McCain Wins Gold for Flip-Flops

[kevinmc]

The Hill - Bill Press

He may be almost 72, but John McCain is still amazingly agile. He’s performed more flip-flops than any other presidential candidate in history.

This week alone, McCain has already flipped on three issues. As recently as July 7, he pledged he would never, ever raise any taxes. But now he says he’s open to raising Social Security taxes. Four years ago, he opposed a ballot initiative to end affirmative action in his home state of Arizona. But this year, he supports the measure. As recently as a year ago, he was dead set against offshore drilling. But now, it’s the centerpiece of his campaign.

Three big flip-flops in one week! And, remember that’s on top of earlier flip-flops. He used to be against the Bush tax cuts; now he’s for ’em. Used to disparage religious conservatives; now he loves ’em. Used to be against waterboarding; now he’s all for it.

Some may criticize McCain for his inconsistency, but they don’t understand. McCain is just trying to make it easier for voters. If they disagree with him on any issue, they need not despair. Within a couple of days, McCain will change his mind.

And they called John Kerry the Great Flip-Flopper? John McCain flip-flops so much he makes John Kerry look like the Rock of Gibraltar.

[elocs]

1. Here's a McCain flip/flop on offshore drilling:

http://www.pensitoreview.com/2008/06/28/mcflipflop-mccain-reverses-stand-on-offshore-drilling-in-just-18-days/

I see that Obama now has a tv add that answers the one approved by John McCain that blames Obama for the high prices of gas. Yes, even though he is the Democratic presidential nominee, the junior senator from Illinois is the person who is solely responsible for the high price of gas. :sarcasm:

[McTorture]

2. All aboard the straight talk express

McCain Defends Vote On Waterboarding
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/02/20/politics/main3852533.shtml?source=search_story

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The House passed the US Torture Bill that retroactively pardons all members of the Bush administration for torture.

McCain argues that torture works. Sure torture works. It worked with the Medieval Inquisition during the 12th and 13th century. And it worked again with the Spanish Inquisition during the 16th century, when, to gain a confession of heresy, and because it believed they were a threat, the Catholic Church waterboarded Jews and Protestants.

Torture surfaced its ugly head again with the Salem Witch Trials of 1692 when the guilty were burned alive.

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To gain a confession of heresy and because it believed they were a threat, the Catholic Church waterboarded Jews and Protestants in the 16th century.

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The Spanish Inquisition - (16th century)
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In order to interrogate the accused, the Inquisition made use of torture, but not in a systematic way. It was applied mainly against those suspected of Judaism and Protestantism, beginning in the 16th century.

"In order to interrogate the accused, the Inquisition made use of torture, but not in a systematic way. It was applied mainly against those suspected of Judaism and Protestantism, beginning in the 16th century. For example, Lea estimates that between 1575 and 1610 the court of Toledo tortured approximately a third of those processed for heresy.<31> In other periods, the proportions varied remarkably. Torture was always a means to obtain the confession of the accused, not a punishment itself. It was applied without distinction of sex or age, including children and the aged."

Introducing a cloth into the mouth of the victim, and forcing them to ingest water spilled from a jar so that they had impression of drowning.

"The methods of torture most used by the Inquisition were garrucha, toca and the potro. The application of the garrucha, also known as the strappado, consisted of suspending the criminal from the ceiling by a pulley with weights tied to the ankles, with a series of lifts and drops, during which arms and legs suffered violent pulls and were sometimes dislocated.<32> The toca, also called tortura del agua, consisted of introducing a cloth into the mouth of the victim, and forcing them to ingest water spilled from a jar so that they had impression of drowning (see: waterboarding).<33> The potro, the rack, was the instrument of torture used most frequently.<34>"

"The assertion that "confessionem esse veram, non factam vi tormentorum" (the confession was true and free) sometimes follows a description of how, presently after torture ended, the subject freely confessed to the offenses.<35>"

- Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_Inquisition#The_trial

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Medieval Inquisition - (12th and 13th century)
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Torture methods that resulted in bloodshed, mutilation or death were forbidden.

"Torture was used after 1252. On May 15, Pope Innocent IV issued a papal bull entitled Ad exstirpanda, which authorized the use of torture by inquisitors. Torture methods that resulted in bloodshed, mutilation or death were forbidden. Also, torture could be performed only once. However, it was common practice to consider a second torture session to be a "continuation" of the first. People were also tortured by getting hung by their wrists, and have weights hung by their ankles."

- Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medieval_Inquisition#Torture

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[McTorture]

3. Affirmative Action

"...All men are created equal..."

- Source: Declaration of Independence (1776)

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness." - Complete quote

These words were written by 'white aristocrats' that owned 'black slaves'

...They knew full well that they never fully intended to meet the obligations of the contractual agreement that they had

entered into as they later signed the Constitution, a 'contractual agreement' defining obligations between individuals and the state.

IMHO, After 220 years of institutionalized racism, its nice to see that we as a nation are doing something, anything, to pay reparations to the very people we once treated as property.