McCain: No Confidence in Rumsfeld

[Vegassc400]

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...cain_interview

With all the recent resignations and terminations from the Bush cabinet, why should Rumsfeld be allowed to keep his job. What has he done that makes him worthy? The message seems to be "Screw up bad enough, and we'll let you work another 4 years".

[mmarshall]

I sometimes wonder more why McCain should be allowed to keep HIS job. I respect him for his military service as a naval aviator...and especially for enduring prison camp.....but as a politician, his intelligence level has never impressed me. Rumsfeld's HAS. I'm glad he's still running the Pentagon.

[videcormeum]

Originally posted by mmarshall
I sometimes wonder more why McCain should be allowed to keep HIS job.

I consider McCain one of the most reasonable and devoted in the Senate.

M.

[mmarshall]

Originally posted by whipimpin
I consider McCain one of the most reasonable and devoted in the Senate.

M.

Well...like I said, I respect his military service, but as a politician he does not impress me. A perfect case in point was the so-called campaign finance "reform" that he has been pushing for so long. Elections are NOT bought with money. Often the loser actually outspends the winner....ala Ross Perot. It takes VOTES to win an election, not money. Once you go into that voting booth and those curtains close behind you, there is NO AMOUNT OF MONEY ON EARTH than can force you to pull one lever or another...you are alone with God and your conscience. That is not an opinion...that is a FACT.

Now...if McCain's judgement about the ENTIRE electoral process is THAT flawed, tell me......WHY should we trust his judgement about ONE PERSON.....Don Rumsfeld?

Sorry, ...............I just don't buy it.

[Vegassc400]

I believe the reason that Mccain is so respected is that he's not a lemming. He's not afraid to break with his own party in order to do the right thing. It doesn't win him any friends in the Republican party but it does earn him respect from the people he represents. His views are certainly relevant. Being a soldier in the past, he has a unique perspective. He's been in an unpopular war which was poorly planned.

As far as the campaign finance laws go, he believed that some of the outrageous contributions by corporations and wealthy individuals were buying them undue influence in Congress and the White House. It had nothing to due with the actual election process. The reason you stated MM was the (flawed) logic presented by the bills oppostion. The bill was enacted in order to prevent those huge donations and level the playing field so all people could be equally represented. Not just the "good old boys club".

[mmarshall]

Originally posted by Vegassc400
I believe the reason that Mccain is so respected is that he's not a lemming. He's not afraid to break with his own party in order to do the right thing. It doesn't win him any friends in the Republican party but it does earn him respect from the people he represents. His views are certainly relevant. Being a soldier in the past, he has a unique perspective. He's been in an unpopular war which was poorly planned.

As far as the campaign finance laws go, he believed that some of the outrageous contributions by corporations and wealthy individuals were buying them undue influence in Congress and the White House. It had nothing to due with the actual election process. The reason you stated MM was the (flawed) logic presented by the bills oppostion. The bill was enacted in order to prevent those huge donations and level the playing field so all people could be equally represented. Not just the "good old boys club".

Well....McCain DID manage to get his Campaign Finance reform bill enacted into law. Bush signed it. And did it make any REAL difference this year? No. The contributors (and party bosses) just managed to find new loopholes. In fact, both Bush and Kerry shifted the start of their official campaigns.....and campaign spending.....because of provisions in the bill stating just how much each party could raise and spend by certain dates. All McCain's bill did was re-route the same money through different channels and timing.

To place it in a simpler perspective.....If I (the contributer) am no longer allowed to pull a thousand dollars in cash in green bills right out of my pocket and give it to you (the candidate) overtly and in plain public view.....what am I going to do?

EXACTLY.....I'm going to disguse it any way that I legally...and sometimes illegally..... can. I'm going to put it into a Swiss bank account with your name on the account having access and power of attorney. As the owner of a charter aircraft buisness, I'm going to let you have one of my jets at half-price so you can go buzzing around the country cheaply........allowing you and your campaign to keep in the bank what you would have spent otherwise. As a hotel owner, I'm going to charge you $50 for a room that is normally several hundered dollars a night....and let you and your campaign pocket the rest. I could go on and on....but I think by now you get the picture.
So....in the long run, there is no way you are ever really going to change the campaign finance system. It is like trying to enforce the 55-MPH speed limit...they finally gave up and abolished it.

[Hammock]

Originally posted by mmarshall
I sometimes wonder more why McCain should be allowed to keep HIS job. I respect him for his military service as a naval aviator...and especially for enduring prison camp.....but as a politician, his intelligence level has never impressed me. Rumsfeld's HAS. I'm glad he's still running the Pentagon.

Agreed. McCain is detrimental to our government. He gets his name in the news and people like him because he likes to reform things. But his reforms and reformist opinions are often way off.

[bitkahuna]

Originally posted by Hammock
Agreed. McCain is detrimental to our government. He gets his name in the news and people like him because he likes to reform things. But his reforms and reformist opinions are often way off.

He also looks like the elephant man lately. LOL

Sorry, cheap shot.

But yes, he likes to be the contrarian and independent (I can relate, hehe), but criticizing Rumsfeld is just to get attention. Rumsfeld is a genius. He's unbelievably energetic and articulate compared to anyone, but especially for someone in his 70s.

[WhiteTiger]

Originally Posted by mmarshall

All McCain's bill did was re-route the same money through different channels and timing.

I agree completely, now big corporations and wealthy individuals can just create a "527" and spend millions (aka Soros and Co.) and push an agenda that even the candidates might not like.

We need set spending levels for all candidates, regardless of ability to raise money. Money should be placed in a general fund and distributed according to the office. The higher the level of office, the higher the funding level. Allowances can be made for amount of land (Montana, Dakotas', etc.) and population (NY, Chgo, LA, etc.) to cover, etc.

Until they change the parameters by which elections are run, we will continue to have a flawed election process that doesn't serve the best interests of the general public. Instead, special interests will continue to flourish.

[AdrianXT]

I would second that vote of no confidence in Rumsfeld. I change the channel every time I see him on TV.

I will never forget his little "Known unknowns" speech...

[mmarshall]

Originally Posted by WhiteTiger

Until they change the parameters by which elections are run, we will continue to have a flawed election process that doesn't serve the best interests of the general public. Instead, special interests will continue to flourish.

I'm STILL not convinced that money flaws the election process or RESULTS.........you are really going to have a hard sell on that one. That was the image that McCain was trying to make and was the whole pretext for his so-called "reform" bill.

I can understand how money can bribe a politician once he or she is IN office....that happens quite frequently. But.......as for money actually getting him /her INTO office...that is quite a different story. Votes put someone into office, not money....as we saw with the Presidential elections of both 2000 and 2004. Yes, it takes money to finance a campaign and buy air time, but money CANNOT actually BUY a vote once that person is inside a voting booth. ONLY a human being with his / her conscience can actually decide how to vote. Yes, a corrupt election official can take a bribe to falsify voting results.....but the system has so many checks and balances that is rare for that to actually happen.

I have a lot of respect for John McCain and a high opinion of him as a Navy pilot, his service to his country in Vietnam, his endurance in a prison camp, and many other things.....but as a politician he is full of s - -t.

[bitkahuna]

Originally Posted by wantAnewLex

I would second that vote of no confidence in Rumsfeld. I change the channel every time I see him on TV.

Whenever he's on I'm glued to the TV Loved a recent TV special (CNN or FoxNews can't remember) behind the scenes with the guy for a couple of days.