Does ANY Candidate Want My Vote For President?

PUT YOUR HAND BACK DOWN, JOHN!

In the first place, to assuage the concerns I am sure will soon be voiced by conservatives, let me state for the record that I will PROBABLY still be voting for John McCain in November. But GAWD! Is he doing everything humanly possible to make that decision as tough as possible?

The short answer is YES!

While I admit, I was not listening to his speech before the Los Angeles World Affairs Council live, I did hear enough excerpts to force myself to pull over to the side of the road until the red rage want away, and I could once again see straight enough to drive.

The "Straight-Talk Express" made what was billed as his first opportunity to outline his foreign policy -- the policy we can expect him to pursue once ensconced in the Oval Office. From the Los Angeles Times:

In a broad-ranging foreign policy speech, Sen. John McCain pledged today that, if elected, his administration's foreign policy would be based on cooperation with U.S. allies and he called for a league of democracies that could build "an enduring peace."

In remarks to the Los Angeles World Affairs Council, McCain cautioned that America's power and influence "does not mean we can do whatever we want whenever we want," and said U.S. leaders should not "assume we have all the wisdom and knowledge necessary to succeed."

"We need to listen to the views and respect the collective will of our democratic allies," McCain said before an audience of several hundred people in the ballroom of the Westin Bonaventure Hotel. "When we believe international action is necessary, whether military, economic or diplomatic, we will try to persuade our friends that we are right. But we, in return, must be willing to be persuaded by them."

While I admit, I myself have advocated a "League of Democracies" in a piece done both here at The HinzSight Report and at RedState.com, the organization as I envisioned it centered around American leadership, not the hat-in-hand pleading with the international community discussed by Sen McCain.

From that rather long article entitled The United Nations -- a Portrait of Failure, I closed with these thoughts.

The US then should set up another body, sort of a “coalition of the willing,” to borrow a term from this President, which is limited to demonstrably democratically elected governments. A good beginning might include, The US, Canada, Great Britain, France (with reservations), Germany, Belgium, The Netherlands, Denmark, India and Japan.

Unlike the United Nations, not all nations would be eligible for this coalition, but only those deemed worthy by the member nations. Other nations could apply for membership. In a few years, through United States leadership, Afghanistan and Iraq might well qualify.

The first order of business for this new Organization would be the war on terror; eliminating terrorist cells and states wherever they arise. This coalition of the democratic nations of the world, could and would act as “policeman of the world,” taking decisive action to stop mass murders and atrocities across the globe. They can do no worse than the failed United Nations, and can, in my opinion, probably do much better!

Given that either Obama or Hillary will turn US sovereignty over to the United Nations, further eroding out standing in the world -- I still must cast my vote with Sen McCain on this issue.

His speech today touched also on the detainee facility at Guantanamo Bay. As in the past, he still does not like it. He wants, in fact, to close the facility down. This is NOT a bone thrown to the Conservative base. In fact, I feel certain that this issue will be a big winner with moderate Democrats and Independents.

With that aim, he repeated his call for closing the detention center at Naval Air Station Guantanamo Bay in Cuba stating that the United States cannot subject suspected terrorists to torture or inhumane treatment, a stance that drew applause from the audience.

As I pointed out above, this is not a new position for the senator. Back in July, 2006 he told Fortune Magazine, in an interview:

"I'd like to say a few things about the Supreme Court's decision yesterday on the whole issue of detainees in Guantanamo Bay. The good news is that it has unstuck the process. The administration has been saying they were waiting [for the ruling.] The Court said two things: the court said they should be handled under the Unified Military Code of Justice.

The UMCJ does not guarantee all the rights [that the civilian court system does], but I think it's basically a fair system. The other was the admonition to adhere to the Geneva conventions. I'm not surprised by that either.

What I'm hoping is that we can start a hearing in the Armed Services Committee, and, as soon as we get back from our well-earned recess, we can push the issue forward.... Guantanamo has become a symbol around the world that is not good. I've always believed it was not the facility, but the lack of movement. [The fact that detainees are not getting their day in court.] You've got some bad guys in there, but you may also have some innocent people.

Oh yes, we need a Republican Presidential candidate who tells people that there are innocent people being held at Gitmo. This us helpful.

But, both Obama and Hillary would like to close that facility down as well, and probably confer Constitutional rights upon the detainees. I'm not entirely sure what Sen McCain intends to do with the detainees, but it cannot be any worse than the plans put forth by the Democrats. Still not enough difference to withhold my vote for McCain.

Probably the most frightening thing the good senator told his audience today was his fealty to the hoax of Manmade Global Warming. A true believer now, of the Goracle, from MarketWatch:

Presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain on Wednesday called for greater vigilance in combating global warming, saying that a successor to the Kyoto Treaty should be enacted.

McCain called for the U.S. to be good "stewards of our
planet," saying the treaty that U.S. has yet to ratify is necessary to preserve the Earth. A cap-and-trade system in which environmental credits are exchanged much like common stock is a system the Arizona senator said he favors.

"The risks of global warming have no borders," McCain said. "We and the other nations of the world must get serious about substantially reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the coming years or we will hand off a much-diminished world to our grandchildren."

So, it is not bad enough that Kyoto would cripple the US economy, setting us back decades while still giving a free pass to the largest polluters on the planet, India and China, now the good senator wants to go BEYOND Kyoto with an even more draconian agreement.

In this, he goes much further than his remarks of two years ago, when he told Fortune Magazine:

Finally, climate change is real.... The fact that we have not done more about it is a crime to our children and grandchildren.... I travel a lot around the world, usually at your expense, and [I've seen the effects of global warming.] I think we need to stop arguing whether it's happening.

Climate change is real, and we need to begin to start figuring out how we can reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The trick in my mind is to get business to see that reducing greenhouse emissions [is in their economic interest.] Lieberman's and my cap-and-trade legislation should have gotten more attention....

Nuclear power, in my view, is not only a viable, but a very important element in our effort to reduce our dependence on foreign oil... Let me remind you that the Europeans have moved forward long ago on nuclear power. It's a question of psychology not technology.

--snip--

...On Kyoto: we needed to have China and India. We're not going to sell Kyoto to the American people without China and India. On the issue of waste, I've always been in favor of re-processing. Yucca Mountain is the worst kind of [shameful situation.] We can't [put waste in their because] it's only good for 10,000 years? Now, I worry about the future, but God Almighty!

As on the other issues, Obama and Hillary are, if anything, worse than Sen McCain -- marginally!

As I stated at the top, is there ANY candidate who WANTS my vote for President? At the moment, THIS conservative is frustrated, conflicted and angry.