And You Like This Guy So Much

Well said, Joe.

Joe--

My argument is that it was not for the purpose to torture prisoners.

And my take on it is, however awful it would be in allowing torture, the President's view goes beyond that, to power unfettered by the other two branchs.

more tonight, off to the brickyards.

J

McCain buddies up with Falwell (after everything Falwell has said about McCain) and says that he would support a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriages if a Federal court were to strike down state constitutional ban on gay marriages. I am not sure that it is quite a flip flop as what he originally objected to was the Federal government getting involved, but I may be wrong. In any event, I think it is sickening the lengths (cozying up with Falwell) he willing to go in order to garner votes in 08', I hope he loses big time for selling out.

http://thinkprogress.org/2006/03/29/mccain-gay-marriage/

mccain just lost the last of my respect for him. and any chance of my vote.

Has the propaganda started already?

Why would you believe what Fallwell says about McCain over what McCain has said? Does Fallwell actually have that kind of credibility with you?

if ya play with tar, some of it's gonna stick to you. isn't that what the boy scout manual said ?

for me, it started a couple of weeks ago when john mack started supporting intelligent design in science classes. huggy-huggy with the blowhard falwell is just the last straw.

if i wanted to live in a theocracy, i'd move to iran.

First off, when it comes to politicians, let's not forget that personal life has nothing to do with competency in office. It doesn't matter that Clinton couldn't keep it in his pants; it didn't matter that Giuliani had some issues with his ex-wife. Look, for example, at Franklin Delano Roosevelt - the man had a mistress and an extremely shaky relationship with his wife - and he's considered by many one of the greatest presidents in history, capable of pulling us through our darkest hour.

That said, I'll move on to McCain.

Politics aren't just about issues and ideas. If that were the case, it wouldn't be the truth that all our presidents for a long time now are extremely wealthy. Money buys the vote. It's no secret. Ross Perot, despite clinical insanity, was a billionaire who recieved 8.4% of the popular vote in 1996. But even more important than money is backing of the party, without which the very idea of ascendance to any major office is laughable. It's a simple fact that you need the party's support to even make it to primaries.

Politics enter the realm of stupid because, in order to get that party support, you sometimes need to suck up to the party. The party likes George Bush (I don't know why. I call myself a Republican, but this is no longer the party that Abraham Lincoln started as far as I'm concerned.) Thus, McCain must like George Bush too - even if only publicly. And it's not too far a long shot. Even if they disagree on some key points - like the torture bill previously mentioned - they agree on enough that McCain wasn't selling his soul.

Nobody likes it. It's the nature of the system. I still support McCain.

If is willing to bend so much now before even announcing his intentions to run, what will he be willing to bend in order to remain in office the second term? He will have to please his base who he is cozying up to in order to remain in office. Can we take eight more years of the same conservative right wing policies?

depressing to think about, ain't it...

i heard him explaining about the change in attitude from the opinion that falwell is "an agent of intolerance" to his current cozy relationship.

he said that he had been brash and that he doesn't hold a grudge.

falwell still is, and does.

guess everyone has a price.

Jon Stewart interviewed McCain last night on The Daily Show about getting huggy with Falwell. Did anyone see it?

MCain's conundrum is that he has to court the lunatic Republican base in order to get the nomination. After all this courtin', it might not be a nomination worth gettin'.

Stewart didn't pull any punches.

Sounds good.

Can you describe more of what happened? (Missed it -- almost never catch the Daily Show though I'm always happy if I do...)

Stewart asked him if he'd lost his mind and told him (McCain) that he was worried about him. McCain laughed and said his speech would be the same speech that he gives to 'young people at schools all across the country'. Tried to make it out to be just another graduation speech, but Stewart wasn't having it.

At one point Stewart pointedly asked McCain if he was caving in (can't remember the exact word he used). McCain non-answered, making jokes, so Stewart kept asking until McCain agreed he was.

They bantered back and forth, Stewart taking a 'how could you' approach and McCain taking a 'it's just another graduation speech' approach. Near the end, Stewart asked McCain how he could carry on a conversation with the likes of Falwell, and did he have to hold back the vomit in his throat while talking to him. McCain non-answered.

Lots of laughs and eye rolling by Stewart, some jokes and nonanswers from McCain, trying to do some damage control, I think.

That Damn Stweart, stealing my material again! I am going to sue!

"yes, friends... reach out to yore teleevision screen! can you feel the power ?!?!".

It'll be a while before we choose our Republican standard-bearer, but we have a whole lot of excellent candidates who will strongly appeal to the American electorate. The Democrats may want to tear them down, that seems to be their basic election strategy. It would be a lot harder to find a good candidate of their own to run on a platform that would appeal to more than celebrities and pseudo-intellectuals who actually make up only a tiny part of the electorate.