The sound of banjo music is haunting me...

[Bret Callentine]

Okay, some say that this part of the Deck has gotten a little mean spirited. Well, before Gary pulls out his banjo and starts playing kumbaya, how about a little experiment...

I thought I would start a thread with one simple request...

SAY SOMETHING POSITIVE ABOUT A CANDIDATE YOU DON'T SUPPORT

I'll start,

I am very impressed with the way Barack Obama reaches and connects to people as if he were talking one on one, even though there may be thousands of people in the audience.

[Valerie Molinski]

Sarah Palin has cool glasses.




And good teeth.

[Stan Austin]

Cindy McCain had some of the BEST looking jeans I've ever seen when she and John were doing the NASCAR start in New Hampshire on Sunday.

[Stephen Eisel]

Obama will not be the first community organizer to become the head of state.

[Phil Florian]

Wow, a few posts in and it is over already. Brett, I really appreciated the effort. Regardless, I feel McCain has some real strengths in terms of knowledge of the military, how it can be used and even likely how it should be used. I think he really does want to make decisions he believes in and not those that the party wants him to always believe in. I think McCain will be far more moderate on social issues than people think right now. If he weren't appealing to his somewhat turgid base, he would likely admit that some stances of the Far Right are ridiculous. If he loses, he will likely return to the more maverick personality he displayed for years prior. Likely, he will be like Bob Dole in 1997...suddenly he became this reasonable, warm and funny man that honestly never showed up once during his bid for the presidency. What is it about the run for the white house that turns people into someone they aren't?

As for Stephen's derailment, he reminds me of a funny button (and now bumper sticker) of a similar vein: "Jesus was a Community Organizer, Pilate was a Governor." Funny funny.

[Stephen Eisel]

As for Stephen's derailment, he reminds me of a funny button (and now bumper sticker) of a similar vein: "Jesus was a Community Organizer, Pilate was a Governor." Funny funny.

Barabbas was the community organizer not Christ. Christ was a preacher.

[Jim O'Bryan]

Barabbas was the community organizer not Christ. Christ was a preacher.

You sure about that?

Christ was a preacher?

You sure about that?


.

[Stephen Eisel]

Barabbas was the community organizer not Christ. Christ was a preacher.

You sure about that?

Christ was a preacher?

You sure about that?


.

He was not a politician

[ryan costa]

The best thing I can say about McCain is to contrast him with Bush and Cheney. Bush and Cheney come across as seeing the U.S. government and military as their personal cash cows. McCain does not give me that impression.

I was disappointed that Stephen's graphic of Lenin, Hitler, and Castro did not include Mussolini. I feel Fascist Italy is under represented in World War II films.

[Bret Callentine]

well that didn't take long.

Thanks Stephen.

but, as long as the train is already derailed....

"Jesus was a Community Organizer, Pilate was a Governor."

I find it curious that the party that finds it offensive to mix government and religion is the same one trying to compare their candidate to Jesus Christ.

And correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't remember Jesus going to Rome to join the Senate.

And again, if I'm not mistaken, Pilate did not want to pass judgement on Christ. When a decision had to be made, Pilate essentially voted "PRESENT" and passed final judgement off to the crowd. In the end, it was the people that condemned Christ to the cross, because Pilate was not willing to risk his political position on the chance of being unpopular or wrong.

[Phil Florian]

Brett, in starting this thread I think you have happened upon a nice parallel to real politics. Both Obama and McCain vowed to run a clean campaign free of mudslinging and low blows. You suggested the same thing with this thread (a noble cause, I might add).

Within moments the thread was derailed by one party which then seemed to open the door up to even more and so on and so on. It is a self-defeating idea to try and start something positive in politics. We even had the line, "well, since this was already derailed..." which implies that since it was done once, we may as well continue the derailment without any real effort to try and right the train. I find that fascinating.

[Brian Pedaci]

At one point in time, I'd have been OK with a McCain presidency. I hope that, should he end up winning, McCain can shake off the handlers and the neocon advisors who have co-opted his candidacy and he can get back a little closer to the guy he was in 2000.

Sarah Palin's got to be one of the most charismatic characters to come out of the Republican party in recent memory. She fakes sincerity better than any politician I can recall, even better than Bill Clinton did.

[Jim O'Bryan]

Barabbas was the community organizer not Christ. Christ was a preacher.

You sure about that?

Christ was a preacher?

You sure about that?


.

He was not a politician

You sure about that?



.

[Gary Rice]

Not to stray too far off Bret's topic, but at least with the present economic woes, it's nice to know that my open-backed banjo, when upended, would make a great collection basket...

As for saying something nice about ANY of these candidates....

Well....

Umm....

Ah....

They all seem to have nice smiles...

I suppose we'll just have to figure out which one smiles best...

[Bret Callentine]

If Gary Rice can't come up with something positive, you know we're in trouble.

So as of 7:47am, Friday, September 19, I officially declare the American People : SCREWED!