Republican Candidates

[Guest The Architect]

If I were an American voting for a Republican candidate, I'd vote for the one who acknowledges man made global warming is real, supports universal healthcare, wants to legalise marijuana and gay marriage and doesn't deny the scientific fact that is evolution. And most importantly, makes it compulsory for television stations to show boobs in all of their shows and advertisements. If there isn't a Republican candidate like that, then **** 'em all.

[Guard Dog]

If I were an American voting for a Republican candidate, I'd vote for the one who acknowledges man made global warming is real, supports universal healthcare, wants to legalise marijuana and gay marriage and doesn't deny the scientific fact that is evolution. And most importantly, makes it compulsory for television stations to show boobs in all of their shows and advertisements. If there isn't a Republican candidate like that, then **** 'em all.

Sorry Archie, Dennis Kucinich isn't running this time and he is the only one of any politcal stripe who meets that criteria.

[Guard Dog]

I just do not understand this! How is that miserable bloated gasbag of a politcal caricture (Gingrich) actually looking like he might win the nomination? He would be the worst possible choice for the Repub nomination but somehow he is winning. I could understand if it were Ron Paul pulling the upset but Gingrich? This guy has more ethical issues than Warren Harding. I'm still supporting Romney and I hope he'll pull it out. He'd make a much better President than Barry O and much better than Gingrich. If Newt gets the nom I'm voting Libertarian. Between Obama and Newt we'd all be f****d either way.

Because of the way that the primary's are set up... you have to fight to be the most extreme member and pander to the factions that'll give the most support within the party.... just to turn around and fight it out on a national scale against the current president, and trying to pander to the moderates.

 

 

Basically, the way its' set up right now, the most effective leaders and bi-partisan/moderate people who could even think of running for the presidency, are weeded out before they can even try to act moderate/bi-partisan.

 

I did have myself an internal laugh when my friends back home (when I said that Mitt was the only chance in hell the republicans had of ejecting Obama from the White House) said that Romney wasn't a conservative... he's a moderate, and thus they wouldn't vote for him.

 

Then I ended up accidently tripping their mom's "insanity" switch, and she went off about how within a year we'll be eating our own dead and everything will become mad max.

Actually Calax if you ignore Gingrichs campaing speeches and what he said in debates (it's all just talk anyway) and look at the legislative bills and ideas he's championed and supported over the years you'd probably like him. He is all for a big authoritarian government... just so long as he is in control of it.

 

I'm not a big fan of Romey by any means, I'm much more a fan of RP as you could probably guess. But Obama is dangerous, and for the sake of the country I love he needs to be gone. Romey is just least of all evils that has the best chance of making that happen.

[Guest The Architect]

If I were an American voting for a Republican candidate, I'd vote for the one who acknowledges man made global warming is real, supports universal healthcare, wants to legalise marijuana and gay marriage and doesn't deny the scientific fact that is evolution. And most importantly, makes it compulsory for television stations to show boobs in all of their shows and advertisements. If there isn't a Republican candidate like that, then **** 'em all.

Sorry Archie, Dennis Kucinich isn't running this time and he is the only one of any politcal stripe who meets that criteria.

 

I'm having a look on Wiki, skimming over his views. I like a lot of them, shame he didn't run for the Demo's nomination. Don't know about his views on lowering the voting age to 16, though. I mean, do you really want Justin Bieber fangirls to be voting? That'd put the nail in Yankeeville's coffin.

 

Oh no wait, that's Canada. That's okay then, Canadians don't vote, they just eat bacon and maple syrup all day, eh. Eh.

Edited January 27, 2012 by The Architect

[Gorgon]

What you call dangerous we would easily label a typical conservative candidate. There is the plan to extend health coverage, but it's still an essentially private market, some talk about the environment and green tek, but that has taken off in a big way in the last decade, it's a long time since that was just a money drain supported by various green parties.

 

On security virtually indistinguishable from any given Republican. I mean the plan was always to leave Irak and Afghanistan when we were done. No change in the Guantanamo bay issue of questionable regality regarding prisoners of war deemed terrorist suspects. Status Quo in the Israel - Palestine question. Not that there have been much in the way of lemons with which to make lemonade. Israel is a strategic ally, no leverage is brought to bear to influence them toward a final settlement with Palestine, the margins of success are too low, so why bother trying.

Edited January 27, 2012 by Gorgon

[Calax]

Actually Calax if you ignore Gingrichs campaing speeches and what he said in debates (it's all just talk anyway) and look at the legislative bills and ideas he's championed and supported over the years you'd probably like him. He is all for a big authoritarian government... just so long as he is in control of it.

 

I'm not a big fan of Romey by any means, I'm much more a fan of RP as you could probably guess. But Obama is dangerous, and for the sake of the country I love he needs to be gone. Romey is just least of all evils that has the best chance of making that happen.

You think I'd like somebody who is going so far as to slam the "liberal media" for asking a question about his relationship to his second wife and his asking her if he can have an open relationship, after she came down with MS... when he was the head scalper in the Clinton/Lewinski scandal who made it a national issue that he president got an extra marital blowjob.

 

The guy is a walking double standard, and his "big government" that you think I'd like, craps all over the constitution and doesn't even come close to being socially progressive.

 

For the record, I'm not big government per se, but I do understand the necessity of having larger government apparatuses in order to contain, control, and regulate industries that would otherwise kill people via uncaring.

[Guard Dog]

What you call dangerous we would easily label a typical conservative candidate. There is the plan to extend health coverage, but it's still an essentially private market, some talk about the environment and green tek, but that has taken off in a big way in the last decade, it's a long time since that was just a money sink supported by various green parties.

 

On security virtually indistinguishable from any given Republican. I mean the plan was always to leave Irak and Afghanistan when we were done. No change in the Guantanamo bay issue of questionable regality regarding prisoners of war deemed terrorist suspects. Status Quo in the Israel - Palestine question. Not that there have been much in the way of lemons with which to make lemonade. Israel is a strategic ally, no leverage is brought to bear to influence them toward a final settlement with Palestine, the margins of success are too low, so why bother trying.

Obama has not turned out to be the left wing commie nutjob I expected him to be. However, he has no respect for the limits of executive power. For example he appoints unelected and unconfirmed "czars" then gives them a lot of extra-constituitonal power. He just signed a SOPA treaty with China without even waiting for it to be ratified by the Senate (an impeachable offense if his own party were not in control of the Senate.) He has spent more money and added more to the national debt than all forty three previous presidents COMBINED. He joined the government of Mexico in a lawsuit against the state of Arizona and has sued Arizona, Florida and Alabama for doing no more than enforcing federal law. He set up a 1-800 number so his supporters could call in and report people who were opposed to Obamacare. He seized GM and fired the CEO despite the fact that he has no authority to do so under the constitution. But since the Democrats controlled everyrthing he could get away with it. He threatend GM bond holders with criminal prosecution if they did not sell their bonds for 10% of value then gave the company to the Union chiefs who supported his election. Once again the democrats in the congress let him get away with it. He allowed assault weapos to be sold to Mexican Drug Cartels so he could make a case for gun control. His homeland security department declared veterans, white gun owners, and pro-lifers as likely terrorists and "persons of interest". He loaned millions of taxpayer dollars to "Green Energy" companies that had no business plans. The CEOs of those companies (who were either campaign staffers or financial backers of his campaign) embezzeld the money, bankrupted the comapnies and he refuses to order his own justice department to investigate. He literally sabatoged the clean up efforts of the BP oil spill to obscure the magnitude of the damage and his administrations involvement in BPs lax safety inspections, after all they donated heavily to his campaign. He halted all off shore drilling and stopped the keystone and north bay pipelines costing thousands of jobs and crippling our domestic energy procuctions causing gasoline and heating costs to escalate which of course drives up the price of everything else.

 

I could go on and on. This was in just four years. Very dangerous. I hear a lot of people saying they don't even recognize the country they live in now. I can't say I disagree. State politicians in Texas are now talking openly about secession. He has to go.

[Guard Dog]

Actually Calax if you ignore Gingrichs campaing speeches and what he said in debates (it's all just talk anyway) and look at the legislative bills and ideas he's championed and supported over the years you'd probably like him. He is all for a big authoritarian government... just so long as he is in control of it.

 

I'm not a big fan of Romey by any means, I'm much more a fan of RP as you could probably guess. But Obama is dangerous, and for the sake of the country I love he needs to be gone. Romey is just least of all evils that has the best chance of making that happen.

You think I'd like somebody who is going so far as to slam the "liberal media" for asking a question about his relationship to his second wife and his asking her if he can have an open relationship, after she came down with MS... when he was the head scalper in the Clinton/Lewinski scandal who made it a national issue that he president got an extra marital blowjob.

 

The guy is a walking double standard, and his "big government" that you think I'd like, craps all over the constitution and doesn't even come close to being socially progressive.

 

For the record, I'm not big government per se, but I do understand the necessity of having larger government apparatuses in order to contain, control, and regulate industries that would otherwise kill people via uncaring.

I was joking Calax.

[Nepenthe]

... Treaties are generally signed before being ratified, ie. Senate's advice and consent in the U.S. Signing a treaty has no legal impact whatsoever. Either there's something I'm missing or the spin doctors have been working overtime.

Edited January 27, 2012 by Nepenthe

[Hurlshort]

GD brings up a lot of points and it would be tough to address them all, but I will say that you could create a dirty laundry list like that for any president. For example, I can say for Reagan:

 

-He increased our debt from 1 trillion to 3.5 trillion.

-Closed down a ton of mental health hospitals

-The Iran-Contra Affair

 

The thing is, I'm actually a fan of Reagan. I think he had a more positive impact than negative. But he definitely stepped over the line more than a few times. So did FDR, Lincoln, and every great president we've ever had.

 

Now I'm not saying Obama is a great president. I think he's been ineffective. The thing about crossing the line is you need to get results. For example, health care is broken. If a president steps over the line in order to fix it, then so be it. But Obamacare doesn't look like it is going to fix the real problems, and it doesn't even look like it will survive the upcoming legal battles it has to face. Ineffective.

 

I could go on and on. This was in just four years. Very dangerous. I hear a lot of people saying they don't even recognize the country they live in now. I can't say I disagree. State politicians in Texas are now talking openly about secession. He has to go.

 

Come on GD, that's crazy talk. That's something radio hosts say so they can increase their ratings. I get that people are unhappy, our country is in a tough economic slump. But it amazes me that the people complaining the loudest in the media seem to be extremely wealthy and well off. The people that say they don't recognize their country need to take off the rose tinted glasses and really look at the history of our country. We've been through worse. Seriously, our founding father would laugh at our problems today.

 

The only thing I really agree with you on is the debt. It is insane. I want someone who is going to clean house in the government. I don't think Romney is that guy any more than Obama. But both parties are the problem here. The entire congress should stop getting paid until they figure out how to balance a budget.

 

The only candidate running that has real experience balancing a budget is Gingrich. He's a terrible person. He will probably overstep his power repeatedly if he becomes president. But if he gets results, that is what matters. We also have a lot of things in place to make sure no president can become a total tyrant, and I trust in those as they've protected us for centuries.

[Calax]

Obama has not turned out to be the left wing commie nutjob I expected him to be. However, he has no respect for the limits of executive power.

Nor did Bush, and Gingrich would be in the same boat.

For example he appoints unelected and unconfirmed "czars" then gives them a lot of extra-constituitonal power. He just signed a SOPA treaty with China without even waiting for it to be ratified by the Senate (an impeachable offense if his own party were not in control of the Senate.)

Uhh... the Republicans currently have control of the House and Senate

He has spent more money and added more to the national debt than all forty three previous presidents COMBINED.

No... if you rolled back the Bush Tax Cuts, the debt would be gone by.. 2015(?). Most of the money spent has been to save the economy from a full on depression, and removing us from garbage that Bush started

He joined the government of Mexico in a lawsuit against the state of Arizona and has sued Arizona, Florida and Alabama for doing no more than enforcing federal law.

Which suits were these? I think that he sued AZ over the unconstitutional racial profiling bill, but haven't heard anything about the other states

He set up a 1-800 number so his supporters could call in and report people who were opposed to Obamacare.

Seen absolutely ZERO info on this... anywhere

He seized GM and fired the CEO despite the fact that he has no authority to do so under the constitution.

He's the representative of the Majority Shareholder of a Company, he has that power.

He allowed assault weapos to be sold to Mexican Drug Cartels so he could make a case for gun control.

IIRC this was entirely on the director of the ATF, and Obama had no Knowledge of this at the time it was going on

His homeland security department declared veterans, white gun owners, and pro-lifers as likely terrorists and "persons of interest". He loaned millions of taxpayer dollars to "Green Energy" companies that had no business plans.

yeah, he screwed that one WAYY up. But the federal money to homeowners who put panels on their roofs (mixed with the money from the State of CA) made it highly economical for my parents to put em up (they went from paying 400 a month to 100 a year) Cite a source for the first part too please.

The CEOs of those companies (who were either campaign staffers or financial backers of his campaign) embezzeld the money, bankrupted the comapnies and he refuses to order his own justice department to investigate.

Source

He literally sabatoged the clean up efforts of the BP oil spill to obscure the magnitude of the damage and his administrations involvement in BPs lax safety inspections, after all they donated heavily to his campaign. He halted all off shore drilling and stopped the keystone and north bay pipelines costing thousands of jobs and crippling our domestic energy procuctions causing gasoline and heating costs to escalate which of course drives up the price of everything else.

How? From what I could tell, the Mineral Management department was in charge of that, and they've been institutionally corrupt since they started selling lots in the Gulf. As to the Keystone/North Bay pipelines, those jobs would have lasted a year or two at best until the project was finished, and the employees were, once again, out of a job.

 

Is Obama the savior of the nation? No, but he inherited one hell of a bad nation, and the conservative spin-doctors have done their best to make all of the failures of the previous administration his fault, while re-crediting successes (like the assassination of Bin Laden) back to Bush and the torture doctrine he had in place. Are Texans calling for secession? I donno, but then Texas unoffical motto is "The south shall rise again! After I finish my next hundred beers!" Seriously, this is the same state that pushed a "day of prayer" for rain to end a drought.

[Walsingham]

I know next to nothing about most of that, but pushing assault weapons south to sell gun control sounds like a conspiracy theory. In any case I dimly recall something about the serious hardware being military, for obvious reasons? Probably something from Gorth, IIRC.

Edited January 27, 2012 by Walsingham

[Calax]

There was a minor scandal earlier this year where the Department of Alchohol Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) was basically going to radio shack, getting cheap transmitters, and bugging a small heap of guns of all kinds (including assault weapons) and then selling them to the cartels.

 

Of course, the thing that the project leaders forgot to realize is that Radio Shack transmitters only work for like 5 hours before they need a battery change.

 

Basic rundown

 

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/tue-june...---mexico-grift

[Walsingham]

The Onion knocked this one out of the park, with a story about a dire warning time traveller:

 

WASHINGTON

[MechanicalLemon]

Anyone else watch Thursday's debate? Ron Paul had some really great one-liners.

[Gorgon]

new skin is fugly. Goin' to bed now.

[WDeranged]

new skin is fugly. Goin' to bed now.

 

It's tolerable, they just need to tweak it a little, that massive orange post edited bar is a bit much.

[Gorgon]

Looks like it's designed to look good on a smart phone, and like a 13 year olds girl's myspace page if you are on a big screen.

[Oblarg]

They need to fix the ****ing quotes - they suck.

[Walsingham]

They need to fix the ****ing quotes - they suck.

 

Fixed, I think.

[Oblarg]

Yes, indeed, the quotes are now fixed.

 

I'm not a huge fan of the new skin, but it's not terrible.

[Humodour]

I just puked a little in my mouth at the thought of the Republicans. I'm in Costa Rica right now, and honestly, it's pretty difficult to find anybody willing to say a single good word about the US - Including the 53 Australians I am here with.

[Hurlshort]

I just puked a little in my mouth at the thought of the Republicans. I'm in Costa Rica right now, and honestly, it's pretty difficult to find anybody willing to say a single good word about the US - Including the 53 Australians I am here with.

 

Oddly enough, I was just talking with 53 Americans, and Australia never came up in the conversation.

[Gorgon]

Big surprise, no one gives a rat's ass about Australian politics. America, however, everybody's got an opinion. Learn to live with it.

[Walsingham]

I just puked a little in my mouth at the thought of the Republicans. I'm in Costa Rica right now, and honestly, it's pretty difficult to find anybody willing to say a single good word about the US - Including the 53 Australians I am here with.

 

How about the fact that we have a huge common culture, borne from a shared experience of two world wars, economic systems, and thousands if not millions of artworks across film, literature, and the internet. And Americans combine naivety with idealism and a tremendous drive to succeed with being a bit mental, and often naked?