Messenger Puppet

McCain ad pushes independence, distance from Bush

By GLEN JOHNSON
Associated Press Writer

RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) — John McCain conceded in a new television commercial on Tuesday that “we’re worse off than we were four years ago,” and said he is the candidate best positioned to usher in an era of change.

“Washington’s broken. John McCain knows it,” says the commercial, which is implicitly critical of both President Bush and Barack Obama.

It is unusual for a presidential candidate to part company with an administration of the same party, but McCain has little choice, with public opinion polls showing the public is eager for change after eight years of the Bush administration.

Just seven months ago, McCain said in a debate that “Americans overall are better off” than eight years ago “because we have had a pretty good prosperous time with low unemployment and low inflation.” Even so, he added that “things are tough right now.”

Set to run in battleground states, the new commercial does not mention Obama but it suggests the first-term Illinois senator is unprepared to be president by saying McCain is the one “ready to lead.” It also tries to seize Obama’s message of change and cast McCain, a four-term Arizona senator, as a change agent.

“Only McCain has taken on big tobacco, drug companies, fought corruption in both parties,” the ad says. “He’ll reform Wall Street, battle big oil, make America prosper again.”

It does not mention areas where McCain and Bush agree, like tax cuts, the Iraq war and free-market economics, a point the Obama campaign highlighted in its response to the ad.

“Being a maverick isn’t practicing the same kind of politics we have seen from Washington for decades,” said Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton, “it isn’t having a campaign run by Washington lobbyists, and it’s certainly not promoting the same policies that have led America down the wrong path these past eight years.”
…
McCain’s own voting record on energy issues has been questioned as well.

In 2007, McCain missed all 11 energy-related Senate votes considered key by the League of Conservation Voters, including votes related to automobile fuel economy, offshore Virginia drilling, refinery construction, renewable electricity mandates, energy efficiency, liquefied coal and support for biofuels. The absences prompted the League to give McCain a “zero” rating for the year.

NFL implements new code of Fascism for fans at games
NEW YORK (AP) — The NFL implemented a new code of fan oppression Tuesday, warning that spectators who think they are more than just consumers of overpriced, shitty food and a steilized, joyless game like simulation designed to generate ad revenue will be ejected from stadiums and barred from coming back. The policy, first recommended by dictator in chief Roger Goodell at league meetings in April, is aimed at conduct that the league said “detracts from the gameday experience because it makes mommies not want to buy $10 licorice ropes for junior.”

It includes bans on:

– Behavior that is unruly (yelling), disruptive (standing up), or illegal (yelling fire even though you cannot hear yourself inside your own head, let alone the person next to you).

– Drunkenness and signs of alcohol impairment that result in irresponsible behavior (like not ordering the extra cheese on your nachos for $4 extra).

– Foul or abusive language or obscene gestures (by whose definition, Rog? We can’t flip you off, you preening ass licker?).

– Interference with the progress of the game, including throwing objects onto the field.

– Failing to follow instructions of stadium personnel (does this mean if we are silent when the sign says “noise,” we get booted? Or we read a newspaper when the PA guy says “Please turn your attention to…” or “please rise for…”).

– Verbal or physical harassment of fans from the opposing team. (No more “Raiders suck”?)

“The in-stadium experience is critically important to the NFL’s bottom line, our clubs and our fans and it will be a major focus this season,” Goodell said in a statement. “We are committed to sterilizing and dehumanizing the fan experience in every way we can — from the time fans arrive in the parking lot to when they depart the stadium. It should be strictly commerce, and nothing more”

The league also left teams the option of adding additional provisions to the code based on local circumstances. For example, Detroit could make a two hotdog minimum purchase a condition of admission; in Phoenix, it might be a couple of Chile Rellenos instead. It said the guidelines would be contained in mailings to fans and signs posted at stadiums.

Actually, this proves that Roger Goodell understands America better than any of us. It’s not the game. It’s not the experience. It’s order and commerce. Nothing else matters. It’s John McCain’s America -  not John Mellencamp’s, not John Lennon’s.