I guess that you weigh what is discussed in the article differently than I do, Sheriff. To you, it is par for the course for a politician. For me, it belies the very image of being a "principled politician" that many have had of him.
I think it is very important to know exactly what we are getting when we vote for a president. When Bush was running for example, he made many lies about himself, including how he was "not interested in nation building."
I just got this in my email box tonight about McCain:
10 things you should know about John McCain (but probably don't):
1. John McCain voted against establishing a national holiday in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Now he says his position has "evolved," yet he's continued to oppose key civil rights laws.1
2. According to Bloomberg News, McCain is more hawkish than Bush on Iraq, Russia and China. Conservative columnist Pat Buchanan says McCain "will make Cheney look like Gandhi."2
3. His reputation is built on his opposition to torture, but McCain voted against a bill to ban waterboarding, and then applauded President Bush for vetoing that ban.3
4. McCain opposes a woman's right to choose. He said, "I do not support Roe versus Wade. It should be overturned."4
5. The Children's Defense Fund rated McCain as the worst senator in Congress for children. He voted against the children's health care bill last year, then defended Bush's veto of the bill.5
6. He's one of the richest people in a Senate filled with millionaires. The Associated Press reports he and his wife own at least eight homes! Yet McCain says the solution to the housing crisis is for people facing foreclosure to get a "second job" and skip their vacations.6
7. Many of McCain's fellow Republican senators say he's too reckless to be commander in chief. One Republican senator said: "The thought of his being president sends a cold chill down my spine. He's erratic. He's hotheaded. He loses his temper and he worries me."7
8. McCain talks a lot about taking on special interests, but his campaign manager and top advisers are actually lobbyists. The government watchdog group Public Citizen says McCain has 59 lobbyists raising money for his campaign, more than any of the other presidential candidates.8
9. McCain has sought closer ties to the extreme religious right in recent years. The pastor McCain calls his "spiritual guide," Rod Parsley, believes America's founding mission is to destroy Islam, which he calls a "false religion." McCain sought the political support of right-wing preacher John Hagee, who believes Hurricane Katrina was God's punishment for gay rights and called the Catholic Church "the Antichrist" and a "false cult."9
10. He positions himself as pro-environment, but he scored a 0—yes, zero—from the League of Conservation Voters last year.10
John McCain is not who the Washington press corps make him out to be.
-- From MoveOn.org
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sheriff Gonna Getcha
Oakland Red,
Surely you aren't shocked that a presidential candidate with a long track record in the Senate can be picked apart? You can find inconsistencies in anyone's past statements (e.g., I voted for it before I voted against it). I am going to vote for Obama, but as far as politicians go, McCain is pretty damned principled and honest. My godmother is about as liberal as they come, a hardcore feminist, worked as Clinton's Secretary of Indian Affairs, and worked with McCain and other Senators but even she concedes that McCain is very principled and one of the few decent politicians in D.C.
It's really sad that we've entered a new "us versus them" era in politics. It's sad that Dems try to villify every Republican and Republicans similarly try to demonize Dems. I wish we could get to the point where we see "our" candidate and "their" candidate for all of their flaws and attributes.
On an unrelated note, I don't think it's a good idea for liberals to get their "news" from left-leaning papers or righties to get their "news" from the likes of Rush Limbaugh. Listening to people who think just like you and who have a specific agenda in thier reporting will only rot your brain.
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