Right wing-nuts who would be president

[Goober McTuber]

(CNN) -- Sen. John McCain said Monday he was "disappointed" that some candidates vying for the GOP presidential nomination vocally support waterboarding as a technique for interrogating suspected terrorists.

"Ask any military lawyer, ask any person who knows about the Geneva conventions that we're signatories to. We actually prosecuted Japanese war criminals specifically for the act of waterboarding against Americans," McCain said on CNN's "John King, USA."

The Arizona lawmaker was reacting specifically to comments made by Texas Gov. Rick Perry, former pizza executive Herman Cain, and Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachman at Saturday's GOP presidential debate.

McCain said Monday that waterboarding was not only illegal, but ineffective.

"If you put enough physical pain on somebody, they will tell you whatever they think that you want to hear in order for the pain to stop," McCain said.

McCain said the person elected president needed to display leadership to ensure Americans know international law prohibits torture.

"It's a matter of the president telling the American people about the Geneva Conventions," McCain said. "And why we didn't torture prisoners in World War II. That was because they had Americans as prisoners. And why we prosecuted people for the very same act of waterboarding after World War II was over."

McCain took a strong stance against waterboarding when he was running for president in 2008. A former naval aviator, McCain was shot down by the North Vietnamese in 1967, and endured years of imprisonment and torture as a POW.

At the debate Saturday night, hosted by CBS News and the National Journal, three candidates came out in support of waterboarding.

Perry defended the practice, saying: "This is war. That's what happens in war."

Cain said of waterboarding, ""I don't see that as torture. I see it as an enhanced interrogation technique."

Bachmann called the tactic "very effective" and said Obama "is allowing the ACLU to run the CIA."

Speaking to CNN's Wolf Blitzer Monday, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santroum said he did support waterboarding, citing its role in locating terrorists.

"This is something we should not use cavalierly by any stretch of the imagination, but if absolutely necessary, for the security of our country, we have to have methods available to extract from people who are not protected by the Geneva Convention," Santorum said on "The Situation Room."

Other candidates, including former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney do not support the tactic.

Only obey good laws, right?

[Shlomart Ben Yisrael]

Obama = 2 terms

[Goober McTuber]

Obama = 2 terms

Unfortunately, you're probably right.

[Shlomart Ben Yisrael]

Obama = 2 terms

Unfortunately, you're probably right.

At least Obama can carry out GOP policy without seeming like a dick about it.

You can drone strike/bail out Wall St./waterboard without being an ass. That's "Obama Magic".

[smackaholic]

If I was king, my policy regarding CIA interogation techniques would be "sorry, I can't divulge that info, other than to say, you really, really, really don't want to be the dude on the receiving end of such techniques".

[Moving Sale]

If I was king, my policy regarding CIA interogation techniques would be "sorry, I can't divulge that info, other than to say, you really, really, really don't want to be the dude on the receiving end of such techniques".

That is because you are a stupid, myopic POS.

[Goober McTuber]

More brilliance from our would-be Harrasser-in-Chief:

(CNN) - Former Godfather's Pizza CEO Herman Cain took a moment Monday to clarify his position on Libya: He needs more information.

After an uncomfortable eight-second pause to collect his thoughts, the GOP contender explained that he would need to know more before he could unequivocally agree or disagree with President Barack Obama's actions in the conflicted country.

Cain was meeting with the editorial board of the Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal Sentinel when Libya came up.

"Okay, Libya," he responded when asked whether he agreed with President Obama's actions in the region. Eight seconds later, after looking up, biting his lip and blinking repeatedly, Cain asked, "President Obama supported the uprising, correct?"

"I just want to make sure we're talking about the same thing before I say 'Yes, I agree' or 'No, I do not agree."

But just as Cain, a former conservative talk radio host, started to respond to the question, he then changed his mind.

"I do not agree with the way he handled it for the following reasons - um, no, that's a different one," he said, before uncrossing and crossing his legs, shifting position in his seat, and adjusting his jacket.

"Let's see, I've got to go back, see," he continues. "(I've) got all this stuff twirling around in my head."

"Are you asking me did I agree or not agree with Obama?"

Cain finally settled on a response after hearing the question rephrased a second time.

"It's not a simple yes/no because there are different pieces and I would've gone about assessing the situation differently, which might have caused us to end up at the same place, but I think more could've been done was, what's the nature of the opposition?"

He explained that he would have gotten more information on determining who the opposition was, but said, "I'm sure that our intelligence people had some of that information." Although he declined to criticize the president, Cain said he didn't think enough was done.

And before he was challenged on the clarity of his response, Cain asserted, "I'm not trying to hedge on the questions, it's just that's my nature as a businessman, I need to know all of the facts, I would need to know all of the alternatives."

"It's not a clear yes/no," he said again. "Because of all those things I think that should have been assessed… I don't know that they were or were not assessed."

"I didn't see reports of that assessment."

Campaign spokesman J.D. Gordon described the video of Cain's awkward moment as "out of context in some measure."

"He just had to think about it," Gordon said, because the candidate "had been getting a lot of briefings on the subtleties of the Arab Spring."

Gordon pointed out that Cain had been fielding questions from several editorial board members for 45 minutes and "skipping around from every topic from A to Z."

Cain's popularity fell 11 points in a CNN/ORC International Poll released Monday, falling to third place behind former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. Cain's candidacy has been plagued by allegations of sexual harassment in recent weeks, which he has said are not true.

And he had a simple explanation for his apparent stumble at an event in Wisconsin late Monday: “I mean, they asked me a question about Libya, and I paused…so I could gather my thoughts," he said. "You know, it’s really complimentary when people start documenting my pauses. You know it’s one thing to document every word. It was a pause. That’s all it was. Good grief.”

[Mikey]

You have to realize that these guys (and wingnut Bachman) can get in big trouble if they even appear to support or be in agreement with anything that Obama has ever done.

He could implement every item on the GOP agenda and they'd find ways to disagree with it.

[Sirfindafold]

You have to realize that these guys (and wingnut Bachman) can get in big trouble if they even appear to support or be in agreement with anything that Obama has ever done.

Why would they want to? They want to win don't they?

Can you name anything that has been done by this president that a GOP candidate (or any candidate) would associate themselves with? Even democrats are jumping ship on this jackass.

[The Seer]

Too bad it's a beauty contest and not a systematic process that outlines qualifications and ability to lead.

Too bad the money people and the media want to distort info to influence the challenged...

But with the present set of candidates, on either side, at this point, the most qualified, in my opinion, is without question,

Mr. Gingrich.

[Shlomart Ben Yisrael]

Can you name anything that has been done by this president that a GOP candidate (or any candidate) would associate themselves with?

Extended the Bush tax cuts

Drone strikes

Secret trials

Bailed out Wall St.

Sucked Netanyahu's dick

Should I continue?

[Shlomart Ben Yisrael]

... the most qualified, in my opinion, is without question,

Mr. Gingrich.

He's definitely the most intelligent.

He's also the least electable.

[The Seer]

... the most qualified, in my opinion, is without question,

Mr. Gingrich.

He's definitely the most intelligent.

He's also the least electable.

We are real close on this one....

[Shlomart Ben Yisrael]

Unfortunately for Gingrich, he's seen as too much of a "technocrat" by the current GOP base.

In a strange twist, what was once seen as "right-wing fringe and reactionary" in the 90's seems absolutely liberal today.
That's how far the goalposts have moved.

...and with Obama outflanking the Right, the only way he can be outflanked is by elements of the Right that are so far off the radar, they reek of tinfoil lunacy.

Genius.
Obama wins. America loses. The GOP becomes a laughable anachronism.

[mvscal]

... the most qualified, in my opinion, is without question,

Mr. Gingrich.

He's definitely the most intelligent.

He's also the least electable.

A couple months ago I would have agreed but he is surging. Cain is obviously an idiot and Romney is flatly unacceptable so that makes Gingrich look better and better all the time.

[War Wagon]

Romney is flatly unacceptable so that makes Gingrich look better and better all the time.

Guy who has flatly stated he's not going to vote says what?

Ok, I'll play... why is Romney unacceptable?

[Shlomart Ben Yisrael]

Gingrich would mop the floor with other GOP contenders in a debate...


...and there lies the story of his undoing...


You don't want a "university prof" as your president. You want a "strict father" in the Reagan mold.

That's why most of you jizzed yourselves when Perry declared. That is, until you found out his head was stuffed with straw.

[Shlomart Ben Yisrael]

Ok, I'll play... why is Romney unacceptable?

magical underpants

[Shlomart Ben Yisrael]

a far more effective technique would be "message boarding"

Being force to read every post by brad, m2, and 'holic word for word

Oh, I didn't want this day to end without RACKing Scott for bringing the funnay.

[poptart]

Ok, I'll play... why is Romney unacceptable?

Romney will never be acceptable to a large segment of conservative/GOP voters because they know he's... not a conservative.

Romneycare.
Blatant flip-flopping according to which way the political wind is blowing at a particular time and place.
He's not a Christian.

The GOP will nominate someone who conservative/GOP voters think is a conservative.
Someone who has fooled those fools.

Mitt can not make voters believe that he's a "real" conservative.
That's why, despite "winning" debate after debate, his poll numbers never rise above a certain level.

[BSmack]

He's not a Christian.

You mean other than the fact that he worships Jesus?

Hey, I could care less which fairy tale you buy into. But why hate on Willard for his choice?

[War Wagon]

Romney will never be acceptable to a large segment of conservative/GOP voters because they know he's... not a conservative.

Perhaps, but it seems he's the only responsible adult in the room sans Ron Paul whom you and I both know is unelectable.

If the GOP have any intention of knocking off Obama, looks to me like Mitt's their man.

[mvscal]

If the GOP have any intention of knocking off Obama, looks to me like Mitt's their man.

Romney v. Obama is a distiction without any difference.

[poptart]

Wagon, I don't know that Paul is unelectable.

I'd say that a WHOLE lot of the establishment is doing their right best to try to diminish him.

You, and others, might think carefully about why that is.


I don't hate Romney, B.

Momonism is a blatant heresy, however.

In overwhelming ways, mormons directly contradict the Bible.

Just for starters, they deny that Jesus Christ is God.

[War Wagon]

Romney v. Obama is a distiction without any difference.

Other than the fact Romney has experience, knowledge, and concrete ideas beyond that of community organizer.

Still waiting for your rationale of why he's unacceptable.

Because he's a Mormon?

I'm voting for a chief executive, not the Dalai Lama.

[mvscal]

Still waiting for your rationale of why he's unacceptable.

The fact that his policy positions are indistinguishable from Obama's, you flatheaded dolt.

[War Wagon]

Remind me of when the last time a candidates policy positions ever resembled their actual governance. Reagan?

If you were to vote (which you don't, why do you even care?) on policy positions, you'd be among the simple minded who voted for hope and change.

Your vote doesn't count here.

[Dr_Phibes]

I don't get it Wags, you're reveling in the fact that you participate in a charade, why bother? It's an insult to anyone's intelligence.

[Van]

I don't get it Wags, you're reveling in the fact that you participate in a charade, why bother? It's an insult to anyone's intelligence.

Exactly.

[War Wagon]

...why bother?

beats watching Jersey Shore.

we all have things we waste time on, give me a break.

[The Seer]

Perhaps, but it seems he's the only responsible adult in the room sans Ron Paul

I would rather have a Cain that knows nothing about foreign policy than a Ron Paul who would pull all the wrong levers....

[poptart]

would rather have a Cain that knows nothing about foreign policy than a Ron Paul who would pull all the wrong levers....

Haven't most of the wrong foreign policy levers been pulled over the past... many decades?

[Terry in Crapchester]

Bachman is a woman. No. No telling what she might do on the rag.

She's 54, so I doubt she's on the rag anymore, as a practical matter.

What she really needs is a good fucking, and she certainly won't get it from that gay husband of hers.

[The Seer]

Haven't most of the wrong foreign policy levers been pulled over the past... many decades?

Many, yes. But a lot of that was due to the morons not wanting to exploit our own natural resources and being dependent on all the fuckhead govts that are sitting where the stupid dinosaurs decided to die. But we don't want this thread to start going country by country defending each's strategic (or lack of) planning....do we? Pretty much know the usual suspects anyway.

[BSmack]

Remind me of when the last time a candidates policy positions ever resembled their actual governance. Reagan?

You have GOT to be fucking kidding. Right? Was there ANY principle that Reagan didn't sell out? Of course he blamed it all on that darned Democratic Congress. Never mind that all he needed to do was alternately wield the veto pen and refuse to spend the money Congress insisted on allocating. But of course Reagan wasn't REALLY for smaller government any more than Clinton, either Bush or Obama have been. Wake up bro.

[Felix]

Just for starters, they deny that Jesus Christ is God.

you don't know much about mormonism do you?

in any event....Romney is probably going to be the republican choice...if it's Gingrich, they'll shithammer him on his "family values" which would spell his doom...

[BSmack]

Momonism is a blatant heresy, however. In overwhelming ways, mormons directly contradict the Bible. Just for starters, they deny that Jesus Christ is God.

I think we should burn Mitt at the stake. But first we should tie stones to him and throw him in the water. You know, just to make sure he's not a witch.

[poptart]

Just for starters, they deny that Jesus Christ is God.

you don't know much about mormonism do you?

Was that comment by you meant to imply that mormons do believe that Jesus Christ is God?

They don't believe that, Felix.


B, don't blame the messenger.

I'm just here to tell you that many republican Christian voters will never vote for Romney because they recognize mormomism to be a heresy.

[War Wagon]

...in any event....Romney is probably going to be the republican choice...if it's Gingrich, they'll shithammer him on his "family values" which would spell his doom...

he's getting hammered now for cashing big checks from Fannie May and Freddy Mac for his "consultants" role from 1999 to 2007. Gee, I wonder if a former speaker of the house had any influence in greasing wheels in Congress to direct taxpayer billions down the shithole that led to the housing bubble and collapse?

When I see Newt, I see a sleazy used car salesman.

[War Wagon]

Wing nuts, indeed. Supposedly, God told at least four of the Republican candidates to run for president.

Four?

Does the article count Perry's wife as the 4th candidate or did I miss something?