Choice of Palin highlights Obama's strength

McCain's choice of Palin highlights McCain's lack of a consistent vision. Is he a "maverick" or is he just another right wing politician looking to satisify the usual Republican constituents?

This is an interesting point. Yes his choice was not a "Maverick" move it was a move to make the far right wing of the Republican party happy. Hardly sounds like a maverick to me. If he was a true maverick he would have picked the person he has said he really wanted there.....lieberman

The only ones getting rich off it are insurance companies.

And the drug companies:)

There is so much redundancy and inefficiency because of our partially public, partially private health care system

Yes paperwork amounts to alot of our increased healthcare costs.

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Obama has strengths?

But you are partially right. McCain has no core other than power. And I dont trust him. I only trust Obama to do 2 things. Appoint Liberal Jurists and be the 2nd coming of Jimmy Carter. In that, he will serve some good. Everyone will forget about Bush in 4 years if he is elected (do people still vilify Nixon? Not many and mostly just the loons).

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Do you think mandatory health insurance coverage is not going to make insurance companies MORE rich?

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For the last 8 years we've seen a President brings new meaning to the term croneyism. Bush may not be an evil man but he's going to go down in history as one of the most inept Presidents of all time.

LOL, I didn't know Bush was running again.

The complaint about Obama's experience is largely irrelevant.

Hmm, makes you wonder if so, why all the fuzz with Palin? Hypocrisy anyone?

McCain's choice of Palin highlights McCain's lack of a consistent vision. Is he a "maverick" or is he just another right wing politician looking to satisify the usual Republican constituents?

Probably right, but then isn't that what anyone would do in his position? Kinda funny how some point out these things as something bad when it's the opposing party who does it.

Our country has real problems that need to be dealt with and McCain and Palin have no workable answers.

You forgot to add Obama and Biden to that list. But that's OK, we all make mistakes, not that Democrats will admit to it.

Our health care is a mess. The only ones getting rich off it are insurance companies. There is so much redundancy and inefficiency because of our partially public, partially private health care system that we pay far more for inferior treatment. We can't afford to go back to the days before we had Medicare and Medicaid. These programs work and can be expanded to cover more and more people. Obama is the leader we need to make this happen.

Yes, more free stuff to the lazy and the "helpless". One would think those who need help and can't afford it don't get any.

We have no energy policy. The Republican answer is to "drill drill drill". Drilling is a waste of time and money. We have an opportunity to let the market choose a better solution for Americans and for our planet. Sure, wind and solar aren't currently enough on their own. But that won't be a problem in the long run. When Eisenhower supported an interstate high way system, I don't hear Republicans complain about that. Why not have the government get out in front in getting tidal generators going, wind farms put in, and creating regulations that require commercial builders to install solar paneling on the top of buildings? Combine that with electric and hybrid cars and we could do far more than we ever could than drilling. Obama is the leader who sees this and will take us to this new frontier.

Hmm, that's kinda funny to say, considering Obama said this in Florida a while back:

“My interest is in making sure we’ve got the kind of comprehensive energy policy that can bring down gas prices,” and “If, in order to get that passed, we have to compromise in terms of a careful, well thought-out drilling strategy that was carefully circumscribed to avoid significant environmental damage - I don’t want to be so rigid that we can’t get something done.”

Link

So Obama is willing to compromise if necessary to drill yet you criticize the Republicans for wanting the same? Shame on you.

Our economy is a mess. Unemployment is above 6%. Why is that? Because the Republicans in congress and their President threw away a huge surplus with their spending spree and tax cuts that mostly went to the wealthiest Americans. Now the government competes with the private sector for loans to pay for these deficits with more and more coming from China which allows them to outcompete American companies and results in loss jobs. Obama is the leader who will bring us back to pay as you go.

LOL, as if Clinton did any better, but sure he is not running either so who cares right? This country is screwed up because of the idiots in this country who should have not bought things they could not afford and are now paying the price for it.

Our foreign policy is a mess. Iran is working on a nuclear program because, thanks to Bush, they know the only way to ensure that we don't invade them is to have a deterrent. Bush showed the world that the USA will invade anybody it doesn't like if they have sufficient natural resources to plunder. Obama is the leader who will restore trust in American world leadership.

Yes, and the answer to this is to make friends with our enemies and let them set the rules. This from a guy with very little, if any, foreign policy experience.

Good try though, I give points for effort, but the gollup polls don't seem to be agreeing with you.

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Obama has strengths?

But you are partially right. McCain has no core other than power. And I dont trust him. I only trust Obama to do 2 things. Appoint Liberal Jurists and be the 2nd coming of Jimmy Carter. In that, he will serve some good. Everyone will forget about Bush in 4 years if he is elected (do people still vilify Nixon? Not many and mostly just the loons).

So my father is a loon? He remebers Nixon well, and has a bumper sticker that reads "And I thought I would never miss Nixon"

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Obama has strength?

Change your blog's title. It should have a prefix "In" infront of it.

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Hmm, makes you wonder if so, why all the fuzz with Palin? Hypocrisy anyone?

I actually agree with you here. My belief is that there is no experience that can prepare you to be president. Many former presidents have said so, repubs and dems.

Yes, more free stuff to the lazy and the "helpless". One would think those who need help and can't afford it don't get any.

I dont think any real democrat would want this. But I can tell you from first hand experience that there are MANY people who are poor or very poor and are hard working and would continue to work hard if given health ins. You are right though in that their are people out there like that. I have one in my family and those people we should "weed out" and they should not be allowed if they are scamming.

So Obama is willing to compromise if necessary to drill yet you criticize the Republicans for wanting the same? Shame on you.

I think his point is that this is about all they want to do, that and maybe the hugely expensive nuclear option which no one wants the waste from.

LOL, as if Clinton did any better, but sure he is not running either so who cares right? This country is screwed up because of the idiots in this country who should have not bought things they could not afford and are now paying the price for it.

Well its hard to disagree too many people bought stuff on adjustable credit, but the government did see this problem coming and didnt do anything to stop things like predatory lending.

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But I can tell you from first hand experience that there are MANY people who are poor or very poor and are hard working and would continue to work hard if given health ins.

Believe me I know what it's like to be poor. But I have always made it my choice to do what it takes to get as good a job as I can with the purpose to move up. I have been without insurance for short periods of time, but I busted myself to make sure I got a job ASAP. I, at least, want to. My mom would be considered by many to not be able to work, she has all kinds of pains and problems. So does mt father, that does not stop them from working and making a living. If they can do it, most people on welfare can. I should know, I helped a lot of them as an interpreter at the age of 8.

Well its hard to disagree too many people bought stuff on adjustable credit, but the government did see this problem coming and didnt do anything to stop things like predatory lending.

I am a firm believer that "you do the crime you do the time". I have put myself in some really bad financial situations, I don't blame the govt for nt stopping me, I don't blame my parents for not teaching me, I don't blame my job for not paying me enough. I blame myself for being irresponsible, for not trying harder and for knwing what not to do but doing it anyways. I am man enough to admit I was wrong and am currently working on fixing my mistakes. If I can do it, so can many others.

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Daiwa

Join Date 07/2001

+349

predatory lending

This is an interesting point. What isn't being talked about much just now is that what has come to be called 'predatory lending practices' were actually forced on the banks (the main purchasers of FM/FM securities) a number of years ago by Congress, led by Democrats. There was a great outcry and much public teeth-gnashing over the practice of what was called 'red-lining' by banks: the use of risk-management models which identified geographic areas where the lending risk was high. Because, not altogether surprisingly, these areas were more predominantly inhabited by minorities, this was construed as a 'racial' and 'discriminatory' practice, rather than a financial risk-management practice and was for all intents & purposes outlawed.

Because every American 'deserved the opportunity to own a home' (sounds great, right?), lenders were forced to abandon this practice and required to engage in 'equal opportunity' lending. Thanks to low interest rates, Federal loan guarantees (hey, no downside there - we've got our hands in the taxpayers' pockets if the shit hits the fan) and the requirements to extend credit to homebuyers with a high risk of default, we ended up where we are today. This was all done in the name of 'helping the poor'. Now look at who is hardest hit - the poor and the taxpayers. The lenders & banks had little incentive to avoid high-risk loans - they knew that the Feds (you & me) would back them up if they rolled craps, which is exactly what's happened.

One man's gift is another man's predation. And for the Democrats to 'blame Bush' is, in the kindest term I can use to describe it, disingenuous.

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For the good or the bad of it, the US Constitution disagrees with you here. The president was always meant to be an administrator, not a leader. The only Constitutional leadership authority the President has is Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, which I grant you is a huge leadership role, but he isn't the Commander in Chief of the United States of America.

Seriously, if you look at what a president does, there is very little leadership involved. The fact is, the Founding Fathers wrote to Constitution in such a way that no one person would ever be the leader of the United States of America.

It is my opinion that, when we look back in history, the biggest mistakes made by any president was when they tried to be leaders instead of administrators. Why? Because no president knows enough about enough things to be an effective leader. What they do is appoint people who do know (at least we hope) enough about their area of expertise to advise the president on the issues of the day.

Please don't be so short sighted that you are willing to throw out the definitions, authorities and limitations specified by the US Constitution simply because you want to make the case for one candidate or another.

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Bush may not be an evil man but he's going to go down in history as one of the most inept Presidents of all time.

Why?

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So my father is a loon? He remebers Nixon well, and has a bumper sticker that reads "And I thought I would never miss Nixon"

No, I said vilify, not remember. YOur father remembers him well. As do many. Nixon was many things, but he was also the one who went to China. I should have added historians to the list as historically it was a very significant time (if for the wrong reason) in American history.

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predatory lending

This is an interesting point. What isn't being talked about much just now is that what has come to be called 'predatory lending practices' were actually forced on the banks (the main purchasers of FM/FM securities) a number of years ago by Congress, led by Democrats.

Good point! The current lending and housing "crises" (it is not, is is a correction) is the result of good intentions! By the democrats of course (although to be fair, republicans did not fight it hard if at all). The correction will take care of the problems, but like all corrections, real people will be hurt in the process.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are perfect examples of the failure of socialism, and believe it or not, the ones who ran them into the ground were democrat insiders! The magnitude of the scandal at Freddie Mac dwarfs Enron (by a factor of 10) yet you do not hear anyone demanding their heads like Ken lay.

Yes, Obama is going to be different. Instead of enron (actually another Clinton Cronie and the disdaster happened under his watch), we will have Enrons x 10! under obama.

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Though I was intrigued by your article, I think we're all kind of missing the point. And I'm not talking about just the bloggers here that are all about hating on the Democrats. I think everyone in America is too busy with the political side of things to find the best representative. That's waht is broken in our country. So instead of saying, "Republicans=good, Democrats=bad" or vice versa, why don't we look at the individuals running, and not the party they're running under?

P.S. Vote Nader in '08!

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So instead of saying, "Republicans=good, Democrats=bad" or vice versa, why don't we look at the individuals running, and not the party they're running under?

But I am doing that, I think.

Some of the most objectionable people for me are Republicans: David Duke (because he is a racist), Pat Buchanan, all those paleo-conservatives and their ilk, the crazy uncle, those people.

And I like the people they hate: George Bush, John McCain; as well as Ronald Reagan and even Richard Nixon, also George Bush Senior.

And there are people among the Democrats I strongly dislike: Barack Obama (because he is a racist), the treehuggers, the anti-Semites and their ilk, today's Kennedies, and most of all Jimmy Carter (because he was an ineffective president who claimed as his accomplishment the work of Anwar Saddat and called his friends the murderers of Anwar Saddat).

And there are people among the Democrats whom I like: Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Joe Lieberman, the old Kennedies.

Good, I prefer John McCain over Hillary Clinton, but they are totally in the same league for me. That means that for both of them I know what they stand for and respect their opinion and can see why people would vote for them.

And yes, please do vote for Nader.

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Though I was intrigued by your article, I think we're all kind of missing the point. And I'm not talking about just the bloggers here that are all about hating on the Democrats. I think everyone in America is too busy with the political side of things to find the best representative. That's waht is broken in our country. So instead of saying, "Republicans=good, Democrats=bad" or vice versa, why don't we look at the individuals running, and not the party they're running under?

P.S. Vote Nader in '08!

I don't vote based on party, I vote based on issues, which is why I could never vote for Nader. Isn't he the guy who said that income over $100,000/yr should be taxed at 100%. I wonder how much more than $100,000 he makes a year... does he voluntarily send that in to the IRS? Does he donate all but $$100,000 to practice what he preaches?

Somehow, I doubt. ;~D

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Island Dog

Join Date 06/2003

+1047

The complaint about Obama's experience is largely irrelevant. Obama has what it takes to lead this nation. We don't need an administrator, we need a leader and between McCain and Obama the choice is clear.

I dont' think it's irrelevant at all. Obama hasn't shown me anything to even try to convince me that he can lead the nation. Just going around yelling "change" doesn't mean anything to me.

Obama has been a community organizer (whatever that means), and he worked very closely with ACORN. Now just to refresh memeories ACORN is the group who on many occasions have been implicated (and charged I believe) in cases of voter fraud.

Lets also not forget how Obama has typically won elections....by using lawyers. You know, the thing that the left says Bush did. Obama is weak is pretty much every aspect whether it be the economy, the war, or pretty much anything in general.

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Quoting Island Dog,

comment 17

The complaint about Obama's experience is largely irrelevant. Obama has what it takes to lead this nation. We don't need an administrator, we need a leader and between McCain and Obama the choice is clear.

I dont' think it's irrelevant at all. Obama hasn't shown me anything to even try to convince me that he can lead the nation. Just going around yelling "change" doesn't mean anything to me.
Obama has been a community organizer (whatever that means), and he worked very closely with ACORN. Now just to refresh memeories ACORN is the group who on many occasions have been implicated (and charged I believe) in cases of voter fraud.

Lets also not forget how Obama has typically won elections....by using lawyers. You know, the thing that the left says Bush did. Obama is weak is pretty much every aspect whether it be the economy, the war, or pretty much anything in general.

Obama's leadership is self evident in the millions and millions of Americans who enthusiastically support him. That's leadership. Those who oppose him don't usually discount his ability as a leader but disagree with his political beliefs.

McCain, by contrast, has his side begrudgingly supporting him over purely ideological grounds. McCain hardly inspires or motivates people to support him. Only the desperate choice of Palin has helped at all and that says more of McCain's weakness as a leader than Palin's strengths.

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Obama's leadership is self evident in the millions and millions of Americans who enthusiastically support him.

Eh, no. That is using flawed logic. Millions and millions of americans would support a wart hog if one party nominated it to be president. The fact that there have been supporters of "leaders" like Cindy Sheehan, Charles Manson, Jim Jones, etc. show that followers do not convey leadership qualities, only that (and not always true) there are suckers born every minute.

McCain hardly inspires or motivates people to support him.

Also true, and actually another good contradiction of your first statement. McCain by any definition is a leader. One who does not mesmerize his followers. But he has lead, and can lead as he has demonstrated.

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Obama's leadership is self evident in the millions and millions of Americans who enthusiastically support him. That's leadership.

Why?

I thought leadership was telling people what to do and not just have them follow you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCFBndlScBc

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Island Dog

Join Date 06/2003

+1047

Obama's leadership is self evident in the millions and millions of Americans who enthusiastically support him. That's leadership. Those who oppose him don't usually discount his ability as a leader but disagree with his political beliefs.

I really don't see how the "millions" of people following him is relevant to his leadership. Marketing and public relations maybe, but not leadership. I would bet serious money that over 90% of his "supporters" don't even know anything about his background or his accomplishments.

Could you even list 3 or 4 of his major accomplishments while in the federal government?

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Obama's leadership is self evident in the millions and millions of Americans who enthusiastically support him. That's leadership. Those who oppose him don't usually discount his ability as a leader but disagree with his political beliefs.

McCain, by contrast, has his side begrudgingly supporting him over purely ideological grounds. McCain hardly inspires or motivates people to support him. Only the desperate choice of Palin has helped at all and that says more of McCain's weakness as a leader than Palin's strengths.

and yet in the polls the "enthusiastic support" is running neck and neck with the "desparate choice".

You can't cite millions of enthusiastic supporters as evidence of leadership ability if he isn't doing any better than the guy with who "hardly motivates people". If Obama was trouncing McCain in the polls (and remember, they were also neck and neck before he announced a running mate) you would have a point, but since he isn't... you don't.

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Daiwa

Join Date 07/2001

+349

Obama's Hitler's leadership is self evident in the millions and millions of Americans Germans who enthusiastically support him.

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Daiwa I was thinking that very thought. See we can agree on stuff Now that's Bipartisan 8-).

Dog, great points as well. Speaking of motivating people I believe Jim Jones motivated a lot of people. A couple of thousands to drink the kool-aid. The fact that you're a great public speaker DOES NOT make you a great leader. Though being a great public orator WILL HELP you being a leader.

When the terrorist attack and trust me I'm just guessing here that they'll most likely attack once this next President gets elected to see what type of person they are.

There are many historic reasons for them picking Sept 11 (go see for your self and thank France screwing around both times). They could have done it in 2000. They were ready and in. They waited for the next President because they saw (yes they get news in their caves or where ever else they are) the mud being thrown between both parties and thought that the country was all the unified. Al-Qaeda released videos in 2000 warning the U.S. of coming actions and spoke about the elections in some of them.

I would like someone to be there if/when (again tapes warning us of coming attacks)attacks occur.

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correction to the above: thought the country wasn't all that unified.

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Choice of Palin highlights Obama's strength

Choice of Palin highlights Obama's strength

Why Obama is better