Lessons from Berlin

McCain sees the U.S. presidency as the gold watch he's earned
for being onsite for a long time.

Not good enough.

In the 21st century, this nation has problems that cannot be
solved with a big stick and a bad attitude.

Sorry, Mr. McCain. This ain't your time.

I wanted John McCain to talk about what he believes in and what he plans to do. All week all he could do was whine and complain "not fair" - this is the best he can do to show us how he will be our next President???? HOW DISAPPOINTING! John McCain and his supposed "Straight Talk" is nothing more than ashes now. This past week has opened my eyes to his lack of integrity. Obama spoke eloquently in Europe and displays intellect, ability to understand, and make thoughtful decisions. His innate strengths will serve him MUCH more than any experience. I am just sad for our country because anyone who is educated and has a intelligent opinion is labeled as "elitist". Since when is being an intellect a bad thing? The republicans said it about John Kerry, and now they do the same for Obama. But of course they are a bunch of good ole boys, who would prefer stupid leaders.

Our economy is in a toilet, greed and the subprime mortage rates is going to cost the Tax payers a lot of money, McCain is naive if he thinks he can still fund expensive wars and not raise taxes given our HUGE deficits. The price of gas is high, and why - a big reason is due to the fact that the dollar is so weak, and oil is priced in dollars. It's not the only reason, but it is part of the reason! Ask yourselves this one simple question - are you better off now than when you were 8 years ago??? Where do you want America to be in the future? The fact is America is losing credibility in the world. You might think it might not matter, but the days of isolationism is over. We are living in a global economy, and if we don't do something about making America an economic and political leader again, then we need to take action and do something about it. We need CHANGE!! Not 4 more years of the same!

I can't vote for someone like McCain who is clearly hawkish, who doesn't understand history, and totally messed up on the timing of the Anbar awakening and the surge. He is sounding like a broken record, and has not learned a thing from the past 8 years mistakes. I am very much concerned we will enter into another World War with Iran or North Korea.

I am sure I will be labeled as a left wing liberal. But I am very much a fiscal conservative and social moderate. But I am also educated and am able to analyze various sources of information and make decisions on my own, and not just get mindlessly told what to believe by idiotic political ads.

WAKE UP AMERICA - stop letting FEAR control us, where is our courage and strength to believe we can face any challenges that comes our way with American "can-do" and love for democracy? Instead since 9/11, the Neocons have used FEAR to chip away at our freedoms with overreaching wiretapping and privacy invasion. They have seriously threatened the integrity of our Constitution and we are in danger of turning into a police state. Why? all due to the FEAR message that the Neocons send to Americans. It is disgusting to me that this administration has created a "Torture" policy based on what they saw in a TV Show of "24". This was clearly referenced as an inspiration by John Yoo for his infamous Torture memo. As a TV junkie nation, everyone has seen the show, and it always looks "cool" with Jack Bauer saving the day from evil terrorists in the nick of time because of some torture he got out of someone. It is beneath us as a Nation that advocates Freedom and democracy, common decency to throw our principles out the window all because of a television show. If we say the ends justify the means, but we lose our soul and our principles, what good does it do us? How can we teach other countries about what it means to be a democratic nation, if we don't practice what we preach?

Don't be quick to judge me as a liberal who hates America! I am not naive to believe that there are some terrorists out there who don't care about life or death. But it is because I love America and what she represents that I am so disappointed that our economy, our ability to lead in the world is compromised because of the past 8 years.

There is a reason for the Geneva Convention - the way we treat others is a reflection of our country's integrity and principle. Our troops or any Americans who are captured will be treated worse because there will be terrorists out there spreading propaganda that Americans are evil. I am passionate about this, having a brother in the miltary. If he were captured, I would want him to be treated within accord of the Geneva Convention.

I BELIEVE MCCAIN SHOULD BE HAPPY HE'S NOT GETTING THIS LEVEL OF COVERAGE. IS IT ME OR IS HE GAFFING ALMOST DAILY?
SIDE NOTE-ISN'T IT GREAT TO SEE SO MANY FOREIGNERS WEARING RED, WHITE AND BLUE, DYING THEIR HAIR RED, WHITE AND BLUE AND HOLDING UP OUR FLAG? AND WE HAVEN'T EVEN DONE ANYTHING FOR THEM LATELY......... THE ENTIRE WORLD WANTS US TO STAND UP TO WHERE WE WERE AND ONLY A FEW IGNORANTS FROM THIS COUNTRY ARE ACTUALLY AGAINST IT. SHAME.

Obama's Berlin speech was supposed to be seen as part of an " Ich bin ein Kennedy " narrative.

Barack is so much more charming, disarming and intelligent that our current roster of GOP leadership that it will be a total breath of fresh air for the entire world if we can manage to elect him our President.

If McCain wins, by some fluke (hah, more like by some hook or crook)... we will just go along the same old path and be marginal, mediocre and declining - the same path as today.

Which would you choose? A chance to change direction or a chance to remain stagnant (at best)?

Obama's face alone will and has altered the face of the US in the world. Words always matter. JFK was a Berliner and it mattered. Bush was a compassionate conservative and it mattered. Nixon was a peace-maker he said, and it mattered. All politicians lie, but some do it for good and others for gain. Lincoln had only words also but they mattered then as they do now. All men are created equal. We all live on this small planet, breathe the same air, want the same things for our children and out posterity. Words let one see into the soul of politicians. If a guy talks about himself or some amorphous plan that seems to solve all the probems in the world, you can bet it's disingenuous. When he talks about the commonality of people, you can bet the other way.

Patriot2 says Obama's naive about how real politics works.

I guess naive judgment trumps senile experience after all.

Even Fox News knows McCain's Mistakes will hurt him, latest From The Bourbon Room:

The Obama's inner circle, they believe McCain set himself back not only with the general public but also with top-flight Republicans who will have to try to clean up McCain's national security debris.

Here is what team Obama means.

* On July 21st, McCain said on Good Morning America that the situation was tough in Afghanistan, particularly, he said, given the struggle on the Iraq-Pakistan border.

* On July 22 in an interview Katie Couric of CBS, McCain said the troop surge President Bush ordered in January 2007 and which didn't reach maximum tactical deployment for months after led to the so-called Sunni awakening or uprising against Al Qaeda in Iraq terrorists. While the surge no doubt gave greater confidence to Sunnis over time, the awakening began in the fall of 2006 with the moves against AI Qaeda by a collection of high-profile tribal sheiks.

* On July 23, McCain said the surge wasn't really about more troops, but counter-insurgency tactics. And yet the political credit McCain seeks for the turn-around in Iraq is based principally on his advocacy if the surge - meaning more troops to carry out counter-insurgency missions. To say the surge wasn't really about more troops undercuts much of McCain has tried to tell the public about what has changed in Iraq and why.

* On July 24th, McCain called Iraq the first major conflict since 9/11. Tell that to Hamid Karzai, current President of Afghanistan and brought to power by the US-led defeat of the Taliban in the months immediately following 9/11.

* And Friday on CNN, McCain said 16 months for a troop withdrawal from Iraq is a pretty good timetable. His campaign said McCain meant it was good so long as conditions on the ground warranted troop withdrawals. But the damage was done. Just check the profusion of blog posts in the hours immediately after the CNN interview with McCain.

The Obama campaign and the DNC is preparing an easy-to-follow guide to these McCain fumbles to assist any and all Obama surrogates in the coming debate over national security, Iraq or Afghanistan. Contrasting one or more of these against McCain's contention that he alone knows how to win wars is likely to become a familiar TV jousting tactic.