Such statements are abominations of rhetoric no matter who explicates them. If McCain said such a thing I would be equally critical.

Observe: I am highly critical of McCain's unprincipled decision to pander to the female special interest group by bringing in a virtually unknown female as his running mate. A smart strategy, perhaps but a principled resort to choosing the overall best running mate? I doubt it. If she is "the best person for the job" why have we heard nothing of her till now?

Obama shirked Hillary, creating the potential for a huge number of alienated Hillary-lovers; consequently McCain's team is making the strategically smart move of putting a woman on their team in hopes of stealing away a significant chunk of Hillaries ardent supporters. Nothing in such a decision necessarily has anything to do with who is the best LEADER. I'm critical of all of them for playing smoke and mirror games that have little really to do with what is best for the United States and lots to do with what is best for political parties.  I am critical of our entire American way of life for it being like this. Why!? Why!? Why, can we not have REAL statesmen/women!?

I'll tell you why, America has grown more stupid as the bread and circuses have grown more beguiling.

I am critical of stupidity, irrespective of what party label or avatar it tries to hide behind.

On this point I will tend to agree with you. Obama appears to be a first-rate charlatan who will say anything if he thinks it will get him elected.

Now that McCain has shown his ability to match Obama's used-car salesman mystique with an equally as shallow but effective-on-the-masses tactic, I don't know whether to abominate both of them equally, or simply to wish that the least nefarious wins. Indeed, in a contest of nefariousness, I can't say I have a clear read of which one of them is less wiley, calculating and ruthless. Perhaps the one who can win the insipid suite of parlor games is the best candidate even if the games are stupid? I suppose for a nation of clowns, the best clown/magician is perhaps the most suiting?

But in the end, McCain has more experience, and more proven ability and sucesses in the myriad of domains in which a President needs to be competent. On that basis I remain tentatively pro-McCain. Definitely anti-Obama, but as the lesser of two evils, tenuously pro-McCain . . . for now. We'll see what new treachery the two of them dream up before November  . . .

He looks like a nice fellow . 

Seriously, I will not make any bones about the fact that I'm pulling for McCain.  I've said it before and I'll probably say it again, he wasn't my first choice, or my second, or my third actually but he's who I've got to live with.  There is no perfect candidate other than jerm himself because he's the only one who shares all my views .  My goal is to get him elected so that Obama isn't elected.  I don't think there's anything that I think actually qualifies him for being president.  I could see myself voting for a democrat in cases where they were more preferable to a republican but this is not the time. 

I do have a hard time believing that China's infrastructure (as a whole) is vastly superior to ours.  I'd like to actually see some kind of data to back it up, then I may be convinced.  Perhaps in a few metropolitian areas but a country isn't just made up of metros.  What is the cost of these infrastructural improvements and are they justified by the ends?  I'm not sure we should employ the same methods of building up our infrastructure that China has done. 

I don't like these attacks on slips of the tongue.  Everybody slips up like this (I do it all the time) and unless you think they meant what they said, it's stupid to bring them up.  Besides, I've heard plenty of Obama slip ups as well but nobody seems to care.

Irrespective of how much dirty money they have spent on infrastructure in the areas where the Olympics cameras have been rolling up footage, "doing like them" and spending dirty money on infrastructure is not something the U.S. should aspire to, and Obama should be ashamed to even consider engaging in such yellow innuendo.