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George Will Loses His Head (bashes McCain)
Washington Post ^ | September 23, 2008 | George Will

Posted on 09/23/2008 11:06:06 AM PDT by rubeng

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." . . .

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...


TOPICS: Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: alteredtitle; economicpolicy; georgewill; mccain; mccainpalin; obama

1 posted on 09/23/2008 11:06:06 AM PDT by rubeng
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To: rubeng

What the heck is wrong with this guy? Sound like he’s now in the tank for Obama. I used to have respect for him.


2 posted on 09/23/2008 11:07:32 AM PDT by rubeng
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To: rubeng

Will’s criticism of McCain’s attack on Cox is not without justification from a conservative standpoint. However, Will’s own simplistic vitriol is beneath him and serves only to provide Obama’s side with talking points.


3 posted on 09/23/2008 11:09:27 AM PDT by Behind Liberal Lines
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To: rubeng

Will, was right McCain proves he is a loose cannon.


4 posted on 09/23/2008 11:10:54 AM PDT by boomop1
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To: rubeng

George Will comes from the “Dark Side” of conservatism. He lives in a world dominated by the drive by media and hears little from fly-over-country. His life is baseball and liberals. He can be safely ignored.


5 posted on 09/23/2008 11:10:57 AM PDT by norwaypinesavage (Global Warming Theory is extremely robust with respect to data. All observations confirm it)
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To: rubeng

A lot of the conservative talking heads don’t like the fact that McCain is trying to reach out to middle class people, and calling it like it is. There is nothing wrong with “moralizing” when the limousine liberals who run the big financial houses knowingly took irresponsible risks, trusting in their golden parachute severance deals and their status as “too big to fail.”

A lot of conservatives hate middle Americans almost as much as the liberal Democrats do.


6 posted on 09/23/2008 11:11:05 AM PDT by Thane_Banquo (You can put lipstick on a donkey, but it's still just a jackass.)
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To: rubeng

I lost respect for George Will a few years ago. I don’t know what happened to him, hanging around too much with Sam Donaldson and Cokie Roberts I guess.


7 posted on 09/23/2008 11:12:22 AM PDT by mrsmel
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To: rubeng
Ping to me to read later. Skimmed through it. Wow to the last paragraph. McCain's definitely got a hot head and holds grudges. Unfortunately, you really can't trust which side he's going to come down on.
8 posted on 09/23/2008 11:13:13 AM PDT by beaversmom
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To: rubeng

I’ve been trying to read his article all morning. That jewish review site has been down.


9 posted on 09/23/2008 11:14:03 AM PDT by Calpernia (Hunters Rangers - Raising the Bar of Integrity http://www.barofintegrity.us)
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To: rubeng

Gotta go with George on this one, especially when McCain recommended Andrew Cuomo to take his place.


10 posted on 09/23/2008 11:14:09 AM PDT by dfwgator
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To: Behind Liberal Lines

Blah balh blah blah. MCLIBERAL is the problem here. He’s not Conservative, will not get a MAJORITY of Conservative votes, and thus WILL LOSE. The GOP is dead if they start blaming the voter for THEIR MESS.


11 posted on 09/23/2008 11:14:18 AM PDT by VRWC For Truth (Palin is sugar on a turd ... No mas Juan "Traitor Rat" McAmnesty)
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To: rubeng

didn’t Cox introduced kind of short sells in 2007 that are now banned after market meltdown ?


12 posted on 09/23/2008 11:14:21 AM PDT by Y2000
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To: rubeng; Admin Moderator

You need to correct the title.


13 posted on 09/23/2008 11:14:25 AM PDT by beaversmom
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To: rubeng

They all take their orders from the same Globalists.


14 posted on 09/23/2008 11:16:28 AM PDT by Paperdoll ( on the cutting edge)
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To: rubeng

So what George, are you going to do endorse Obama now?


15 posted on 09/23/2008 11:17:02 AM PDT by TheWasteLand
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To: rubeng

George Will has a son with Down syndrome. Not that that by itself should make him vote for McCain/Palin, but why should he be in effect supporting the candidate who’s for letting unwanted babies die after birth?


16 posted on 09/23/2008 11:21:14 AM PDT by Verginius Rufus
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To: rubeng

The bar is set higher for McCain. All Obama has to do is make sure his fly is up every morning, and people say he’s “Presidential”. McCain can make one mistake, and it follows him around for a week.

It’s not fair, but there you go.

And, frankly, I am not married to Cox. Somebody ought to get the axe.


17 posted on 09/23/2008 11:22:08 AM PDT by gridlock (The Democrats have attacked Motherhood. Now, if they attack Baseball and Apple Pie, we got it made!)
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To: rubeng

George Will has a point. McCain is doing what he always does, bash the Republican(Chris Cox) and praising the Democrat(Andrew Cuomo). McCain said he would appoint Cuomo tor replace Cox.


18 posted on 09/23/2008 11:24:11 AM PDT by upsdriver (I am voting for Sarah Palin and what's his name?)
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To: rubeng; Admin Moderator
Posted earlier under different title
19 posted on 09/23/2008 11:25:18 AM PDT by EveningStar (McCain-Palin 2008)
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To: mrsmel

McAmnesty wants to replace Cox (long-time conservative) with Cuomo (long-time NY liberal) and we are supposed to trust him on nominating judges?

Dude can’t be trusted.


20 posted on 09/23/2008 11:26:27 AM PDT by Jack85321
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To: rubeng

George Will’s opinion actually mattered back when Reagan was President, but that was over 20 years ago. Now he’s just another beltway talking head. It is funny that some McCain haters are giving kudos to Will on this thread.


21 posted on 09/23/2008 11:28:11 AM PDT by ozzymandus
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To: rubeng

Obama’s new campaign commercial with George Wiil quotes coming in...3...2...1


22 posted on 09/23/2008 11:34:55 AM PDT by Obadiah (I remember when the climate never changed, then Bush stole the election.)
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To: rubeng

George Will thinks Chris Cox would make a better President than John McCain. Therein lies the source of the vitriol from Will. The tragedy of it is that George Will might be right on that. Chris Cox is a steady hand and a good conservative. McCain is bashing a good guy and wants to promote the guy who did the CRA stuff that kicked off this crisis. The travesty is that Will is denouncing McCain’s personal approach, even though this column is a bit doing the same. Not his best column.


23 posted on 09/23/2008 11:36:12 AM PDT by WOSG (Change America needs: Dump the Pelosi Democrat Congress!!!)
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To: rubeng
Cox was at least partially responsible for the repeal of the uptick rule on short sales last year and that did contribute at least a little to this crisis. Without the uptick rule, hedge funds were able to buy credit default swaps and then short banks into bankruptcy and cash in big time on the swaps.

This was of course not the whole problem but to say Cox is blameless in this mess is simply untrue.

24 posted on 09/23/2008 11:43:09 AM PDT by drangundsturm
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To: rubeng
will is an “inside the beltway” liberal... he always has been. He writes a good article now and again but one thing that he loves more than baseball, is to bash a Republican to become the star of the party circuit in DC... plus... who trusts someone that always wears a bow tie... and he looks like Alfred. E. Newman... my apologies to Al.

LLS

25 posted on 09/23/2008 11:47:58 AM PDT by LibLieSlayer (GOD, Country, Family... except when it comes to dims!)
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To: upsdriver

I agree. McCain should put the axe away and act more presidential.

Saying he would fire Cox was unnecessary. All he was trying to do was show that he was distancing himself from Bush. There were many other ways to show that.

Then, saying (on 60 Minutes, no less) he would hire Cuomo was incredibly dumb.

Had he researched Cuomo more, he never wold have suggested him. See below...

Andrew Cuomo - How the youngest HUD Secretary in history gave birth to the mortgage crisis
Village Voice ^ | August 5, 2008 | Wayne Barrett

http://www.villagevoice.com/2008-08-05/news/how-andrew-cuomo-gave-birth-to-the-crisis-at-fannie-mae-and-freddie-mac/


26 posted on 09/23/2008 12:02:27 PM PDT by detch
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To: rubeng
What the heck is wrong with this guy? Sound like he’s now in the tank for Obama. I used to have respect for him.

George Will has the ethics of a pig (sans the lipstick). He dumped his first wife and three kids(incidentally, like Sarah and Todd Palin, she and Will were parents to a Down Syndrome child at the time) for none other than the daughter (Lally Weymouth) of Washington Post publisher Katherine Graham! 'Course he can't help himself when he refers to McCain's "cheating" on his first wife (one difference, though, McCain's first wife (Carol) supports John McCain while Will found all of his possessions on the front lawn of his home when his first wife found out about his cheating).

And as far as "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," Will's second wife (Mari Maseng) was on the campaign staff of Bob Dole, whom Will was constantly buoying as even-tempered (BTW, I love Bob Dole precisely because his temper is as bad as John McCain and he would have made a heck of a leader but that doesn't excuse Will's hypocrisy).

Finally, as far as greed and corruption goes, Will should know a thing or two about it as a former board member of Conrad Black's Hollinger Inc. where he met for exactly one day a year for $25,000! Google George Will on Wiki for all of the details.

27 posted on 09/23/2008 12:07:52 PM PDT by meandog (please pray for future President McCain, day minus 130-Jan. 20--and counting)))
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To: VRWC For Truth

As I said earlier, Will’s policy critique of McCain is not without merit. However, by framing it as personal attacks it comes off, not as an endorsement of conservatism, but a series of vague criticisms that can be twisted as an endorsement of Obama.


28 posted on 09/23/2008 12:08:16 PM PDT by Behind Liberal Lines
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To: rubeng

“It is arguable that, because of his inexperience, Obama is not ready for the presidency. It is arguable that McCain, because of his boiling moralism and bottomless reservoir of certitudes, is not suited to the presidency. Unreadiness can be corrected, although perhaps at great cost, by experience. Can a dismaying temperament be fixed?”

Yep, Will can be snooty and too inside the Beltway, but here he is mostly showing bad political manners. After the enthusiasm for Palin and the increasingly unacceptable thought of a Obama presidency, Will is still saying things that heck of a lot of Republicans/conservatives agree with concerning McCain, but have decided to stay mum about because they view Obama as many times worse.

But is McCain temperamentally suited to be president? Probably not, but Obama isn’t either, and he’s unsuited and unready in so many more ways.

The worst choice since WWII, they’re both terrible, and Will has to butt in and remind us once more.


29 posted on 09/23/2008 12:09:34 PM PDT by Will88
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To: upsdriver
George Will has a point. McCain is doing what he always does, bash the Republican(Chris Cox) and praising the Democrat(Andrew Cuomo). McCain said he would appoint Cuomo tor replace Cox.

Personally, I wouldn't mind replacing Cox with Tony Resko. At least the crook knew how markets worked; Cox is a thorough boob, another "Heckuva Job Brownie"!

30 posted on 09/23/2008 12:13:32 PM PDT by meandog (please pray for future President McCain, day minus 130-Jan. 20--and counting)))
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To: Jack85321

Well I certainly don’t trust Barry Hussein even more, and at least McCain has Palin, so McCain it is. NEVER Obama, no way, no how.


31 posted on 09/23/2008 12:20:54 PM PDT by mrsmel
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To: upsdriver; Jack85321
<1>1. George Will has a point. McCain is doing what he always does, bash the Republican(Chris Cox) and praising the Democrat(Andrew Cuomo). McCain said he would appoint Cuomo tor replace Cox.

2. McAmnesty wants to replace Cox (long-time conservative) with Cuomo (long-time NY liberal) and we are supposed to trust him on nominating judges? Dude can’t be trusted

FYI: In 1994 Christopher Cox was appointed by President Clinton to the Bipartisan Commission on Entitlement and Tax Reform...

32 posted on 09/23/2008 12:21:32 PM PDT by meandog (please pray for future President McCain, day minus 130-Jan. 20--and counting)))
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To: dfwgator

Other than the fact that he doesn’t give specific examples where Obama is so much worse, I can’t find anything in Will’s article to seriously disagree about. We are genuinely screwed with McCain and will have to fight with him at least 40% of the time if he gets elected. This is definitely part of that 40%.


33 posted on 09/23/2008 12:35:22 PM PDT by Vigilanteman (Are there any men left in Washington? Or, are there only cowards? Ahmad Shah Massoud)
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To: Behind Liberal Lines
However, Will’s own simplistic vitriol is beneath him and serves only to provide Obama’s side with talking points.

Channeling his inner Queen of Hearts, John McCain...

Despicable in my book...

FMCDH(BITS)

34 posted on 09/23/2008 1:48:25 PM PDT by nothingnew (I fear for my Republic due to marxist influence in our government. Open eyes/see)
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To: WOSG
It's way past time for accountability in Washington. The head of the SEC should be fired. Dodd, Frank and a bevy of other democrats should be jailed for their complicity in the Fanny Mae/Freddy Mac fiasco.

A lot of places where I have disagreed with McCain but not here. In fact, one of McCain's assets is that he will hold people accountable. But as POTUS he can't fire Dodd or Frank, he could fire Cox and imho he would have been right to do it.

35 posted on 09/23/2008 2:00:21 PM PDT by jwalsh07 (MSM Lied, Journalism Died. RIP 2008)
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To: rubeng

George Will was a huge Giuliani supporter in the primaries and would always attack McCain during that time as Rudy was crashing and burning. I predicted he would be very bitter and sure enough he is.


36 posted on 09/23/2008 5:19:24 PM PDT by acsuc99
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To: jwalsh07

“It’s way past time for accountability in Washington. The head of the SEC should be fired. Dodd, Frank and a bevy of other democrats should be jailed for their complicity in the Fanny Mae/Freddy Mac fiasco.”

1. The head of the SEC is one of the least culpable guys in DC.
2. Being a socialist incompetent is not illegal. Wish it were, cause Dodd and Frank are culpable.

the liberals and media are blaming ‘free markets’ and Gramm and other folks who had nothing to do with the fannie mae subprime mortgage fiasco. I think we need to stop the blame game and get back to simplicity: What is the problem? What should we do to fix it? What will work?

“A lot of places where I have disagreed with McCain but not here. In fact, one of McCain’s assets is that he will hold people accountable.” - If you dont know what went wrong, you wont hold people properly accountable. I like his spirit but McCain’s reliability to do the right thing will be no better than the current crowd. Best you can say, Obama will be far far worse, and push all the wrong ideas for all the wrong reasons.


37 posted on 09/23/2008 6:36:32 PM PDT by WOSG (Change America needs: Dump the Pelosi Democrat Congress!!!)
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