On Meet the Press yesterday, NBC's Andrea Mitchell stated, "The Obama people must feel that he didn't do quite as well as they might have wanted to in that context, because what they are putting out privately is that McCain may not have been in the cone of silence and may have had some ability to overhear what the questions were to Obama. He seemed so well-prepared."
McCain, who was supposed to be in a "cone of silence," while Obama was being questioned by Rev. Rick Warren, was not where Warren thought he was and "wasn't in a cone of silence," according to the NY" target="_blank">click here Times, which reported,
Members of the McCain campaign staff, who flew here Sunday from California, said Mr. McCain was in his motorcade on the way to the church as Mr. Obama was being interviewed by the Rev. Rick Warren, the author of the best-selling book “The Purpose Driven Life.”
The Times reported, "Interviewed Sunday on CNN, Mr. Warren seemed surprised to learn that Mr. McCain was not in the building during the Obama interview."
This was even confirmed by the McCain campaign, which sent a letter complaining about Mitchell's accusation to NBC, stating, "The fact is that during Senator Obama's segment at Saddleback last night, Senator McCain was in a motorcade to the event and then held in a green room with no broadcast feed."
The word is, limos have radios.
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Pastor, of the profit driven life or something ,also said he went to hand out one question before the event .He gave Obama the sheet then slips and says Mc Cain wasn't in the building when he handed out the papers.
The coin toss was days before the event. I would not consider a coin toss in a football game fair if it took place out of view and not right before the kickoff. The right to examine the coin by your opponent in the open field keeps it honest.
If Pastor Ricky tried to throw the election the church's tax exempt status should be reviewed.
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tjb (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 242 comments)
on Monday, August 18, 2008 at 11:00:04 AM
The fix was in at Saddle Back, but we have the constant daily 'fix' of the mainstream press that is REFUSING to report stories like this one that if the public knew that there was cheating it could change the public perception of McCain and the 'evangalical' right's fairness (lack thereof).
How can there be a free and fair election when one side gets institutional. support from the news media and the other side gets its hands tied behind its back?
Instead of 'Saddle Back' forum it should have been 'Stab-in-the-Back' Forum.
You can bet this story will NEVER be carried on the mainstream evening or morning news shows.
What a SHAM. I think "Uncle Sam" should be changed to "Uncle Scam".
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JOHN LORENZ (17 articles, 91 quicklinks, 73 diaries, 230 comments)
on Monday, August 18, 2008 at 3:36:33 PM
Nevermind that McCain may have overheard Obama's answers. He didn't need to hear the answers, since he already had the questions. So did Obama. If you listen carefully, you'll hear irrefutable evidence that both candidates had advance knowledge of the questions.
Here are two specific examples:
Obama, when asked about the many millions of orphans available for adoption, said (I'm paraphrasing) "I confess I cheated on that question. I did some research."
McCain interjected the following (paraphrased) comment: "Are we going to get back to the appointment of Supreme Court Justices, or should we just move on?". This was before he was asked the question.
You can't "get back" to a question you haven't yet been asked.
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Deeplip (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 3 comments)
on Monday, August 18, 2008 at 11:26:45 AM
Thank you, deeplip. I also heard both of those comments by Obama and McCain. It was obvious from the beginning that this was a setup for McCain. The questions were shallow and directed toward confirming a Christian fundamentalist point of view.
As a former elected official, I know how extremely difficult it is to answer a shallow question with any kind of intelligence. I thought Obama did very well, under the circumstances.
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Shirley Bianchi (10 articles, 0 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 97 comments)
on Monday, August 18, 2008 at 12:33:22 PM
What is missing from the analysis that McCain cheated is that unlike Obama, McCain has taken an oath to not lie, cheat or steal. He took that oath in 1954, like all of the rest of us who attended Service Academies did. To suggest that he cheated is to suggest that he violated an oath that all of hold sacred. It may be easy for Obama to cheat, but it is a monumental failure of character for McCain to do so. Suggesting that he did is not only way out of line, it suggests how uninformed those who suggest that he would do such a thing are.
by
johne37179 (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 3 comments)
on Monday, August 18, 2008 at 12:06:58 PM
McCain may have taken an oath at the Naval Academy, but I doubt very much that he honored it there, and he clearly believes himself to be released from its requirements at this late date. John McCain's entire political career has been a lie to his constituents, as he cultivated a "straight talk" image while bending over backwards for every lobbyist that slithered through his office. The series of lying slanders that he has articulated about Barack Obama alone would be enough for a man of conscience to condemn himself to hell.
McCain was lying when he took that oath!
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John Sanchez Jr. (6 articles, 0 quicklinks, 14 diaries, 1381 comments)
on Monday, August 18, 2008 at 12:19:08 PM
are you suggesting that Mr. Straight Talk was honest with his first wife as he serially cheated on her? That alone is clear evidence of what light regard this faithless liar holds for any vow he's committed to. He also vowed to uphold and defend the Constitution numerous times, but that doesn't seem to hold any more attraction for him as any of the other promises that he has made.
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John Sanchez Jr. (6 articles, 0 quicklinks, 14 diaries, 1381 comments)
on Monday, August 18, 2008 at 12:26:10 PM
It is "uniniformed" to suggest that McCain could cheat? What planet have you been on lately? How about McCain's whole history? From being the "Songbird" commie collaborator in Vietnam, to dumping his first wife when she got in a car accident, to the Keating-5 scandal, to his lying flip-flopping on a host of issues, to his being a revisionist of his own history and ignoring his earlier statements and positions when it suits him to lie for his current campaign (I'll give you a host of examples with documentation if you request them). How can YOU DARE deny McCain HAS done these things frequently and often? Question your own temerity, not that of those of who know this snake better. We've lived through his cheating for years. Where have you been?
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JOHN LORENZ (17 articles, 91 quicklinks, 73 diaries, 230 comments)
on Monday, August 18, 2008 at 3:42:09 PM
Comment from Ratings: John McCain should have come out with the truth when confronted by Warren when asked whether he had been secluded in the Cone of Slience.
JOHN MCCAIN IS A CHEAT. Anyone watching the program could see that he was way ahead of the questions!! Warren even mentioned that fact to McCain.
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diane vann (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 1 comments)
on Monday, August 18, 2008 at 12:24:10 PM
I was reminded by Mother Jones that regardless of whether he heard Obama's interview (& I believe he did) he clearly lied to "Pastor Rick" when he said that he was trying to hear through the wall. Lying to a man of God in a church. Wow.
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Amy Fried (40 articles, 116 quicklinks, 64 diaries, 214 comments)
on Monday, August 18, 2008 at 12:34:55 PM
I take profound umbrage to your vile and disgusting smear of Senator Obama. Offer up proof that ,as you imply, he has a character flaw which Mc Cain does not otherwise you owe us and Senator Obama an apology.
" It may be easy for Obama to cheat"
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tjb (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 242 comments)
on Monday, August 18, 2008 at 12:44:13 PM
Nice try. It was actually Obama who admitted to cheating, according to Andrew Sullivan:
In his official correspondence to both campaigns, Pastor Rick Warren provided both candidates with information regarding the topic areas to be covered, which Barack Obama acknowledged during the forum when asked about Pastor Warren's idea of an emergency plan for orphans and Obama said, "I cheated a little bit. I actually looked at this idea ahead of time, and I think it is a great idea;"
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Florida Lady (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 11 comments)
on Monday, August 18, 2008 at 1:51:26 PM
Do you think this was the first time that Obama looked at this problem? It well could be too that they did a bit of research into the church and their pet projects prior to the forum. This is not cheating, this is simply doing your homework.
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Judy Swindler (19 articles, 1 quicklinks, 2 diaries, 79 comments)
on Monday, August 18, 2008 at 2:24:04 PM
It is anybody's guess if McCain "cheated", this time or some other time, but his record seems to be available for anyone to see. But he probably lied: he seems to whenever he opens his smarmy mouth. But the press and the naive masses fawn all over him and no one seems to care. We have allowed politics to become a circus. McCain is old, untrustworthy, mean-spirited and dangerous. I am afraid we are in for enough trouble to make Bush/Cheney look good in comparison.
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Ivan Hentschel (8 articles, 0 quicklinks, 9 diaries, 280 comments)
on Monday, August 18, 2008 at 1:57:30 PM
Pandering to the Chrisitan evengelicals. Can't imagine the Founders approving of this entire dialogue. Of course it was a set up for Obama. Of course McSame, commie commercial king of Vietnam, knew what to say. He never sounded so rehearsed and being someone who played many roles in plays, I know rehearsed when I hear it..................smooth verbal replies...............calm, collected behavior w/o no need to THINK much. Obama had to do some thinking before answering.........he wasn't "rehearsed". Mac has been getting the green room rehearsal scenario for some time now. The only time he isn't "rehearsed" is those town meetings and such and he clammers for words and stumbles through his tangled thoughts and then puts his foot in his mouth and back tracks quite often, later in the day.
Wow, do I sound perturbed about this whole religious pandering? Absolutely. Read the "separation of church and state" documents/letters written by the Forefathers. This is strictly forbidden...this religious forum bullcrap.
Open mouth, insert foot. Btw, McCain's Az damn in the Grand Canyon broke. Good job monitoring the infrastructure in AZ, Mac.
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shirley reese (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 433 comments)
on Monday, August 18, 2008 at 2:43:15 PM
It followed the same script that's been the story of presidential campaigns for the last few decades. The Republican ignores the question and delivers insipid but satisfying sound bites, that they can have whatever they want and not have to pay for it. The Democrat tries to be all things to all people, demoralizing his base while convincing the swing voters only that they have no idea what he thinks. It's why we're fixin' to lose again.
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Gregg Gordon (26 articles, 47 quicklinks, 15 diaries, 199 comments)
on Monday, August 18, 2008 at 3:29:17 PM
The possibility that he may have cheated is a very real one. John McCain was too glib and well prepared in his responses to Rick Warren. In fact he appeared too well-rehearsed in my professional opinion. McCain is not a particularly good speaker on any stage. He is clumsy with words and has difficulty articulating more complex issues so he compensates by dumbing down his presentations in a "folksy" style to win followers. Perhaps even more incredulous was how this mediocre orator was able to colour almost effortlessly, most of his responses with his election propaganda - those tired personal tales - all carefully calculated to evoke emotions. Even when he spoke about his biggest moral failure, the "emotion" was faked with clockwork precision in my view. A man of McCain's age, military discipline and predatory instincts does not sincerely "emote" in front of millions of people over an issue he already worked through and written about in a book. Even the most experienced debator would had problems trying to integrate election rhetoric with a suitable, coherent response to Warren. Yet McCain sailed through that challenge with effortlessly ease. It is very suspicious to me and something which merits further investigation. The pieces are not fitting together at all.
by
Fleur (1 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 29 comments)
on Monday, August 18, 2008 at 3:27:50 PM
Is why is there any need to pander to the Jesus Juicing, willfully ignorant, low information and regressive knuckledraggers to begin with?
Screw this false argument about McCain cheating as it is just another of those same distractions that are pimped by the pocket media while they are providing cover for those picking ALL of OUR pockets.
The idiot demographic has given us 8 years of George W. Bush aka Man of God....
Can't we all just give this superstitious hogwash a rest and get about the business of becoming an enlightened nation?
Just My Thirty Pieces....
EE
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Ed Encho (8 articles, 19 quicklinks, 57 diaries, 396 comments)
on Monday, August 18, 2008 at 5:43:20 PM
Call congress. Demand they investigate Rick Warren
If nothing else, all these comments are a pretty good indication that those making them don't think their guy came off very well. In desperation, they resort to playground "he cheated" accusations.
So let's see. Are we saying that if Obama had seen the questions before-hand he would have instantly blurted out "at conception"? That he would have instantly said "defeat it"?
McCain didn't really behave or answer questions in a way much different than he always does, and neither did Obama. McCain has had these same questions a thousand times during this campaign, and so has Obama. The simply reality is that McCain didn’t feel the need -- and perhaps isn't clever enough anyway -- to couch and qualify his answers a dozen different ways, and never has. Obama did, and always has. The real problem people are having is that the contrast between the two world-views and life experiences was made so obvious and stark by this particular format, what with the same questions being asked by the same guy within the same hour or so.
I thought Obama answered the questions in a much more thoughtful, in depth manner. I'm suspecting that someone who's a fan of his in the Rick Warren organization leaked a copy of the questions to him days before-hand. His answers really reflected that, in that they were so long and detailed. They would have required lots of preparation time.
Of course, I have no evidence for that being the case.
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Alan Williams (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 776 comment
