Guard Dog

Dont you think its odd our American friends cant think of any world leaders they admire? And they being serious And who would you suggest? I know how much you love Barack Obama, although it is a sentiment I don't share and cannot explain because to love of human freedom does not abide within that man. Merkel is presiding over the destruction of her own country. Crimes by refugees against German citizens are either suppressed or ignored. She certainly deserves no respect. Hollande was quick to trot out martial law after terrorists acts and is making things in Mali worse with French military interventions. And he is another one ignoring the bad acts of refugees until the started killing French citizens large scale. Putin? No. Mariano Rajoy of Spain started out good but now it looks like he's been taking bribes. Justin Trudeau is new and even the Canadians on this board don't take him seriously. Erodogan in Turkey STARTED that coup a few months ago as a pretext to seize power. Of course there are 212 nations in the world so it stands to reason they are not ALL led by villains and rogues. But those kinds of people are attracted to politics. That is why the list is short I imagine two leaders you might admire are Raul Castro and Kim Jong Un. After all they agree with you that people who say the wrong things deserve to go to prison.

Come on? You honestly cant name a leader you respect....I can mention many leaders I know you would respect ? I did. Didn't you read what I wrote? Oh sorry, I assumed you were joking as I meant to say Turnbull doesn't count because everyone knows Australia isn't really a fair representation of a normal country because of how the original immigrants to Oz were criminals and how they massacred the aborigines plus the Australians send all there new arrivals to a island hell hole where sexual abuse is rampant http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/08/11/489659844/australias-immigration-minister-plays-down-claims-of-abuse-on-refugee-island Are you f-----g serious? Do you honestly believe anyone alive in Australia today is in any way responsible for acts done before their grandparents were even born? By that logic YOU bear culpability for apartheid even though it was instituted long before you were born and you opposed it.

The Detriot News has endorsed Gary Johnson. That is now 5 newspapers that have endorsed him. More than Trump I might add. And it's five more endorsements than any Libertarian Candidate has ever received. http://www.detroitnews.com/opinion/ Already this figures to be the most successful election season for the LP since 1980. And maybe the most successful ever. I do hope this can be parleyed into even greater success, beginning with recruiting and supporting Congressional candidates in 2018 & 2020 and a serious Presidential bid in 2020. The problem with the LP is it's members by their very nature are too feral to work well together over competing agendas. It is a philosophy that attracts individualists. And if the success of 2016 cannot be sustained then the LP is doomed to remain a small outlier on the US political battlefield rather than grow into a real factor. We NEED a third voice in US politics. We need a fourth and fifth voice. We are now seeing two political parties that are harder and harder to really differentiate clawing at each other over every election but not matter who wins the outcome is always the same. It's a problem

Come on? You honestly cant name a leader you respect....I can mention many leaders I know you would respect ? I did. Didn't you read what I wrote?

Actually the question was name a world leader you respect. I think that would be a pretty short list for most of us. For me that Turnbull guy in Australia seems a good sort. But Australia minds it's own business and doesn't bother anyone for the most part.

Johnson is still a better candidate for President than Clinton or Trump. But this is funny:

NRO ran an article calling Trump the leader of a Jacksonian Democrat revival. I'm curious how the kept a straight face while writing that one. The last Jacksonian Democrat was Kennedy. Although Bill Clinton could pretend to be one when it suited him.

Gary Johnson ran an Op-Ed in the NY Times today. As usual he makes a lot of sense and strikes a reasoned tone: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/28/opinion/gary-johnson-take-a-deep-breath-voters-there-is-a-third-way.html?_r=0

And GD thinks you have deep insights on the reality of the US political system? When the heck did I ever say such a thing????

Ugh. I'm working in Memphis all week. I'd rather be eaten by ants!

Don't you support a guy who wants to kill the Fed? Yes. A position I support by the way because I DO have a basic grasp of economics. The Libertarians have positions I don't agree with like support for TPP, complete elimination of agricultural subsidy, etc. But I am much more aligned with them than any other political party or candidate. Show me someone who agrees with any candidate 100% and I'll show you someone who hasn't bothered to do much thinking. No what I was specifically referring to is Hillary Clinton seems to either not understand or is choosing to ignore WHY businesses leave the country. There is only one reason: it costs more to operate a business in the United States than it does wherever the hell they are moving. So to fix this her solution is to increase taxes and regulatory compliance costs and make it even MORE expensive to stay. That is like using gasoline to put out a fire. But as her comments in India four years ago indicate she has no problem with outsourcing American jobs.

Outside of Clinton and Trump being abducted by aliens and replaced with better candidates I wouldn't hold out much hope for that.

GD now that you have had more time to reflect on the debate are you prepared to comment on who you think " won " the debate ? Lets not look at this from an emotional perspective but rather the overall points raised that are based on facts and real issues. For example the fact that Trump wont release his tax returns, again this is unacceptable and should be heavily criticized I'm not voting for either of them. They are both unfit IMO. As for the debate, after about 40 minutes of it I changed the channel to the Tampa Bay Rays vs. Chicago White Sox game. And then flipped back and forth between that and the football game. Trump talked only in generalities and repeated the same things over and over. Clinton promised more government, more government after that, and topped it off with more government. From what I watched Hillary Clinton does not have a basic grasp of economics and Donald Trump is just repeating things smarter people told him to say. I don't know who won Bruce. But I know on November 8 we are all going to lose.

https://www.facebook.com/Marlins/videos/10154422816362349/

I know who won... the Falcons, the Marlins, and the White Sox.

Well I've had enough of this farce. Trump is repeating the same things over and over and Clinton is copping a condescending little sneer that is just pissing me off. I could not imagine two more unlikable human beings. F--k them both. I'm going to watch baseball.

It looks like the numbers are shaping up for Colorado to be THE swing state this year. http://www.weeklystandard.com/quinnipiac-race-tightens-in-colorado-as-trump-gains-among-white-college-educated-voters/article/2004481 So if you still care which of these two turds ends up not being flushed in November you need to talk to Shady Sands. You can't "buy"his vote, but I'm sure he'd read the note on a gift!

This led to an interesting discussion on another board. Let's see where this takes us. For the most part we're all getting up in the early middle years of life. If you could give advice to yourself at age 18 what would it be? Here is mine. Emphasis on #1. None of the things you now consider indispensable to live your life matter. It's the simplest things that will bring you the most joy. Don't allow someone to make you second guess what you know is true. Trust people to act in their own interests, especially when they conflict with yours. You will never be surprised that way. Some problems are better endured or ignored than fixed. Choose your battles, not every hill is worth dying for. If someone tells you Donald Trump might be President someday... don't laugh. That s--ts not funny. What would YOU say?

Oh man this really sucks! Very sad. http://m.mlb.com/news/article/203268704/jose-fernandez-killed-in-boating-accident/

No I've never been south of the big line. Well not by ship anyway. I was in Diego Garcia for most of the Gulf War but we went there by C141 and to Kuwait by C130. I did catch a ride to the RoK from Okinawa on the Debuque for Team Spirit in '92 and St. Louis for Valiant Blitz in '91. And you felt every bump in those.

The Navy has their obstacle courses once you get in the fleet. Like trying to get from your berth to the mess hall in 10' seas.

I guess this is an appropriate place to use the some folks want to watch the world burn quote. It does not make a heck of a lot of sense to me either. But in all seriousness every needs to know a Trump Presidency probably will be a lot less eventful than you think. The President is not all powerful. Far from it. They set the agenda, they lead on foreign policy, they nominate judges, they enforce the law. Basically that is it. And Congress has oversight on all of it. A President can't do "big things" without Congress being on-board. And the Republicans are defending enough seats in "soft blue" states to make control of the Senate at least likely for the Dems. That means Trump can bluster away but there will be a real limit to what he can do. The biggest mistake we've made as a country in the last 20 years was the Iraq invasion. GWB bears the brunt of that blame for sure but let's not forget, had Congress, including Hillary Clinton not given the OK it would not have happened. The world would be different today. ISIS would only be a hot brunette Egyptian goddess