When S. Reyes was appointed head of Intelligence Division by Pelosi he could not tell which countries supported Sunnis and which Shiites. He missed every question by reporters.
Now McCain, who wants to be president, appears to know little about the two feuding parties - after 5 years of confrontation in Iraq!
Is it any wonder that the war and because of it the country are in a mess?
The Sunnis and Shiites are simply two different religious groups in the Muslim system.
During peace time they are relatively quite; it's a different story during war - as we found out.
The unbelievable ignorance of leading people in our government is extremely troubling.

One thing is for sure, you don't have to be very knowledgable to run for President anymore (Look at G.W.Bush).

I'm not sure which was more hilarious ...
The poodle Joe licking his ear or the embarrassed way Lindsey Graham kept staring at the ground.
The old fellow is turning into Elmer Fudd before our very eyes.
"Be vewy qwiet. I'm huntin' tewwowists!"

McCain is a Joke,lol.

He gets all do respect for serving our Country, but as a Cheif Executive, he is not qualified , oops! I said that about Bush too, now I'm scared,lol.

SPM, you are certainly entitled to your opinion. I would ask you sort of what I asked CG when she said Obama was qualified for the Presidency...What makes McCain unqualified for the Presidency as you claim him to be?

It is one thing for you to claim you do not desire to see him in the office. That is a matter of opinion and desire and as such needs no justification. However, you state he is unqualified. That presupposes some sort of defined qualifications he does not meet. I am curious as to what you believe those to be. You are of course not under any compulsion to answer but I think it weakens you position if you fail to do so...

I can't speak for SPM..

I personally find McCain unsuitbale, based on 3 issues:

1. His almost non-existent policy on getting our economy back...something that will NEVER be accomplished until the special interests are banned from DC...

2. His stance on the war which is not only a continuation of the failed Bush policies, but a proclivity toward escalating the war-monegring and the subsequent hatred toward us.

3. His long record of flip-flopping from a "maverick" position to one of "lap dog" to the status quo....and a record of statements and actions that do little to foster his standing as something other than just another politician out for his own gains and not the electorate.

There will be a resurgeance of McCain's statements (on 60 Minutes) about labeling himself, in a momemnt of candor, as a "war criminal" in Vietnam for bombing innocent civilians; there will also be a resurgeance of the Keating scandal; and there will be a resurgeance of his anti-lobbyist statements versus the reality of his dependence on them.

McCain's recent blunder, saying Iran is training al queda snd sending them into Iraq, well one can sort of think he was doing a "W" slip of the tongue....Anyone can make A mistake, when you repeat it 3 or more times, it may be an indication that you do not know a hill of beans of what you speak of...... McCain made the same claims on the Hugh Hewitt show....

Certainly, CG...of course it must be noted that you said unsuitable as opposed to unqualified. Unsuitable fall into the category of opinion and judgement rather than into the category of qualification. Perhaps SPM meant s/he found McCain unsuitable rather than unqualified and I, as I sometimes am, was simply being anal rententive in challenging the original comment. I guess we are left to await SPM's response.

Lawmage, although I would nat go as far as to flatly opine that McCain is "unsuitable" for the Presidency, I *worry* about his suitability... because of his age. I am not an agist, but I already see MCain struggling to keep simple facts straight, and being prompted by people such as Joe Lieberman to correct himself when he flubs statements about Al Qaida in Iran. I think it's a valid concern, and it brings to mind Reagan's last days in the White House when he was already suffering from the first stages of Alzheimer's disease while in office. I respect McCain's prior service to his country, but his moment may have passed.

You just have to have lots of money and know whose collective ass to kiss.

On a different note, whenever I read the topic title here, it reminds me of the long defunct syndicated comic strip, Alley Oop. I know Ray will remember that one. *ducking*

Yeah, I remember "Alley Oop." Do you remember "Nancy & Sluggo" and "Pricilla's Pop?"

But back to the original topic, I'm rather amused at all the political hysteria about "special interest groups" and (gasp) "Lobbyists." And BOTH Democrats and Republicans vow to do something about those nasty, damned ol' lobbyists and special interest groups. And you know they do that, don't you? Because it sounds good; because such talk mollifies the voters who can be incredibly ignorant about a great many political concepts.

For instance, "special interest groups?" Political "lobbyists?" Their attempts to influence lawmakers are protected by the 1st Amendment. You're not going to get rid of them without infringing upon their Constitutional right of petition. You can legislate against lawmakers taking bribes and selling their votes for material gain. But you cannot legislate against the right of individuals or groups of individuals from trying to persuade lawmakers to see political issues as the petitioners see it.