McCain’s experience is not what we want
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Ron Charest
Published: June 20, 2008
The Republican presidential nominee, John “Older than the Golden Gate Bridge” McCain, has a lot of government experience.
As of May 21, Senator McCain had 115 lobbyists helping his presidential campaign by either working or raising money for him. McCain’s chief political advisor Charlie Black built his career by
representing the world’s most savage and genocidal dictators, along with “good neighbor” corporations that include Blackwater and Phillip Morris.
McCain’s economics advisor, former Sen. Phil Gramm, was advising McCain on his subprime mortgage policy while Gramm was also a registered lobbyist for the Swiss bank UBS. UBS has serious
financial problems from the subprime mortgage crisis and is currently under federal investigation for marketing tax-evasion schemes to wealthy U.S. clients.
McCain survived the Keating Five scandal of the 1980s, made campaign finance reform one of his signature concerns, and during his primary campaign violated the finance laws he helped write.
McCain supported President Bush’s veto of a bill that would have prohibited waterboarding. He supports President Bush’s program of warrantless wiretapping, and supports retroactive immunity for
telecommunication companies involved in violating federal wiretapping laws.
McCain has voted many times in opposing abortion and other reproductive rights. Planned Parenthood gives him a zero rating on women’s health issues, the lowest possible senate rating. The NARAL
president, Nancy Keenan, has been quoted as stating, “Voters need to know that John McCain is not only against abortion, he is against birth control.”
As a veteran and former POW, McCain has voted only 30 percent of the time in support of veterans funding bills, according to the nonpartisan “Disabled Americans for America.” McCain, along with
President Bush, actively opposes the current bi-partisan Webb/Hagel veteran’s bill which would provide full tuition and housing costs at a four-year public university for veterans who have served at least
three years of active duty.
Although he opposes increasing veteran’s benefits, McCain does support a permanent troop presence in Iraq and new military action against Iran.
Is this the experience we want in a president? I don’t think so.
RON CHAREST
Dale City
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Reader Reactions
Posted by ( RonCharest ) on June 23, 2008 at 12:32 pm
MikeG,
Based on the “discussion” threads I’ve engaged in, here in these forums, I’d say the Conservative side of the house has a lock on being mean, nasty, abusive, and just plain insulting. I include in this list the “blockhead” comment you directed towards me awhile back.
People who can’t handle heat should refrain from shooting flames.
As far as typing, spelling, and grammar, I agree with jVA. If people can’t bother taking the time to spell and grammar check their posts before clicking “submit,” it must mean they don’t take what they write very seriously. Why, then, should anybody else?
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Posted by ( MikeG ) on June 22, 2008 at 8:29 am
Things are getting nasty on this forum. JVA, you’re swooping dangerously close to PhDee’s level of relevance when you start slinging your mud at everyone who disagrees with you. Please quit trying to score points by complaining about someone else’s typing skills. As with you, emotions can run high when folks read your posts (I will hesitate to say BS, as you often do); I can understand if their typing skills suffer as a results. You have a real point? Make it. You just want to attack because you can’t think of anything else to say? Keep it to yourself, or correspond with PhDee; he’ll commiserate with you.
As to your “point”...yes, McCain’s age is a valid discussion point, but not “qualifier.” I happen to believe that he is emminently qualified for the position, and his age isn’t a factor, beyond his long term health prospects which admittedly are a valid topic of “discussion.”
In spite of your attempts to the contrary, you haven’t detailed with facts one instance of McCain suffering any age-related memory loss, or cognitive skills in general. As for his cancer, that was skin cancer, which many people much younger than McCain suffer from and are successfully treated for...just like he was.
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Posted by ( Godsaveus ) on June 20, 2008 at 3:27 pm
Jva like another kool-aid drinker It will be good if you read RCH article again because he post ...."McCain has voted many times in opposing abortion and other reproductive rights..”
If you want we can talk about China too.
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Posted by ( Godsaveus ) on June 20, 2008 at 3:13 pm
When McCain make mistakes is because he is old, when Obama make mistakes is because he is tired,come on!!! By the way Obama do not bring any credentials, shame on him because he throw out of the bus his Reverend only for political ambition there is not loyalty who is next?
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Posted by ( RonCharest ) on June 20, 2008 at 2:46 pm
Godsaveus,
Age is not the same issue as color of a person’s skin. Age is an issue of McCain’s general health and mental agility for handling what has been called “the most difficult job on this planet.”
McCain has had four bouts of cancer in the past few years, general health issues ever since he returned from Vietnam, and is currently showing indications that he can’t remember his position on given issues from one day to the next. The issue of McCain’s age and whether he’ll perform his job we elect him to do should be a qualifier. Health and physical capabilities are a legitimate qualifier for every other job in America.
Oh, and those Democratic Senators you mentioned involved in the Keating Five - they’re all out of office now. If I rememeber correctly, the Keating Five Scandal was key in those people either resigning, not running again, or losing re-election.
‘Cuse me while I go change bathrobes and grab another doughnut.
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Posted by ( raywilliams ) on June 20, 2008 at 2:45 pm
willow703 said “I’d much rather have a president who may die in office than a president, who may through naivety ..”
I agree willow. We must evaluate John McCain’s choice of running mate before considering whether to cast our vote for McCain/VP Candidate as our next president.
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Posted by ( jVA ) on June 20, 2008 at 2:35 pm
Come on, man. If you really believe Fox News is in anyway fair and balanced, you haven’t just been drinking the kool aid, I suspect you’ve been shooting it up between your toes.
I don’t think there is any doubt that MSNBC has swung drastically to the left. Olbermann started making some them some money, and they’re following the cash. I have no delusions about their editorial slant.
I like these posts from Godsaveus BTW. You could be discussing the price of cheese in China, and he’ll somehow swing it back to abortion.
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Posted by ( RonCharest ) on June 20, 2008 at 2:28 pm
If only I could sit home in my bathrobe all day, munching doughnuts, surfing the ‘net and posting comments guaranteed to make wingnut heads explode...sigh…
You might want to rethink that comment on Pork spending, Col Stryker. One person’s “Pork” may be another person’s critical project.
The Des Moines Register (as in Des Moines, Iowa, for those geographically challenged) reported that last year, Sen. McCain opposed a bill, and later supported Pres. Bush’s veto, that included money for flood control in Des Moines. McCain’s basis for opposition was that the bill included too much “Pork,” including the money earmarked for Des Moines.
For those who may have been spending too much time in their bathrobes busy sending out flame mail, Des Moines has recently been flooded due to inadequate levis.
I’m not sure, but I suspect Sen. McCain can pretty much write off Iowa’s votes come November. If he continues to oppose benefits packages for veterans, and continues to push for “all war, all the time,” he may lose (more) veterans as well.
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Posted by ( jVA ) on June 20, 2008 at 2:23 pm
“Hey jVA, your spouting typical BS from a slanted view. McCain wouldn’t support those “veterans funding bills” because of the pork attached to them. “
Boo hoo. Sounds a lot like John Kerry’s “I voted for the $87 billion before I voted against it”, doesn’t it?
Republicans didn’t want nuance then. Why should I allow them nuance now? I hope you all enjoy hearing about how McCain voted against veteran’s benefits for the next five months.
By the way, what is the problem with you Republicans and your writing skills? I see you guys complaining about the education system, and yet you don’t know the difference between “your” and “you’re”, or you think “ridiculous” is spelled “rediculous”.
I don’t know how to take you people seriously when you have the writing skills of sixth graders. Frankly, your all rediculous.
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Posted by ( Godsaveus ) on June 20, 2008 at 2:11 pm
I am not a McCain supporter but I do not like the hypocrisy and how easy is for some people to judge someone else. The Obama campaign is using the age card against McCain in the same way they use the color and the gender car to disqualified the opponent, this is a cheap , dishonest and show ignorance of the human being. In your article, you use the same despicable tactics than moveon.org, attack-giving part or twisting the truth. One thing that makes a difference an older person from a youngest according to medical studies is that the older person use two sides of the lobe frontal and the younger only one side, increasing his mental capability. Your intention to picture lobbyist like something bad is another piece of demagogy use for democrats, lobbyist are part of the political world and work for you too; lobbing for you against drilling offshore . Obama has lobbyist too. Only McCain was dismissed with no charges in the case of Keating Five, and he is still in Senate, while other four all Democrats Senators, Alan Cranston, D-Calif., Dennis DeConcini, D-Ariz., John Glenn, D-Ohio, John McCain, R-Ariz., and Donald Riegle, D-Mich.. His position to the abortion is the same position of all that believe that the unborn baby is a person too. Probably you are the ones the support a bill that allowed a 13 years old minor to abort without parental notification. And what is Planned Parenthood other than organization that promote the abortion and use racist practices, accepting contributions oriented to black teenagers.
The IG bill promoted for Webb, Hegel, Warner is a piece of legislation oriented to discourage volunteer to do more tours giving the same benefits with the consequence of the reduction of the troops and end the war. McCain oppose and endorse another bill that give more benefits according to the time of service plus give more benefits to the families.
Shame on you Mr. Charest , if you want CHANGE speak with the truth.
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