Drawing Even

What is political astuteness? Is it a degree of support that you show for who you vote for? or is it what you do for the best of your country?

One answer would be the forever thougthful, winded, indirect....
One answer would be to the point....

The term "Astute" has been hijacked (quote & unquote) by the committed left... and the right (quote & unquote" equates it to being wishy-washy. so take your pick, old man!

McCain Meant To Reject Spain Meeting, Adviser Says

I found this on Huff and Wash Post. By the way just so everyone is aware Spain and the US are NATO Allies. Here is the first part of the article and the link to the entire article;

The McCain campaign insisted Thursday morning that the Senator meant what he said when, during an interview on Spanish radio, he refused to commit to a meeting with Spain's prime minister, Jose Luis Zapatero.

"The questioner asked several times about Senator McCain's willingness to meet Zapatero (and id'd him in the question so there is no doubt Senator McCain knew exactly to whom the question referred). Senator McCain refused to commit to a White House meeting with President Zapatero in this interview," the Senator's foreign policy adviser Randy Sheunemann told the Washington Post.

Sheunemann's answer is likely to be cause deep ripples within the diplomatic community, as it represents a more aggressive and antagonistic approach than that deployed by the Bush administration. It also promises to be hotly contested, as a review of the McCain interview suggests that the Senator was likely confused as to who Zapatero actually was.

link to Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/18/mccain-meant-to-reject-sp_n_127449.html

McCain Slights Spanish Prime Minister

link to Wash Post article:
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/09/18/mccain_slights_spanish_prime_m.html#more

I guess McCain is Eni meni mini mo ing regarding the next country that we will go to war with. Remember McCain knows how to win wars......... by winning wars! No Palin/McCain are not scary at all !

I am under 45 years old.
I love the outdoors.
I hunt.
I am a Republican reformer.

I have taken on the Republican Party establishment.

I have many children.

I have a spot on the national ticket as vice president with less than two years in the governor???s office.

Have you ever heard of me before now?

I am Teddy Roosevelt.

McCain is set to claim sovereignty of Mars. In a prepared statement, he announced, "It's mine. It's all mine, my friends."

Fannie Mae, Freddy Mac, Bear Sterns, Lehman Brothers, AIG and the rest of the failed institutions have failed primarily because of former Senator Phil Gramm. The Gramm-Leach-Biley Act stripped away the regulations separating banking from investment companies, insurance companies and mortgage guaranty companies. Those regulations were added after the Great Depression when it became obvious that allowing banks to be in bed with the stock market was a sure way to rig the system to collapse, as it did in 1929.

Lo an behold, a few years after the regulations were removed, the sh!t has hit the fan, and the inter-related investment, insurance, mortgage and banking industries are now starting to collapse, and guess what, you, the taxpayer will have to pay to clean it up.

Phil Gramm is the Senator who brought you the "Enron Loophole" that de-regulated futures trading, causing the prices of oil, gas and food to spiral out of control.

Senator Phil Gramm was McCain's top economic advisor until recently, when he was forced to step down after he said that there is no problem with our economy other than a "mental recession" on the part of a "nation of whiners." Phil Gramm is the man who McCain said he wants to name Secretary of the Treasury if he becomes President. You have to believe John McCain when he says that he knows little about the economy -- so little that he doesn't even know who to choose as an advisor.

Barack Obama addressed the Enron Loophole, futures trading, short-selling and Wall Street de-regulation months ago in his economic position papers, which are available on his website. Obama has been saying all along that he is going to put in strict regulations and clean up Wall Street.

McCain just started saying that he favors regulation in the past couple of weeks. How is it that McCain is going to put in new regulations, when he plans to appoint Phil Gramm, the man who caused the de-regulation, as Secretary of the Treasury? McCain says he would fire Christopher Cox, the SEC Chairman, to solve the problem. However, the problem is caused by lack of regulations on the legislative level, regulations that were removed before Cox was appointed. The SEC can only enforce regulations that actually exist, so making a scapegoat of Cox solves nothing. I would suggest that McCain is guilty of saying what's politically expedient, that he does not actually intend to regulate the banking industry. McCain knows that most Americans are unaware of the details.

I am a middle-aged white conservative Republican who loves America. I am voting for Barack Obama.

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/15050.html
http://www.newsweek.com/id/145011/page/1
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/editorial/outlook/6007788.html
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A01E0D81038F934A25752C0A9649C8B63
http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/stateupdates/gG5Rzb

Neos,

RE: OBAMA OPPOSING THE WAR (ref to your post below)

Exactly neos! And that's precisely why I question his overall judgment! A person's decision or decisions (Dem/Repub doesn't matter) are ONLY as good as the information on hand. The latest info readily available to him or her as they make their tough decision(s). As we all know hindsight is 20/20.

So what does this tell us about BHO's judgment and/or decision making process?
RIGHT AFTER 9/11, WHEN EVERYBODY IN THIS NATION WAS CONCERNED ABOUT OUR NATIONAL SECURITY---BASED ON THE CURRENT INFO ON HAND--BHO WAS THE ONLY NAIVE SEN. TO OPPOSE THE WAR!

Hell, the majority of Democrats (incl Hillary) voted for and/or approved the War after the attacks!
C'mon Neos ... think about it buddy! If anything the fact that BHO voted against "PROTECTING AMERICA" at that particular moment in time, (IMHO) shows BAD JUDGEMENT ON HIS PART!!!

Scary huh?

(sorry if this post twice. Experiencing site difficulties)

ISN'T IT HILARIOUS THAT OBAMA IS DOING BETTER WITH WOMEN "AFTER" THE PICK OF PALIN??!!!! TALKING ABOUT 15 MINUTES OF FAME....................MORE LIKE 15 SECONDS!

McCain has a longer record of bucking his party???s orthodoxy.
http://blogs.usatoday.com/oped/2008/09/whos-the-better.html

McCain, in Congress for 26 years to Obama's four, has the longer record of producing bipartisan alliances on tough issues. He has bucked his party again and again to do just that ??? on immigration, federal judges and campaign finance, to name three on which he enraged many Republicans by defying the party position and working with Democrats. McCain-the-maverick has reverted to party orthodoxy on taxes and other issues this year, which will put him in a bind if elected: Would he stick with those new positions, or compromise with the Democratic Congress he'd likely be working with?

Obama's bipartisan accomplishments in Washington have been on significant, but relatively non-controversial, efforts to secure nuclear weapons and establish a federal-spending database. What he lacks is a record of challenging his own party on divisive, difficult issues ??? the deficit, immigration, energy ??? that he'd have to reach out to Republicans on if he's elected. Even with a Democratic majority in Congress, it takes 60 votes in the Senate to pass most major measures.

None of this is to say Obama couldn't turn into a consensus-building, party-challenging president. Based on their records so far, though, it takes a greater leap of faith to believe that of him than of McCain.

Neos.... how about answering my question about Obama's cutting & editing Fiona's interview? Are you going to cut and run again tonight?

Have another one for you: What do you think of those who invaded Palin's privacy and post her email online?