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A friend and I had a conversation a few weeks ago, and as is the case often with me, the topic strayed to politics. Apparently, I stuck my foot in my mouth one too many times when I said something about Bush being an idiot, and how if McCain had been the 2000 Republican nominee, and had he subsequently won the general election, that America wouldn’t be in the sh*tcan now.
To which she replied that WE didn’t know that W. was
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Comments
09.19.08
Why anyone who is informed and in their right mind would vote for a Democrat or a Republican is beyond me. Both of them pretend to be congruent with American values, but more often than not Republicans are not conservative and Democrats are spineless, half-assed progressives at best.
09.19.08
Monica,
I'm a Conservative, and I will be voting for the lesser of two evils this november: McCain.
You bring up valid points about how the social programs don't work, and that is one reason I'm voting McCain. I hate every social program because they are a waste of the money that has been taken from me (taxes). Most of them are close to bankrupting our country (Medicare, Medicaid, Welfair, Social Security) All of them are messed up! All of them were implemented by Democrats! I'm not saying that people don't need help, I think everyone needs to help everyone, but it shouldn't be forced on us by raising our taxes.
Look at the facts. Republicans donate substantially more than Democrats(even as a percentage of income) to charities. Charities that HELP all of those in need. So I ask you, who does a better job helping people (assuming they had the same funding): The Red Cross or FEMA? Small religious communities or Welfare? Privately funded free healthcare facilities or Medicare? Privately funded soup kitchens or food stamps?
Most of the rich that you want to tax are huge philanthropists who can and do put their money to better use than the Government! My Wife and I are not wealthy, we are 23 and starting out in our careers, but we donated more to charity last year than Joe Biden did, and he makes substantially more than we do!
09.19.08
Daniel- "I hate every social program because they are a waste of the money that has been taken from me (taxes)."
So you hate the military too? It's the biggest social program that exists- far more expensive and inefficient than medicaid, social security, or welfare combined. Why should your hard-earned taxes go towards building jets, tankers, and bombs and paying soldier salaries?
You can't have it both ways. If you want to have a functional, humanitarian society you need to have taxes and social programs.
We need a military (although not half as large as it is now) and we need programs to help the less fortunate, even if it's a drag on your bottom line. It's called progress.
09.19.08
Tim,
The military is the unquestionable responsibility of the state. None of the others come close to that level of legitimacy.
Sorry, you can have it both ways.
09.19.08
Poor people don't really pay taxes first of all. Furthermore, the reason they are poor is NOT because they fail to take advantage of bunk social services. The reason they vote Republican (among many reasons)is that the democrats let the far far left dictate who they nominate and these individuals do not resonate on any level with many poor people. Most poor people have never really met anybody who is similar to Dukakis, Kerry, or Gore. Obama is viewed differently but only because he is black. Poor people know Bush and McCain. It's a mentality, not a money issue as we both know that Bush and McCain were wealthy before running for office.
Your article reveals that you (like many on the left) simply do not understand a large percentage of America.
09.19.08
Lance- you're telling me that spending 56 cents out of every dollar to maintain permanent military bases in every region in the world is an unquestionable government responsibility, but it's a waste to have programs that help those in poverty in this country? Word? Srsly?
Scott- if you think Obama is far left, then you have no clear conception of what far left is. Obama and Clinton were by far the most moderate candidates the Democratic field had to offer. Dennis Kucinich and John Edwards were the real liberal choices, and if they had been picked, you might have had a point.
Che was far far left. Obama is just slightly to the left on the spectrum in the bigger picture.
09.19.08
Tim,
It appears YOU have no clear conception of what far left is. According to the Americans for Democratic Action (the nation's oldest independent libral organization) rankings on voting records, Edwards was a 77.5, Kucinich was 89.5, Clintion was 95.82, and Obama was 97.5 (100 being most liberal and 0 being most conservative). He was also voted Most Liberal Senator in 07 by the National Journal. If that isn't the far left, I don't know what is.
09.19.08
There are lies, damn lies, and statistics. Are Obama and Clinton more liberal than your average senators? Of course. But I don't remember hearing them calling for impeachment proceedings like Kucinich or actually have the guts to label some people as "poor" like Edwards.
Those numbers are based on voting records, not policy platforms. Clinton and Obama are a hundred times more conservative on the economy than Kuch and Edwards, and that's what makes them "electable." Because they pander to the extreme right wing portions of our country that are in power.
09.19.08
@ Lance, I concur 100% The military's responsibility is to protect our way of life, and that is unquestionably the duty of the state.
@Tim, I think our Military bases around the world are a bit excessive and I don't like the concept of paying to keep some of the overseas bases, HOWEVER, I want to make Damn sure that North Korea knows we are striking distance if they decide to do anything stupid. Same with Russia, China, Iran...
I was recently talking with my Uncle who is a member of the Special Forces, and he was telling me a story about how he was in Australia helping to train the Aussie army. They were making fun of America's world presense and he pointed to one of our aircraft carriers off the coast and said "Do you see that? That is the largest Airforce in the Southern Hemisphere, and it is there protecting your country too." The joking stopped.
09.19.08
Check out these numbers and see if you still think it's justified:
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/deploy.htm
3300 soldiers in Qatar?
75,000 still in Germany? Are they just guarding against the possibility of a 4th reich?
There is no justification for this kind of deployment. It is reckless in every sense of the word, both financially and strategically.
09.19.08
Tim,
Go back and actually read what I wrote. While I do think Obama is pretty far left, that was not my point. What I said was that the far far left of the democratic party picks candidates who do not resonate with many poor people. While some of us may look at the issues, plenty of people simply vote based on who gives them a "warm feeling" or who they'd like to have a beer with.
09.20.08
Hi - I am a member of Republicans for Obama. We are all still registered Republicans but we are incredibly turned off by the hijacking of our party by the religious right and the lack of true fiscal responsibility shown by party leaders. Also, many conservative thinkers have come out against McCain and for Obama in the past week, for example, Wick Allison came out earlier this week with a formal endorsement of Barack Obama. For those of you who don't know much about Wick, he was asked by William F. Buckley to join the board of directors of the National Review in 1985, and then became the magazine's publisher in 1990, where he remained until 1994. Nobody would discredit Allison's conservative credentials. As he points out in his endorsement, he's been a conservative since 1964, when he organized his local Youth for Goldwater chapter at the age of 16. Check us out at http://www.republicansforobama.org
09.21.08
I think this was a great article about an actually useful political conversation and I am glad you shared this with us Monica (and that you are still freinds with the person)!
10.01.08
Simple and very enlightening... I really appreciate your style here.
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