I doubt that he is any kind of a speaker without teleprompts. He seems pretty slow on the draw and goes into the mantra when he gets a question outside of the list of acceptible questions.
I agree, but with so much emphasis on polish and style, he does better than Bush or McCain in that, but people who know say that both Bush and McCain do better in much smaller venues. Hey did I tell you that I have actually in the flesh met both McCain and Bush and have pictures to prove it.
__________________
Please pray for India
My personal mission is to BRING people into a right relationship with God, GROW them up to maturity and SEND them back into the world to minister.
Nice piece of ignorance. Why not go play in the sandbox all day? You'd have as much of a chance to effect on the rest of the world as your Ronnie does.
The dominant two party system rewards the greater of two evils when people can't step outside of their paradigm. You can make a sure bet that that is "REAL."
I always enjoy the godly fellowship and uplifting conversation I find in these political threads!
I'm not sure what my comment had to do with playing in a sandbox, and I don't know who my Ronnie is. All I'm keeping real is the fact that has been voiced over and over on this thread alone and in countless other circles. The two-party system is a failure! The Republican Party that has been trying to pimp the Christian right for decades is NOT the guardian of all that is pure and righteous. They have just as much blood on their hands as the Dems! The landmark Roe v. Wade decision was passed in 1973, and we have had 23 years with the GOP in the White House, compared with 12 Dem, with a congressional majority swinging back and forth during that time. If the GOP is our moral high ground with their promise to reverse abortion, where's the proof? We need to face facts here... WE'VE BEEN DUPED! No Republican or Democrat is going to be the influence needed to turn this nation around. It's the church's responsibility to bring about that change - at a grass-roots level.
Also, I don't understand your second statement about the two party system. Are you agreeing with me that it's a failure? Or are you rebuking me for my inability to step out of my paradigm? Maybe I should go back to the sandbox. At least there everyone played nice or they were taken inside for a nap.
My paradigm is based on a practical application of what I perceive to be biblical principles. I'm not associated with any political party, as I refuse to pledge allegiance to any party's agenda. I'm for voting my conscience and my conscience will not allow me to vote for either parties as I see disastrous outcomes either way. Perhaps it's a wasted vote, but it wouldn't be if more people would step up, reject what is given to them as their only two options, and vote for what they really believe in. Ron Paul has a reputation as being a bit of a whacko because he's an idealist. I guess I'm an idealist as well, which could explain your scathing response. I'm okay with that.
I've gone down this list more times on this forum than I can count, but since DanA has asked....
I am voting for McCain. I am voting for McCain because he is more right on the issues I care about than Obama.
I do not believe in voting for some third party person that has no chance of winning. In my estimation, that is the same as voting for the guy you want least to win. It makes no since in my mind to lose. Losing on principle mean losing.
I prefer to take what I can get now and work to get what I want later.
Here are some specifics on issues why I am for McCain and not Obama.
Obama's tax plan is so unworkable, that even he has said that he will delay raising taxes on the rich right now due to the economic situation. (I still don't believe him). On the subject of taxes, Obama says he will lower taxes on 95% of Americans and only the wealthiest will pay more, and that rate will be what it was under Clinton. First I don't believe him. Obama has voted to raise taxes at every opportunity presented him in the U. S. Senate. Now he claims as president he will act differently? I am not buying it. period. However, even if he is serious and that really is his plan, I have 2 serious problems with it that are each a reason not to vote for him. First, lowering taxes on 95% of Americans, cant be done. The fact is, many Americans pay no taxes at all. So they cant get a tax cut.... they can get a check from the government which amounts to redistribution of wealth. I am solidly against paying people to not make enough money to pay taxes! Secondly Raising taxes on the top 5% also includes small businesses that file their taxes as individuals. These people will be seriously hurt in this and will have to cut expenses. That means they will fire people. That isn't a good idea at all.
McCain's tax plan is much more in line with what I believe taxes should be. Which is kind of where they are. I do not believe in soaking the rich. It isn't smart, it hurts the economy by removing investment money and money used to hire workers, and handing that to the government which has proven to be a huge waster of money.
I agree with McCain's approach to the death tax. I think Obama wanting a death tax at 45% for estates over $3.5M is asinine. It will kill small businesses and family farms. This is a HUGE difference between McCain and Obama that makes me NOT want to vote for Obama and to vote for McCain.
On Social Security, Obama is vastly wrong on the subject. period. end of discussion. He will not work to privatize SS. He will instead remove the cap on income taxed for SS. That basically means an additional 7 to 15% tax on top of raising the top marginal rate on the wealthiest Americans. I oppose this entirely. McCain will move toward privatizing SS. "Moving towards" means allowing part of the payroll tax to be invested in individual accounts. this HAS to be done, or people younger than 40 wont see a dime of what we are paying into this system. Democrats have been fundamentally wrong on social security for generations, and have created a system that only insures that those relying on it will remain poor in retirement. For me this is a seminal issue. it is one of a very short list of issues that will keep me from ever voting for a democrat. Barak Obama is equal to all democrats on social security and no one should vote for him on this issue alone. period.
On the War on Terror, Barak Obama has been wrong from day one. He says he was against going into Iraq. fine. I think that was a short sighted mindless position that would have left American far more vulnerable than we are today. I think going in was right. I agree with McCain on what our failures were and I think McCain has always been right on Iraq. McCain is the only candidate who will do what it takes to get a positive outcome in Iraq and Afghanistan. Barak Obama has been fundamentally wrong on Iraq.
Barak Obama has also said he would invade an ally. Now the nuance here is important. There are times when (like we have seen recently) when American Troops have and will need to cross into places like Pakistan to go after terrorists, even against the apparent will of an ally. The issue isn't in doing so, it is in saying you will OPENLY. Obama proved himself to be inarticulate and bumbling when he said this and he has stood by it.
McCain would never make that mistake.
On Iran, Obama says he would meet with the Iranians with no preconditions. In the aftermath of those comments, he revised his comments and pointed to the precedent set by John F. Kennedy when he met with the Russians. It is a known historical fact that the Russians took away from that meeting that Kennedy was weak. It was the failure of that meeting that led the Russians to attempt to put nuclear weapons in Cuba. And Barak Obama sited this as a REASON FOR meeting with Iran. It shows a complete and utter lack of historic international understanding and it is a huge flaw and this is a very specific reason why I would not vote for Barak Obama.
Again, McCain would never make this mistake.
On Spending, McCain has a near 30 year history of standing against wasteful spending. he has NEVER taken an earmark for his home district. Barak Obama has in 4 years gotten a billion dollars for his. Barak Obama has proposed somewhere between 1 and 2 TRILLION dollars in new spending.
On spending, McCain will work to curb spending. Barak Obama will expand spending.
On both the size and reach of government, Barak Obama will expand and extend. McCain will not. period.
On Healthcare, Obama wants to nationalize healthcare. I realize that those who support him say that isn't so, but at the end of the day, his proposals effectively insure a radical shift towards a Medicare type healthcare system for all of America. call it what ever you want, I don't want the government effectively socializing 1/5th of the US economy.
McCain's approach is much more sensible. I favor health savings plans associated with consumer driven healthcare. It is the only market based solution that will drive down the cost of healthcare. Obama is wrong. McCain is right.
On the size and scope of the Military, there is a great video of Obama talking about all the things he would cut in the military. It speaks for itself. He is wrong. period. McCain is far better on the subject.
On the Supreme Court, Barak Obama will appoint justices that believe as he does that when law cannot be passed because the American people oppose some proposal, that the court can create that law out of thin air. Repeatedly liberals have done this in the last 40 years and it is fundamentally wrong. That action has led to a host of very bad law forced by a liberal Supreme Court. Roe v. Wade is only 1 example of this. the list is extremely long. McCain will appoint strict constructionist judges and Obama will appoint more activists like Ruth Bader Ginsburg to the court. I side with McCain on this 100%.
On energy. Barak Obama said in an interview that he didn't have problem with the price of gas but regretted how fast the price had risen. This speaks to the fundamental difference between liberals and conservatives on this subject. Barak Obama and liberals in Washington recognize that getting Americans to buy cars that get 40 miles per gallon requires that the price of gas be high enough for them to move from the kind of cars they want to the kind of cars they have to have based on cost of operation. I think that is about as bad a philosophy as one can have.
Barak Obama's plan doesn't deal with what is wrong now, it just throws money at the problem in the hopes that it will lead to new technologies to eventually... at some point, end the use of petroleum. Well that is completely flawed.
I believe we need to drill for oil in America, with nothing off limits now, and we need to work toward moving to alternative sources of energy as well, for the purpose of eliminating our dependence on other nations for energy. period. Barak Obama's plan doesn't do that. McCain's plan comes much more close to doing that.
Those are just some of the reasons, based on the positions of the candidates that I will vote for McCain. There are more.
__________________ If I do something stupid blame the Lortab!
Now here are some other reasons I will vote for McCain and not Obama that have less to do with policy and more to do with personal feeling.
1. After I watched the Saddleback interviews with McCain and Obama, what I reflected on was that McCain answered the questions. He knew what he was saying and didn't equivocate. Obama's answers circled around and provided caveats and twists so as not to offend, and often to answer a question in a way that 2 people with opposite views could think Obama agreed with him. I found that fundamentally dishonest.
2. Obama has given speech after speech about being "Post-Partisan" yet he has been exactly as partisan as any person to ever run for president. His acceptance speech at the Democrat convention spent 1/3 attacking John McCain in a personal and partisan way, 1/3 listing in typical liberal manner all the stuff he was going to give people and 1/3 talking about how he wasn't a typical partisan attack type politician... the first 2/3 of his speech didn't match the last 1/3 at all.
3. Jeffery Pflager, Jeremiah Wright, William Ayers, and Tony Resco. My daddy always told me you are what your friends are. Barak Obama has a list of friends, I wouldn't want near me. race baiters, America haters and embezzlers and terrorists shouldn't be on a persons list of friends and business partners.
4. "This is the first time I have been really proud of my country" Michelle Obama. Not wearing a flag lapel pin, not honoring the flag during the national anthem... where there is smoke there is fire....
5. The attacks of the left on Sarah Palin have been disgusting. I will not vote for someone who is allied to these people. period. Including Michelle's comments this past week about not voting for someone because they are "cute"
6. Barak Obama supported a law while in the state legislature of Illinois that allows for comprehensive sex education of kindergartners. He claims that isn't true, but I have actually seen the bill. it is true.
7. Barak Obama blocked a law in the state legislature of Illinois that would require medical assistance to aborted babies that were born alive. His comments at the time were that this constituted a blatant attack on Roe vs. Wade. His reasoning now is that it was a flawed bill or that it was a duplicate of a national statute. Neither of the new arguments are true, and the old argument is more in keeping with his life long political stance. that disgusts me. and it is a reason by itself to not vote for him.
8. Barak Obama as a "community organizer" (you should be able to hear me snicker when you read those two words) listed 2 major achievements. first, he got a jobs center for the community, second, he got the city to remove asbestos from the housing in the community. While those are nice, what he doesn't talk about is the fact the the same families he was organizing 20 odd years ago, are the same families that still live in abject poverty in that same community. Only now there are two or three new generations in those families living in that poverty. His view of what it means to help people is flawed. He should have been making that community empty as he organized people out of there and into middle class America!
9. Barak Obama is the most liberal member of the Senate. His votes put him to the left of Teddy Kennedy! There is a reason why people who think Che Guevara was a great guy want to vote for Barak Obama... and that is reason enough for me not to.
10. Beside the Democrat Senate Banking committee chairman, Barak Obama has received more money from Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac than any other senator. Barak Obama has only been in Washington for 4 years!
I could go on but I think this covers a great deal of the reasons I will vote for McCain and not Obama. That doesn't mean I agree with McCain on everything. I certainly don't. But on most issues, McCain is far better than Obama as far as I am concerned.
__________________ If I do something stupid blame the Lortab!
Now here are some other reasons I will vote for McCain and not Obama that have less to do with policy and more to do with personal feeling.
5. The attacks of the left on Sarah Palin have been disgusting. I will not vote for someone who is allied to these people. period. Including Michelle's comments this past week about not voting for someone because they are "cute"
6. Barak Obama supported a law while in the state legislature of Illinois that allows for comprehensive sex education of kindergartners. He claims that isn't true, but I have actually seen the bill. it is true.
Ferd,
It was refreshing to see your views presented about Sen. Obama without disparaging him as a man.
That said, Michelle's comments were not out of line. There are many folks who believe that one of the reasons that McCain chose Palin was because of her appearance.
She is beautiful. She's been a Governor for less than 2 years. She was Mayor of a town that has less people in it than my neighborhood.
Sure she is qualified to be President if McCain dies in his sleep 3 months after they win the election!
I've seen the bill you ref'd to. It was poorly writtten imo.
However, do you REALLY BELIEVE it was the intent of the Illinois Legislature to pass a bill that teached Kindergardeners about the mechanics of sex?
That is what the Republicans are trying to make that bill into-- it could not have been the intent of those folks up there.
It's insane to insinuate that is what they were trying to do.
I don't believe that there is a sensible American adult that advocates teaching Kindergardener boys, "how to wrap it and where to stick it."
That would be beyond sick and is it is exactly this kind of mischaracterization of the truth that makes me not want anything to do with the Republicans any more. They are master spinners-- demonizing any one who gets in the way of their plan.
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"The choices we make reveal the true nature of our character."
It was refreshing to see your views presented about Sen. Obama without disparaging him as a man.
That said, Michelle's comments were not out of line. There are many folks who believe that one of the reasons that McCain chose Palin was because of her appearance.
She is beautiful. She's been a Governor for less than 2 years. She was Mayor of a town that has less people in it than my neighborhood.
Sure she is qualified to be President if McCain dies in his sleep 3 months after they win the election!
I've seen the bill you ref'd to. It was poorly writtten imo.
However, do you REALLY BELIEVE it was the intent of the Illinois Legislature to pass a bill that teached Kindergardeners about the mechanics of sex?
That is what the Republicans are trying to make that bill into-- it could not have been the intent of those folks up there.
It's insane to insinuate that is what they were trying to do.
I don't believe that there is a sensible American adult that advocates teaching Kindergardener boys, "how to wrap it and where to stick it."
That would be beyond sick and is it is exactly this kind of mischaracterization of the truth that makes me not want anything to do with the Republicans any more. They are master spinners-- demonizing any one who gets in the way of their plan.
The comment by M. Obama about Palin being cute, is not out of line, if you arent a noted feminist who is supposed to be standing against that kind of thing. at best it is hypocracy.
As for the sex education bill, Ill, the law allows for vastly more education of very young children than most conservitive people are comfortable with and at a much younger age than most people like me are comfortable with.
the bill that Obama fought for was comprehinsive sex education that didnt specify what "compreshinsive" meant in context with "age appropreate".
I dont need republican spin to recognize that Obama is willing to go vastly further than i am on this subject.
but lets put this in context, you picked on of the more personal reasons to discuss, not the policy reasons. you could eliminate all 10 of those personal reasons, and i still have many very valid policy reasons to not vote for Barak Obama.
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Location: In two of the most beautiful states in the U.S.A
Posts: 1,676
Re: Remind me - Who is voting FOR McCain?
More reasons if you need them,
Barack Obama and Gay Rights in Illinois:
Barack Obama supported gay rights during his Illinois Senate tenure. He sponsored legislation in Illinois that would ban discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.
Barack Obama in the United States Senate:
Every two years the Human Rights Campaign, the largest national gay and lesbian organization, issues a scorecard for members of the Senate based on their sponsorship and voting on key issues of importance to gay and lesbian citizens. Barack Obama scored 89 out of 100% in the 2006 scorecard. Here's how HRC rated Barack Obama:
Barack Obama on Hate Crimes:
Barack Obama co-sponsored legislation to expand federal hate crimes laws to include crimes perpetrated because of sexual orientation and gender identity.
Employment Non-Discrimination:
Barack Obama supports the Employment Non-Discrimination Act and believes it should be expanded to include sexual orientation and gender identity.
Don't Ask, Don't Tell - Gays in the Military:
Barack Obama believes we need to repeal the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy and allow gays and lesbians to serve openly in the military. His campaign literature says, "The key test for military service should be patriotism, a sense of duty, and a willingness to serve."
Gay & Lesbian Adoption:
Barack Obama believes gays and lesbians should have the same rights to adopt children as heterosexuals.
Barack Obama and Gay Marriage/ Civil Unions:
Although Barack Obama has said that he supports civil unions, he is against gay marriage. In an interview with the Chicago Daily Tribune, Obama said, "I'm a Christian. And so, although I try not to have my religious beliefs dominate or determine my political views on this issue, I do believe that tradition, and my religious beliefs say that marriage is something sanctified between a man and a woman."
Barack Obama did vote against a Federal Marriage Amendment and opposed the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996.
He said he would support civil unions between gay and lesbian couples, as well as letting individual states determine if marriage between gay and lesbian couples should be legalized.
"Giving them a set of basic rights would allow them to experience their relationship and live their lives in a way that doesn't cause discrimination," Obama said. "I think it is the right balance to strike in this society."
Sources: Chicago Daily Tribune, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
Location: In two of the most beautiful states in the U.S.A
Posts: 1,676
Re: Remind me - Who is voting FOR McCain?
This site compares Obama to McCain on issues. Even though the site is pushing Oshama they would convince me to vote for McCain if I wasn't already convinced.
On the War on Terror, Barak Obama has been wrong from day one. He says he was against going into Iraq. fine. I think that was a short sighted mindless position that would have left American far more vulnerable than we are today. I think going in was right. I agree with McCain on what our failures were and I think McCain has always been right on Iraq. McCain is the only candidate who will do what it takes to get a positive outcome in Iraq and Afghanistan. Barak Obama has been fundamentally wrong on Iraq.
This is where the American people fundamentally disagree with you and John McCain. They think your view has been wrong from day one. What's baffling is given the intelligence failures that led to this ill advised war, John McCain and you feel like it was STILL the right thing to do. That's implausible to most folks.
Saddam Hussein didn't have weapons of mass destruction despite what bad intelligence said. The U.N. inspections actually WORKED and Hans Blitz was in the process of confirming that when we went to war. The attacks of 9/11 had ZERO to do with Iraq. Al-qaeda wasn't welcome there and never set up forces there until AFTER the U.S. invasion. We created a vacuum which CREATED al-qaeda of Iraq.
Given all that info John McCain and you still believe it was the correct decision even though it had nothing to do with the War on Terror or making this country safer. That dog doesn't hunt with the majority of Americans.
I think that position calls John McCain's judgment into question more than any other issue you discussed. If, in hindsight, he really believes it's correct to invade foreign countries, costing this country life and treasure, that are within their borders, not possessing WMD's and of no immediate threat to our interests, I guess any non-democratic country is a candidate under that sort of silly foreign policy. That sort of judgment is frightening.
Invading Iraq is unjustifiable and yet he won't admit that error.
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In essentials, unity. In non-essentials, liberty. In all things, charity. Augustine
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