McCain's Swift Boat Moment

Is John McCain about to get Swift Boated?  Sidney Blumenthal is the one person whom I trust less than I trust Michael Moore and Blumenthal appears to be the force behind this video.  So consider the source.  However, absent some video slight of hand, this appears to be the Senator in his own words.  I don't know if it will be as devesating as the Swift Boat Vets were for Kerry, but it's got potential.

Click here to go to the video.

Comments

[Tim]

Payback from Romney's folks for that YouTube video of Romney in 1994 versus today? Would make sense and would be perfectly fair!

[Romney's the next President]

Tim, I agree with you. McCain's people drew "first blood" and this is fair response to the YouTube video of Romney from 1994?

[Jack]

The video starts strong, but finishes weak. The Iraq stuff is great, but it takes real editing tricks to make him look bad at the end.

[RonH]

I find it somewhat interesting that it has taken the nutroots on the Left this long to finally realize what many traditional conservatives have accepted for years about John McCain, ie. he tends more to the ideology of the Left than he does the right and uses the same approaches to "greasing the skids of politics" that the Democrats have been using for decades. Sorry. I truly thank the man for his military service to this country, but I see little in him to trust with the reins of this nation.

[Mark]

Oh give me a break! McCain has done things that infuriate me but he is no lefty. Just look at his overall voting record. McCain would never be accepted by the Democrat party because his voting record is far too conservative.

[RonH]

So Mark,
How many infuriating things is McCain allowed before you see just where he is coming from?

[Mark]

Ron,

A lot more than he has done. I absolutely revere Reagan yet I completely disagree with his response in Beirut. My question to you is since McCain has such a strong conservative record why don't you support him?

[David Roney]

That video was annoying as hell with it's repetition. The content was good, but they left out the flip flop on abortion. McCain was temporarily for it during the 2000 campaign and took major heat for it resulting in a corrective press release. Let's not forget that he claims to be for free speech but sponsored a law that limits it considerably - exhibiting yet another issue he takes both sides on.

[RonH]

Mark,
Without getting into a drawn out debate as to Sen. McCain's true "conservatism", let me just point to two specifics where he lost me. First was McCain-Feingold with which I appreciate the basic premise of, just find immense fault with the "compromises" that were made to get it passed. The second and more passionate issue is his joining with Ted Kennedy to craft an amnesty for 12+ million foreign criminals currently in this country so that the United States Chamber of Commerce's members can avail themselves of cheap labor.
There are more but I won't belabor the issue as it seems you support the Senator. I do not and will not.

[Mark]

Ron,

I agree with you regarding McCain-Feingold. In fact I passionately despise that legislation. It only serves to increase the power of Soros and his ilk. I support no-limit contributions and full-disclosure.

Regarding immigration reform I fully support McCain's plan. My great-grandmother was one of those "foreign criminals" so should I now be deported for her sin of wanting to live in America and having her children be citizens? Yes our borders (not just the one with Mexico) must be made secure. We are at war and cannot risk having unknowns or outright enemies entering illegally. I support all measures that secure our borders. But I simply find any suggestion that we deport those now here illegally to be fanciful and worse, dangerous. What are you going to do, round up 12 million aliens, put them on trains, store them in camps and then ship them off to our southern neighbors who don't want them or will likely refuse them? Especially in light that we do need them. Our population growth is abysmal and over the next century harms our continued status as a world power in light of the growth in the East. Are you comfortable with America degrading to a lesser power with China calling all the shots? Our illegal aliens are generally Christian, have strong family values and acclimate to American society in a manner very similar to the German immigrants of the 19th century.

Lastly, McCain's plan fines the aliens for breaking our immigration laws, which is not a felony btw, and offers a path to citizenship, which eliminates your cheap labor argument.

I am saddened that you state you will not support McCain. I honestly believe he is our only hope of preventing a President Hillary, a truly scary proposition. Giuliani has not built up the kind of organization that is required to raise the money he will need to win the primary. In fact it has been rumored that he is actually running for the VP slot. And Mitt simply cannot win. Being a Mormon there are just too many on the religious-right who, for moral reasons, cannot bring themselves to vote for someone they consider to be a cultist.

[RonH]

Marc,
You've hit on the achilles heel of the American electoral process with this statement "I honestly believe he is our only hope of preventing a President Hillary, a truly scary proposition." You and millions of others simply get to choose from the lesser of two evils. We have not had a person with the character, moral compass, integrity, nor leadership skills to lead this nation, to choose from for decades. Anyone with those traits would never associate with the sewer that the American political system has become. Many who tried to make a difference in Congress simply saw the writing on the wall and chose not to run for any additional terms.

Personally I will not lend my name to such a sham. And Sen. McCain could well stand as poster boy for all that is wrong with the way politics functions in our country. Sorry, I'm not buying.

As to effectively dealing with the illegal immigration issue, all you pointed to were the know difficulties we face with resolving the issue. You accept defeat without even making an honest attempt. It was President Kennedy , when talking about going to the moon said, we do it not because it is easy, we do it because it is hard. Not sure those are the exact words but the underlying premise is there.

[Mark]

Ron,

At the end of the day you will be presented with two candidates. Those two were whittled down from a much larger field. On Election Day you have 4 options. You can choose to not vote, vote for candidate A, vote for candidate B or vote for Candidate X who has no chance of winning. Now let's assume Candidate A is McCain and Candidate B is Hillary. If you choose to not vote or if you choose to vote for Candidate X and Hillary wins then you played a personal role in helping her win.

I remember the election of '92 and my Dad and Mom were leaving the poling place and my Dad asks my Mom who she voted for. She replied Perot. My Dad, looking at her in utter shock, then said 'you dumb *ss - you just voted for Bill Clinton'. And he was absolutely right.

Ron your vote is your vote and you have every right to vote they way you think is best. However, do not kid yourself. If you choose to not vote or vote for candidate X you will be voting for Hillary Clinton. Maybe you can live with that but I never could.

Re. immigration, you completely misunderstood my posting. Please reread it with this in mind - we need millions of more immigrants (hopefully from countries with strong Christian cultures) than we currently allow in. Those that are here now illegally need to be made citizens for the well being of our economy and the continuation of our status as the sole superpower.