West Virginia Blue
The Best Blogging Community in West Virginia Democratic politics, progressive policies, the good life and free living in Wild, Wonderful West Virginia.
Republican Rep. Boehner thinks Sen. John McCain's age is a liability. As reported in The Hill (emphasis mine):
Asked who was best suited to join McCain on the Republican ticket, Boehner said the running mate must be younger than McCain, have solid credentials and be someone whom voters believe could be president.
"[The running mate is] probably not going to be from the Congress," he said, adding that a former administration official or a governor would be a more likely choice.
Update: Despite what Vic Sprouse says, ineffective Republican Rep. Shelley Moore Capito (WV-02) will not make McCain's short list. Sure, she's "younger than McCain", but she lacks "solid credentials" and is definitely not "someone whom voters believe could be president."
I don't spend enough time in right wing circles to have any read on who he'll pick. The only reason the Mitt Romney rumors are at all believable is Romney's got money. I tend to think he'll throw red meat to the base, which eliminates Lieberman as well.
Yet, in the end who McCain picks as VP is of little matter. A John McCain presidency would be as disastrous as a third George Bush term.
The other day on Vic Sprouse's site he said how he thinks Shelley Moore Capito is a perfect Vice President pick for John McCain. the commenters were gushing all over saying how brilliant that is. I was looking for kleenex to clean off my computer screen--it was so embarrassing.
Sprouse did have some good points. John McCain is a such a manly guy it's scary. he could really use a woman's touch to balance the ticket. with the Dems running a non-white or non-male candidate the Republicans need diversity. Running an old guy and a young guy won't do it. An old guy and a younger broad is more appealing.
Sprouse is also right about Capito being the one. Sprouse said there just aren't any high profile Republican woman Senators, Governors, or even well-known Representatives to pick from. Capito is as good as it gets. Sprouse said how well they already get along, they've raised funds for each other or something like that.
It's got me thinking, maybe so. I bet Shelley Moore Capito would say yes if John McCain asked her. It might lock up W.Va. for the Republicans, even if McCain was their third or fourth choice here. But, would she have to resign her house seat to campaign full time?
When it comes to Republicans, Sprouse is an awfully savvy political observer. He must know what he's talking about. I hear he's got quite the eye for woman, too. If he says Shelley's the one for McCain, he must be right.
Former Senate Minority Leader Vic Sprouse proudly demonstrates he can count the number of state senators, including himself, not running for re-election or who might be leaving office.
With math skills like his, it's no surprise that he uses his "engineering" degree to wipe the sweat off the equipment at his overpriced ladies gyms. Sprouse wrote:
If hell freezes over, and the heavens open up and rain fire and brimstone onto the earth... AFTER those two events occur, then Senator John Unger might, possibly, could beat Shelley Capito for Congress, that would be nine.
Let's remember the grammatically challenged Sprouse's history of political predictions. Sprouse picked former New York crossdressing mayor and wanna-be dictator Rudy Guiliani to win the White House.
Tonight, Guiliani received 3 percent of the vote in the Michigan primary. U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, who Sprouse mocked as a fringe candidate, received twice the number of votes as Guiliani.
Unlike Sprouse, I don't think Unger is a long shot. I think he's got a great chance of winning. Sprouse should leave the political prognostications to those who are good at it.
Say what you will about former Senate Minority Leader Vic Sprouse - and we've said everything truthful about the man - he's not afraid of letting the whole world see his delusional views.
Now that's the kind of detached from reality view that leads him to believe the United States is winning in Iraq.
But maybe Sprouse will latch on to Guiliani's latest effort to turn things around.
With his candidacy cratering in multiple polls, Rudy Giuliani has hit on a new campaign strategy designed to turn things around: He's calling for more war on multiple fronts.
snip
Asked where the new troops for the Afghanistan "surge" will come from, Rudy adviser Hill declined to go into detail, but notably, he did tell the paper that a Giuliani administration would seek to expand the military considerably.
The speech comes as a new poll released today shows that Rudy's national lead has evaporated completely -- John McCain now boasts more national support than Rudy does, while Mike Huckabee is running just behind him. The new Pew survey finds McCain with 22%, Rudy with 20%, and Huckabee with 17%.
The poll also finds that Rudy has sunk an astonishing 13 points nationally since September.
But if Sprouse's boy Rudy beats the odds and is elected president, I'm sure Vic will rush to the Army recruitment center to enlist in that expanded military to fight in Rudy's new wars.
Just noticed that rightwing State Sen. Vic Sprouse (R-Chickenhawk) has finally admitted on his web site that he is:
...the former Minority Leader of the West Virginia Senate. He has served in the Legislature since 1995 and resides in Cross Lanes, WV. He currently owns a consulting company in Charleston, WV.
If you ever wonder why conservatives don't take serial adulturer and former Republican Senate Minority Leader Vic Sprouse seriously, you can find it in his latest post.
For the most part, the Republicans in the state have waged a good, clean campaign about the virtues of their candidates.
This coming a couple of days after his ad hominem attacks on Ron Paul.
This coming from a self described bomb thrower like Sprouse. Sprouse giving lessons on a 'good, clean campaign' is like Sprouse giving lessons on monogamy and faithfulness in marriage.
He's upset with a West Virginia pro-life group for not supporting his boy, Rudy Guiliani, the pro-choice, cross-dressing, serial adulterer former mayor of New York City.
This coming a day after the news broke that while Rudy got laid, New York City taxpayers paid.
Sprouse talking about his candidate's virtues while at the same time supporting the pro-torture, pro-bilking the tax payers for his booty calls with his mistress Guiliani shows that any talk of morality from Sprouse is as worthless as his marriage vows.
Speaking of State Sen. Vic Sprouse, the former Senate Minority Leader and a leading Republican blogger in the state, he walked into a buzz saw with a recent post demeaning Republican presidential candidate Dr. Ron Paul.
For months we've called Sprouse a chickenhawk. Now he's getting it from fellow Republicans.
In the same post where he showed little regard for the will of Republican voters in West Virginia because they had the audacity for supporting Paul, Sprouse wrote:
So, the Ron Paul people have been coming out in droves and signing up to be At-large Delegates to the State Convention. In fact, at this point, I believe they are ahead in the 'at large' category of Delegates. Of course, in counties where there are contested elections, they will lose.
And, the problem with this, and the problem with me writing about it, is it only draws more attention to the Paul candidacy, exactly what they want.
First, let me debunk a few myths.
That Ron Paul's fundraising is unbelievable. Please. Lyndon LaRouche would haul in millions as well and his candidacy probably had a better chance of winning than Paul, meaning 0.001%.
Secondly, Paul's stance on an immediate surrender in Iraq simply won't sell in a Republican primary.
But, he is a media darling and he is a media darling for two reasons. He is different. And, trust me, the media loves 'different.' It gives them something to write about.
But, more importantly, Ron Paul lines up with the liberal media and the Democrats on surrender in Iraq. And, the fact that a Republican candidate actually espouses something the rest of the party opposes is, well... different.
Actually, when it comes to withdrawing from Iraq, Paul's position matches that of the vast majority of Americans who think the U.S. should leave. The escalation of troops did little but create a temporary lull in Iraq's civil war and even Gen. David Patreaus said it will be for nought since the Iraqi politicians did nothing to unite the people.
But here's some of the reaction Sprouse received from fellow Republicans:
by Scott M. on Tuesday, November 27th, 2007
Well, now you can say goodbye to YOUR political career, Senator Sprouse. You know all those people you will need to re-elect you? They will be Ron Paul supporters. Guess who they are NOT going to vote for now?
It truly is a foolish move to underestimate Ron Paul's support. I suspect they are planning a replacement for you as I write this.
Bye Bye and thanks for indebting my children with the deferred payment plan view on spending.
That the republican party in West Virginia is vulnerable to these attacks says much more about the party than it does about Ron Paul.
Its sad that the only constitutional patriot is being attacked by Republicans who at one time was constitutional.
Ask yourself, why is the Republican party in the minority now? You will see they will be in more minority numbers in the next years to come unless that listen to the message like that of Ron Paul.
The nations of the middle east were created by Great Britain prior to WWI. There was no such thing as Jordan, or Iraq or Iran until Britain did this. After the Western nations made nations in the middle east, we started to go for power grabs. Then we reaarranged borders under Churchill. The people in the middle east got screwed several times by the west. They have reasons to be upset.
OF course I'll get the arrogant accusations becasue the repuclicans are no longer readers of history but of Rush.
The people of the middle east are "people" created by God. I hate their religion but they are still people screwed by the west. And then we went in and took their oil.
So since WWI we have had to deal with this problem of Nation Building.
By bringing down Saddam, whom we support then killed only adds to their hatred.
But go ahead a spew the garbage that is causing the repuclicans to lose more seats.
Or listen to a constitutional, america politician for once in your life.
May God forgive us of our errors, Hatred and Ignorance.
Ron Paul hijack the Republican Party? I'm sorry Senator, but it is the current makeup of the party, filled with fake republicans who have hijacked the entire party. What ever happened to fiscal conservatism, small government, low taxes, and the idea that we are not in the nation building business. The republican party changed not the supporters of the party. We have maintained and have been left behind which is the reason for the current decline of the republican party. Ron Paul may not have the answer on all the issues but I assure you the reason he has such a strong following is because he is more Republican than you and the rest of the thieves of OUR party. We are not loyal to a party who changes the foundation of their beliefs, it is you who should have been loyal to our beliefs.
Senator,
Perhaps you should stop being a hypocrite, and enlist for military service to fight this brave war for empire your so in favor of. Your ignorance of Ron Paul's positions is exactly what I'd expect from an ass kissing, establishment chicken hawk such as yourself. Why is it that those most in support of offering up soldiers lives for nation building would never even think of serving or sending their children to serve. You discust me, you pathetic piece of human debris.
so senator sprouse thinks it is alright to send our children over to iraq to be killed and maimed while he sits safe at home just so iraq won't implode. hate to break the news but iraq is already imploding. keep up with the news, senator
Why don't you join the army and request to be sent to Iraq since it seems you so want the US to be engaged there...
So Senator, how much exactly do we need to spend to not "surrender" in Iraq? Would 3 trillion be high enough for you? Does it bother you that younger people like myself will have to pay for this?
I don't think throwing money at some middle-eastern shit-hole is an effective or productive way to fight terrorism. Leaving is not surrendering. Staying is surrendering - to the will of al Qaeda who seeks to have us spend our all on this fruitless, immensely counterproductive war.
There's not a lot I agree with when it comes to any Republican candidate, including Dr. Paul. But I do respect his position on Iraq and as can be seen he's a uniter in many ways. He's united many of us in our disgust at Vic Sprouse's chickenhawk views.
As Gorilla Monsoon would say, Stick a fork in Rudy Guiliani. He's done.
I can't imagine Wood County Commission President Rick Modesitt and Sen. Frank Deem of Wood County sticking by a presidential candidate who behaved as egrigously as Guiliani. But you never know, State Sen. Vic Sprouse of Kanawha, who has his own history of adultery, might stand by his man.
But even Matt Drudge and Fox News which had been squarely in Guiliani's corner (to the chagrin of Grandpa Fred Thompson and his supporters), have thrown in the towel on him.
Personally I think this whole affair (pardon the pun) shows that Modesitt, Deem and Sprouse have poor political judgment and voters should remember the kind of company they keep.
In all seriousness, does State Sen. Vic Sprouse (R-Chickenhawk) not know that Iraq had nothing to do with the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks? That the Bush Cheney administration, as we know from former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill and many others, was planning a war with Iraq months before the Sept. 11 attacks?
I often find his partisan rantings amusing, but is he really one of the crazies who can't tell the difference between Iraq and the terrorist Osama bin Laden?
Sprouse wrote:
How do we remember and understand that the people who attacked us are still out there and whether or not you like George Bush or whoever our President is that we must do everything we can to track down and destroy the enemy?
If Sprouse believed that, why does he idolize Bush? As we know from retired Gen. Tommy Franks and former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill, Bush diverted troops, hundreds of millions of dollars, spy satellites and drones as well as CIA and Special Forces assets from the hunt for Osama bin Laden and those who attacked us on Sept. 11 as early as October 2001 in order to prepare for the Iraq invasion.
In 2002, troops from the 5th Special Forces Group who specialize in the Middle East were pulled out of the hunt for Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan to prepare for their next assignment: Iraq. Their replacements were troops with expertise in Spanish cultures.
The CIA, meanwhile, was stretched badly in its capacity to collect, translate and analyze information coming from Afghanistan. When the White House raised a new priority, it took specialists away from the Afghanistan effort to ensure Iraq was covered.
Those were just two of the tradeoffs required because of what the Pentagon and CIA acknowledge is a shortage of key personnel to fight the war on terrorism. The question of how much those shifts prevented progress against al-Qaeda and other terrorists is putting the Bush administration on the defensive.
Even before the invasion, the wisdom of shifting resources from the bin Laden hunt to the war in Iraq was raised privately by top military officials and publicly by Sen. Bob Graham, D-Fla., and others.
Bush even told Fred Barnes of Sprouse's beloved Fox News that capturing bin Laden is "not a top priority use of American resources."
Why in the hell would Sprouse or anyone else support a president who clearly did not do "everything we can to track down and destroy the enemy"?
When Sprouse claims that we need to "remember and understand that the people who attacked us are still out there" he ignores the fact that they're still out there due to his president, George W. Bush and whether or not you like George Bush or not there is no getting around the fact his Iraq invasion is a big reason why bin Laden is still alive making his videos.
And what does Sprouse mean with his "our war"? Last time I checked, Sprouse still had not enlisted even though he is young enough. He can say "our war" after he joins.
But I truly am curious if Sprouse is trying to writing of the Iraq occupation and the Afghanistan war as a general "conflict" because he is trying like Fox News to confuse his readers or is he really ignorant of the differences? (I mean that as a serious question: a poll showed about a third of Republicans mistakenly thought Saddam Hussein directed the Sept. 11 attacks.)
Even Gen. David Patraeus doesn't believe that the Iraq occupation makes the nation safer.
Clearly he believes it has stretched the military too thin.
But if Sprouse truly thinks the current conflict is as important as the American Revolution or World War II to defend freedom as he implies, why isn't it important enough for him to serve?
Poor State Sen. Vic Sprouse (R-Chickenhawk). At one point he was touted as a politician with a future. Now he's so jealous of politicians with futures he's just pitiful.
Yes, there are tears in my eyes. Tears of pity mixed with guilty laughter at a Republican owner of a franchised gym at his embarrassingly public display of jealousy.
I guess it's tough for Vic. I know seeing him as he is now after his 17th several divorces and his abandoning of his OK, I've lost count, anyone have a score card? last wife when she was pregnant ruined his political ambitions. It's one thing for a politician to shoot himself in the foot. Vic put his foot in his mouth and then shot himself in the foot.
How bad is Vic handling the fact he crashed his political future on the shoals of hypocrisy? He still has on his web site:
Senator Vic Sprouse is the Minority Leader of the West Virginia Senate.
How long has it been now since he was forced to step aside stepped down as Senate Minority Leader? Yet he still has that up on his web site. He's like the high school athlete who still shows up at games wearing his old jersey long after he's graduated so that he can remind people he was once somebody. Pretty soon Vic will be breaking out stories on his blog about how he once met some famous Republican or other and how they told him about the bright career ahead of him and called him for his advice or assistance. Now he probably sits by the phone waiting...and waiting...and waiting for someone from the party to call.
I wish Vic could find happiness in his future instead of being envious of others.
I found footage of Vic at his Curves fitness center meeting with his banker.
After I worked out at Gold's last night (note to Vic Sprouse: that's a real gym), I was packing my gym bag and watching ESPN. The anchor was talking to the NFL reporter about Michael Vick. Then it went to an NFL player who had wrecked his sports car and another who was drunk and fought with police. I said to the man sitting near me putting on his shoes how with that kind of money they should hire someone to be their designated driver and we joked a few moments about other things the designated driver would save them from doing.
After he left, another man I've talked to before came over to me. He's in the gym constantly. He's a bit older than me, but built like the U.S. Marine Corps bulldog tattooed on his arm. He's a combat veteran from the Vietnam War.
This is what he said: "If the media spent as much time covering the Iraq war as they did covering dog fighting this Iraq war would be over. If the media cared as much about our children in Iraq as they do about dogs in dog fights, this war would be over."
I told him I agreed with him and said our Congressional Rep. Shelley Moore Capito when he interrupted me.
"Who?"
"Shelley Moore Capito, our Congressional representative for our District."
"No I know who she is. She's nothing to me. She keeps voting for this war and this war is doing nothing but make the billionaires richer. That's all this war is about. My son is getting ready to be sent over there."
He is proud of his son, who was Regimental Soldier of the Year for his unit. But as a Vietnam War veteran himself, he knows this war has nothing to do with the security of the United States.
Now I am glad to see former Minority Senate Leader Vic Sprouse (R-39-year-old Chickenhawk, military enlistment age 42) and Republican "strategist" Gary Abernathy seem to think that the Iraq war is going to be the key issue in the 2008 election. (I say "seem to..." because their writing and thoughts appear muddled.)
I'm also sure vulnerable Republican Rep. Shelley Moore Capito has painted herself into a corner. If she keeps on with the present course, she makes her mouth breathing base like Sprouse and Abernathy happy, but loses moderate Republicans, independents and crossover Democratic voters. If she comes out for withdrawal of the troops, a view held by the vast majority of the public and by her Democratic opponent State Sen. John Unger, she loses her own (shrinking) base.
Either way, there will be more people who say in response to Shelley Moore Capito's name: "Who?"
Suffice to say, it is self-evidently relevant whether politicians like [Republican Senator] Vitter want to use the law to coerce adherence to what they call "Family Values" and "Traditional Marriage" because doing so enables them to exploit for political gain animosity towards a small minority group or because they really believe in the need to promote such values. When their actions so profoundly conflict with their claimed beliefs (such as by living their own lives in contradiction to those professed values and/or by supporting laws that recognize highly un-Christian and un-traditional "second, third and fourth marriages" and divorces because so many of their good, moral constituents -- and they themselves -- want to take advantage of such un-traditional, un-Christian conventions), then the corrupt foundation of their arguments becomes quite apparent.
State Sen. Vic Sprouse (R-Chickenhawk Coward) questioned the West Virginia Patriots for Peace protest of Mr. George W. Bush meeting with vulnerable Rep. Shelley Moore Capito on July 4th by posing these questions:
Did anyone actually go and see any protesters? Did the media actually verify that there was a protest or did they simply talk to Jim Lewis who said there was one?
I've got an idea. He should enlist in the U.S. Army and volunteer for duty in Iraq so he can actually verify there is a war there and not take the word of the media for it.
Of course, he won't. He's all for other people fighting and dying for a cause he claims to support. That makes him a chickenhawk coward with no integrity and without the courage of his convictions.
Copyright 2011 West Virginia Blue
Site content may be used for any purpose without explicit permission unless otherwise specified.
This site exists thanks to financial support from BlogPAC, dedicated volunteers and participation by members of this community. The views expressed at West Virginia Blue belong solely to their respective authors.
