Tuesday, April 08, 2008

McCain Looks Feeble at Iraq Hearing


Heaven help us if Sen. John McCain becomes the 44th president of the United States. At Tuesday's Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on the Iraq War, the crusty old war-monger looked downright scary: hands shaking, voice listless, and once again confusing al Qaeda with Shia Muslims. This guy paints himself as the time-tested, highly experienced commander-in-chief, but watching him and listening to his constant conflations of Iraq, Iran, al Qaeda and extremists, you can't help but wonder if he's just too old and feeble for the job. He often seems to not have a clue who the enemy is or who we're actually fighting, so how on Earth can he lead us to "victory," whatever the hell that is.

Let's hope that the presidential debates will present Democrats with a tremendous selling/marketing opportunity. That the contrast between McCain and either Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton will be painfully obvious. On one side will be a stiff, ancient-looking dinosaur. And on the other, perhaps the charismatic young candidate for a new generation.

65 comments:

How Insane Is John McCain? said...

It's kind of sad that McCain seems to know less about Al Qaeda than..... nearly anyone.

Anonymous said...

Since women are so ticked off with the naive Obama supporters,progressive talk radio, and the pro Obama media, we will be looking at a President McCain.

Thanks a lot!!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Democrats plan to push legislation this spring that would force the Iraqi government to spend its own surplus in oil revenues to rebuild the country, sparing U.S. dollars.

Democrats have come a long way, from "No Blood For Oil" to "Give us Oil For Our Blood"

Anonymous said...

Many white men will not vote for Obama no matter what they say. They realize that this just might be their last chance to hang onto white power. Obama is looking more and more whimpy anyway.

Crazy you say? Not where I live.

Anonymous said...

The Obama campaign isn't racist, they just like to segregate people by race. This happened at an Obama event on Wed in Pittsburgh:

"While the crowd was indeed diverse, some students at the event questioned the practices of Mrs. Obama’s event coordinators, who handpicked the crowd sitting behind Mrs. Obama. The Tartan’s correspondents observed one event coordinator say to another, “Get me more white people, we need more white people.” To an Asian girl sitting in the back row, one coordinator said, “We’re moving you, sorry. It’s going to look so pretty, though.”

“I didn’t know they would say, ‘We need a white person here,’ ” said attendee and senior psychology major Shayna Watson, who sat in the crowd behind Mrs. Obama. “I understood they would want a show of diversity, but to pick up people and to reseat them, I didn’t know it would be so outright.”"

Anonymous said...

McCain's senility is no problem for the Republicans since their president is many times only a figure head and others run the country. Reagan was senile and Bush, Jr. incapable but Cheney,Rove and others ruled. McCain will be the next "figure-head" President.

Anonymous said...

We're in a mess. McCain will be the "front" for the Republican machine; Bill will run the White HOuse if Hillary is elected; and, The Black Liberation Theology will run the country if Obama is President. I am really worried although Bill is the safest choice.

Anonymous said...

I live in a nearly all-white large town in Virginia, and I'd beg to differ with the guy who says many white men aren't going to vote for Obama. Many of my friends, Republicans and Independents, really like Obama and, though we all respect McCain's service to the country, we're leaning Obama. Though we supported the Iraq War from the start, and wish to see the job won, we feel like McCain and his hot-temper will take us into other wars, which we can't afford.

Plenty of white men will vote for Obama, as will plenty of women and young people and poor and wealthy and latinos and on and on. Not all white men are racists!! Don't let the fools commenting on this blog persuade you that we are. Obama's got this country feeling good today, and optimism in our politicians is what we Americans like. (From FDR, JFK, Reagan)....

Obama's the real deal...McCain's just not right for the moment....

Anonymous said...

9:11 Since "whites" are the at least 80percent of the population and blacks only ten percent it would seem reasonable to expect them to stay "in power", if, indeed, we've become that divided and separated as far as national interests are concerned. What would "black" power be"? We know what "white power" is.

Anonymous said...

I don't know what "white power" is and I think anyone that uses the word "white power" is racist.

Anonymous said...

"On one side will be a stiff, ancient-looking dinosaur"

Ostroy, I can just imagine what you would have said about Franklin Roosevelt in his wheelchair.

The Ostroy Report said...

The issue is not whether McCain is handicapped or wheelchair-bound. The concern is his overall health, as well as his mental faculties in particular. He's not applying for a job at Burger King. He seeks to be the president of the United States and the commander-in-chief of the most powerful military in the world. His age, his health, and his frequent inability to remember key facts like who the enemy is that we're fighting in Iraq are all very germaine concerns in this campaign. If he rests in a wheelchair and is bright, lucid and in command, as FDR was, then he can sit all he wants...
Andy

Sidney Condorcet said...

The general election will not be between Senator Obama and Senator McCain. Senator McCain, despite all his years of noble service, is not a good candidate. He's too old, he looks horribly on television, the grind of the campaign will wear him down, he does not possess the self-control necessary to exist under the klieg lights 24/7 (as such, he is bound to explode and have a YouTube moment), and he's a HORRIBLE public speaker. Obama has the winds of history at his back. His fundraising is prodigious. People are leaning more and more toward the Democrats. This is a "change" election and Obama is the "change" candidate. If Obama was a white man named John Smith, this election wouldn't even be competitive.

No, this election will be between Senator Obama and the right-wing slime machine, between Obama and the forces of retrograde ideology, willful ignorance, and invidious poseurs. If Obama can successfully beat back the "swift boaters" who wish to hold this country back from greatness, then he will pummel McCain in November.

Anonymous said...

"Yesterday, hard-line conservative Pastor John Hagee, founder of Christians United for Israel, endorsed John McCain. Hagee said that McCain “is a man of principle, [who] does not stand boldly on both sides of any issue.” McCain, who had been courting the endorsement for over a year, said that he was “very honored by Pastor John Hagee’s endorsement.”

Demonstrating how wildly out of the American religious and political mainstream Hagee’s views are, McCain’s acceptance of Hagee’s endorsement was condemned today by conservative William Donohue, president of the Catholic League. Calling Hagee a “bigot,” Donahue said the right-wing pastor has waged “an unrelenting war against the Catholic Church” by “calling it ‘The Great Whore,’ an ‘apostate church,’ the ‘anti-Christ,’ and a ‘false cult system.’”

Oh, and John McCain keeps confusing Shia/Sunni, and Al Qaeda/Iran, he wants to be in Iraq for "100 Years", oh and he blithely joked about bombing a sovereign nation by singing about the bombing campaign to the tune of a Beach Boys song.

I'm fairly sure all that trumps what you've got on Obama, you dolt!

Anonymous said...

If Obama were a "white man named John Smith" he would not have associated with a black racist named Wright for all these years, nor would he remain an associate of someone who says God Damn America. He would then be worth considering as a possible President of the United States of America.

Anonymous said...

10:23 AM,
Can you tell me 5 things about Obama's political track record? He doesn't have one because he never took a stand on issues, evidenced by his 130 'present' votes.
Please tell me how Obama took a leadership position on any of the issues that he now claims are too urgent to wait.
Obama is an arm chair quarterback and an empty suit. He does speak well though, but talk is cheap.

Anonymous said...

President Barack Obama...Keep repeating it, and maybe you'll come to accept the inevitable. Reverand Wright will not be the downfall of Obama this year. With the recession, 47 million without health care, and a vastly unpopular war (and McCain's 100 Years mantra), the American public will choose to focus on the actual issues, rather than divisive, wedge politics.

I know reality pains you, 10:32am, after all you're a republican. But in late January of next year, you'll be forced to contend with the fact that Barack Obama is now your President. Sorry son, Obama's being swept up in the march of history, while McCain is just another impediment.

"Present" votes aren't going to decide this race either, 10:34am. Sorry, but the winds are blowing Democratic this year and the Republicans have nominated a Bob Dole-like, stiff candidate. The current of history does not get altered by silly stuff like "present votes" and "a controversial pastor." Obama's got more than a million small donors. He'll outspend McCain 4-1 in an otherwise pro-Democrat environment. You repugs are toast! Long live President Obama.

Anonymous said...

The winds were blowing Hillary 6 months ago, I wouldn't get so confident that a racist is going to win the White House for the Democrats.

Of course, I should point out that you completely side stepped the challenge to name 5 things about Obama's political track record which doesn't exist. You also failed to point out any leadership position that Obama took to address the issues he claims are too important to wait. He took no such leadership position.

Its also interesting that you have to take a McCain comment out of context and claim it as his mantra in the same sentence that you state the public will not focus on "divisive, wedge politics". You are a hypocrite.

Anonymous said...

IT's true the winds are blowing the Dems' way and it's blowing Hillary right into the White House as President. She may not be everybody's ideal but she's the only one who can do what needs to be done. And what better advisor can she have than Bill. He will be better than either Chaney or Wright as advisors.

The remaining Super Delegates who have not folded into Obama's grasp will see that Hillary is the only one who can be elected and vote for her. The Obama supporters will just have to hope he's in a better position to win eight years from now. Maybe he'll be a sweet, non-controversial Methodist by then.

Sidney Condorcet said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

And you are a citizen of a country who's about to elect Barack Obama President. Enjoy your sour grapes...

5 things about Obama's record:
1) In Illinois, he proposed and shepherded a bill through the legislature to ensure that interrogations and confessions are videotaped. He was able to see that it was passed UNANIMOUSLY!! No one gets a bill based on the rights of the accused passed unanimously, but Obama managed to get Republicans on board.
2) In Illinois, where he helped pass what the WaPo called "the most ambitious campaign reform in nearly 25 years, making Illinois one of the best in the nation on campaign finance disclosure." In the US Senate, he was the Democrats' point man on ethics, and was deeply involved in the ethics legislation passed this year.
3) Nonproliferation: the poster child for issues that people ought to care about, but don't. Here Obama has teamed up with Richard Lugar (R-IN). How did this happen? Here's the Washington Monthly:


"By most accounts, Obama and Lugar's working relationship began with nukes. On the campaign trail in 2004, Obama spoke passionately about the dangers of loose nukes and the legacy of the Nunn-Lugar nonproliferation program, a framework created by a 1991 law to provide the former Soviet republics assistance in securing and deactivating nuclear weapons. Lugar took note, as “nonproliferation” is about as common a campaign sound-bite for aspiring senators as “exchange-rate policy” or “export-import bank oversight.”"

The way to a wonk's heart: campaign on securing Russian loose nukes. -- In any case, in addition to working on nuclear non-proliferation, Obama and Lugar co-sponsored legislation expanding the Nunn-Lugar framework (which basically allows the US to fund the destruction or securing of nuclear weapons in other countries) to deal with conventional arms.

4)Obama was one of the first Senators to speak out on avian flu, back in the spring of 2005, when it was a quintessentially wonky issue, not the subject of breathless news reports. There's a list of Democratic efforts on avian flu here; Obama shows up early and often. He has sponsored legislation, including what I think is the first bill dedicated to pandemic flu preparedness. It's a good bill, providing not just for vaccine research and antiviral stockpiles, but for the kinds of state and local planning and preparedness that will be crucial if a pandemic occurs.

5)For some insight into the more than 800 bills he sponsored in the Illinois Senate, check here:
http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2007/07/29/us/politics/20070730_OBAMA_GRAPHIC.html

Obama's got substance too. Fine, he hasn't been a national figure for decades, and hasn't single-handedly passed a sweeping, attention-grabbing piece of national legislation like a Ted Kennedy or Russ Feingold. So what? He's still a substantive candidate with a MUCH BETTER POLICY AGENDA than McCain...Instead of complaining about Obama, why don't I ever hear republicans trumpeting the particular merits of McCain's policy proposals? Makes one wonder, doesn't it?

Anonymous said...

11:31 Your list of Obama's accomplishments are moot in light of his affiliation and association with Rev. Wright and his church.

Anonymous said...

ans 11:31=sidney

Anonymous said...

The majority of Americans are worried about healt care, jobs, the overall economy, the purchasing power of the dollar, getting our troops home from Iraq, and staying out of any further wars. They do not care about Rev. Wright.

It's the Economy and War, stupid...

McCain doesn't stand a chance...

Anonymous said...

For the reasons you list, Hillary is the best choice for President and will be elected. Even without the blight of wright on Obama, Hillary is the better candidate. According to Krguman and others,hers is the better healthcare plan. The economy is hers and Bill's speciality and she of course will bring the troopers home as she has promised and will not start a war. The blacks who were for her before they were for Obama will once again support her. They know she likes them; she likes me, she likes all Americans and America.

Anonymous said...

Even if Hillary is the best choice, she does not have a clear path to secure the nomination. You're living in a fantasy land, 3:00pm. Hillary isn't going to be the nominee unless we find out the Obama was actually a black panther or kidnapped patty hearst or had a homosexual relationship with Barney Frank.

Wish in one hand and crap in the other, see which one gets filled first.

If Hillary doesn't beat Barack by at least 10 points in Penn, then her campaign will be toast.

Anonymous said...

Hillary clinton doesn't stand a chance of being the dem pick,Obama and his supporters have with the help of the 24 hr news cycle set the monster(HILLARY)up.Bill clinton said jessy jackson got most of the vote in south carolina when he ran and said Obama probaly would to,the obama camp jump on it imediately,and the 24 hr news joined in calling the clintons racist.All along the media and Obama's campain new the rev. Wright tapes and problems were out there.The media has had the tapes and church sermon papers for a year.What better way to fight the REV.Wright problem than have it look like the clintons we're the racist and then bring out the tapes. Make it look like the media was helping the clinton's by producing the tapes when they did.And just think this same media will be playing these same rev.Wright tapes as commercials for the republican party in the general.Doesn't matter how funkie Mccain looks,or if altimers is setting in,you Obama kool-aid drinkers put Mccain in the white house,although when it's all over you'll all find someway to blame the Clintons

Anonymous said...

5:09 PM,
The Wright tapes were always "out". The Hate Church that Obama attends sells those videos to raise money. Those are the tapes that Obama's Hate Church chose to represent the church to the customers that buy the Hate Sermons.

Anonymous said...

5:28,

It's a "Hate Church?" They are "Hate Sermons?" I'm sure you've seen at least one ENTIRE sermon then, right? Surely you didn't listen to a few clips and then judge Rev. Wright's entire body of work. Surely you're not that ignorant and full of shit, right? You then viewed the entire catalogue of Rev. Wright's sermons to better enable you to label all of them hate sermons, right? Also, you took stock of all the projects and works done by the church in its community, and then came to the sound conclusion the UCC is a hate church, right?

Because if you're calling it a hate church and referring to the sermons as "hate sermons" solely on the basis of the few clips you've seen on YouTube or Fox News, then you are hopeless.

Based on your one post, without little context or further knowledge as to how you normally comport yourself, I guess by your logic I am authorized to label you an "Ignorant Asshole."

Anonymous said...

3:31 I was not going to mention, although it was posted once by someone on one of Ostroy's blogs and I read the issues myself, that Obama has already been accused of having a homosexual relationship and sniffing and buying coke with a man actually named in the GLOBE and THE INQUIRER, as having filed a law suit against the DNC and Dean for harrassment for for supressimg his free speech.(I guess it doesn't count since he was not Barney Frank) His name, picture and a picture of the legal papers appeared in both papers. Scoff as you will at yellow journalism, but wait until the Republicans get a hold of that and have the accuser on National Television. It won't matter if it's true or not.

And, Wright's is not the only church that preaches Black Liberation Theology. There were a number of them on FOX NEWS, yes FOX NEWS, who defended Wright and explained that it is a widespread movement in the country. Their allegence is to "Africa, cradle of civilization." This is far more widespread than your limited knowledge would grasp. And, it will all be brought out in full force if Obama is the candidate and McCain the only alternative. McCain will be president. It will be too late then to vett OBama.

Another clue, Bill O'Reilly is beginning to defend and praise Obama because they really want him to be the Democratic candidate. O'Reilly once condemned Wright but now praises him and is having Obama on his show. O'Reilly is afraid of Hillary's numbers in PA. Wake up!!!!!!!

By the way you must be a homophobe.I find that would be far less troubling than his church association and beliefs. There're even rumors now in print that Lincoln was gay.

Anonymous said...

6:40 Put any argument against blacks in the mouth of a white preacher and see how long he would be acceptable. Or, even let a white person say "God damn America" and see what would happen. As it it anti-war people are called traitors and are condemned. Enough of all these double standards in our country -- one big melting pot and all women, children, blacks, whites, et al treated as the Constituion meant us all to be treated - equally. Imus lost his job for quoting a Rap Star and Wright is defended for his "one" remark damning the country. OH,yeah and for lying about the government.

Anonymous said...

God Damn America! It elected George W. Bush TWICE!! It annihilated the Native American peoples. America was one of the last countries to outlaw slavery. The American constitution counted black people as 3/5 of the population. America still uses the anachronistic and anti-democratic Electoral college rather than popular vote. America's CIA overthrew the popularly elected Mossadeq of Iran in 1955 and replaced him with the despised Shah (which only led to a revolution and anti-US posture by Iran). America supported legal segregation by race until only the mid-1960's. American right-wingers like Kissinger supported Pinochet, the brutal dictator of Chile. The American government, in the Tuskagee experiments, gave hundreds of black americans syphillus. The American government did little for the victims of Katrina and was negligently slow to act...The American government invaded Cuba, in the Bay of Pigs fiasco, merely because the cuban people deigned to attempt a different kind of governance. The American government tortured human beings in Guatanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib. The American government unlawfully spied on its own citizens with the help of the major telecom companies. Complete phony wars concocted by America: three (Spanish-American War..where America blamed Spain for the explosion of USS Maine, which was bogus) (The Gulf of Tonkin incident, which was manufactured by Johnson and led to an escalation in Vietnam) (Iraq II...where Bush & co were deceitful about the justifications for the war (Al Qaeda=Iraq??), a war that has resulted in tens of thousands of American casualties and HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF IRAQI CASAULTIES.....

This is but a fraction of the crap America has wrought. This "city on a hill" image you have of America in your mind is completely bullshit. It's self-congratulatory and borderline auto-erotic. America often fails to live up to its noble ideals. Reverand Wright was correct: GODDAMN AMERICA!!

Until America does better by its own people and the world, it is undeserving of God's affection. You can go on believing America is the greatest country in the world despite all countervailing evidence.

Anonymous said...

7:25 PM,
"The American constitution counted black people as 3/5 of the population"

This statement shows your ignorance. This is a result of a negotiation between the north, which argued that slavery states don't get to count their slaves for representation because they are not free, versus the south (Democrats) that wanted to count people they held in bondage and considered 'property' to their advantage. After the south (Democrats) lost the civil war, "3/5 clause" was rescinded.

"America still uses the anachronistic and anti-democratic Electoral college rather than popular vote."

Popular vote is mob rule. By the way, 'anachronistic' is not the word you are looking for. Try a dictionary.

"America's CIA overthrew the popularly elected Mossadeq of Iran in 1955 and replaced him with the despised Shah"

True. We can thank Truman (Democrat) for that as he created the CIA in 1947 with the vague mandate to carry out "functions and duties related to intelligence affecting the national security" and expanded it one year later to include "sabotage, anti-sabotage, demolition and evaluation measures ... subversion and assistance to underground resistance movements, guerrillas and refugee liberation movements, and support of indigenous anti communist elements in threatened countries of the free world.". You can read "All the Shah's Men" if you want to know what you are talking about.

"The American government did little for the victims of Katrina and was negligently slow to act..."

The federal government offered assistance BEFORE the levees broke, but the local government (Democrats) refused federal assistance until after it was too late.

"The American government invaded Cuba, in the Bay of Pigs fiasco, ..."

Eisenhower planned it and Kennedy approved the plan. Just like Clinton's Iraqi Liberation Act of 1998 and George Bush's invasion of Iraq. If you blame Bush for Iraq, you have to blame Kennedy (Democrat) for the Bay of Pigs.

7:25 PM, most of your entire post is bull shit. I know you are a Democrat, as only a Democrat can hate America like you do. Hopefully you live abroad, if you don't I'd like to know why you haven't gone to a better country yet.

You can always tell how bad a country REALLY is by looking at how many people want to get into that country.

Anonymous said...

7:25 PM,
It was the Democrats in mid-60's hosing down blacks in the streets and please remember that William Jefferson (D-LA) took a dozen National Guard members and boat away from saving Katrina victims so he can save a small freezer from his house. Come to think of it, the FBI taped William Jefferson accepting a $100,000 bribe in a sting operation and later found $90,000 in one of his refrigerators.

Anonymous said...

I believe 7:25 is Rev. Jeremiah Wright speaking or one from his congregation. However, 10:08 is of course correct -- "You can always tell how bad a country REALLY is by looking at howmany people want to get into that country."

Which reminds me, there is a new book out about none other than Michelle Obama and the report of how she hates the country and is so angry about how she has been treated. She went to Princeton and Harvard through affirmative action; she has a $300,000 a year job, and she could be the next first lady How she's suffered. Even as a child her father had a reasonable city job and she had at the least middle class advantages. Not enough for tuition at Princeton and Harvard, but she did have the advantage of help from the government that she hates so much. It seems the other students didn't like her much. Maybe the color of skin was not the reason, which is something she hasn't considered.

Anonymous said...

7:25 There is nothing wrong with our government. In principle it is perfect. The problem is we often elect the wrong people into office and they do not fulfill the promise of our government. It's not the "government's fault" we elect the likes of Bush. Just like it's not "mathematics" fault when you say five plus five is nine, or a musician doesn't play the correct note for the perfect harmony in the score.

Anonymous said...

7:25 "Until American does better by its own people " Lincoln was right when he described our government as one by the people, of the people and for the people. WE are the government. That's what so great about our country and why it's so treacherous when someone hates and damns it. You are not outside the goverment, nor is anyone else. And it is your responsibility to protect it, sustain it and improve it. See the good and starting with a little gratitude might help. You could start by being grateful that you are free to be so ungrateful for the beneifts you have by living in America.

Maybe a good start in pleasing God would be to stop taking His name in vain.

Anonymous said...

Wright's words were reprehensible and full of resent. Obama was right to denounce such rhetoric. But i really don't think we can judge a preacher who gave thousands of sermons and led thousands of people to Christ based on a few snippets on cable news. Let he who casts the first stone be without sin. He's a black preacher in a black, urban church. Of course, at times his preaching would lead to criticism of the government. Americans should always welcome social and political criticism, especially from our religious figures. (For every John Winthrop, there's a highly critical Rev. MLK, Jr, Reinhold Niebuhr, even Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson.) I don't agree with Wright's wild statements, but I don't think we should be so quick to cast aspersions and make assumptions about his and his congregation's world view, let alone try to tie Obama to the statements.

See? Burning Obama is the entire reason for assuming that and openly arguing that Reverand Wright is generally a hate preacher and the church is a hate church. If we were to examine all of Wright and UCC's actions, and truly and accurately judge them, and we found out that Wright was only guilty of saying a handful of crazy things over the course of his entire career, then we can't tar and feather Obama with it. If it's not generally a "hate church" and a "hate preacher" then the entire story has little relevance to the election. No, this entire, quick-to-judge, charade is the Republican's blindly grasping at straws in the dark, looking for a way, any way, to bring Obama down.

I'm still waiting for the mainstream media to do a thorough investigation into Rev. Wright's life and the works of his church before I label anyone a "Hate Preacher" (last I checked there's no evidence that he incited his congregants to take violent action against anyone) or a "hate Church."

Read the New Testament again. Don't be surprised if Christ has a different reading of this situation than you who are so quick to judge in order to politically lynch Obama.

Anonymous said...

7:34 You remind me of Paul O'Neal who said "If you set aside Three Mile Island and Chernobyle, the safety record of the nuclear is really very good."

If you set aside Wright's damnation of America, his blaming the government for spreading AIDS to kill the blacks in the coutnry, his resentment of whites, his hatred of the control by whites, etc. etc. , he's a fine American Patriot who encourages his congregation to love America and work to serve its interests and the interests of all Americans.

Anonymous said...

7:34 Rev Wright is supposedly a Christian preacher. He's the one who should re-read tne New Testament and to "judge not"; to "forgive seventy times seven"; to "render unto Ceasar that which is Ceasars" and stay out of politics; who should "bless them that curse you" and practice all the other loving things Christ said.

That he's a Christian preacher is one of the stunning things about him and his church, as well as the others who hate -- Falwell, and that gang.

Anonymous said...

After hearing and seeing the horror of the religious facility in TX I see the importance of questioning a person's religious beliefs. Who could remain in a church that practices such horrors?

Tell me mysogyny is not active in our country. I certainly don't want a president who is a member of a group who hates half the population and apparently all children of either sex.

Anonymous said...

Anybody who votes for McCain over Obama solely on the basis of Obama's association with Rev. Wright, rather than on issues such as health care, the war, the economy, the environment, education, etc., really need to get their heads examined. It's this kind of obtuse thinking that gave Bush the win over the alleged "flip-flopper", french-looking John Kerry. And we all can see the positive consequences of re-electing Bush. America is soo much better now than it was 4 years ago. Oh, wait. It's not actually. Keep your eye on the ball, America. This is about the candidates' respective POLICY AGENDAS, not about their respective age, personality, religion, or race. And as far as policy goes, especially on health care and the war, I prefer Obama or Hillary any day over McCain.

Anonymous said...

Obama is too weak to be President. Its a rough world out there and Democrats are better prepared for a theoretical world. In the real world, McCain is the best of the 3 candidates for President.

Anonymous said...

Many if not most of us DO prefer HILLARY over McCain, but the only choice the press and the Dem. Party is giving us is OBAMA over McCain and that is just not good enough Documented ideology matters. We should start pushing for Hillary who can win over McCain.

Anonymous said...

That's what they said about Kerry. That he was too weak to be President. That's what Repugs alway say. But Bush, Mr. Macho, he's the epitome of strong, right 10:18? And his "strength" led to us launching an unnecessary war and LOSING an unnecessary war (to the ruin of our country's honor and good name). If Bush and his cronies are what you guys consider strong, then give me a weak President.

In actuality, the "Obama is weak" argument is a load of bull, a typical weak Republican attack on any Democrat. Obama is plenty strong, but he's also SMART. When was the last time the Republicans gave us a genuinely SMART candidate? Ford? Reagan? Bush I? Dan Quayle? Bob Dole? George W. Bush? McCain, who finished near the bottom of his college class and consistently confuses shia/shiite and al qaeda with Iran? Please!!! I think this country and world need both strength and good ole smarts in our leaders, don't you? We can do better than Bush, McCain et. al....

Anonymous said...

10:26 Bush is a representative of the Religious Right Movement -- he believes in and pracitces GOOD vs EVIL and you see what that got us. A President with an ideological agenda is dangerous. SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE.

Not only does OBama have a dubious religious affiliation, he certainly has not been SMART not to solidly reassure those who fear his background that there is nothing to worry about. That speech didn't do it.

Anonymous said...

Half of his campaign theme is about his 'intelligence' yet he attended the Hate Church for 20 years.

You don't have to be the 'epitome of strong' to be more prepared for the power of Commander-In-Chief, but you cannot be the weaker candidate. Obama is the weakest potential Commander-In-Chief of the 3 remaining candidates.

Anonymous said...

It's not a Hate Church, and as such his intelligence is not called into question. Sorry to burst your bubble. Obama's the strongest candidate left in the race. McCain's weak for embracing the people he once called "agents of intolerance." His weakness was exposed by his involvement in the Keating Five Savings and Loan scandal. His weakness was exposed in his backflip on waterboarding and torture.

He's weak. Clinton isn't going to be the nominee. Obama's the best bet here..

Anonymous said...

11"24 I've read all the blogs and I find tha immediatly after an anti-Obama comment there is a response dismissing the anti-Obama sentiment and making another plea for Obama. That's what Sidney used to do. Are you Sidney and have you gone "under cover.?"

And the arrogance of saying "Sorry to burst your bubble. Obama's the strongest candidate" as if that were the Truth from Above and there is no doubt. You burst nobody's "bubble." Obama is weak, has not shown many "smarts" and has Wright on his back until he INTELLIGENTLY responds. Hillary can be and if the Democrats are smart, will be the Democratic nominee.

Anonymous said...

Oh, but there's no arrogance in referring to Trinity Church as a "Hate Church" based on a few statements floating on Youtube, as if that were "the Truth from Above and there is no doubt", as you say. Please, you just don't like Obama, so anything that echoes the narrative you prefer, even if it's bogus and arrogant itself, is fine by you. Should someone tow a pro-Obama line, then the "arrogance" should be pointed out. You're a crock!

Anonymous said...

"You're a crock" was one of Sidney's favorite classy putdowns. Welcome back Sidney, give my regards to your Bud and mine, Obama. I've for him too.

Hillary is a "crock." Right man?

Anonymous said...

Ummm, I didn't know "you're a crock" was a favorite putdown of anyones...I'll try to be more original. I'm not Sidney, dude.

I don't think Hillary is a crock at all. I think Hillary would make a wonderful President. She's got like a 5% chance though to secure the nomination, so I'm only thinking about and comparing Obama and McCain. If Hillary somehow wins the nomination, then I'll be defending her from bogus right-wing attacks as well.

Democrats '08...

Anonymous said...

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell on Reverand Jeremiah Wright:

"Rev. Wright is also somebody who has made enormous contributions in his community and has turned a lot of lives around," Powell said, "And so, I have to put that in context with these very offensive comments that he made, which I reject out of hand."

"I think that Sen. Obama handled the issue well . . . he didn't look the other way. He didn't wait for the, for the, you know, for the storm to go over. He went on television, and I thought, gave a very, very thoughtful, direct speech. And he didn't abandon the minister who brought him closer to his faith," Powell told Sawyer.

"It was a good (speech)," Powell said. "I admired him for giving it. And I agreed with much of what he said."

And now we wait for the Repugs to trash their own hero, Colin Powell...

Anonymous said...

Colin Powell praises Wright for helping blacks. Wright's affection and goodwill toward the black communities in Chicago is not the problem. The problem is his hatred for white people. He did no charity or help for poor white people so where is the merit as far as the election is concerned? Jimmy Carter's Habitat for Humanity serves blacks and whites. And Powell is wrong about Obama handling the Wright problem very well. Obama handled it no better than Powell handled the lies of the Republican Party with whom his affiliation is very close and long. He lied at the UN about WMDS. He went along to get along.

Some light has been shed on the MSNBC animosity toward Clinton. George Soros, Paul Begalia and David Brock who all support Obama, have formed a union to be the Democratic equivalent of the Republican "Swiftboaters." They are supported by MoveON; the Soros fortune and NBC. They all support Obama and that explains the bad MSNBC coverage of Hillary. They will of course to the same to McCain.

Anonymous said...

Your second paragraph makes no sense. Formed a union? No, it's a 527 group. They are not funded by NBC. It was just formed recently so the existence of the group can hardly be said to explain "the bad MSNBC coverage of Hillary." And, of course, Paul Begala has not been an Obama supporter. Quite the opposite. At times during this campaign, like his former colleage on Clinton '92, James Carville, Paul Begala has informally advised the Hillary Clinton campaign.

However, I'm glad you did include your second paragraph b/c you revealed yourself. You're not a Republican hack trying to keep the embers of the Wright situation glowing in the blogosphere. You're an embittered Clinton supporter who will fan these Wright-related flames in order to ensure Obama's downfall. if your candidate can't win, then you dont want any Democrat to win. I suppose you'd prefer Republican policies implemented and American troops setting up shop in Tehran. Some people clearly miss the forest for the trees.

Anonymous said...

I saw the same TV news story that 8:30PM mentions. It was revealed on the TV news by Jim Andehei of Politico.com, who uncovered the news, that Soros, Begala and Brock met to form "Progressive Media USA" to further support Obama and to "swiftboat" the Republican candidate in the general election. The financial arrangements by Soro have been hidden so he is not always discovered as the donor. He has and will continue to spend millions to make Obama the next president. Soros founded MOVEON and has many other outlets for his fortune to fulfill his purpose. "NBC will publicize Soro's complex radical left." That will be the main outlet, is what I understand.

Begala may have or may say he supports Hillary but he was one of the big three forming this group.

Soro's has of course pushed Obama and financed him from the beginning. I'm a Democrat but I don't like the idea of one man having so much power. This is a country OF the people, not BY a "king maker." And I support Obama. I just believe in principles.

Anonymous said...

I agree completely, 9:46am, with your comments about Soros. He's the liberal's answer to Richard Mellon Scaife. I find both of them repugnant...But this 527 isn't meant to destroy Hillary as 8:30pm seems to imply. If Hillary happened to be the likely nominee, this group, or one like it, would have been formed regardless.

I'm a mainstream liberal. I abhorred Moveon.org's "General Betrayus" advertisement. But during the course of the conservative movement's ascendancy Republicans have had many more radical right outlets than Dems had radical left outlets. We need the organization that the Republicans had in the 90's. We need private groups like these to make mainstream liberals look more moderate and help us better organize our allies to the left of us.

Anonymous said...

9"56 I appreicate your optimism but do you seriously think that if Soros, who started MOVE ON, and who backs Barack is not pouring tones of money into his campaign, and bashing Hillary when he gets the chance. I couldn't understand the rampant hostility towards Hillary on NBC until I read this report by 9:46. I believe Soros has paid MSNBC to do Hillary in. But, who knows where his money is going. It's all undercover.

Anonymous said...

Once again this morning on the news I heard an Obama supporter accuse Hillary of lying about the hospital death of the women who was refused care.

HILLARY WAS TELLING THE TRUTH AS CONFIRMED BY KRUGMAN IN HIS OPT ED COLUMN IN THE NEW YORK TIMES TODAY.

I hope those who are lying about Hillary lying will not shut up.

Anonymous said...

This is terrible. Soros will be whispering directions in one of Obama's ears and Wright whispering in the other. And Michelle will be going around the house screaming "at last I can be proud of America."

McCain has new neocons whispering in his ear and Cheney, Rove and that Republican inner circel whispering in the other.

What happened to our government?

Sidney Condorcet said...

Sheesh...Soros was a big Kerry and Gore backer, as well. Would you have assumed that he would have been an undue influence on either of their administrations? Probably not. There are "megadonors" in both parties. Just because they organize and spread their money around doesn't mean they'll be the master puppeteer. Furthermore, Wright has never been a political advisor to Senator Obama, so there's no reason to believe he'll be whispering in Obama's ear either.

Just more anti-Obama smears. Keep 'em coming. You would have the Democratic party self-immolate merely because your preferred candidate isn't likely to pull off the nomination. Jeez...

Anonymous said...

Every word that I have heard Wright speak has been political and about our government. You know "God Damn America" and the government and AIDS, and the white people ruling, etc. And, Wright was an advisor to Obama's campaign, and I know for a fact he wasn't "whispering" "forgive seventy times seven"; or, "love thy neighbor as theself," and the rest of the good messages we learned in our Sunday schools.

Anonymous said...

Let the deranged, conspiracy theorists twirl their hair. Wright's not a political advisor to Obama. There's as much likelihood of Wright being obama's puppeteer as McCain having been brain washed by the North Vietnamese during his 5 1/2 years in prison. McCain's a manchurian candidate, a communist agent, RUN FOR THE HILLS!! Wow, being absurd is kind of fun...who knew?

Anonymous said...

Maybe eventually Obama will dump the old race baiter. But, Soros will be harder to throw aside since he has one way or the other financed Obama's campaign according to news reports. I don't call that CHANGE. And, besides, Wright'sdamage has probably already been done. You know - Obama thinks "typical white women" are afraid of black men on the street. THEY RUN FOR THE HILLS.

Anonymous said...

If Soros is involved, Obama will not be able to deliver the CHANGE he promises...