On Frum’s point 10 “10) No elected official in American life has contributed more to the security of the nation than John McCain.” – this is if you believe that pre-emptively attacking Iraq was the right thing to do.

Points 9,8,6,4, and 2 are based on conservative ideology – they are true but they don’t offer any insight.

Although I wold say that point 2 (free-trade) ought to span the politial spectrum and I agree wholeheartedly with McCain’s position.

On point 7, “McCain is more pragmatic and more open to compromise” – this actually might be true – I don’t know – but I think Obama listens more before making up his mind.

Neither point 3 or point 1 are relevant.

Point 5 is true and is a fair point.

If I were a conservative like David Frum, I’d vote for McCain too. He’s a pretty good candidate.

Can somebody explain the difference between David Frum and Michael Ignatieff? IMHO, both have spent most of their careers seeking the approval and affirmation of the American and British elites. Both are essentially neoimperialist sycophants.

When Harper became disillusioned with the Mulroney Conservatives at the height of their power, he went into the wilderness to help rebuild the conservative movement in the country. He didn’t hang around London and Washington and Boston writing apologias for Western neoimperialism and torture.

Who says Obama had it easy? You try coming from a poor family and becoming the first black President of the Harvard Law Society – and graduating at the top of your class.

No, he was never tortured. Yes – what McCain went through was astonishing and I respect it tremendously.

But I don’t think it makes him a better President than Obama!

And yes! Choosing Palin — is a terrific reason for NOT voting for McCain. It says one helluva a lot about his character and judgement.

As for the rest of his points… just watch Fox News.

“You try coming from a poor family and becoming the first black President of the Harvard Law Society”

Hello, affirmative action, making things easy.

“and graduating at the top of your class”

Um, not quite.

He had a B- average at prep school in Hawaii.

He has not released his Harvard or Columbia records.

Per the Wall Street Journal September 11, 2008, “Obama’s Lost Years,” Obama graduated from Columbia University (to which he transferred after his first two years at Occidental College in California), with a degree in Political Science without honors, so had a GPA less than a 3.3. “Columbia GPA is unreleased but what is known is he graduated Magna cum Laude from Harvard Law so he was in the top 10% of his class.”

David Frum is a decent writer, and IMO has been providing an intellectually honest viewpoint during these past few months – especially compared to some of the frothers and minutiae-maniacs at the National Review. Admits when he makes mistakes too, which isn’t all that common.

Plus, every now and then – more _then_ these days – he post a _David’s Bookshelf_ review of recently read fiction/non-fiction that is usually quite detailed and generally well done.

Yeah, that’s really all there is to racism, isn’t there, jwl? Just a pithy reactionary unwitticism, that’s all it is. You can go back to sleep now.

The point of the affirmative action programs was to get talented black people like Obama into things like Harvard Law so they could show their potential and contribute to society. Formerly, as the slightest whiff of history – that’s history with an H – it was somehow difficult for black people to go to Harvard – not quite sure why – something to do with something. Anyway, you can look it up.

Barack Obama had a very comfortable upbringing, and even went to prep school, and his academic and extracurricular performance at Columbia did not qualify him for Harvard. Without affirmative action, he would not have been in Harvard or the Harvard Law Review. You can call that whatever you like, except false, because it is a fact.

I love your naivité, sf, that you think admission to Harvard Law is based on academic performance. Only someone who could never have gone there could have that kind of delusion.

Jack, I have no idea why you decided to make this about me, because I have never applied to Harvard, nor have I been affected by affirmative action. Why do you feel the need to make this ad hominem?

It does not take a math degree to realize, that when there are a fixed number of spots, and you lower standards for one group, then there will be some rejected with superior qualifications than some of those accepted. Now you can qualify this anyway you like, but certainly some would consider it malevolent to those who were rejected because of the program.

However, it’s funny you are tightening the decision of racism now, when a moment ago, uttering the mere fact that affirmative action allowed Barack to attend Harvard, uttering that fact qualified me for the label of racist. It seems you are rather loose with the definition as it suits you. A racist is anyone who disagrees with a liberal, as JWL has said, there really is no firm definition of the word.

And maybe you could specify exactly how Barack’s training was inadequate for Harvard? I thought that’s what prep schools were for. Similarly, you’d think attending one ivy league school as an undergrad might be sufficient training to qualify for another. Or am I being racist? It’s so hard to tell.

Frankly, I guarantee you that if Harvard did not use academic performance as an entry criterion, then Harvard would not have quite the same reputation that it does. So, are you saying that money, connections and skin colour are the only Harvard entrance criteria? I suspect academics is occasionally considered. Academics and extracurriculars seemed to be the two most valuable assets that eventually led a high school colleague of mine to become Harvard valedictorian. But what would he know?

More ad-hominems. How typical.

No, it was not belittling, it was the truth. I chose to correct an individual who mistakenly characterized Barack’s academic record as stellar, when in fact, his undergraduate experience was good, yet insufficient to qualify for Harvard without the assistance of affirmative action. There is no sideswipe, no matter how you attempt to credibly define the word sideswipe.

Now, here is webster’s definition of racism:
“racial prejudice or discrimination”

Here is the definition of discriminating:
“making a distinction”

and prejudice:
“preconceived judgment or opinion”

Now, I repeat, affirmative action is, by definition, racism.

By the way, notice the absence of the world malevolent, or any such synonym.

Now, it seems to me, having attending prep school on the island if Hawaii and being an undergrad at Columbia (both of which have sizeable populations of non-whites, BTW), Barack might have already had a distinct advantage over the vast majority of other Americansof any background to qualify for Harvard Law, including most individuals of a non-black background. But if you say he needed the assistance of elitist bureaucrats to succeed, then so be it.

Jack, really, you should look around yourself, you are in a hole, stop digging.

Wow, Frum’s really trying hard there, is he not? (Sarah Palin doesn’t know much about policy, but I think she “can learn.”)

Couldn’t he just have said, “I’m voting Republican, because I’m a conservative,” and saved nearly tying himself into knots?