Monday, June 30, 2008
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The Left Hits McCain's War Record
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Posted by:
Matt Lewis at
9:50 AM
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Are they "swift boating" McCain?
It started with Jay Rockefeller, who essentially accused McCain of being an "Air Pirate." Then, this weekend, Wes Clark made his idiotic remarks. Is there an effort to undermine McCain's heroic image? You bet your life!
... Following are a couple quotes from Ben Smith's post that further illustrate how the left is targeting McCain's war record:
... "Getting shot down, tortured, and then doing propaganda for the enemy is not command experience," Aravosis wrote in the blog post, entitled "Honestly, besides being tortured, what did McCain do to excel in the military?"
... "I wouldn't characterize anybody who fought in Vietnam as a war hero," said Medea Benjamin, a co-founder of the theatrical anti-war group Code Pink. "In 23 bombing sorties, there must have been civilians that were killed and there's no heroism to that." A few things to note:
1. This further highlights how Obama and his supporters are not engaging in a "new" type of politics. This is the same old attack-style politics where one side tries to undermine and destroy the reputation of the other side. And the fact that several prominent Obama surrogates have "gone there" leads me to believe this is an organized effort to undermine McCain's strength (while Obama keeps his hands clean). It occurs to me that Obama is in Independence, MO today to talk about patriotism. Is it patriotic to attack a former P.O.W.?
2. The left are the ones who are not willing to move on from the Vietnam war. These comments show they are still fighting protesting the war. Only people with no class whatsoever would attack the military service of a former P.O.W. -- but then, again, these are the same people who spat into the faces of our service men when they returned home.
3. This illustrates how out-of-touch the left still is regarding military service. This is the last thing Obama needs, but the truth is that -- sooner or later -- people reveal their true feelings. The left loathes the military.
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To those who choose to attack John McCain and state that just because he served in Vietnam doesn't make him a war hero, I have one small question.
Will you say the same for those in uniform who have and are serving in Afganistan and Iraq? If your objective is to denigrate John McCain by diminishing his war record in this manner then you are also denigrating those who are serving and have served in both present zones of conflict.
To those who have been captured, tortured and beheaded and in the cases where their bodies have never been recovered would you say the same thing? Would you say this of those who have lost limbs ?
Those who have served are deserving of more respect than that which is being given. When you diminish McCain you diminish all who have served, whether they won medals are not. Whether they have command experience or not.
Your sentiments to those who serve are ringing loud and clear.
Tibby
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for you guys to question Kerry's record of heroism but its not ok to question McCain's? Why the double standard? If Kerry's record was fair game, why isn't McCain's?
Seriously, you people are just dumb. |
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He talks to Mexicans about amnesty, but to Americans about enforcing the border.
that does not jive!!!
Pristine his ash!!! When your house is burning, you do not save your plants!!!!
Wake up, MC Kain!!!! |
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Do they really want to have a discussion about experience? This is a stupid discussion for the Obama camp to engage in. Once again proving that they are not what they say they are. So this is why Obama took a pass on public financing. He didn't want to be swift boated but he would have enough cash to swift boat his opponent. |
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Dear American Voters, reporters, media. professionals, political parties, and presidential Nominees,
Subject: Presidential Temperament
Please talk about and "Compare And Contrast" the " Presidential Temperament" of our Presidential presumptive nominees. I will also request and plead to the nominees themselves [ Hon. Senator McCain and Obama ].
Our nation has been applying this yard and stick tor the appointments and confirmation process of our Supreme Court Justices nominees.
Our Greatgrand Nation Foundations are as under:
Family, friends, fellows, faith, funds, fun, with fairness & freedom And without fear, favor, and failure.
It will be disgrace and shameful if the nominees and media will not look into this critical and crucial aspect under current challenging times and circumstances within our country and all around the Globe.
America wake up and the discuss the " Presidential Temperament" of our presumptive presidential nominee's [ Hon. Senator McCain and Obama].
Yours sincerely,
COL. A.M.Khajawall [Ret].
Disabled American Veteran
Forensic psychiatrist, Las Vegas, Nevada.
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I think McCain is a horrible Republican. But... he is a great military guy who gets the war.
For the libs to go after McCain on his military record when Obama makes Kerry look like Patton is hillarious.
The left HATE the military and what it worse, the enemy wants Obama to win.
Wesley Clark is a total loser. |
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There is a double standard here. It was wrong to denigrate John Kerry's service back in 2004 and it is wrong now to do the same to McCain. I'm an eight year veteran of the military and I hate to see people, especially those who never served, make determinations about what military service is honorable and worthy of praise and what is not. We all had our different experiences and some of us had it tougher than others, but in the end we all served our country, which is an honorable thing. I'm a liberal who served honorably and I honor all military veterans no matter the war, no matter if they volunteered or were drafted. Matt, I don't think the left loathes the military as much as they loathe war. Of course there are some dimwits out there but for the most part we can separate the soldier doing his duty from the policy. |
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Kabul Kimberly:
I'm not entirely sure exactly what happened to McCain in Hanoi for five and a half years, but I'm not accepting your echo of a LW blog site. Broken legs, broken collar bones, broken teeth (the left now deriding him for his yellowing teeth), and much more are big deal. McCain declined to accept an early release because it would have demoralized his fellow soldiers. If it had been Obama in McCain's shoes, Obama would have been on the first plane out of Hanoi and everyone knows it.
As for Clark, my brother-in-law (colonel on one of the branches of the services) told me Clark was twit. And from what I read, he sounds as if he was the equivalent of Frank Burns on M*A*S*H.
ReadABook: I think Kerry's service was so roundly dismissed because he refused to open his military records and he came back after a fairly short stint overseas and appeared on national TV (Dick Cavett or some show) and criticized the soldiers. Nice.
thinker: I hear you on drilling and immigration. He may pick up Sarah Palin (Alaska governor) and get religion on Anwar. Plus, the Dems would find it impossible to counter Sarah Barracuda. They'd need Superman or Wonder Woman.
On immigration, I don't think most of the country has focused on it because of energy, the Iraq war, and so on. However, I do think that if either party begins making step towards amnesty, the House phones will be set on fire and any House member could risk losing his or her seat with just that vote. So I think a permanent solution is still far, unless a wave of violence overtakes us. |
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This is just plain stupid. Everytime they bring up experience or McCain's service record they're doing Team McCain and the RNC a huge favor. Just keep on doin' it! |
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...is everything that is wrong with this world. Please leave this site and don't ever come back. |
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If you go back and read the Swift Boat ads on Kerry you will notice they were not attacking Kerry's war record - they were attacking the embellishment of his war record by his campaign staff.
This is similar to Obama's record. Everything is being embellished to the point we will have to anoint him King istead of president. I am amised at all these bills which he sponsored. I guess he sponsors them and fails to show up to vote.
Obama is an empty suit and just another politician. Nothing new here. |
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What else should one expect from the neo-GOP?
Flash back to the 2000 election. Remember the smear job the Bush campaign waged against the "Manchurian Candidate" McCain.
I remember.
RIP GOP |
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recently I watched a film called "Rescue Dawn." It was about POW's in Laos. For Kimberly or anyone else who questions McCain's service you should watch this film. It reflects but an "nth" of the type of torture that McCain went through but yet it is completely horrifying. You can't possibly watch this and think that McCain does not have the toughness to be president. |
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...those who denigrated John F-ing Kerry were his own "band of brothers" in arms - the swift boaters who served the same duties and the same time frame as Kerry. Those denigrating John McCain's service are opportunistic neo kommie (democrat party) politicians. |
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Where are Kerry's military medical records that prove his wounds were serious enough to justify his medals?
Remember Kerry got to leave Vietnam because he got 3 wounds. Why is he afraid to show his military records? This is why the Swift Boat ads were effective! Kerry refused to disclose those military records. Every thinking person knows why.
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Excellent job, Matt.
I especially enjoy the way you put a line through the word 'fighting' and replaced it with 'protesting.'
However, there are people on the far right who are still protesting the Vietnam War---as well as World War 2.
Pat Buchanan's new book about WW2 is a good example of far right nuttiness, and the Ron Paul types have opposed nearly every American foreign war since...1492 !
(ha, ha, ha)
Also, some people in this thread are comparing apples to pineapples.
They're comparing criticism of John Kerry's l-i-e-s about his own record to the f-a-c-t-s of John McCain's record.
Many people who served with Kerry disputed his record---while nobody has disputed McCain's record; rather, McCain's opponents are merely denigrating him.
In other words, Kerry lied about his own record, while McCain has told the truth about his own record.
And by the way, McCain actually defended Kerry from the way that the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth set the record straight about Kerry's record. |
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For all the leftists who loathe the military, Mr.Clinton especially, while in the whitewhorehouse hiding from the wife, she in the kitchen and while mopping the floors and vacuuming the carpets, telling the military and secret service to, "Just do yur job and stay the hell out of my way." I say where will you run and hide when the boots of oppression are in your vicinity? Trip to Canada again? Make no mistake about it. There are a host of insurgents waiting to take over and are aided by muddle-brained who seek to embrace them. They are in Congress, Senate, on the streets, and every nook and cranny where they can hide. Where will they retreat to if there is no more shadow of the American flag to hide under and protect them? I served, you did also, and when all of the draft dodgers fled to Canada, who was left to defend America? Lots of countries accept the cowards and give them sanctuary, such as France who sheltered Ayatollah Kholmenie, however you spell it, as he spent sixteen years in exile. They must love'Le Cowards'. On one or two occasions they also loved the Americans who liberated them from the oppressors, before they embraced communism.
McCain spent five plus years in the Hanoi Hilton, same as many others such as J.B. (John Bryan) McCamey who was their guest for seven years while his young, daughter, Jacquelyn, missed out on having a father figure at home during her most vulnerable and formative years. They didn't start the war, but went when they were called and served honorably. Kerry demanded and received his purple heart ribbons while "fighting", much the same as Hillarity did dodging bullets on the tarmac. My brother gave up his eyes for his purple heart award. You choose your heroes, I'll choose mine. |
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These attacks will sink the lefties. They think they are so smart, so smug. Well the American people will wake up to their false and misleading attacks on McCain's military career. I can't imagine a more idiotic way to try to win a political campaign -- oh, wait -- "John Kerry reporting for duty" -- in front of lefties at their own convention. Now that was really stoopid. |
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The Republicans will win the White House again in 2008. Not by anything they did right, but by the stupid remarks coming from the Democratic Party. |
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One question! What experience does Obama have that qualify him for POTUS? Nows your chance to put up or shut up! |
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McCain graduated near bottom of his class at USNA, and became a pilot due to daddy's connections. He was shot down while bombing civilian facilities in another country's civil war. Was he tortured? Maybe yes, maybe no, but does it matter? His captors deny that he was tortured, and the Navy won't release his post-POW physicals that could prove that he was. It's likely that his connections via admiral daddy earned him better treatment. Regardless of whether he was tortured or not, though, it doesn't matter - McCain, Bush, and the GOP are all on record as endorsing torture as a justifiable act during war.
Face it - McCain has nothing to run on short of his military record. He's already ceded the race, and the only thing he has left to attack is his BS war hero status. So should we go after it? Hell Yes! We'll pick the old fart apart and when we're finished there won't be ANYTHING left! Wait until Cindy's fun with pharmaceuticals get dredged back up, and how McCain cheated on Wife 1 (the cripple). This is just getting started...
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I'd love to see you tied-up and beaten for 5 days - much less 5 years. You're the type of person who flips out if Starbucks takes too long preparing your frap-no-whip-latte, but you have the audacity to insult a US Veteran that was tortured for 5 years?
You are disgusting. |
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It was MCCAIN that was defending that attacks on John Kerry in 2004. But "facts" really don't matter to partisan "swallowers" like yourself. |
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McCain was a prisoner of war who was tortured and did what he had to to survive like most prisoners of war who did survive.
As much as I am proud of his accomplishments as an American I am even prouder of what he did after the ware when he (Along with Bob Kerry) made extensive efforts to reconcile with Vietnam. McCain even reconciled with a number of
Vietnam anti-war groups.
McCain is an honorable man. Everyone on the left or right with the exception of a few wingnuts has said as much. McCain can be criticized for his position on a great many issues, but no-one has a better understanding of the impact of war on families, on "the enemy" and the desperate need for rebuilding and reconciliation.
Wesley Clarke and these other liberal wackos just need to grow up a little. McCain is just flat out better then their man on the issue. Find something elese to pick on. |
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He writes,
"McCain graduated near bottom of his class at USNA, and became a pilot due to daddy's connections. He was shot down while bombing civilian facilities in another country's civil war. Was he tortured? Maybe yes, maybe no, but does it matter? His captors deny that he was tortured,..."
You fall into the "Kimberly" category of being an idiot. Really, I'm not kidding. Only such a person could be such a dult to suggest McCain wasn't tortured because his captures' words.
For gods sake, because of his injuries that guy (McCain) can't raise his arms above his shoulders.
And you want to go after Cindy McCain's abuse of prescription drugs? GREATTTTTTT We'll revisit Obama the crackhead, dope smoking, coke user. This will get wake up the conservative base faster than you can say "Hillary Clinton". |
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I bet WES was such a Hero that when CLINTON relieved him of his COMMAND in Bosnia he really knew what a HERO was. Kerry was such a war hero that the ENEMY still has his picture hanging in their Capital Hallways)HANOI) for all good heros to see.
I was in Nam and most of the 90 days Kerry spent on land he created as many problems for his crew than he ever pretended to take blame for.
You only hero KIMBERLY is MDOGG and his CRACK PIPE that obviously you two have been smoking since MDOGG just got out of his MOMs basement again. |
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Hemrick wrote;
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"McCain graduated near bottom of his class at USNA, and became a pilot due to daddy's connections."
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Sorry, friend, but the Navy does not make people into fighter pilots simply due to their father's connections.
It's a job which must be earned through skill and merit---and McCain possessed the skill and merit.
Hemrick also wrote;
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"Was he tortured? Maybe yes, maybe no, but does it matter? His captors deny that he was tortured, and the Navy won't release his post-POW physicals that could prove that he was.
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Lying about the facts may earn you high-fives at the Daily Kos, but it earns you disdain in the real world.
At least you admit you're not INTERESTED in the TRUTH when you ask if the truth even matters, but the facts clearly show that McCain was tortured.
And so do his medical records.
These are facts. |
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Both parties are stuck in a 70's mindset.
Given that we're having energy and inflation problems again coupled with a grinding occupation that's draining our resources, it's easy to see why.
Aside from that, it's rather silly to complain about attacks on McCain's war record when GOP 527s and officials have done the same to Democrats that served.
Either it's all fair game, or none of it is.
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Dread wrote;
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"Aside from that, it's rather silly to complain about attacks on McCain's war record when GOP 527s and officials have done the same to Democrats that served.
Either it's all fair game, or none of it is."
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Wrong.
Truth matters.
The attacks on John Kerry were about the INACCURACY about his record, as well as the INACCUACY about his Congressional testimony.
People who served with Kerry said he lied about his record---"Christmas in Cambodia," and so forth.
Also, when Kerry returned, he slandered our troops when he testified before Congress that our soldiers took part in "Genghis Khan" type atrocities.
On the other hand, nobody has ever disputed the accuracy about McCain's actual record, although there are now some left wing nuts who are making Orwellian allegations that "we don't know" if McCain was "really" tortured.
But that's a lie.
Indeed, we do know that McCain was tortured.
It is a fact. |
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McCain and hi-fiving Clark have probably never served in the military yet would come screaming for military action if the US were to be attacked by a rogue nation. Those impugning McCain and his war record are like Obama's best bud Ayers. They always want to protest wars but don't have the guts to be out there defending the country which allows the likes of Ayers and Obama to reside here freely.
As for Obama's medical records - they were never released. The only thing released was some trumped up letter by a physician from the same hospital where Michelle works.
Now let's see Obama's real medical records as well as his State Senate records. What's Obama still hiding???? |
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The disgraced former Congressman was an Ace in the Vietnam War.
Is he qualified to be President? |
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"Also, when Kerry returned, he slandered our troops"
No he didn't and Tommy Franks vouched for Kerry's testimony. |
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She is a hit and run poster. Rarely ever backs up anything she said or speaks with others. |
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Sorry he did. Kerry spent four months in Nam and saw only a small percentage of the country. For him to say that US brutality and war crimes were rampant and wide spread is asinine, since he could not possibly know. If those around him were doing these things and he found them so vile, why not name names?
Do you believe MOST US soldiers in nam were raping torturing and brutalizing non combatants? |
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That is the reason why they buy everything the pathological Palestinians tell them.
It is also the reason they do not understand how the Vietnamese in the 60's and the Japanese in the 30's used to break a prisoner's spirit.
Lies about the prisoners' commanding officers collaborating with the enemy were spread about the camps to breed dissention and prevent the officers from planning any escapes.
Before they knew the military rank of his daddy, McCain had the sh*t beat out of him, but he never cracked. He never gave up any information.
What? Does the Left really think that the Viet Cong would have announced to the world that their prize prisoner never cracked, or gave it up in a heartbeat?
You know the drill.
The Left would rather believe the lies of our enemies than the truths of our veterans.
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"Sorry he did. Kerry spent four months in Nam and saw only a small percentage of the country. For him to say that US brutality and war crimes were rampant and wide spread is asinine"
Tommy Franks vouched for Kerry:
FRANKS: I think we had a lot of problems in Vietnam. One was the lack of leadership of young people like in -- in John Kerry's position. He was a young officer over there, and I'm not sure that -- that activities like that didn't take place. In fact, quite the contrary. I'm sure that they did take...
FRANKS: I don't know. I -- I think Vietnam was -- I think Vietnam was a bad time. I think that what I've learned in my life, Sean, is that it's a heck of a lot easier to protest than it is to step up and take responsibility for the actions of a unit or for -- or for your own actions. And so, I don't -- I don't like what I saw. But at the same time, I -- I wouldn't say that - the things that Senator Kerry said are undeniable about activities in Vietnam. I think that things didn't go right in -- in Vietnam. And so...
SOURCE:
Copyright 2004 Fox News Network, LLC Fox News Network
SHOW: FOX HANNITY & COLMES (21:00)
August 3, 2004 Tuesday
Transcript # 080301cb.253
SECTION: News; Domestic
LENGTH: 3792 words
EADLINE: Interview With Tommy Franks
GUESTS: Tommy Franks
BYLINE: Sean Hannity, Pat Halpin
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It is incredible to see how "off the wall" some people think...you have no understanding of reality & how it works. To think that a Senator that has served less than 150 days on the Senate floor, has no accomplishments to date, could even be considered for the highest Political office in the world! To read some of the garbage that you put out is stunning. Obama has to be the most unqualified so-called contender that has ever run. He is the Face of the Democrat party, he is being shaped to be the perfect candidate...that is if you want to hear how he is going to make everything better, we will all be equal! take from the Rich & give to the poor!, just like Robin Hood, only differnce, this is real life not some silly fairy tale. He thinks that you can tax you way into prosperity, it has never worked yet, but since he is Messiah like, maybe he'll defy the odds...doubt it! And his stance on Military affairs is naive at best. He is an appeaser that will cause history to repeat itself, Neville Chamberlain-ish. Obama is very dangerous & has destructive ideas. Our founding Fathers would be ashamed to see what is happening to this Great Nation, with Homosexual Marriage, Abortion, out of control generational Welfare dependence, the constant call to remove God from every public place, and on & on. John McCain is a Real patriot, he is not paper tiger, he does'nt just say what people want to hear, he's blunt & to the point, something that Liberals have a hard time with. Obama is a politally correct manequin, shaped to fit the radical ideas of the left, He's Black enough to use racism as a response to any critism, and the Democrat party needs him to win so they can make history and at the same time wipe away the white guilt that has plagued America....remember who fought for civil rights? Republicans did, Democrats fought it tooth & nail back in the day...but history is of no value to the liberal left. |
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Of course Obama wants to put an end to Patriotism as an issue, because Obama is the one who's patriotism is in question! He conveniently condems questioning patiotism, but where was he when his hatchet men came up with General Betray Us??? Also, why isn't Iraq, or Afganistan on Obama's upcoming itinery? Obama knows he can't compete with McCain on the issue of patriotism, so he's trying to make it a non issue. Obama has no experience, except to listen to God Damn America for 20 years! |
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War record or not, the fact is that Obama is a Marxist...plain and simple. He will try to run the country "Castro" style and we will pay out of our rear ends in taxes, and have the govt. tell us how and when to wipe our rear ends...so if that sounds good to you...then by all means, go for Obama. |
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he is liable to start a war with Iran without provocation. I can't trust his judgement and temperament. he definitely has some anger management issues to resolve. not someone we want to be commander in chief.
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Did anyone here actually watch the whole interview, or just hear about that one out-of-context sentence from secondhand sources and make their judgement on that? |
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I'd watch the judgment and termperament statements. Have you seen the whining, gripey Obama when reporters try to press him? Did you see how he treated the autograph seeker? You can make excuses for his behavior, but it all boils down to the fact he cannot handle any kind of pressure with any degree of maturity.
As for judgment, well, must we revisit his pastor? business associates? etc. ad nauseum |
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McCaniacs, your insecurity is showing. I can't beleive all the pant wetting going on over this. Watch the clip. Yea it was a little jab, but it was accurate. If McCain and troops go ape over this they know that's all he has got is millitary service to run on.
What bills has Sen. McCain proposed while on the Armed Services Comittee? Does everyone realize how many times he voted against veterans benefits? Hell he didn't even vote for the new GI Bill 2008. So how exactly does he support the troops?
As for a new style of politics, McCain has been trying to bang the experience bell against Obama for months. Now someone rings the bell against him and he cries. Nice! |
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This is kind of stupid on Obama's part.
Consider this: I have never played professional football.
Now imagine if someone suggested that Dan Marino had a better NFL career than I did, and my friend said "Yeah, but Marino never won a Super Bowl". See where I'm going with this? Obama, who was never in the military at all, discounts (through his proxy Wesley Clark) McCain's service because he "was never a commander". The irony is breathtaking.
Moreover, McCain, unlike Kerry, is not running solely on his military record. He is also running on his Senate record. Kerry had nothing to brag about in either department. |
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Lets see...when Hitler and Stalin signed a treaty to divide Eastern Europe in 1939 the American Left went from anti-fascism to 'Peace' in one day, any Jews who didnt like it were told to hit the road. On June 22, 1941 they changed to a ferocious 'War' party without inviting the Jews who opposed the Peace between Stalin and Hitler back into the movement. After WW2 the left did everything they could to promote Stalin's foreign policy and block any US attempts to thwart it; even running that fathead Henry Wallace against Truman. They enthusiastically backed Castro. During Viet Nam, when McCain was being tortured by the North Vietnamese they were marching in the streets waving NVA flags and waving Chairman Mao's Red Book.After they succeeded in sabotaging the Paris Peace treaty they sneered at the flood of refugees trying to escape from the Socialist State of Vietnam. They supported the Soviet's Nuclear Freeze and opposed Ronald Reagan's defense build-up. They've loudly opposed the Gulf War and have actively supported the Islamonazis in the War On Terror. Thats the Obama Left's war record. |
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