There’s plenty more where that came from; suffice it to say that the McCain we see in 2008 is nothing like the irascible, occasionally sensible Libertarian-leaner we’d seen in days of yore. Many simply put this down to ambition, ……

http://ru.youtube.com/watch?v=58lZ6Keu8fw :walkman:…

I believe we are trying to establish a society in Iraq and the Middle East where residents can live peacefully among themselves and their neighboring countries. The problem is they are sitting on a vast pool of petroleum that begs to be exploited by someone, if not the U.S. then by Iran, Russia or China, most likely China.

China is already busy searching for oil in the continent of Africa which is the source of tremendous civil unrest there.

My unique solution which I would like to discuss with Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, is a new policy of multi-culturalism. It works wonders in our high schools, colleges, enlightened corporations.

Most of our colleges and universities have large populations of brilliant young students from all over the world … Iran, Iraq, Viet Nam, Kenya, North Korea, China, Mexico, Phillipines, Indonesia, etc. who get along just fine here. But our government pits them against each other around the world when they return home.

The U.S Army’s Command and General Training School at Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas, used to bring rising military officers from many countries in the world to educate them together to hopefully help them gain an international understanding from their fellow students. I have lost touch but hope this is still going on.

My plan would involve a relocation of a multitude of civilian volunteers from all nations of the world TO the Middle East countries and perhaps to the African continent to produce a new multi-cultural cooperation within these countries.

World Wars I and II did this to some degree and is preferable to the failed “shock and awe” of the current Bush administration.

Remember you heard it here first and I am a moderate Republican!

JWink

True enough. But age doesn’t often need to be asked. If you truly believe there isn’t age discrimination, then you haven’t hit 40 yet and have looked for new employment. All it takes is the interview. If I and others I know aren’t hired because of age, then I can vote the same way. Discrimination be damned.

His father was an admiral.

Yeah . . . he was born on third base and thought he hit a triple.

JWink, same issue: What are we trying to accomplish in Iraq? What’s the plan? What’s the goal? No, we shouldn’t “bug out” overnight, but I don’t think any candidate is going to do that.

As Petraus has said, I don’t see any military solution to this mess. I see intensive diplomacy, perhaps with economic aid, as the only way out. We must (gasp!) talk with Iran. We must (gasp!) talk with Syria. We must even (gasp!) talk with Al-Sadr.

We must stop fueling the militia-on-militia violence, something that only Robert Gates has recently dealt with, and fairly ineffectively.

McCain is a Navy man as his father was a Navy man as his grandfather was a Navy man. He may be familiar with the mechanisms of government, but he has been an intemperate war hawk from day one. Now, I might want him in the situation room during an invasion, but he is uniquely unqualified to solve this mess.

And his indefensible vote to invade Iraq shows at best that he has no great advantage over the other candidates in judging the necessity of military conflicts, let alone resolving them.
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McCain’s parents and Grandparents have to do with what?

Okay, that’s fair.

Let’s see, Obama comes from a long line of Muslims, who were citizens of other nations. In fact, most of Obama’s relatives in Africa are still Muslim.

“Genuine political and ideological transformations are pretty rare in contemporary American politics. Two in a row in less than a decade is close to unprecedented.

“McCain went from conservative Republican, to embracing many core Democratic policy positions and actively discussing a possible party switch, to cycling back and re-embracing the same policies.

“…the same Bush tax cuts that he said earlier in the decade “offend[ed] his conscience”, he now says must be made permanent and added on to by another round of tax cuts on the Bush model.

“McCain is absolutely gung-ho and certain that he’s right about whatever his position and ‘principles’ are at the given moment. But they change repeatedly.”

http://electioncentral.tpmcafe.com/

As Petraus has said, I don’t see any military solution to this mess. I see intensive diplomacy, perhaps with economic aid, as the only way out. We must (gasp!) talk with Iran. We must (gasp!) talk with Syria. We must even (gasp!) talk with Al-Sadr.

We must stop fueling the militia-on-militia violence, something that only Robert Gates has recently dealt with, and fairly ineffectively.

McCain is a Navy man as his father was a Navy man as his grandfather was a Navy man. He may be familiar with the mechanisms of government, but he has been an intemperate war hawk from day one. Now, I might want him in the situation room during an invasion, but he is uniquely unqualified to solve this mess.

And his indefensible vote to invade Iraq shows at best that he has no great advantage over the other candidates in judging the necessity of military conflicts, let alone resolving them.

I REFUSE TO EXPLOIT THE YOUTH AND INEXPERIENCE OF MY OPPONENT.”

Seems Reagan’s remark is particularly relevant in the current election season.