I agree that apart from the Republican base the general feeling here about Palin is that she just doesn’t know very much at all, seems ‘dangerous’ because of her views/policies which is very worrying seeing as McCain has had health issues. Also her unwillingness to open herself up to the media like the sunday shows(unless scripted or on Fox) to answer any questions just makes her seem shady and yet she is out there on the campaign trail asking the question ‘ who is Obama?!!’ to rile up crowds.

McCain WAS tortured in Vietnam in contravention of the Geneva Convention

My things sure have changed in 8 years.

That is true. Funny how he was all mavericky against torture because he endured it in the beginning of his captivity, and then this year – he decided against ban of waterboarding, and basically went along with Bush’s “enhanced” interrogation techniques. Yes, things have changed in the last 8 years, and his inclusion of Sarah Palin – who is utterly unqualified – is a testament of that.

Though I *do* believe John McCain is a corrupted man since the beginning. He was one of the Keating 5, in which he successfully managed to stop an investigation of a guy who paid his vacation and offered him a lot of gifts – and which costed the tax payers billions of dollars because of that. And his campaign has been run almost exclusively by lobbies, many of whom were pay hefty sums to have access to McCain.

No? Ok, stop laughing you lot at the back…

It doesn’t take long for you to resort to racial slurs. Classy.

Even you must be repelled by some of the sexist, misogynistic drivel aimed at Palin. You don’t like her politics, fine, criticise her for that. Don’t call people stupid. It lowers the tone of the whole conversation.

McCain WAS tortured in Vietnam in contravention of the Geneva Convention. I thought lefties were against torture. Bush didn’t fight in Vietnam you call him a draft dodger, McCain did you call him a war criminal. It seems GOP presidential candidates can’t win either way.

This is what Rolling Stone wrote about McCain in 2000.

The fact is that John McCain is a genuine hero of the only kind Vietnam now has to offer, a hero not because of what he did but because of what he suffered — voluntarily, for a Code. This gives him the moral authority both to utter lines about causes beyond self-interest and to expect us, even in this age of Spin and lawyerly cunning, to believe he means them.

My things sure have changed in 8 years.

What a fucking hypocrite!

Well said it, Douglas.

What are you trying to say here?

Everything about a candidate at election time is relevant including their personal life. I’m not denying that.

So, getting shot down over Viet Nam, firstly because he flew too low and secondly, if he had a moral bone in his body, because he shouldn’t have been there in the first place, makes him a sainted, but slightly fucked up bomber pilot? And an American icon?

It is a miracle that there wasn’t someone on the ground to, oh, I don’t know, deny him his rights. Or kill him on the spot.

Perhaps North Vietnam lacked an adequate anti missile shield of Republican lawyers. Primed to deny John McCain any sort of rights. But he survived that moment, didn’t he? No-one killed him, and frankly if you bomb me and you fall into my hands, well, I don’t know I’d be that generous.

Unlike those in Guantanamo Bay, denied the protection of the Geneva Convention, unlike young Mr McCain.

What a fucking hypocrite!

Everything about a candidate at election time is relevant including their personal life. I’m not denying that. It is the Democratic Party that is trying to close down any debate about their candidate.

That’s because the so-called “debate” is ridiculous. When McCain asks “Who is the real Obama?” or “What is his connection with Ayers?”… clearly he knows the answer, because it is public domain and has been debunked by the mainstream media since the Democrat primaries. The point is that Obama could play guilt by association game, because McCain has far more shady connections and pastors. But he won’t, and voters seem to appreciate that.

The hatred displayed by Obama supporters particularly towards Sarah Palin is clear to see.

Well, most people are distressed about Sarah Palin’s winning the election. But what do they know? Republicans, on the other, know what kind of leader the world needs right now!

In my day the NME did cover politics – badly, just like Rolling Stone.

What exactly do you object about this Rolling Stone article?

http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/matthew-norman/matthew-norman-the-peculiar-tragedy-of-this-flawed-hero-john-mccain-956553.html

You do write some drivel, don’t you?

The hatred displayed by Obama supporters particularly towards Sarah Palin is clear to see.

Err, no. It appears to be most of America that thinks Sarah Palin is an idiot.

http://open.salon.com/content.php?cid=27862

Else, even Fox would have edited it out, now, wouldn’t they?

It is the Democratic Party that is trying to close down any debate about their candidate. The hatred displayed by Obama supporters particularly towards Sarah Palin is clear to see. Read the comments at Huffington, Daily Kos, Democratic Underground – it goes way beyond acceptable boundaries.

In my day the NME did cover politics – badly, just like Rolling Stone.

In 1995, State Senator Alice Palmer introduced her chosen successor, Barack Obama…

Incidentally, here is the story about Alice Palmer which is pretty interesting: Obama ran for State Senator when Alice Palmer decided to run for Congress in a 1995 special election, and he received her endorsement. After being defeated in the primary by Jesse Jackson Jr., Palmer returned to request that Obama drop out of the race and let her run again for the seat. Obama declined, and Palmer decided to run against him. Prior to the primary, Obama challenged the validity of ballot petition signatures for his opponents, resulting in their exclusion from the ballot and allowing him to run unopposed in the primary.

So, not only did Obama not comply to Alice Palmer’s request to leave the race, but he managed to get her and others disqualified because they failed to meet the rules. No wonder, Alice Palmer went on to endorse Clinton in the Democratic primaries. So Obama is ruthless and likes to win, apparently by following the rules.

Hehe, you’ve already linked to Michelle Malkin, SB, so I’m worried for the safety of this glasshouse.

Heh. Ben, you are on fire.

Er, yes it was.

No. Nobody has disputed that Obama was in Ayers house where he met with several other liberals in the beginning of his political career. But he didn’t launch his political career in his house. The insinuation is subtle: that Ayers is somehow Obama’s political mentor, which is utter rubbish. And Obama addresses this idiotic innuendo here.

Are you really equating the Alaskan Independence Party with the Weather Underground.

No, I am certainly not. There is no equivalence. For starters, the Weather Underground ceased to exist 40 years ago, and the acts were committed when Obama was eight years old. There is no proof that Ayers is currently a terrorist, and is plotting to kill Americans. Obama has said those acts – blowing up empty government buildings – were despicable. Given that Ayers has currently good standing in Chicago, including with Republicans and academia – this whole thing is a sham, and you know it.

Now, the Alaskan Independence Party still exists and its raison-d’etre is being profoundly anti-American to the point of them not wanting to be a part of the US, or in other words, Americans. In Palin’s video she talks about their good job and how important they are to Alaska. Isn’t that interesting that she is now running to be the potential leader of the Union? You still don’t think her connections are relevant? Uhm…

Unfortunately, he has already threatened to invade Pakistan. So much for your hopes for peace.

He has threatened to take tactic actions against Al Qaeda if Pakistan decides to ignore the problem. Has nothing to do with occupying Pakistan, or engaging into war with this country’s government. I guess you are smart enough to distinguish between one and the other, but yet you decide to conflate both.

The real story about John McCain – from Rolling Stone! Why not quote the NME?

Because Rolling Stone, unlike NME, covers in-depth political stories.

So your not taking the bait on Sarah Palin then? You have certainly learned well from your Republican masters.

The latest Ohio poll according to 538.com shows McCain 2 points ahead of Obama, within the M of E. Or statistical noise if you prefer. It’s a toss up state at the moment. According to Rasmussen.

ACORN made the point to electoral registrars that an application for a vote was “a sloppy business” and that the electoral registrars had to ensure that they were satisfied with the legitimacy of the submitted forms. To be helpful, they sorted those that they themselves thought were suspicious from those they didn’t. Frankly, you are attacking the messenger. What is your solution to voter registration, huh? Leave it to the Republicans, who have a vested interest in supressing it?

I’d expect Obama to give your febrile Ayers yarn the brush off it deserves.

It is interesting that John McCain has wrapped himself in his military service – a la Kerry (?) – and it is frankly only likely that an outfit like Rolling Stone would have the cohones to publish what is, essentially a demolition of his military career. It does, however seem to be gaining quite a bit of traction, and the frankly amazing ability of the young Mr McCain to single handedly trash four of the US Navy’s planes is hardly a good indicator for a smooth and level presidential flightpath is it?

“The reality is there was absolutely no wrongdoing found in the report — 1,000 pages — an enormous waste of time — and the best they could come up with was: no violations of any kinds of laws or ethics rules.”

O Rly?

Hehe, you’ve already linked to Michelle Malkin, SB, so I’m worried for the safety of this glasshouse.

“So much for your hopes for peace.”

Aye, and his “resurgent Al-Qaeda” nonsense. Still, McCain’s advisers alone told me all I needed to know about him. The *whooping cough* “intellect” behind Bush’s foreign policy and a mass murderer. Grrrreat.

Er, yes it was.

In 1995, State Senator Alice Palmer introduced her chosen successor, Barack Obama, to a few of the district’s influential liberals at the home of two well known figures on the local left: William Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn….

“I can remember being one of a small group of people who came to Bill Ayers’ house to learn that Alice Palmer was stepping down from the senate and running for Congress,” said Dr. Quentin Young, a prominent Chicago physician and advocate for single-payer health care, of the informal gathering at the home of Ayers and his wife, Dohrn. “[Palmer] identified [Obama] as her successor.”

Unfortunately, for American students it’s quite difficult for them to gain an education without their Professor being a former sixties radical. US Academia is awash with them.

Are you really equating the Alaskan Independence Party with the Weather Underground. Does that make the SNP like the IRA?

The real story about John McCain – from Rolling Stone! Why not quote the NME?

I’m not angry at Obama he will probably do a reasonable job although I think it might be a poisoned chalice with the economy as it is.

Unfortunately, he has already threatened to invade Pakistan. So much for your hopes for peace.

And Lord, I pray that you will guard your own reputation, because they’re going to think that their God is bigger than you, if that happens. So I pray that you will step forward and honor your own name with all that happens between now and Election Day.”

Let me repeat – this is part of a McCain event, where McCain appeared soon after to speak to his crowd for his Presidential campaign. It’s beyond parody.