Comments on: ‘Sage’ Advice: Think Twice About Hillary

By: Jenny

Jenny — Fri, 04 May 2007 00:38:17 +0000

I haven’t made up my mind between Obama and Clinton yet (or even Edwards) but I’ll say this for Hillary - she is conscientious. At the Norht East Community Center we routinely send newsletters, benefit invitations, etc. to various legislators - her office always personally calls to respond and I just got a wonderful, very personalized letter from Hillary in response to an invitation to our benefit - a staffer took the time not only to read what we sent them but to go to our website and learn more - this wins points with me!

By: Doug Richardson

Doug Richardson — Wed, 02 May 2007 03:30:25 +0000

Both sides of the aisle are as rife with Dodgers as the Exec. branch denizens. But my vote for the most contemptible? Dick Cheney, of course…when asked why he didn’t serve in Viet Nam, his only reply was “I had other priorities.”

It doesn’t get any worse than that.

By: Tom Cowgill

Tom Cowgill — Wed, 02 May 2007 01:18:38 +0000

I said that Clinton handled Somalia poorly. We were taking sides in a civil war. That sounds familiar! How old was Chelsea at that time? None of our troops died in the Balkans. How old was Chelsea at that time? The silliness of the argument is that you are comparing Bush’s use of military force to Clinton’s. That’s ridiculous.
A lot of Republicans say privately that Mitt has said that he did not encourage his sons to sign up. There are troops in Iraq who are Mitt’s age. Why hasn’t he signed up?

By: Terry

Terry — Wed, 02 May 2007 00:40:28 +0000

A minor point, but Bush 41 sent the first troops to Somalia. Clinton sent more before withdrawing after the Blackhawks went down; ergo Clinton also sent troops to that country, n’est pas?.

The “But Clinton” is merely to point out a possible double standard.

Chelsea turned 18 in 1998, old enough for duty in her father’s second term; the Bush twins were 22 in 2003. This is a silly argument.

Focus on the war and its many faults but to slam Romney because of the choices his kids have made proves nothing, other than that his kids don’t want to be in the military and Mitt didn’t force them to enlist. Besides, how do you know Mitt didn’t “encourage [them] to sign up,” but they rebelled instead. Big deal …

By: Tom Cowgill

Tom Cowgill — Wed, 02 May 2007 00:21:49 +0000

Again with the but,Clinton. How long will you keep trotting that old chestnut out. Actually, he did not send our troops into Somalia, Bush I did. Clinton inherited a mess there and did not handle it well. How old was Chelsea when he sent our troops to Haiti? I did not use the term â€œChickenHawkâ€. I still have a problem with someone saying that situation in Iraq is worth dying for as long as its not me or mine who is doing the dying. Jake, if you support the war, have a son of age, and do not encourage him to sign up, then no, your years as a Marine officer are not enough. In my life I have seen too many of our troops sent to die for a mistake by leaders who were not willing to make the sacrifice themselves.

By: Terry

Terry — Tue, 01 May 2007 21:22:37 +0000

I have to agree, Jake. I am no fan of this war, but the chicken hawk charge has never been particularly compelling to me. With only one exception, the people I talk to in the military don’t think it’s an issue. Using that same logic, it’s an outrage that Clinton sent our troops into Haiti, the Balkans and Somalia but never insisted Chelsea enlist. There have got to be better arguments against Romney than that, like the illegal immigrants who mow his lawn, eh?

By: Jake

Jake — Tue, 01 May 2007 20:03:12 +0000

Yes, still with Romney. His polling in the important primary states (something one never sees in the press) are at or near the top. McCain has trouble with the party and Giuliani doesn’t look so hot when you break down his numbers. Morris always mentions Romney when he talks Republican, but there’s no way he or anyone else can know for sure. But I still like Romney’s chances.

Doug… you’re on. Not sure how you want to do the wager. I did mine the Betting Exchange.

Tom… It’s never been clear to me why the career decisions of adult children should determine the politics of various candidates. Should Romney be required to have a child in the military before he can support the GWOT? How would that work in practice? The whole “ChickenHawk” meme kind of works if you have rich kids avoiding a draft, but in the all volunteer era, it doesn’t quite work. I’ll remind you that the draft was ended in 1976.

My nephew has orders to Marine OCS this summer. Is it OK for me to like the war now? Or are my years as a Marine officer enough? Please enlighten me.

In any case, Obama is by far the most interesting candidate. As a Republican, I don’t like his politics much, but as a candidate, he is great. We’ll see if he can last over the long haul. But he certainly is a natural.

By: Tom Cowgill

Tom Cowgill — Tue, 01 May 2007 03:17:44 +0000

Romney thinks that Iraq is a just and needed war, and that what we are accomplishing is worth the thousands of lives lost there. That is, as long as neither he or any of his five sons has to make the sacrifice.

By: Doug Richardson

Doug Richardson — Tue, 01 May 2007 02:34:34 +0000

I think not.

By: Terry

Terry — Tue, 01 May 2007 02:22:00 +0000

Doug,

That means we get Romney in the White House?