President McCain

_______________________________ "Women are either goddesses or doormats." Pablo Picasso "In all matters of opinion, our adversaries are insane." Mark Twain

it is always harder to find a "mind clean" stone than a eye clean stone.

Date: 6/5/2008 7:25:23 PM
Author: Dancing Fire
wellll....the one good thing about 'OLD' McCain...he won't get caught with his pants down.

............... "Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."

............... "Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."

Date: 6/5/2008 7:44:15 PM
Author: MoonWater

Date: 6/5/2008 7:25:23 PM
Author: Dancing Fire
wellll....the one good thing about 'OLD' McCain...he won't get caught with his pants down.

Nah. But they may be soiled.


Freke, he's older than the margarita! lol


Ok sorry. If this thread turns into a true discussion I will totally stop cracking the jokes (and start a new thread).

_______________________________ "Women are either goddesses or doormats." Pablo Picasso "In all matters of opinion, our adversaries are insane." Mark Twain

............... "Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."

~~~ When in doubt...don't.~~~

_______________________________ "Women are either goddesses or doormats." Pablo Picasso "In all matters of opinion, our adversaries are insane." Mark Twain

****************************
"There is no such thing as fun for the whole family-there are no massage parlors with ice cream and free jewelry" Jerry Seinfeld

~~~ When in doubt...don't.~~~

***
Love does not consist in gazing at each other, but in looking outward together in the same direction.
Antoine de Saint-Exupery

_____________________________
Feeling Blue and Blech Today

_______________________________ "Women are either goddesses or doormats." Pablo Picasso "In all matters of opinion, our adversaries are insane." Mark Twain

_____________________________
Feeling Blue and Blech Today

............... "Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."

~~~ When in doubt...don't.~~~

............... "Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."

............... "Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."

Date: 6/6/2008 8:27:31 AM
Author: ksinger

Date: 6/6/2008 1:51:05 AM
Author: luckystar112
Okay...here are a few reasons why I tend to like McCain (I'm going to avoid the 'hot topics', because I just think that this isn't the place to talk about stuff like that).

-I like that McCain can speak for himself when he truly believes in something. He's spoken out on things that he disagrees with in his own party, and he has openly criticized Bush and Rumsfield.

-I would like to see a tax cut for the middle class.

-I feel that gun manufacturer's need to be held more liable for crimes, and background checks on potential gun buyers

-I agree with his position on the war. I don't agree with the war, but I agree on his position on where we go from here.

-I agree with his views on national security--I don't think terrorism is going away anytime soon.

-I agree with privatized social security, since we're all pretty much SOL unless we're working a government job

I DON'T agree with

-his position on healthcare. I'd like to see something with a little more substance other than a tax credit for families with insurance. I'd like to see more done for those WITHOUT insurance, and not by government spending. More like...tweaking the whole insurance/drug company shebang. But I'm bitter. heh.

I know this was really vague, maybe I should elaborate on it.
I'll be back.



-

Well, I'm fairly certain McCain is going to be hoist on his own petard for comments made - and well-documented - that he is now flipping on.
The link below is one that makes me run screaming from him. I've said in other threads that I see McCain as unwilling to dismantle the illegitimate powers collected by this administration to itself in it's quest for a unitary executive. This article pretty much confirms the position I thought he would take. Now, understand, I understand perfectly well that surveillance may be necessary, but surveillance that essentially sneers at the normal checks and balances this country was founded on - that do damage to the fabric of the constitution, and because they are so utterly secret they allow no redress if they are misued, no. No, no, and no. The only way a person can be complacent about some of the things that have happened is if they don't know, don't understand, OR have no ability to project a scenario where those powers might actually be used against THEM. Amongst many other things, when I heard that the Pentagon had a database spying on dangerous domestic groups like the Quakers, my imagination got pretty darn honed.

The president should never be above the law. Haven't we had enough of that by now? All flippancy aside, McCain may really BE a Bush third term, if he endorses these actions....

Adviser Says McCain Backs Bush Wiretaps

Quote from the article:  And if Mr. McCain is elected president, Mr. Holtz-Eakin added, he would do everything he could to prevent terrorist attacks, “including asking the telecoms for appropriate assistance to collect intelligence against foreign threats to the United States as authorized by Article II of the Constitution.”

Since when is following the Constitution unconstitutional?

_____________________________
"Hello Dollies"

Combine 1 stick melted butter and 2 cups graham cracker crumbs. Press in greased 9x13 pan. On top, layer 1 package chocolate chips, 1 package peanut butter chips, 1 12oz can lightly salted peanuts. Top with 1 small can sweetened condensed milk (I use fat free big deal!). Bake at 350 for 25 minutes (the edges should be bubbly). I recommend not cutting them until the next day because it seems to take that long for the graham cracker bottom to really harden.

Date: 6/6/2008 6:51:37 PM
Author: ksinger

Date: 6/6/2008 5:50:47 PM
Author: LAJennifer

Date: 6/6/2008 8:27:31 AM
Author: ksinger

Date: 6/6/2008 1:51:05 AM
Author: luckystar112
Okay...here are a few reasons why I tend to like McCain (I'm going to avoid the 'hot topics', because I just think that this isn't the place to talk about stuff like that).

-I like that McCain can speak for himself when he truly believes in something. He's spoken out on things that he disagrees with in his own party, and he has openly criticized Bush and Rumsfield.

-I would like to see a tax cut for the middle class.

-I feel that gun manufacturer's need to be held more liable for crimes, and background checks on potential gun buyers

-I agree with his position on the war. I don't agree with the war, but I agree on his position on where we go from here.

-I agree with his views on national security--I don't think terrorism is going away anytime soon.

-I agree with privatized social security, since we're all pretty much SOL unless we're working a government job

I DON'T agree with

-his position on healthcare. I'd like to see something with a little more substance other than a tax credit for families with insurance. I'd like to see more done for those WITHOUT insurance, and not by government spending. More like...tweaking the whole insurance/drug company shebang. But I'm bitter. heh.

I know this was really vague, maybe I should elaborate on it.
I'll be back.



-

Well, I'm fairly certain McCain is going to be hoist on his own petard for comments made - and well-documented - that he is now flipping on.
The link below is one that makes me run screaming from him. I've said in other threads that I see McCain as unwilling to dismantle the illegitimate powers collected by this administration to itself in it's quest for a unitary executive. This article pretty much confirms the position I thought he would take. Now, understand, I understand perfectly well that surveillance may be necessary, but surveillance that essentially sneers at the normal checks and balances this country was founded on - that do damage to the fabric of the constitution, and because they are so utterly secret they allow no redress if they are misued, no. No, no, and no. The only way a person can be complacent about some of the things that have happened is if they don't know, don't understand, OR have no ability to project a scenario where those powers might actually be used against THEM. Amongst many other things, when I heard that the Pentagon had a database spying on dangerous domestic groups like the Quakers, my imagination got pretty darn honed.

The president should never be above the law. Haven't we had enough of that by now? All flippancy aside, McCain may really BE a Bush third term, if he endorses these actions....

Adviser Says McCain Backs Bush Wiretaps

Quote from the article: And if Mr. McCain is elected president, Mr. Holtz-Eakin added, he would do everything he could to prevent terrorist attacks, “including asking the telecoms for appropriate assistance to collect intelligence against foreign threats to the United States as authorized by Article II of the Constitution.”

Since when is following the Constitution unconstitutional?

The Constitution is pretty terse when you read it, and has been interpreted from day one. What is 'constitutional' seems depends alot on whether you're an ordinary person, a lawyer or judge, or a power-hungry politician...

The reason that the 1978 FISA laws came about was because the FBI had unlimited wiretap authority, and that was abused. An example of this would be the FBI recording the phone calls of MLK Jr. to his mistresses, and sending the tapes to his wife. Hardly a proper use of Article II, don't you think. The executive branch has already proven by they will abuse powers such as wiretaps by going far beyond what powers may have been granted to a wartime president, and which are not to be extended beyond wartime, and by ignoring statute passed by Congress, the traditonal check on abuses of executive power. Article II does not give the president any sweeping powers, it merely says the president will be commander in chief of military services. The courts have ruled in war time the president may have extraordinary powers, but during peacetime, powers such as this are granted to the executive by the courts, which the Bush administration has repeatedly sneered at.

The power to declare war rests with congress, and congress has never declared war since WWII. We are in this strange limbo land where the war has never been declared and yet we are psychologically on a permanent war footing, thanks to the fear-mongering rhetoric that streams from the executive every time someone tries to challenge their abuses of power. The implication is, that if congress has not declared war, then these extraordinary powers the executive are claiming are shaky at best, and completely illegitimate at worst. And most of this discussion is moot, because according to Nixon, Yoo, and this administration, if a president orders something, it cannot be agains the law, or an abuse of power. Nice work if you can get it. There's some stellar reasoning.

Basically, since this administration has thumbed it's nose at the legislative and the judicial branches, AND McCain is best buddies with Bush, I don't believe him one iota. Power granted is not ever given back, it has to be WRESTED back. McCain is proving this.

Great line from a book about the hypocrisy of the republican methods, that I was thumbing today: (roughly stated):

They say that we need to empower the government to collect a comprehensive dossier on every single American because otherwise our freedoms may be taken away by The Terrorists.

_____________________________
"Hello Dollies"

Combine 1 stick melted butter and 2 cups graham cracker crumbs. Press in greased 9x13 pan. On top, layer 1 package chocolate chips, 1 package peanut butter chips, 1 12oz can lightly salted peanuts. Top with 1 small can sweetened condensed milk (I use fat free big deal!). Bake at 350 for 25 minutes (the edges should be bubbly). I recommend not cutting them until the next day because it seems to take that long for the graham cracker bottom to really harden.

"I don't feel enjoyment watching films that evoke passivity. If you need that kind of comfort, I don't understand why you wouldn't go to a spa." Chan-wook Park