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Brian Cherry
Will Obama Debate John McCain
When it comes to gas, Mr. Obama is having a sort of political dyslexia. On the campaign trail he said that "Gas prices are killing folks. I got an email from a friend of mine; it says, just in case you're not living in the real world, being driven around by Secret Service, it just cost me $85 to fill up my tank." Of course in true fashion of people who can magically talk out of two orifices at once, he told CNBC on June 10th, 2008 regarding gas prices that "I think that I would have preferred a gradual adjustment." (For those who can't read DNC code, "adjustment" refers to the raise in gas prices). He then went on to talk about how he was not on board with lowering the prices or increasing the supply; just for helping us, and the market, adjust to the higher prices. This topic was preceded by a rambling diatribe about how American's consume too much energy, and there was no policy in place to control our personal consumption.
This is the sort of logic that comes from someone who reaches for your necktie when he claims he is trying to help you tighten your belt…for your own good, of course. It should worry people that Barack turns into a flatulist whenever policies that directly affect the household budget of the American people are talked about, but should we be concerned that he seems to have trouble discerning between a sworn enemyof the United States and an American war hero as well?
During a CNN debate in July of 2007, Obama was asked, if elected, would he would be willing to meet with the leaders of Iran, Syria, Venezuela, Cuba and North Korea "without precondition".
"I would," Obama said in a very matter of fact manner.
John McCain, say what you will about his conservative credentials, spent five years of his life being tortured in a Vietnamese prison camp and NOT giving up information to our enemies. Thanks to his treatment by the North Vietnamese, John McCain will never be able to do the wave at a sporting event or give a high five. I think this qualifies him as a loyal patriot to the United States.
By way of contrast, Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was probably involved in taking our embassy staff hostage in the seventies, has declared that Israel should be wiped off the map, chants "Death to America" as often as humanly possible, and probably kicks puppies when nobody is looking. So why is Barack Obama willing to meet with Mahmoud without any preconditions, but won't debate John McCain unless the Arizona Senator agress to an entire menu of concessions?
We tried to get an explanation from the Obama campaign regarding this contradiction, but they seemed very unwilling to comment, and more then a little crabby that we even brought it up.
We talked to the McCain folks as well. While the campaign worker we spoke with would not divulge any information regarding the ongoing negotiations about the preconditions that must exist before Barack will sit down to debate the issues with John McCain, they are at least willing to put us on their calendar. They found it curious as well that Mr. Obamas is willing to talk to brutal dictators, thugs, and murderers without any preconditions but demands a laundry list of concessions from an American patriot before he is willing to be in the same room, talking about the direction of the country.
Rick Davis of the McCain campaign had the following to say about their troubles getting a commitment from Obama regarding debates: “We fear that our negotiations over joint town hall meetings are turning into a debate about process.”
One concession we do know that the Obama campaign has asked for involved the timing of the first debate. Barack would agree to a live, town hall debate only over the July 4th weekend; a time when most people are about as far removed from their televisions as Obama is from the idea of America producing its own oil. He seems to be taking the tree falling in a forest approach to the debates. After his disastrous performance against Hillary in Philadelphia last April; the one that forced him to declare that he would agree to no more debates, can you blame him for not wanting to pry himself from his teleprompter? All his gaffes have come when the words are his own, and the not the product of a speech writer.
We can only assume other concessions that he has demanded involve Obama friendly moderators, hand picked audience members, cherry picked questions, and the complete exclusion of Fox News.
We will see if the McCain campaign does actually find time for us and print an update when we are given their direct quotes.
We don't expect any cooperation from the Obama campaign, but after Barack stating in such a matter of fact manner that he would meet with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad or Castro with no conditions, what can they really say about refusing to discuss the direction of the United States with John McCain until the republican candidate agrees to a litany of preconditions. It makes you wonder who Barack Obama really sees as an enemy of America. |
| Brian Cherry is an Associate Editor for The New Media Journal. He was born, raised and lives in the state of MI and from his home in the far north pursues the two passions that have driven him since his high school days, writing and the study of Scandinavian history... |
