Category Archive for ‘politics’ at Three Roads Blog

Archive for the 'politics' Category Page 5 of 7

Nice try, Geraldine.

Published on March 14, 2008 in politics.

Geraldine Ferraro’s comments were, in fact, racist:

http://www.slate.com/id/2186553/

Gotta love Vermont

Published on March 7, 2008 in politics.

Pretty proud of my home state today:

Vt. towns put Bush, Cheney on arrest list

Link

Thanks to Bora for the link.

Is McCain too sleazy?

Published on February 21, 2008 in politics.

McCain NYT story fallout: Some speculate that there is more to the story, but the Times was persuaded by its lawyers to be cautious.

Conservatives, meanwhile, will react in any number of ways:

They’ll pat John McCain on the back and say “Welcome to club! We’re cheats, too!”
They’ll rally around him and work even harder to destroy the evil New York Times.
They’ll drag Mittens back into the race.

Is McCain too old?

Published on February 20, 2008 in politics.

It’s a topic that’s already been picked over, but it’s worth further discussion.

Here is Scott Adams, of “Dilbert” fame, making good points about McCain being too long in the tooth to be president:

John McCain’s current mental ability does appear up to the task of being president. But like Reagan, he’s at an age where decline can happen quickly. He’s unlikely to be the same man at the end of the first term, much less a potential second term. While it is entirely possible – even probable – he could keep his mind sharp enough to do the job, the odds are unambiguously better for a younger candidate.

President of the United States isn’t the sort of job where “sufficient” is good enough. I have every reason to believe a 71-year old would be sufficient. The odds of being exceptional are much lower.

In other professions, how often do people over the age of 70 produce innovative or exceptional results? Look around your home or office and ask yourself how many of the technical innovations came from senior citizens. How many of the best selling books on your shelf were written by senior citizens who weren’t already famous? How many senior citizens wrote the music you have on your iPod?

You will be tempted to point out exceptions to the rule. Warren Buffet is a good example. But he plans to retire. Alan Greenspan already did. Evidently they think age matters.

If you think age isn’t a factor in the presidency, would you vote for a candidate who was 100-years old and healthy?

Fidel has retired. What will change?

Published on February 19, 2008 in politics.

Prolly nothing, says the Economist:

It would be an error to overstate the significance of the news: The Secretary of State has said that there are no immediate plans to revisit the U.S. embargo of the island nation, and Fidel’s presumptive successor, brother Raúl, has held the reins for over a year now.

Inspired

Published on February 15, 2008 in politics and uncategorized.

Maybe it’s a superficial measure of a candidate, but it seems that Obama’s supporters are much more inspired and creative than are Clinton’s and McCain’s.

Click the image above to learn about the other nice things Obama has done for you lately.

John McCain, coward

Published on February 8, 2008 in politics.

From Mathew Yglesias:

The Senate’s green stimulus package was blocked last night by a minority of Senators. Not voting was John McCain, erstwhile maverick, erstwhile environmentalist, and the sort of guy inclined to say things like “we’ve got to give them some stimulus” didn’t bother to show up.

Other presidential candidates showed up — Obama was there, Clinton was there. Other Arizonians showed up — Jon Kyl was there. Other contrarians showed up — Joe Lieberman was there. Indeed, ninety-nine senators thought it was worth taking the time out of their busy schedules to show up and vote on an important piece of legislation. But not John McCain. He’s too mavericky for that.

I’m sure his absence had nothing to do with the fact that he’s been frantically trying to suck up to the CPAC crowd. Nothing at all.

Hat tip: Con Queso

[UPDATE]

Add phony to the list of McCain modifiers. This also from Mathew Yglesias, who’s really hammering our favorite maverick lately:

After a generally conservative career, the John McCain who emerged in the 107th Senate really was a moderate Republican. According to the Poole-Rosenthal “optimal classification” algorithm, only Lincoln Chaffee, Arlen Specter, Olympia Snowe, and Susan Collins were less conservative among members of the GOP caucuses. But by the 108th Senate he’d decided not to run for Vice President on John Kerry’s ticket, George W. Bush had been re-elected, and McCain decided to shift back far right en route to the nomination. Suddenly only Don Nickles, Jeff Sessions, and Jon Kyl were more conservative than McCain. And in the 109th Senate, only Kyl has been more conservative.

Time to reprise the windsurfing commercial (this time with McCain’s jowled mug Photoshopped in).

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