Jump to content

peter_puck

Member
  • Posts

    321
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Posts posted by peter_puck

  1. The Iraq "war" has already ended...

    I suppose this depends on your definition of war. For the purpose of it ending for Al Queda...well, they are still killing members of the US military and civilians, so to them it is still a war- they don't care what you think. They didn't care about Bush's "mission accomplished" either.

    ...same as the Philippines, Japan, Korea, and Germany. Same as the Confederacy, Federales, and Crazy Horse. Are they all in New York too?

    No, but they never were in New York - Al Qaeda was. They are a different animal. If the Confederates/Federales/Germany/Korea went to New York, they would be killed. Same with Al Qaeda, but they don't care cause they will go to heaven and be given lots of women without face masks.

    You are ignoring that many were inspired to kill Al Qaeda members as well.

    I doubt "inspired" is the right the word. The Sunnis were more than happy to have Al Qaeda kill Americans. It was when Al Qaeda started to threaten the power of the tribes and the remains of Saddam's army that people became "awakened".

    They don't like the US either, but the US gives them guns that they just might use against the Shite's.

  2. I am sure that Iraq had no direct role in 9/11.....but it was on the US's ass-kicking list long before that. Hell, even Canada helped to strangle Iraq to death. President Clinton bombed them for days in 1998. So President Bush is the bad guy for doing what should have been done 12 years before?

    Maybe it should have been done 12 years ago, but it should not have been done when it was. It was a huge strategic blunder, right up their with Hitler opening up a second front by invading Russia. You should finish your first war before you start another.

    In a war with Al Queda and Iran looking for nukes, Saddam, as weird as it seems, served US interests. The Iranians were afraid of Saddam and the only Al Queda members in Iraq were found in mass graves. Now Iran has left the reservation because they face no credible threats to their power. Al Queda has rebuit in large part due to the Iraq war. It is a huge recruting tool, and the troops who could have finished them off were pulled into Iraq from Afganistan. Hey, and even if the Iraq war ended tomorrow, what do you think happens to all the people who were inspired to join Al Queda for the Iraq war ? Do they go home to raise goats, or do they go somewhere else...like maybe New York ?

  3. True, but Obama's insistance of another stimiulus package will only contribute to even higher inflation.

    No argument their. I never did understand the logic of a stimulus package. The US economy basic problem is that it runs on borrowed money. It consumes more than it produces and spends more than it brings in. You have record deficits and a rapidly aging population. You have an economy that is unready to face the future fuel crisis.

    The solution ?

    Borrow more money and give it to people who can go out and buy Ikea furniture to feel better.

    What they should be doing is letting the market work it out.

  4. Let's look ahead.

    Afghanistan: Obama may well be able to move troops gradually from Iraq to Afghanistan.

    Iran: If he does "talk" with Iran, he's doing so from a position of relative strength, no? Perhaps not 2 years ago, but right now. Iraq is in a state of relative peace. Granted, it's fragile, bu t the militants have retreated. The sunni triangle is remarkable safe. The level of violence is at all time lows. Saddam has been deposed. The americans are in control. The insurgency (largely supported, funded an armed by Iran) is, at least for now, squashed.

    Iran has bankrolled many of the Shite groups in Iraq, both in the government and opposition. They could turn Iraq into a tinderbox tomorrow. They do the same thing in Afganistan - bankroll both sides. They control thousands and thousands of rockets in Lebanon. They control in Hizbolah, a sophisticated network of terrorists. They control the straight of Hormuz and could shut off a good hunk of the world oil supply. They have a very modern air defense system. If Bush didn't attack these people, Obama won't. They know that, so I don't think Obama is in a position of strength.

    2. Will forever place George W Bush as one of the greatest and strongest Presidents in our history

    Bush legacy

    1. Broke the debt clock. May end up running up more debt that every other US president combined.

    2. Failed to move US away from fossil fuel dependence even when it was clear it would be a giant threat to the economy

    3. Used some of the dirtiest campaign tactics in modern US history.

    4. Caused the (possibly) greatest economic meltdown since the Great Depression

    5. Let China into the WTO

    6. Started an idiotic war that boosted Al Queeda.

    7. Dramatically lowered the US's standing world wide

    8. Raised the level of partisan ignorance to new levels (putting unqualified partisans into traditionallly non-partisan jobs).

    More than that, he did it all while not really having a deep understanding of anything.

    This will forever place George W Bush as a warning to future voters.

  5. Am I wrong?

    I think that remains to be seen. What Bush and Bernanke (the killer B's) will cause inflation. We have a record deficit and very low interest rates, both of which stimulate inflation. This will likely cause inflation to rise during the first part of his term.

    The rest depends on what Obama does. Is he going to move to the centre like Clinton, or go left like Carter. If he would tell the truth to the American people "you can't run an economy on borrowed money" and balance the budget, he might be okay. I would have prefered McCain, but anything is an improvement on Bush (even picking the first name in the phone book for president).

  6. I really don't get what just happened.

    McCain lets the Democrats paint him as a clone of George Bush. In reality, McCain hates Bush more than I do. Outside of the guy who got his testicles blown off in Iraq, there is no greater victim of Bush than McCain. In any normal, ethical country, McCain would have been president 8 years ago. McCain said Bush was the Scare Crow, Tinman and Cowardly Lion all rolled into one (no heart, no brain, no courage). He said (indirectly) that he had a special place in hell. Why the heck did McCain stick by the frat-boy? Why the heck was there no response to Binden when he did that "I don't see a difference thing"

    What the heck was with the ad comparing Obama to Paris Hilton. Pointing out that your opponent can outdraw you 1000 to 1 means something ?

    Obama proposes the biggest welfare increase in history (disguised as a tax cut) and McCain tries to generate sympathy with a fake guy making a fake 250K ? Nobody feels sorry for someone making 250K. They do get pissed at giant welfare handouts though. But McCain did not want to talk about some undeserving person getting a handout, he talked about the poor guy making a quarter million a year.

    Palin ? WTF?? When your boat is sinking, don't grab the anchor. First of all, she has scary social conservative views that piss of the independent voter that decides elections. Second of all, don't you think that somewhere in the vetting process, they should have asked "can you point out Africa on a map"? I mean I get the point about the base, but look at Obama...he should get the base plenty motivated. Even if you do pick her, you should give her a few months warning, so she could get a Geography for Dummies book or something. I mean geez John, look at history. What happened when Bush senior picked a unknown, young, piece of fuff ?

    McCain has a well deserved reputation for being an honest politician. He then burns that away by making a campaign out of dishonest attacks.

    McCain had a reputation as being a moderate Republican who could compete for the independent voter. He was runing in a year where the Republicans should have been playing defense. Why then the swing to the right ? Why not have a tax plan that was better for the average voter than Obamas ? Hit over and over again that the real plumber would be better off under McCain. How the heck can you lose on the issue of taxes to an UBER Liberal ?

    What the heck was with his election team as well. How can you hire such a group of complainers ? Palin may be Dan Quayle in jeans but the McCain's people should not have been saying it. They should have been working on lying with a straight face.

    I think he really had a shot to win if he did not try to imitate Bush in policy and ethics. Obama may be a special politician, but his views are really out of sync with a right of centre country

  7. Has Palin taken any steps to restrict abortion access in Alaska?

    I would take everything I read about Palin with a grain of salt. As with Dion's defeat, there'll be no shortage of people running around pointing at fingers, -k

    I think this is different though. Dion did not understand the nuances of partisan politics. Palin did not know Africa was a continent. Bumbling politicians can come back, people who can't spell potato don't.

  8. His first choice was Joe Liberman but if he wanted a woman there was another more qualified one out there and I'm sorry I can't remember her name.

    Yet he had to follow the wishes of the "base" who do not care if their candidate is brain dead, as long as he or she are right on the issues. He should have been honest, told the social conservative base where to go, and picked Liberman.

  9. If a Republican was raising as much money as Obama, it would be a major story in the mainstream media, and not a positive story.

    First of all, the great money raiser before Obama was Bush. With a few exceptions, the Republicans have out raised and outspent the Democrats. There was a case somewhere in the south were an incumbent Democrat was outspent over 50-1 by his Republican opponent, who won by something like 100 votes.

    Second of all, how much of a story was it that the Conservative party has outspent the Liberals in a huge way ? (those Dion attack ads were running long before the election).

    That's just not true. Without a 60 seat majority, the Dems blocked many proposed changes. The same way they blocked reform of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

    I might be wrong, but isn't the "60 seat majority" only applicable to a fillibuster ? I don't recall that tactic being used with campaign reform and Freddy/Fannie debates.

  10. I think it's a bunch of BS made up to spice up the election, make Barack Hussein look more like Kennedy.

    They found 2 short-haired kids and blamed a whole bunch of crazy shit on them, none of which even happened...

    I don't think it was "made up". On the other hand, I don't think these idiots could ever pull it off. Just like the last "Obama assasination attempt", they were just dumbasses who could probably not assassinate a chicken. I really don't like the way it is covered on the news, why give these losers their 15 minutes of fame, but I doubt the coverage is politically motivated.

    Besides, if they really wanted to keep Obama out of office, they would shoot Palin :-)

  11. He has yet to provide a birth certificate proving this.

    You asked in another thread why people make fun of your posts ....

    Why do you think major news organizations have not jumped on this this ?

    Oh, yeah, the great conspiracy.....but then look at the right wing media. Almost all the them have droped this.

    The National Review has actually investigated the story and think its hooey. They have seen the birth certificate and feel its legit.

    Numerous other news organizations have come to the same conclusion.

    As for the "case before the supreme court to expose his fraud", you forgot to mention that the certified-nut-bar who launched the case is trying to get it to the supreme court because no other court events wants to listen to him.

    Anyway, the answer to the question you asked in the other thread would be "because you get all of your news from youtube videos".

    If you did a little bit of googling, you would have found there was a birth announcement in the local newspaper that matches the birth certificate.

    It would also have been hard for Obama to get a passport (and other ID documents) with the "obviously fake" birth certificate.

  12. OK...but perhaps the "base" really doesn't give a damn how many votes they "loose". This isn't Canada afterall.....

    They should. Attempts to "appease" the base have cost McCain his chance at winning the election (it still would have been tough, but atleast he would have had a fighting chance. ) Now the people that drive around with "English-good enough for Jesus, good enough for me!" bumper stickers may not like McCain, but he is a lot better than Obama.

  13. Interesting "lawn sign".....gotta love freedom of speech:

    http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/10/23/si...raws-criticism/

    Rather dumb ass sign. The people that sort of stuff appeals to are already voting Republican. The independent voters who see stuff get the wrong message about McCain. I don't think the base understands that they loose thousands of votes every time someone mentions Hussein. Toss in a couple thousand more for the turban thing as well.

  14. He's basically gotten everything he could have wanted.

    How can people keep calling this guy a moron? He's basically sitting on a clean sweep.

    Well, before I go on, the Iraq war has been a disaster no matter where things go from here. He took a state which kept Iran in check and was free of Al Queda to a country that is rife with Al Queeda. Free of its fear of Sadam, Iran has gone full bore on a nuclear weapons program.

    As for tumbling oil shrinking the power of Russia......oil is still a whole lot higher than when Bush came to power. Compare Russia and the US when Bush took power. Russia was an economic basket case while the US was enjoying record surpluses.

    I think though, he is concerned about histories judgment. He may thought of as the man who cemented the end of the "only superpower" era. In that respect, he is a moron.

  15. I think Melanie Philips has the best answer for your post:

    The media would have a field day. The campaign would be a non-starter - a la David Duke.

    Her/your Analogy fails on many levels.

    First of all, David Duke was Grand Wizard of the KKK. You are right, that if McCain had been a Grand Wizzard of the KKK, his political career would be a non-starter.

    As for Melanie Philips twisted analogy, it is based on lies and exaggeration.

    Obama did not launch the his political career in Ayers living room. Nobody has been able to show any significant connection between the two of them.

    Reverend Wright is not the equivelent of the KKK. He is a black Archie Bunker at best.

    Acorn is not a right wing militia. They did not "strong arm voters into false voter registrations. They simply paid people on a commission basis, and in a small number of cases, they were ripped off by their employees.

  16. Besides that if you're going to disagree please provide some proof that backs up your claim.

    Because Obama had a preacher who make some anti-American remarks, who read books by James Cone, who believed in Black Liberation Theology, which was connected to the Liberation Theology in Central America, some of whose supporters like Che Guevara, who was a communist, whose picture hung behind one persons desk in one of hundreds of Obama campaign offices, that makes Obama a communist, a racist and an anti-semite ?

    That whole video did not really say anything about Obama, just some people he knows. If that video causes you too loose sleep, you probably have eye holes in your pillowcases.

  17. We can bring the internet to its knees with a bandwidth sucking debate about what laws and practices led to this mess. The bottom line is, however, that nobody who wrote any of the laws being mentioned knew what their actions would lead too.

    During the Bush administration, however, it became very clear that things were getting ((#$# ed up. Bush and the congress should have done something about it, but they didn't. The most likely reason was that this debt boom made the economy appear to be doing much better than it actually was (which made it look like the Bush tax cuts were actually working). An analogy would be eating cheeseburgers and drinking coke. There is perhaps it is not a super smart diet, but many people can eat that diet without consequences (its all in the genes). Now, lets say I start to get numbness and pain in my toes. I have episodes of chest pain. While I may not have been an idiot to start eating those foods, I sure would be if I continued? In this case, Bush went from slight chest pain, to a full blown massive heart attack

    I would agree, however, that this current mess does not mean "the end of capitalism". Capitalism only functions where basic laws are enforced and the process is transparent. That did not happen here. People were allowed to commit fraud to gamble with other people's money, and the financial products were so convoluted that the people who owned them did not realise it.

  18. "Canada's sound banking system and robust fiscal position is owed to Paul Martin's reign at the Finance department.

    Liberals are the party of fiscal discipline in Canada."

    I wouldn't be so eager to credit Martin with much to do with the banking system or his great ideas as finance minister. Even Chretien has given credit to Michael Wilson for the financial plan that got us out of deficit, well that along with a number of other external factors and the FTA, Gst etc. The late Dalton Camp (who was a lifelong Liberal) had few good words for Martin or his fiscal abilities.

    I thought Dalton Camp was a life long Conservative ? I believe he held a senior position in the party (as opposed to government).

    Anyway, the big thing I credit Martin for was being able to not spend the money. It seems almost impossible for a politician have money and not spent it, but Martin managed just that.

  19. Not so clear cut....as "class warfare" is far more complicated than that. Obama is playing fast and loose with single vs. married taxpayers as well. he os basically trying to do what Fritz Mondale promised in 1984, only with a higher income threshold

    But how many want to in the future? Obama's message is that achievers will be punished with higher taxes.

    When is the last time that any major party leader has gotten below 40% support (once you split up Perrots vote) ? the Democrats are going to get 40, the Republicans are going to get 40. It is the middle 20% that matters. Very little of that 20% fits in the 250K or plan to 250K area. Thats why if you want to play class warfare as a Republican, you have pick on welfare recepients rather than try to generate sympathy for a guy who is gonna make a cool million over 4 years.

    This worked really well for Mike Harris in Ontario. Promising to take from the welfare receipient and give big tax breaks. He got two majority governments out of it. He did it in very hard times too.

    The story achieved its purpose....exposing Obama in raw socialist mode.

    I don't really think so. To you it did, to me it did, to the "base" it did, but to "Joe Six pack"? You are engaged and partisan. The average American voter is neither. That little remark about "distributing the wealth" means nothing to them. Besides, everyone is for wealth being redistributed as long as its not their own. :-)

  20. That's right, they haven't had a chance to commit actual fraud yet as they did last election.

    Proof ? Evidence ? Bush spent about as much time looking for this elusive voter fraud as he did looking for Bin Laden. How many prosecutors has he fired ? How many voter fraud convictions did he get out of it ?

    The whole thing is a Karl Rove idea to justify making it harder for poor people to vote. Require ID that 10% of the black population does not have in order to combat a mythical problem.

    Lets think about organized vote fraud for a second. How would you pull it off ? You would need a small army of people willing to commit crimes (you can only vote so many times). You would need to produce a mass amount of fake id (this year). You have to get these people by a Republican before he got a ballot. You would need a detailed plan to avoid making it totally obvious. You would need to plan distributing these people among the polling stations. You would have to worry that someone you are giving instructions to has a tape recorder. You would need large amounts of money.

    Conspiracys this big simply do not exist.

    Many people point to "Mickey Mouse" as some sort of proof of "massive voter fraud". I think it is just the opposite. If it really was sophisticated voter fraud, they would have picked a name that could vote.

×
×
  • Create New...