Comments on: McCain’s March

By: râ‚¬nato

râ‚¬nato — Sat, 07 Apr 2007 18:39:53 +0000

casualobserver, if you are dismayed by the overheated rhetoric in our political discourse today, I can tell you exactly how it came to be this way:

1) the ridiculous partisan ‘gotcha’ witch-hunts the GOP pursued against Bill Clinton, culminating in that completely unnecessary and wholly illegitimate impeachment proceeding.

2) the Rove/Bush administration’s reactionary “50% plus 1″ political strategy, which deliberately set out to alienate roughly half the country and purposely pitted us one against another, especially in every national election (02, 04, 06) since 2000. Remember when Bush said he would be a “Uniter Not A Divider”? That was just the first of many bald-faced, cynical lies from this gang of criminals.

3) the utter failure, incompetence, corruption and ignorance of the Bush regime and the Republicans in nearly every sphere of governance. This is by far the worst administration in our country’s history, and 70% of this country has been fed up with Bush and his antics since 2005. Good lord, the guy can’t even speak English.

If you’re not angry at this state of affairs, then you’re not paying attention.

By: casualobserver

casualobserver — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 16:06:22 +0000

Thanks, Joe……..and I take your point. It just seemed to me that there was an “overbalance” to the left-view in the article posts since I arrived (recently). I now see more articles that don’t automatically start with a left of center premise, so my “reactionary” mood has settled down.

I retract any implied criticism/bias of your site.

However, what I now see is another problem. There seems to be not many posters that are either centrist enough, or perhaps inclined enough, to acknowledge more than one view of an issue. I never knew complex matters to be so abjectly black and white, conclusions known so quickly just based on the mere choice of one word or phrase or another.

There is a more recent thread above where someone notes the lack of civility and /or patience in the political discourse.

Good thing keyboard strokes can’t do bodily harm……blog poster deaths would soon outstrip Iraq casualties.

By: William Crum

William Crum — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 07:12:02 +0000

Citizens of America, help me recall this man who would put our troops in harms way just for a photo op or speading more lies like Mr Bush.
AFIAJ, c/o PO Box 7878, Surprise, AZ 85374-0114. We need money to print more petitions(I am out of funds). Recall John McCain. Thank you.for your help.

By: Joe Gandelman

Joe Gandelman — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 04:41:55 +0000

Casual Observer: I don’t know if you noticed, but these are political cartoons. Unless I’m mistaken, about 99.999 percent (or more) of the political cartoonists on the left, center and right do their cartoons in their office. They don’t present them as first class reporting. They simply reflect the longtime art of using political cartoons to express an opinion. I don’t think the cartoonists would say to you or anyone that they are solid reporting, researched in the field. I read a zillion cartoons and some don’t make me laugh, some don’t make a point, but if I don’t like one, I shrug and move on. Political cartoons are a way to make us all lighten up. We don’t post these as the final word, just offer them as a given cartoonist’s take on an issue on which they seek to express and opinion. We also don’t post each cartoon as the epitome of centrism. They really are not analyzed for hours to see whether it’ll fit everyone’s view of centrist or moderate and some of the ones we post (and have posted) may fit readers’ definitions of liberal or conservative. But they are just that — a cartoonist’s
use of his/her art to communicate in one panel a political view they the cartoonist holds. Nothing more.

By: G. Weightman

G. Weightman — Fri, 06 Apr 2007 01:08:04 +0000

The cartoon depicts the Roman testudo, or turtle , formation. The cartoonist couldn’t use the preferred “chickenhawk” trope on Sen. McCain, so I suppose he had to settle for a different animal metaphor.

By: White Agent

White Agent — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 23:52:54 +0000

egrubs- I wonder if McCain really cares? Better check to see if any of the 21 bodies are Michael Ware. McCain and his henchmen might have staged it just to get back at him for speaking the truth.

By: egrubs

egrubs — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 21:54:28 +0000

How about an apology to the 21 Iraqi workers from the marketplace who were murdered shortly after the photo-op?

By: White Agent

White Agent — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 21:45:59 +0000

Its so safe in Iraq, maybe McCain supporters will catch flights to Baghdad for exotic rug shopping sprees. I mean “a buck each” how can any tightarsed republican resist? NO? Well then John McCain owes the taxpayer a reimbursement for his unethical and morally reprehensible Campaign Stunt.

An apology would be helpful also, even if spoken in hushed monotone through gritted teeth as McCain usually does when the world does not fall before McCain praising him the veteran king.

By: casualobserver

casualobserver — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 21:19:24 +0000

OK, points taken.

So, in the interest of constructive, centrist dialogue, give me something else to read beyond your own “domestically-positioned-embed” reporter’s analysis.

By: Temple Stark

Temple Stark — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 20:39:10 +0000

Allow me a rare – no really – blog whore moment here as I say, please go read my piece RIP, John McCain’s Presidential Hope

Yep, it’s early. it’s still true.

Thanks. Temple

By: JimHurt

JimHurt — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 19:59:35 +0000

“Now this reads like a fair, objective piece”…(which points to this link) …”whose presidential campaign, I should disclose, I am advising on foreign policy”…

Is it just me or does anyone else find it highly unlikely that a advisor for a presidental campaign would be fair, or objective?

By: AustinRoth

AustinRoth — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 19:36:54 +0000

Well, whether or not you agree with it, it WAS a funny and pointed cartoon.

By: Rudi

Rudi — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 19:36:34 +0000

Even though Boot has ties to LATimes, he is just a AEI type neocon. He is more hawkish than either McClown or Bush. He is from the VD Hanson mold.

By: Kevin H

Kevin H — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 19:21:22 +0000

I haven’t read Max Boot before, but it wasn’t that far out of wack. I think it’s just that some of us have a higher threshold for “good news” than:

at least the downward trend has been stopped.

By: Rudi

Rudi — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 18:57:13 +0000

Max Boot is as fair and balanced as Dougie Feith. McClown went to Baghdada to posture for the presidental campaign. All that we missed was a “Mission Acomplished banner”.

By: casualobserver

casualobserver — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 18:45:08 +0000

Now this reads like a fair, objective piece……..from someone who was actually there. A much more credible example of the journalism that ought to be posted here than some guy playing around with colored pencils in downtown St. Louis.

http://www.commentarymagazine.com/contentions/index.php/boot/322

By: S.W. Anderson

S.W. Anderson — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 17:51:51 +0000

How very fortunate for all concerned that none of the 100 soldiers providing 360-degree security on the ground, or any of the chopper pilots providing air cover, got badly injured or killed during McCain’s oh-so-peaceful Baghdad shopping trip.