Judge Him By His Own Words

Comments (11)

1. both McCain’s & Palin’s records/lack of being in touch with Both the TRUTH & Middle Americans is pathetic.
   While S.Palin will appeal/shore up some neo-con appeal, they are sure to alienate those who were having trouble with H.Clinton’s loss of the nomination.
   ‘I wonder how they sleep at night’….

2. Not just out of touch, but blatant, unsophisticated liars – especially Palin.

3. I hope that the American people will call McCain and Palin on their lies. If they get away with it and win the election then politicians will treat us as fools for the next twenty years.

4. You know, I’d tut-tut about this if didn’t have a sneaky suspicion that someone’s probably put out an almost identical video on Obama.

5. There is a lot to criticize about both parties but the notion that the short comings of both sides are commensurate is not rationally sustainable, Seth.

   Bill Clinton was not my favorite person but I have to admit that we were a lot better off during his government. Inflation was low, growth steady and the incomes of working Americans were increasing for the first time since the late seventies.

   Whatever the imperfections of Democrats, at least they are not waging war on science. They do have a minimum commitment to reality.

   Look at McCain and Palin, by contrast, they are still repeating the verfiable lie that she opposed the bridge to nowhere.

   Right now, we cannot even be sure if John McCain understands the difference between Sunnis and Shia. But the same man wants to pick wars with Iran and Russia while our bridges are falling down and American seniors have trouble paying the electricity bill.

   Whatever may be wrong with Obama, it does not rise to this level.

   It would sure be nice to have a really smart president for a change. We have enough to do with two wars, the financial system unraveling, the federal budget out of control and people losing buying power every month.

6. Look, I’m not a McCain supporter.

   It’s just that I know you can comb the record of ANY public individual and find plenty of instances of double-speak.

   I rarely ever reject a politician based on double-speak or “flip-flopping.” If I agree with his policies, I’ll elect him. If I don’t, I won’t.

   Consistency has nothing to do with it.

7. I would agree if you had said that there are good reasons to change one’s mind. In many cases, mental flexibility is a virtue, which might include learning and adaptation to new conditions.

   I am not sure that your rejection of consistency is on target.

   If the proper way to choose a candidate is to review his or her views, consistency would have to be relevant, wouldn’t it?

   You cannot simultaneously be for and against the Bush tax cuts and the resulting budget deficit at the same time.

   Finally, I am sure that it is possible to produce an embarrassing video of Barack Obama but nothing close to this.

   Reality matters and McCain is no longer striving for reality.

8. Hey, if you’re looking for someone to defend McCain, I definitely ain’t your man. I’ve got enough to argue about on the internet without adding this to the pile.

9. You are a good guy, Seth. 😉

10. I rarely ever reject a politician based on double-speak or “flip-flopping.”

    Right, but this is more than changing his policy or tailoring his message.

    You know, I’d tut-tut about this if didn’t have a sneaky suspicion that someone’s probably put out an almost identical video on Obama.

    This is the reaction the McCain campaign is banking on:

    “Of course they lie, both sides lie. I don’t care if they lie. If lying is what it takes for my team to win, then lie away!”

    I know you (Seth) are not specifically defending McCain, and I’m not trying to pick on you here. But I think this particular attitude has become the norm, and it dramatically benefits politicians who don’t even bother to try not to blatantly lie right and left over politicians that are fundamentally honest.

    I saw a great article about it today here:

    McCain and Palin are doing something interesting. They’ve apparently decided that if the media covers only controversy and that the media will not call people on lies, but dutifully report “both sides,” then they’re going to just lie and see what happens. They get to not only frame the debate, but take ideal positions having nothing to do with reality.

11. You said it so much better than me, Chanson.