Yeah, actually. I actually kind of like what he said rhetorically. It's just the way that he presented it was unbecoming.
Wes and I are on opposite ends of the spectrum on this debate. My favorite parts were the Pakistan "pull the trigger" comment and the "I've got a bracelet too, John." If Obama wins it'll be just as famous as 'There you go again."
Racism is a legitimate topic. There are still enough racist bastards out there that could care less about the politics, but will vote against Obama because he is not white, that's a fact. On a side note....Are you a Bush supporter?
Not sure about that, but he is the best person for removing them from a time of war or keeping them out of one. Would you rather have someone who is more likely to prevent a war or get us involved in one?
"The pencil-necked egghead just lacks the presence and knowledge to lead Washington." I read this comment of yours to my 14 year-old son, TJ, as a standalone the other day, without him knowing who said it, because they are studying persuasive techniques and argument fallacies in English. His comment: "Even if that person doesn't like Obama, why would he call him 'pencil-necked'? That sounds like an unfair, well, uh, a dumb thing to say." Well, I don't know if I agree with my son. To me, it seems to be just the sort of comment someone would make whose brain operates on that higher level. (cue the sound of air escaping from the soon-to-be flat tire)
I think Obama's reply to McCain saying the lives lost in Iraq is even more reason we can't quit was great. Obama replied that in a winning or losing war the lives lost are always important because its about American citizens fighting for a believed better cause. To use the excuse of continuing the war because of dead soldiers is asinine. Do any of you look down upon the lives lost in Vietnam because we lost? Is there any less importance or value for the sacrifices they made over the deceased in Iraq? Seriously I'd like to know.
http://www.nypost.com/php/pfriendly...lumnists/the_tale_of_two_bracelets_130928.htm [rquoter]THE TALE OF TWO BRACELETS By CHARLES HURT September 27, 2008 -- OXFORD, MISS. Barack Obama made one thing crystal clear in last night's debate: He simply doesn't care if we win or lose the war in Iraq. "Nobody's talking about defeat in Iraq," Obama said - trying desperately to make John McCain stop talking about the single most important decision of Obama's very short career in the US Senate. That was whether, during the most hopeless days of the war in Iraq, we should send in added troops to turn the tide of American bloodshed and stamp out the rise of terror in a country we had long before decided to invade. Choosing certain defeat, Obama said no to the surge. It wasn't his war. Why should he sacrifice some of his political capital just to avoid an American military defeat? All the blood sacrificed by our soldiers wasn't on his hands. For Obama, the war going badly had been a great political boon. His early opposition to it had gotten him noticed. And his unwavering opposition is why he beat Hillary Clinton in the primary. John McCain, who knows something about military defeat, made a different decision. It was an unpopular one - and it came during the darkest days of his campaign. Still, McCain lashed himself to the sinking ship that was the war in Iraq and voted for the surge. He'd rather win a war and lose and election than lose a war, McCain said more times than we can remember. Today, of course, Iraq is a much different place. It is far more peaceful than even the biggest war proponents dare imagine just a year ago. And Obama, after months of hemming and hawing, finally acknowledged the unavoidable: that the surge succeeded beyond his wildest imagination. Yet, amazingly, he also says he still wouldn't have supported the surge. One of last night's most telling moments came when McCain revealed a wristband that had belonged to a soldier killed in Iraq given to him by the soldier's mother. Do everything in your power, the mother told McCain, to make sure "my son's death was not in vain." "I've got a bracelet, too," Obama said - given to him by the mother of a dead soldier who asked Obama to "make sure that another mother's not going through what I'm going through." Here lies the difference between these two men: Obama will accept defeat if continuing on hurts too much. For McCain, any mission where defeat is an option is a mission not worth fighting in the first place. [/rquoter]
What a stupid article. As Obama said in the debate, nobody is talking about losing in Iraq. If you think handing Iraq over to a sovereign govt. comprised of Iraqis is losing then you might want to stop commenting about the war. Plus we've been hearing from you since the war began about how GREAT everything is in Iraq. basso, you must have missed my question. It's an easy yes or no question. It also goes directly to what both candidates said about the bracelets during the debate. So I'll ask you again. Do you believe that some soldiers fighting under the orders of their commander in chief do die in vain?
I don't think anyone who's ever voted for the service-avoiding Bush and Cheney can talk about what Obama is fit to do. We will have a national election to determine who is fit to be commander in chief. The fact that one side would focus exclusively on this bracelet issue just sadly underlines the avoidance of substance. There was plenty of substance in this debate to discuss.
Seems that the person who gave Obama the bracelet was "ecstatic" that he mentioned it to make people see that there are other points of view... http://www.nbc15.com/state/headlines/29864149.html MILWAUKEE (AP) -- The mother of a Wisconsin soldier who died in Iraq says she was "ecstatic" during Friday's debate when Senator Barack Obama mentioned the bracelet she gave him in honor of her son. Tracy Jopek of Merrill told The Associated Press on Sunday she was honored that he remembered Sgt. Ryan David Jopek, who was killed in 2006 by a roadside bomb. She criticized Internet reports that suggested Obama exploited her son for political purposes. She acknowledges e-mailing the campaign in February asking that Obama not mention her son in speeches or debates. But she says Obama's mention on Friday was appropriate because he was responding after Senator John McCain said a soldier's mother gave him a bracelet. Jopek says Obama's comment rightfully suggested there's more than one viewpoint on the war.
http://www.startribune.com/29863889.html?page=2&c=y In an interview with Glen Moberg, National Guard Staff Sgt. Brian Jopek said his ex-wife asked Obama not to wear the bracelet at any further public appearances. But Obama was still apparently wearing it, he said. "So, that's his own choice. I mean that's something Barack Obama, that's a choice that he continues to wear it despite Tracy asking him not to," he told Moberg. Tracy Jopek said she didn't hear the interview but that her ex-husband, who is currently stationed in Cuba, mischaracterized her viewpoint. An e-mail message sent to Brian Jopek through his daughter on Sunday was not immediately returned. "I think he knew my intention, he understands it was a gesture between me and Sen. Obama," she said. "It was just little piece of peace for us. I don't understand how people can take that and turn it into some garbage on the Internet." She wouldn't directly say whether she wanted Obama to refrain from mentioning the bracelet again, but she hopes the whole issue will just go away. "I think these bracelets should be looked upon as an honor that both candidates wear them to respect the troops," she said. "My request to both of them is that they honor the troops by lifting the conversation to the issues, and that they continue to live up to the standards our military deserves."
