SubscribeHillary’s Ignorance About Pakistan Elections
An op-ed by Thomas Houlahan from the Middle East Times:
How credible is Hillary Clinton on Pakistan?
December 31, 2007
Last weekend after returning to my office from the television studios of a major network where I had done a brief segment on the security of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons, I turned on CNN to watch their coverage of the Bhutto assassination’s aftermath.
Sen. Hillary Clinton was telling Wolf Blitzer that she didn’t think “the Pakistani government at this time under President Musharraf has any credibility at all.”
She then said something that betrayed a serious lack of knowledge about Pakistan and called her own credibility on the subject into serious question.
“If President Musharraf wishes to stand for election,” she told Blitzer, “then he should abide by the same rules that every other candidate will have to follow.”
My immediate reaction was: “Did I hear that correctly?”
As a Pakistan analyst, I know for a fact that Pervez Musharraf doesn’t wish to stand for election any time soon.
The upcoming elections are for the next parliament. Musharraf was just elected president of Pakistan, overwhelmingly, by popularly elected electors on Oct. 6. He’s just begun his five-year term as the president of the country. Why would he ever want to run for one seat in parliament? It wouldn’t make sense.
However, I checked the transcript of the interview later. That’s exactly what she said.
My next reaction was: “Maybe she misspoke. Candidates do a lot of interviews. Not every sentence comes out the way they want it to.”
After all, Sen. Clinton is a candidate who is running claiming big-time foreign policy knowledge and experience that she says her closest opponents in the Democratic Primary don’t have.
Pakistan? A nuclear power? A front-line ally in the war on terror? A country that’s been in the news an awful lot in the past few months? “C’mon,” I told myself. “A candidate with all of those advisors has got to know at least the basics about Pakistan’s political system.”
No such luck.
Sunday morning, ABC’s This Week ran an interview George Stephanopoulos had done with Sen. Clinton on Friday.
The interview produced this gem:
Referring to a possible delay in the elections, Sen. Clinton said: “I think it will be very difficult to have a real election. You know, Nawaz Sharif (leader of the PML-N, an opposition party) has said he’s not going to compete. The PPP is in disarray with Benazir’s assassination. He (President Pervez Musharraf) could be the only person on the ballot. I don’t think that’s a real election.”
And then it hit me:
Sen. Clinton really didn’t know that the upcoming elections were for individual seats in Pakistan’s parliament. She actually believed that Bhutto, Nawaz and Musharraf would be facing off as individual candidates for leadership of the country in the upcoming elections.
Sen. Clinton didn’t know that Nawaz Sharif isn’t allowed to run for office in Pakistan because of a felony conviction. She didn’t know that President Musharraf won’t be on the ballot because he’s already been elected.
Sen. Clinton, a candidate for the leadership of the free world, apparently doesn’t know the first thing about the country referred to by some as “the most dangerous place on earth.”
Of course this demonstrates yet another amazing gap in Hillary’s knowledge of the world.
So, accordingly, our media will steadfastly ignore it.
Related Articles:
- Shocker: Bhutto's Son, Husband Succeed Her
- AIM: CNN And Hillary Destabilize Pakistan
- NYP: Don't Shed Any Tears For Ms. Bhutto
- Hillary Is Still Lying About Knowing Bhutto
- Shocker: Al Qaeda Claims Bhutto's Death
- Hillary: I've Known Mrs. Bhutto Many Years
- 'Prior Convictions' Bar Sharif From Elections
- Musharraf Wins Landslide, Media Despondent
42 Responses to “Hillary’s Ignorance About Pakistan Elections”
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January 1st, 2008 at 4:22 pm
Wow. Good get, Steve.
I have to admit, I was a bit unclear as to why there was an upcoming election when Pres. Musharraf just won one.
But then again, I’m not running for POTUS.
January 1st, 2008 at 4:41 pm
Yep, smartest woman in the world for sure…
January 1st, 2008 at 5:09 pm
We are going to crash said the pilot to his co-pilot and single passenger Hillary Clintoon.
Now for the real bad news, There are three of us and only two parachutes.
Hillary sprang into action, grabbed a parachute and screamed I am the smartest women in the world
and jumped from the plane.
The pilot looked over to his co-pilot and said grab a chute.
But what about you the frightened co-pilot asked, there were only two?
There’s still two the pilot snickered, the smartest woman in the world just jumped out with my knapsack.
January 1st, 2008 at 5:15 pm
I think I posted earlier that it’s very scary to think that one of the idiots running for president will be elected this year. It’s becoming clearer with each day and each international issue that seems to be in the news each day that protecting America and winning the war on Islamic Jihadists is, by far, the most important thing the new POTUS will have to be successful at. Everything else, economy, immigration, abortion, 2nd ammendment is mute if the new president is not successful at job number one. And make no mistake, the new POTUS will be tested in this area. Our enemys are drooling with the thought of finding a weakness in the new POTUS. That’s why I’ve changed my mind on the man I want to see in the Oval office after Bush. John McCain. In spite of his other faults, and he has many, he is the one person of all of them I would trust with the keys to the ship of war.
January 1st, 2008 at 5:39 pm
I see this as a complete affirmation that the DNC and most particularly the Hildabeast have no concept nor concern for the reality that America must be in the World and participate and be greatly aware of all the Nations around the World.
Yes, I know it does fall to various departments and most particularly Cabinet Personel to advise and inform the POTUS - but come on, if you are running for POTUS and ‘claim’ to have vast foreign policy experience from a former soiling of the WH - you should be aware of exactly what is happening in a country that is one of our key allies in the GWOT.
This utter disregard and ignorance will lead to more Americans being killed by radical islamic terrorists and can not be allowed in America.
I won’t vote for John McCain, unless he is the RNC nominee - I think he is a RHINO of extreme form and should not even be trusted with the keys to the ship of war. If he would sell out America and her freedoms out for ‘campaign reform’ and ‘immigration reform’ what makes you think he wouldn’t do it for ‘military reform’?
January 1st, 2008 at 6:20 pm
At last, a reusable headline “Hillary’s Ignorance About” just add what ever subject she is discussing.
January 1st, 2008 at 6:29 pm
“I think he is a RHINO of extreme form ”
So What? I really don’t care if he’s RINO, Elephant, Bear or Democrat. In Pakistan for instance, we are looking at the possible choice of a nuclear armed enemy under the control of the Jihadist we are already fighting in the region or going in and squashing them on the spot. That of course if the current President is taken out. The protection of America and the waging of war to do it is really the only priority at this point. And make no mistake, we will still be at war at the end of the next presidents term, whomever that may be. That is, unless the Islamists all decide to convert to Judaism, and that isn’t going to happen. I don’t happen to like McCain’s position on a lot of things, including campaign finance and immigration among others. But I see those issues as secondary to executing this war against Islam. He is the only one, of all the candidates that’s been there (Duncan Hunter excepted). He is the one who advocated a “surge” from the beginning of the war in Iraq and never shifted his position in the face of much criticism from within and without the party.
Those candidates that are “for” firm enforcement of immigration laws? Who are they? Romney? He’s flip-flopped so many times I really don’t know where he stands. Huckabee? Same as Romney. Rudy? His only claim to fame is 9-11 and he is becoming more one-dimensional every day. So who meets all your standards and also has the knowledge, experience and balls to wage war? Each and every one of them is soft on some issue or issues.
Just an example, I don’t think the campaign finance laws pushed by McCain/Foolsgold were good. But does it really affect me personally? No. And it probably doesn’t most people in America. Personally, I think they should have been even more restrictive to eliminate those with money or access to it from influencing our government.
The rubber is about the meet the asphalt in this presidential campaign and we, as Americans, better put our personal issues aside, decide which issues really affect this country as one unified nation and get it right. Our survival depends on it. I guess it just depends on where your priority lies. Mine is with winning this war. Not just in Iraq, but against worldwide Islamist.
January 1st, 2008 at 8:32 pm
WI, far be it from me to change your mind (although I must admit I am going to try).
McCain is no more a Republican than Hillary Clinton. My first disagreement with McCain goes back years to the time when he and John Kerry took their little junket to Vietnam. Although intel has proven that there were still American POWs alive in NVC and Laos, McCain denied it. And after that junket, the man (John Fifth Column Kerry) that McCain claimed had created such hardship for him when he was a guest at the Hanoi Hilton suddenly became McCain’s buddy. I have a great article about the whole sham if you are interested.
Then there is the McCain/Feingold thing. To me, it was suppression of free speech in the tenth degree. Not one time has McCain admitted that it failed, as shown by Clinton’s Hsu store.
McCain’s stand on IL legal immigration affects me a great deal. Living in a state that has an estimated 2 million of the 12 million illegals here in the U.S., I am up to my neck in taxes paying for those who McCain would make legal. And if you think he won’t do a 180 from his current “hard” stand on IL legal immigration once he takes the Holy Grail, you are fooling yourself. His stand now is just a political ploy because he knew he screwed up in Biblical proportions when it came to IL legal immigration and he will immediately revert back to his original “they are just here to make a living” crap while more Texans die every day at the hands of illegals.
Now McCain says that he would still vote against Bush’s tax cuts, as he did. And friend, that DOES affect you personally.
http://www.clubforgrowth.org/2.....st_tax.php
You want a candidate that is fully aware that the ultimate goal of the terrorists is a mushroom cloud over Chicago or Dallas? Go to Fred Thompson’s web site and listen to his last speech to the people of Iowa.
Don’t mistake Thompson slow southern style for laziness.
McCain for Secretary of Defense? Not even that.
January 1st, 2008 at 9:24 pm
The following is a comment I’m too fair and equitable to post:
“This great country neither needs nor deserves another 8 or even 4 years of a forked-tongue taxaholic snake-oil pusher hailing from the Arkansas Governor’s Mansion who can’t find Pakistan on a map. And that goes for Hillary, too.”
Thank you for admiring my unwillingness to speak ill of the charming and infallible Mr. Huckabee while on a thread about Hillary, and Happy New Year.
January 1st, 2008 at 9:47 pm
Retire05…..
If you read my post, you know that I have the same problems with McCain that you do. Please re-read what I said and understand that you are absolutely right in all the bad things you say about him. I know all about his POW/MIA stand with Kerry. I’ve followed McCain very carefully since he was captured in 1967 (I was in Viet Nam at the time and had met his Father in Hawaii prior to transferring to VN). Believe me when I say he has disappointed me many many times since then. As little as 7 months ago, prior to Fred declaring, I was supporting either Duncan Hunter or Rudy, based almost entirely on defense (or offense) and homeland security, including control of the borders (Hunter).
That being said, in the past couple of months, it’s become clear, in my mind anyway, that Hunter will be out of the race after February and I believe Fred will also. Whether Fred is lazy or just appears very laid back I don’t know. I don’t pretend to know what’s in his mind other than he says he doesn’t have a fire in his belly to be president (his words, not mine). But no matter, he isn’t doing well in polling (and polling does mean something), he’s about out of money and I don’t expect him to be around after February.
So assuming Fred is out and I know Duncan will be out, that leaves 3 people with a shot. McCain, Huckabee and Romney. Neither Huckabee or Romney have any international experience at all (The Olympics don’t count). Neither of them served a day in the military. Huckabee is a minister, which for me is an automatic disqualification. Don’t care one way or the other about Romney’s religion being Mormon because I don’t consider one’s religion as either qualifying or disqualifying…..until they themselves make an issue out of it. He did, Huckabee did about his, and to me on top of the other issues of military and foreign policy, disqualify them.
I firmly believe we will be tested by our enemy shortly after the election/inauguration. There will be no time for OJT in this area. And I believe if we don’t have the right guy driving the ship of state and military, all the other points won’t matter. To be honest, I wish there were another alternative McCain, Huckabee and Romney. I wish there were a Ronald Regan or Teddy Roosevelt out there waiting to run. I wish there were someone who had never served in government as a civilian but had military experience and real private sector international experience. But there isn’t, so we are stuck with a pretty sorry bunch of candidates. That person is coming sooner rather than later (there will be a very large pool of Iraq/Afghanistan vets going into politics eventually). We just need the bridge to get us there.
And I’m not trying to convince anyone to vote for McCain or anyone else. I’m just giving you my opinion in light of the situation we find the world in today. Everyone needs to vote their conscience. State your opinion and move one.
January 1st, 2008 at 9:52 pm
Nimblicity ………Priceless. Thank you.
January 1st, 2008 at 10:29 pm
Retire05….not to beat a dead horse, and as Nimblicity pointed out, this is a anti-shillary thread, but you brought up the issue of McCain voting against the Bush tax cuts in the past. I just felt the need to address that in the proper context.
Yes McCain said he was right then but that he wouldn’t reverse them now because that would constitute a tax increase. His issue back then wasn’t the tax cuts themselves, but the tax cuts without spending reduction guarantees. I happen to agree with him. Although the tax cuts put more money in all of our pockets in the short run, the out of control spending and earmarks will take it out of that same pocket many fold in the future. Instead of Tax and Spend, the current administration has allowed tax-cut and spend more. Bush never once vetoed a pork laden bill from a republican congress, and they were the most pork laden in history. Fiscally, I believe John McCain to be the most conservative candidate. But as I said earlier, I don’t believe that is near as important as the military and HS issues we are facing.
January 1st, 2008 at 10:40 pm
So assuming Fred is out and I know Duncan will be out, that leaves 3 people with a shot. McCain, Huckabee and Romney.
WI, just out of curiosity -you seem to have misplaced Rudy. My impression was that he is the front-runner. What say you ?
January 1st, 2008 at 10:53 pm
DW…..what I said about Rudy above:
“Rudy? His only claim to fame is 9-11 and he is becoming more one-dimensional every day.”
And…
“As little as 7 months ago, prior to Fred declaring, I was supporting either Duncan Hunter or Rudy, based almost entirely on defense (or offense) and homeland security, including control of the borders (Hunter).”
I just feel Rudy has become too one-dimensional and I believe some of his baggage is starting to catch up with him. Bernie Kerrick is killing him with the revelations that have come out and the deal with the people of NYC paying for the security detail of his then girlfriend really turned me off, especially his answer or explanation when questioned about the issue. I just don’t consider him viable any longer because I think he is probably a dishonest person at his core. That make sense?
January 1st, 2008 at 10:59 pm
Fair enough, WI, thanks.
And I did reread that post before I asked. Just curious.
January 1st, 2008 at 11:05 pm
Pakistan should be brought up in the debates this year. As it is the most dangerous country in the world (shockingly, not the U.S.), harboring some of the worst terrorists (aka Islamic Jihadists/Radicals/Fascists, for you Democrats running for office) it is absurd that most Americans still don’t know i) where it is, ii) that Bhutto was charged with corruption by more than four different countries(news esp. to you reporters out there), and iii) that it has nuclear weapons! (Of course, that would be reason to oppose its stable-minded, U.S.-backed leader and side with the MSM-supported, reckless, emotional, unorganized former followers of Bhutto, that are finally spinning out of control now that Bhutto is gone.)
But it’s really not surprising to me that Hillary messed up every point she made. Pakistan has to do with the War on Terror, not just another one of her rehearsed talking points, sadly. Are people so gullible to believe Hillary gives a damn about Pakistan? Or the Middle East for that matter? No, this is a woman who purposely avoids mentioning and panders to those who denounce the term Islamofascist.
January 1st, 2008 at 11:29 pm
Hillary’s ignorance is just beginning to surface and certainly will not end with Pakistan .
January 2nd, 2008 at 12:35 am
“Thank you for admiring my unwillingness to speak ill of the charming and infallible Mr. Huckabee while on a thread about Hillary, and Happy New Year.”
Nimblicity, you are quite the diplomat! LOL
I can’t believe that Schillery didn’t know that President Musharraf is not running in this election! I shouldn’t have been surprised though, as she still hasn’t figured out that George W. Bush is not running for President in 2008. (Okay, now her qualifications for POTUS have gone from laughable to scary.)
“As little as 7 months ago, prior to Fred declaring, I was supporting either Duncan Hunter or Rudy, based almost entirely on defense (or offense) and homeland security, including control of the borders (Hunter).”
My $.02 worth……………….DUNCAN HUNTER!!! HE HAS ALL OF THE QUALIFICATIONS!!!! DUNCAN HUNTER! DUNCAN HUNTER! YES, I AM YELLING. (Whew, I had a Ron Paulite moment. I’m glad I got that out of my system.)
January 2nd, 2008 at 2:47 am
Well all the world really needs to know is that if Hillary is AGAINST Musharraf of Pakistan how much more ENDORSEMENT do you need?! As far as being confused on elections I believe she gave the wrong dates for the Iowa Caucuses, so her confusion is vast and not limited to world affairs.
January 2nd, 2008 at 4:31 am
The media will ignore this gaffe because they don’t know any better themselves. Hillary’s ignorance is exceeded only by that of the MSM.
January 2nd, 2008 at 7:05 am
tps…as much as many of us may wish it to be, Duncan Hunter is not going to be the nominee. So whose your second choice?
January 2nd, 2008 at 7:57 am
John McCain’s my guy. Not my first choice, maybe, but despite immigration, “finance reform” and all the rest he’s still the guy who can win the election and who will fight the war to win it.
And not to lose the anti-Hillary thread entirely…AMERICAN PERFECTIONN, the Hillary Clinton Story, takes a romantic detour with “Jungle Fever”!
“Senator? Call for you on Line One – its Senator Obama!”
“Really? Thanks, Pammy. Hello? Hillary Clinton speaking”.
“Hello, Senator. It’s Barack Obama here”.
“Ungawa”.
“Huh? Um, yes…well. How are you, Senator?”
“On track for victory, which is more than can be said for you”.
“You think so, huh?”
“I know so”.
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. You wanna make something of it? C’mon, tough guy – just try me. I’ll snap your bleeping little weasel spine like a bleeping dry twig. Just bleeping try me”.
“Senator, Senator – please. What are we – Republicans? Let’s not squabble. I’m calling because I was hoping we could get together; just the two of us, and talk things over. See if we can find some common ground, some mutual interest, some shared benefit…”
“Get together? Just the two of us?”
Images of Barack flashed through Hillary’s mind: his lean, well-muscled torso, his fiery eyes, his deep compelling voice, his message of audacious hope and hopeless audacity. She felt her scales warming with a vague thrill of the…forbidden. Idly, she twirled a lock of hair. Hmmmm…
“Well, I suppose I could get away…for a couple of hours” she said.
“Great. I’ll pick you up at eight, okay?”
“Okay…Barack”.
“Bye now”.
“Ungawa”.
Obama sighed and hung up.
What to wear? Hillary flung open the wardrobes and examined her extensive collection of nylon pantsuits.
The lime green? The purple? The orange? The mauve? The pink? The tan? The beige? The desert sand?The apricot? They were all so lovely it was hard to choose but she finally selected a favourite beige number; it’s almost the same color as he is, she thought. We’ll coordinate.
Hillary began each day by giving orders to the cooks and the maids and she’d watched all those Tarzan movies when she was little – that’s where she learned to speak African - and she’d seen “Super Fly” when she was in college so she knew all about African-American culture; that’s why she was surprised and a little disappointed when Barack arrived to collect her.
Where was the pink Cadillac convertible and the purple ankle-length coat lined with chinchilla fur and the white fedora with a turkey feather in it? Oh, and platform shoes with live goldfish in the heels? And the big gold rings on each finger and the big sunglasses and the gold belt buckle that said “Mr Love”? Obama was wearing a dark suit and tie and driving a Chevy Blazer, like an ordinary person.
“Hi Hillary” he said. “Hop in”.
“Ungawa” she greeted him, with her friendliest bark.
Barack winced. “Yes… well. I thought we’d go to a little place I know downtown. Have a meal, couple of drinks, talk things over”.
“What’s the name of this place?”
“Jimmy’s Juke Joint JuJu Room”.
“Oh. That sounds so.. racial. I mean ‘racial’ in a good way. Racially good. Hehehe… celebrate diversity, that’s what I say. Did you ever read ‘Mandingo’? That was a good book. Did you know I met Morgan Freeman once? Do you like Stevie Wonder?”
Why can’t I stop talking, wondered Hillary? What’s the matter with me?
I wish she’d stop talking, thought Obama. What’s wrong with her?
Later, at the JuJu Room, Hillary found it difficult to concentrate. The place was so crowded and so smoky and noisy and everyone there was so…not white.
“Hillary? Everything okay?” asked Barack, leaning over so that she got a whiff of his aftershave. Old Spice. That was her brand too.
“Huh? Oh, sure. Fine, fine” she stammered, smiling weakly.
“You haven’t touched your barbeque. Don’t you like it?”
“Um…its fine” said Hillary, pushing the pile of assorted pig curiosities and the strange vegetables around on her plate. “Just fine”.
“You don’t seem too comfortable here. Maybe we should go someplace else?”
“Um…you see, Barack, its just that, well, except for the maids and the, um, butler, and, um, the cook and, er, the groundskeepers and the, uh, gardeners, I never spent much time around colored people, um, people of color…er, you know, black, um, African-Americans, um, negroes - you know who I mean”.
“Uh huh” said Obama flatly.
“I mean, I feel so white bread sometimes. Bill wouldn’t have any, you know, colored…people of color, in his Cabinet and my Dad, well…once I was going out with this boy, W. Waspington Whitewood IV was his name, and my Dad found out his grandmother was one eighth Italian and he said I couldn’t see poor Waspy anymore because that was ‘race mixing’”.
“I see”.
“I mean, I sympathize with you people, God knows. I mean, it must be so awful for you; having to live in those teeming ghettos and get up and chop cotton all day in the blazing sun while the overseer whips you and cuts off your feet and calls you ’Toby’ and the Master sells your family down the river and you can’t even vote or own anything except Cadillacs and big stereo systems and the only job you can get is ‘pimp’ or ‘gunshot victim’ and you’ve got nothing to eat except Government cheese and crack – it must be terrible!”
“It’s not exactly like that, Hillary”.
“Huh? It’s not? According to the Democratic Party it is. I know! I’ve been briefed!”
“Well…listen: let’s forget about work and politics for tonight. You wanna dance?”
“Um…okay” stammered Hillary. “Except I’m not too, you know, coordinated”.
“Don’t worry; you’ll do great” smiled the junior Senator.
“Okay” whispered Hillary. Dance? With, you know, one of them? Wow. If this was wrong, she didn’t want to be right. “Okay”.
And so it was that, on this magical night, bewitched by Obama’s smooth moves and snakey hips, her mind reeling from malt liquor and barbecue, her senses overcome with the sheer weirdness of it all, Hillary got… Jungle Fever.
She got it again later, in the back of Obama’s Chevy Blazer.
“Ungawa” purred a flushed and satisfied Hillary. “Un-freaking-gawa”.
“I wish you wouldn’t say that” muttered Obama.
January 2nd, 2008 at 9:33 am
Yikes! Now that’s REAL pornography!
What is in the water where you live, artboyusa?
January 2nd, 2008 at 10:14 am
Retire05, I’d be interested in your article on John McCain and his best buddy, if you cared to post it. The MIA/POW mess and the mutual admiration thing they seem to have come up with has always been my biggest problem with him too. I think there is still more to be learned about the Vietnam MIA/POW situation.
Just one report of destruction of MIA/POW investigations records ordered by John Kerry’s Senate Committee
” The conclusion, however, was not welcomed by the DIA, or even by most members of the Senate committee. On the morning the investigators were scheduled to present their report to the senators, one senator’s aide let the Pentagon know what the investigators intended to say. A team from the DIA immediately showed up to rebut their presentation. The investigators protested; their briefing was supposed to be closed to outsiders. In a remarkable display of bad judgment, however, the senators voted, 7 to 2, to allow the DIA to attend the briefing.
By all accounts, what followed was contentious. The investigators and the team from DIA shouted at each other. Several senators shouted, too. John Kerry, the committee chairman, told one of the investigators that if the report ever leaked out, “you’ll wish you’d never been born.” Senator Kerry wants to normalize relations with Vietnam. When the briefing was over, Frances Zwenig, the committee’s staff director, ordered that all copies of the investigators’ report be destroyed. She also said she wanted their computer files purged. Zwenig, who is now the executive assistant to United Nations Ambassador Madeleine Albright, also wants to normalize relations with Vietnam.
In its 1,123-page final report on the hearings, the committee reached an evasive conclusion: “We acknowledge that there is no proof that U.S. POWs survived, but neither is there proof that all of those who did not return had died. There is evidence, moreover, that indicates the possibility of survival, at least for a small number, after Operation Homecoming.”
I know it is fiction but P. T. Deutermann has a book called “Sweepers” that has a scenario
that involves some high ranking officers and games they might play concerning events that happened long ago.
January 2nd, 2008 at 10:35 am
OK, Let’s review One More Time:
Who’s on First - What’s on Second - I donno is on Third - Today’s the pitcher - Tomorrow’s the catcher.
And the DNC front runner for POTUS is again telling us what she knows - NATURALLY.
“And I don’t give a damn!” (playing in the outfield - RB).
January 2nd, 2008 at 11:22 am
Yeah, platypus - I had to put a bag over MY head when I wrote that one.
January 2nd, 2008 at 11:36 am
pagar, these articles are from Sydney Schanberg, who writes for the Village Voice, not exactly your run of the mill right wing publication. And Schanberg himself, is extremely far left so the bashing he does of Kerry and McCain is a bit surprising considering Kerry and McCain’s touting of their “war hero” status.
http://www.villagevoice.com/ne.....267,1.html
(McCain is addressed on the second page)
and
http://www.villagevoice.com/ne.....276,1.html
My problem with McCain is; if he was willing to turn his back on fellow Vietnam POWs, how strong will he really be against the invading Islamic hoards? McCain, ever since I have followed his career, seems to be too opportunistic for me.
Thompson has a few problems as well, but some of them are not self created. Although he has admitted that McCain/Feingold has not worked out as he hoped (loopholes that were ignored) he has not gotten the media traction that the other candidate have. Pretty much the media ignores him. But he does have support. Last weekend a blog surge was created to provide Thompson with $265,000 to run his ads in Iowa. Over 100 blogs were on board and by Sunday, that goal was met with $5, 10, 25.00 donations. Even Fox, when talking about the Republican candidate basically talk only about Huckabee, Romney and McCain.
What bothers me is that the news is acting as though Iowa will determine the outcome of who the candidates will be. Sorry, but with it’s small population demographics, it is but a drop in the bucket. States with large populations, Texas, California, New York, Florida, will have a greater impact.
Don’t mistake Thompson’s easy ways for laziness. We have had previous presidents who ran, not for personal political gain (as Hillary) but because they had true concern for this nation. George Washington never campaigned. Lincoln was considered a lazy campaigner by his opponent. Reagan was considered too old and just a Hollywood clown.
Thompson is not afraid to call things as he sees them. He has already said that part of our problem with illegal immigration is Mexico’s political policy of exporting it’s own citizens. He has spoke the truth when he said that the jihadists would not rest until we see a mushroom cloud over one of our major cities. And he would not allow Hillary to get by with the crap the MSM does.
I am not telling you to get in Thompson’s corner. That is a decision only you can make. But the fact that McCain raised his finger to the wind, learned that the wind was blowing against him on his Shamnesy Plan he designed with Teddy (the Socialist) Kennedy and backed off because he knew that if he stuck to his guns he didn’t have a chance in hell, tells you everything you ever need to know about McCain.
Would McC be tough on terror? I would hope so but from his record on Vietnam and our POWs, I have to voice my doubts.
Here is my stand:
Rudy is a one issue candidate; 9-11 and is far too liberal on the things that count to be, abortion, gun ownership, lower taxes, smaller government.
Huckabee is a flash in the pan and if we have another “Man from Arkansas” there won’t be much Hope. Illegal immigration is out of control in northwest Arkansas will Tyson Chicken even going to Mexico to recruite workers as they laid off Arkansas citizens who had worked at the poulty plants for generations. The signs in the Rogers, Ark. Wal-Mart are in Spanish. All this happened under Huckabee’s watch.
Duncan Hunter is a great candidate but had no support because he is not really well known.
Romney has the business background to run a corporation (and our government is really a large corporation). His foreign affairs experience is almost nil and that is a minus for him. But he is smart, has morals, is willing to look at both sides of an issue (abortion) and when he garnered more facts, had the cajones to say he was wrong. He is pro-2nd Amendment, anti-big government and anti-tax. And Romney has a clear understanding of the cause for jihad.
Paul is a joke. A man who I supported his first 6-7 terms (he was my Congressman until redistricting) but who has completely jumped the shark and has become arrogant. He thinks his explaination of the Constution is the right one and everyone else is wrong. And he draws lunatics. Wants to do away with paper money, abolish the Federal Reserve, defund NASA, adopt a policy of isolationism, just to name a few.
Thompson is a federalist. He also is a state’s righter. He believes that the Constitution allows for only 19 enumerated powers and everything else goes to the jurisdiction of the states. That means small federal government. He thinks Mexico should start acting like a good neighbor, not a spoiled nephew wanting more and more from it’s rich uncle. He understand the goals of the jihadist, as does Romney, and will tell it like it is.
Study the candidates. Research their background and how they voted in the past. And remember that who ever we pick will have to go against the most well oiled political machine this nation has seen in modern times; the Clinton machine or
a man with no experience except to vote far-far left, consideres his foreign experience having a grandmother in a third world nation and will not appeal to the majority of the voting South. Also, any adverse comments made about him will be considered racist. He is a divider, not a uniter.
January 2nd, 2008 at 12:36 pm
Retire05, Your analysis of the POW/MIA situation, and the current political situation are both excellent.
I’d just like to say on Sydney Schanberg, who writes for the Village Voice, that his leftist
views are well documented and therefore, I believe his views on Kerry and McCain’s efforts to whitewash the POW/MIA problem carry some weight.The last line of the following excerpt from your second link to articles outlines my problem with every single person who has ever voted by John Kerry.
” It seems there is no constituency in America for missing Vietnam P.O.W.’s except for their families and some veterans of that war.
A year after he issued the committee report, on the night of January 26, 1994, Kerry was on the Senate floor pushing through a resolution calling on President Clinton to lift the 19-year-old trade embargo against Vietnam. In the debate, Kerry belittled the opposition, saying that those who still believed in abandoned P.O.W.’s were perpetrating a hoax. “This process,” he declaimed, “has been led by a certain number of charlatans and exploiters, and we should not allow fiction to cloud what we are trying to do here.”
Kerry’s resolution passed, by a vote of 62 to 38. Sadly for him, the passage of ten thousand resolutions cannot make up for wants in a man’s character.”
As long as John McCain shows any support for John Kerry, I have a real problem voting for him.
As for the current Presidential primaries vote, my absentee ballot goes into the mail tomorrow and it is correctly marked in support of Fred Thompson. He is clearly the outstanding candidate of both parties.
January 2nd, 2008 at 12:45 pm
“tps…as much as many of us may wish it to be, Duncan Hunter is not going to be the nominee. So whose your second choice?”
WI….I know, but I can dream can’t I? I’ve always been known as a cockeyed optimist. My second choice for POTUS presents a problem though, as all of the other Candidates have let me down on one issue or another. My choice (gut feeling) as of this very moment, would be Fred Thompson. Retire05’s comments about Fred (above) pretty well sum up the reasons. ( Now if FT would only run and pick DH as Vice President, “my heart would be full”, so to speak.)
Artboy, brilliant again! I love the details in your stories….”The lime green? The purple? The orange? The mauve? The pink? The tan? The beige? The desert sand?The apricot? They were all so lovely it was hard to choose but she finally selected a favourite beige number; it’s almost the same color as he is, she thought. We’ll coordinate.”
Yep, nothing says power like a polyester pantsuit! LOL (That would add another P to the name - “Lipstick on a PIAPS”) haha!
January 2nd, 2008 at 1:28 pm
Looks like Joe Biden didn’t let Schillery’s “ignorance about Pakistan elections” go unnoticed……………… http://politicalticker.blogs.c.....tan-gaffe/
January 2nd, 2008 at 2:40 pm
Joe and Shillary….dumb and dumber. Funny thing is I met and talked to Biden in 1980 on Diego Garcia in the IO during the embassy hostage takeover by Iran. He was on a junket with then Senator Howard Baker (R-TN). Both Biden and Baker promised all of us they would do something about military pay and allowances that were embarrassingly low at the time. He and Baker kept their promise and got us the largest military pay and allowance raise in history. Biden really was, at least then, a very likable guy who was a straight talker at the time. Baker, I believe, was one of the last “wise men” to serve in Washington. Wish there were more like him now.
January 2nd, 2008 at 3:27 pm
I have always liked McCain, huge fan. However, I cannot support him because of the amnesty thing. End of the line. If he can enforce the border and punish the employers and send 2/3rds packing before we revisit the issue, fine. But not until then. Otherwise, I want to hear the candidates position on other things that could be amnestied. What is in it for us lowly Americans? You know, citizens. The ones that live here and belong to the acutal country. You know, America.
January 2nd, 2008 at 4:22 pm
This has been an interesting discussion.
I have what may be a dumb question (and you guys know I never ask dumb questions :-)
OK, here’s the thing. As far as I know, the people posting here are what I would consider “grassroots” Americans. What I mean is that I figure that most conservative Americans would be in agreement with you guys to a greater or lesser degree.
(get to the the frickin’ question DW!!!)
Sorry. Here it is -everybody here agrees that Duncan Hunter is the way to go. Everyone also agrees that he doesn’t have a hope in hell.
Why not ?
If it’s because of the MSM -well, if they had their way, no conservative would ever get elected and damned few Republicans. If a random cross-section of conservative Americans (S&L) are in such unanimous agreement that he’d be the best choice -especially now, in a time of war and with the whole world spiraling into deep shit -when we don’t have the luxury of being able to afford a Carter or a Clinton - why is this man not getting more attention ?
Sorry if that’s a dumb question, but I am genuinely curious.
January 2nd, 2008 at 4:56 pm
“he doesn’t have a fire in his belly to be president ”
Fair point, but I think I would prefer someone who does not WANT to be POTUS just for the glory of being POTUS, but rather have someone run because they think they can make our country better.
Take john edwards for example, I think he has spent close to more or about the same amount of time running for executive branch of govt than he has spent in the legislative branch. I dont want a pres. to be someone who is gunning for the position just for the glory ie: Hitlery and Edwards.
I think the right candidate who sees it as a calling rather than a “want” to be pres.
I hope this is clear, written fast and sloppily
January 2nd, 2008 at 5:00 pm
DW, two words; name recognition. Hunter has been a behind-the-scenes legislator and is not really well known for the work he has done. Even Tancredo was better known because he was considered a hell raiser.
Am I “grassroots”? No, not really. I consider myself a Constitutionalist, someone who believes that the authors of the Constitution wrote it to be timeless the same way that the New Testement gives us rules to live by. There are 19 enumerated powers granted to the federal government. But the twisting of the Constitution has given Congress, and the Senate, more power than the founding fathers every imagined. i.e. when you can find a reason to make abortion legal by twisting the Constitution but feel that Congress has the ability to remove your right to carry a weapon that IS outlined in the Constitution, we are a long way from original intent.
There is currently a bill in Congress called the Enumerated Powers Act. It would require Congress to prove Constitutionality on everything they pass. Funding for the National Endowment of the Arts so someone can put a Crucifix in urine? Nope. Millions to Planned Parenthood and the AARP? Nope. It is up to all of us to contact our representatives and demand the EPA be passed. Pork barrel spending will immediately become a thing of the past.
What we are currently seeing in our nation is what I call “creeping socialism”. And if we get Obama or Hillary, it will break out into a dead run. The most center of all the Dhimmicrats is Joe Biden. And he doesn’t stand a chance.
2008 will determine what our nation will be for the next hundred years. We cannot afford another 4, and probably 8, years of Clinton. The damage done by the Democrats will not just last for the length of time they will be in office.
January 2nd, 2008 at 5:31 pm
Sorry I know this is off–topic, but you need to read this. Cali is trying to let children re-define their sex…
http://www.nctimes.com/article....._29_07.txt
January 2nd, 2008 at 6:22 pm
Thanks for posting that, ATLien. I live in California & hadn’t heard about this.
January 2nd, 2008 at 6:32 pm
The president pro tem of the CA senate is Don Perata, a man whom I would consider to be an absolute mental nut case, sleaze ball crook (dhimmi of course). It wouldn’t surprise me if he wasn’t personally behind this insanity.
Perata was carjacked last week in Oakland, his home district. I really hate to say this but it’s too bad he survived without a scratch. And I too thank you for posting that ATLien. Although I presently live in WA state, I’m a native Californian with kids and grandkids in CA and we will probably be relocating back to CA within the next year. This craziness pisses me off more than you can imagine. And it really isn’t surprising that the governator would sign off on such foolishness. Look who he’s married to….a Kennedy democrat that also worked in the MSM….now that’s a loser if there ever was one.
I can see the headlines now…..7 year old Johnny gives a hug to 6 year old Susie and is busted for sexual harrasment and forced to register as a sex offender for the rest of his natural life. But 7 year old Tommy decides he’s going to be Tommicita for a day and goes to the restroom with the same Susie and is praised for his, er, her, progressive thinking.
January 2nd, 2008 at 7:15 pm
DW, two words; name recognition.
Retire (thanks for answering btw), that’s the thing. Name recognition by who(m) ?
I realize that a hell of a chunk of the US population is more interested in Brittany, Paris and Anna Nicole than they are in the next leader of the free world. Fine. Plus you have a big chuck of lefties who want Hillary or whomever. Equally fine. But amongst conservative people who actually are paying attention (people here, for example) everyone seems to know who he is.
I confess to a near complete ignorance as to how things are done in the US (the “primaries” and the importance of “Iowa” to give but two examples) but the people who do decide who’s going to be the Republican presidential candidate -are they not people who are paying attention (ie: knowing who’s who) ?
Am I “grassroots”? No, not really.
OK. But you’re here (S&L). You’re obviously a conservative.
This isn’t the “Duncan Hunter support site”. Granted Ann Coulter supports him and a lot of people came here by way of being fans of her -but not everybody got here that way. And (I believe) the ones who did are intelligent enough to not let Ms. Coulter, or anyone else, make up their minds for them.
Again -everybody here says Hunter is the way to go. I can’t see S&L’ers as being some elite group of a few hundred Americans who think differently from the 62-odd million Americans who voted for President Bush in ‘04.
So who’s making the decisions ?
Sorry to seem so bloody thick-headed, but I honestly don’t get it.
What we are currently seeing in our nation is what I call “creeping socialism”.
Trust me, I know what that’s all about. Years ago, Pat Buchanan got people here all stirred up by referring to the place as “Soviet Canuckistan”. Hell, conservatives here had already been calling it the “People’s Republic of Canada”, in disgust, for years prior. We’re your future if you’re not careful.
ATLien’s linked article and the comments that follow it are positively chilling. I’d hate to see that happen to the US (and I may not have a vote in the ‘08 election, but everyone on the planet has a dog in this hunt).
2008 will determine what our nation will be for the next hundred years.
From where I sit, it’s not “what”, but “if”.
I worry.
For all of us.
January 3rd, 2008 at 4:02 am
I usually just lurk here and comment rarely because I am not particularly well-educated in the political arena. That said, I’ve heard zero about Duncan Hunter–until this discussion started. Hence retire05’s statement: name recognition, makes perfect sense to me.
January 3rd, 2008 at 9:57 am
US Male, lurk no more.
DW, I echo his thoughts, I don’t know much about him either, seems the MSM ignores him enough to where I can honestly say I know next to nothing about the guy.
January 3rd, 2008 at 11:58 pm
US Male, ATLien,
Thanks for the input guys. I guess I made the assumption (I know, I know…) that since Hunter was so universally popular here, that it’d be the same in most US conservative-leaning, politics-following circles.
That’s evidenty not the case, judging from the results in Iowa.
Guess I gotta get out more…