I like John McCain...

[TheAnvil 0]

...even if I disagree with him sometimes.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,120422,00.html

Vinny the Anvil
Post Traumatic Didn't Make The Lakers Syndrome is REAL
JACKASS POWER!!!!!!

[BikerBabe 0]

Yes, I'm quite sure that Dennis Hastert understands the concept of sacrifice MUCH more than John McCain.

Gor rent "Return With Honor", Mr. Hastert, then shut the fuck up.

I, too, like John McCain, even if I disagree with him sometimes. In this case, however, I don't (disagree). I'm in the military...I've seen what the "fiscal responsibility" of the current administration is doing.

Never meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup!

[wmw999 2,589]

Yup. What she said.
Except I'm not in the military.

Wendy W.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[quade 4]

On the tax cut issue . . . isn't that what a number of us have been saying for quite some time?

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[boudy 0]

ditto

a quote from someone else who was known to get under the skin of party hacks:

"Patriotism means to stand by the country. It does not mean to stand by the president or any other public official, save exactly to the degree in which he himself stands by the country. It is patriotic to support him insofar as he efficiently serves the country. It is unpatriotic not to oppose him to the exact extent that by inefficiency or otherwise he fails in his duty to stand by the country. In either event, it is unpatriotic not to tell the truth, whether about the president or anyone else"

- Theodore Roosevelt

[Douva 0]

John McCain is another textbook example of one of the two big political machines nominating the "electable" candidate over the best candidate. If both parties would just nominate the most qualified, straight forward, no-nonsense candidates for the top office every four years, and quit turning the presidential race into a popularity contest, we as the American people would seldom, if ever, "loose" an election.

--Douva

I don't have an M.D. or a law degree. I have bachelor's in kicking ass and taking names.

[PhillyKev 0]

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John McCain is another textbook example of one of the two big political machines nominating the "electable" candidate over the best candidate. If both parties would just nominate the most qualified, straight forward, no-nonsense candidates for the top office every four years, and quit turning the presidential race into a popularity contest, we as the American people would seldom, if ever, "loose" an election.

--Douva

Very true. Unfortunately the days of the best qualified winning an election were killed off by TV. Hopefully, in the future, more people will get their information from non-corporate controlled sources thanks to the internet and make informed decisions instead of emotional ones.

[kallend 2,150]

Ironic that Hastert brought up troops in hospital as an example, when this administration has reduced care for veterans.

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[quade 4]

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Unfortunately the days of the best qualified winning an election were killed off by TV.

Hey, don't blame TV for a stupid electorate. Before TV there was radio and before radio there was the print media. All have been tools of the wealthy in an attempt to sway popular opinion and votes.

You can't really blame any one person, company or thing for the way the current situation is. It has evolved over the course of 200 or so years and will continue to do so.

I also think your comment that somehow the internet is free of corporate control and therefore makes for better choices is -way- off. If anything, it creates confusion since there is simply so much data it is impossible to even take it all in -- let alone analyze it for sources and content.

While it may be true that the internet isn't -controlled- by corporations, corporate media outlets are the largest sources of information on the internet. Hell, http://www.rushlimbaugh.com alone probably gets more hits in a single day than all of the independant blogs out there and that's a "news" source that's totally biased and completely controlled by corporate America (not directly mind you, but you get the idea).

Further, just because a "news source" is independant, doesn't mean they're good or unbiased. In fact, the opposite is usually the case (please see web site cited above).

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[livendive 8]

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John McCain is another textbook example of one of the two big political machines nominating the "electable" candidate over the best candidate. If both parties would just nominate the most qualified, straight forward, no-nonsense candidates for the top office every four years, and quit turning the presidential race into a popularity contest, we as the American people would seldom, if ever, "loose" an election.

Agreed. If McCain had won the Republican nomination in the last election, he'd have gotten my vote (not that it would have mattered).

Blues,
Dave

"I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!"
(drink Mountain Dew)

[PhillyKev 0]

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I also think your comment that somehow the internet is free of corporate control

Read what I wrote. I didn't say it was free from corporate control. But thanks to certain barriers in communication being broken by the internet, namely national and cultural, people have much more exposure to much more outlets for information than their local broadcasters and newspapers.

[kelpdiver 2]

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John McCain is another textbook example of one of the two big political machines nominating the "electable" candidate over the best candidate. If both parties would just nominate the most qualified, straight forward, no-nonsense candidates for the top office every four years,
--Douva

He may be right in this circumstance, but he's hardly the best candidate out there for the GOP. In any event, isn't the most electable more likely to be the one that represents the electorate? How are you defining "best?"

And his claims to being straight forward and no-nonsense are a farce.

[BikerBabe 0]

Sorry, but anyone who can look me in the eye and say that for over five years in hell he truly lived by this...

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The Code of Conduct

I am an American fighting in the forces that guard my country and our way of life, I am prepared to give my life in their defense.

I will never surrender of my own free will. If in command, I will never surrender the members of my command while they still have the means to resist.

If I am captured I will continue to resist by all means available. I will make every effort to escape and aid others to escape. I will accept neither parole nor special favors from the enemy.

If I become a prisoner of war, I will keep faith with my fellow prisoners. I will give no information or take part in any action which might be harmful to my comrades. If I am senior, I will take command. If not, I will obey the lawful orders of those appointed over me and will back them up in every way.

Should I become a prisoner of war, I am required to give name, rank, service number, and date of birth. I will evade answering further questions to the utmost of my ability. I will make no oral or written statements disloyal to my country and its allies.

I will never forget that I am an American fighting for freedom, responsible for my actions, and dedicated to the principles which made my country free. I will trust in my God and in the United States of America.

...will never be a "farce" in my book.

There was post on here a few days ago asking if a leader was someone who swayed with public opinion or someone who did what was right. I know where I'd put Mr. McCain...how about you?

I may not always agree with his opinions, but at least he stands by them, party be damned.

Never meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup!

[boudy 0]

mega ditto

[kelpdiver 2]

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There was post on here a few days ago asking if a leader was someone who swayed with public opinion or someone who did what was right. I know where I'd put Mr. McCain...how about you?

I may not always agree with his opinions, but at least he stands by them, party be damned.

He is the GOP version of Jerry "Moonbeam" Brown. Born again, maybe. Or just plain wacky.

He claims to be a gun rights support, but has been a key person for AGS.

He is now a reformed guy on campaign finance, so it's okay to trash the 1st Amendment. Christ, that's 0 for 2. You do remember his membership in the Keating 5, right? Does he no longer like being a special interest recipient? Or should I write that off as semi youthful indescretions?

He sacrified 5 years for his country. But is that heroic? Or just bad luck for him? I'm not sure it's any more so than anyone else that fought in Vietnam, or in another conflict. That just puts him ahead of Bush and Clinton.

[BikerBabe 0]

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He sacrified 5 years for his country. But is that heroic?

Ugh. Do you have any idea what you just said? Considering that his time is the very least of what he sacrificed, yes.

Go rent (borrow, find, whatever) the movie "Return With Honor." Or read a book like "Into the Mouth of the Cat" (biography of Lance Sijan), or "The Passing of the Night" (Autobiography of Robbie Risner) or some other biography of a Vietnam POW besides McCain.

Sorry, when someone makes a statement like the one I quoted, it tends to knock their credibility down a notch for me. It shows me that they have no idea what being a POW in Vietnam was like.

And people think the shit shown in the Iraq prison photos is cruel.

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I'm not sure it's any more so than anyone else that fought in Vietnam, or in another conflict.

I have a feeling that almost 100% of people who have fought in Vietnam or any other conflict would say, yes, it's a hell of a lot more so. Ask them.

Never meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup!

[billvon 3,120]

>He sacrified 5 years for his country. But is that heroic?

Yes.

[rickjump1 0]

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He sacrified 5 years for his country. But is that heroic? Or just bad luck for him? I'm not sure it's any more so than anyone else that fought in Vietnam, or in another conflict......

You forgot to mention the people that did not come home.

Do your part for global warming: ban beans and hold all popcorn farts.

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[peacefuljeffrey 0]

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John McCain is another textbook example of one of the two big political machines nominating the "electable" candidate over the best candidate. If both parties would just nominate the most qualified, straight forward, no-nonsense candidates for the top office every four years,
--Douva

He may be right in this circumstance, but he's hardly the best candidate out there for the GOP. In any event, isn't the most electable more likely to be the one that represents the electorate? How are you defining "best?"

And his claims to being straight forward and no-nonsense are a farce.

As far as representing the electorate...
Many people want us to live under a system in which we elect people who will make decisions for us, rather than make decisions that reflect what those who elected them want. It's a collateral effect of allowing politicians and the public to believe that politicians know better than we do what is best for us and what ought to be done -- and that they are entitled to force it on us once they're in office.

It is, on the whole, a reckless, dangerous thing to yourself to remain ignorant and then allow a proxy to determine how your life should be managed -- particularly when it is politicians who will be the ones stepping up with the desire to be those proxies. (You know what they say: any person who has a desire to govern should not be allowed to govern.)

-

-Jeffrey
"With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

[quade 4]

While I agree with your sentiment, however, that is how the country was set up from the very beginning.

For example, let's look at the Electoral College.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[kelpdiver 2]

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He sacrified 5 years for his country. But is that heroic?

Ugh. Do you have any idea what you just said? Considering that his time is the very least of what he sacrificed, yes.
/reply]

I see heroism as stepping up when others won't, or voluntarily putting yourself at risk. A prisoner doesn't have choices. So I have a hard time seeing that as any more heroic than Kerry and his three Purple Hearts, or any troops (esp volunteers) that have gone into battle.

He definitely paid a higher price than most that came back alive. This adds greatly to his qualifications as a leader in foreign policy. He has a good appreciation of the prices paid in war. He would be a much better CnC than the last two Presidents. It's the domestic side I take great issues with.

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