Friday McBush Bashing

McCain had a bad week.

• Carpetbagger, McCain’s attacks get more reckless, less responsible and (a few days later) Doubling down on the surge
• Kos, McCain's Excitement Deficit
• Carpetbagger, McCain surrogate: Muslims are ‘going to kill us’
• Carpetbagger, John McCain’s loose lips
• Eye on Miami, McCain/Gramm = Bush – Gramm… by gimleteye
• TPM, Keep'em In the Attic (McCain tryhing to hide Gramm, not ignore him)
• Crooks & Liars, McCain campaign triangulates, takes on Obama and Bush on Iraq
• Carpetbagger, McCain declares ‘we have succeeded’ in Iraq
• Think Progress, McCain Aide Scheunemann Linked To Bush Library ‘Cash For Access’ Scandal
• Frank Rich, It’s the Economic Stupidity, Stupid
• Carpetbagger, Maliki’s game-changer; GOP says, ‘We’re f**ked’. Related, TMP, on McCain's reaction to the news from Iraq: Pretty Weak. And a follow-up after Maliki tried to backpeddle on his endorsement of Obama's withdrawal plan: Nice Try.
• THIS IS INCREDIBLE: Crooks & Liars Olbermann highlights McCain’s crude Gorilla joke. It’s McCain Being Authentic
• Kos, 17 Sides Of Every Issue
• Aptly named Crooks & Liars, The Chris Matthews Show: Why The White House REALLY Wants McCain To Win (hint: the trail is fresh)
• Huffpo, New York Times Rejects McCain Rebuttal To Obama Op-Ed — because it didn't say anything…
• Kos, McCain v Reality: Reality, 2. McCain, 0.
• This is really pathetic: see Carpetbagger, Idiocy Watch: McCain blames Obama for high gas prices in new ad; St. Petersburg (FL) Times Online, PolitiFact on McCain drilling ad: “FALSE”
• How many serious geographic/geo-political errors does a candidate get to make before the press decides that it actually means something? Crooks & Liars, Foreign Policy Expert McCain: “Iraq-Pakistan Border” Extremely Dangerous. Try to find that border. Just try.
• Majikthise, McCain's senior foreign policy advisor tied to global petro-influence peddling
• Greenwald, McCain campaign adopts Bush's respect for free expression
• WashPo, Young Republicans, Blue About the Prospects Ahead
• Probably the quote of the week:
  

  Mr. McCain’s comments were mild compared with the bleak mood and frustration on the part of his advisers, who have taken to referring to Mr. Obama sarcastically as “The One” and railing against the large amount of coverage Mr. Obama is receiving compared with Mr. McCain.

  Source: NYT, McCain, at Bush Home, Faults Obama on War Plan. And see also NYT, Obama Overseas! In Presidential Mode! Back Home, It’s McCain in a Golf Cart.
  

  
  

  Flop sweat?

• Even Dowd is being (by her standards) nice to Obama, Is “The One” Cocky or Commander in Chiefy?
• McCain tries the Dolchstoßlegende line, McCain abandons decency, sense of propriety
• And Joe Klein — Joe Klein — calls it The McCain Meltdown
• Kos has a super-snarky McCain quiz at Cheers and Jeers: Wednesday
• Mark Nickolas' Blog, McCain Made Progress In Only 1 of 11 States In June Where He Spent $16 Million In Ads
• Carpetbagger, No attack too vile — McCain goes after Obama’s Holocaust remarks

• Carpetbagger, McCain’s confusion on Iraq goes from embarrassing to scandalous; see also Crooks & Liars, McCain Falsely Credits The Surge For Catalyzing Anbar Awakening
• Even Howie Kurtz — Howie Kurtz??? — is piling on, see Is McCain's Age Showing? Tongues Wag Over Flubs
• Via the Carpetbagger, McCain seems to have found a new issue with which to hang himself: Time to start rationing veterans’ healthcare?
• TampaBay.com, FL Poll: Obama 46%; McCain 45%. Even Florida? Weren't we supposed to be one of the states where only Clinton had a chance?
• Another day, another gaffe: HuffPo, Anbar Shiek Cited By McCain Was Assassinated Last Year
• ThinkProgress, After Touting Drilling’s ‘Safety,’ McCain Cancels Gulf Of Mexico Oil Rig Event Because Of The ‘Weather’
• OK, this one is really too funny: TPM, Annals of Questionable Messaging
• Daily Kos, McCain deserves more media coverage: complete with top ten stories we should here more about.
• Jason Furman, McCain's tax plans don't add up
• Bad luck: McCain was going to do a photo-op on an oil rig to demonstrate his call for more drilling offshore — it's so safe, you know — but then had to call it off due to 'weather'…or maybe this: Spill Contaminates Water Supply Before McCain Oil Rig Visit
• MSNBC, McCain questions speech, forgets Canada: McCain attacks Obama for speaking in Germany (“I would rather speak at a rally or a political gathering any place outside of the country after I am president of the United States,” apparently forgetting his own political speech in Canada a short time ago.)