“Every time Sen. John McCain flip-flops on automotive industry issues, he lands on the wrong square”
So begins the Detroit News' recent editorial on John McCain's recent flippity-flop on California emissions regulations. And though industry gentlemen prefer McCain, the DetNews' critique is centered not so much on McCain's flip as his flop. After all, McCain originally supported California's right to set its own standards before coming around to support the industry-backed opposition to CARB– before flopping back to the federalist camp at a recent appearance at GM's Warren Technical Center. That has the Detroit News going after McCain on a host of industry-related issues. Calling his proposal for a $5k consumer tax credit for zero-emissions cars a "giveaway scheme" sounds good, and is certainly founded on strong economic principles. McCain's proposed $300m prize for an advanced EV battery is similarly lambasted. Which is all well and good, except that the Detroit News would rather find itself dead in a ditch than hold its industry backers up to the same standard. Haven't Ford's Mark Fields and Chrysler's Jim Press been pressuring the government for production incentives for EVs? Hell, didn't Slick Rick even ask Obama for the very consumer incentives that the Detroit News derides? But as hard as it tries to portray Detroit as just wanting to be left alone by the government, DetN fails to apply its free-market logic to the industry it pimps. With this flip-floping attack, the industry's paid rhetoricians have inadvertently exposed their critique of John McCain as the intellectually bankrupt hypocrisy it really is. You stay classy guys.
I knew his father when he was PHIBLANT, and this is what I expect. Something about apples and trees.
What a choice for president. Do you vote for the young inexperienced marxist who thinks there are more than 57 states or the old anti free speech socialist. (at least McCain despite his age knows how many states there are.
I don’t know why they are even bothering listening to the pleas of GM and others. They made bad business decisions and should now pay for it. Just like the homeowners who signed up for variable rate homes outside of their “Standard of living.”
Bluecon, you’re confused – the right leans towards fascism and the left leans towards socialsim.
I’m not exactly sure why people think Obama is inexperienced yet voted Bush into office with far less federal experience. What gives? And age doesn’t necessarily equate experience although McCain has been at the federal government level longer.
McCain would have a much better chance if he wasn’t so tied into a lot of W’s policies – he’s actually a pretty good candidate for the office.
DetN will never hold those accountable that should be – they’d be out of business if they actually did some solid reporting on the Detroit 3.
I am sure Obama knows more about the Constitution than McCain or Bush or Gonzales. After all, he taught constitutional law at Harvard and the University of Chicago. At least Obama knows that Pakistan is not on the border with Iraq.
Is it a flip flop or is it dementia?
As the Daily Show had it: the border between Iraq and Pakistan is called Iran.
BTW – what’s this Bush is inexperienced stuff? He’s got a higher father he listens to, and a father who used to be president whom he ignores. Perfect setup, if you ask me.
McCain will figure it out, I guess. But the president, whoever gets the job, is not going to be able to get Detroit out of the corner it’s gotten itself into – there’s not enough money around for that to happen.
GM is just a canary in the coal mine for the whole country. And turning to more socialism at this point will not be the cure. The socialism of Fanny Mae and Freddy Mac and the government forcing bad loans is a lot of what caused the bad loan crisis.
This is funny when Obama claims to have visited 57 states with three still not visited. Do they teach there are 60 states in the US public school system?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpGH02DtIws
And Orian don’t forget,
German National Socialist Party=Nazi’s=Fascists
bluecon: when Obama said he had visited 57 states, he was probably operating on 2 hours of sleep. I’m sure he knows the correct number of states. More generally, his font of knowledge useful for governing undoubtedly dwarfs that of the current president, and, I suspect, his opponent.
Obama graduated in the top ranks of his class at Harvard while McCain graduated “fifth from the bottom of his Naval Academy class”.
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/section?Category=caucus&template=detail&candidate=mccain
Everyone can make geography mistakes, like this recent one where McCain talks about the Iraq-Pakistan border … which doesn’t exist:
http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/16270.html
Or how about his recent reference to missile defense systems in Czechoslovakia, and country which hasn’t existed since 1993 when it split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/16196.html
Then of course there is the famous scene where Joe Lieberman had to educate McCain on camera as to the factions in Iraq and Iran:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkfM7z0-Vdg
But hey, one dare not question the veracity of John McCain’s claim to be the foreign affairs expert in this contest.
Speaking of flip-flops, he was recently against expanded coastal oil drilling before having a conversion to being for more drilling.
Some one told me once that after the 1964 election there was a joke going around that went something like…
They told me that if I voted for Goldwater the war (Veitnam) would be escalated. I voted for Goldwater – and the war was escalated.
Ya think history might repeat itself?
a father who used to be president whom he ignores….
So true…G.W. is a wealth of foreign relation experience and the son does nothing with one of the best assets available to him. Maybe he forgot his father’s phone number.
What font of knowledge?
Since presidents are allowed to sleep as much as they want in a crisis situation I feel much better. The guy is a little tired and he forgets how many states there are and you want to let him control the US military?
and the son does nothing with one of the best assets available to him. Maybe he forgot his father’s phone number.
I’m not a defender of the current prez, but I’m wondering how everybody seems to “know” that Junior hasn’t been asking dad for advice?
They told me that if I voted for Goldwater the war (Veitnam) would be escalated. I voted for Goldwater – and the war was escalated.
Great joke! I remember back when W’s dad was still running for the Republican nomination, there was this great joke:
What’s the difference between a good Republican girl and a good Democrat girl?
A good Republican girl has her heart set on Bush!
Since presidents are allowed to sleep as much as they want in a crisis situation I feel much better. The guy is a little tired and he forgets how many states there are and you want to let him control the US military?
You’ve got a point but I could point to the fact that Bush said that Africa was a country yet could still put up a fight during 9/11.
Obama graduated in the top ranks of his class at Harvard while McCain graduated “fifth from the bottom of his Naval Academy class”.
That’s a decent barometer of a President’s ability to lead but not the only one. Woodrow Wilson was incredibly smart but so engrossed in his theories that he couldn’t get the U.S. Congress to approve his League of Nations Concept. Same thing with Thomas Jefferson, who almost lost the Louisiana Purchase to his political principles.
Same thing with experience. Many good Presidents have had a lot of experience, like Franklin Roosevelt, while a lot of others had very little, like Abraham Lincoln. Often, military experience seems to help, but not always.
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1717926,00.html
Either Obama or McCain could be a good President, but it depends on your viewpoint on the issues. Carter’s considered good by many Democrats but a lot of Republicans say otherwise. Meanwhile, Republicans loved Reagan while a good deal of Democrats loathe his legacy. In the end, as long as there isn’t a nuclear war and everybody dies, either candidate could go down in history as a great leader. It just depends on POV.
Orian,
You are buying into some old communist propoganda. Fascism is a form of socialism, just as is communism. The Soviets started a huge propaganda campaign back in the thirties saying that the fascists were right wing, but they never were.
The whole right wing, left wing thing isn’t all that accurate anyway, but I suppose you could go with:
Some left wingers lean fascist, while others lean communist. OTOH, some right wingers lean anarchist, while others lean autocrat. That might work to anger all sides. :)
Why are Brits concerned about Obama?McCain when we have enough trouble with Mr Brown. Here is aman who seems to think that the capital of England is Edinburgh!
Sometimes I wonder whether the world is being run by smart people who are putting us on or by imbeciles who really mean it. – Mark Twain
@ The Luigiian
I don’t think too many Democrats think Carter was a good president, although he’s a very good former president. I’m a Dem, but I voted for John Anderson in 1980 because I was so unimpressed with Carter’s performance (and I especially liked Anderson’s proposed 50c gas tax) and the rest of his energy plan.
Also, don’t think Obama forgot the number of states. He was probably thinking of ten other thigns at that moment, and “fifty” came out of his mouth instead of “forty”. Stuff like that happens, and it’s pretty trivial.
Facism is not a form of socialism. Wikipedia describes it well:
Fascism is a term used to describe authoritarian nationalist political ideologies or mass movements that are concerned with notions of cultural decline or decadence and seek to achieve a millenarian national rebirth by exalting the nation or race, and promoting cults of unity, strength and purity.
Also, for those who like to toss around the term “socialist” as a pejorative, you’d do well to read Wikipedia’s entry on that subject. Turns out you’re not really saying anything concrete. Stick to Marxist.
It’s probably time to stop harping on the 57 states thing. The dude was tired. Considering McCain’s very real, disturbing, and continuous demonstration of a lack of understanding the actual state of the modern world, if you argue that a minor slip of the tongue disqualifies a candidate, you’re gonna have to tell me how McCain would be better in a hypothetical crisis situation. He knows less than I do about what’s actually going on, and I’m doing my best to ignore news from the middle east.
Obama, on the other hand, has now demonstrated a deep grasp of foreign policy, speaking knowledgeably to key players on a variety of subjects, at every granularity from big picture to fine detail. There’s no danger that he’s going to order the Air Force to bomb “East Germany” in the middle of the night.
Sorry, but I will disagree with wiki if it actually says that. As far as I am concerned, and as far as it was taught to me by some very well regarded professors of poitical science, fascism is indeed a form of socialism. Now, if you went to most poli sci departments in the country, you would end up talking to an extreme liberal who may say whatever the liberal speak is about the subject (perhaps whatever they say on wiki), but a consensus of idiots is still wrong.
The biggest difference is who gets to claim power. Instead of the “workers” overthrowing the capitalists (which really means out of favor populist politicians taking over), in fascism there is no requirement for such radical change as we take some group of autocrats and put them in charge. Either ends up pretty much with the same result. A central government decides what is best, private property is a false promise, and everyone suffers (though to varying degrees). Free speech is likewise suppressed to protect the power structure.
There is a lot of side arguments about social conservative aspects of fascism, but it’s really not core. There has never actually been a socially conservative fascist state. The only thing socially conservative about them is authoritarianism. Strangely, socialist states are all authoritarian as well, or have you not been reading about traffic enforcement in Britain?
The central theme of socialism is still there in fascism. No one argues otherwise. Not even the liberal left poli sci profs. They will argue the importance of a bunch of things that are not important in order to make a distinction that is so much lip stick on a pig.
Also, no one will argue that the soviets did not take on a huge propaganda campaign in order to push the idea that fascism was a right wing ideology counter to everything socialist. They did it. I guess wiki must still reflect the fallout.
I’m actually encouraged by enthusiastic criticism of Barack Obama by conservatives and Republicans. A focus upon Obama’s flaws represents the only usable political discourse they can contribute in 2008. They have a reserved dislike of their nominee in John McCain, who has both a lightweight candidacy and little to nothing from the outgoing Republican president that would justify a third consecutive GOP presidency.
The good news for conservatives? Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh have both re-upped. So you’ll at least have those sympathetic microphones to rely upon for the next four eight years.
politics!!?! don’t get me started…
[ must. exercise. restraint. in. the. face. of. temptation. ]
i am sorry. [robert?] i am weak. i cannot help myself.
from the american heritage dictionary – fascism: a system of government [1] marked by centralization of authority under a dictator, [2] stringent socioeconomic controls, [3] suppression of the opposition through terror and censorship, and typically [4] a policy of belligerent nationalism…
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/fascism
any of this seem at all familiar?
lets see now…[1] unitary executive. 800+ presidential signing statements. ineffectual congress. highly-politicized department of justice. warrantless wiretaps. [2] $9.5 trillion national debt [increasing $1.7 billion every day]. taxbreaks for the wealthy. decimated middleclass. no hope for the poor, the unemployed and the unemployable. lousy economy. collasping financial system. inadequate healthcare, education, and employment opportunities. [3] iraq’s “smoking gun in the form of a mushroon cloud.” highly-suspicious terror alerts. secretive energy policy. rampant political interference on scientific and environmental issues. co-opted mainstream media. [4] lawlessness within the executive branch. “you’re either with us or against us.” “i’m the decider.” “goodbye from the world’s biggest polluter.”
anybody see any similarities?
and john mccain? mccain’s insane. mccain wants more war.
there’s gotta be a better way.
Philip,
You forgot emminent domain being used to take property and redirect it to a use deemed more favorable to the state ala Kelso; propaganda being taught in state controlled schools; state support for secular humanism with suppression of religion; and, state redirection of capital to control economic outcomes. Those would be the real marks of socialism and fascism in the US.
Lastly, if you look up the history of the nazi’s, you will find that they called themselves socialists. The important thing to remember is that when we let give too much power to the feds, we cease to have control over what kind of dictators they will become.