Presidential Election (as a current event- watch the tone or it's gone)

@JWW:

@balungaloaf:

obama has to get a clue sometime here.

after saying after he’d withdraw from iraq, he’d go back in to attack al-qaeda(even though al-qaeda is already there :roll:)

Agreed. This comment on his position is quite absurd. It is obvious he is grasping at straws. And the fact is the USA will be in Iraq for a LONG time. No different than S.Korea, Germany, Japan, Cuba, Balkans, Philippines (did we get out of there yet? I think so)

Hopefully our presence in Iraq will contribute to this country’s future success and prosperity.

It’s naive to compare the bloodless benign deployments overseas with the occupation in Iraq. Iraqis will never be happy with a sizeable American force in their country. some may see the necessity of having our troops there (because the alternative is so much weorse), but there will always be plenty others who will view it as an occupation by the “Great Satan” and an affront to Islam.

Smack, the whole Iraq liberation is another topic, so the last thing I’ll say about it is that the vast majority of Iraqis prefer having us there at the moment - but yes, would like us to leave eventually so that they can have their own government take over, when their government is ready.

Also, Germany, Japan, Korea and Vietnam are not BENIGN deployments!  Germany’s taken 60 years to beat into submission to the point they stopped killing our troops with insurgent tactics after World War II.  They didn’t just roll over and play dead after the war, you know.  Japan did roll over and play dead after the war, but they also have NO MILITARY of their own right now.

Korea’s still considered a war zone, after 50+ years.  Iraq’s a war zone, but it’s only been 5 years.  Cuba’s considered a war zone after what, like 100 years?

Back on topic now:

If people do not want to vote for someone because they are racist, religionists, sexist, whatever, that’s their Governmentally Granted Right as United States Citizens.  There’s nothing you can do about it.

However, to gag people and slander them just for disseminating the facts about your name, or poking fun at you because your ears are a little larger then normal, or  no one has ever seen you in a skirt, or whatever, is patently unAmerican as it is an abridgment of your freedom of speech and your freedom of the press. (Notice, it’s not freedom of the news media, it’s freedom of the press.)

And yes, Obama DOES have an Islamic heritage.  He may be a christian, he may be a lip-service christian, he may be a muslim, he may be an atheist, it doesn’t really matter in regards to what his HERITAGE is.  His father was a Muslim.  He was raised with Islamic faith present and active in his home.  Kenyan, American, Antartican, Space Alien - I don’t care.  But let’s not conceal the truth to sugar coat a candidate.  Better to have an informed public then a public who’s been lied too.  And yes, concealing information IS lieing, it’s called a lie of omission.

And yes, a candidate’s heritage IS important when deciding who to vote for.  So is the candidate’s native tongue, his or her experience, his or her voting records, his or her ability to handle good natured political satyr, etc.  If he cannot handle people using his middle name as a candidate, how is he going to handle it when Iranians burn his image in effigy?  If he cannot handle people poking fun at his facial features, is he going to repeal the First Amendment to stop us from doing it as a President?

Not saying he WOULD do those things, but you have to wonder.

@Cmdr:

Germany’s taken 60 years to beat into submission to the point they stopped killing our troops with insurgent tactics after World War II. They didn’t just roll over and play dead after the war, you know.

Serously, what the hell are you talking about?

Japan did roll over and play dead after the war, but they also have NO MILITARY of their own right now.

That would be news to the Japense SDF forces who have served in Afghanistan and Iraq with us, and the Jap navy that sunk a N. Korean ship in 2001.

“Japan’s navy is considered the most formidable of these three branches, and among the most sophisticated in the world.”

http://www.cfr.org/publication/10439/

Korea’s still considered a war zone, after 50+ years.  Iraq’s a war zone, but it’s only been 5 years.  Cuba’s considered a war zone after what, like 100 years?

How many soldiers were killed in Korea and Cuba in the last 10 years?

However, to gag people and slander them just for disseminating the facts about your name, or poking fun at you because your ears are a little larger then normal, or  no one has ever seen you in a skirt, or whatever, is patently unAmerican as it is an abridgment of your freedom of speech and your freedom of the press. (Notice, it’s not freedom of the news media, it’s freedom of the press.)

No one is saying they CANT say it. the point is, using barac’s middle name is a clear appeal to bigotry. Theres a reason Mccain apologized. the discourse should be about the issues and not what someon’s name is.

If he cannot handle people poking fun at his facial features, is he going to repeal the First Amendment to stop us from doing it as a President?

presidents can’t repeal amendments.

Senators can repeal them, evidentially, since we have Campaign Finance Reform which directly violates the 1st Amendment.  If Senators can, then Presidents can.

And Japan has police forces with military training.  They do not have a standing army, which is why they use ours.

How many soldiers died in Korea in the first 10 years?  How does that compare to Iraq?  Yea, thought so.  Please go sit in the corner with the pointy hat now and get back on topic.

No one is saying they CANT say it. the point is, using barac’s middle name is a clear appeal to bigotry.

This pretty much sums up what i have to say.

@Cmdr:

Senators can repeal them, evidentially, since we have Campaign Finance Reform which directly violates the 1st Amendment.  If Senators can, then Presidents can.

SCOTUS has already ruled on Mccain-feingold in 2007. It’s constiutional. Besides, only members of Congress can sponsor legislation. The president can’t. This is basic civics.

And Japan has police forces with military training.  They do not have a standing army, which is why they use ours.

You said Japan has (I quote) “NO MILITARY”. They clearly have an advanced navy, an airforce, and SDF forces that are serving in Afgainistan and Iraq. They also spend about $50 billion a year on their “nonexistent” military.

How many soldiers died in Korea in the first 10 years?  How does that compare to Iraq?  Yea, thought so.  Please go sit in the corner with the pointy hat now and get back on topic.

Um, theres a difference with the Korean WAR, and the peaceful occupation that’s gone on for the past 50 years. The point was that Americans have put up with soldiers in Korea because theyre not getting blown up and shot over there. It will be impossible to keep 100,000+ soldiers in Iraq without them getting shot at and blown up. There will always be pressure from the public to get out. the longer it goes on, the more pressure will build up.

Germany’s taken 60 years to beat into submission to the point they stopped killing our troops with insurgent tactics after World War II. They didn’t just roll over and play dead after the war, you know.

This REALLY needs to be clarified. What the hell were you talking about?

Oh yea, the Korean war was NEVER DECLARED.  Guess that IS a difference….you know, the ILLEGAL invasion of a sovereign nation with a PERMANENT garrison.

What was I thinking?  At least Iraq was approved by Congress BEFORE we invaded.

And the SDF is NOT a military.  It is a department of their law enforcement.  Just because they have fighters and bombers and tanks does NOT mean it is a standing military.  Under their constitution they are not PERMITTED to have a military.  Thus, they have the worlds BEST police department.

And, for the record, the United States President CAN push legislation.  And thus, it IS important to know the heritage and culture and political affinities of those running for United States President precisely because they CAN push legislation through Congress and the House.  All they need is a single patsy and they can write any bill or law they want too.

How do you think No Child Left Behind came into being?  How do you think the Department of Homeland Security came into being?  How do you think the Transit Security Administration came into being?  Hell, how do you think NAFTA happened?  Some president wrote the bill, found a moron to sponsor it and them pushed it through congress with an iron rod.

If you are so deluded as to actually think that the President is an impotent geriatric sitting behind a mahogony desk waiting and praying that legislation is written and sponsored without interacting what-so-ever in the process (because that’s the way YOU, as an individual, see the executive branch) does not make it so.  It just makes YOU uninformed as to how the process REALLY works.

Maybe you need to go back and take a civics class?  I mean, I assume, of course, you actually DID take one at some point in your life…or were you one of the kids that were not “left behind” and socially promoted in public high screwl?

Hmm…makes you wonder…saying there is a HUGE Japanese military complete with Samuri and all…not even knowing that their constitution strictly forbids them to have a standing military at all.  Not even knowing that Korea is a war zone that we’ve been in for at least 10 times as long as Iraq and that the President invaded long before Congress approved of it.  Not even knowing that there were German resistance cells in Germany after World War II and some even exist to this day.  Not even knowing that Gitmo was CONQUERED and STOLEN from the Spanish and Cuba and we’ve been an occupying force for almost a century at least, maybe longer.

Hmm, guess instead of civics, you should take a few American history courses - then you can take a civics class.  The scary thing is, you probably get to vote!

@Cmdr:

And the SDF is NOT a military.  It is a department of their law enforcement.  Just because they have fighters and bombers and tanks does NOT mean it is a standing military.  Under their constitution they are not PERMITTED to have a military.  Thus, they have the worlds BEST police department.

A police department serving in a foreign country?  That sounds an awful lot like a military to me.  No matter how much everyone calls a duck a swan, it doesnt make it any less of a duck.

And, for the record, the United States President CAN push legislation.  And thus, it IS important to know the heritage and culture and political affinities of those running for United States President precisely because they CAN push legislation through Congress and the House.  All they need is a single patsy and they can write any bill or law they want too.

How do you think No Child Left Behind came into being?  How do you think the Department of Homeland Security came into being?  How do you think the Transit Security Administration came into being?  Hell, how do you think NAFTA happened?  Some president wrote the bill, found a moron to sponsor it and them pushed it through congress with an iron rod.

True.

Maybe you need to go back and take a civics class?  I mean, I assume, of course, you actually DID take one at some point in your life…or were you one of the kids that were not “left behind” and socially promoted in public high screwl?

I dont even think my high school has civics.  At least one should be required, up there with mathematics.

Not even knowing that Korea is a war zone that we’ve been in for at least 10 times as long as Iraq and that the President invaded long before Congress approved of it.  Not even knowing that there were German resistance cells in Germany after World War II and some even exist to this day.  Not even knowing that Gitmo was CONQUERED and STOLEN from the Spanish and Cuba and we’ve been an occupying force for almost a century at least, maybe longer.

I think he knows that Korea was a warzone and that we conquered Guantanamo Bay, its just that calling them warzones now is a bit silly.  We are indeed occupying them, and there was indeed conflict there at some point, and they may very well be dubbed and labeled as ‘warzones’, but again: no matter how much everyone calls a duck a swan, it doesnt make it any less of a duck.

What was that line again?

“I stand 40 yards away from someone who is trained to kill me.”  Or something like that in A Few Good Men out of the Mouth of Jack Nicholson?

Yea.  It’s a war zone.  If you cannot bring your wife and children to your duty station because it’s hostile, then it’s a warzone.

And I don’t care if we send the New York Police Department to invade Toronto.  They’re STILL the police and not the army.  Sure, they have M-16s and Tanks (or whatever those armored cars are with the battering ram, it’s a tank IMHO.)  They’re still POLICE, not ARMY.  And it DOES make a difference.  Japan has no ARMY.  That’s why OUR Army works for THEIR defense for free.

Anyway, I’m done with Smacktard.  Shoot, anyone who sees himself as a smacktard really shouldn’t be taken seriously enough to argue with.  Especially when they’re trolling and driving the topic on a tangent.

The real issue is, can we trust Obama to use nuclear weapons to defend this nation or not?  If he won’t even man up enough to absorb some good honest ribbing about his ears or even to answer some straight forward questions about his past, can we really expect him to do his duty?

The other issue is, last time the Clintons were in the white house, the national guards went on strike.  (Washington State and Montana.)  Considering most of the forces deployed in Iraq (at least while I was there) were rent-a-soldiers (national guard) can we trust them to do their duty under the Clintons, or will they go AWOL like the last time we had the Clintons in the White House?

Finally, can we trust McCain to nominate the right judges so as to over turn some of the bench legislation that’s been rammed down our throats unconstitutionally - to secure our borders with NO PROSPECT WHATSOEVER of an amnesty - to push for the tax cuts he REFUSED TO SIGN TWICE - to protect our civil liberties (which he has actively worked to repeal at every turn he gets) and to protect American business from eco-terrorists and the Useless Nations?

Those are the real questions.  Unfortunately, I think the best option we have is Hillary Clinton with a Republican Congress and Senate, like we had in the '90s.

You know, last time we heard “hope” and “change” from the democrats it was 2006.  They said they’d bring the country in a “new direction” and they did.  We went from an economy that was growing steadily (slow, but steady) to an economy that’s been crushed and is dwindling.  Ever since they stole the reigns of power in Washington and got our spineless little twit of a Republican president (who was always a liberal while he was in the White House, if you look at what legislation he passed, what he vetoed) to be even more liberal.

Before the Democrats we had 14,000 DJIA.  After them we have 12,000 DJIA.  A net change of -15%.

If we get more change by only getting another unchecked liberal, does that mean we’ll see ANOTHER -15% in the economy!?!?  Will we return to Carter Era Economics with lines for gas, unemployment pushing double digits, home values plummeting, businesses going out of business faster then employees can get to unemployment lines?

After all, we have three liberals running for the White House:

Obama - Ultra Liberal and very secretive about his past and his affiliations
Clinton - Not as Ultra Liberal, but still VERY liberal.
McCain - The most liberal republican on the face of God’s green Earth.  (AKA, Moderate-Liberal.)

I guess I hit a nerve there somewhere  :?

let me summarize my poistion: There is zero chance Barac will repeal the 1st amendment. He can’t do it himself, no congressman in their right mind would be his “patsy” on that, and there would be zero support for it. If you like, we can bet on it, I’ll give you 1,000,000,000-1 odds, and gladly take your money if Barac’s inaugaurated.

Japan: as Cobert says, if it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, its a duck, no matter what you call it. When your “police” have one of the most high-tech navies in the world, destory other country’s boats, and are deployed OUTSIDE your country, its kind of silly to still call it “the police”. What’s next, talking about the meaning of “is”?

Korea and Germany: these were once warzones, many years ago. Now they’re not and havent been for many decades. Iraq has been a warzone for five years. It will continue to be a warzone as long as we have any significant force in Iraq. This is unavoidable. Thats not to say we should pull out, but McCain is delusional if he thinks we’ll ever have a peaceful presence in Iraq, like we do Germany, Japan, or Korea.

The idea that we’ve been fighting a German “insurgency” for SIXTY years is a product of insanity. You cant possibly beleive that, but I have no clue why you would throw that out there.

FYI, the stock market in Nov. 2006 was 12250. In Jan. of 2007 (new Congress sworn in), it was at 12,500. It didn’t hit 14,000 until June, 2007.

http://money.cnn.com/quote/chart/chart.html?symb=djia&sid=1643&time=5yr&Submit1=Refresh

People, please keep personal attacks or hints of them out of this. I don’t see any rational reason why this thread should be shut down. So don’t create one…

GG

@Cmdr:

What was that line again?

“I stand 40 yards away from someone who is trained to kill me.”  Or something like that in A Few Good Men out of the Mouth of Jack Nicholson?

Yea.  It’s a war zone.  If you cannot bring your wife and children to your duty station because it’s hostile, then it’s a warzone.

I believe for something to be a ‘warzone’ there needs to be actual conflict, not just the distant threat of one.

Also, on the German revolutionary units:  Im sure if you looked hard enough youll find somebody in the United States that thinks it was wrong for us to break away from Great Britain and wants us to go back.  Every country has its crazies.

Anyway, I’m done with Smacktard.  Shoot, anyone who sees himself as a smacktard really shouldn’t be taken seriously enough to argue with.  Especially when they’re trolling and driving the topic on a tangent.

oooh, a little personal there.

The real issue is, can we trust Obama to use nuclear weapons to defend this nation or not?  If he won’t even man up enough to absorb some good honest ribbing about his ears or even to answer some straight forward questions about his past, can we really expect him to do his duty?

Explain a plausible scenario (with specifics) where the president will need nuclear weapons in the near future.  Nukes are touchy subjects, its all very situational.  Even in extreme situations I would be hesitant to use them.

The other issue is, last time the Clintons were in the white house, the national guards went on strike.  (Washington State and Montana.)  Considering most of the forces deployed in Iraq (at least while I was there) were rent-a-soldiers (national guard) can we trust them to do their duty under the Clintons, or will they go AWOL like the last time we had the Clintons in the White House?

I wouldnt associate Bills weakness in situations from 10-15 years ago with anything that might be applicable today because it is a person with the same last name in office.

Finally, can we trust McCain to nominate the right judges so as to over turn some of the bench legislation that’s been rammed down our throats unconstitutionally - to secure our borders with NO PROSPECT WHATSOEVER of an amnesty - to push for the tax cuts he REFUSED TO SIGN TWICE - to protect our civil liberties (which he has actively worked to repeal at every turn he gets) and to protect American business from eco-terrorists and the Useless Nations?

I could be wrong, but I believe he didnt sign the tax cuts because they were not accompanied by cuts in spending, which is a logical reason to not cut taxes.

After all, we have three liberals running for the White House:

Obama - Ultra Liberal and very secretive about his past and his affiliations
Clinton - Not as Ultra Liberal, but still VERY liberal.
McCain - The most liberal republican on the face of God’s green Earth.  (AKA, Moderate-Liberal.)

If Obama is ultra liberal, what are kucinich and gravel?

The new congress had to be more then just sworn in.  Nancy needed to get her new drapes purchased, measured,installed, etc.  They didn’t even get a budget put together until after April.  So yes, when they took over, THEN and only THEN did the stock market start it’s death spiral.

And a war zone is any zone designated as such by the United States Military.  If you are under the threat of physical violence by an enemy army, and the threat is realistic, then it’s a war zone.  Korea and the United States do NOT have a peace treaty.  Cuba’s been itching to storm GITMO.

Iraq is by and large pacified.  There’s some pocket resistance here and there, but over all, Al Queda’s been kicked out, the Iranians are having a much harder time getting illegal weapons into the country because of the increased border security (Hey, McCain, look you CAN secure a border!).

Hell, even the media’s begrudgingly saying that Iraq’s a victory now.  The only holdouts that it’s a victory are the extremist, whackos like Moveon and Daily Kos.  Unfortunately, those two organizations are running the entire Democratic party.

As for a PLAUSIBLE situation where nukes are needed - that’s a very stupid request.  No matter what realitic, plausible situation anyone would raise, you’d easily say was ridiculous because you cannot imagine a plausible situation.  Thus, all plausible situations TO YOU would be ridiculous.

To the rest of us, there are cases where nukes may be necessary, as improbably as the situation may be, and that’s why we still have nukes in our arsenal.  If our CIC is too spineless to use them when they are needed, and the enemy knows this, they no longer serve as a deterrant.  And, even worse, if he’s too spineless to use them, what makes you think there are no generals who would “accidentally” use them to attempt and save the country?  And if we have generals going renegade, then we’ve lost the chain of command and thus, military discipline.

This can go bad 9 ways from Sunday if the situation arises.  If Barry Hussein wants to be CIC, maybe he should show us that he not only has the will to use force if needed, but that he is honest enough with himself and the nation about where his allegiances and favorable nostalgia lie?

I’d have no problem electing the son of an Iraqi national to the office of the Presidency, even if he was a Muslim.  But he’d better damn well be honest with us and actually tell us what he thinks.  It’d also be nice if he didn’t cry to mommy everytime someone poked fun at his ears.

@Cmdr:

Oh yea, the Korean war was NEVER DECLARED.  Guess that IS a difference….you know, the ILLEGAL invasion of a sovereign nation with a PERMANENT garrison.

What was I thinking?  At least Iraq was approved by Congress BEFORE we invaded.

And the SDF is NOT a military.  It is a department of their law enforcement.  Just because they have fighters and bombers and tanks does NOT mean it is a standing military.  Under their constitution they are not PERMITTED to have a military.  Thus, they have the worlds BEST police department.

And, for the record, the United States President CAN push legislation.  And thus, it IS important to know the heritage and culture and political affinities of those running for United States President precisely because they CAN push legislation through Congress and the House.  All they need is a single patsy and they can write any bill or law they want too.

How do you think No Child Left Behind came into being?  How do you think the Department of Homeland Security came into being?  How do you think the Transit Security Administration came into being?  Hell, how do you think NAFTA happened?  Some president wrote the bill, found a moron to sponsor it and them pushed it through congress with an iron rod.

If you are so deluded as to actually think that the President is an impotent geriatric sitting behind a mahogony desk waiting and praying that legislation is written and sponsored without interacting what-so-ever in the process (because that’s the way YOU, as an individual, see the executive branch) does not make it so.  It just makes YOU uninformed as to how the process REALLY works.

Maybe you need to go back and take a civics class?  I mean, I assume, of course, you actually DID take one at some point in your life…or were you one of the kids that were not “left behind” and socially promoted in public high screwl?

Hmm…makes you wonder…saying there is a HUGE Japanese military complete with Samuri and all…not even knowing that their constitution strictly forbids them to have a standing military at all.  Not even knowing that Korea is a war zone that we’ve been in for at least 10 times as long as Iraq and that the President invaded long before Congress approved of it.  Not even knowing that there were German resistance cells in Germany after World War II and some even exist to this day.  Not even knowing that Gitmo was CONQUERED and STOLEN from the Spanish and Cuba and we’ve been an occupying force for almost a century at least, maybe longer.

Hmm, guess instead of civics, you should take a few American history courses - then you can take a civics class.  The scary thing is, you probably get to vote!

I think I am in love.

Jen, educate yourself: http://www.history.army.mil/books/wwii/Occ-GY/

(copy and paste it)

Chapter 18. We didnt lose a single soldier to German “resistance”. The biggest problem soldiers faced were reprimands for fraternizing with German women. There wasnt a SINGLE incident like the bombings that go on in Iraq every day. But read it yourself, youll see.

The 110th congress was sworn in Jan 4th, 2007. The stock market continued to climb until it peaked in July 2007. It peaked again in Oct. 2007. NINE months after Congress was sworn in. October was the beginning of the Bear market were now in.

I can make a similar argument: When Bush was sworn in the Dow was 10732. It closed yesterday at 11893. A grwoth of 1100 over 7 years. About 1% per year. Is Bush to blame for this anemic grwoth? No. If anything his tax cuts helped spur the economy (growth of govt. under Bush is a differnt matter), and 9/11 was devastating. likewise, the credit and housing crisis were now in, which is driving down the market and depressing the economy, has nothing to do with democrats or republicans.

I consider myself a conservative, but blaming everything under the sun on the opposition party is ridiculous. Correlation does not mean causation.

Back on topic…

Wyoming really hurt Hillary.  Almost no change in delegate count (Obama 7, Hillary 5), but the psychological shift of Hillary losing one of the “whitest” states in America is a devastating blow to her campaign’s effort to portray Obama as a “black candidate” (which it has been trying to do since South Carolina).

Also, the final delegate count for last weeks min-Super Tuesday is actually in Obama’s favor (due to his Caucus win in Texas) despite Hillary’s unexpected win in Rhode Island.

I have to be honest… I think Obama is going to win Pennsylvania.  Philadelphia and Pittsburgh control the state.  All of the other areas combined cannot counter those two massive population centers (Pittsburgh and the rest of the Commonwealth can barely counter metro Philly, which is why PA leans solidly liberal despite the huge conservative ares of the 814 area code).

And with Pennsylvania, I think Barrack clinches the Democratic Nomination.

The ONLY way I think Hillary can get the nomination is by using the “back room tactics” that the Clinton’s have excelled at.  But any effort to do so would be suicidal for the Democratic Party, and I am not sure that the Super Delegates would go along with that suicide and give Hillary the nomination.

Yeah, Its kind of funny how fast the media coverage changes on obama or Hillary. two days ago, they were pratcically writing Obama’s obituary. Before Texas and Ohio, they were writing Hillary’s. Then he wins a small state with a gain of TWO delegates, and now hes got the big MO again. The press will be fawning over him like crazy after he trounces Hillary in Mississippi. Like Switch says, it may carry into Penn, but I think Hillary will probably get it by 5 or 10.

The Dems have to put these two on a ticket to beat McCain. McCain is also taking some flack for not releasing his medical records. he better pick a good VP…

A)  You’re completely off base, Smacktard, but your name says it all and I said I was done with you.

B)  The 110th Congress was sworn in during the month of January, however, they did not pass any legislation until April/June.  I credit this to their inability to find matching drapes to their sofas, but it could be sheer incompetence on their part as well.  So yes, the crash in 2007 can be squarely landed at their feet.  They promised to take America in a new direction and they accomplished that mission objective.  We went from growing (sluggishly) to shrinking (moderately fast.)

C)  I think Hillary will get Florida and Michigan reseated at the convention.  And I think Republicans will arrive at the polls in record numbers to give her the win in BOTH states just like Democrats arrived at the polls in record numbers to get McCain elected. (At least according to the exit polls, of which I’ve posted links numerous times in this thread, so I will refrain from doing so again now.)

Add to that the dirt they Clintons have on the super delegates (from the FBI files they took illegally while in the White House last time) and add to that Sandy Berger’s established machine (he’s got his clearance back now, amazing how that was just in time for Hillary to run, huh?)  and let’s not forget that the Clintons also have the ties to Communist China and Communist China’s vast stores of money - remember China got Bill elected in 1992 and 1996 and has already been shown to have a financial interest in Hillary’s campaign through Norman Shu et el - and I don’t think we can count her out yet.

However, I do think in the last week of August, we’ll not only have to wear rain coats to keep the blood from the feud off of us, but that we will most probably end up with Obama with a margin of two or three delegates - maybe Clinton with the same margin.  And, as we have seen from both 2000 and 2004, the Democrats don’t lose graciously, thus, we can expect September to be filled with court cases and recounts.

This may play into the hands of the Republicans however.  The country already despises Congress, it’s got the lowest ratings of any Congress in history and their ratings are barely half as good as the Presidents (and we know most of the nation is upset with him.)  This means, even if a democrat IS elected, odds are the Congress will switch back to the Republicans.  This would be a good thing.  The bleeding heart liberal can go cry on the shoulder of Europe about how evil Congress is and then Congress can keep this nation from becoming the United Socialist States of America.

It would be a bad thing if McCain got into the white house AND the democrats kept the Congress however.  The republicans would take the blame for all the failures (and they would be enormous in magnitude) and we’ll be inflicted with liberalism as the dominant force in politics for the next 50 years.

No.  The Dems NEED to get the White House and the Reps NEED to get the Congress.  (Mainly because we don’t have a Republican running for President this term.  We have a “Conservative-Liberal” (Quote is from John McCain describing himself THIS year) and that’s just not good enough.

To wrap up, I think the DNC is in a full out melt-down.  They’ll have infighting and bickering for months while each side tries to prove it’s not sexist and not racist (even though both sides clearly are based on their party’s history and policies) with the Kennedy Family trying to reclaim their dynasty on one side and the Clinton Family trying to retain their dynasty on the other side.  This has all the makings of a good Mafia/Godfather movie!

Can someone pass the popcorn and beer?  How much are tickets to this shin-dig?  Oh really!?!  Free!  Awesome!  Let’s get the show on!

@Cmdr:

And a war zone is any zone designated as such by the United States Military.  If you are under the threat of physical violence by an enemy army, and the threat is realistic, then it’s a war zone.  Korea and the United States do NOT have a peace treaty.  Cuba’s been itching to storm GITMO.

Iraq is by and large pacified.  There’s some pocket resistance here and there, but over all, Al Queda’s been kicked out, the Iranians are having a much harder time getting illegal weapons into the country because of the increased border security (Hey, McCain, look you CAN secure a border!).

Youre almost making it sound like Iraq is more peaceful than Korea.

As for a PLAUSIBLE situation where nukes are needed - that’s a very stupid request.  No matter what realitic, plausible situation anyone would raise, you’d easily say was ridiculous because you cannot imagine a plausible situation.  Thus, all plausible situations TO YOU would be ridiculous.

Please dont act like you know me and how I think.

@ncscswitch:

I have to be honest… I think Obama is going to win Pennsylvania.  Philadelphia and Pittsburgh control the state.  All of the other areas combined cannot counter those two massive population centers (Pittsburgh and the rest of the Commonwealth can barely counter metro Philly, which is why PA leans solidly liberal despite the huge conservative ares of the 814 area code).

I forget who said it, but - “Pennsylvania is Pittsburgh and Philadelphia with Alabama in the middle”.