Letters to the Editor
blacktop
Published Letters: 186 Editor's Choice: 4
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I love it
[Read the article: Obama camp strikes back]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]When Obama gets all tough and aggressive against the bullying blather of the McCain camp. How long has it been since we have had a Democratic presidential candidate with abundant smarts and muscles... and the guts to use both?
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Joker
[Read the article: McCain advisor woos Clinton supporters]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Maybe Carly Fiorina was able to explain to these so-called Clinton backers the underlying meaning of John McCain's joke about the woman raped by the ape. Or maybe Fiorina could explain McCain's internal debate over the competing values of Viagra and birth control pills. Or maybe Fiorina could have a go at explaining his anti-choice stance. Or his anti-gay marriage position. Or his anti-gay adoption views.
Or his idea that the U.S. should remain as an occupier in Iraq for perhaps 100 years.
Anyone, woman or man, who votes for McCain needs to have her/his head examined.
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Good Move
[Read the article: Report: Obama won't speak in front of Brandenburg Gate]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I am glad that Obama has decided to speak elsewhere than in front of the Brandenburg Gate, primarily because it deftly undermines the huffing and puffing from anti-Obama lightweights like Krauthammer. Obama is smart, agile, unfazed, and strong as he has shown once again. Obama loses nothing by making this move, will have a tremendous admiring audience, and again demonstrates his understanding of the nuances of international relations that have been sorely lacking in our national leadership for the past eight years.
Obama has been right on talking with Iran, right on bolstering the attack against the real seat of al Qeda on the Afghanistan/Pakistan border, right on setting a timetable for getting U.S. troops out of Iraq. Now the Bush administration and poor McCain are playing catch-up to Obama. The truly heartening thing is, even though he is only a candidate, Obama has been setting the tone and the agenda for current U.S. policy moves internationally in an impressively astute manner.
We need to get this guy elected pronto. He will do us a world of good.
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Did I miss
[Read the article: Obama campaign taking revenge?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]The War Room coverage of Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki's comments in support of the Obama timetable for withdrawal of troops? That seems alot more important than whether Lizza got a seat on the airplane or not. Really, other than his mother, who truly cares?
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Every time
[Read the article: McCain meets with first President Bush, slams Obama]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]McCain "slams" Obama, McCain seems weaker and more impotent. This vain attempt to garner a few headlines while Obama is focussed on the important issues abroad is pathetic.
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A winning strategy?
[Read the article: The Clinton strategy -- for McCain?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Yesterday, McCain spent the afternoon driving in a golf cart with Poppy Bush in Kennebunkport, Maine and then addressed a lilly-white gathering of nobs in Portland. Didn't seem very blue collar to me.
McCain is going to have a tough time selling the idea that he is the tribune of the working class if he continues to fly around the country in his wife's private jet, visiting their eight homes and failing to pay taxes. McCain is the scion of the most privileged of the priviledged class, married to an heiress. He has never held a job outside of public office, except for a few months working for his father-in-law at the brew company. He didn't work hard in school, he didn't work hard in the Senate, and he married money.
But sure, I think taking up the losing Clinton strategy is a fine idea.
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Obama's biggest advantage
[Read the article: New McCain video: "Obama Love"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Is that he is smart, tough, analytic, a person who reads both deeply and broadly, and one who is remarkably adept at translating his complex thoughts into actions through his formal and informal communications. This is the essence of a successful modern leader.
McCain continues to have a tough time convincing voters either by his words or his deeds that he is qualified to be president of the United States. Despite decades of soft-headed coverage afforded this intellectual light-weight by a fawning media which repeats the unearned label "Maverick" hundreds of times a day, McCain is still unable to convince the American public that he possesses the skills and knowledge necessary to be a modern president. He confuses Sunni and Shi'ia, thinks Czechoslovakia is still a country, stumbles over the location of Iraq and Pakistan on the map. He keeps the tainted likes of lobbyists Charles Black and Phil Gramm on his staff out of affinity with their worldview. His ignorance of economic and fiscal policy is both profound and dangerous.
His only remaining hope is to try to claim that the media somehow favors Obama, what a laugh.
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A more apt comparison
[Read the article: Quote of the day]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Would be to say these McCain complaints are like Madonna griping that sexy wonderchild Rihanna gets too much play in the media.
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Campaign staff blunders
[Read the article: McCain: Enough about you, let's talk about me]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]If the McCain campaign were serious about taking the spotlight away from Obama's overseas trip this week they would have worked smart to organize some events that generated excitement and real news.
Having McCain visit Poppy Bush in Kennebunkport and drive around in his golf cart doesn't raise any heat (and in fact reinforces the narrative of McCain as one of the old white rich people ruling the nation). Having McCain speak to small, bored crowds of old white people in Maine and New Hampshire does not attract any positive media coverage either.
Worse, putting McCain on national television to botch simple geography questions like the "Irag/Pakistan" border reminds us that he makes frequent foreign policy gaffes. His lie about the "surge" starting before the Sunni Awakening is egregious and appears deliberate. His slander of Obama's patriotism is outrageous and ugly.
In short, these events and prouncements are not the way to garner positive media coverage for McCain. He cannot blame the media for this, only his inept staff and his own daft and dangerous temperament.