Kerry fights off media probe of recent alleged infidelity, rivals predict ruin

Why? Ronald Reagan cheated on his first wife with his second wife to be, and everyone in that threesome slept around outside of marriage, as most adults do.

I hope that my leaders will be better than "most adults".

Besides that, I just see what happened to Clinton's effectiveness as a result of those various scandals, and want someone who the other party will not have the opportunity to attack on character issues. The time and credibility he had to spend on those issues diminished his ability to do so much.

 

To kinda echo Major's point, could you imagine how great the 1990s would've been had Bill Clinton had the mind of a Jimmy Carter or George H.W. Bush. Instead of self-righteous Republicans making Clinton's sex life and adultery more than the sideshow it should've been, it led to partisan divisiveness from both sides that has carried over into the current administration.

That being said, I don't think this will kill Kerry's chances at all if true, but the Democrats and the nation would benefit greatly if we didn't nominate and, hopefully, ultimately elect someone without these kinds of skeletons in their closet.

 

I would agree with your evaluation here wholeheartedly but I think it would be almost impossible to find a normal human being who runs for public office that was different from most adults in this regard especially since males with power->lots of opportunity for sex. Judging by the some of the posters tales in the hangout, none of us would be eligible for office with this criteria!

 

Lee Atwater and Gringrich and the RNC deciding that winning at any costs are at the roots of this partisan divisiveness, not Clinton's sex life. Lee Atwater's picture should be by the word in the dictionary.

 

I would agree with your evaluation here wholeheartedly but I think it would be almost impossible to find a normal human being who runs for public office that was different from most adults in this regard especially since males with power->lots of opportunity for sex. Judging by the some of the posters tales in the hangout, none of us would be eligible for office with this criteria!


That might be true, but 2 of our last 5 Presidents (Carter and Bush Sr) had that quality. People could gripe about policy with them, but the character stuff really stayed out of it. (I don't know enough about Reagan to comment there)

It would just be really nice to have someone like that again and get the country actually focused on policy issues rather than this personal hatred we have seen with both Bush Jr and Clinton.

 

Between the Clinton witch hunt and the way Jr won the election, how can the dems not be crazed with this election?

 

AMEN.

 

Good points.

But Carter is like the almost freaking perfect candidate - devoutly religious, very intelligent, happily married for a long time, veteran, and his works during before and after his Presidency illustrate the kind of character rare in any individual.
Bush senior had the happily married, war hero bits going for him, but the October surprise and the living in New England and claiming to be a Texan by *living* in a hotel crap lose him just as many points (abusing this for tax and running for office). His kids losing incredible amounts of taxpayer money in craptacular scandals takes the cake - none of these crooks is going to jail or pay for their crimes( except maybe alimony for Neil) cause of their father. This meme of personal responsibility stops at the bloodline.

 

I don't know... I'd like to know what issues Bush Senior was thinking of when he nominated Clarence Thomas. I'll never get over that. As much as I dislike Scalia and think he's being too cute going hunting with Dick Cheney when Cheney has a case before him (and yes, he should recuse himself), at least the guy is clearly intelligent. I just disagree with most of his positions. Thomas is a clown.

 

Great point Deckard, clown is actually the first word that comes to mind whenever I see Clarence Thomas' name.

Scalia is clearly extremely biased and intelligent which sort of cancel each other out.

We can't let GW pick the next couple of members of the SCOTUS, it's just scary thinking he's gonna nominate the Ashcroft or the Hatch prudes.

 

carter, to whom i'm distantly related, and for whom i voted in '76, will go down in history as the most ineffectual president of the last half of the 20th century. great character, while important, does not make a great president. my votes for best presidents post war:

Truman
Reagan
LBJ
Eisenhower
Nixon
JFK
Clinton
Bush Sr.
Ford
Carter

bnb- i've seen the ads, looked like a hatchet job on mcnamera. it's not?

too soon to tell about W...

 

Intestinal fortitude is having courage or having endured something tremendous right?

Abraham Lincoln is considered courageous and a great leader because he brought this country back from the brink of collapse leading the fight for what was right. Franklin Roosevelt could be considered a great, courageous leader because he used unpopular policies that ended up saving us from the brink of economic collpase, and helped the british fight the third reich before it was popular. Franklin Roosevelt also led the country during these times enduring one of the worst diseases this country has had. They arent considered courageous leaders because they sent people to die in wars.

Since you ARE comparing these men to gwb, did either of these men use privilege to get out of wars they probably would have had to face, even though they agreed with the war itself?

Courage is risking everything you have fighting for what you believe in, or what is right. Courage could even be fighting for something you have questions about, but know your job is to protect your country and the men under you. I'm not saying you have to be in the military to be courageous, the point I am trying to make is when has George Bush risked everything fighting for what he believed in? What hardships has George Bush faced (not drinking beer doesnt count).?

 

refresh my memory, which wars did Lincoln avoid? FDR? Bush flew fighter aircraft in a unit that could've been sent to Vietnam. it's not his fault it wasn't, and to suggest his service in the guard is somehow comparable to Clinton's evasion, or moving to canada, is an insult to all the men and women who've served and are serving in the guard now, in iraq and Afghanistan.

in any case, the point about intestinal fortitude has to do with his performance as CIC, not while he was in the guard.

 

Man, I don't know why you are so proud of the whole Clinton deal.

It's as if you are proud of having a scumbag represent you, your political party, your country.

And then it's as if you are proud of the fact that he's a scumbag didn't matter to lots of Americans.

There is something seriously messed up about that.

Frankly, I think Bush is a great president. I hope he wins again.

Liberals suck.

 

what the hell happened to my post?

admin: YOU COMPLETE MORON. DO NOT LEECH IMAGES OR BANDWIDTH OR YOU GET TUBGIRL (OR WORSE).

 

Heaven forbid we have justices who simply interpret according to the Constitution rather than write things into the law via fiat that the Founders did not intend!!!!!!! If anything, we can't have a Democrat picking any more left-wing judges or else our Constitution, already constantly under assault by both sides, will turn to tatters.

 

So, things start looking bad for Bush, he starts trailing badly in the polls, he's desperately chasing up freaking DENTAL RECORDS in order to justify that he wasn't AWOL during his service which he was only doing to avoid Vietnam anyway , the WMD charade has come crashing down...and 3rd grade level insults are the order of the day from the peanut gallery.

I guess that's all you have to go on if you've got Bush's record behind you.

 

Sure, whatever. That is the biggest bunch of bunk I've ever heard. Republicans are to blame for the "partisanship." Republicans are to blame for dirty water. Republicans would run over your dog with a fuel-guzzling Hummer if they could. Gimme a break. Politics is a dirty business and if you can't run with the big dogs, stay on the porch. It's funny that Clinton both coined the term "politics of personal destruction," decried it like the hypocrite he was and yet was the ultimate master at it, hiring private investigators, auditing enemies with the IRS, illegally viewing the FBI files of political opponents and other shennanigans of a nefarious nature. Politics is supposed to be partisan! If we all just got along, there would be no need for a politcal system, because what is politics? A fight for the basic allocation of resources and freedoms in society. If the "partisan divisiveness" bothers you so damned much, I suggest you heed the words of the late, great Dale Earnhardt:

 

Looks like you need a little history lesson there Basso boy.

Back in the Vietnam era, a Guardsmen was about as likely to be killed in Vietnam as he was to get struck by lightning:

http://slate.msn.com/id/2095256/

Keep trying. Just because youre ignoring me doesn't mean your posts still aren't wrong.

 

I don't think I'd say Bush is a great president, but for the rest of what you say, I'd agree. Not only was Clinton a scumbag, but he broke the law, weakened our defenses and added such fun words to our language as "bimbo eruption," and "define the meaning of is and alone." He was the most corrupt president of the 20th century and perhaps, ever.