Tag: election (page 3 of 4)

August 30, 2008

Governor Palin’s qualifications are what again?

NRO got it right.

Inexperience. Palin has been governor for about two minutes. Thanks to McCain’s decision, Palin could be commander-in-chief next year. That may strike people as a reckless choice; it strikes me that way. And McCain’s age raised the stakes on this issue.

. . .

Tokenism. Can anyone say with a straight face that Palin would have gotten picked if she were a man?

The Corner on National Review Online.

No one can legitimately argue that a woman can’t be president. That’s just stupid and would eliminate many powerful and capable candidates. Senator Clinton would have been a great choice in an election had she won the primary. The Democratic Party did not throw women under the bus; the process worked out and Senator Clinton received fewer votes.

That’s how elections work.

If it’s legitimate to run ads claiming Senator Clinton and Senator Biden were arguing that Senator Obama lacked experience, how exactly does it work when McCain picks someone who has virtually no national or international experience at all?

She was a mayor of a town with 7,000 residents -> Governor of Alaska. She ran on a reformer ticket and is being investigated for allegedly trying to get her former brother-in-law fired. That a lot of experience alright.

Rooting for Governor Palin purely on the basis of her being a woman does an equal disservice to women. President Palin? Who could honestly say that she can actually be a good president? Sexual discrimination is not over when a woman becomes president. It’s over when a woman becomes president and no one notices that she’s a woman.

This continues to be a fun election to watch.

August 28, 2008

Wow, what a maverick

Check out this interview with John McCain on the Time/CNN website. It’s a little disturbing how far he’s gone off from being himself. He is not the same man who competed with George W. Bush for the Republican presidential nomination.

August 24, 2008

John McCain is Hillary’s knight?

Politics sure make for odd reading. John McCain’s campaign is reaching out for the angry bitter myopic accusatory how can you be so sexist supporters of Senator Clinton.

“She won millions of votes. But isn’t on his ticket. Why? For speaking the truth,” the narrator in the ad says.

McCain Camp Accuses Obama of Passing Over Clinton for VP

That’s really funny. In 1999 I had so much respect for Senator McCain. But he wants this too badly and apparently will say anything to get the votes.

I voted for Senator Clinton in the primaries. But as it turns out more people voted for Senator Obama. Instead of panning and diminishing his accomplishment, why must some (not all) of Senator Clinton’s supporters continue to harp on this? What was Senator Obama’s camp supposed to do? Crawl hands and knees asking for the approval of the person who lost?

I had thought she was better qualified. I also thought her campaign just expected a shoe-in and did not really try. Florida and Michigan? That was her campaign attempting to cheat. Those states broke the rules and all the candidates agreed to stay clear of them. So when her campaign tried to play the “but wait! Florida and Michigan want me!!” card, I lost respect for her as a candidate.

If (or when) John McCain wins the election, it will not be due to an effort on his side. It will be because the Democrats are too in enthralled with their own drama.

July 10, 2008

That’s a long 15 minutes

Jesse, please stop. We all care for you and respect you. But you need to stop being the story right now.

July 9, 2008

The Senate rolls over and plays dead

President Nixon Bush got what he wanted: Senate bows to Bush, approves surveillance bill.

The news article mentions that the old FISA rules were a problem, and that Congress did not want to deal with this in an election year. Even Senator Obama folded on this one.

I guess his ambition is greater than his morals. “Vote for change”, what nonsense.

King George must be pleased to have such tame pets. It was never demonstrated that there was any issue with using the old FISA rules. It was only an issue because the Bush Cheney administration wanted more power.

The current administration does not want this law passed because they need it. They don’t torture people because they need to. They don’t disregard the Constitution because they need to. They don’t eliminate habeas corpus* because they need to.

They do all these things because they can.

I’m pissed again, I really can’t wait till January 20th to welcome our new king.

*Some people may think that habeas corpus was something denied only to non-American citizen away from our shores. The fact is, this administration grabbed an American in an airport in Chicago and then John Ashcroft bragged about it from Moscow. That American, who may have been the most vile scum, was held for years and subjected to abuse before the administration moved him where the law says he should have been. If they can do this to the worst, they can do this to anyone.

July 9, 2008

Good read re warrantless wiretapping

Salon has a good write up on Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation Inc. v. Bush from one of the lawyers involved. If you are a “Get them before they get us” type, don’t bother reading.

If you think everyone has to obey the law (meaning me, you, you, and especially YOU), then it’s a long read but covers the lawyers point of view nicely. This is the best part:

The situation grew darkly comic. They didn’t have a hammer, so they started debating how to smash the hard drive. I suggested they smack it against the corner of the table that was in the room. That didn’t do much.

I found myself thinking of the Samsonite Gorilla, the TV commercial from the 1970s in which a gorilla stomps on a piece of luggage that just won’t break. I thought: “These people are entrusted with our national security?”

Once again, since it is an election year, I am sure that our elected officials will get involved and mess this up.

July 3, 2008

Judge got wiretapping issue right

This judge apparently rejects the “It’s a State Secret ’cause WE say so” idea. Cool. And since it’s an election year, I expect Congress to mess this up.

June 19, 2008

Same old political pandering

Telcom immunity: I’ll wait to see if the Democrats sold out the constitution again, but I’m willing to bet they did. No politician has any principles during an election year.

Update: Crooks and Liars has more, but it looks like it’s a done deal. These Democrats are not Blue Dogs, they are Blue Cowards. All it takes is the President to say something is legal and game over, you have no rights.

Anything from detaining American citizens, torturing people, to spying on our own population is allowed. All it takes is for a brown shirt government employee to say “War on Terror” and for the President to say “this is legal”. No one is held accountable, no one has to deal with the consequences of their actions.

When the Democrats opposed blanket immunity I was thinking that maybe these dark days are closing. It was all a scam; the Democrats are up for election too.

I’m upset and I can’t wait for January 20th, 2009. Even if it’s McCain at least we’ll get a new king.

June 7, 2008

Today Senator Clinton is set to give a speech

I’m reading about Senator Clinton and her speech to be given today. I can’t help but wonder “How is President Clinton going to mess this up?”

When Al Gore was running for president, people commented that one of his failures was not getting President Clinton to campaign for him. Bill Clinton is great for working the crowd but he also brings a huge liability. I mean, the day of the last primaries instead of dealing with the election, people are hearing that he called some reporter an expletive deleted.

When President Clinton was in office, his opposition was obsessed with the failings in his personal life. Yes he absolutely lied, yes it was an amazingly stupid thing for him to do. But lining him up just to get him to lie about his personal life? What a waste of the governments time and money.

This is the baggage that President Clinton is encumbered with. I believe he is a smart man and was good for the country, he just brings a cloud of distractions with him.

He’s like that successful uncle that the whole family likes but man, it must be rough being married to him. Senator Clinton’s participation is going to have to be metered with this in mind. It’s unfair to her; I think she is as smart and capable as her husband.

Senator McCain seems to have realized that he needs to work to capture his base and that means embracing President George W. Bush. It might work; many good and decent people who are Republican are repulsed by what this administration is doing. But they’re more repulsed by the idea of not winning the election at all cost.

Senator Obama is running on change. He’s counting on the fact that so many people are sick and tired of the same old same old. I think he may be able to become president provided his opponent does not do a Karl Rove on him. Senator Clinton’s involvement as VP or otherwise may do more harm than good.

June 4, 2008

Senator Obama will be the nominee

It’s Wednesday morning and it looks like Senator Obama has crossed the finish line.

Normally I shy away from the Wall Street Journal on politics as they frequently lean too far right. But this article is a good read about how Senator Clinton went from the leader in the race to falling behind.

Senator Obama’s campaign should enlist her in some important role; she did lose but a lot of people voted for her and still believe. I don’t know if VP would work but she she proven to be a great campaigner.

I hope Senator Obama is prepared to take on Senator McCain. I don’t like Senator McCain pandering to his base but in 1999 I thought he was better than our current president. It should be a good election if both sides can concentrate on the issues at hand.