I understand why he’s doing it. I understand the nuance involved, but I still don’t like it. Yes, I’m referring to Barack Obama’s apparent flip-flopping on the FISA bill. I understand the importance of the bill, but damn, are we really going to give another free pass to the telecommunications companies? Honestly? We’ve given them wiggle room in many areas, and what have they done with it? Bandwidth throttling, anti-competitive business practices, illegal surveillance… Once again, the Republicans are favoring them over the American people. I swoon in disbelief.

Naturally, even though this act shows bipartisan effort and the ability to compromise (a marked improvement over the President v.43 model), John McCain and the Republicans at large will undoubtedly attack him on this issue (even though he’s conceding to them) for being a flip-flopper.

I would challenge the wisdom of this. Maybe I should join the trend and switch to John McCain over this one issue. Y’know, like the fanatical portion of Hillary Clinton supporters did.

It’s not like I don’t have reasons. Another issue I strongly disagree with Obama over is the issue of Ethanol. John McCain agrees with me. Oh wait, maybe not. Oh well, at least he shares the view that people like Jerry Falwell are bad for the nation. What? He’s down with Jerry? Hm.

Well, there have got to be plenty of issues we see eye to eye on. Abortion? He used to. Surely he disagrees with the use of torture. Damn. Offshore drilling? Damn. I KNOW I heard him say he was against the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy… DAMMIT! Gay Marriage? Pff, that was short-lived.

What about the issues we know Obama has flipped on? How about his decision not to take public financing? Nope. McCain can’t attack him on that, considering he doesn’t even agree with himself over what campaign finance reform ought to be. Then there’s the issue of immunity for the telecoms. Can we honestly say he flipped on this issue too? Yes. We. Can.

On second thought, maybe I’ll stick to the guy who has been giving me the straight talk. Y’know, the one who has been mostly consistent. You know which one. Still, you just know they’re going to drag him through the mud over this. Despite everything John McCain has flipped on, they’ll accuse Obama of pandering. The thing is, considering his Democratic and largely liberal base, doesn’t his stance on FISA prove that he is not pandering? (Ethanol, not so much. We’ll take ownership of that one.)

I’m troubled by the fact that John McCain turned out to be the kind of politician who will say anything to gain power, leaving us without the foggiest clue as to what he’ll actually do with it. Frightening. He had such potential in 2000.

Charles Black, a top McCain adviser, said that a new terrorist attack “certainly would be a big advantage to [McCain].”

Ever wonder why there are 9/11 conspiracy theories all over the place?  Ever wonder where they get their ammunition?  Let’s look at the list:

• Government officials acting as if they’re hiding something
• Blocking investigations
• Refusing to testify
• Mishandling evidence
• Lying about trivial things
• Lying about important things
• Refusing to answer questions
• NEW:  Making cynical, dumbass statements like this.

Looks like Mr. Black let the cat out of the bag, confirming many long-held suspicions that the Republicans are lusting after another 9/11 to legitimize their wars, their military budget and agenda, their grievous attack on civil liberties and the consolidation of power in the Executive Branch.  That’s to say nothing of all the Halliburtons out there who would benefit from exclusive, no-bid government contracts for billions of dollars.

I think the fact that this guy wasn’t immediately terminated for the statement reinforces my opinion on the matter.  It’s as if the Cons are saying,”why bother?  They already know, we’re not fooling anyone.”  Fortunately for the CT’s, if we do get attacked between now and November, this statement gives them another argument to support their case:  a motive.  Good job, dumbass.

I was recently in a discussion with someone over at the pundit about Obama’s educational program. The title of the article was asinine: “Obama education policy bad news for science.” The blog was based on a bullshit article, which is on website known for its right-wing bullshit.
The discussion started as “his plan is bad” in vague terms and eventually led to how Obama is trying to kill the American Dream and wants us to regress and let our enemies beat us in every contest. More bullshit.

Side note: the person I was discussing this with has my respect, if not for his opinion then for his cool-headed methods of expressing it.  As a rule, people who are able to stick to their opinion without twisting what you’re saying into something you’re not saying are generally easier to have a discussion with.  If he had a blog, I’d link it.

Curious as to what the opposition had to offer, I visited John McCain’s campaign website to see what he had to offer and compare it to Obama’s. I didn’t expect to discover there is no comparison.

It reads like a tri-fold pamphlet, whereas the outline for Obama’s plan is far more comprehensive. I was reading through the page and thought to myself,”does this guy even have a plan?” It tells what McCain believes, but doesn’t say anything about what he intends to do, except in the vaguest of terms.

“Place parents and children at the center of the education process.”

What? What does that even mean?

“As president, John McCain will pursue reforms that address the underlying cultural problems in our education system - a system that still seeks to avoid genuine accountability and responsibility for producing well-educated children.”

Okay, which ones for which ones? And furthermore, this is a grand misunderstanding of the role of a school. It’s not a degree factory. You still have to be a good parent. Schools can’t do it all.

The only thing that this page seems to say is “we want school choice. Yay NCLB.” The rest is padding.

Obama’s, on the other hand… well, see for yourself.

While I don’t agree with cutting funds to NASA and over-meddling in their space program (which is what prompted the pundit article), and have a few reservations about certain areas of the program, overall it’s pretty solid.

Maybe when John McCain figures out how the economy works, separate Sunni from Shiite, and figure out Iran’s actual role in Iraq (hint: it isn’t Al Qaeda), maybe he’ll get around to learning how the educational system works so he can have one of his aides write up something that sounds good.