Obama and "The Audacity of Vanity", or - Who IS this guy?

Hindoo · July 22, 2008, 3:53pm

You’re a heck of a cheerleader, bizzy! I’d want you on my side if I ever run for office! Of course, we’d disagree alot, but the nice thing is, I’d always be right. :D

vonlost · July 22, 2008, 3:55pm

[RealClearPolitics</a> - Electoral Map](<a href=“http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/maps/obama_vs_mccain/?map=10]RealClearPolitics”>http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/maps/obama_vs_mccain/?map=10) shows the results of the current week’s polling in each state individually, as it affects the Electoral College count; it should be increasingly interesting as we near the election.

cartera45 · July 22, 2008, 3:57pm

yep, if bz weren’t so darned articulate and knowledgeable, I’d think he was McCain!

cathymee · July 22, 2008, 4:02pm

So I’m back reading here and I stillsee there’s no answer to my original question of how the McCain supporters feel about the mistakes their candidate has made in the past week or two over foreign affairs/geography.

And just for the record I get the feeling that the arguments are/have been/will be endless.It seems, for lack of a better term…circular…or parallel…noone will convince another,noone is going to suddenly say they’ve seen the light of day and are changing “sides”. But jeez, people…sometimes you’all can be nasty to each other.
Bandit…you are mistaken.The forum as a whole(CC) may be liberal in outlook but the political discussions this year are decidely mixed in outlook I would even say the conservative “side” is stronger.But again,the color of one’s persuasion will cloud how the forums are perceived.

bz2010 · July 22, 2008, 4:45pm

Thought I addressed that - I’m not worried about any flubs by McCain - it’s been a long campaign & I’ve heard him speak enough times to KNOW that he understands the situation & his knowledge & faculties are completely intact.

:D

vonlost · July 22, 2008, 5:17pm

His words might lead some to the opposite conclusion.

spideygirl · July 22, 2008, 5:48pm

Consolution:

Your point isn’t something that could or should be acknowledged or refuted. I instead described your statement in completely different terms, as both simplistic and irrelevant.

vonlost · July 22, 2008, 6:09pm

I guess some of us think the distinction is important. What’s worse than a tax-and-spend Democrat is a don’t-tax-and-spend Republican. Bush is said to be the first “war” president ever who didn’t raise taxes at least somewhat to help pay for the war.

bz2010 · July 22, 2008, 7:00pm

^^ Bush didn’t have to raise taxes b/c the tax cuts increased revenues by hundreds of billions of dollars (according to the WSJ).

Granted we do have a deficit, but tax increases would not have provided the solution.

Of course all the pork projects requested by legislators (such as that ONE MILLION DOLLARS Obama wanted to spend on a pavillion at the U of Chicago Hospital where his wife worked) probably didn’t help.

RatedPG · July 22, 2008, 7:19pm

Federal govt. spending is totally out of control. That is the root of our economic problems, not tax cuts.

bz2010 · July 22, 2008, 7:22pm

vossron - that video you linked is the biggest bunch of out-of context fabricated mularkey I have ever seen in my life! If you think that that video in any way adequately portrays McCain’s positions or views, then you are really really mistaken. Can’t you SEE that all those clips thrown together are just a mishmash? I don’t think George Lucas could whip up a fantasy like that - all it’s lacking is a green screen!

Bedhead - your link was great. McCain really stood up well to the extremely challenging questions he was asked. That’s the kind of thing that I’d like to see Obama do! That video really showed how the candidates should be challenged by the media as well as how they SHOULD respond! Thanks for posting!

BedHead · July 22, 2008, 8:02pm

Ha ha. You thought he did well? Well that says it all. Wow, no matter how bad McCain does, HE’S GREAT!

BedHead · July 22, 2008, 8:49pm

^^^^^

And apparently I am not the only one by far…this from a story appearing on Yahoo News page:

[McCain</a> gaffes pile up; critics pile on - Yahoo! News](<a href=“http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/20080722/pl_politico/11939]McCain”>http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/20080722/pl_politico/11939)

“First Gaffe of Obama Trip … Goes To McCain,” blared Monday afternoon’s banner headline on the left-leaning Huffington Post, accompanied by a photo of McCain appearing to slap his forehead.

That referred to an ABCNews.com posting asserting that McCain appeared to confuse Iraq and Afghanistan in a “Good Morning America” interview with ABC’s Diane Sawyer, who asked whether the "the situation in Afghanistan is precarious and urgent.”

McCain responded: “I’m afraid it’s a very hard struggle, particularly given the situation on the Iraq/Pakistan border," McCain said. The ABC posting added: “Iraq and Pakistan do not share a border. Afghanistan and Pakistan do.”

Unfortunately for McCain, that wasn’t an isolated slip. Among the other lapses: 

• “Somalia” for “Sudan”: As recounted in a reporter’s pool report from McCain’s Straight Talk Express bus on June 30, the senator said while discussing Darfur, a region of Sudan: “How can we bring pressure on the government of Somalia?” 

Senior adviser Mark Salter corrected him: “Sudan.” 

• “Germany” for “Russia”: A YouTube clip from last year memorializes McCain referring to Vladimir Putin of Russia — following a trip to Germany — as “President Putin of Germany.” 

• This spring, McCain said troops in Iraq were “down to pre-surge levels” when in fact there were 20,000 more troops than when the surge policy began. 

• Also this spring, McCain twice appeared to mistake Sunnis and Shiites, two branches of Islam that split violently. 

• In Phoenix earlier this month, McCain referred to Czechoslovakia, which has been divided since Jan. 1, 1993, into the Czech Republic and Slovakia. He also referred to Czechoslovakia during a debate in November and a radio show in April. 

• In perhaps the most curious incident, McCain said earlier this month that as a prisoner of war in Vietnam, he had tried to confuse his captors by giving the names of Pittsburgh Steelers starting players when asked to identify his squadron mates. McCain has told the story many times over the years — but always correctly referred to the names he gave as members of the Green Bay Packers.

Erewhon · July 22, 2008, 9:36pm

“What is simple is that you refuse to acknowledge that a Democratic president balanced the budget while a succession of Republican icons drove up the deficit.”

Revisionist history, Consolation? Tsk-tsk!

Article from the ‘nonpartisan’ Cato Institute.

No, Bill Clinton Didn’t Balance the Budget
by Stephen Moore 

Let us establish one point definitively: Bill Clinton didn’t balance the budget. Yes, he was there when it happened. But the record shows that was about the extent of his contribution.
Many in the media have flubbed this story. The New York Times on October 1st said, “Clinton balances the budget.” Others have praised George Bush. Political analyst Bill Schneider declared on CNN that Bush is one of “the real heroes” for his willingness to raise taxes – and never mind read my lips. (Once upon a time, lying was something that was considered wrong in Washington, but under the last two presidents our standards have dropped.) In any case, crediting George Bush for the end of the deficit requires some nifty logical somersaults, since the deficit hit its Mount Everest peak of $290 billion in St. George’s last year in office.
And 1993 – the year of the giant Clinton tax hike – was not the turning point in the deficit wars, either. In fact, in 1995, two years after that tax hike, the budget baseline submitted by the president’s own Office of Management and Budget and the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office predicted $200 billion deficits for as far as the eye could see. The figure shows the Clinton deficit baseline. What changed this bleak outlook?
Newt Gingrich and company – for all their faults – have received virtually no credit for balancing the budget. Yet today’s surplus is, in part, a byproduct of the GOP’s single-minded crusade to end 30 years of red ink. Arguably, Gingrich’s finest hour as Speaker came in March 1995 when he rallied the entire Republican House caucus behind the idea of eliminating the deficit within seven years.

[No</a>, Bill Clinton Didn’t Balance the Budget](<a href=“http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=5656]No”>http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=5656)

browninfall · July 22, 2008, 9:50pm

So what to make of Obama’s directive to female members of the press corps to not wear green at certain times on the “Big Trip”.

Does he not like the Irish?

Is this a gaffe, or is this just good old sound political judgment?

Or even better, is it one of those pesky underlings who just do stupid stuff like move women with headscarves from being seen on camera with Mr. Obama as was done in Detroit recently?

BCEagle91 · July 22, 2008, 9:53pm

He prefers Intel to AMD.

bulletandpima · July 22, 2008, 9:56pm

browninfall that was what I thought when I first heard about not wearing green…it was probably the same person who offended the 2 women at one of his speeches.

Consolation · July 22, 2008, 11:31pm

Pima, I agree with you completely that it is disgraceful that military families qualify for food stamps and that they are in general so grossly underpaid. (Families stationed abroad in prosperous countries such as Germany can be in even worse shape, from what I’ve read.) I also agree that the care offered to troops upon their return and for years afterward can be inadequate, to say the least.

I find it bizarre that some people talk a good game about “supporting the troops,” but then treat them so abysmally.

This is nothing new, however. The VA treatment and the “establishment” treatment of the troops during the Viet Nam era was notoriously poor.

Frankly, it seems to me that with the exception of the GI Bill, the nation has screwed the troops while enriching the military-industrial complex and preaching faux patriotism.

kluge · July 22, 2008, 11:43pm

That’s actually a myth - or propaganda, depending on how you look at it. The laws of economic gravity were never repealed. Bush’s tax cuts lowered federal revenues and increased the deficit and the cumulative national debt. Read up on the numerous authoritative sources cited here: [FactCheck.org:</a> Supply-side Spin](<a href=“http://www.factcheck.org/taxes/supply-side_spin.html]FactCheck.org:”>http://www.factcheck.org/taxes/supply-side_spin.html)
Don’t be a sucker - check the BS you’re fed by people who have a financial interest in having you believe things that aren’t true. And the WSJ these days is definitely on that list.
And while you’re at it, check out [Starve</a> the beast - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starve_the_beast]Starve”>Starve the beast - Wikipedia)

cartera45 · July 22, 2008, 11:48pm

How’s this for supporting the troops?

[url=<a href=“http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/17/AR2008071703161.html?hpid=topnews]washingtonpost.com[/url”>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/17/AR2008071703161.html?hpid=topnews]washingtonpost.com[/url</a>]

Obama and "The Audacity of Vanity", or - Who IS this guy?

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