Bob Somerby is right (again) - Progressive have got to stop pimping McCain

[AlGore-08.com]

http://www.dailyhowler.com/dh080406.shtml

WHEN PROGRESSIVES ATTACK! Throw back your heads and laugh out loud as we “Dems and progressives fight back:”

WHEN PROGRESSIVES ATTACK: Finally! Finally, we clicked to a liberal site and got to read some street-fighting words about the deserving White House hopeful who got mistreated during Campaign 2000! That liberal site was The Huffington Post, where today’s savvy Democrat goes to vent spleen. But omigod! Who was that poor abused 2000 hopeful? You guessed it! Blogger James Boyce was shedding live tears about poor abused John McCain!

(snip)

Good God! According to HuffPo, when we “Democrats and progressives” finally start to fight back, we pimp the great secular saint, Saint McCain! Readers, throw back your heads and emit those dark chuckles! Only we—only we modern liberals—could possibly be this inept. (For the record, Cleland appeared on Hardball last night, rattling the same list of victims.)

Was McCain mistreated during Campaign 2000? In South Carolina, yes, he was—and it lasted about two weeks, possibly costing him the state. On the other hand, he was pandered to by the national press corps for about seven months, turning him into the secular saint who will probably whip our “Democratic and progressive” keisters in the 08 election. By the way, here’s what Kevin Drum said, only yesterday, about that unlovely prospect:

DRUM (8/3/06): John McCain may seem like an affable guy when he hits the Daily Show or pops up on Good Morning America, but his foreign policy would be a gold-plated disaster. We just can't afford another four years of Republican macho posturing in place of actually making progress against Osama and his buddies.

Drum was responding to a report that McCain is such a cinch in 08 that even Bill Clinton has started to sour on the idea of Hillary’s running.

In the face of all this news, might we offer a small suggestion? Might it be better if we “Democrats and progressives” stopped trying to build public sympathy for poor abused Saint John McCain? He has an entire mainstream press corps for that—and they’ve been slavishly serving his interests for years, even reciting his slogans for him when he turns up on their programs. When we “Democrats and progressives” finally start to fight back, is there any way we could possibly consider promoting our actual Democratic Party heroes? Could we possibly consider informing the public about those who have served on our team?

[blm]

1. Left "JOURNALISTS" like Eric Alterman and Jonathan Alter do the same.

It annoys the heck out of me, because they give McCain more room to maneuver and position than they do good Democrats who they hector to prove they're not "liberal media" so they can cash their corporate paychecks.

[aquart]

2. I have NEVER understood the mental aberration that causes that.

McCain is not acceptable to me on any level.

[AX10]

3. Why is it that anyone who is not a rightwinger goes out of their way...

to show that they are not a "left winger"? :shrug:

[Uncle Joe]

4. One thing you can say about McCain,

he knows how to hug Bush.:sarcasm: maybe someone more technically savy than me can pull the photo up. When I see it, I keep hearing the theme from Loveboat in my head.:puke:

[jbonkowski]

5. In all fairness...

McCain can't lift his arms above his head due to Vietnam War injuries. He can't help looking goofy in that picture. Bush is oblivious to McCain's limitations, no doubt.

Of course, by choosing to put himself in such a position, McCain deserves to have that photo used against him. A lot.

I'm still waiting for the first photo of someone pushing Bush away during an unwanted hug, maybe followed by a Secret Service tackle for pushing the President. Or grabbing his arm during a bald head pat. Like Bush on the German Chancellor, but with some shoving. That would be gold.

jim

[blm]

6. Also, the outrage against what happened to him in 2000 shouldn't change -

if it did then we would be as unprincipled as McCain when he decided to throw his lot in with the unprincipled attackers.

Left journalists, otoh, should get a grip - McCain of 2006 is NOT the same man from 1999.

[rep the dems]

7. Ughhh.

I've seen that picture many times since joining DU and the very mention of it never ceases to disgust me.