What McCain needs to do right now

Introducing Secretary of the Treasury:

Governor Mitt Romney, proven turnaround specialist.

Get to steppin' John. Name him.


Then contrast him with Obama's economic advisers: Franklin Raines and Jim Johnson, the crack Fannie Mae management team that left in a cloud of accounting scandals, subprime rot and undeserved bonuses.

Update: Linked by Vanity Fair's James ("Extra Lipitor with those Nachos") Wolcott -- renowned "misogynist and antisemite" who calls the idea "desperate and dumbass." Though not nearly as desperate and dumbass as naming disgraced Fannie Mae executives your economic advisers.

Update II: Wolcott's apologists are still hysterically claiming that Franklin Raines never advised Obama. For the 162nd time:

• The Washington Post, 7/16/08: “In the four years since he stepped down as Fannie Mae’s chief executive under the shadow of a $6.3 billion accounting scandal, Franklin D. Raines has been quietly constructing a new life for himself. He has shaved eight points off his golf handicap, taken a corner office in Steve Case’s D.C. conglomeration of finance, entertainment and health-care companies and more recently, taken calls from Barack Obama’s presidential campaign seeking his advice on mortgage and housing policy matters.”
• The Washington Post, 8/28/08: “In the current crisis, their biggest backers have been Democrats such as Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher J. Dodd (Conn.) and House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (Mass.). Two members of Mr. Obama’s political circle, James A. Johnson and Franklin D. Raines, are former chief executives of Fannie Mae.“

Remember: these weren't lobbyists, they were running the show at Fannie Mae.

* * *
Of course, real Obama backers may need to report this post to the Missouri Truth Squad.


I've got some board games to play while I wait for the authorities to show up.

Linked by: American Digest. Thanks!

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The Atlantic hires Leni Riefenstahl for a Photo Shoot

I thought Leni passed away a few years ago but I was apparently mistaken 'cuz it appears the Atlantic hired her for a McCain photo shoot.

To say Ms. Greenberg's use of this material in this way is "unprofessional" and does the subject (John McCain) and the client (The Atlantic Monthly) a disservice is to vastly understate the case. Not only has Ms. Greenberg exposed The Atlantic to charges of bias it may well have not intended, it turns out she was engaged in dealing with Senator McCain falsely as well. She has, indeed, bragged about it to PDNPulse, a professional photographers' journal. Here, in her own words, are what she did:

When The Atlantic called Jill Greenberg, a committed Democrat, to shoot a portrait of John McCain for its October cover, she rubbed her hands with glee.....

After getting that shot, Greenberg asked McCain to “please come over here” for one more set-up before the 15-minute shoot was over. There, she had a beauty dish with a modeling light set up. “That’s what he thought he was being lit by,” Greenberg says. “But that wasn’t firing.”

What was firing was a strobe positioned below him, which cast the horror movie shadows across his face and on the wall right behind him. “He had no idea he was being lit from below,” Greenberg says. And his handlers didn’t seem to notice it either. “I guess they’re not very sophisticated,” she adds - PDNPulse: How Jill Greenberg Really Feels About John McCain

So what we see here is a candidate for President showing up at a photo-session for a cover shot for a magazine he knows is not going to give him an Obama-pass, but still making time for it. Waiting for him is the contracted representative of that magazine, Jill Greenberg, who has literally set a trap for him and then lures him into it. She mocks the McCain staff for not being "very sophisticated" about lighting when, in truth, the lighting used for a professional photo session is very complicated. There are umbrella lights, fill spots, and a raft of others being used at any given time.

I imagine that Ms. Greenberg was in full charm mode with Senator McCain at the same time she was executing her little partisan plot. Indeed, I am certain she was nothing other than sweetness and light to him. What she was doing was quite another thing, a vile thing. Simply put, it was betrayal for a cheap political frisson for her.

That's an understatement.


The Atlantic also discovered this controversial photo of John McCain taken during the Vietnam War
Vanderleun concludes with sound counsel: You see, I no longer write to editors about these frauds and outrages, I write to the advertisers. You should too.

Advertisers include: Philip Morris, P&G, Kraft Foods, Target, Microsoft, RCA, Epson, Polaroid, Dow Jones, Paramount Pictures, MGM, Sony Pictures, HBO, Showtime, Disney, Miller Beer, Anheuser Busch, Pepsi, Coca Cola, and others.

Update: Ace and Newsbusters have more on our modern-day Leni Riefenstahl.

Update II: Like Vanderleun, I did some screen-caps on Leni's website (no link provided, you can type in the URL urlself). Remember, this is what passes for reasonable commentary in the "progressive" community.




Always keep this in mind: they're liberals because they care.

Hat tip: Larwyn.

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Line o' the day: Podhoretz suggests a McCain retort on change

Via Powerline, John Podhoretz suggests a response to Sen. Obama's question where have you been for 26 years?:

Here’s where I have been. I changed campaign-finance law. I changed telecommunications law. I took on the tobacco companies when other Republicans wouldn’t. I took on the cable companies when they wouldn’t let people choose what channels they might want to watch. I saw a standoff in the Senate on confirming judges and I changed a standoff into a bipartisan agreement. I took on the earmarks and the Bridge to Nowhere and the breaks for oil companies you, Obama, voted for in 2005. And I helped change the war in Iraq from a defeat into what appears to be a victory. Where have you been for 26 years?

Errr... community organizing?

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McCain collateral, version 2.0

Via: McCain Store.

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The threat represented by Gov. Palin: actual change in Washington

The Senate, October 20, 2005

Powerful senators gather on the floor including Ted Stevens, Illinois Senator Barack Obama (D-IL), Delaware Senator Joe Biden (D-DE) and Oklahoma Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK).

Tom Coburn adds a Senate Appropriations amendment that would remove funds for Stevens' $223 million "Bridge to Nowhere." Coburn wants to send the money to New Orleans, in order to rebuild the Interstate 10 bridge, which was badly damaged by Hurricane Katrina.

An angry Stevens threatens to resign if he doesn't get his way.

Senator John McCain, an opponent of Stevens and the Bridge to Nowhere, is not in the Senate the day Coburn raises his amendment. But McCain is on record as opposing the construction of the Alaskan bridge. McCain wants to help the victims of Katrina by rebuilding the I-10 bridge.

And his relationship with Stevens on the subject of earmarks has also been fiery.

Most of the Senate is intimidated by the power of Stevens, who is the Appropriations Chairman, and the body votes 82-15 to proceed with Stevens' $223 earmark.

Senators Obama and Biden both vote with Stevens -- both vote for the Bridge to Nowhere.

* * *
Alaska, 2006

Stevens ally, former Senate colleague and current Republican Governor Frank Murkowski is challenged in his re-election bid by a young Alaska mother, former mayor of a small town and ex-chairperson of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission.

That mother, Sarah Palin, had resigned as chair over a "lack of ethics" by another commission member and state GOP chairman. She filed formal complaints against both the GOP chair and the state's attorney general. Both men are forced to resign.

Disgusted over the endemic corruption, Palin challenges Stevens' friend Murkowski and wins the governorship.

* * *
Consider these two stories.

And then ask yourself: Who represents change? Who represents a high standard of ethics and cleaning up government? And who represents the status quo?

Based upon: The Palin Threat: Real Change, by Jeffrey Lord. Via: Jerry.

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Here's a real "Change we can believe in" poster

Click on it to zoom.


Idea first seen at: Gateway Pundit and Jawa Report.

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Yes, let's compare the record of Obama with that of Palin!

Who is the real reformer? Who brings real change? Review their respective careers and you quickly arrive at a single irrefutable answer.

In 2003, Alaska Governor Frank Murkowski appointed her to the state's Oil and Gas Conservation Commission. Bear in mind that Mr. Murkowski had already served as junior U.S. Senator from Alaska for 22 years. Mr. Murkowski was junior senator for so long because Senator Ted Stevens (who was recently indicted for corruption) had lifetime tenure in the senior post.

Shortly [thereafter], Mrs. Palin commenced an ethics probe of the state's Republican party chairman, Randy Ruedrich, involving conflicts of interest with oil companies. The probe resulted in a $12,000 fine for the party chair.

She crossed party lines in 2004 to join a Democratic representative's ethics complaint over an international trade deal against the Republican Attorney General Gregg Renkes, who had ties to the Murkowski machine. Mr. Renkes resigned.

In late 2005, Mrs. Palin announced her run for Governor before then-Governor Murkowski had announced his intention to stand for re-election. In a three-way primary, Mrs. Palin got 51% to Mr. Murkowski's 19%. At the center of this campaign was a debate over competing proposals to build a natural gas pipeline across Alaska.

These columns wrote about Gov. Murkowski's smashing defeat by Mrs. Palin, noting that his pipeline proposal had been tainted by reports of sweetheart deals with energy companies. The editorial ended: "If Republicans are run out of Congress in November, one big reason will be that, like Mr. Murkowski, they have become far more comfortable running the government than reforming it." That is what happened, as disgusted GOP voters turned away from their own party and ceded control of Congress to the Democrats.

Against the odds, Mrs. Palin won that 2006 election against the state's former Democratic governor Tony Knowles. Most recently, she promoted the effort of her GOP lieutenant governor to unseat U.S. Congressman Don Young, who with Senator Stevens created the earmark that sank the GOP, the notorious "bridge to nowhere."

Experience?

...Governor Palin's credentials as an agent of reform exceed Barack Obama's. Mr. Obama rose through the Chicago Democratic machine without a peep of push-back. Alaska's politics are deeply inbred and backed by energy-industry money. Mr. Obama slid past the kind of forces that Mrs. Palin took head on. This is one reason her selection -- despite its campaign risks -- seems to have been so well received by Republicans yesterday. They are looking for a new generation of leaders.

Looking for a "tale of the tape"? Red State lines 'em up for easy comparison purposes.

Update: Not Ready '08 has the must-see video board.

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McCain - Palin: the Ticket for America

Click to donate now. I just did.

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The Palin Pick: Reaction from the Left

• Daily Kos: "There are quite a number of extremely troubling links between Sarah Palin and neopentecostal dominionists."

Won't you please donate $25, $10 or even $5 to help defeat the neopentecostal dominionists?

• Mudflats: "[Palin] is also sueing [sic] the federal government over listing the polar bears as a threatened species. The science was even compelling enough to convince the Secretery [sic] of the Interior that the bears needed to be listed."

The science was not compelling enough, however, to convince Mudflats to consult a book on diction.

• Crooks & Liars: "She’s sorta McCain’s ultra-conservative version of Obama. She’s Change he can tout against Obama’s. Maybe not so much change Alaskans fully believe in, though - her share of the vote dropped by 7.6% in 2006."

The aptly named Crooks & Liars somehow omits the fact that Palin dropped from 90% to 82.4%... hehe!

• Crooks & Liars (reprise): "Watch out, Cindy - you know from experience your man has a wandering eye."

Classy.

• The Associated Press: "She has more experience catching fish than dealing with foreign policy or national affairs."

As opposed to the "community organizer" who spent nearly all of his short time in Washington running for President.

• New Republic: "Could Sarah Palin conceivably manage [the Presidency]? Her tenure as a small-town mayor and Alaska governor has given her no foreign policy experience whatsoever. True, Obama has little foreign policy experience either, as McCain and others have pointed out again and again. But during his time in national office he has demonstrated a clear commitment to the most pressing issues in American foreign policy."

Like supporting the "General Betray-us" gang, choosing the wrong course in Iraq and giving speeches to adoring throngs in Berlin.

• Andrew Sullivan in the Atlantic: "Yes, Obama is inexperienced in foreign policy. But at least he has thought seriously about it. Do you really believe that Sarah Palin understands the distinctions between Shia and Sunni, has an opinion about the future of Pakistan, has a view of how to exploit rifts within Tehran's leadership, knows about the tricky task of securing loose nuclear weapons?"

Because over the last two years, while Barack Obama was busily running for president, he was also secretly exploiting rifts in Tehran's leadership and running a covert nuclear cleanup program.

• Ben Smith at Politico: "Barack Obama seemed to distance himself from his campaign's first, harshly critical response to the Palin pick... 'I think that...campaigns start getting these hair triggers and the statement that Joe and I put out reflects our sentiments,' he said... apparently criticizing his staff for going overboard, as he did occasionally in the primary."

Obama seems to have trouble getting good help: those pesky aides keep causing him no end of problems.

* * *
Best comment so far (Mark 5.56 on CSmonitor):

First off, anyone that thinks Sarah was chosen to capture the lost Hillary vote, please raise your hand so we can all laugh at you

We now have a GOP ticket, which has more executive experience on the bottom than the top of the DNC ticket,

Anyone wonder why she was chosen?

For starters, want to take bets that Bill Burton is looking for a job quietly in a few weeks, he left Obama high and dry on this one, they did not even have a contingency plan, left the whole team scrambling, Obama has proven that not only can he not compose a text message, but that strategy and waging campaigns are also above his pay grade. do we relay want to put someone that missed this one so badly at the table with Putin and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad?

...After months of planning, millions spent, 87,000 people standing in a 2 mile long line to see Osama in a Greek temple with fireworks, a star studded cast, and on the anniversary of the inspirational “I have a dream” speech, and 16 hours later, if you do a google news search, you get a full page of “Sarah Palin” all Obama can say, with a glazed look in his eyes while stuttering was, “she is like George Bush.”

If you are pro Obama, study up on “live birth abortion” (an issue that even makes pro-choicers squeamish) because his votes on the issue are going to be right in his face before he has even shaken off this last blow, guess who is uniquely qualified to bring this one to the forefront?

Far beyond all that, what she has done is to fire up the base, I was just voting against Obama but now I am now excited about voting McCain/Palin!

Update:
• Richard Baehr: "...let Obama and his minions say she is not qualified, with no experience. She has run a state and Obama has run nothing (but he has run very hard for office)."

• Ed Lasky: "She ran a business successfully; she has run a state successfully; she can play up the energy issue and become the czar... She even has a kind of national security credibility, governing next to Russia."

Linked by: A Blog for All. Thanks!

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The "Wisdom of Crowds" breaks down with the Palin pick...

Check out Intrade today.

Looks like crowd-sourcing got it wrong for a change.

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HuffPo attacks McCain for lack of ties to his wife's half-sister

Check out one of the 'headline posts' on Stuffington Roast, which links to an NPR article.

Cindy McCain's half-sister is angry she's been 'hidden' by the campaign.

No HuffPo commentary on Obama's ties to his half-brother Mark Ndesandjo. Ndesandjo's business in China helps promote "the flood of Chinese imports that are blamed by many Americans for destroying American jobs [and could prove] politically embarrassing."

And HuffPo is curious silent regarding Obama's relationship with his half-brother Malik Obama. ABC's Jake Tapper notes that Malik, when interviewed regarding his step-brother, stated, "I am a Muslim myself, and I don't think that my being a Muslim has got anything to do with my brother being the President of the United States." True enough. Of course, the AP photo of his school registration in Indonesia is food for thought.

Curious how the denizens of HuffPo forgot to mention the half-siblings of their actual candidate.

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Obama Campaign, Mainstream Media escape Cone of Sanity

After the Warren Forum discussion on faith and values, a tacit admission that Barack Obama lost decisively came in the form of wailing and gnashing of teeth.

[Warren] had to ask McCain [additional] questions because McCain answered his questions a lot more briefly and succinctly than did Obama... it was so bad for Obama that the kook fringe began a drumbeat Saturday night of accusing McCain of cheating! Now, McCain did not cheat. McCain was driving to the event when Obama was on, and when he got there, he was put in a secure "green-room". The rule was that the guy that went second was not allowed to hear the answers of the guy who went first, and McCain didn't.

So the Obama disinformation about McCain hearing the interview, I mean, it's priceless. We've got this little man-child that is being called The Messiah. He's got this deeply ingrained sense of entitlement, and when it doesn't go his way, it's just cry-in-the-sandbox time.

That's right. Obama's campaign and its public relations arm, the mainstream media, have accused John McCain of cheating. That's the same John McCain who has never taken an earmark and has likewise never been accused of dishonest behavior like, say, plagiarism.

He insulted Clarence Thomas... When he was asked about Clarence Thomas, "Well, I don't think he has the right exper..." He caught himself and said he wasn't qualified at the time he was elevated to that position -- and here's a guy who's been to Yale, a guy who's been to Holy Cross, who spent a year on the DC Circuit Court of Appeals. He worked for Ashcroft as assistant attorney general in the state of Missouri, and Obama is what? A street agitator with 140 days in the Senate, and Obama claims that Clarence Thomas is unqualified?

Obama vs. Clarence Thomas? Compare and contrast:

Thomas	Obama
• Missouri Attorney General's office • Attorney for Monsanto • Assistant Secretary of Education • Legislative assistant to Sen. John Danforth • Chairman of Equal Employment Opportunity Commission • Served on the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, the nation's second most prominent court • Supreme Court Justice since 1991	• "Community Organizer" • State Senator who voted "present" 130 times to avoid taking controversial positions • Less than four years experience as a Senator, who has never held a hearing of note in his subcommittee

By any reasonable measure, I'd say Thomas is a hell of a lot better prepared to be commander-in-chief than Obama.

But that's just me.

Linked by: Gateway Pundit and Newsbusters. Thanks!

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Line o' the Day: Spray some Bactin on that, Sen. Obama!

John McCain on the opponents of victory:

We rejected the audacity of hopelessness.

Fausta adds:

In spite of Obama’s grand tour efforts, 300 foreign advisors, and hundreds of reporters in tow, there’s no Europe Effect in the polls.

Deafeatism may sell in Europe, but it doesn’t sell in America.

Someone hand Obama an ice-pack. That's gonna leave a bruise.

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The difference between two speeches: watch and be amazed

Eye on the World (via Pat Dollard):

While Obama was telling the German crowd (lured by the free rock concert, free beer and free bratwurst) how much America sucks and how much he is sorry for what [the] American Military has been doing, McCain delivered [a] story that will make you feel yourself a proud compatriot of... Medal of Honor winner US Army Sgt. Roy Benavidez.

Watch and be amazed.

As an aside, this sort of coverage is why the U.S. Armed Forces choose to watch Fox News around the world, Barack.

As for deducing what Sen. Obama really thinks about our military?

Why did Barack Obama cancel his visit to see wounded U.S. soldiers yesterday at Landstuhl Medical Center in Ramstein, Germany?

According to the Politico and the Chicago Sun-Times, the Obama campaign is blaming the military, claiming that the Obama campaign was told the visit "would look too political."

But according to MSNBC, Obama and his Senate staff could have visited wounded troops; he simply couldn't bring along his campaign staff and the media.

The campaign's response? They withdrew the request to visit the troops. The official said "We didn't know why" the request to visit the wounded troops was withdrawn. "He (Obama) was more than welcome. We were all ready for him."

If he can't use them as props, it seems Barack Obama has little use
for the military. Come to think if it, that is roughly how they factor
into his feckless foreign policy plans as well.

Obama, to his credit, did have time to thank some of the people protecting him.

They just happened to be Germans, not wounded Americans.

Linked by: The Anchoress. Thanks! Hat tip: Larwyn

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NY Times rejects McCain's editorial: says he hasn't 'earned' it

An op-ed written by GOP nominee John McCain was rejected by the New York Times for publication. This occurred only a week after the paper published an essay written by presumptive Democratic nominee, Barack Obama. In a statement released today, Times Opinion Page Editor David Shipley explained the paper's rationale.

It would be terrific to have an article from Senator McCain. However, we feel McCain's perspective in this piece is not as open as Senator Obama's. Nor has McCain earned the right to an automatic slot on our op-ed page through his service to the community the way the Obama has.

Remember, McCain never served as a community organizer. He did not serve his local citizenry as a state senator. And he never built grass-roots support organizations.

Barack Obama is a candidate who espouses inclusion, tolerance, and humility.

Furthermore, the presumptive Democratic nominee has been consistently right on the major issues; which is not the case for Senator McCain. We'd like McCain to take responsibility for his actions including terrorizing innocent civilians.

In conclusion, I'm not going to be able to accept this piece as currently written. I’d be pleased, though, to look at another draft once Senator McCain has addressed these issues.

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A distinct lack of media outrage over tasteless McCain cartoon

Remember the firestorm of media controversy that erupted with the publication of the New Yorker's recent cover story on Barack Obama?

Newsbusters' Tom Blumer noted a Rolling Stone cartoon that is arguably more tasteless (less tasteful?) depicting McCain's political opponents -- with decidedly Asian features -- torturing him NVA-style.

The cartoon accompanied a ridiculously partisan Matt Taibbi commentary.

Full Metal McCain - Haunted by the ghosts of Vietnam, the one-time maverick has transformed himself into just another liberal-bashing fearmonger

...here in the Big Easy, John McCain has chosen this moment to mount his first general-election attack against the Great Satanic Liberal Enemy — who, as luck would have it, turns out to be a Negro intellectual from Harvard who's never served in the military. And this is supposed to be a bad year for Republicans?...

No media outcry. No carping or complaining from the candidate. Just another day at the office for the GOP.

Hat tip: Rants & Refinements

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Ad o' the day

Spotted this at Flopping Aces:

That's a damn good ad.

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Wesley Clark: the Keith Olbermann of failed politicians

Remember Wesley Clark's comments denigrating John McCain's service about a week ago?

Gen. Wesley Clark, acting as a surrogate for Barack Obama’s campaign, invoked John McCain’s military service against him in one of the more personal attacks on the Republican presidential nominee this election cycle... Clark said that McCain lacked the executive experience necessary to be president, calling him “untested and untried” on CBS’ “Face the Nation.” And in saying so, he took a few swipes at McCain’s military service.

...he hasn't held executive responsibility. That large squadron in the Navy that he commanded — that wasn't a wartime squadron,” Clark said.

“I don’t think getting in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to become president.”

Wesley Clark thinks that the Democratic candidate is more qualified than John McCain. Is that because of Barack Obama's incredible success as a state senator and as a "community organizer"?

Hold up. Let's rewind just a few months.

[Wesley Clark argues] that Hillary Clinton does have the right experience. That’s right. Wesley Clark claims that the type of military experience that John McCain has - 22 years in the Navy completing his career as a field grade officer, plus more than two decades on the Senate Armed Services Committee - doesn’t qualify him to be commander in chief of the U.S. Armed Forces. He goes on to explain how Hillary’s experience better qualifies her. Really. I am not making this up.

Wes Clark is arguing that eight years as first lady beats McCain. He states her time as First Lady “plus her years in the Senate” uniquely qualify her. But wait, John McCain has three times as many years in the Senate as Hillary so that part of her resume is less qualifying than that of McCain. So it must be her time as first lady that gives her the experience that trumps McCain’s more than two decades as a Naval Officer and experience as a combat veteran. Really.

Really.

Wesley Clark is almost as credible in the field of politics as Josef Stalin. Only Clark's personality isn't as bubbly.

Update: Jackalope has more on the Democratic war on the military.

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Now even you can be a member of the mainstream media!

SaysMe provides a platform for individuals to not only create ads suitable for television... but to get them placed on major channels as well.

Best of all, as least for readers of this blog: they're having trouble coming up with conservative content, so you'll get extra-special attention.

We are really looking for conservative content that is Pro-McCain... We are also seeking content about conservative issues. It seems there is a shortage of material out in the viral video sphere, and we would love to find some solid Pro-McCain content that is independently produced. It is really important to us to have good representation of all sides. If you have other bloggers that you can share this with, it will certainly help us to balance out the onslaught of the Youbama video campaign.

Click on the banner ad to check it out and -- if you like what you see -- get started.

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The speech John McCain must give

Using Charles Krauthammer's counsel:

The choice could not be more clearly drawn. The Democrats' one objective in Iraq is withdrawal. McCain's one objective is victory.

McCain's case is not hard to make. Iraq is a three-front war -- against Sunni al-Qaida, against Shiite militias and against Iranian hegemony -- and we are winning on every front:

-- We did not go into Iraq to fight al-Qaida. The war had other purposes. But al-Qaida chose to turn it into the central front in its war against America. That choice turned into an al-Qaida fiasco: al-Qaida in Iraq is on the run and in the midst of humiliating defeat.

-- As for the Shiite extremists, the Mahdi Army is isolated and at its weakest point in years.

-- Its sponsor, Iran, has suffered major setbacks, not just in Basra, but in Iraqi public opinion, which has rallied to the Maliki government and against Iranian interference through its Sadrist proxy.

Even the most expansive objective -- establishing a representative government that is an ally against jihadists, both Sunni and Shiite -- is within sight.

Obama and the Democrats would forfeit every one of these successes to a declared policy of fixed and unconditional withdrawal. If McCain cannot take to the American people the case for the folly of that policy, he will not be President. Nor should he be.

Give the speech, senator. Give it now.

It might go something like this.

Wedded to a policy of defeat, my opponent has refused to visit Iraq for over two years.

He talks about "change". But, for him, it's just an empty phrase. Just another campaign slogan.

Because nothing embodies change better than Iraq since the Surge.

Its government: strengthened; its army: victorious; and unification: imminent.

Best of all, thanks to the outstanding work of our U.S. military, led by Gen. Petraeus, Al Qaeda has been smashed.

A central goal has been achieved as Al Qaeda made Iraq the battlefield on which it decided to fight... and die.

But Obama is stuck in the policies of the past.

He won't listen to Gen. Petraeus. And he won't admit the hard-fought victory of our troops.

Worst of all, he won't... change.

Ironic, eh?

I'll forego any royalties, Senator McCain. Feel free to rip the speech off.

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