McCain tells Letterman: “We can get Bin Ladin”

John McCain returns to the Late Show with David Letterman last night for the first time since he short noticed cancelled on the comic to return to DC in the wake of the economic crisis…Is it just me or did Letterman still seem a little bitter about the cancellation?

Anyways, the interview turned from comedy to serious at about the 6:45 mark on the video. McCain told Letterman he knows how to get Osama Bin Ladin.

He said we need more human intelligence and not rely on intelligence solely from satellites. It is true, we have the best technology and satellite capabilities to gather intelligence, but we lack the human intelligence of being able to infiltrate these groups and villages and learn the cultures and gather information.

In other words we need more spies…it is just one more thing that John McCain is absolutely right on folks.

The Last Chance Saloon for John McCain Tonight

Tonight is the night, the last chance for John McCain to get it right. The last debate and showdown between the Maverick and that guy for Ch-ch-change! OK…so it is really not a debate; it is more like a boring joint press conference.

Here is a thought. How about we ditch the moderator, give these two guys a microphone and tell them “You have 90 minutes to argue this thing out. Go!

Now that would be a debate!

Back to reality…McCain has to put the boxing gloves on tonight and fight. If he doesn’t it is over for him. I thought it was over for him after the last debate, but ACORN and a man named Bill Ayers has surfaced. (It’s about damn time!!!)

McCain needs to focus on those issues. He should also point out that Obama can’t give tax cuts to 95 percent of Americans when 45 percent of Americans don’t pay income taxes. What Obama is really proposing is a giant welfare program that will cost those paying taxes almost 100 million a year. Those who will pay for this are those who write a lot of people’s paychecks. Do you think they will take the hit and continue writing paychecks or do you think some of those paychecks may disappear?

Of course I doubt McCain will come out swinging like the old fighter pilot should. Afterall it was just a few days ago he praised Obama by saying "I have to tell you he is a decent person and a person that you do not have to be scared of as president of the United States," on the campaign trail. It was responded with booos from the crowd.

Perhaps, McCain has learned from that experience. We should know about 15 to 20 minutes into the debate tonight. If he doesn’t take a swing and put Obama on the defensive I am changing the channel.

It’s All Over “My Friends”

I hope you are all ready for Barack Obama! Are you people prepared to have a socialist president? An even bigger government that will have more control in how you live your life, your healthcare, your retirement, your savings and investments, taxes and your children’s education.

Unfortunately, a lot of Americans see nothing wrong with this and are perfectly fine with it. They believe this country is great because of government, and government is the answer to all their problems. They are sending Barack Obama to the White House to solve all our problems. I am convinced it is all over. John McCain has lost. It is all over ‘my friends.”

John McCain did not do what he had to do in the debate Tuesday night. The fact of the matter is both candidates where off on Tuesday making it one of the most boring debates I have ever seen.

I think most people have made up their minds by now and there aren’t going to be to many viewers watching the upcoming last debate. It will mainly be political junkies like myself that tune in. This was it. This was McCain’s last chance to seize the moment, and he just didn’t do it.

It was not the debate alone that cost him the election. I truly feel the pivotal point where McCain blew the election was the way he handled the whole economic bailout crisis and then voting for the bailout. Where was the maverick, and how about some leadership to stand up against the Washington insiders and say this bill in no good? Instead McCain just goes with the flow.

And let’s face it, his campaign has been swirling down the toilet ever since.

McCain has lost this election because he was unable to convince enough people he wants less government in their lives (the conservative base) and he couldn’t convince enough people he wants more government in their life (socialist republicrats, or RINOs).

Then again this may be good news for all you McCainiacs. I was also convinced Hilary Clinton was going to win the Democratic primary.

Oh and John, loose the “My friends” phrase. I swear if I hear you say it one more time I am going to loose my lunch!

Big T's Suggested Reading and Viewing from around the Web

The media doesn’t seem to like a “sarcastic” John McCain… Well…they would really like me then. I LOVE sarcasm!

It looks like John McCain’s campaign is giving up on winning Michigan…I don’t care much for giving up!

For those of you taking bets there is a one in four chance John McCain would die in office in a second term as president…hmmm. He has to win a first term first.

RNC Coverage Day 4: McCain Speaks.

Overall it was a good speech I thought it was very Reaganisque…not so much in the delivery, but in the message. It is what you say, not how you say it.

We heard a lot about smaller government, lower taxes and individualism. Here are a few excerpts from his speech I liked.

“We were elected to change Washington, and we let Washington change us.”

“We believe in low taxes; spending discipline, and open markets. We believe in rewarding hard work and risk takers and letting people keep the fruits of their labor.”

“I will keep taxes low and cut them where I can. My opponent will raise them. I will open new markets to our goods and services. My opponent will close them. I will cut government spending. He will increase it.”

“His plan will force small businesses to cut jobs, reduce wages, and force families into a government run health care system where a bureaucrat stands between you and your doctor.”

“We will drill new wells offshore, and we'll drill them now.”

“My grandfather came home from that same war exhausted from the burdens he had borne, and died the next day. In Vietnam, where I formed the closest friendships of my life, some of those friends never came home with me. I hate war. It is terrible beyond imagination.”

“Russia's leaders, rich with oil wealth and corrupt with power, have rejected democratic ideals and the obligations of a responsible power. They invaded a small, democratic neighbor to gain more control over the world's oil supply, intimidate other neighbors, and further their ambitions of reassembling the Russian empire.”

“I'm not running for president because I think I'm blessed with such personal greatness that history has anointed me to save our country in its hour of need. My country saved me. My country saved me, and I cannot forget it. And I will fight for her for as long as I draw breath, so help me God.”

McCain Addresses Government Education

This was one of my favorite moments of the night. The teacher’s unions could not have been happy.

“Education is the civil rights issue of this century. Equal access to public education has been gained. But what is the value of access to a failing school? We need to shake up failed school bureaucracies with competition, empower parents with choice, remove barriers to qualified instructors, attract and reward good teachers, and help bad teachers find another line of work.”

“When a public school fails to meet its obligations to students, parents deserve a choice in the education of their children. And I intend to give it to them. Some may choose a better public school. Some may choose a private one. Many will choose a charter school. But they will have that choice and their children will have that opportunity.”

“Senator Obama wants our schools to answer to unions and entrenched bureaucracies. I want schools to answer to parents and students. And when I'm President, they will.”

Liberals Just Don’t Get It. It’s Not About His Military Service.

John McCain also shared his military and POW experience with the country last night. It was a compelling story that I am sure must have been extremely hard to share, but it is an important story that America needs to hear.

I was surprised to learn the North Vietnamese had broke McCain. I was unaware of that. I thought he hung strong until he came home. I was moved by this story and nearly had tears in my eyes.

It was just a few days ago Jimmy Carter told us McCain was milking his POW experience for all it was worth. This morning I heard a commentator ask the question: Does John McCain’s POW experience matter? Does it somehow make him more qualified to be president? Why is this something I should consider when I cast my vote? Because I don’t think it should matter. I think his military and POW experience is irrelevant to be president.

Maybe it is irrelevant, but liberals miss the point. McCain’s story was not about his military or POW experience. It was about his character. It was about selfless service. It was about finding a greater purpose in life than yourself. It was about always, no matter the situation you find yourself, putting your country first. Even if country first means great suffering unto yourself.

Here is how McCain told the story. I want you to notice how McCain went from a person who felt there was no greater cause than himself to fighting for a cause greater than himself…America.

On an October morning, in the Gulf of Tonkin, I prepared for my 23rd mission over North Vietnam. I hadn't any worry I wouldn't come back safe and sound. I thought I was tougher than anyone. I was pretty independent then, too. I liked to bend a few rules, and pick a few fights for the fun of it. But I did it for my own pleasure; my own pride. I didn't think there was a cause more important than me.

Then I found myself falling toward the middle of a small lake in the city of Hanoi, with two broken arms, a broken leg, and an angry crowd waiting to greet me. I was dumped in a dark cell, and left to die. I didn't feel so tough anymore. When they discovered my father was an admiral, they took me to a hospital. They couldn't set my bones properly, so they just slapped a cast on me. When I didn't get better, and was down to about a hundred pounds, they put me in a cell with two other Americans. I couldn't do anything. I couldn't even feed myself. They did it for me. I was beginning to learn the limits of my selfish independence. Those men saved my life.

I was in solitary confinement when my captors offered to release me. I knew why. If I went home, they would use it as propaganda to demoralize my fellow prisoners. Our Code said we could only go home in the order of our capture, and there were men who had been shot down before me. I thought about it, though. I wasn't in great shape, and I missed everything about America. But I turned it down.

A lot of prisoners had it worse than I did. I'd been mistreated before, but not as badly as others. I always liked to strut a little after I'd been roughed up to show the other guys I was tough enough to take it. But after I turned down their offer, they worked me over harder than they ever had before. For a long time. And they broke me.

When they brought me back to my cell, I was hurt and ashamed, and I didn't know how I could face my fellow prisoners. The good man in the cell next door, my friend, Bob Craner, saved me. Through taps on a wall he told me I had fought as hard as I could. No man can always stand alone. And then he told me to get back up and fight again for our country and for the men I had the honor to serve with. Because every day they fought for me.

I fell in love with my country when I was a prisoner in someone else's. I loved it not just for the many comforts of life here. I loved it for its decency; for its faith in the wisdom, justice and goodness of its people. I loved it because it was not just a place, but an idea, a cause worth fighting for. I was never the same again. I wasn't my own man anymore. I was my country's.

You see to John McCain “Country First” is not just some fancy campaign motto; it is a way of life. It is how McCain has lived his life.

Liberals miss this point, because they don’t comprehend it. To them it is always about them and their cause. It is liberalism first…or their own selfish gratification of acquiring power.

This just in: Peggy Noonan tries to explain her remarks, and says that what's "over" is not McCain's campaign, but that what's over is the truth to the belief that "whatever the base of the Republican party thinks is what America thinks." OK…maybe, but I still have my doubts.

Islamic Jihadists have placed a 50,000-dollar bounty on John McCain’s spiritual advisor, Pastor Rod Parsley’s head.

They’re Trying to Write Her Off the Ticket, It’s disrespectful to women and down right sexist!

The leftist media and liberals are running scared over Sarah Palin. They are attacking her on anything they can find! The New York Times actually ran a story questioning whether a mother of five should be working at all! Wow…is that fair? Did anyone ever question a man on whether he could be a father and hold a job?

Then we have this so-called “troopergate” thing, which is going nowhere. Palin called the investigation of her own actions and the officers who lost their jobs are even saying she had no role.

These attacks are disgraceful. They are disrespectful to women and completely sexist.

Now we have the media asking if John McCain properly vetted their VP pick. Come on folks. Is this the best they can do?

It is truly amazing; it took three days for the media to unleash a non-stop attack on this woman and her family. This same media won’t even ask Barack Obama why he was associated with an unrepentant terrorist named William Ayers, or why he sat in a pew of a church that preached hate and discontent toward America for more than 20 years.

The problem with Sarah Palin is she is not a member of the DC political establishment. She is a member of the middle-America crowd. She has a family that probably reminds you of your family or the one that lives next door.

This lady scares the media. They know she is a winner, and they’re going to do anything they can to try and write her off the ticket. They want John McCain to drop her from the ticket.

I am noticing a lot more of this. Once Hillary Clinton supporter now backing John McCain because the Democrat Party is being taken over by the moveon.org types.

McCain’s VP Pick is Genius!

John McCain has picked former Miss Alaska and current Governor of Alaska Sarah Palin as his VP running mate. This is a great pick. I love this pick. It is a solid pick, it is bold and it’s just downright genius!

It is genius because unlike what the media and others wanted or expected McCain went with a pro-life conservative with real true conservative values instead of a pro-choice moderate. Palin has the ability to solidify the conservative base of the Republican Party that has felt left out. People like myself, and to paraphrase Michelle Obama a little bit, for the first time in years I am proud to be a Republican. I believe by the end of the Republican National Convention people will realize who she is, and it will energize and unify the base of this party. A moderate choice would not have done that.

In another way it is genius is because McCain stole the press from Barack Obama’s speech last night. No one is talking about Obama today. It is all McCain and Palin! If Mitt Romney had been the choice we would not have had this kind of buzz today, and this buzz is going to carry all the way through the weekend leading into the convention.

This choice is also genius because no one expected it. I assure you the Obama campaign has been working for all week coming up with different possibilities for McCain’s VP and how to counter it after the announcement. They had nothing on Palin. They were caught off guard. In fact, about the only thing they could come up with for a statement was McCain picked someone who could be a heart beat away from the White House with no foreign policy experience… What??? How about there heartbeat has no foreign policy experience…

Palin Lives Out Her Conservative Values

Palin is a pro-life Christian conservative. She is a proud wife and the proud mother of five kids and has lived out her pro-life principles. When faced with the knowledge of her last child having down syndrome before birth, she elected to have the baby anyway. She has an A+ rating from the NRA, and is also a lifetime member and an avid hunter. Palin is not only a strong supporter of the war in Iraq, but has a son in the military about to deploy to Iraq. This woman is real, real life stories from a real life mom with real life experiences all based on values and principles.

She is also not afraid to fight members of her own party, filing complaints against the chairman of the party when she found things to be unethical. She has stood up against earmark spending and fought Ted Stevens over the “bridge to nowhere” project in Alaska.

More Executive Experience Than Obama

Of course the Obama campaign is trying to portray Palin as having less experience than him, and the media is following suit. The reality is Palin is more experienced and more qualified than Obama.

Palin has more executive experience than Obama. She has run a city, state and a business. She has signed and vetoed legislation. She has taken on corruption in her own party…and won. She has administered a successful budget and is the commander in chief of the Alaskan National Guard.

Obama turned a blind eye to political corruption in Chicago and to my recollection has never proposed one piece of legislation in his short Senate career.

Jimmy Carter is a Real Jerk

I have never agreed with Jimmy Carter on much and believe that he is one of the worst presidents this country has ever seen, but I always thought he had class and was a genuinely good guy…until now.

Carter has gone on the attack accusing John McCain of “milking every possible drop of advantage” from his POW time in Vietnam. Is he serious?

If anything John McCain has down played his POW experience and can you blame him. I am sure some of the memories are not all that pleasant from his POW days.

Where was Jimmy Carter’s criticism during the last presidential election? Kerry could not go half an hour without reminding us he served in Vietnam.

Even if John McCain is “milking it for every possible drop of advantage,” I say why not? After all, it is a pretty compelling story and a significant event that helps explain who McCain is today.

What would Carter know about it anyway? Carter was farming and eating peanuts trying to make a decision whether or not to run for governor in Georgia while John McCain was in being tortured for five and a half years.

Jimmy Carter should zip it and go back to the peanut farm he came from in Georgia. Just a tasteless disgraceful act.

Looks like some Hillary supporters are joining the McCain camp…that is bad news for Obama.

Perhaps He is the Messiah and He is Bringing the Storm!

I mentioned this yesterday. Hurricane Gustav is coming, and its timing could not be worse for John McCain. In fact, New Orleans says they could start evacuations tomorrow afternoon. The same time McCain plans to make his VP announcement.

The storm was projected to hit Sunday night, but now looks like it will hit New Orleans late Monday or early Tuesday morning. It is still a ways out and anything could happen I suppose. I wonder if Democrats will give credit to Barack Obama, the messiah for bringing this storm to rain on the Republicans parade.

My John McCain VP list

There is no doubt the media has pinned Mitt Romney as the choice John McCain will make to accompany him on the ticket, but I don’t think that is going to happen. Here is why it won’t be Romney.

Although Romney picked up momentum toward the end of the primary and looks like he may energize the base of the party, It was more of an anti-McCain sentiment driving Romney to the front rather than a Romney is our guy momentum. Plus McCain and Romney have never seemed to like each other much. So it is really hard for me to see McCain offer him the job, although politics has made stranger bedfellows in the past.

I think John McCain will go with Rudy Giuliani. One reason I think this is the carpet was laid out the day Giuliani endorsed McCain after dropping out of the primary. If you will remember McCain and Giuliani never talked so highly of each other.

Giuliani would be an excellent choice, but not the best. Although he is a moderate and pro choice, he is also tough on crime and national security. America seems to generally like him as well. I also think Giuliani might help steal some moderate Hillary Clinton supporters from Obama.

What he will not do is unite the die-hard libertarian and conservative base of the party, but it may not matter, because they have no other choice but to fall in line or let Obama win.

Personally, I would love to see John McCain choose North Carolina Sen. Elizabeth Dole. Dole would be a thorn in the Obama’s campaign’s side. She is well known. She doesn’t have much controversy behind her, and she can rally the base of the party.

She has accomplished more in her life than Hillary Clinton and may be able to capture some of those I am voting for Hillary because she is a woman voter.

Who else do I like:

Governor of Mississippi and former RNC Chairman Haley Barbour: He is very conservative and did an excellent job in the aftermath of Katrina.

Governor of Minnesota Tim Pawlenty: Minnesota is going to be a battle ground state this year. McCain actually has a chance to win there. Pawlenty is young, conservative, and endorsed McCain early in the primary.

Tennessee Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn: She is highly attractive with a great personality and very conservative. She has a 97 percent lifetime American Conservative Union rating. She has only been in office since 2002, but that still makes her more experienced than Barack Obama. Just like Dole, she would motivate the base and reach out to woman voters. However she doesn’t have the same name recognition as Dole.

Texas Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison: She is also more accomplished than Hillary Clinton and has a lifetime ACU rating of 90.4 percent. Although she has been known not to be particularly conservative on immigration. That could be a problem.

The democrats must think Mitt Romney is going to be the VP running mate for McCain. God, I hope not! The ticket is already bad enough. I will give you my picks of who I would like to see tomorrow.

John McCain has picked up the ever so important endorsement from reggae singer Daddy Yankee, best known for his song “Gasolina.”

Here is an article that says racism is the only reason McCain might beat Barack Obama. I am so sick of these articles…