Kudos to John McCain

[bsnyder]

Alaska Senator Ted Stevens, currently on trial for corruption also has a favorable rating in my state of Alaska and is winning in the polls for re-election. I am inclined to think my state of Alaska is a wee bit different from most states. I am betting that in most states, the indicted Senator would have more of an uphill battle to have a favorable rating. Same with Sarah Palin.

Politics here are different than anything else in this country. In my short 13 years here, we've had a (Republican) candidate (he won the primary) for Governor with proven ties to the Chicago mafia who was paying for his candidacy, a legislator (and friend of Palin for 30 years) who moved to Oregon and continued representing his district for two terms, a candidate for State Senate who convinced many Alaskans the state had sold part of itself to Russia and a Governor (the man Sarah Palin defeated) whose chief of staff is now a convicted felon and whose court of supporters (four Republican legislators so far) are in prison for selling their votes to the oil industry.

I don't think you want to use this state as the benchmark for what the average American would support--including Governor Palin. She has a high favorable rating partly because politics here are so surreal. As the saying goes, "the odds are good, but the goods are odd..."

Alaska is not totally alone....

Federal indictments are not enough to keep one Louisiana politician from seeking re-election.

U.S. Rep William Jefferson garnered enough votes Saturday in his New Orleans based Congressional District to secure a spot in a November fourth runoff.

The 66 year old Congressman faces a December trial on charges that he took bribes, laundered money and misused his congressional office.

Jefferson made national news in 2006 when Federal investigators found $90,000 hidden in his freezer. But when people went to the polls they seemed to look beyond the charges.

A run-off election win would pit Jefferson against a little known Republican in a general election December 6.

 

[Uncle Remus]

So much for my kudos thread. Reason and respect are difficult for some. Okay...many.

McCain shoulda known better, just another case of bad judgment on his part 'n then he tried to backtrack.

BUT, I know YOU meant well.

 

[shortbun]

Warren Buffet is not an economist. He is an expert at making money....for himself. I would guess at this point in his life he has minimal earned income and like the Kerry/Heinz's lives on his capital gains. And secondly, he has been and is, a life long liberal. Taxes paid by others are fine with him.

He did graduate from Columbia School of Business and has worked in finance all his life. I'd say that makes him an expert economist since he is the richest man in the world. He's also a philanthropist. His salary, unlike other CEOs, is 100,000 a year. He lives in the same home he bought in the 50's for $35,000. It's worth 20X that now. He's a social liberal but fiscally conservative as evidenced by his distribution of wealth regarding his children who btw are pretty philanthropic and socially liberal themselves. It's pretty hard to see the world and stay socially conservative.

 

[BuckNaked]

It's pretty hard to see the world and stay socially conservative.

You can't be serious.

 

[shortbun]

McCain shoulda known better, just another case of bad judgment on his part 'n then he tried to backtrack.

BUT, I know YOU meant well.

Yeah, the OP had their heart in the right place. Because the rest of his train is still off the track, I have to wonder who's at the controls of McCain's campaign. John, which is it? Are you sincere about your recent statements or was it simply posturing directed by.....who exatly IS in charge of YOUR campaign? Which message do you really support? Who would be leading the country were you elected? Sarah? Rick? Karl? You? Sunday morning TV is going to be interesting.

 

[shortbun]

You can't be serious.

Having been lucky and able to visit lots of the world, I am very serious. If you've travelled as an observer I can not imagine seeing what I have seen and remaining socially conservative. It is unthinkable imho.

 

[BuckNaked]

It is unthinkable imho.

Ah good, so it isn't written in stone, just an opinion.

 

[Uncle Remus]

Yeah, the OP had their heart in the right place. Because the rest of his train is still off the track, I have to wonder who's at the controls of McCain's campaign. John, which is it? Are you sincere about your recent statements or was it simply posturing directed by.....who exatly IS in charge of YOUR campaign? Which message do you really support? Who would be leading the country were you elected? Sarah? Rick? Karl? You? Sunday morning TV is going to be interesting.

This is why I think so many Americans are disappointed in McCain, he's lost all credibility, he'll say anything at this point. Democrats used to respect him 'n now conservatives are ashamed of him, I'm afraid it'll cost him his career. And the worst part is he didn't need to sink this low, it really is sad.

 

[Uncle Remus]

You can't be serious.

Having been lucky and able to visit lots of the world, I am very serious. If you've travelled as an observer I can not imagine seeing what I have seen and remaining socially conservative. It is unthinkable imho.

Ah good, so it isn't written in stone, just an opinion.

Socially conservative:

"Almighty God created the races white, black, yellow, Malay and red, and he placed them on separate continents. ...
The fact that he separated the races shows that he did not intend for the races to mix."
Judge Leon Bazile

 

[BuckNaked]

Socially conservative:

"Almighty God created the races white, black, yellow, Malay and red, and he placed them on separate continents. ...
The fact that he separated the races shows that he did not intend for the races to mix."
Judge Leon Bazile

I don't normally use the term "misinformed" for those with whom I disagree politically, but if you truly believe that to be the definintion of socially conservative, then the term most certainly applies to you.

 

[bicker]

Your arguments make no sense.

No, your arguments make no sense. (I still wonder why such sentences are necessary, but whatever, I'll engage in such stupid bits of rhetoric if that's what you think is useful rhetoric.)

Sarah Palin has an 80% approval rating in her home state.

Even before being found that she abused her power, her approval rating was down to 64%. That was back in July. It hasn't been 80% since she was new to the office.

What makes you think Jimmy Carter's approval rating in Georgia while he was governor was any worse? What makes you think approval ratings in their first year of office reflect one's ability?

And gosh... Jimmy Carter went on to win the Nobel Prize for Peace; McCain/Palin seems uninterested in peace.

Just 'cause you liberals say something doesn't make it so.

I'm pro-business and a fiscal conservative, silly!

 

[bicker]

And yet somehow both Obama and McCain think he would make a good choice for Treasury Secretary, so maybe they BOTH know something about his expertise

Let's say that again: Obama and McCain highly regard Buffet; Buffet prefers Obama.

 

[bicker]

I can't help but think God wouldn't like the denigration of others who worship Him in a different way......

Even the most tolerant religions are not tolerant of efforts by others to bring about that religion's own demise, and so they will righteously and defensibly denigrate a religion that is (pardon the pun) hell-bent on destroying other religions (if the religion doing the denigrating is one of those who's destruction is sought by the religion being denigrated).

(Isn't it sad we have to word things so carefully to try to minimize the chances of the words being deliberately taken out of context?)

 

[bicker]

Can anyone explain what the big deal was about the sheriff using Sen. Obama's full name?

If you can't see why, then it's not worth explaining

Chris is probably correct, but I'll explain anyway, just in case there was any sincerity to the question itself...

Answer: Intention. The sheriff's intention was most likely to try to drive people towards baseless fear and hate. Reprehensible behavior for a sheriff, who is sworn to protect the peace, not compromise it.

 

[bicker]

It's pretty hard to see the world and stay socially conservative.

You can't be serious.

I agree with BuckNaked. Many years ago, Carl Sagan explained the foundation of this terrifying phenomenon:

I worry that, especially as the Millennium edges nearer, pseudoscience and superstition will seem year by year more tempting, the siren song of unreason more sonorous and attractive. Where have we heard it before? Whenever our ethnic or national prejudices are aroused, in times of scarcity, during challenges to national self-esteem or nerve, when we agonize about our diminished cosmic place and purpose, or when fanaticism is bubbling up around us-then, habits of thought familiar from ages past reach for the controls. The candle flame gutters. Its little pool of light trembles. Darkness gathers. The demons begin to stir. [Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World: Science As a Candle in the Dark]

 

[shortbun]

I agree with BuckNaked. Many years ago, Carl Sagan explained the foundation of this terrifying phenomenon:

Yet Sagan's statement seems to support me.....hmmm.

 

[disney1990]

Took him long enough.