In the comments on my previous post my buddy MATT-MAN mentions being sick of hearing about McCain's military service. I responded by saying that I am tired of feeling the need to preface anything I say about McCain with "... while I respect his service".
Of course we respect his service and as I said to Matt if that is the ONLY qualification for President then I have at least a dozen guys from the VFW who should be our next leader and I'll gladly drive them down to the White House myself.
See a couple of them can't walk too good and a couple of them can't drive, one of them is blind in one eye, another is deaf. They don't have Cindy's money and McCain doesn't think we should spend "extravagantly" on helping them.
So I will take them to Washington myself, on my own dime!
Each has served, each has suffered and each is a better man ten times over than that war mongering loon who will be gracing our TVs all next week.
DARYL sent me this in my last post. I find it fitting to show this on the day that Obama will speak. It makes for a perfect contrast.
I doubt that the John McCain of years ago would vote for the John McCain of today. So respect his service and let him retire.
31 comments:
Hell, the John McCain of 2000 wouldn't vote for the John McCain of 2008. He's tossed aside everything he claimed to believe in back in the 2000 campaign.
My favorite part of that video is when Rumsfeld says "people lie and get way with it all the time."
Which reminds me. Anyone who votes for McCain is basically saying they they're okay with all those lies.
Thank you! If you were on Facebook, I'd send you an Obama flair! (if you are on Facebook, look me up. BellTinkR at gmail dot com)
I don't think it is fair that they have three-four weeks of Interesting TV Into The Wee Hours, all in a row. I rarely watch TV at all but I do keep it on for the Olys and for the conventions. I feel like I haven't slept in a bajillion years!
Tink *~*~*
My Mobile Adventures *~*~*
Wow, harsh toke dude, and totally true, every word.
I feel stupid for not being up to date with all the US election stuff. I have a hard enough time trying to keep up with what our Canadian politicians are up too. LOL
Was John McCain the only POW? Certainly sounds like it. What do you think the other POWs think of McCain for using that experience to milk sympathy? I'm sick of hearing it. You are exactly right, that experience does not mean he's prepared to be president.
Well said. I have just come away from Obama's speech which I thought was genius.
I think McCain is a tragic shadow of someone for whom I once had some respect.
I think it is great that the Democrats have consistently refused to be pejorative about him, to simply repeat that he is well meaning but wrong and out of touch. I felt like Obama cut some of the lets out from under all the nasty stuff that Republicans have been spewing. I hope that's not me being overly optimistic.
People who have nothing real to run on, run on myth and trying to make people afraid of their opponent. Sad. Sick. God, let the country be too smart to fall for it yet again.
Wow, I really am not paying any attention to your election, so that was quite the video. Maybe he should be in the VA hospital for paranoia? "There are going to be more wars" and he's going to call on "all you young people?" Sounds like he would bring back the draft just to carry out his war mongering.
jay - it was one of my favorite pats too! that and when Wes Clark challenges McCain's abilities.
tink - my niece tells me I'm on Facebook but I have no idea where I am LOL
meno -with McCain the truth gets harsher and harsher
tammy - I know very little about Canadian politics either.
linda - and more pathetic is how McCain ridicules anyone else's service.
raven - wasn't it wonderful! and all the faces there!!
reb - he's counting on the fear mongering of Bush to work for him too plus he's just dying to play Commander In Chief - sad.
Wow...what a sobering video... I hope it wake-ups comatose Americans out of their apathy.
Every time I come to your blog and read yet another post about the state of affairs in our country today, I come away saying Amen, Amen and again, I say, AMEN!
Pretty scary stuff. McCain should definitely be retired. He’s an old man with ghosts that he has not reconciled.
But then, as I witness the display of retired generals center stage on the floor of the Democratic convention, I wonder, wouldn’t it be wonderful if all generals were retired?!!!! Really. Give them a pension, 40 acres and let them play paint ball into eternity.
I am sick to death of the mantra of endless war. Whether it is in your face BombBomb Iran---or what’s being billed as “the good war” in Afghanistan/ Georgia. I don’t see anyone but Jan Jakowski addressing the scourge of Blackwater or non bid contracts to private companies like KBR who take our money and run.
90 Afghan civilians, most of them children, were killed in air strikes by U.S. led coalition forces in western Afghanistan last week. The issue of civilian casualties has driven a rift between the Afghan government and its NATO backer, President Hamid Karzai who asserts that air strikes have only succeeded in killing ordinary Afghans.
Have the cheerleaders for an expanded war in Afghanistan studied history? Do they remember what happened to the Soviets who lost 15,000 Red Army soldiers between 1979 and 1988. Have they looked at the fate of the British in the 19th century? We were told we went to Afghanistan to” hunt down” Osama bin Laden, who is now apparently in Pakistan or dead from kidney failure. Has anyone asked what our end goal is in Afghanistan? Much of the world--certainly the Muslim world, one-fifth of the world's population, sees us through the prism of Iraq, Afghanistan Iran and Israel. We are igniting the dispossessed, the majority of humanity who live on less than two dollars a day to desperation and fanaticism. Nothing to lose. Virgins in heaven.
So that’s the hot war on the agenda. But there is also a cold war being resuscitated with Russia. It’s being billed as the second coming of the Stalin regime. Only problem is, Stalin was born in Georgia.
Why should we care about Georgia? Well, a pipeline that runs through Georgia happens to be the second largest pipeline in the world. American tax dollars were used to help fund big oil projects in the region. The multi-billion-dollar Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline is run by an international consortium, including American oil-giants Chevron and Conoco-Phillips., The Clinton and Bush administrations provided Georgia with hundreds of millions of dollars in military aid, making it the leading recipient of U.S. arms. President Bush has lobbied U.S. allies in Europe to "fast track" Georgia's application for membership in NATO. The U.S.-backed Georgian military started the war when it brutally assaulted the South Ossetian capital of Tskhinvali in an attempt to regain direct control of the autonomous region.
Perhaps the most ironic statement yet in the war of words over Russia's military intervention in Georgia was John McCain’s assertion… that "I'm interested in good relations between the United States and Russia, but in the 21st century, nations don't invade other nations.” Among the biggest boosters of Georgian membership in NATO are John McCain and his chief foreign policy advisor Randy Scheunemann, a leading player in the Committee for the Liberation of Iraq who was a paid lobbyist for the Saakashvili government as recently as last March. McCain has been to Georgia three times since 1997
So there you have it. We have no saviors. We are the change we’ve been waiting for.
yup. that's the one that has me sleepin' with the light on.
if mccain gets elected, i am so not moving back to the states. it won't still *be* there!
I for one have no respect for mccains military service. I am a veteran and I am sure there are skeletons in my veterans closet that could be pulled out and rattled (hey it was the early 70's and I was a young sailor.)
BUT I am not running for any office, poet laureate maybe, but that's appointed.
mccain graduated in the bottom 1% of his Annapolis class and had to have his father a 4 star admiral pull the strings to get him into flight school(usually reserved for them in the top 15% of a graduating class.) mccain never held flag rank(he retired a captain) so at most he commanded a carrier squadron(he didn't). mccain crashed two planes before he ever flew over Viet Nam. One on a nonessential flight to New england. If being captured is a sign of tactical ability then by God I am voting for McCain. He at least as a military man got that part right and he did it without any evasion tactics at all.
I wonder what McCain supporters see when they look at him? A kindly grandfather type maybe? I see a rather sad, confused old man. Not exactly someone with the confidence and ability to lead a country. When he speaks, it just gets worse. The kindly grandfather keeps telling the same old war story over and over. After a while, it's just irritating.
Oh man, I hadn't seen this vid before - real scary stuff! Those Ritter comments about "pick your city" gave me chills, and I think a little nausea too. Thanks for this post and for your whole blog.
You know, I don't really have an opinion about McCain...EXCEPT...that I'm sure his family and his lovely,rich,second wife loves him very much. That's it. Can't find anything else nice to say about him.
Now Obama on the other hand...WOW!!! I was 'Woohoo" ing and clapping and saying "Amen's" all through his speech last night. Gave me goosebumps. If He can accomplish just half of what he wants to do....I'd be happy. and so would all the new-sayers!
He does seem a bit old too. I'd like to see a younger president.
McCain is mentally lazy. That's why he thinks a show (or use) of force can solve all.
He has said in the past, "I know how to win wars." Unless getting shot down and being held prisoiner for five years is a way to win wars, his claims as a great military leader are more empty than the suit that Republicans claim that Obama is wearing.
I don't like McCain on an ideological level and I have no respect for him any longer on a personal level.
Well done video. Cheers Di!!
Oh how I love it when I am the lone dissenter *giggle*
I'm tired of end every concern about Obama with, "and it has nothing to do with his race." Of course, I only have to do this with Obama supporters as some seem quick to claim I'd rather choose a tired old white man over a black man just because I'm not comfortable with his race. What I'm not comfortable with are his policies.
I do not want national healthcare, nor do I believe it is a solution to the healthcare system crisis. I believe it only brings additional problems (quality and availability of care, etc.).
Although Obama is an amazing orator, I find his speaches belong more in a corporate motivational seminar than in the political race. His claims are every bit as "empty" as McCains.
It is interesting to read the comments on your blog, primarily because I have many of the same concerns regarding Obama as president as most of your readers have about McCain becoming president.
On the issue of his military service, I don't think he does use it to evoke sympathy - it is what it is. As a veteran, I find it bothersome that someone leading the most successful military in the world may never have spent any time in those shoes. It's not a critical factor for me, but is part of my decision making process.
quiet rage - apathetic comatose Americans! the #1 problem facing this nation because if they don't wake up and smarten up none of the other problems can be addressed
jeni - I plan on watching the RNC next week. I hope I can be civil in any post about that gathering. I know it will mess with my blood pressure but it scores me extra points when "discussing" with my neighbors. Turns out I watch more and read more of the Republicans than they do. Pathetic!
anon - I have always felt McCain has "ghosts he hasn't reconciled with" - that was a wonderful way to put it. All of your points are well taken. Biden's talk of Afghanistan did concern me. We will end up killing more people "fighting terrorism" than were ever lost on 9/11
and yes!yes!yes! - we are our saviors if only enough wake up in time!
thank you for your comment
holly - it overwhelms me to think of the work that must be done to fix all that Bush has broken. if we have McCain breaking more!?
we can't afford 4 more years of the last 8 - as someone at the DNC said.
mark - as a veteran you hve the right to question McCain's service. I have always felt that I don't - I guess I got that from all my time with the VFW guys. Wes Clark clearly agress with you - so that's 2 opinions I respect.
bobbie - there are times when I watch McCain and he literally frightens me. He has adopted a strange sneering smile that looks almost maniacal. So far all the McCain supporters I know can only say he isn't Obama which leads me back to worrying that this country can't handle Obama's color or his name.
deborah - thank you! I was in NYC on 9/11 and I know what it feels like to be scared and to try and sort thru chaos. My son left the towers less than 30 minutes before they were struck so I will be forever grateful to whatever power saw fit to make that happen. I know scores of people who lost someone so I certainly know what terrorism feels like. Killing the rest of the world won't stop it and McCain believes it will.
tt - I wonder how McCain's first wife feels about him, the one he dropped when she was too much trouble for him.
I loved Barack's speech. What I loved the most was watching the crowd, don't see Americans feeling that hopeful anywhere else.
cg - I always try to be a fair person so I have to say that the ageism directed toward McCain pisses me off. I agree that we need a younger President and we absolutely need someone NOT McCain but I always remember how alert and brillant my Nana was up to the day she died in her 90s. McCain has aged 20 years in the last 2! Perhaps his lies are weighing him down.
matt-man - I really appreciate your second comment yesterday. It got me thinking even more. I even called a couple of the VFW guys, many of whom are losing patience with McCain and having their doubts.
dana - well you do a fine job of being a civil, intelligent dissenter which is rare these days.
Since you can specify your issues with Obama I don't think you should be made to feel racist. Unfortunately too many, perhaps most, can't. I am constantly presented with the "don't trust him" line without any back-up and as I have mentioned before years of being faced with racists tells me what that means.
It also gives me a terrible sick feeling that Obama and his supporters must constantly explain how he is "one of us" - that was a troubling theme throughout the convention and a direct response to fears based on his color and his name - both of which McCain has done all he can to perpetuate. It is exactly the same thing my son goes through with his wife's racist family. Even now, after knowing him for years, his race is the first thing to define him and I have stopped counting how many times I've been told how they "accept" him now and how he's "like one of the family". Really!? Am I supposed to be grateful? I call it the "Nigger we know" syndrome and it disgusts me and makes me worry so for my future grandchildren. What subtle put downs will they endure - especially if they are dark skinned.
My comment is about to become a post LOL
I have concerns about the quality and availability of universal healthcare too Dana but I also have those concerns now and I pay $800 a month to have those concerns. I am right now struggling to get the care I need for my scoliosis and just yesterday needed to sit in a Drs office for 3 hours while they dealt with my insurance carrier so that I could get an MRI. And thankfully they were willing to do that for me since I was in pain and couldn't walk. Usually the Drs. don't have the time and staff to fight the fight and we are left to do it ourselves. I'm pretty smart, I'm a businesswoman, I think I'm quick and I am overwhelmed and disheartened by my healthcare struggles. What happens to the elderly, the less educated, the mentally ill? And now since I will need to be off my feet for weeks what do I do about the 2nd job that paid for my healthcare? Where will the $$$ come from to keep it current? I have worked my entire life, I have paid extraordinary amounts of taxes, I have had my small business almost crushed under the weight of business taxes and payroll taxes. I should not have to teeter on a tightrope day after day because, in a great part, our govt. has been sold to corporations and to Saudia Arabia or is it China or is it India.
I think I wanna end with a *gigglesnort* albeit a sarcastic one.
I have been fortunate in that my family has been relatively healthy - no major medical issues and no long-term health issues. That said, clearly I cannot claim to understand your struggles.
What I do know (in regards to uninsured American's) is that of the 47 million people without health insurance (a STAGGERING number), according to the U.S. Census Bureau, 37 percent of the uninsured live in households making more than $50,000 a year, most of which can afford health insurance. Twenty percent of the uninsured aren't even citizens of this country. One in three of the uninsured are eligible for government insurance, but aren't enrolled.
Is there still a problem with healthcare in the U.S.? Without a doubt - your situation illustrates that point all too well, but I would argue that it really isn't as overwhelming as those touting national healthcare would have you believe.
And I think it's China that currently owns us, although with crude oil prices escalating again, I could be wrong!
I was very impressed with Mr. Obama's speech last evening. I am not comfortable with someone who has similar ideals to what we have had to deal with the last 8 years
Dianne, Obama will bring diplomacy to all the craziness!
Dana - I wonder if there's a market for the 2 of us to do a point/counter point type show? I need the extra money plus we'd have fun. Matt-Man could be our producer, Jay could film ... the possibilities are endless! Think of the wealth of guests we have on our blog rolls! And on Thursdays we could ...
Have a good holiday weekend Dana
bond - My Nana used to say - Different Face, Same Crap :)
mary - I am remaining positive and hopeful.
I loved the Democratic Convention and Obama's Speech was inspiring to say the least. Anyone who would even think of voting for McCain is signing our country's death sentence. This video really made me see alot more than I was even aware of. Thank You Dianne!
I WANT CHANGE!!!
kimmie - there is so much going on and so much to consider. I can't imagine McCain taking us anywhere but backwards.
I need my woobie after watching that.
OMG that is so scary. I am not a US citizen but many of my blogger friends are, so I follow with interest something I have never really understood.
I am beginning to understand.
And I am scared.
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