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Conservatives Warming to McCain?
Yes, there is a little bit of a thaw, as this article at the Politico points out:
"Conservatives have been comfortable with assurances that I've given them and Sen. Brownback has given them," said Olson.
A factor that weighs heavily in McCain's favor is his Senate record. Judicial issues haven't been his trademark, but he has consistently supported conservative Supreme Court nominees. In 1987 he spoke on behalf of embattled Reagan Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork, saying he supported him "without any hesitation." In recent years McCain has voted for every one of Bush's judicial nominees.
"He voted for Alito and Roberts despite the fact that he had to know they would vote to strike down McCain-Feingold," said Levey. "That addresses the concern that he might not appoint strict constructionist judges who are more likely to oppose McCain-Feingold."
While it's helpful to point that out, it doesn't do that much for me. The fact is, that supporting the president's appointments to the Supreme Court is the very least that should be expected from a Republican senator, it would be unthinkable if he didn't. Roberts was confirmed by 78 senators out of a 100 and all Republicans. Alito drew one Republican defection, Lincoln Chaffee, who later on became officially the Democrat he already was.
So yeah, no points from me for McCain's stock vote on the Supreme Court. Far more important was his service as part of the gang of 14 to derail many of the Bush appointees in trade for Democrats willingness to appoint a few. And it's exactly that crossing the aisle trademark that has conservatives edgy. Oh they'll come around, but warm is a relative term.
Recent Comments
(Page 1 of 1)Henry10:42AMJun 30th 2008
REPLACE-DEMS-IN-CONGRESS,
Your same repative comment demonstrates a lack of education and common sense. The Republicans do not want you either.
John10:57AMJun 30th 2008
John McCain, the second term Republican senator from Arizona and former Navy pilot captured and held prisoner during the Vietnam War, is a fraud, collaborator, and danger to the security of the United States.
McCain, who claims he was brutally tortured by the communist Vietnamese, ironically emerged, as early as 1986, as Hanoi's leading advocate for normalized relations with the United States.
McCain's high-profile and unrelenting support for a government that brutally tortured and murdered his fellow POWs has caused POW/MIA family members and fellow Vietnam veterans to question the senator and his motivations.
They ask what drives McCain, who owes his public life to the tag "former POW," to work so hard for Hanoi and so diligently to discredit any possibility, in fact the probability, that Hanoi held back live U.S. prisoners of war after the 1973 prisoner release.
The POW/MIA families point out that they worked hard during the Vietnam War to secure POW McCain's freedom when he was being held by the communists and the families want to know why he is now betraying them today in their efforts to get answers about their missing loved ones.
From the first days of McCain's captivity, he seriously violated the military Code of Conduct, which outlines the basic responsibilities and obligations of members of the Armed Forces of the United States who have been captured by the enemy.
According to documentation obtained by the U.S. Veteran Dispatch, not only did POW McCain promise to give the communists "military information" in exchange for special hospital care not ordinarily available to U.S. prisoners, but he also made numerous antiwar radio broadcasts.
Article V of the Code of Conduct is very specific in declaring that U.S. military personnel are required to avoid answering questions to the utmost of their ability and to make no oral or written statements disloyal to the United States and its allies or harmful to their cause. Any violation of this code is considered collaborating with the enemy.
The following is McCain's own admission of collaboration in an article he wrote, printed May 14, 1973 in U.S. News and World Report:
"I think it was on the fourth day [after being shot down] that two guards came in, instead of one. One of them pulled back the blanket to show the other guard my injury. I looked at my knee. It was about the size, shape and color of a football. I remembered that when I was a flying instructor a fellow had ejected from his plane and broken his thigh. He had gone into shock, the blood had pooled in his leg, and he died, which came as quite a surprise to usa man dying of a broken leg.
Then I realized that a very similar thing was happening to me.
"When I saw it, I said to the guard, `O.K., get the officer.'
"An officer came in after a few minutes. It was the man that we came to know very well as `The Bug.' He was a psychotic torturer, one of the worst fiends that we had to deal with. I said, `O.K., I'll give you military information if you will take me to the hospital.'"
McCain claims it was only a coincidence that, about the same time he was begging to be taken to a hospital, the Vietnamese learned his father was Admiral John S. McCain, Jr., commander of all U.S. forces in Europe and soontobe commander of all U.S. forces in the Pacific, including Vietnam.
McCain has admitted that he survived only because the Vietnamese learned who his father was and rushed him to a hospital where his wounds were eagerly treated. He has also conceded that the Vietnamese repeatedly threatened to withhold much needed operations unless he would give them information.
The former POW admitted in the U.S. News and World Report article that the Vietnamese usually left other U.S. prisoners with similar wounds to die, not wishing to waste medication on them. McCain pointed out "there were hardly any amputees among the prisoners who came back because the North Vietnamese just would not give medical treatment to someone who was badly injured. They weren't going to waste their time."
The communists figured that because POW McCain's father was of such high military rank, McCain was of royalty and the governing circle. They bragged that they had captured "the crown prince" and treated him as a "special prisoner."
"Dr. Fernando Barral, a Spanish psychiatrist residing in Cuba, returned from the Democratic Republic of Vietnam . . . he brought back some journalistic news: an interview with a North American pilot captured in the DRV after bombing Hanoi on 26 October 1967. The meeting between him and the pilot took place in an office of the Committee for Foreign Cultural Relations in Hanoi. The pilot interviewed is Lt Cmdr John Sidney McCain [left], son and grandson of American Navy Admirals.
"In the course of the interview, on various occasions he showed that knowledge of the language, saying some words, dates, and so forth in Spanish, or [using it] when he thought the interpreter was seeking the corresponding French word.
"Naturally, from the beginning this established a more direct communication between us, and more than one question or my response was made directly in Spanish." Havana Granma January 24, 1970
U.S. Veteran Dispatch Editor's note: In case you missed it, McCain's meeting with the Cuban "took place in an office of the Committee for Foreign Cultural Relations in Hanoi" away from the POW camp.
When Col. Bui Tin, a former Senior Colonel in the North Vietnamese Army (he had actually interrogated McCain and other U.S. prisoners) testified before the Senate Select Committee on POW/MIA Affairs in 1992, McCain did not display that same "pit bull" inclination to attack as he did when the POW/MIA families and activists were testifiying.
During a break in the hearing, Sen. McCain moved to where Col. Bui Tin was seated and warmly embraced him as if he were a long lost brother.
Sen. John McCain (left) warmly greeted Vietnam Prime Minister Vo Van Kiet (right) during a 1992 visit to Hanoi. Kiet was a ranking communist party member of the secret Central Committee of the former National Liberation Front (Viet Cong), and was part of the elite clique responsible for setting policies and directing the communist war waged against the prodemocracy Vietnamese as well as U.S. forces in South Vietnam.
As a senior Central Committee member, Kiet ordered American POWs to be punished by execution and helped formulate the Vietnamese communist policy which resulted in the murder of thousands of proU.S. South Vietnamese in Hue during the Tet Offensive of 1968. Communist Party henchmen executed over 5,000 men, women, and children, burying many of them alive in mass graves during the brief time North Vietnamese troops held that historic ancient Vietnamese city.
July 11, 1995 Sen. Jonh McCain, R-Ariz., (right), and Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., (center), gave President Bill Clinton, (left), the valuable political cover he needed to remove the U.S. imposed trade embargo against communist Vietnam. All major U.S. veterans organizations, the two POW/MIA family groups, and the majority of VietnameseAmericans in this country opposed Clinton's lifting of the embargo.
Senator McCain (left) is pictured above embracing Mai Van On in Hanoi, November 13, 1996. On identified himself as one of the Vietnamese who pulled McCain from Hanoi's Truc Bach Lake, where McCain parachuted in 1967 after his bomber was shot down. McCain has said, many times, that, after pulling him from the lake, the Vietnamese brutally beat him and stabbed him with a bayonet.
Henry12:06PMJun 30th 2008
John,
McCain, based on his political views and policy is not right for America. However, his pow days should remain off the table. Anyone could break with enough pressure/pain. He has served his country well in the military aspect. As far as his family life, well, it speaks for itself.
Obama 08
David S.2:00PMJun 30th 2008
Yeah, it remains to be seen, as you say. Obviously Supreme Court nominees routinely break along party lines. As to Robert Bork, having seen this guy not long ago in an interview, I am convinced Congress was right not to nominate him in 1987. To say he is an extemist is an insult to extremists.
But the Supreme Court is rarely mentioned when discussing Obama or McCain - it stands to reason there could possibly be a vacancy in the next four years. The justices who vote routinely on the left are the oldest members of the court - and conservatives are salivating. Particular the pro-lifers itching to overturn Roe v. Wade. I am not so convinced that is something McCain is itching to do, however. Elected Republicans routinely pay lip service to 'pro-life' issues but they know well that overturning Roe v. Wade would cause a huge backlash towards their party. It is not just a matter of turning abortion back to the states - it stands to reason that abortion would become illegal in large areas of the country.
REPLACE-DEMS-IN-CONGRESS5:15PMJun 30th 2008
THE DEMS IN CONGRESS “SELECTED” OBAMA — HE WAS NOT “ELECTED” BY THE PEOPLE.
Obama has no experience on any political topic. His foreign experience is vacationing with his family on a beautiful island.
Read Obama’s books. This bi-racial man, who claims to be ‘black’ is a threat to our country.
From ‘Dreams of My Father’: “I never emulate white men and brown men whose fates didn’t speak to my own. It was into my father’s image, the black man, son of Africa, that I’d packed all the attributes I sought in myself, the attributes of Martin and Malcolm, DuBois and Mandela.”
From ‘Audacity of Hope’: “I WILL STAND WITH THE MUSLIMS SHOULD THE POLITICAL WINDS SHIFT IN AN UGLY DIRECTION.”
Early this year, Obama said: “Don’t tell me that words don’t matter”. His words on various topics keep changing. He has lost all credibility. OBAMA SIMPLY CANNOT BE TRUSTED.
John McCain does have foreign policy experience. In fact, he has more political experience on every topic than the ‘wanna be’.
McCain served our country during the Viet Nam War. He proved he loved our country enough to die for us. He has served in the Senate for 20 years.
Vote McCain in 2008.
P.U.M.A.9:15PMJun 30th 2008
PUMA:
P arty
United
M y
A $$
Go to: www.riverdaughter.wordpress.com
Obama is the perfect example of the classic politician, (of the worst kind) with the media’s full support. The media has turned a blind eye, to him, because, he is BLACK. The media just may elect him, a man with no credentials for the position. The media and the far left,will say, we finally have a black president. America is not a racist nation, see. America the new symbol for hypocracy. We need to replace dems in Congress.
VOTE McCAIN IN 2008 --- HILLARY IN 2012.
COUNTRY-NOT-PARTY9:44PMJun 30th 2008
P arty
U nited
M y
A $$
Obama was "selected" by the DNC and biased media --- not "elected" by the people. We need to replace the dems in Congress.
If you're anti-Obama and your goal is that he isn't elected POTUS, then a McCain supporter should be someone you'd want on-board. If you want Obama defeated, it sure as hell isn't going to happen without McCain supporters.
I pledge not to vote for Barack Obama (now or ever). When it's a question of Party or Country, I choose Country.
I'm sure all Hillary Supporters will be welcomed back to the Party in good standing as soon as they support Sen. Obama for President. I realize it may irritate one or two people when I put it that way. But I'm trying to be realistic about how the Democratic "game" works.
VOTE COUNTRY --- NOT PARTY.
VOTE McCAIN IN 2008.
ANYBODY-BUT-OBAMA10:06PMJun 30th 2008
U.S. money for Russia is linked to Iran nuclear plant.
Guess who's bill funded this program.... Little Obamas
No wonder the Russians call Obama the CLUELESS PUPPET IN INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/02/06/mideast/nuke.php
VOTE FOR JOHN McCAIN IN 2008.
none-of-the-above6:15AMJul 1st 2008
Niether of the two major candidates are going to bring us anything other than lies, recession, and war.
Obama is a socialist and McCain is a criminal (war and civil).
Think outside the two party system. That is our only hope. I know everyone says that it is impossible for anyone other than a republicrat to get elected and it is as long as everyone thinks that way. This is a country founded on revolution and the last one we had was far too long ago.
Stop being sheep and fight for liberty.
REPLACE-DEMS-IN-CONGRESS8:13AMJul 1st 2008
ACTUALLY, CLARK'S REMARKS HIGHLIGHT JOHN McCAIN'S SACRIFICES, SUPPORT AND SUPPORT TO OUR COUNTRY.
SHAME ON FORMER GENERAL CLARK --- HIS REMARKS ARE DISGUSTING. HE HAS TURNED OUT TO BE UNPATRIOTIC. HAS HE CONTRACTED DEMENTIA?
HE SAID McCAIN HAS NO 'EXECUTIVE' EXPERIENCE. WHAT A JOKE! --- BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA HAS ABSOLUTE NO EXPERIENCE IN ANY TOPIC. NOBODY KNOWS WHO OBAMA IS! READ HIS BOOKS.
HAD THE DNC AND BIASED MEDIA TOLD THE TRUTH ABOUT THEIR 'GOLDEN BOY' BAMA BEFORE OVER HALF OF AMERICA HAD VOTED --- HE WOULD NOT BE THE DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE --- HILLARY WOULD.
JOHN McCAIN HAS PROVEN HE LOVES OUR COUNTRY ENOUGH TO DIE FOR IT. HE HAS TWO SONS FIGHTING FOR US NOW.
OBAMA HAS NEVER SERVED OUR COUNTRY. HE HAS TOLD TOO MANY LIES AND HAS TOO MANY TIES TO TERRORISTS AND ANTI-AMERICANS.
VOTE FOR JOHN McCAIN IN 2008.
NO-BAMA10:53AMJul 1st 2008
Obama to expand Bush's faith-based programs
By JENNIFER LOVEN, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 43 minutes ago
CHICAGO - Reaching out to evangelical voters, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama is announcing plans that would expand President Bush's program steering federal social service dollars to religious groups and — in a move sure to cause controversy — support their ability to hire and fire based on faith.
http://news. yahoo.com/ s/ap/20080701/ ap_on_el_ pr/obama_ faith;_ylt= AooW3gt5sWeN2zd9 avPk0sGs0NUE
MAYBE OAMA SHOULD BE HIRED OR FIRED BASED ON REV. JEREMIAH WRIGHT, PFLEGER, AYERS, ETC.?????
BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA CANNOT BE TRUSTED.
VOTE JOHN McCAIN IN 2008.
REPLACE-DEMS-IN-CONGRESS11:08AMJul 1st 2008
Had the DNC and biased media told the truth about Obama BEFORE half of America had voted — he would not be a candidate — Hillary would be.
When Clark was running for President he was using his military experience as a reason that he would make a good president — ‘typical’ political hypocrite.
At one point I had some respect for former Gen. Clark. I no longer have any respect for him. His comment is disgusting. John McCain has more character in his little finger than former Gen. Clark or Obama have combined.
This latest stupid comment by an Obama surrogate highlights another reason why the media poster boy, Obama, is not the one to lead our country.
Clark says we should not vote for McCain, JUST BECAUSE he was a prisoner of war — I say we should not vote for Barack Hussein Obama JUST BECAUSE he is black. Obama has no experience in ‘anything’. His entire campaign has been based on lies.
It’s getting very crowded under the Obama bus. If he keeps going this way, he’ll have to get some more buses.
Let’s see the Obama list of un-Americans that support him is growing….We can now add Clark to the List of Ayers, Wright, Pfleger, Farrakhan, Hamas, Soros, Hezbollah on and on . . .
Vote for John McCain in 2008!
Splash3:23PMJul 1st 2008
Pay no attention to the old man behind the curtain.
Wisdom tells us not to give much credence to what a politician says in the year leading up to his potential election.
McCain is no different than Obama. He has decided, as a matter of expediency, that he had a better chance of getting elected on Republican money than he did on Liberal money.
Libs are far less tolerant when one of "their own" strays from the clan over this issue or that. Case in point: Joe Lieberman. Poor Joe made the mistake of adhering to the truth rather than pandering to the anti-war stance of the liberal rank and file. He wouldn't stand on the side of wrong even if it meant lining up with the enemy - W.
Republicans are far more forgiving of maverick behavior because they are more of a loose group rather than a philosophy. To be a democrat is, for the most part, to be a liberal, striving to gain party power at all costs - even the truth. "For the good of the Party" is all we heard from the Hillary drop out" movement.
The Republican party is more of an alliance between pseudo-conservatives and true conservatives and others.
Make no mistake; it was the conservative movement that tried to promote itself through the two party system and chose The Republican Party, because they thought they could turn it (the party) into them (the philosophy). They were wrong.
Reagan tried as president, but needed conservative dems (Reagan Democrats) to succeed, which simply watered down the effort.
Bush 1 was no conservative, kowtowing to the liberal congress over tax hikes (which they later, and rightly so, used against him) and abandoning the Campaign to capture Saddam (would have saved us a lot of trouble now if Bush 1 was Reagan 2).
Newt tried as congressional leader, and did pretty well. The problem was that many of those Republicans who signed onto his Contract With America were doing so for political expediency. Once they won and got a taste of power, they wanted to maintain it. The need, the thirst to stay in power, turned their focus on reelection efforts through runaway spending. It was very sad, indeed.
And then we got W. Hardly the conservative he said he was, but a really good whipping boy for the Libs.
Conservatives need their own party; one that is rooted in their philosophy of fiscal responsibility and prudence. This is a party for whose nomination McCain couldn't even compete. This new party would draw candidates that were committed IN THEIR OWN INDIVIDUAL PHILOSOPHIES to cut spending, reduce taxes, defend the country and covet America's interest and basic principles of Freedom around the world and in every decision they made as an elected official. A party that would lack a tolerance for and, in fact, reject those members who strayed from the basic philosophies that rooted themselves in our countries best interests.
It isn't a bad practice what the Dems did to Joe, it was just for the wrong reasons and over the wrong ideals. In order to comply, Joe would have had to deny the truth. In the new Conservative Party, Joe's adherence to the truth would have been commended and might even have gain him the nomination (but, of course, he has his other problems).
However, more abominable than what the Dems did to Joe is what conservatives seem willing to accept from John. The lesser of two evils is still evil.
Don't do it! The Conservative movement as we know it is DEAD! We need a do over. Start with the philosiphy, attract your candidates, get elected one at a time until you have the majority and can finally show the people of this country something they have never seen before - The USA under the leadership and guidance of conservative principles that have a chance of making it through congress and to the president's desk (and signature) without having to buy their way through the process.
Until it is done this way, the public will always be under the false impression that Conservative ideals had a 12 year chance while the Republicans were in power and blew it.
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REPLACE-DEMS-IN-CONGRESS9:20AMJun 30th 2008
THE DEMS IN CONGRESS “SELECTED” OBAMA — HE WAS NOT “ELECTED” BY THE PEOPLE.
Obama has no experience on any political topic. His foreign experience is vacationing with his family on a beautiful island.
Read Obama’s books. This bi-racial man, who claims to be ‘black’ is a threat to our country.
From ‘Dreams of My Father’: “I never emulate white men and brown men whose fates didn’t speak to my own. It was into my father’s image, the black man, son of Africa, that I’d packed all the attributes I sought in myself, the attributes of Martin and Malcolm, DuBois and Mandela.”
From ‘Audacity of Hope’: “I WILL STAND WITH THE MUSLIMS SHOULD THE POLITICAL WINDS SHIFT IN AN UGLY DIRECTION.”
Early this year, Obama said: “Don’t tell me that words don’t matter”. His words on various topics keep changing. He has lost all credibility. OBAMA SIMPLY CANNOT BE TRUSTED.
John McCain does have foreign policy experience. In fact, he has more political experience on every topic than the ‘wanna be’.
McCain served our country during the Viet Nam War. He proved he loved our country enough to die for us. He has served in the Senate for 20 years.
Vote McCain in 2008.