24 posts tagged “john”

Swiftboating has been resurrected and again has raised concerns or at least questions.

Senator Barack Obama separated himself from a statement made by retired General Wesley Clark, while Senator John McCain went on the defensive against this comment. General Clark made several statements on the “Face the Nation” show on CBS’, but I must admit that that most memorable comment was “I don’t think getting in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to become president.”  Although, rude, unnecessary, and possibly outright stupid, there is a valid question raised here. 

The real point of the conversation or the real question raised is:  “Does his individual military experience make him any more qualified to be president of an entire country?”

I have to say that in reality the question raised here for me is:  “Does any of the past actions of either of these candidates demonstrate their readiness to be president?”

From what I have seen the only thing that we have established about these candidates is that they may be schizophrenic and are terrible at choosing supporters to work with their campaigns. 

The person who is elected will as part of the job be Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces of the United States. 

What is there on Senator Barack Obama’s resume that qualifies him for this job?  Absolutely nothing!

On the other hand Senator John McCain at least was a military officer.  I do have a personal problem with his service however. 

He is in my view a great war hero and a better man than most for having lived through what he lived through in Viet Nam.

The problem I have is one of expecting more from the troops than you expected of yourself.  When I was a child (in a family where every man served this country during wartime for several generations) I was told that a good leader is on who does not expect more from his subordinates than he or she expects of him or herself.

When I was in the military I was taught that if captured, I was to kill myself rather than to talk or give in to the enemy.  The whole “Death Before Dishonor” thing!  I was repeatedly fed the fact that I was to remain “always faithful” (Semper Fidelis) to God, country and corps even if it meant killing myself rather that to be dishonored.

The truth is that I am not convinced I could have done this and think few could.  The thing is I was raised to believe in an ideal.  That ideal is the president should be the best of the best particularly in terms of military service.

While a great man, I do not think it fair to demand such service from those that are under you when you could not do it yourself. 

What I am getting at is that I do not believe that either candidate is even close to qualified to command our armed forces, but I do think that Senator McCain is far more qualified as he at least has some experience.

As a side note, I have to add that one of the biggest atrocities that has happened to our men and women in the armed forces was that a man who dodged the draft was allowed to be Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces.  This actually was one of the main reasons that I left the military.   Think that president (Bill Clinton) was a slap in the face of all of those who have served and those that have died for our nation.

That all being said I think this is a valid discussion, but the punches needs to remain above the belt.  The candidates themselves are trying to give the appearance that they are above the fray and not participating in such tactics, but their respective camps are not so “above the fray.”

It seems that that role of Commander-in-Chief has been largely neglected over the past several presidencies and for the past several years.  This presidency, far more than most, will need a person of this understanding and that is a motivation to all of those asked to be willing to give their lives to do whatever their country asks of them through the president.  That means even if they do not agree with the battle, war, conflict, police action, or whatever.

P.S.  Just to make all of this a little more odd a group of Republican senators and military officers jumped to Senator McCain’s defense  on a phone call arranged by Senator McCain’s campaign.  This group stated that these statement s were “Complete silliness,” “Beyond comprehension,” “A very indecent thing,” and so on.  I suppose they wanted to make sure that we all know that the Republican Party is completely opposed to Swiftboating. 

The funny thing here is that the Democrats were quick to point out that one of those military officers, retired Air Force Colonel, Bud Day, was actually on the “Swift Boat” add that coined the phrase Swiftboating.  For those that don’t remember, those were the adds that cast doubt on the medals earned by Democratic candidate John Kerry in Viet Nam.  Now one of the people from that add is crying foul saying that these statements are “A very indecent thing”

Again, the McCain campaign has demonstrated that as a campaign, there is terrible problems in picking people to support Senator McCain publically.

I guess you have to love the irony.

All this talk of “flip-flopping” and supporting evidence from everywhere; can we trust either of these people?  What is going on?  It’s like there is a flip-flop fever going around.

The camps of both major party’s hopefuls for president have been ramping up the rhetoric about the other candidate’s “flip-flops” and inconsistencies.  When one follows the facts, the truth is that both candidates have had major flip-flops over the past year.  Flip-flops big enough to make one wonder; “Who the heck are these people and what do they stand for?”

The truth of the matter is that June and July historically are the months when candidates retool their message and their stands to move a little closer to the center and away from the extreme ends of their party’s ideals to appeal to larger voting segments.

What makes it different this year?  I think there are two things that are different.

I think with Senator Obama, his voting record shows him to be almost as far to the left as one can be, while his rhetoric, campaigning, and speeches make him appear to be very close to the middle and as “The Candidate of Change.”  There a already many huge question marks about who he really is to begin with without him changing the message again.

For Senator McCain, he already has done more and more to alienate the far right within his party over the past eight or nine years and who he really is also warrants a huge question mark from his would be supporters.  Many of the things he stands for and represents already is a hard sell to people in the middle or on the right at any level.  Keep in mind that he represents the same party as the largely unpopular current president which makes his candidacy a hard sell as it is.  He has somehow got to get the support of the right and the middle at the same time when both are skeptical to begin with and he is even going so far as to try to draw from the right betting on the fallout from the Democratic primaries.  For those who are not already set on a candidate or a party (voting for a candidate simply because of party affiliation at this point in history with all that could happen over the next four years is not only stupid but grossly negligent) his message seems to be all over the map and makes him even less understandable to us.

The other reason I think this is such a big deal this year is the fact that there are more mediums that will verify what they are saying and more people who are apt to research such things. 

How many of us have heard something stated by one of the candidates and then by the next day heard and read a firestorm of contradictions stated by the same person as noted on “factcheck.org” or other such organizations. 

What I am saying is that the microscope has grown more powerful for this year’s elections and the candidates are under much more focused scrutiny.  I suspect that if previous candidates had been under the same level of scrutiny as the current candidates history would be vastly different.

Are the candidates “flip-flopping” and still undefined?  Absolutely!  Are these candidates distancing themselves from their own past stands and voting records?  Absolutely?  When I look at both of their past stands and voting records, this is not really a bad thing if we are talking about a true change of heart. 

The problem is, will this newly retooled and refined candidate show up in the Whitehouse if elected president or is it all for votes?  I for one sure do like the candidates’ campaign faces a lot better than what the facts show.

Recent comments by Charles R. Black Jr., a key advisor to Senator John McCain have sparked a firestorm that is being fanned by the Senator Barack Obama’s camp.  Mr. Black merely stated that a terrorist attack during the campaign would strengthen Senator McCain’s presidential bid.  The real question in this campaign is what idiot picks these advisors?

This year seems to be plagued with crazy remarks from crazy advisors, supporters, friends, and family members that completely undermine the candidacy of the person they are trying to support.  Where are all of these people coming from and how can they be stopped. 

I do have to wonder, in light of what I have seen throughout this year if any of the serious candidates for president (Senator’s McCain, Obama, and Clinton) have shown themselves unable to fulfill the office of president simply because they have no ability to appoint the right people, discern which people are good or outright stupid advisors, and control the crazy people that are otherwise involved in their lives. 

If the campaigns of these three people are any indicator of what a presidency will look like, I certainly will pass. 

A huge part of a presidency finds it’s foundations in whom the president surrounds himself or herself with and appoints to major positions that have influence over the entire planet.  The people around the three serious candidates that we had been left with (now two) are amateurish (to put it politely). 

The mistakes and stupidity seen this year are not old Washington politics they are best classified as armature Washington stupidity.

Once again, I assert that clearly non e of the aforementioned candidates is ready to be president for the next four years and we need a better candidate from somewhere. 

Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are to begin campaigning together.  The question is will this be a good thing for each one of them and for us who have to watch the whole thing.  I am not sure it is the best thing for any of us.

First let’s look at how this is bad for Senator Obama.  Having Senator Clinton on his side probably will greatly help him gain some support with female voters and add a strong counterattacking voice that will counter the strong attacks of Senator McCain’s camp. 

The problem is that there is another part of the package that comes with a Hillary Clinton; former president Bill Clinton.  Each candidate has their strange sideline person that in trying to help them just makes him or her look bad.  There is a certain Mr. Wright for Senator Obama, Cindy McCain for Senator John McCain, and there is Bill Clinton for Senator Hillary Clinton.

Senator Obama has finally gotten past his and the memories are gradually dying and the effort by the McCain camp and particularly Senator McCain’s wife Cindy McCain to make Michelle Obama Mr. Wright’s replacement is failing. 

Is the Obama camp sure it is ready to take on the burden of Senator Clinton’s anchor and husband Bill Clinton.  After all they are married and he loves to get passionate about whatever he is supporting politically.  The problem that has surfaced over the past few months is that he gets passionately stupid.  Why would a candidate volunteer for more obstacles to overcome?

Next let’s look at how this is bad for Senator Clinton.  She spent months tearing down the credentials of Senator Obama and convincing the entire planet that he would be one of the worst choices for president of the United States there has ever been.  Her campaigning to the contrary confirms the suspicion that she is all rhetoric and she doesn’t mean half of what she says.

The fact is, that if an Obama presidency has half of the problems she stated it may have, it would be better for her political career to have distanced herself from him during the rest of this race and just announce that she is supporting her party’s candidate because she has to.  This means if he is elected and all evil breaks loose, she can run four years from now as the “I told you so” candidate and possibly be the better choice for her party.

Finally let’s look at how this is bad for us.  Clearly the campaign is going to get ugly.  The McCain camp is starting off with a similar campaign mindset that Senator Clinton had; if you keep attacking Senator Obama he will crack (although this seems like the obvious right direction to go with the slight leads Obama has in many polls, it just failed for Senator Clinton).  What is going to happen once the Clinton family are on the other side of this manner of campaign.  The mud slinging war to end all wars and we have to endure it all.  Smear tactics, attacks on family members, rude and often misleading adds, racial divisiveness from both sides, childishness, and on and on. 

The worst problem with all of this will be the lack of genuine conversation about real issues and solutions to compare.  We will be simply voting for who fights better, not who is the better candidate.

This is a two sided coin.  Good in some ways and bad in some grave other ways

Over the past few days the McCain camp has hit one of my pet peeves.

I remember when I was in high school that whenever two girls got into a physical confrontation someone would always scream “cat-fight” out loud.  There are many negative connotations in the statement “cat-fight” which over the past few days I cannot stop myself from having one person come to mind when I think of the term.  That person is Cindy McCain, the wife of presidential candidate Senator John McCain.

I am not a big fan of Senator Barack Obama’s wife Michelle Obama, but I am noting really voting for her so who cares.  Her little publicity stunt on the view yesterday didn’t help or hurt her in my view it was just stuff and possibly a wasted opportunity to help her husband’s cause.

As far as Cindy McCain I actually find her to just flat out not be likeable, but I have just ignored that fact because however I vote, I am not voting for her either.

The problem I have had is when Mrs. McCain started her public attacks of Mrs. Obama implying that she hates the country etc.  The question I have to ask myself is why am I watching the wives of presidential candidates fight.  In reality it is only Cindy McCain who is picking a fight as a political ploy for her husband. 

The only defense I have heard for this ridiculous display is that “Senator Obama’s People” (I suppose by that they must mean someone who they perceive not to support Senator McCain) attacked his wife first about the absence of her tax returns.

You may remember when Senator Obama was in a heated competition with Senator Hillary Clinton and was pressuring her to release her tax returns.  Both of the Democratic candidates released tax returns that included their spouses.  So rather than just stay out of that fight, Senator McCain’s “people” decided to release his tax returns and leave out his wife, Cindy McCain’s tax returns.  Now we are hearing that Senator McCain’s camp was so angered by the questions and challenges that this raised that they feel it okay to have his wife attack Michelle Obama. 

To be honest, I was not that interested in the tax return issue until I heard that Senator McCain’s wife did not include hers.  I heard the explanation and found it plausible, yet I still had doubts and questions.  In actuality I am still not sure to this day that there is nothing being hidden there.  In my opinion it would have been better not to release anything and say he was refusing to get into the childish games being played by the other party.  The releasing of his tax returns without hers was, in my opinion, a bad political move.

The idea that it raised comments and criticism is not to attack his wife; it is to attack a stupid move on the part of whoever in his camp thought they should do this.

That being said, the “She hit me first” defense not only is childish, but doesn’t hold water. 

Senator John McCain is trying to kill the image he has of having temper tantrums and childish outbursts and then his campaign allows his wife to do one of the most childish acts in the history of public elections.  I would have thought that after the escapades of former president, Bill Clinton and the negative influence he had on Senator Hillary Clinton’s campaign, we would have seen the end of the spouse campaigning by attack.

As anyone who reads my posts regularly knows, I am not a huge fan of either of the candidates from the major parties, but attacking candidate’s families is one of my pet peeves.  Cindy McCain has managed to tip the scales a little toward the Democrats for me with this childishness.  The McCain camp has managed to tip the scales a bit more with their attempts to defend such childishness instead of just apologizing.  I am just befuddled by the fact that they try to imply that the Obama camp was out of line to (in their view) attack Cindy McCain and yet they are using that to defend the reason Cindy McCain attacks (yes I mean it to be plural) Michelle Obama. 

“She hit me first,” only says that you are as childish as the person you are fighting with.  Then when it turns out that that person didn’t really hit you first, you are the only one that is proven to be childish!

Democrat, Al Gore endorsed Senator Barack Obama yesterday.  Wow, what an awesome speech and would have been a huge help to his bid to be the Democratic candidate for president.  That is if he had done it before Senator Hillary Clinton “suspended” her campaign.

This is an interesting distraction, and gets Senator Obama’s face in the news, but what is changed because he endorses him now.  It is not like some diehard Republican is going to say; “Well, if Al Gore endorsed him, I guess I will too.” 

I am also not too sure what weight Al Gore carries with the independent voters either.  I have to wonder if this is just another publicity stunt that really keeps us from focusing on the true issues.

To be honest I don’t really care if Al Gore endorses him at this stage in the game or not.  What I care about is, what solutions does Senator Obama or Senator McCain have to show for the problems that are at hand.

I think that the time for endorsements and publicity stunts ended at four dollars a gallon, lost homes, and no food.  The time is now for beginning to talk issues.

Plus, what does this say about Al Gore.  He stayed away from committing to a candidate until one had already been chosen and then he shows up and “endorses that person as if he had supported him all along.  As if history should hold that he made the difference in the Obama campaign in 2008.

I do not know Mr. Gore’s motivations, but this does give the impression that he is in it for the publicity. 

What a waste of all of our time.

Senator John McCain and his advisors finally picked a subject to attack Senator Barack Obama with that actually helps his campaign.  Until now the topics Senator McCain’s camp has been addressing seem to only be targeted at getting approval from those who are already his strongest supporters already.

Senator McCain went before small business owners and said flat out that Senator Obama is bad for business.  As Senator Obama is speaking of tax breaks for the general population and increasing taxes on businesses (the latest example is big oil) Senator McCain is speaking to the businesses saying:  “Hey!  This means more taxes for you and less profit!”

This serves to make all of the rhetoric about how to fix he economy look a lot different to American business owners. 

Another smart benefit that Senator McCain gets from this ploy, is that while Senator Obama has been a campaign contribution machine that has been getting millions of dollars from lots of small contribution s from lots of donors this starts massaging the large donors that are largely untapped by the Obama campaign.  This says, “I am the candidate that will give you return on your investment in me” to the business owners.

This appears to finally be the real start to Senator McCain’s serious campaigning as much of the rest of what has transpired from his camp over the past few months seemed to be just killing time until real campaigning started.

There is however, another side to this coin.  There is the risk of appearing to be the “Same Old Washington” candidate who steals from the poor to buy support from the rich.

Senator Obama responded to Senator McCain’s accusations by discussing things like three-hundred billion dollar tax breaks and loopholes for big corporations and the wealthiest Americans to start to show this as the nest wave of media we will be hearing. 

I have to admit, that while I agree that we need businesses to stay open or there is no economy, I do have to wonder if it is not rewarding businesses and the rich while hanging the general population out to dry in the hopes of saving the economy.  Maybe, something in between the rhetoric of the two camps is much more realistic.

As I have repeatedly stated that I am not a big fan of either of these candidates much in terms of becoming our commander and chief.  The thing is, if I am going to end up casting my vote for the lesser evil, for lack of a better choice, I would like to know that there was a good campaign that dealt with real issues.  Like the ref before a boxing match I want to see a good clean fight.  I do not just want one candidate to just pummel the other one in the media and at the ballot boxes.

This is finally a good and sensible start to Senator McCain’s campaign against Senator Obama although it is very risky and may backfire.  I think it is also good that actual issues for right now have come to the surface for discussion. 

I hope to hear more about different sides of the issues (including both candidates’ strange voting records that seem to contradict their campaign rhetoric) and less about the candidate’s friends and distant acquaintances. 

Maybe the real campaign has finally has begun at last.

Senator Barack Obama has ventured into a battleground that a year ago would have been a suicide mission for most Democrats particularly one with a voting record like his. 

Tuesday, Senator Obama had an open discussion with Evangelical and Catholic leaders many of which did not support him or hold what is generally perceived to be his views.

How the world has changed when the Christian Right is looking left.  A few years ago Senator John McCain has struggled to gain the confidence of the Christian Right after his tirade in 2000 where he screamed at this same group who he now needs to support him.

This year has been a year where there has been no major push from the Christian Right for any candidate in either party. 

Senator Obama’s “first strike” in the Christian community is a smart move politically.  He allowed the group to ask him the tough questions and he answered the questions.  The reports so far from both supporters and those who oppose his views that attended were favorable. 

The question again has to be; “Is the guy that the Evangelical and Catholic leadership the same guy who would show up in the Whitehouse?” 

If the Christian Right is asking who is more of a churchgoer, it is hard to tell although far more has been said about Senator Obama’s going to church and Senator is still a Christian-hater in the minds of many believers.  On the other hand, the press about Senator Obama’s Church attendance has not been favorable.

If asking who more represents the views of the Christian Right it is a toss up when you look at the voting records.  I would probably give the advantage to Senator McCain.

Clearly from the how little outspoken support for Senator McCain has come from the Christian Right (traditionally considered to be Republican voters) up to this point there seems to be a sentiment of voting for the lesser evil. 

The rumor mill has been turning all year about how the Christian right has lost it’s power and is dying and so on.  I do not believe that is the case.  It seems clear that out of all of the candidates in both parties who ran in the primaries there was not one candidate that represented the collective beliefs of this group.   This is a huge failure on the part of both parties to exclude the desires of such a large segment of the population when putting up candidates (particularly along the Bible Belt). 

This seems like it may be a big step forward for Senator Obama, but there is always that voting record that would scare anyone but the most left.  I cannot say what this did for the Christian Right, but it must have been a huge step forward in winning over the Evangelical and Catholic Left and Moderates.

What is going on in the presidential race?  Democratic Senator Barack Obama went at republican Senator John McCain with both guns blazing in discussing the economy and I began to think:  “Finally, we will get to the real issues.” 

Boy oh boy was I mistaken.  I was all ready for Senator McCain (who is now known for being weak on matters of the economy at the worst time ever for that to be the case) to get with his advisors and start devising strong solutions for our economic woes.  Then I pictured this huge back and forth campaigning where two different plans that would both make some sense would be brought before the American people and we would all be thinking; “Wow, what great candidates.”

This however, was not what happened.  Senator McCain went back to that absolutely stupid “Gas Tax Holiday” idiocy that helped us all understand economy was not his strength.  Then Senator Hillary Clinton supported it also and some of the cooties of being economically illiterate seemed to get on her and her campaign.

I thought; “That’s it?  All of those campaign strategists and speechwriters and whoever else in his political entourage and that is it?”

But, no it was not.  Then he went back to this town hall meeting idea.  I admit it is a pretty cool idea, but seriously, one candidate is just going to dictate how another candidate is going to campaign for the entire summer and this other candidate is expected to just agree and go along with this?  (Is this one of those places where people on the internet us the letters “LOL?”

I personally believe that both candidates that are left from the two major parties have these gaping holes in their qualifications for president (particularly saying lots of things that neither of their voting records support), but if this is the best Senator McCain can come up with against a person with a gift for speaking and a charisma that attracts so many, Senator McCain will be reduced to a straw man for Senator Obama to knock over.

If there are any advisors to Senator McCain reading this, please gather some experts on the economy and draw up something substantial that will appeal to the public. Then spend some time educating Senator McCain on this plan.  Once that is done release him on the public with these fresh new ideas and a solution to a real problem in the here and now.  That will make him a solid candidate and definitely make the race more interesting.

I suppose Senator McCain may have such plans and be keeping them hidden is his grand plan to unleash this weapon of mass destruction on Senator Obama during these town hall meetings, but let’s face it, that is not going to happen.  An I am not sure if it were to happen that the results would be what Senator McCain expects.  I remember a debate between the Republicans that was televised on CNN that had an approval meter that was on the screen the whole time.  The relevant fact here is that almost every time Senator McCain spoke the meter shot down.  That went double when he got excited or agitated.

I think to win, Senator McCain better come up with more than the stuff he has put out there so far.

If Senator McCain does not retool his message, this will be one of those really boring elections where one candidate just sinks fast as soon as the votes start to be cast.  Today I was aghast at his lack of anything to say and found his whole message just plain boring.  

I was thinking about our government and the stalemate that we are in and I thought of an analogy.  What if the goal of the government next week was to screw in a light bulb.

Senator Obama would give an awesome speech about the equality of all light bulbs and discuss how he is going to get everybody light bulbs if elected.

A certain Mr. Wright would suddenly surface describing how different light bulbs are just different and how Senator Obama had to distance himself from him because of politics.  

The media would find every tidbit that could sound strange to listeners from Mr. Wrights speech and play these clips over and over and discuss these clips over and over.

Senator Obama would again try to distance himself from this person.

Senator McCain would ask Senator Obama why he spent so many years in a church with such beliefs about lightbulbs.

Senator Hillary Clinton would have said that Senator Obama does not have enough experience to put in a light bulb and does not really have enough support to screw in a light bulb, but she has finally realized that she is not going to win the Democratic primaries.  So now she will say that Senator Obama, her friend, is well equipped to screw in light bulbs.  But, she continued to campaign because she felt the American people deserved the best light bulb screwer-inner person that there was and she is that person.  The popular vote showed that the American people know who can better screw in a light bulb and voted that way. 

Hillary Clinton supporters would say that the media stated that Senator Clinton could not do a good job of screwing in light bulbs because she is a woman and would want her to keep trying to stop Senator Obama from being the one to screw in the light bulb.

Former President Bill Clinton, would start calling members of the press scumbags and other names for the conspiracy against his wife and for using the light bulb as a tool to help Senator Obama get elected.  He would later apologize but, Senator Hillary Clintons approval rating would take another hit anyway.

The media would have debates and talk show hosts would rip on different people for not getting the light bulbs in fast enough.

President Bush would tell congress to write a bill stating that the light bulb should be installed.  Because the bill idea came from the President, the Democrats would say it is a terrible idea and try to draft their own, somehow different proposal.  The Republicans will write a really long version of the bill and have it read aloud to the entire group to irritate the Democrats.

Senator McCain would say nothing about the President Bush idea (because he has to distance himself from the administration).  The Senator would get in front of his green background with a small handful of supporters (trying to sound like more than they really are) and give a speech repeatedly saying that the kind of changing of light bulbs that Senator Obama wants to is not change at all.  He would then give some reasons why the light bulb that was already there is fine and should stay and then screw up a perfectly good speech by saying it would be okay if the light bulb stayed in for a hundred years.

Senator Obama would reply by saying that Senator McCain just wants to keep changing the light bulbs with the same kind of light bulbs that President George Bush has been putting in which means that electing Senator McCain is just like giving George Bush a third term.

The media would just keep playing clips of Senator John McCain saying he would leave the light bulb in for a hundred years.

The Democrats would fight amongst themselves in drafting their own bill because of the carbon footprint of making the light bulbs and that the light bulbs create.  There would be a huge debate on florescent light bulbs and the fact that their disposal is as big a problem as the footprint of regular bulbs.

The tree huggers will protest outside of government buildings demanding that the light bulb not be put in and that the light bulb is destructive (because they heard all of the news reports about the fight the Democrats were having).

I would take one look at all of this, freak out, turn on my computer and type a blog post. This post would talk about how stupid all of this is and how our government is broken etc.

In the end, the light bulb will not get put in.  Everyone would still be fighting and the whole government would still be in a stalemate. 

Where is (really who is) the person who would just take charge and put the light bulb in. The person who could do what is the best solution to the problem and rally the American people and the media to support what has been done. That person should be president and other like him or her should replace the people that are in our government at all levels.

This is the only way I could think of to describe how ridiculous all of the partisan politics that is going on at this point in history seems to me.  There is a lot going on while at the same time nothing is really happening of substance and even less is getting accomplished.

What a Mess!