We Can't Get No Satisfaction

Here's an impromptu algebra lesson (Yes, there is a little math on this site each and every once in a while).

Let's set up the equation:

Take this (via Newsmax Insider):

Republican presidential nominee-in-waiting John McCain supports a $250 million-a-year program to pay the hospital bills of illegal immigrants — a move likely to be viewed negatively by many conservatives.

The program would reimburse hospitals for the cost of treating illegals and has the support of many Republicans, as well as Democrat Barack Obama.

But Senator McCain’s association with the program “underscores his rift on immigration with the right wing, which sees him as championing amnesty for illegal immigrants,” The Hill newspaper reports.

Mark Krikorian, executive director of the conservative Center for Immigration Studies, said: “It’s another reminder that he’s ‘Amnesty John.’”

McCain sponsored legislation with Democratic Senator Ted Kennedy offering a path to citizenship to many illegal immigrants. The bill did not pass, but McCain’s backing of the bill hurt his credibility with conservatives, and they “do not trust him on the issue,” according to The Hill.

....plus this:

In yet another sign of his pivoting toward the general election, Senator John McCain said at a roundtable with business leaders [in San Jose] [last month] that comprehensive immigration reform should be a top priority for the next president…

“Senator Kennedy and I tried very hard to get immigration reform, a comprehensive plan, through the Congress of the United States,” he said. “It is a federal responsibility and because of our failure as a federal obligation, we’re seeing all these various conflicts and problems throughout our nation as different towns, cities, counties, whatever they are, implement different policies and different programs which makes things even worse and even more confusing.”

He added: “I believe we have to secure our borders, and I think most Americans agree with that, because it’s a matter of national security. But we must enact comprehensive immigration reform. We must make it a top agenda item if we don’t do it before, and we probably won’t, a little straight talk, as of January 2009.”

....plus this:

By a 63% to 28% margin, voters continue to believe it is more important to gain control of the border than to resolve the status of those who are already in the country illegally. Democrats are more evenly divided than other voters, but a plurality (49%) agree that controlling the border is the top priority…

Another factor fueling the anger over immigration is the belief that most government officials encourage immigrants to retain the culture of their home country. Overall, 43% of Americans believe this to be true while 32% disagree and believe most officials encourage immigrants to fully embrace American culture. Among those who are angry about immigration, 59% believe most government officials encourage immigrants to retain their home country culture.

....plus this:

The questioner noted that he had been educated at Princeton and Harvard and made more than $300,000 a year.

“How can I be proud of my country?” he asked.

Get it — he was mocking Michelle Obama and her statement earlier this year that her husband had for the first time in her life made her proud of her country.

Well, McCain either missed the joke or decided to ignore it and answer the question literally. I think it was the former because the individual asking the question had a thick accent that sounded to be either Indian or Pakistani, perhaps suggesting to McCain a recent immigrant grappling with America’s image abroad.

“I’ll admit to you that it’s tough, it’s tough in some respects,” McCain said, seeming to lend credence to Michelle Obama’s observation.

McCain said America needed to be “more humble, more inclusive.”

....plus a great deal more, but this'll do for now, all equals this:

How satisfied are you with the choice of candidates you have in this year's presidential election?

Democrats: 78% "Very/Somewhat Satisfied" (42/36) 22% "Not Very/Not At All Satisfied"

Republicans: 54% "Very/Somewhat Satisfied (12/42), 43% "Not Very/Not At All Satisfied"

Forget the rest of the Fox News/Opinion Dynamics poll results, folks; this is all you need to know. A GOP base in which a near majority thinks the party's nominee sucks on so many issues is not one that is going to turn out in anywhere near the numbers that would be required to even get within single-digits of St. Barry (Or Sister Hillary Saddlebags). Heck, the Bush/Cheney/Rove machine got out the Republican vote like never before last time, Bush was the incumbent, John Finger Kerry was an electoral jabrone if there ever was one, and Dubya squeaked through by fewer than three percentage points and thirty-four Electoral Votes. He had the evangelical bloc behind him en masse as well, a luxury John "Agents of Intolerance!" McCain will never enjoy even if he does put Mike Hucklebubble on the ticket.

Fred Thompson or Mitt Romney would have had a chance at "Jimmy Carterizing" Our Mr. Hussein. Lord Queeg is, politically speaking, a dead man walking.