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Carla Fiorina is a big John McCain supporter and adviser who was forced out of her office heading HP. (They just lost over 25,000 jobs by the way)

 Earlier today she said this about Palin:

Carly Fiorina, a key surrogate for John McCain on economic issues, said on Tuesday that Sarah Palin does not have the experience needed to run a major company like the one that Fiorina formerly headed.

"Do you think [Sarah Palin] has the experience to run a major company, like Hewlett Packard?" asked the host.

"No, I don't," responded Fiorina. "But you know what? That's not what she's running for."

I was watching MSNBC when Carly tried to clean that one up by saying McCain wasn't qualified either. She lumped in Obama and Biden with this statement also which is off the wall. Saying a person could run the country, but not a corporation is ridiculous.

 Obama's statement on John McCain's top economic adviser Carly Fiorina:

"If John McCain's top economic advisor doesn't think he can run a corporation, how on Earth can he run the largest economy in the world in the midst of a financial crisis? Apparently even the people who run his campaign agree that the economy is an issue John McCain doesn't understand as well as he should," said Obama campaign spokesman Tommy Vietor.

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135 comments

Bwaaaaahahahahahahaaaaaa!
And the hits just keeeep on a'comin!

Headline's wrong.

But I bet he could do what Carly did, ruin one.

Whooops. It's not wrong. I am.

sorry.

Am I the only one who finds irony of an ousted HP CEO saying how no one else can run HP?

McCain could run a POW store.

"Well, I don’t think John McCain could run a major corporation.”

neither can you, fiorina... iow... pkb... ;-)

clone12 @ 5:

Am I the only one who finds irony of an ousted HP CEO saying how no one else can run HP?

No.

The only place Carly ran HP was straight into the fucking ground.

R.I.P. HP

Let's say you are the CEO of a large company. For whatever reason you need someone to stand in for you for a year. Your only choices are McCain and Obama. Which one are you going to leave in charge?

"Palin could run an oil company into the ground,
I know cause I did, hehehe ..."
--- George.

Funny coming from a woman who couldn't run a major company either. She was fired for mismanaging the merger of HP / Compaq. She outsourced 18,000 jobs at a time when all eyes were on the practice and her management style (micromanaging) drove most of the talent acquired from Compaq to quit. HP did not meet it's marketing goals and HP, merger continued to lag in market share.

It would be like Bush preaching about who is qualified to manage a hurricane disaster.

I think Carly only got involved in the campaign because she thought she had a shot at being McCain's veep. She got passed over for a younger religious freak and now maybe she isn't being as careful with what she says.

In 2003, Carly Fiorina, (Hewlett-Packard's CEO) announced they would dismiss almost 18,000 people. (That year, the firm posted a $903 million loss on $56.6 billion in revenue.) When the outsourcing of jobs turned into a national political issue, Fiorina became the poster-girl for an industry campaign aimed at blocking any legislation that would restrict a company's ability to can American employees in favor of workers overseas.
Fiorina and McCain are perfect examples of "profits at any price" business people. They are the reason America's economic infrastructure is starting to crumble. Who the hell gives a rats ass what she thinks?

pissed off patricia @ 9:

Let's say you are the CEO of a large company. For whatever reason you need someone to stand in for you for a year. Your only choices are McCain and Obama. Which one are you going to leave in charge?

Depends. If it's a bomb-making facility, and I am hoping for a profit, I'm picking John McCain.

what's worse, Carly was on earlier today condenming CEOs extravagant exit packages......pot, meet kettle........truly bizzaro world now.......

I think the Obama campaign should've left this one alone because it was levelled at all of the players.

Though I just donated to Obama/Biden, I have to say that his campaign's response is silly. If Fiorina had only said it about Palin/McCain, that would've meant something.

But, then again, anything Fiorina says about running a corporation should be viewed with immense skepticism.

How much did she get when she left HP? Anybody know?

I think it was $43 million....see post #15

Carly Fiorina knows all about not being able to run a major corporation.

I thought that was Sarah's biggest asset, she was the one with so much executive experience. Guess it wouldn't be enough to run a major corporation or say something like the executive branch of the United States govt. So if she couldn't and McCain couldn't who do we have left to vote for? Guess we have to vote Obama-Biden then.

Do these people want to lose? Dear God. Drip..Drip..Drip... It just keeps getting better and better.

pissed off patricia @ 20:

I thought that was Sarah's biggest asset, she was the one with so much executive experience. Guess it wouldn't be enough to run a major corporation or say something like the executive branch of the United States govt. So if she couldn't and McCain couldn't who do we have left to vote for? Guess we have to vote Obama-Biden then.

Shame, innit?

Dale @ 14:

pissed off patricia @ 9:

Let's say you are the CEO of a large company. For whatever reason you need someone to stand in for you for a year. Your only choices are McCain and Obama. Which one are you going to leave in charge?

Depends. If it's a bomb-making facility, and I am hoping for a profit, I'm picking John McCain.

That is obscene! Killing for profit.

And most evangelicals, like Palin, seem to have a higher standard for the coach of their kid's sports team than they do for v.p. of the United States.

I just checked. Seems she got 21.1 million. #15 hits the nail on the head. This entire campaign is bizarro-world.

Wait for the reaction when the media begin to question McLie about his stance regarding CEO severance pay. I can just hear it now, "Questioning Ms. Fiorina is another sexist ploy by the far left. Dozens of men received far bigger severance packages than her. But the left doesn't want to talk about that."

Maybe I should work for the Republicans???

when carly fiorina is asked question(s) regarding the
mccain/palin campaign/policies, i hear more questions
than answers. i get more information about obama &
biden than i do about mccain/palin.

Jo @ 23:

Dale @ 14:

pissed off patricia @ 9:

Let's say you are the CEO of a large company. For whatever reason you need someone to stand in for you for a year. Your only choices are McCain and Obama. Which one are you going to leave in charge?

Depends. If it's a bomb-making facility, and I am hoping for a profit, I'm picking John McCain.

That is obscene! Killing for profit.

Obscene? Yes...but they excel at it.

The Media's Messy Divorce - They want their "MAC" back!

They are Begging McCain not to break-up and hope to fall back in love again.
So Sad that this love Affair has become one-sided! :(

Amie Parnes reports:

Reporters travelling with John McCain are slightly miffed that the senator hasn't had any face time with them in, well, a month and three days (But who's counting?)

So, when Straight Talk Air departed Tampa today, a dozen reporters chanted, "Bring Mac back! Bring Mac back!" (Some reporters expressed concern that chanting at takeoff could be against FAA regulations. Others joked that they could be taken away by the secret service agents on board.)

The chanting lasted under a minute as staffers in the business cabin smiled and then promptly closed the curtain between business and coach.

No word on whether McCain heard the chanting.

But, alas, he never made it back.

keep talking, carly. keep talking.

I hate this meme that running the government is like running a corporation. It started with the Thuglys years ago.

The Government of the U.S. is not a business. It is not a profit making machine goddammit!

Carly Fiorina is working out well... for us!
It seems that she has a real talent for accomplishing the exact opposite of what she intends.
Good luck with that!

#9 pissed off patricia Says:

Let’s say you are the CEO of a large company. For whatever reason you need someone to stand in for you for a year. Your only choices are McCain and Obama. Which one are you going to leave in charge?

----------------
Great question.

#10 earl Says:

“Palin could run an oil company into the ground,
I know cause I did, hehehe …”
— George.

You might as well have said "a country into the ground".

liberalNmoderation @ 22:

pissed off patricia @ 20:

I thought that was Sarah's biggest asset, she was the one with so much executive experience. Guess it wouldn't be enough to run a major corporation or say something like the executive branch of the United States govt. So if she couldn't and McCain couldn't who do we have left to vote for? Guess we have to vote Obama-Biden then.

Shame, innit?

Yup, seems we have no other choice.

I left the computer, went into the kitchen and turned on MSNBC and they were talking about this very topic. The guy who was speaking for McCain seemed he was so pissed he was about to cry or something.

In a little while they are going to talk about the topic of McCain inventing the blackberry. I swear they come here to C&L to get the topics for their afternoon shows.

pissed off patricia @ 9:

Let's say you are the CEO of a large company. For whatever reason you need someone to stand in for you for a year. Your only choices are McCain and Obama. Which one are you going to leave in charge?

Well, Obama is going to be too busy, that's for sure.

Fiorina is a contributor for the Fox Business Network.

Politico - LOL

Blackberry gratitude

-----Original Message-----
From: Bill Burton
Sent: Tue 9/16/2008 4:07 PM
To: Ben Smith
Subject:

[snip]
--------------------------
Sent from my BlackBerry Wireless Handheld, a miracle made possible by John McCain.

I'm getting too cynical. When I now see Carly Fiorina I
think the 'sexist' card maker. She 's nothing more than
a parrot.

pissed off patricia @ 34:

liberalNmoderation @ 22:

pissed off patricia @ 20:

I thought that was Sarah's biggest asset, she was the one with so much executive experience. Guess it wouldn't be enough to run a major corporation or say something like the executive branch of the United States govt. So if she couldn't and McCain couldn't who do we have left to vote for? Guess we have to vote Obama-Biden then.

Shame, innit?

Yup, seems we have no other choice.

I left the computer, went into the kitchen and turned on MSNBC and they were talking about this very topic. The guy who was speaking for McCain seemed he was so pissed he was about to cry or something.

In a little while they are going to talk about the topic of McCain inventing the blackberry. I swear they come here to C&L to get the topics for their afternoon shows.

HA! Good News!!!!
I've been thinkin the same thing...I think Colbert reads the posts, because sometimes his material reminds me of stuff I've read on here...BUT I could be crazy. So who knows, lol!

and we all know that carly cant run shit...except her mouth

I don't understand why there aren't more dems out there pounding the message......Carly broke HP and took a huge golden parachute.........why is there no blowback from this from the dems??????? This is an easy one to punch holes in that even soccer/hockey moms and joe sixpack could wrap their tiny minds around......

lipstickhottie @ 41:

I don't understand why there aren't more dems out there pounding the message......Carly broke HP and took a huge golden parachute.........why is there no blowback from this from the dems???????

I was just going to mention that. TO paraphrase from wiki:

"During (Fiorina's) tenure, the market halved HP’s value and the company incurred heavy job losses.[3] When Fiorina was asked by the Board of Directors to step down in 2005..."

I especially like that second part.

I don't think the comparison is a given. Running a corporation isn't the same as running a country.

On the other hand, I wouldn't let McCain/Palin run either, so there's a similarity.

I think she meant to say that McCain doesn't have to run a major corporation if he's president, because folk like her are all too willing to step in and run it for him, with McCain/Palin as the token figureheads, visiting countries, knighting country & western pop singers, etc. Hey, if she can run a unique and vital corporation into the ground and collect a 40 million dollar kiss-off, jeez, based on the last 8 years, she's qualified. She's over-qualified. Let's all eat cake and dance while music and dancing in the service of fun and not the lord is still legal!

lipstickhottie @ 41:

I don't understand why there aren't more dems out there pounding the message......Carly broke HP and took a huge golden parachute.........why is there no blowback from this from the dems??????? This is an easy one to punch holes in that even soccer/hockey moms and joe sixpack could wrap their tiny minds around......

Give it time. So much ammo and so little time. Today Obama was slamming McCain about his stand on deregulation. About Phil Gramm and his history. Obama was totally on offense and it sounded great.

Just curious, but for a while now I have noticed Cindy McCain wearing a pin the size of a small billboard and it's made out of what appears to be diamonds. I never can tell what it is or what it says. Today I see Sarah of Moose breath is wearing one too. Can anyone tell me what it is?

McCain has been in Congress as a Republican for 26 YEARS and CAN"T RUN JACK-SHIT!

The Media’s Messy Divorce - They want their “MAC” back!

They are Begging McCain not to break-up and hope to fall back in love again.
So Sad that this love Affair has become one-sided! :(

Amie Parnes reports:

Reporters travelling with John McCain are slightly miffed that the senator hasn’t had any face time with them in, well, a month and three days (But who’s counting?)

So, when Straight Talk Air departed Tampa today, a dozen reporters chanted, “Bring Mac back! Bring Mac back!” (Some reporters expressed concern that chanting at takeoff could be against FAA regulations. Others joked that they could be taken away by the secret service agents on board.)

The chanting lasted under a minute as staffers in the business cabin smiled and then promptly closed the curtain between business and coach.

No word on whether McCain heard the chanting.

But, alas, he never made it back.

"Bring back donuts! Bring back donuts!"

What is wrong with this country? I sizable portion of our population seems to think a lack of experience, education-- even a lack of intelligence-- is a *positive* thing for political candidates.

What the hell is wrong with this place that so many of the people praise ignorance and stupidity?

pissed off patricia @ 46:

lipstickhottie @ 41:

I don't understand why there aren't more dems out there pounding the message......Carly broke HP and took a huge golden parachute.........why is there no blowback from this from the dems??????? This is an easy one to punch holes in that even soccer/hockey moms and joe sixpack could wrap their tiny minds around......

Give it time. So much ammo and so little time. Today Obama was slamming McCain about his stand on deregulation. About Phil Gramm and his history. Obama was totally on offense and it sounded great.

Just curious, but for a while now I have noticed Cindy McCain wearing a pin the size of a small billboard and it's made out of what appears to be diamonds. I never can tell what it is or what it says. Today I see Sarah of Moose breath is wearing one too. Can anyone tell me what it is?

They all have been wearing one. I read that it was the Israeli flag pin. I still don't get it.

Pissed of Patricia......I noticed the same thing......some of the GOP wives that I know (can't avoid them all the time) call them "merit badges".......wonder what the girls did to "merit" them

This election has brought out the absolute worst in this country. To some McCain and Palin can do no wrong even though the evidence says otherwise. This country, founded over 200 years ago only afforded black Americans the right to vote when Obama was 4 years old (1965) That is paramount in understanding what this campaign is faced with.

I agree with Pari, the Obama camp should have left this alone, since it was aimed at them all.
We all know that the Repugs are good at winning/stealing campaigns. But they have proven over and over again that they are the most incompetent, when it comes to running govt.

Why? Because they run govt. as if it's a for profit corporation. Govt. should always be run as a non profit aimed at achieving a balanced budget.

So , the bottom line is you don't want a prez. that is basically a corp. ceo.

mccain isnt even in control of his own campaign.

Like I said earlier up thread, David Schuster was talking all about Carly a little while ago and about her infamous history with HP. There was some repub guy on there and he was up against the wall trying to explain Carly's history away. It was kinda pitiful to watch him squirm and twitch.

The Obama team shouldn't have responded to Fiorina in that way, because she name-dropped all 4 of them while making her idiotic point. Besides, what the hell would she know about successfully running a corporation?

Carly Fiorina is mentally rewriting the SNL skit. Carly 'The Apple iPod by Hewlett-Packard' Fiorina you will recall was almost McCain's veep.

How sexist for a woman to say a woman is not qualified to do what she herself was not qualified for?

File under 'it takes one to know one.'

mary @ 47:

McCain has been in Congress as a Republican for 26 YEARS and CAN"T RUN JACK-SHIT!

Isn't that great...fuckin scary, actually. Both McCain and Palin are idiot jackasses and America the stupid wants to vote them in ?

I don't think that Carla Firoina could run HP, and the Board agreed with me. She was a lousy CEO, so it makes sense that McInsane picked her for an economics adviser, because he just doesn't understand economics, or advisors.

I can see when Carly's logic comes from. George Bush was a terrible business man, but look what a great president he made.....what....no?

McCain-half of 09
Palin 091/2-12

The McSame campaign needs to put Carly way out front and keep her there. She will do for McSame what Baghdad Bob did for Saddam Hussein . . .

She should know. She obviously was not qualified for her position at HP.

lipstickhottie @ 51:

Pissed of Patricia......I noticed the same thing......some of the GOP wives that I know (can't avoid them all the time) call them "merit badges".......wonder what the girls did to "merit" them

Whatever it is, this thing is BIG. I don't think it's a flag or anything, it looks like it is a word or words.

Ah, I just used "the google" and typed in "cindy mccain diamond pin" and found this

Now all I have to do is find out what Sarah's is all about.

Why can't you show more of this clip? All I saw was about 15 seconds and it was cut off.

What did she say next?

people want mccain to lead the crusade to privatize
social security......oh.. maybe he won't really do that
since he collects monthly SS payments of $1,930.00
per month.

Open mouth - insert OTHER foot.
*

constituent @ 65:

people want mccain to lead the crusade to privatize
social security......oh.. maybe he won't really do that
since he collects monthly SS payments of $1,930.00
per month.

No, he doesn't need the $1930.00. He has said the social security system is a disgrace.

It simply breaks my brain to try to figure out why the woman who failed miserably - wretchedly - at running a computer company, is anyone's main adviser and not only that, is someone the press go to when they have questions about economics and corporate leadership. The woman should be washing cars for a living.

Jesus christ. I think John McCain needs a new surrogate. This one is aiming the propaganda catapult the wrong way.

OK, so who in Bush's White House did run major corporations successfully?

Dick Cheney (Halliburton) and Donald Rumsfeld (Searle). The guys who, respectively, broke American foreign policy and the military.

Enough said about corporate experience.

On Hardball tonight, Chris will be talking about what Carly said. It was the first topic he mentioned as his show came on. Looks like the media or at least msnbc, is going to run with this. Good!

clone12 @ 5:

Am I the only one who finds irony of an ousted HP CEO saying how no one else can run HP?

THANK YOU for saying this.

Our corporate owned and run media isn't about to emphasize obvious conundrums of that nature though. Her shame and disgrace are insignificant in the face of having pulled the deception off.
*

pissed off patricia @ 63:

lipstickhottie @ 51:

Pissed of Patricia......I noticed the same thing......some of the GOP wives that I know (can't avoid them all the time) call them "merit badges".......wonder what the girls did to "merit" them

Whatever it is, this thing is BIG. I don't think it's a flag or anything, it looks like it is a word or words.

Ah, I just used "the google" and typed in "cindy mccain diamond pin" and found this

Now all I have to do is find out what Sarah's is all about.

I actually think it's a blue star service pin. Like the flags people put in their windows to signify they have someone in their house at war.

It looks as if Cindy's pins says, "Navy, USA". Sarah's probably says, "OIL, NRA". Her two big interests.

Exactly.

I love when the truth finally comes out, whether it's unintentionally or not. Moreover, I'm loving the fact that the so-called Palin Bounce is over. McBoring tried his Hail-Mary and it's not working, the momentum that he was starting to get two weeks ago, is all but evaporated.

She's so...sexist!

It's those types of statements that highlight why Hewlett-Packard tossed Fiorina out on her ass.

And she's not good at cleaning up her statements, either. Palin's "executive ability" or lack thereof, is exactly why she's supposed to be running for VP; never mind that McCain chose her because she didn't possess those qualifications.

I think Cindy sees another mistress in her husband's future in Palin. At least, that's how she got the current position as McCain's spouse. Screw qualifications - in the ReThug party, as the last eight years have shown, you don't NEED THEM.

Who knew that Carly is pure comedy gold?

Jo @ 30:

The Government of the U.S. is not a business. It is not a profit making machine goddammit!

LOL....

HILARIOUS!!!

(wait... you WERE joking, right?)

Fiorina is a typical egomaniac executive. Her main accomplishment and HP was enriching herself. Americans always assume that those who make a lot of money are gifted, ignoring all evidence to the contrary. Until recently, weren't we supposed to believe that the people running Wall Street were all geniuses?

Kathy in St. louis @ 74:

It looks as if Cindy's pins says, "Navy, USA". Sarah's probably says, "OIL, NRA". Her two big interests.

YEAH!

Fiorina is a typical egomaniac executive. Her main accomplishment [at] HP was enriching herself. Americans always assume that those who make a lot of money are gifted, ignoring all evidence to the contrary. Until recently, weren’t we supposed to believe that the people running Wall Street were all geniuses?

Sven @ 79:

Jo @ 30:

The Government of the U.S. is not a business. It is not a profit making machine goddammit!

LOL....

HILARIOUS!!!

(wait... you WERE joking, right?)

If I could run a business and borrowed and spent, devalued the stock and still walked off with a golden parachute of 21 million, I would be a success, right?

For 5 1/2 years as a POW, John McCain didn't have a major corporation to run.

Ron @ 83:

Sven @ 79:

Jo @ 30:

The Government of the U.S. is not a business. It is not a profit making machine goddammit!

LOL....

HILARIOUS!!!

(wait... you WERE joking, right?)

If I could run a business and borrowed and spent, devalued the stock and still walked off with a golden parachute of 21 million, I would be a success, right?

Well, given the definition of success the neocons follow (ie: ensure the growing wealth of the top 1% to 10%, at all costs...) then yes, you would be.

Back when Bush first took office, I remember reading articles about how great it was that he was the first MBA president, how strict he was about punctuality, getting results, making firm decisions, delegating responsibility, using his time efficiently, blah, blah, blah.

Business experience only means something if you have character, integrity and competence to begin with. Otherwise, it's worth fuck all.

Our current crop of business leaders are as odious as the politicians. This is a bit off topic but I hope you will indulge me. I completed my MBA in the mid-90s. The big investment banks recruited from our school and Lehman was amongst them. Apparently, they were dissatisfied with the students they interviewed, and apparently when one student misspelled Lehman in a cover letter they 'lost it'. The Lehman mucky-muck wrote a lot to the school, castigating them for the schools shallow talent pool (this letter was read to us in class in attempt to motivate is to 'do better'). So, the company whose job it is to be foresee the movement of the market in general and stocks in particular bet so badly they went bankrupt. And presumably that asshole was one of the architects.

We've bred a generation of business people as rockstars, who leverage modest success into rockstar status, loot their companies, screw the public, slip out the back way, and then have the gall to come back and tell others how to run a business.

What a fuckin' joke.

Fiorina should know who can't run a corporation, she's an authority on the subject.

Fiorina is in charge of the Palin 'sexism' shield. she blamed the 'liberal media' for palin tabloid nonsense. this provided the perfect scenario to cry 'sexism'. so
carly protects palin with this shield from the media/public questioning. so this is poor judgement

john mccain can't run a corporation...well No kidding.
john mccain has been in social government his entire
life from diapers to grave. never been out there on
his own always had safety net(s).

This is a trap. Having a failed CEO say someone could not be a successful CEO is a backhanded compliment. I'd say Carly's chances of finding another CEO gig are pretty bad, unless Lehman Brothers is hiring.

Couldn't run a major corporation? McCain got lots of financial experience helping Charles Keating. Also, he has the ability to recognize when one woman is richer than another.

Carly: The difference between "Run" and "Ruin" is "I".

I can see why HP fired her, she has no idea what she's talking about.
Also, since she has never been in government, how can she compare running it, with running (ruining, for those who didn't get the joke) a corporation.

Looking at the state of the business today, I'm guessing most of us could run a corporation and for a lot less.

So, Carly Fiorina doesn't think John McCain can run a corporation eh.... Well, I agree, and that makes two of em fer sure... Her and him.... Running corporations into the ground is a speciality of hers. So, she ought to know but what a freaking harpy! I cannot understand how people like her and all the rest of the golden parachute brigade can time after time ruin businesses, get shitcanned with a severance package that is just batshit insane given how and why they are leaving these companies, many on the verge of bankruptcy.. Then turn around, come right back and either do it again with some other business or worse, pull one of these 'I'm a wise business sage, use me in politics' bullshit like this wench has managed to pull off.... Frankly, with her specific track record, I wouldn't trust her advice on crossing the street.... She is a FAILURE as a business person, much as it is with the Chimpster himself. As far as being some kind of a political sage or fount of wisdom? Just another repuke bubbleheaded bleech blonde selling talking points to the ignorant... Intellectually shallow would be an improvement in her case.........................JD