Estate Tax:

7. Flip: On June 8, 2006, McCain on the Senate floor expressed his agreement with Teddy Roosevelt that “most great civilized countries have an income tax and an inheritance tax” and “in my judgment both should be part of our system of federal taxation.”

Flop: In a speech before small business owners in New York, McCain declared “the estate tax is one of the most unfair tax laws on the books.” link - Huffington Post 6/10/08

McCain on illegal wiretapping/FISA:

6. Flip: On December 20, 2007, McCain suggested to Pulitzer prize-winning journalist Charles Savage that President Bush had clearly crossed the line with his violation of the FISA Act. As Wired’s Ryan Singel noted:

“I think that presidents have the obligation to obey and enforce laws that are passed by Congress and signed into law by the president, no matter what the situation is,” McCain said. The Globe’s Charlie Savage pushed further, asking , “So is that a no, in other words, federal statute trumps inherent power in that case, warrantless surveillance?” To which McCain answered, “I don’t think the president has the right to disobey any law.”

Flippity: On June 2, McCain adviser Holtz-Eakin put that notion to rest, telling the National Review:

“[N]either the Administration nor the telecoms need apologize for actions that most people, except for the ACLU and the trial lawyers, understand were Constitutional and appropriate in the wake of the attacks on September 11, 2001.”

Flop: Pressed to explain the glaring inconsistencies, John McCain on June 6 the New York Times reported McCain now believes the legality of Bush’s regime of NSA domestic surveillance is unclear and, in any event, is old news:

“It’s ambiguous as to whether the president acted within his authority or not,” he said, saying courts had ruled different ways on the matter. “I’m not interested in going back. I’m interested in addressing the challenge we face to day of trying to do everything we can to counter organizations and individuals that want to destroy this country. So there’s ambiguity about it. Let’s move forward.”

As for immunity for the telecommunications firms cooperating with the White House in what before August 2007 was doubtless illegal surveillance, there too McCain’s position has evolved. On May 23, campaign surrogate Chuck Fish announced that McCain would not back retroactive immunity “unless there were revealing Congressional hearings and heartfelt repentance from those telephone and internet companies.” Subsequently, the McCain campaign swiftly backtracked, claiming its man supports immunity unconditionally.

link - ThinkProgress Ibid

McCain on Protecting the Florida Everglades:

5. Flip: June 4, McCain tells a group of Florida newspaper editors, “I am in favor of doing whatever’s necessary to save the Everglades.”

Flop: McCain not only opposed $2 billion in funding for the restoration of the Everglades national park, he backed President Bush’s veto of the legislation in 2007. “I believe,” he said, “that we should be passing a bill that will authorize legitimate, needed projects without sacrificing fiscal responsibility.”

link - ThinkProgress Ibid

McCain on using sanctions as a tool of influencing international policy:

4. Flip: During his June 2 speech to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), John McCain called for the international community to target Iran for the kind of worldwide sanctions regime applied to apartheid-era South Africa.

Flop: McCain advisers Charlie Black and Rick Davis each represented firms doing business with Tehran. Even more unfortunate, John McCain was frequently not among those offering “moral clarity and conviction” in backing “a divestment campaign against South Africa, helping to rid that nation of the evil of apartheid.” As ThinkProgress detailed:

Despite voting to override President Reagan’s veto of a bill imposing economic sanctions against South Africa in 1986, McCain voted against sanctions on at least six other occasions.

link - ThinkProgress 6/2/08

McCain on job creation:

3. Flip: During the run-up to the Michigan primary, John McCain cautioned workers in January that he didn’t want to raise “false hopes that somehow we can bring back lost jobs,” adding that it” wasn’t government’s job to protect buggy factories and haberdashers when cars replaced carriages and men stopped wearing hats.”

Flippity: On April 22, 2008 in during a speech at Youngstown State University in Ohio, McCain told the crowd: "I can't tell you that these jobs are ever coming back to this magnificent part of the country,"

The Arizona senator said he believes Americans need to take advantage of opportunities of a new economy, not cling to the old economy. "I know that's small comfort to you, but I can't look you in the eye and tell you that those steel mills are coming back," he said.

Flop: On June 5: echoing Mitt Romney who trounced him in the January 15th primary, McCain returned to Michigan, telling a local television station that he would fight for new jobs and the state wouldn't ``be left behind.'

Nowadays, the party’s presumptive nominee is singing a different tune, striking a populist pose and saying “new jobs are coming”… …Over the past few months, however, McCain has taken a lesson from Romney, acknowledging recently that “Americans are hurting.” Returning to Michigan last month, the Arizona senator told a local television station that he would fight for new jobs and the state wouldn’t “be left behind.”

link - Bloomberg News 6/5/08

McCain on investigating Katrina failures:

2. Flip: During a June 4th town hall meeting in Baton Rouge, John McCain answered a reporter’s question regarding Hurricane Katrina and investigating the failure of the New Orleans levees by announcing:

“I’ve supported every investigation and ways of finding out what caused the tragedy. I’ve been here to New Orleans. I’ve met with people on the ground.”

Flop: In 2005 and 2006 McCain twice voted against a commission to study the government’s response to Katrina. He also opposed three separate emergency funding measures providing relief to Katrina victims, including the extension of five months of Medicaid benefits. Until traveling there one month ago, McCain had made just one public tour of New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina touched down in August 2005. link - ThinkProgress 6/4/08

McCain on differing from Bush:

1. Flip: In a televised speech hoping to steal some of the thunder from Barack Obama's announcement that he had clinched the Democratic nomination, McCain said:

"You will hear from my opponent’s campaign in every speech, every interview, every press release that I’m running for President Bush’s third term. You will hear every policy of the President described as the Bush-McCain policy. Why does Senator Obama believe it’s so important to repeat that idea over and over again? Because he knows it’s very difficult to get Americans to believe something they know is false."

Flop: During his appearance on the June 19, 2005 edition of "Meet the Press", McCain responded to Tim Russert's claim, "The fact is you are different than George Bush.":

"No. No. I--the fact is that I'm different but the fact is that I have agreed with President Bush far more than I have disagreed. And on the transcendent issues, the most important issues of our day, I've been totally in agreement and support of President Bush."

link - Ibid 6/3/08

May Comment link Date

McCain on immigration reform:

. Flip: Speaking on the Senate floor in March 2006, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) argued for comprehensive immigration reform, stating that “while strengthening border security is an essential component of national security, it must also be accompanied by immigration reforms.”

Flop: But while seeking the GOP nomination for president, McCain “encountered anger from hard-line immigration foes,” particularly over his support for a bill that would “have allowed most undocumented immigrants to work toward citizenship.” Thus, in order to pander to the far right during the primary, McCain changed his position, saying the U.S. must secure the borders before undocumented immigrants are dealt with, thereby discarding the “comprehensive” nature of his previous immigration position:

have pledged that it would be among my highest priorities to secure our borders first, and only after we achieved widespread consensus that our borders are secure, would we address other aspects of the problem in a way that defends the rule of law and does not encourage another wave of illegal immigration.

Flip: But now that McCain has all but locked up the nomination, he has to start dancing. Trying to court Latino voters, McCain flipped back to his original position, saying he now supports “comprehensive immigration reform“:

MCCAIN: We get in this kind of a circular firing squad on immigration reform in the Congress of the United States, and the lesson I learned from it is we’ve got to have comprehensive immigration reform.

(UPDATE: On June 27, 2008, McCain praised himself for sponsoring the McCain-Kennedy immigration reform legislation of 2006). In a Jan. 30 GOP debate, McCain said he would not vote for his own bill today:

Q: At this point, if your original proposal came to a vote on the Senate floor, would you vote for it? […]

McCAIN: No, I would not, because we know what the situation is today. The people want the borders secured first.

(source: ThinkProgress) link - ThinkProgress 5/5/08

various Comment link Date

McCain on "tax cuts for the wealthy":

. Flip: Opposed George Bush's proposed "tax cuts for the wealthy" during the 2000 Presidential campaign:

"I don’t believe the wealthiest 10% of Americans should get 60% of the tax breaks. I think the lowest 10% should get the breaks." - 1/5/00

again in 2001:

“I am disappointed that the Senate Finance Committee preferred instead to cut the top tax rate of 39.6% to 36%, thereby granting generous tax relief to the wealthiest individuals of our country at the expense of lower- and middle-income American taxpayers.” - 5/21/01

And again in 2003:

“But when you look at the percentage of the tax cuts that–as the previous tax cuts–that go to the wealthiest Americans, you will find that the bulk of it, again, goes to wealthiest Americans.” - 1/7/03

Flop: During an Interview on ABC's "This Week with George Stephanopoulos", McCain debated the term "wealthy"

(Making "finger-quotes in the air) "Oh, yes, sure, the wealthy, the wealthy. Always be interested in when people talk about who the, quote, “wealthy” are in America. I find it interesting."

link - ThinkProgress Ibid

McCain on Ethanol:

. Flip: (from CNN Money) When McCain ran for president in 1999 and 2000, he barely campaigned in Iowa, knowing that his anti-ethanol stance wouldn't cut it in corn country.

Four years later, McCain hadn't changed his tune. "Ethanol is a product that would not exist if Congress didn't create an artificial market for it. No one would be willing to buy it," McCain said in November 2003. "Yet thanks to agricultural subsidies and ethanol producer subsidies, it is now a very big business - tens of billions of dollars that have enriched a handful of corporate interests - primarily one big corporation, ADM. Ethanol does nothing to reduce fuel consumption, nothing to increase our energy independence, nothing to improve air quality."

Flop: "I support ethanol and I think it is a vital, a vital alternative energy source not only because of our dependency on foreign oil but its greenhouse gas reduction effects," he said in an August speech in Grinnell, Iowa. link - CNN Money 10/31/06

Gaffes (special thanks to Crooks & Liars Mike Finnigan for the links)

Jon Perr of Perrspectives has been diligently chronicling John McCain's most conspicuous gaffes on his website:

1. McCain releases a new damage-control ad following his ill-received "bomb, bomb, bomb" Iran "joke" that tells us:

"Only a fool or a fraud talks tough or romantically about war..."

2. McCain abruptly cancels a fundraiser that was to be held at the home of Texas oilman Clayton Williams, who, during his 1990 Gubernatorial run, in the presence of a reporter compared rape to the weather:

"As long as it's inevitable, you might as well lie back and enjoy it."

Not good for a campaign desperate to win over supporters of Hillary Clinton.

3. McCain Cites eBay as Solution for Recession:

"Today, for example, 1.3 million people in the world make a living off eBay, most of those are in the United State of America."

The astute among you may remember Vice President Dick Cheney citing ebay sales as a sign of a healthy economy during his 2004 re-election campaign:

"That's a source that didn't even exist 10 years ago," Cheney said, according to the Associated Press. "Four hundred thousand people make some money trading on eBay."

4. As David Corn reported in Salon, John McCain back in 1998 used the occasion of a Republican Senate fundraiser to slander President Clinton's daughter and attorney general. Following in the proud tradition of Rush Limbaugh (who in 1993 called the young Chelsea "a dog"), Mr. Straight Talk joked:

"Why is Chelsea Clinton so ugly? Because her father is Janet Reno."

(Perrspectives link here.)

5. Forever Wrong: Five Years of John McCain on Iraq.

6. McCain Finally Rejects Hagee Endorsement He Sought

7. McCain's Double Flip-Flop on Abortion: In 1999, John McCain on Roe vs. Wade:

"I'd love to see a point where it is irrelevant, and could be repealed because abortion is no longer necessary. But certainly in the short term, or even the long term, I would not support repeal of Roe v. Wade, which would then force X number of women in America to [undergo] illegal and dangerous operations."

In a 2006 interview on ABC's "This Week", McCain stated:

"I don't think a constitutional amendment is probably going to take place, but I do believe that it's very likely or possible that the Supreme Court should - could overturn Roe v. Wade, which would then return these decisions to the states, which I support."

But by 2008, it is back to:

"I'm a federalist. Just as I believe that the issue of gay marriage should be decided by the states, so do I believe that we would be better off by having Roe v. Wade return to the states. And I don't believe the Supreme Court should be legislating in the way that they did on Roe v. Wade."

8. John McCain's Top 10 Out-of-Touch Moments.

I hope to incorporate additional Flip-Flops chronicled by "The Carpetbagger Report" (42 more here) into this list eventually. Please be patient

Contact: Please submit any McCain gaffes, acknowledgments and/or corrections in the Comments section of our latest blog post. - Mugsy

< Back to "Mugsy's Rap Sheet"

[TheDrewYouKnew 3]

"FLIPPER'

Courtesy of "Mugsy's Rap Sheet"

(last updated: 6/30/08)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Republican Presidential candidate Senator John McCain has become a Gaffe Machine since hitting the campaign trail last year. As the November election nears, the frequency and severity of his gaffes & flip-flops has grown to the point where I felt it necessary to have a MASTER LIST (with confirming links) of the multitude of missteps coming out of the McCain campaign, all in one place. Seeing as what a big deal Republicans made out of Senator John Kerry's supposed "flip-flops" during the 2004 Presidential race, it only seems fair that we pay attention when their nominee for 2008 does the same thing.

This is a starter-list of McCain's Greatest Hits. I will add items to the list as I find them or you tell me about ones I missed, with corresponding links and credit to the site and/or person providing the item in question. I am continually working to improve the graphics and readability of the index, but with the gaffes flying at the rate of one new gaffe every other day, the list is growing SO fast, I barely have time to work on esthetics . I will update this index, adding past gaffes as I find them, as I continue to work on making it look nice.

Note: Mistakes are bound to happen maintaining such a huge list, so on the off-chance you catch the rare error, please let me know immediately. Thanks - Mugsy.

2008

June

May

(various)

(monster list of McCain flip-flops with confirming links @ The Rx Forum)

(general past gaffes)

June Comment link Date

McCain jokes about "wife beating":

19. Gaff: (via Crooks & Liars) The Huffington Post reported, McCain in an interview with the Las Vegas Sun headed for the gutter while trying to explain why he did not choose Republican Governor Jim Gibbons (now in the midst of a messy divorce and previously the subject of sexual assault allegations) as his Nevada campaign chair:

McCain: I appreciate his support. As you know, the lieutenant governor is our chairman.

Q: Why snub the governor?

McCain: I didn’t mean to snub him. I’ve known the lieutenant governor for 15 years and we’ve been good friends….I didn’t intend to snub him. There are other states where the governor is not the chairman.

Q: Maybe it’s the governor’s approval rating and you are running from him like you are from the president?

McCain: (Chuckling) And I stopped beating my wife just a couple of weeks ago…

...misquoting the "have you stopped beating your wife? Yes or No?" courtroom joke. A simple flubbed attempt at humor? Imagine the reaction if Senator Obama had said it.

Keep in mind that earlier this month (see general gaffe #2), McCain had to cancel a Republican fundraiser that was scheduled at the home of Texas Millionaire Clayton Williams, who lost his 1990 Gubernatorial bid after comparing "rape" to "the weather". McCain's notorious temper has, according to aides & reporters present at the time, resulted in him telling his wife Cindy during his '92 re-election campaign:

At one point, Cindy playfully twirled McCain's hair and said, "You're getting a little thin up there." McCain's face reddened, and he responded, "At least I don't plaster on the makeup like a trollop, you c*nt."

Is this the man Hillary supporters would REALLY vote for over Senator Obama simply over sour-grapes? link - Crooks & Liars 6/27/08

McCain on Passage of the new "21st Century GI Bill"

18. Flip: While Senator McCain says he supported "increasing benefits" for soldiers that have fought in the "War on Terror", he actively fought against passage of Senator Webb's new "21st Century GI Bill" on the following grounds:

“There are fundamental differences,” McCain told Politico. “He [sen Webb] creates a new bureaucracy and new rules. His bill offers the same benefits whether you stay three years or longer. We want to have a sliding scale to increase retention." [CBS News - 4/30/08]

Flop: Despite not even showing up to vote (a common occurrence since hitting the campaign trail) on passage of the GI Bill (which passed 92-6), McCain still took credit for passage of the historic bill, telling a crowd of supporters:

"I'm happy to tell you that we probably agreed on an increase in educational benefits for our veterans..."

Ibid - Crooks & Liars 6/27/08

McCain On Terrorist threats helping Republican candidates:

17. Flip: On June 23rd, Fortune Magazine released an interview with McCain's chief strategist Charlie Black who said that, like the assassination of Pakistani leader Bhutto last year, another terrorist attack on U.S. soil “would be a big advantage” for McCain. Senator McCain responded:

“If he said that, and I do not know the context, I strenuously disagree.”

Flop: But during President Bush's 2004 re-election campaign, McCain's response to Osama bin Laden's video taped message just days before the election was:

“I think it’s very helpful to President Bush,” said McCain, R-Ariz., while stumping in Stamford for U.S. Rep. Christopher Shays. “It focuses America’s attention on the war on terrorism. I’m not sure if it was intentional or not, but I think it does have an effect.” [AP, 10/30/04]

link - ThinkProgress 6/24/08

McCain criticizing the Supreme Court's "Boumediene" ruling on detainees.

16. Gaffe: According to Time Magazine, Senator McCain criticized the Supreme Court's "Boumediene" verdict... allowing GiTMO detainees to challenge their imprisonment... during a June 13th New Jersey Town Hall with:

"30 of the people who have already been released from Guantanamo Bay have already tried to attack America again, one of them just a couple weeks ago, a suicide bomber in Iraq."

Problem is, it's not true. According to Seaton Hall Law, last July, the Defense Department had issued a retraction:

"The “30” number, however, was corrected in a DoD press release issued in July 2007, and a DoD document submitted to the House Foreign Relations Committee on May 20, 2008 abandons the claim entirely."

(h/t Perrspectives via Crooks & Liars) link - ThinkProgress 6/13/08

Cindy McCain on Michelle Obama: (corrected)

15. Flip: In response to Michelle Obama's comment that "For the first time in my adult life, I'm ["really"] proud of my country" ("really" being used in a second recitation later that same day), the wife of Senator John McCain responded at a campaign rally:

"I don know about you, but I'm PROUD of MY country!"

Flop: On June 14th, responding to a questioner at a town hall meeting in New York on "how to be proud of the country" with all that is happening today, Senator McCain responded:

"I’ll admit to you … that it’s tough in some respects. We have not always done things right and we mismanaged the war in Iraq very badly for nearly four years.”

Flop-flop: After MSNBC found a clip of her husband in an interview with Fox News earlier this year stating:

"I didn't really didn't love America until I was deprived of her company" (referring to his time as a Vietnam POW)

...wife Cindy continued to defend her attack on Michelle Obama's comment while defending her husbands own suggestion that he "didn't really didn't love America until..."

(Note: AmericaBlog... via the Huffington Post... is reporting that Senator McCain had made a near identical statement back in 1999, but lacks a confirming link):

"It wasn't until I was deprived of her company that I fell in love with America."

Flip-flip-flop: While Senator McCain has not admonished his wife for her attacks on Michelle Obama for saying the same thing he himself has said repeatedly, he did tell CNN's Dana Milbank at that same town hall one day earlier (June 13th):

[E]very candidate's wife "should be treated with respect, and if there's any disrespectful conduct on the part of anyone, those people should be rejected."

No word yet as to whether Senator McCain has "rejected" his own wife from his campaign. (special thanks to Democratic Underground's "Top 10" for the references.) link - CNN's Political Tracker Ibid

McCain on running a respectful campaign with "no negative attack ads":

14. Flip: On Mar 11, 2008, McCain's campaign manger Rick Davis sent out a memo to reporters citing:

"It is critical, as we prepare to face off with whomever the Democrats select as their nominee, that we all follow John's lead and run a respectful campaign focused on the issues and values that are important to the American people.

...

Throughout his life John McCain has held himself to the highest standards and he will continue to run a respectful campaign based on the issues."

On Apr 5, 2008 - McCain himself called for a "respectful" campaign. Pledging:

"I intend to wage this campaign and to govern this country in a way that they would be proud of me," ... McCain also said that if elected, he would attempt to govern in the same spirit...

Flop: June 19, 2008 - "McCain Launches Negative Ad Against Obama, with side-by-side images of Iranian President Ahmadinejad and Obama that states:

"Is it OK to Unconditionally Meet With Anti-American Foreign Leaders?"

Obama has never claimed willingness to "unconditionally" meet with U.S. adversaries.

("The Jed Report" provides an illustration explaining why such an add is so offensive.) link - Associated Press 6/19/08

McCain on windfall profits tax on oil companies:

13. Flip: Criticized Obama's support of a "windfall profits" tax on oil companies as "If the plan sounds familiar, that's because that was Jimmy Carter's big idea too! And a lot of good it did us."

Flop: Said he'd be "glad to look at the idea of a windfall profits tax" on oil companies during a speech to the Charlotte, NC Chamber of Commerce on May 5th. link - CNN video on YouTube 6/17/08

McCain on off-shore drilling:

12. Flip: Stated he would "end the federal ban on offshore oil drilling" during a speech to reporters.

Flop: In 1999 and during the 2000 Presidential campaign, McCain scolded the “special interests in Washington” that sought offshore drilling leases. link - ThinkProgress 6/16/08

McCain on "Privatizing" Social Security:

11. Flip: During a campaign speech in Sioux City, Iowa along side former GOP rival Mike Huckabee, McCain stated, "I've never been for, quote, privatized Social Security. I never have been. I never will be."

Flop: During the 2004 campaign (11/18/04), McCain stated, "Without privatization, I don't see how you could possibly, overtime, make sure young Americans are able to receive Social Security benefits." link - Democrats.org YouTube video 10/25/07 (repeated denial on 6/13/2008)

McCain on funding National Defense:

10. Flip: In the November 2007 issue of Foreign Affairs, McCain argued “we can also afford to spend more on national defense, which currently consumes less than four cents of every dollar that our economy generates - far less than what we spent during the Cold War.”

Flop: Facing the $2 trillion budgetary hole the McCain tax plan is forecast to produce (a sea of red ink even the Wall Street Journal noticed), Team McCain changed its tune. As Forbes scoffed in amazement:

“McCain’s top economic adviser, Doug Holtz-Eakin, blithely supposes that cuts in defense spending could make up for reducing the corporate tax rate from 35% to 25% and the subsequent shrinkage in federal revenues. Get that? The national security candidate wants to cut spending on our national security. Wait until the generals and the admirals hear that.”

link - Crooks & Liars 6/13/08

McCain on balancing the budget:

9. Flip: During a February 15th rally in La Crosse, Wisconsin, “McCain promised he’d offer a balanced budget by the end of his first term.”

Flippity: Days later, McCain’s senior economic adviser Douglas Holtz-Eakin announced a deficit-ending target of 2017. In mid-April, Holtz-Eakin proclaimed, “I would like the next president not to talk about deficit reduction.” McCain, too, signaled the retreat from his first-term balance budget commitment, explaining to Chris Matthews on April 15th that “economic conditions are reversed.”

Flop: On June 6, Holtz-Eakin announced, “That plan, when appropriately phased in, as it has always been intended to be, will bring the budget to balance by the end of his first term.”

link - ThinkProgress 6/6/08

McCain on attacking the media:

8. Flop: During his disastrous “green screen” speech on June 3, McCain reached out to Hillary Clinton’s supporters by proclaiming, “The media often overlooked how compassionately she spoke to the concerns and dreams of millions of Americans, and she deserves a lot more appreciation than she sometimes received.”

Flop: June 7, McCain denied to Newsweek that his critique of the media never passed his lips, “I did not–that was in prepared remarks, and I did not–I’m not in the business of commenting on the press and their coverage or not coverage.” link - (Ibid) 6/3/08

McCain on The Estate Tax:

7. Flip: On June 8, 2006, McCain on the Senate floor expressed his agreement with Teddy Roosevelt that “most great civilized countries have an income tax and an inheritance tax” and “in my judgment both should be part of our system of federal taxation.”

Flop: In a speech before small business owners in New York, McCain declared “the estate tax is one of the most unfair tax laws on the books.” link - Huffington Post 6/10/08

McCain on illegal wiretapping/FISA:

6. Flip: On December 20, 2007, McCain suggested to Pulitzer prize-winning journalist Charles Savage that President Bush had clearly crossed the line with his violation of the FISA Act. As Wired’s Ryan Singel noted:

“I think that presidents have the obligation to obey and enforce laws that are passed by Congress and signed into law by the president, no matter what the situation is,” McCain said. The Globe’s Charlie Savage pushed further, asking , “So is that a no, in other words, federal statute trumps inherent power in that case, warrantless surveillance?” To which McCain answered, “I don’t think the president has the right to disobey any law.”

Flippity: On June 2, McCain adviser Holtz-Eakin put that notion to rest, telling the National Review:

“[N]either the Administration nor the telecoms need apologize for actions that most people, except for the ACLU and the trial lawyers, understand were Constitutional and appropriate in the wake of the attacks on September 11, 2001.”

Flop: Pressed to explain the glaring inconsistencies, John McCain on June 6 the New York Times reported McCain now believes the legality of Bush’s regime of NSA domestic surveillance is unclear and, in any event, is old news:

“It’s ambiguous as to whether the president acted within his authority or not,” he said, saying courts had ruled different ways on the matter. “I’m not interested in going back. I’m interested in addressing the challenge we face to day of trying to do everything we can to counter organizations and individuals that want to destroy this country. So there’s ambiguity about it. Let’s move forward.”

As for immunity for the telecommunications firms cooperating with the White House in what before August 2007 was doubtless illegal surveillance, there too McCain’s position has evolved. On May 23, campaign surrogate Chuck Fish announced that McCain would not back retroactive immunity “unless there were revealing Congressional hearings and heartfelt repentance from those telephone and internet companies.” Subsequently, the McCain campaign swiftly backtracked, claiming its man supports immunity unconditionally.

link - ThinkProgress Ibid

McCain on Protecting the Florida Everglades:

5. Flip: June 4, McCain tells a group of Florida newspaper editors, “I am in favor of doing whatever’s necessary to save the Everglades.”

Flop: McCain not only opposed $2 billion in funding for the restoration of the Everglades national park, he backed President Bush’s veto of the legislation in 2007. “I believe,” he said, “that we should be passing a bill that will authorize legitimate, needed projects without sacrificing fiscal responsibility.”

link - ThinkProgress Ibid

McCain on using sanctions as a tool of influencing international policy:

4. Flip: During his June 2 speech to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), John McCain called for the international community to target Iran for the kind of worldwide sanctions regime applied to apartheid-era South Africa.

Flop: McCain advisers Charlie Black and Rick Davis each represented firms doing business with Tehran. Even more unfortunate, John McCain was frequently not among those offering “moral clarity and conviction” in backing “a divestment campaign against South Africa, helping to rid that nation of the evil of apartheid.” As ThinkProgress detailed:

Despite voting to override President Reagan’s veto of a bill imposing economic sanctions against South Africa in 1986, McCain voted against sanctions on at least six other occasions.

link - ThinkProgress 6/2/08

McCain on job creation:

3. Flip: During the run-up to the Michigan primary, John McCain cautioned workers in January that he didn’t want to raise “false hopes that somehow we can bring back lost jobs,” adding that it” wasn’t government’s job to protect buggy factories and haberdashers when cars replaced carriages and men stopped wearing hats.”

Flippity: On April 22, 2008 in during a speech at Youngstown State University in Ohio, McCain told the crowd: "I can't tell you that these jobs are ever coming back to this magnificent part of the country,"

The Arizona senator said he believes Americans need to take advantage of opportunities of a new economy, not cling to the old economy. "I know that's small comfort to you, but I can't look you in the eye and tell you that those steel mills are coming back," he said.

Flop: On June 5: echoing Mitt Romney who trounced him in the January 15th primary, McCain returned to Michigan, telling a local television station that he would fight for new jobs and the state wouldn't ``be left behind.'

Nowadays, the party’s presumptive nominee is singing a different tune, striking a populist pose and saying “new jobs are coming”… …Over the past few months, however, McCain has taken a lesson from Romney, acknowledging recently that “Americans are hurting.” Returning to Michigan last month, the Arizona senator told a local television station that he would fight for new jobs and the state wouldn’t “be left behind.”

link - Bloomberg News 6/5/08

McCain on investigating Katrina failures:

2. Flip: During a June 4th town hall meeting in Baton Rouge, John McCain answered a reporter’s question regarding Hurricane Katrina and investigating the failure of the New Orleans levees by announcing:

“I’ve supported every investigation and ways of finding out what caused the tragedy. I’ve been here to New Orleans. I’ve met with people on the ground.”

Flop: In 2005 and 2006 McCain twice voted against a commission to study the government’s response to Katrina. He also opposed three separate emergency funding measures providing relief to Katrina victims, including the extension of five months of Medicaid benefits. Until traveling there one month ago, McCain had made just one public tour of New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina touched down in August 2005. link - ThinkProgress 6/4/08

McCain on differing from Bush:

1. Flip: In a televised speech hoping to steal some of the thunder from Barack Obama's announcement that he had clinched the Democratic nomination, McCain said:

"You will hear from my opponent’s campaign in every speech, every interview, every press release that I’m running for President Bush’s third term. You will hear every policy of the President described as the Bush-McCain policy. Why does Senator Obama believe it’s so important to repeat that idea over and over again? Because he knows it’s very difficult to get Americans to believe something they know is false."

Flop: During his appearance on the June 19, 2005 edition of "Meet the Press", McCain responded to Tim Russert's claim, "The fact is you are different than George Bush.":

"No. No. I--the fact is that I'm different but the fact is that I have agreed with President Bush far more than I have disagreed. And on the transcendent issues, the most important issues of our day, I've been totally in agreement and support of President Bush."

link - Ibid 6/3/08

May Comment link Date

McCain on immigration reform:

. Flip: Speaking on the Senate floor in March 2006, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) argued for comprehensive immigration reform, stating that “while strengthening border security is an essential component of national security, it must also be accompanied by immigration reforms.”

Flop: But while seeking the GOP nomination for president, McCain “encountered anger from hard-line immigration foes,” particularly over his support for a bill that would “have allowed most undocumented immigrants to work toward citizenship.” Thus, in order to pander to the far right during the primary, McCain changed his position, saying the U.S. must secure the borders before undocumented immigrants are dealt with, thereby discarding the “comprehensive” nature of his previous immigration position:

have pledged that it would be among my highest priorities to secure our borders first, and only after we achieved widespread consensus that our borders are secure, would we address other aspects of the problem in a way that defends the rule of law and does not encourage another wave of illegal immigration.

Flip: But now that McCain has all but locked up the nomination, he has to start dancing. Trying to court Latino voters, McCain flipped back to his original position, saying he now supports “comprehensive immigration reform“:

MCCAIN: We get in this kind of a circular firing squad on immigration reform in the Congress of the United States, and the lesson I learned from it is we’ve got to have comprehensive immigration reform.

(UPDATE: On June 27, 2008, McCain praised himself for sponsoring the McCain-Kennedy immigration reform legislation of 2006). In a Jan. 30 GOP debate, McCain said he would not vote for his own bill today:

Q: At this point, if your original proposal came to a vote on the Senate floor, would you vote for it? […]

McCAIN: No, I would not, because we know what the situation is today. The people want the borders secured first.

(source: ThinkProgress) link - ThinkProgress 5/5/08

various Comment link Date

McCain on "tax cuts for the wealthy":

. Flip: Opposed George Bush's proposed "tax cuts for the wealthy" during the 2000 Presidential campaign:

"I don’t believe the wealthiest 10% of Americans should get 60% of the tax breaks. I think the lowest 10% should get the breaks." - 1/5/00

again in 2001:

“I am disappointed that the Senate Finance Committee preferred instead to cut the top tax rate of 39.6% to 36%, thereby granting generous tax relief to the wealthiest individuals of our country at the expense of lower- and middle-income American taxpayers.” - 5/21/01

And again in 2003:

“But when you look at the percentage of the tax cuts that–as the previous tax cuts–that go to the wealthiest Americans, you will find that the bulk of it, again, goes to wealthiest Americans.” - 1/7/03

Flop: During an Interview on ABC's "This Week with George Stephanopoulos", McCain debated the term "wealthy"

(Making "finger-quotes in the air) "Oh, yes, sure, the wealthy, the wealthy. Always be interested in when people talk about who the, quote, “wealthy” are in America. I find it interesting."

link - ThinkProgress Ibid

McCain on Ethanol:

. Flip: (from CNN Money) When McCain ran for president in 1999 and 2000, he barely campaigned in Iowa, knowing that his anti-ethanol stance wouldn't cut it in corn country.

Four years later, McCain hadn't changed his tune. "Ethanol is a product that would not exist if Congress didn't create an artificial market for it. No one would be willing to buy it," McCain said in November 2003. "Yet thanks to agricultural subsidies and ethanol producer subsidies, it is now a very big business - tens of billions of dollars that have enriched a handful of corporate interests - primarily one big corporation, ADM. Ethanol does nothing to reduce fuel consumption, nothing to increase our energy independence, nothing to improve air quality."

Flop: "I support ethanol and I think it is a vital, a vital alternative energy source not only because of our dependency on foreign oil but its greenhouse gas reduction effects," he said in an August speech in Grinnell, Iowa. link - CNN Money 10/31/06

Gaffes (special thanks to Crooks & Liars Mike Finnigan for the links)

Jon Perr of Perrspectives has been diligently chronicling John McCain's most conspicuous gaffes on his website:

1. McCain releases a new damage-control ad following his ill-received "bomb, bomb, bomb" Iran "joke" that tells us:

"Only a fool or a fraud talks tough or romantically about war..."

2. McCain abruptly cancels a fundraiser that was to be held at the home of Texas oilman Clayton Williams, who, during his 1990 Gubernatorial run, in the presence of a reporter compared rape to the weather:

"As long as it's inevitable, you might as well lie back and enjoy it."

Not good for a campaign desperate to win over supporters of Hillary Clinton.

3. McCain Cites eBay as Solution for Recession:

"Today, for example, 1.3 million people in the world make a living off eBay, most of those are in the United State of America."

The astute among you may remember Vice President Dick Cheney citing ebay sales as a sign of a healthy economy during his 2004 re-election campaign:

"That's a source that didn't even exist 10 years ago," Cheney said, according to the Associated Press. "Four hundred thousand people make some money trading on eBay."

4. As David Corn reported in Salon, John McCain back in 1998 used the occasion of a Republican Senate fundraiser to slander President Clinton's daughter and attorney general. Following in the proud tradition of Rush Limbaugh (who in 1993 called the young Chelsea "a dog"), Mr. Straight Talk joked:

"Why is Chelsea Clinton so ugly? Because her father is Janet Reno."

(Perrspectives link here.)

5. Forever Wrong: Five Years of John McCain on Iraq.

6. McCain Finally Rejects Hagee Endorsement He Sought

7. McCain's Double Flip-Flop on Abortion: In 1999, John McCain on Roe vs. Wade:

"I'd love to see a point where it is irrelevant, and could be repealed because abortion is no longer necessary. But certainly in the short term, or even the long term, I would not support repeal of Roe v. Wade, which would then force X number of women in America to [undergo] illegal and dangerous operations."

In a 2006 interview on ABC's "This Week", McCain stated:

"I don't think a constitutional amendment is probably going to take place, but I do believe that it's very likely or possible that the Supreme Court should - could overturn Roe v. Wade, which would then return these decisions to the states, which I support."

But by 2008, it is back to:

"I'm a federalist. Just as I believe that the issue of gay marriage should be decided by the states, so do I believe that we would be better off by having Roe v. Wade return to the states. And I don't believe the Supreme Court should be legislating in the way that they did on Roe v. Wade."

8. John McCain's Top 10 Out-of-Touch Moments.

I hope to incorporate additional Flip-Flops chronicled by "The Carpetbagger Report" (42 more here) into this list eventually. Please be patient

Contact: Please submit any McCain gaffes, acknowledgments and/or corrections in the Comments section of our latest blog post. - Mugsy

< Back to "Mugsy's Rap Sheet"

I tried reading but that much liberal propaganda gives me the Turkey Trots and makes me wanna spew. Care to sum it up in words that a common independent voter could understand so I can make an informed decision this November?

[AURaptor 1,126]

This is a sign of a obsessive/compulsive nut case who's in charge of character assassination of political oponents.

[lukeduke 8]

Slam the other candidate and mention his role in the movie, but let's not talk about the other leading actor. Of course, to the lefties, he has never flip flopped, every thing he says is Gospel.

[arnaldoabru 11]

Everything I know I've learned from Karl Rove.

[autigeremt 6,660]

Now we know you can't think for yourself.