posted August 19, 2008
There is much about John McCain that most people don't know but it is imperative that they learn. He is not as he presents himself. By not correcting prevarications made by his supporters against his opponent, he is a disgrace to honest public discourse. He is too forgetful of names and places and has to be prompted by Sen. Lieberman and others. He appeals to bigotry and hate. He concentrates on destroying Obama rather than presenting new ideas about how to solve problems.
He is aided and abetted by many in an adoring but incorrect media. He is a representative of a decadent and destructive Republican Party. He is willing to do anything to win, even keeping America in a constant condition of resentment and hate. He is a George W. Bush clone and will follow Bush's dastardly agenda.
Sen. McCain seems willing to engage in slander, bigotry, and non-issues. Imagine what our country will look like if these conditions which already exist under the present regime are allowed to continue.
Sen. McCain and his wife own ten mansions, a private jet, and this kind of wealth makes it hard for him to imagine the lives of the poor and marginalized. He is tied to the corporate world and although he has promised to free himself of lobbyists, he has not done so. He supports tax cuts for the rich at the expense of the rest of the country. While campaigning he forgets many facts, names, and important material he should have retained. He has a too-quick temperament, bad judgment, inability to get along well with others, and some of his own Republican colleagues worry about his suitability for high office.
One of his major supporters has written that he has had strong support from a group tied to Al Qaeda and organized crime in Arizona, plus his part in the Keathing Five Scandal which cost the American public millions of dollars and for which he was chastised by the Senate.
He is not at ease discussing religion and changed from his Episcopal faith in which he was raised to Baptist to gain votes from Evangelicals. He has admitted that his worst offense in life was the adulterous treatment of his first wife, and her abandonment, so that he could marry Cindy, a beer heiress of millions of dollars. He has refused to release Cindy's financial situation and says he won't until after the election. It is obvious that John McCain is carrying too much baggage to become the President of the United States, regardless of his actions in Vietnam which also bear scrutiny.
Mildred Perry Miller
* * *
Dear Ms. Miller,
I find your discussion of Mr. McCain to be incomplete and filled with anger and accusations. No candidate is perfect. Men are human.
I noticed you failed to mention Mr. McCain suffered as a prisoner of war for America at the hands of the Vietnamese. Mr. Obama never served.
Mr. McCain is pro-life and Mr. Obama is pro-death. Mr. Obama may be something "new" for America, but he is not the most qualified to run her.
Mark Albertini
Chattanooga
Albertini_m@bellsouth.net
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Ms. Miller,
Dastardly and regime are two words reserved for Cuba, former Soviet Union, the Nazis, Stalin, etc. These are not words for the office of the President of the United States even if you dislike the occupant.
From your opinion I am left puzzled. You would seem to rather have a man who takes lots of money from special interests and will not follow through with a promise to only use public money in his campaign. You would rather have a man who has done nothing while in public office except run for office. He has passed no legislation, led no bill, and cannot remember to which Senate committees he is assigned.
I am not sure I can vote for a man who has no business running for the Presidency let alone chairman of the local PTA. Talk about qualifications, one candidate has none.
Cliff Sarbel
* * *
I was glad to read Mildred Perry Miller's completely unbiased and neutral opinion of John McCain. She parrots back disinformation as dictated to her by the Democratic National Committee, the Obama campaign, and the mainstream media. If you reject those sources of information, then you know Ms. Miller is entirely wrong. Ms. Miller's letter does nothing to state why Obama should be elected, but only states reasons why McCain shouldn't be.
Let's begin.
"McCain is too forgetful and has to be corrected by others." Did you see him at the Saddleback Church the other night? He did not forget anything, answered completely, quickly, and correctly, and did not equivocate. How does that compare to Obama? Answers he has given, trying to dodge the question (such as whether life begins at conception -- "above my pay grade"), or previous claims that he had campaigned in "all 57 states" do not inspire confidence. In contrast, McCain has proved himself to be sharp as a tack, perhaps answering too quickly so as to give the media the chance to distort his answers like they did with his joke about how much income makes a person rich.
"McCain appeals to bigotry and hate." What is the evidence for this statement? I know of none and challenge others to produce evidence of it. I would agree that Hillary Clinton, a Democrat, and her husband did use the race card against Obama in the primary, however.
"McCain does not correct prevarications made by his supporters against his opponent." What prevarications are you referring to? McCain has said that Obama is a patriot and has defended him against claims that he is a Muslim. Other than that, McCain has correctly pointed out that Obama is the most uniquely inexperienced and unqualified person ever to hold the nomination for the presidency. McCain has correctly pointed out that Obama is the most liberal member of the Senate and wants to redistribute wealth, retreat from our current armed conflicts in defeat, and supports abortion, and wants high energy prices to reduce our consumption. None of those facts are in dispute.
"McCain slanders his opponent." Absolutely, this is not correct. McCain has accurately made know his differences with Obama. In doing so, Obama's history and positions have become widely known. To accurately discuss the positions and record of your opponent is not to slander him. If the opponent wants his record concealed, he will claim "slander." I do not blame Obama for wanting to hide his 20 year membership in a church with anti-American and racist leanings. If I were Obama, I would not disclose my associations with Louis Farrakhan and William Ayers (one of the Weathermen, a domestic terrorist organization) either. If I were Obama, I would run from voting record and radical social policies as well.
"McCain is a clone of George W. Bush." Although I wish that were true, conservatives like me know it to be balderdash. McCain has opposed President Bush on more issues than any other Republican. Name the issue: campaign finance reform, immigration reform, "global warming" issues, Guantanamo, torture, etc. We have had to rally around McCain to stop Obama. That is the only reason. McCain is not a great candidate, but Obama is terrible. The only issues that McCain and Bush have in common are their aggressive positions on national defense against Muslim extremism, their desire to continue the tax cuts which has helped our economy so much during these difficult domestic and international tests, and in their desire for more domestic oil production to reduce our dependence on foreign sources of energy.
"McCain is wealthy and has ten mansions and private planes. McCain will not release his wife's financial records." Actually, McCain's wife is wealthy, not McCain himself, so the public has no reason or right to know Cindy McCain's finances. Did you object to John Kerry's extreme wealth? He and Teresa Heinz Kerry have a combined worth in excess of $750 million, in addition to many mansions and private aircraft. And are you claiming that Obama is not wealthy? Since he left his original role as political agitator, community organizer, and law professor, he has gained millions of dollars.
"McCain has too quick a temperament and inability to get along with others." McCain is a decisive person who knows what he believes. He does not equivocate with a lot of "uhs" and "ums" as he quickly states his positions. Obama, on the other hand, seeks to say nothing, and that requires slow answers with stopping and starting of phrases with liberal use of "umm," "uhh," and "uhms." I am mystified by how so many people think this make Obama look thoughtful. I think it makes him look indecisive, like a panderer, and frankly a little slow-witted. Yes, McCain has had differences with others he disagrees with. He seems not to suffer fools lightly. Once again, this shows him to be a decisive person who reaches a conclusion about what to do quickly, rather than, in Obama's case, moving cautiously so not as to disclose a true position. One of conservatives' major complaints against McCain is that he has gotten along too well with Democrats, so that is a specious claim as well.
"McCain has ties to Al Qaeda." This is so stupid that it does not require much of comment other than to say "prove it." Suffice it to say that Obama has indisputable Muslim ties and is supported by the Muslim world, including the terrorist organization Hamas, since it is assumed he will be less aggressive militarily and diplomatically with the Muslim world.
"McCain was tied to the Keating Five scandal." This is true. He was disciplined by the Senate but not found guilty of a crime. Many of Obama's supporters, including a slum lord in Chicago now in prison, are dirty at least and possibly criminals. Don't forget Obama's great claim: that he has great judgment. Yet he sat under the influence of Jeremiah Wright for 20 years as Wright spewed his venom against this country, and he opposed the troop surge in Iraq which has led to early planning of our withdrawal.
"McCain is not at ease discussing religion." He looked pretty comfortable at Saddleback the other night. Again, it is Obama with ties to Jeremiah Wright and Trinity Church, and Obama's Muslim roots, that make Obama's religious beliefs suspect.
"McCain's service in Vietnam bears scrutiny." I agree. I hope we never stop thinking about this true hero who refused early release yet so he could stay with the rest of his men.
Ms. Miller's point about McCain not being a great candidate is correct, but he is worlds ahead of Obama. Obama must not win. McCain's greatest asset as a presidential hopeful is that he is not Obama.
Jim Nichols
* * *
It is nice to see that those such as Ms. Miller continue to languish in a dream world where her magical candidate can do no wrong, even though he has accomplished nothing except to deceive and lie to the naive zombies concerning every facet of his life ranging from his up-brining, to his religious background, to his involvement with members of the mafia, and his inability to accomplish nothing during his time in office.
The only thing Barack Hussein Obama has excelled at is playing the race card and throwing out the word "change" at every turn so that certain impressionable classes of people think "That is what we need…".
I could spend my time dissecting her false allegations concerning Mr. McCain, but it looks as though Mr. Nichols did a more than admirable job.
Patrick McBride
East Ridge
* * *
Messrs. Albertini, Sarbel, and Nichols,
I found it interesting that in reading all three of your responses, you immediately turned and began enumerating your own talking points about Barack Obama. I might point out that the title of Ms. Miller's opinion was McCain's Faults, and furthermore she never at any time mentioned Sen. Obama, either directly or by inference. But since you all have chosen to open that can of worms, allow me to retort:
Sen. McCain's military service and POW record needn't be mentioned here, as I don't think anyone in their right mind would consider that to be a fault. It is curious, however, that to this day I have never seen any criticism of McCain that does not include such a reference as a response. The fact that he served in the military no more qualifies him to be President than the fact that Sen. Obama did not should disqualify him.
How is it that Sen. Obama is taking lots of money from special interests? I'd like to see one specific example, since I doubt you can find one. After all, he is the only candidate who has expressly rejected such donations, as well as publicly appealed to private 527 organizations not to advertise on his behalf. Mr. McCain, on the other hand, has had to remove several people from his campaign after it became public about their ties to special interests and lobbyists. It is also no coincidence that his immediate initial response to the crisis in Georgia was very heavy-handed, given that his chief foreign policy advisor is a paid lobbyist for the Georgian government.
It is clear from the comments about qualifications and legislative records, that you haven't ever taken the time to check your facts about Sen. Obama. Let me save you the trouble:
Senator Obama has sponsored or co-sponsored 570 bills in the 109th and 110th Congress.
Senator Obama has sponsored or co-sponsored 15 bills that have become law since he joined the Senate in 2005.
Senator Obama has also introduced amendments to 50 bills, of which 16 were adopted by the Senate.
Of these 570 bills, they addressed the following: 25 addressed energy efficiency and climate change, 21 addressed health care, 20 addressed public health, 14 address consumer protection/labor issues, 13 addressed the needs of veterans and the armed forces, 12 addressed congressional ethics and accountability, 10 addressed foreign policy, nine address voting/elections, 11 addressed education, six addressed Hurricane Katrina, five addressed the environment, four addressed discrimination, and four addressed homeland security.
I challenge anyone to compare that record with Sen. McCain. I do not do so here because I don't throw around wild accusations without first having done my homework. I only hope that anyone who reads this takes the time to do so.
And as to the rest of Mr. Nichols' lengthy comments: to parse your own words, you parrot back disinformation as dictated to you by the Republican National Committee, the McCain campaign, and the mainstream media. Despite your insinuation, you offer your own biased and partisan opinions as facts and challenge others to offer proof to their claims, when your claims are even more egregious and unsubstantiated. You begin by attempting to inoculate yourself by mocking Ms. Miller's comments sarcastically as unbiased and neutral. I
f you are looking for an unbiased and neutral analysis, might I suggest looking elsewhere besides the Opinion section? You are correct, though, on one point: "To accurately discuss the positions and record of your opponent is not to slander him." I couldn't agree more. Unfortunately, you seem to have missed the "accurately" part when constructing your arguments. They are anything but accurate.
Let us trust that the American people will be a bit more diligent in that regard before they step into that voting booth on Nov. 4.
Jeff Brown
* * *
Dear Mr. Brown,
Since you require even one instance of special interest money with Barack Obama, how about this one.
The Election Commission has confirmed that Obama received $24,000 in contributions from three Palestinian brothers from the “Edwan” family of the town of Rafah in the Gaza Strip. Rafah is a Hamas stronghold, a terrorist organization by everyone’s definition. Now that is special interest money.
Johnny Franks
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