Presidential Candidates

[Engels]

Here is my take on the (three remaining) Presidential candidates.

a) John McCain. A good man, experienced in the Senate. On the plus side, he showed he could work with Democrats, and attempt to cut down on influence of money in politics with McCain-Feingold. On the negative: Showed poor judgment with his involvement with the "Keating Five" - back prior to the S&L crisis of the 1980s. Rumored to be very quick-tempered. Graduated almost dead last in his Academy Class (should I hold that against him?) Lastly - and this is perhaps unfair - I think 72 is too old to be starting your first term in the White House. Its a tough job, and John McCain's health is not everything that it could be.

Bottom line: I could vote for him, but not enthusiastically.

b) Hillary Clinton. Eight years in the Senate. 8 years as First Lady. Experience as a lawyer and board member. Negatives: Not sure that her experience is as valuable as she makes out. Showed poor judgement in Iraq war vote. Blew the Health Care initiative as First Lady.

Bottom line: Don't dislike Hillary. But 1) Clintons always seem to have the scent of a scandal about them and 2) Think she is too divisive a figure to be a good President. Probably would not vote for her.

c) Barack Obama. Two years in the Senate. Previously community organizer, Illinois state legislator. Lawyer. Harvard Law Review. Superb speaker - probably the most compelling orator since Reagan. V. High personal appeal; potential international appeal. Appears to have measured, reasonable approach. Negatives: Relatively little high level political experience.

Bottom Line: At present would be inclined to vote enthusiastically for him.

Obviously, of the three Obama is most appealing to me, for a variety of reasons. America's international reputation and prestige is alarmingly low right now. A President Obama would go a long way to restoring that, in a way I cannot see a President McCain or Clinton II doing. Secondly, the US still has some racial issues. Electing Obama would not make those go away - but it would make a strong statement about the opportunities for all people in the US.

Two other individuals are playing a role in this Election.

1) Ralph Nader. The ego on this guy is incredible. What does he think he is doing getting into this race? He has no reasonable chance of winning, only taking votes AWAY from the Democratic candidate. Shame on Ralph.

2) Rush Limbaugh. Rush is deluding himself (and the angry white guys who listen to him) that the story is about HIM. First, he paints John McCain as somehow a "phoney conservative" - alienates him. When this fails to impress mainstream Republican voters; he embarks on an extremely negative campaign to "sabotage" the Democratic primaries. I believe casting a ballot is an act of principle. If you believe in a Candidate, or even if you think they are the best of a bad lot - vote for the person you like best, or don't vote at all. Voting for someone you don't like "just to cause trouble" seems despicable. Shame on Rush.

[Captain Dan]

My mother sent me this this morning (she is 85):

After long and serious thought, I have decided to endorse Senator John McCain for President. I have always voted for the person and have not voted for anyone because some political party was telling me who I should vote for.

We all know the choices by now and, that said, I do believe that the process of selecting a chief executive is deeply flawed. The words "money" and "special interests" come to mind, among many others.

Here's the way I see it:

Barack Obama, you are a fine public speaker. You are also an extremely liberal Senator from the State of Illinois, which has a long and rich history of political corruption of the first magnitude. You are indeed a child of that system.

You have finally insulted my intelligence far beyond my capacity to tolerate your insults. It has nothing at all to do with your skin color. As a matter of fact, it would be so COOL to finally have an African-American for President. What a great statement that would be to the entire world that we are indeed the greatest country on earth!

But, unfortunately, General Colin Powell is not running, and YOU are NOT the man for this job !

Barack baby, you want me to believe that you have never heard the sermons of your own pastor, the Right Reverend "God Damn Am erica" Jeremiah Wright. It is a matter o f record that this has been your churc h for over 20 years. It is a matter of record that you were married there by this very pastor, and that your children were baptized there.

The good Reverend saw fit to visit Khadafy in Libya with you and to give a lifetime achievement award to Louis Farrakhan, of all people.

We have all now seen excerpts of his sermons all over the airwaves by now. And you have publicly stated that this man IS your "spiritual mentor".

BUT, your pastor is NOT the reason I am NOT voting for you. His words were disturbing enough, but it is your own HUGE church congregation, seen jumping, hooting and howling to his words in the background that disturb me the most. And please don't tell me you attended church there and never once heard a "discouraging word" in the 20 year s you attended there. Don't tell me, that in additio n to the good reverend, that you are now not having any thing to do with all those other people seen hooting and howling out in the audience in the background of his fiery tirades.

Even Oprah Winfrey got disgusted and walked out. I am no Oprah fan, but still she did the right thing.

Now YOU look me in the eye and ask me to believe that you never heard such language in all the years you attended there ! This is like me telling you that I attended dozens of Klan rallys and never once heard the "N" word. Yep. And Bill Clinton "did not inhale".

Yes, Mr. Obama, we all have friends who have said stupid things that embarrassed us, but NOW you have asked me to believe something that is so incredibly stupid that you are telling me that I am just stupid enough to believe you. THAT is th e main reason that I will never vote for you. I am deeply sorry, that in a county teeming with enormously talented African Americans who would make a good President, that the political system has chosen YOU. You are a pathetic and plastic excuse for an American, who will not even salute the Flag during the Pledge of Allegiance. God forbid you ever get near the Oval Office.

Now, did I mention Bill Clinton ?

AH YES ! This brings us to MRS. WILLIAM JEFFERSON CLINTON, who this candidate really is, in spite of all the other names she may care to call herself. This "feminist" piece of work of course would like to be referred to as MS. and we all know who wears the pant suit in that family.

MS. Clinton, (sugar), it is just as depressing to realize that there are dozens of women who would also make great Presidents. But, fortunately, th e horrible state of the selection process has selected YOU. Ms. Clint on, I'm sorry, but you could not tell the truth if we waterboarded your worthless ass !

[Captain Dan]

The rest:

Still you play the role of the "embarrassed but dignified noble wife". What utter malarky ! I am not voting for you for a world of reasons, but the main one is the same as my not voting for Senator Obama. You persistently insult my intelligence. It COULD be conceivably possible that you did not know about Monica Lewinsky, extremely remote, but possible if we stretch our imaginations a bit. But you turn around and then ask me to believe that you also did not know about Paula Jones and the legion of other women who were chewed up and spit out by your lecherous excuse for a husband. Puleese turn off this broken record !!!

But let's set aside your hubby's flagrant pecadillos. The real reason I will never vote for yo u is that I don't think the country can survive EIGHT MORE YEARS of Whitewater, T ravelgate, Filegate, Sandy Berger stuffing his socks with classified intelligence, Janet Reno's goon squad, and the myriad other corruptions that seem to stick to you like your ugly face. So our former President can't keep his dick in his pants. The REAL issue is that he committed perjury under oath when he lied about it and the pathetically-attempted coverup that followed.

Like you, he is totally incapable of telling the truth. He could not do it if you tortured him, and in voting for you, we would get the BOTH of you, all over again. The same folks who could have taken out Osama Bin Laden over 3,000 dead Americans ago !

And please stop telling me that you have "8 years of experience" to lead us. You were the freakin' first lady already, not the Commander in Chief. Jeez ! The sum of your "experienc e" is that of the most worrisome and incompetent meddling in the history of the White H ouse. You even cursed your pitiful staff and the Secret Service agents who were and still are unfortunately charged with risking their lives to protect your worthless, thieving hide, and all at the expense of other people who have to work for a living.

Your single pathetic platform is to finance the illegal drugs, alcoholism and bad habits of the very lowest and most irresponsible freeloaders in America and to then "garnish the wages" (your own words) of every law-abiding and hard-working American to pay for it. This disaster you refer to as "Universal Health Care". Where have you been the last 30 years ? Did you not see that socialism is a failure wherever it has been tried ? Did you not notice that the Soviet Union has collapsed since it gave no reward to those who worked the hardest for the fruits of their own labors to pay for those who wil l not ??

It is interesting to see all the dead bodies that you and your hubby have left in your wake. Suicides, mysterious deaths, cover-ups that make Richard Nixon look like a rank amateur. The utter contempt and unbelievable arrogance of some of your strongest supporters, most notably the recently resigned and disgraced Governor Eliot Spitzer, the epitome of hypocritical and malevolent arrogance gone wild, one of your most ardent, wealthy and powerful political supporters. A man the news media refuses to admit IS a "super delegate" in your own political machine, a fine example of your own "adopted" state of New York. No wonder you moved there to run for Senator ! The environment there is perfect for the likes of you !

Yes, I would vote for a woman, but I will NOT vote for YOU !

Which leaves us with Senator John McCain.
John, you are a flawed man. You are a bit old, a bit looney , and you have a notoriously bad temper. This perfectly qualifies you, in my humble opinion, to lead us for the next eight years. I WANT your tremblin g hand on the nuclear button.

Think about it.

We have Kim Jong IL, Chavez and Ahmadenijad all running around like lunatics, threatening America and threatening to plunge the world into nuclear Armageddon. We have Putin and the Chinese blustering and rattling their sabres at us. I want John McCain in the Oval Office and I want him to be really pissed off at all these other nut jobs around the planet.

John, once you are elected, I want you to go into the Oval Office and throw one of your perfect FITS. Jump up and down and throw something through a plate glass window. Rip the drap es down and foam at the mouth a bit. And I want the whole thing on camera so that Ahmadinejad can see it. I want ALL of these "world leaders" to lay awake at night and to break out in a cold sweat every time they think of messing with the United States of America.

I want the nuclear button sitting right next to the alarm clock on your night stand. I want pictures of this to be sent to Iran, Russia, China, Venezuela, Cuba, Libya, Syria, Pakistan, and those other assholes in the sheets, the Saudis.

On the domestic front, poor John did try and reach across the aisle to the opposition in a desperate effort to compromise and to get the Congress to do something. You may not agree with his efforts, but at least, unlike Obama, he TRIED. For all his efforts, all he got handed to him was his head in a basket. The liberals are pissed at him and the conservatives are pissed at him. Just my kinda guy.

I hope that John will select Senator Joe Lieberman as his running mate. Good choice. I want a JEW whose memory of the Holocaust is still fresh in his mind and who is royally pissed off at all of these towel-headed morons in the Middle East to be the next in li ne if something should happen to John. Shalom, Vice President Joe. One heartbeat from the Oval Office.

Finally. John McCain knows on a most personal level what it is to suffer horrible torture for years and to see others die, right in front of you, for their love of America. When you ask him about it, he will tell you that what he did was "nothing special". Even more incredibly, he states that ANY American who truly loves his country would do exactly the same as he did in that situation. You and I will have a hard time believing that, but the real point is that John McCain believes that about the "average American", and that, dear frie nds and neighbors, is why I will cast my one poor ballot for on election day for John McCain -- warts and all.

[Engels]

Yeah yeah yeah.

Your 85 year old mother's bullshit has been posted on every right wing nut board on the Internet.

I'd maybe be interested in having a discussion with someone intelligent enough to formulate his own arguments, instead of lying about some crap he cut and pasted.

[Captain Dan]

Ok, Junior, lets discuss the "right wing crap" I posted. What do you have to discuss? Were any of the facts stated not true? Opinions, of course, are like assholes. Everyone has one. (Some people are one.)

So far, I haven't seen one reasonable reply to the "rant" I posted, on any board. Except for bullshit like you posted, of course.

And first, please explain where I lied. Or crawl back under your rock. Whichever suits your taste.

I'm curious, though.

Was I lying that my mother sent it to me? (She did)

Or that she is 85? (She is)

Did I claim who wrote it? (I think not. But I like it. So did she - or she wouldn't have sent it.)

Curious minds want to know.

["shazbat"]

"I love the sound of angst in the morning. Sounds like home"

[Teiwaz]

McCain will win. Obama will run out of puff and what people do in the election booth is often different to their rhetoric the day before.

I do agree though that in a country of 300 millionish, these are the best candidates you can dredge up? Bit embarrassing really.

["shazbat"]

Yo Teiwaz, long time no see, good to have you back by.

I don't think the election is as cut a dried as you think, but what do I know.
The current Republican regime (er administration) has done themselves no favors as far as a legacy or continuity of ideology is concern.
It is almost as if they don't really care if their party is still in control after the coing election.
They have neither groomed nor wholeheartedly promoted a candidate or successor.
McCain has had some token, almost grudging seeming spot time with the current President (which may not be of real benefit) but it is not as if he is the parties "fair haired son".

[MYCAR47562]

yo engels yes i pulled this one back from the dead sorry but could you please anwser captian dan's question?

["shazbat"]

Yo Rodneck, let it drop man.
Like the myth of WMD, the truth about the candidates has been out there for the world to see from the very beginning of the campaigns.

No one cared about records or experience, only Change.

[gtrman66]

That's it in a nutshell shabat.

[MYCAR47562]

yea yea yea i know we were running on who's gonna be better in the movie