... is anyone here actually fond of McCain?

Just curious.

Dang...you managed EVERY Democratic talking point, and in one paragraph. Is this Bob Beckel?

Well... in this election the Dem talking points are sort of a gimme.

The only differences with Bush are sure to piss off the Republicans. Like McCain accepts global warming...

Just dropped by for a few minutes and one comment while long Democratic Party race continues.  But among my other "liberal" involvements, I've been a MoveOn member almost since the group began and today in my inbox was a "challenge" like the Coke/Pepsi one, but related to Bush and McCain.  Since there was a reward for just sharing the questions it
would be right to post the challenge here, but nothing wrong with posting the questions and answers as a FYI regarding Dubya and McLame.  Some of the choices were between the
occupant of the oval office and the others were a choice of McCain and a carrot. Enjoy or not.

It's hard to tell the difference between George W. Bush and John McCain. Here are resources where you can get the facts:
ThinkProgress - The Real McCain - McCain Source
Here are sources for all the questions in The Bush-McCain Challenge:

   1. Q: Who said "I do not support Roe versus Wade. It should be overturned"?
      A: McCain. In fact, John McCain has gotten a rating of zero percent from NARAL Pro-Choice America for 6 years running.
      Source: "McCain says Roe v. Wade should be overturned," Associated Press, February 18, 2007

   2. Q: Who has taken a stronger position against assault weapons?
      A: Bush. He said he'd sign a ban on assault weapons. But McCain opposes the assault weapons ban (!).
      Source: "McCain and Thompson at the N.R.A.," New York Times, September 21, 2007
      "Irking N.R.A., Bush Supports The Ban on Assault Weapons," New York Times, May 8, 2003

   3. Q: Who promised that U.S. troops would be greeted as “liberators” in Iraq?
      A: McCain. (Dick Cheney said that, too. In fact, McCain is more of a Bush-Cheney hybrid. Which is a pretty scary thought.)
      Source: "But I believe, Katie, that the Iraqi people will greet us as liberators." --John McCain, NBC's "Today Show," March 20, 2003
      "I think things have gotten so bad inside Iraq, from the standpoint of the Iraqi people, my belief is we will, in fact, be greeted as liberators." --Dick Cheney, NBC's “Meet the Press,” March 16, 2003

   4. Q: Who went on a nationwide speaking tour trying to convince Americans to privatize our Social Security?
      A: Both Bush and McCain. The idea proved unpopular with, well, basically everyone in America.
      Source: "Bush, McCain plug Social Security," Los Angeles Times, March 23, 2005

   5. Q: Even after the public and Congress rejected the idea, who is still pushing to privatize our Social Security?
      A: McCain. Bush finally gave up. (And when Bush gives up on a bad idea, you know it's REALLY bad.)
      Source: "As part of Social Security reform, I believe that private savings accounts are a part of it--along the lines that President Bush proposed." --John McCain

      "McCain's Economy Platform: Big Tax Cuts, With Caveats," Wall Street Journal, March 3, 2008

   6. Q: Who said "the issue of economics is something that I’ve never really understood as well as I should"?
      A: McCain (perhaps channeling Bush?)
      Source: "The issue of economics is something that I've really never understood as well as I should. I understand the basics, the fundamentals, the vision, all that kind of stuff,'' he said. "But I would like to have someone I'm close to that really is a good strong economist."

      "McCain wants no yes men in his White House," Chicago Tribune, December 18, 2007

   7. Q: While running for president, who called himself a "different kind of Republican" and promised bipartisan cooperation?
      A: Bush. Ahh, the '90s. We were so young and naive...
      Source: "Gov. George W. Bush continued yesterday to present himself as a 'different kind of Republican,' describing an immigrant-friendly approach to the bureaucratic Immigration and Naturalization Service and making a broad appeal to black voters in an address in Manhattan."

      "Bush Campaigns on Issues of a 'Different' Republican," New York Times, June 27, 2000

   8. Q: After Saddam Hussein was captured in 2003, who said "Mission Accomplished"?
      A: McCain. Bush stood under a “Mission Accomplished” banner. But only McCain actually said it.
      Source: "This is a mission accomplished. They know how much influence Saddam Hussein had on the Iraqi people, how much more difficult it made to get their cooperation." --John McCain, ABC's "This Week," December 14, 2003

   9. Q: Who said the solution to the housing crisis is for people facing foreclosure to get a “second job” and skip their vacations?
      A: McCain. He should know, because he and his wife own nine houses. He must have a LOT of jobs.
      Source: In a speech on the economy, John McCain said homeowners "are doing what is necessary--working a second job, skipping a vacation, and managing their budgets--to make their payments on time."

      "McCain Says Bank Bailout Should End 'Systemic Risk'," Bloomberg News, March 25, 2008

  10. Q: As Hurricane Katrina slammed into New Orleans, who took time out for a photo op with a birthday cake in Phoenix, Arizona?
      A: Both Bush and McCain. It was McCain's 69th birthday, and both men cut cake and took photos with the press while Katrina was devastating New Orleans.
      Source: "President George W. Bush joins Arizona Senator John McCain in a small celebration of McCain's 69th birthday," The White House, August 29, 2005

      "Timeline of Hurricane Katrina: August 29, 2005," Wikipedia

      "'Judge Me On My Own Record'," Newsweek, April 24, 2008

  11. Q: Who received a zero percent rating for his environmental record from the League of Conservation Voters last year?
      A: McCain.
      Source: "Conservationists score McCain zero," Associated Press, February 21, 2008

      "2007 National Environmental Scorecard," League of Conservation Voters

  12. Q: Who opposed health care for uninsured children last year?
      A: Both Bush and McCain. The Children’s Defense Fund even rated John McCain as the worst senator in Congress for children.
      Source: "McCain: Bush right to veto kids health insurance expansion," CNN, October 3, 2007

      "2007 Children's Defense Fund Action Council Nonpartisan Congressional Scorecard," February 2008

  13. Q: Who won the support of 7 out of 10 independent voters in his home state?
      A: Bush. 73 percent of independents in Texas thought he was moderate enough to re-elect as governor in 1998.
      Source: "George Bush," MSN Encarta Encyclopedia

  14. Q: Who graduated in the bottom 1% of his college class?
      A: McCain. He was 894th (!) out of 899 graduating students.
      Source: "John McCain," The Notable Names Database Weblog

      "John McCain: Happy for George W. Bush's support," Chicago Tribune, February 15, 2008

  15. Q: Who blocked a proposal to ban waterboarding torture in the U.S.?
      A: Both Bush and McCain. McCain has built his reputation on opposing torture, but while running for the Republican nomination, he voted against a bill to ban the torture. Then he applauded President Bush for vetoing the torture ban.
      Source: "McCain Sides With Bush On Torture Again, Supports Veto Of Anti-Waterboarding Bill," ThinkProgress, February 20, 2008

  16. Q: McCain has made a big deal of acknowledging that global warming is real. On the environment, who scored higher with the League of Conservation Voters—McCain or this carrot?
      A: It's a tie! McCain received a big fat zero for his environmental record last year. That's zero, nothing, null, zip, nada. This carrot received no rating, so that one's a push.
      Source: "Conservationists score McCain zero," Associated Press, February 21, 2008

      "2007 National Environmental Scorecard," League of Conservation Voters

  17. Q: Who has had more physical assaults and confrontations with colleagues in Congress, including a fistfight with an Arizona congressman and a scuffle with octogenarian Strom Thurmond?
      A: John McCain. This carrot has never lost its temper and physically assaulted any elected representatives. Yet.
      Source: "John McCain, Senator Hothead," Washingtonian, February 1, 1997

  18. Q: Who has the better plan to bring home our troops from Iraq?
      A: Not even close. This carrot has no plan to bring home our troops. But McCain has a policy of escalation, belligerence, and using force instead of diplomacy. He talks about staying in Iraq for 100 years. A carrot couldn't do anywhere near the damage to our country that McCain would…plus, the carrot is loaded with beta carotene.
      Source: "I don't think Americans are concerned if we're there for 100 years or 1,000 years or 10,000 years." --John McCain, CBS' "Face the Nation," January 6, 2008

You'll get no argument from me Patton. Some will always vote GOP, but of late those numbers appear to be going down. But  those who might be profiting in some way from the continued "100 year occupation" of Iraq, might surely do so for the reasons listed in the article below.
 
An excellent example of those who continue to do so, even with the knowledge of the Pentagon is contained in the very long article from the Boston Globe.

OT, I don't think so. The question might be should he be elected, would McCain continue to allow the Pentagon to get away with ignoring these actions or order the IRS to prosecute?
Is McCain distancing himself from Bush/Cheney on issues such as this?

Quite frankly, Patton, as seniors who are hardly among those anyone could call affluent as few military retirees (sans the generals who are also involved with some contractors too)
are who just wrote a check and paid their taxes, including taxes on the small Social Security received, this kind of information tends to really piss me off.

Top Iraq contractor skirts US taxes offshore
Shell companies in Cayman Islands allow KBR to avoid Medicare, Social Security deductions
 By Farah Stockman
Globe Staff / March 6, 2008

CAYMAN ISLANDS - Kellogg Brown & Root, the nation's top Iraq war contractor and until last year a subsidiary of Halliburton Corp., has avoided paying hundreds of millions of dollars in federal Medicare and Social Security taxes by hiring workers through shell companies based in this tropical tax haven.

    * graphic Top 10 private contractors in Iraq, Afghanistan

When Texas pipe-fitter Danny Langford applied for unemployment compensation after being let go by Service Employers International Inc., he was rejected, he was told, because he worked for a foreign company.

More than 21,000 people working for KBR in Iraq - including about 10,500 Americans - are listed as employees of two companies that exist in a computer file on the fourth floor of a building on a palm-studded boulevard here in the Caribbean. Neither company has an office or phone number in the Cayman Islands.

The Defense Department has known since at least 2004 that KBR was avoiding taxes by declaring its American workers as employees of Cayman Islands shell companies, and officials said the move allowed KBR to perform the work more cheaply, saving Defense dollars.

The long read can be found here.


http://www.boston.com/news/world/articles/2008/03/06/top_iraq_contractor_skirts_us_taxes_offshore/?page=full

I'm as fond of McCain as much as I'm fond of my school's financial aid office....

 When he flipped on the torture issue I lost the last modicum of respect I may have had for the man...as small as that may have been.