McCain's Record Shows Little Reason Why He Would Be Suited For Presidency
CNN's AC 360° on Friday took a look at both of the Democratic and Republican candidates and their wives, and the short bio they did on John McCain gave viewers little reason, if any, why he would be very well suited at all to become our next President or our military's Commander in Chief.
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In fact, it helped reveal a McCain who was an underachieving party boy during his military career - lucky to have graduated at all, much less fifth from the bottom of his class in the Naval Academy, and reminded viewers of his involvement in one of the biggest financial scandals to touch the capitol in the 80s and 90s.
As the CNN report tells it, the lessons John McCain learned during his time as a POW were "that one of the most important things in life - along with a man's family - is to make some contribution to his country," and that his involvement in the Keating 5 scandal which resulted in the Congressional finding that he had exercised poor judgment for intervening with federal regulators on behalf of his good friend and largest political contributor/fundraiser, Charles Keating, led to his becoming "a crusader for campaign finance reform and transparency."
While the lessons learned parts may sound nice, what the segment didn't reveal was the fact that his own actions have in large part belied that account. The McCain that learned the importance of family as a POW returned to divorce his first wife in a manner that offended many of his friends and colleagues to this day, and his supposed commitment as a crusader for campaign finance reform and transparency went out the window when he began skirting or breaking many of the very campaign finance laws he used to champion just as soon as they would have applied to him during this campaign.
Seriously, what part of John McCain's past would lead anyone who actually looked at it to believe he's the one who should lead this country forward? What part of what little we know about his military record suggests he's leadership material? Is "there any significant policy position that John McCain currently holds, on any topic, that he's consistently held" about anything?
All these questions aren't relevant. What is important is that he was a war hero and a maverick and we'd all love to have a beer with the guy. But it has to be a Budweiser.
What a pathetic joke our election process has become.
He knows how to WIN WARS!! Just ask him!
We've already proven that Republicans will elect an underachieving party boy... twice!
Can't see why they wouldn't do it again. Look how well it turned out!
I'm sure Admiral Pappy pulled some strings to get his underachieving son from being kicked out of the Naval Academy.
Pappy pulling strings for an underachieving party boy womanizer who later runs for president. Wow, he really is McSame isn't he?
An underachiever, spoiled Navy brat, academic zero finishing near the bottom of his class who got into the Academy as a legacy candidate, and leader of what? You would think from the media hype of the rightwing (majority media) that no one else ever was a POW and suffered for it. That is a load of bull. None of his accomplishments merit his being President. Who cares how many times he voted in the senate since most of his votes, when he did show up, were no votes or reversals of his previous positions. His kind are a dime a dozen. We don't need another Bushie. And the majority of thinking Republicans (granted they are few in number) want no part of this guy, so what does that tell you?
"Seriously, what part of John McCain’s past would lead anyone who actually looked at it to believe he’s the one who should lead this country forward?"
I don't like this site sometimes.
Umm, there are three impressive things about McCain. 1)His military record. 2)The fact he doesn't do earmarks 3)He does have a record of comprimise.
Having said that, I don't think "he's the one who should lead this country forward."
Not real pleased with Obama either. Sorry. The republicans suck and the democrats have no spine.
C'mon, a guy who could barely fly a plane, who has a history of a violent temper, who did poorly in school is clearly unqualified to be President. Unless, of course, that person adds bigamist and gold digger to that list then he can serve our nation with competence.
McSame hasn't learned anything from the Keating 5 debacle that cost the US tax payer billions, and sadly, Barney Frank is going to make the same mistake by allowing a bailout of Fannie and Freddie using our tax dollars as well.
why wont anyone state the obvious?
the only war McCain fought in.. we lost.
many @ 6:
Perhaps you can kindly explain what is so impressive about McCain's military record. As McCain said on a 60 Minutes interview in 1997: "I am a war criminal; I bombed innocent women and children." By his own admission, McCain admits the obvious, that he is a war criminal. That being the case, it begs the question as to why McCain should be lauded for wiping out the Vietnamese, who never threatened him or anyone living in these United States.
many @ 6:
His military record? Which consists of what? Be specific, please.
We don't need a war-time president, which is what McCain thinks he would be better at because he got shot down and captured and was tortured in prosin camp.
We NEED a negotiator, an administrator, somebody who knows how to use a computer and a tele-prompter!
Obama is the OBVIOUS choice.
Following McCain's logic, some middle eastern country (like Absurdistan) should be looking at GITMO prisoner lists to see if they could find a future president from the ranks of detainees. After all, they're prisoners, and they're being tortured, so they would be ideal future political leaders!
McCain is a national embarrassment to his party, the US Senate and thinking folks here, there and everywhere. You'd think Cindy McCain would get a clue and realize he is a shameless loser and abuser and she is destined to be the biggest fool of all in his tawdry and doomed lust for power.
In the Republican party, underachievement is a plus when trying to attain political power.
“I am a war criminal; I bombed innocent women and children.”
That rather frank and honest admission is the first thing I have seen that does go some way towards qualifying him to lead a country.
But otherwise he is clearly a captive of the corrupt and self-serving right.
My problem with Mc Cain is this: How does being a POW qualify you to be anything? It is interesting that just because he dropped bomb from a plane, and got shot down and captured, we should all suspend our judgment and elect him president because he is a war hero.
I've got some news for people, historically speaking, there haven't been that many "war heroes" who have made good presidents. George Washington, Teddy Roosevelt and MAYBE Truman and Kennedy could be considered "war heroes" that were successful Presidents. Washington and Roosevelt were both really extraordinary men considering their stature and their wealth. Truman and Kennedy both served in the military, but it is kind of a stretch (just as it is with McCain) to say that they were anything other than soldiers doing their job.
My grandfather trained pilots in the Army Air Corps, and was none too impressed with McCain's persona of being a hero. To quote him, " I can't believe that a screw up that bungled an ejections and got captured is seen as a hero." While it is unfortunate that McCain had to suffer through the prison camp and through less than stellar medical care, there are still a few questions about what, exactly, was the nature of his captivity.
Particularly since he is the source of most of the stories, and there is little, if any, corroboration. (there are those within his group of fellow prisoners who don't speak of him at all. This would be because it would be dishonorable to say something negative about a fellow prisoner of war.)
The "War Hero" monicker is BS...and it was when Kerry was running as well. It means nothing. Audie Murphy was a war hero, and he was a sociopath. Most men who do heroic things while in the military are just doing their job, protecting their commrades, and not wanting to make a big deal of anything extraordinary that they might have done.
What we need as a President is a true patriot who is willing to fight to save the Constitution. The Constitution IS our country. Everything else is just a lot of empty window dressing for patriotism.
Errol...at 10
That too. I agree with you hardily, and so does my Vietnam Veteran Husband.
Wait a minute! Look at that picture of McPlayboy - the one one the right with the white hair. There is no lump on the left side of his face. When was this taken? About 10-12 years ago? 15? Don't the American public deserve to know he is being treated for melanoma? Skin cancer? That's no small potatoes. Cancer can spread.
Rob @ 15:
Hardly. His admission should, as during the Nuremberg trials, have made sure that he was tried by an international tribunal for war crimes and then executed for what he had done. It certainly should not be a qualification for him to run as president of this country.
beckyboo @ 17:
As a Vietnam veteran also, I thank you and your husband.
So to be clear, he was told he could go home but instead decided to stay and make propaganda films that in no uncertain terms gave aid and comfort to our nation's enemies.
What's the word for that again?
Not "hero", that's for DAMN sure!
many @ 6:
Please cite anything impressive about his military record that isn't the fact that he was a POW. Now, if he would ever release his military record perhaps there actually is something impressive about it, but the fact that he hasn't doesn't impress me one bit.
My father joined the army as soon as he could for WWII, and went on to serve in Korea and Vietnam and then taught at the US army War College in Carslisle PA. Today he lays buried in Arlington National Cemetery. I have much respect for military service, but I never would have said my father was well suited to be President. I probably would have voted for him, but only because he was my dad. Maybe not though, as we couldn't have differed more politically. That would have been a tough call.
As far as McCain's history of no earmarks or compromise, he severely compromised that when he quit doing so when began his lobbyist run campaign and began flip-flopping to side with Bush on every issue you could think of:
Erroll at 20.....
No problem...Hubby was First Infantry Division. 1967-68...
Newbie at 21.....
There's another good point that somehow gets lost in the shuffle. So many of the Viet Nam Vets get really bent out of shape about Jane Fonda, after all these years, and they give Mc Cain a pass. Many will say that it is because he had no choice. I disagree. He was given the choice to come home.
The 2 things that were most important to McCain, after so many years in prison where he had lots of time to think, was his family and his country. He dumped his family...
justabill @ 24.....
I can't think of one military man that I've ever known who thought that a military man should run the country.
My grandfather, mentioned above, loved Eisenhower and was a life long Republican, but did not vote for Eisenhower because ...well...mostly because Truman couldn't stand him, and Truman lived down the street from my aunt.(only Democrat he ever voted for) ....But he always claimed that it was because he thought that guys who had seen too much glory, expected to be glorified.
It's time most Americans grew up and realized that there is a great deal of difference between being a hero and being heroic. Everyone I've ever known who is the latter, would never say they are a hero, or accept such a thing being said about them.
I thought the whole episode was fair and balance. Will we see the same on FoxNoise, the leader of fair and balance?
i think we can all agree, bush may be looked upon as one of the worst presidents in modern history. mccain
couldn't beat bush for the (R) candidate position in 2000.
mccain is all the (R) hasve.......if you notice they don't even say Republican.....their party is so bad right now.
to me experience is just a part of the equation. bush had little experience himself....he held a weak governor position...the state legislators do a lot of the work.
mccain serving the military,congress and senate.. thats great.....but none of it is executive experience as wesley clark pointed out. mccain's military service doesn't trump obama lack of military experience in regards to the presidency. this is a brand that the (R) is Selling/Framing......some people will vote mccain strictly due to his past military experience and they may not know anything about his record and/or his campaign philosophy. this election in my mind is critical to the middle class......the merchants of financial paper
had their cycle it's our turn...for tax breaks,jobs
some regulation,education and health care.
the gap between the weathly and poverty is greater than it has ever been,inflation is high,healthcare increases 10% a yr.,next to nothing in job growth/wage growth,prisons are full,military is wore out fuel costs..
we have to make this happen...don't fall for the cuddley
trying to be funny grandpa dude....maybe will find out he and cindy are on the UBS illegal tax shelter list please be on that list
many @ 6:
would that translate into "bad roads"?
i heard cindy say, the other day in a video, that flying was the only way to get around arizona... another reason she took flying lessons...
Another thing, growing up a military brat with a father who served in 3 wars, I never ever heard my dad or any of his officer buds let anyone get away with saying that someone could win a war. If i ever heard it once, I heard it a thousand times (not an exaggeration at all) that "no one ever wins a war." All sides lose in war, and you fight to be the side that loses less.
My dad would have screamed at full volume if he ever heard McCain's "we are winning" bullshit. Those are words no military man I ever met, and I've met thousands, that actually served in a war zone would ever have said.
Military Policy.......from the bullshxt express
14. McCain recently claimed that he was the “greatest critic” of Rumsfeld’s failed Iraq policy. In December 2003, McCain praised the same strategy as “a mission accomplished.” In March 2004, he said, “I’m confident we’re on the right course.” In December 2005, he said, “Overall, I think a year from now, we will have made a fair amount of progress if we stay the course.”
15. McCain has changed his mind about a long-term U.S. military presence in Iraq on multiple occasions, concluding, on multiple occasions, that a Korea-like presence is both a good and a bad idea.
16. McCain was against additional U.S. forces in Afghanistan before he was for it.
17. McCain said before the war in Iraq, “We will win this conflict. We will win it easily.” Four years later, McCain said he knew all along that the war in Iraq war was “probably going to be long and hard and tough.”
18. McCain has repeatedly said it’s a dangerous mistake to tell the “enemy” when U.S. troops would be out of Iraq. In May, McCain announced that most American troops would be home from Iraq by 2013.
19. McCain was against expanding the GI Bill before he was for it.
justabill...
Is it any wonder that most people who really are military, don't want much to do with McCain? There are some diehards that will always vote Republican, I've experienced much the same thing.
For the record, I was an Air Force brat, and have had many relatives who've served in almost every branch , including my son, (currently going on his second deployment to Iraq, with the Army Reserves.)
justabill @ 29:
Remember that McCain never saw a single lick of REAL combat. Any coward can push a button that erases innocent women and children from on high. Perhaps that explains his deluded romanticizing of "fighting" ground wars.
"Seriously, what part of John McCain’s past would lead anyone who actually looked at it to believe he’s the one who should lead this country forward?"
Seriously? He's an old rich white conservative. That'll clinch it for a lot of folks.
beckyboo @ 23:
Beckyboo
A lot of people have the perception that Jane Fonda was reviled by all of those who were in the military during the Vietnam War. But that is hardly the case since 60,000 GIs went to see her and other entertainers during the FTA tours in the early 1970s in Japan, Okinawa and the Philippines. That is because the soldiers knew that Ms. Fonda sympathized with their plight and because she realized that they should not have been placed in that untenable position in the first place. The FTA tours [which stood for either Free Theater Associates or the Army recruiting slogan back then Fun, Travel and Adventure but among the soldiers they were more popularly known as Fuck The Army] were much more preferred to the pro-war government propaganda that was performed by comedian Bob Hope and his USO tours.
Can we please pass on the hero stuff?
Rhesus monkeys spend too much of their time worrying over the dominant male 'hero' of the troupe.
As a thinking human, I am voting for the person who taught a few University-level courses regarding the Constitution.
This is the largest step forward we humans can all make at this point.
Oh yeah, turning off the fucking teevee is another.
(Still kinda befuddled me when I first heard, in 2004, that Kerry killed a guy on a beach in Vietnam... shot him dead. Have most of our presidents killed people? Is that an unwritten a priori ?)
Like McCain, Duke Cunningham (R-California) is also qualified to be president since he was shot down by the Vietnamese. Oh, wait. He can't run. He's in jail for bribery.
beckyboo @ 31:
Here's hoping your son returns home safe and well sooner than later from his next tour, and that it becomes his last.
Filthy Harry @ 33:
Sad but true.
Erroll....
I know many vets who hold no ill will toward Ms. Fonda....my husband included.
We still hear people who have a "thing" against her. My husband likes to point out, that most of those who are of your generation, (I am 16 years younger) who still have a thing, are either people who had a college deferment, or people who didn't serve in Viet Nam, on the ground.
That people line up for McSame like they did for Bush shows that, no matter their shortcomings, Republicans will vote for their candidate no matter how bad. Two of the most unfit people running for office in recent memory, one an idiot stooge who had to be told how to act, how to lie, and how the break the law, the other running on his record as a POW as if this is a contest where the most "patriotic" wins, and what's more patriotic than a POW?
This country is saddled with idiots, idiots made clueless by what is fed to them on television, a daily diet of drivel and distraction. Hard truths are ignored in favor of empty, meaningless, feel-good rhetoric, all of it divorced from reality.
Obama can barely speak the truth, it's so depressing, the American people so dumbed down as to think he "hates America" for saying what needs said. Too bad he can't really say it.
The point being...ala the last election....It' okay to slag on Ms. Fonda for being a traitor...but McCain get a pass because he was a POW.
I don't really get that mentality. I guess if I did, I'd watch Fox News. : )
Just speaking generally, the by-line on its face doesn't make sense -- his 'record' includes his entire political resume', which does happen to be a few pages longer than Mr. Obama's. I'll leave it to the electorate to judge the qualities of each, but I'm betting on McCain.
He learned he had to depend on other people.
Yep, exactly like the Republican message.
Considering his voting record, WHY does the media call this guy a "maverick"?
This is sooo familiar. Didn't we just have the dumbest asshole party-boy in office for the last nearly 8 years...and look at where we are!!
Wake up America!!
They have him on c-span right now and the more he talks, the more he makes me gag. Even more than that, though, is the applause and cheering from his "audience".
He says he know how to WIN WARS. What wars did he win? Last I heard, his plane, which his own commander said he didn't fly very well, was shot down over Hanoi and he spent 5 years laying on a cot in a prison camp. Maybe he suffered torture and maybe he didn't. I watched him getting off that plane when he got home and torture was part of the story, and he used to say he would never want anyone else to be tortured. He changed his tune on that. He sure loves it NOW. But he sure never won any wars, EVER. If he thinks he can win Viet Nam all these years later by getting thousands more troops killed in Iraq and Iran, he really IS nuts.
He talks about the high price of gas and claims he "understands" people's frustration and says "I fly all over the world." Yeah. He's a millionaire, or at least his WIFE is. Whoever thinks for one minute he worries about the gas? If it goes to $1000 a barrel, he's not going to suffer. He flies all over the world in a PRIVATE JET, owned by his WIFE and couldn't care less what it costs.
He talks about "making the best automobiles in the WORLD, in AMERICA". Where the HELL has he been living for the last 20 years? Or did it conveniently slip his mind that most, if not all, of the American Auto Makers are building their cars overseas or in Mexico and all the other American factories have moved off shore or are planning to?
All these lies and BS and so many eat it all up.
Sickening.
Dear C&L,
I enjoy reading your website and get entertainment from right-wing shenanigans, but I think what this piece is the same thing as what right-wingers done to John Kerry in '04. Sen McCain served honorably in his military career, and we should leave it at that. We should judge him by his Senate record. Let's not stoop to the right-wings level, and elevate this discussion.
Sincerely,
Frank
The U.S. needs to get over it's fetish for the uniform. Yes McCain flew combat missions in Vietnam and that takes a certain amount of courage, but look at his policy positions. He's a neo-con to the bone, probably even more radical than Bush, if that's possible. Plus, the dude seems like he's getting senile. Look at the all the gaffes he's made in public speeches. He had to have Joe Lieberman correct him when he started talking about al-queda (sunni) terrorists from Iran, a shiite country.
McSame should never have been in that plane. Naval aviators are supposed to be the elite, not 5th from the bottom of their graduating class!!! BTW, the whole idea is to not get shot down!!! (And not "admit" to war crimes under torture). That's why we in the Army always referred to our purple hearts as "The enemy's marksmanship badge".
Given his achievements (?) , I'm reminded of the
Peter Principle and the phrase "failing upwards".
Let's see -- crashed 3 planes, then broke both arms when ejecting (cause he didn't keep his arms folded in) -- not what any employer would be rushing to name employee of the month -- now he gets a 100% disability rating and $55,000 a year disability! Check out how much the marine with 1 arm and no legs has to live on. Then even though his wife stood by him while a POW, he cheats on her and dumps her for the wealthy business woman -- she was half his age. He has the guts to call Obama eletist -- while in one interview can't recall if they own 7 homes or 8. Now I do occasionally misplace my keys -- (2 sets) -- but you are way out of the average in income and status when you can misplace an entire home. Of course then there is the Phil Gramm problem -- Phil was the point of the spear for the financial companies -- he inserted a 250 page amendment to allow Enron and all those mortgage companies to do business without government oversight and only a complete idiot can't see how badly that has trashed millions of folks lives. McCain actually wanted Phil to take care of financial stuff in McCain's administration -- I can't imagine the mischief -- O WAIT ! Selling the country and then leasing it back, yeah that might work! Go for it Phil.
McCain Shows Little Reason Why He Would Be Suited For Presidency.
The use of 'Record' in the tiitle was unneeded!
Erroll @ 10:
That's no excuse, he was only technically interrogated within the similar classification boundary of our govt to say those things. If he was torture then I would let it go.
Frank @ 47:
First, I fail to see where any part of this post peddled lies about anything about McCain or attacked his military record except for mentioning those few points about his military career that McCain himself has been willing to share - that he was an underachieving party boy who barely managed to graduate Annapolis whose commanding officer would have "predicted that [he] would be on probation instead of the United States Senate."
This post did not mention the rumors that swirl around the net that McCain was "singled out for softer treatment" as a prisoner or how he supposedly crashed 5 planes. It did not link to groups like 'Vietnam Veterans Against John McCain.' That probably would have been much like "the same thing as what right-wingers done to John Kerry" but I don't see anything like that in the post.
McCain is the one relying on his military career to make the case that he would be a better commander in chief than Sen Obama, yet much of McCain's military career is a mystery because he has refused to release his military records. The fact that the media relentlessly went after Kerry in 04 for not releasing his military records, but yet the media has John McCain's back should anyone even dare point out the obvious fact that his getting shot down is not an example of the leadership qualities expected of a President. It's something that has zero bearing - neither negative nor positive as it pertains to his qualification to become President - yet even when decorated military men try to point that out the media jumps to McCain's defense.
McCain should not be allowed to have it both ways. If he's going to rely on his military record to make the case he'd be a better commander in chief who knows "how to win wars," then shouldn't be required to give some form of an example to that effect? Why is it an attack in your view to merely ask such a thing?
This post did not attack McCain, it merely pointed out the fact that what little McCain has chosen to share of his military career does not paint McCain with the leadership qualities he and his media buddies pretend it does and it asks pertinent questions about his suitability for the highest office in the land.
Why is it too much to ask for McCain to release his military record?
To Mc Cains credit;..... if He was an underachiever......and was only 5th from the bottom at his naval academy class.....as alleged when he was young....what does that have to do with today fifty years later?
Don't get me wrong I do not agree with his current position and political platform and I am not going to vote for him for many reasons other than those that happened nearly half a century ago. My reasons are more current and more substantial. I evaluate him on his character; his achievements ; his voting records; and most importantly whether he is capable of being worthy of earning my vote. My prerequisite is so simple but to big of a demand for most of these "electable?" candidates that is being presented. First and foremost will he actually do as he pledged his oath of duty. Or is this the same of the old farts thats made a career of holding power that they have forgotten the whole objective of serving the people of this nation.
I required my President to Obey the Law of the Land and not to abuse that Power. I also require the House to perform their most important job of not only legislating laws that is good for the nation and our people but to do oversight and to make certain that the balance of power stays balance and to uphold the laws which were built and executed by their predecesors. The most important of all is to object any abuse of power and to respect the U.S. Constitution of Our Nation. McCain or Obama has yet to prove themselves capable of this. It take GREAT GREAT strenght and conviction to have such self dicipline. They are failing every single day it passes that they turn a blind eye to the crimes against our nation, our people and the WORLD.
Their ambition IS to power grab an unprecedented power that they will inherit from the lawlessness of Bush/Cheney Regime.
This IS not CHANGE..........this is a continuation of another round of high powered betrayals. I am not naive to this fact. I am not a fool..........IT IS BUSINESS AS USUAL in the politics of Washington, DIZZY
If WE TRULY want this nation to drive back to its rightful path..........perhaps WE should consider someone WE all know very well. Someone who has the record of standing up for the people. Someone who has accomplished countless achievement and whose achievement has had a direct impact to our lives.
Ralph Nadar is responsible for making sure that SAFETY and security is a top priority for our people. He is a pioneer and responsible for making sure that our planes trains and automobiles meets a certain SAFETY STANDARD. Everytime you pull your seatbelt, It is Ralph Nadar that was responsible. The baby carseats for your infant, he was responsible for that. The nutritional facts that you see in the labels of every consumer product out there, he is responsible for that. How many of you out there know this or if you do have forgotten it? He knows the kind of AMERICA we once was and his legacy and our safety that he was ardently fought for is being ruined or has been ruined by DEREGULATIONS of the lawless political whores that traded our safety and jobs for the highest corporate bidder that paid the price for ACCESS into the Capitol Hell.
Obama perhaps has taken for granted Mr. Naders achievements. What major laws had OBAMA or McCain voted for that clearly is consistent with the PEOPLE of United States and the WORLD? Yes, He has the charisma but lacks the character and the experience worthy to be the President of our GREAT NATION. What Achievement does he have in his resume that rose to the level of Ralph Nader's achievement? NONE
AMERICA has a GREATER STAKE than the POLITICAL STAKE of this insignificant political corporate puppets. Their only stake in this HIGH RISK GAME of GOVERNING is their own personal AMBITION to enrich themselves at the expense of the PEOPLE they serve. It is about the power that motivated them to be able to rip-off the tax-payer for a period that WE as a nation will be stuck with four four or perhaps eight years. LOOK AMERICA! look how much damage the BUSH/CHENEY reigme had accomplished? Look what Billary's NAFTA done to the security of our nations job? Look a flawed policy of an open door global market has done to pur economy? While the Corporate CEOs, the Commander and Chief, and his Executive Branch of government went away with bilking the system and leaving the tax-payer to pick-up the bill for many generations to come? Look WHAT they have DONE? Look WHAT WE have done by not holding our elected officials to account? While your elected official sit in a cushy job giving themselves raise and spending OUR tax dollar like money grows in trees when in fact they least pay for any of it themselves?
IS THIS CRAZY of WHAT?
I predicted the recession and depressions before they finally had the guts to admitted it. I predicted the fall of the Major mortgage banks. I predicted the bust of the real estate industry.
Here is another prediction: THE INSURANCE INDUSTRY will sooner or later be faced with some SERIOUS scandals.............It has already began several years ago. California's quasi-nonprofit workers comp industry is facing some serious scandals and the insiders are running 24/7 damage control. The INSIDER FRAUD committed by many high power official and their partners, WHITE COLAR CRIMINALS is facing some serious investigation. Many injured workers are getting hurt in the process. AND this industry will eventually see the effects as the consumer confidence fall to an all time low. Wall Steet has not seen NOTHING yet until it hits the MAIN STREETs.
The problem are NOT the hard working AMERICANS and working people of the WORLD. The problem IS at the TOP and WE the PEOPLE at the bottom are being HURT by IT.
IT's up to YOU AMERICA to restore confidence in our system. This can ONLY be done WHEN WE demand to RESTORE the RULE OF LAW. This begins by DEMANDING our elected officials to uphold what governs all of us....the United States Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
Avoiding this fundamental duty as a CITIZEN is RISKING the END of DEMOCRACY.
THAT IS OUR CHOICE AS A NATION.
WE EITHER UNITE in our collective approach to the PRINCIPLE WE AS A NATION are accustomed as part of our heritage or stand at the backdrop and watch our leaders destroy WHAT WE AS A NATION HAS WORKED SO HARD TO ATTAIN.......
The value of our dollars has dropped; Our economy is in serious trouble; Our laws are being ignored; the VALUE of our Property has DROPPED therefore our WEALTH has been recklessly diminished but most of ALL the VALUE of a human-being is just as disposable at the wimes of our corporate and elected officials. They have forgotten that without us (YOU and ME, people) they are NOTHING. WE are what makes a CORPORATION. WE are what makes a NATION. WE are what makes us FREE. And these ungrateful criminals ARE turning us into their own SLAVES.
This is NOT PROGRESS!........Wake UP AMERICA!.......Do something and call your employees ( Your Congressman and Senate). They are elected to work for YOU and to listen to YOU. They are failing!
Just as any EMPLOYERS would do when their employee is slacking-off. They FIRE them!.
Either YOU do something and hold them to account OR risk BANKrupting our NATION.
That IS OUR FUNDAMENTAL CHOICE. which is IT?
The only thing the above clip proves is that McBush was young once...
Who'da thunk it?
mccain says "i know how to win wars!!!!!" well so do i. there are several ways. have more soldiers, have bigger bombs and,.. oh yes, keep your planes in the air.
i would really like a president who knows how to make wars unnecessary. that's a little tougher.
It is so true that voting to put Senator McCain in office would more then likely be another huge mistake for this country.
In fact I seriously doubt we could even survive another republican president and for the sake of this country I truly hope that we understand this and do what we have to do to stop them from stealing another election.
It is so clear that a good 80% of us are in agreement, that we should vote for Senator Obama when the choice is him or Senator McCain, who simply cannot win with 20% of the American people supporting his ass.
Obama, may not be the perfect choice for some, but he is our only salvation for survival and I think we can all agree on that.
To assure we get this done, we are going to have to tune out the fake polling data and focus all of our attention on our election process and make sure the republicans, national media and corporate America are not in position to screw us out of this one.
It should be clear to all of us that they are working on something, as they continue to give us these trumped up polling data, and I don't give a dame that the data is coming from Zoby and some of these so called top rated polling firms and being spoon fed to us by our loyal gang in National Media.
The fact they would even place McCain's data anywhere near Senator Obama should send up the red flags.
Like most of these fools that give us our daily dose of so call political news and information, they are most likely being paid well for their consistent dirty deed of providing polling data that is simply bogus, garbage, just as they did to us in the 2000 and the 2004 elections, if any of you recall.
They attempt to keep the polling data between Obama and McCain, close so that when they screw us with the voting machines in these polling places, they can justify it by using the very polling data given to them by these corporate pollisters, just as they planned.
These sick, evil paid well media pundits, will be all over the networks lying like the dogs they are and telling us that McCain won in a close election all while showing us these fake paid in advance poll data presented to them by these equally corrupt pollsters, better known as Zogby and all the rest of them that many believe are on the up and up.
We have to wake up folks and be smarter then these ass holes or lose our entire country this time. There is no room for the bull shit games and we need to stay on top of these bastards or we will be watching this country completely cave in, with all of us included .
We all need to now be taking responsibility for these elections as our Congress, among other things did not do a good job of fixing these criminal elections departments and getting rid of those vile voting machines in 80% of our precincts.We can do this by contacting our State Elections Departments, and signing up to be poll workers. You can go on line and sign up as they are much needed, all over the country, and you can make a little change for doing it. About $150.00 is the average pay for that days work, that is well worth our time and we are present in these polling places to make sure that our votes are handled properly or notify the proper authorities when they are not.
KEATING FIVE TIDBIT
Cindy McCain was the Bookkeeper for the Keating Five.
Cindy became distraught when she couldn't present the receipts requested
from the Feds.
This terrible situation brought her back to her drug use.
The Keating Five Scandal cost American taxpayers over $2 Billion. (Big Bucks Back Then.)
However, Cindy's PRIDE IN AMERICA remained STRONG
as she was NEVER JAILED FOR HER BOOKKEEPING BOO-BOOS!
chele @ 3:
It's turned out really well for the 1% - and so they certainly want to do it again, so they can keep their snouts in the public trough and keep raking it into their Swiss bank accounts! Robber barons have always exploited the masses for their own greed and will continue to do it as long as the unions are run by compliant cronies and the working classes are lulled by the media cabal and kept divided by so-called religious issues. It's a great strategy for rape and pillage...just not as obvious as Darfur and Zimbabwee!
Was Senator McCain the only POW in American History?
If being tortured for 5+ years by the North Vietnamese qualifies McCain to be the next President, then there are more than 250 current and former Gitmo detainees from Afganistan that are qualified to be the next Afgan president. MZ
the parallels between McCain and Bush are really quite astonding....
both party boys who are not particularly bright... no real record of achievement, other than what was handed to them by family pedigree..
neither are really deep thinkers and operate mostly on gut, which can be wrong more often than not....
only real difference is that Bush just seems to go along with the crowd, while McCain is more of a rebel...
however, neither look particularly suited to be the President of the United States of America.... this is not the best America has to offer at this time....
we already took a chance on an idiot we would like to have a beer with, so where did this get us...
President Oldie McNasty.
I never really knew any of the details of the Keating scandal, but that description certainly fits right in with McCains M.O.
He's very adept at doing one thing, and saying another in public, even when people know what he's previously done. He gets away with it by speaking in a (disingenuous) monotone fashion and is willing to pretend like he's "learned his lesson this time and there's really no reason to go back and hash out that old stuff".
"Have I made some mistakes? Sure I have, but my friends, what's important now is that we look ahead, and I'm taking the lead in making sure that no one else gets away with what I've gotten away with. Thank you, my friends. Thank you."
By the end of that, most people are just tired and bored and don't really care any more. In other words, John McCain is pretty good at being a cynical politician.
MSM it's OK to rail incessantly about Michelle Obama and yet it's not kosher to bring up McCain's drug stealing wife
She threw her co-workers under the bus by filling out their names on stolen scripts That doesn't speak to her character at all NO NO NO!!!!!!
How many times can it be stated before people understand. The reasons McCain's background history does not make him qualified.
1) He got into Annapolis because his daddy was an Admiral.
2) Out of the multiple numbers of POW's released, he's the only one
that was classified nationally as "Hero because daddy was an
Admiral.
3) He won a congressional seat because daddy was an Admiral
and he was a "Hero".
4) He won a senate seat because daddy was an Admiral and he
was a "Hero".
How much longer can he present himself only by riding on the coat tails of his father? Pretty sickening.
could we QUIT HEARING that he was a "fighter pilot".... he was a FAILED BOMBER PILOT... whose experience was TO GET CAPTURED....
i know... a VET... YES...... and he served ... YES..... but so did MY IDIOT BROTHER-IN-LAW.... and i wouldn't loan him my lawn mower
To the original point.....
"Seriously, what part of John McCain’s past would lead anyone who actually looked at it to believe he’s the one who should lead this country forward?"
What exactly in Obama's past would have you believe that HE should be the one to lead this country either?
This is the same as the last election - 2 CRAPPY candidates.
Why can't we just find 2 DECENT candidates for once. /sigh
if McCain is going to run on his military record, why don't he release the tape he made as a POW? What does he have to hide?
just questions
Rand @ 69:
What we really need to do is scrap the whole electoral system and go back to the drawing board. In a country this large and this diverse, there should definitely be room in the political process for more than 2 parties and 2 major candidates for high office. And we should move to one person/one vote - and scrap the Electoral college.
The difficulty is that the entire government - executive, judicial and congressional branches - are bought and paid for by corporate/elitist folks. So, in our system the changes are supposed to be made through a legislative process - constitutional amendments, etc. - on the state and federal levels. Considering the folks currently occupying most of those seats, which ones do you think will vote to change the system and tkae the golden goose out of their own grasp?? Those who hold virtual dictatorial power will not let it go easily.
FrankSays@47
You are the type that loves to turn the other cheek. You must fight fire with fire. McCain is using his military record as a method to prove he's ready to be CINC. Then, use all of his record, the good, the bad and the ugly! It's his record, why shouldn't we know and use it?
just questions
I have a policy. Never ever ever trust a man who has white hair and black eyebrows.
I don't know why, I don't know if they're all genetically related, or part of the same Asshole Robot Collective or what, but every man I've ever met who had white hair and black eyebrows was a lying crook.
:)
Rand @ 69:
Very good point. The two major parties again trot out two candidates who are sucking up to Israel and the large corporations and are quite fond of engaging in bellicose rhetoric while the mainstream media again ignores two intelligent and viable third party candidates like Ralph Nader and Cynthia McKinney. Five will get you ten that any debates that take place this summer involving the presidential candidates will once again be devoid of seeing a third party candidate on stage with Obama and McCain. And that scenario would be quite fine with Obama and McCain, as the last thing they would want Americans to see and hear is how similar their positions are to each other while offering, with Nader and McKinney, a true left point of view.
Using this bar, neither Obama nor McCain (nor Hillary) are qualified to be president. Welcome to the age of diminished expectations and standards.
There's a precedent for underachievers getting to the top, you know. McCain is on the right track. I'd only worry for the fact that he actually flew planes in Vietnam, and didn't go AWOL. Otherwise he's a perfect candidate if recent history is any indication.
Well, considering George Pickett, the leader of the last disastrous Confederate charge at Gettysburg was last in the class of 1846 at West Point, at least McCain was not the goat of his class. But, I've read other accounts of his military service that makes me question whether he is qualfied to be a Commander-In-Chief.
Dhalgren @ 75:
What?
Obama came from nothing to graduate top of his class at Columbia University, then he went on to earn his law degree from Harvard in 1991, where he became the first African-American president of the Harvard Law Review. Then, instead of becoming a big corporate atty or ambulance chaser he became a civil rights lawyer, taught constitutional law, and volunteered for numerous community boards before running for office.
From there he has built the largest most powerful people powered base of constituents ever in the history of this country.
Let's compare his campaign constituency to McCain's:
Obama is EXACTLY the kind of person who ought to be President.
I have a question for anybody who thinks McCain's status as a former POW means he should be President.
I have a good friend that fought in Vietnam as a foot soldier. He engaged in actual fighting in the jungles, at times killing people who were trying to kill him. He has nightmares to this day. Is my friend less qualified to be President than McCain because he, unlike McCain, was never captured by the enemy? It is not an aspersion on McCain's record to say that getting captured by the enemy is not the standard to which all military men aspire, but even if we all agree that McCain is the greatest military hero this country has ever known that alone does not even make him a good person much less the person most qualified to lead our country. For example during the same war Duke Cunningham was without doubt a true war hero but that didn't stop him from becoming a pure crook later in life. McCain's service in Vietnam was honorable; his behavior since Vietnam, not so honorable.
Another proven liar and caught Reslug criminal.
VeeKaChu @ 2:
And he proved this by getting shot out of the sky and being held prisoner for 5 years.
"My plane is destroyed. The enemy is all around me. I'm in a tiny bamboo cage and there are bamboo splinters up my fingernails... By Golly, I've just won the war!!"
Would someone please track down the four guys who graduated from McCain's Annapolis class below him. My guess is they didn't become fighter pilots, one of the glamour jobs in the Navy.
BillD @ 82:
No graduates in the bottom 75% of their class in Annapolis ever get to become pilots (unless they're daddy is an admiral in charge)
By today's standards, McCain would most certainly never have been able to become a pilot after graduating in the bottom 1% of his class.
I wonder what the MSM would be talking about if Obama was deemed to have "poor judgement" by the ethics committee? hmmmmmmmm...........
chele @ 3:
Why do you think they are called the Grand Old Party.
John the Elder @ 5:
Ditto to all of the above!
Now I want to add my 2 cents worth. This wus had a dutiful wife (mother of his first three/four kids) that stood by him during the time he was captured. In fact, just knowing she was waiting for him gave him the courage to endure his captors. Yeah, right! His first better half suffered a car accident that left her much impaired right before his return home -- and then -- he started playing around with Cindy, left his first wife to marry Cindy and I think they have an additional 3 children. And there are people among us that actually like this pea-brain!! The man has no scruples!! He's just as worthless as GW.
many @ 6:
Sorry, I don't think his military record qualifies him to be president. He does indeed have a record of compromise. Unfortunately what he's compromised most in recent years has been his principles on issues of torture, tax cuts for the rich in a time of war, whether or not we should even invade Iraq before finishing what we started in Afghanistan. What of him calling Falwell an agent of intolerance and then going to kiss his ring last year. That's compromise alright. You might also call it capitulation.
If you don't like the site, you might want to make use of the internet and do your own research on his record. Then you'll understand why so many of us here don't think McCain should be elected. It has everything to do with his record. There's nothing Bill W said that can be proven wrong.
I do agree with your last sentence. The Democrats have no spine but at the very least they haven't declared full scale war on working class people for the past 30 years the way the repubs have.
Chris from Maine @ 9:
Here's a wild thought why is this huckleberry getting Social Security? Isn't he working two jobs, US Senator and running for president now? He has taken gold digging to a level I never thought possible, what a dishonor and disgrace
PROUD AMERICAN @ 55:
Amen, Nader all the way.
That being said, I hope progressives and all us like minded people don't stoop to swift boating McCain. That's not what we (I) do. Let his record speak for itself.
To the comments about my comment about McCain's military record being impressive: You may not find it impressive that a man is locked up and tortured for years on end and comes out with a will to live, that is your prerogative. But I do. That is my prerogative.
Do I think that necessarily qualifies him to be President? NO!
Do I think McCain should be President? NO!
But I'm not buying your Party mantra that all of a sudden he is this horrible man. Deeply flawed, yes. Always was. A lot of you kind of loved him not to terribly long ago. He was the Democrat's Republican. Kerry thought enough of him to be his number one choice for VP. A lot of you wanted to see that.
This country would have been better off if Kerry had won, but he didn't have the spine to stand up to the Bushies.
This country would have been much much better off if Gore had won but he didn't have the spine either.
Obviously, McCain doesn't have it either, otherwise how could he embrace the same people who trashed him so thoroughly for so long.
But you guys are vilifying the man in a way that is similar to the what the right does to your candidates. So great, you learned something from their playbook, but still can't elect candidates with a spine to stop enabling these people from trashing the constitution and sending this country down the proverbial toilet.
All spit, no backbone.
Then again, sometimes I suspect the Democrats don't actually give a crap about government by and for the people. What else can one think after the last eight years and hardly anyone has stood up to these thugs.
Many we seem to be in agreement on quite a few things. Yes, I don't think McCain's military record qualifies him to be president.
Clearly the reason many of us have a problem with him now when we didn't before is that he lost the principles he used to espouse. The McCain we all used to respect is no more. He's a hack so why don't you think we'd have a different opinion of him? You said it yourself. He's siding with the very people that trashed him.
As for Gore, he DID WIN. We might not have liked the way he ran his campaign but he won. What legal recourse did Gore have after Scalia and his cabal of fascists on the Supreme Court ruled that chimpy would be damaged if they continued to count votes. Clearly this was an egregious decision but what should Gore have done then? Should he have led a violent overthrow of the federal government?
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