<p>Even Rush agrees that McCain is not conservative:
<a href=“http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/04/AR2008020402798_pf.html[/url]”>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/04/AR2008020402798_pf.html</a></p>
<p>Also, Vietnam Vets are against McCain: <a href=“http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBiti-ZbeO0&feature=related[/url]”>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBiti-ZbeO0&feature=related</a></p>
<p>zoosermom, yes, I have read the 9/11 report. I read it shortly after it came out. It is a well-crafted document. I did not find any statement in it that said that Saddam Hussein had anything to do with 9/11. </p>
<p>Al Qaida existed in Iraq as it existed in every Islamic and most non-Islamic countries including the US. My point is that the USA clearly aided and abetted Osama as well as Saddam at some point in history. If we are going to use the logic that we will attack all parties that at some point supported Osama, then that could be used as justification for bombing ourselves as a one-time supporter. </p>
<p>You don’t start wars just because someone might have supported your enemy. You start a war if you can actually defeat or at least weaken your enemy. The Afghan war did that. It was a necessary war. The Iraq war would never have acheived that objective, even if it had been conducted properly. The way we have messed it up, we have actually acheived the opposite objective. We have strengthened our enemy and tremendously weakened ourselves, politically as well as economically. </p>
<p>Having said all of the above, I have to remind you, that I support the McCain approach of finishing the job now that it has begun. Our international credibility depends on it. We have to leave Iraq a better place than we found it. One hundred years and a few trillion dollars ought to do it.</p>
<p>Your you tube thread is actually about:</p>
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</p>
<p>The you tube is a coming attractions thread, look to the left and it tells you what it is about.</p>
<p>Please, don’t even think that military members are going to allow him to be slammed. The fact that he does not want to release classified docs for certain reasons, is not the same as saying Vets are against him. Give him the credit due for his service to this country, give him that respect. I am sure if you ask anyone on the street “would you be willing to be beaten, locked up in a dirt cell for many years, have bombs dropped on your jail, film stars saying that your prison isn’t bad and it is US propaganda, be spit on when you return so I can complain that this is the wrong war” there would be very few people saying…SIGN ME UP. McCAin was not drafted, he volunteered. McCain endured that, and he followed the most important rule…I will not leave until you release the people who have been here longer are released.</p>
<p>As far as Rush…you give him waaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyy too much credit. Rush is the Randi Rhodes on the other side. Are you saying she speaks for all of the dems? Or how about Franken and Huffington, do all dems agree with whatever they are spouting on the radio? I am not going to make up my mind for any candidate ased on what someone is saying…I am voting on the issues that are important to me, not what any pundit tells me I should be concerned about…and yes, I do listen to Randi Rhodes!</p>
<p>“zoosermom, yes, I have read the 9/11 report. I read it shortly after it came out. It is a well-crafted document. I did not find any statement in it that said that Saddam Hussein had anything to do with 9/11”</p>
<p>That’s actually not what you said earlier. You said “Al Quaeda” not “9/11” which was my point, actually. There could be (and likely were) connections between Saddam and Al Quaeda which had nothing to do with 9/11, and I didn’t see a single person on this thread make the latter connection.</p>
<p>“Please, don’t even think that military members are going to allow him to be slammed. The fact that he does not want to release classified docs for certain reasons, is not the same as saying Vets are against him.”</p>
<p>Rather than the ad hominen, what is HIS side of the story? I have no dog in this fight, but I’d like to know.</p>
<p>bulletandprima,</p>
<p>Thers’s more on McCain and his time in Vietnam that will come out. McCain can’t beat Hillary or Obama in the general election. He is a liberal. He is for amnesty. He knows nothing about economy. He is a loose cannon.</p>
<p>Hillary has more experience than Obama, and she is far more intelligent than McCain. She is strong and will protect the US. She could be like Margaret Thatcher, the female Ronald Reagan.</p>
<p>It’s pretty interesting that McCain gets slammed for being too conservative (not unifying), then gets slammed for “reaching across the aisle” & being willing to work w/ dems (TOO unifying??).</p>
<p>McCain has an overall high conservative rating, and Obama has been classified as the MOST liberal senator (with Hillary not far behind). Then some people say McCain is not a conservative and “more liberal than Hillary”. Give me a break! I’m beginning to wonder if some “pundits” on this board even know what conservatism & liberalism are!</p>
<p>Just in case you need a “refresher”, the four main principles of conservatism have been characterized as this:
<p>Now who can dispute John McCain’s conservative credentials? But the thing that makes him such a desireable candidate is his pragmatism. While he staunchly supports the four tenets listed above, he IS willing to work with dems on certain issues, striving for workable solutions. THAT’S what we elect & pay them to do! THAT’S statesmanship - and LEADERSHIP!</p>
<p>BTW, I couldn’t care less what Rush or Hannity or any other talking head says. I educate myself & arrive at my own conclusions about whom to support. Some people have “axes to grind” with McCain because he’s fought so hard against “business as usual” and the “powers that be” in Washington. I admire the fact that McCain’s been a “whistle blower” in government. No other candidate would even know where to start to streamline government and actually get something DONE!</p>
<p>Do yourself (and your country) a favor today & vote for McCain - it will be one of the best decisions you’ll ever make! (And it should be one of the easiest!).</p>
<p>“Thers’s more on McCain and his time in Vietnam that will come out”</p>
<p>Like what?</p>
<p>"Hillary has more experience than Obama, "</p>
<p>Like what?</p>
<p>AMom2 - for you to say that McCain is a liberal or for amnesty or knows nothing about the economy just demonstrates that you don’t really know what you’re talking about. Those assertions could not be further from the truth!</p>
<p>“Loose Cannon” - okay, maybe I’ll give you that! That’s a bad thing??</p>
<p>Have you guys heard McCain this morning demanding Romney apologize to Bob Dole? </p>
<p>Apparently, Dole sent Rush Limbaugh a letter defending McCain.</p>
<p>Then Romney said on Fox this morning “It’s probably the last person I’d would have wanted write a letter for me…I think there’s a lot of folks who tend to think that maybe John McCain’s race is a bit like Bob Dole’s race.”</p>
<p>McCain looks ticked.</p>
<p>His story has been chronicled for many tv shows/expose/documentaries.</p>
<p>John McCain was shot down over Vietnam. He became a guest at the Hanoi Hilton where he was beaten regulary (there is video showing him returning stateside on crutches). His father was the Admiral who ordered the bombing run over Hanoi, knowing that his son was being held there. His fellow POWs state he clapped along with them when the run occurred. The Vietnamese offered him the chance to leave in a swap, but he turned it down after finding out he would be leaving before the first in. He endured many days in solitary confinement besides the torture he endured. He was released in the final days, and stayed ture to first in first out, he never used his connection to get out of the pain.</p>
<p>His first wife Carol,(married her after graduating from Annapolis, and adopted her 2 children) was in a car accident while he was a POW, instead of telling anyone she endured the accident privately. Carol had 2 children prior to their marriage, whom John Mc Cain adopted (the oldest is out on the stomp for him…I think his name is Doug) When he came back he openly admits he went off track, drinking and philandering. The two divorced. She has been asked by the press who she is supporting for Pres, and she has stated it is John McCain.</p>
<p>People have stated that he was having an affair with Cindy (current wife), prior to the divorce, but Carol has stated that this was not the case. She has stated that after being married for a short time, and spending a longer time with him as a POW they both had issues and the marriage ended.</p>
<p>McCain, has played the POW card, but IMO he has the right, he has stated that he is against certain interrogation methods, and I believe he will make sure ABU GRAHIB, will not occur under his watch. I think if he was Pres. in that incident he would have fired Rummy on the spot.</p>
<p>As far as McCain with economics, isn’t that why we have a Fed Chair, to insure inflation is under control? What about the SOT, isn’t his job to keep it humming along? I do not want a micro manager as President, I want someone who places experts in that arena as the leader. Can anyone say to us that Obama, Hillary or Huckabee have economic experience. I leave Mitt out since he does have business experience.</p>
<p>I disagree with your position that anti-abortion is a defining characteristic of ‘conservatism’. Who owns the copyright on that label? </p>
<p>Also, “strong military” is not the same as pro-war or warmonger. </p>
<p>I hope you don’t count Bush as a conservative. Bush has greatly expanded government and weakened the military by his recklessness in the Iraq war.</p>
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<p>Um, no. I don’t think having a Loose Cannon in charge of the nuclear trigger is a good thing.</p>
<p>Bob Dole has paid his time, in the Senate and in the military. Do not read into this deeper than what I am saying, but Romney should not attack someone for defending another candidate…that is wrong…attack the candidate, not the supporter</p>
<p>BTW what do you think will come out about McCain, he was shot down on his 23rd mission, and spent countless years in prison, being beaten, and if I recall correctly it is documented that he spent 5 yrs. in solitary confinement? Remember this is a guy who the media put him through the ringers in 00, the only thing they could bring up was his adopted daughter. Attacking his military record is political suicide</p>
<p>Momof2.</p>
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<p>Do you actually believe that anyone in our current society does not place that as the ultimate last option.</p>
<p>Also, there is a war room, it is not like the president wakes up 1 morning and says: The US wants us out of Iraq, so lets just blow them up.</p>
<p>Every President has advisors, they are made up from the various areas. I think you are giving too much power to any President, and believing that they run the country with emotions and not information</p>
<p>The Vietnam Vets against McCain is a single crank up in New York:
<a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/17/us/politics/17carolina.html?_r=1&oref=slogin[/url]”>http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/17/us/politics/17carolina.html?_r=1&oref=slogin</a></p>
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<p>FBI agent George Piro interviewed Saddam after he was captured. Piro says Saddam didn’t trust Bin Laden and considered him a threat (see bottom of page 4):</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/01/24/60minutes/main3749494_page4.shtml[/url]”>http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/01/24/60minutes/main3749494_page4.shtml</a></p>
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<p>Frankly, I think McCain should be demanding an apology from Bob Dole. Dole’s letter to Rush says McCain is more conservative than Jesse Helms. Ouch. With friends like that, who needs enemies? I can’t imagine that kind of support is gonna help McCain.</p>
<p>Actually if you read the letter he posted Strom’s voting record…but I agree…OUCH!</p>
<p>It hurts him for independents, but definetly gets the conservative</p>
<p>McCain has hid his record in Vietnam for a reason. He father sealed his record for a reason. Perot who is an advocate for POW’s has come out in support of Romney for a reason.</p>
<p>McCain cannot beat Hillary or Obama in the general election. The best of the three, Hillary, Obama, McCain, is Hillary! Bill Clinton did a better job with economy than Bush and I think Hillary will, too! Hillary has a very strong personality and is a strong leader. Many people hate her, and so what if they do. She will take on bully world leaders and win!</p>