asking Al Gore to run in 2008!
McCain's Response to Georgia War Shows His Dangerous Hawk Colors
Posted August 12th, 2008 by GOPstopper
McCain's hawkish response to the situation in Georgia shows (in the words of Josh Marshall) how "dangerous and unstable" he is.
Imagine what the situation might be if Gore had been allowed to assume the office to which he was elected in 2000; had we not gotten into an unnecessary, illegitimate and illegal war in Iraq. We'd undoubtedly be able to claim the moral authority to mount a serious diplomatic objection to Russia's actions --that is, if Russia would have found themselves in a position to mount this lopsided aggressive action against Georgia in the first place. But now, we can only have some hypocritical and weak talk from Bush, which Putin can laugh off.
Meanwhile McCain poses and blusters as if he were president already. Wasn't his campaign just a couple of weeks ago complaining that Obama was acting as if he were president? As a mere candidate, I feel McCain is --at best-- overstepping his bounds here. At worst, his empty but incendiary rhetoric is harming ours and Georgia's chances at a diplomatic solution. And one of McCain's top foreign policy advisers is a lobbyist for the Georgian government!
Anyway I am not much of a writer or blogger, so I will direct your attention to a post from a master of the blogosphere, Josh Marshall... TPM is well worth reading every day... here's a link to the article relevant to my post here:
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/208141.php
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Obama, Paul net most military workers' campaign donations
Aug. 15, 2008 - 3:11 AM EST
By Fredreka Schouten, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON
Democrat Barack Obama and Republican Ron Paul have little in common politically, except their opposition to the Iraq war.
Both top a new list of presidential candidates receiving campaign contributions from people who work for the four branches of the military and National Guard, according to a study released Thursday by the non-partisan Center for Responsive Politics.
Obama, an Illinois senator, brought in more donations from this group than any White House contender from either party. The Democrat announced Wednesday his plan to withdraw all U.S. troops from Iraq by the end of 2008.
Paul, a Texas congressman and the only GOP presidential hopeful who supports an immediate troop withdrawal, comes in second.
"Paul and Obama are talking straight to soldiers, and what they are saying is resonating," said Larnell Exum, a retired Army lieutenant colonel, who gave $500 to Obama. Exum, who works for the Army as a congressional liaison, is a Democrat but voted for George Bush in 1992.
The center tallied money from donors who list the Air Force, Army, Marines, Navy and National Guard as an employer. Overall, these donations are miniscule: Obama got 44 contributions worth about $27,000 and Paul 23 for about $19,300. Republican John McCain, an Iraq war supporter and Vietnam prisoner of war, was third with about $18,500 from 32 donors.
In 2004, military personnel contributed $1.2 million to presidential and congressional candidates, the center said. This year, those donations are about $200,000.
The analysis also found that military personnel have shifted their donations. In 2002, the center said Democrats received 23% of contributions from military workers; Republicans got 77%. This year, 40% of their donations have gone to Democrats running for Congress and president. The GOP got 59%.
The donation patterns "would suggest that those who wear the uniform want change," said Joe Davis, spokesman for the Veterans of Foreign Wars.
Bruce Altschuler, a political scientist at the State University of New York at Oswego and a Vietnam veteran, said, "The whole country has been shifting to Democrats, and the military, in some ways, is a microcosm of society."
Spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Obama is pleased to have the support of those "who have sacrificed so much."
Paul spokesman Jesse Benton said the military support makes sense. The congressman "wants to get (troops) out of playing the world's policemen and get them home," he said.
Altschuler cautioned against reading too much into the early contributions, particularly in such small amounts. "These figures could look very different in a few months."
Copyright © 2008 ABC News Internet Ventures
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URL Changed.
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Sorry America
The conflict in Georgia should tell us just how much this nation has been damaged by the policies of Bush, Cheney and McCain. In August of 1990 Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait. Then President George H.W. Bush said "this aggression will not stand". He rallied the world to uphold the right of sovereign nations. The world would not stand by and let large nations invade smaller nations without just cause in order to take control of their oil.
When George W. Bush invaded Iraq I think he committed the same international war crime that his father fought against in the first Iraq war. Now that Russia is conducting some military actions in Georgia, suddenly Bush has rediscovered the value of International Law? What a joke. Furthermore, if something did come up that required a military response, our military is so bogged down in the Iraq fiasco, that we have become too overextended to respond anywhere else.
The point that's not being heard much is that this current conflict was not started by Russia. It was started by Georgian troops entering South Ossetia. Hmm.. starting a fight with Russia in their back yard, I'm sure that will turn out just splendid!
Did Rove Help with October Surprise?
The other day when talking about McCain's and Obama's responses to the events in Georgia Thom Hartmann, on his Air America radio show, conjectured that this could be the "October Surprise", only early.
Then a caller to the show said they'd heard something about Karl Rove "vacationing" in that area and having contact with the Georgian president just a few weeks earlier. Combine that with the fact that Scheunemann (McCain's top foreign-policy advisor) is a former (or current?) employee of the Georgian government (as a lobbyist), you have to start asking questions. Such as, what would Rove/McCain have to promise those guys to get them to sacrifice their kids in an ill-advised skirmish with Russia in order to benefit the GOP? Or is that Saakashvili is such a loose cannon, just a little encouragement would do?
You think it is crazy? Think about it... perhaps they really did not expect such an overwhelmingly lopsided response from the Russians... perhaps they thought there would be some verbal sparring, threats, troop buildups, and then McCain would make a statement or two and then, voila, a compromise is reached -- and McCain looks like a foreign policy/diplomacy god.
Then things --as they often seem to do for the incompetent Repugs-- went terribly wrong.
LOL
They actually think the war for votes scheme is going to work again.
Here is a link to my blog called, "The Politico Insider."
http://thepoliticolinsider.blogspot.com/