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Re: Re: Re: I share your concern about McCain... (Reply to this comment)
by voxpoptart
Thank you! The new addition (a.k.a. Everett, since you couldn't possibly have known i was going to buy a drum set) has indeed been a source of happiness. His healthy birth may or may not have been more exciting than Mr. McCain's election defeat.
cheers,
- Brian
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Apr 02 '09
12:54 am PDT
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Re: Re: I share your concern about McCain... (Reply to this comment)
by ifif1938
in all the respects you noted and even more so because my biggest fear is that he might be elected and then that Palin B***ch would be in "charge of the Senate" to use her unintelligent words....should he pass away from one of the many ailments he has which he doesn't want to disclose.
It's all making me so anxious.
great writing
B
Lots of happiness with your new additon..:)
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Oct 24 '08
10:33 am PDT
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Re: I share your concern about McCain... (Reply to this comment)
by voxpoptart
The view from Europe, as you said, is all pro-Obama. They look for him to engage in intelligent, open discussions with us regarding foreign policy and the global economy
Yes, i find it strange that McCain is pushing Obama's openness to reasonable discussion as a weakness. Or i'd find it strange if it didn't have a history of working.
We are honestly afraid McCain's going to start bombing more countries, and I see a growing sympathy for Russia, which should be alarming to America. The Georgia episode, not surprisingly, has gotten completely different reviews here (we know who started it!)
Well, I do wish it was reported here that Georgia "started" the outright violence, but Russia was trying to provoke it. It's like in Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day where Alexander is pushed in the mud and is called a crybaby, but the mom chews out Alexander for hitting his brother who called him a crybaby: the blame is plenty shareable. That said,
(1) I have no sympathy for a Georgian regime that attacked a country far larger and more powerful than it;
(2) I have no sympathy for a would-be American president who wants to reward that kind of behavior by joining the fight, especially since Russia still has nukes; and
(3) While I'm hardly a fan of Vladimir Putin, the things I know about Russia from Russian perspectives make me think he's been dramatically better for their country than Boris Yeltsin and his crime syndicate, so I'm that much less inclined to paint him as The Big Bad.
cheers,
- Brian
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Oct 21 '08
6:05 am PDT
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Re: Awwwww..... (Reply to this comment)
by voxpoptart
The second [baby] is easier - you have the first one to practice on
Since you know what you're talking about, Sue, i accept the encouragement. But it's the fact that Donovan will _still_ be around to practice on that worries me. :)
I have avoided a lot of political writing over the past year because liars make me angry
I finally decided _to_ write about politics again because liars make me angry. Your approach makes more obvious sense, though.
Misternocket highly recommends that Rolling Stone piece if you're interested - I haven't read it for fear my head might explode. Apparently being an unapologetic adulteror is the least of McCain's misogynist sins
Haven't read it, might or might not (your reason not sounds solid to me). But i was aware, even for McCain's 2000 race, of his public "joke"
Q: Why is Chelsea Clinton so ugly?
A: Because her father is Janet Reno.
... it's just as well Chelsea's a babe; she can probably laugh, not at the joke, but at the absurdity of the whole thing. And then work very hard to make sure McCain doesn't become president of us all.
a lesbian trapped in a man's supple body,
- Brian
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Oct 21 '08
5:49 am PDT
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I share your concern about McCain... (Reply to this comment)
by vicfar
(to put it mildly) and I am curious to see how you will deal with Obama. I am looking forward to that...The view from Europe, as you said, is all pro-Obama. They look for him to engage in intelligent, open discussions with us regarding foreign policy and the global economy, whereas McCain is widely regarded as another trigger-happy cowboy with incipient senile dementia. We are honestly afraid he's going to start bombing more countries, and I see a growing sympathy for Russia, which should be alarming to America. The Georgia episode, not surprisingly, has gotten completely different reviews here (we know who started it!), but you would not be able to tell it from the statements of our coward politicians bowing down to the US...
Cheers, and good luck with the growing family!
Vic
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Oct 20 '08
3:12 pm PDT
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Awwwww..... (Reply to this comment)
by millinocket
You're gonna be fine with a baby and a toddler - congratulations! The second one is easier - you have the first one to practice on...;)
I have avoided a lot of political writing over the past year because liars make me angry. I enjoyed your piece because I believe you, but find that the truth makes even more angry. Misternocket highly recommends that Rolling Stone piece if you're interested - I haven't read it for fear my head might explode. Apparently being an unapologetic adulteror is the least of McCain's misogynist sins. Gack.
Good luck to the whole fam as the baby gets ready to arrive, hope all are doing well!
Sue
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Oct 19 '08
2:07 pm PDT
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Re: Re: Re: ... (Reply to this comment)
by voxpoptart
Pallin is going around implying that there are pro-American parts of the country (presumably the folks that show up at her rallies)... which leaves the rest as what? Un-American? And the crowd at her rallies are taking to chanting 'USA! USA!' as if the other presidential candidates aren't from the USA
Yeah. You have an excellent point there. "America is the greatest country on earth, and we can't let a bunch of Americans screw that up. USA! USA!" Interesting.
Theocratic Fascism. Plain and simple. It shouldn't be headline news, but why it isn't news at all quite eludes me
Because that wouldn't be balanced! If you call fascists "fascist", you have to call everyone else fascist too, or you're being mean and biased. We can't have reporters like that around!
for the separation of church and those other, bad, Taxachusetty states,
- Brian
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Oct 19 '08
8:59 am PDT
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Re: Brian: (Reply to this comment)
by voxpoptart
Thank you for the fact sheet.
You're welcome, Alex. I find that disagreeable opinion itself, in politics, only bothers me about 1% as much as when people base their disagreeable opinions on falsehoods. If someone memorizes this fact sheet, checks its truth, believes it, and still wants to vote for McCain, i may not understand, but i won't mind at all.
My observation is that there appears to be a pattern of deterioration in Senator McCain's mental performance over the last year
Which, given his age and his refusal to release his health records, can fairly be taken as a very bad sign. But in fairness, there's a pattern of deterioration in MY mental performance since November 17th, 2006, and while i do think it will get even sharper for the next few months, i don't think it will turn out to be permanent.
Father Remembers Having Known Best,
- Brian
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Oct 19 '08
8:53 am PDT
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Re: Re: ... (Reply to this comment)
by smorg
Hm. Missed that one. Yikes.
Lucky you. ;o) I don't normally watch the cable news network and was just passing thru MSNBC (while channel-surfing) just when Hardball was on... and this http://hardblogger.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/10/17/1563117.aspx was what happened.
And the more disturbing thing is... Pallin is going around implying that there are pro-American parts of the country (presumably the folks that show up at her rallies)... which leaves the rest as what? Un-American? And the crowd at her rallies are taking to chanting 'USA! USA!' as if the other presidential candidates aren't from the USA... So it isn't just Bachmann who is prescribing to this McCarthy-istic tactic.
As much as I subscribe to Goldwater style of conservativism, these neo-con people... at best crazy, at worst... knowing exactly what they are doing and have disavowed having a conscience altogether. I don't join the Libertarian Party because I won't go for anarchism, and where these religious fanatic-neo-cons would lead us is an even worse road, I think... Theocratic Fascism. Plain and simple.
It shouldn't be headline news, but why it isn't news at all quite eludes me... I hope that gal gets voted out of office next month. :oP
Cheers,
Smorg :o)
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Oct 18 '08
3:51 pm PDT
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Brian: (Reply to this comment)
by macresarf1
Thank you for the fact sheet.
My observation is that there appears to be a pattern of deterioration in Senator McCain's mental performance over the last year. If he is so unsteady before the Election, what would he be like if he became President? Given the near catastrophic situations left by eight years of the Bush Administration, and with Governor Palin in the wings, the choice for American voters of Senator McCaain is a most risky one.
Good job. I look forward to Installments II and III.
Congratulations on your new child.
Alex
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Oct 18 '08
12:18 pm PDT
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Re: ... (Reply to this comment)
by voxpoptart
congratulate you on your second kid. I hope things are going great for you
They are, and thanks for asking! Mind you, i have literally NO idea how we'll handle having a toddler and an infant at the same time; we may be completely miserable shortly. We just know that some people do manage it, and we're people, so we'll give it a shot.
I hope this this and your upcoming Palin piece aren't just aren't just a brief pop-in here
I hope so too, though again: literally NO idea. I wrote a children's-book review yesterday too, but it didn't come out well so I need to fiddle with it. If i get it right, i might do several more of those because they seem, what's the word i'm looking for?, short.
I've even accepted a couple of free new cd's for review, although both the artists involved know i'm not promising anything: they like my work and are taking the chance, which is sweet. Thanks for your own well-wishing: it does make a difference. I'll go check if i've missed any reviews of yours, though i've tried to keep up; it's good to know what pop songs i should catch up to.
cheers,
- Brian
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Oct 18 '08
9:49 am PDT
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... (Reply to this comment)
by DrFaustus
Hey there Brian...
I just wanted to say hi and congratulate you on your second kid. I hope things are going great for you, and hope this this and your upcoming Palin piece aren't just aren't just a brief pop-in here. We've missed your writing here at Epinions, and I know we'd all love to see you around here a little more.
All the best...
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Oct 18 '08
9:36 am PDT
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Re: I'm confused (Reply to this comment)
by voxpoptart
You DON'T like McCain's candor on the Economy, but you like Obama's pretending he knows about the economy when he has zero experience with budget or economics...and advisors really don't mean anything...they both have advisors
Thank you for commenting, instead of seething in silence. I genuinely appreciate that. That said, where to start?
1. Since I haven't written about Obama yet, you have absolutely no idea yet what I like or dislike about Obama. You assume with no evidence. That's the opposite of thought.
2. I had to think for several moments to imagine when McCain had shown candor on the economy. Then I realized: you think it's "candor" to say "I don't understand economics and need to study it". No it's not, for three important reasons. First, "I need to study it" is not candor when the person proceeds to be just as ignorant eight years later. Second, "I know how" is McCain's go-to line: he claims he knows how to run the country, EVEN WHILE knowing nothing about the economy. That's, at best, a complete failure of honest self-evaluation. Third, his descriptions of his own economic policies, and of Obama's, are consistently false. If that's because he doesn't understand, fine: they're still false. And when people correct him, and he repeats his old descriptions, they become lies.
3. Obama's speeches about the economy - and his off-the-cuff answers - are consistently detailed and well-informed. I don't always agree with his chosen policies, but he knows his stuff.
4. McCain's advisors have made their livings as paid liars. Obama's advisors have made their livings as leading journalists and academics: for example, his economic advisors are Austin Goolsbee and Cass Sunstein, two of the most important thinkers in the field. By all accounts, he's smart enough to ask them questions on their own level, and understand the answers. "They both have advisors"... well, yes. Exactly.
cheers,
- Brian
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Oct 18 '08
8:32 am PDT
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Re: Republicans fellate canines ... (Reply to this comment)
by voxpoptart
McCain's no maverick; he's a media creation. He's the circular talk express
Ooh, good phrase.
Sarah Palin is ... a republican MILF (RILF)
This has nothing to do with anything real, but: I don't actually get the idea that Sarah Palin is pretty. I think Hillary Clinton's prettier, and she's like decades older. This doesn't reflect my politics (McCain's daughters are quite attractive, I think, and Ann Coulter could be pretty if she only ate enough babies to fulfill her calorie needs). It's just ... well, whatever.
and an example of the Bush Doctrine come to life: an incurious anti-intellectual
Unfortunately, that's a handy thing to be in the current Republican Party. Bob Dole was a bright, curious man, even if he was usually wrong in my opinion: I liked him. Naturally, he was the worst-performing Republican nominee of my life.
I have neighbors who have compared Obama to Hitler and believe he's a closet muslim
Nazi Germany was put on this earth to promote the teachings of the prophet Mohammed.
They complain [Obama] has an agenda. I say "Christ, I hope so."
Me too. Believe, not quite. Hope, definitely.
fair and/or balanced,
- Brian
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Oct 18 '08
8:22 am PDT
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Re: Good (Reply to this comment)
by voxpoptart
even if I'm not American and can't vote in this election it concerns me, since it will affect things for everyone
Definitely. It's unwise for me, as an American, to mention the fact that 87% of surveyed non-Americans around the world (in samples of thousands) prefer Obama to McCain. We in the USA don't tend to like the idea of Spain or Denmark or Great Britain or Sweden telling us what we should do, and to some extent we have excellent reason. Allies yo may be, but our interests aren't identical to yours, after all.
Still, it does seem interesting that so many people around the world know stuff about our presidential candidates that we, by and large, don't. Doesn't prove anything, it's just: interesting.
America! America! God shed his grace exclusively on thee,
- Brian
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Oct 18 '08
8:14 am PDT
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Re: ... (Reply to this comment)
by voxpoptart
I had been wondering if McCain's mind hasn't been going-to-the-dump this past month or so
He's certainly been acting -- well, "erratic" does fit. He's old enough that medical explanations are possible, but my guess is that he just can't stand to be behind in the polls, and he's losing some self-control. Obama has done almost nothing to attack McCain; i'm curious whether he was counting on McCain to self-destruct, or if that was a piece of good fortune for him.
I thought I was disturbed enough having seen one of his attack dogs, Michelle Bachmann, basically calling anyone who is educated and/or with any liberal leaning 'anti-American'
Hm. Missed that one. Yikes.
Smorg ... is independent with libertarian leaning.. and will be voting Obama/Biden this November
I admit that i used to have a lot less respect and understanding for libertarians than i do now. Nothing like eight years of Bush/Cheney to make me truly understand that y'all make some excellent points. :-)
onward anarchist soldiers,
- Brian
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Oct 18 '08
7:53 am PDT
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Republicans fellate canines ... (Reply to this comment)
by MiDoyle
Brian:
Agreed. McCain's no maverick; he's a media creation. He's the circular talk express, a major panderer, and someone who really can't handle the job of president, truth be told. Sarah Palin is a dangerous demagogue, a tool of the right-wing religious base of the GOP, a republican MILF (RILF), and an example of the Bush Doctrine come to life: an incurious anti-intellectual, neocon wet dream. She's a fraud, a political car wreck once you look behind the hot rhetoric she spews to the loony right base.
Two more articles of note to consider:
http://www.rollingstone.com/news/coverstory/make_believe_maverick_the_real_john_mccain
http://www.villagevoice.com/2008-10-08/news/the-book-of-sarah/
I have neighbors who have compared Obama to Hitler and believe he's a closet muslim. They complain he has an agenda. I say "Christ, I hope so."
Needless to say political discussion is out of the question: you cannot argue with the kind of people we've seen on the TV lately. Undecided votors are the stupid voters as the Daily Show recently stated: paste eaters all.
These people are ignorant, incurious, and uncommonly stupid. America is a deeply dysfunctional and deluded country; no wonder we are on our collective last legs.
Anyone who thinks Palin is qualified to be VP next to a 72-year old man with a history of melanoma (4 surgeries and at stage 2 or 3 cancer) is an idiot, plain and simple.
Other than that, I don't have an opinion. Cheers
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Oct 18 '08
7:04 am PDT
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I'm confused (Reply to this comment)
by coldsteel7
You DON'T like McCain's candor on the Economy, but you like Obama's pretending he knows about the economy when he has zero experience with budget or economics...and advisors really don't mean anything...they both have advisors.
You lay out your argument thoroughly and plainly...so although I respectfully disagree...good job.
John
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Oct 18 '08
6:36 am PDT
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Good (Reply to this comment)
by geminiph
Hi.
even if I'm not American and can't vote in this election it concerns me, since it will affect things for everyone. Anyway very good look into McCain's seedy past.
Anna
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Oct 18 '08
4:11 am PDT
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... (Reply to this comment)
by smorg
I hadn't been paying as much attention as you have... and so I had been wondering if McCain's mind hasn't been going-to-the-dump this past month or so. Now that you have enabled me to see the bigger pattern, it's even more disturbing (and I thought I was disturbed enough having seen one of his attack dogs, Michelle Bachmann, basically calling anyone who is educated and/or with any liberal leaning 'anti-American' earlier today).
Holy cow...
Thanks very much for laying it all out and citing sources others can check, too! :o)
Cheers,
Smorg ... is independent with libertarian leaning.. and will be voting Obama/Biden this November.
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Oct 18 '08
1:27 am PDT
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sources (Reply to this comment)
by voxpoptart
The information for this piece, plus lots more, can be found at the URLs below. I should note, by the way, that while I never consult the Huffington Post on my own (a fair amount of biased pro-Democratic Party swill gets published there, in my opinion), I'm citing two Huffington Post articles that I was referred to by sources who _have_ proven trustworthy fact-checkers.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_McCain
http://obsidianwings.blogs.com/obsidian_wings/2008/03/meet-mccains-ec.html
http://d-day.blogspot.com/2008/03/mccain-v-facts.html
http://www.reason.com/news/show/126320.html
http://www.tnr.com/politics/story.html?id=4a65fb2f-7752-493f-a8d3-7fa4aa5e55d0
http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/16124.html
http://www.dailyhowler.com/dh112106.shtml
http://www.campaignmoney.org/pressroom/2008/05/12/reform-watchdog-group-to-mccain-fire-the-lobbyists
http://obsidianwings.blogs.com/obsidian_wings/2008/05/mccain-on-veter.html
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/06/12/mccain-habeas-court/
http://www.samefacts.com/archives/john_mccain_/2008/06/all_you_need_to_know_about_mccain_part_2.php
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/max-bergmann/the-week-that-should-have_b_111983.html
http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/2008-08-07/news/postmodern-mccain-the-john-mccain-some-arizonans-know-and-loathe/ /2
http://obsidianwings.blogs.com/obsidian_wings/2008/09/chutzpah.html
http://mediamatters.org/items/200810100015
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/14/mccain-transition-chief-a_n_134595.html
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Oct 17 '08
10:20 pm PDT
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