As clear as mud

John McCain, the "straight talk express" continues to hide his wealth from Americans.  Just about all of his rich lifestyle is due to his wife's beer company holdings.  They file their taxes separately, unlike the Clintons and the Obamas.  

Isn't it relevant to know what exactly McCain's second wife is involved in, since we see her by his side constantly?  I think so.

Cindy McCain: Release the tax returns!

A horrible debate

What a horrible debate.  Without going into the specifics too much, the hosts asked the most stupid questions.  They asked Obama about past associations and why he doesn't wear a flag pin (I don't wear one either, and I'm sure whoever is reading this doesn't) and they basically let Hillary ramble on about her usual solutions.  It was a "gotcha" game by the hosts and it was not good at all.  

There were 2 things I found interesting:

1. Hillary blasted Obama for knowing someone who was in a radical group 40 years ago.  Bill Clinton pardoned people from the same group.

2. Hillary basically admitted that she lied about sniper fire in Bosnia.

Old Candidate Q&A on Consitutional Issues

I was just made aware (via Reason) of a Q&A that the Boston Globe conducted with the presidential candidates back in December.  While most of the candidates have dropped out, the 3 (+ Ron Paul) who are still in it did answer questions and they are very revealing.

 

What I found very surprising is the candidate who would appear based on his answers to most agree with Ron Paul's view of the Constitution and the "War" on Terror in general, is Barack Obama.  They used similar language in their responses and would both offer good choices as far as civil liberties go.

 

Hillary's responses were in line with theirs, but she has waffled so much over her career that you can't trust anything that comes out of her mouth.

 

Richardson also showed a fairly good understanding of the issues, so its good that he's supporting the Obama campaign.

 

McCain's responses (and refusals to respond to some questions) show that he has a fairly weak mind when it comes to Constitutional issues and that he's most likely Bush #3.

 

After reading Romney's responses, I'm sincerely glad he dropped out of the race.  He may have taken Bush's policies even further.

 

Obama's responses are here: http://www.boston.com/news/politics/2008/specials/CandidateQA/ObamaQA/

McCain's responses are here: http://www.boston.com/news/politics/2008/specials/CandidateQA/McCainQA/

Ron Paul's responses are here: http://www.boston.com/news/politics/2008/specials/CandidateQA/PaulQA/

Religion in the news

Religion is like drugs.  It's OK to dabble in it a bit, but if you devote your life to it, the end result is not pretty.  Case in point: a 16 year old girl with 4 kids, pregnant 13-14 year olds, and a bunch of Mormons in a compound in TX.  Its a good thing Mitt Romney dropped out of the race, this would not have been good for him.  I know, I know, the Mormons officially disavow this shit, but still, it is their heritage.  

In other religious news, the head of another group who has been known to abuse children and the only head of a religious order who is a former Hitler Youth is visiting America.  

As Bill Maher said, "Cults get raided.  Religions get parades."