Politics

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While I realize there aren't many "objective" views out there, I find that you can argue back and forth on each side in this same vein. If it's from a political party, there's a political agenda. That's just a given.

Yes, ITA. I am skeptical of all the rhetoric from both sides at this point, but think it is worth looking at all of it to try and sort out the BS and the truth.

I hope there are some unbiased economic and engineering studies out there that can help shed more light on this issue.

At the root of my fear of McCain is that he has always tried to present himself as a war hero, which he was not. Not even remotely.

In previous times I did feel sorry for him because being a POW must have been so horrible.

But it was never a secret about the facts of McCain's imprisonment and collaboration with the enemy. It was just that it was forgiven.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZv4aU998ik

Also forgiven was his cheating on his wife and mother of his now-grown children who was recovering from a horrible life-altering car accident -- he was cheating with, among others, his current wife, the rich and younger Cindy.

I doubt John Edwards will be forgiven. BIll Clinton certainly has not been. But they both kept their wives and at least some of their standing.

Harkening back to he cute little boy dogs....not in our lives or our lifetime if ever, will a married woman with a high-profile serious job (like presidential candidate, governor, senator, congressperson or church cleric EVER be forgiven for having a scandalous adulterous affair. In fact...it has never happened as far as I know.

Low profile women do not count. They can be adulterous sluts and not skew the point.

Give me the breed that THINKS about consequences to run important things in this world.

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I do hope that the Edwards affair causes the media to be more forthcoming about what McCain did to his first wife.

WHile I mostly believe that whatever sneaky cheating stuff the guys do in their sex lives does not negate them theoretically being able to vote well, it is depressing every time another "family values" sort of person turns out to be a lying cheat.

Maybe they should all just stop touting family values.

That would work for me.

I am in no way trying to stop anyone's enjoyment of The Olympics. However I was for a boycott . If you would take a minute to read this I would appreciate it. It is cause I believe . I am not trying to cram my beliefs down anyone's throat.

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In Darfur, men are often killed or captured when they leave refugee camps to collect firewood. So the women venture out instead—and regularly fall prey to a targeted campaign of rape encouraged by the Sudanese government.

China blindly backs the Sudanese government and allows this brutality to continue. While the Chinese government basks in the glow of the Olympic Games, it is still selling Sudan weapons that enable these atrocities.

This week, our partner organization, Dream for Darfur, is highlighting China's role in this deteriorating situation as part of their alternative "Darfur Olympics." Will you join them?

Click here to help Dream for Darfur raise awareness about China's role in violence against Darfuri women. And urge Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to take immediate action.

While China hosts the Olympic Games under the banner of peace and brotherhood, Dream for Darfur's daily webcasts are revealing the devastation enabled by China's weapons. Each day this week, Dream for Darfur is focusing on a different crisis facing the people of Darfur. Today, they're turning the world's eye to widespread sexual violence.

Sexual violence in Darfur is not just a series of random acts. It is a weapon of genocide. Peacekeepers have tried to protect women, but they have failed because they are short of resources and stretched too thin to do the job.

Show your support for Dream for Darfur's efforts. Click here to support the Darfur Olympics and urge Secretary Rice to help protect Darfuri women.

The world cannot sit by while sexual violence rages in Darfur. Today, Dream for Darfur is speaking out against this weapon of genocide. Add your voice, and demand protection for the women of Darfur.

Best regards,

Colleen Connors
Save Darfur Coalition

Adding a link to the Darfur Olympics:
http://www.darfurolympics.org/

Aerwin, stating your view here is never shoving it down anyone's throat. Thanks for the education.

It is really cool here that all viewpoints are welcome.

Thanks. The Situation in Darfur greatly concerns me. I do what little I can whicj is not much. But I feel if I can talk about a little to other people maybe others will be concerned also.

Well the Democratic Convention is two weeks away and obama still has not chosen a running mate. Surely he has it narrwoed down. I can't even guess at this point.

It seems the list is being narrowed down for him, huh?

Here is a post from Roseanne Barr.

I must say i am delighted to have a left-wing crackpot. There are so many right-wing ones:

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jon voight

is a frightened little girl in a pink ballet tutu, who acts like Obama just wandered in from the rain forest with a bone thru his nose and a communist pamphlet in his loincloth. The neocons who own jon voight and make him dance on the chabad telethons are the worst most elitist people on earth. glen beck and jon voight are their bitches... both of them are used tampons who must be flushed down the toilet immediately! jon voight your evil spawn angelina jolie and her vacuous hubby brad pitt make about forty million dollars a year in violent psychopathic movies and give away three of it to starving children trying to look as if they give a crap about humanity as they spit out more dunces that will consume more than their fair share and wreck the earth even more. (just sayin').
Also miss jolie says she likes mccain too and hasn't decided who to endorse....huh? Aren't you supposed to be somewhat enlightened, or do you not know that the african daughter you hold in every picture had parents who suffered and died because of the republican party's worldwide economic assault on africa over the last few decades since reagan? whaaaa...??????!!!! (for that matter, the thai and vietnamese sons you are photo'd with weekly too!!!? who's pictures you sell to raise money to help the poor? Their families are victims of America's right wing military incursions too. Mccain wants to continue with the idea of war for profit...the americans are over that thinking now! They have drugged our troops and lower classes into supporting their oil business atrocities for long enough. We want to save not lose our souls thank you. Now go back to making your movies about women who love to handle big guns that shoot hundreds of people to death. Ps....it might be good for your asian and african children's self esteem to know you support a brown man for the leader of the free world.)

I thought the OTHER Rosie had the left-wing crackpot deal all sewed up, but DAMN!!!

Obama is expected to pick his VP tomorrow or the next day.

As it comes down to it, and as the McCain and the Republican conscienceless machine gets more and more powerful, I really hope he pulls out the rabbit and picks Hillary Clinton.

On lefty political boards Obama is going down, down, down.

It has nothing to do with positions (well, it sort of does, since his most dedicated fans are much less enthusiastic due to his moving majorly to the right)... and more to do with his inability to figure out how to triumphantly fight back against the absurd and extreme things McCain and his minions are accusing him of.

Whatever anybody things about Hilary, she figured out how to fight. Let her do the dirty work.

Plus she has genuine rabid fans.

I think Obama has nothing to lose by chosing Hillary, and votes to gain.

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angelina jolie and her vacuous hubby brad pitt make about forty million dollars a year in violent psychopathic movies and give away three of it to starving children trying to look as if they give a crap about humanity as they spit out more dunces that will consume more than their fair share and wreck the earth even more. (just sayin').

HELLO!!! This is what I am talikung about. Angelina stars in extremely violent movies and thehn she is suposed to be Mother Teresa??!! Roseanne hits the nail on the head.PLus like I have said before I do not give a rat's ass who anmy celeb supports, EVER. They can just go on tv and run their mouth and I can't.

As far as Hilary goes I do not like her or her supporters bullying tactics. Her name is going to be for nomination at the conventin? For Fucking what? Look if Bilary had any scruples or cared about the American people which they clearly do not they would be trying to unite the party.

Yeah, but the party ISN't united, whereas the Republicans are.

None of the other VP possibilities has fanatical fans. Get two sets of fanatical fans (Obama and Hillary) and at least you have a whole bunch of Democrats who will vote for them, even with the disunity.

Get Biden or the governors that have been mentioned, and there will be no major swell of voters.

I agree with this article pretty much. It's about how McCain's intellect pretty much matches Bush's.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/08/18/cafferty.mccain/index.html

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Yeah, but the party ISN't united, whereas the Republicans are.

and why would that be? because of the Clinton's strong arm bullying tactics. She lost. grow a pair.

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Yeah, but the party ISN't united, whereas the Republicans are.

This has been for a while now.

This is the same problem Kerry had. He was the actual war hero, yet was reduced to cowering in a corner and never fighting back.

The reason Bill won twice is the same reason our current whatever-the-hell-he-is is in office. He united the party.

Republicans have for a very long time (WAY before Bill, Hillary, etc.) been a party that unites and democrats have been the ones to retreat when the kitchen gets to hot and sit and bicker amongst themselves. It only makes the Republicans unite more. For some reason the moderate and extremely conservative Republicans don't show the fighting as much as the liberal and moderate democrats do.

I don't believe Roseanne is right any more than I believe John Voight was right. That's what I was trying to say earlier. I said he was fucking nuts because he sounded fucking nuts.

I think when any group lets an extremist speak for them, they wind up looking really bad. Most of that group would say "he/she does not speak for me". So, while I'm sure polticially I agree with Roseanne, I do not want her speaking for me.

As for Bill caring about the people, I look at the state of the country then vs. now and "the people" were doing a whole lot better. As for Hillary "growing a pair" she did. I haven't heard from her since she conceded. Yes, she hung in there long after she should have and didn't do herself any favors there, but when she finally admitted the loss, she went away.

austin wrote:

I agree with this article pretty much. It's about how McCain's intellect pretty much matches Bush's.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/08/18/cafferty.mccain/index.html

Completely agree with that.

It really would be nice to have a smart president again.

Interesting article about McCain from a man who was at the naval Academy with him, and who was a POW in Vietnam longer than McCain...

LINK:
http://www.military.com/opinion/0,15202,164859_1,00.html

Here is part of it:

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4) John was awarded a Silver Star and Purple Heart for heroism and wounds in combat. This heroism has been played up in the press and in his various political campaigns. But it should be known that there were approximately 600 military POW's in Vietnam. Among all of us, decorations awarded have recently been totaled to the following: Medals of Honor - 8, Service Crosses - 42, Silver Stars - 590, Bronze Stars - 958 and Purple Hearts - 1,249. John certainly performed courageously and well. But it must be remembered that he was one hero among many - not uniquely so as his campaigns would have people believe.

John McCain served his time as a POW with great courage, loyalty and tenacity. More that 600 of us did the same. After our repatriation a census showed that 95% of us had been tortured at least once. The Vietnamese were quite democratic about it. There were many heroes in North Vietnam. I saw heroism every day there. And we motivated each other to endure and succeed far beyond what any of us thought we had in ourselves. Succeeding as a POW is a group sport, not an individual one. We all supported and encouraged each other to survive and succeed. John knows that. He was not an individual POW hero. He was a POW who surmounted the odds with the help of many comrades, as all of us did.

I furthermore believe that having been a POW is no special qualification for being President of the United States. The two jobs are not the same, and POW experience is not, in my opinion, something I would look for in a presidential candidate.

Most of us who survived that experience are now in our late 60's and 70's. Sadly, we have died and are dying off at a greater rate than our non-POW contemporaries. We experienced injuries and malnutrition that are coming home to roost. So I believe John's age (73) and survival expectation are not good for being elected to serve as our President for 4 or more years.

I can verify that John has an infamous reputation for being a hot head. He has a quick and explosive temper that many have experienced first hand. Folks, quite honestly that is not the finger I want next to that red button.

It is also disappointing to see him take on and support Bush's war in Iraq, even stating we might be there for another 100 years. For me John represents the entrenched and bankrupt policies of Washington-as-usual. The past 7 years have proven to be disastrous for our country. And I believe John's views on war, foreign policy, economics, environment, health care, education, national infrastructure and other important areas are much the same as those of the Bush administration.

I'm disappointed to see John represent himself politically in ways that are not accurate. He is not a moderate Republican. On some issues he is a maverick. But his voting record is far to the right. I fear for his nominations to our Supreme Court, and the consequent continuing loss of individual freedoms, especially regarding moral and religious issues. John is not a religious person, but he has taken every opportunity to ally himself with some really obnoxious and crazy fundamentalist ministers lately. I was also disappointed to see him cozy up to Bush because I know he hates that man. He disingenuously and famously put his arm around the guy, even after Bush had intensely disrespected him with lies and slander. So on these and many other instances, I don't see that John is the "straight talk express" he markets himself to be.

Senator John Sidney McCain, III is a remarkable man who has made enormous personal achievements. And he is a man that I am proud to call a fellow POW who "Returned With Honor." That's our POW motto. But since many of you keep asking what I think of him, I've decided to write it out. In short, I think John Sidney McCain, III is a good man, but not someone I will vote for in the upcoming election to be our President of the United States.

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So, while I'm sure polticially I agree with Roseanne, I do not want her speaking for me.

I don't want her speaking for me , either. What i was agreeing with her on is Brangelina. Angelina Jolie wants to come across as saint , but yet look at her movies. That's what I'm saying.

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As for Hillary "growing a pair" she did. I haven't heard from her since she conceded. Yes, she hung in there long after she should have and didn't do herself any favors there, but when she finally admitted the loss, she went away.

No she did not. She is insisting her name be put on the floor for nomination . that is no way helping unite the party.

There is antricle in RS this week about how the Democrats can lose this election based on their own stupid tactics. Really they are their own worst enemies. Seriously.

Obama has said he's picked a running mate and the rumor is it's Hillary.

Other places seem to think it is Biden.

We shall see!

Well, Obama picks Biden.

Although this does nothing to get me enthusiastic, I hope it works for enough people to get Obama elected.

OK, a few hours of research, and I am now getting enthusiastic!

I was overly aware of the icky things about Biden, the hair plugs, the inability to stop talking, the accusations of plagiarism and socially stupid comments about Obama.

But.. he really is amazingly more knowlegable than anybody else on the visible horizon, and he really does have positions he believes in about Iraq and many forgeign policy issues that I agree with.

Here is a Huffington Post page with embedded videos (so if you aren't into clicking video links it might be better to seach for info another way) of the best of Biden:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/08/23/vp-joe-biden-watch-video_n_120775.html

The guy ACTUALLY HAS POSITIONS!!!! I did not know that about him, and I am now quite impressed.

I was watching CNN this morning and Wolf Blitzer was talking with Carl Bernstein and he pretty much said exactly what you just did. That he has positions he's passionate about and he's very experienced.

Sounds like he made the right choice. Things could get interesting now. They're speaking today. We'll see how that goes.

Anybody watching the Democratic National Convention?

I just got home from work so missed a bunch.

I find these conventions very imnportant, if only to get glimpses of who are some potential leaders, old and not known, and new. It was Obama's speech at the last one that put him light years ahead and onto the Presidential bid for this one.

OMG is Obama's wife beautiful and well-spoken.

Oy. As you know, my mom has MS. So that stuff she said about her dad was difficult. I know my mom is watching it and that must have been rough for her to listen to.