by David Epstein
What must it be like to be Rick Davis, knowing that each morning you have to get up and lie to the press?
What kind of a guy pretends he can't understand the difference between "legal" and "right" -- as if there's no such thing as a legal but immoral and abusive act -- all in the service of a candidate who he claims is more patriotic and has a better character than his opponent?
Really, how do guys like this sleep at night? And how does McCain sleep at night knowing what disgusting bile is being foisted on the American public in his name?
By Brigitte L. Nacos
During the primary season, I supported Senator Hillary Clinton. I am still convinced that she has more knowledge of the most important policy issues of our time—both domestic and foreign—than Senators McCain and Obama. I still believe that Senator Clinton would be the best of all the candidates running for the highest office in both parties’ primaries to lead skillfully and resolutely during times of crisis. During the primary season, I was appalled by the relentless attacks on Hillary Clinton by fanatic Obama supporters and liberal media pundits, their false charges of racism, and their gender bias, yet I will cast my vote on November 4th for Senators Barack Obama and Joseph Biden. I never considered the McCain/Palin ticket, because Senator John McCain and Governor Sarah Palin are unfit for the president’s and vice-president’s office.
Grumpy old McCain pretends to put his “Country First†according to his team’s campaign slogan. But nothing contradicts this claim more than his choice of the intellectually challenged Sarah Palin as his running mate. McCain and whoever else played a role in picking this self-proclaimed “Joe Six-Pack†and “Pig with Lipstick†demonstrated contempt for women as smart as or smarter than mediocre McCain. If the McCain camp believed that a female running mate would win over angry Hillary Clinton supporters and assure victory in November, they could have selected one of many formidable Republican women politicians, among them senators and current or former governors. Instead, they chose the one with the best looking legs and the mentality of an attack dog. What a message they sent to women and girls.
This alone disqualifies McCain from becoming president. He demonstrated not only poor but unpatriotic judgment, when he chose Palin. He did not put his country first, as he claims, but John McCain’s burning ambition to become president. Given that McCain’s foreign policy agenda now is more hawkish than that of George W. Bush, it is not difficult to imagine what burning ambition McCain would have and act upon as president. Just think Iraq, Iran,Georgia…
Since Sarah Palin has voiced frustration over McCain’s reluctance to attack Obama because of his membership in the Reverend Jeremiah Wright’s church in Chicago, it is probably just a question of time, when the most extreme passages from Wright’s sermons will be revisited in attack ads. If one questions Obama’s judgment to remain a member of the Wright church as long as he did, and I do question this, one must also question McCain’s affiliation with anti-Semitic preacher John Hagee and Sarah Palin’s hand-on blessing by witch-hunting Pastor Thomas Muthee. Taken together, we know of more troublesome associations of the McCain/Palin side than the Obama/Biden ticket (Here is a link to another post on McCain's unfitness to serve as president).
Continue reading "McCain and Palin: Unfit for Presidency and Vice-Presidency" »
by David Epstein
I'd say that Palin did well, but she was hampered by two factors, one in her control and one not. Out of her control was the fact that she had to defend a set of policy positions that are real losers as far as the public is concerned. So she had no comeback to the remark that McCain isn't a real maverick, nor could she rise above generalities of "fighting for American" and descend to the land of actual policy.
In her control is the fact that her knowledge of the facts was broader than before, but still a bit thin. So the debate was about 1/2 hour too long for her; she sounded repetitive in the ending part, while Biden showed emotion and ended on a strong note. Plus, she had a few deer in the headlights moments when she was asked a question she wasn't prepared for. On the use of nuclear weapons and the VP's powers, her mouth was engaged before her brain was in gear and she ended up spouting a bit of her trademark drivel.
But Palin held her own for the most part, which was, needless to say, leaps and bounds above expectations.
The real revelation of the night was Biden, the forgotten man in the quartet of candidates. He was for the most part precise, effective, and tough without ever appearing condescending. As I said, he was the more emotional of the candidates, while Palin seemed more robotic in comparison. And he consistently flaunted the Democrats' advantage on the issues while tying Palin and McCain to the policies of the Bush administration.
So Palin did well and did much to erase the stigma that she might drag the ticket down all on her own, but in the end a small to moderate sized win for Biden.
Now let's see what the focus groups have to say.
By Brigitte L. Nacos
Michael Bloomberg wants to serve a third term as mayor of New York City. He even convinced term limit champion Ronald Lauder that the current financial crisis calls for a one time only waver of the two-term limit for the mayor—not for city council members and other elected officials.
There is no need for term limits in democracies--not in local, state, and national jurisdictions. If citizens are fed up with elected officials, as they are now with President Bush and members of Congress, they have the power to throw the rascals out when the next election comes around. If they are satisfied, and even happy, with the performances of the men and women they elected, citizens should have the right of reelecting them as many times as they want.
In 1995, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down state-imposed congressional term limits in U.S. Term Limits v. Thornton as unconstitutional and thereby invalidated the restrictions imposed in 23 states. The court ruled, “In the absence of a properly passed constitutional amendment, allowing individual States to craft their own qualifications for Congress would thus erode the structure envisioned by the Framers, a structure that was designed, in the words of the Preamble to our Constitution, to form a "more perfect Union."
However, term limits are in place for more than a dozen state legislatures, more than half of the governors, several of the country’s largest cities, and many more other local jurisdictions.
Yes, I know that the proponents of term limits do not agree with the argument that term limits are actually undemocratic. They like to point to ancient Greece and Rome where term limits for elected officials did exist. That was at a time when the problems of city states were far less complex and numerous than for today’s local, state, and national governments. Newly elected officials learn on the job. But while newcomers in executive and legislative offices learn the ropes, the permanent bureaucracy and long-lasting lobbyists have the upper hand in pushing their own agendas. Rotation in office does not make sense because it increases the power of unelected and permanent players.
If Mayor Michael Bloomberg wants to run for a third term, he should go for it—after a referendum that repeals term limits for all elected offices in the city.
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