politics -- enter at your own risk

[mammamaia]

thanks for your very open-minded comments on my post, pat... this is only the first time i've posted in this thread [or maybe second, if i posted way back when], but most likely my last... so if you want to discuss anything i said further, feel free to drop me an email...

love and hugs, maia

[pat roe]

Hi,
Its an ELECTION year Everyone! Thanks mammamia for your response.

Just thought I'd give my opinion on the primaries coming forth. I hope when everyone goes to cast their vote, whether it be in their state primaries or in November they will remember where we are coming from. "One" of the reasons we are in debt is because of the Iraq war. Please go to Ask.com and "ask how much the Iraq war costs and where the funding came from " At least 1 Trillion dollars in borrowed money, another Trillion for care for Veterans returning home. And at least another 18.5 Billion for Iraq Relief & reconstruction established by Congress in 2003. The cut, cap & balance that some candidates are in favor of will cut social programs and education, It is not the answer. When America stops being the police force of the world and stops supporting the world monetarily, we will be able to build our country back up. Please scrutinize what the candidates say on how they want to solve the problems we face.

[sarrot]

I don't like or trust any politician. Remember what Plato said "Politicians have the right to lie to the people." Governments are only out for power and all poltical parties are only out for their party to be the ruling party. It is all idealism to think that both sides playing nice is feasible. Both Republicans and Democrats when they are the ruling party want to tyrannize their view on the other.

[LMGilbert]

Stephen Harper is at it again. Does this happen in your country, all you American people? Canada's heraldic colours are red and white. The monarchy itself gave the official nod on this many many years ago. We have various political parties whose colours range from red, to orange, to blue to green to who knows what. Stephen Harper is, of course, a Conservative. This party used to be called the "Progressive Conservatives" but they no longer make any pretense at being "progressive." The colour of the Conservative Party is blue. So now Mr. Slimy is trying to introduce blue into our official Canadian Government documents and signs and so on. He's touting the queen as a national symbol or whatever, but ignoring our real heritage. Basically, he is trying to identify Canada as a Conservative BRAND. He's treating our government like his own private business!

Or maybe he figures that if he sneaks enough blue in there, we won't have the expense of printing new letterhead when the Tories finally sign the paper making us the fifty-first state.

[raymondstary]

i've always cared... and after many years of not voting, i started doing so again when obama popped up... will do so again, to keep any of those terrifyingly close-minded and near-dictatorial-aimed republican candidates from turning the us into the christian version of a taliban-run horror show...

If you're attempting to oppose dictators, voting for Obama was a bad move. McCain wasn't really any better. The only party opposing dictatorship is the Libertarian party. The only candidate outside of that party opposing dictatorship is Ron Paul.

[Lord Terpsichorean]

Ron Paul certainly gets my vote for Bigot in Chief. He should take Sarah Palin’s advice and “man-up” to his past.

[James A. Ritchie]

Ron Paul certainly gets my vote for Bigot in Chief. He should take Sarah Palin’s advice and “man-up” to his past.

Define "bigot". These days, you're considered a bigot if you oppose affirmative action, entitlement programs, or race-based admission to higher education.

And what does the past have to do with anything? I don't care what a man thought or believed forty years ago. We all, unless we're totally stupid, learn, grow, change our views on this or that.

The one thing I do know abut Ron Paul is that he wants to stop the government from stealing my money in order to give it to someone else.

[Lord Terpsichorean]

Ron Paul certainly gets my vote for Bigot in Chief. He should take Sarah Palin’s advice and “man-up” to his past.

Define "bigot". These days, you're considered a bigot if you oppose affirmative action, entitlement programs, or race-based admission to higher education.

And what does the past have to do with anything? I don't care what a man thought or believed forty years ago. We all, unless we're totally stupid, learn, grow, change our views on this or that.

The one thing I do know abut Ron Paul is that he wants to stop the government from stealing my money in order to give it to someone else.

The OED definition of bigotry includes the mindset of Ron Paul: “The condition of a bigot; obstinate and unenlightened attachment to a particular creed, opinion, system, or party. “

People tend to grow older more frequently than wiser. Ron Paul has yet to say his well-documented views on race in the past do not reflect his current views on diversity. He did deny his past until a video and interview surfaced.

If you want to see change in government, it may be wiser to support a hopeful who has a chance in hell of winning the general election. Rep. Paul and the rest of GOP candidates are anachronistic. This country cannot withstand another four years of supply-side economics. Real wages for the middle class have been stagnant since the Reagan Administration.

[LMGilbert]

I've never minded paying taxes because I have never thought of it as "the government" (my elected representatives) "stealing my money to give it to someone else." I think of it as my contribution to help support services to those in need (could be myself or my mother or whatever, one day), and to help provide commonly held assets like libraries and schools. I would be more concerned about CEOs and top brass of corporations paying low wages, clawing back worker's rights and pensions and benefits, clamoring for more deregulation so they can dump more crap into the air and water to save $$, and of course creating worse and worse working conditions re: health & safety, so that they can walk away at the end of the day with the billions of dollars they have stolen from mindless consumers. They steal only for themselves, but that's ok because that's the free enterprise system. (Wave flag of your choice here.)

[Lord Terpsichorean]

One could easily speculate that sociologists fifty years from now will scratch their heads when they try to understand why poor and middle class Republican voters supported politicians who transferred their marginal wealth to the rich. They will also examine the phenomenon of cognitive dissonance in an electorate that clamored against an “oppressive government” yet railed against women’s rights to birth control. The “dumbing-down of America,” which became apparent with the nomination of Sarah Palin, is a working definition of kakistocracy: government by the least qualified.