I take it you don’t agree with his assessments? Why would you believe some old white man in suit over someone who has been on the ground in the country longer than any soldier, general or commander has?

I will read some of his articles if I need something more than google to find his stuff let me know.

The surge is our pouring tons of money onto the Sunni tribes not to fight us. And putting more boots on the ground and circling the wagons before the election (you don’t get blown up if you don’t go out of the base much or go on patrol in the middle of nowhere). This is all timed for the political effect. It doesn’t change the basic fact that we shouldn’t have gone in in the first place and now we have to get out. The WMDs were a blatant lie, just like the rest of the R bullshit.

Enough.

Check him out.

That’s interesting. People will almost always vote to protect their rice bowl. I know hunting and fishing in that area is almost a religion so I can see them feeling a kindred spirit with Palin on that as well, keep us informed if you since something that isn’t being reported nationally.

Knarly,

I’m getting my info from people like Bing West who go there every few months, sit with tribal leaders, talk to the soldiers etc. I’m afraid your wishful thinking of an American defeat is just not panning out. Keep the faith though, maybe they will get a nuke or something and your wish will still come true.

That being said though, I can easily see people of Ohio voting split on the national/state votes. It’s happened before. In fact even now our current governor is a Democrat, but we put a lot of Republicans in the state legislature.

As to who carries these states it depends on the level and quality of campaigning and the debates. Palin has them on the social issues, Obama has them more on the economic issues. Just depends what shakes out between now and then.

The mind boggles. You might learn something if you took some time to watch some videos or independent photos of Iraq and read some independent accounts rather than re-gurgitating McCain’s fairy tales or unquestioningly accepting what the Pentagon (and their lobbyists) want you to believe.

The mind boggles that you think Iraq is a success story.

Again I am going off what Bing West said, we won’t be to the level of success we are at in Iraq in Afghanistan for at least 2 or 3 years so I wouldn’t think we would be finished there until 2014 or so. I don’t think the Canadians have much of a history of quitting before the job is finished so your assessment is probably correct. Face it, we will have some presence in that area until we are all dead (of old age). Caught that one just in time.

We got a Canadian snap election call last Sunday, the election will be held on Oct. 14. Our current prime minister (of the conservative party and a Bush admirer) has succumbed to popular opinion and reversed his seemingly never ending support for our continued fighting in Afghanistan by making an election pledge to withdraw our troops ion 2011. Do you think I should believe that election promise? LOL.

I’ve read everything Ayn Rand ever wrote – including the John Galt monologue – like most intelligent folks it is a phase you go thru in high school and college. Then the real world intervenes.

If Obama, Biden, and Clinton keep hammering on the economy, the bush legacy of destruction and corruption, McCain’s jawdropping flipflops, the list goes on and on and on, they’ll win. Palin solidifies crazy-base-land (like they weren’t going to vote for the R ticket anyway?) The media loves her because she makes the race more exciting with all her one liners (funny how they aren’t going after her lies lies lies)

More and more I think this is going to come down to the debates between Obama and McCain. I expect Obama will win these handily, since McCain can’t rely on scripted speeches, closed door rallies and the same old brand of Rove-style slime. It’ll be close, but my money is on Obama.

I can see that type of voter saying “you go girl!” right up to about two days before the election and then voting the way they have all their lives.

As close as the elections have been in the last few I guess I can see someone like that voting McCain/Palin (Palin/McCain?) and then a straight Democratic ticket for local and state seats.

You’re closer to them than I am, your thoughts?

Ps. I’ve never lived in the “rust belt” or anywhere like that but I have worked with some people from there and they do have a different thought process than most places.

That is about the best post ever written on this site.

Your strong opening turned into pure gold with “your reading list sounds like that of a textbook Libertarian, not the modern American conservative.” Then your text turned pure platinum to the conclusion.

That it was juxtaposed with the preceding shcb junk slice and dice attempt at misdirection makes your post shine all the more.

I’m to humbled by your post to write anything else for a while, I’ll just sit quietly in awe for a while now.

Cheers.

You and I aren’t talking about the same thing here at all. I’m not at all speaking about people who’ve arrived at an intellectual decision to adopt conservatism.

To answer your question directly, I didn’t consider that at all because I was talking about a totally different type of person. In all honestly your reading list sounds like that of a textbook Libertarian, not the modern American conservative.

The voter I was talking about is the religious, blue collar worker. This person is obviously not a fan of true lassiez-fair economics, they’re they person who is really upset that the plant closed at moved to China. They’re proud Union members, who favor a more populist economic policy. They’re either practicing or raised in the Christian tradition. As such they’re not likely to hold with Rand’s Objectivist philosophy. This person is going to reject religion as the enemy of reason. I was speaking of the low information voter, the person who ins’t a college educated professional businessman, again to reinforce the point, the blue collar worker.

We’re speaking about two entirely different demographics. I can accept that your small business owner is voting Republican for favorable economic policy, but the voter I was speaking of does not. Again though, there is a difference between being an ideological conservative, card carrying Republican party member or someone who ends up voting Republican most of the time.

Bringing it back to the candidates, Obama was doing better with the demographic I’m speaking about early in the election, remember when McCain said all the jobs weren’t coming back to Detroit? I do not want to digress and discuss the validity of either candidates proposed economic policies here, my point is that Obama was doing better with the worker (not the businesses owner, again totally different groups)

This is where Palin comes in. After the RNC everyone was talking about how she ‘energized the base.’ This isn’t because of anything she said, this is because she is a Christian religious conservative, thats what she brings to the table. Thats the base they were talking about, and those folks weren’t with McCain at all after his 2004 comments. She has the correct views for the base people for whom the social values issues are the most pressing. She has absolutely nothing else to offer in any regard, what Carl Rove said about Tim Cain is actually true for her.

Going back to the original point of my post. Palin is good because she hits on the emotional issues for the voter demographic I was speaking off. It’s really easy to get the low information voter polarized on an emotional issue. As a specific example, Palin’s views on sex education and abortion are derived from Christian thought, she’s actually at odds with the concepts of individual liberty, personal responsibility or even Objectivist rationalism.
What she’s done is actually take the attention away from the rational issues and focus it on the emotional ones. The Democrats are running against George Bush, or at least 90% of him, she’s part of the smokescreen to conceal it, plain and simple.

Addressing the last of your points. In terms of the social issues I’m with the Libertarians 100%, you cannot honestly point the finger at one party for taking away rights and the other protecting them. They both have a set of rights they think people should and shouldn’t have. If you’re for personal responsibility for your actions and the personal freedom to make them, you can’t with any honesty say either of the major two parties is worth a fig.

Taking it back to the top again, I wasn’t underestimating anyone, I was castigating the Democratic party and Obama for failing to realize how to play in the Rustbelt, which I keep hearing is super important. This is all stuff I said to JBC in 2004 after Kerry lost. I think they’re arrogant in their lack of understanding and ability to learn, especially since a guy who draws skulls for a living has it figured out and a guy who went to Harvard can’t.

Did it ever occur to you that maybe just maybe the people that espouse conservatism in the Midwest might just be thoughtful people that have come to those beliefs after years of personal growth, life experiences and careful consideration. Maybe just maybe they have studied the Constitution of the United States, the constitution of their state, the Federalist Papers, the Anti Federalist Papers, they have read Adam Smith, Ayn Rand and Joseph Schumpeter. You understand that a major part of money donated to the Republican party is from small businesses, these businesses are usually run by college educated, highly motivated, extremely intelligent individuals, let be underscore in big bold print individuals, with individualistic ideals, which is one of the reasons they prefer the above referenced literary works to Karl Marx. Are some of them religious? Yes. Are some Democrats religious? Yes. The religious aspect of someone like Palin is just one small part of the package of why we are supporting her. I’m not religious, but I believe in religious freedom, I believe people have the right to pray whenever and wherever they want. When I played high school football we always started the game with a prayer, I liked that. We still do in Brighton, 5 miles away in Thornton, they don’t, that’s sad. Liberals gave us that, they took that little bit of America away from us, like they take a little bit of America away at every turn.

You can continue the underestimate your opponents and the American people clinging to guns and religion, that is your right and prerogative. You can continue to run against George Bush, you’re going to win that race ‘cause he ain’t runnin’. If that is the race Democrats are going to run they are putting themselves at a disadvantage, all McCain has to do is offer a few details of how he is going to move forward instead of living in the past and a huge lead a few months ago evaporates for Obama. Knarly and the other libs here are already setting up the excuse machine. The Repubs have already stole this election like they did in 2000. Live in the past and you finish last.

:P

Also, I love his laughing at the 30 second – 1 minute mark. Besides Enkidu, there is not enough ridicule of the Republicans’ “phony outrage, LIES, and swift boat politics.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=to1beCIyUdM