ANN COULTER: MCCAIN: PUMP THIS! (Pump, Then Drill!)

by Ann Coulter
July 2, 2008

Well, I guess we're all pretty relieved we didn't drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge back in 2002. What a disaster that would have been.

The vote on ANWR was almost entirely along partisan lines, with all Republicans, except a handful of "moderates," voting for drilling, and all Democrats, except a handful of sane Democrats like Zell Miller, voting against drilling.

John McCain opposed drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge because he polled soccer moms and found out they were against drilling. They thought it sounded too much like going to the dentist. McCain wanted to ensure that he remained beloved by the two pillars of his base: "centrists" and New York Times reporters.

Even Sen. Chuck Hagel voted for drilling in ANWR. But John McCain, "our" candidate, voted against it.

I guess we're beginning to see the problem of basing a political platform on the passing fancies of "centrists." These are people who have no opinions because they know nothing about national issues. They're the ones who check the "not sure/no opinion" box on polls regarding the legalization of cannibalism.

You can't blame them: They're not being paid to know something about national issues. Those people we call "senators" and "representatives."

But now, astronomical gas prices have forced even soccer moms to spend 10 minutes looking at a problem that their leaders were supposed to be thinking about for years. And the soccer moms are saying: Drill! Drill! Drill! Bobby, come down off of there! Stop hitting your sister! Where was I? Oh, yeah ... Drill! Drill! Drill!

Consequently, McCain recently switched his position to go along with the centrists. See, that's the downside of having chosen all your political positions by polling centrists: The moment they acquire any knowledge, they'll realize you're an idiot.

It's always the same argument. Year after year, the "moderate Republicans" so respected at The New York Times harangue us to dump the Christians, the conservatives, the Swift Boat Veterans, the "right-wing extremists," the gun-and-God clingers and the fanatical pro-lifers from our party so we can repel every American who voted for Ronald Reagan in order to win the votes of people like Christine Todd Whitman.

Yes, by all means let's clear out all that deadwood and pave the way for a 49-state landslide! (For the Democrats.)

Now that the two parties have finally selected their presidential candidates, it is time for a sober-- if not grim-- assessment of where we are.
Not since 1972 have we been presented with two such painfully inadequate candidates. When election day came that year, I could not bring myself to vote for either George McGovern or Richard Nixon. I stayed home.
This year, none of us has that luxury. While all sorts of gushing is going on in the media, and posturing is going on in politics, the biggest national sponsor of terrorism in the world-- Iran-- is moving step by step toward building a nuclear bomb.
The point when they get that bomb will be the point of no return. Iran's nuclear bomb will be the terrorists' nuclear bomb-- and they can make 9/11 look like child's play.
. . . we do not have the luxury of waiting for our ideal candidate or of indulging our emotions by voting for some third party candidate to show our displeasure-- at the cost of putting someone in the White House who is not up to the job.
Senator John McCain has been criticized in this column many times. But, when all is said and done . . . The choice between him and Barack Obama should be a no-brainer.
Obama And McCain (Thomas Sowell)
GOPUSA ^ | June 5, 2008 | Thomas Sowell

First of all I don't NEED YOU to tell me of McCain's record!! Got that? I'm am well informed. Yawn.

What's VERY clear is: OBAMA IS YOUR MAN! No trashing him, just trashing his opponent. Oh, you didn't know Obama was bad. You mean I need to spell out Obama for you too? Very impressive.

The liberals and MSM thank you along with Farrakin, Wright, et al. Yep, and of course Soros, T H Kerry, the Education Foundation and the left thank me too right? Oh that's right, they are the folks John developed the Reform Institute with. I guess they wouldn't thank me after all. They did thank John's top advisors though. They hired a number of them and paid them over $100,000 per year to do basically nothing. I guess the things they DON'T have in common with John must have been the reason. I mean their foundations, the foundations that supported the Reform Institute, their agendas are rather interesting don't you think. Why would those folks underwrite John and his advisors? Well, since you know all about John, I'm sure you have a good reason.

Could it have been the three McCain/Lieberman bills addressing global warming? Could it have been the specific one that was going to add a tax to Gasoline, Coal, Oil, and Natural Gas? Eh, who knows? Well then you would, because you are well informed. LMAO

I support you doing what you think you must. I cannot vote for this man.

We are two people who think pretty similarly on most issues and that is why we are both hanging out here. We both love our country. I very much appreciate having open dialog about our concerns heading into this election. This is a tough one. I love working hard for things I care about. I have always loved Presidential Election years and this one is not one of my favorites, but I still love it for the historic factor.

My young adult children were so bummed after Super Tuesday sealed the deal for McCain but I told them to cheer up and pay attention because they would be talking about the election of 2008 for the rest of their lives. This really is one for the ages. Anything can still happen. It is a long way until November and I think this thing hasn't even started to get interesting. I am not certain that it will be Obama and McCain on the ballot in November. 2008 reminds me too much of 1968 to think anything is for certain.

This is a great country. The thing I loved most about Ronald Reagan was his optimism. What would Reagan be telling us right now?

It is a long way until November and I think this thing hasn't even started to get interesting. I am not certain that it will be Obama and McCain on the ballot in November.

That statement just jumped out at me.

Hilliary's campaign is suspended, she didn't end it.

I think that this year the October Surprises (GOP and Democrat and *shudder* Hilliary's) are going to be the dirtiest and most effective in history.

Many have learned from Rath^er's mistake of not waiting longer to pounce on the media with his fake documents.

I think that if he would have waited until about 10 days before the election, the whole fabrication would have still been in the news cycle and it could have changed the outcome of the election back then.

This year, I'm looking forward (with trepidation) to what will be used. Especially by the Dems and Hilliary.

She doesn't want to be VP and have to wait for 2 years and 1 day to start her 10 year reign

Now that the two parties have finally selected their presidential candidates, it is time for a sober-- if not grim-- assessment of where we are. Actually I hadn't given it any thought. I thought I'd think about it in November... Isn't this rather pitiful. Seriously, haven't you made your decision by now? I made mine long before McCain began to turn around last year. I will NEVER vote for John McCain. I have looked at this past, and I will not support him for dog catcher in my local community. He can go back to Arizona and keep that head of his firmly implanted for the rest of his life for all I care. 26 years of it in Congress and the Senate were more than enough for me.

Not since 1972 have we been presented with two such painfully inadequate candidates. When election day came that year, I could not bring myself to vote for either George McGovern or Richard Nixon. I stayed home. Well, that may be true, but if Sowell took a long look at Nixon and McGovern and couldn't come down with a choice, he's go a lot of room to talk to me now.

This year, none of us has that luxury. While all sorts of gushing is going on in the media, and posturing is going on in politics, the biggest national sponsor of terrorism in the world-- Iran-- is moving step by step toward building a nuclear bomb. Well, believe it or not, I was aware of that. I have been for several years. And as this administration's time winds down, I have been askimg myself how lucky we have been to have a Republican administration basically ignore Iran. It took out it's white kit gloves and muscled North Korea into doing nothing, so it could be taken off the terrorism watch list. SAY WHAT????? Yep, we have been very lucky how this administration has dealt with North Korea, Iran. Iran and North Korea must be in some back room somewhere rolling on the floor at this very moment. Did we or did we not know that Iran was training terrorists, arming them, and sending them into Iraq to kill our troops? Did we warn Iran to stop or we would take action? No. Did we take action? No. Iran did what it wanted to and it is still doing it. So is North Korea. I'm sorry, Mr. Sowell, but are you fricken kidding me?

The point when they get that bomb will be the point of no return. Iran's nuclear bomb will be the terrorists' nuclear bomb-- and they can make 9/11 look like child's play. They sure can. And anyone with a grain of intelligence knew why we should have taken action against Iran long before this. Did we? Pray tell, what do we have Republican administrations for? Isn't it to stand up to terrorist states and prevent this sort of thing? Evidently not. And that being the case, please tell me why I should be motivated to vote for a guy that is far more globalist and leftist than Bush into office?

. . . we do not have the luxury of waiting for our ideal candidate or of indulging our emotions by voting for some third party candidate to show our displeasure-- at the cost of putting someone in the White House who is not up to the job. Tell you what, I didn't wait for my ideal candidate. If you think George Bush was my ideal candidate, you've aleady lost half your credibility. I have played along for quite some time. I didn't let my emotions drive me off the bridge. I put someone in the Whtie House who was supposed to be up to the job. I did what you are telling me to do now. And he was supposed to be the guy that would take terrorist states to task. What did he do with regard to North Korea, Iran, Syria, Hezbollah, Hamas, Fatah, and the Palestinians? He did nothing. With Hezbollah, Hamas, Fatah, and the Palestinians, he strong armed Israel to make a peace agreement with people who won't swear off destoying Israel. Is this the fulfillment of, "Terrorists and those who support terrorists, we are coming for you." Heck, I don't even remember the words now, but did we seek out the terrorists and those who helped them? Iran? Syria? Hamas? Hezballah? Fatah? And why did I vote for this guy?

Senator John McCain has been criticized in this column many times. But, when all is said and done . . . The choice between him and Barack Obama should be a no-brainer. Oh it is. Neither is fit to lead this nation. And when push comes to shove, John McCain, a man who is as comfortable with taking George Soros and Teressas Heinz Kerry's money as he is mine, will never get a vote from me. Why would Soros, Kerry, the Education foundation and a host of other leftist bain tanks support John McCain? What do they know that most Republican's don't?

Obama And McCain (Thomas Sowell)
GOPUSA ^ | June 5, 2008 | Thomas Sowell

Thomas, I like a lot of your work. This was beneath you.

2001/00/00 McCain founded the Reform Institute funded by George Soros' Open Society Institute, Teresa Heinz Kerry's Tides Foundation, several other non-profits. CapnsQtrs Malkin WND Contains information on Juan Hernandez and numerous McCain Campaign staff from 2000, that found potitions at the Reform Institute Contains information on who funded McCain's efforts on Campaign Finance Reform, Comprehansive Immigration Reform and a number of Global Warming bills...

I support you doing what you think you must. I cannot vote for this man.

We are two people who think pretty similarly on most issues and that is why we are both hanging out here. We both love our country. I very much appreciate having open dialog about our concerns heading into this election. This is a tough one. I love working hard for things I care about. I have always loved Presidential Election years and this one is not one of my favorites, but I still love it for the historic factor. I can agree with all that. I too like the ability to discuss these matters with others. I do think this is a historic turning point in this nation's history. It is the turning point where many Republicans will be determining that they can go no lower than what they have already stooped to, for the party. Other Republicans won't be that far down the road yet. But when they see what McCain does, and who is chosen to follow him, they will have to face reality. Sooner or later, it's coming. I've watched us sink lower every election since 1988, and I don't see that turning around.

My young adult children were so bummed after Super Tuesday sealed the deal for McCain but I told them to cheer up and pay attention because they would be talking about the election of 2008 for the rest of their lives. As much as I tend to agree, I suspect the next four years will trump even that. This really is one for the ages. Anything can still happen. It is a long way until November and I think this thing hasn't even started to get interesting. I am not certain that it will be Obama and McCain on the ballot in November. 2008 reminds me too much of 1968 to think anything is for certain. I wasn't following things quite as closely in 1968, but I was tuned in. I've been interested in our nation's politics for a long time. I used to watch the news faithfully before I entered my teens.

This is a great country. The thing I loved most about Ronald Reagan was his optimism. What would Reagan be telling us right now? I believe that Ronald Reagan would be telling us what we've been told my entire life. We can't affort to sit this one out and let the lefists win. Sadly, the positive Ronald Reagan could never have imagined we'd have a leftist Republican of this magnitude witin a few months grasp of the Oval Office. We are in a catch 22. We can't vote for Obama. We can't vote for McCain.

McCain will pass anything he wants with 375 House and 90 Senate votes. If he goes off the reservation, we're as doomed as if the Democrat Obama did it himself. And from John's history, I cannot fathom him not going off the reservation. He hasn't been able to go four years in his Congressional or Senate life without doing it. What makes anyone think he can now?

Like I said, I appreciate your response and your plan to do what your concience tells you. It has been nice hearing from you.

There are probably some things McCain could do that could sway me, but it is highly unlikely he’d do them. He would need to disavow much of his cherished ‘maverick’ history, including:

1) his stand on Amnesty

2) his stand on LOST

3) his stand globull warming

4) his stand on China

If he did those AND selected a stellar conservative as VP, I’d vote for him. Short of that, my vote goes to a conservative write in.

I do not want to participate in the downfall of the GOP, which I believe is near mortally wounded for nominating McCain. I will not contemplate settling for a moderate just because the GOP has lost its bearings.

I did not like Flip Romney, but I would have voted for him. I did not like Huckabee, but I MAY have plugged my nose and voted for him. I wasn’t high on Fred Thompson at all, but would have voted for him too. The difference between those 3 flippers and McCain is that each had vowed no amensty and were highly critical of McCain-Kennedy. Each had emphatically rejected LOST. And none of them, save Huckabee, was pushing for Gorelike nonsense to address the hoax of ‘climate change’. Sure they all flip-flopped, but it was in the more conservative direction, and we could hold their feet to the fire based on their promises.

If McCain wins - and I think he likely will because of the putrid competition - then he will see it as a victory for the brand of GGG republicanism he espouses - green, guilt-ridden, and globalist.

So unless McCain has an awakening, Duncan Hunter is getting at least one vote in WA state for President.

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