Multi-tasking in American history
Dealing "with more than one thing at once"
Multi-tasking in American history
Dick Polman, Inquirer National Political Columnist
Abe the multi-tasker
Barack Obama, while assessing John McCain's attempt to cut and run from the Friday night presidential debate, contended yesterday that both candidates have ample time to shuttle between the Washington crisis and the Mississippi showdown. Indeed, he said, "It is going to be part of the (next) president's job to deal with more than one thing at once."
Perhaps this is the kind of multi-tasking that Obama was talking about:
While Abraham Lincoln was prosecuting the Civil War during his first winter in office, he was also trying to create a federal department of agriculture; to win diplomatic recognition for the black republics of Haiti and Liberia; to negotiate with Congress on proposals for a land-grand college system, a Pacific railroad charter, a tariff increase, and a tax on consumers. Over a period of two months that winter, he was also trying to avoid plunging the Union into a war with Great Britain (a two-month crisis precipitated by a Union captain's decision to board a British ship and remove two Confederate envoys), and success didn't come until the eleventh hour.
Eighty years later, Franklin D. Roosevelt was into all kinds of multi-tasking, even before Pearl Harbor; as one Washington magazine reported in April 1941, "A more discouraging agenda could not have been imagined." FDR had to deal that month with (among other things) urgent British appeals for more aid; the fallout of Allied setbacks in the Middle East; the delicate issue of Axis ships berthing in American ports;, the sluggish buildup of the newly-conscripted military; and a rash of labor strikes, fought over workloads, working conditions and wages, that ultimately affected one of every 12 American workers, and seriously slowed production of the war materials earmarked for Britain.
Twenty years after that, John F. Kennedy in the spring of 1961 had to juggle nearly simultaenous crises in Cuba, Laos, Vietnam - and the American South, where the racist attacks on the Freedom Riders brought the civil-rights crisis to the fore. In the autumn of 1962, even during the Cuban Missile crisis, Kennedy broke away for politics, flying to Chicago where he delivered speeches and pep talks to the Cook County Democrats in advance of the impending congressional elections.
But McCain himself knows a little about juggling simultaneous duties. Back in October 1999, for instance, he and his Senate Republican colleagues - led by his '08 campaign sidekick, Texas Sen. Phil Gramm - were busy putting the finishing touches on a landmark piece of deregulation legislation that would unshackle the financial industry from federal oversight. The work was completed in the wee hours - but wait, McCain wasn't there. He was multi-tasking up in New Hampshire...at a Republican presidential primary debate.
His debate message: Our "almost unprecedented prosperity" requires, among other things, "a lack of regulation."
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Comments (154)
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It is frightening to think there are still people who would vote for this man called mccain.— jettro- Comment removed.
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- Maybe McCain should take a nap.— Logathis
- McCain suspending his campaign to perform the job that he was elected to fulfill is a bad thing? It seems to me that he is putting the country first, while Obama is putting his own interests first.— jfar86
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- When did McCain get to Washington anyway? He dropped everything yesterday. What did he do, walk all the way?— SteveMG
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- Bummer for McCain. Now he has to deal with the Rick davis story again, (it's still going downhill on him) and more conservatives bailing on Palin. By the way, I thought she had a wacky pastor problem. Turns out the pastor had a wacky parishioner problem too. I guess all is well, though, because the witches do seem to have kept their distance from her.— SteveMG
- Gibba, I said it before you are a little optimistic with the peace and prosperity thing, but I will sure savor the sanity.— SteveMG
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- McCain said yesterday he was going to Washington after speaking at the Clinton Global Initiative. Funny how yesterday, Chris Dodd said it seemed unlikely anything would pass, and Schumer wanted to start at $150 Billion. Now, after McCain announced he is going to Washington, there was Chris Dodd a few minutes ago saying a deal was reached in principle. Could it be the Dems wanted to steal McCain's thunder? Of course McCain can multitask....why, in 1999, he was working with Phil Gramm and Jim Leach (economic advisor to Barack Obama) to pass the Gramm Leach bill. And he also multitasked in 2006 when he said, to paraphrase, "the GSE's need to be regulated or they could bring down our entire economy". Of course, Schumer said that was an over reaction and that F&F were doing good work. Barney Frank wanted them to continue to offer loans to low income people. Funny how Polman always mentions Gramm but never mentions Leach...and NEVER mentions 2006. Even Bill Clinton on GMA said the problem was caused by "Democrats in Congress resisting Republican efforts and the efforts of his administration to regulate Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac". Now that is Clinton saying that....now a conservative Republican. Funny how Polman never mentioned that either.— tom - wilmington, de
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- So, they have a deal now. I thinkthat's pretty much the message coming out of Wash. yesterday, that progress was being made and they'd have one in the coming days. mcCain probably could have gottne status via this inventioon that predated the computer, it's called the telephone. As a matter of fact they can even conference on multiple people, so he could have talked to more than 1 at a time and lead. instead he grandstanded, for no real apparent reason. This is 2nd or 3rd pretty substantial decision he's made in a month, that show really questionable judement and are REALLY perplexing. He picks palin, he's like the last guy in Washington, even after President Doofus to acknowledge a problem, then he suspends his campaining for no real apparent reason, apprently has no idea how close a deal is and tries to give the Americans even less time to hear out their candidates and make a decision. He's a maveick alright. Walking to the beat of his own drum. I don;t kknow if that's a good thing when it's always wrong.— gee1971
Obama would much rather talk, that's his strength. Doing, we know by his almost non-existent record, is not.— jmc- Posted by Xi Jah 01:45 PM, 09/25/2008 Thank you Senator McCain for putting Country ahead of politics. I just threw up my lunch. Oh to be so dumb and blind...— pagoda
- Gee, Tom, I thought it was the worthless appraisals of the mortgage backed securities that caused the financial crisis. That buying and selling of bogus securities magnified the efeect of the bad loans far over and above what would have probably been a $250 Billion dollar bailout. The crisis propagated around the world because nobody could quantify how much bad debt is actually contained in the fraudulantly rated securities. From what I have been reading, as the government picks apart the securities and weeds out the failing mortgages from the viable ones, we will fing the actual cost incurred by the government to be far below the nearly trillion dollars already pledged and the approximately 1 1/2 (ish) trillion in market value washed away.— SteveMG
- The experts have been struggling with the economic crisis for days now. How on earth can McCain, who has both admitted and demonstrated his weakness in this area, help out! Clearly, he can help by staying out of the way and providing his voting support when needed. With each hour it becomes more and more obvious that McCain is putting politics, not his country, first.— Bob Beaney
- Haha Obama looks like a great leader standing there saying they will call him if they need him. He says we are on the verge of another great depression then mocks McCain for taking it seriously.— jwad56
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- Florida Rep. Alcee Hastings on Wednesday warned two minority groups to beware of Sarah Palin because “anybody toting guns and stripping moose don’t care too much about what they do with Jews and blacks.” Tell me do you guys actually think like this? If you do, maybe we should not fought the Civil War and let the south do what they wanted.— thelastRepublicaninPhilly
- Well tom you can try to spin as a conspiracy if you'd like but perhaps that works both ways. Perhaps the repubs were refusing to budge to the dems and the inevitable framework of this deal and held steadfastly until mccain could ride in on his white horse, EXACTLY the type of scenario he's been selling during his campaign, and bring unity to a negotiation where we are to believe there previously was none. I don't believe either conspiracy. I beleive, he was the guy who was sliding in the polls, his big bang moments had worn off and we were back to the political reality. He was more in need of a big break, than Obama, so why would the Dems need to cook up some cospiracy and risk what they had been gaining for weeks. Makes no sense. A more likely scenario, they were making slow but predictable progress and as a deadline approached predictably they became more flexible in their negotiations. They all knew, it needed to be done. It wasn't going to fail. it couldn't. So, no real need for intervention from the candidates, but McCain saw an opportunity and showing his half baked, hair trigger decision making process, made a ridiculous spectacle to try regain some momentum. It backfired horribly. he looks even less capable of making sound decisions and dealing with crisis than he did last week when he couldn't acknowledge there was one. Poor poor leadership.— gee1971
- Bob Beaney, if the bill didn't get the votes; the bill would have failed. McCain, and others, were working to make sure it passed. Obama sat on the bench and didn't do his job as senator. Last time I checked, that was still his job.— thelastRepublicaninPhilly
- What would Backtrack do in Washington,vote "present" ? I love the idea McCain would duck Obama in a debate.Have you people seen this clown without a teleprompter ? Painful,simply painful.— Yankee Air Pirate 12
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- There seems to be a fundamental misunderstanding on this board (or else I am not reading properly comments posted here). And I'm not picking on you, tom, but I will use a quote from your recent post here as an example. You stated, "Barney Frank wanted them (Fannie & Freddie) to continue to offer loans to low income people. " Now maybe people here understand the role of Fannie and Freddie. But a comment like that makes question whether it is understood that those two organizations are secondary market participants. Fannie and Freddie did not make a single mortgage. They provided liquidity to banks and other lending institutions by either purchasing the mortgages or purchasing CMO's. The difference is the fact that Fannie and Freddie did not apply credit scoring standards to the mortgages when the loans originated. Instead, in purchasing mortgages they relied on the financial institutions to have properly done their documentation. And while I have not been able to verify a statement that I heard on the radio by an economist, I did hear that economist state that by charter that Fannie and Freddie were not allowed to purchase sub prime mortgages. Maybe I'm stating the obvious and everyone already realizes these facts (and it's just a matter of wording by the posters), but some of the statements I've seen here make me wonder sometimes. The point is that laying the fault at Fannie and Freddie is an easy out and that there a lot more organizations (that have supported both D's and R's) that are to blame.— fetchez la vache
- If there has been one constant in Mr. McCain's legislative record through decades in the House and Senate, it has been his unequivocal support for deregulation. He championed it during his years as chairman of the Senate commerce committee. He campaigned actively and successfully for the very act that scrapped the regulations whose absence created this cascade of bank and insurance-company failures. "I have a long voting record in support of deregulation," he said back in 2003. It was no idle boast. Mr. McCain's election platform proposes allowing taxpayers to divert part of their social security payments into private investment accounts. It would deregulate the health sector, so that people could shop around for the best available health plan, rather than relying on their employer to provide it. "Opening up the health insurance market to more vigorous nationwide competition, as we have done over the last decade in banking, would provide more choices of innovative products less burdened by the worst excesses of state-based regulation," he wrote in a magazine article published last week. Presumably, the piece was submitted before Lehman Brothers went belly up. In a nutshell, John McCain is rushing back to Washington to vote for the first time in months to try to help clean up a mess he had a huge hand in creating. Can anyone demonstrate that McCain has done anything meaningful to try to prevent this fiasco, or has acknowledged that his earlier enthustiastic campaigning for deregulation was misguided, to put it very politely. The notion that this man is putting country first is obscene. Where was he while the financial system was falling apart, and what was he doing to try to stop the bleeding? CAMPAIGNING. Now that the patient is on the operating table, suddenly he decides to suspend campaigning? Too little, too late. It stinks to high heaven.— mousikos
- Can I inquire which polls you all are looking at that say that McCain is sliding? To me if you look at an electoral map Obama is in jeopardy in several states he should be winning far and away.— jwad56
- Alcee Hastings is an idiot. And no sane Democrat posting in this board supports that nut. But both parties have more than their fair share of idiots. Stop the finger pointing. Remember you got three more pointing back at you.— fetchez la vache
- fetchez la vache, you're right. I've been blaming everybody; and i really think it is everyone's fault that got mixed up in this. Now we've got to clean up this mess. Let's just pray that this will fix it and the economy will get back on it's feet; which is what we all want.— thelastRepublicaninPhilly
- John needs a nap; otherwise he gets cranky.— Djoko Pritza
- Xi Jah, do you have anything beside FoxNews talking points? McCain's political maneuver looks pretty useless now. And all that he was doing was trying to change the topic on a flailing campaign.— donde
- The debate does take a backseat in one regard. You just got something more than a debate. You just saw their behavior in a crisis. You had one guy make a paniced, impulsive and irrational decision and the other guy take a page right out of Leadership 101. He was patient, persistent in his communication, informed and understanding of the status of the negotiation, aware of his role in the process and most of all, gave the people who needed to reach an agreement, the support, the space and the opportunity to reach one. And they did reach one. McCain is repeatedly showing poor decision making technique and using poor judgement. He's impulsive and that is not a good trait in a president.— gee1971
- fetchez la vache, I would love to believe that Hastings is the exception rather then the norm; but the more I hear from this and other blogs, talk to people on the street, see it on the news and read it in the papers, the less I believe that. Yeah I've been pushing McCain; but you can't imagine the number of people that have a visceral reaction to me just handing out flyers.— thelastRepublicaninPhilly
- Xi Jah, I love when you come off as pathetic in your fawning sycophancy.— Djoko Pritza
- gee1971, we needed the senators to hammer this deal out. It's just that simple; they had to figure it out. The current president really couldn't do much but wait for a bill to sign. McCain went to work, with both democrats and republicans, while Obama did nothing and said nothing. America wants a doer, not a talker.— thelastRepublicaninPhilly
- I just read on the CNN site that there is no accountability process built into this compromise bill. Can anyone confirm that? I will be furious if that is the case.— NigeltheMastiff
- Tom says: "Even Bill Clinton ... said the problem was caused by 'Democrats in Congress resisting Republican efforts and the efforts of his administration to regulate Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.' Tom, boy, I love how you love to quote Clinton. But let's say he's correct. Then, Dems bad! But the Repubs controlled both Congress and the presidency from 2000 through 2006. If they were so hot to regulate their pals on Wall Street, why not do it when they held all the cards? Don't tell me they intimidated by Barney Frank?— Djoko Pritza
- Logathis, now that's funny. He's going to need all the naps he can get trying to multitask and read the teleprompter at the same time. Obviously our last president couldn't multitask either between the war and domestic policy, somehow we got the short end of the stick. Amazing the last 8 years haven't taught some people anything.— Janette
- Why is Obama following McCain to DC?— sleepy
- Xi Jah - you certainly have the hots for McCain! Do you even know what went on in DC today? - McCain wasn't there - wasn't wanted there - and has been shut out from the process by the Congressional leaders. He can't claim anything to it ... he's a total loser - and it's over for him - face it!— KellyButton2
- NigeltheMastiff, I can't find the accountability yet. I did find the limit for executives and just two days ago there was almost no agreement to this bill. Sounds like a lot of things got worked out.— thelastRepublicaninPhilly
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- KellyButton2 and Gibba Mang, such anger from you two.— thelastRepublicaninPhilly
- Lastrepub, if we learn that both parties are rushing this bill, featuring OUR money and funding, through without any accountability protocol, I think we should all start e-mailing our Congressional delegations. And I don't care what side of the aisle they're on.— NigeltheMastiff
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- Barack Obama.."We are facing the biggest economic crisis since the Great Depression"......."If you need me, call me". Yep, that's leadership alright. Greatest economic crisis in almost 80 years...call me if I can help in any way.— tom - wilmington, de
- Oh man, McBush is getting pummeled in the media for his "tantrum/stunt/distraction/fumble"! He's now even toxic for all Republicans! The are dissing him BIG TIME for trying to glom in on the work they did to get this deal (however horrible it is). Now McBush wants to say he was for regulation all along? - someone need to tell him that there is an internet where people can look up his record ... Poor guy - he's deteriorated right before our eyes ... time to go retire in Arizona JSM, because the media re going back to looking into his staff and everyone has now seen the train wreck of an interview/gift for Dems that Palin delivered with Kouric yesterday ... stick a fork in McBush-Failin!— rallyrally
- NigeltheMastiff, agreed. They answer to us. Let be clear I'm not happy about the bail out at all. I hate the fact we got to this point and that it had to happen. But if this was the less of two evils and keeps our economy going; I'll take it.— thelastRepublicaninPhilly
- Gibba Mang, crisis solved. The debates can continue as scheduled. You can stop beating that horse now, it's dead.— thelastRepublicaninPhilly
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- If McCain is so patriotic, why on earth did he pick a lightning rod to be his VP ticket? I had so much hope for McCain as a decent man willing to stand up to the far right until this move....— Tony_From_PA
- fetch...I cannot change what Frank said back in 2003, that Fannie and Freddie were making loans available to low income people. When he assumed the chairmanship in 2007 of the House banking committee, he said he wanted to continue the program of providing low income citizens the prospect of home ownership through programs at Fannie and Freddie. Maybe you should check with Barney to see if he understands what he was talking about. As for me, I know F&F did not provide mortgages, they just guaranteed them. It is like FHA....if you qualify for an FHA loan you get it, if not you do not.— tom - wilmington, de
- Meaning fetch that they set the parameters by which people qualify for loans.— tom - wilmington, de
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- (CNN) – Bill Clinton has long pointed out he has enjoyed a good relationship with John McCain, but for a moment the former president almost sounded like a surrogate for the Republican presidential nominee Thursday morning. Appearing on ABC's Good Morning America, Clinton said McCain's move to suspend his campaign and request a delay in the first presidential debate was a move done in "good faith," rather than as a stunt to halt falling poll numbers as several Democrats have alleged. "I presume he did that in good faith since I know he wanted — I remember he asked for more debates to go all around the country and so I don't think we ought to overly parse that," Clinton said, sounding a familiar McCain Campaign talking point. A few hours later Clinton lavished praise on McCain as he introduced him at the Clinton Global Initiative forum, saying Republican presidential nominee had taken the lead in his party when it comes to climate change. "When most people in his party were thinking that global warming was overstated and maybe even a myth — he decided to look into it," he said.— thelastRepublicaninPhilly
- So, Gibba, the debates are back on. Watch out what you ask for Just how many hmmmms?, haws, stammerin' and stumbling can you bear to watch from your guy? He may even find a way to get the race card into a foreighn policy debate.— philly2flag
- tom- and McCain contributed to the bailout plan how? Please - McCain wasn't wanted there, Obama knows enough that the Leadership Committees were working on the deal and that to politicize it wouldn't work (too bad that McCain didn't know that - it has really made him look egotistical, ill-informed, impulsive, hypocritical, and very Un-Presidential). You seem sore that Obama is getting UNIVERSAL praise for the VERY Presidential manner he has conducted himself during this crisis. Oh and those polls that you refuse to believe - please look them up - or are you too afraid still to face the truth - Obama has both Electoral and Voter response approval superiority across the board, and where it matters for a November win - McCain keeps sliding with every mistake he makes - you cannot recover from these kids of missteps.— rallyrally
- Gibba....according to the NBC/Wall Street Journal poll, only 31% favor the bailout, 33% are against it, and the rest have no opinion. So, in this age of going by polls, we should just shelve the bailout....right? This whole thing is anethema to everything in which I believe as a conservative....it is sickening. It reminds me of the movie Airplane, when they did the spoof of the old Point/Counterpoint, and the conservative said "Shana, they knew what they were getting into, I say...let em crash".— tom - wilmington, de
- Ah, so in 3 or 4 hours, mccain, not involved in the negotiaition and not an expert on the economy, did something the entire congress (-3) couldn't do and saved the day. Are you kidding me? That is absolute rubbish and one of the more ridiculous things I've ever heard. TRP and no your wrong America doens't just want a doer, we have a doer. And you can question it all you want, but one fo the primary principles of leadership is to put the right people in place to do the job, in this case they already were, support them but not distract them and let them get the job done. It's pretty simple really, only complicated when you make it more about you...which McCain did. Maybe it wasn't selfish and I'm wrong, i don;t think so, but I'll go wiht it. But clearly it wasn't needed, so then it was just bad judgement and not understanding the situation, which is really what the knock has been on him for some time now.— gee1971
- rally, I did look up the polls, that is how I knew how they were weighted. Maybe you need to check the internals instead of just the summary.— tom - wilmington, de
- McCain hit a high point in the polls on Sept. 8, getting 48% as an average of many polls that Real Clear Politics tracks. That was the bump from the Palin media love fest. When reality set back in, his numbers slid steadily hitting 44% as of yesterday. An ABC poll that came out Tuesday had Obama up 9 points. It was clear McCain was in defense mode again. And when your opponent scores two touchdowns back to back, what do you do, you call a time out. When you call a time out, two things happen: the cameras focus on you huddling and then they cut to commercials to distract you. Camera attention and distractions: the brilliant McCain campaign strategy. Last week McCain said the fundamentals of the economy were strong, now we're in crisis. For HIS ENTIRE CAREER he has been a staunch de-regulator, now he's all for oversight and accountability and regulation. How will he weasel out of tomorrow's debate now the bailout package which was in the works long before he showed up, is a done deal?— djoseph
- tom - love it that you feel polls are weighted towards Obama now that McCain has slid so badly - how can nearly every single poll (various sources - Networs/Newspapers, Zogby, Rasmuessen, Qunnupac, et. al) taken since Sept 16th have shown a drastic boost for Obama and a drastic slide for McCain - are they ALL weighted towards Obama? - please! Do you really think that McCain and his campaign conducted thenselves well through any of this? If so, you're purely partisan and will refuse to admit to anything other than "McCain=Presidential". I was truly horrified by McCain's behavior and have discussed this with a lot of people and they all agreed (R's & D's), that he's been terrible lately. The polls reflect exactly the response the public has to McCain's behavior during the crisis.— rallyrally
- Everybody relax, there are 40 days and 3 presidential debates before the election. The polls are tight and the undecided vote is unusually high. This is still anyone's ball game. djoseph and rallyrally, stop bothering us with snapshot polls; they all still agree that it is a tight race.— thelastRepublicaninPhilly
- rallyrally, you scare too easily if McCain horrified you.— thelastRepublicaninPhilly
- LastRepug - stop bothering us with your presence - you add nothing but the dim-witted talking points that you heard on the radio/saw on Fox. If you think the debates are going the HELP McCain, you haven't a clue, buddie. Somethings up with his mental state - he is nothing near the sharp-minded guy of a year or so ago.— herheineystinkhole
- Obama has led McCain in polls starting in March until the brief moment in mid-September. Check out http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2008/president/us/general_election_mccain_vs_obama-225.html#chart. When you're down, you create distractions. What is McCain afriad of?— djoseph
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- herheineystinkhole, just watch the debates. After every presidential debate the candidate that "did better" always got a bump; sometimes it was sustained and sometimes it deminished. You can go check the poll numbers and cross reference the debates like I did for the past few presidental elections. djoseph, it has been close between Obama and McCain; it always has been. It's also close in the battleground states. But remember if Hillary was in there she'd be ahead of McCain probably from 5 to 10 point range. But Obama is not Hillary. Hillary beat Obama, badly in some cases, in all of the battleground states and less then 60% of Hillary supports are going toward Obama right now. Go check you numbers again and notice the margins of error and the large undecided votes. These debates are going to be huge factors. Both sides need to hold on the victory speech, it's going to be a long 6 weeks.— thelastRepublicaninPhilly
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- It was to be a foreign policy debate. What this would have to do with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac lending money to poor people is beyond me. This whole problem in the financial sector falls at the feet of the Democrats. Obama should go ahead and debate himself- that's pretty much what he does anytime he answers a question anyway
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- tom, Fannie and Freddie do not guarantee mortgages. They buy them. A guarantee means that the mortgage originator continues to hold possession of the mortgage and Fannie and Freddie will step in if the mortgage cannot be paid off. From "About Us" on Fannie's web site, "Fannie Mae has a federal charter and operates in America's SECONDARY mortgage market to ensure that mortgage bankers and other lenders have enough funds to lend to home buyers at low rates. Our job is to help those who house America." (My emphasis on secondary) And from "Our Business" on Freddie's site, "Our customers are predominately lenders in the primary mortgage market. Our activity in the SECONDARY mortgage market supports a continuous flow of funds to the primary market, which leads to consumer benefits in the form of a steady flow of low-cost mortgage funding. This flow of funds helps moderate cyclical swings in the housing market, redistributes the flow of mortgage funds regionally throughout the U.S. and provides for the availability of mortgage funds at all times. In addition, the supply of cash made available to lenders through this process lowers mortgage rates, making homeownership affordable for more families and individuals." (Again my emphasis)— fetchez la vache
- I saw the photo of everybody sitting at a table on CNN.com. Excellent suits. Nancy Pelosi's suit, in particular, stood out. She wore a peach jacket that was lively yet serious. Probably she could teach a thing or two the the men at the table, who seemed to all wear the same suits. Don't get me wrong I think they're nice suits but they do all look the same after awhile. Strangely, there were no papers on the desk, except for some sort of manual in front of Bush. Everybody had a teacup in front them. I noticed that the cream and sugar was placed between Mitch McConnell and Harry Reid. Didn't the others want any cream or sugar? Did the cream and sugar already get passed around? Why were they all sitting at one side of the table? It would be much easier for everyone to reach the cream and sugar if they were sitting on both sides.— p-diddy
- Sorry, I just noticed that there was also cream and sugar placed at the far end of the table. You have to look closely.— p-diddy
- Posted by Xi Jah 01:41 PM, 09/25/2008 Please tell me that was sarcasm... please. The deal was struck BEFORE McCain even made it to DC. The Repubs in the House tried to delay the deal a day just so McCain could be there for the photo op. Give me a break.— cascade159
- My bad, I just noticed that there is also cream and sugar placed at the far end of the table. You have to look closely.— p-diddy
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- I cannot believe what I just saw....a campaign commercial by a 527 talking about McCain getting cancer again......now that is even lower than the swiftboaters— tom - wilmington, de
- I don't really like Reid or McConnell, but I didn't think they were the sort to hog the cream and sugar.— p-diddy
- well, seems to be some confusion as to whether a deal was reached or not. So, who knows? Xi Jah. Post one liners all you want.... I'll post one too. The bulk of Americans are worse off today than they were 8 years ago, despite dereg, despite tax cuts, despite Rep Executive, Congress and a majority of conservative judges. Not really sure anything else needs to be said.— gee1971
- Xi Jah - I am a HUGE Fan! You're the BEST Poster here! Your posts are always full of facts, intelligent insight, deep analysis and witty vocabulary - I think you're a genius and look forward to reading all of your posts! Keep posting Honey!!!!— lovelylinda
- You crack me up p-diddy. Excellent photo-op.— cascade159
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- Posted by jwad56 03:02 PM, 09/25/2008 Can I inquire which polls you all are looking at that say that McCain is sliding? To me if you look at an electoral map Obama is in jeopardy in several states he should be winning far and away. Here you go buddy: http://voices.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/09/24/post_poll_shows_challenge_for.html Actual results here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/polls/postpoll_092308.html— cascade159
- tom, I don't know what you are referring about in regards to Frank's quote. I have been busy with my job. I would be glad to read it however to understand your context. But my point remains that it seems that a basic understanding of Freddie and Fannie seems to be missing from posts on this site. Sometimes, it also seems that posters believe that the government owned Fannie and Freddie versus the companies being actually privately-owned. I'll leave you with one last example. Sometimes (and this applies to both Fannie and Freddie but also other financial institutions) I read posts deriding the pay of these CEOs. But their compensation includes significant portions in options. While it might be difficult to get these individuals to disgorge the cash compensation, if fraud were proven (and the FBI is currently investigating a bunch of these companies), then the options could be wiped out. So I get a laugh when I see someone complaining about millions of dollars in pay packages when I'm pretty sure that only a portion of the comp was in cash.— fetchez la vache
- Xi Jah, why post the same comment 3-4 times?— cascade159
- I think it's fair to say that both Dems and Repubs share equal blame for this disaster. But it's the Republican talking point about Government being the problem... open the markets... deregulation... etc. GWB presidency has been an utter disaster.— cascade159
- I agree with Lovely Linda. Xi Jah is a genius.— p-diddy
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- Xi Jah: Stop making your wife post.— yobill626
- I'm thanking Xi Jah for exhibiting behavior that exemplifies the end of McCain.— Djoko Pritza
- Hey, Tom, you're talking about a guy who wants to be president (and has picked a bimbo for his running mate) and has had cancer 4 times. I think we ought to talk about the issue more ... not to mention his age. I think he's over the hill. Witness his eratic peformance over the last week. Scary.— Djoko Pritza
- Hey, Tom, soon after Palin was plucked out of deserved obscruity, you said, "The more I learn about her, the more I like her!" You still feel that way?— Djoko Pritza
- DP: Don't worry about McCain. Palin has her Pastor working on a spell to keep the witches of ill health away from her mentor. I just wish I had bought futures of "eyes of newts".— yobill626
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- Thank God Senator McCain showed up when he did. Another day or two and Christmas definitely would have been cancelled.— p-diddy
- Hey, Xi Jah, are you in shock? You sound like a guy who has gone around the bend. Don't crack up, we need a good laugh.— Djoko Pritza
- Ah Joe Biden....the gift that keeps on giving. Today he said that after seven years, the Bush administration knew it's policy of not talking to Iran was wrong so they sent the Secretary of State to Tehran to meet with the Iranians. When the Secretary of State went there, she went as a representative of the President of the United States. Now, unless I missed it....Condeleeza Rice never went to Tehran...did she? Can you see the furor if Palin had said this? And this is who you all believe is better equipped than Palin? FDR went on television after the 1929 crash!!!! Israel needs to reconcile itself to a nuclear Iran (which he said back on Sept 1)!!!! Now this!!!!!— tom - wilmington, de
- djoko....yes. See my post about Biden to see why.— tom - wilmington, de
- I was so inspired by Obama that I called my boss today & said "hey,call me if you need me ".Oddly it didn't work.— Yankee Air Pirate 12
- Tom, I did, but that doesn't answer the question -- only that you'd prefer Palin over Biden.— Djoko Pritza
- Hey, Yankee, what can I say, they needed you down at the dump.— Djoko Pritza
- Hey! I may be new here, but I assure you I am NOT Xi Jah's wife. Although I do know he's sitting at his computer masturbating while reading his posts. He loves himself, in every way. Like McCain, it's all he's got.— lovelylinda
- Hey, Yankee! If Barry becomes president, you and many of your co-workers won't be needed today... or tomorrow...— philly2flag
- Lovelylinda, are you sure your not Xi Jan in drag.— USA#1
- Sorry about that Xi Jah, didn't mean to spell your name wrong— USA#1
- Philly2Flag-Actually I have my own Company,I just made up the part about calling my boss.But I do get your point,you're right on the money.— Yankee Air Pirate 12
- Yankee, what would the impact of higher - much higher - individual and corp taxes be on your company and your employees?— philly2flag
- LOL USA#1 - Xi Jah WISHES!!— lovelylinda
- To the lastrepublicaninphilly. I don't know what bill you are talking about that "passed" and "would have failed." I am referring to the bail-out bill when it is agreed upon and put up for a vote.— Bob Beaney
- Hey, Yankee, picking on the mother. Why'd I figure you for such a classy guy. My mother's dead, so I don't think it was her.— Djoko Pritza
- Djoko-Not that I believe you for a moment but,just the same,stick to the topic. Philly2Flag-Independent contractors,the only way to go.— Yankee Air Pirate 12
- Yankee, like I care whether you believe me. You're a classless dolt whatever.— Djoko Pritza
- This is really a pathetic excuse for a column, Mr. Polman. First off, you accuse McCain of running away from the debate. This is simply ridiculous. Obama has run away from 10 prior to this, but you have nothing to say about that. Then you attack McCain for not multitasking, but why shouldn't a domestic crisis be our focus? After 9/11 did you criticize government officials for spending weeks discussing nothing but terror? Of course not. This is a very unique situation. It could be a pinnacle moment in our history. If Obama doesn't ant to be part of it, he doesn't have to be. McCain thinks he can help, so he should. Really, Mr. Polman, hat you are doing here is just pathetic.— bon
- All you Palen people take a good look at that interview with Katie Coric. It's enough to make you cry in fear. The women knows nothing about anything and you republican clowns think she's Presidential? What's wrong with this country? She's so incompetent, but because she's a repub. you wingnuts will support her, amazing.— mcnuckel
- Hey, Yankee, you keep proving the point.— Djoko Pritza
- Comment removed.
- Nuclehead: You watch Katie - I've never seen a personal tradegy that I can't exploit for self-aggrandizement - Couric? 'Nuff said!— philly2flag
- How funny, McCain shows up in D.C. and the deal falls through. This has to be the most political stunt that I've ever seen. Give me a break Bon, the guy's desperate. You better believe that McCain will be there tomorrow if Obama shows up. He through another Hail Mary, and again it failed.— mcnuckel
- It was Palen answering the questions, not Coric.— mcnuckel
- McSameOl' - You remember Tony Rezco, Bill Ayers, Jeremiah Wright, Farrakhan, Michael Pfleger don't you? Thanks for the heads up.. I'm headin' downtown to see if there is anything I can do for Alamo.— philly2flag
- Djoko-The Elephant labored & put forth a mouse.Accredit it as you see fit. McNuckelhead-If you're going to continue to take shots at her you should perhaps learn to spell her name.It's Palin,not Palen.And in November,it'll be Vice President Palin.— Yankee Air Pirate 12
- Philly- All of these dumb libs better be careful for what they wish for. I really don't understand their deathwish for the Osamabama in the foreign policy debate tomorrow. We all watched as Obama ducked in and out of a house to gather talking points during the Georgia crisis. He will not have that opportunity tomorrow. He is going to be left in that chair with millions watching him make up for his lack of foreign knowledge with blame America first talking points. I hope McCain asks Obama about his bombing villages comment, his 20,000 more troops will not make a difference comment, his invading Pakistan unilaterally comment, his sitting down unconditionally with terrorism sponsoring leaders comment, ask why he said even though General Petraeus might need more time; he would decide when the troops get redeployed, his Iran is not a serious threat comment, and his retracted Jerusalm undivided comment. I also would like to see McCain ask Osamabama to rebuke William Ayers (american born terrorist and Obama contributor) on television. I would like McCain to ask Obama what he thought of Hamas endorsing him and sending him $30,000 towards his campaign. This is going to be funny.— ObamaHATER
- Yankee, not only classless, but now you're making no sense. Babble on, big boy.— Djoko Pritza
- DJ I think what Ynkee is saying is that you are the rat, and republicans are the elephant that will smush you or something.— ObamaHATER
- Djoko-Never heard that,eh ? No surprise,you don't come off as too well read.But I'm done with you & since I'm not a last word freak,I'll say no more.In the immortal words of Andy Reid,"time's yours".— Yankee Air Pirate 12
- Yankee, thanks for the last word. Ignorant/r*cist people like you are why McCain will lose.— Djoko Pritza
- Djoko-When someone gives you carte blanche last word ,make it a kiler.Zing the hey out of it.Don't give us" The Elephant labored" redux.I guess you're one of those internet trolls that Obama is paying $3.50 an hour & you combine that with your $8.50 an hour from Wendy's & you're on top of the world.C'mon dawg,work at it.— Yankee Air Pirate 12
- Yankee, you said last word? Why did I know that you're not only classless and ignorant but a liar too. You are right out of redneck casting.— Djoko Pritza
- bon: Obama would be even more of a coward if he ran away from 25 debates, not just 10.— p-diddy
- Much,much better.— Yankee Air Pirate 12
- Barack Obama is a smoker. Joe Biden had an anyeurism. I would like to know more about their health. Truth is I could really care less but is it possible that at least some liberals could admit the 527 ad about McCains health is riduculous?
- Fun reading for all sides: http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/the_whoppers_of_2008.html— still_independent
- Swede- I think it's fair game. I think everything is fair game. They should talk about Barry's family over in Kenya killing christians and trying to spread a dictatorship. They should talk about Barry's birth certificate being fake, and growing up a muslim(even though he denied it). Much is made about McCain's school records, they should ask Barry to release his SAT scores and his grades at Columbia, and Harvard. I would like to peek at his thesis also, after reading his wife's racist, 5th grade level senior year thesis at Princeton "Princeton Blacks and the Black Community". I would like to know if the stuttering one ever met with Loius Farrakan, who was instrumental in his church. Let's also see some commercials about William Ayers and the meetings with Barry at his house, and money into his campaign. What ties does Barry have overseas? Let's find out. C'mon Barry, let's make yourself available to open records. What's the big secret? I'm probably forgetting alot of stuff, but some people have to work.— ObamaHATER
- Hater: what about McCain's eating of babies and molestation of underage goats? FYI - that's sarcasm.— still_independent
- Hater: You really should stop reading those blogs that advocate "printing money" and "Obama is secretly a muslim (And, oh BTW, isn't his pastor crazy)". They make you sound so uninformed (aka - stooopid)— fetchez la vache
- Hater-I guess that means Fetch the Cow wants you to read the Democratics blogs.— Yankee Air Pirate 12
- No, Yankee, I'm just saying that blogs that advocate "printing money" to solve our economic crisis or accuse Obama of secretly being a muslim while also deriding him for having a crazy Christian pastor don't really give you solid arguments to repeat here. There are lots of nutwing blogs on both sides. But regurgitating those blogs without applying critical thought makes you as stooopid as the blog that originated the material.— fetchez la vache
- Yo Fetch-I think we can agree on that.— Yankee Air Pirate 12
- Obamahater: Ever think about taking up meditation?— p-diddy
- Yankee, despite your claim "& since I'm not a last word freak,I'll say no more," you're a last-word nut case. Go ahead, boy, take your shot.— Djoko Pritza
- P-diddy: Whatever his doctor prescribes for him, a double dosage needs to be taken by McCain. This guy is showing himself to be an unstable mess.— yobill626
- I'd like to hear the issue of torture brought up at tonight's debate. Why did McCain support the Military Commissions Act? How does he square this with his stated respect for civil liberties and the Bill of Rights? I'd like to hear McCain explain his inconsistent stance on torture. Obama needs to flog McCain on this issue.— p-diddy
- Djoko-You should insist that Obama give you a raise.You're relentless dawg,you gotta be worth 4.50 an hour.Now run off to the pizza parlor,lots of deliveries waiting.— Yankee Air Pirate 12
- p-diddy - There is no way for Obama to touch McCain on the issue of torture. Even if there is the slightest sniff of inconsistency on McCain's part, the very fact that McCain was a POW for so long (and behaved in an honorable fashion while a POW) means that Obama could not score any points. Obama should stay away from this issue. It won't be worth the beating that he would take in the media and on blogs like this if he were to raise the issue. If the moderator raises the issue, Obama should just thank McCain for his service to the country and then state his position in regards to the Military Commissions Act without questioning McCain's stance. Let the moderator point out any inconsistencies.— fetchez la vache
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Cited by the Columbia Journalism Review as one of the nation's top political reporters, and lauded by the ABC News political website as "one of the finest political journalists of his generation," Dick Polman is a national political columnist at the Philadelphia Inquirer. He is on the full-time faculty at the University of Pennsylvania, as "writer in residence." Dick has been a frequent guest on C-Span, MSNBC, CNN, NPR and the BBC. He covered the 1992, 1996, 2000, and 2004 presidential campaigns.
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