I thought Vilsack was good on The Daily Show

[skipos]

I had never seen him speak, but had heard mostly bad things about his "dullness" here. I have definitely seen politicians bomb on that show, but I thought he seemed pretty comfortable.

[Az]

1. After all the jokes about his name

I am pretty sure Jon was going to softball him no matter what.

[babylonsister]

2. I thought he was a yawn; he had one or two one-liners, but

meh. Not impressed. But Jon was good!

[Nite Owl]

3. He seems like a nice enough guy

but there is much to learn about what his plans for the country would be. I didn't like his putting the blame on the Iraqi's though as the reason to leave. We should leave because it was wrong to be there, because we are the occupiers.

[rusty charly]

4. he kept drilling "the culture of dependency" about iraq

like we didn't destroy the country. he actually said it's time for iraqis to start dying for their country- like they aren't doing that now, except they're taking american soldiers with them. jon called him on it but he repeated again. another meaningless catch phrase and it doesn't apply to iraq, it applies to american corporations.

anyone else get this?

[wtmusic]

5. "It's time for Iraqis to start dying for their country"?

Oh brother. :eyes:

[bobbolink]

9. "It's time for Iraqis to fight for their country, and ... die for their country."

Yup.

Wouldn't you like to listen to that sort of stuff being on the news all the time during his presidency?

GAK

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

6. I cringed a bit

when he said it's time for Iraqis "to start dying for their country." 600,000 isn't enough? I understand the point he was trying to make, but that comment bothered me. Not that I'm going to vote for DLC Vilsack anyhow, even though he does seem "nice."

[Lydia Leftcoast]

7. The last thing we need now is someone who is "nice"

Really.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

8. Absolutely right.

"Nice" is, well, nice, but didn't an awful lot of people vote for Dumbass Bush because they thought he was a nice guy who they'd like to have a beer with? While I'd just as soon not elect a foul-tempered asshole either, we can certainly do better then merely "nice."

[pa28]

11. He said that?

:wow:

Boy you are right. It seems like they have been doing so for quite some time and in large numbers.

[fernsibal]

14. I got the same reaction from it

Especially when he said "It's like a chemical dependency".......what the *&$%?? Yeah, if you look at the US as some kind of bad drug force-fed to the Iraqis until they are addicted...but even then--it's a Democrat political talking point I've been hearing lately--"it's time to let the Iraqis stand on their own"...patronizing neo-colonialist lameass remark. I'd never vote for that guy.

Speaking of Democratic political talking points, anyone see that documentary (the filmaker was interviewed by Amy Goodman on Democracy Now) that followed several congresspeople on their campaigns, including Tammy Duckworth? It's obscene and unacceptable for candidates to have to raise so many millions. These candidates were told they had to raise their first million alone, then Rahm Immanuel would drop in and put the screws to them---tell them they have to make 600k a week for the last weeks of their campaign. Still, the Repugs swooped in and dropped a million or two in smearing Duckworth, and she loses by 1000 votes or so.

[fujiyama]

10. Jon caught him on his

"Iraqis need to die for their country" BS. I found that an incredibly arrogant statement that makes little sense after it's our fault for fucking up the country in the first place.

He seemed decent enough as a person...and I think he has managed IA pretty well. I don't really know if he backed the war initially or not (I'm assuming he did though), but assuming he did back it, it shows poor judgment. I want someone that had better foresight to oppose the buildup to war when it seemed popular.

[Laurab]

17. Yeah Jon also brough up - the "you break it you fix it rule"

which, apparently Colin Powell said at some time. Vilsack did seem decent enough, but he made it sound as though THEY started this, and we're enabling them by staying there.

Not in the least bit impressed, nice guy, decent sense of humor, why he'd think he had a chance at President, I have no clue.

[fujiyama]

18. Delusions of grandeur I suppose?

It happens to a lot of politicians out there, including many of those running in the primaries...

[ConsAreLiars]

12. What a lame POS!

Blaming the Iraqis for the mayhem the suffer because of the PNAC game. A monster, and as evil as those who killed 2/3 million people. What a vile, ignorant glad-handing opportunist. Not getting my vote, if there was any question.

[originalpckelly]

13. He's very smooth...

I have to say I don't know enough about his position on the war for the entire war, to judge his qualifications, but his performance was good. He's got pretty good body language, he's well spoken, he seemed very intelligent, and he also talked about Iraqis having to die for their own freedom, and it sounds like he gets real democracy.

He might be a good contender.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

15. You were OK with him saying it's time for Iraqis to "die for their own freedom"?

They've been dying in droves already, and they never chose the "freedom" we've tried to impose on them by invading and occupying them for no good reason. If he's a good contender I'd hate to see the bad ones. I don't care how smooth he is or how good his body language is; I can't possibly vote for someone who thinks that not enough Iraqis have died yet for their phony freedom.

[MODemocrat]

16. I thought he was very good on Stewart's show

Jon Stewart has a way of bringing out the best in his guests, if he likes them. I'd never seen Vilsack
before, but was pleasantly surprised at his sort-of laid back personna.:thumbsup: