At present, the talk of judgment, especially of the political kind, is very loud in the American public sphere. Astonishingly, it is startlingly absent in the political decisions made by those very same people who seem to value judgment as a desirable personal trait.

The reelection of George W. Bush in 2004 clearly indicated that political sensibility had suffered a heart attack in America. His abysmal management of the two wars he launched and the current state of economy testify to the lack of prudence in the American people's decision to reelect him. In the past few days an avalanche of political decisions, made especially by Republicans, suggests that good judgment was now on life support.

What is political judgment anyway? I think it is an innate capacity to make good political choices. It is the ability to make decisions which are informed not just by existing political circumstances but also by a grasp of what is the public good. It is also a reflection of an ability to understand the nuances involved and display the tact and diplomacy necessary to ensure that good decisions are acted upon. Political judgment is the exercise of prudence and wisdom in politics at the expense of partisanship and selfishness. It is the privileging of long-term interests and the good of the largest number.

In short all the qualities that define political judgment are in essence antithetical to what we mean by the term "maverick."

Dictionaries define maverick as "An unbranded range animal, especially a calf that has become separated from its mother," sort of like Sarah Palin who sounds like one who has been separated from her mother ship, or "a dissenter". So a maverick is one who is either lost or one who breaks away from a group and is eventually lost. Neither is an indicator of good judgment or prudence.

John McCain insists that he is a maverick, and he and Palin are a team of mavericks. Unless they are asserting that the entire Republican Party has lost its marbles, has somehow gone brain dead, there is no virtue in claiming that being a maverick is a good thing. I think they are doing just that. Every time the McCain-Palin ticket insists that they should be elected because they are a pair of mavericks, they are saying that the Republican Party en masse has lost its capacity to make good political judgments and since they are not like the rest of the Republicans, they are a good bet.

McCain has demonstrated in my opinion, that maverick or no maverick, he lacks political judgment. Here are a few examples. In 2000, he called Christian conservative leaders as "agents of intolerance" and "evil influence on the Republican Party." Not very prudent given the fact that social conservatives form the backbone of the Republican Party.

His decision to support the war in Iraq, and his continued support for the Bush foreign policy suggests that when it comes to national security, McCain is no different from Bush. He is not a maverick on national security and therefore as devoid of political judgment as the Bush administration.

In recent weeks he has shown that far from good judgment, the man may not even be intellectually stable. His decision to suspend his campaign to campaign for a 700 billion dollar handout for the Wall Street showed that even his political gimmicks are silly.

His statement that "the fundamentals of the American Economy are strong" even as everything around him was coming down, so hard that he had to suspend his campaign to address the disasters in the "fundamentally sound" US economy; defines McCain – a man completely out of touch with reality.

Will it be good judgment to vote for a man who understands so little about the economy, when the economy is in doldrums?

Finally, his choice to put Sarah Palin a heartbeat away from American Presidency says it all. Sarah Palin is so awfully challenged in the attic, that if she does not fall flat on her face, it is for Republicans a moment for celebration. Peggy Noonan, a strong Palin supporter, gushed in the Wall Street Journal about Palin's performance in the Vice Presidential debate, "She is not a person of thought but of action." Exactly; action without thought - that is what we will get if we put McCain and Palin in the White House.

Look around you, see what eight years of governance without judgment have done to America. Do you have the good judgment to vote for change?

(Photo: Tom LeGro via flickr under a Creative Commons license)

Correct me if I am mistaken here, but I saw Palin on youtube being interviewed by Coucic Muchic (whatever her name is), and when asked about her foreign policy credentials, Palin mentions among other things, "the fact that every time Putin visits America, where do you suppose he flys over to get there? That's right Alaska!" I am still a bit in shock, she did'nt really say that??? I must've misheard something here.

Not sure what is there to complain about Palin though, Obama is not exactly a heavy weight when it comes to governance. Both are cut-out figures made for the TV nation. It seems to me he is a sort of perfect tailor-made Minority Presidential Candidate. Half-black Half-White, black enough but not a 'nigger' per se. Just the right percent of blackness to find acceptance everywhere in White America. What an amazing story. To defeat shoo-in Hillary Clinton, phew, how did he do that????

>> Look around you, see what eight years of governance without judgment have done to America. Do you have the good judgment to vote for change?

I don't think a single sensible Muslim person would support the republican party. But why would one support the opposition?

Why would anyone with a level of intelligence, vote for McCain/Palin. Ah, I know why, Palin stands up for "Joe Six Pack (the beer drinking, rooting, gun tooting, slam the American flag in your face Anglo-Saxon.)" Oh my god, give me a break.

I'm sorry, but Sara Palin and her cronies are nothing more than rural, fanatical Anglo-Saxon Christians, "Alaskan Red Necks." She would take honors in getting rid of every so called immigrant in this country. While there at it, get rid of those damn Blacks too, that should have done after the civil war.

McCain and Sara hardly represent America of today. They're 40 years to late, to espouse rural, good old boy politics. I think the American public is tried of cow boys, beer drinking, uneducated, angry Anglo-Saxons. America what's an intelligent, let's be inclusive of others, let's think before we react.

I agree that Obama may not possess the advance governance skills. Give me a break, Bush doesn't possess anymore than Obama, surely he can't do any worse. I mean really, the world hates Bush and looks at America as a bunch of imbeciles, for voting for a man like Bush. It's time for a change.

Joe Six-pack can't even figure out that he couldn't afford the house he took a mortgage out on; why should Joe 6pack have one of his own running the country? Its time for the urban education Americans to take over and give the country-bumpkins the boot. How can we be the premier country in the world when we might have a VP who's hardly ever been out of it?? Maybe if she could utter a non-scripted sentence in Education Standard English, she wouldn't come off as so dorky.

And McCain: good as a Senator, maybe not so good as a Republican President. His problem is not himself, but the Republican advisors who would surround him and push more ideology on the country rather than pragmatism. Few politicians today are man enough to chart thier own course past Presidents: many are simply products of the Party and are beholden to too many special interests to provide *leadership*.

meh, that should be "educated" and not "education"...I've been Palinized!

Omar G.

That was funny. "...I've been Palinized!"

It's time to kick "Joe SIX Pack out of the White House." No more RED NECKS!

>> It's time to kick "Joe SIX Pack out of the White House." No more RED NECKS! <<

Empty sloganeering means little here. I would'nt call the Bushites or Cheney or the neocons "Red Necks". They are not! They are all from the well-educated elite of America. Some from 'Oil Barron' backgrounds, some from the diplomatic corps. The Rednecks are simply the sub-set of American voters that they manipulated to get into power.

Which is the scary part of American politics. That you can gain hold of the most powerful country in the world by the votes of a minority of dimwitted wrestling maniacs and religious nuts. Which also highlights the impotence of the left in America, that they cannot find a large enough subgroup to vote them into power. How pathetic. I think it has all to do with corporations and capitalism and less to do with ideas and ideologies. "Money talks, bullshit walks" is no more true anywhere in the world than in the USA.

>Empty sloganeering means little here. I would'nt call the Bushites or Cheney or the neocons "Red Necks". They are not! They are all from the well-educated elite of America. Some from 'Oil Barron' backgrounds, some from the diplomatic corps. The Rednecks are simply the sub-set of American voters that they manipulated to get into power.

Which is the scary part of American politics. That you can gain hold of the most powerful country in the world by the votes of a minority of dimwitted wrestling maniacs and religious nuts. Which also highlights the impotence of the left in America, that they cannot find a large enough subgroup to vote them into power. How pathetic. I think it has all to do with corporations and capitalism and less to do with ideas and ideologies. "Money talks, bullshit walks" is no more true anywhere in the world than in the USA.<

Astute analysis as always(almost), hajibaba. You are correct about the neocons not being of the hillbilly stock. Left vs Right is a smokescreen. Red necks aka white trash constitutes the lowest caste in the American caste system, not counting what remains of the decimated Native population. Unfortunately they aren't a minority and you cannot win(ignoring voting fraud) the general election without the "heartland" vote.

Check out this gem :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaxECcTjCuw

Bush is hardly what I would call highly intelligent. As you stated, rich oil Barrons with money and a legacy of politics from families. Enough money to pay for an advance education. Doesn't add up to highly intelligent. Adds up to controlling, manipulative, corrupt, angry war mongering Anglo-Saxons.

If Republicans could figure out how to marginalize the Southern Rednecks, the religious fanatics, and return to New England conservatism (hawkish on foreign policy, fiscal conservatives). America could possibly return to a respectful position in the world (the Real Republicans).

This is the reality that we have to face. The Red Neck (Evangelical Anglo Saxon Christians) mentality is very prevalent in the psyche of the so called, "Bushites, Cheney, neocons." Just listen to the previous speeches of Bush. Bush stated, “Bin Laden, it's open hunting season”, “Bin Laden we're coming to get you”. They speak of American Christian Crusades, religious edicts.

Wow that sounds very intelligent Mr. Bush, Cheney.

>> The Red Neck (Evangelical Anglo Saxon Christians) mentality is very prevalent in the psyche of the so called, "Bushites, Cheney, neocons." Just listen to the previous speeches of Bush. Bush stated, “Bin Laden, it's open hunting season”, “Bin Laden we're coming to get you”. They speak of American Christian Crusades, religious edicts. <<

Do you really think they believe that themselves? I would suggest that they are simply speaking in the language of their voting base. I find it hard to believe that the Neocons or Cheney or for that matter dimwitted Bush really truly believe in "crusades" and "religion" per se. Ruling elites since the 1500s onwards have tended always to be very secular and cynical.

Sure, I believe that McCain, Bush and many of the other Republicans are staunch Evangelical Christians. The speech from Bush, mentioning the this great nation as a Nation of Christians will not bow down to those evil doers (Muslim fanatics). You have to listen to Bush and his cronies carefully. They truly believe that the crusade will happen and that Jesus (pbuh) will come and save them.

McCain himself has been attending the North Phoenix Baptist Church in Arizona with his family. He was raised in the Episcopal Church and attended Episcopal High School, an elite boarding school in Alexandria, Va., where he was required to attend chapel every morning and church on Sunday. At the US Naval Academy, church attendance was also required.

McCain also stated, “the Constitution established the United States of America as a Christian nation. But I say that in the broadest sense. The lady that holds her lamp beside the golden door doesn't say, “I only welcome Christians.” We welcome the poor, the tired, the huddled masses. But when they come here they know that they are in a nation founded on Christian principles.” That sounds pretty fanatical to me. I thought America was found by free men, who were seeking to get away from principles of Church and State as one. More clearly a nation not defined by any religion, but the principles of simply freedom.

Lionel Curtis wrote a book in 1938 called The Commonwealth of God in which he advocated that the United States and the British Empire should jointly impose a world government which would be presented as being the work of God: "I feel that when once the Protestant churches had learned to regard the creation of a world commonwealth as an all-important aspect of their work in realizing the Kingdom of God, an international commonwealth in the English-speaking world would come into being in a few generations"

Pat Robertson stated, “We evangelical Christians merely say to our Israeli friends, "Let us serve our God together by opposing the virulent poison of anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism that is rapidly engulfing the world."

There are plenty of educated, RED NECKS (Evangelical Anglo Saxon Christians) in America. David Ernest Duke (born July 1, 1950) is a former Louisiana State Representative, a candidate in presidential primaries for the Democratic and Republican parties, and former Grand Wizard of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan.

Angry Evangelical Christian leaders are a reality in America.

In 2004 when it was rumored that Kerry might have him as a VP pick- if McCain was interested he declared his undying loyalty to the GOP (Grand Old Party i.e.Republicans). He really was a bi-partisan player then.
McCain is not willing to kick his own brand to the curb- nor question it's sanity- but he has had to distance himself from the failures of this past admin if he is to have a chance to gain the presidency.

Actually, it 's a little johnny come lately to criticize McCain for his maverickness (actual new word- the proof? Palin said it in her debate-).
He has characterized himself that way for many years, and he actually did used to vote against his party- and did have a reputation for stolid honesty-

But McCain the candidate is not McCain the politician.

HIs nickname on Capitol Hill is McNasty-he is already known for his quick temper, and sporadic stances on issues-
Except for his consistency on deregulating FIRE (Financial,Insurance and Real Estate concerns) an tax breaks on capital gains and corporate welfare. In other words, the very very upper 1% rich. Google Keating 5.
There is more than enough to condemn McCain, Palin is doing a fine job sinking her own ship, fast rise, faster fall.

After his failed run at the presidency in 2000- and the smear by the Rove (Bush's Brain)playbook in S.Carolina -(Rove rumored that McCain's adopted daughter from Bangladesh was actually an illegitimate mulatto (half-black half-white)love child. The public bought it- andhis campaign sunk.
It changed McCain, he became much more cynical and bitter- he even, soon after, declared to a southern reporter who asked him about his Episcopalian roots- that he was a baptist. This was news to everyone, including his family, andsoon after he started attending his wife's hurch in Phoenix. He never did get baptized though (a prerequisite to being a baptist- hence the name) and it seems pretty obvious to
most that he decided if he couldn't beat them, he would join them.

And join them he did. The same dirty politics he once denounced as "there is a special place in hell for its practicioners" he has embraced with alacrity in this run.
Rove and his playbook are now running his show- the very one who ruined him before.
And his BFF(best friend forever) Phil Gramm has made a disappearing act after his unfortunate remarks that Americans are a nation of whiners. But it was Phil Gramm who autherored the 1999 Gramm-Leachey-Billey Act- which gutted all protections and regulations and set off a wave of megamergers and (Enron followed later that year- remember that?) and freed the field for predatory lending to start.

This is Bush's and McCain's direct legacy to modern economics- and the current crisis.

http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2008/07/foreclosure-phil.html
http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2008/07/december-surprise.html

Muslims can't point the finger either- they voted (agaisnt all common sense dictates)in a solid block for Bush in 2000- I'm glad to see them getting involved.

But it is funny- I have heard the proposition that most peple donot vote FOR a candidate or philosophy- but in a reactionary AGAINST a candidate. This is why, even though we all claim to hate them- negative campaigns are so effective.

And judging from the posts here- it is absolutely true.
We didn't have youtube last POTUS election either. That has made very armchair pundit an instant research expert. It is most interesting.

It has changed the way politics work now-

Salim- you have written this many many times- so please let me give you a little cultural insight.

Anglo-Saxons are the pre-roman british isles tribes.
The puritans who first came to America were white anglo saxon protestants. or WASPs. They came to be the political and economically powerful bluebloods of New England. They are generally referred to - if anyhthing- as Wesleyans, or Methodists, or Calvinists- but NEVER evangelicals.

The evangelical right- is also comprised a great deal by african -americans
(NOT N----RS HAJIBABA :mad: )
and mostly irish and germans and european whites-

It is an odd expression-I recommend you do not use it because it will be confusing and basically meaningless-

The term 'redneck'comes from the fact that many working men worked in the fields on their farms, and after working all day-the back of their necks would be burnt red. It started with honorable associations- just like the many midwesterners whose food we are enjoying and thriving on every day.

I think it's ok to ridicule one'e background- I do it all the time- but watch out for that shaudenfreude- if you're voting against stupidity- that is great- I am too- but it is not necessary to demean large groups of people- especially when it is inappropriately used- if you want to learn about real redneck trailer park white trash folk- google jeff foxworthy-


Just for background- Most americans don't even realize this- but the neocons were a very liberal group of Jewish left wing intellectuals out of Berkley in the '60s- who realized that the left was a powerless base from which to affect public policy and so becaem the new conservatives, or neocons.
Bill Kristol- a vehement zionist, and contributing writer and pundit to FOX NEWS- is the son of Irving Kristol,one of the founding memebers of the original neocons.
http://www.motherjones.com/news/dailymojo/2005/04/neocon_revolution.html
(I happened to be on that website getting the other stories- but one can google any name for an insight.)

That is one of the beautys of America, as Obama remarked in his last statement in tonight's debate- a young african american man, raised by a mother who had to get food stamps sometimes to support her family- with scholarships and hard work managed to go to the finest schools in the world, and look at where he is standing now.

If Obama becomes POTUS (President of the United States), maybe some of us in here will be able to send our children, or see our neighbors children get just such an education.
That is a reason to vote in this election- and voting FOR soemthing- not against.

>> They are not! They are all from the well-educated elite of America.

They represent well-educated and elite, but what is their level of education exactly?

>> McCain himself has been attending the North Phoenix Baptist Church in Arizona with his family. He was raised in the Episcopal Church and attended Episcopal High School, an elite boarding school in Alexandria, Va., where he was required to attend chapel every morning and church on Sunday. At the US Naval Academy, church attendance was also required.

Not necessarily a criticism, but the background does provide some information.

>> Muslims can't point the finger either- they voted (agaisnt all common sense dictates)in a solid block for Bush in 2000- I'm glad to see them getting involved.

Exactly. I believe that's because most Muslims don't celebrate liberal values. Like Christians, liberalism is considered a gateway to sin, and conservatism is the bedrock of the Shariah. How can a homosexual be given a right to marry or a pregnant woman be given the right to have an abortion? Muslims generally don't believe in do unto others as you would have done unto you or individual freedom.

Liberals and feminists with that background are considered to be the destroyers of Family values. In reality, there is no real Muslim position in relation to the current split. The support for the democrats is skin deep and just anti-Bush. At the core, it seems to me that Republicans represent more generally accepted Muslim values than democrats, the only difference is their support base is Christian.

We need to look at our generally endorsed political values before we start criticising the Republican party. They aren't much different.

Oh God. This website is going to the dogs. I can't believe this. Salim, who is the closest thing to a Redneck on this web-site is getting a lecture from Mrs.A. on rednecks. The end is near.

>> How can a homosexual be given a right to marry or a pregnant woman be given the right to have an abortion? Muslims generally don't believe in do unto others as you would have done unto you or individual freedom. <<

Here we go, he's at it again.

FREEDOM. FREEDOM. FREEDOM.
Gimme some o that Freeeeedom.
Oh yeah.

Ghulam's favorite song and solution to world problems. Maybe he can do a pilgrimage to lala land USA someday to see "Freedom in Action".

Political scientist, Harvard professor, Samuel Huntington wrote extensively is his book title, “Who Are We, The Challenges to America's National Identity.” He clearly states that America's identity (Anglo Saxon Elite) is an Anglo-Saxon Protestant society. He advocates evangelicalism as a part of America's survival.

The Black evangelicals that you mention are nothing more than a product of slaved indoctrinated Americans (religious indoctrination from centuries of slavery). Blacks have no real power with the evangelical elite. They are more like puppets, merely practicing something passed on from their slave inherited forefathers.

Samuel Huntington, “addresses American self-identity at the beginning of the 21st century and argues for a re-affirmation of the country's Anglo-Protestant heritage. In the work, Huntington is decidedly ambivalent over the role of Latino, principally Mexican, immigration to the United States and views a resurgent Anglo-Protestantism as essential to avoiding a bifurcated, disunited America.” “He identifies as core American values are under attack by the leaders of international commerce, persons with dual-citizenship, the liberal elite and Mexican Americans.[1] Huntington includes former President Bill Clinton, former Vice President Al Gore, political theorist Michael Walzer, and philosopher Martha Nussbaum under the label of "deconstructionists," and identifies multi-culturalism, cosmopolitanism, bilingualism as threats to American society. Furthermore he states that recent upwardly mobile immigrants, especially those who maintain dual-citizenship whom he calls "Ampersands," as well as international businessmen are eroding America's core values.”

The term WASP has many meanings. In sociology it reflects that segment of the U.S. population that founded the nation and traced their heritages to ... Western Europe... The term has largely negative connotations... Today... less than 25 percent of the U.S. population [is WASP]. Nevertheless they continue to... have disproportionate influence over... American institutions. The term... has become more inclusive. To many people, WASP now include most 'white' people who are not... members of any minority group (William Thompson & Joseph Hickey, 2005, Society in Focus).

Therefore, the term WASP is sometimes applied to individuals who are technically non-Anglo-Saxons, including people with:
Dutch origins, such as the Vanderbilt and Roosevelt families
German descent, such as the Rockefeller, Heinz, and Astor families.[5]
French descent, such as the Du Pont family
Scots origins, such as the Carnegie family.
Scots-Irish origins, such as the Mellon family.

Elite evangelicalism is essential for cultural Anglo-Saxon domination. They fear of immigrants (the vast amounts of Latinos in the country), a cultural revolution changing to a Latino dominated society. They also fear the spread of Islam across the world and more importantly here in the United States. The thought of millions of Americans (Anglo-Saxons) converting to Islam is terribly frightening almost inconceivable in their minds. They perpetrate these ideas of Islam being a threat, because they fear losing power and world domination. Evangelical ideology is essential to America's survival, so they say.

So, Salim-
Samuel Huntington, the racist- (and I don't use that term lightly, but he is proud of it) is your source for defining race?

Try this Harvard Professor-
http://www.cercles.com/review/r27/kaufmann5.htm

Samuel Huntington speaks only for Samuel Huntington.
Salim, where were you born and raised?

What do you consider liberal values Ghulam?
Politically- i pretty much disagree with just about everything you said- but that doesn't mean I don't wan to try to understand your reasons for saying it.

>> What do you consider liberal values Ghulam?

I didn't endorse any of the values. I just pointed out that criticism of neo-conservatives or the Republican party is shallow, when their values base isn't much different from the Muslim majority.

>> FREEDOM. FREEDOM. FREEDOM.
>> Gimme some o that Freeeeedom.
>> Oh yeah.

Show some integrity. Give up some of that Freedom and move to a Muslim country. If the United States is a failed non-muslim state, there is no compulsion to stay on. Anyway, I didn't talk about freedom. You need to read what I say, and maybe answer a question or two when your callous and shallow nonsense is debunked.