Tag: obama

It’s like they were angry or something

Saw this a couple of days ago.

Since 2002, 61 former detainees have committed or are suspected to have committed attacks after being released from the detention camp, Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said at a briefing Tuesday.

via Pentagon: Ex-Gitmo detainees resume terror acts – CNN.com.

This is news?

This is going to be used by people who just saw the season opener of 24 to say “See!! Jack’s right!!” or something.  One of the big problems with GITMO is that holding people for years and mistreating them usually means that they wont join the America’s Fan Club when they get out. Yes, many of the people are murderers, but this was not the way to deal with them in the past and it still isn’t.

Gitmo was always a bad idea.  Despite the administration (only days left!) claiming that they obtained good intelligence out of that place, even Kiefer Sutherland admits that torturing someone will mean that they’ll just say anything to make it stop.

Now President-elect Obama is commiting to cleaning up this mess and the sooner the better. No matter what he does there are going to be upset people, liberal and conservative, who will accuse him of either coddling terrorist or selling out the constitution.

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.

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.

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.