8/10/2008

John McCain -- My Candidate - Part 4



Now we come to the final post concerning John McCain. And in this post I will deal with most conservative's main gripe concerning McCain. Tell me if these statements sound familiar. "He was considering being John Kerry's running mate." or "He's weak on illegal immigration." or "He voted against the tax cuts." or "He co-sponsered bills with Ted Kennedy." Many see McCain as a moderate and not a conservative. I don't view him as either simply because I do not view either being "conservative" or "moderate" as the end all solution and ideal of our country. Throughout history we have seen the wisdom of our forefathers in setting up a system of checks and balances. Not having all conservatives or all liberals falls into that same wisdom. We have seen what typically happens when either group are too powerful. I wish it were not true of those who claim to be my conservative brethren but they too have been known to get drunk on power and forget their conservative ways that should call them to tighten the strings on the people's purse. I would submit that we are at our best when we have people like McCain that reach out to those who do not think like him in order to get something done. What is wrong with John McCain thinking about being the running mate of John Kerry? Especially in a time of war. If Kerry had won wouldn't it not have been 10 times better to have John McCain influencing him than to have John Edwards? And what is the REAL solution to illegal immigrants? I have not heard one solution that is perfect and can't even imagine a solution that would be suitable to 51% of Americans. If the estimates of how many illegals exist are anywhere close then we would most likely be looking at a civil war to physically remove them. And what about 16-year-old kids who have been raised in American schools as Americans for their whole lives? My main point here is that it is a far more intricate problem than we would like to think of it.



For my part I am okay and even proud to have a candidate that is willing to hold unpopular views among his closest of co-workers. I am very impressed with McCain's character and am apt to place a high value on that. I see his reaching out as a strength and not a weakness. Will that result in some things that I am unhappy with? Sure it will. Will I probably end up on the good side when it all averages out? I believe so. Is there anyone who is both better suited to lead our country in a conservative way AND be electable? NO!!! For these reasons I ask you conservative brethren to hold your heads high and vote for John McCain in November.

27 comments:

funkyaxe said...

thank you for the john mccain series. i appreciated what you had to say. good stuff!

also, i just wanted to let you know that upon perusing your archive, i noticed that i totally missed the post from after you harvested your peaches and decided to can them... and, i just wanted you to know how excited i am to be able to try this amazing jam when we visit you guys for thanksgiving!

keep up the good discussion and insights. shaina's enjoying all of the rich information-sharing!

also, i'm glad you liked the videoi made you guys... you are more than welcome. i hope that made the weekend a little more worth while for you to have to be without your family. thanks for sharing them with us!

peace!

Z said...

Pops, this series should be run somewhere where MORE PEOPLE could see it.
Great job!

Brooke said...

As much as I detest McCain's policy on immigration, ect, when I think about Obama's policy (whatever they are at the moment) I get a cold chill.

Yehudi said...

I will gladly vote for McCain...

mystic minstrel said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Papa Frank said...

Brooke -- I don't like his policy on immigration either but what do you think would be the right policy? My strong conservative tendencies want to say "all these illegals here is just not right and we need to ship ALL these people out of the country." My practical side though says that this is an ENORMOUS problem that we have gotten ourselves into over the last 40 years or more so how could we ever solve it in 18 months. The real workable key to a solution is focusing on the present and future and turning somewhat of a blind eye to the past (no matter how amazingly difficult that would be). We need to focus on locking up the border RIGHT NOW and dealing swiftly and severely with those who cross.

Z -- I figured that it is so obvious that Obama is wrong that it should be unmistakable but not many are focusing on how McCain is right. Thanks for the support!

funkyaxe -- can't wait to see you guys at Thanksgiving. I sure hope everyone could make it. I've got 10 more pints of the peach jam so there should be plenty left! Thanks again for putting together the video!

Brooke said...

I'm in the same boat with you, MM.

Businesses that hire illegals need to be SEVERELY punished, to the point that all corporations are deathly afraid of letting one on the payroll.

Then, any illegal caught should be deported, period. If they have an anchor baby, they are welcome to take the kid to Mexico with them until they are 18, or find a legal relative to care for the little tyke.

And of course, the borders MUST be secured. Obviously it is a larger problem than 18 months, but sitting around with our thumbs up our butts saying, "Oh well, it's too big of a problem" is NOT an option.

You eat an elephant one bite at a time... No pun intended. ;)

Papa Frank said...

Brooke -- What is your view of people who have been in this country for 10 and 15 years already? How do we deal with these people? Also, what is your opinion of my idea that if the number of illegals is close to what they estimate that removing them by force could lead to a civil war situation? I believe that your idea concerning very harsh punishment to those hiring illegals is a great one. However, there must be something in place with which to determine citizenship absolutely at the employers disposal. Many employers hire illegals on purpose. Some do not take diligence to make sure the people they hire are not illegal. But some are simply fooled by false paperwork.

Shaina said...

While I don't know how to approach the immigration problem either, the idea of turning a blind eye on the past scares me. It seems this would encourage MORE illegals. Their hope would be that once they cross they will be pardoned, therefore increasing their efforts to that end. My only thoughts are we need a BIG wall. Literally. As for those here, I don't know, sadly send them home with the hope of building their countries into what they have found in America. And as for the children born here and are now over 18, I say let them stay. Somewhere around 12 and older they can be sponsored to stay if a family will take them in and under 12, they go with their parents. Something of that sort. Hard topic. Its all pretty much lose-lose-lose.

Here is a thought I had the other day. Are we exploiting foreign illegals by providing them with crap jobs, or are they exploiting America by not caring for her well-being so long as there is money to be made.

Papa Frank said...

shaina -- your question here is part of the reason that I liked Mike Huckabee's idea of getting rid of the IRS and funding the government on a national sales tax. Legal or illegal everyone who buys anything puts money into the coffers of our government. There are many positives and negatives alike regarding the sales tax but it is certainly an interesting idea worth taking a look at.

Anonymous said...

There'll never be a perfect candidate... and I think that's a good thing.

Papa Frank said...

alice -- agreed!

Freedomnow said...

What a well-balanced blog post.

McCain was the strongest Republican candidate because he appealed to the greatest range of voters.

I enjoyed your series on McCain.

Papa Frank said...

Thank you freedomnow! That's means a lot since I'm familiar with your posts at curtains.

Brooke said...

"What is your view of people who have been in this country for 10 and 15 years already? How do we deal with these people?"

See 'ya. You got here illegally, and you've been breaking the law for over a decade. I might be a bit hard-assed about that, but in this case I feel a strong message of intolerance for lawbreakers must be sent.

I don't see a civil war. I think that if we make it damn near impossible to find work, most will self-deport.

I agree that some places are fooled, but I would say a great deal aren't. Say, for instance, construction sites have NO idea? Puh-lease.

Here at home our Sheriff just did a huge raid on a chicken processing plant. Over 600 illegals, most of whom were also guilty of identity theft, were processed. I seriously doubt that Koch Foods got fooled 600 times...

Papa Frank said...

Brooke -- what you are talking about here is one of the biggest problems. A company that has blatantly broke the law like this should have their licenses or permits revoked and assets seized. This is also the reason that I buy all my meat out of the field from people I know and have it processed in one place in a very small town.

Yehudi said...

An interesting tidbit I heard recently...I don't know how accurate it is, but I heard the 47,000 illegal non-hispanic immigrants were caught trying to cross the US-Mexican border in 2006-2007. It's estimated that we caught approx 40% of those attempting. This is a scary prospect.

Freedomnow said...

Cheers to you Papa Frank!!!

Considering that I just had my mail stolen by one of these migrant workers and had to spend a couple of hours on the phone canceling credit cards and reporting the crime... I'm not in a favorable mood for this nonsense.

The criminal element that revolves around them is not addressed adequately.

Cops drive right by as groups of migrant workers wait around for someone to pick them up for work.

The political correctness of our society is way out of control. These people are breaking the law and taking jobs from Americans.

Some say that these are not jobs Americans want, but if we enforced the law then these jobs would pay more money and that would change.

There would also be a labor shortage at first, but that would mean that we could increase legal immigration, which will bring long-term immigrants… not a criminal class. That means these immigrants will become American and set roots here. Much of the money paid to our current illegal migrant labor force goes right back to Central America. Give those jobs to legal immigrants.

Shaina said...

Papa Frank - I am ALL for the sales tax and do away with income tax.

Freedomnow - I wouldn't worry about a labor shortage. We could get some of these lazy teenagers who don't know the word responsibility to get off their butts and start contributing to society. That's also my policy for the "drug war" and helping get gangs off the streets and teen pregnancy and a whole mess of things. Give them some responsibility.

Papa Frank said...

shaina -- I can't possibly express to you how much I ABSOLUTELY LOVE your comment to freedomnow!!! That is a real NEED in order for our future to be brighter than our past.

Z said...

SHAINA! Want to be McCain's VP?

(I'm hearing it's Kerry for Obama....mhmmmm ya think, pops?)

Papa Frank said...

Z -- I hadn't heard anything about that! Do you think he'll pick John Kerry??? That will really improve his problem with people thinking him an elitist! LOL Why doesn't he just begin spitting on our armed service personnel one by one. SHEEEEESH

Freedomnow said...

Well at least Kerry is an American Citizen. After Obama's campaigning overseas, his citizen of the world speech and his delusions of grandeur I'm not quite sure if Obama knows that he is not running for president of the world.

If he is running for that office it would open up the VP spot to washed up politicians like "Red" Ken Livingstone, Jacques "Death to Anglo-Saxons" Chirac or Gerhard "Pipeline" Schroder.

Actually thats quite a dream team for Obama's cabinet.

Anonymous said...

Papa I am not at all impressed with John McCain. I despise him as a matter of fact. His best and most heroic days were in Vietnam, and his Populism in DC has diminished his standing DRAMATICALLY. He can still win my vote with a good conservative VP pick, actions speak louder than words.

Morgan

Papa Frank said...

Thanks for giving it a read anyway, Morgan.

Anonymous said...

Sorry about my tone, it was late. Hey I saw those pictures of you and the Misses at the Chiefs game, and they were GREAT! Nanette and I go to all of the Jaguars games and we have a great time. Football season is a huge pickmeup!

Morgan

Papa Frank said...

The Jaguars look like they should be a ton better than my Chiefs this year. I'm happy that football season is here again. Although, I'm going to get very sick of hearing everything Brett Favre says or does or eats or drinks or whatever! Don't get me wrong, I love Brett and what he's done but this circus is getting old.