McCain Lost My Vote
Back in the 2000 Republican primary, I made a campaign donation to the candidacy of John McCain. McCain was a straight talking independent, with an eye on government waste and ineptitude.
In the past year John McCain has made the conscious decision, that in order to become the Republican nominee, he must stoop to Bush’s level by pandering to the religious right, staying the course in Iraq, and continuing the policy of fear.
In his latest effort to boost his presidential hopes, McCain is trying to push completely idiotic legislation concerning the Internet.
This legislation is so bad, it looks like something Ted Stevens sponsored to regulate the series of tubes.
The legislation, drafted by Sen. John McCain and obtained by CNET News.com, would also require Web sites that offer user profiles to delete pages posted by sex offenders.
In a speech on the Senate floor Wednesday, the Arizona Republican and former presidential candidate warned that “technology has contributed to the greater distribution and availability, and, some believe, desire for child pornography.” McCain scored 31 of 100 points on a News.com 2006 election guide scoring technology-related votes.
After child pornography or some forms of “obscenity” are found and reported, the Web site must retain any “information relating to the facts or circumstances” of the incident for at least six months. Webmasters would be immune from civil and criminal liability if they followed the specified procedures exactly.
McCain’s proposal, called the “Stop the Online Exploitation of Our Children Act” (click for PDF), requires that reports be submitted to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which in turn will forward them to the relevant police agency. (The organization received $32.6 million in tax dollars in 2005, according to its financial disclosure documents.)
Its so sad that McCain has come to this, I really loved the candidate of 2000. If McCain was elected in 2000, the United States position in the world today would be lot brighter.
My short list for potential presidential candidates I would actually like:
- Barak Obama
- Mike Bloomberg
- Rudy Giuliani
As a Republican (a somewhat moderate one…) I have to admit that right now Obama is on the top of my list for ’08.
I have been casually following his career since his speech at ’04. If you haven’t already, I suggest listening to some of his podcasts on his senate webpage.
I also have both of his books but haven’t started them (I have two other books I am working on in queue before I can get to them).
One item of particular interest with Obama was the legislation that he sponsored to give Federal spending more transparency. I can’t wait to see the fruits of that come to light.