Bent Corner

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It looks like presumptive Democratic Presidential nominee Barack Obama is taking a page from Republican Presidential nominee John McCain’s playbook and might now be willing to go along with offshore drilling.  He is willing to “refine” his position on offshore drilling.  From the AP:

Shifting from his previous opposition to expanded offshore drilling, the Illinois senator told a Florida newspaper he could get behind a compromise with Republicans and oil companies to prevent gridlock over energy.

The problem I have with drilling for more oil whether it be up in no-mans land up in Alaska or off our shores is that we don’t control the world oil market.  The oil market is global.  OPEC controls most of the global market.  The members of OPEC decide just how much oil will be made available on the world market.  If we were able to increase the available oil on the oil market by drilling off our coasts or up in ANWR, who’s to say that OPEC wont just decrease their oil production to keep prices where they are?

The other problem I have with drilling off our shores is that I remember when it was done off the coast of California and they were never really good at it.  As a kid I can remember swimming in the Pacific Ocean near Santa Barbara and getting coated with a gummy tar like substance that came from the derricks right off the coast.  My father would have to remove the gunk from my brother and me with gasoline and a rag.

We aren’t going to drill ourselves out of this problem. We need to concentrate on ways to use less oil, not try to come up with new ways of increasing the amount of available oil.  Some of us just use way too much gasoline.

Tags: ANWR, Barack Obama, Flip-Flop, Off-Shore Drilling, Oil, OPEC

Presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain spoke yesterday on a litany of topics including Iraq and Afghanistan. He tried to point out where he and presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama differed on on Iraq, mainly on the so-called “surge”. From Real Clear Politics:

Where Senator Obama and I disagreed, fundamentally, was what course we should take. I called for a comprehensive new strategy — a surge of troops and counterinsurgency to win the war. Senator Obama disagreed. He opposed the surge, predicted it would increase sectarian violence, and called for our troops to retreat as quickly as possible.

The problem with McCain’s comment is that although what he said was “technically” correct, the Obama campaign had already retroactively removed all proof that he opposed the surge from his website.

That means it never happened. 

It’s clear that McCain is grossly out of touch when it comes to politics of the 21st century. McCain should know that before critisizing Obama on an issue, he should first refer to the official Obama website or his MySpace page to see if the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee still holds that perticular stance on the issue.  He very well may have flip-flopped refined his position, like he did on FISA and or Federal campaign finance. 

John McCain is now left with egg on his face.  I don’t really know what that saying means.  I only know that it’s not very good.

Tags: Barack Obama, FISA, Flip-Flop, Iraq, John McCain, Surge

In recent Newsweek poll, Barack Obama leads Republican nominee John McCain by just 3 percentage points, 44 percent to 41 percent. Last month’s Newsweek poll, Obama led McCain by 15 points, 51 percent to 36 percent.

What a month it has been.

What’s changed? Well, Obama flip-flopped on the following issues:

• Reneged on the promise to participate in Federal campaign financing.
• Voted with the Republicans to give retro immunity to the telecoms for their part in illegal warrantless eavesdropping.  This was after promising to help filibuster the bill.
• Altered his stance on late-term abortions by claiming that a woman’s mental health should not be a factor when it comes to an exception for the health of the mother.  He stated that only a serious physical issue — and not a mental issue — should be considered.
• Flip-flopped on his pledge to remove all combat brigades from Iraq within 16 months of taking office by saying the he retains the right to “refine” his plan after taking office.

Can Obama’s slide be attributed to his flip-flops? It’s hard to say. I changed my mind about Obama when it became known that he had chosen a racist, hateful crackpot to be his spiritual adviser.

Tags: Barack Obama, Flip-Flop, John McCain, Newsweek

I feel as though liberals are quickly running out of reasons to vote for Barack Obama.  He seems to be flip-flopping on one issue after another in an attempt to appear more to the so called “middle America”.  Not that I even really know what that exactly is.

First he backed away from the rock solid 16-month time table for pulling out of Iraq by saying that he was holding on to the right to “revise” (flip-flop) his Iraq plan if he received new information from commanders on the ground.  He then “revised” his promise to oppose giving retroactive immunity to telecommunication companies by stating that he would vote for a bill that did just that.

When he caved on Iraq and then FISA, I figured the only thing that was left was the idea that liberals had to vote for Obama, or McCain would stack the Supreme Court with judges that would take away a woman’s right to an abortion.

Now I’m not even sure of that.

Via TalkLeft, quoting the AP:

In an interview this week with “Relevant,” a Christian magazine, Obama said prohibitions on late-term abortions must contain “a strict, well defined exception for the health of the mother.”

Obama then added: “Now, I don’t think that ‘mental distress’ qualifies as the health of the mother. I think it has to be a serious physical issue that arises in pregnancy, where there are real, significant problems to the mother carrying that child to term.”

Not only does is sound as though Obama doesn’t respect a woman’s right to choose, it sounds like he doesn’t respect the seriousness of mental illness.  Both physical illness and mental illness are very serious issues.  Nether should be taken any less serious then the other.

To put this into context, it seems that Obama would not allow Andrea Yates, the Texas woman that drowned her five children to recieve a late-term abortion.  That’s a position I would expect John McCain to have.

Tags: Abortion, Andrea Yates, Barack Obama, FISA, Flip-Flop, Iraq, Mental Distress, Relevant Magazine, Supreme Court

From the Herald-Mail:

A Hagerstown resident told the City Council on Tuesday that she intends to file an ethics complaint against Councilwoman Kelly S. Cromer over a traffic stop in which Cromer was given a warning for allegedly speeding last month near City Park.

During a council meeting, Cathy Ridenour said a “can of worms” had been opened after Cromer was given a warning rather that a ticket on May 26 for allegedly driving 43 mph in a 25-mph zone — an infraction that carries a $90 fine.

“I, as a tax-paying citizen of Hagerstown, am asking that the (Washington County Ethics Commission) investigate in full the incident that occurred in regards to Councilwoman Cromer being stopped …,” Ridenour said. “My belief … is that no one is above the law and using one’s position of authority is inexcusable, unprofessional and wrong.”

Now this is just getting silly. Unless Cathy Ridenour knows something that the rest of us don’t, she has no basis to accuse Cromer of anything. She certainly has no basis of going to the Washington County Ethics Commission.

Even if Cromer somehow used her position on the City Council to get out of a ticket — and there currently is no evidence showing that she did — it’s the police officer that made the decision to NOT give her a ticket.

I think I’m going to do my best John Kerry impersonation now and flip-flop on this. At first I was ready to criticize Cromer for trying to get out of ticket, but now I’m not so sure if she has anything to be criticized about. She claims she didn’t say “Don’t you know who I am“. She claims that since the officer obviously knew who she was, she asked him if she needed to look through her luggage for her license.

The more I think about it, the more I believe she didn’t ask the officer if he knew who she was. She obviously knew the shit-storm that was created when her fellow City Council member Alesia Parson-McBean said that when she was stopped by the police.

Of the two versions of the story — Cromer’s and the officer’s — it’s Cromer’s that makes the most sense.

Tags: Alesia Parson-McBean, Cathy Ridenour, Flip-Flop, Hagerstown, Hagerstown City Council, John Kerry, Kelly Cromer, Police, Washington County Ethics Commission