[tomder55]

Back to the subject . There are GOPers like Eric Cantor under the guise of a National Council for a New America; trying to come up with a moderate Republican agenda to retake the nation. John McCain;who pinned his whole campaign on his record as a crusader against earmarks (before he rushed back to Washingon to support the mother of all earmarks... TARP) is among the group lending his winning formula for the future GOP to mimic.

There are others in this group that I have better hope for but the question remains... What are they trying to achieve ? The "progressive "sound of their name itself ("New America")suggests that they are intent on jumping on the Obama bandwagon if you ask me. They don't like being the party of No . They'd rather be the party of creeping socialism instead of a rapid move towards socialism.

If they can't give an ideological justification for the party that is clearly different than the path the Democrats have taken they deserve to reside in the ash heap of history.

Not only that ;but they are trying in my opinion to co-opt or subvert the 'tea party' movement where the Republican party will be reborn from the grass roots.

[spitvenom]

You should be thanking Franken for that character he gave you the new republican mantra:

We're good Enough, We're smart enough, and doggonit people like Us.

Plus no one is saying he is a savior of a party.

[tomder55]

The trouble is that some idiot like Peter Hamby of CNN labels Sinise as a Republican savior and the rest of the lap dogs in the press run with it. Ibet no one ever bothered to ask Sinise what he thinks.

That is also what is happening with Rush . No one in the Conservative ranks are calling him or anyone else our leader .

[spitvenom]

Nicole Wallace from thedailybeast.com the first one to suggest Sinise.

Waiting for Reagan - Page 1 - The Daily Beast

[tomder55]

Oh I get it ;the star-struck senior advisor of the failed McCain campaign writes a blog editorial that gets picked up and reported as "news "by a CNN hack .

Not that I have anything against Sinise .But I suspect he is happy acting ;doing USO tours, and helping his very worthy effort Operation Iraqi Children.

[spitvenom]

I didn't even now they mentioned this on CNN. I like to go to the daily beast and laugh at Megan McCains blog.

Edit: I mean laugh in a good way not at her. I like her.

[Dare81]

I do not believe the civilian government will last the year. However ;I'm willing to reserve final opinion on the matter until this new offensive into Taliban controlled Swat and other Taliban strong-holds plays out.

Also if the civilian gvt is to survive ;it is my bet that Nawaz Sharif will be heading it.

If you had any idea about politics in Pakistan you would know that nawaz sharif's party PML-N for year had aligned itself with the right wing religious parties, so for you to say that nawaz sharif now suddenly is going to go on an offensives againt's friends show your lack of knowledge.Nawaz sharif was an ardent supporter of mr zia-ul-haq and was also the chief minister of punjab when mr zia was in power, and we all know Mr zia-ul-haq was the one that stared this mess.

[tomder55]

I do not write this without a lack of knowledge .Last polling data I saw was that Nawaz Sharif has a 75% approval rating as opposed to a dismal 19% for Zardari .The poll also shows that about 81 percent of the people believe their country is headed in the wrong direction, and blamed Zardari for the chaos.
This is not a new devolpment ,his fortunes have been rising there since he forced Zardari to restore Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhary as chief justice of the Supreme Court in March. He is now speaking of joining a unity government... which both Sec State Evita Clintoon and special envoy Richard Holbrooke have urged. .

Don't think for one minute that the US has not noticed the eroding support. Richard Holbrooke is a skunk and knows damn well that the US is prepared to support whoever emerges in Pakistan and can take on the Taliban. Zardari is a joke and is only President because of his wife's murder. The Swat Deal with the Taliban may be his downfall.

I assure you that President Obama will have no qualms about throwing Zardari under the bus .Backing Sharif would mean that he is still backing a civilian government.. but one who would wage the battle against the Taliban a little more competently .

Don't forget ;Obama thinks he can reach out to so called moderate Islamists;and Sharif's ties with them may be something Obama thinks he can exploit . General Petraeus has told him that Zardari is weak ;although I will reserve judgement until I see how effective this latest military offensive into Swat is.

[earl237]

I agree, Rush Limbaugh started being reasonable with sensible opinions in his early books, but has now become a nutbar. I also like Ron Paul's views and he would be a great candidate for the Republican nomination in 2012, with Mitt Romney as his running mate.

[Skell]

I do not write this without a lack of knowlege.

So what your saying is that you're writing it with a lack of knowledge? You know better than to do that Tom.. :D

[inthebox]

Ron Paul is an isolationist loon. He cannot win as long as that is his position.

The funny thing is that he KNOWS that, and he still isn't changing that position. That's because he's standing on PRINCIPALS. His principals are, to him, more important than winning the election.
Elliot

I too would have voted Ron Paul.

In light of 6 plus years in Iraq and near 8 years in Afghanistan, why are we still there?
Saddam is gone.
What was the PRE WAR goal of going into Afghanistan?
What has or has not been achieved?
If the goal has not been achieved, can it be achieved? Does it make sense to continue if the goal is not achievable?

I appreciate the sacrifice the men and women of the armed forces have made, and the fact that they have kept the country safe.


Ron Paul on the Issues

Are these really bad foreign policy stances?

Personally I agree with them, but would add the addendum that should any country or terrorist group or cell attacks America then:

I am in favor of assasinating the responsible parties using special ops, drones, smart bombs or any other means necessary.











G&P

[tomder55]

In
I have asked everyone I know ,including some officers ,what our strategic interests are in Afghanistan are . I have yet to hear a compelling reason for our continued large scale engagement .

That being said... Obama's selection of Lt. Gen. Stanley McChrystal as Theater Commander is an excellent choice and it shows he is listening to Gen.Petraeus' suggestions.

[excon]

Psssst, again, Republicans:

Now you got Rand Paul, Ron Paul's son. He's running for the Senate in Ky. Here's a good looking, articulate, conservative guy. He COULD be your leader. But, you'll probably throw him under the bus because he's not a torturer or a war monger.

I don't know why you attach yourself to such loser positions.

excon

[tomder55]

Depends . If he challenges Bunning in a primary I would support Bunning(although my position that Senators should be subject to term limits still holds ) . If Bunning is not running or if Paul beat Bunning in a primary I could probably support him . As a national leader ? I would have course have to see him in action to decide if I could support him.

[earl237]

Sen. Jim Bunning of KY was one of the lowest rated senators and barely won even in a very red state. I would like to see him replaced by a more competent republican.

[tomder55]

Lowest rated by whom ? The Conservative Union gave him an 88 % rating so I assume he is low rated by liberal groups. The National Tax payers union gave him an A .

[ETWolverine]

I don't know anything about Rand Paul. I will reserve judgement until I know more.

However, if he is as isolationist as his father, then yes, I will reject him the same way that I have rejected his pappy.

It's called consistancy, excon. You should try it.

[Dare81]

depends . If he challenges Bunning in a primary I would support Bunning(although my position that Senators should be subject to term limits still holds ) . If Bunning is not running or if Paul beat Bunning in a primary I could probably support him . As a national leader ? I would of course have to see him in action to decide if I could support him.

In April 2006, Time magazine called him one of "America's Five Worst Senators] The magazine dubbed him The Underperformer for his "lackluster performance", saying he "shows little interest in policy unless it involves baseball",during his 2004 campaign.[12]
On December 6, 2006, only Bunning and Rick Santorum voted against the confirmation of Robert Gates as Secretary of Defense, with Bunning saying that

“ Mr. Gates has repeatedly criticized our efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan without providing any viable solutions to the problems our troops currently face. We need a secretary of defense to think forward with solutions and not backward on history we cannot change. ”
Jim Bunning reportedly has blocked[13] the move to restore public access to the records of past United States Presidents which had been removed under Executive Order 13233.

In February 2009, at the Hardin County Republican Party's Lincoln Day Dinner, while discussing conservative judges, Bunning predicted that Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg would likely be dead from pancreatic cancer within nine months.[16]

[Dare81]

depends . If he challenges Bunning in a primary I would support Bunning(although my position that Senators should be subject to term limits still holds ) . If Bunning is not running or if Paul beat Bunning in a primary I could probably support him . As a national leader ? I would of course have to see him in action to decide if I could support him.

In April 2006, Time magazine called him one of "America's Five Worst Senators] The magazine dubbed him The Underperformer for his "lackluster performance", saying he "shows little interest in policy unless it involves baseball",during his 2004 campaign.[12]
On December 6, 2006, only Bunning and Rick Santorum voted against the confirmation of Robert Gates as Secretary of Defense, with Bunning saying that

“ Mr. Gates has repeatedly criticized our efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan without providing any viable solutions to the problems our troops currently face. We need a secretary of defense to think forward with solutions and not backward on history we cannot change. ”
Jim Bunning reportedly has blocked[13] the move to restore public access to the records of past United States Presidents which had been removed under Executive Order 13233.

In February 2009, at the Hardin County Republican Party's Lincoln Day Dinner, while discussing conservative judges, Bunning predicted that Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg would likely be dead from pancreatic cancer within nine months.[16]

On top of that he is a racist too

During his reelection bid, controversy erupted when Bunning described Mongiardo as looking "like one of Saddam Hussein's sons."[5] Public pressure compelled him to apologize.
Source=wikepedia

Mr tom here has habit of supporting racist and bigots.

[galveston]

Tom, or ANYONE would be hard pressed to equal the bigotry being exhibited by leaders on the left of the political and media spectrum!