tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26542777.post116337156058740558..comments2023-10-26T01:59:40.483-07:00Comments on The Dividist Papers: Libertarian swing vote backs Chuck Hagel for Presidentmwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11181222537529037359noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26542777.post-1167250952613448142006-12-27T12:22:00.000-08:002006-12-27T12:22:00.000-08:00Eric, Thanks for the comment. I like Giuliani, and...Eric, <BR/>Thanks for the comment. I like Giuliani, and think he did a hell of job in NYC as mayor. As I posted in <A HREF="http://westanddivided.blogspot.com/2006/11/2008-election-prologue-check-your.html" REL="nofollow"> <I>"Check Your Assumptions"</I></A>, he is my 2nd choice as a Republican contender. He is showing impressive support among Republicans right now, but once his campaign sets sail in the primaries, he is going to be taking a lot of torpedoes below the waterline from the ragged right wing, and I expect his campaign to capsize quickly. I hope to be wrong about this. <BR/><BR/>Yes Hagel is boring. I still prefer him as president. It is clear that this administration is hell-bent on "surging" our involvement in Iraq, which ensures that this mess will be left to the next president to solve. I am no longer sanguine about our military adventures being run by men with no combat experience. Chuck Hagel was tested in Vietnam, and understands the Powell Doctrine better than Colin Powell. He is the only major presidential prospect that called the Iraq war correctly <I>before</I> we went in. Check out this <A HREF="http://ome.ksu.edu/lectures/landon/video/hagel.ram" REL="nofollow"> Landon Lecture speech at Kansas State University</A> in February of 2003 (warning it is long - some 50 minutes). Filmed a few weeks before we went into Iraq, Hagel warns about almost every single thing that has happened as a consequence over the last three years. Not hindsight, real foresight. It's scary how on-target he was - He sounds like a friggin' prophet now. It makes you want to cry to watch it. Nobody was listening to him. Not in the administration. Not the American people. He was just a voice lost in the winds of war fever. I include myself among the deaf, as I was as gung-ho as every other yahoo at the time.<BR/><BR/>He has the intellect, the military experience, and showed the courage of his convictions by bucking his party and the administration when it was political suicide to do so. I'll take boring as part of that package. <BR/><BR/>I understand that his candidacy is a long shot. But it is still worth a shot.mwhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11181222537529037359noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26542777.post-1167230175864749042006-12-27T06:36:00.000-08:002006-12-27T06:36:00.000-08:00I think you'll find most libertarians lining up be...I think you'll find most libertarians lining up behind Giuliani. He's already been labeled "libertarian" by the national media. And he has libertarian credentials to back it up. He slashed welfare and public housing as Mayor. He's fiercely opposed to tax increases. <BR/><BR/>Plus Hagel has no pizzaz nor celebrity. He's quite boring. <BR/><BR/>Eric at www.mainstreamlibertarian.comEric Donderohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02763399145451696076noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26542777.post-1163597311034401612006-11-15T05:28:00.000-08:002006-11-15T05:28:00.000-08:00Great post!Great post!Charliehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09836878883695363300noreply@blogger.com