Dole Defends McCain, slaps Gen. Clark

Being a POW does not necessarily make you Commander in Chief material. I'm not sure how you could legitimately argue otherwise.

What Clark also said was that McCain has no executive experience. Which is also true.

Neither does Obama. Nor did Clinton. Nor did JFK or LBJ. I'll agree that being a POW doesn't better able someone to run a country. However, it does provide him a unique perspective on war and conflict, which has intrinsic value in our current geopolitical climate.

But it's too bad McCain walked away from his POW experience and decided he was OK with torture. After being on the receiving end, you'd think he would have come to a different conclusion.

I'd hardly say McCain is pro-torture. In fact, if you search the Congressional Record, you'll see a strong pattern of anti-torture legislation, votes, and speeches.

I won't pretend that he holds the same position as Obama, however I'd contend that the liberal side of the debate has vastly exaggerated McCain's position on torture. Personally, I oppose the torturing of prisoners, but I do believe in firm interrogations.

Don't be so quick to jump on the attack wagon against McCain on this issue.

He was pretty adamant about not allowing torture, explaining that it can also be used against our own service personnel. He did not support the White House on this.

McCain does have some administrative experience as I recall from his service days. He was in command of his air wing or division or some unit. Even if he does have zero administrative experience, he'd be tied w/ Obama.

In a February vote on a bill that would have banned the use of torture and "enhanced interrogation techniques" by the CIA, McCain voted NO.

It's striking. Of the so few votes McCain has cast this year, he chooses to vote in favor of torture.

Here's the torture bill that Midtown Guy is citing -- yawn.

It was a tortured bill, alright.

H.R.2082
Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 (Enrolled as Agreed to or Passed by Both House and Senate)

---------------------------------------------------
Beginning

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
Sec. 2. Definitions.
Sec. 101. Authorization of appropriations.
Sec. 102. Classified Schedule of Authorizations.
Sec. 103. Personnel ceiling adjustments.
Sec. 104. Intelligence Community Management Account.
Sec. 201. Authorization of appropriations.
Sec. 202. Technical modification to mandatory retirement provision of the Central Intelligence Agency Retirement Act.
Sec. 301. Increase in employee compensation and benefits authorized by law.
Sec. 302. Enhanced flexibility in nonreimbursable details to elements of the intelligence community.
Sec. 303. Multi-level security clearances.
Sec. 304. Pay authority for critical positions.
Sec. 305. Delegation of authority for travel on common carriers for intelligence collection personnel.
Sec. 306. Annual personnel level assessments for the intelligence community.
Sec. 307. Comprehensive report on intelligence community contractors.
Sec. 308. Report on proposed pay for performance intelligence community personnel management system.
Sec. 309. Report on plans to increase diversity within the intelligence community.
Sec. 311. Vulnerability assessments of major systems.
Sec. 312. Business enterprise architecture and business system modernization for the intelligence community.
Sec. 313. Reports on the acquisition of major systems.
Sec. 314. Excessive cost growth of major systems.
Sec. 321. Restriction on conduct of intelligence activities.
Sec. 322. Clarification of definition of intelligence community under the National Security Act of 1947.
Sec. 323. Modification of availability of funds for different intelligence activities.
Sec. 324. Protection of certain national security information.
Sec. 325. Extension of authority to delete information about receipt and disposition of foreign gifts and decorations.
Sec. 327. Limitation on interrogation techniques.
Sec. 328. Limitation on use of funds.
Sec. 329. Incorporation of reporting requirements.
Sec. 330. Repeal of certain reporting requirements.
Sec. 401. Clarification of limitation on colocation of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
Sec. 402. Membership of the Director of National Intelligence on the Transportation Security Oversight Board.
Sec. 403. Additional duties of the Director of Science and Technology.
Sec. 404. Leadership and location of certain offices and officials.
Sec. 405. Plan to implement recommendations of the data center energy efficiency reports.
Sec. 406. Comprehensive listing of special access programs.
Sec. 407. Reports on the nuclear programs of Iran and North Korea.
Sec. 408. Requirements for accountability reviews by the Director of National Intelligence.
Sec. 410. Authorities for intelligence information sharing.
Sec. 411. Authorities of the Director of National Intelligence for interagency funding.
Sec. 412. Title of Chief Information Officer of the Intelligence Community.
Sec. 413. Inspector General of the Intelligence Community.
Sec. 414. Annual report on foreign language proficiency in the intelligence community.
Sec. 415. Director of National Intelligence report on retirement benefits for former employees of Air America.
Sec. 416. Space intelligence.
Sec. 417. Operational files in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
Sec. 420. Repeal of certain authorities relating to the Office of the National Counterintelligence Executive.
Sec. 431. Review of covert action programs by Inspector General of the Central Intelligence Agency.
Sec. 433. Additional functions and authorities for protective personnel of the Central Intelligence Agency.
Sec. 434. Technical amendments relating to titles of certain Central Intelligence Agency positions.
Sec. 435. Clarifying amendments relating to section 105 of the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2004.
Sec. 441. Enhancement of National Security Agency training program.
Sec. 442. Codification of authorities of National Security Agency protective personnel.
Sec. 443. Inspector general matters.
Sec. 444. Confirmation of appointment of heads of certain components of the intelligence community.
Sec. 446. Security clearances in the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency.
Sec. 451. Clarification of inclusion of Coast Guard and Drug Enforcement Administration as elements of the intelligence community.
Sec. 502. Report on intelligence activities.
Sec. 503. Aerial reconnaissance platforms.
Sec. 512. Technical amendment to the Central Intelligence Agency Act of 1949.
Sec. 513. Technical amendments relating to the multiyear National Intelligence Program.
Sec. 515. Technical amendments to the National Security Act of 1947.
Sec. 516. Technical amendments to the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004.
Sec. 517. Technical amendments to the Executive Schedule.
TITLE I--BUDGET AND PERSONNEL AUTHORIZATIONS
TITLE II--CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY RETIREMENT AND DISABILITY SYSTEM
TITLE III--GENERAL INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY MATTERS
Subtitle A--Personnel Matters
Subtitle B--Acquisition Matters
`VULNERABILITY ASSESSMENTS OF MAJOR SYSTEMS
`INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY BUSINESS SYSTEMS, ARCHITECTURE, ACCOUNTABILITY, AND MODERNIZATION
`REPORTS ON THE ACQUISITION OF MAJOR SYSTEMS
`EXCESSIVE COST GROWTH OF MAJOR SYSTEMS
Subtitle C--Other Matters
TITLE IV--MATTERS RELATING TO ELEMENTS OF THE INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY
Subtitle A--Office of the Director of National Intelligence
`INSPECTOR GENERAL OF THE INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY
`REPORT ON FOREIGN LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY IN THE INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY
`OPERATIONAL FILES IN THE OFFICE OF THE DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE
Subtitle B--Central Intelligence Agency
Subtitle C--Defense Intelligence Components
Subtitle D--Other Elements
TITLE V--OTHER MATTERS
Subtitle A--General Intelligence Matters
Subtitle B--Technical Amendments

?

The above bill is a good example of this do-nothing Congress.

The load appropriation bills like this one with amendments that they know Republicans will vote against.

Then Harry "the war is lost" Reid and Nancy "I've been to Syria and Assad seems like a nice guy" Pelosi get a chance to say one of two things.

1. If they voted for torture... (When in fact they were voting against the appropriations)

2. If they vote against torture... (Then they end up voting for increased spending on the CIA and that is used against them for escalating costs.)

This Congress is a waste of time. Run the bums out. No wonder they have an 18% approval rating whereas Bush's is a lofty 29% compared to these idiots.

You are full of crap. And from what I hear you post it on a lot of blog sites.

Midtown-

He did have a point and it is very clear. McCain's "vote for torture" was actually a vote against a bill that had quite a bit of extra meat to it. You cannot vote for or against legislation based solely on one paragraph, regardless of it's merits.

If a bill had been introduced into the Senate, banning torture but also evicting you from your home, how should one vote? Clearly part of the bill is noble, but is it right to vote for the bill? This parallels back into McCain's Senate vote.

Midtown, go do some research on McCain's legislative history with torture and rethink your position. I'm sure once you've done the leg-work you'll realize that your recent comments on the subject are incorrect.

Those who call McCain's military service a
"leadership wash" with Obama -- please, it's not even an issue. Obama wasn't a platoon leader in Chicago's South side -- he was a community activist.

Is that Obama's military leadership being played out?

If so -- then I guess that was an Elvis sighting over in Independence today.

As a veteran of Congress for more than 20 years, John McCain knows full well that bills are not always "clean," that is stripped down to their barest essentials.

Unfortunately, Jeetz's argument falls apart. McCain never once said the bill was too cluttered with "extras." Instead, he tried to justify his flip-flop on torture.

Here.

Here.

And here.

And if McCain's opposition to torture was so strong, don't you think he could have introduced a bill banning it's use? Oh wait, that would mean showing up to work once in a while ...

I wish I understood why McCain's five years as a POW is so crucial for being President.

Apparently, Jeetz can't either.

Note that "experience" did not lead McCain so see the disaster of the Iraq War. It clearly was not enough for him to know the difference between Sunni and Shia and whether that is important in Iraq.

And, it apparently was not enough of an experience to flip on whether the US should torture people.

It clearly is not enough for him to be a deadbeat on property taxes.

And, it doesn't mean he has any more knowledge about the economy or whether his flipping on taxes to the very wealthy is right or not.

ALL bills are loaded with 'extras'.

Somehow I think John McCain knows that too.

If a tree falls in the woods do you hear it fall?

According to Muffy Sebelius if you challenge someone's experience you're a racist.

So Old Drum -- you are a racist pig!

See Old Drum post for clarification.

Damn pesky facts! They always get in the way of Jeetz's arguments.

Did you vote for John Kerry? What about the primary? Did you vote Barack or Hillary?

Did you vote in the caucuses? Huckabee or McACain? George W. Bush once or twice?

Seems rather irrelevant, don't you think?

Liberals are engulfed in politics. What's not to love about 'em.

And win? What's really amusing, Midtown Guy, is that you're actually serious about that statement -- winning.)

Wow.

I've been winning from the beginning just by watching you pups fall all over yourselves over Obama. The only sensible thing you said is that you think Obama is a dork. I thought, ok, reasonably impressive. But other than that -- I mean look at you dweebs -- thinking you're seeing something new & grandiose.

The 46 year-old tan Man?

That's all that's new if you're looking at his color. Me -- I've seen him before. He thinks he's FDR -- only there is no Great Depression, just a depressing man who thinks everything is broken. He also thinks he's Jimmy Carter -- the great outsider. He was naive, too. And he thinks he's JFK -- well he is right there. JFK was all talk and a very mediocre President. He had ideas, but was terrible at getting Congress to accept them. LBJ -- an insider -- finally got them through. Oh yeah -- there is no doubt Obama is like JFK -- he is consensus wrecker, not a consensus builder.

Further the idea of "ideas..."

For everything you may say is a new idea, I can counter it with another time, different name, same idea.

That's why I laugh at you pups. You're still wet behind the ears. Towel down and actually pay attention to political history. Or continue the game plan. And I keep getting a free movie.

But you won't, because you already know it all. Every last one of you pups knows all that's needed to know.

I wonder what Obama's gonna call his grandiose ideas?

These are already taken -- Square Deal, New Deal, Fair Deal, New Freedoms, New Frontier & Great Society.

Maybe...

Big F---ing Deal. This one probably isn't taken.

I wonder why our good friend Jeetz is so over the top about his hatred of Obama. Notice the completely fact-free post.

He is protesting a little bit too much. It seems he can't talk specifics. Of course, facts have a liberal bias, so it is not a surprise his rant is so fact-free.

You of all people calling me over the top -- that is the coup de gras of humor. Thanks, Old Drum -- you made my evening.

Both you and your Chris Mathews cut and paste facts. And once and a while liarsandcheaters.com -- did I write the URL correctly?

Gotta scoot -- so clean my clock while I'm away!

Must be dinner time at the old folks home.