quote:

Why would McCain, who loves this country and has proven it by his service,welcome an attack on the U.S.???

Well, I'd assume he wouldn't - that's why I said 'it might be taken to imply that...'. After all, why would Democrats welcome the murderous chaos in Iraq, but there seem to be many who say that they do. Party politics cause people to say and think strange things, maybe.

On the other hand, Bush and Co. certainly took advantage of the outrage over 9/11 to launch an unconnected (illegal and unecessary) invasion of Iraq, which had been touted by neo-cons for some time before 9/11. I can't believe they 'welcomed' 9/11, but they certainly used it to their advantage. McCain's supporters should maybe be careful to avoid being associated with such despicable opportunism.

And part of Rudy Giuliani's downfall was his overuse of 9/11 in self-serving political speeches. Politicians (along with their aides) are not supposed to consider disasters and outrages in terms of personal advantage, I guess.

"I deeply regret the comments - they were inappropriate. I recognize that John McCain has devoted his entire adult life to protecting his country and placing its security before every other consideration." Charles R. Black, Jr

Actually from a few weeks ago...

"I'm disappointed that the leaders rejected this generous offer out of hand" Bush criticizes Iran decision on nuclear program

But...

'President Bush's impatience with the diplomatic process was on graphic display during Javier Solana's recent visit to Iran.

Mr Bush rushed to say that Iran had flatly rejected the latest diplomatic proposals, while in actual fact Mr Solana was still in the middle of presenting them, and the Iran government had made (and still has not made) any formal response.' Stark choice in Iran policy battles

Not sure which is dumber:

"Maybe that's a way of killing them"

or

"I meant that as a joke"

McCain can't resist the Iran joke

'Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said in an interview Wednesday that he was uncertain how many houses he and his wife, Cindy, own.

"I think — I'll have my staff get to you," McCain told Politico in Las Cruces, N.M. "It's condominiums where — I'll have them get to you." McCain unsure how many houses he owns

That surely beats arugulagate.

I can't find the direct quotes, but McCain also seems to have been quite happy to tell everyone he was in touch with Saakashvili before and after the Georgian rocket attack. What was he saying? Clearly not, "Don't do anything silly, because if Russia retaliates you'll be on your own..."

If Obama admitted to meddling in foreign affairs and getting involved in starting a war (oops), wouldn't he be pilloried for displaying inexperience and hubris?

Just how damaging is this McCain statement? ( Asking his staff how many he has is a nice aristocratic touch. He patently doesn't bother himself with such trivial niceties.Over here only the Duke of Westminster would get away with that, though I'd bet he does know.He makes do with three homes, but then he's far richer than the McCains and is aristocratic )

Surely Americans aren't fazed by wealth in itself, ideally self-made, though how much getting it by marriage matters is not clear to me.Does it necessarily follow that he, a wealthy man, must be unaware of the realities of life for everyone else? There have been philanthropists and rich men throughout history who have had the common touch and empathy, however distant their own private lives were from those of the masses. Can't he just say " I leave my finances and wealth in the hands of others, for such matters neither concern nor interest me, while I get on with trying to improve the lot of ordinary Americans, which is my one mission " ?

Ah, the mysteries of class warfare in North America.

'...Yet even as the rich have redirected income towards themselves, they've managed to remove the issue of economic inequality from the agenda. Part of the strategy - honed by media-savvy conservative think-tanks and commentators - has been to redefine the notion of elitism to refer to those who belong to the liberal elite, and do things like drink lattes, maintain an international outlook and speak articulately.

Accordingly, Democrat Al Gore, with his commanding grasp of issues in presidential debates, was accused of being an elitist. Similarly, Democrat John Kerry was branded elitist for being able to speak French.

In the same breath, Conservatives somehow presented George W. Bush, a rich kid who'd barely held a job before running for president, as a populist and down-to-earth guy who'd be fun to have a beer with - presumably because he was inarticulate and barely functional in even one language.' www.commondreams.org

'Democrats want to believe that "middle class" is the opposite of rich, but for most people the real antonym is "poor," and when Democrats make Republicans "the party of the rich," they make themselves "the party of the poor," at least in the realm of popular images, however little Democrats may have actually concerned themselve with the poor since Clinton's miserable welfare "reform."

Americans don't like poor people, they don't want to see them on TV, except as a joke... blue collar bozos or ridiculous rednecks... and for some strange reason every Republican understands this prejudice, while Democrats pretend it doesn't exist, even while Bill Clinton and other machine-Democrats like Obama oppress the poor just as enthusiastically as Republicans.' (From the comments section for the above)

Could it be that Americans don't resent rich Republicans, just as Britons don't mind rich conservatives? It's rich left-wing politicians that annoy people - Prescott's "Two Jags" or Edward's "$1250 haircut". Or is being smart the real crime?

A combo...

'We support abstinence education and oppose school-based clinics that provide referrals, counseling, and related services for abortion and contraception.' Working Draft to [RNC] Platform Committee Members

"I don't want kids." Levi Johnston

Or there's this...

"Today, Anbar is no longer lost to al-Qa'ida, it is al-Qa'ida that lost Anbar." Bush

Somebody must have stayed up all night polishing that little gem, wth its Churchillian echo.

If success is al Qaeda not having a franchise in al Anbar, however, then the best thing would have been not to invade Iraq in the first place, which would have achieved the same result without getting all those people killed. If you successfully stamp out a fire that you got started (or, of course, in George's case, have other people risk their necks stamping it out for you) it's not a victory.

Yay! Palin finally made it to this thread. Welcome to a new contender...

'Referring to the government's bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Palin opined that the two had "gotten too big and too expensive to the taxpayers," displaying abysmal ignorance of the fact that only now will those privately owned banks become a huge taxpayer obligation, as the federal government takes them over. Nor can the meltdown of home values be traced to those two beleaguered institutions, because they did not make the original subprime mortgage commitments.' www.truthdig.com

Trying to prove her credentials, shouldn't she put a little more thought into what she says on economic matters?

In the most confusing question of the week category:

"What if Sarah Palin did not have Christian stances on abortion and creation?"

~ coldfuse

"Make no mistake about this, Hillary Clinton is as qualified or more qualified than I am to be vice president of the United States of America. Let's get that straight," growled Biden. "She's a truly close personal friend and she is qualified to be President of the United States of America, she's easily qualified to be Vice President of the United States of America and quite frankly it might have been a better pick than me." Biden

Dumb or honest? (In politics, is there a difference?)

This was dumb...

'Mr. Biden said that if Republicans talk about helping parents of developmentally disabled children, “why don’t you support stem-cell research?”' Biden

Supporting or opposing stem cell research is not a test for supporting parents of children with special needs - and, politically, Biden was never going to win friends or influence people raising those issues that way.

Biden sure did spend a lot of time last fall trying to convince fellow Democrats that he was a better pick to be President than Hillary Clinton.

Do you think he spent more time, less time, or the same amount of time as bush did in 2000 trying to convince fellow Republicans that he was a better pick than McCain?

Yes, but we have learned since then not to trust what Bush says

I actually thought Biden was being gentlemanly in his comments about Hillary, though was perhaps a little "over the top." I also think Hillary is more prepared for leadership than she was a year ago.

And McCain is more prepared for leadership than he was eight years ago.

Embarrassing

Silly gaffes about foreign leaders and countries wouldn't matter so much, I guess, if McCain hadn't made such a big thing of his foreign affairs expertise and experience. Hey, and 'Zapatero' sounds like 'Zapatista'.

quote:

Originally posted by newnickname:
Embarrassing

Silly gaffes about foreign leaders and countries wouldn't matter so much, I guess, if McCain hadn't made such a big thing of his foreign affairs expertise and experience. Hey, and 'Zapatero' sounds like 'Zapatista'.

Be fair! Later on in the link, the interviewer says that 'we' are talking about the President of Spain. McCain has got her confused !He is having that effect on the electorate (see the polls), so both her surprise and the slip are forgiveable

For his information,and maybe hers, Spain has a king, not a president. Zapatero, the Prime Minister, is perceived in Britain as centre left.He's patently an extreme liberal viz. McCain has chosen a woman as his prospective VP, for electoral reasons, whereas Zapatero has more women than men in his cabinet (9 out of 17) for practical ones.

McCain ought not to be friends with such a dangerous man (if he ever discovers who he is, that is)! Anyway, Europe and the European Union are not important to Americans, few of whom know what the EU is,compared to e.g Bolivia, Cuba, or Venezuela, those important world powers.

From the "Embarrassing" link -

Then there's a moment of awkward pause before she says. "But what about Europe? I'm talking about the President of Spain."

McCain: "What about me, what?

Great. Now we find out that not only is McCain a confused old man, but he is a confused old man who can't admit that he has a hearing problem. Whole comedy skits have been written about this. (Well, at least the reporter didn't say "I'm talking about European leaders." McCain, after looking down to check, would have just denied it . "I am not! I can hold it until this interview is over!")

Seriously, the thought of a man who refuses to admit to a hearing problem being in charge of anything important to the well-being of the country is a bit scary.

Joe Biden: "It's time to be patriotic, Kate, time to jump in, time to be part of the deal, time to help get America out of the rut."

~ in an interview with ABC's Kate Snow on paying more taxes

Palin picked up on that, too. It does seem a bit over the top to decribe simply sending off a check as love of country.

Isn't it patriotic to pay taxes, though? (If it isn't, is there an implication that tax evasion or tax avoidance is a noble duty? Neocons talked of the virtues of "starving the beast", but we all know now where deregulation and lack of government oversight leads.) Paying taxes is just about the only concrete way most US citizens get to "support the troops", isn't it?