Thursday, December 31, 2009

Selecting a Senator: Looking Overseas

At this point, who cares?

"Senate rivals collide over world issues; Afghan war views have roots in Vietnam era" by Brian C. Mooney, Globe Staff | December 23, 2009

State Senator Scott Brown views military strength as a cornerstone of the US role as “a force for good in the world.’’

Is that what he thinks the lies, mass-murder, and torture are? Good?

He'll NEVER GET MY VOTE!

It is Brown, the Republican, who supports the Democratic president’s plan....

Like Obama, he rejects the analogy of Vietnam and Afghanistan. “You cannot compare the threat of radical violent jihad to what happened in Vietnam,’’ he said. “Jihad is a worldwide phenomenon. It’s not limited to one country. The Viet Cong did not attack America on our own soil. They didn’t have as their objective the destruction of our country.’’

He said he supports the Obama plan as a way to help stabilize the region and thwart the Taliban and Al Qaeda threat to neighboring Pakistan....

Sigh. Continuing the lies just turns me off.

Brown consulted former United Nations ambassador John R. Bolton, a hard-line figure in the Bush administration and a frequent critic of President Obama’s foreign policy. He also met with Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, and Lisa Curtis, a specialist on Afghanistan and Pakistan at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, who is a former aide to Republican Senator Richard Lugar of Indiana.

Forget him.

Attorney General Martha Coakley’s campaign consulted with Stephen M. Walt, professor of international affairs at Harvard’s Kennedy School, who drew a hail of criticism after coauthoring a 2006 working paper asserting that the “Israel lobby’’ had distorted US policy in the Middle East. Walt has also criticized Obama’s rationale for the troop surge in Afghanistan.

Hmmmmmmmm!

That GIVES YOU a LEG UP on the FASCIST NEO-CON DRONE that is you opponent, Marty!!!

Coakley has also sounded out James Walsh, a specialist on international security, weapons of mass destruction, and terrorism at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Matthew Bunn, a professor of international affairs at the Kennedy School and a former Clinton administration adviser, on controlling weapons-grade nuclear material. She said she spoke twice to Madeleine Albright, secretary of state in the Clinton administration. Albright, the first woman to serve as the nation’s chief diplomat, sent her a copy of her 2008 book, “Memo to the President Elect,’’ a prescription for dealing with challenges around the globe.

She could have done better than that!

Neither Brown nor Coakley has extensive experience traveling outside North America.

So what?

In the National Guard, Brown, a lieutenant colonel, had brief assignments in Paraguay and Kazakhstan and, as a legislator, visited Taiwan as part of a trade mission sponsored by the Taiwanese government. He said he has also toured many western European countries, often with a team of amateur athletes representing the United States. Brown, a triathlete, competes in long-distance swimming, running, and cycling contests. Brown believes his military training is an asset, citing courses in Al Qaeda, Islam, and the Geneva Conventions and protocols that set forth international rules for the treatment of prisoners and victims of war.

Coakley’s foreign travel has mostly involved tourism trips to a number of Western European countries, Egypt, Japan, and India. In 1998, she spent 10 days on a “civil rights tour’’ of Israel sponsored by the Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith....

Hey, everyone knows about Israel and American politics.

A third candidate, independent Joseph L. Kennedy, opposes a military buildup in Afghanistan....

Yeah, and HE WANTS to COME HOME!!!

I'll vote for this guy if I bother to vote at all.

That's ALL HE GETS, Glob?

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"Senate hopefuls pull no punches in TV clash; Brown presses Coakley on taxes, party rule" by Matt Viser and Eric Moskowitz, Globe Staff | December 23, 2009

The debate, which also included independent candidate Joseph L. Kennedy.... was held last night at WBZ-TV studios in Allston and streamed live on the station’s website. It will be broadcast on WBZ-TV Sunday at 8 a.m., and on TV38 Monday at 7 p.m.

I didn't watch, sorry.


Kennedy, who is an active Libertarian running as an independent, demonstrated last night why Brown has sought to minimize him and Coakley has wanted him involved in the debates: He used nearly every speaking opportunity to challenge Brown from the right....

Kennedy also opposes the the current health care legislation, saying, “We’re going to end up bankrupting the country.’’

I'm LIKING HIM EVEN MORE!
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Much of the focus, though, was on Brown and Coakley....

Brown offered a robust defense of President Obama’s plan to send 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan, chastising Coakley several times for not supporting the president of her own party. “Martha does not support her own president, her own party, and I find that disturbing.’’

After George W. Bush and that whole experience?

I find her attitude refreshing, even though I'm sure it is a s*** fooley from her.

I want someone who REPRESENTS the AMERICAN PEOPLE first and foremost!

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Like Joe!

In a debate last week, Kennedy said Brown was not a true fiscal conservative because he voted in favor of budget increases, and voted to increase spending on health care as part of the 2006 law.

“I appreciate the fact that he’s saying, ‘Oh, I want to cut spending,’ now that he’s running for office,’’ Kennedy said. “But I don’t understand what happened between, I think it was 2003 and 2006, when he was voting for spending increases.’’

I do. It's called being an AmeriKan politician! Lying is PART of the JOB!

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Brown points out he could be the 41st senator and block the DemocraP outrages.

That made me think he doesn't have a snowball's chance in hell.

AmeriKa's rigged elections are not going to remove Joe Lieberman from the gate-keeping function of the Senate and they are not going to risk the health tax loot giveaway, either.

Congratulations (?), Martha. You will be the next senator from the state of Massachusetts, and will be filling the shoes of a legend.

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What a waste of time.