Bob Barr - Libertarian, former Republican congressman from Georgia.

We need to live by the basic principles that made this country successful: spend within our means, defend liberty (not offend liberty), allow the American people the freedom to be innovative and prosperous.

I think John McCain was the big winner yesterday. Clinton is seriously hurting the eventual nominee’s chances in November. Bless her heart.

This is OT but I thought it was hilarious. Apparently John McCain is just another Republican Welfare Queen, feeding at the government trough. He gets a tax-free government pension for being 100% disabled.

IOKIYAR!

A quote from the link in SB’s comment (emphasis added):

Sec. 4.15 Total disability ratings.

Total disability will be considered to exist when there is present any
impairment of mind or body which is sufficient to render it impossible
for the average person to follow a substantially gainful occupation;
Provided, That permanent total disability shall be taken to exist when
the impairment is reasonably certain to continue throughout the life of
the disabled person. The following will be considered to be permanent
total disability: the permanent loss of the use of both hands, or of
both feet, or of one hand and one foot, or of the sight of both eyes, or
becoming permanently helpless or permanently bedridden.

…still tangential to the original post:
More telling of the 10% victory is this quote, “CNN exit polls are showing that half of the people people willing to vote for her aren’t willing to vote for Senator Obama”. I would surmise that there are equivalent statistics from Senator Obama’s camp stating some percentage of his followers who would not vote for Senator Clinton either. All that to say, it appears to me that we already have a three party race (Clinton, McCain, & Obama). In the current atmosphere, I could envision the “second place” (note the absence of the term ‘loser’) finisher from the Democratic Convention launching a third party run.

You get the government you deserve.

H. B., I’m sure I deserve better.

Jim, perhaps you deserve better, but as a whole, I’d have to go with Keats–we are getting the government we deserve. Voters are hopelessly underinformed about the issues. (You think McCain can’t keep the Sunni and Shi’a straight? Ask someone on the street about it.) Consider the outrage over gas prices: Yes, the oil cos. make insane profits. But we citizens backed a war in the Middle East that has cut supply while we continue to drive up demand with gas-guzzling SUVs, inadequate public transportation and short-sighted planning policies. What on earth do we expect? We punish our politicians when they tell us the truth (or we call them unpatriotic), and then we complain that we have a weak field?

p.s. If I sound a little grumpy today, well, all I can say is that the Democratic primary circus is getting on my last nerve.

I’m pretty sure I was promised a war for oil if I voted for W and damn it I’m still waiting for it.

Southern Beale:

I did a little checking and it appears that McCain is getting about $60K a year, tax free. The spin is interesting, on the one hand he says he’s quite healthy. Otoh, his staff says his payments are related to his continuing problems with his injuries received while being a POW. Interestingly they didn’t become a problem till after he had regained command of a fighter squadron and retired from the navy.

I don’t think it’s OT.

Politicians, of any stripe, are opportunistic and will say or do whatever they think will get them to the next level of the game.

Jay:

You got your war for oil, we’re just not winning–yet. I’m sure that will change now that General Petraeus is moving over to take his former boss’s job. I wonder how he’ll feel if his replacement gets to have Bush jettison him because he won’t “go along to get along”.