A few Questions for McCain

[CharlestonChad]

I dunno. If Obama is having this much trouble knocking Hillary out of the race...

Hillary is still projected to win the general election if she wins the nomination, so I'd expect Obama to have a harder time with Clinton than McCain.

 

[Ravi]

I hope you are right.

 

[Ravi]

Hillary is still projected to win the general election if she wins the nomination, so I'd expect Obama to have a harder time with Clinton than McCain.

But Obama's spending a gazillion dollars in comparison to her and she has pretty high unfavorable ratings. If he can't win PA, can he win the general?

 

[Angel Heart]

Alexander Hamilton?? Richard Nixon?? (maybe)

Andrew Jackson:
http://odur.let.rug.nl/~usa/P/aj7/about/bio/duel.htm

Jackson challenged Dickinson to a duel very much according to the customs of the time in the south. Dickinson, known as one of the best shots in Tennessee if not the best, had choice of weapons and chose pistols.

Dickinson fired the first shot, which broke two of Jackson's ribs and lodged two inches from his heart. Dickinson then had to stand at the mark as Jackson, clutching his chest, aimed slowly and shot him fatally.

Teddy Roosevelt:
http://www.quotedb.com/quotes/1237

I keep my good health by having a very bad temper, kept under good control.

I think all of them have some level of temper.

 

[Annie]

What's the precedent on leaders with anger issues?

Maybe someone with some education in history can help answer that.

I don't know officially, for myself I always question this source, even from 1999:

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9805EFDE173AF934A35752C1A96F958260

Word for Word: Chief Executive Anger; Hell From the Chief: Hot Tempers And Presidential Timber
By THOMAS VINCIGUERRA

AS if presidential candidates don't already have enough tests of character to worry about -- financial impropriety, drug use, adultery -- now it seems they have to make nice as well. The Arizona Republic ran an editorial last week criticizing Senator John McCain for his ''volcanic'' temper, claiming that temperament is a legitimate campaign issue. The Republican responded by accusing the campaign of Gov. George W. Bush of Texas of helping to plant the charges against him, which first appeared in The New York Times. ''Do I insult anybody or fly off the handle or anything like that?'' Mr. McCain asked. ''No, I don't.''

But so what if he does? Judging from the behavior of some past chief executives, a hot temper seems almost a prerequisite for the Oval Office. Let's go to the presidential biographies. THOMAS VINCIGUERRA

George Washington wasn't always the dour icon of the dollar bill. At the Battle of Monmouth, he laced into Gen. Charles Lee for retreating instead of attacking. Burke Davis explains in ''George Washington and the American Revolution'' (Random House, 1975):

Washington roared: ''Whatever your opinions, sir, I expect my orders to be obeyed! . . .'' Lee protested once more that his plan of attack had been foiled by disobedient subordinates.

Others were to recall that Washington cursed Lee in a fury. General Scott cherished a long memory that Washington ''swore till the leaves shook on the trees.''

In ''Andrew Jackson and the Course of American Democracy'' (Harper & Row, 1984), Robert V. Remini recounts a 1836 Cabinet meeting over a crisis with Mexico:

Without stopping to inquire of the other members what their advice on the matter would be -- which was his usual procedure -- the president lashed out in a frightening display of Jacksonian passion.

''Write immediately to Commodore Dallas,'' he barked, ''and order him to blockade the harbor of Tampico, and to suffer nothing to enter till they allow him to land and obtain his supplies of water and communicate with the Consul, and if they touch the hair of the head of one of our citizens, tell him to batter down and destroy their town and exterminate its inhabitants from the face of the earth!''

The Cabinet members sat looking at each other in a near state of shock.

Ulysses S. Grant would send thousands of men to their deaths in the Civil War, but could not abide cruelty to animals. Gen. Horace Porter, who served with him, recalled in ''Campaigning With Grant'' (1897) what happened when Grant, astride his mount Egypt, saw a man whipping a team of horses:

Putting both spurs into Egypt's flanks, he dashed toward the teamster, and raising his clenched fist, called out to him: ''What does this conduct mean, you scoundrel? Stop beating those horses!'' The teamster looked at him, and said coolly, as he delivered another blow aimed at the face of the wheel-horse: ''Well, who's drivin' this team anyhow -- you or me?'' The general was now thoroughly angered, and his manner was by no means as angelic as that of the celestial being who called a halt when Balaam was disciplining the ass. ''I'll show you, you infernal villain!'' he cried, shaking his fist in the man's face. Then, calling to an officer of the escort, he said: ''Take this man in charge, and have him tied up to a tree for six hours as a punishment for his brutality.''

To end the coal strike of 1902, Theodore Roosevelt contemplated sending in troops to man the mines. Nathan Miller indicates in ''Theodore Roosevelt: A Life'' (Morrow, 1992) that Roosevelt felt the spirit of the Framers mattered more than the rights of a few individuals:

''What about the Constitution of the United States?'' Congressman James E. Watson protested to the president. ''What about using private property for public purposes without due process of law?''

Roosevelt stopped suddenly, took a firm grip on Watson's lapels and, looking him squarely in the eye, fairly shouted: ''The Constitution was made for the people and not the people for the Constitution!''

Warren G. Harding was incensed when he learned of corruption at the Veterans' Bureau under his friend Charles R. Forbes. In ''The Shadow of Blooming Grove: Warren G. Harding in His Times'' (McGraw-Hill, 1968), Francis Russell depicted him at the boiling point:

The next afternoon a visitor to the White House with an appointment to see the president was directed by mistake to the second floor. As he approached the Red Room he heard a voice hoarse with anger and on entering saw Harding throttling a man against the wall as he shouted: ''You yellow rat! You double-crossing. . . . '' Whirling about at the visitor's approach, Harding loosed his grip and the released man staggered away, his face blotched and distorted. ''I am sorry,'' Harding said curtly to his visitor. ''You have an appointment. Come into the next room.'' On leaving the White House, the visitor asked a doorman who it was who had just gone out after he had come in, and the doorman replied: ''Colonel Forbes of the Veterans' Bureau.''

When Harry Truman gave 'em hell, he often did so on paper. He wrote this memorable letter to Paul Hume, music critic of the Washington Post, following Mr. Hume's devastating review of a 1950 singing recital by the president's daughter, Margaret:

Mr. Hume: I've just read your lousy review of Margaret's concert. . . . Some day I hope to meet you. When that happens you'll need a new nose, a lot of beefsteak for black eyes, and perhaps a supporter below!

Lyndon B. Johnson perfected his bullying of subordinates during his 1948 Senate run. In this scene from ''Means of Ascent'' by Robert A. Caro (Knopf, 1990), his desire to shake hands with all the students at a high school is thwarted by an advance man:

''We don't have time, sir,'' Carter said, and produced the list of all the stops he was already scheduled to make. Johnson didn't even look at the paper; instead, he looked at Carter. As the principal observed the intensity of Johnson's glare, the hand he had extended to welcome the candidate slowly dropped to his side. The smiles faded from the faces of the delegation. There was a long silence. Then Johnson said, in a low, threatening tone that his aides feared more than any other: ''Are we gonna join the Can't Do It Club right here on the steps of Robstown High School?''

And what really drives President Clinton up the wall, according to Dick Morris, his former political adviser, is staff members leaking executive decisions that make their boss look politically conniving. Mr. Morris writes of the president in ''Behind the Oval Office'' (Random House, 1997):

He was red-faced as he yelled, ''I will do this race alone, alone, alone if I have to'' -- his voice now reaching a higher octave -- ''to avoid having done to me what was done to me every week, ev-er-y week, in 1993 and 1994 by my staff and my consultants. I will not have decisions that I make'' -- his fist now pounding his chair arm, keeping time with his words -- ''that take guts, that take courage, where I'm really risking everything, and have them transformed into'' -- his lips curling in a sneer -- ''seamy, seedy, political decisions so some staff member or some consultant can blow his own horn to look so smart and oh so good to some journalist. I'll do the race alone first.''

Okay, I think I got the point.

 

[AllieBaba]

In other words, he'd do it alone to prevent anyone knowing what really went on.

 

[rayboyusmc]

If the right asks this shit of Obama and Clinton, then the left has to ask this same shit of McCain. If they don't then too many "well read" voters will go the McCain way.

Would it be nice if they actually dealt with the real issues? Of course, but the people who handle these politicians wouldn't know a real issue from their anal opening.

His flip floping on the torture and the tax cuts are legitimate questions to ask him. If he has real data to back up his change, fine, if he did it to court more votes, screw him.

I can't believe that he, after being tortured, would change on this issue just for the votes. That is one of the reasons I would never vote for him.

 

[AllieBaba]

Clinton was asked questions about his sexual relationship with Lewinsky because there was a LAWSUIT filed against him by Paula Jones. If McCain has a lawsuit filed against him alleging violations of civil rights, then questions about his adultery will be pertinent. They aren't pertinent, however, if you're just asking about it because you're sore about Clinton getting nailed for being a womanizing POS who used his status as a governor to intimidate and obtain sexual favors from women. If and when women start stepping forward to say that McCain used state troopers to pimp for him, why then, feel free to ask such questions.

The question about him being elitist is equally frivolous and ill-advised, because it shows that you don't understand the meaning of elitist. Elitist doesn't mean someone is wealthy. It means someone thinks they are better than others. So the stupid connection between wealth and privilege and elitism is way off the mark. If you're going to question him about it, at least know what the term means.

In fact, they're all frivolous questions, meant not to actually learn anything about policy, but meant just to draw attention to the fact that you want the Republican to look as bad as your democratic candidates. Remember, your candidates didn't get in trouble AFTER being asked such questions. They get into trouble, then your party whines because they get asked questions.

 

[rayboyusmc]

Anything you don't agree with is frivolous, Ali.

The question about him being elitist is equally frivolous and ill-advised, because it shows that you don't understand the meaning of elitist. Elitist doesn't mean someone is wealthy. It means someone thinks they are better than others.

AND HOW MANY WEALTHY PEOPLE THINK THEY ARE BETTER THAN THOSE WITH LESS MONEY?

DRIVE OVER THE BRIDGE INTO PALM BEACH PROPER AND TELL ME THE RICH THERE AREN'T ELITISTS.

You don't know what you are talking about. But then you are the one who says the screwed up economy isn't the president in charge's fault.

In this case, he inherited from his second wife. That doesn't mean he isn't elitist with someone else's wealth.

 

[AllieBaba]

You're an idiot. Educate yourself, at the very least pick up a dictionary, and then come back and play like a regular person.