Frank A. Schaeffer, a McCain friend and former supporter (McCain blurbed his book on military service), has denounced the McCain campaign in a Baltimore Sun Op-Ed: “Stop! Think! Your rallies are beginning to look, sound, feel and smell like lynch mobs,” Schaeffer warned.

...Even former McCain staffers like Mike Murphy and John Weaver are criticizing the tenor of the campaign. As David Gergen said on CNN Thursday night: “There is this free floating sort of whipping around anger that could really lead to some violence. I think we’re not far from that.” -from Joan Walsh's latest column

Shooter, please explain how all these conservative friends of John McCain are wrong.

We're waiting.

I'll grant, it's been a long time since my high school civics class. However, my admittedly limited understanding of our government is centered around the division of powers as first told to me: the Legislative branch writes the laws, the Executive branch, well, executes the laws, and the Judicial branch enforces the laws.

I would define the role of the judiciary differently - I would say the role of the courts is to decide cases and controversies among the citizens, to ensure that criminal defendants receive due process under the law, and in doing so, to interpret the Constitution.

Police and prosecutors (part of the executive) are said to "enforce the law" which I take as essentially meaning the same thing as to "execute the law."

An amazing number of people...are now arguing that all the Good and Important things that Barack Obama is about to do for all of us outweigh the need to subject high political officials to the rule of law.

I agree with Glenn!! Prosecute Bush, Cheney, and all their enablers in the previous administration!!

There. That was easy. For ME to say.

Glenn. YOU are President Obama, the new, first, black president in American history. You're gonna do this?

As far as Barack using up his political "currency" doing what's legally responsible? The election is proof positive he just hit the Jack Pot. I say spend the Hell out of that "currency" and realize a return on his investment. The people would be shocked, but in a great way.

Really? OK. You're Barack's top adviser. You are gonna tell him you think throwing the Bush administration against the wall and prosecuting them for war crimes is going to work out well for him?

I'm asking seriously, here, folks. I think it's really easy for us (and by that I mean ME, a PROSECUTOR, who thinks Bush et al are WAR CRIMINALS), who don't bear the enormous downside, to say.

'm going to appoint an AG who is widely respected, highly accomplished, very smart and independent.

Hmmm. I like your thinking...but can Barack really insulate himself, distance himself enough via a strong A.G. appointment from the political realities of throwing BushCo against the wall?

What I like about your reasoning usually, here, Glenn, is that you convincingly make the case that the RIGHT thing to do for Dems is also the politically pragmatic and popular move.

But here, are you sure? Are you sure Barack could weather the blowback from a move like this?

As a prosecutor, would you go forward on a politically unpopular prosecution if you knew it was the right thing to do?

Honestly, we do it all the time. In my particular jurisdiction, we took on the enormously strong political party, and won. We have (for example) Jew on black crime and black on Jew crime all the time, and in each case, we decide what WE THINK is the right thing to do, and do it, and damn the political consequences. Whatever we do, it always pisses off one extremely important voter bloc or the other!

But then, I work for a particularly brave and politically strong district attorney who can weather such storms.

As a prosecutor, I reflexively want to see all violators prosecuted -- litterbugs, jaywalkers. Bush, who caused hundreds of thousands of needless innocent deaths and shredded the Constitution, tops my list.

But it's not my call, it's Obama's. He lives in the global world of political reality, I don't. I want him to succeed, with all my heart.

I'm not sure he can do this, folks. I'm sorry.

Easy, just use their own tactics.

See, that's where we differ. Easy...for you. Easy...for the newly-minted, first, black president of the U.S.?

Actually, what am I saying....'black'? It would have been the same political reality for Hillary Clinton if she had won.

If you think the spectacle of this admin's DOJ prosecuting Bush admin officials for war crimes wouldn't obliterate absolutely everything this admin is trying to accomplish, I really think you're living in a dream world.

No, they probably mean leaving office as the most despised President in your country's modern history, disgraced in the eyes of most of the world, and unable to travel to many foreign countries for fear of being charged with war crimes.

Don't forget "and with your political party discredited and banished from power for potentially many years."

I'm sure that was forefront in their minds.

Rather like the left's approval of invading Afghanistan.....

Sorry folks but the left has no room to criticize Bush while advocating exactly the same behavior in Afghanistan. What hypocrisy.-- shooter242

Is there some sort of mechanism at UT by which one can nominate a contender for "Single Stupidest, Most Easily-Refuted Troll Post of the Year"? Because I think I've got a winner here.

I agree, Shooter is usually smarter than that.

I get the feeling s/he didn't actually write that post. I'm guessing s/he's off on vacation to drink away the election results and has set up some sort of 'bot program to post some randomly assembled wingnut blatherings in his/her absence. To keep up a presence, y'know.