Poll suggests 1 in 5 Americans cannot make simple factual assessments

[Guard Dog]

Cut him a little slack, it was 8 years with the Bush administration which stands today as the worst. That's a whole of a mess to clean.

 

His solution is to destroy free enterprise and have the government take control over everything. I don't fu***ng think so. My fear is that he will lead this country down a black Keynesian hole that it will take a civil war to escape from. Think about it, what did Bush do wrong? He spent too much. Obama in just two years has spent more and obligated more debt than all of the presidents of the 20th Century, including Bush, combined. He has taken a bad plan and doubled down on it.

 

I think we need to begin having serious discussions about state secession. If 50% of the country is hell bent on following the Weimar Republics grand example I do not think the other 50% is obligated to go with them.

[Wrath of Dagon]

It's fair to say that Bush was responsible for the Iraq war. I don't think he can be fairly blamed for the financial crisis. Yes, in theory it was preventable and it happened on his watch, but realistically none of our leaders would have had the wisdom and the political courage to prevent it.

[Volourn]

"which stands today as the worst."

 

L0LZ Lack of perspective is cute.

 

 

"It's fair to say that Bush was responsible for the Iraq war."

 

No, that isn't fair. The fair thing to say is that Saddam Hussein is responsible for the Iraq War. It would be faiir to say that Bush, and the politicians in general mishandled the post war Iraq, though.

[Trenitay]

His solution is to destroy free enterprise and have the government take control over everything. I don't fu***ng think so.

 

I think we need to begin having serious discussions about state secession. If 50% of the country is hell bent on following the Weimar Republics grand example I do not think the other 50% is obligated to go with them.

 

I feel like you are generally a pretty level-headed and fair person but these statements just seem to be huge and deliberate overexaggerations. I know you genuinely dislike his ideas for the ideas themselves and not for who Obama himself is, so if you could stop representing this as a battle against Hitler and the Nazis that would be great.

[Guest The Architect]

If only 1 in 5 Americans are average in a binary situation, HOLY CRAP

 

This poll is flawed, you are the 1/5 of Americans who cannot make simple factual assessments!

[Humodour]

His solution is to destroy free enterprise and have the government take control over everything. I don't fu***ng think so.

 

I think we need to begin having serious discussions about state secession. If 50% of the country is hell bent on following the Weimar Republics grand example I do not think the other 50% is obligated to go with them.

 

I feel like you are generally a pretty level-headed and fair person but these statements just seem to be huge and deliberate overexaggerations. I know you genuinely dislike his ideas for the ideas themselves and not for who Obama himself is, so if you could stop representing this as a battle against Hitler and the Nazis that would be great.

 

Agreed. Extremist rhetoric unsettles me.

[Guard Dog]

Ok, the state secession comment was hyperbole, but I do not think it is off limits for discussion. I just don't think it will or maybe should happen. The Weimar Republic comment had nothing what so ever to do with Hitler or Nazis. You guys put that there not me. Tne Nazis and their horrors were the reult of the countires collapse, not the cause of it. It was a purely economic comparison. I suggest you do a little research on what happened to it and why it collapsed. If you follow US econmics and politics you will see some scary parallels. Particulary the part about ramapant, out of control debt and the attempt to eliminate it by deliberately devaluating the currency. Exactly what Obamas "economic" team is trying to do here. Meanwhile he spends more and more and more and more and more.....

 

And have some self respect Krezack & Awsemoness, do some real research, not wikipedia.

 

edit please forgive my grammar and spelling. I'm typing this on a Blackberry.

Edited August 20, 2010 by Guard Dog

[Orogun01]

Ok, the state secession comment was hyperbole, but I do not think it is off limits for discussion. I just don't think it will or maybe should happen. The Weimar Republic comment had nothing what so ever to do with Hitler or Nazis. You guys put that there not me. Tne Nazis and their horrors were the reult of the countires collapse, not the cause of it. It was a purely economic comparison. I suggest you do a little research on what happened to it and why it collapsed. If you follow US econmics and politics you will see some scary parallels. Particulary the part about ramapant, out of control debt and the attempt to eliminate it by deliberately devaluating the currency. Exactly what Obamas "economic" team is trying to do here. Meanwhile he spends more and more and more and more and more.....

 

And have some self respect Krezack & Awsemoness, do some real research, not wikipedia.

 

edit please forgive my grammar and spelling. I'm typing this on a Blackberry.

So, it's still quite a jump from following an economic model to thinking you're the heir of the ancient lemurians and that jews have a secret plot to take over the world. But then again Americans do think that Obama=Hitler.

 

Let's face it the free enterprise is down is up to whether we can interest the eastern market in investing that it will recover.

Edited August 20, 2010 by Orogun01

[Wrath of Dagon]

"It's fair to say that Bush was responsible for the Iraq war."

 

No, that isn't fair. The fair thing to say is that Saddam Hussein is responsible for the Iraq War. It would be faiir to say that Bush, and the politicians in general mishandled the post war Iraq, though.

Right or wrong, it was Bush who made the decision to go to war, not Saddam.

[Walsingham]

Hang on, GD. I follow your logic with the economic parallel, and I can see it's worth considering, but the USA is totally dissimilar on almost every other count. There is a strong and reliable mlitary, your economy is inextricably tied to the health of the entire global economy, the Obama administration - whatever its faults - is (and I'm pretty ignorant so correct me if you like) hardly like the bunch of silhouettes responsible for Weimar. Nor are the American people a bunch of shattered and victimised wrecks recovering from decimation in warfare.

 

Play fair, old man.

[Guard Dog]

Hang on, GD. I follow your logic with the economic parallel, and I can see it's worth considering, but the USA is totally dissimilar on almost every other count. There is a strong and reliable mlitary, your economy is inextricably tied to the health of the entire global economy, the Obama administration - whatever its faults - is (and I'm pretty ignorant so correct me if you like) hardly like the bunch of silhouettes responsible for Weimar. Nor are the American people a bunch of shattered and victimised wrecks recovering from decimation in warfare.

 

Play fair, old man.

All of that is true, which is why something like Nazi facisim will never take hold in the USA, it will just break apart. Which is exactly what will happen when the US dollar is worth zero. And that is absolutely and indisputably coming unless we do a major couse correction. We are not making one. Instead we are pressing the gas pedal to the floor on the road to ruin. Obama and the Dems are hell bent on transitioning to a hybrid of Keynsian/Planned economics and damn the costs. The Repubs do not have the stones or even the political ability to stop them. Hell, I think the Dems losing Congress will only delay the inevitable. It's not like the Repubs practiced any kind of fiscal responsibility when they controlled the White House and both houses of congress. The only ray of hope is that amonst the Repubs the neo-con faction is all but gone and the economic libertarians are on the rise.

 

Funny, two years ago both Taks and I predicted that would happen.

 

As far as the US economy being linked to the rest of the world, that will only be true so long as the dollar is the standard currency for international business. With a weak dollar, and the EU and China becoming the dominant economies in the world, how long will that be? Especially since the Obama admin is deliberatly trying to devaluate the dollar to monetise the debt. Without being backed by real assets (like gold, thank you Nixon you pice of s**t) currency is only worth what everyone else deems it to be worth. Thats why I have sold ALL of my stocks and bonds and bought gold and silver coins. 90% of my non real estate investments (not counting 401k) are now in Canadian Maple Leafs. I would not buy US bonds right now if they accepted dried dog poop for payment.

[Volourn]

"Right or wrong, it was Bush who made the decision to go to war, not Saddam."

 

Wrong. The war was Saddam's fault. Plain, and simple. It's what happens when you don't care about your country and try to play mind games with likes, crap, double talk, and other crap.

[GreasyDogMeat]

He hasn't done himself any favors by choosing a radical anti-american church (Jeremiah GOD DAMN AMERICA Wright) before dumping the church. Then he supports/doesn't speak out agains the ground-zero mosque funded by a cleric who says America was responsible for 9-11.

 

Honestly, at the end of the day I don't think Obama is religious at all. He worships whatever is convenient to his agenda and his real religion is big government. Whatever gets the people stirred up to vote this piece of garbage out of office is fine with me.

 

This WWII vet pretty much sums up how many Americans are starting to feel about Obama. http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=945_1271287772

[Guard Dog]

You know somthing else that is really bothering me about Obama and the Dems, they are bending over backwards to publicly support and endorse the Cordoba project. For those who do not know that is a planned seven story Islamic Mosque and community center right near where the WTC once stood. The Imam spearheading the project is a radical who has publicly supported terror and blamed the US for 9-11. The project is being financed in large part with Saudi money.

 

I don't have any strong feeling about it one way or another, I just wish everyone would acknowledge it for what it is, a giant middle finger in our faces. But Obama has publicly supported it.

 

Now, on 9-11 when the south tower fell it destroyed St. Nicholas Greek Orthadox church. It was one of the oldest buildings on that block, older than the WTC and Manhatten grew up around it. it was very small and had a congregation of around 70 families. It was the only church on the island because it was built before the city decided they did not want churches on the island. Now, New York (which is run by the democrats) is refusing to allow St Nicholas to be rebuilt, while at the same time is going out of their way to ensure the cordoba mosque does get built. And Obama has nothing to say about the christian church.

 

That bothers me. He really should not have involved himself at all, but now that he has, his favor to one and silence to the other is hard to dismiss.

[Enoch]

As far as the US economy being linked to the rest of the world, that will only be true so long as the dollar is the standard currency for international business. With a weak dollar, and the EU and China becoming the dominant economies in the world, how long will that be? Especially since the Obama admin is deliberatly trying to devaluate the dollar to monetise the debt. Without being backed by real assets (like gold, thank you Nixon you pice of s**t) currency is only worth what everyone else deems it to be worth. Thats why I have sold ALL of my stocks and bonds and bought gold and silver coins. 90% of my non real estate investments (not counting 401k) are now in Canadian Maple Leafs. I would not buy US bonds right now if they accepted dried dog poop for payment.

We're getting pretty far afield here, but this is, I think, where you're wrong. The U.S. may be screwed, but the rest of the world is even more screwed. There simply are no credible threats to the Dollar at present or on the horizon. Sure, it may be worth $0.30 ten years from now, but everything else will be worth $0.10.

 

 

P.S., Asset-based currencies are a disaster. Sure, the decisionmakers in the Fed make mistakes, but in the aggregate it has led to far better outcomes than what we got when the money supply was determined by the arbitrary fiat of how much gold (or whatever) happened to have been pulled out of the ground in a given year.

[ShadySands]

Umm, there are a lot other churches here (even Greek Orthodox) in Manhattan. What I've heard of St Nicholas is that its rebuilding is delayed along with everything else at ground zero. While I'm not sure of what to make of the people behind the mosque, the idea behind it doesn't sound bad. I will say that the proposed site is not ground zero and a couple blocks away here might as well be a couple miles away for other cities.

[Guard Dog]

Umm, there are a lot other churches here (even Greek Orthodox) in Manhattan.

 

Yeah, I meant to say in the block around the WTC plaza. From what I read the Cordoba house is planned to go in 600 yds from where the North tower stood.

[I want teh kotor 3]

Who cares what the **** dude in the cloud he believes in? Far more important are his political beliefs, seeing as though he is (nominally) a political leader, rather than a religious one. then again, judging by some of his followers' statements about him, it seems he may be a cultish figure...

[Hurlshort]

600 yards is a very long block! And Imam Rauf is a well respected religious leader who has always preached peace and tolerance. Where are you getting this information from, GD?

[Wrath of Dagon]

Rauf said US was complicit in 9/11, refuses to condemn Hamas, blames the West whenever he's asked about causes of terrorism, and wants US to be sharia compliant (see Time magazine cover). The name of the Cordoba foundation is a not so subtle hint that Spain belongs to Muslims. The real question is where you're getting your information from.

[Trenitay]

But Obama has publicly supported it.

 

No he has not. He said they have the right to build it. Not the same as supporting it.

[Aram]

Honestly people who rave about Obama's radical communist agenda seem dumber to me than those who rave about him being a Muslim infiltrator.

[Wrath of Dagon]

But Obama has publicly supported it.

 

No he has not. He said they have the right to build it. Not the same as supporting it.

He said it in such a way it was obvious he supported it, and the audience erupted in applause. After the very negative reaction he got, he tried a Clintonian walk back by claiming he didn't say it was a good idea.

[Guest The Architect]

What about both - a Muslim infiltrating communist?

[Hurlshort]

Rauf said US was complicit in 9/11, refuses to condemn Hamas, blames the West whenever he's asked about causes of terrorism, and wants US to be sharia compliant (see Time magazine cover). The name of the Cordoba foundation is a not so subtle hint that Spain belongs to Muslims. The real question is where you're getting your information from.

 

Yeah, that is all made up stuff. You see, what happens is rauf gives a speech, and then yahoos like Michael Savage take a sentence here or there with no context and run a smear campaign. It is called hate and fear mongering, and it is great for ratings but nowhere near the truth.