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BiggerBoat 
"Pass me the harpoon"
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 Posted - 10/23/2008 : 17:46:42
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| I feel the same as Larry and it's not even my country. |
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Conan The Westy 
"Father, Faithful Friend, Fwiffer"
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Posted - 10/23/2008 : 21:19:08
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Talk about an overreaction. quote:
"If Obama loses, it would be easier to live with it if it's due to racism rather than if it's stolen."
Does he ever consider that Obama could lose because McCain won fair and square?
quote:
"I believe I have big jinx potential and may have actually cost the Dems the last two elections."
Reality check Larry: Who really cares what you think; it's not all about you. |
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turrell 
"Ohhhh Ohhhh Ohhhh Ohhhh "
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Posted - 10/23/2008 : 21:25:15
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| What ever outcome keeps him neurotic and making great television is fine by me. |
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Whippersnapper. 
"A fourword thinking guy."
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Posted - 10/24/2008 : 03:08:41
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quote:
Originally posted by Conan The Westy
Talk about an overreaction. quote:
"If Obama loses, it would be easier to live with it if it's due to racism rather than if it's stolen."
Does he ever consider that Obama could lose because McCain won fair and square?
"Fair and square" is relative.
Given the McCarthyite misinformation, smearing and labelling of Obama as "UnAmerican" by the McCain camp its hard to see how any McCain win could fully be described as "Fair and square".
I think any decent person should be disgusted by these desperate tactics.
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w22dheartlivie
"Kitty Lover"
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Posted - 10/24/2008 : 03:23:23
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| My favorite ad that gives a "What the fuck?" moment would have to be the one that shows the Oval Office and the ominous comment that the next real US crisis after the election would be the first one Obama has ever handled. Uh... duh. It's not like McCain has experience handling a crisis as head of state. |
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MisterBadIdea 
"PLZ GET MILK, KTHXBYE"
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Posted - 10/24/2008 : 04:25:22
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My response to the election is not David's, although I am rooting for Obama. I think John "I'm a PC" Hodgman echoes my thoughts exactly though:
McCain had a reality-based argument for why he should be President. It did not rely on magical thinking in any way. It was simply that Barack Obama was too young and inexperienced to be President and McCain is old enough, certainly, and experienced enough to be President. You may not agree, but that's what we need. You may not like McCain, but that's reasonable. That makes sense. In choosing Sarah Palin for whatever benefit you might get from it politically, he's throwing out his whole argument about experience. He negated his only reasonable argument to make and instead put him on what we now see is a disastrous path�potentially disastrous, at least, of pure magical thinking. That is I think exactly what people are tired of with regard to the Bush Administration. This idea that the Bush Administration� That if I say black is white, then that makes it so. If I say Sarah Palin is tried, tested, and ready to take the national stage and is going to save my campaign on the sheer energy of her enthusiasm and rhetoric, then it will happen, but not really.
Do I like Obama, personally? I do. Do I think he's got good policies? Look, I'm like everyone else, I hope so. They sound good. They sound like something I believe in, so I think based on his performance and the way that he has run his campaign, I feel that it is reasonable to feel confident that he is going to take the same discipline and smarts and lack of drama and apply them to the very serious issues today and I think that makes him a good choice for President. Do I think that his candidacy is historic? Sure, that's exciting too, but what I think it's really amazing that he exists in the same world that I also inhabit and no other political candidate lives in that world right now. They live in a made-up world that is not reality. I think that that's why you see Obama surging right now. It's that the people like the fact that Obama lives in the world that they live in. |
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Sean
"Necrosphenisciform anthropophagist."
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Posted - 10/24/2008 : 05:57:10
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Actually I think the whole "experience" thing is overrated. Leaders have a massive support network under them to advise them on the appropriate action to take if their personal experience hasn't equipped them for it (as will very often be the case).
IMO the main qualifications to be leader are:-
a) empathy for other beings
b) intelligence
c) foresight
d) calmness under pressure
they're innate qualities that don't have much to do with "experience". |
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w22dheartlivie
"Kitty Lover"
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Posted - 10/24/2008 : 07:56:59
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| The whole McCain-Palin thing reminds me of a very old Saturday Night Live sketch, broadcast way back 1984. The scene was dark and wintery, the sound was the wind blustering through the trees, the caption was "Somewhere in Minnesota, the Mondale residence", and the voice over wailed "Geraldine Ferraro!!! GERALDINE FERRARO????!!!!???? What was I thinking!!!????!!!!???" |
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Mr Savoir Faire 
"^ Click my name. "
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Posted - 10/26/2008 : 02:45:10
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I am not for Obama.
Nor McCain.
I am seriously considering moving to Australia, London, or Canada no matter who wins.
I have to say though, I think McCain is a better choice between two evils, despite his VP.
My reasoning is Obama is against NAFTA, but for expanding faith-based initiatives, and also for striking Al-Qaeda targets in Pakistan, with or without Pakistan's approval (he's also hinted at involvement in Sudan and Iran).
Expanding 'faith-based initiatives' and expanding war? Correct me if I'm wrong but these are the very policies for why people don't like Bush? For a campaign that is anti-Bush, he sure does act like him.
Not to mention, Obama's pastor of 20 years is absolutely psychotic. I can not put my faith in a man who not only attended the church of an extreme afro-centrist, but sent his children there as well. I invite anyone to look on youtube for Rev Wright clips.
Free trade. non-aggression. that is what I want. either one of these candidates offers war, but one is more free trade than the other.
Both are increasing spending and war-mongering. Surprisingly Obama has not promised to pull out until the "goal" date of Summer 2010. Even then, the war isn't over; he's shipping the troops to Afghanistan (and possibly Pakistan and Iran).
There are American troops in 130 countries. No typo. 130. It is not our job to police the world, nor should it be our job to send foreign aide to countries that don't care about us. The military should be for defense only. Money is for domestic use.
Sigh. Not that Mccain's much better: either way the debt is going to go way up and foreign involvement will also increase, despite almost everyone's wishes.
American government will be in so much debt before long due to the baby boomers retiring. My grandparents set up a system called social security where-upon they could steal 28% of my income and I would never get anything in return. I pay 28% to SS because I am self-employed and therefore get doubly taxed. However, politicians, ever the opportunists, supported this bill because, well, what better way to get votes than promising people free money? Both sides are guilty.
Even if you are a scoialist, the goal of socialism is to strengthen the working force: not cripple it with a 14-28% tax.
Some people would argue that SS wasn't set up to steal from me, but I would otherwise. When SS was introduced there were economic critics of it. Through the inaction of making SS and not making it a private matter (ie putting 14% of income in a savings account), but instead making it a government function (with 30% brokerage fees), they robbed me. It was known when it was created it couldn't be sustained forever, but people feel entitled to the government since nobody owns it.
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randall 
"I like to watch."
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Posted - 10/26/2008 : 06:28:51
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Either topline candidate could actually sit in the Oval Office more plausibly than the arrogant moron who's there now.
For me, the election once came down to two words: Supreme. Court.
Now there are two more: Sarah. Palin. A stupendous lapse in judgment when the chips were down. You failed the job interview, Senator. |
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MisterBadIdea
"PLZ GET MILK, KTHXBYE"
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Posted - 10/27/2008 : 12:53:40
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quote:
Originally posted by Mr Savoir Faire
My reasoning is Obama is against NAFTA, but for expanding faith-based initiatives, and also for striking Al-Qaeda targets in Pakistan, with or without Pakistan's approval (he's also hinted at involvement in Sudan and Iran).
Expanding 'faith-based initiatives' and expanding war? Correct me if I'm wrong but these are the very policies for why people don't like Bush? For a campaign that is anti-Bush, he sure does act like him.
I think that's unfair to Mr. Obama, seeing as he made that ill-advised Pakistan remark only once back in 2007 (If I'm wrong about this, please correct me). And while he's never run as a pacifist candidate, he's also repeatedly criticized the GOP's refusal to negotiate with its enemies. On a side note, I don't really agree that unilaterally invading Pakistan to attack Al-Qaeda really counts as "policing the world" (though it's probably not smart); it's finding and attacking a terrorist group that has already declared war on us. Obviously I don't think that an effective defense of this nation should include getting nuked by a pissed-off Pakistan, but I do think that we really should capture Osama Bin Laden at some point.
And as for "faith-based initiatives"... I think that at this point, a little favoritism towards religion-based charities is pretty far down the list of things people don't like about Dubya. |
Edited by - MisterBadIdea on 10/27/2008 12:57:38 |
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ChocolateLady
"500 Chocolate Delights"
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Posted - 10/27/2008 : 18:34:22
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quote:
Originally posted by S9�n
Actually I think the whole "experience" thing is overrated. Leaders have a massive support network under them to advise them on the appropriate action to take if their personal experience hasn't equipped them for it (as will very often be the case).
IMO the main qualifications to be leader are:-
a) empathy for other beings
b) intelligence
c) foresight
d) calmness under pressure
they're innate qualities that don't have much to do with "experience".
I'm with you on this. And when someone asked Bill Clinton if he thought that Hillary was prepared enough to be President, his answer was, that he didn't think that anyone is ever prepared to be President. There is no level of experience you can get to become really ready to be the President of the USA.
And as for surrounding yourself with competent people who can advise you wisely on subjects you are unfamiliar with and help you in areas that you are weaker at, McCain's choice of Palin has made him look like he wouldn't be very good at doing that. In that, Obama's choice of Biden as his VP was a far wiser choice, and makes me feel that he'd be choosing his staff based on some very carefully thought out criteria.
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turrell
"Ohhhh Ohhhh Ohhhh Ohhhh "
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Posted - 10/27/2008 : 18:57:44
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quote:
Originally posted by MisterBadIdea
I think that's unfair to Mr. Obama, seeing as he made that ill-advised Pakistan remark only once back in 2007
He repeated this stance in the last debate and has been pretty consistent that he favors military action if "we have Osama Bin Laden in our sights and Pakistan is either unwilling or unable to act".
I am voting Obama but one thing I don't like is that he has a hard time admitting when he is wrong - this is one example. Another is his stance on meeting with dictators without preconditions - instead of saying he misspoke and favors more diplomacy (which many agree would be a nice change) he continues to spin that original statement - but never mentions that he misspoke.
As for fair and square - people have the right in the US to vote for whomever they choose based on what ever criteria they choose. If they falsely think that McCain is exactly like Bush based on a manufactured statistic of voting with Bush 90% of the time (when Bush has never cast a vote) that's fine. If they don't vote for Obama because he is black - that is reprehensible but it is not unfair (or for that matter if some of the 96% of blacks vote for Obama because of his skin color for that matter).
Voter fraud is another matter, but that's not yet at issue in this election. |
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MisterBadIdea
"PLZ GET MILK, KTHXBYE"
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Posted - 10/27/2008 : 19:38:18
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| To clarify, I meant it was an unfair statement, not an unfair vote, and in any case I never said that a candidate had a "right" to fair votes anyway. |
Edited by - MisterBadIdea on 10/27/2008 19:39:27 |
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duh
"catpurrs"
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Posted - 10/28/2008 : 05:48:56
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quote:
Originally posted by BiggerBoat
I feel the same as Larry and it's not even my country.
Larry David and his political opinions do not interest me.
I do not view Obama as a messiah.
I agree that despite the things that I respect McCain for, he is also a flawed human being.
I expect that Obama will be elected. I hope there will be a conservative Congress to counter-balance an otherwise inevitable extreme liberal backlash.
I like Palin but I agree that it appears unlikely that she has the experience to be a good president. Some of the most qualified people didn't do so well either as presidents. Carter was eminently qualified and a very good man, for example. Although one might argue that Clinton was a good president, he could have been even greater if he had not, as Michael Medved said, "squandered his talents." (Medved knew both of the Clintons when they were in law school with him.)
Biden is too liberal for me.
If Ron Paul were a candidate, I would vote for him.
Regardless of who wins the election, I'll be glad when it is over so we can just play with the cards we are dealt and move on. I don't answer the telephone anymore because it is usually some kind of political call.
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BiggerBoat
"Pass me the harpoon"
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Posted - 10/28/2008 : 14:08:39
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What makes you 'liberal' or 'conservative' in America these days and how are these ideals reflected in the nominees' policies?
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Larry David is nervous
