A Troubled George Will

George Will smacks John McCain:

Under the pressure of the financial crisis, one presidential candidate is behaving like a flustered rookie playing in a league too high. It is not Barack Obama.

Channeling his inner Queen of Hearts, John McCain furiously, and apparently without even looking around at facts, said Chris Cox, chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, should be decapitated. This childish reflex provoked the Wall Street Journal to editorialize that "McCain untethered" -- disconnected from knowledge and principle -- had made a "false and deeply unfair" attack on Cox that was "unpresidential" and demonstrated that McCain "doesn't understand what's happening on Wall Street any better than Barack Obama does."

...In any case, McCain's smear -- that Cox "betrayed the public's trust" -- is a harbinger of a McCain presidency. For McCain, politics is always operatic, pitting people who agree with him against those who are "corrupt" or "betray the public's trust," two categories that seem to be exhaustive -- there are no other people. McCain's Manichaean worldview drove him to his signature legislative achievement, the McCain-Feingold law's restrictions on campaigning.

I worry that this does capture McCain's "with me or against me" outlook.  As to Presidential temperment, I do like to think of a candidates background.  Lawyers are inclined towards solutions involving more and better rules.  This mindset is exemplified by the NCAA's mountains of recruiting rules attempting to regulate the inevitable result when an athlete whose sport generates millions for the university can only be granted a scholarship worth thouands.

Economists think in terms of incentives and market mechanisms and failures.  George Bush was our first MBA President, so let's move on.

Military men aren't really trained to think in terms of incentives and markets.  In fact, I will hazard the guess that they spend much of their time in a world in which people follow orders or people die, and in which there really are good guys and evil-doers.  This is excellent training for something, and we have certainly had successful Presidents with a military background and we are a nation at war, but still - there is a lot about McCain that makes me edgy.

Comments

[clarice]

There's a lot about Will that makes me nauseous.

[JB]

"Call it an exit strategy." Will wanted to cut and run from Iraq. Maybe he knows about economics more than the military. Or maybe not.

['Stonewall' Jackson]

"there is a lot about McCain that makes me edgy."

I have noticed some Continental Drift......

There is the age problem which has been quite evident of late. The inability to think on his feet, confusion leading to gaffes...

But the military man, the decisive character of decision-making, the synthesis of complexity broken down to 'either-or' is but a fading memory. "Old soldiers never die...."

He's not up to the job.

[Luc]

While there may be a lot about McCain to make you edgy, there is a lot more about Obama to make me ANXIOUS. G. Will is a good example of someone who should have considered a quiet retirement long ago.

[TCO]

McCain wasn't a very good pilot either. He was personally brave in captivity and in the Forrestal fire. But he was not a good technical pilot. Nor ever a CAG or similar level executive responsibility. And I think he would have been a pathetic staff officer in terms of analysis.

[Rick Ballard]

"Military men aren't really trained to think in terms of incentives and markets. In fact, I will hazard the guess that they spend much of their time in a world in which people follow orders or people die, and in which there really are good guys and evil-doers."

I think I'll bookmark that as the dumbest thing I've read in a post here. Survival as an incentive is just slightly more "real" to a military man than it is to a "brilliant" economist devising yet another scheme for his counting house master.

I would never argue that McCain is a "good" choice, he's is merely the better of two very bad offerings. It isn't the military background which makes him a jerk. He'd be just as much of one if he were an Ivy League trained shop boy.

[TCO]

Palin for President. Down with bailouts.

What would you RINOs do if you had to pick between a staunch anti-bailout candidate with an R, or Obama. I'm not even worried about it. You'd vote for the R. But that's what makes it so funny when you Harriet Meiers lovers, justify Bush or McCain. Or justify lying by Rove or Libby.

You just show that you lack principle.

[Thomas Collins]

TM, McCain had to play some sort of populist card in this crisis. It might be unfair to Cox, but, as I believe JFK said, life is unfair.

McCain has excellent judgment. Think about his support for the surge and his efforts to improve relations with the North Vietnamese, who tortured him. Yes, McCain on occasion responds in a gruff, colorful manner. I hope that the therapy state mentality has not so insinuated itself in all of us (liberals, conservatives, anarchists, moderates, socialists, whatever) to the extent that old style gruffness is now rejected.

I think it is terrific that neither McCain nor Palin exhibit the "acceptable conservative style" of the George Will school. And I expect and am hoping that the clingers in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida are thinking the same way.

[JB]

Not allowing a Marxist in the WH is a matter of principle.

[PeterUK]

"McCain wasn't a very good pilot either. He was personally brave in captivity and in the Forrestal fire. But he was not a good technical pilot."

Whereas Obama isn't any kind of a pilot.

[TCO]

Rally the mujahedeen. Being against bailouts is the right thing economically/maorally and EVEN politically.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080923/ap_on_bi_ge/financial_meltdown

Say NO TO SOCIALISM FOR GOLDMAN SACHS.

[PeterUK]

"Not allowing a Marxist in the WH is a matter of principle."

Not allowing a Marxist in the WH is a matter of sanity.

[M. Simon]

Obama's "I sought out Marxist professors" is good for something else.

[Ranger]

Will is simply expressing his elitist sense of entitlement here. He is comfortable with Obama because Obama responds in the way that a educated member of the elite does. The problem is that if history is our guide, that type of academic method makes for poor presidents. Wilson was an academic, and he gave us a century of war with his academicly theoretical call for "national selfdetermination" as the foundation of all legitimate government and international order.

[bunky]

Will is at heart an elitist. The Saturday Night Live takedown on his baseball book in 1990 was priceless. He does not get Palin, how important she is, or why she connects with so many because his head does not work that way.

[Tomf]

"He's (McCain) not up to the job."

If the "job" is still to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, he most certainly is up it.

As far as firing Cox. Go to it John. Fire as many people as you want! After saving for a lifetime I'm not in the mood to having some dumb shits in Washington DC allow my investments to get flushed down the toilet.

[Tomf]

up to it.

[Semanticleo]

Would y'all vote for a Cocker Spaniel before you'd vote Democratic?It would 'splain a lot.

[M. Simon]

Palin will not be President if Zero wins the election.

Evidently some of our commenters her don't know how to think tactically. i.e. take losses in one area to win the war.

[Ranger]

Being against bailouts is the right thing economically/maorally and EVEN politically.

Posted by: TCO | September 23, 2008 at 10:52 AM

You are starting to sound like the British leadership that blocked food aid to Irland during the potato famin because they were convinced forcing the Irish to live as beggers would be a moral hazard. They believed they were saving the Irish by letting them starve.

I fail to see how it is either economically or maorally "right" to simply sit back and watch while 15 to 30 trillion dollars in wealth is destroyed. The collatoral damage from a collapse of the liquidity market would destroy a lot of small companies across America that never did anything wrong. But that seems preferable to you.

But I guess in your 'kill'em all and let God sort is out' kind of morality, it might make sense.

[PeterUK]

It is really hysterical,
SAY NO TO SOCIALISM,VOTE FOR THE SOCIALIST.

[kim]

There is a lot about Obama and his crew that make me edge toward McCain and his crew.
=======================================

[Chris]

Thomas Collins,
You're interpretation of the McCain-Cox comment at least allows for the possibility that McCain wasn't flat out blowing it. I hope you are correct because I certainly had the opposite reaction initially.

The theme that needs to be hammered is the Fannie and Freddie were beyond the scope of the SEC and regulation. McCain was on the right side of the issue at least as far back as 2005 and probably long before that.

TCO,
What sort of jet do you fly, just out of curiosity? Because you certainly speak with loads of authority.

[JB]

"Would y'all vote for a Cocker Spaniel before you'd vote Democratic?It would 'splain a lot."

If that Cocker Spaniel was strong on national security, pro-growth and pro-drilling, hell yes!

[Transformer]

"take losses in one area to win the war."

I pray Palin continues to 'help' McCain

[Lea]

Sadly, we've only got two choices. I think McCain is the better one because I think it's possible he will listen to the people I would want him to listen to on the economy. Now, maybe he doesn't know much himself. I think it's clear that Obama doesn't either. McCain does know graft and he has a will to go after it, and that was at least part of the problem, with Fannie and Freddie. And McCain has shown that he can change his mind, when the fact change. And he was precient on some aspects of the calamity, which is more then Obama was.

So, is he perfect? No, of course not. I think most Republicans know this. Is he going to be better than Obama, if he gets a chance? I think so. I hope so.

We'll see who wins. Whatever happens, happens.

[PeterUK]

"Would y'all vote for a Cocker Spaniel before you'd vote Democratic?It would 'splain a lot."

Cocker Spaniels are more loyal than Democrats.

[M. Simon]

Palin skips fundraisers to rally the troops

[JB]

I think people like Will confuse political style and substance.

McCain talks like a populist, even occasionally a liberal, but he's clearly not interested in advancing the cause of liberalism in aggregate. I think if Republicans stop getting spooked by his style, his presidency could turn out OK.

[Sue]

Edgy? I get downright nauseous thinking of an Obama presidency. I'll be voting for McCain come hell or high water. He can sit there and drool on his bib and I'll be voting for McCain. That is how scary I think Obama is.

[TCO]

Chris:

Don't over-rate my expertise.

[Sue]

"Would y'all vote for a Cocker Spaniel before you'd vote Democratic?It would 'splain a lot."

I should have finished reading. I'd vote for a cocker spaniel before I would vote for Obama.

[TCO]

Ranger:

If McCain had my "no bailouts" stance, would you vote for the Irish famine saving Obama?

[M. Simon]

A little history:

A liquidity crisis got FDR elected.

[Caro]

It is so hard for me to understand these complex financial rats nests. This is my favorite solution so far.

Before George Delano Bush unveils yet another vast, socialist scheme in response to today’s financial turmoil, his administration should try something as simple as ABC.

After FM/FM the same process could be turned on the assets from the other bailed out institutions.

[Rick Ballard]

Chris,

Wrt Cox, this piece lays out his plea for "immediate action" on the little problem with CDS that Buffet noted with a loud shout two years ago. That lack of action in the face of a very well known problem is reason enough, by itself, for McCain to ask for his head. I believe that Thomas Collins has made a correct assessment.

[M. Simon]

Don't over-rate my expertise.

I do not believe that is a common fault around here.

[MarkO]

WOW.

Lawyers are inclined towards solutions involving more and better rules. This mindset is exemplified by the NCAA . . ..

Economists think in terms of incentives and market mechanisms and failures.

Military men aren't really trained to think in terms of incentives and markets.

What is going on here?

[TCO]

Cox is not even the right person in the mix. Bernanke and Paulson are the criminals. And they continue to loot. McCain has no understanding of the economics, has no principled Republican stance, and has flopped around in public. Put the old geezer out to pasture.

Palin-Paul for President.

[Charlie (Colorado)]

McCain wasn't a very good pilot either.

Dude, he made carrier landings. Lots of them.

He's a good pilot.

[Charlie (Colorado)]

Would y'all vote for a Cocker Spaniel before you'd vote Democratic?

Why? You planning on running?

[ajacksonian]

Definitely not going to vote for Obama... or more correctly, vote against him if there is no other choice.

The armed forces do have actual real-live executive experience opportunities for higher command. Part of that is the 'ticket punching' of those in the senior ranks to have been put in charge of civilian agencies in DoD. That means getting to know how civilian government budgets work, their differences, budget restrictions and so one, along with having to command a civilian agency. Those are 2-5 year stints, by and large, which allows an individual coming up for promotion to show that they have served their time to understand civilian side operations. For some it is also a 'last stop before retirement' and getting a final raise to up your last high grouping of pay to determine retirement pay.

A bit lower down, although it turned out to be a vital skill in Iraq, was that of Base Commander. Some of the Base Commanders who have been in Iraq helped to reorganize towns and cities to get them working as that is what a military base is: a large town or small city.

Out of the four on the tickets, only one person has that experience and that is the one who does *not* have Sen. as a prefix. Having run a town and been Governor, Sarah Palin has that experience, which puts her at the top of the list for executive experience. That and the foreign interests office in the Alaska government that allows her to work with foreign countries on trade relations puts her ahead of the other three.

She has top preference after voting to defeat Obama... even if that means some head scratching by local election committees.

[Exit Strategy]

"What is going on here?"

Some have decided (Will, Krauthammer et al?)
it will be a mistake to take the WH in '08.

Too FUBAR..............................

[Charlie (Colorado)]

If McCain had my "no bailouts" stance, would you vote for the Irish famine saving Obama?

Or at least not vote.

TCO, I know it hurts, but at least try to think.

Bailout: many annoyances, lots of downside risk.

No bailout: world wide depression. Generalized hunger in the US. Very possibly an actual fascist dictatorship (we missed that after the Great Depression only by luck.)

[James D]

"Edgy? I get downright nauseous thinking of an Obama presidency. I'll be voting for McCain come hell or high water. He can sit there and drool on his bib and I'll be voting for McCain. That is how scary I think Obama is."

I'll second that. And the people who support Obama make me just as nauseous. I'd vote for the cocker spaniel just so the Kossaks and the Olbermanns and the Dowds et al lose, too.

[Red Dog]

"Sarah Palin has that experience, which puts her at the top of the list for executive experience."

Der's yer constituency McCain; 'hold yer nose, look at Palin, vote McCain.

[M. Simon]

In the past couple of weeks, as the financial crisis has intensified, a new talking point has emerged from the Democrats in Congress: This is all a "crisis of capitalism," in socialist financier George Soros' phrase, and a failure to regulate our markets sufficiently.

Well, those critics may be right — it is a crisis of capitalism. A crisis of politically driven crony capitalism, to be precise.

Indeed, Democrats have so effectively mastered crony capitalism as a governing strategy that they've convinced many in the media and the public that they had nothing whatsoever to do with our current financial woes.

'Crony' Capitalism Is Root Cause Of Fannie And Freddie Troubles

[MayBee]

"Would y'all vote for a Cocker Spaniel before you'd vote Democratic?It would 'splain a lot."

I refuse to vote for anyone from a party that can't decide when it's proper to add an -ic, and pretends it's an offense when it isn't done to their liking.

Actually, I've voted for plenty of Democrats before. I think Obama is too inexperienced and has done little to show me what is inside of him.
Did you know he has, on his large staff of economic advisors, Paul O'Neill?

[M. Simon]

aj,

Nice to see you around these parts.

[M. Simon]

Jeeze. I had no idea Ron Paul was on the ticket. Quite a surrender monkey that Ron Paul.

I guess that is ***'s attitude: better surrender than take any losses.

I have serious doubts that *** was ever in the Navy or was reactor qualified. I think he was a washout.

[glasater]

During the "good ole days" of the Soviet Union--a quarter of a million burearocrats lived very at the expense of the rest of the population. Do you really want to go to that sort of lifestyle here in the US?

That is what would happen if Zero got in office. They would pick the winners and losers. Cronyism to the hundredth power.

[glasater]

****lived VERY well****

[TCO]

I'll take Milton Freidman over Ben Bernanke in a second. There are a lot of loose concepts getting thrown around: (1) that without a bailout, there would be a depression, (2) that a bailout can prevent a depression that would occur from fundamentals. These things are being thrown out without solid fundamental justification. And being thrown out by people who HAVE ALREADY misjudged the situation.

I say time-out. It's not the first double that kills you in bridge...it's the rescues.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080923/ap_on_bi_ge/financial_meltdown

[Michael]

On an early visit of Black Jack Pershing to his forces in Europe, he was told there were "problems." 'Everybody has problems,' he said. Capt. Marshall told him, 'Sir but we have problems that need to be taken care of today.' Those observing thought he would be sent to the front forthwith, the end of hearing from that Capt. I don't know the intervening story but George C. Marshall still had a career ahead of him. A general expects his officers to acquaint him with problems. One of the issues here clearly has been the new 'mark to market' rule. Cox should have been seeking to have that rule changed in light of the enormous implications in the thin CDO market. This has greatly increased the instability of the investment banks. It certainly has taken them out of the market for mortgage assets. McCain may have felt like the Queen of Hearts and was mad that someone he considered one of his officers did not acquaint him with problems and solutions.

[Charlie (Colorado)]

These things are being thrown out without solid fundamental justification.

No, actually, they're not. You just seem to lack the ability to evaluate them, and the humility to understand that and learn.

[PeterUK]

All the Troll Community Organiser has got is the assertion her/she/it/they are right. Very short on specifics is the Troll Community Organiser.

[PrestoPundit]

What does an MBA degree have to do with economics?

Nothing.

[SukieTawdry]

McCain makes me edgy, too. Obama scares me half to death. On balance, I'll take edgy.

[PaulL]

****

Palin-Paul for President.

Posted by: TCO | September 23, 2008 at 11:32 AM

****

Okay by me, but I haven't been vetted. I also have quite a few skeletons in my closet, figuratively speaking, but nothing remotely as bad as Obama's past.

[M. Simon]

It seems that quite a few Democrats are against the bail out. *** is in very good company.

Remember: a liquidity crisis got us FDR.

[Daddy]

Interesting to me to find out "that McCain wasn't a very good pilot."

I think we can generally agree, at least in the arena of public perception, that Chuck Yaegar is the current pinnacle of Military Pilots. He was shot down on his 8th combat mission. McCain was shot down on about his 22nd combat mission. Yeah, McCain, not much of a pilot. That you Obama?

[Cecil Turner]

Channeling his inner Queen of Hearts, John McCain furiously, and apparently without even looking around at facts, said Chris Cox, chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, should be decapitated.

Good grief, George, get the vapors much? I don't claim to be an expert, but obviously the regulatory scheme broke down somewhere, and SEC appears to be the repsonsible agency. As an (ex) military guy, I'd look to the guy in charge and contemplate firing his a$$. If that's obviously wrong, perhaps Mr Will could put down Carroll long enough to explain it. Cutting his head off seems a bit extreme, but I suspect that ain't what the (other) ol' guy said.

As to the merits, Cox caught grief over false assurances:

Senator Richard Shelby, an Alabama Republican, criticized the SEC at today's hearing for giving assurances over the past several months that its oversight of the five-biggest U.S. investment banks was adequate.

But digging back through the news, that doesn't appear to be all he said:

``Legislative improvements are necessary'' Cox said. ``The Commission should be given a statutory mandate to perform this function at the holding company level, along with the authority to require compliance.''

Not sure that gets him off the hook entirely (and there's other stuff, like the uptick rule change), but he shares some of the blame with Congress (not even factoring in the CRA or stalled reform bill). Oughta make fun hearings.

[sbw]

No. A liquidity crisis got us 1930, 1931, and then 1932.

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

McCain wasn't a very good pilot either. He was personally brave in captivity and in the Forrestal fire. But he was not a good technical pilot. Nor ever a CAG or similar level executive responsibility. And I think he would have been a pathetic staff officer in terms of analysis.

Yes the Navy is always in the habit of taking their "not a good technical pilot" and putting them in charge of training pilots. Are you nuts?

...in 1976 he [McCain] became commanding officer of a training squadron stationed in Florida. He improved the unit's flight readiness and safety records, and won the squadron its first-ever Meritorious Unit Commendation.

[srp]

McCain is scapegoating Cox. That doesn't mean I like Obama, but McCain is making an ass of himself. Blaming SEC for this stuff is like blaming the Navy because the Army screwed up. Cox is way, way better informed about securities markets than McCain and has been a surprisingly savvy chairman of his agency.

McCain has some virtues, but coolness under political pressure, respect for productive people, and understanding of economics are not among them. The frightening thing is that he still looks like the better choice this year. But not by as much as I would have hoped.

[Sue]

Are you nuts?

Rhetorical, right?

[Sara (Pal2Pal)]

McCain wasn't a very good pilot either. He was personally brave in captivity and in the Forrestal fire. But he was not a good technical pilot. Nor ever a CAG or similar level executive responsibility. And I think he would have been a pathetic staff officer in terms of analysis.

And these "not a good technical pilot" are always awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross

Before you make any more dumb statements about something you know nothing about, perhaps you should look at McCain's service record and read through the citations.

[PeterUK]

"Before you make any more dumb statements about something you know nothing about"

It's what Troll Community Organisers do.

[JM Hanes]

In my experience with retired military in civilian positions, they're more likely to take unvarnished looks at circumstances and options, and less likely to base decisions on abstract, black and white visions of the world -- because people's lives do, indeed, depend on the reliability of their assessments.

If there's a typical weakness, it's that they have grown accustomed to a command chain (which relies on discipline and loyalty) and find it difficult to transition to roles in which persuasion is necessary to get things done. Business executives quickly develop a similar, increasingly authoritarian approach as they ascend the corporate ladder.

Frankly, I think George Will, himself, has become increasingly less useful as he allows his own purism full, and I dare say elitist, self-indulgently authoritative reign in rather parallel fashion. Folks lives don't depend on the clarity of his vision, of course, so there are few, if any, consequences attached to playing the black & white contrarian.

I've certainly never been a big fan of McCain, but I believe the demand -- more from press than public -- for instant, on camera, reaction to events in the very process of unfolding puts candidates at a substantive disadvantage that simply does not apply to a sitting President. I don't doubt for a second that almost any President's first reaction might be "Fire the son of a bitch at the SEC!" We just wouldn't hear him say it.

The President has got an army of experts on call 24/7, and an army of personnel on hand whose sole purpose is to digest and condense information for his consumption. Even those with volcanic tempers generally take their message public after consultation -- whether in the White House, or the forward cabin on Air Force one -- and they're equipped with a Press Secretary to hold down the fort till that happens.

[clarice]

Wormhole into supercool troll hq:
Troll 1:Okay so McCain has a fab record as a pilot and war hero how do we twist that to our advantage?
Troll 2:I've got it, pilots need quick reaction time. Let's go post around the web that he's TOO fast..TOO quick on the draw.
Troll 1:Yeah..and um that um means um that um our super slow on the draw candidate um, will um just um, l0ook even more,um cool,,,and ,,thoughtful.

[Cecil Turner]

It's what Troll Community Organisers do.

Actually, I think it's "The Chosen One" . . . but that's a distinction without a difference.

[rhodeymark]

"Cox is way, way better informed about securities markets than McCain and has been a surprisingly savvy chairman of his agency."

"Legislative improvements are necessary'' Cox said. ``The Commission should be given a statutory mandate to perform this function at the holding company level, along with the authority to require compliance."

That ain't exactly ringing the fire bell, if you know what I mean. It seems that many approach this as an exercise, instead of the bread and butter quality of life issue it is. Hurt feelings are not really going to resonate, when people are wondering why nobody was hollering bloody murder. Would I like a little more "root cause" partisanship? To be sure, but first McCain has an election to win, and a Washington neophyte to train in the deadly arts.

[Joan]

Peter UK, you've given me the best laugh I've had in several days! (Cocker Spaniels are more loyal than Democrats.)

Thanks.

[Ari Tai]

I like the curmudgeon he’s become, but in this case Mr. Will is a bit over the top. All of these people can be replaced. And it sends a message. Even hanging a near innocent accomplice for a heinous crime in a time of lawlessness is a great social good. Better to act, even in anger, than sit on your hands and miss the opportunity to put everyone involved on notice that the man-in-charge is unhappy and demanding change.

Sadly he can’t fire his brother senators. Too bad. Maybe we should grant the federal executive a certain number of "blackballs" that he or she can use to unseat or demand immediate special elections for any official they deem incompetent. Including intruding into the states and firing governors and mayors.

[Barry Dauphin]

TM, you didn't like Ike? Let's be careful categorizing folks simply upon previous occupation.

Will has been apoplectic about McCain since McCain-Feingold. I agree that was a terrible piece of legislation and that McCain got too hoidy toidy about campaign finance. It just shows that McCain needs to take a deep breath about any economic issues. McCain rightly sniffs out corruption in some places, but he has had the wrong remedy for it. I don't like what McCain has said so far about the banking crisis, but the Obama folks are not good on this at all. McCain wanted to do something about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac a few years ago, although nothing was going to happen with those Democratic playthings. Perhaps not getting support for those reforms will help McCain see that Dems are no friends in the reform business.

I sure think McCain is right about Putin and would rather have McCain in there than Obama Allright Holbrooke.

[TCO]

More and more Republicans getting on board with being anti-bailout:

http://michellemalkin.com/2008/09/23/kill-the-bailout-newt-gingrich-gets-on-board/

[Barbula]

It would be helpful of McCain would, or could, actually point out what regulations Cox was neglecting to enforce - otherwise one tends to agree with Will that McCain's intemperate smear of Cox("betrayed the public's trust") was motivated by personal animus and/or a fundamental misunderstanding of the problem.

[Barry Dauphin]

McCain makes a lot of people "edgy". It's what he does. He gets under people's skin. He pops off in this way a times. Of course, he's been in public life a long time. It doesn't seem to get worse than this, and he does a lot of things well.

[TCO]

He's a loser. The Republican base has no use for him. And neither do the liberals. He should give it up. He's been coasting off of his dad and granddad's USN names all his life.

[kim]

That's right, been a loser all his life. I should be so lucky as to be such a loser. Hey, wait a minute. er, JustOneMinute.
=======================

[TCO]

I like you, Kimmie.

[kim]

Oh, No, another Marred Couple. Go find out what Bill Livingston measured about the magnetism of the Cycle 24 spot and report back whether sunspots will end in 2015 or not.
=========================================

[TCO]

Sunspot sillines not for me. Jae needs to be physically agitated until he stops stpid ferrous cranus behavior.

[Bel Aire]

Firing Cox is a shot across the bow of the DC elite. If one of us can get canned than I could get canned.

Yeah, McCain's an elbows up kind of guy. But who, trolls exempted, prefers a party guy over someone hitting everyone in the chops, including you, sometimes? Even if just for the entertainment value..........

[TCO]

McCain is an idiot to want to fire Cox, when Bush/Paulson/Bernanke are the criminals. McCain was flopping and twitching and changing up. He looked like a moron. I still don't think he has figured out a policy. And certainly not a clear principled, distinctive policy that will resonate, that will be the way the Palin pick was. The way the drilling issue was. And no...talking about Dodd from 2004 is NOT sufficient. Leaders, lead now.

[Michael J. Myers]

McCain was "technically not a good pilot". Or so some genius above claimed. You don't live very long if you are "technically not a good pilot" when you have to bring a jet fighter/light attack bomber (the Douglas A-4 that McCain flew off Viet Nam) back on the boat at the end of each flight. I'll take the fact that McCain was qualified to go on a West Pac cruise in wartime with his squadron as sufficient proof that he was technically "good enough".

But while we're on the issue, I'd say that Barack Obama is technically not a very good lawyer. The President of the Harvard Law Review almost always goes on to a clerkship with a U.S. Supreme Court Justice and then to a big time law career at a major law firm. It's a given that someone in that position will also be offered clerkships on one of the Circuit Courts of Appeal and he or she may choose to clerk for a year on one of the Circuit Courts of Appeal before going on to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Obama has never even claimed that he was offered a Circuit Court or a Supreme Court clerkship and turned it down. I think the truth is that folks knew he wasn't much shakes as a lawyer/legal scholar. He winds up as a very much part time associate at a small radical law firm in Chicago--casts around and joins up with the Reverend Wright's black church to get some "street cred" and heads off into politics.

So we've got a carrier pilot who supposedly wasn't technically very good--but who made a whole buncha carrier landings--and a President of the Harvard Law Review who couldn't even land a clerkship on a Circuit Court of Appeal.

If technical competence at one's chosen profession is the standard--McCain wins hands down.

[TCO]

Being a tailhooker is a stunning acheivement, Mike. I agree with that.

I was kind of talking out of my ass. I hope no one took that as fact-based. It's more like a Bayesian hunch. I'm basing that on McCain's several planes lost. His limited career. I don't really know ho good he was. But unlucky pilots are bad pilots. The USN has always had this attitude about pilots and about COs.

And also basing it on a pilot that I knew who did three tours in VN. Who was a CAG and flew every aircraft in the squadron. (A1D, F4, A4, A6, blablabla) Who told his squadron commanders, that they should not feel like they needed to fly every mission, while himself flying all the Group missions. Who got a Navy Cross for the first raid on Haiphong Harbor (and evaded two SAMs during the engagement).