Republican Candidates

[Calax]

Why is Ron Paul so unelectable in the eyes of the republicans? He is the only sensible person of the whole lot

The guy wants to seriously demolish the goverment (wipe out several agencies, go to gold standard, and make everything that can be privatized, privatized), which runs counter to most republicans "We need a massive government to regulate peoples personal lives and shoot stuff", and the liberal "we need government regulation so we don't end up being killed by people selling stuff to us".

 

Among agencies he wants gone are the EPA, Department of Transportation, FDA, the Federal Reserve and the National Bank.

[Walsingham]

He wants to abolish... ...the food and drug administration?

 

Does he not have any idea the kind of crap that used to get put in foods before governments instituted tough regulatory controls? Let alone medicines? Copper in the butter, lead in the spices, thalidomide babies. Not that I'm saying the FDA are doing a perfect job.

[Malcador]

Sure will be a lot of out of work Federal employees.

[Calax]

He wants to abolish... ...the food and drug administration?

 

Does he not have any idea the kind of crap that used to get put in foods before governments instituted tough regulatory controls? Let alone medicines? Copper in the butter, lead in the spices, thalidomide babies. Not that I'm saying the FDA are doing a perfect job.

Basically he thinks that most federal agencies should be replaced by a state counterpart, with the Feds just being there to provide security and basic monetary systems.

[Hurlshort]

I think it's important to have folks in DC pushing small government like Ron Paul, I just don't know if I think he should be the President.

[Oblarg]

I think it's important to have folks in DC pushing small government like Ron Paul, I just don't know if I think he should be the President.

 

I absolutely detest any politician who argues for "big government" or "small government." There are no objective criteria against which to judge government size. "Big" and "small" are purely relative, and are not useful in determining what roles governments should fill. Any argument based on the logic that government should be "as big as possible" or "as small as possible" are useless by their very nature, as there are no external boundaries to prevent such logic from essentially arguing for totalitarianism or anarchy (the logical extremes). Any attempt to work around that essentially boils down to "government should be as big/little as possible while still fulfilling the roles that I think are necessary," which really is the key issue here. The issue of governmental responsibility is one that must be approached by deciding upon a specific list of roles which one believes the goverment is responsible for, and designing your policy such that those are fulfilled. You can get absolutely nowhere by operating purely off of these nearly meaningless abstractions of "big" and "small" government.

 

Also, Ron Paul is a nutcase. I don't think anyone who wants to revert to the gold standard is a necessary figure in American politics.

[Morgoth]

necessary figure in American politics.

Neither are candidates that are multimillionaires and warmongers.

 

In other words, expect Obama to be re-elected. If not, Romney is gonna make the American dream come a step closer to reality. Hoho.

[Oblarg]

Yeah, the GOP is falling to pieces this election cycle, and honestly I can't say I'm too surprised. I'm not a fan of Obama, but anything is better than the pack of buffoons the GOP has put forward...

[Zoraptor]

Romney strikes me as the Republican equivalent to John Kerry. A candidate who almost nobody has any real enthusiasm for, except for the belief that he's "electable" while the other candidates aren't- and that he isn't the much loathed incumbent.

[Walsingham]

I think it's important to have folks in DC pushing small government like Ron Paul, I just don't know if I think he should be the President.

 

I guess I could go for 'small government' on the basis that much Federal regulation is of irrelevant minutiae. An example is shipping regulations, which have exploded in the last thirty years, yet we've seen little improvement in safety.

 

Heavy handed counter-intuitive regulation simply serves to entrench the big players in an industry because they're the only ones with enough spare cash to hire compliance officers by the battalion.

[Calax]

And now Santorum is leading the charge, sweeping three states.

 

Good lord, that guy will KILL any chance the republicans have of winning the election (google his name, I DARE you!)

[Hurlshort]

Yeah, Santorum is my worst fear. I have no idea how he recaptured momentum. He is the only candidate, now that Bachmann and Perry are out, that I would actively campaign against. Scary stuff.

[Gorgon]

Hard to get exited about all of this, Obama is going to win again. There haven't been but a handful of one term presidents.

[Meshugger]

Even if Ron Paul managed to get elected, none of his proposals would pass through congress. However, he would be the best "veto-guy" that you guys would have in office. Nothing except for decentralization or strengthening of liberty would pass that guy. It would be marvellous.

 

As for Santorum winning yesterday with such a sweep, my thoughts on the other candidates and their campaigns can be summed up in this video:

[Walsingham]

Meshugger does have a point. Ron paul woudl be a popcorn and soda presidency for those of us lucky enough to be a long way away.

[Oblarg]

There's a great Dwight D. Eisenhower quote that I think really emphasizes exacty how absurd the Republican party has become of late:

 

Should any political party attempt to abolish social security, unemployment insurance, and eliminate labor laws and farm programs, you would not hear of that party again in our political history. There is a tiny splinter group, of course, that believes you can do these things. Among them are H. L. Hunt (you possibly know his background), a few other Texas oil millionaires, and an occasional politician or business man from other areas. Their number is negligible and they are stupid.

 

Ah, if only he could see them now. They may still be stupid, but their number is certainly no longer negligible - indeed, they comprise pretty much the entirety of the modern Republican party.

[Walsingham]

It's a pretty simple sell, Oblarg. "These programs are only for dumb lazy people. YOU aren't dumb or lazy. Join me in abolishing them." Which forgets the awful truth that they're also for unlucky people. And I guarantee that you are either dumb or lazy or unlucky. The number of people who aren't at least one must number no more than 3 figures.

[Junai]

Paul is just trying to stop the runaway freight train before it plunges into the gorge.

Spend $1,5T and 50k men attacking Iran, and wait for the next dip.

 

The voice of reason is ridiculed as the warmongers eat popcorn and drink soda while

placing their millions in hedgefunds, betting which European country is gonna drown next.

 

Jolly good show!

[Walsingham]

Junai, I honestly have no idea what the hell you are trying to say.

 

~~

 

Back on topic, did anyone else not know there was a candidate called Fred Karger in the race?

 

Right wing paper the Daily Telegraph actually has a piece decrying his absence from offical sanction or planning. Apparently it's because he's gay.

 

This kind of discrimination makes my blood boil. However you feel about gayness the notion that it's the ultimate standard beyond which a man cannot go - even when he's cheated on his wives, abandoned pinciples, thrown tantrums or advocated military capitulation - simply makes a mockery of any moral standards at all. It seems to indicate that the GOP, and indeed all conservatives, ultimately are just sex-obsessives rather than having anything useful to offer.

 

I know I'm a reactionary old bastard. But I like to think I have better things to judge a person on than where they prefer to put their dingaling.

[Gfted1]

50k? Do you mean 5k? We lost more guys storming Iwo Jima.

[Malcador]

Maybe he meant total casualties, a quick wiki puts that a 48k from the "War on Terror".

[Walsingham]

Maybe he meant total casualties, a quick wiki puts that a 48k from the "War on Terror".

 

Mexico reckon they've lost 40k to just their bit of the war on drugs. It's pointless debating the figures with Junai because he believes a New World Order runs everything, hence any number is going to be greeted with joyous relish. 50, 500, 500 million makes hardly any difference.

[Junai]

Junai, I honestly have no idea what the hell you are trying to say.

Get some of your friends at the Rotary-club to explain it for you.

 

Anyway, let's get this out of the way once and for all; No, I don't believe there is an all-powerful NWO-organization which runs everything. I don't think the moonlanding was filmed in the Mojave desert, and I don't think little green men planted mini-nukes in the twin-towers. Ok?

 

Republican or not, I'll back any candidate with half a brain who wants to stabilize the economy and put an end to the "unfortunate" habit of initiating undeclared wars. If that's madness, then I'm quite mad.

 

J.

[Oblarg]

Junai, I honestly have no idea what the hell you are trying to say.

Get some of your friends at the Rotary-club to explain it for you.

 

Anyway, let's get this out of the way once and for all; No, I don't believe there is an all-powerful NWO-organization which runs everything. I don't think the moonlanding was filmed in the Mojave desert, and I don't think little green men planted mini-nukes in the twin-towers. Ok?

 

Republican or not, I'll back any candidate with half a brain who wants to stabilize the economy and put an end to the "unfortunate" habit of initiating undeclared wars. If that's madness, then I'm quite mad.

 

J.

 

Eliminating the fed and reverting to the gold standard will not "stabilize the economy."

[Drowsy Emperor]

Failure to meet (unrealistic) expectations suggests that Obama will not get another term in office.

 

On the other hand, the Republicans seem to be able to put forth only morons and seemingly unbalanced people so they might help keep Obama alive.

 

Not that it matters anyway, the flavor might be different but whether you pick chocolate or vanilla you're still eating the same ****.

 

The american election system is rigged by impossibly high campaign costs, so that a candidate that is not created by the two parties has 0 chance to win. Maybe play kingmaker, but certainly not win.

That's what keeps the policies consistent

Edited February 11, 2012 by Drowsy Emperor