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My main reason for voting for McCain because

Posted By: Backwards typist on 2008-11-01
In Reply to: How about a poll? - gourdpainter

1.  TRUST. Don't trust O.


2. TRUTH. He is more truthful than the O. I didn't hear him waver much from what he has been saying through the whole campaign, while O has changed his mind a few times.


3.  AMERICA. He believes in this country and its freedoms. O wants to curb our freedom.


4.  "MAVERICK". He does cross party lines and buck the system. O will vote specifically with the dems all the time,,, and I really hate the word Maverick.


5.  SAFETY. He will keep us safer. O would rather talk. Talking gets you nowhere with the radicals in the world today. The radicals give their word and the next day will kill.


6. I believe he will TRY to cut government spending. This one is iffy since it depends on who runs the house and senate, but I believe he will try his darndest to get this done.


There are so many more reasons why I chose McC and those include those in the below posts.




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Just for your info, I voted for McCain, main reason
because who the O associates with and now Chief of Staff?  Confirms everything that I thought.  Still have my McCain sign out in the front lawn.
I couldn't agree with you more!! I'm voting McCain for the same reason. nm
x
If that's the main issue in voting for s/m
a presidential candidate,  I'll wear a big flag pin, say the pledge, put my hand over my heart, salute the flag 50 times, sing the Star Spangled Banner, and I'll get the job. Yep, that makes me presidential miteereal...
The main reason we went to war with Iraq
was the same reason Clinton said...because of Hussein's failing to comply with U.S. Sanctions.  I think GWB gave Hussein several more months to comply before he made a military move.  After 9/11 the patience with Hussein ran out, and we could take no chances with his noncompliance. The stakes were just too high.  I'm not disputing that some of the intelligence may have been faulty.  I think it has been proven that the CIA is not up to snuff, and the deterioration began way before GWB took office  but to say emphatically Bush lied is stepping way out on a limb.  Thanks for discussing issues Dem. It's a breath of fresh air from all the fighting that's going on.
My reason for not voting for Obama...
he is going to raise DH and my taxes. Yes, we make a very good living through having a good work ethic, not living above our means and working for everything that we have. We have never had to rely on the gov't to give us a handout and we don't expect one. We put ourselves through school with loans that we paid back, we pay for our own health insurance, we paid for daycare when the kids were little, we didn't expect the gov't to give us a thing; we were taught early on that you work hard to achieve your goals and we have. I don't need a president telling my DH and I that we have to "spread our wealth" around to those less fortunate than us. WE decide who to give our money to and when. There will be on incentive to work hard if Obama is elected; laziness will be rewarded. We shouldn't be bailing out big corporations at all, nor should we bail out every homeowner who bought more than they could afford and now expect help. While there are some circumstances that do merit help such as medical reasons or job loss, most are due to financial irresponsibility on the homeowners part. The American Dream is out there if you work for it, but Obama will make sure if you acheive it you must carry someone on your back who doesn't deserve it.
Yet another reason why I am voting for Fred Thompson in the primaries...
he opposes a nationwide ban on abortion. He says it should be up to the individual states, put to a vote of the people, not decided by Congress (who would not touch it anyway or they would have already) or activist judges (who overturned a state law with Roe vs. Wade, which is unconstitutional and should be overturned...the only entity the constitution allows to make low is Congress either at state or federal level...NOT judges). The point being, THAT is the democratic, American way to do it. Let the people speak and let it stand. I am sure some states would allow abortion, others would not. But at least it is put to the vote of the people. Let us as individuals have choice also. There would still be places to obtain abortion if that is someone's choice, but if the majority of a state does not want abortion legal, they should not have to have it legal. That is what democracy is all about. Right? Why would any of you have a problem with letting the people speak?

As to back alley abortions...the numbers of those were very small in proportion to the number of abortions performed when abortion was illegal. Doctors did them illegally as well, under sterile conditions, and no one died. I agree, no one should have died, but women did have a choice. The babies are not given the same consideration.

And again...why is it so abhorent to some that women died from "botched" abortions, but not that unborn children are chopped up or have their skulls collapsed? A woman has a choice whether or not to subject herself to a "back alley" abortion. That child has no choice, no place to go, just to be chopped up or have their skull collapsed. Imagine that being done to an infant 3 minutes old, 1 hour old...being chopped up or having skull collapsed. Then would we call abortionists serial killers?

I just don't get it, how one is so horrifying and people are accepting of other based totally on "choice."

No offense, but if your father attended an abortion or two, especially a partial birth abortion...he might flip back to the other side. I doubt he would be able to forget those images either. I have seen the pictures. I know I will never forget those images.


just as i hope African American's aren't voting for Obama for that reason!
NM (i suppose that means "no more"? or something) im still a bit new to the board!
Yes...I'm voting for McCain.

From the beginning, I've always known I would not vote for Obama.  His plans will not work.  He will destroy small businesses with his taxes causing loss of jobs.  His plans of taking from the rich to give to the poor will only enable the low-life scum we have in this country to remain lazy and worthless.  His associations with certain individuals and his membership for 20 years to a church designed on black power and the hate of whites........I cannot trust this man to be the commander and chief.  I do not agree with his plans for healthcare.  I do not agree with his extremist view point on abortion.  I do not condone gay marriage.  I cannot under good conscience vote for Barack Obama.  If we elect Barack Obama to be the president, we will sorely regret it. 


So bash me as you will.  Obviously, from posts below, this is a support Obama political board and should anyone differ......OMG....you should be thrown off of the board.  You all have been sucked into this mainstream media love affair with a man that we cannot trust, a man who doesn't have the experience, and a man who promises change that he cannot bring.  The one thing I can agree with Obama is this.....his campaign does give me hope.....it gives me hope that enough people get their heads out of their butts and John McCain wins this election and becomes the next President of the United States of America!!!! 


Go McCain & Palin!!!! 


I'M VOTING FOR MCCAIN
he doesn't condone KILLING BABIES!!!!!!
I take it you are voting for McCain.
nm
I am voting for McCain because........sm
1. I am against the FOCA.
2. I am against gay marriage.
3. I am against taxing the upper income bracket in order to redistribute that money to the lower income bracket.
4. I believe that McCain's 20+ years of service in the government and his leadership abilities and character as demonstrated by his actions as a POW give him more experience than Obama and that Palin's experience as a mayor and governor in Alaska give the Republican party's candidates the experience needed to lead this country.
5. I do not agree that Obama's past associations are what he makes them out to be. I believe that consorting with known marxists and, worse yet, actually seeing out marxist professors to learn at their feet is likely the single most dangerous part of who Obama really is.

There are more, but these are the most important points that make me favor McCain over Obama.
The reason I believe McCain is that he has...
fought the earmarks and pork barrel spending throughout his career, it is documented. Even getting crossways with his own party because of it. When he is in a position of power to be able to actively do something about it with the veto pen, I have no doubt that he will do so.

Obama has said he would clean up lobbying and pork also. But he has not stated how he would go about doing that. He has no history of doing that.

That is why I believe McCain when he says that.
57% obama; still voting for McCain
Some things like abortion, death penalty and guns really aren't as important as my taxes and his spending of my taxes.
I'm an independent, voting for McCain. I have
nm
Voting for McCain too, even if I have little hope of
nm
If us McCain supporters were voting
purely on good looks.......there would definitely be something wrong with us because McCain ain't pretty.  LOL!  He has yellow teeth, that swollen cheek, and he can't move his arms.  So obviously looks have nothing to do with our decision to vote for McCain.
I am voting for John McCain because

he is for smaller government and less government spending.  He has more experience with foreign policy.  He has been in the military and knows first hand what our troops go through.  He won't raise taxes during an economic crisis.  He won't tax businesses more which will help them survive and be successful therefore creating more jobs for Americans.  He wants alternative energy sources which (once you get the crazy freaks who are environmentalists to shut up) will create even more jobs for Americans and keep money here in the USA instead of giving it to people who want us dead.  I also in good conscience cannot vote for Obama because of his beliefs when it comes to abortion and gay marriage.  I also believe that when it comes to party politics, John McCain will stand up to his own party if he doesn't see eye to eye with them and I just feel that is something Obama will not do.


This is excluding other feelings I have about Obama, particularly his associations that people refuse to see and acknowledge.  One radical association is one thing, but Obama has many and I've always been raised to believe that birds of a feather flock together.


Well I had every intention of voting for Mccain
but when I walked in I all of a sudden saw the light and I couldn't control my hand. It went straight to Obama's name!


LOL Just Kidding. Of course I voted Mccain! I don't like to kill babies! :)
Another reason to vote for McCain

Gov. Palin said it in the debate and Biden admits to it.  Four years ago Biden wanted Sen. McCain for his running mate.  


http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=73322


This really is not the reason I will vote for McCain
I, personally, do not think that the president can change anything where abortion is concerned. If he could, would it be legan now? Also, sometimes there are funerals for miscarriages and, certainly, people grieve for them.
Well I have a brain and I'm not voting for McCain. That to me is a no brainer.
I guess I could go and pick out all the negatives about John McCain (there are plenty) while putting Obama on a pedestal and parading him around as though he is the second coming of Christ. For pete's sake. Looks like it took no brains to write this one.
Me too, and this Independent is voting McCain-Palin.
Was before the speech. Nothing changed. What is great about her is that she is everyperson. You can see her as your neighbor, chatting across the breakfast table. Regular people can identify with her. She is not a member of the "Washington cocktail circuit." She has been there, done that. She is a true reformer...thinks that politicians should not have planes, chefs and chaffeurs on the people's dime. I am tired of elitist politics as usual. I think she will have a very positive effect on Washington.

That being said, she is the #2. McCain has it hands down as far as national security is concerned. He won't tax us into oblivion, which will not help the economy, it will just make it worse. You cannot continue to put ALL the tax burden on the people who provide most of the jobs in this country. That makes absolutely no sense.

He has what she lacks; she has what he lacks. Win-win.

Definitely voting McCain-Palin. THAT is the change you can believe in.
And you my dear are one of the top reasons I'm voting for McCain
Backwards thinking is those people like yourselves who won't admit that your candidate has flaws. Truth is he has more flaws than McCain. - you know is it too much to ask to get his name correct. I know people think its cute to put Mc in front of other words, but the guy was a vietnam war hero. He deserves the respect. Otherwise we can go on down that road and start putting names at the end of Obama's name (Ono, Obrother, Oliar, Osocialist, etc. The names could go on and on), but at least the conservatives are respectful of the candidates.

As for his age, then you can say do we realy want someone of Biden's age to be one heartbeat away from being president, after all anything could happen to Obama. (don't go down that road unless your ready for the mud).

Obama is a radical. Sure he wants change - but change for the worse and for everyone else except he and his 1% rich friends. I'm sorry but I don't want to live in a socialist country where our health care is now been socialized. I had it with being in the poor house the last time we had a democrat president. Truth is looking at Obama is more like voting in Bush again. Obama and Bush have agreed on stuff and this bail out plan is one of the biggest. The people who own Obama are the same people that own Bush. The same people that are telling Bush he better fix it because they want their money are the same ones who are running Obama telling him he better vote for it. If your going to link anyone to Bush you should link Obama. McCain has always been in the middle. You can stop spreading the lies that they voted the same cos they didn't. McCain has gone against both dems and pubs.

So irresponsible is voting in a new guy with no experience who is going to raise your taxes, socialize our health care, all while trying to convince us is the patriotic thing to do by having the government steal our hard earned money so they can give to the poor less advantaged individual. So now instead of working 60 hours a week to make ends meet you are going to have to work 80 hours. Cripes, when are you going to sleep? Let alone any relaxation time. Under the Clinton years my tax bracket was over 40% and even that wasn't enough cos at the end of the year I had to take out a loan to pay the extra $2500 that I didn't pay throughout the year. Each year I kept having them take out an extra $40 per paycheck over what was normally taken out and I still got socked with having to pay extra every year.

You want someone who is going to destroy the military so our country will not be safe anymore like Clinton did, then by all means vote in Barack OBush
Glad to hear you are voting for McCain!
I was referring to the fact that Obama supporters cannot accept the truth of his policies, they just want to ignore them and argue. Ignore the message and beat up the messenger. The issue is not about how the OP paid her employees, it is how Obama's economic plan is going to change her business.
Voting McCain, and still a Hillary supporter...nm

I'm voting McCain partly because he is the lesser
of two evils.  I am not voting for Obama because I am completely pro-choice and completely against gay marriages.  I know people who have had abortions and I know who people who are gay.  I hold nothing against them, but I can't with a good consicence vote for someone who believes these 2 major things are okay.  I am by no means judging anybody for their choice of lifestyle.  I personally just think it's wrong.  Also, being of the pentecostal faith, I am happy that Sarah Palin (also of the pentecostal faith) was chosen as his running mate.  I'm simply voting with my conscience. 
Voting for McCain-Palin. Not reading any more hate
nm
Voting for McCain doesn't make you a republican
http://www.politicalfriendster.com/showPerson.php?id=2805&name=Bush-Family-Bankrupt-Companies
I'll give you one good reason to vote for McCain.

Barrack Hussein Obama.....nuff said.


There are other choices. I find Obama and McCain equally offensive, so I am voting for Ralph Nader.
Bob Barr might also be a good choice.
Voting for the lesser of 2 evils is still voting for evil. sm
The 2 main choices are horrible. They only offer a continuation of the status quo. Nothing on bringing the troops home (now not 5 years from now), no sound monetary policy, reinstating our civil liberties, etc. Third party candidates have better platforms. People should be voting principles over party, or you deserve whatever you get.
Many repubs voting for Obama in my experience..OR NOT VOTING ..only
only a few stragglers left, like the 26 percent who don't hate Bush.

Most people voting for Obama are voting on emotion...sm
You may be the exception.



All that matters is hope and change. At what cost, my friend, at what cost, will your hope and change come at.



He will try to change the very foundation of this country, the constitution, and our very way of life.


If I wanted that, I'd move back to Russia where some of my ancestors came from.


I can recognize socialism and Marxism, even if half the country cannot.


They only care for hope. And change.












My MT pay is certainly not the main income....

in this household. Sure, we could lose our jobs, however, we are quite prepared for something like that. We have an emergency fund in place that would last at least a year (a year's worth of mortgage and utilility payments), we don't have a car payment, all credit cards are paid off and we have CDs, retirement funds, etc. It's called planning for the future and planning for the unexpected. We have paid into unemployment, so of course we would take it if we had to.


My main feeling is that we are
somehow purposely being herded through a squeeze shoot - by the time we have lost our jobs and insurance, we will be more than happy to accept socialism. none of this bail out is going to trickle down this far; in fact, we are the source of money with our pennies and dimes so they can have bonuses and vacations. When I got laid off last year, it was the first time in over 21 years that I had thanksgiving, christmas and new year's off. Reliant Energy in Houston is for sell. UTMB Hospital in Galveston just laid of 3800, they are the largest employer in this county. Everybody can't be bailed out. Buckle up, everybody.
Of course not. That's one of the main reasons
what you seem to be missing is the fact that NOTHING has been decided on the fate of those prisoners in terms of where they will be housed OR how their trials will or (in some cases, in the absence of evidence) will not progress.

You want to get your drawers in an uproar? Here's the reality of the situation. Our legal system will ultimately be upheld and its integrity will be restored. Inthe process, it is quite possible that some of those prisoners will be released and never face a legitimate trial BECAUSE of the botch job the shrub did with this fiasco. We may very well find ourselves back at square one with some of them, but for me, preserving the integrity of our constitution/legal system and restoring human rights back into the equation is worth the price we may end up paying.
My main problem with Biden now is that....
not only did he lie (whether during the primaries or now, take your pick), but when he threw his friend, John McCain, under the bus in such a hateful, public manner, for the sake of politics...any integrity I thought he might have had went right under the bus with McCain. He may say he is blue collar anddown to earth, but the blue collardown to earth people i know and were raised with DO NOT throw friends under the bus.

Frankly, I believe that Bill and Hill and Joe Biden too were tellng the truth during the primaries...Obama isn't ready to be President. What did Biden say..."The presidency doesn't lend itself to on-the-job training..." and the things Hillary said too numerous to mention. And now, all of a sudden, they do a complete 180 and he's the man for the job. Honestly, how can ANYone believe ANY of them? Obama threw Wright under the bus, Biden through McCain under the bus...no holds barred by golly. And the thing is...that this is the BIG one...all of his followers do believe it. Or they don't believe it and they don't care. I tend toward the first...because they are like adoring throngs chasing a rock star. Amazing.

I am just wondering what all our world leaders who have a so-called bad image of us, are going to think of the hollywood production number tonight? How will any of them be able to take him remotely seriously? How is he going to be able to sit down and have a conversation with Ahmadinejad or Medvedev? Is he going to take Biden to all his meetings? I am not trying to bash Obama...it is a legitimate concern.
Saw this on the main board, had to ask the Obama-ites here...
"We have a new administration coming in Washington in a few weeks already expressing a commitment to saving healtcare dollars by forcing an accelerated move to a nationwise EHR system. Will our work be in it at all? ? ? I've said it before, all it would take would be Medicare announcing in future it would no longer reimburse narrative-report costs to do away with most of our jobs within months."

Since a couple people have already told me I can't do my own research, I decided to go with that and just ask you know it alls if this is true or not....
MSM = Main stream media, not MSNBC. But it can be if you like. sm
I am not trying to cover my behind as you posted. The point I am trying to make is that Obama never made a statement condemning the murder of the slain recruiter at the hands of a Muslim convert like he did condemning the murder of George Tiller at the hands of a so-called right-wing extremist. What is the difference? Why is one condemned and the other is not. Is it because one is Christian and one isn't? They are both crimes of hate. As is the case of the man who beheaded his wife when she served him divorce papers.
Former Head of Star Wars: Cheney Main 9/11 Suspect
Former Head Of Star Wars Program Says Cheney Main 9/11 Suspect
Official version of events a conspiracy theory, says drills were cover for attacks

Paul Joseph Watson & Alex Jones/Prison Planet.com | April 4 2006

The former head of the Star Wars missile defense program under Presidents Ford and Carter has gone public to say that the official version of 9/11 is a conspiracy theory and his main suspect for the architect of the attack is Vice President Dick Cheney.

Dr. Robert M. Bowman, Lt. Col., USAF, ret. flew 101 combat missions in Vietnam. He is the recipient of the Eisenhower Medal, the George F. Kennan Peace Prize, the President’s Medal of Veterans for Peace, the Society of Military Engineers Gold Medal (twice), six Air Medals, and dozens of other awards and honors. His Ph.D. is in Aeronautics and Nuclear Engineering from Caltech. He chaired 8 major international conferences, and is one of the country’s foremost experts on National Security.

Bowman worked secretly for the US government on the Star Wars project and was the first to coin the very term in a 1977 secret memo. After Bowman realized that the program was only ever intended to be used as an aggressive and not defensive tool, as part of a plan to initiate a nuclear war with the Soviets, he left the program and campaigned against it.

In an interview with The Alex Jones Show aired nationally on the GCN Radio Network, Bowman (pictured below) stated that at the bare minimum if Osama bin Laden and Al-Qaeda were involved in 9/11 then the government stood down and allowed the attacks to happen. He said it is plausible that the entire chain of military command were unaware of what was taking place and were used as tools by the people pulling the strings behind the attack.



Bowman outlined how the drills on the morning of 9/11 that simulated planes crashing into buildings on the east coast were used as a cover to dupe unwitting air defense personnel into not responding quickly enough to stop the attack.

The exercises that went on that morning simulating the exact kind of thing that was happening so confused the people in the FAA and NORAD....that they didn't they didn't know what was real and what was part of the exercise, said Bowman

I think the people who planned and carried out those exercises, they're the ones that should be the object of investigation.

Asked if he could name a prime suspect who was the likely architect behind the attacks, Bowman stated, If I had to narrow it down to one person....I think my prime suspect would be Dick Cheney.

Bowman said that privately his military fighter pilot peers and colleagues did not disagree with his sentiments about the real story behind 9/11.

Bowman agreed that the US was in danger of slipping into a dictatorship and stated, I think there's been nothing closer to fascism than what we've seen lately from this government.

Bowman slammed the Patriot Act as having, Done more to destroy the rights of Americans than all of our enemies combined.



Bowman trashed the 9/11 Commission as a politically motivated cover-up with abounding conflicts of interest, charging, The 9/11 Commission omitted anything that might be the least bit suspicious or embarrassing or in any way detract from the official conspiracy so it was a total whitewash.

There needs to be a true investigation, not the kind of sham investigations we have had with the 9/11 omission and all the rest of that junk, said Bowman.

Asked if the perpetrators of 9/11 were preparing to stage another false-flag attack to reinvigorate their agenda Bowman agreed that, I can see that and I hope they can't pull it off, I hope they are prevented from pulling it off but I know darn good and well they'd like to have another one.

A mainstay of the attack pieces against Charlie Sheen have been that he is not credible enough to speak on the topic of 9/11. These charges are ridiculed by the fact that Sheen is an expert on 9/11 who spends hours a day meticulously researching the topic, something that the attack dogs have failed to do, aiming their comments solely at Sheen's personal life and ignoring his invitation to challenge him on the facts.

In addition, from the very start we have put forth eminently credible individuals only for them to be ignored by the establishment media. Physics Professors, former White House advisors and CIA analysts, the father of Reaganomics, German Defense Ministers and Bush's former Secretary of the Treasury, have all gone public on 9/11 but have been uniformly ignored by the majority of the establishment press.

Will Robert Bowman also be blackballed as the mainstream continue to misrepresent the 9/11 truth movement as an occupation of the fringe minority?

Bowman is currently running for Congress in Florida's 15th District.

---------------------------------

http://www.prisonplanet.com/article...mainsuspect.htm

This is the reason we are in Iraq and it's the same reason I didn't vote for him in 2000: Didn't

his own personal reasons.


http://www.tompaine.com/articles/20050620/why_george_went_to_war.php


The Downing Street memos have brought into focus an essential question: on what basis did President George W. Bush decide to invade Iraq? The memos are a government-level confirmation of what has been long believed by so many: that the administration was hell-bent on invading Iraq and was simply looking for justification, valid or not.


Despite such mounting evidence, Bush resolutely maintains total denial. In fact, when a British reporter asked the president recently about the Downing Street documents, Bush painted himself as a reluctant warrior. "Both of us didn't want to use our military," he said, answering for himself and British Prime Minister Blair. "Nobody wants to commit military into combat. It's the last option."


Yet there's evidence that Bush not only deliberately relied on false intelligence to justify an attack, but that he would have willingly used any excuse at all to invade Iraq. And that he was obsessed with the notion well before 9/11—indeed, even before he became president in early 2001.


In interviews I conducted last fall, a well-known journalist, biographer and Bush family friend who worked for a time with Bush on a ghostwritten memoir said that an Iraq war was always on Bush's brain.


"He was thinking about invading Iraq in 1999," said author and Houston Chronicle journalist Mickey Herskowitz. "It was on his mind. He said, 'One of the keys to being seen as a great leader is to be seen as a commander-in-chief.' And he said, 'My father had all this political capital built up when he drove the Iraqis out of Kuwait and he wasted it.' He went on, 'If I have a chance to invade…, if I had that much capital, I'm not going to waste it. I'm going to get everything passed that I want to get passed and I'm going to have a successful presidency.'"


Bush apparently accepted a view that Herskowitz, with his long experience of writing books with top Republicans, says was a common sentiment: that no president could be considered truly successful without one military "win" under his belt. Leading Republicans had long been enthralled by the effect of the minuscule Falklands War on British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's popularity, and ridiculed Democrats such as Jimmy Carter who were reluctant to use American force. Indeed, both Reagan and Bush's father successfully prosecuted limited invasions (Grenada, Panama and the Gulf War) without miring the United States in endless conflicts.


Herskowitz's revelations illuminate Bush's personal motivation for invading Iraq and, more importantly, his general inclination to use war to advance his domestic political ends. Furthermore, they establish that this thinking predated 9/11, predated his election to the presidency and predated his appointment of leading neoconservatives who had their own, separate, more complex geopolitical rationale for supporting an invasion.


Conversations With Bush The Candidate


Herskowitz—a longtime Houston newspaper columnist—has ghostwritten or co-authored autobiographies of a broad spectrum of famous people, including Reagan adviser Michael Deaver, Mickey Mantle, Dan Rather and Nixon cabinet secretary John B. Connally. Bush's 1999 comments to Herskowitz were made over the course of as many as 20 sessions together. Eventually, campaign staffers—expressing concern about things Bush had told the author that were included in the manuscript—pulled the project, and Bush campaign officials came to Herskowitz's house and took his original tapes and notes. Bush communications director Karen Hughes then assumed responsibility for the project, which was published in highly sanitized form as A Charge to Keep.


The revelations about Bush's attitude toward Iraq emerged during two taped sessions I held with Herskowitz. These conversations covered a variety of matters, including the journalist's continued closeness with the Bush family and fondness for Bush Senior—who clearly trusted Herskowitz enough to arrange for him to pen a subsequent authorized biography of Bush's grandfather, written and published in 2003.


I conducted those interviews last fall and published an article based on them during the final heated days of the 2004 campaign. Herskowitz's taped insights were verified to the satisfaction of editors at the Houston Chronicle, yet the story failed to gain broad mainstream coverage, primarily because news organization executives expressed concern about introducing such potent news so close to the election. Editors told me they worried about a huge backlash from the White House and charges of an "October Surprise."


Debating The Timeline For War


But today, as public doubts over the Iraq invasion grow, and with the Downing Street papers adding substance to those doubts, the Herskowitz interviews assume singular importance by providing profound insight into what motivated Bush—personally—in the days and weeks following 9/11. Those interviews introduce us to a George W. Bush, who, until 9/11, had no means for becoming "a great president"—because he had no easy path to war. Once handed the national tragedy of 9/11, Bush realized that the Afghanistan campaign and the covert war against terrorist organizations would not satisfy his ambitions for greatness. Thus, Bush shifted focus from Al Qaeda, perpetrator of the attacks on New York and Washington. Instead, he concentrated on ensuring his place in American history by going after a globally reviled and easily targeted state run by a ruthless dictator.


The Herskowitz interviews add an important dimension to our understanding of this presidency, especially in combination with further evidence that Bush's focus on Iraq was motivated by something other than credible intelligence. In their published accounts of the period between 9/11 and the March 2003 invasion, former White House Counterterrorism Coordinator Richard Clarke and journalist Bob Woodward both describe a president single-mindedly obsessed with Iraq. The first anecdote takes place the day after the World Trade Center collapsed, in the Situation Room of the White House. The witness is Richard Clarke, and the situation is captured in his book, Against All Enemies.



On September 12th, I left the Video Conferencing Center and there, wandering alone around the Situation Room, was the President. He looked like he wanted something to do. He grabbed a few of us and closed the door to the conference room. "Look," he told us, "I know you have a lot to do and all…but I want you, as soon as you can, to go back over everything, everything. See if Saddam did this. See if he's linked in any way…"


I was once again taken aback, incredulous, and it showed. "But, Mr. President, Al Qaeda did this."


"I know, I know, but…see if Saddam was involved. Just look. I want to know any shred…" …


"Look into Iraq, Saddam," the President said testily and left us. Lisa Gordon-Hagerty stared after him with her mouth hanging open.


Similarly, Bob Woodward, in a CBS News 60 Minutes interview about his book, Bush At War, captures a moment, on November 21, 2001, where the president expresses an acute sense of urgency that it is time to secretly plan the war with Iraq. Again, we know there was nothing in the way of credible intelligence to precipitate the president's actions.



Woodward: "President Bush, after a National Security Council meeting, takes Don Rumsfeld aside, collars him physically and takes him into a little cubbyhole room and closes the door and says, 'What have you got in terms of plans for Iraq? What is the status of the war plan? I want you to get on it. I want you to keep it secret.'"


Wallace (voiceover): Woodward says immediately after that, Rumsfeld told Gen. Tommy Franks to develop a war plan to invade Iraq and remove Saddam—and that Rumsfeld gave Franks a blank check.


Woodward: "Rumsfeld and Franks work out a deal essentially where Franks can spend any money he needs. And so he starts building runways and pipelines and doing all the necessary preparations in Kuwait specifically to make war possible."


Bush wanted a war so that he could build the political capital necessary to achieve his domestic agenda and become, in his mind, "a great president." Blair and the members of his cabinet, unaware of the Herskowitz conversations, placed Bush's decision to mount an invasion in or about July of 2002. But for Bush, the question that summer was not whether, it was only how and when. The most important question, why, was left for later.


Eventually, there would be a succession of answers to that question: weapons of mass destruction, links to Al Qaeda, the promotion of democracy, the domino theory of the Middle East. But none of them have been as convincing as the reason George W. Bush gave way back in the summer of 1999.



 


Voting present and not voting, who has
the highest record in DC of simply not voting - McCain. Yes, Obama is up there too but ole' McCain is #1 for no votes.
I think BB has a point here in that the main point on the board is political discussion, and let'
face it, there is SO MUCH going on right now, changes, problems, disasters, and so much debate on what should/could be done, but so many tims the political discussion disintegrates in a finger-pointing, name-calling exercise, spouting religion all over the place. Yeah, our spiritual beliefs are dearly held and we would all strive to be the best we can be, and do whatever we can whatever the ideology is, but sometimes I wonder, since we have a board EXPRESSLY for Faith isuues, where relgious debates/discussions/forums, etc are welcome, why does THIS board have to be turned into RELIGION BOARD PART II, especially if one ideology wants to dominate or ridicule/condemn those who come on here for lively inteligent discussion, debate of issues in Congress and in our lives, and just want their beliefs held separately? CNN is not EWTN or any other Christian network, and there are constant informative, bright, lively, balanced discussions from all over the political spectrum on the credentialed news stations, as well as C-Span, but they are not constantly hiding behind a cross, rosary, bible, star of David, or whatever....can we not strive to do the same and put religious debate on the Faith board?? Just a thought to ponder, MHO, it might work beter, who knows?
Because you posted on the Main board not Politics board.
It was removed, as we do not have an option of moving from Main to Politics.

This could have easily been avoided had you posted on the correct board.

The response from another poster to not post political viewpoints on this board was becuase you posted it on the Main board.
Why are you McCain people so desperate? You are just like McCain. No plan. Just criticism of the
other candidate.  I guess you want the same old thing we have had for the past 8 years.  God forbid McCain win with that wild woman, Palin.
I get your point, but my main point is -
why should the government be allowed to tell people what they can and can't eat? Everyone says the government is too involved in our business anyway, so if they should stay out of one part of our lives, they should stay out of all parts of our lives!
Who are you REALLY voting for?
http://itpolicy.princeton.edu/voting/videos.html
Voting is not a right!!

Please direct me to where in the Constitution that it says that voting is a RIGHT?  It is not a right.  We have a right to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness!!


I'm sorry, but I just do not believe that our voting is for nothing... nm
x
I'm voting........
For George W. Bush. He stands for everything this country was founded on. He is a true patriot. He is a republican. He's the bestest!! Just ask Harriet Myers. Better yet, why don't we write in Dik Cheney? He's a true-blue American and a republican to boot! He even knows how to shoot a gun! Let's pack the house and the senate with republicans because they have US in their best interest. They are for the people! Just look at the last 8 years - success story after success story. I am living the life of my dreams! Doesn't take a rocket scientist to see which side deserves to run this country! Let's run all these democrats and filthy liberals out of this country!!! My way or the highway!!! We can't second guess Israel. ATTACK Iran!!!  We need to get Georgia hooked up with NATO so we can go to war with Russia (which is Alaska's neighbor, BTW - can see it right from Alaska). Let's all get on the same page here so we are a UNITED nation. End this division of party!! All for one and one for all!! We can call ourselves Republicrats. Feel the love
I'm voting...

but I tend agree with you.  I think it is sad race still matters all these years later, rather depressing really.  You can keep your nose clean, do all of the right things according to society's standards and color still matters.  Why?  Who cares about color what about his policies? Shouldn't they matter more?


blessings,