(Warning: the above should not be read by the sarcasm-impaired)

Bullshit comparisons here.

I'll address the most important to me of the issues you listed: the Environment.

McCain has said climate change is real, and during the primary he was the most outspoken of all the candidates, dem and republican, on the issue. I was pleased with that. He has reversed so many of his positions though, and his energy/environment plan has become so watered down now it's almost meaningless, and one could argue, harmful, on the nuclear and coal initiatives. He only pays lip service to climate change now - acknowledging it isn't enough. We need sound proactive policies to mitigate it. Probably the only thing I like in his entire plan at this point is his rejection of corn ethanol. The rest is crap.

Please. Look again.

And foreign policy, hello? It's not just Iraq - it's how to deal with Iran, Israel, Pakistan, Afghanistan, North Korea, Venezuela, Cuba, to mention a few.

Uh...just curious. Who, precisely, said that McCain and Obama were no different from one another?

Earth...Flat or Spherical?
Both arguments have merit!

I heard Obama is McCains love child from an old girlfriend he left behind in Kenya.(McCain got around that way, don't cha know he's an aviator) This is why Obama and McCain are so similar, they're related! This makes Obama a secret republican.

You really know how to get people to read your post.
Nicely done.

I wonder how many comments a post entitled:

"I'm Through With Barack McBush."

After the overheated FISA threads, I'm ready for some snarky humor.

Better you put your disclaimer at the top, Ben.

Reading through the whole thing then to be told it's sarcastic left me rolling my eyes. Because, unfortunately, the "comparisons" you imply are sarcastic are being made seriously.

You have to come up with some patently absurd "comparisons" to make a jaded reader know that your opinions are satire before you make your disclaimer.

There are people who post here seriously that have gone further than you, so on this topic, you are just too subtle.

It's like a Monty Python sketch in convenient thread format!

Funny but a waste of my time.

A sure indication that I've been here too long, my snarkmeter is broken. I read Ben's post with rising umbrage. That's it, I need a vacation from TPM.

Of course he's better than McCain. Just not AS better as he should be, or as the country needs him to be.

There's no bigger waste of time than a heavily sarcastic demolition of a straw man.

I know Obama and McFuddle are the same person! Do you have any proof that they are NOT? I did not think so.

They both support Guantanamo, and they both hate habeas corpus and agree with Little Nino Scalia. With his FISA CAVE*, Obama wants to turn us into Guantanamo cave. McFuddle wants to keep Guantanamo-on-the-island alive and running. They are the same!

*is it really a cave? Where is it? Does it have bats? Spelunkers wanna know.

Ben, if you want to change your avatar, I have no objection, but do we really need another fucking cat?

Your comparison of Obama's 18 year plan and McCain "100 year" comments is highly misleading, or comparing apples and oranges. since Obama's 18 months deal with combat troops, while McCain's "100 years" comments referred to peace-keeping troops that would be there AS LONG AS our troops were not being injured or killed.

Factcheck.org, Frank Rich and others have called Obama on this smear.

And I mean, SMEAR, as Factcheck.org called it:
http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/smear_or_be_smeared.html

Maybe you should make your comparisons using McCain's actual positions instead of gross distortions of them. On 'torture' of foreign terrorists (which I support not just to get info but as a new olympic sport!), McCain was one of the first to speak out against 'harsh interrogation techniques', he rejected the Senate bill because of an amendment that forced the CIA to the same rules as the military, and he felt that they should have different standards. ON the 100 year timetable, you know this is a lie, so why keep repeating it? On the 'faith based initiatives', Obama's position is no different than current law and Bush Policy. On the death penalty, how can you fight legislatively against it in all cases, then say in an election contest that you support it for various crimes? Should he clarify his position to be against it for all other crimes, or would that cost him votes?

You have no idea how close your "sarcasm" is to reality.

1) Civil rights: Obama PROMISED to filibuster any bill offering retroactive immunity. You have to remember that no one knows exactly what Bush and the telecoms did. We only know what's been leaked. The new FISA law explicitly allows interception of communication between an American and an overseas recipient. That's right, in contradiction to the Constitution. Please read Glenn Greenwald's series of expose on FISA and the constitution on Salon.com. You cannot defend his FISA vote and then complain about torture - it's part of the same mentality that the executive branch can do whatever it considers necessary.

2) Abortion: Most late-term abortions, contrary to popular myth, are performed due to severe deformity or condition of the FETUS. That's right, outlawing third-trimester abortions except for the physical health of the mother is a nicer way of saying banning abortion. Stop making excuses, please.

3) Faith-based initiatives: Obama wants to EXPAND funding for religious institutions. Today the Denver Circuit Court rules states cannot "discriminate" against colleges that require faculty to sign a statement that "the Bible is the infallible word of God." Google it. By the same logic, government cannot "discriminate" against religious groups that discriminate in their hiring. Obama's "restriction" will be struck down sooner or later. Maybe even by the same judge.

4) Iraq: Obama has voted for several funding bills without restrictions. He now says up to 50,000 American troops may be left in Iraq to secure our "interests." By comparison, at the peak of the recent surge there were perhaps 170,000 troops.

5) Death penalty: Do you think Congress will stop at child rapists when they draft a new death penalty bill?

6) Environment: For now this is one area where Obama's obviously superior, but who knows, at the rate he CHANGES his votes, I wouldn't bet my life saving on it being the same when he gets into office.

Bottom line: Stop sticking your head in the sand. He's not a messiah. He's not even a centrist. Yes, he's effective in mobilizing certain people. So did Reagan and Gingrich. And Pat Robertson.