Biden Says Obama Will Be Tested With A ‘Major International Crisis’

Barack Obama will need help in a crisis, says Joe Biden from Times Online UK...

Joe Biden, the Democratic vice-presidential nominee, has told Americans to expect a “major international crisis” that will present an early test of a Barack Obama administration.

His comments were seized upon by the Republican campaign yesterday to raise fresh doubts about the prepared-ness of Mr Obama to be commander-in-chief.

Speaking at a fundraiser in Seattle on Sunday night, Mr Biden said: “Mark my words, it will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama like they did John Kennedy. The world is looking. We’re about to elect a brilliant 47-year-old senator president of the United States of America. Remember I said it standing here . . . we’re gonna have an international crisis, a generated crisis, to test the mettle of this guy.”

He cited Russia and the Middle East as possible places that may cause problems, as well as the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan – “crawling with al-Qaeda” – as being of particular concern.

Mr Obama would need help and support, Mr Biden suggested, “because it’s not gonna be apparent, initially, that we’re right.” He then spotted the media in the room, “I probably shouldn’t have said all this because it dawned on me that the press is here.”

Now why would anyone vote for Barack Obama when his own VP states that a vote for Obama is a vote for an international crisis? Why would anyone want to be a part of a ticket that one believes will lead the country to crisis? What an unbelievable statement. The only time a time camera falls on Senator Biden at this point is when he is trying to pull his foot out of his mouth. However, this is beyond a gaffe; this is disturbing. It appears Senator Biden sees Senator Obama as weak. It appears that Senator Biden, is not confident in Senator Obama's ability to handle a crisis, and it appears that Senator Biden would prefer a "major international crisis" that a Republican president.

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Biden Says Obama Will Be Tested With A ‘Major International Crisis’

Heeeere's Johnny...

Who can make both Senator Clinton and Senator Obama roll with laughter? ...John McCain at the Albert E. Smith Dinner.

Video picks up at 2:38

Oh please, please, please, let this be a sign that McCain will be McCain in the last three weeks of this election.

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Here's Johnny...

Are You Purple?

The McCain campaign has focussed on Independents and Democrats with their Citizens for McCain group. They have even set up an online phone bank specifically for Independents and Democrats. If you are Independent or Democrat McCain supporter this is a great way to help the campaign. Phone calls are instrumental in bringing in votes and getting supporters out to polls. Just a few (or more) a day can have an impact.

Daytime Calls Phone Bank 10:00AM -6:00PM (EST):

Evening and Weekend Calls Phone Bank 6:00PM -9:00PM (EST):

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If you aren't an Independent, but still want to make phone calls from home - www.JohnMcCain.com/PhoneBank

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Are You Purple?

Speak Out Against Media Bias

The McCain Palin 2008 blog is sponsoring a petition protesting media bias with the support of groups/sites across the political spectrum. While many have witnessed a decisive pro-Obama slant in this news reporting during this election, this bias became glaringly apparent when Governor Palin was selected as the vice-presidential nominee. Whether it is an organization like the New York Times having to retract stories about Governor Palin because they printed rumor and not fact; networks investigating the children of the Governor; or network pundits questioning the Governor's 'mothering' skills, this over-the-top behavior and blatant bias is unacceptable. With over 1200 people having already signed we urge all readers to speak out against an irresponsible media by signing the following petition.

Petition - Speak Out Against Media Unfairness and Sexism

Petition Founder - McCain Palin 2008 Blog

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FactCheck Sex-Ed Ad Response - Correction Still Needed

FactCheck.org has followed up on emails rebuking their article on the McCain ad ‘Education’ with a statement that says in part,

'We also never wrote that Obama said class material about 'inappropriate touching' was the main purpose of the bill. Our article said that 'Obama has also said he does not support, ‘explicit sex education to children in kindergarten’ and that Obama made it clear that at least one reason he supported the bill was that it would help teach young kids to recognize inappropriate behavior and pedophiles."

Factcheck also categorizes the ad as false because it states that it was Senator Obama’s ‘one achievement’ in education. It is true that Senator Obama did not achieve the passage of this legislation, and may be able to account for other education successes. Also, the previous article should have been more clear in stating that it was Senator Obama that stated the bill was about ‘inappropriate touching’ not FactCheck. However, there are still major problems in FactCheck’s story.

They state outright in their response. "Obama has also said he does not support, ‘explicit sex education to children in kindergarten’." The ad does not state that Senator Obama does support ‘explicit sex education to children in kindergarten’ that is solely Factcheck’s own interpretation. Yet this is repeated as proof that the ad is false as they later refute their own interpretation by saying, "But Obama has also said he does not support, 'explicit sex education to children in kindergarten." That’s fine, but it has nothing to do with the McCain ad.

Second, as they state in their rebuttal and in their original article, "Obama 'made it clear that at least one reason he supported the bill was that it would help teach young kids to recognize inappropriate behavior and pedophiles." Again, this has nothing to do with the McCain ad. Motive was never discussed in the ad and Factcheck misleads about the content of the ad by refutiating a claim not made in the ad.

Finally, Factcheck refutes the ad as having cherry picked quotes about Obama’s record. Well, welcome to politics. The statements are all verified, but FactCheck explains that those sources frequently did not have glowing reviews of McCain’s education plan either. Certainly that is fair to point out, but that does no make the ad false.

The one claim they are able to back up is the statement in the ad saying that this bill is Senator Obama’s ‘only accomplishment’ in education. They cite three ammendments to a bill that Senator Obama worked on that were aproved by unanimous consent. As Factcheck states, "Whether or not one considers any of these measures earth-shaking, they’re accomplishments nonetheless." Point taken.

I appreciate that FactCheck has responded to complaints about their article. However, I am still disappointed in the lack of actual fact checking within their article. Please read their response and email them at Editor@Factcheck.org if you agree that their article is still off base.

For clarity here are the basic complaints:

1. The statement, "Obama has also said he does not support, ‘explicit sex education to children in kindergarten’." is an interpretation by Factcheck of the McCain ad, the ad itself does not claim that Senator Obama does support ‘explicit sex education to children in kindergarten’

2. The reason Senator Obama supported this bill is irrelevant. The ad never states the reason for Senator Obama’s support, and this makes Factcheck’s article misleading.

3. Cherry picked quotes do not make an ad false. Certainly fair to point out context, but the quotes were not false, and they do not make the ad false.

4. If Factcheck wants to claim the article is false because it was not Senator Obama’s only educational accomplishment than that is a legitimate complaint. However, in that case the article needs extensive editing as that is the only argument where they have provided any real evidence.

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FactCheck Sex-Ed Ad Response - Correction Still Needed

Protest The Media’s Melt Down Over Sex-Ed Ad

In the National Review article On Sex-Ed Ad, McCain Is Right, Byron York not only points out how the media bought the Obama campaign's rhetoric about the sex-ed ad, but they then added a large portion of their own self-righteous outrage.

“The kindergarten ad flat-out lies,” wrote the New York Times, arguing that “at most, kindergarteners were to be taught the dangers of sexual predators.” The Washington Post wrote that “McCain’s ‘Education’ Spot is Dishonest, Deceptive.” And in a column in The Hill, the influential blogger Josh Marshall called the sex-education spot “a rancid, race-baiting ad based on [a] lie. Willie Horton looks mild by comparison.”

Even factcheck.org presented the Obama campaign's view point, adding their own interpretation, "Obama, contrary to the ad's insinuation, does not support explicit sex education for kindergarteners." The ad is a series of sourced quotes which factcheck.org does not deny are legitimate. Insinuations are not a facts, and factcheck.org bases their critique of the ad off the insinuation that Obama supported 'explicit' sex education for kindergarteners. However, that is not a claim of that ad.

Factcheck and the media felt compelled to express outrage at this ad, but never relayed the substance of the bill. As Byron York reported, "The fact is, the bill’s intention was to mandate that issues like contraception and the prevention of sexually-transmitted diseases be included in sex-education classes for children before the sixth grade, and as early as kindergarten. Obama’s defenders may howl, but the bill is what it is."

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As noted in a previous article CNN continued to call the McCain ad a lie even after the National Review article was published. They clearly had not read the text of the bill, but expressed their outrage anyways. Please contact CNN at Election Center and/or Headline News to demand a retraction and an apology for falsely claiming the McCain campaign lied, and please urge others to do the same.

Also, contact factcheck.org at Editor@FactCheck.org and let them know they got his one wrong by interpreting the ad and judging intent, and not reporting on the content and purpose of the bill.

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Protest The Media’s Melt Down Over Sex-Ed Ad