McCain aide apologizes for terror remark

Of COURSE the Obama camp pounced! Their brand of political opportunism adds a fresh new kind of smug moral posturing on top of the same old disingenuousness that has characterized political campaigns since the beginning of time.

Another aide lets the cat out of the bag! Sure been a lot of 'em this election.

John McCain is the cat lady from the Simpsons. Jeeeeeeez. Black is a smart, smart man -- I cannot believe he would let this slip.

Let me guess: first comment by a Republican & second by a Democrat. East is East; West is West & never the twain shall meet.

The author missed the real story here. Millions of Americans believe that the World Trade Towers were brought down by controlled demolition, which implies an inside job. No steel frame buildings in all of history have collapsed due to fire except for the THREE on Sept 11th, however the official story says it was fire that caused the collapses. Yes, three....world trade tower #7 also collapsed and it was not hit by a plane. All three buildings collapsed at FREE FALL SPEED thru the path of MOST RESISTANCE. This defys the law of physics unless explosives were used to bring them down. Towers 1 and 2 PULVERIZED into small tiny chucks of concrete. To find out for yourself-- listen to the daily 911Truth Teachin on NO LIES RADIO. http://noliesradio.org

I don't think this campaign has been or will be nasty. I think this campaign is the biggest exercise in stupidity this Nation has ever seen. I would like the candidates to stand on their own merit and worth instead of competing as to who can make the least number of gaffes, and I would also like the American people to ignore the gaffes, and focus on the merits (or the shortcomings) of the candidates. But, I don't have much hope for getting what I want.

Too bad this aide gets pounced upon for indiscreetly revealing the conventional political wisdom - undoubtedly known to McCain himself too, although he can't talk about it as it would seem to be too self-serving. It's the same kind of setup that served George Bush, Dick Cheney, and the neocons so well, a false flag operation that they at least condoned if not actively abetted. Conventional political wisdom also specifies that they can't get away with it twice. Too many people in the remaining loyal US military are aware of what went on before, and they will not allow it again.
So the aide's comments amount to just wishful thinking for the neocons, now behind the front man du jour, John Sidney McCain.

It's clear that the subject of terrorism on US soil is an issue they commonly discussed at the top of the McCain campaign. They will no doubt thank al Queda for another September 11 type attack as it would help galvanize public opinion in their favor much like it did for George Bush. Just shaow that they have the same mindset. Bush's failed policies and the dire straight this country faces is proof that we need change. Real change, the kind that only Obama can make possible.

#1 You obviously VOTED FOR BUSH, and will never be able to reconcile with yourself on this. Therefore, projecting your anger onto Obama is not only a great escape into denial, it also makes you feel right.

McCain is a laughable choice after what we've been through as individuals, and as citizens of the United States.

We can only hope that this wacko and his big oil hoods don't get us into WWIII before January '09.

Never thought I'd wake up, in my own country, every stinkin' morning with a knot in my stomach, and a prayer on my lips to just help us get through the remainder of a presidency.

Black's record of lobbying clients will turn you blind with rage.........GOOGLE IT!

Peace to all, and may we survive this entire nightmare that is now our reality via W.

Get a life RickP...you don't know people fixing politics when you see it. Too bad for you come Novemeber...(even though you will benefit and never admit it)

Obama '08

I'll hold off on criticizing McCain for this unless there is another attack on US soil.

If something that "convenient" for him actually happens right before the election, he'll have a lot to answer for.

Interesting theory by Allan Rees (comment #5): any takers?

Gaffe or not, I am not sure an additional domestic terrorist attack would help any Republican's prospects-more likely it would underscore the failure of current US domestic and foreign policy to understand or contain, never mind win, the current struggle against radical fundamentalism and its impact on free socities. The failure of these policies sits squarely on the sloping shoulders of Bush II et al., and no one look more like Bush these days than John McCain.

McCain's response in such a situation: "we need to stay the course."

The appropriate rebuttal, to paraphrase Einstein: " you can't solve problems by using the same thinking you did to create them."

The GOP's record for the past 8 years speaks for itself. No gaffes, no spin needed.

Anyone who has ever been mixed up in a campaign knows that campaign professionals (really they are just a specialization of marketing) think about event, statement, or action in terms of how it will affect their marketing efforts. If someone had asked Mr. Black what he thought about his own death in the same context, he wouild have replied that McCain would get a bump in the polls out of sympathy, and he would be correct. This doesn't mean that he hasn't considered his life in a larger context, he's just answering the question that was really being asked in a straightfoward and honest way. Lighten up everybody.

I cannot wait for Obama to "finish the fight against al Qaeda"... he is just the guy to do it. Not.

is it really a suprise to anyone that McCain and/or his advisors feel that a terrorist attack would be to his benefit? Bush got re-elected based on the fear of such an attack. Republicans govern through fear and ignorance, it's really that simple.

I don't get it. The 9/11 attack occurred during a Republican administration. So how are the Republicans better at preserving our nation's security?

I think McCain is right in saying that another attack would not help him. One of the things Bush and the Republicans have going for them is that there hasn't been another Sept 11. If there is another attack before Bush leaves office, then it can be said that all of the tactics he's employed to protect the US since Sept 11 were ineffective. How is that a good thing for Republicans?

"Of COURSE the Obama camp pounced! Their brand of political opportunism adds a fresh new kind of smug moral posturing on top of the same old disingenuousness that has characterized political campaigns since the beginning of time."

^^ ah, and vis-a-vis!

Real change, the kind that only Obama can make? Are you kidding me? He said he would take public financing, but now has flip flopped on that! Special interest will own him and McCain by the time the nation decides which one to put in the office!

ALL POLITICIANS TELL YOU WHAT YOU WANT TO HEAR, THEN DO WHAT THE SPECIAL INTEREST AND BIG MONEY TELL THEM, WHEN THEY GET INSIDE THE BELTWAY. You are naive if you believe otherwise!

http://www.usnews.com/blogs/erbe/2008/6/23/barack-obama-serial-flip-flopper.html

No need to apologize. What Black said is true.

...just like Obama and the Dems (Libs) benefit from a poor economy with a Republican at the helm (although the House and Senate are under their control).

Conspiracy theorist are idiots. Plain and simple.

Obama will clean the white house of the "same ole same ole". Yes, I am sure he will bring his own style of baggage, but at least it will be yournger, fresher and not tainted by the little shrub! McCain is just an old shrubite who is liberal when it serves him and conservative when it serves him better.

American Law, Morals and Ideals has been raped and pillaged by our current , theiving, greedy REPUBS. It is time to clean houses ... and the white one especially. Obama will win and McCain will lose! Repubs are very afraid and spreading rumors out of fear!

I'll take "smug moral posturing" any day over asinine and clueless remarks by a major candidate's top political operative. Charlie, it is time to pack it in and return to your K Street lobbying firm.

I'm interested in the Physics education that Allan in post 5 has had. I don't recall any additional explosions indicating the use of explosives on the horrific day when those towers were brought down. As well, this article had very little to do with 9/11 so I don't understand why you would say the author "missed the real story..." I think you are the one who missed the story and decided to preach your paranoia.

Republicans and Democrats alike are opportunistic and feed off of comments like Charlie's. This week it is Mr. Black. Next week it will be an Obama aide. I don't think it is fair to hold either accountable for others' actions and comments. Stick to the candidates themselves, their ideas, and their beliefs. All these peripheral attacks are detracting from the true issues at hand.

About Black's comments in Fortune magazine about how a terrorist attack on America would be to McCain's advantage? One can never speculate enough about what would have happened--what Republican operatives would have said and done--had Obama or any of his top advisers had said something like that. Sen. McCain was being disingenuous in his response. He said it was untrue; yet he and Black put out an insincere semi-apology. He talked about context, suggesting that the media took Black's words out of context. As well, McCain said he can't imagine why Black would say such a thing (which he said wasn't true). In reality, McCain's had capitalized on such events before--i.e. the assassination of Benazir Bhutto which he saw as an opportunity to showcase his Commander-in-Chief qualities. Therefore, Black was simply expressing the thinking within the McCain campaign. The only problem for Black and McCain this time: they were caught with their pants down. The media is always trying to give cover to McCain--suggesting context and all that, something they don't do when Obama, Michelle and Obama's campaign advisers are concerned. They did that most blatantly re McCain's multiple comments about "not loving america" until he became a prisoner in Hanoi (see how the media jumped all over Michelle Obama for her comments). The media has focused on Obama's so-called flip-plop on public financing while ignoring McCain's about face on the same issue. And there are many other McCain's flip-plops: on immigration, Bush tax cut for the rich, oil drilling in coastal areas, on Iraq, even on patriotism itself! –Dr. Sam

The ugly truth, the unspeakable truth, the truth that no one wants to hear, is that we got what we deserved. We cannot control this planet by force. As I write, the Chinese are building their fleet of 20 nuclear submarines. Why is it that our hawks are so emboldened when it comes to the Middle East, but say not a word about this nuclear fleet. It is clear that more countries like Pakistan will get the bomb. The only real hope this country has of saving obvious targets such as NYC and Washington D.C. from utter destruction is our compassion. Nonetheless, both parties continue the shameless pandering to Isreal. Corn gas is starving the world's children. We talk constantly of war while hundreds of thousands in New Orleans and Iowa suffer a very real hell on earth. More hell is coming for all of us, but it is not going to be a "lake of fire." It is going to be the utter destruction of one or more of our major cities, followed by utter chaos. The clock is ticking on this certainty. We blog as if, we govern as if, we believe we are indestructable. It is not so. New Orleans showed that our civilization is only skin deep. The United States Constitution was a freak of nature. American style capitalism has revisited upon us the salvery of the masses for the privilege of the few. A new kind of kingdom with "lords many" has arisen. Enron, subprime lending, offshore drilling...these things are only the noticable manifestation of the anamalistic society we have become. "We the people" is a myth. There is only money. Those that have it govern while the masses suffer lives hardly worth living. Terrorism is only such in the eyes of the beholder. Of a certainty, one man's terrorist is another's hero. It is too late. At best, Obama can only turn back the hand of time. Nature itself is rejecting us. There is not going to be any doomsday, Apocolypse or Armageddon. There is just going to be more of the same. How do I know this? God did not whisper it in my ear. I see it in my neighbor, who is willing to do harm to others every day for the sake of making an extra buck. I see it in products designed to break. I see it in shoddy workmanship. I see it on Wall Street. I see it everywhere on a daily basis. The seeds of our destruction have already been sown, and we will continue to get what we deserve. Our end is near, but it is not a religious end. It is the logical end of American style capitalism, the attitude that continually justifies doing harm to others in order to get ahead. We live in Rome my friends, and it shall fall, not absolutley though. God did whisper in my ear that the United States of America shall exist until the end of time, but not this culture. We are a doomed people. Others will deliver unto us our destruction, and from those ashes shall arise a better class of people to protect the documents for which so many have died. Go on, kid yourself. Call me the freak. Dismiss these words. Nevertheless, 9/11 happened, and there is indeed more to come. Close your eyes to this truth. Others will open them for you. Every time you take advantage of another person for the sake of making a few extra bucks, you seal our fate. We are a doomed people.

McCain can't win unless he can convince a majority of Americans that another World Trade Center debacle is right around the corner. So the Repubs will do what they always do best --- scare the xxxx out of the American people so that they end up voting against their own best interests. How else do we end up with an incomparable buffoon like W? He simply accomplished what every Bush does when in the presidency: destroy the nation's economy. Yet the American people voted for that draft-dodging, "Daddy keep me out of Vietnam" son of Poppy and Barb because he wears a flag pin on his lapel?

Please, let's be honest. Obama won't necessarily accomplish much, but with a Democratic Congress, they might be able to push through enough legislation that saves the nation from economic ruin, and puts an end --- albeit temporarily --- to the radical right's assault on the environment.

Then, when the dummies who make up the majority of the electorate weigh in again in four or eight years, we'll end up electing another flag-waving dolt like Bush, to the delight of Wall Street.