John Eisenhower says it well

[Knorf]

As former Republican, but one less eloquent than the son of Dwight D. Eisenhower, I greatly appreciate John Eisenhower’s comments about the problems G.W.Bush has created and why he is supporting Kerry. He also changed his party affiliation from Republican to Independent.

Link.

@John Eisenhower

America, though recognized as the leader of the community of nations, has always acted as a part of it, not as a maverick separate from that community and at times insulting towards it. Leadership involves setting a direction and building consensus, not viewing other countries as practically devoid of significance. Recent developments indicate that the current Republican Party leadership has confused confident leadership with hubris and arrogance.

Exactly!

Sen. Kerry, in whom I am willing to place my trust, has demonstrated that he is courageous, sober, competent, and concerned with fighting the dangers associated with the widening socio-economic gap in this country. I will vote for him enthusiastically.

As will I.

[jayjay]

Yeah, but you have to remember that this is the son of the pinko commie who warned us about the dangers of “the military-industrial complex” (so sacred to Republicans since 1968 or so), so take it with a grain of salt…

[Equipoise]

@Knorf

Eisenhower: Sen. Kerry, in whom I am willing to place my trust, has demonstrated that he is courageous, sober, competent, and concerned with fighting the dangers associated with the widening socio-economic gap in this country. I will vote for him enthusiastically.

Sober? SOBER? Does this mean Kerry has a drinking problem? Has he ever been caught driving drunk? What does he do when he’s drinking? Does he hang around with loose women? What does he say with these loose women? Does he give away American secrets? Is he a traitor to our country??? I THINK THIS SHOULD BE INVESTIGATED IMMEDIATELY!!!

• This deflection paid for by Formerly Drunk Presidents for Truth
  (You go Eisenhower!)

[Menocchio]

That makes two sons of Republican presidents to back Kerry.

i hope to see this trend continue, and for George W Bush (son of former president George HW Bush) to come out for Kerry.

[NurseCarmen]

Relatives of public leaders who earned the respect of our nation should at least first earn the respect of our nation before opening their yaps.

I can open my yap at any time, yet I remain rather un-newsworthy.

[El_Zagna]

John Eisenhower is, in fact, a highly respected historian.

[Northern_Piper]

Link doesn’t work - goes to Amazon’s “Browser Bug” alert.

[Gangster_Octopus]

@NurseCarmen

Relatives of public leaders who earned the respect of our nation should at least first earn the respect of our nation before opening their yaps.

Huh? Anybody can open their yap and give their opinion anytime they damn well please. If you dont’ respect them than just don’t pay attention.

[Earthling]

@NurseCarmen

Relatives of public leaders who earned the respect of our nation should at least first earn the respect of our nation before opening their yaps.

John Eisenhower was a brigadier general and a former U.S. ambassador to Belgium. Not as illustrious as his father, certainly, but I’d say those are respectable positions nonetheless.

[Duckster]

@Equipoise

Sober? SOBER? Does this mean Kerry has a drinking problem? Has he ever been caught driving drunk? What does he do when he’s drinking? Does he hang around with loose women? What does he say with these loose women? Does he give away American secrets? Is he a traitor to our country??? I THINK THIS SHOULD BE INVESTIGATED IMMEDIATELY!!!

sober

1. Habitually abstemious in the use of alcoholic liquors or drugs; temperate.
2. Not intoxicated or affected by the use of drugs.
3. Plain or subdued: sober attire.
   ** 4. Devoid of frivolity, excess, exaggeration, or speculative imagination; straightforward: gave a sober assessment of the situation.
4. Marked by seriousness, gravity, or solemnity of conduct or character.
5. Marked by circumspection and self-restraint.**

(Bolding mine.)

Source: http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=sober

[Equipoise]

@Duckster

sober

1. Habitually abstemious in the use of alcoholic liquors or drugs; temperate.
2. Not intoxicated or affected by the use of drugs.
3. Plain or subdued: sober attire.
   ** 4. Devoid of frivolity, excess, exaggeration, or speculative imagination; straightforward: gave a sober assessment of the situation.
4. Marked by seriousness, gravity, or solemnity of conduct or character.
5. Marked by circumspection and self-restraint.**

(Bolding mine.)

Source: http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=sober

I know that. I was reading encyclopedias for fun when I was 7. My post was a (yes, lame) joke, a take-off on how sometimes conservatives will noisily glom onto one trivial thing out of an important story and trumpet it up into a scandal. If they can get away with it, and they often do, it works nicely to deflect attention away from the main story.

[BobLibDem]

I think Eisenhower said it well. I don’t believe the use of the word “sober” was meant as an oblique jab at Bush, I think it is part of Kerry’s character in more than one sense of the word. I’m not so sure that Ron Reagan is supporting Kerry, but it would not surprise me either way. He has impressed me with his knowledge, wit, and humor while on MSNBC. But the thrust of Eisenhower’s argument is I believe well taken. The United States is a world leader, but leadership does not mean charging alone without the backing of the international community.

[Equipoise]

@BobLibDem

I think Eisenhower said it well. I don’t believe the use of the word “sober” was meant as an oblique jab at Bush, I think it is part of Kerry’s character in more than one sense of the word. I’m not so sure that Ron Reagan is supporting Kerry, but it would not surprise me either way. He has impressed me with his knowledge, wit, and humor while on MSNBC. But the thrust of Eisenhower’s argument is I believe well taken. The United States is a world leader, but leadership does not mean charging alone without the backing of the international community.

Ron Reagan? Oh my, he is SO supporting Kerry! This is one of the most scathing, scornful attacks on Bush I’ve ever read. 5 whole shocking pages worth.

The Case Against George W. Bush by Ron Reagan
The son of the fortieth president of the United States takes a hard look at the son of the forty-first and does not like what he sees
It may have been the guy in the hood teetering on the stool, electrodes clamped to his genitals. Or smirking Lynndie England and her leash. Maybe it was the smarmy memos tapped out by soft-fingered lawyers itching to justify such barbarism. The grudging, lunatic retreat of the neocons from their long-standing assertion that Saddam was in cahoots with Osama didn’t hurt. Even the Enron audiotapes and their celebration of craven sociopathy likely played a part. As a result of all these displays and countless smaller ones, you could feel, a couple of months back, as summer spread across the country, the ground shifting beneath your feet. Not unlike that scene in The Day After Tomorrow, then in theaters, in which the giant ice shelf splits asunder, this was more a paradigm shift than anything strictly tectonic. No cataclysmic ice age, admittedly, yet something was in the air, and people were inhaling deeply. I began to get calls from friends whose parents had always voted Republican, “but not this time.” There was the staid Zbigniew Brzezinski on the staid NewsHour with Jim Lehrer sneering at the “Orwellian language” flowing out of the Pentagon. Word spread through the usual channels that old hands from the days of Bush the Elder were quietly (but not too quietly) appalled by his son’s misadventure in Iraq. Suddenly, everywhere you went, a surprising number of folks seemed to have had just about enough of what the Bush administration was dishing out. A fresh age appeared on the horizon, accompanied by the sound of scales falling from people’s eyes. It felt something like a demonstration of that highest of American prerogatives and the most deeply cherished American freedom: dissent.
…

True, he doesn’t mention Kerry by name in this article, but how else could you read the last paragraph?

Fortunately, we still live in a democratic republic. The Bush team cannot expect a cabal of right-wing justices to once again deliver the White House. Come November 2, we will have a choice: We can embrace a lie, or we can restore a measure of integrity to our government. We can choose, as a bumper sticker I spotted in Seattle put it, SOMEONE ELSE FOR PRESIDENT.

Btw, I really do know what “sober” means in the context Eisenhower used it. I really do! My post was a joke.

[BobLibDem]

Thank you Equipoise, that was one fine link. I stand corrected. What a terrific read! I shared Ron’s feeling that Republicans tried to expoit his father’s funeral. I was never a fan of Ronald Reagan, but I have to say he raised one smart young man.

[sqweels]

America, though recognized as the leader of the community of nations, has always acted as a part of it, not as a maverick separate from that community and at times insulting towards it.

The way I always put it, the US needs to re-learn what it means to be a “team player”.

[Equipoise]

@BobLibDem

Thank you Equipoise, that was one fine link. I stand corrected. What a terrific read! I shared Ron’s feeling that Republicans tried to expoit his father’s funeral. I was never a fan of Ronald Reagan, but I have to say he raised one smart young man.

You’re welcome! I’m always happy to pass that link around. I’m so glad they’ve left the article up instead of putting it in the archives.

[Balle_M]

@BobLibDem

Thank you Equipoise, that was one fine link. I stand corrected. What a terrific read! I shared Ron’s feeling that Republicans tried to expoit his father’s funeral. I was never a fan of Ronald Reagan, but I have to say he raised one smart young man.

Yes he did.

And his name is Michael.

[jayjay]

@Balle_M

Yes he did.

And his name is Michael.

:rolleyes:

[BobLibDem]

@Balle_M

Yes he did.

And his name is Michael.

Hardy har har. You must have a pretty loose definition of “young” when I said that Ronnie raised a “smart young man.”

[jayjay]

@BobLibDem

Hardy har har. You must have a pretty loose definition of “young” when I said that Ronnie raised a “smart young man.”

Or smart for that matter. I have trouble attributing actual intelligence to someone who claims, on the air, nationwide, that he’s proud to be thought of as homophobic. Which is, incidentally, something that even his father would have considered to be stupid and ill-mannered. While I may have disagreed with the elder Reagan on many things, one thing I do think of him is that, publicly, he was a very civil and pleasant man.

Michael Reagan, on the other hand, could just about change his last name to Savage and no one would know the difference based on the content of his radio show.