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Commentary - Robert Cox: Iraq is where the terrorists are now

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Jul 12, 2007 12:00 AM (406 days ago) by Robert Cox, The Examiner
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WASHINGTON (Map, News) - Listening to the Iraq war debate on Capitol Hill and around the country, I cannot help but think of Willie Sutton.

Sutton robbed more than 100 banks in the course of a criminal career that spanned four decades, from the late 1920s until 1952, when he was arrested for the last time. But Sutton is even more well-known for a line that was famously — and falsely — credited to him.

The legend goes that when Sutton was asked during a newspaper interview why he robbed banks, he replied, “Because that’s where the money is.” Sutton later adopted the line attributed to him by that enterprising reporter as the title for his 1976 autobiography, “Where the Money Was: The Memoirs of a Bank Robber,” and the legend became fact. Sutton was proud that the line attributed to him became shorthand for suggesting people look for the most obvious answer first.

The case is often made these days (especially by my friends on the left) that because the majority of Americans surveyed in opinion polls do not support a continued U.S. military presence in Iraq, the Bush administration should “listen to the people” and bring U.S. troops home. The same people advancing this argument point to each American and Iraqi casualty as “proving” that the U.S. should withdraw.

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When challenged on their position, many of these same people will claim that they are not “anti-war” but “anti-this war,” invariably adding that they supported the invasion of Afghanistan after the Sept. 11 attacks because that’s where the people who attacked us were.

According to recent Department of Defense and CIA estimates, al Qaeda now has between 5,000 and 20,000 fighters operating in Iraq. Al Qaeda itself claims to have as many as 12,000 fighters in Iraq, but do we really want to take Osama bin Laden’s word for anything? While no one in this country knows for sure just how many jihadists are in Iraq, it seems reasonable to believe that there are thousands of them — making Iraq home to the single largest concentration of al Qaeda members in the world.

In a tape released last fall shortly after the U.S. mid-term elections, a man who identified himself as Abu Hamza al-Muhajir said, “The al Qaeda army has 12,000 fighters in Iraq, and they have vowed to die for God’s sake.” He also said there were another 10,000 unequipped fighters ready to join them.

So it would seem that however it may have happened, the people who were responsible for Sept. 11 have now massed their forces in Iraq. All of which raises a question: If the U.S. were to withdraw all of its forces from the Middle East tomorrow and were to suddenly learn that al Qaeda had assembled 10,000 to 20,000 armed jihadists in Madagascar, Paraguay or Antarctica, what would most Americans expect President Bush to do about it?

I would like to propose that polling organizations consider adding a few new questions to their next survey, such as:

» Would you support the United States going to war in a country that was found to be a base of operations for many thousands of al Qaeda members?

» If the United States were engaged in armed conflict with al Qaeda fighters in a particular country, would you support withdrawing U.S. troops before the jihadists had been defeated and driven out of that country?

» Which country has the largest number of al Qaeda fighters in the world? Should the United States be engaged militarily in that country?

While no American wants to see U.S. troops put in harm’s way, it seems unlikely that a majority of Americans would support exiting Iraq if they fully understood how large a presence al Qaeda now has there, how that compares with its presence elsewhere in the world, and just how much manpower and resources our enemy has put into Iraq.

To my friends on the anti-war left, I ask simply this: If we are not going to fight al Qaeda in Iraq when we know it is there, then where and when do they propose we should fight it?

To paraphrase Willie Sutton: You fight al Qaeda in Iraq because that’s where al Qaeda is.

Robert Cox is a member of The Examiner’s Blog Board of Contributors and is president of the Media Bloggers Association.

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Comments from Examiner Readers

5:51 AM MST on Wed., Aug. 20, 2008 re: "Timothy Carney: Shocking! Windmill owner wants subsidies!"

 Examiner Reader said:
Folks I am going to ask a big favor of you..a friend of mine who has moved to the island of kythera,Greece is in the throes of will they or wont they get wind power on the island,,problems aplenty..could you send this article to him to help him in his quest. Here is e-mail address;james@kythera-family.net Thank you if you can...Geocoroneos@netzero.net

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11:55 AM MST on Mon., Aug. 18, 2008 re: "Timothy Carney: Shocking! Windmill owner wants subsidies!"

 Examiner Reader said:
I've watched Picken's closely, he seems legitimate. As people have already mentioned he stands to profit from this venture. He requires our government to build and infrastructure that would allow for the energy produced by his wind farms to be sent to areas outside the heartland. The natural gas based cars are for fleets of cars not for the average citizen (I'm waiting for the volt). Most of you find yourselves in a bit of a pickle, you want cleaner renewable energies but you don't like big business. I loathe big government, as should any one who loves freedom and knows history. Big business needs to be regulated, we should see to that. We should not stifle new green energies because we don't trust big business; we should regulate big business because we don't trust them, let their greed power our homes and chevy volts, and let them compete with other greedy American business. I'd rather pay greedy Americans than transport 700 billion of our dollars to other countries.

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10:01 AM MST on Mon., Aug. 18, 2008 re: "Timothy Carney: Shocking! Windmill owner wants subsidies!"

 Examiner Reader said:
If he didn't own them you would be calling him a hypocrite.

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9:45 AM MST on Mon., Aug. 18, 2008 re: "Should felons have the right to vote? - NO: Felon disenfranchisement is actually a good idea"

 Examiner Reader said:
This article is flawed on so many levels, but I'll just touch on one here. People who have committed felonies and served their time deserve, on release, all of their rights back. The entire point of our prison system is to rehabilitate, yet when someone gets released we disenfranchise them and the system by saying that we don't trust them with a basic responsibility, like voting. It's hypocritical to say that a man being released from his debt to society is "free" when he can't do simple things like find a good job or live in "this" neighborhood or talk to "that" person. And it's made ten times worse when we deny them the most important right we have as Americans, and that's the right to better our situation and government by VOTING. You're effectively saying that an ex-con doesn't deserve any more rights than those he had while in prison except for a better view.

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9:26 AM MST on Mon., Aug. 18, 2008 re: "Meghan Cox Gurdon: A glorious spectacle built on government repression"

 TurkeyRidge said:
Chicoms probably got idea from AmLibs who did the same to our American cities in the 1960's. It was called Urban Renewal. Only difference is speed.

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10:22 PM MST on Sun., Aug. 17, 2008 re: "Timothy Carney: Shocking! Windmill owner wants subsidies!"

 Examiner Reader said:
When you all make billions are start handing out hundreds of millions of dollars at a time to push what you think is a good agenda and get mocked -- then you can start all this hullabaloo nonsense spouting off about corporate and political conspiracy to take everything you have. Since when have you green promoting, hippie land, liberal socialists promoted such green ideas as wind and solar, and then immediately criticize people for directly spending billions to follow your goals. Of course he wants the venture to not be in the red but to be an evergrowing business venture. That's what people with minds and degrees do. Stop sitting in your hippie coffee shop drinking a Chai Tea Latte out of styrofoam and petroleum-made plastic criticizing people at least making a real dent in the carbon footprint when you can't even stop using $.03 worth of stuff out of selfish and lazy reasons. I really will never check this post ever again but wanted to take this chance to let you all have it.

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2:46 PM MST on Sun., Aug. 17, 2008 re: "Timothy Carney: Shocking! Windmill owner wants subsidies!"

 Examiner Reader said:
Communicating visually via print excludes the sound of the Greek chorus quietly humming in the background, "Drilldrilldrilldrill....."

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1:45 PM MST on Sun., Aug. 17, 2008 re: "Timothy Carney: Shocking! Windmill owner wants subsidies!"

 Phil said:
Pickens is a very devious & cunning scam artist. He has a long history of corporate raiding of Oil companies. He uses stealthy dealing and unethical business practice to acquire wealth. He destroyed Phillips Oil company, Gulf Oil... etc. He has caused a lot of unemployment. Pickens donated 165 million to golf program at Oklahoma State, got the Katrina deduction , paid no tax, then had the 165 mil invested in his own hedge fund. The California Proposition 10 is another scam venture that benefits his Natural Gas company in with taxpayer subsidies. His son was given probation for a stock fraud scheme in Dec. of 2007. Pickens paid $300000 to the victims of his son's fraud. How that for Family values? It is really difficult to tally all the ruin this guy has done... Is this guy to be trusted with any plan? His

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12:04 PM MST on Sun., Aug. 17, 2008 re: "Timothy Carney: Shocking! Windmill owner wants subsidies!"

 Frank said:
Google "Pickens & water & eminent domain" and you'll get the actual story. Pickens is betting that water will soon be the new oil. He wants to sell the water to big cities in Texas. He's bought a bunch of land in the Texas panhandle. The land sits over the Oglallah reservoir, a reservoir relied upon by midwest farmers, a reservoir formed by ice-age melt so that it does not replenish quickly. He's formed a water district and is using eminent domain to take people's land to run his water. But so far he's still blocked. Pickens wants the wind farm and the power lines so he can run water alongside it. He's trying to use the warm fuzzies of being green to get his right of way so that he can suck the Oglalla dry, make billions of dollars, ruin the livliehood of many many farmers, and destroy much of America's agriculture. You'd think any journalist worth his salt would mention this, no?

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12:48 AM MST on Sun., Aug. 17, 2008 re: "Timothy Carney: Shocking! Windmill owner wants subsidies!"

 Examiner Reader Winslow Boynton said:
For myself the article didn't have serious content. The technologies for the top power pods is not advanced enough. The ones I saw on TV used DC generators with conversion to AC. That requires brushes and commutators which were long ago removed from cars. More brainpower must be used to have AC generators and drive trains to accomodate the normal power grid. Also- the ones on TV required weekly maintenance, thats too expensive. winslowgb@verizon.net WINSLOW BOYNTON 134 Becker Ave Northampton Pa. 18067

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10:18 PM MST on Sat., Aug. 16, 2008 re: "Timothy Carney: Shocking! Windmill owner wants subsidies!"

 Examiner Reader said:
I think Carney raises some good points. Part of his plan involves continued reliance on expensive natural gas for transportation, when we could be switching to electric cars instead. Why should I buy a natural gas powered car, if I can charge my electric car hooked up to a few solar panels on top of my garage? Why should the taxpayers finance a national wind energy grid, when local solar/wind hybrid systems could directly generate enough for power for most of our needs? Seems like a national energy grid serves to keep the control of the majority of power generation in the hands of the largest utilities, or investor groups, at the expense of locally generated power systems which could be municipally owned and focused on public service, good paying jobs and not primarily aimed at profits for stockholders. I'd prefer to see the two parties disengage from their Imperial ambitions, (i.e. stop their damned wars, and start investing in locally based decentralized public power generation. IMHO

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5:19 PM MST on Sat., Aug. 16, 2008 re: "Timothy Carney: Shocking! Windmill owner wants subsidies!"

 Examiner Reader said:
good article,but the real point is left out.its all about our carbon footprint.saving this planet if you will.giving a tax break to pickens is ok by me.he does mention saving the planet from time to time.i have never ever heard a texas oil millionaire say crap about the planet.aren't those southern christians supposed to be stewards of the planet according to thier book,which obviously they never read.

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12:33 PM MST on Sat., Aug. 16, 2008 re: "Timothy Carney: Shocking! Windmill owner wants subsidies!"

 Examiner Reader said:
This opinion piece illuminates nothing. Pickens has been open in discussing his financial interest in wind energy development and has invested heavily in it. Also, don't overlook the fact that he's 80 and doesn't need any more money. (I'm trying to get past the Swift Boat scum.) That said, T. Boone Pickens plan is spot on. It was surreal to see him on Larry King with Ed Begley, Jr. agreeing with each other. I hope there are government subsidies and tax incentives. I hope Wall Street begins to pay attention and that there will be a lot of job creation with the introduction of wind and solar power. If we don't get behind this technology now, we'll be buying it from the EU. Finally, this isn't a Pickens vs. Al Gore thing. Pickens is a business man and Al Gore is a public servant turned messenger. They're both visionary and they're both right. It's time this country stopped being scared of everything and grew a pair. Ask your grandparents how good it felt to be self sufficient

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12:01 PM MST on Sat., Aug. 16, 2008 re: "Timothy Carney: Shocking! Windmill owner wants subsidies!"

 Wa Ho said:
It is not the "Wind Machines" that we should be worried about, they will at least provide a long-term clean energy benefit, whatever the intial cost. What is more horrifying is Pickens' plan to pump out the Ogallala Aquifer and pipe it to Dallas and others. The Ogallala Aquifer provides water for up to 60% of US produce and Pickens is planning to drain it for his own profit under the subtrefuge of public good. No water in the Aquifer means no water for food growth. You think $4.00 gas is bad, how about $15 bread...

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9:57 AM MST on Sat., Aug. 16, 2008 re: "Timothy Carney: Shocking! Windmill owner wants subsidies!"

 Examiner Reader said:
T. Boone Pickens is a traitor who paid millions to the Swift Boat Veterans for "Truth", then denied paying the reward to Kerry's swift boat mates (they designated the earnings to a charity group that serves injured vets) who answered his "$1 Million Challenge" and proved SBV"T"'s lies were wrong.

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9:05 AM MST on Sat., Aug. 16, 2008 re: "Timothy Carney: Shocking! Windmill owner wants subsidies!"

 Examiner Reader said:
OK, then. Let us burn more coal. After all, birds thrive on coal burning power plants! And God forbid this rich man become richer. What I'm really trying to understand is if this means Carney hates solar energy, too. PV cells take lots of energy to manufacture, and -- gasp -- rich manufacturers and installers get richer because of -- gulp -- subsidies. Why doesn't Carney mention solar in his essay? California's solar power would be a minute fraction of what it is without subsidies paid, by taxpayers. Perhaps there's no target to aim at when ripping solar power. One thing I don't see in the essay is a solution. Carney tells us what's wrong with wind power, hydro power and hybrid cars, but he offers no solution(s).

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6:42 AM MST on Sat., Aug. 16, 2008 re: "Michael Warren: Congress not interested in probing lawyers scam"

 Ivan Fail said:
Unless and until majority electorate Consumers and the business community join hands ---, seize and impose majority electorate administration and full disclosure control over all phases of all 50 state attorney "discipline" bureaucracies --, we will continue to be ripped off, fleeced, bullied, exploited and enslaved by the lawyers. Currently the attorney "discipline" process is owned, administered, operated and controlled by the lawyers. That is a "fox guarding the chicken house" process. Continuing to try to use the lawyer owned, operated and controlled Congress and the lawyer owned, operated and controlled Courts to "shovel the rotten apples out of the legal profession" has to be one of the most stupid, impotent, tunnel visioned and "doomed to failure" missions in history. Effective clean up and accountability HAS to take place at the state attorney discipline level first! If we fail to do that the lawyers will write the "obituary" of our freedom in fine print legalese.

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5:57 AM MST on Sat., Aug. 16, 2008 re: "Timothy Carney: Shocking! Windmill owner wants subsidies!"

 5th Estate said:
Gore was mocked and dismissed, but Pickens' newly-minted opinion is promoted by the business press because only businessmen can be respected (Riiight). The biz-press is functioning as a PR firm as it often does (e.g/ Enron, Health Savings Accounts, big companies deserve bailouts whilst individuals deserve debtors prison, and so on). Changing the energy infrastructure WILL require taxpayer contributions,the question is who gets the best return? As wind, sun and water are public resources it should be communities who benefit first and foremost--otherwise it will be business as usual where private corporations control and charge the public for public resources which the public has already subsidized whilst the majority of profits go to the largest shareholders who then avoid the income taxes that would otherwise constitute the re-payment of the tax-payer loan. The energy business may be new but the business model is old.

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5:37 AM MST on Sat., Aug. 16, 2008 re: "Timothy Carney: Shocking! Windmill owner wants subsidies!"

 Robin said:
Wind turbines don't displace any CO2, are extremely inefficient, are a developers dream come true as far as subsidies and double depreciation go and are taking money and time away from finding good solutions to clean up energy generation. Thank you for a thoughtful article.

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1:52 AM MST on Sat., Aug. 16, 2008 re: "Timothy Carney: Shocking! Windmill owner wants subsidies!"

 Barry W said:
Whoever said the rich weren't going to make a profit? Nobody. The issue is about dependence on foreign oil...foreign intrigues...foreign anything. Why can't we be independent? Because you've been sold on the interdependence of the world markets. In other words we have to be a part of the global market. Crud on that. At least Pickens is doing something...risking something...taking a risk nobody else in the country seems to want to take....and with his own money. Sure, he'd like subsidies...they existed once before...but how in the heck are we going to build the hundreds of thousands of megawatts of wind energy capability without investment...without risk? They aren't going to magically appear. And do you really want nuclear? Really? The wind and sun can provide all we need today...with today's solar energy...not the energy from millions of years ago. Today's solar power today. Pickens is a hero...rich or poor...don't be jealous...applaud.

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11:52 PM MST on Fri., Aug. 15, 2008 re: "Timothy Carney: Shocking! Windmill owner wants subsidies!"

 Examiner Reader said:
Two quick things to consider. 1) Boone Pickens conveniently also owns all that natural gas that you read about in "[h]e would shift natural gas from electricity generation to transportation, replacing a third of our gasoline consumption with natural-gas-powered cars." 2) Boone Pickens owns massive (extremely lucrative) water rights in a giant Northern Texas aquifer, and sadly (for Boone Pickens), water districts don't have eminent domain. However, now that the electric transmission line routes have luckily been approved by Texas, using eminent domain, they are willing to run water pipes along the same route and install them at the same time. Isn't that neat? Regardless, wind power (and solar and cellulose biofuels) are the future and I'd rather subsidize that than oil any day - and don't think for a second that we don't subsidize oil far beyond providing "security" in war zones.

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8:53 PM MST on Fri., Aug. 15, 2008 re: "Timothy Carney: Shocking! Windmill owner wants subsidies!"

 Examiner Reader said:
While I would have no remorse if T Boone Pickens fell off the face of the Earth tomorrow, your pathetic attempt to discredit wind power just because Pickens will profit from it is...well..pathetic. The stupid bird argument has been disproved by tons and tons of research, and whatever source you're sighting in this article is clearly opinion based. People like you would rather polute the landscape with oil wells than wind turbines, so don't try to argue that its an eye sore either. One thing is for sure; Pickens will profit no matter what we do, so don't try hide your contempt for wind beneath this strawman argument that the swiftboater is taking advantage of us.

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10:35 AM MST on Fri., Aug. 15, 2008 re: "Michael Warren: Congress not interested in probing lawyers scam"

 Examiner Reader said:
Please continue to inform the public about judicial and political corruption. The corruption is very bad in the small town where I live, in Florida and from hearing the national news it is bad everywhere in this nation. This must be exposed and stopped!

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10:20 AM MST on Fri., Aug. 15, 2008 re: "Melanie Scarborough: ADA abusers harm genuinely disabled"

 Examiner Reader said:
I'm not quite sure who Ms. Scarborough thinks the ADA should protect from discrimination if not a woman who has had breast cancer, a mastectomy, and her ovaries removed. I think she missed the bottom line here: The Foreign Service denied a top candidate a job because she had a history of breast cancer. There was nothing about the job she could not do, but the Foreign Service reacted irrationally because of their fear of cancer. Ms. Scarborough got one thing right -- the law is written badly. It needs to be fixed so that it protects people like Kathy Adams from discrimination without the hurdle of proving that she is disabled in a "major life activity." The fact that she had breast cancer and the Foreign Service discriminated against her because of it, should be enough for protection. You can hardly fault Ms. Adams or her lawyers for coming up with a creative argument to satisfy a badly written law.

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11:15 PM MST on Thu., Aug. 14, 2008 re: "Meghan Cox Gurdon: A glorious spectacle built on government repression"

 Examiner Reader said:
Gurdon does a really fantastic job of ignoring all the good that the Olympics has done for China... and yes, it has brought some good there. Not universal, but definitely positive developments. The Nazi comparison is really getting old. I remain hopeful - with my limited experience of only having spent time in China - that the better comparison is Seoul 1988. Anyone who thinks there's no dissent in China or that all protest it met with guns and prison doesn't know a damn thing about the place.

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10:29 PM MST on Thu., Aug. 14, 2008 re: "Mary Katharine Ham: Obama helped by sex scandal that wasn’t"

 For Rupert's Lady Mary Katharine said:
Fix News "analyst" Ms. Ham has hammed it up again. Polls show that most Edwards voters would have voted for Obama, not Hilary, although I understand the right's sadness at not being able to beat up the more-easily-targetable Clintons for one more election cycle.

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4:28 PM MST on Thu., Aug. 14, 2008 re: "Mary Katharine Ham: Obama helped by sex scandal that wasn’t"

 Barely About Barack said:
Iseman? Right, McCain's supposed sexual downfall. Of course, McCain pushed back, which is why Ryan's capitulation seemed so odd.

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3:20 PM MST on Thu., Aug. 14, 2008 re: "Mary Katharine Ham: Just go to Don’t Go!"

 Examiner Reader said:
Ham implies Barack would be nowhere with without sex scandals. I have two words for her about Barack's next success... Vicki Iseman

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7:26 AM MST on Thu., Aug. 14, 2008 re: "Mary Katharine Ham: Obama helped by sex scandal that wasn’t"

 Barely About Barack said:
In fairness, Ham's revision of the Jack Ryan withdrawl was interesting to read. One question still came up: Why did he resign from the Illinois Senate Race? If the "scandal" was a non-issue, why didn't he push back instead of just quitting? I'm also not sure how culpable Obama is for the actions of the Democratic Senatorial Camapign Committee. Sounds more like insinuation.

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6:20 AM MST on Thu., Aug. 14, 2008 re: "Meghan Cox Gurdon: A glorious spectacle built on government repression"

 Examiner Reader said:
If the prism through which one views another country is fear, one will always see the worst in that country. Not every facet of China reveals a rotting core.

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1:13 PM MST on Wed., Aug. 13, 2008 re: "Should felons have the right to vote? - NO: Felon disenfranchisement is actually a good idea"

 Examiner Reader said:
Somebody is playing the "RACE CARD" against Honest, hardworking American that commit no felonies; They obey laws, the ones that commit crimes should not be given the right to vote. If Obama is out loading up with felons to get their vote-this will open an avenue for dishonest candidates to pander to them and give gadzillions of dollars of benefits. They (felons) have forsaken their rights when they chose to be felons and depend on felonious judges to go easy on crimals.

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3:57 PM MST on Tue., Aug. 12, 2008 re: "John R. Thomson: Whose genocide will it be?"

 Examiner Reader said:
Thank you very much dear John for your courage!! I once believed the lies that islam is about peace, And I embraced it, Only to find,Islam was never about peace

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11:14 AM MST on Tue., Aug. 12, 2008 re: "Mark Newgent: Stupid environmentalist tricks in College Park"

 To Sam Wright (Essex, MD) said:
You asked, "If the ocean is rising and Maryland shores are threatened, why does Back River still dry up?" Assuming no dams are involved, it may just be an unusually dry spell in the river's area. Rising oceans may increase the likelihood of flooding along the river, assuming no additional erosion takes place.

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10:55 AM MST on Tue., Aug. 12, 2008 re: "Mark Newgent: Stupid environmentalist tricks in College Park"

 Examiner Reader said:
Thank you, thank you, thank you. I tried to get friends and neighbors to read the junk on the CCS website and they didn't believe the state was spending money to put this plan together, let alone actually do it. Unfortunately we have part of it in place already that will cost us hundreds og millions of dollars for years to come - one example being the Regional Green House Gas Initiative (RGGI). Electric rate payers will pay for years for this farse to fund pet projects of the CCS plan. Lets hope this article casts some light on run amuck junk science and stops the stupidity.

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10:15 AM MST on Tue., Aug. 12, 2008 re: "Mark Newgent: Stupid environmentalist tricks in College Park"

 Sam Wright - Essex, MD said:
"Take sea level rises, for example. Boesch’s report claims that Maryland’s waters will rise four feet, wiping away 200 square miles of land and islands, along with submerging large swaths of coastal counties. This is pure fantasy." My apartment faces Back River in Essex. If the ocean is rising and Maryland shores are threatened, why does Back River still dry up?

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4:55 PM MST on Mon., Aug. 11, 2008 re: "Should felons have the right to vote? - NO: Felon disenfranchisement is actually a good idea"

 Examiner Reader said:
First and foremost, once you have served your time and paid your fines and are released from probation, parole and/or prison, your sentence should be done. If you don't let someone vote, work or be part of society, then you leave them no choice but to return to what they know. Let's not leave out the fact that felonies are handed out like parking tickets in some areas. What's the use of a "Justice System" and "Laws"? Open your eyes, people can change! By the way. To the writer of the article, if you really believe this way, wouldn't you be more happy in a place like Russia,China,Iraq or some other closed minded country?? Just saying......

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1:31 PM MST on Mon., Aug. 11, 2008 re: "Mark Newgent: Stupid environmentalist tricks in College Park"

 Lies, Damned Lies, and Demographics said:
MCCC is the Maryland Climate Change Commission, mentioned earlier in the article. However, I'm not sure who the "IPCC" is.

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12:57 PM MST on Mon., Aug. 11, 2008 re: "Mark Newgent: Stupid environmentalist tricks in College Park"

 Examiner Reader said:
Newgent says: "The MCCC itself is a kangaroo court conceived and controlled by the Center for Climate Strategies, a subsidiary of an avowed alarmist advocacy group....." Mr. Newgent, please tell us what group you are referring to. This article is just a shallow, childish rant.

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10:39 AM MST on Mon., Aug. 11, 2008 re: "Mark Newgent: Stupid environmentalist tricks in College Park"

 Lies, Damned Lies, and Demographics said:
Would the author care to cite a scientific source for his alarmist claims? Specifically, "In Maryland, the recently deceased federal cap- and-trade bill, Lieberman-Warner, by 2020 would have resulted in 40,000 jobs lost, a 70 percent increase in gasoline prices, a 40 percent increase in electricity costs and a $4.2 billion loss in gross state product"

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7:16 AM MST on Mon., Aug. 11, 2008 re: "The curious case of Wilson Senior High's Art Siebens"

 Examiner Reader said:
This infuriates me to no end.

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2:04 PM MST on Thu., Aug. 7, 2008 re: "Meghan Cox Gurdon: We should never have given China the games"

 Examiner Reader said:
Ms. Cox Gurdon is always entertaining and provocative. There is a more than a touch of provocative bombast in this piece, though. One of the enduring lessons of the last 30 years is that China is a complex, dynamic and difficult-to-pigeonhole society that observers characterize at their peril. Occam's razor is a useful tool, but when it is wielded with unprincipled abandon, as does Ms. Cox Gurdon in her piece, it butchers reality and reveals nothing but caricature. Where to start? China's lao gai gulag? Yes, much to worry about. But how does one factor in improved labor laws and conditions that are transforming China from a system in which slave labor conditions prevailed into one in which 100s of millions of citizens now have real protections from abuse. If one is predisposed to fear and hate, one can find much to seize upon in China. Elements of China justly inspire both fear and hate. One should be wary, however, of the agitations of blind men describing an elephant

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2:01 PM MST on Thu., Aug. 7, 2008 re: "Chris Stirewalt: For Obama, all roads lead to Ohio"

 Examiner Reader said:
Wow--what cutting insight. I was under the impression that Kerry states + CO, NM, and IA = winning the election--i.e. the states that almost everyone agrees he's ahead in, meaning he *doesn't* need Ohio. But I was going by the numbers, not profound gut instincts like these. Great article.

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12:51 PM MST on Thu., Aug. 7, 2008 re: "Chris Stirewalt: For Obama, all roads lead to Ohio"

 Buckeye said:
I live in Central Ohio, right outside of Columbus. I know of many Democrats and Indpendants who are going to vote for McCain. Hillary had alot of support, even in the Republican county that I live in. I don't know too many people over age 40 that are going to vote for Obama. Unless there is a hugh turnout in the cities and college campuses, I don't see how he wins. Ohioians know they will be the deciders again this year, and they are not going to gamble with Barry.

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11:55 AM MST on Thu., Aug. 7, 2008 re: "Chris Stirewalt: For Obama, all roads lead to Ohio"

 Mr. Reality said:
Hey Examiner Reader...Cheney, Rumsfeld, et al had 'more experience' too. Look where that got us. Taft had 'more experience' than Hagan (crickets chirping). Vinny Testeverde has 'more experience' than Tom Brady...hmmm...I'd pick Tom. Goliath had more experience than David--we all know how that story goes. OK, so you get the point. 'Experience' doesn't carry as much weight as it perhaps once did. McCain wrong about: Iraq was a splendid war to start and would be easy, taking action in Pakistan, Afghanistan's downward spiral, negotiating with Iran, the fact that Czechoslovakia hasn't been a country in 16 years...the only thing he's been right about was the infamous 'surge'. So you're going to give him the benefit of the doubt on all of his screw-ups based on the fact that his 72 years on this Earth means more than actually being right most of the time?

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11:54 AM MST on Thu., Aug. 7, 2008 re: "Chris Stirewalt: For Obama, all roads lead to Ohio"

 Marten Stein said:
For the life of me I cannot understand why this was linked to on RCP. It contains no new information - and indeed, seems to thrive on presenting *misinformation* to the casual observer. For example, the immediate concession that Obama is keeping New Mexico and Colorado in play is an admission that Obama doesn't need Ohio - Kerry states + Iowa + NM + CO get you to 270 just as well. Then of course there's representing McCain's 11 point lead in Virginia as Obama's (an honest mistake, I'm sure). But you are right in that Ohio alone can singlehandedly win the election for Obama... or lose it for McCain. But honestly, saying that Obama NEEDS it along with freaking Indiana - this from the same lunacy that advocates Montana and Nevada are not in play - speaks volumes about how bad a column this is. Why am I not getting paid for this, again?

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11:24 AM MST on Thu., Aug. 7, 2008 re: "Chris Stirewalt: For Obama, all roads lead to Ohio"

 Examiner Reader said:
Let me tell you I live in northeast, Ohio and all roads in Ohio lead to John Mccain. Everyone I know relatives, friends, co-workers, church members and people I talk to in stores and along the city have voted for Hillary Rodham Clinton the true blue dem and now that she's not the nom they are either not voting or holding their noses and voting Mccain. Mccain will win the state of Ohio no matter who Obama picks as his vp and no matter how many times he visits. He can come and live here until November 4th and it still aint gonna happen. Its not a rascist thing its a I dont know who this guy is and he lacks experience and judgement thing, thats what i've heard time and time again. I voted Hillary and I will vote McCain this time around, experience over uncertainty!

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11:03 AM MST on Thu., Aug. 7, 2008 re: "Chris Stirewalt: For Obama, all roads lead to Ohio"

 Examiner Reader said:
I spoke with my sister yesterday who lives in Ashtabula, OH (northeast Ohio) and they don't know anyone who is planning to vote for Obama including the blacks who work with my brother-in-law. She also said there are tons of McCain signs posted along the roads and in peoples' front yards.

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10:40 AM MST on Thu., Aug. 7, 2008 re: "Chris Stirewalt: For Obama, all roads lead to Ohio"

 Disgusted from Tonbridge Wells. said:
very weak. With a win in Ohio McCain still has no lock at all. Iowa New Mexico and Colorado will put Obama over the top if he holds all the Kerry states. The first two look very good for him so its down to Colorado. What the hell is this 11 point lead Obama is meant to have had in Virginia??? Check out Pollster.com. The highest lead he has had is 7 points in a USA today poll in May. And that is a clear outlier. The vast majority of polls in the last couple of months have shown a 1 or two point lead either way. Needs to win Indiana??? A blue Indiana is not in anyones calculations that i know of. If Obama wins Indiana then its a landslide. NC polling consistently shows Obama about 4 points behind. Hardly a McCain lock down. I could go on with flaws in this analysis but i cant be arsed now Laters

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10:36 AM MST on Thu., Aug. 7, 2008 re: "Chris Stirewalt: For Obama, all roads lead to Ohio"

 Fact Check said:
Chris mentions Obama held an 11 pt. lead in VA in a Rasmussen Poll. Actually, it was McCain that held the 11 pt. lead on 3/22, a 3 pt. lead on 5/08 and now only holds a 1 pt. lead according to Rasmussen. If you check the RealClearPolitics Avg. for VA, Obama is leading in Virginia.

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9:48 AM MST on Thu., Aug. 7, 2008 re: "Chris Stirewalt: For Obama, all roads lead to Ohio"

 Mr. Reality said:
Chris who? Mistake #1: Bayh has been mentioned for MANY reasons--former Hil supporter, do no harm, foreign policy experience, popular in Indiana. Mistake #2: Um look at polls in ND, MT, AK...how is tied or down by less than 5% mean 'evaporated'? Mistake #3: NC--RCP Ave has Obama down by 3.7%...not worth Obama's time??? Even Edwards couldn't get it that close. Mistake #4: VA was going to be close no matter what...hence the term 'battleground'. RCP Ave has Obama up by 1--I suppose VA isn't worth Obama's time either. Mistake #5: Why does Obama NEED IN? No Dem has won it in four decades, yet we've had 3 Dems win the presidency since '76 without it. And the fact that it is even this close bodes well for Obama, not McCain. Mistake #6: Your interpretation of Obama's comprehensive energy policy is junior varsity, chief. Conclusion: Dude...who ARE you and who gave you a job writing political analysis?

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