McSame's Torture Flip-Flop: "I Was Against It Before I Was For It"

[Michael Tee]

http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2008/02/mccain-against.html

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/02/16/mccain_drops_the_torture_ball/

[sirs]

Kinda like Oblather's flip-flop, "I voted for Judge Roberts before I voted against him"

[Xavier_Onassis]

Kinda like Obama's flip-flop, "I voted for Judge Roberts before I voted against him"

Except that (a) this was not actually said by Obama and (2) it does not invove anticonstitutional cruel and unusual punishment.

[sirs]

Actually, it pretty much was.  You must have missed the link to the Chris Wallace - Oblather interview.  Too bad, it was priceless

[Xavier_Onassis]

I was against Roberts both before and after.

Roberts has his prettiness going for him, unlike Scalia and Alioto, who are ugly, and Bork, who was funny-looking.

[sirs]

Which in no way refutes Oblather's blatant flip flop

[Xavier_Onassis]

I could actually give a sh*t about flip flops. The assumption behind all flip flop arguments is that any politician is prohibited from ever changing his mind.

In reality, it is just stupid fodder used by hack admen to appeal to the stupid. The easiest way to influence a stupid person is to get him to see the issues in strictly black and white terms. Virtually no issue is that simple. Not being stupid, I find flip-flop ads to be less than useful in terms of helping me decide for whom I should vote.

Any good leader who will not change his mind in light of new evidence, who will not learn from his mistakes, is vastly preferable to some stubborn hack who clings to stupid decisions to avoid looking like he is flipping or flopping.

Juniorbush flip-flopped in the number of troops needed in Iraq.  More progress would have been made had he flip-flopped earlier.

If Obama eventually opposed Roberts, I say good for him. I do not deem good looks to be a requirement of judicial expertise, even if it is helpful to get a nomination.

[sirs]

I could actually give a sh*t about flip flops.

Well, that's "obvious"

[Plane]

   What makes flip flopping objectionable is that we vote for one thing and get another.

    Another objectionable element is the tendancy of politicians to change their mind based not on evidence of fact , but on polling evidence that the audience wants to hear something new.


    I agree though that a reasonable person needs to change his mind once in a while , do we know anyone like that?

[Michael Tee]

Seems to me that we love it whenever a politician flips to our side and hate it when he flops to the other.

[Xavier_Onassis]

    I agree though that a reasonable person needs to change his mind once in a while , do we know anyone like that?

Seems to me that we love it whenever a politician flips to our side and hate it when he flops to the other.
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On occasion, whether a change of mind was merited depends on the perspon making that call.
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Most often, in the usual flip-flop ad, there is no substantive issue involved. They are just cheap shots, and like most ads for everything else, are intended to send a message that people will not actually analyze, like "How do you spell relief? R O L A I D S" or Coke: "Catch the Wave", "Army of One", "Army Strong".

If everyone ignored every flip flop ad, it would be no loss for anyone.
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AUTHOR:   Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803?1882)
QUOTATION:     A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines.