I was reading this post at OpenLeft about Senator Obama attack on McCain for caring more about foreign countries then American jobs, Obama Asks Whether McCain Is Putting “Country First”

“Just ask the machinists in Pennsylvania who build Harley-Davidsons,” Obama said of McCain’s record. “Because John McCain didn’t just oppose the requirement that the government buy American-made motorcycles, he called Buy American provisions ‘disgraceful.’ Just ask the workers across this country who have seen their jobs outsourced. The very companies that shipped their jobs overseas have been rewarded with billions of dollars in tax breaks that John McCain supports and plans to continue. “So, when American workers hear John McCain talking about putting ‘Country First,'” Obama said, “it’s fair to ask — which country?”

Besides thinking it is about time a Democratic leader started pointing out how Republicans are frequently all talk about America first and usually come up short on actually putting America first, it reminded me of Bush and McCain plan to outsource American port management to the United Arab Emirates. Mr. McFreedom had this to say, McCain: Port Sale Overblown Since UAE is ‘Freer Than China’

According to the Freedom House’s 2006 Global Survey of Political Rights and Civil Liberties, China scores the worst rating (7) for political rights and a 6 for civil liberties. Overall, it receives a rating of “Not Free.” It’s actually a feat to be less free than China — only 7 countries of 192 do it. The UAE is also rated “Not Free,” scoring a 6 for both political rights and civil liberties. Some other human rights bastions who are “freer than China”: Iran, the Congo, Cote d’Iviore, and Rwanda.

Also reported during this controversy was that the UAE wasn’t very cooperative after 9-11 with Treasury Department efforts to track down Bin Laden’s bank accounts and the UAE was one of the few countries to recognize the Taliban as Afghanistan’s official governing body. Why do Republicans hate America? I don’t know.

Obama-Biden have also been running an ad about how out of touch with modern business and technology McCain is. The Right in another mouth foaming episode of false outrage is claiming Obama owes McCain an apology. According to an old article McCain is unable to use a keyboard because of his disabilities. Maybe he can’t and that is certainly unfortunate, but that shouldn’t keep him from being more in touch with a major portion of the U.S. economy and communications. Matter of fact PCs/MACs and the net have been a boon to the disabled, McCain Computer Ignorance Raises New Questions: Can His Injured Hands Type?

Whether McCain’s physical limitations are part of what is keeping him from using computers remains to be seen, but if so, there are a lot of assistive devices out there for using computers for people who have injuries or disabilities: certain types of mice, voice activation software, special keyboards, keyboard usage training, etc. [ ]…As Sarah Lai Stirland of Wired News noted, Rahm Emanuel explained in Friday’s media conference call about the ad, “There’s a whole economic revolution going on that has fundamentally changed the economy and fundamentally changed people’s lives, and he’s removed from that.”

British theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking suffers from Lou Gehrig’s Disease, uses a computer and has his own web site. The Right’s relentless attempts to exploit everything from lipstick to disabilities to milk public sympathy is getting tiresome. It is all clearly a way of deflecting attention away from their abysmal record of governance and McCain’s desire to govern in that tradition. It doesn’t occur to the Right that Obama is simply pointing out a lack of knowledge, while McCain supporters are claiming that John is a helpless old man. What is the Right’s version of McCain going to do if he gets in the White House, cry to Jonah Goldberg when Putin says “e-mail me” to McCain, make him stop. Update: John Cole has a photo of McCain using a Blackberry. So he can find ways to use technology if he wants to. H/T to a commenter over at TBogg who remembers that McCain did return to active duty after Nam and this photo shows the instrument panel of the kind of plane McCain worked with, the A-7 Corsair. The rightie blogs are having a real hissy fit. They should know by now not to march blindly to the likes of Jonah Goldberg and Glenn Reynolds.

Palin’s economics talk was awful, but the real point is that McCain, calling on his experience and best judgment picked her. Having done so, the McC Squad prepared her for this interview and that’s the best McCain prepers could do. Experience isn’t the absolute end all as far as qualifications go, McCain has proved his experience gap by letting One Heart Beat Away Palin be an example of how he’ll conduct his presidency, Maverick Budgeting

But it is telling that the woman John McCain chose as his running mate doesn’t seem to understand what “entitlements” are. Clearly, just as most citizens don’t know what the Bush Doctrine is, most people probably aren’t all that familiar with the meaning of the entitlement/discretionary distinction in federal budgeting. But it’s a big deal for people who actually pay attention to political and policy issues in the United States.

Matt is right of course. Many voters could care less about the actual details of governing and policy. They care about phony arguments over quaint analogies and manufactured outrage.

Some visual relief,

Seascape Autumn wallpaper

Antique World map circa 1700

McCain Campaign Officials Lobbied For Companies At Center of Sex-For-Oil Scandal