Gaming World Forums

General Category => General Talk => Topic started by: Ryan on January 01, 2008, 05:41:39 pm

Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on January 01, 2008, 05:41:39 pm
Since the Iowa caucus is a mere 2 days away, and New Hampshire is 5  days later, I thought now would be a good time to make a thread. Share your predictions/hopes/opinions and whatnot on the up coming primaries

As of now it's a 3 way tie between Obama, Clinton, and Edwards in Iowa, and on the Republican side Huckabee has a clear lead over Romney.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: something bizarre and impractical on January 01, 2008, 05:43:17 pm
Ron Paul Wins.
America Collapses.
World Collapses.
GG Humanity.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: kentona on January 01, 2008, 06:03:31 pm
Huckabee is such an awesome name.

And what the heck is a primary anyway?
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on January 01, 2008, 06:57:54 pm
I really don't know as much about the candidates as I should. Of course, it doesn't matter, since I live in the Netherlands. The one I've read most about is Barack Obama, and he seems a very acceptable candidate.

People are saying it would really be something if Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton were to become the next president, since there haven't ever been black or female presidents before, but I personally am waiting more eagerly for the first atheist president.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: big ass skelly on January 01, 2008, 07:04:18 pm
I've seen this before, didn't it happen in 24?
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on January 01, 2008, 10:32:21 pm
thanks for that
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Wil on January 01, 2008, 11:22:08 pm
Ron Paul hasn't got a chance. He's very low in the polls anyway and not many people know about him. I'm really interested in seeing which Democrat will win though.

But no one on the Republican side really interests me, it's just a bunch of the same moral police officers pretending to understand our constitution. Huckabee has got to be the worst though, with his ignorant views on how to deal with the war, and his pious attitude toward morality and his faith. I like what he has to say about taxes though, but everything else is just ridiculous.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on January 01, 2008, 11:42:34 pm
Ron Paul hasn't got a chance. He's very low in the polls anyway and not many people know about him.
No, thank goodness he doesn't. It's funny how people spam the online presidential candidate polls to give Ron Paul a significant lead and then complain when the poll gets taken down. The reason why that happens is because there's obviously something fishy going on when a candidate who gets no more than 2% or 3% of the votes in the serious polls suddenly receives more than half the votes in a poll that can easily and transparently be manipulated.

Ignoring Ron Paul for a moment, to me it seems right now as though Rudy Giuliani is the worst candidate.

And that's even though he gets extra credit from me for having a nicely designed website.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Erave on January 02, 2008, 02:38:12 am
None of the conservatives are both fiscally and morally conservative. I'd like both. Some have one or the other. Huckabee spends like a liberal but has some good moral grounds (God forgive he has principals).  The rest for the most part are pretty fiscally conservative but don't speak much to the other issues. I personally am not crazy about any of the conservative candidates. But no way would I ever vote for any of the democrats. Some are smart and come off very presentable (Barack Obama) or they just want to socialize and have the government pay for everything (Hilary Clinton). An anti war republican (minus Ron Paul) would be nice though.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Doktormartini on January 02, 2008, 02:44:47 am
Kucinich doesn't have that big of a chance but he's my candidate!  And no it's not cause he's vegan or because he has a "hot" wife (I don't think she's that hot).
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on January 02, 2008, 02:47:48 am
Kucinich has excellent positions, however he's not sociable/presentable enough to be a top notch candidate.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Marcus on January 02, 2008, 05:11:52 am
Quote
Ignoring Ron Paul for a moment, to me it seems right now as though Rudy Giuliani is the worst candidate.

The guy single handedly made New York the worst place to live.  Once Giuliani left, the state instantly became one of the healthiest, safest places to live in.  Manhattan is actually a decent city now!

I honestly don't know who I'm voting for.  Normally I go conservative because they're the ones that actually fund the military but EVERY republican candidate is just... gross. 

But I will say that I am 100% against Obama being elected solely based on the fact that he's black.  It's not that I don't think he's an able candidate or that America isn't ready for a black president, I just believe that whoever gets elected should have some experience because they are cleaning up a pretty huge mess.  Hilary is used to cleaning up behind people but I couldn't imagine Obama getting a huge stack of papers on his desk a day after being elected that states how our money isn't even worth the paper it's printed on.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Wash Cycle on January 02, 2008, 05:28:11 am
Ignoring Ron Paul for a moment, to me it seems right now as though Rudy Giuliani is the worst candidate.
regardless of what steel and the people on this forum think

ron paul actually is NOT THAT FUCKING BAD FFS. Seriously do you think that half the shit he says would ever make it through in the first place.. and even if it did... social pressure would keep a free market type system in check. Someone dies from taking an unregulated medication? Well its like the constitution already has a provision in it to put the person responsible for that death in jail. holy shit. many of his other points are defensible using oh what is it again the constitution which happens to be the what highest law in the land you say.. .no fucking way liar

sorry:d runkpost

anyway yeah I'm so glad for these primaries. I'll never have to see fred thompson, tom tancredo or joe biden ever again weeee
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: HL on January 02, 2008, 05:29:35 am
The guy single handedly made New York the worst place to live.  Once Giuliani left, the state instantly became one of the healthiest, safest places to live in.  Manhattan is actually a decent city now!

I hate Guiliani. He profited from 9/11. That is just wrong.

Quote
ron paul actually is NOT THAT FUCKING BAD FFS.

Quote
Seriously do you think that half the shit he says would ever make it through in the first place

I'm sorry, maybe it is just me, but I want a President who will actually get something done, and not a President who will waste time trying to pass a bunch of crackpot laws.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on January 02, 2008, 06:09:43 am
regardless of what steel and the people on this forum think

ron paul actually is NOT THAT FUCKING BAD FFS. Seriously do you think that half the shit he says would ever make it through in the first place.. and even if it did... social pressure would keep a free market type system in check. Someone dies from taking an unregulated medication? Well its like the constitution already has a provision in it to put the person responsible for that death in jail. holy shit. many of his other points are defensible using oh what is it again the constitution which happens to be the what highest law in the land you say.. .no fucking way liar

sorry:d runkpost

anyway yeah I'm so glad for these primaries. I'll never have to see fred thompson, tom tancredo or joe biden ever again weeee

so because his barbaric policies have no chance of being passed he suddenly becomes less barbaric? i don't understand your logic
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Wil on January 02, 2008, 07:31:11 am
has some good moral grounds (God forgive he has principals).
He's a pretend moral police officer who's passed off as honest and good simply because he's had the word reverend placed behind his name in the past. It's nothing but the same homophobic, anti-abortion RIGHTS, pro-war "logic" charlatanry that somehow gets passed off as credible thanks to his smooth-talking personality and southern charm.

I think a lot of people would vote for the leading Republicans based on their pretend "morality" but I don't think that many of them understand that it's wrong to push these "principles" on the entire nation, which is exactly what any of these candidates would do.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Farren on January 02, 2008, 01:51:33 pm
I don't know I don't know I don't know


No republicans. I fucking hate hilary, obama seems nice...

Even though I think Guilianni is a fucking douche bag a Mate I talked to told me that from his experience in NYC a few years ago it seemed like he CLEANED up the city.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Wash Cycle on January 02, 2008, 03:22:06 pm
so because his barbaric policies have no chance of being passed he suddenly becomes less barbaric? i don't understand your logic
I fail to see how any of his policies other than on immigration are barbaric. Sure a return to the gold standard is pretty stupid but do you think that would ever actually happen? please explain to me how ron paul is similar to Ataturk or Attila. I am not on the same page as you

keep in mind, my arguing on the side of ron paul here is not be throwing my support for him. I would never vote for him ever, I just dont think he is the evil demon monster that steel makes him out to be (keep in mind socialists and libertarians are like the opposite of each other so take into account the perspective you've acquired here, you've been exposed to what amounts to reactionary mudslinging on these forums)
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: jamie on January 02, 2008, 05:11:42 pm
ron paul's policies are really stupid and would kill a whole lot of people in the name of an ideal. he's really quite an asshole.

also i just saw some interview with giuliani and he came of as really stupid and dishonest. i don't really know much about this guy other than that he is allegedly a pretty liberal republican, but from what i can tell yeah he should definitely not become president.

i really don't think any of these candidates are particularly brilliant and some of them are just astonishingly bad people, but i would pick barack obama based on what i've seen. i remember watching him explain his health care policy in detail and everything seemed very well thought out, in comparison to other candidates, and he seems to me to be more or less genuine.

hilary does not impress me.

but of course i live in scotland so none of what i think means a thing!
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on January 02, 2008, 06:46:18 pm
I fail to see how any of his policies other than on immigration are barbaric. Sure a return to the gold standard is pretty stupid but do you think that would ever actually happen? please explain to me how ron paul is similar to Ataturk or Attila. I am not on the same page as you

keep in mind, my arguing on the side of ron paul here is not be throwing my support for him. I would never vote for him ever, I just dont think he is the evil demon monster that steel makes him out to be (keep in mind socialists and libertarians are like the opposite of each other so take into account the perspective you've acquired here, you've been exposed to what amounts to reactionary mudslinging on these forums)

how about him wanting to do away with the FDA? Or him wanting to return us to the Gilded Age? By no means is he similar to Attila or whatever, however he has a remarkable way of disregarding human decency in favor of his political ideals.

The whole racism thing is also pretty barbaric, imo. Steel took it a bit far, however.

Also i'm pretty socialistic so yeah
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Quest-Master on January 02, 2008, 06:56:21 pm
For all of the Kucinich supporters: he'd like you to make Obama your second choice (http://www.suntimes.com/news/sweet/721778,sweet10208.article) since he too is "a candidate of change."

Huckabee is nothing but laughable imo, he talks about ending negative ads to the press and then proceeds to show his own campaign's (http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/12/31/huckabees-remarkable-play/) at the conference and compared his ignorance of the NIE report on Iran (http://www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/72266/) to gossip about Britney Spears. Even funnier than all of those though is when he said “Domestically, we need to protect our borders with Pakistanis coming into the country.” (http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2007/12/28/huckabee-takes-aim-at-pakistani-illegals/) Does it get any better than this? :fogetbackflip:
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Vellfire on January 02, 2008, 07:47:19 pm
Obama is probably the best option, I'm not a ridiculously HUGE FAN OH GOD HE IS AMAZING but he is definitely way better than all the other options.  Ron Paul, however, is the absoulte worst possible choice.  He's for guns and against pretty much everything else.  It ESPECIALLY bothers me that he's against things like the FDA.  People are pissed that the FDA keeps holding back all of these supposedly amazing drugs, but they'd be far more pissed if those drugs got through too easily and severely damaged or killed them.  He's also against stem cell research so I don't know what he's trying to do there.  He's against abortions, but he's also against gay adoption, so how about we keep on breeding those babies but deny a pretty large portion of possible parents from giving them homes.  He was also against a worldwide amber alert system, so fuck all you children.

The problem is that all the people I've met that are for him have no idea what his stances on various things are.  They have this image of him being THE ANTI-ESTABLISHMENT BANDIT coming to town to shake up the US!  Except by "shake up", it's more like shaking an Etch-A-Sketch and destroying everything.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: crone_lover720 on January 02, 2008, 08:21:25 pm
yeah, I've been leaning towards obama for a while now, mostly because he doesn't have the faults of the other people. hilary isn't as bad as I first thought, but I wouldn't want her to be president, much less the first female president.

we all hate ron paul, but he's so insignificant and such a small part of the 2008 election that it's kind of funny. the SPECTACLES you see on the internet and  in the windows of campus buildings etc might convince you otherwise, but the guy really doesn't matter! it's unfortunate that he can get people to support him and his shitty ideals with V for Vendetta clips etc but other than that he's just another dumb guy.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Vellfire on January 02, 2008, 08:23:25 pm
Yeah, it's kind of hard to remember Ron Paul has basically no shot at winning, because it's the internet that's the most interested in him, so if you spend lots of time on the internet you never stop hearing people talk about him.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: JohnnyCasil on January 02, 2008, 08:31:37 pm
This whole talk of Ron Paul and internet support got me thinking.  How many of you that are of legal age plan on voting in the primaries?  I would really like to, but unfortunately, I am currently registered as unaffiliated.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Liman on January 02, 2008, 08:39:08 pm
If you vote for Hillary, she'll take videogames away from you...
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Wash Cycle on January 02, 2008, 08:50:14 pm
This whole talk of Ron Paul and internet support got me thinking.  How many of you that are of legal age plan on voting in the primaries?  I would really like to, but unfortunately, I am currently registered as unaffiliated.
yeah I have no interest in even registering to vote until the cutoff for the real really (in ohio you have to register with the party to vote in their primary which is actually a good thing, but I just dont feel I fit the democrat or republican mold)

the more time before I have to register with selective services and be eligible for jury duty the better
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Grunthor on January 02, 2008, 08:51:25 pm
This whole talk of Ron Paul and internet support got me thinking.  How many of you that are of legal age plan on voting in the primaries?  I would really like to, but unfortunately, I am currently registered as unaffiliated.

I would like to vote in the primary, but Pennsylvania doesn't hold theirs until the 22nd of April.  I have a feeling the candidates for both parties will be decided long before then. 
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Evangel on January 02, 2008, 09:00:41 pm
Reading Digg, you'd think Ron Paul was landslides ahead of everybody.  I'd personally love to see him elected, but I don't think he has a shot. 

Guiliani is a snake, by the way.  If he or Huckabee are elected, I will be extremely pissed.

Oh yeah, I hate the American political election system, too.  The electoral college is extremely gay, not to mention bipartisanship.  The idea of democracy seems really cheap when it all comes down to a popularity contest between two figures.  :fogetshrug:
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Hempknight on January 02, 2008, 09:03:07 pm
I'm voting for Obama, although I have a feeling Hillary is going to be the one that gets the nomination.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Samuel Childsafety on January 02, 2008, 09:04:11 pm
This whole talk of Ron Paul and internet support got me thinking.  How many of you that are of legal age plan on voting in the primaries?  I would really like to, but unfortunately, I am currently registered as unaffiliated.
I'll be 18 for the general election, but not the primaries.
I'm really hoping Obama wins, and I kind of wish Edwards would drop out even though he's an alright candidate, because he doesn't stand much of a chance of winning the nomination, but will take a great deal of support from Obama.  On another note, Ron Paul will probably manage to place in the double digits when the voting happens, since his supporters are more likely to vote, due to their enthusiasms.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Evangel on January 02, 2008, 09:14:50 pm
puesto duble
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Vellfire on January 02, 2008, 09:17:44 pm
I don't know why, but Digg seems like nothing BUT Ron Paul supporters. It's really weird.  It's not only the constant posts about him, but almost every post ends up in a conversation about how he's going to save the country.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dom on January 02, 2008, 09:24:16 pm
I'm Ron Paul and I'm going to win!
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: JohnnyCasil on January 02, 2008, 09:38:36 pm
I would like to vote in the primary, but Pennsylvania doesn't hold theirs until the 22nd of April.  I have a feeling the candidates for both parties will be decided long before then. 

I'm also in PA, I knew our primary was late, but I didn't realize it was that late.  Never really looked into since I can't vote in it anyways.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on January 02, 2008, 09:59:06 pm
Awesome. A bunch of people decided to make a Dutch test for the American presidential elections. It was made by Kieskompas and the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, which are both highly respected organizations, so it's dependable. It presents to you a bunch of statements, and you pick whether you agree, strongly agree, don't agree, or strongly don't agree (or you can pick "neutral" or "no opinion"). I took the test just now and this is my result:


The pencil on the top left is my political alignment. I'm closest to Barack Obama, whose ideas are apparently 80% the same as mine (this probably accounts for the fact I almost exclusively used "strongly agree" and "strongly disagree"). I'm 22% more economically leftist and 13% more progressive. The only things we disagree on are his apparent wish to build a big fence around the Mexican border (not sure if that's just a figure of speech, actually), and his idea that America should not lower their defense budget (I think it should). He also believes that Iran is a direct threat to peace, but I think this is rhetorical.

Fred Thompson is the worst candidate for me. Which makes sense, just look at that photo. He looks like a grinch.

EDIT: interestingly, I almost completely agree with Ron Paul on the war on terrorism. I too believe that it was stupid to go to Iraq in the first place, and that it isn't any kind of war that can be won. I disagree with his wish to just grab a jet and head home, because now that the troops are there, the least you could do is keep things stable till an international peacekeeping force is able to fully take over in cooperation with the Iraqi army.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Doktormartini on January 02, 2008, 10:50:05 pm
For all of the Kucinich supporters: he'd like you to make Obama your second choice (http://www.suntimes.com/news/sweet/721778,sweet10208.article) since he too is "a candidate of change."

Huckabee is nothing but laughable imo, he talks about ending negative ads to the press and then proceeds to show his own campaign's (http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/12/31/huckabees-remarkable-play/) at the conference and compared his ignorance of the NIE report on Iran (http://www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/72266/) to gossip about Britney Spears. Even funnier than all of those though is when he said “Domestically, we need to protect our borders with Pakistanis coming into the country.” (http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2007/12/28/huckabee-takes-aim-at-pakistani-illegals/) Does it get any better than this? :fogetbackflip:
That's gay because Obama sucks and Kucinich is cool.  Their views are a little different on some main topics.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on January 02, 2008, 10:59:08 pm
That's gay because Obama sucks and Kucinich is cool.
Why is that? I'm not criticizing you but I'm wondering why you think Obama is not a good choice while Kucinich is. I didn't know much about Kucinich before, but apparently our views are pretty close as well. It seems to me, at a glance, that anyone who supports Kucinich would also be pretty down with Obama on at least most of the major topics.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on January 02, 2008, 11:01:39 pm
Why is that? I'm not criticizing you but I'm wondering why you think Obama is not a good choice while Kucinich is. I didn't know much about Kucinich before, but apparently our views are pretty close as well. It seems to me, at a glance, that anyone who supports Kucinich would also be pretty down with Obama on at least most of the major topics.

I believe it has something to do with Obama being bought by the filthy jews, while Kucnich is championing their demise.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on January 02, 2008, 11:11:29 pm
I believe it has something to do with Obama being bought by the filthy jews, while Kucnich is championing their demise.
In that case, it's too bad Bobby Fischer (http://home.att.ne.jp/moon/fischer/) isn't running.

(http://gamingw.net/pubaccess/28695/1971-bobby-fischer.JPEG)
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: JJ on January 02, 2008, 11:15:19 pm
Why is that? I'm not criticizing you but I'm wondering why you think Obama is not a good choice while Kucinich is. I didn't know much about Kucinich before, but apparently our views are pretty close as well. It seems to me, at a glance, that anyone who supports Kucinich would also be pretty down with Obama on at least most of the major topics.

I've done that test too (without the candidates though) but I ended up pretty much where you did I think, which makes sense because after having read some about Obama and Kucinich I must say they both seem pretty good. I like the fact that Kucinich is pro-fresh-air-to-breathe (he actually thinks the environment is an important issue unlike the current president and probably many other candidates).
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Doktormartini on January 02, 2008, 11:52:26 pm
I believe it has something to do with Obama being bought by the filthy jews, while Kucnich is championing their demise.
Actually one reason is because Obama is a zionist.  He admitted the Palestinians were treated like shit but said he wouldn't do anything about it.  Kucinich isn't "championing their demise"  I actually don't know his stance on Israel, I know he is pro peace though.  I also know he took a trip to Lebanon and saw a kid by his parent's grave (or something like that) and it "touched him."

Also, Kucnich is anti-war, Obama isn't.  Sure, he wants to end Iraq but he also has no problem using force against Iran.  Also, I haven't read up on Obama's environmental views (if he has any) but I know Kucinich is big on protecting the environment.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on January 03, 2008, 12:05:34 am
yeah it's a shame one of the greatest chess players ever is so moronic.

edit: jesus christ doktormartini
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: JJ on January 03, 2008, 01:01:29 am
Also, Kucnich is anti-war, Obama isn't.  Sure, he wants to end Iraq but he also has no problem using force against Iran.  Also, I haven't read up on Obama's environmental views (if he has any) but I know Kucinich is big on protecting the environment.

I think that makes sense too. I don't know that much about this whole anti-zionism issue you're emphasizing a lot but those two things you just mentioned are probably reasons enough why Kucinich would make a good candidate (in my opinion).
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: crone_lover720 on January 03, 2008, 01:11:49 am
kucinich wants to get out of iraq ASAP.

here's a fun game that matches the candidates to your political views, you can learn some stuff about the candidates too: http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/candidate-match-game.htm

make sure you adjust the sliders at the end, depending on how much you care about each issue. my top three were Obama, Chris Dodd, then Hillary Clinton. it doesn't cover every issue and I wouldn't focus upon the results, but it seems like a pretty decent test overall.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Wash Cycle on January 03, 2008, 01:22:04 am
my top three were Kucinich, Guliani and Gravel (who looks like father time)

hooray for the Ohio candidate though!
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Doktormartini on January 03, 2008, 01:31:03 am
How on earth is Giuliani in your top three?
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Marcus on January 03, 2008, 01:32:16 am
Quote
He's for guns and against pretty much everything else.  It ESPECIALLY bothers me that he's against things like the FDA.  People are pissed that the FDA keeps holding back all of these supposedly amazing drugs, but they'd be far more pissed if those drugs got through too easily and severely damaged or killed them.  He's also against stem cell research so I don't know what he's trying to do there.  He's against abortions, but he's also against gay adoption, so how about we keep on breeding those babies but deny a pretty large portion of possible parents from giving them homes.  He was also against a worldwide amber alert system, so fuck all you children.

And this is true for almost all the Rublicans that are running for president... they're not real conservatives.  When I heard Ron Paul was for guns I was like "okay that's cool" but then he's like "i'm pro-choice lol" and I said "aw gahd, there goes half your Mr. High Moral citizen support" and then he started blabbing on and I just thought to myself "What the fuck does this guy stand for?"  The republicans this year don't really stand on the right nor do they stand on the left or the middle... it's like they're floating in space somewhere.


Quote
kucinich wants to get out of iraq ASAP.

This is dangerous thinking.  I don't know how far you're exaggerating this statement (because I don't follow Kucinich so I wouldn't know) but if he just wants to pack up and leave IMMEDIATELY then he's only going to fuck things up more than if we actually stayed.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: The Truth on January 03, 2008, 01:35:56 am
uh, so because obama is a moderate in the Israel-Palestinian debate that makes him a zionist? HUH?

And yeah, ron paul IS THAT BAD.

On the eighth I will be out there, obama '08 sign in hand, trying to get as many people as I can to vote for the best candidate in fifty years.


Quote
And this is true for almost all the Rublicans that are running for president... they're not real conservatives.  When I heard Ron Paul was for guns I was like "okay that's cool" but then he's like "i'm pro-choice lol" and I said "aw gahd, there goes half your Mr. High Moral citizen support" and then he started blabbing on and I just thought to myself "What the fuck does this guy stand for?"  The republicans this year don't really stand on the right nor do they stand on the left or the middle... it's like they're floating in space somewhere.

he's actually "pro state rights" which is you know, backhanded speak for "pro lynchings if a state is cool with it" and "pro life if a state is cool with it".

Now while I'm pro life I am definately NOT for State's rights whatsoever.


Quote
This is dangerous thinking.  I don't know how far you're exaggerating this statement (because I don't follow Kucinich so I wouldn't know) but if he just wants to pack up and leave IMMEDIATELY then he's only going to fuck things up more than if we actually stayed.

yeah it's way more dangerous than letting our boys get their arms blown off from IED's and come home in bodybags.

I'm aware that you're in the military and whatnot, but we're fighting an idiotic war and we shouldn't have to lose one more american life.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: crone_lover720 on January 03, 2008, 01:43:04 am
did you adjust the sliders wc?? gotta adjust them sliders

This is dangerous thinking.  I don't know how far you're exaggerating this statement (because I don't follow Kucinich so I wouldn't know) but if he just wants to pack up and leave IMMEDIATELY then he's only going to fuck things up more than if we actually stayed.
he said "we shouldn't send one more soldier to iraq" or something like that. he does want to pull out ASAP, but I'm not sure if ASAP = immediately. Either way, not the best choice imo.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Marcus on January 03, 2008, 01:51:15 am
Quote
yeah it's way more dangerous than letting our boys get their arms blown off from IED's and come home in bodybags.

I'm aware that you're in the military and whatnot, but we're fighting an idiotic war and we shouldn't have to lose one more american life.

I don't want soldiers in Iraq anymore than the common level headed man but simply TURNING TAIL AND RUNNING is ridiculous.  The country would practically crumble in a single night as everyone with the biggest guns jumps out of their hidey holes and takes over.

Bush made a big enough mess by evading but just straight up retreating would be like building a bridge with no support pillars and then opening up to public use.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on January 03, 2008, 01:54:21 am
as much as i'm for pulling the troops out of Iraq, I kind of think we should leave peacekeeping forces behind. however, on the other hand, that just seems to be PISSING THEM ALL OFF so idk
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Wash Cycle on January 03, 2008, 02:03:55 am
did you adjust the sliders wc?? gotta adjust them sliders
yes

I am still trying to figure out the guliani

I looked issue by issue and I disagreed with him on almost everything but at the same time I wasnt on the opposite camp so I guess that means that we sorta agree by association. or something I dont know
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Pasty on January 03, 2008, 02:04:21 am
Bush made a big enough mess by evading but just straight up retreating would be like building a bridge with no support pillars and then opening up to public use.

Especially in a universe such as this one where GEN Petraeus' counterinsurgency plan is actually starting to work.  In general, it's almost in the bag and we're doing the right things to spur it along.  Even the West, which apparently used to be this lawless wasteland, is now the model of the entire country because troops got together with tribal leaders and sheikhs and encouraged them to ward groups like al-Qaeda and Ansar al-Sunnah away.  The only real problem is with the North, and some of it's Iraq's mess, but some of it's also Turkey taking care of their resistance group problem.  Did you guys know that the military's paying people to defend their villages from terrorist groups?  They're probably paying more than an equal representative from a terrorist group who would approach them with bank notes and a bomb vest in hand.

I could've seen leaving eight or nine months ago because it was a lost cause, but now it would be ridiculous.  People don't really know that the situation has improved that much because the media's not putting it out there, and we're not searching for it, otherwise we'd know.  Fuck, this is a war for which we're not even being taxed; you think anyone but the military isn't propped up in their proverbial recliner wondering why Congress keeps super-sizing the war budget, why our deficit keeps growing?  This war was an afterthought, and it shows, but that doesn't mean we should leave just when the train is starting to pick up steam.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Wash Cycle on January 03, 2008, 02:06:16 am
I could've seen leaving eight or nine months ago because it was a lost cause, but now it would be ridiculous.  People don't really know that the situation has improved that much because the media's not putting it out there, and we're not searching for it, otherwise we'd know.  Fuck, this is a war for which we're not even being taxed; you think anyone but the military isn't propped up in their proverbial recliner wondering why Congress keeps super-sizing the war budget, why our deficit keeps growing?  This war was an afterthought, and it shows, but that doesn't mean we should leave just when the train is starting to pick up steam.
please explain how my tax dollars are actually not going to the military
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Marcus on January 03, 2008, 02:09:33 am
It doesn't matter what we do as a country, the damage is done.  Had we never even claimed Iraq had WMD's or Afghanistan was harboring terrorists, there would still be violence across the Middle East.  There's so much history of violence between Iraq and Iran and because they're so oil rich, they feel that they have to "butt heads" with the other world super powers so they can make a name for themselves.  I'll tell you guys this that last summer, the worlds largest fleet force (made up of American, French, and British ships) in history was practically sitting on Iran's beaches.  

Did you notice how they shut up for a while after releasing those British marines?  

The only way to stop the violence is to convince everyone that violence ISN'T the answer but when you're talking about countries that were subjugated to violence for centuries it's kind of a hard straw to grasp onto.

Quote
please explain how my tax dollars are actually not going to the military
no child left behind
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Lars on January 03, 2008, 02:13:00 am
if ron paul wins norway is gonna be taken by russia :(
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Pasty on January 03, 2008, 02:13:43 am
No, we are being taxed (http://www.nationalpriorities.org/cms/tradeoffs?location_type=4&state=2&town=0.000064912459941823300000000000&program=282&tradeoff_item_item=999&submit_tradeoffs=Get+Trade+Off).   My bad.  I made a mistake, but the generalities of my point still stand.  Thanks for calling me out on it; I'd never really had an excuse to go actually look up the tax information.  What I mean is that as a military, we are stretched thin and we've recently had to lay off federal employees at a time where they don't really need to be laid off, so why not raise taxes?  I know I'm missing something here; is there a reason not to raise taxes for the absurd cost of the war?
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Marcus on January 03, 2008, 02:21:26 am
Quote
I know I'm missing something here; is there a reason not to raise taxes for the absurd cost of the war?

Because people fucking flip out whenever taxes are raised even the slightest.  I have yet to meet anyone who couldn't reasonably pay their taxes but freak out and start speaking in tongues whenever rumors pop up of "possible tax increase." 

Just be lucky you don't live in a shitty common wealth state like Virginia and you have to pay fucking state taxes OUT THE ASS.  Hell, be lucky if you don't live in District of Colombia.  Those fuckers can't even VOTE and they're the state fucking capital.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Wash Cycle on January 03, 2008, 02:30:46 am
No, we are being taxed (http://www.nationalpriorities.org/cms/tradeoffs?location_type=4&state=2&town=0.000064912459941823300000000000&program=282&tradeoff_item_item=999&submit_tradeoffs=Get+Trade+Off).   My bad.  I made a mistake, but the generalities of my point still stand.  Thanks for calling me out on it; I'd never really had an excuse to go actually look up the tax information.  What I mean is that as a military, we are stretched thin and we've recently had to lay off federal employees at a time where they don't really need to be laid off, so why not raise taxes?  I know I'm missing something here; is there a reason not to raise taxes for the absurd cost of the war?
well maybe the military wouldnt be stretched so thin if we werent keeping 30,000 troops in korea and tons all over the rest of the world

and if we werent fighting two wars in two countries at once nom sayin
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Samuel Childsafety on January 03, 2008, 02:47:17 am
yeah it's way more dangerous than letting our boys get their arms blown off from IED's and come home in bodybags.

I'm aware that you're in the military and whatnot, but we're fighting an idiotic war and we shouldn't have to lose one more american life.
While getting out of there as fast as possible might cause less people to die in the short run, in the long run trying to get out without causing chaos, if we really should be getting out at all (things have turned around over there after all), would probably be a good idea.
Also, of course Obama would be willing to use force against Iran if need be.  Having a president say they're not willing to use force is like telling all our enemie counties "do whatever you want, we won't react."  I'm not a big fan of being the world's policemen, but I don't want then to feel that they can restart the nuclear weapons program and prepare to attack us either.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Zatham on January 03, 2008, 02:47:35 am
I've done some research on these American candidates.
(I'm Canadian) (don't know why I care)
I approved of most of the principles presented by Obama and Clinton, and especially approved those of a pudgy man with brown hair. Don't remember his name. He was never popular so it doesn't matter.
There was one Republican who didn't make me vomit, and then eat my vomit so I could vomit again, but I don't remember who that was. Actually maybe I'm remembering wrong, it's been a while.

I must say, I find it deeply disturbing how God-obsessed all of the candidates are. Even Obama, who seems like one of the more sensible imo, should have renamed the book he wrote to "I Would Totally Go Down On Jesus" because that is literally all he talks about in it. Granted, the States were founded by puritans and the country remains a backwards psuedo-theocracy, but I was hoping we would have a little more variety in the candidate ranks by now as far as religious ideologies (or preferably lack thereof) are concerned.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on January 03, 2008, 07:08:04 am
my top three were Kucinich, Guliani [...]
Huh?

as much as i'm for pulling the troops out of Iraq, I kind of think we should leave peacekeeping forces behind. however, on the other hand, that just seems to be PISSING THEM ALL OFF so idk
I don't think any democratic candidate supports getting out of Iraq immediately. They realize you can't just hop on a plane and go home. The only candidate I know that wants this is Ron Paul. Democratic candidates are for an "immediate begin of the phased retreat out of Iraq". Which, I presume, would mean slowly bringing back troops where possible, while keeping around a sizable force that's able to keep things stable until the country is ready to be put in control of Iraqi forces and UN peacekeeping soldiers.

EDIT:

(http://gamingw.net/pubaccess/28695/Picture%201_14.png)
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Vellfire on January 03, 2008, 12:57:14 pm
When I heard Ron Paul was for guns I was like "okay that's cool" but then he's like "i'm pro-choice lol" and I said "aw gahd, there goes half your Mr. High Moral citizen support" and then he started blabbing on and I just thought to myself "What the fuck does this guy stand for?"

Since when is he pro-choice?  He's very much NOT pro-choice (he talks about how he's delivered all these babies as a doctor HE KNOWS THESE THINGS OF COURSE DR. RON PAUL)
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dom on January 03, 2008, 02:05:06 pm
My top three are Kucinich, Biden and Obama. I agreed with Ron Paul on exactly 0 issues. awesome
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: kentona on January 03, 2008, 02:50:43 pm
kucinich wants to get out of iraq ASAP.

here's a fun game that matches the candidates to your political views, you can learn some stuff about the candidates too: http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/candidate-match-game.htm

make sure you adjust the sliders at the end, depending on how much you care about each issue. my top three were Obama, Chris Dodd, then Hillary Clinton. it doesn't cover every issue and I wouldn't focus upon the results, but it seems like a pretty decent test overall.
Looks like I'd be voting for Gravel then Kucinich and then.... Romney?!

haha!  Ron Paul was dead last in my list!
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Wash Cycle on January 03, 2008, 03:29:36 pm
Huh?
I'm still trying to figure that one out dude lol I dont know how Kucinich and Guliani are even CLOSE to each other. I guess its because I put emphasis on the Environment, Tax Reform and Health Care with the sliders that bumped Guliani up there somehow. I would say that I am a fairly solid lefty though (and guliani is a pig so yeah. like that quote from joe biden: A Guliani sentence contains three things: a subject, a verb and 9/11)

also: DRAGONSLAYERS MUST THINK BEYOND NORMAL
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: JohnnyCasil on January 03, 2008, 04:14:43 pm
I did that quiz thing, and I am closest to Kucinich, which is no surprise, because he is who I've supported thus far.  Too bad he doesn't have a shot.  Next was Obama, followed by Gravel.  I've never really even heard anything about Gravel, so I don't know about that.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: tuxedo marx on January 03, 2008, 04:44:45 pm
I took the quiz and got Biden, then McCain, then Obama. I think I'll go with Obama, he has the right idea where it really matters, though I'm not sure about his stance on same-sex marriage. Time will tell in relation to the extent of his views.

(Incidentally according to the quiz I agree with Ron Paul on nothing. Hardly surprising.)
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ratt on January 03, 2008, 04:57:18 pm
The only person I want to be president out of the whole group is Bill Richardson, seeing as though it looks as if he is the only one who has done things. But it sucks, cause Ron Paul has a better chance than Bill.

Even though Hillary is my Senator, I will not vote for another secretive person for president.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on January 03, 2008, 05:36:01 pm
regardless of what steel and the people on this forum think

ron paul actually is NOT THAT FUCKING BAD FFS. Seriously do you think that half the shit he says would ever make it through in the first place.. and even if it did... social pressure would keep a free market type system in check. Someone dies from taking an unregulated medication? Well its like the constitution already has a provision in it to put the person responsible for that death in jail. holy shit. many of his other points are defensible using oh what is it again the constitution which happens to be the what highest law in the land you say.. .no fucking way liar

sorry:d runkpost

anyway yeah I'm so glad for these primaries. I'll never have to see fred thompson, tom tancredo or joe biden ever again weeee

Tancredo drops out today btw.

Anyways, I think you've missed the whole point of the anti-Ron Paul movement. it has nothing to do with an actual fear of Ron Paul winning; it has to do with the messianic proportions his supporters have elevated him to. They keep chanting about revolution while voting for a very regressive candidate. This in turn leads to people seriously advocating for the destruction of the IRS and a return to the gold standard. Basically, all the Republican candidates are scum, and this idea that Paul is some progressive "true" conservative ignores the rest of recorded history as far as all his policies go.

The man has voted to ban flag burning, to push abortion into a state's rights issue, to deny funds to companies that hire homosexuals, and believes the IB program is a European conspiracy to indoctrinate young people into becoming commies or SOME SHIT. He's Lyndon LaRouche.

FOR CONTRAST'S SAKE:

Youtube brings up 81,300 results for Ron Paul
58,400 for the Beatles
23,800 for the Simpsons
14,400 for Barack Obama

And that's not including comments, which are EVERYWHERE. You can't go anywhere on the internet without finding Ron Paul's name now.

The group is hilarious, throwing huge amounts of money into a vacuum or into a fucking blimp (currently floating around somewhere in South Carolina DURING THE PRIMARIES) and they are the single most irritating group of politicians. At least your average Republican is just ignorant and thinking about God. Your average Paulsie is athiest (despite Ron Paul saying he doesn't believe in evolution) and of course, I GOT MINE FUCK YOURS.

That's why I'm so against Ron Paul; if he was some no name fuckwit like Tancredo (who had a truly amazing ad running: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qf3JunNAQQw no one would care, but the fucking nerds ruined everything.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Vellfire on January 03, 2008, 05:57:56 pm
I had forgotten about the evolution thing, that was ESPECIALLY bad.  Most of the people backing him, like you said, are atheists, and I think if they even took a second to really see where he stands on things they wouldn't like him so much.  But it's like he's a god that cannot be seen as bad no matter what.


He also prefers to spend his time deciding we should have a reenactment of the Boston Tea Party instead of maybe, I don't know, not taking donations from white supremacists or something.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on January 03, 2008, 06:35:51 pm
if you absolutely must vote for a republican btw McCain is against the Fairtax, torture, and is kind of okay on immigration.

of course if you must vote for a republican you're a piece of shit???
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on January 03, 2008, 06:58:18 pm
mccain is the only republican i would vote for rather than be waterboarded. even though i disagree with him on most things he's at least a decent enough human being to be, say, AGAINST TORTURE and have a somewhat humane view on immigration.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Erave on January 03, 2008, 07:27:57 pm
McCain isn't bad.

Obama seems so spotless and fresh because he was a senator for 4 years. What does he stand for? All his speeches are just high energy "hope" speeches with no substance. I really have no idea what he stands for and I've been researching. He seems like the type of guy I'd want to hang out with, but not my president.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on January 03, 2008, 07:42:38 pm
McCain isn't bad.

Obama seems so spotless and fresh because he was a senator for 4 years. What does he stand for? All his speeches are just high energy "hope" speeches with no substance. I really have no idea what he stands for and I've been researching. He seems like the type of guy I'd want to hang out with, but not my president.

why does anyone say this? his platform is on his website. all this politics of hope bullshit that people think is some kind of damning critique is just conservative backlash or something, because he has a well outlined platform that yeah, deals with HOPE maybe but it's better than Hillary Clinton's centrist pandering or Kucinich's occasional tinfoil hat.

or Gravel but really GRAVEL.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Erave on January 03, 2008, 07:46:45 pm
why does anyone say this? his platform is on his website. all this politics of hope bullshit that people think is some kind of damning critique is just conservative backlash or something, because he has a well outlined platform that yeah, deals with HOPE maybe but it's better than Hillary Clinton's centrist pandering or Kucinich's occasional tinfoil hat.

or Gravel but really GRAVEL.

I don't really have anything against Obama. I'm not just not 100% sure of his views outside of the standards. I checked his site and it was pretty in line with the democratic party, so I failed to see the new/unique views which made him a stand-out canidate. However, he does seem to inspire people rather than bitch and moan or yell about republicans that all liberals do. Which is funny the house and senate have the same disaproval rating of the president. So I think people are equally sick of both parties. And God knows the republican front runners suck big time.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Lars on January 03, 2008, 07:53:53 pm
The man has voted to ban flag burning, to push abortion into a state's rights issue, to deny funds to companies that hire homosexuals, and believes the IB program is a European conspiracy to indoctrinate young people into becoming commies or SOME SHIT. He's Lyndon LaRouche.
is that even legal?

like, i know he's the president... but... i dont know, how can that be legal?

the other points aren't that bad (well I dunno what the last one is supposed to mean); flag burning should be banned imo and although abortion should be legal and the right of every woman, it's better that the state figure out the details on their own maybe idk

im a pretty liberal guy myself but didnt really think the two former were conservative

but then again state rights issue would be kinda similar to europe's countries deciding for themselves or something??

but the homosexual one.. man what


edit: also seriously if ron paul wins europe is in trouble dont let him win :(
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on January 03, 2008, 07:59:32 pm
I checked his site and it was pretty in line with the democratic party, so I failed to see the new/unique views which made him a stand-out canidate.
Maybe, or maybe not. Either way, it shouldn't really matter, should it?
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on January 03, 2008, 08:04:57 pm
I don't really have anything against Obama. I'm not just not 100% sure of his views outside of the standards. I checked his site and it was pretty in line with the democratic party, so I failed to see the new/unique views which made him a stand-out canidate. However, he does seem to inspire people rather than bitch and moan or yell about republicans that all liberals do. Which is funny the house and senate have the same disaproval rating of the president. So I think people are equally sick of both parties. And God knows the republican front runners suck big time.

the democratic party has proven to be limpwristed and weak though, where as Obama takes a more hardline liberal stance as opposed to his opponent Hillary. his health care plan is better, he's got a more consistent voting record, and unlike Hillary, he actually has taken a stance on something. he doesn't pander as much as they others do either.

fun fact: Ron Paul has sponsored 349 bills, 5 on the floor, and has passed 0.

is that even legal?

like, i know he's the president... but... i dont know, how can that be legal?

the other points aren't that bad (well I dunno what the last one is supposed to mean); flag burning should be banned imo and although abortion should be legal and the right of every woman, it's better that the state figure out the details on their own maybe idk

im a pretty liberal guy myself but didnt really think the two former were conservative

but then again state rights issue would be kinda similar to europe's countries deciding for themselves or something??

but the homosexual one.. man what


edit: also seriously if ron paul wins europe is in trouble dont let him win :(

his We The People act would destroy federal government pretty much, and deny athiests the right to hold office, gays to marry, and heck, first amendment rights out the window.

I have no idea how you can think flag burning should be illegal. it's free speech you dildo! also state's rights is a way for people to subtly push what they want without having to actively say I AM AGAINST ABORTION RIGHTS. it's been a while since Europe really had to consider anything like state's rights, but different states in the US are like different countries; Louisiana for instance nearly elected a white supremacist in 2000.

state's rights is a libertarian argument that instead of one big government doing something, you have 50 far more inefficient governments do it instead. as a result, a small group of hicks can end up passing anything, including a state mandated religion or QUEER BASHING DAY, and we've seen throughout recorded history that they have; the Civil Rights movement would have been destroyed on the spot if it wasn't for the federal government providing what little they did before finally taking a stand. that's just one relevant example, and there are hundreds of others. all of recorded history points to state's rights being pretty fucking ridiculous, and basically endorses the idea IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT GO TO THE STATE THAT ALLOWS IT which is hilarious backwards and demands that people pick up and leave because they are a minority in a population that would rather not see them around.

so basically if someone says STATE'S RIGHTS they are either libertarian or trying to push their own ideals onto the front or both at the same time. it's rare that the state's rights argument has been applied to liberal issues as well; gay marriage was one Kerry tried to push and it was only because Bush was suggesting an amendment to make marriage exclusively between men and women.

if you were actually FOR abortion, you wouldn't say some shit about state's rights because abortion is already legal in all states; why would you want to legislate that away in exchange for a bunch of hicks chanting about their rights while KK4 goes on sniper patrol?

Maybe, or maybe not. Either way, it shouldn't really matter, should it?

it does kind of matter. you have to look at the subtext. just look at their platforms and guess what they are different. of course they are usually on the party line, they are the same friggin party, but the differences are what matter.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on January 03, 2008, 08:14:01 pm
it does kind of matter. you have to look at the subtext. just look at their platforms and guess what they are different. of course they are usually on the party line, they are the same friggin party, but the differences are what matter.
I wasn't referring to that. What I mean is that it matters whether a candidate most accurately represents you (or your ideology) and will actually be able to do something for you when the possibility arises. It shouldn't make a difference if a particular candidate is "just a typical democrat", when that happens to be your exact political alignment.

Not that it matters, though, since the candidates are different from one another, and I wouldn't exactly be able to define what an "average democratic point of view" is, anyway.

EDIT: by the way, don't you hate it when you make a big and important post, but then someone makes an insignificant post on a new page right afterwards, knocking you out of sight?
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on January 03, 2008, 08:21:46 pm
eat a dick omeg

I wasn't referring to that. What I mean is that it matters whether a candidate most accurately represents you (or your ideology) and will actually be able to do something for you when the possibility arises. It shouldn't make a difference if a particular candidate is "just a typical democrat", when that happens to be your exact political alignment.

Not that it matters, though, since the candidates are different from one another, and I wouldn't exactly be able to define what an "average democratic point of view" is, anyway.

EDIT: by the way, don't you hate it when you make a big and important post, but then someone makes an insignificant post on a new page right afterwards, knocking you out of sight?

oh okay I thought you were saying WHO CARES IF THEY ARE ALL THE SAME when they aren't at all.

anyways Ron Paul might come in 3rd in Iowa. of course Iowa's primary turnout is usually 6.2%, and if you split that in half, for democrats and republicans, and you factor in Paul's whopping 9%, that's an amazing .28% support from a state.

here's the denying gay people link: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d096:h.r.7955:
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Zatham on January 03, 2008, 08:45:49 pm
The only person I want to be president out of the whole group is Bill Richardson, seeing as though it looks as if he is the only one who has done things.
Ah! That's the person I was talking about in my post when I was referring to the guy who I seemed to agree with the most.
However, when asked how he felt about gay marriages/civil unions he said that his family is Roman Catholic and he can't see his views changing any time soon (yet he is pro-choice?)... which made me judge him. He still seemed decent to me in relativity to some of the other barbarians running.

However, upon further review, he's starting to bother me. He's in favour of gun rights and the death penalty... and is super gay for illegal immigrants because of his heritage.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Wash Cycle on January 03, 2008, 08:49:02 pm
man where is the athiest/agnostic, pro marijuana reform, pro gay/lesbian rights, pro-abortion, anti-war candidate

why isnt there one of those (fuck you jerry falwell and pat robertson for buttfucking the collective american thought process)
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on January 03, 2008, 08:53:44 pm
kucinich was it but he's kind of goofty.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Zatham on January 03, 2008, 08:54:08 pm
man where is the athiest/agnostic, pro marijuana reform, pro gay/lesbian rights, pro-abortion, anti-war candidate

why isnt there one of those (fuck you jerry falwell and pat robertson for buttfucking the collective american thought process)
sh... should I run for candidacy?...
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: kentona on January 03, 2008, 08:55:24 pm
man where is the athiest/agnostic, pro marijuana reform, pro gay/lesbian rights, pro-abortion, anti-war candidate

why isnt there one of those (fuck you jerry falwell and pat robertson for buttfucking the collective american thought process)
In all seriousness, is there a candidate like this?  If so, vote for him (or her).
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Lars on January 03, 2008, 09:54:27 pm
man where is the athiest/agnostic, pro marijuana reform, pro gay/lesbian rights, pro-abortion, anti-war candidate

why isnt there one of those (fuck you jerry falwell and pat robertson for buttfucking the collective american thought process)
vacation in europe maybe??


also steel dont be angry about state etc i was just wondering what it meant.

flag burning is pretty disrespectful though and is illegal here. but flags and nationality is pretty important here so maybe thats why. i dont mind the law at all. a couple of years ago some important television comedian/critic burned the american flag live and while i guess its an effective way of saying something, its extremely disrespectful :( its not like we imprison them for doing that, but they get a fine (the amount depending on your wage, like most fines here are)
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on January 03, 2008, 10:01:42 pm
man where is the athiest/agnostic, pro marijuana reform, pro gay/lesbian rights, pro-abortion, anti-war candidate

why isnt there one of those (fuck you jerry falwell and pat robertson for buttfucking the collective american thought process)
I'm looking forward to the first atheist president of the United States. I don't think there will be one for some time. The marijuana reform isn't going to happen very soon, either.

Interestingly, the Dutch government is currently trying to change European rules that would allow people to legally grow weed in countries that legalize it. The way I understand it, we've been meaning to legalize this for a while now, but it's impossible under the current European agreements. The Dutch so-called "policy of tolerance" ("gedoogbeleid" in Dutch) is a successful way for the government to control legal drug use, but one strange thing is that it's still illegal to grow and purchase in large numbers. (The limit is 6 weed plants per person, without using artificial lighting to speed up growth. Of course, in order to supply the coffee shops that sell weed, these rules routinely get broken.)

As for the other three, take a look at the Democrats.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on January 03, 2008, 10:16:08 pm
flag burning is pretty disrespectful though and is illegal here. but flags and nationality is pretty important here so maybe thats why. i dont mind the law at all. a couple of years ago some important television comedian/critic burned the american flag live and while i guess its an effective way of saying something, its extremely disrespectful :( its not like we imprison them for doing that, but they get a fine (the amount depending on your wage, like most fines here are)

flag burning is a perfectly valid form of free political speech.

first off the question is what someone respects. if you believe a flag is a physical representation of a country, then why not burn a flag in the form of protest? look at the United States for example during the Vietnam War. flag burning occured because kids were drafted into a war they were dying over. a war very few peopel cared about. DRAFTED, okay. they didn't choose to be there at all. why not express your contempt towards the country by burning a flag?

see, the core of this issue is not a matter of respect but rights. the American tradition has always been proud and individualistic; there was never a serf based economy in the US (unless you count the disenfranchised black slaves, but that's a different idea entirely, which I could elaborate on). the question is; why remove the right to burn the flag? because you see, a flag represents a country at the moment. not the past or the future, but at the moment. if it did represent past misdeeds, we'd burn most of the flags in the world every day.

no, flag burning is a way of expressing dissatisfaction with the present state. it has nothing to do with hating the country, but of expressing that the country has lost its way. a flag is a piece of cloth. it is the meaning that flag can take in current atmosphere that people who burn flags take issue with. why curtail someone's right to express dissent via symbolism?

nationalism is a joke. one's pride in a country should not be because it is united under a flag, but because the values of that person and of the people around them are represented by that flag. if those values become effete, then burning the flag that is now corrupted is a valid form of protest.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on January 03, 2008, 10:18:05 pm
also: flag burning in the US, were it to be a crime, would in fact be a THOUGHT CRIME lol. flags are SUPPOSED to be burned to be dispensed of. ergo, making it a criminal act would be akin to punishing the thought behind the crime. also, unlike other "selective rights", every citizen is entitled (and it is implied, obligated) to burn a flag to get rid of it. the only difference between burning a flag for removal and for protest is thought, so most people would be loath to accept that.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dom on January 03, 2008, 10:57:30 pm
i dont know how anyone can be for making flag burning illegal for any purpose
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on January 03, 2008, 11:02:13 pm
i dont know how anyone can be for making flag burning illegal for any purpose

eh, I'm not an expert by any means, but I'd assume some countries just had it in their initial constitutions or laws or whatever and they just kind of get grandfathered in and no one really gives a shit about it to fight for it. it's not a form of a speech that is ever exercised really.

wikipedia has an interesting little summary of flag burning: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_desecration
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Lars on January 03, 2008, 11:10:05 pm
maybe you guys should stop your free speech spree rite now because USA has proven that uttering certain things can get you locked up for a long time over and over again!! i do understand the argument but there's no reason to go WE ARE THE FREE SPEAKERS, WE SPEAK OUR MINDS!! etc

and a flag doesnt represent the government but the country so why should critisism of a government come through the form of a national insult :(

by burning say an AMERICAN flag you dont say you're against the government but rather against everything the flag represents; every single person and idea in that country. it's respectless and disgusting.

but maybe thats a cultural difference between us, im not conservative in any way and ive taken part in rallies where flags have been burned (mostly israeli and american) and i always thought it was a dumb thing to do because a patriotic israeli or american that does his best to work against the actions that the flag burners despise could/would/might be just as offended as someone spearheading such actions. its a disgusting and generalizing action.

maybe to you the flag represents the government but it sure as hell doesn't to anyone i know


so except for a broken free speech i dont really see the arguments for it sorry for disrailing :(
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Frisky SKeleton on January 03, 2008, 11:18:12 pm
i had heard that you're meant to bury the flag in america once it gets worn out, and wikipedia is inconclusive: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Flag_Code

also flag burning is a form of treason?
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: HL on January 03, 2008, 11:24:59 pm
maybe you guys should stop your free speech spree rite now because USA has proven that uttering certain things can get you locked up for a long time over and over again!! i do understand the argument but there's no reason to go WE ARE THE FREE SPEAKERS, WE SPEAK OUR MINDS!! etc

and a flag doesnt represent the government but the country so why should critisism of a government come through the form of a national insult :(

by burning say an AMERICAN flag you dont say you're against the government but rather against everything the flag represents; every single person and idea in that country. it's respectless and disgusting.

but maybe thats a cultural difference between us, im not conservative in any way and ive taken part in rallies where flags have been burned (mostly israeli and american) and i always thought it was a dumb thing to do because a patriotic israeli or american that does his best to work against the actions that the flag burners despise could/would/might be just as offended as someone spearheading such actions. its a disgusting and generalizing action.

maybe to you the flag represents the government but it sure as hell doesn't to anyone i know


so except for a broken free speech i dont really see the arguments for it sorry for disrailing :(

The Freedom of Speech is nothing more but the right to the freedom of expression, the right to speak freely without censorship, seek/receive information/ideas.

However, the Freedom of Expression can be limited on a state by state basis, if they can demonstrate that it is necessary. See: yelling FIRE in a crowded theater, saying you have a bomb in an airport....all those are necessary limitations of an Americans freedom of expression since yelling FIRE in a theater can cause a panic and lead to people getting hurt, and saying a bomb at an airport the same.

That isn't to say that your actual Freedom of Expression is TRULY limited, are you prevented from yelling I HAVE A BOMB at an airport? No. Will you get punished for it? Sure. Is that right? Well, I think even in a perfect world you can never obtain a true state of Freedom of Expression, simply because some things should have some form of punishment on them, hate speech, anything that can cause a mass panic, perjury, stuff like that...



Quote
also flag burning is a form of treason?
I do not think it is treason.

IIRC, flag burning in USA works like this:
-Several places do it ritually (The American legion, Veterans, etc)
-You bury it / burn it otherwise (but you can send it to one of the above places to have them burn it)

It is perfectly legal to burn the USA Flag in America in your own yard, however you probably wouldn't want to do it now (9/11 and all that...people are still way too patriotic over that imo). Our Flag Code is fucked up, we break it all the time anyways. You aren't supposed to wear any part of the flag on a costume, and yet athletes do this ALL THE TIME.

So yeah...
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: jamie on January 03, 2008, 11:29:07 pm
when a country has a law against burning the flag it is saying "YOU WILL BE LOYAL OR ELSE" and i find that kind of shit very scary! i wouldn't burn a flag just because it would do more harm than good if you were trying to get a message across, but there isn't anything in the universe which is above being criticised or even insulted when the situation merits it. nationalism has always seemed pretty similar to a lot of the most horrible aspects of religion to me. whenever someone says "i am proud to be a citizen of (x)" they either come across as stupid, having not really thought what they are saying through, or hostile.

Quote
and a flag doesnt represent the government but the country so why should critisism of a government come through the form of a national insult :(​

i only think you would get offended by this if you considered yourself a norweigian, or brit or american or whatever high above anything else. like if that was how you defined yourself. i don't want to get patronising, but we're all people first, and getting offended because someone burned the flag which represents the country you happened to be born in, is pretty stupid. and it's equivocal to things like gangs getting all pissy cos someone said east side boyz are faggots.

what i'm saying is national pride is stupid.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Lars on January 03, 2008, 11:51:09 pm
when a country has a law against burning the flag it is saying "YOU WILL BE LOYAL OR ELSE"
im not for it in that sense, someone burning the norwegian flag i dont care much about. its about burning the flags of other nations i care about. we should be respectful to other nations, and burning someone else's flag is extremely disrespectful.


what i'm saying is national pride is stupid.
depends on how it is channeled. if its through making 3000 songs about how great your country is, making 3000 films about how your country kicks the asses of other countries, then yeah. once it starts bordering nationalism its just silly. but patriotism as something you never speak about, or act from, but rather compassion for what place you're from and the people in it?

i consider myself a norwegian and i never talk about how great my country is in the strictest sense as HOW GREAT IT IS HOW GOD CHOSE IT etc but I do speak proudly of what we've accomplished, of what the government is doing right and how we treat those that have a tough time. and i dont have a problem to say I identify with the flag, but then again i dont see the flag very often. only on special occacions such as the national day or when its someone birthday or there's a national mourning. as a matter of fact public places arent allowed to put the flag up unless there is a special occacion (we call them flaggedager, flagdays).

and through the limited use of the flag ive come to identify it with the moments that everyone pulls together as one and give up their egos to celebrate our common grounds.

patriotism/national pride doesnt have to be distasteful u know :(
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on January 03, 2008, 11:54:19 pm
here in the usa we see flags everywhere and if you're in public schools you pledge allegiance to them every day!
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Lars on January 04, 2008, 12:23:47 am
yeah i know so i figured i'd lay out the difference of using flags
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on January 04, 2008, 12:27:56 am
also Denmark has similar legislation to your country; you can't burn other country's flags because it's foreign policy.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on January 04, 2008, 12:50:21 am
i would love to see edwards and obama place first and second and hillary third. even though i'd rather see hillary as president than any of the republicans, both obama and edwards are much better candidates imo
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on January 04, 2008, 01:28:11 am
Senator John Edwards : 37.40%
Senator Hillary Clinton : 31.11%
Senator Barack Obama : 27.10%
Senator Joe Biden : 1.93%
Governor Bill Richardson : 1.91%
Senator Chris Dodd : 0.32%
Uncommitted : 0.24%
Precincts Reporting: 103 of 1781
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on January 04, 2008, 01:42:42 am
for the sake of the topic's interest, I will bump this with relevant percentages when they come around.

almost 400 votes in-

Senator John Edwards : 33.44%
Senator Hillary Clinton : 32.24%
Senator Barack Obama : 31.63%
Governor Bill Richardson : 1.80%
Senator Joe Biden : 0.78%
Senator Chris Dodd : 0.07%
Uncommitted : 0.05%
Precincts Reporting: 367 of 1781
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Hempknight on January 04, 2008, 01:44:12 am
for the sake of the topic's interest, I will bump this with relevant percentages when they come around.

almost 400 votes in-

Senator John Edwards : 33.18%
Senator Hillary Clinton : 32.47%
Senator Barack Obama : 31.52%
Governor Bill Richardson : 1.90%
Senator Joe Biden : 0.81%
Senator Chris Dodd : 0.07%
Uncommitted : 0.05%
Precincts Reporting: 346 of 1781

Where did you get this?
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on January 04, 2008, 01:45:41 am
Where did you get this?


http://www.iowacaucusresults.com/ I'm constantly refreshing.

early number show romney taking it btw.

anyways almost 400 in:

Senator John Edwards : 33.30%
Senator Hillary Clinton : 32.31%
Senator Barack Obama : 31.66%
Governor Bill Richardson : 1.87%
Senator Joe Biden : 0.76%
Senator Chris Dodd : 0.06%
Uncommitted : 0.05%
Precincts Reporting: 390 of 1781

remember, big cities go last!

edit: for gop numbers

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/

also

Senator John Edwards : 33.06%
Senator Barack Obama : 32.20%
Senator Hillary Clinton : 32.14%
Governor Bill Richardson : 1.78%
Senator Joe Biden : 0.70%
Senator Chris Dodd : 0.08%
Uncommitted : 0.04%
Precincts Reporting: 433 of 1781

I'll only post if someone else does otherwise i'll edit.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on January 04, 2008, 01:48:45 am
also remember the whole second choice thing on the democratic side. so these numbers are far from the final results.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on January 04, 2008, 01:50:40 am
Senator John Edwards : 32.52%
Senator Barack Obama : 32.43%
Senator Hillary Clinton : 32.22%
Governor Bill Richardson : 1.85%
Senator Joe Biden : 0.81%
Senator Chris Dodd : 0.09%
Uncommitted : 0.07%
Precincts Reporting: 513 of 1781

Oh SHIT Obama just took the lead from Hillary.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on January 04, 2008, 01:52:34 am
I know Kucinich has told his supporters to back obama. there's rumors going around that biden and richardson have said the same thing
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on January 04, 2008, 01:52:56 am
Senator Barack Obama : 32.79%
Senator John Edwards : 32.35%
Senator Hillary Clinton : 32.02%
Governor Bill Richardson : 1.73%
Senator Joe Biden : 0.97%
Senator Chris Dodd : 0.09%
Uncommitted : 0.06%
Precincts Reporting: 554 of 1781

OH SHIT IN THE LEAD.

edit:

Senator Barack Obama : 33.08%
Senator John Edwards : 32.16%
Senator Hillary Clinton : 31.86%
Governor Bill Richardson : 1.79%
Senator Joe Biden : 0.98%
Senator Chris Dodd : 0.08%
Uncommitted : 0.05%
Precincts Reporting: 607 of 1781

OH SNAP
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Saleop on January 04, 2008, 01:56:20 am
Are the Iowa caucuses really that big of a deal? This is a real question. Is it really a good indicator of someone's chances of getting the nomination? I mean, we all know which candidates are going to be in the top for each party. Would beating Hilary Clinton by .5 percentage points really be that big of a deal?

edit: ok i already see he is ahead by more than .5 but still
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on January 04, 2008, 01:56:56 am
nbc just called Huckabee as the winner
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on January 04, 2008, 02:01:40 am
Are the Iowa caucuses really that big of a deal? This is a real question. Is it really a good indicator of someone's chances of getting the nomination? I mean, we all know which candidates are going to be in the top for each party. Would beating Hilary Clinton by .5 percentage points really be that big of a deal?

edit: ok i already see he is ahead by more than .5 but still

in the past like seven or so elections (if i could find this stat i would argh) whoever won the first two primaries won the nomination.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Saleop on January 04, 2008, 02:09:14 am
in the past like seven or so elections (if i could find this stat i would argh) whoever won the first two primaries won the nomination.

oh really? snap

nice to see obama with a good lead then.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on January 04, 2008, 02:10:49 am
WELL OVER HALF IN

Senator Barack Obama : 34.52%
Senator John Edwards : 31.61%
Senator Hillary Clinton : 31.13%
Governor Bill Richardson : 1.69%
Senator Joe Biden : 0.98%
Senator Chris Dodd : 0.04%
Uncommitted : 0.03%
Precincts Reporting: 1000 of 1781

also fun fact: ron paul still fifth, and huckabee took the state.

Mike Huckabee   7,809   35%   
Mitt Romney   5,355   24%   
Fred Thompson   3,178   14%   
John McCain   2,638   12%   
Ron Paul   2,425   11%   
Rudy Giuliani   830   4%   
Duncan Hunter   72   0%
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on January 04, 2008, 02:13:41 am
the fact that paul has over 10% of the vote is rather terrifying
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on January 04, 2008, 02:15:35 am
Mike Huckabee   14,045   31%   
Mitt Romney   10,084   23%      
Fred Thompson   5,950   13%      
John McCain   5,194   12%      
Rudy Giuliani   4,901   11%      
Ron Paul   4,379   10%      
Duncan Hunter   168   0%

Senator Barack Obama : 35.21%
Senator John Edwards : 31.08%
Senator Hillary Clinton : 30.82%
Governor Bill Richardson : 1.79%
Senator Joe Biden : 0.97%
Uncommitted : 0.11%
Senator Chris Dodd : 0.03%
Precincts Reporting: 1286 of 1781

dodd you gaywad UNCOMMITTED beat you
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on January 04, 2008, 02:23:06 am
OBAMA CALLED FOR IOWA BY NBC.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: the_bub_from_the_pit on January 04, 2008, 02:27:30 am
Is there anywhere I can easily see all of the opponents' views in a summarized form? I've seen enough of Ron Paul, Barack, and Hilary, but I'd really want to see what the other candidates are saying without sifting through a load of shit.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on January 04, 2008, 02:28:35 am
politico.com? or check their individual campaign sites
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on January 04, 2008, 02:32:34 am
Is there anywhere I can easily see all of the opponents' views in a summarized form? I've seen enough of Ron Paul, Barack, and Hilary, but I'd really want to see what the other candidates are saying without sifting through a load of shit.

there's been a bit in this topic and a really basic overview in a USA today link here.

meanwhile

Senator Barack Obama : 36.27%
Senator John Edwards : 30.48%
Senator Hillary Clinton : 30.25%
Governor Bill Richardson : 1.93%
Senator Joe Biden : 0.94%
Uncommitted : 0.09%
Senator Chris Dodd : 0.03%
Precincts Reporting: 1422 of 1781

come on edwards :(

also paul still 5th, but cities (which are nerds) aren't all in yet.

Huckabee: 34%
Romney: 25%
Thompson 14%
McCain: 13%
Paul: 10%
Giuliani: 4%.
Hunter: Tuppence
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Grunthor on January 04, 2008, 02:36:32 am
Is there anywhere I can easily see all of the opponents' views in a summarized form? I've seen enough of Ron Paul, Barack, and Hilary, but I'd really want to see what the other candidates are saying without sifting through a load of shit.

Try sites like www.ontheissues.org or www.factcheck.org.  Both sites are good for sifting through views of the candidates (as well as voting records), and Fact Check will let you know when the candidate is bullshitting you.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on January 04, 2008, 02:37:16 am
my thoughts exactly. a 3rd place finish for clinton would be pretty devastating!
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on January 04, 2008, 02:48:04 am
man, this is awesome. like 57% of Obama's vote came from our demographic, 18-29.

EAT A DICK RON PAUL.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on January 04, 2008, 02:56:03 am
Richardson supporters are going to obama

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Lars on January 04, 2008, 03:35:59 am
hooray go obama!!

8)
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: The Truth on January 04, 2008, 03:52:32 am
are you guys fired up?



ARE YOU READY TO GO?
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Wash Cycle on January 04, 2008, 04:03:04 am
man why does anyone give a fuck about Fred Thompson

why wont he just goooo awayyyyyy
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: The Truth on January 04, 2008, 04:03:41 am
Senator Obama to the Iowa crowd: You have done what new hampshire can do in five days.


Damn right we will! I'm getting the vote out there, i'm going to freeze my ass off all day.


OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: ase on January 04, 2008, 04:04:23 am
what the fuck.

how did huckabee become so popular??? A few weeks ago I barely remember him even being mentioned in an exit poll at my university and now he comes out with a chuck norris ad campaign and BOOM EVERYONE VOTE FOR HUCKABEE 2008
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Wil on January 04, 2008, 04:13:09 am
http://www.slate.com/id/2175496/
The polls all seem to be pointing toward fucking Hillary and Obama is sitting in second every time. I reallllly hope Obama pulls through somehow because frankly, I'm not too excited about seeing Hillary become the candidate.

Quote
how did huckabee become so popular??? A few weeks ago I barely remember him even being mentioned in an exit poll at my university and now he comes out with a chuck norris ad campaign and BOOM EVERYONE VOTE FOR HUCKABEE 2008
It's the recent Huckabee "surge". Giulliani used to be ahead of him though, now he's all the way at the bottom. What's going on!?
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: kentona on January 04, 2008, 04:18:47 am
Maybe Huckabee went on Oprah?  It worked for Obama.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: `~congresman Ron paul~~ on January 04, 2008, 04:19:13 am
WOO! Go Obama.

I really, really hope New Hampshire is the same vote, putting Clinton essentially out for the count and resulting in Obama/Edwards or an Edwards/Obama candidacy.

Plus if Clinton is out, I feel that'll result in a huge amount of crossover Republican voters who are sickened with the last 8 years of shitty policies.

Also 57% young voters for Obama? GO POLITICALLY ACTIVE AMERICAN YOUTH. That's such great news.

Also wow how the fuck did Huckabee pull that off? I thought Romney for sure.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Hempknight on January 04, 2008, 04:23:57 am
Plus if Clinton is out, I feel that'll result in a huge amount of crossover Republican voters who are sickened with the last 8 years of shitty policies.

Believe it or not, a lot of those 'crossovers' are actually in support of Clinton. Goes to show you how conservative she really is.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: The Truth on January 04, 2008, 04:25:16 am
Guys

I promise you right now, I will do everything in my power to vote obama in I will work my ass off in 5 days.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: The Truth on January 04, 2008, 04:36:16 am
Believe it or not, a lot of those 'crossovers' are actually in support of Clinton. Goes to show you how conservative she really is.

this is completely wrong.

obama killed her on independent and crossover voters
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Wil on January 04, 2008, 04:36:23 am
Maybe Huckabee went on Oprah?  It worked for Obama.
No I think it's a result of the suddenly-deciding-to-vote social conservatives made up mostly of Evangelical Christians who suddenly decided to make Huckabee their man. And Giulliani definitely isn't that guy. I'm surprised Romney has made it so far, I mean... he's a MORMON.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on January 04, 2008, 05:12:03 am
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqoFwZUp5vc this is pretty good.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Wil on January 04, 2008, 05:19:39 am
Oh God I hope Obama makes it. Hillary would have to be the worst... I just think it's disgusting that we have the WIFE of a FORMER PRESIDENT up there. What is this, some kind of monarchy? Plutocracy? Obama is young and new and willing to make some changes.

I'm so excited!

Quote
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqoFwZUp5vc this is pretty good.
I'm kind of glad he didn't say "under God". It's nice to see his numbers high in that video too.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Sarhan on January 04, 2008, 05:32:15 am
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqoFwZUp5vc this is pretty good.

Great video. Did anybody see Hillary's speech by any chance? It's shit in comparison.  "I am so ready to lead!" She sounds like a teenage girl up there.

Go Obama.

I'm kind of glad he didn't say "under God". It's nice to see his numbers high in that video too.

Completely agree with you there. I thought he was going to say it and I cringed a little right after he said "one nation," but was relieved after hearing the next part.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: ase on January 04, 2008, 05:48:02 am
Jesus, I get shivers just listening to youtubes of the man talking
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Mama Luigi on January 04, 2008, 06:31:28 am
Love the guy and I'll definitely vote for him, but I don't understand how he plans on making republicans and democrats get along.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on January 04, 2008, 07:07:13 am
Wow, incredible. I'm really glad that he won. All I've heard the past while is how incredibly important the Iowa vote is. I hope this gives him the momentum needed to stunt in the rest of United States.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Rye Bread on January 04, 2008, 09:59:23 am
I'll be going to vote for Obama.  Although if doesn't win I'd rather see McCain than anyone else.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Pasty on January 04, 2008, 02:50:31 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqoFwZUp5vc this is pretty good.

man, that was awesome to wake up to
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: tuxedo marx on January 04, 2008, 02:53:01 pm
Oh man I wish I could vote now. :(
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on January 04, 2008, 04:02:10 pm
Love the guy and I'll definitely vote for him, but I don't understand how he plans on making republicans and democrats get along.

buzzzzzzzzzwords

ps don't get the impression Obama is some liberal hero, guys. he's a centrist for sure, but a centrist between traditional liberal and conservative values instead of a pandering party shill like Hillary. so yeah he's no Kucinich and LEGALIZE WEED/GAYS/DEATHPENALTY (whoops) isn't on his agenda, but you don't win if it is.

also like I said earlier, there are subtleties behind things; just like saying state's rights is the way for people to secretly push their own agendas, civil unions is your way of saying "yeah we're gonna let gays get married gradually".

still, it's very exciting, considering not too many projections had him in FIRST by such a good margin.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on January 04, 2008, 06:48:50 pm
his victory speech was absolutely fantastic. he's definitely got my vote come time for the Virginia primaries
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Shepperd on January 04, 2008, 07:46:03 pm
Oh God I hope Obama makes it. Hillary would have to be the worst... I just think it's disgusting that we have the WIFE of a FORMER PRESIDENT up there. What is this, some kind of monarchy? Plutocracy? Obama is young and new and willing to make some changes.
Look at Argentina..

also I'd like to see Obama as president, he looks pretty slick
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: kentona on January 04, 2008, 08:08:47 pm
:fogetgasp:
Wait, isn't the current president the son of a former president??? 
 :fogetgasp: :fogetgasp: :fogetgasp:

 :fogetshrug:
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Vellfire on January 04, 2008, 08:10:30 pm
Yes, and does anyone think that he's NOT disgusting?



issue solved
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Erave on January 04, 2008, 09:01:46 pm
Barack gives some great speeches.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on January 04, 2008, 10:08:00 pm
Yeah, I too am kind of surprised, he's much better at giving speeches than the other candidates. He is the most natural speaker out of all I've seen so far, and he has a warm and powerful voice too. Although he's no Martin Luther King (http://youtube.com/watch?v=PbUtL_0vAJk) (they're sometimes compared), I think that his way of delivering the message might be that which tips the balance in his favor.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Erave on January 04, 2008, 11:14:26 pm
Yeah, I too am kind of surprised, he's much better at giving speeches than the other candidates. He is the most natural speaker out of all I've seen so far, and he has a warm and powerful voice too. Although he's no Martin Luther King (http://youtube.com/watch?v=PbUtL_0vAJk) (they're sometimes compared), I think that his way of delivering the message might be that which tips the balance in his favor.

I just like how he believes in America and the power to unite the people. Rather than blaming X or Y. I mean he's adknowledging problems, but I think he comes off very sincere and optimistic. It's a good change.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Wil on January 04, 2008, 11:23:14 pm
Look at Argentina..
I know it's the same situation there.
I just think it's very suggestive that many newer presidents have such close relations with former presidents.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Erave on January 05, 2008, 01:33:57 am
Now he just has to prove his views on the tough issues. Which whether you like it not, he hasn't been talking about. We'll see how he still stands in a month or so. Same with Huckabee. They both haven't really been talking about the tough issues and Huckabee is basically clueless on foreign policy.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Zatham on January 05, 2008, 02:24:16 am
I just like how he believes in America and the power to unite the people. Rather than blaming X or Y. I mean he's adknowledging problems, but I think he comes off very sincere and optimistic. It's a good change.
I don't want to state the obvious but
Politicians =/= sincerity
Just something to keep in mind...
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Doktormartini on January 05, 2008, 02:25:45 am
My friend is a HUGE Paul supporter but after he saw this ad he said he's not supporting him anymore!
http://www.antiwar.com/blog/2007/12/29/ron-pauls-disgraceful-ad
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Vellfire on January 05, 2008, 02:43:42 am
My friend is a HUGE Paul supporter but after he saw this ad he said he's not supporting him anymore!
http://www.antiwar.com/blog/2007/12/29/ron-pauls-disgraceful-ad

I went to this site and it broke firefox.  Half (slightly under half actually) of my page is GW (where I am typing now), and the smaller half I guess is that page.  It won't go away, and I can't see half of this post.  As soon as I get done with my open tabs (it is affecting all of them) I will have to restart firefox.

Goddammit the one time I ever try to take Doktormartini's posts seriously it ruins everything.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: crone_lover720 on January 05, 2008, 02:53:10 am
that's a pretty great ad though, especially now with people posting comments like "I'm a huge Ron Paul supporter, but this is really terrible and I have to admit that it's really low of him... I'm still going to be voting for him on saturday, though! RON PAUL 2008 ^_^

edit: oh, and the page broke Opera too btw
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: WunderBread on January 05, 2008, 03:02:41 am
Ahaha, I'd wait for caucuses in our state... except we don't have any. Damned Floridian government.

Well, it's not like I can vote right now, anyways.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on January 05, 2008, 03:15:15 am
Now he just has to prove his views on the tough issues. Which whether you like it not, he hasn't been talking about. We'll see how he still stands in a month or so. Same with Huckabee. They both haven't really been talking about the tough issues and Huckabee is basically clueless on foreign policy.

fffff we just had this conversation, but I guess you didn't actually look at anything???

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_positions_of_Barack_Obama
http://origin.barackobama.com/issues/

you might have to click a few links!!!!!!!
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: xanque on January 05, 2008, 03:49:05 am
I will only vote if Barack Obama is the democratic candidate.  This is the first time I've seen a candidate who isn't just a "lesser of two evils." 

But holy crap I hope Clinton doesn't win.  She reminds me of those people who go into middle schools to give pep talks.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on January 05, 2008, 04:06:59 am
if it comes to clinton vs <insert republican> i'd vote for her.

however she's not nearly the best candidate, and the MASSIVE amount of pandering she does is annoying as shit
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Saleop on January 05, 2008, 04:37:54 am
Well, if it's any indicator of things to come, Hillary was booed twice (http://www.time-blog.com/swampland/2008/01/hillary_booed_at_nh_democratic.html) at a New Hampshire Democratic Party dinner while people got so energetic for Obama that it constituted "safety concerns."
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on January 05, 2008, 04:51:40 am
New Hampshire is absolutely critical for Clinton's campaign. imo if she loses in NH she'll have three straight losses (Obama is presumed to win South Carolina) which will pretty much be the end of any legitimate shot for her campaign
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: The Truth on January 05, 2008, 07:35:10 am
Every single person I know except one person is voting Obama. You really have to be here in New Hampshire right now to feel the excitement on the streets. I'll see if I can't keep some sort of blog on primary day.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Wil on January 05, 2008, 09:15:40 am
I wish I were there and not in some podunk state like Oklahoma where most are made up of evangelicals supporting Huckabee.
My friend is a HUGE Paul supporter but after he saw this ad he said he's not supporting him anymore!
http://www.antiwar.com/blog/2007/12/29/ron-pauls-disgraceful-ad
Ya I'm trying to get my friend to see the light in terms of Paul's ignorance towards domestic issues. That has got to be the worst ad I've ever seen.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Sarhan on January 05, 2008, 09:55:38 am
But holy crap I hope Clinton doesn't win.  She reminds me of those people who go into middle schools to give pep talks.

My thoughts exactly.

This is the first time I'm going to be voting and Obama has my vote (my girlfriend is also planning on voting for him). If it was anybody else running, I probably wouldn't even bother taking the time.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on January 05, 2008, 10:37:31 am
My friend is a HUGE Paul supporter but after he saw this ad he said he's not supporting him anymore!
http://www.antiwar.com/blog/2007/12/29/ron-pauls-disgraceful-ad
You should welcome your friend to the truth. The truth is that Ron Paul's popularity on the Internet is based on misunderstanding, denial, and hype.

Let's take Digg as an example.

Misunderstanding because they believe his viewpoints on issues such as protecting the constitution somehow make him a rebel that fights against the established politicians. For example, it's quite easy to tell someone that we need to pull out of Iraq immediately, because we're not supposed to be there and we're causing a lot of civil casualties; most people will immediately agree, without realizing that leaving on a minute's notice will cause much more damage than a phased and controlled leave during which it is made sure that the Iraqi army and the UN peacekeepers will be able to take over seamlessly. Since Ron Paul is pretty much the only person (correct me if I'm wrong) arguing for such a stupid thing, people claim that he's "not holding back in order to be political", or "just telling it like it is, unlike the other candidates". That's the kind of thing that makes you popular on Digg, it seems.

Diggers are also in denial, because they refuse to believe it when someone shows them just how horrific Ron Paul's statements really are. There are plenty of resources on the Web on which you can read all about his plans to denounce the UN and the NAFTA, as well as videos in which he speaks about not accepting the evolution theory. Most of these things are simply not posted on the site, and when they do, they rarely reach the front page. A while ago, a video was posted on the site in which Ron Paul can be heard dismissing the evolution theory, and while it generated a lot of negative responses from people who do not support him, it was also labeled "inaccurate". There are even videos of self-proclaimed neo-Nazis floating around YouTube in which they pledge their support to Ron Paul; how do the Diggers take this? They simply say that they're trying to paint their lovely candidate black by association. Yes. They actually say that the neo-Nazis who support Ron Paul are just doing that to make him seem bad. By the way, did you know that Ron Paul is the officially supported candidate of Stormfront, the largest white supremacist Web site?

And then there's the hype. This is much more simple to explain. Basically, since everybody is a fan of Ron Paul, that means you can't succeed or become popular on that site if you don't support him. People who disagree with him usually get so many negative points that their messages in the topic get hidden by default. It's difficult to criticize him and have your message "survive".

You know what the most funny thing about this is? I don't even think that most people on Digg really support the kind of positions that Ron Paul supports, and I actually think they're mostly democrats. They seem to mostly support gay marriage, abortion, and even things like legal marijuana, and that's probably largely because they're our demographic. Just look at Digg The Candidates (http://digg.com/elections/). If you ignore Ron Paul, the republicans have only superficial support; exactly as you see everywhere else in the 18-29 age group.

So, in reality, Ron Paul's support is largely based on the surge of popularity he got and managed to keep after people started posting all kinds of incorrect and inaccurate statements that they attributed to him. That makes them the exact kind of demagogues they proclaim to want out of Washington without even knowing it! Thankfully, things seem to slowly be turning around lately, but even if Ron Paul somehow loses his support on that site, it's still quite sick that this could have happened in the first place. This is what happens, not when people don't read political programs closely enough, but when people don't read criticism published in the media.

Have your friend read this post!! He deserves to know he was a tool!
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Kitsune Inferno on January 05, 2008, 11:13:52 am
I took that poll and I got:

1) Richardson
2) Edwards
3) Clinton

I'm all for Richardson, not only since he's our governor here in New Mexico, but because he is charasmatic, and dedicated. I think that is what we need in a president. Clinton is a second placer for me, but I am anti-Obama. I just don't like the man.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on January 05, 2008, 05:44:01 pm
You should welcome your friend to the truth. The truth is that Ron Paul's popularity on the Internet is based on misunderstanding, denial, and hype.

Let's take Digg as an example.

Misunderstanding because they believe his viewpoints on issues such as protecting the constitution somehow make him a rebel that fights against the established politicians. For example, it's quite easy to tell someone that we need to pull out of Iraq immediately, because we're not supposed to be there and we're causing a lot of civil casualties; most people will immediately agree, without realizing that leaving on a minute's notice will cause much more damage than a phased and controlled leave during which it is made sure that the Iraqi army and the UN peacekeepers will be able to take over seamlessly. Since Ron Paul is pretty much the only person (correct me if I'm wrong) arguing for such a stupid thing, people claim that he's "not holding back in order to be political", or "just telling it like it is, unlike the other candidates". That's the kind of thing that makes you popular on Digg, it seems.

Diggers are also in denial, because they refuse to believe it when someone shows them just how horrific Ron Paul's statements really are. There are plenty of resources on the Web on which you can read all about his plans to denounce the UN and the NAFTA, as well as videos in which he speaks about not accepting the evolution theory. Most of these things are simply not posted on the site, and when they do, they rarely reach the front page. A while ago, a video was posted on the site in which Ron Paul can be heard dismissing the evolution theory, and while it generated a lot of negative responses from people who do not support him, it was also labeled "inaccurate". There are even videos of self-proclaimed neo-Nazis floating around YouTube in which they pledge their support to Ron Paul; how do the Diggers take this? They simply say that they're trying to paint their lovely candidate black by association. Yes. They actually say that the neo-Nazis who support Ron Paul are just doing that to make him seem bad. By the way, did you know that Ron Paul is the officially supported candidate of Stormfront, the largest white supremacist Web site?

And then there's the hype. This is much more simple to explain. Basically, since everybody is a fan of Ron Paul, that means you can't succeed or become popular on that site if you don't support him. People who disagree with him usually get so many negative points that their messages in the topic get hidden by default. It's difficult to criticize him and have your message "survive".

You know what the most funny thing about this is? I don't even think that most people on Digg really support the kind of positions that Ron Paul supports, and I actually think they're mostly democrats. They seem to mostly support gay marriage, abortion, and even things like legal marijuana, and that's probably largely because they're our demographic. Just look at Digg The Candidates (http://digg.com/elections/). If you ignore Ron Paul, the republicans have only superficial support; exactly as you see everywhere else in the 18-29 age group.

So, in reality, Ron Paul's support is largely based on the surge of popularity he got and managed to keep after people started posting all kinds of incorrect and inaccurate statements that they attributed to him. That makes them the exact kind of demagogues they proclaim to want out of Washington without even knowing it! Thankfully, things seem to slowly be turning around lately, but even if Ron Paul somehow loses his support on that site, it's still quite sick that this could have happened in the first place. This is what happens, not when people don't read political programs closely enough, but when people don't read criticism published in the media.

Have your friend read this post!! He deserves to know he was a tool!

this entire post is worthless because 1. despite repeated arguments that Ron Paul is a fucking idiot Dok still runs around saying he's his second favorite candidate 2. Doktormartini is dumb as shit and won't read at all since it requires more a thought process than ANIMALS GETTING HURT and 3. the blogger in question is one of the most hardcore Ron Paul supporters. know how? he looks at the evidence and he does what ALL of them do usually; blames the conspiracy/jews.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on January 05, 2008, 05:52:07 pm
Well, I didn't really write that post just so Doktormartini could see the light. I don't think anyone can hope to change his mind, especially since he argues that some candidates are not worth voting for because they support Zionism.

But just in case anyone wanted a summary of Ron Paul on Digg: there it is.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Erave on January 05, 2008, 05:54:06 pm
fffff we just had this conversation, but I guess you didn't actually look at anything???

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_positions_of_Barack_Obama
http://origin.barackobama.com/issues/

you might have to click a few links!!!!!!!

I read this. he just hasn't been talking about these in his stump speeches. In other words. It hasn't been the main highlights of his campaign.

His main points have been bringing change to Washington. I guess getting out of the war is a second main point for his as well.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on January 05, 2008, 06:00:49 pm
I read this. he just hasn't been talking about these in his stump speeches. In other words. It hasn't been the main highlights of his campaign.

His main points have been bringing change to Washington. I guess getting out of the war is a second main point for his as well.

there's a debate before NH, which is in a week, so check dat out???
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Erave on January 05, 2008, 06:04:15 pm
there's a debate before NH, which is in a week, so check dat out???

Alrighty man. I don't get why you fight for barack with your life. I think he's cool. I think he gives probably the best speeches I have ever seen a modern candidate give.

ps there is a debate tonight
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on January 05, 2008, 06:16:59 pm
Alrighty man. I don't get why you fight for barack with your life. I think he's cool. I think he gives probably the best speeches I have ever seen a modern candidate give.

ps there is a debate tonight

it's less that I defend Barack (who is kind of overhyped for a dude with conservative opinions on things) and more that the argument that he doesn't take a stance on anything is a false rightwing criticism, as is the whole HE'S NEVER BEEN IN GOVERNMENT.

EDIT HEY OMEG DIGG COMMENT

Quote
The white nationalist is a way the establishment try to contaminate Ron Paul's movement. The KKK and White supremacist are all CIA operations. Do your research.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Erave on January 05, 2008, 06:28:19 pm
I think he has stances. He just generally isn't about talking about them. Just watch his speeches. He's more about connecting with the regular people and portraying change and hope. I don't necessarily think he's going to fold if needing to talk about the issues because as you pointed out, his site has his issues clearly defined.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on January 05, 2008, 06:35:10 pm
Quote
The white nationalist is a way the establishment try to contaminate Ron Paul's movement. The KKK and White supremacist are all CIA operations. Do your research.
Thank you, Digg.

Time for more joyful messages.

<object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/y2iFhGtKO-Q&rel=1"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/y2iFhGtKO-Q&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: UPRC on January 05, 2008, 06:50:21 pm
Has this been posted yet? http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/candidate-match-game.htm

I ended up with:
1. Dennis Kucinich
2. Bill Richardson
3. Mike Gravel

Not really into American politics, so the only name that sounds vaguely familiar is Bill Richardson.


I'm going for Obama though, seems like the right guy.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on January 05, 2008, 07:03:44 pm
Has this been posted yet? http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/candidate-match-game.htm

I ended up with:
1. Dennis Kucinich
2. Bill Richardson
3. Mike Gravel

Not really into American politics, so the only name that sounds vaguely familiar is Bill Richardson.


I'm going for Obama though, seems like the right guy.

yes it's been posted although HOW DID YOU KNOW RICHARDSON.

anyways, fun huckabee facts print these out at your work

Quote
This God stuff isn't just talk with Huck. One of his first acts as governor was to block Medicaid from funding an abortion for a mentally retarded teenager who had been raped by her stepfather -- an act in direct violation of federal law, which requires states to pay for abortions in cases of rape. "The state didn't fund a single such abortion while Huckabee was governor," says Dr. William Harrison of the Fayetteville Women's Clinic. "Zero."
Quote from: 'Huckabee
Science changes with every generation and with new discoveries' date=' and God doesn't, so I'll stick with God if the two are in conflict.[/quote']
http://www.alternet.org/story/70229/?page=entire
WHEEEEEEE
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/12/magazine/16huckabee.html?pagewanted=7&_r=1&ref=magazine
how to steal an election wooord
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: kentona on January 05, 2008, 07:08:36 pm
The US will elect a democrat this time, right?  ....Right?    ....please....?
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: jamie on January 05, 2008, 07:10:26 pm
i can't believe huckabee is all of a sudden mr.serious contender
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: ase on January 05, 2008, 07:13:00 pm
Between Ron Paul, Huckabee, and Giuliani, I don't think I've ever encountered more ridiculous advertisements in my life. then again I haven't really paid attention to campaign ads before. However, I've seen quite a few ridiculous AMAZING REVOLUTIONARY PRODUC advertisements, and these guys top them.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on January 05, 2008, 08:43:03 pm
http://www.alternet.org/story/70229/?page=entire
WHEEEEEEE
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/12/magazine/16huckabee.html?pagewanted=7&_r=1&ref=magazine
how to steal an election wooord
But at least we'll all be safe from Satan when the thunder starts to roll!
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Shepperd on January 05, 2008, 08:59:03 pm
Between Ron Paul, Huckabee, and Giuliani, I don't think I've ever encountered more ridiculous advertisements in my life.
Probably because everyone knows the democrats will win this time
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Cho on January 05, 2008, 09:14:05 pm
I just watched the Huck-Chuck spot.

Someone left this comment on the video:
Quote
DAMN, sorry, Chuck. You're soooo 2006. Paul wins. Here are some BADASS facts about Paul, Chuck:

*Ron Paul doesn't go the gym. He stays fit by exercising his civil rights.
*Ron Paul delivers babies without his hands. He simply reads them the Bill of Rights and they crawl out in anticipation of freedom.
*Ron Paul doesn't cut taxes. He kills them with his bare hands.
*When Ron Paul takes a shower, he doesn't get wet...the water gets Ron Paul.

....yeah.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Wash Cycle on January 05, 2008, 09:31:31 pm
http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Kucinich_suggests_tonight%27s_Democratic_debate_unfair%2C_files_FCC_charges_versus_ABC

yeah cool stuff

they're barring him even though he has won THEIR OWN FUCKING POLLS in the past.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Xeno|Soft on January 05, 2008, 09:38:36 pm
huckabee only one because chucknorris was behind him...its only logical.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=MDUQW8LUMs8

LMAO

"When chuck norris does a push up, he isn't going up, he's pushing the earth down."
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Doktormartini on January 05, 2008, 09:39:33 pm
http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Kucinich_suggests_tonight%27s_Democratic_debate_unfair%2C_files_FCC_charges_versus_ABC

yeah cool stuff

they're barring him even though he has won THEIR OWN FUCKING POLLS in the past.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=2RXFWojq3Uc
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Jester on January 05, 2008, 09:59:26 pm
i have no idea whats going on in any of this (lol ignorant non-american) but do ANY politicians record their own advert speeches? the two i just listened to were HEY IM A GUY AND I SUPPORT THIS MESSAGE
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on January 05, 2008, 10:17:00 pm
http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Kucinich_suggests_tonight%27s_Democratic_debate_unfair%2C_files_FCC_charges_versus_ABC

yeah cool stuff

they're barring him even though he has won THEIR OWN FUCKING POLLS in the past.

you can't be in a debate unless you're scoring above 5% (or some number) which he's not. winning online polls is not an accurate measure at all.

so yeah doktormartini THANKS FOR THE YOUTUBE but when Chris Dodd and NOT CONFIRMED has more delegates in Iowa, they aren't going to include Kucinich.

i have no idea whats going on in any of this (lol ignorant non-american) but do ANY politicians record their own advert speeches? the two i just listened to were HEY IM A GUY AND I SUPPORT THIS MESSAGE

it's rare but it happens. there's no need for a presidential candidate to waste time talking when he can hire someone who probably has a more appealing voice illustrate his platforms.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Jester on January 05, 2008, 10:18:32 pm
i guess. it just seems really cold and distant and impersonal to me. i guess that's a culture thing, though.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on January 05, 2008, 10:26:32 pm
i guess. it just seems really cold and distant and impersonal to me. i guess that's a culture thing, though.

well you have to keep in mind, they've sold almost EVERYONE they need to sell to get their votes, except for independents. now there are a few people who, yes, will want the candidate to speak for themself, but there are also those who are drawn in by brilliant promises, the same kind of dude who gets kind of excited by just a message and graphics. so you have about half and half; we only link the ones that are hilarious (and usually those are the message/graphics ones) so you aren't seeing the ones where people talk.

that and what's more effective? an ad where the President says (like all Presidents) "I will keep this country safe" or

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKs-bTL-pRg

he rode into the White House on this ad.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on January 05, 2008, 10:28:09 pm
*Ron Paul doesn't go the gym. He stays fit by exercising his civil rights.
I thought that one was really funny.

EDIT: you know, it's really amazing to me how important TV advertisements are to the American public. They're insignificant in Dutch politics. It's much more important here to simply be seen on independent TV shows and in the newspapers. They do run advertisements, but they're usually crammed into tiny "political message" time slots, which are equally distributed to the contesting parties.

Last time we had elections, there was one party (the VVD, a liberal party that suffered huge losses) that took a large TV advertisement offensive, showing about three per commercial block. It gave them absolutely nothing.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Jester on January 05, 2008, 10:34:26 pm
well you have to keep in mind, they've sold almost EVERYONE they need to sell to get their votes, except for independents. now there are a few people who, yes, will want the candidate to speak for themself, but there are also those who are drawn in by brilliant promises, the same kind of dude who gets kind of excited by just a message and graphics. so you have about half and half; we only link the ones that are hilarious (and usually those are the message/graphics ones) so you aren't seeing the ones where people talk.

that and what's more effective? an ad where the President says (like all Presidents) "I will keep this country safe" or

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKs-bTL-pRg

he rode into the White House on this ad.
holy shit did the girl explode or what

ok im done with this topic, have fun, america!
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: jamie on January 05, 2008, 10:38:36 pm
Quote
*Ron Paul doesn't go the gym. He stays fit by exercising his civil rights.
I thought that one was really funny.

yes that one was pretty funny.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on January 05, 2008, 10:42:22 pm
you know, it's really amazing to me how important TV advertisements are to the American public. They're insignificant in Dutch politics. It's much more important here to simply be seen on independent TV shows and in the newspapers. They do run advertisements, but they're usually crammed into tiny "political message" time slots, which are equally distributed to the contesting parties.

Last time we had elections, there was one party (the VVD, a liberal party that suffered huge losses) that took a large TV advertisement offensive, showing about three per commercial block. It gave them absolutely nothing.

well the Netherlands operates on a proportional representation system. there aren't two sides but many many sides, so you can no longer appeal to the single issue voter. if some candidate ran a women's rights ad, the other candidates who were for abortion would do the exact same thing. since you no longer have the single issue almost exclusively to your party, it's not worth just flash ads to attract a voter; you need to illustrate your platform and philosophy more.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Shepperd on January 05, 2008, 10:46:48 pm
DADA, I THINK IT IS BECAUSE LIKE HOLLYWOOD, AMERICA LIKES FLASHY MATERIAL!!!  !
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Hempknight on January 05, 2008, 11:13:25 pm
The Republicans are going to fumble this election on purpose because they couldn't get anybody that would toe the party line exactly to run that wasn't a mormon, and there is a huge opportunity to let the war fail on a Democratic watch... Think of what a smear that will be on the Dems in 2012.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Cho on January 05, 2008, 11:16:17 pm
EDIT: you know, it's really amazing to me how important TV advertisements are to the American public. They're insignificant in Dutch politics. It's much more important here to simply be seen on independent TV shows and in the newspapers. They do run advertisements, but they're usually crammed into tiny "political message" time slots, which are equally distributed to the contesting parties.

Last time we had elections, there was one party (the VVD, a liberal party that suffered huge losses) that took a large TV advertisement offensive, showing about three per commercial block. It gave them absolutely nothing.

Well, the FCC has some really retarded policies about political advertisement. Like, stations have to run advertisements of Federal elections, and if Candidate A places a spot on a station, that station has to take a spot for Candidate B and put it in a timeslot of equal value. So, if Candidate A places a spot during TOP RATED SHOW, and Candidate B gets to put a spot during TOP RATED SHOW too. (Also, Politicians get the lowest rate possible, which means they can afford to put more ads on. THANKS FCC!)
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Grunthor on January 05, 2008, 11:25:01 pm
Not that it matters much, but Romney won the Wyoming caucus today.  Wyoming caucus result (http://www.yahoo.com/s/776062)

Quote from: ' Yahoo
The former Massachusetts governor won eight delegates' date=' former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson got two and California Rep. Duncan Hunter won one, meaning no other candidate could beat Romney. Caucuses were still being held to decide all 12 delegates at stake.[/quote']

I really hope anyone but Huckabee and Paul win the nomination for the Republicans. 
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Drevean on January 06, 2008, 01:12:38 am
Huckabee all the way.

Dude, CHUCK NORRIS was standing right behind him at Mike's little victory speach at the Iowa caucus.

That and all these little quizes always say he's the candidate I relate to most.

Obama seems more respectable than anyone though, so... depending on how things go I MAY actually end up voting for Barack instead.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Vellfire on January 06, 2008, 01:25:05 am
I thought we as a nation had figured out Chuck Norris had no real importance by now...didn't we?
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Xeno|Soft on January 06, 2008, 01:57:11 am
I thought we as a nation had figured out Chuck Norris had no real importance by now...didn't we?

dude, are you looking for a round house kick to the face?
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on January 06, 2008, 02:01:10 am
Huckabee all the way.

Dude, CHUCK NORRIS was standing right behind him at Mike's little victory speach at the Iowa caucus.

That and all these little quizes always say he's the candidate I relate to most.

Obama seems more respectable than anyone though, so... depending on how things go I MAY actually end up voting for Barack instead.

congrats you are the closest to the worst human being running for office atm.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on January 06, 2008, 02:13:15 am
congrats you are the closest to the worst human being running for office atm.

Quote from: IRC convo with Jeff about Huckabee
[22:25] <Ryan> ahah jeff i'm glad to know you support a guy who wants to build more prisons and have them privatized
[22:25] <~Jeff> What is wrong with that, Ryan?
[22:25] <%[w]cycle> building more prisons is bad
[22:25] <Ryan> he's also against drug education because "it doesn't work"
[22:26] <~Jeff> Thats because it doesn't.
[22:26] <~Jeff> Actually I a pro legalization of all drugs but thanks for assuming.
[22:27] <~Jeff> Abstinance doesn't work either.
[22:27] <~Jeff> Sure it is. It is better to focus on family values.
[22:30] <+Lars[sleep> hey Ryan who do you support
[22:30] <~Jeff> Ryan supports hilary
[22:30] <Ryan> as far as front runners obama/edwards
[22:30] <Ryan> are the best
[22:30] <Ryan> hillary is pretty shit
[22:30] <Ryan> she's still better than all of the republicans but she's really mediocre as far as the democratic candidates
[22:30] <~Jeff> hahaha
[22:31] <~Jeff> man you are pretty ignorant to think hilary is better than the republicans
[22:31] <Ryan>  :)
[22:31] <Ryan> if only hillary was pro-torture and wanted to fuck the middle/lower class even more
[22:31] <Ryan> big business heh heh
[22:32] * Jeff sets mode: +b Ryan!*@*
[22:32] * Ryan was kicked by Jeff (I'll thank you to come back when you can presnet your own opinison rather than just be a tool and spout anti-republican crap.)
[22:33] <%[w]cycle> why did you do that man
[22:34] <~Jeff> wc: because I can't stand morons who are like I DO NOT KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT REALITY BUT PEOPLE ARE SAYING REPUBLICANS SUCK SO IT MUST BE TRUE
[22:34] <~Jeff> Which is pretty much exactly what he was doing.
[22:34] <~Jeff> He has done no research at all on republicans
[22:34] <~Jeff> he just assumes they are bad
[22:34] <~Jeff> and sees fit to bash anyone who likes them
[22:37] <~Jeff> I am pretty proud of being a republican and I consider myself to be a pretty smart and informed fellow.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on January 06, 2008, 02:19:48 am
jeff are you kidding me.

http://www.alternet.org/story/70229/?page=entire

concentration camp for gays
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on January 06, 2008, 02:21:29 am
i guess by family values he means quarantining HIV/AIDS patients and sending the gays/mexicans to concentration camps
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Marcus on January 06, 2008, 02:26:06 am
Wasn't the UK deciding on something like this back in the late 80s (deporting "nancy boys" and such)?
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Drevean on January 06, 2008, 02:42:37 am
:crazy:​  Wow I really hope Chuck never sees that... He might make your head explode telekinetically!  Please be more careful... I don't want you to get hurt is all...

Chuck aside, being a Republican doesn't mean shit.  Maybe Bush fucked up the image but I don't care for any of the democratic candidates except Obama.  I like Mike and Mitt more than Hilary for sure. 

And I'll be honest, I hate the idea of gay marriage.  Those two words shouldn't even be in the same sentence, let alone right next to eachother in the sentence.  I know there are bigger issues than that but I don't like it at all and the Republicans will make sure all that nonsense goes away.

Also, I guess the whole Ron Paul thing was a big joke.  "Hope for America"... hehe... good one.  Is he even a real person?  :fogetlaugh:
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on January 06, 2008, 02:50:50 am
Quote
And I'll be honest, I hate the idea of gay marriage.  Those two words shouldn't even be in the same sentence, let alone right next to eachother in the sentence.  I know there are bigger issues than that but I don't like it at all and the Republicans will make sure all that nonsense goes away.
concentration
camp
for
gays
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on January 06, 2008, 02:56:06 am
is anyone watching the democratic debate? it appears Obama and Edwards are buddying up as are Clinton and Richardson
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Doktormartini on January 06, 2008, 02:58:19 am
I am watching it I wanna see Kucinich :(
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on January 06, 2008, 02:59:13 am
richardson is trying so hard for vp on a clinton ticket :(
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: headphonics on January 06, 2008, 03:00:51 am
:crazy:​  Wow I really hope Chuck never sees that... He might make your head explode telekinetically!  Please be more careful... I don't want you to get hurt is all...

Chuck aside, being a Republican doesn't mean shit.  Maybe Bush fucked up the image but I don't care for any of the democratic candidates except Obama.  I like Mike and Mitt more than Hilary for sure. 

And I'll be honest, I hate the idea of gay marriage.  Those two words shouldn't even be in the same sentence, let alone right next to eachother in the sentence.  I know there are bigger issues than that but I don't like it at all and the Republicans will make sure all that nonsense goes away.

Also, I guess the whole Ron Paul thing was a big joke.  "Hope for America"... hehe... good one.  Is he even a real person?  :fogetlaugh:
man i def feel you on that front


ill let anybody do anything they want i dont care bug my phone get rid of all the immigrants just keep them fucken gays out of my chapels
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: xanque on January 06, 2008, 03:16:26 am
And I'll be honest, I hate the idea of gay marriage.  Those two words shouldn't even be in the same sentence, let alone right next to eachother in the sentence.  I know there are bigger issues than that but I don't like it at all and the Republicans will make sure all that nonsense goes away.
Do you honestly think George Bush gives a shit whether homosexuals can marry or not?  It's knee-jerk issues like this that republicans bring up to keep the masses from paying attention to real issues, like our fucked up economy.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Grunthor on January 06, 2008, 04:28:22 am
I am watching it I wanna see Kucinich :(

Keep dreaming.  The fact that the guy got 0% of the vote in Iowa should have given him a fucking clue that people aren't going to vote for him.  That's why he wasn't invited to the show.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: crone_lover720 on January 06, 2008, 04:49:35 am
oh man, that was so bad Jeff. not a great way to show off your superior republican knowledge!!

by the way, Flykite is Drevean. He once posted this:
Quote
BLACK PEOPLE, or AFRICAN AMERICANS on the other hand can do much better.  If they had elected a BLACK PERSON instead of a N****R they wouldn't be in this mess.

Sometimes it's hard to tell the difference... oh well, glad I don't live in Detroit because I hear it's been going under for quite some time now.
don't expect to convince him of anything reasonable!


Anyway, I watched most of the Democratic debate, which went so much better than the Republican one. I feel the only person who got a little nasty was hillary, and that's probably because she's not doing so well. And yeah, Obama and Edwards were teaming up and defending eachother. in all I think the debate went pretty well for both obama and edwards, though hillary and richardson weren't that bad either. but richardson sure is a jokester!

Edit: speaking of the debates, I wonder if good ol' Charlie is still gonna have a job next time around??
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: `~congresman Ron paul~~ on January 06, 2008, 04:56:46 am
I think Hillary is on the way out. I will be interested to see whether it's an Edwards/Obama or Obama/Edwards campaign, though.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on January 06, 2008, 05:00:06 am
i don't think Edwards has the finances or support to pull off a presidential campaign vs obama. unless something very unexpected happens (such as edwards winning new hampshire and south carolina)
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: `~congresman Ron paul~~ on January 06, 2008, 05:02:58 am
No, I meant that I will be interested in seeing which one becomes Pres and which one becomes VP, I think it is inevitable that one of them will get the other. It just depends on who does well in New Hampshire.

Apparently NH polling has Clinton trailing, but she could theoretically pull off a close victory which would put us in a very interesting race. If NH outs Clinton then that is a pretty massive blow that I don't think she would be able to recover from.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on January 06, 2008, 05:06:30 am
Clinton can't survive with anything other than a first place finish, imo.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Doktormartini on January 06, 2008, 05:52:17 am
Quote
5:45 pm ET: High drama behind the scenes at ABC, barely an hour before the first debate. Dennis Kucinich filed for a temporary restraining order with a judge here in New Hampshire, claiming it was a violation of FCC rules to keep him off the debate stage. That prompted a wave of panic among the folks who have spent months planning tonight's live events. David Westin, the president of ABC News and a lawyer, personally worked the phones and got the judge to dismiss it. Elapsed time: about 15 minutes. Years off our collective lives: Maybe 15, as well.
lol yeah!!!
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on January 06, 2008, 05:59:39 am
Kucinich has seriously NO CHANCE. there was no reason to include him in the debate. he's not a serious contender!
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Doktormartini on January 06, 2008, 06:05:13 am
:( I know technically he has no chance but still, fair is fair.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on January 06, 2008, 06:19:41 am
:( I know technically he has no chance but still, fair is fair.

ugh you fucking guy.

Kucinich polls into the margin of error. do you understand this? he will not be President.

to allow him to enter the debate would be to allow any other fucking person who wants to be President into debate. the line is drawn at a certain percentage because you have to draw the line SOMEWHERE and that's a good place to have one! Kucinich wasn't invited because he's polling complete shit. he'll do better in NH but he's losing by every concievable metric, why on earth would it be FAIR to let him in?

jesus christ I wish I had the mental filter you do for a day just to see shit. I bet you watch Rodney King's beating and think "jesus I hope they don't hit a cow with their billy clubs by accident" or something asfdasdfafff you fucking guy.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on January 06, 2008, 11:07:27 am
Huckabee all the way.

Dude, CHUCK NORRIS was standing right behind him at Mike's little victory speach at the Iowa caucus.

That and all these little quizes always say he's the candidate I relate to most.

Obama seems more respectable than anyone though, so... depending on how things go I MAY actually end up voting for Barack instead.
The reason why I disagree with this position is because you're going to be voting for a person rather than the message behind the person. While it's true that you will want the person to represent your country to be a likable man, it's much more important that this man is actually going to do things that will make your country better. And the question is whether Huckabee will be this person.

I suggest you read up on his positions. You'll see that even though he appears to be a warm and likable man, he might not actually represent your ideology. Republicans generally want to benefit rich and upper-class people at the cost of middle- and lower-class people. They also want to restrict the rights of minorities and slow down the natural course of progression. If you consider yourself to be part of the lower- or middle-class, you most definitely do not benefit from voting for Huckabee.

And I'll be honest, I hate the idea of gay marriage.  Those two words shouldn't even be in the same sentence, let alone right next to eachother in the sentence.  I know there are bigger issues than that but I don't like it at all and the Republicans will make sure all that nonsense goes away.
That might be true, but what you must consider here is whether you take your right to marry for granted. You're not gay, so you probably do. How would you feel if you were stripped of this right? In reality, you must accept that gay people are human beings too, just like you. To disagree with that is to discriminate.

I'm not surprised to see that there are people who really believe that gay people should not be allowed to marry. Discrimination, just like racism, is very alive, despite how we're seeing a black presidential candidate gain significant momentum for the first time in history.

If history taught us anything, it's that discrimination ultimately leads to loss of life, which in turn reveals how useless it really is to treat another specific group of human beings differently. This is something we're reminded of time and again. Think of Kenia, think of Rwanda, think of Darfur, think of South Africa, but also of Germany and Turkey and Bosnia. I don't think I'm exaggerating by referring to these events, because they were instigated by the same way of thinking: that some people are lesser than others, and that they deserve to be treated with less respect than others for that reason.

EDIT: some extra food for thought: even if the person elected will constitutionally define marriage as a bond between a male and a female, gay marriage is still going to become possible at some point. The only difference is that it will be a bit further into the future.

Why is that? The reason is because mankind naturally progresses all the time through its ability to realize that things can be better and act upon that knowledge. Ultimately, all of mankind would benefit from there not being any discrimination, as people are able to contribute to society in the most efficient way if they're fully happy, and able to work at the best of their ability and spend money at the best of their ability. Discrimination hampers this, and it's for this reason that it will ultimately be fought against. It could be today, or it could be tomorrow. It's due to there being a general benefit to all people that has caused discrimination to ultimately globally decrease everywhere.

This is why the racial discrimination of black people was abolished in America. Of course, racism will probably never truly go away, but it's likely that current modern governments are going to keep going by the ideology of equality among people.

What I'm saying is that not allowing gay people to marry prevents natural progression. Maybe you realize that it is, but just don't know the consequences. It's important to know that with no progression, there's no modernity.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Shepperd on January 06, 2008, 06:06:54 pm
DADA, I agree with your post, pretty thoughtful, except the problem in your post is that the "human naturally progresses" concept is an idealist/liberal paradigm, and not everyone thinks this way. Realists have a more pesimistic paradigm in which humans always fall in a cycle that always ends with destruction.
There is scientific evidence for both paradigms, so that leaves there to be a debate on how people see their kind as they advance in the future. Historically, realists won this debate, but there seems to be gaps in time in which liberalists had their moments.
Think of how USA saw herself with the world before and after 9/11.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on January 06, 2008, 06:16:56 pm
DADA, I agree with your post, pretty thoughtful, except the problem in your post is that the "human naturally progresses" concept is an idealist/liberal paradigm, and not everyone thinks this way. Realists have a more pesimistic paradigm in which humans always fall in a cycle that always ends with destruction.
There is scientific evidence for both paradigms, so that leaves there to be a debate on how people see their kind as they advance in the future. Historically, realists won this debate, but there seems to be gaps in time in which liberalists had their moments.
Think of how USA saw herself with the world before and after 9/11.

basically yeah omeg not everyone believes in gradualism just ask marmot.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on January 06, 2008, 06:22:40 pm
believes as in doesn't think it occurs or as in I PREFER REVOLUTION
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on January 06, 2008, 07:19:28 pm
believes as in doesn't think it occurs or as in I PREFER REVOLUTION

i posted something on livejournal about being a firm believer in gradualism and he and joe jumped on me about how VOTING DOESN'T WORK BECAUSE IT CREATES THE SAME HEGEMONIES etc you'll have to ask him.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: kentona on January 06, 2008, 07:59:29 pm
And I'll be honest, I hate the idea of gay marriage.  Those two words shouldn't even be in the same sentence, let alone right next to eachother in the sentence.  I know there are bigger issues than that but I don't like it at all and the Republicans will make sure all that nonsense goes away.
Are you serious?  WTF?  !!!

Yes, let's all use a bronze age morality code to define our modern age society.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on January 06, 2008, 08:51:20 pm
DADA, I agree with your post, pretty thoughtful, except the problem in your post is that the "human naturally progresses" concept is an idealist/liberal paradigm, and not everyone thinks this way. Realists have a more pesimistic paradigm in which humans always fall in a cycle that always ends with destruction.
I didn't even know about that, to be honest. The idea of natural progression towards the best possible circumstances with the resources that are available seems to make much more sense than anything else. Isn't it in the nature of the human being to advance? Then what have we been doing since our inception? Why were the slaves freed and the homosexuals given acceptance? And why was racial discrimination of black people abolished in the United States and elsewhere? This is progression, isn't it? And all these things have two things in common: they're difficult to revert, and they were beneficial to society as a whole. I can't think of how you could argue against this.

Anyway, maybe I'm just missing the point completely here. What's the name of the other theory? Because I'd like to go read up on how they explain themselves.

EDIT: by the way, let's not debate this here, I don't really know anything about this. I thought there was probably an accepted theory about this, but I didn't even know for sure. This is just something that seemed to make sense to me, but I haven't actually researched it. But I'd like to, so if you can help me do that, that'd be great.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Wash Cycle on January 06, 2008, 09:42:24 pm
You're likeable enough, Hilary

rofl
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Shepperd on January 06, 2008, 10:09:44 pm
I didn't even know about that, to be honest. The idea of natural progression towards the best possible circumstances with the resources that are available seems to make much more sense than anything else. Isn't it in the nature of the human being to advance? Then what have we been doing since our inception? Why were the slaves freed and the homosexuals given acceptance? And why was racial discrimination of black people abolished in the United States and elsewhere? This is progression, isn't it? And all these things have two things in common: they're difficult to revert, and they were beneficial to society as a whole. I can't think of how you could argue against this.

Anyway, maybe I'm just missing the point completely here. What's the name of the other theory? Because I'd like to go read up on how they explain themselves.
Political Realism.
Although I might be mixing things up a bit as well. Realism is an international theory, about the relation between predominant states concerning the dichotomy between war and peace.
It is a theory that has a pesimistic view on human beings in which they will always end up causing wars. That we never learn. Realists, don't give a shit about negros, homosexuals, abortion, or any other moral issue. They are all about the possesion of power, military power. They believe that the direction of the world depends solely on the predominant states, terrorism action from lesser states is not even a big thing for realists (at least for the purist, there are those variations that consider it important).
But well I was bringing this international theory to the national level, but the point in my previous post is to show you that the "human progress" paradigm is not embraced universally at all, and that the main actors of our world as we can see nowadays with these wars and the conflict with iran, do not share this paradigm.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Drevean on January 06, 2008, 10:18:48 pm
I didn't mean for my comments to send the topic off topic for that break few hours... but...
I don't mind gay people.  I've been around them, and they're entertaining.  I accept them for who they are.  What I don't like is them being legally "married" and getting tax breaks for it.  Those benefits are for a man and woman who, likely, will have a child or two someday.  I don't think gays should be allowed to adopt and raise a child... sorry, I just don't.  It's not natural.

I don't care if I'm surrounded on both sides with anal exploring fudge packing faggots as neighbors in a house who consider themselves a "couple."  But they shouldn't be called "married," have the same benefits of a legit man and woman, and shouldn't be raising children.

Sorry if it seemed like I just hated gay people for a second, I just don't believe it's beneficial on a progressive scale for them to ever be allowed to marry.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on January 06, 2008, 10:28:34 pm
the main actors of our world as we can see nowadays with these wars and the conflict with iran, do not share this paradigm.
Well, I do believe that human beings will always be waging war with one another. That's not the point. What I'm talking about here is not even on the individualistic level. It's a subconscious direction that all of a society goes towards.

It may be so that Huckabee becomes the next president. When that happens, gay people won't be able to marry, for one thing. But in the future, perhaps the next president or maybe a generation further down, they will be given that right. And then it might be taken away, but eventually they'll end up having it and keeping it.

Sorry if it seemed like I just hated gay people for a second, I just don't believe it's beneficial on a progressive scale for them to ever be allowed to marry.
Alright, I'm sorry you don't think that it is.

A marriage isn't a marriage until some kind of authority says that it is. It just so happens that in America, this authority has said that gay people can't marry. I find this unfair and unnecessary. Not allowing gay people to marry is a form of discrimination, as it excludes people on ethnic grounds over which they have no control. And I'm strongly against this kind of discrimination, no matter what the case.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Vellfire on January 06, 2008, 10:34:49 pm
I didn't mean for my comments to send the topic off topic for that break few hours... but...
I don't mind gay people.  I've been around them, and they're entertaining.  I accept them for who they are.  What I don't like is them being legally "married" and getting tax breaks for it.  Those benefits are for a man and woman who, likely, will have a child or two someday.  I don't think gays should be allowed to adopt and raise a child... sorry, I just don't.  It's not natural.

I don't care if I'm surrounded on both sides with anal exploring fudge packing faggots as neighbors in a house who consider themselves a "couple."  But they shouldn't be called "married," have the same benefits of a legit man and woman, and shouldn't be raising children.

Sorry if it seemed like I just hated gay people for a second, I just don't believe it's beneficial on a progressive scale for them to ever be allowed to marry.

i can't



i mean i really want to reply to this




but i can't even come up with words for how completely wrong this is...think about some of the people who get married, and then tell me that a legitimate gay couple isn't as worthy of marriage as they are...and as for the kids thing...think about those same people who get married and shove out fifteen kids they can't afford, but a legitimate gay couple can't get married and adopt a single, needy kid after going through a screening process that proves they can afford and care for that child

how does that make ANY sense to you
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Wash Cycle on January 06, 2008, 10:37:29 pm
how does that make ANY sense to you
because the bible says no (I dont know I am going out on a limb here)

seriously though I dont know any atheist that hates gays or doesnt think they should have the same rights as other people. there is a possible correlation here though I'm not entirely sure I am waiting for the results to come back from the lab still
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on January 06, 2008, 10:45:09 pm
seriously though I dont know any atheist that hates gays or doesnt think they should have the same rights as other people.
I do. (If we're going to play the "everybody I know agrees" game, let's be fair.)
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Wash Cycle on January 06, 2008, 10:48:20 pm
I do. (If we're going to play the "everybody I know agrees" game, let's be fair.)
I'm sorry to hear that man. Because while discriminating against people based on religion is tragically misguided it is understandable imo, but having no reason for said hatred is just pathetic.

also considering the second half of that thought sarcasms no?
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Shepperd on January 06, 2008, 11:04:55 pm
WC, people don't hate gays just because the bible says so
They may also hate them because it offends their masculinity, or find it completely awkward, or let's put it this way: It offends nature (not god, just MOTHER NATURE (very misterio))

I'm pro gay marriage, because I don't give a damn about them.
As for having kids, now this is an issue I don't like. I mean, I don't like the idea of a kid having 2 fathers. They need a maternal figure. It is the way nature works. Now the idea of a kid with 2 mothers seems more apropiate, although still not as much as the standard heterosexual family.
However, even though I don't like this, I am not going to stand against it. WHO ARE YOU TO TELL THEM WHAT TO DO. We have equal human rights, and there are absolutely no reason to make distinctions based on the color of your skin or your sexual orientation.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on January 06, 2008, 11:17:08 pm
I don't mind gay people. 

I've been around them, and they're entertaining. 

Those benefits are for a man and woman who, likely, will have a child or two someday.

I don't care if I'm surrounded on both sides with anal exploring fudge packing faggots as neighbors in a house who consider themselves a "couple." 

this is like a hundley fakepost.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Wash Cycle on January 06, 2008, 11:53:56 pm
WC, people don't hate gays just because the bible says so
They may also hate them because it offends their masculinity, or find it completely awkward, or let's put it this way: It offends nature (not god, just MOTHER NATURE (very misterio))
if it offends their masculinity then they have some serious issues with their own sexuality and some lingering immaturity/possible oedipus/electra complex I would say

but lets not digress any further from the topic at hand. I cant wait for the hilary ship to finally sink on tuesday

anyone else agree?
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: jamie on January 06, 2008, 11:55:18 pm
fudge packer is the most appetising insult ever.



also this topic will get back on track after new hampshire in a couple of days i expect.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on January 06, 2008, 11:57:18 pm
yeah tuesday is new hampshire. any predictions?

as horrible as it is i have a hunch that Paul will do better than expected. New Hampshire is a very libertarian state!
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on January 07, 2008, 12:03:03 am
yeah, he might take...fourth...

all the polls except rasmussen have him at fifth, though not by a great margin.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Grunthor on January 07, 2008, 12:09:56 am
yeah tuesday is new hampshire. any predictions?


Predictions:

Republicans
1. McCain  30%
2. Romney  28%
3. Huckabee 15%
4. Guiliani 11%
5. Paul 10%
6. Thompson 6%

Democrats
1. Obama  35%
2. Clinton 30%
3. Edwards 28%
4. Richardson 7%
5. Kucinich 0%
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Wash Cycle on January 07, 2008, 12:12:44 am
the demographics of NH are very different from those of Iowa

I really doubt they will vote exactly the same way (though the humor is appreciated)
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Shepperd on January 07, 2008, 12:24:18 am
if it offends their masculinity then they have some serious issues with their own sexuality and some lingering immaturity/possible oedipus/electra complex I would say
sure, so?
the point is that homophobia is digressive
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on January 07, 2008, 12:28:17 am
(http://www.gamingw.net/pubaccess/57278/761540cf2c870e0439e7864779039e3b50e39bb8.gif)
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Marcus on January 07, 2008, 05:22:13 am
Man, did anyone else watch the Simpson's episode about the primaries?  It was terrible and it only made my hatred of the show grow to insane heights.  One quote in particular:

Lisa: It's in the constitution.
Bart: I thought the Patriot Act destroyed the constitution.

FAIL HUMOR IS FAIL.  FOX should go on strike until the writer's union provides capable writers.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Sarhan on January 07, 2008, 09:49:56 am
Man, did anyone else watch the Simpson's episode about the primaries?  It was terrible and it only made my hatred of the show grow to insane heights.  One quote in particular:

Lisa: It's in the constitution.
Bart: I thought the Patriot Act destroyed the constitution.

FAIL HUMOR IS FAIL.  FOX should go on strike until the writer's union provides capable writers.

Unfortunately, I watched it just because I heard Jon Stewart would be a guest star. It was a shitty episode and Stewart was only in it for a minute (and even that wasn't entertaining).

Sorry for the derail, but aren't the Family Guy writers (including McFarlane) all going on strike? From what I've heard, Fox isn't going to budge and they're going to continue writing episodes with new writers and with new voice actors.

On topic - Go Obama. I'm glad to see he's taken the lead over Hillary after the NH debates. She seems way too irritable to me, while Edwards and Obama just take it easy and knock her arguments down. Pretty entertaining to watch.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Xeno|Soft on January 07, 2008, 04:16:59 pm
I dunno, I can't help but think this all depends on three factors

How much does america hate/like the concept of a black president?

How much does america hate/like the concept of a woman telling them what to do?

How much we hate/like the idea of republicans taking office again?

I really wish for change, I'm really tired of this Corprate centered America...it's so awful.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Marmot on January 07, 2008, 04:48:20 pm
Political Realism.
Although I might be mixing things up a bit as well. Realism is an international theory, about the relation between predominant states concerning the dichotomy between war and peace.
It is a theory that has a pesimistic view on human beings in which they will always end up causing wars. That we never learn. Realists, don't give a shit about negros, homosexuals, abortion, or any other moral issue. They are all about the possesion of power, military power. They believe that the direction of the world depends solely on the predominant states, terrorism action from lesser states is not even a big thing for realists (at least for the purist, there are those variations that consider it important).
But well I was bringing this international theory to the national level, but the point in my previous post is to show you that the "human progress" paradigm is not embraced universally at all, and that the main actors of our world as we can see nowadays with these wars and the conflict with iran, do not share this paradigm.

all existing states act through realpolitik. i dont think it has anything to do with a "pessmistic attitude", it has more to do with the present order of things etc. realpolitik can be justified ideologically with "progressive" paradigms by the ruling class etc.

people who are not part of the elite/ruling class that believe idyeologicall "political realism" are really sad  creatures, because in their hatred for humanity, they ironically hate themselves too.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on January 07, 2008, 07:09:10 pm
ron paul supporters chase sean hannity down the street

<object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/aUXKddQvC1o&rel=1"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/aUXKddQvC1o&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: The Truth on January 07, 2008, 08:41:05 pm
all existing states act through realpolitik. i dont think it has anything to do with a "pessmistic attitude", it has more to do with the present order of things etc. realpolitik can be justified ideologically with "progressive" paradigms by the ruling class etc.

people who are not part of the elite/ruling class that believe idyeologicall "political realism" are really sad  creatures, because in their hatred for humanity, they ironically hate themselves too.

Believe me, nobody here believes there is one of the world's greatest hegemonies happening in the United States right now more than me, but I would like to believe this can be solved through us getting out the vote.

If this doesn't change in the next 10 years MAYBE we will need more action


Quote
ron paul supporters chase sean hannity down the street


my friend who loves ron paul sent me this saying "I was going to go to that but i had to work lololol"

I do not like him very much anymore

(although fuck sean hannity)
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on January 07, 2008, 08:47:22 pm
I feel bad for Sean Hannity thanks a lot Ron Paul.

WHY WONT THEY TREAT US SERIOUSLY *forms lynch mob to chase celebrity with sticks*
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Erave on January 07, 2008, 08:50:17 pm
I feel bad for Sean Hannity thanks a lot Ron Paul.

WHY WONT THEY TREAT US SERIOUSLY *forms lynch mob to chase celebrity with sticks*

I wouldn't be surprised if Ron Paul had this video on his You Tube channel with a comment of something like.. "The people have spoken, the revolution has begun!"
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Rye Bread on January 07, 2008, 09:47:38 pm
Trying to find out if Obama was in support of the smoking ban in bars in Illinois, since that probably decides whether or not I actually go and vote for him.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: `~congresman Ron paul~~ on January 07, 2008, 09:48:37 pm
i really can't feel bad for hannity

disgusting human being chased by idiots who cares he deserves it
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Grunthor on January 07, 2008, 10:09:52 pm
Trying to find out if Obama was in support of the smoking ban in bars in Illinois, since that probably decides whether or not I actually go and vote for him.

That wouldn't be possible for him to vote on that since he wasn't in the Illinois senate at the time the ban was passed.  As far as support for smoking bans though, he has said that it's up to states and not the federal government.  If your choice is Huckabee or Obama though in the general election then you might want to go Obama.  Huckabee has stated that he wants to do a nation wide smoking ban.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on January 07, 2008, 11:25:11 pm
Quote
Facing the prospect of defeat in tomorrow’s primary, Hillary Clinton just made her strongest suggestion yet that the next president may face a terrorist attack – and that she would be the best person to handle it.She pointed out that the day after Gordon Brown took office as the British prime minister, there was a failed attempt at a double bombing in London and Glasgow.

“I don’t think it was by accident that Al Qaeda decided to test the new prime minister,” she said. “They watch our elections as closely as we do, maybe more closely than some of our fellows citizens do…. Let’s not forget you’re hiring a president not just to do what a candidate says during the election, you want a president to be there when the chips are down.”

hahahaha. VOTE FOR ME OR THE TERRORISTS WILL WIN. is this giuliani or clinton talking? christ.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Grunthor on January 08, 2008, 12:21:54 am
VOTE FOR ME OR THE TERRORISTS WILL WIN.

Didn't Bush copyright that phrase during the last election?  I'd think that the candidates would like to stay as far away from saying shit like that given how often Bush invoked that crap and how unpopular he is.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Shepperd on January 08, 2008, 12:28:12 am
jesus christ how much do I hate hillary
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: kentona on January 08, 2008, 02:56:26 am
Dave Barry covers the primaries:

http://www.miamiherald.com/living/columnists/dave_barry/

A humor columnist's tongue-in-cheek look at the election so far.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: The Truth on January 08, 2008, 03:01:42 am
I am at a big (900 inside 500 outside) Obama rally tonight and as he is speaking up to 15 people stand up and start chanting [sic] "Abortion is abomination" over and over and over until they were escorted out by the police. This was especially embaressing and irritating to me as I'm pretty sure I was one of the only other pro life people in there. It was a disgusting display as they would not let Barack speak and were ridiculously rude about it.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Cheesy Doritos on January 08, 2008, 03:57:10 am
Man, i'm not really hugely active in politics, but from what i've seen, Obama all the way. Hilary has some good points too, but I REALLY like Obama. He just seems like a nice, easygoing kind of guy, besides which most of his beliefs coincide with mine.

And, of course, he's a Democrat. Also, it'd obviously be a HUGE step for anti-racism etc if he is President. It's great to see the way things are moving!
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on January 08, 2008, 06:03:33 am
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLg-31WKfXQ

hahahahahahahahha
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: `~congresman Ron paul~~ on January 08, 2008, 06:13:20 am
god fuck ron paul
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: The Truth on January 08, 2008, 06:59:23 am
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJJOLDD-PqE

anti-ron paul youtube thread imo
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: The Truth on January 08, 2008, 02:26:28 pm
Alright guys I'm heading out to hit the pavement all day to get out more votes for obama, i'll give you guys an update if I can get to a computer!
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Marcus on January 08, 2008, 02:36:19 pm
Be careful on "the pavement."  I hear all sorts of surly individuals known as minorities reside there. 
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: `~congresman Ron paul~~ on January 08, 2008, 05:52:06 pm
god damn do i need to register to vote or what
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Lars on January 08, 2008, 06:45:04 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLg-31WKfXQ

hahahahahahahahha
why do they make so many faces? seems incredibly unprofessional to always make faces
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on January 08, 2008, 07:47:07 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLg-31WKfXQ

hahahahahahahahha
So he wrote racist newspaper articles for 20 years? He told people to go "buy guns" because "the animals are coming" ("animals" referring to non-white people)?

It's kind of amazing how people are still trying to defend him in that YouTube comment thread. When I checked there, the latest message said something about a possible defamation lawsuit. It's still all a big conspiracy to these people.

It's so sad. I've always been under the impression that people on the internet have democratic viewpoints. I remember reading all kinds of articles pertaining to this. I still believe that people are caught in the illusion of his demagogy, and really don't support a guy like him.

You know, maybe we should find a bunch of videos that summarize the real Ron Paul pretty well. This one's a start. We could put them all together and make the ultimate anti-Paul YouTube video. And we could use the video description to contain source links. Might be a fun thing to do (not entirely necessary though, since it's not like he's an important candidate, anyway).
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on January 08, 2008, 07:48:00 pm
oh shit oh SHIT

RON PAUL'S RACIST NEWSLETTERS HAVE BEEN FOUND

http://ft.mirror.waffleimages.com/files/65/65a6baa45287df0e50db8d908d864d7bfd10c0d0.jpg
http://logan-1.mirror.waffleimages.com/files/d1/d151dd661f52459d16f7e5a7318120f1fa217794.png
quotes here: http://www.tnr.com/politics/story.html?id=e2f15397-a3c7-4720-ac15-4532a7da84ca but it's not loading since people are hammering it SO HERE ARE QUOTES:

Quote
"Order was only restored in L.A. when it came time for the blacks to pick up their welfare checks three days after rioting began,"
"Am I the only one sick of hearing about the 'rights' of AIDS carriers?"
quote:

In January 1995, three months before right-wing militants bombed the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, a newsletter listed "Ten Militia Commandments," describing "the 1,500 local militias now training to defend liberty" as "one of the most encouraging developments in America." It warned militia members that they were "possibly under BATF [Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms] or other totalitarian federal surveillance" and printed bits of advice from the Sons of Liberty, an anti-government militia based in Alabama--among them, "You can't kill a Hydra by cutting off its head," "Keep the group size down," "Keep quiet and you're harder to find," "Leave no clues," "Avoid the phone as much as possible," and "Don't fire unless fired upon, but if they mean to have a war, let it begin here."
quote:

A 1988 newsletter cited a doctor who believed that AIDS was created in a World Health Organization laboratory in Fort Detrick, Maryland.
quote:

In addition, Ron Paul & Associates sold a video about Waco produced by "patriotic Indiana lawyer Linda Thompson"--as one of the newsletters called her--who maintained that Waco was a conspiracy to kill ATF agents who had previously worked for President Clinton as bodyguards. As with many of the more outlandish theories the newsletters cited over the years, the video received a qualified endorsement: "I can't vouch for every single judgment by the narrator, but the film does show the depths of government perfidy, and the national police's tricks and crimes," the newsletter said, adding, "Send your check for $24.95 to our Houston office, or charge the tape to your credit card at 1-800-RON-PAUL."

Maybe Ron Paul, maybe just Ron Paul's closest political friend who still publishes all of his essays on ther internet writing under his name posted:

"What an infamy Ronald Reagan approved [Martin Luther King Day]!" one newsletter complained in 1990. "We can thank him for our annual Hate Whitey Day."
quote:

While bashing King, the newsletters had kind words for the former Imperial Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, David Duke. In a passage titled "The Duke's Victory," a newsletter celebrated Duke's 44 percent showing in the 1990 Louisiana Republican Senate primary. "Duke lost the election," it said, "but he scared the blazes out of the Establishment." In 1991, a newsletter asked, "Is David Duke's new prominence, despite his losing the gubernatorial election, good for anti-big government forces?" The conclusion was that "our priority should be to take the anti-government, anti-tax, anti-crime, anti-welfare loafers, anti-race privilege, anti-foreign meddling message of Duke, and enclose it in a more consistent package of freedom." Duke is now returning the favor, telling me that, while he will not formally endorse any candidate, he has made information about Ron Paul available on his website.
quote:

The newsletters were particularly obsessed with AIDS, "a politically protected disease thanks to payola and the influence of the homosexual lobby," and used it as a rhetorical club to beat gay people in general. In 1990, one newsletter approvingly quoted "a well-known Libertarian editor" as saying, "The ACT-UP slogan, on stickers plastered all over Manhattan, is 'Silence = Death.' But shouldn't it be 'Sodomy = Death'?" Readers were warned to avoid blood transfusions because gays were trying to "poison the blood supply." "Am I the only one sick of hearing about the 'rights' of AIDS carriers?" a newsletter asked in 1990. That same year, citing a Christian-right fringe publication, an item suggested that "the AIDS patient" should not be allowed to eat in restaurants and that "AIDS can be transmitted by saliva," which is false. Paul's newsletters advertised a book, Surviving the AIDS Plague--also based upon the casual-transmission thesis--and defended "parents who worry about sending their healthy kids to school with AIDS victims." Commenting on a rise in AIDS infections, one newsletter said that "gays in San Francisco do not obey the dictates of good sense," adding: "[T]hese men don't really see a reason to live past their fifties. They are not married, they have no children, and their lives are centered on new sexual partners." Also, "they enjoy the attention and pity that comes with being sick."
quote:

In other words, Paul's campaign wants to depict its candidate as a naïve, absentee overseer, with minimal knowledge of what his underlings were doing on his behalf. This portrayal might be more believable if extremist views had cropped up in the newsletters only sporadically--or if the newsletters had just been published for a short time. But it is difficult to imagine how Paul could allow material consistently saturated in racism, homophobia, anti-Semitism, and conspiracy-mongering to be printed under his name for so long if he did not share these views. In that respect, whether or not Paul personally wrote the most offensive passages is almost beside the point. If he disagreed with what was being written under his name, you would think that at some point--over the course of decades--he would have done something about it.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on January 08, 2008, 07:50:17 pm
the article site isn't loading so here is the full thing:

If you are a critic of the Bush administration, chances are that, at some point over the past six months, Ron Paul has said something that appealed to you. Paul describes himself as a libertarian, but, since his presidential campaign took off earlier this year, the Republican congressman has attracted donations and plaudits from across the ideological spectrum. Antiwar conservatives, disaffected centrists, even young liberal activists have all flocked to Paul, hailing him as a throwback to an earlier age, when politicians were less mealy-mouthed and American government was more modest in its ambitions, both at home and abroad. In The New York Times Magazine, conservative writer Christopher Caldwell gushed that Paul is a "formidable stander on constitutional principle," while The Nation praised "his full-throated rejection of the imperial project in Iraq." Former TNR editor Andrew Sullivan endorsed Paul for the GOP nomination, and ABC's Jack Tapper described the candidate as "the one true straight-talker in this race." Even The Wall Street Journal, the newspaper of the elite bankers whom Paul detests, recently advised other Republican presidential contenders not to "dismiss the passion he's tapped."

Credit: Getty Images
View Larger Image
Congressman Ron Paul.

Most voters had never heard of Paul before he launched his quixotic bid for the Republican nomination. But the Texan has been active in politics for decades. And long before he was the darling of antiwar activists on the left and right, Paul was in the newsletter business. In the age before blogs, newsletters occupied a prominent place in right-wing political discourse. With the pages of mainstream political magazines typically off-limits to their views (National Review editor William F. Buckley having famously denounced the John Birch Society), hardline conservatives resorted to putting out their own, less glossy publications. These were often paranoid and rambling--dominated by talk of international banking conspiracies, the Trilateral Commission's plans for world government, and warnings about coming Armageddon--but some of them had wide and devoted audiences. And a few of the most prominent bore the name of Ron Paul.

Paul's newsletters have carried different titles over the years--Ron Paul's Freedom Report, Ron Paul Political Report, The Ron Paul Survival Report--but they generally seem to have been published on a monthly basis since at least 1978. (Paul, an OB-GYN and former U.S. Army surgeon, was first elected to Congress in 1976.) During some periods, the newsletters were published by the Foundation for Rational Economics and Education, a non-profit Paul founded in 1976; at other times, they were published by Ron Paul & Associates, a now-defunct entity in which Paul owned a minority stake, according to his campaign spokesman. The Freedom Report claimed to have over 100,000 readers in 1984. At one point, Ron Paul & Associates also put out a monthly publication called The Ron Paul Investment Letter.

The Freedom Report's online archives only go back to 1999, but I was curious to see older editions of Paul's newsletters, in part because of a controversy dating to 1996, when Charles "Lefty" Morris, a Democrat running against Paul for a House seat, released excerpts stating that "opinion polls consistently show only about 5% of blacks have sensible political opinions," that "if you have ever been robbed by a black teen-aged male, you know how unbelievably fleet-footed they can be," and that black congresswoman Barbara Jordan is "the archetypical half-educated victimologist" whose "race and sex protect her from criticism." At the time, Paul's campaign said that Morris had quoted the newsletter out of context. Later, in 2001, Paul would claim that someone else had written the controversial passages. (Few of the newsletters contain actual bylines.) Caldwell, writing in the Times Magazine last year, said he found Paul's explanation believable, "since the style diverges widely from his own."

Finding the pre-1999 newsletters was no easy task, but I was able to track many of them down at the libraries of the University of Kansas and the Wisconsin Historical Society. Of course, with few bylines, it is difficult to know whether any particular article was written by Paul himself. Some of the earlier newsletters are signed by him, though the vast majority of the editions I saw contain no bylines at all. Complicating matters, many of the unbylined newsletters were written in the first-person, implying that Paul was the author.

But, whoever actually wrote them, the newsletters I saw all had one thing in common: They were published under a banner containing Paul's name, and the articles (except for one special edition of a newsletter that contained the byline of another writer) seem designed to create the impression that they were written by him--and reflected his views. What they reveal are decades worth of obsession with conspiracies, sympathy for the right-wing militia movement, and deeply held bigotry against blacks, Jews, and gays. In short, they suggest that Ron Paul is not the plain-speaking antiwar activist his supporters believe they are backing--but rather a member in good standing of some of the oldest and ugliest traditions in American politics.




To understand Paul's philosophy, the best place to start is probably the Ludwig von Mises Institute, a libertarian think tank based in Auburn, Alabama. The institute is named for a libertarian Austrian economist, but it was founded by a man named Lew Rockwell, who also served as Paul's congressional chief of staff from 1978 to 1982. Paul has had a long and prominent association with the institute, teaching at its seminars and serving as a "distinguished counselor." The institute has also published his books.

The politics of the organization are complicated--its philosophy derives largely from the work of the late Murray Rothbard, a Bronx-born son of Jewish immigrants from Poland and a self-described "anarcho-capitalist" who viewed the state as nothing more than "a criminal gang"--but one aspect of the institute's worldview stands out as particularly disturbing: its attachment to the Confederacy. Thomas E. Woods Jr., a member of the institute's senior faculty, is a founder of the League of the South, a secessionist group, and the author of The Politically Incorrect Guide to American History, a pro-Confederate, revisionist tract published in 2004. Paul enthusiastically blurbed Woods's book, saying that it "heroically rescues real history from the politically correct memory hole." Thomas DiLorenzo, another senior faculty member and author of The Real Lincoln: A New Look at Abraham Lincoln, His Agenda, and an Unnecessary War, refers to the Civil War as the "War for Southern Independence" and attacks "Lincoln cultists"; Paul endorsed the book on MSNBC last month in a debate over whether the Civil War was necessary (Paul thinks it was not). In April 1995, the institute hosted a conference on secession at which Paul spoke; previewing the event, Rockwell wrote to supporters, "we'll explore what causes [secession] and how to promote it." Paul's newsletters have themselves repeatedly expressed sympathy for the general concept of secession. In 1992, for instance, the Survival Report argued that "the right of secession should be ingrained in a free society" and that "there is nothing wrong with loosely banding together small units of government. With the disintegration of the Soviet Union, we too should consider it."

The people surrounding the von Mises Institute--including Paul--may describe themselves as libertarians, but they are nothing like the urbane libertarians who staff the Cato Institute or the libertines at Reason magazine. Instead, they represent a strain of right-wing libertarianism that views the Civil War as a catastrophic turning point in American history--the moment when a tyrannical federal government established its supremacy over the states. As one prominent Washington libertarian told me, "There are too many libertarians in this country ... who, because they are attracted to the great books of Mises, ... find their way to the Mises Institute and then are told that a defense of the Confederacy is part of libertarian thought."

Paul's alliance with neo-Confederates helps explain the views his newsletters have long espoused on race. Take, for instance, a special issue of the Ron Paul Political Report, published in June 1992, dedicated to explaining the Los Angeles riots of that year. "Order was only restored in L.A. when it came time for the blacks to pick up their welfare checks three days after rioting began," read one typical passage. According to the newsletter, the looting was a natural byproduct of government indulging the black community with "'civil rights,' quotas, mandated hiring preferences, set-asides for government contracts, gerrymandered voting districts, black bureaucracies, black mayors, black curricula in schools, black tv shows, black tv anchors, hate crime laws, and public humiliation for anyone who dares question the black agenda." It also denounced "the media" for believing that "America's number one need is an unlimited white checking account for underclass blacks." To be fair, the newsletter did praise Asian merchants in Los Angeles, but only because they had the gumption to resist political correctness and fight back. Koreans were "the only people to act like real Americans," it explained, "mainly because they have not yet been assimilated into our rotten liberal culture, which admonishes whites faced by raging blacks to lie back and think of England."

This "Special Issue on Racial Terrorism" was hardly the first time one of Paul's publications had raised these topics. As early as December 1989, a section of his Investment Letter, titled "What To Expect for the 1990s," predicted that "Racial Violence Will Fill Our Cities" because "mostly black welfare recipients will feel justified in stealing from mostly white 'haves.'" Two months later, a newsletter warned of "The Coming Race War," and, in November 1990, an item advised readers, "If you live in a major city, and can leave, do so. If not, but you can have a rural retreat, for investment and refuge, buy it." In June 1991, an entry on racial disturbances in Washington, DC's Adams Morgan neighborhood was titled, "Animals Take Over the D.C. Zoo." "This is only the first skirmish in the race war of the 1990s," the newsletter predicted. In an October 1992 item about urban crime, the newsletter's author--presumably Paul--wrote, "I've urged everyone in my family to know how to use a gun in self defense. For the animals are coming." That same year, a newsletter described the aftermath of a basketball game in which "blacks poured into the streets of Chicago in celebration. How to celebrate? How else? They broke the windows of stores to loot." The newsletter inveighed against liberals who "want to keep white America from taking action against black crime and welfare," adding, "Jury verdicts, basketball games, and even music are enough to set off black rage, it seems."

Such views on race also inflected the newsletters' commentary on foreign affairs. South Africa's transition to multiracial democracy was portrayed as a "destruction of civilization" that was "the most tragic [to] ever occur on that continent, at least below the Sahara"; and, in March 1994, a month before Nelson Mandela was elected president, one item warned of an impending "South African Holocaust."

Martin Luther King Jr. earned special ire from Paul's newsletters, which attacked the civil rights leader frequently, often to justify opposition to the federal holiday named after him. ("What an infamy Ronald Reagan approved it!" one newsletter complained in 1990. "We can thank him for our annual Hate Whitey Day.") In the early 1990s, a newsletter attacked the "X-Rated Martin Luther King" as a "world-class philanderer who beat up his paramours," "seduced underage girls and boys," and "made a pass at" fellow civil rights leader Ralph Abernathy. One newsletter ridiculed black activists who wanted to rename New York City after King, suggesting that "Welfaria," "Zooville," "Rapetown," "Dirtburg," and "Lazyopolis" were better alternatives. The same year, King was described as "a comsymp, if not an actual party member, and the man who replaced the evil of forced segregation with the evil of forced integration."

While bashing King, the newsletters had kind words for the former Imperial Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, David Duke. In a passage titled "The Duke's Victory," a newsletter celebrated Duke's 44 percent showing in the 1990 Louisiana Republican Senate primary. "Duke lost the election," it said, "but he scared the blazes out of the Establishment." In 1991, a newsletter asked, "Is David Duke's new prominence, despite his losing the gubernatorial election, good for anti-big government forces?" The conclusion was that "our priority should be to take the anti-government, anti-tax, anti-crime, anti-welfare loafers, anti-race privilege, anti-foreign meddling message of Duke, and enclose it in a more consistent package of freedom." Duke is now returning the favor, telling me that, while he will not formally endorse any candidate, he has made information about Ron Paul available on his website.




Like blacks, gays earn plenty of animus in Paul's newsletters. They frequently quoted Paul's "old colleague," Congressman William Dannemeyer--who advocated quarantining people with AIDS--praising him for "speak[ing] out fearlessly despite the organized power of the gay lobby." In 1990, one newsletter mentioned a reporter from a gay magazine "who certainly had an axe to grind, and that's not easy with a limp wrist." In an item titled, "The Pink House?" the author of a newsletter--again, presumably Paul--complained about President George H.W. Bush's decision to sign a hate crimes bill and invite "the heads of homosexual lobbying groups to the White House for the ceremony," adding, "I miss the closet." "Homosexuals," it said, "not to speak of the rest of society, were far better off when social pressure forced them to hide their activities." When Marvin Liebman, a founder of the conservative Young Americans for Freedom and a longtime political activist, announced that he was gay in the pages of National Review, a Paul newsletter implored, "Bring Back the Closet!" Surprisingly, one item expressed ambivalence about the contentious issue of gays in the military, but ultimately concluded, "Homosexuals, if admitted, should be put in a special category and not allowed in close physical contact with heterosexuals."

The newsletters were particularly obsessed with AIDS, "a politically protected disease thanks to payola and the influence of the homosexual lobby," and used it as a rhetorical club to beat gay people in general. In 1990, one newsletter approvingly quoted "a well-known Libertarian editor" as saying, "The ACT-UP slogan, on stickers plastered all over Manhattan, is 'Silence = Death.' But shouldn't it be 'Sodomy = Death'?" Readers were warned to avoid blood transfusions because gays were trying to "poison the blood supply." "Am I the only one sick of hearing about the 'rights' of AIDS carriers?" a newsletter asked in 1990. That same year, citing a Christian-right fringe publication, an item suggested that "the AIDS patient" should not be allowed to eat in restaurants and that "AIDS can be transmitted by saliva," which is false. Paul's newsletters advertised a book, Surviving the AIDS Plague--also based upon the casual-transmission thesis--and defended "parents who worry about sending their healthy kids to school with AIDS victims." Commenting on a rise in AIDS infections, one newsletter said that "gays in San Francisco do not obey the dictates of good sense," adding: "[T]hese men don't really see a reason to live past their fifties. They are not married, they have no children, and their lives are centered on new sexual partners." Also, "they enjoy the attention and pity that comes with being sick."

The rhetoric when it came to Jews was little better. The newsletters display an obsession with Israel; no other country is mentioned more often in the editions I saw, or with more vitriol. A 1987 issue of Paul's Investment Letter called Israel "an aggressive, national socialist state," and a 1990 newsletter discussed the "tens of thousands of well-placed friends of Israel in all countries who are willing to wok [sic] for the Mossad in their area of expertise." Of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, a newsletter said, "Whether it was a setup by the Israeli Mossad, as a Jewish friend of mine suspects, or was truly a retaliation by the Islamic fundamentalists, matters little."




Paul's newsletters didn't just contain bigotry. They also contained paranoia--specifically, the brand of anti-government paranoia that festered among right-wing militia groups during the 1980s and '90s. Indeed, the newsletters seemed to hint that armed revolution against the federal government would be justified. In January 1995, three months before right-wing militants bombed the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, a newsletter listed "Ten Militia Commandments," describing "the 1,500 local militias now training to defend liberty" as "one of the most encouraging developments in America." It warned militia members that they were "possibly under BATF [Bureau ][/Bureau] or other totalitarian federal surveillance" and printed bits of advice from the Sons of Liberty, an anti-government militia based in Alabama--among them, "You can't kill a Hydra by cutting off its head," "Keep the group size down," "Keep quiet and you're harder to find," "Leave no clues," "Avoid the phone as much as possible," and "Don't fire unless fired upon, but if they mean to have a war, let it begin here."

The newsletters are chock-full of shopworn conspiracies, reflecting Paul's obsession with the "industrial-banking-political elite" and promoting his distrust of a federally regulated monetary system utilizing paper bills. They contain frequent and bristling references to the Bilderberg Group, the Trilateral Commission, and the Council on Foreign Relations--organizations that conspiracy theorists have long accused of seeking world domination. In 1978, a newsletter blamed David Rockefeller, the Trilateral Commission, and "fascist-oriented, international banking and business interests" for the Panama Canal Treaty, which it called "one of the saddest events in the history of the United States." A 1988 newsletter cited a doctor who believed that AIDS was created in a World Health Organization laboratory in Fort Detrick, Maryland. In addition, Ron Paul & Associates sold a video about Waco produced by "patriotic Indiana lawyer Linda Thompson"--as one of the newsletters called her--who maintained that Waco was a conspiracy to kill ATF agents who had previously worked for President Clinton as bodyguards. As with many of the more outlandish theories the newsletters cited over the years, the video received a qualified endorsement: "I can't vouch for every single judgment by the narrator, but the film does show the depths of government perfidy, and the national police's tricks and crimes," the newsletter said, adding, "Send your check for $24.95 to our Houston office, or charge the tape to your credit card at 1-800-RON-PAUL."




When I asked Jesse Benton, Paul's campaign spokesman, about the newsletters, he said that, over the years, Paul had granted "various levels of approval" to what appeared in his publications--ranging from "no approval" to instances where he "actually wrote it himself." After I read Benton some of the more offensive passages, he said, "A lot of [the ][/the] he did not see. Most of the incendiary stuff, no." He added that he was surprised to hear about the insults hurled at Martin Luther King, because "Ron thinks Martin Luther King is a hero."

In other words, Paul's campaign wants to depict its candidate as a naïve, absentee overseer, with minimal knowledge of what his underlings were doing on his behalf. This portrayal might be more believable if extremist views had cropped up in the newsletters only sporadically--or if the newsletters had just been published for a short time. But it is difficult to imagine how Paul could allow material consistently saturated in racism, homophobia, anti-Semitism, and conspiracy-mongering to be printed under his name for so long if he did not share these views. In that respect, whether or not Paul personally wrote the most offensive passages is almost beside the point. If he disagreed with what was being written under his name, you would think that at some point--over the course of decades--he would have done something about it.

What's more, Paul's connections to extremism go beyond the newsletters. He has given extensive interviews to the magazine of the John Birch Society, and has frequently been a guest of Alex Jones, a radio host and perhaps the most famous conspiracy theorist in America. Jones--whose recent documentary, Endgame: Blueprint for Global Enslavement, details the plans of George Pataki, David Rockefeller, and Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, among others, to exterminate most of humanity and develop themselves into "superhuman" computer hybrids able to "travel throughout the cosmos"--estimates that Paul has appeared on his radio program about 40 times over the past twelve years.

Then there is Gary North, who has worked on Paul's congressional staff. North is a central figure in Christian Reconstructionism, which advocates the implementation of Biblical law in modern society. Christian Reconstructionists share common ground with libertarians, since both groups dislike the central government. North has advocated the execution of women who have abortions and people who curse their parents. In a 1986 book, North argued for stoning as a form of capital punishment--because "the implements of execution are available to everyone at virtually no cost." North is perhaps best known for Gary North's Remnant Review, a "Christian and pro free-market" newsletter. In a 1983 letter Paul wrote on behalf of an organization called the Committee to Stop the Bail-Out of Multinational Banks (known by the acronym CSBOMB), he bragged, "Perhaps you already read in Gary North's Remnant Review about my exposes of government abuse."




Ron Paul is not going to be president. But, as his campaign has gathered steam, he has found himself increasingly permitted inside the boundaries of respectable debate. He sat for an extensive interview with Tim Russert recently. He has raised almost $20 million in just three months, much of it online. And he received nearly three times as many votes as erstwhile front-runner Rudy Giuliani in last week's Iowa caucus. All the while he has generally been portrayed by the media as principled and serious, while garnering praise for being a "straight-talker."

From his newsletters, however, a different picture of Paul emerges--that of someone who is either himself deeply embittered or, for a long time, allowed others to write bitterly on his behalf. His adversaries are often described in harsh terms: Barbara Jordan is called "Barbara Morondon," Eleanor Holmes Norton is a "black pinko," Donna Shalala is a "short lesbian," Ron Brown is a "racial victimologist," and Roberta Achtenberg, the first openly gay public official confirmed by the United States Senate, is a "far-left, normal-hating lesbian activist." Maybe such outbursts mean Ron Paul really is a straight-talker. Or maybe they just mean he is a man filled with hate.

James Kirchick is an assistant editor at The New Republic.

Quote
the federal holiday named after him. ("What an infamy Ronald Reagan approved it!" one newsletter complained in 1990. "We can thank him for our annual Hate Whitey Day.") In the early 1990s, a newsletter attacked the "X-Rated Martin Luther King" as a "world-class philanderer who beat up his paramours," "seduced underage girls and boys," and "made a pass at" fellow civil rights leader Ralph Abernathy. One newsletter ridiculed black activists who wanted to rename New York City after King, suggesting that "Welfaria," "Zooville," "Rapetown," "Dirtburg," and "Lazyopolis" were better alternatives. The same year, King was described as "a comsymp, if not an actual party member, and the man who replaced the evil of forced segregation with the evil of forced integration."
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on January 08, 2008, 08:00:36 pm
RESTORE THE CONSTITUTION!

RON PAUL REVOLUTION!!
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Vellfire on January 08, 2008, 08:01:23 pm
Not only does that scan talk about Andy Rooney (why would you ever use him for any reasoning he is like listening to my grandma talk about the WHITE MAN AND THE RED MAN CAN'T BE FRIENDS no one takes that seriously), but he spells Rooney wrong.

GREAT JOB
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on January 08, 2008, 08:17:52 pm
http://pajamasmedia.com/2008/01/ron_paul.php

more quotes here. Paulsies are purposefully DDos attacking TNR.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Cho on January 08, 2008, 08:55:55 pm
Quote
To understand Paul's philosophy, the best place to start is probably the Ludwig von Mises Institute, a libertarian think tank based in Auburn, Alabama.

Haha, oh wow. Think-tank based in Auburn. Hm. And they're racist? Racist people at a University surrounded by a trailer park in Alabama? Boy howdy.

Quote
Martin Luther King Jr. earned special ire from Paul's newsletters, which attacked the civil rights leader frequently, often to justify opposition to the federal holiday named after him. ("What an infamy Ronald Reagan approved it!" one newsletter complained in 1990. "We can thank him for our annual Hate Whitey Day.") In the early 1990s, a newsletter attacked the "X-Rated Martin Luther King" as a "world-class philanderer who beat up his paramours," "seduced underage girls and boys," and "made a pass at" fellow civil rights leader Ralph Abernathy. One newsletter ridiculed black activists who wanted to rename New York City after King, suggesting that "Welfaria," "Zooville," "Rapetown," "Dirtburg," and "Lazyopolis" were better alternatives. The same year, King was described as "a comsymp, if not an actual party member, and the man who replaced the evil of forced segregation with the evil of forced integration."

You know what's kinda funny? The von Mises Institute is like, three streets over from Martin Luther King Jr. Drive. I'll be they had a conniption about that.

RESTORE THE CONSTITUTION!

RON PAUL REVOLUTION!!

You mean RON PAUL REVOLUTION.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Wil on January 08, 2008, 10:16:33 pm
WOW. This is some pretty bad stuff, and I'm sure a lot of the Ron Paul supporters will start acting like pretend conspiracy theorists to try to discredit the report, or somehow rationalize about it. Did Ron Paul really write those quotes, or did the people who wrote for his "report" say those things without his approval?

You know, maybe we should find a bunch of videos that summarize the real Ron Paul pretty well. This one's a start. We could put them all together and make the ultimate anti-Paul YouTube video. And we could use the video description to contain source links. Might be a fun thing to do (not entirely necessary though, since it's not like he's an important candidate, anyway).
This would be very helpful for people like me who have to deal with a lot of Ron Paulites.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on January 08, 2008, 10:43:11 pm
they've already tried to argue PAUL DIDN'T APPROVE AND HATES THOSE PEOPLE.

someone on SA though found out that one of the articles about GAYS...CAN'T STAND THEM was signed by Ron Paul's current platform director.

so yeah, I doubt in 20 years he was completely unaware of racist horseshit.

edit: OH GOOD LORD

(http://www.gamingw.net/pubaccess/57278/pauldick.jpg)

GHOST WRITTEN INDEED
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Sarhan on January 08, 2008, 11:49:06 pm
Haha, awesome.

Question for you guys. I've only recently started paying more attention to politics so I'm not as educated on the subject as the rest of you are. How soon after voting do we find out the results? NH votes today but how long will it be before the results are released?

Also, I just found out I can't vote...which kind of sucks. I always thought that as long as you were naturalized, you could vote, but it turns out you have to be a citizen as well. I felt like I was being denied something everyone else had when I found out, but I was mostly pissed off because I knew I couldn't gain citizenship in time (February 5th). One vote less for Obama from Illinois (not like he'll lose Illinois anyways).
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on January 08, 2008, 11:56:18 pm
you should see the new hampshire results by like 9 or 10 est tonight
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on January 09, 2008, 12:37:22 am
im going now but

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/files/elections/2008/by_state/NH_Page_0108.html?SITE=NHCONELN&SECTION=POLITICS

gotta move now byeeeeee
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on January 09, 2008, 01:08:35 am
McCain projected as winner by cnn and nbc
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Sarhan on January 09, 2008, 01:24:28 am
Candidate                Votes    % of votes     
Hillary Clinton          16,739         40%                 
Barack Obama         14,829         35%                   
John Edwards          6,993           17%               
Bill Richardson          1,817            4% 
Dennis Kucinich         798              2% 
Joe Biden                   74              0% 
Mike Gravel                57              0%   
Chris Dodd                 35              0%

(13% of precincts reporting )

Shit. Obama's trailing.


EDIT: Link if the rest of you want to check on it every now and again: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21229220

Also, I like the projected Democratic winner. I chuckled (yeah, I'm childish).
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on January 09, 2008, 01:25:32 am
anything less than a win for obama by 4 or 5% will be spun as a comeback for clinton :(
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Doktormartini on January 09, 2008, 01:27:14 am
Kucinich doesn't have 0% I am a happy man.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Wash Cycle on January 09, 2008, 01:42:44 am
man hilary is winning.. but only like 17% of the precints are in as of now (8:45 pm est)

suck suck suck
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Wil on January 09, 2008, 02:03:47 am
Clinton is still screwed and there are rumors about money troubles with her, so even if Obama loses this one he could easily come back and not have any other major contenders to worry about. But if Clinton wins, media will be going nuts over the power of being a crybaby at a dinner party.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Sarhan on January 09, 2008, 02:13:21 am
Damn it. He starts to close the gap and then she pulls ahead again. So gay.

I've also heard that no Democrat has ever won both Iowa and New Hampshire and not gotten the party's nomination. That's probably why I place so much importance on this.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on January 09, 2008, 02:14:48 am
Hillary 39
Obama 36

go..gosh.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on January 09, 2008, 02:18:37 am
i still think obama will pull off a narrow victory, however i can just hear clinton now going "i'm the comeback girl" etc etc and this being spun into a comeback for her
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on January 09, 2008, 02:21:40 am
holy shit

http://www.politico.com/nhprimaries/nhmap-popup.html

McCain out of NOWHERE. fuck. he's the only republican I wouldn't want dead.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Sarhan on January 09, 2008, 02:21:59 am
He seems to be pulling a consistent comeback looking at the raw numbers. According to the exit polls, he's the likely winner.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on January 09, 2008, 02:24:26 am
he...already won.

like, they called it for him already.

meanwhile, 37 39 obama hillary.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Sarhan on January 09, 2008, 02:26:43 am
I was talking about Obama.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on January 09, 2008, 02:29:51 am
cnn says no college towns from nh have reported yet. this is xcellent news for obama
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on January 09, 2008, 02:33:09 am
I was talking about Obama.

oh nvm

yeah ignore what paulsies, episodes of Bullshit, etc say; exit polls are extremely reliable so he might still pull this off.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Sarhan on January 09, 2008, 02:40:13 am
oh nvm

yeah ignore what paulsies, episodes of Bullshit, etc say; exit polls are extremely reliable so he might still pull this off.

Well, supposedly she's up 2% in exit polls now.

Hope you're right Ryan.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on January 09, 2008, 02:51:42 am
Quote from: 'NY Times Blog
Still nothing from Hanover' date=' home to Dartmouth, or Lebanon, adjacent to it. But Grantham, another community near Dartmouth, is reporting all votes: 48 percent for Mr. Obama, 32 percent for Mrs. Clinton. This is the area where Mr. Obama’s win will come from if the young people and the college professors actually turn out[/quote']
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Sarhan on January 09, 2008, 02:55:42 am
Heard they haven't counted Hanover and Durham yet (college towns) and the Hillary supporters are scared.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Shepperd on January 09, 2008, 02:58:27 am
cnn says no college towns from nh have reported yet. this is xcellent news for obama
OH FUCK YES, THERE IS HOPE


also, what's McCain like? I'm under the impression he's the best out of the republicans?
Just by first impression I think I'd rather have him than Hillary, but I may be so wrong, I dunno, just ranting air
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Grunthor on January 09, 2008, 03:08:38 am
I really hope the number of voters in those college towns is huge, because she has a 4,300 vote lead on him at the moment.  FUCK.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Saleop on January 09, 2008, 03:12:49 am
Even if Hillary DOES win, this is only New Hampshire, a state with a small number of delegates. It won't be over for Obama.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on January 09, 2008, 03:16:42 am
obama lost everyone blame truth :(
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Sarhan on January 09, 2008, 03:28:49 am
obama lost everyone blame truth :(

Damn it, Truth.

I don't understand how all of the tracking polls could have Obama ahead by an 8% average lead but down 3% in the actual polls.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on January 09, 2008, 03:30:46 am
just got called for Hillary.

on the plus side Ron Paul got crushed and with the racist newsletters, it's his death knells

roller coaster ride :(
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on January 09, 2008, 03:33:01 am
looks like we won't know who the nominee will be until super tuesday :(
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Taylor Kaz on January 09, 2008, 03:33:53 am
the water gets ron paul haha
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: The Truth on January 09, 2008, 03:38:46 am
i blame john edwards

fuck you john
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Sarhan on January 09, 2008, 03:39:38 am

How the fuck can anyone vote for satan?

You know this crying bullshit helped her out so much. Even her fucking rep. acknowledged it on MSNBC a few minutes ago. Bullshit.

EDIT: Fuck man. Obama is such a great speaker. Damn.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Marcus on January 09, 2008, 03:45:05 am
America can't avoid a crying female.  It is every males weakness.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: ase on January 09, 2008, 03:48:16 am
I love Obama but someone tell me more about Clinton and how she compares to Obama because I went on her website and skimmed through the issues but I couldn't get through it because 1/3 of it was CLINTON LOVES CHILDREN AND OLD PEOPLE ALSO CLINTON IS A WOMAN (CHAMPION FOR WOMEN!!!!!) also here's some more issues
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on January 09, 2008, 03:49:38 am
okay people come on. it's one state. it's not OVER by any means. a massive blow but he took Iowa EASILY and then.

this kills Nevada endorsements yes, but look at McCain.

okay yeah I'm painting a better face on this than it deserves CHIN UP LITTLE ONES...
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Sarhan on January 09, 2008, 03:52:48 am
okay people come on. it's one state. it's not OVER by any means. a massive blow but he took Iowa EASILY and then.

this kills Nevada endorsements yes, but look at McCain.

okay yeah I'm painting a better face on this than it deserves CHIN UP LITTLE ONES...

God I hope you're right. Seriously, I have a feeling this country's going to shit if she wins. Something about her just makes me cringe. I think it's an omen.

You know how Obama has a large college student base? Anybody think part of the reason he doesn't get as many votes is because college students might not actually be going out and voting? That's the only way I can explain him losing after such a large lead in the polls.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on January 09, 2008, 03:55:05 am
guys obama is still projected to win south carolina. nevada is up for grabs but this is by no means over. obama still has boatloads of money.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Sarhan on January 09, 2008, 03:57:51 am
guys obama is still projected to win south carolina. nevada is up for grabs but this is by no means over. obama still has boatloads of money.

Doesn't Nevada have an assload of unions? I think Hillary's got Nevada in the palm of her devil-like hand.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Marcus on January 09, 2008, 03:59:18 am
Quote
God I hope you're right. Seriously, I have a feeling this country's going to shit if she wins. Something about her just makes me cringe. I think it's an omen.

Well, the prophecy states that the anti-christ will bring peace for 4 years and 2012 is the Mayan apocalypse...

On a serious note, for once in my life I am on the verge of being incredibly sexist with this years polls.  I saw a youtube video were someone heckled Clinton saying things like "IRON MY SHIRT" and I laughed.  She is basically banking on the fact that she has a vagina + ovaries which makes her the mother of America.  The fact that she broke down CRIED only seals this deal.  

If Barrack had cried, the voters would see it as weakness and he would have been publicly humiliated for the rest of his life.  Because Clinton, a woman, cried everyone sees this as something tender and sweet and are voting out of sympathy.

I can't honestly say I know what the hell people voting Clinton are thinking, but I don't want a leader who cracks under pressure.  Bush is probably the most idiotic president this country has ever had but at least the fucker didn't BAAAAAAAAW when something failed to go his way.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: crone_lover720 on January 09, 2008, 04:00:34 am
hillary's stealing my games..

also, what's McCain like? I'm under the impression he's the best out of the republicans?
Just by first impression I think I'd rather have him than Hillary, but I may be so wrong, I dunno, just ranting air
-ya he is
-probably not, he's still a republican only more human regarding things like immigration and torture. I wouldn't hate having him as president but I probably wouldn't vote for him either

hillary was for the iraq war though so idk

EDIT
Quote from: marcuspost
man you are an idiot

because she has success in another state it must mean it's because THE BITCH cried


EDIT I'm watching hillary's speech right now, it's so bad
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Sarhan on January 09, 2008, 04:10:20 am
Quote
man you are an idiot

because she has success in another state it must mean it's because THE BITCH cried

Dude, it is because the bitch cried. Even her rep. said that had an impact on her winning NH.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Marcus on January 09, 2008, 04:15:53 am
Quote
man you are an idiot

because she has success in another state it must mean it's because THE BITCH cried

I'm pretty mad I just lost the link but I was reading over this British news article that went IN DEPTH on how, for the past 50 years, candidates have won over New Hampshire due to emotional break down.  In 2004, Kerry started crying when a NH woman told him her life story and he won the state in a landslide.  In the 70s, some politician defended his wife's honor by attacking a newspaper that made fun of her.  In his debate, he whiped a "snowflake" out of his eye (was actually a tear) and was torn apart.

I've got to find that link again because I stumbled over it on accident and I have my history folders cleaned out automatically.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on January 09, 2008, 04:20:48 am
I actually think there's some merit to a joke someone on SA made about all the misogny and shit that people use against Hillary backfiring (CUNT BITCH etc) and getting a lot more votes.

I mean Obama was projected with double digit victory, and this is clearly not.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on January 09, 2008, 04:26:49 am
yeah i think all the backlash she received for crying or tearing up or whatever helped her out
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: crone_lover720 on January 09, 2008, 04:44:11 am
I'm pretty mad I just lost the link but I was reading over this British news article that went IN DEPTH on how, for the past 50 years, candidates have won over New Hampshire due to emotional break down.  In 2004, Kerry started crying when a NH woman told him her life story and he won the state in a landslide.  In the 70s, some politician defended his wife's honor by attacking a newspaper that made fun of her.  In his debate, he whiped a "snowflake" out of his eye (was actually a tear) and was torn apart.

I've got to find that link again because I stumbled over it on accident and I have my history folders cleaned out automatically.
haha what are you talking about

first post you were like 'slut/whore only won because shes a woman and she cried no man could pull this off...' now you are talking about kerry huh ?

I am No Man :) --John Kerry
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Lyndon on January 09, 2008, 05:01:50 am
I think he's saying that New Hampshire's votes are easily swung by drama
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: `~congresman Ron paul~~ on January 09, 2008, 05:07:51 am
*cries softly* will u... let me be ur president... plz... i cant take any more of this *SOB*
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Marcus on January 09, 2008, 05:58:28 am
I think he's saying that New Hampshire's votes are easily swung by drama

This is exactly what I'm saying.  Hilary won specifically because she acted like a drama queen.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on January 09, 2008, 06:19:38 am
i sincerely doubt that is why she won.

i mean, it's not like her campaign knew that if she lost again it would be over at all AM I RITE.

ps they knew this and so they made sure they ensure a comeback.

HOW they pulled this off is beyond me but I don't think her crying mattered much.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Wil on January 09, 2008, 06:51:29 am
Well shit Hillary won, dang I missed so much discussion.
And I KNEW people would try to pass of the crying thing as some sort of reason for her winning.

Oh and I had a heated discussion about Ron Paul with my friend today who almost tried to tell me that it shouldn't matter if he was a racist or not, I was nearly outraged, well not really I was too busy laughing at him. Then he went on to explain that the quotes were taken out of context. I told him how his position on domestic affairs were irresponsible, etc. I'm just interested in finding some more debate strategies against Paul since I didn't really convince my friend at all. Any suggestions?
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on January 09, 2008, 06:51:46 am
btw Obama still is winning via delegates, which is what matters

Obama: 25
Clinton: 24
Edwards: 18

just a little fyi.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on January 09, 2008, 07:04:21 am
i sincerely doubt that is why she won.

i mean, it's not like her campaign knew that if she lost again it would be over at all AM I RITE.

ps they knew this and so they made sure they ensure a comeback.

HOW they pulled this off is beyond me but I don't think her crying mattered much.
I heard on the news here that it might be because a lot of women came out to vote today, and they all voted for Hillary. Maybe they were watching when she broke down?
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on January 09, 2008, 07:08:44 am
Well shit Hillary won, dang I missed so much discussion.
And I KNEW people would try to pass of the crying thing as some sort of reason for her winning.

Oh and I had a heated discussion about Ron Paul with my friend today who almost tried to tell me that it shouldn't matter if he was a racist or not, I was nearly outraged, well not really I was too busy laughing at him. Then he went on to explain that the quotes were taken out of context. I told him how his position on domestic affairs were irresponsible, etc. I'm just interested in finding some more debate strategies against Paul since I didn't really convince my friend at all. Any suggestions?

first criticize his economic policy; it won't take much to prove Paul loves the gold standard.

then tell him the following. MEMORIZE IT okay.

Quote
The US converting to a gold standard would require them to re-issue all currency in circulation as a fixed amount of gold. Since the US government doesn't have a lot of gold, it would mean a lot less currency. Thus, they would need to purchase gold — as a result, the price of gold would skyrocket. The US government would have to sell assets in order to purchase the now absurdly expensive gold, or run a deficit. Taxes would be forced to rise to finance this.

However, this would be pointless, since approximately 1 trillion dollars of goods flows out of the US economy every year. Thus, the economy would literally bled gold bullion. The only way to balance out is a recession, so deep and crippling, that it would eliminate the US trade deficit.

Okay, the regulatory mechanism for the gold standard works like this. Suppose we have two countries, A and B.

Now, for whatever reason, country A is on the gold standard. It doesn't matter what country B is on. Now, A and B buy and sell goods to one another. In order to buy and sell goods, the people in these countries need to purchase currency from one another to buy them.

When an economy buys things from another economy, they need to purchase money from the other economy to buy goods. So, for instance, country A needs to buy country B's currency (call it B$) to buy goods from country B. And vice versa.

Now, as they buy and sell, there usually will be an imbalance been how much people buy and sell in a given country. For instance, country A may be buying more from country B than it is selling. This leads to an imbalance in the currencies, because people in country A will be buying up B$ and selling A$. When it all comes out in the wash, there is a surplus of A$ on the market -- that is, the demand for A$ is lower than the amount supplied.

Now, people will work to correct this surplus, because it's pointless for them to have A$ sitting around no one wants to own. In a quasi-fiat system of freely traded currencies, the exchange rate does this. Bankers and financial dealers adjust the relative values of the currencies to make the "price" of A$ optimal. Currencies wax and wane in value based on their economies and variety of other complex mumbo jumbo which doesn't really matter here.

However, in the gold standard this doesn't happen, because A$ are linked to a fixed amount of gold -- that is, a commodity. Instead, people who hold A$ start redeeming them for gold, in order to sell them as a useful commodity. As a result, Country A's stockpile of gold, which they use to back their currency on, dwindles. In turn, the supply of money for country A falls.

Not enough money is circulation causes the economy to constrict, since doing basic business becomes increasingly difficult. It also can cause deflation, and a host of other problems. In short, the only way for A's domestic economy to come into equillibrium is for it to crash. Businesses shut down, and domestic demand for goods slows as the economy stalls.

While this is a bad thing, it does do one very good thing. If you have no money, because the economy is in recession, you can't very well afford to buy items from country B. Thus, the supply of A$ on the market falls, and people stop redeeming the excess for gold. The process brings the two markets into equilibrium again, and all is well in the world of international commerce.

Of course, the side effects are not exactly pleasant for people in country A.

then you need to slowly bring him around to the idea that 50 separate bureaucracies is not better than one, despite the rEVOLution. it'll take some work, but

http://dneiwert.blogspot.com/2007/11/ron-pauls-record-in-congress.html

this combined with other links should do it.

edit apparently copy paste didnt work gimme a sec
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on January 09, 2008, 07:11:45 am
You know, forget it. I hope Ron Paul becomes president and turns American into a wasteland.

Americans don't deserve to be able to vote for the most powerful man in the world.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: The Truth on January 09, 2008, 08:02:26 am
One theory right now is that since the polls were so 15 POINT LEAD f*CK YEAH GUYS that a bunch of Independents figured Barack had NH in the bag and voted for Mccain/Paul (Although with Paul i guess it's not true because NINE PERCENT and whatnot).

But then again....

fuck John Edwards, fuck his stupid supporters who when I was holding a huge sign today tried to stand in front of me and block its view from the road and told me that they truly believed edwards had a chance to be president

they didn't like it too much when i told them their candidate would make a great AG.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Sarhan on January 09, 2008, 08:07:05 am
One theory right now is that since the polls were so 15 POINT LEAD f*CK YEAH GUYS that a bunch of Independents figured Barack had NH in the bag and voted for Mccain/Paul (Although with Paul i guess it's not true because NINE PERCENT and whatnot).

But then again....

fuck John Edwards, fuck his stupid supporters who when I was holding a huge sign today tried to stand in front of me and block its view from the road and told me that they truly believed edwards had a chance to be president

they didn't like it too much when i told them their candidate would make a great AG.

I don't know why Edwards is running. It should be pretty obvious to him that he really doesn't have much of a chance going against Obama and Hillary. I'd just drop out and stop wasting my own (and other people's) money. I'm sure he supports Obama more than Hillary. Dropping out would be good for him both personally and...non...personally...
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Hempknight on January 09, 2008, 08:28:25 am
I don't know why Edwards is running. It should be pretty obvious to him that he really doesn't have much of a chance going against Obama and Hillary. I'd just drop out and stop wasting my own (and other people's) money. I'm sure he supports Obama more than Hillary. Dropping out would be good for him both personally and...non...personally...

Whoever wins will probably offer him VP though.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on January 09, 2008, 10:34:25 am
One theory right now is that since the polls were so 15 POINT LEAD f*CK YEAH GUYS that a bunch of Independents figured Barack had NH in the bag and voted for Mccain/Paul (Although with Paul i guess it's not true because NINE PERCENT and whatnot).
I hope that this is the case, and that Obama supporters are now awake and realize that they really need to get out and vote if they want him to win. But you know, this explanation still seems slightly unlikely to me, as I'd reckon that people are more willing to vote if they're certain that they're not supporting someone who's not going to win anyway.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on January 09, 2008, 04:35:22 pm
guess which presidential candidate has not aged well at all.

(http://www.gamingw.net/pubaccess/57278/3c1d6785198fdabb6d3733f89585465b833e29d4.jpg)
(http://www.gamingw.net/pubaccess/57278/c4b5f2c18d2c9e8b6ca2c58ca003981b56f5d4c6.jpg)-1996!!!

also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bradley_effect
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: ase on January 09, 2008, 06:31:43 pm
u....ug....oh........oh my


(https://legacy.gamingw.net/etc/hilldabeast.com/hillpics/hillbillary.jpeg)
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Shepperd on January 09, 2008, 06:35:48 pm
wow at the bradley effect. Jesus christ americans are so fucking stupid
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on January 09, 2008, 06:44:18 pm
i don't think it was the bradley effect. i think it had more to do with women siding more with hillary and edwards splitting the "change" vote. also mccain drew in a lot of the independents.

this is not really THAT big of a surprise. hillary has led the NH polls up until like TWO WEEKS ago. it's not like this came out of nowhere

edit: also obama's speech last night was amazing. it was just as good or better as his iowa victory speech. damn this man is one of the most talented orators i've ever seen.

edit2: also hillary was pretty hot back in the day. i'd tap it  :cool:
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on January 09, 2008, 06:52:16 pm
noooooo uh actually late polls had Obama winning by more than he won Iowa. I didn't see a single poll with Hillary wining till election night!
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on January 09, 2008, 06:59:12 pm
i know. i'm saying he wasn't ahead in the polls until recently.

http://www.pollster.com/NHTopzDems.php

i actually think an early loss may have been the best outcome for obama. (besides not losing) if he had suffered a loss such as this one closer to super tuesday it could have been the end for him. things are looking good, though. he's up in south carolina and got a union endorsement in nevada today, and is expected to get the culinary union endorsement as well.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on January 09, 2008, 07:01:07 pm
oh shit, he actually got the union endorsement? rumor was he wasn't going to get it.

that is good news. hopefully if he takes SC that'll give him momentum into Super Tuesday.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on January 09, 2008, 07:03:29 pm
Quote from: politico.com
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Presidential hopeful Barack Obama has won an endorsement from the Nevada chapter of the Service Employees International Union, boosting his prospects against rival Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) in Nevada's upcoming Democratic caucuses.

The influential union claims to represent 17,500 health care and county workers in Nevada. Its executive board approved the decision in a conference call late Tuesday, shortly after the Illinois senator finished a close second behind Clinton in the New Hampshire primary.

The announcement came as Obama was expecting to get another boost from labor in Nevada. The 60,000-member Culinary Workers Union, Local 226 was scheduled to announce its endorsement Wednesday.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Saleop on January 09, 2008, 07:33:48 pm
btw Obama still is winning via delegates, which is what matters

Obama: 25
Clinton: 24
Edwards: 18

just a little fyi.

Yeah

I think it's important to note that Hillary and Obama TIED in the number of delegates won in New Hampshire.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Mama Luigi on January 09, 2008, 08:10:16 pm
Oh my god guys. Look at this shitfest of an e-mail I received from my incredibly conservative mom. I don't... I don't even know where to begin... I definitely need to e-mail all the people she forwarded this to and clear up some of the LIES and IGNORANCE found in this e-mail:

Quote
Obama mentioned his church during his appearance with Oprah.
 It's the Trinity Church of Christ.  It's not like any Church of Christ
I've ever heard of.  I found this very interesting.

 Obama's church:
 Please read and go to this church's website and read what is written there.
 It may be very alarming.
 Barack Obama is a member of this church and is running for President of the U.S.
 If you look at the first page of their website, you will learn that this congregation
 has a non-negotiable commitment to Africa. No where is AMERICA even mentioned.
 
 Notice too, what color you will need to be if you should want to join
Obama's church... B-L-A-C-K!!!
Doesn't look like his choice of religion has improved much over his (former?)
Muslim upbringing.

Are you aware that Obama's middle name is Mohammed?
 
Strip away his nice looks, the big smile and smooth talk and what do you get?
Is he a racist, as plainly defined by the stated position of his church!
Is he possibly a covert worshiper of the Muslim faith, even today.
 
This guy desires to be in charge of over America
while his loyalty is totally vested in a Black Africa!
I cannot believe this has not been all over the TV and newspapers.

You may want to pass this message along to all of your family & friends.
 
To think that Obama has even the slightest
chance in the run for the presidency, is really scary to me.
 Click on the link below:
 This is the web page for the church Barack Obama belongs to: 
  www.tucc.org/about.htm
That's right... they actually think his middle name is Mohammed.

I did a little research and guess where I found the original article (or maybe it isn't the original, just a repost). Here (http://www.dailypaul.com/node/22345).
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on January 09, 2008, 08:17:07 pm
Yeah

I think it's important to note that Hillary and Obama TIED in the number of delegates won in New Hampshire.

i actually was misleading; the delegates dont really matter too much since it's all about momentum now and Obama lost a bunch of it big time.

NEVADA WHATS HOOD.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on January 09, 2008, 08:36:11 pm
Maybe the most interesting thing about that e-mail is the fact that his middle name is not, in fact, Mohammed. It's Hussein.

EDIT: oh, I see you... already mentioned that.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on January 09, 2008, 08:56:41 pm
meanwhile, Chris Matthews has fucked himself:

http://www.salon.com/mwt/feature/2008/01/09/hillary_nh/
http://mediamatters.org/items/200712180005
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: jamie on January 09, 2008, 09:34:48 pm
this recent stuff with clinton is fucking appalling. i'm far removed from all of it really, and i only know what i decide to look up, but i didn't think the fact she is a woman was actually that important. i knew there would be stupid shit about her looks, and i remember seeing something on fox news where they spent like 10 minutes discussing her make-up but it's worse than i expected. it seems like there is a lot of male angst over her being considered a front runner, aggressive with her campaigning etc. that chris matthews guy, i've never heard of him before, he's a total prick. it is embarassing.

also i might be taking it a bit far but it only just occurred to me that everyone is on a first name basis with hillary clinton while we remain professionally distant with obama, mccain, huckabee. maybe it's just cos she's much more known but it seems a bit familiar for my tastes.

someone said a bit of drama from candidates before new hampshire is common, but does it always get this kind of attention? the fact that she got choked up (i actually haven't seen this footage yet)?

you've always seen people talking about how "likeable" she is, or that she seems remote and emotionless. people are very concerned with this when it comes to clinton, much more so than the other candidates. this, i really don't like. it is all pretty insidious.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Wil on January 09, 2008, 09:39:28 pm
About the Obama chain letter, unfortunately I know a lot of people who use this kind of reasoning to smear Obama. Things like "Obama doesn't do the pledge, Obama is a Muslim, Obama hates America, Osama Obama terrorist, blahblahblah" is what I hear constantly when I run into someone who doesn't know too much about ... well, anything at all.

I do agree that Obama's church is pretty weird, but I don't think it's nearly as bad as the racket that is Romney's Mormonism.

helpful stuff
Hey thanks !!
edit, for the record i've already been rebutted with that ugly V FOR VENDETTA type stuff woo RONPAUL08!!!!
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on January 09, 2008, 09:53:46 pm
the obama pledge thing is on snopes as untrue btw.

i mean, you should know it is anyways but yeah.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Wil on January 09, 2008, 11:22:31 pm
"Obama: No warrantless wiretaps if you elect me"
http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9845595-7.html
Then why did he vote yes for the Patriot act in 2006? Does it matter? I have a lot of friends who go nuts over his voting record behind the Patriot Act.

the obama pledge thing is on snopes as untrue btw.
Well it is true that he didn't PUT HIS HAND OVER HIS HEART (instead he stood in respectful observance, and uses his hand many other times anyways), but a lot of people try to convolute that as some sort of statement about his SACRED PATRIOTISM.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Saleop on January 10, 2008, 01:29:50 am
Richardson has dropped out.

Maybe his supporters will go to Obama?
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on January 10, 2008, 01:37:09 am
Richardson has dropped out.

Maybe his supporters will go to Obama?

i doubt it. he was humping clinton's leg pretty hard at the past few debates
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Shepperd on January 10, 2008, 01:38:22 am
Edward wont drop out?

Given that situation, his supporters would rather vote who Hillary or Obama?
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on January 10, 2008, 01:39:52 am
Edward wont drop out?

Given that situation, his supporters would rather vote who Hillary or Obama?

definitely obama. edwards has been a pretty harsh critic of clinton and his positions and message are close to obamas
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Shepperd on January 10, 2008, 01:43:20 am
hah, nice. I think Edwards should negotiate with Obama asap. If the Obama/Edwards formula is presented now, Obama should win by landslide.
But what do I know, I'm just thinking
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Saleop on January 10, 2008, 01:49:25 am
hah, nice. I think Edwards should negotiate with Obama asap. If the Obama/Edwards formula is presented now, Obama should win by landslide.
But what do I know, I'm just thinking

This would be pretty cool, but I think it's going to be a little while until Edwards drops out of the race.

poor man still thinks he has a chance
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on January 10, 2008, 01:52:18 am
edwards may drop out after nevada or south carolina if he doesn't get a first place.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Wil on January 10, 2008, 05:53:35 am
so after NH and some new polls I'm getting the feeling that Hillary will win!!
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on January 10, 2008, 06:53:25 am
I'm afraid that if Hillary wins, people will decide to vote for a republican in the end because they don't like her. Just like the 2004 elections.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Sarhan on January 10, 2008, 07:48:38 am
so after NH and some new polls I'm getting the feeling that Hillary will win!!

Don't say that...don't you dare say that.

I will shit myself if she wins. If you (and those polls) are right though, Edwards needs to get the fuck out of the race so Obama can kick some ass.

And fuck I was going to say something else but I forgot what. This is gonna bug me.

On a side note though, I was talking to some people at work today about the election and it's ridiculous how many people are either completely uninformed or close-minded. Some chick said she'd vote for Hillary because she'd be the first woman president and because that'd bring about change. When I asked her why she thought Hillary was qualified to lead, she didn't know a thing. She just said she wanted to see a woman in office.

Another woman said she would vote for anyone but Obama. After poking around a little and trying to figure out why, I came to the conclusion that she was racist (that and the fact that she's made racist comments before) and that there was no other reason. When I told her how I think he's one of the smartest men running and one of the most rational, she just replied with an "I don't care, I still wouldn't vote for him." This same girl got pissed off when I told her about New Hampshire and the crying thing and how I thought it was somewhat immature of Hillary to pull a stunt like that (because if you think about it, it's a disgrace to women and all they've accomplished thus far, intentional or not) and she got really defensive. She kept accusing me of being sexist and that I wouldn't vote for her just because she was a woman and not because I disagree with her policies. If Obama was a woman, he'd still get my vote because the man is so fucking inspirational it's unbelievable. I've hated politics until he stepped into the ring. His speeches preach hope and change, but they also inspire and make me believe that he can truly accomplish something and that is the only reason I care about politics right now. For once it doesn't seem like it's "oh hey, I'm going to vote for the lesser of two evils," as cliche as that may sound.

I'm glad these kinds of people don't vote (neither of them are going to from what they told me) but it makes me sad to think that there are people out there (and I know there are) who have no idea about the candidates and their positions, yet they still go out and pick someone because of something as stupid as "oh, Hillary's a woman and I want a female president" or "oh I'm not voting for him because he's black." (And of course, there's a flip side to that also, with sexist men not voting for Hillary and people voting for Obama just because he's black, but if you think about it, there are fewer people who belong in those categories than the former.) I mean, I'm not the most informed person by any means, but I have a general idea of what each candidate stands for and I feel like I know who would do a good job. Of course, it's all speculation on my part, but it's speculation formed by the knowledge at hand, not just a blind pick because of the candidate's gender or race.

Anyways, sorry for the rant. Just wanted to say that. Now I'm gonna go to Obama's site, donate some cash, and head off to bed.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Pasty on January 10, 2008, 07:58:14 am
what is your opinion that if obama gets the nomination, he's toast because of the perceived notion that the southern states won't vote for a black man who is often mistaken for a muslim?  i really want to know how likely this scenario is because i'd like to debunk the myth that everyone in the south is a bunch of racist hicks, as well as argue in favor of an extremely intelligent candidate who i have faith in and who would handle this country well, but i actually don't know if that's the way they'd vote!
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Sarhan on January 10, 2008, 08:08:20 am
what is your opinion that if obama gets the nomination, he's toast because of the perceived notion that the southern states won't vote for a black man who is often mistaken for a muslim?  i really want to know how likely this scenario is because i'd like to debunk the myth that everyone in the south is a bunch of racist hicks, as well as argue in favor of an extremely intelligent candidate who i have faith in and who would handle this country well, but i actually don't know if that's the way they'd vote!

Oh I'm not saying he'll lose in the south because I think people there are racist. I'm not saying he'll lose in the south at all and frankly, I don't know enough to make a guess on how he'll do in the southern states, so I won't. Me pointing out the fact that she's from the south was somewhat irrelevant and misleading so I'll edit the post and get rid of that comment. And I do think that it's an unlikely scenario that Obama would lose because of the whole "southern people are racist" stereotype (or at least I'd like to think we've come along that far).

However, I still do think that there are more racist people than there are sexist men (not in the south, but the U.S. as a whole). I'm not saying it'll affect the race in either candidate's favor dramatically, but it will definitely affect the way people vote.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Farren on January 10, 2008, 10:56:19 am
He'll lose in the south because people are rascist


trust me...
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: `~congresman Ron paul~~ on January 10, 2008, 02:34:41 pm
generally speaking the type of people who wouldn't vote for a  black guy tend not to be democrats themselves
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: crone_lover720 on January 10, 2008, 04:36:50 pm
a lot of people vote without knowing much about the candidates

in the beginning my mom said she wouldn't vote for hillary because she doesn't think a woman would make a good president. now she's watching the debates and stuff though, but if we weren't here I don't think she would have

also yeah treg. there are some racist democrats that are really really messed up people (sister's boyfriend (I...I can save him..)) but they are such a minority that they don't matter
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on January 10, 2008, 05:07:51 pm
Obama just got endorsed by John Kerry.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: kentona on January 10, 2008, 05:19:50 pm
Obama just got endorsed by John Kerry.
Poor guy.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Sarhan on January 10, 2008, 07:11:01 pm
Obama just got endorsed by John Kerry.

Will that help him much?
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on January 10, 2008, 07:18:05 pm
probably not. john kerry isn't really that influential. more importantly obama was also endorsed by the two largest Nevada unions
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Wash Cycle on January 10, 2008, 08:43:02 pm
seriously the best thing for the Obama camp right now

is either to win in SC or have Edwards wins. but if Hilary wins in SC man... its gonna be a long battle after that to regain the lost momentum

sigh. on a side note my hickass of a lab partner in biology today told me that everything about obama in that ridiculous chain letter was true and that I should move to Iran because I want to have a muslim with the middle name mohammad who wont say the pledge of allegiance. it took pretty much every fibre of my being (and the fact that he was a middle linebacker) to keep from punching him in the face
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Sarhan on January 10, 2008, 09:56:11 pm
seriously the best thing for the Obama camp right now

is either to win in SC or have Edwards wins. but if Hilary wins in SC man... its gonna be a long battle after that to regain the lost momentum

sigh. on a side note my hickass of a lab partner in biology today told me that everything about obama in that ridiculous chain letter was true and that I should move to Iran because I want to have a muslim with the middle name mohammad who wont say the pledge of allegiance. it took pretty much every fibre of my being (and the fact that he was a middle linebacker) to keep from punching him in the face

You should have punched his ignorant face regardless. I'd take a beating for it (probably not).

Man, I was so confident in Obama winning the Democratic nomination, but after the last few days, I'm not so sure he could pull it off.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Grunthor on January 10, 2008, 10:02:35 pm
Man, I was so confident in Obama winning the Democratic nomination, but after the last few days, I'm not so sure he could pull it off.

It's far too early to write him off.  I think when people sit back and digest the NH primary and all the shit that went on there they will be less likely to vote Hillary after her little crying episode.


Also, Richardson drops out. (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080110/ap_po/richardson)
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Shepperd on January 10, 2008, 10:38:43 pm
This is really interesting.
I could make a separate topic about it if anybody wants, in case they are in FEAR OF THE DERAIL.
But I find it pretty interesting how GW, which has no political premise at all, seems to have mostly atheist liberal members that are pretty much in favor of Obama. Why is this? Which factors made GW be that way? Is the structure of GW that in some way promotes this kind of member? Is it that the most relevant members happen to think that way, and by teaming up they just define the political tendency inside GW?
it is interstins
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Wil on January 10, 2008, 10:49:30 pm
Social Desirability
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: kentona on January 11, 2008, 01:03:04 am
Younger people tend to be more liberal than conservative.  Plus, those that like computers and gaming tend to also have an interest in science, which coincidentally corrolates with atheism.  It's like the deeper one's life is involved with science, the lower the religiosity.  Scientific investigation must adhere to the scientific method, a process for evaluating empirical knowledge that explains observable events in nature as results of natural causes, rejecting supernatural notions.  Such a worldview lends itself well to atheism and nontheism.

Of course, I'm generalizing here.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: The Truth on January 11, 2008, 01:28:53 am
there can only be one answer....


steel bandwagoning
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: HL on January 11, 2008, 01:36:55 am
i think it also might have a bit to do with youth thinking somethings honestly going to change by putting a black prez in


nothing will *shrugs*

i like obama cause he is an amazing speech giver, and i like what he stands for
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: crone_lover720 on January 11, 2008, 01:43:52 am
young people generally support Obama or Ron Paul. the stupid ones like paul
there can only be one answer....


steel bandwagoning
an hour ago I was going to post "now steel will come in here and claim it's all because of him" but apparently gw didn't want to let me do that

edit
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Saleop on January 11, 2008, 01:55:30 am
This is really interesting.
I could make a separate topic about it if anybody wants, in case they are in FEAR OF THE DERAIL.
But I find it pretty interesting how GW, which has no political premise at all, seems to have mostly atheist liberal members that are pretty much in favor of Obama. Why is this? Which factors made GW be that way? Is the structure of GW that in some way promotes this kind of member? Is it that the most relevant members happen to think that way, and by teaming up they just define the political tendency inside GW?
it is interstins

My support for Barack Obama isn't necessarily because of ideology, it's mostly because of his character. The man has the ability to get support from people from both sides, and he is actually inspiring when he speaks. Hillary Clinton on the other hand is an incredibly divisive figure and tbh i don't think can beat a republican in a general election. Ideologically speaking, I can't really say I'm against Hillary. She is just way too controversial of a figure.

and yeah, as Wil said, it's probably just social desirability
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on January 11, 2008, 02:45:50 am
an hour ago I was going to post "now steel will come in here and claim it's all because of him" but apparently gw didn't want to let me do that

hahaha you're such a fucking child.

seriously get over it tex. saying that maybe someone who has
-coopted everything about me to the degree people thought he was my new account (I have never ever had this mistake with anyone else on these forums, not even the "bandwagoners" and I had it multiple times in your case)
-confused people so that they accused even his JOKE ACCOUNT of being my joke account
-in the past read both my LJ and GW posts which had focused on feminism and previously had no history of posting about feminism

maybe looked up a thing or two on feminism because I talked about it isn't some grave fucking insult and isn't indicative of anything other than a little bit of fetishism on your part that I called out. let it go. if you want to continue it, do it in PM. you threw your jab at me, I replied, we're even as far as I care, and no one other than panda wants to see this derail.

anyways yeah how is that an actual question Shep? conservatives tend to be older by vast numbers and liberals are younger. come on, a little bit of applied thinking results in like a hundred possible answers all of which are probably at least slightly valid.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: headphonics on January 11, 2008, 02:58:16 am
man, what a steel thing to say.  has it ever occurred to you that MAYBE, given the same general age range and sociopolitical leanings, his interest in feminism is inspired by the same thing that inspired it within you?  why do you think that simply because you posted about it on gw, at some point in time, anyone after that point with more than a passing interest in it must clearly have been vitally influenced by you in their thirst for knowledge that thousands of others have been interested in before you were even at the point of being able to understand that someone doesn't stop existing when they move out of your line of sight?

we've already covered these bases before; they should be familiar ground for you by now.  gw, at its very core, is an exceedingly homogeneous community.  so much time spent around so select a group of people leads to, surprise, the lines of peoples NETDENTITIES (heh) gradually fading until one person is barely distinguishable from the rest.  was a conscious desire to be like someone else cited when i sounded like you who sounded like turkpimp?  no, because it is unconscious, and a problem (if you could even call it that) that can be traced back to a person's simple PRESENCE on gw, their very interaction with anyone here.

there is, of course, one thing of yours he didn't coopt.  and that is your giant, uncontrollable ego that seems to color everything you see in some sort of STEEL BRUSHED HAZE.  perhaps he is like you, in a loose sense, but he probably wouldn't make the mistake of saying that a person must surely be basing their own identify off of someone else because of shared interests in superficial subjects, and a general similarity in posting tone that also exists throughout a large amount of the active posters at gw.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on January 11, 2008, 03:04:52 am
man, what a steel thing to say.  has it ever occurred to you that MAYBE, given the same general age range and sociopolitical leanings, his interest in feminism is inspired by the same thing that inspired it within you?  why do you think that simply because you posted about it on gw, at some point in time, anyone after that point with more than a passing interest in it must clearly have been vitally influenced by you in their thirst for knowledge that thousands of others have been interested in before you were even at the point of being able to understand that someone doesn't stop existing when they move out of your line of sight?

we've already covered these bases before; they should be familiar ground for you by now.  gw, at its very core, is an exceedingly homogeneous community.  so much time spent around so select a group of people leads to, surprise, the lines of peoples NETDENTITIES (heh) gradually fading until one person is barely distinguishable from the rest.  was a conscious desire to be like someone else cited when i sounded like you who sounded like turkpimp?  no, because it is unconscious, and a problem (if you could even call it that) that can be traced back to a person's simple PRESENCE on gw, their very interaction with anyone here.

there is, of course, one thing of yours he didn't coopt.  and that is your giant, uncontrollable ego that seems to color everything you see in some sort of STEEL BRUSHED HAZE.  perhaps he is like you, in a loose sense, but he probably wouldn't make the mistake of saying that a person must surely be basing their own identify off of someone else because of shared interests in superficial subjects, and a general similarity in posting tone that also exists throughout a large amount of the active posters at gw.

Quote from: 'Kurt Cobain
"Even in a book of lies you sometimes find truth. There is indeed a season for all things' date=' and now that I see you flesh to flesh, blood to blood, I know I cannot raise my hand against you. But know this, you are my greatest disappointment. Does your master hear me? Atlas! You can kill me, but you can never have my city! My strength is not in steel or fire, that is what the parasites will never understand. A season for all things, a time to live, and a time to die. A time to build, and a time to destroy! Come now my child, there is one last thing to discuss."[/quote']
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Wil on January 11, 2008, 03:38:05 am
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/01/10/paul.newsletters/index.html
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on January 11, 2008, 03:53:45 am
yeah haha this shit has been all over the news today. i'm glad paul isn't sliding through the election with this unnoticed.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Shepperd on January 11, 2008, 04:34:31 am
anyways yeah how is that an actual question Shep? conservatives tend to be older by vast numbers and liberals are younger. come on, a little bit of applied thinking results in like a hundred possible answers all of which are probably at least slightly valid.
Because if political belief were to be defined by age then I wouldn't be asking this question

But yeah that previous post was just a moment of ingenious insight
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on January 11, 2008, 05:15:41 am
http://youtube.com/watch?v=G7FwULXnM_E

REVOlution more like it.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: crone_lover720 on January 11, 2008, 05:37:04 am
the reason blacks support me is because I will pardon them for drug crimes
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on January 11, 2008, 08:49:07 am
It's AMAZING how people are still saying that these newsletter articles were published "just to discredit Ron Paul".

Guess what: you're correct! Of course we want to discredit the person who's published racist articles for 20 years. Just as we would try to discredit any other racist who has the nerve to run for president.

It is WHOLLY IMPOSSIBLE for him to have not been involved in this or known what was going on. These articles were published for 20 YEARS!

Do you honestly believe an article with his name bannered right above it containing strong and racist remarks could have gone unnoticed for 20 years? You made fools out of yourselves for supporting him in the first place and ignoring all the evidence you saw that said he's not a person worth supporting. You said that everything was "just a big conspiracy" by his opponents, ignoring the fact that nobody would want to exert such effort for a person who's not a serious candidate for presidency. And even now, you're saying that the articles might be forged by his opponents. Why would anyone do this for 20 years, starting at a time when Ron Paul wasn't even a notable person?

You know, these people are probably still supporting Ron Paul because they feel they can't make a 180 degree turn, because that will reveal how incredibly ignorant they were before.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on January 11, 2008, 05:14:38 pm
it's a principle called cognitive dissonance.

basically, a science experiment was done where these people had to take this terrible fucking test where you rotated pegs. it was so boring. so they had three groups. to one group they said nothing. this group was most likely to go outside and say nothing and even tell the next person in line "this was so boring god". the other group was paid five dollars to tell the person outside it was good. the last group was paid 20 bucks.

interestingly, when a followup survey was conducted a few weeks later, the group paid 20 dollars were LESS likely to look favorably on the experiment. the group paid 5 almost always said WOW IT WAS SO FUN AND GOOD. and so the principle of cognitive dissonance is formed: when two dissonant or competing thoughts occur, the person will convince themselves that one of the thoughts falls in line with the other. the people paid 20 bucks felt that they were paid enough for their boredom and so were able to accurately call the survey shit. the ones paid 5 had to justify their waste of time for five bucks that they used to justify it to someone else, and so ACTUALLY BELIEVED the survey was good.

this principle gets applied to UFO cults and political fanatics as well. the smaller Paulsies will be dissuaded by Ron Paul's terrible fucking statements, but the ones who have been completely convinced cannot take the thought of Paul being BAD anymore. they wasted so much time and money on him that he HAS to be the Messiah, he just HAS to, because they have invested their lives into him.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on January 11, 2008, 06:46:47 pm
kucinich is calling for a new hampshire recount.

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/01/11/kucinich-calls-for-new-hampshire-recount/
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Wil on January 11, 2008, 06:48:44 pm
Slate did an article about explanations for the hugely inaccurate polls before NH: http://www.slate.com/id/2181849/
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Vellfire on January 11, 2008, 10:01:40 pm
Man, I've almost stopped reading Digg because of how much they love Ron Paul.  All the posts about his newsletters coming out are ignored or replied to with "WELL HE SAYS HE DIDN'T WRITE THOSE", and there's one that's all about HOW GOOD OF A JOB RON PAUL DID SAYING HE DIDN'T DO IT, and the post goes on and on about "The Ron Paul I love..."  That's the essence of it--they don't give a shit what Ron Paul is really like because they're in love with this magical image of him, they don't realize the Ron Paul they love isn't who they want to put in office, it's the real Ron Paul that would be there.

As for Kucinich, does he really think the recount is going to make any difference for him?
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on January 11, 2008, 10:08:23 pm
the recount isn't for him. he payed for it because he thought something was fishy between Obama/Clinton vote. obama got a higher % when the results were handcounted and Clinton got a higher % when Diebold was used or something.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Grunthor on January 11, 2008, 10:08:56 pm
As for Kucinich, does he really think the recount is going to make any difference for him?

He knows that it won't make any difference for his vote, but I think that it's because he's a bit curious to the debacle between the polls that had Obama winning and the actual vote totals that had him lose.  Kucinich has pretty much been in Obama's camp for most of the race so far, going so far as to urge his voters to vote for Obama if they thought that Kucinich had no chance of being viable in the state.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Doktormartini on January 11, 2008, 11:04:21 pm
Also Kucinich got invited to the Las Vegas debate on the 15th but then NBC Uninvited him.  FUCK.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Wil on January 12, 2008, 05:44:05 am
http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/01/new-hampshire-t.html
NH's gonna recount. That'd be crazy if anything changed.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on January 12, 2008, 06:02:23 am
its gonna be too late for the next primaries though!!!
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: WunderBread on January 12, 2008, 06:42:16 am
This stuff about Ron Paul has gotten me increasingly skeptical about his running as a candidate. I mean, I don't know anything about the guy's character or personality, but his policies, to me, just looked plain ridiculous. Certainly, some  of them are good, even great, ideas, but c'mon: The Gold Standard? Withdrawal from trade agreements and the United Nations? Abolishment of several government-funded programs that ensure the safety and protection of our citizens? I mean, I'm not sure if it's all completely true and correct, and I'm sure I'd read up on his policies before our state's primary (except I didn't register to vote 30 days before, which is the cutoff and also IT DOESN'T COUNT), but I couldn't really see him as a president. He's a little too... radial for my tastes. But I suppose that's what his supporters are arguing for, eh? A revolution? It's just too weird.

What's really weird,tough, is imagining all the candidates with the prefix "President". I mean, except Clinton, because there's already been one. But the rest of the sound odd, to say the least.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: HL on January 12, 2008, 07:06:25 am
This stuff about Ron Paul has gotten me increasingly skeptical about his running as a candidate. I mean, I don't know anything about the guy's character or personality, but his policies, to me, just looked plain ridiculous. Certainly, some  of them are good, even great, ideas, but c'mon: The Gold Standard? Withdrawal from trade agreements and the United Nations? Abolishment of several government-funded programs that ensure the safety and protection of our citizens? I mean, I'm not sure if it's all completely true and correct, and I'm sure I'd read up on his policies before our state's primary (except I didn't register to vote 30 days before, which is the cutoff and also IT DOESN'T COUNT), but I couldn't really see him as a president. He's a little too... radial for my tastes. But I suppose that's what his supporters are arguing for, eh? A revolution? It's just too weird.

What's really weird,tough, is imagining all the candidates with the prefix "President". I mean, except Clinton, because there's already been one. But the rest of the sound odd, to say the least.

paul only has internet support

which prolly means sites like 4chan fake vote for him or shit
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on January 12, 2008, 08:22:03 am
Man, I've almost stopped reading Digg because of how much they love Ron Paul.  All the posts about his newsletters coming out are ignored or replied to with "WELL HE SAYS HE DIDN'T WRITE THOSE", and there's one that's all about HOW GOOD OF A JOB RON PAUL DID SAYING HE DIDN'T DO IT, and the post goes on and on about "The Ron Paul I love..."  That's the essence of it--they don't give a shit what Ron Paul is really like because they're in love with this magical image of him, they don't realize the Ron Paul they love isn't who they want to put in office, it's the real Ron Paul that would be there.
Now, where did I hear about this before?

(http://gamingw.net/pubaccess/28695/mao.jpg)

(One difference is that they're actually willing to vote for him.)
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: arrgh on January 12, 2008, 01:12:19 pm
IMO McCain is the worst candidate there, while Obama is the least of the many evils.  I personally can't stand Hillary, but I think that the republicans are even worse.  What saddens me is we can't even get a decent candidate elected here.  What happened to the old republican party - the one that voted to keep out of everything?
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on January 12, 2008, 06:34:50 pm
...McCain is the only decent Republican running. what in God's name would make you label him worst, considering he's the only one with immigration reform and AGAINST TORTURE (Romney actually said DOUBLE GITMO!!!)

I mean he's shit but he's way better than the rest of his party.

also

http://www.concordmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080112/FRONTPAGE/801120412

I hate these people.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on January 12, 2008, 09:23:56 pm
The Ron Paul (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_Paul) article on Wikipedia is also terrible. There's no real discussion of the criticism that he's received, apart from a section about the newsletter articles. The article is locked, too, so you can't edit it even if you have an old and "trusted" account.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Wil on January 13, 2008, 12:52:53 am
well if he says he didn't write them, then he didn't write them!!
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Vellfire on January 13, 2008, 04:17:33 am
Basically there are almost no sites where you can learn anything about Ron Paul besides how fantastic him and his cock are.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Sarhan on January 13, 2008, 09:04:31 am
http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/01/new-hampshire-t.html
NH's gonna recount. That'd be crazy if anything changed.

This is taken from the link you posted:

Quote
One voter expressed concern because her district reported 0 votes for Ron Paul when her family all voted for him.

Clearly some miscount of the votes occurred, because it was later discovered that Dr. Paul had several dozen votes for the district.

How fucking retarded is this?
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Marcus on January 13, 2008, 09:10:17 am
Quote
How fucking retarded is this?

Retarded that Paul only got a dozen votes or retarded because they're recounting something that ended days ago?

I'm kind of interested in this revelation.  Miscounting a couple dozen votes is pretty serious.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: GZ on January 13, 2008, 09:26:44 am
this is more symbolic for paul supporters because they think the clerk was "fixing" the vote then made it look normal when she started getting harassment. a lot of them also seem to think this is just the tip of the iceberg and are using the logic that if this occurs even once who knows how many dozens of votes were miscounted and the whole election is a sham. this also plays into their fantasy of the GOV'T trying to shut down paul, rather than the reality that people don't vote for him because he is a crazy old man.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Sarhan on January 13, 2008, 09:27:35 am
Retarded that Paul only got a dozen votes or retarded because they're recounting something that ended days ago?

I'm kind of interested in this revelation.  Miscounting a couple dozen votes is pretty serious.

Retarded because it shows how fucked up the voting system is when votes go uncounted. That's a few dozen uncounted votes in just one county. There are around 237 counties in New Hampshire. Hopefully this recount will be done before Super Tuesday...it should be if their estimates are correct. Imagine how big of a blow it would be to Hillary if they found that Obama won.

As for GZ's comment, don't know if that was directed at me or not, but I'm an Obama supporter.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Kole on January 13, 2008, 10:46:47 am
I completely agree with Ron Paul's Ideals.  It's about time that America focused more in it's own interest rather than trying to police other nations.  Cutting systems from the federal government is a great Idea as well.  I mean the government is putting billions of dollars of our tax money to all these organizations that are old and aren't even necessary anymore.  Besides Ron Paul did vote against the Patriot Act, and the Government Regulation of the Internet, both of which affects us internet users!.  Sure he maybe going for a more socialistic approach, but whats so bad about that?  Look at Canada and it's medical system, why do you think so many senior citizens in America cross the border to Canada to get medications.  If we had a better Medicare/medicate system they wouldn't have to go to Canada to get cheaper medications in the first place.

But I can't vote, I'm not a citizen.  And for the first time ever in the 10 years I've lived in America I finally feel the true importance of voting, which some people take for granted at times.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: crone_lover720 on January 13, 2008, 04:36:51 pm
K0LE I don't know if your post was supposed to be funny or something, but if not, you don't know anything about ron paul at all! christ man, like konix said Ron Paul's ideas are the OPPOSITE of what you're saying. he is a libertarian, he hates everything to do with socialism! I mean holy shit dude, Ron Paul actually said "we need to get away from corporate medicine and stay away from socialized medicine" and "move in the direction of delivering the service through free-market forces." Did you bother to look into him at all, or are you just going with the sway of your favorite social networking site?

btw Ron Paul would probably hate you
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Shepperd on January 13, 2008, 05:21:28 pm
K0LE, if you think USA shouldn't police other countries you're practically sending your country to damnation
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on January 13, 2008, 05:35:42 pm
Retarded because it shows how fucked up the voting system is when votes go uncounted. That's a few dozen uncounted votes in just one county. There are around 237 counties in New Hampshire. Hopefully this recount will be done before Super Tuesday...it should be if their estimates are correct. Imagine how big of a blow it would be to Hillary if they found that Obama won.

As for GZ's comment, don't know if that was directed at me or not, but I'm an Obama supporter.

the problem is this wasn't a matter of a few votes being discounted, but something that was CLEARLY a mistake. were it a conspiracy or anything, she'd write: PAUL: 20 or something. but she wrote zero. I mean, obviously SOMEONE who voted for Paul would call the media or something.

it doesn't take much thought to realize that this was a mistake instead of a FUCK PAUL. it also is a statistically insignificant number; margins of error tend to take these kind of mistakes into account, so Paul's total vote percentage won't be affected at all.

basically it's a clear example like GZ said of Paulsie retardation; this was a mistake, almost assuredly in every way (she fixed it within 16 hours when it was brought to her attention) but now they are throwing more money away on a recount, in some desperate way hoping he'll get 3,000 votes that didn't exist prior.

I completely agree with Ron Paul's Ideals.  It's about time that America focused more in it's own interest rather than trying to police other nations.  Cutting systems from the federal government is a great Idea as well.  I mean the government is putting billions of dollars of our tax money to all these organizations that are old and aren't even necessary anymore.  Besides Ron Paul did vote against the Patriot Act, and the Government Regulation of the Internet, both of which affects us internet users!.  Sure he maybe going for a more socialistic approach, but whats so bad about that?  Look at Canada and it's medical system, why do you think so many senior citizens in America cross the border to Canada to get medications.  If we had a better Medicare/medicate system they wouldn't have to go to Canada to get cheaper medications in the first place.

But I can't vote, I'm not a citizen.  And for the first time ever in the 10 years I've lived in America I finally feel the true importance of voting, which some people take for granted at times.

haha what! it's like you took the internet's CRAZY MESSIAH WORSHIP and conformed it to your own beliefs. Paul hates UHC! he wants the free market to deal with it. he also wants all that bullshit alternative medicine to be allowed even though, you know, doesn't work 99.9% of the time but hey stock it next to the condoms and advil!!!

http://dneiwert.blogspot.com/2007/11/ron-pauls-record-in-congress.html
http://www.brokenlibrarian.org/ronpaul/
http://www.iidb.org/vbb/showthread.php?t=229870
http://www.tnr.com/politics/story.html?id=e2f15397-a3c7-4720-ac15-4532a7da84ca

ps I think I've read "Von Mises was a jew so how can Ron Paul be an anti-semite" a thousand times by now.

man why did you post without bothering to respond to all the Ron Paul criticism I and others have leveled in the topic? this kind of post annoys me the most because it just shows the same attitude I dislike in politics; I GOT MY OPINION FUCK CRITICISM OPINIONS ARE MAGIC SHIELDS.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on January 13, 2008, 06:37:18 pm
Sure he maybe going for a more socialistic approach
Huh?

Ron Paul is a libertarian. Libertarianism is kind of like anarchism. (I must admit I didn't even know all that much about it until a while ago; apparently it's predominantly US-centric.)

He's the opposite of a socialist.

but whats so bad about that?
Nothing's wrong with a social government. But if you want one, vote for a democrat! Don't vote for Ron Paul, because he wants to steer America into the opposite direction.

Speaking of which, I have yet to understand why getting rid of stuff like the FDA and education system and social security and the federal reserve and so on would be at all beneficial. Ron Paul's supporters keep gushing about that shit over and over but I have yet to see any of them explain why any of that would be good at all.
I'm also unsure (because, as you say, this isn't explained in detail very often), but I think that the general argument is simple: they say the government cannot be trusted to do an as good job as the free market. In reality, the advantages you gain by increasing the competition over these areas will not outweigh the negative consequences. After all, these are essential services we're talking about here that people cannot go without. You can't trust privatized companies to always do a good job, especially when their services are required by a great part of the population.

For example, what if HIV treatment medication suddenly became ten times as expensive? Think about it for a moment. Yes, we would probably immediately see posts on Digg calling for a worldwide boycott of HIV medication. But in reality, people will keep buying them, because if they don't, they'll die. Would a libertarian government care, or even be able to do anything about that? Maybe they can, you know, I'm not sure; but the point is that a libertarian government, a minimalist government that keeps its hands off of as many things as possible, won't regulate the free market, and we know by know that this will inevitably conclude with the people being impoverished.

In my example, the government could just say "just wait for a different company to start selling HIV medicine". Which can take quite long, especially when you consider that many forms and ingredients of medication are covered by patents. Or maybe someone actually will start a company that sells cheap HIV medicine, but then who's going to be sure they're of good quality?

This is the danger of an unregulated market.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: `~congresman Ron paul~~ on January 13, 2008, 08:04:08 pm
i'm still waiting for the internet to announce ron paul's a big prank
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Doktormartini on January 13, 2008, 08:32:32 pm
Quote
haha what! it's like you took the internet's CRAZY MESSIAH WORSHIP and conformed it to your own beliefs. Paul hates UHC! he wants the free market to deal with it. he also wants all that bullshit alternative medicine to be allowed even though, you know, doesn't work 99.9% of the time but hey stock it next to the condoms and advil!!!
Off topic, if by alternative medicine you mean holistic medicine it does work.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on January 13, 2008, 08:51:25 pm
Off topic, if by alternative medicine you mean holistic medicine it does work.

not according to the vast majority of scientific and non-scientific studies done on the vast majority of alternative medicine (such as your much vaunted homeopathy, which comes from India and which I am very personally familiar with, so before you say anything tread lightly little dumby). of course it might work (Hundley ate kelp for heartburn or something on a doctor's recommendation) but the fact that Paul wants the standard of medicine to be lowered to include ALL ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE is ridiculous. I'm not talking to you because you are completely insane but to anyone else reading this topic. Paul wants to remove all government essentially, and neuter everything to a state or non-existent level.

which addresses omeg's point earlier; libertarianism is almost anarchism BUT 1. holds onto a capitalist system and 2. believes for some odd reason, the state government, simply by virtue of being smaller, is better. federalism isn't an issue most other countries have had to face, so it's primarily US centric.

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2006/0607.wolfe.html

here's a good article on neo-conservatism fyi, which criticizes libertarianism as a result (since religion/morals is all that separate the two, and as we've seen even that is nothing for Paulsies).
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Doktormartini on January 13, 2008, 09:32:28 pm
Well TCM they've been doing it for like 5000 years so it must be of some use.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on January 13, 2008, 09:36:12 pm
people have been doing shit for years that means nothing.

people have been smoking for years it must be of some use.

people have been eating meat for years it must be of some use.

come on.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: something bizarre and impractical on January 13, 2008, 09:41:48 pm
Well it is of--some--use, but that doesn't mean it should be used, nor that the reasoning behind its use is any good.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Wil on January 13, 2008, 10:32:26 pm
I think Ron Paul's stance on Department of Education is the most offensive. It abolishes government regulation of what is taught in school, AND how available school is to people, especially those of low income. I'm here at university on SOME government funding, and RON PAUL REVOLUTION V FOR VENDETTA would take out government support of educational funding for ME as well as a lot of my friends.

Quote
Well TCM they've been doing it for like 5000 years so it must be of some use.
You CAN'T be serious, I know you don't believe in God and people always say things like "well people have believed in god for thousands of years, it must be true lalala", you know that's a junk principle, just apply that same principle to TCM and the rest of junk medicines out there.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Sarhan on January 13, 2008, 11:06:09 pm
the problem is this wasn't a matter of a few votes being discounted, but something that was CLEARLY a mistake. were it a conspiracy or anything, she'd write: PAUL: 20 or something. but she wrote zero. I mean, obviously SOMEONE who voted for Paul would call the media or something.

it doesn't take much thought to realize that this was a mistake instead of a FUCK PAUL. it also is a statistically insignificant number; margins of error tend to take these kind of mistakes into account, so Paul's total vote percentage won't be affected at all.

basically it's a clear example like GZ said of Paulsie retardation; this was a mistake, almost assuredly in every way (she fixed it within 16 hours when it was brought to her attention) but now they are throwing more money away on a recount, in some desperate way hoping he'll get 3,000 votes that didn't exist prior.

It isn't just the few miscounted votes though. From what I remember, Obama had more votes when they were hand counted and Hillary had more when they used the computerized voting system. I honestly don't give a fuck about Ron Paul, but I do agree with Kucinich that it seems odd that the results would be so dramatically different from the predictions (the Obama vs. Hillary stuff). Either way, why does it matter if they recount? If the votes were counted correctly the first time and the recount confirms it, then it'll instill confidence in computerized voting systems. If they differ, then we'll know something's up and to be more careful next time. It's a win-win either way. Sure it'll cost money, but it's nothing when you consider that the election will determine the fate of the U.S. for the next 4 years.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: crone_lover720 on January 13, 2008, 11:22:55 pm
hundley took kelp to cure his acid reflux against his doctor's orders, if I recall correctly. It largely depends on the doctor exactly how alternative the treatments can go; the doctors my family visit know about herbs and alternative medicine and will give you an educated opinion on whatever best choice is. some of that stuff does work, and as a future doctor I think it's important for someone in the profession to have a good knowledge of the available cures within their field. what paul's suggesting however is the dumbest shit and would probably kill tons of people, especially without the FDA to regulate things. let the free market decide which medicines work!!


paulsies say hillary won in NH because she rigged the diebolds
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Doktormartini on January 13, 2008, 11:28:20 pm
Quote
You CAN'T be serious, I know you don't believe in God and people always say things like "well people have believed in god for thousands of years, it must be true lalala", you know that's a junk principle, just apply that same principle to TCM and the rest of junk medicines out there
I don't get what you mean?  Basically, they believe it works so that's why they use it???

Actually, I've seen it work so yeah.  I could be misunderstanding your post though.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on January 13, 2008, 11:39:12 pm
It isn't just the few miscounted votes though. From what I remember, Obama had more votes when they were hand counted and Hillary had more when they used the computerized voting system. I honestly don't give a fuck about Ron Paul, but I do agree with Kucinich that it seems odd that the results would be so dramatically different from the predictions (the Obama vs. Hillary stuff). Either way, why does it matter if they recount? If the votes were counted correctly the first time and the recount confirms it, then it'll instill confidence in computerized voting systems. If they differ, then we'll know something's up and to be more careful next time. It's a win-win either way. Sure it'll cost money, but it's nothing when you consider that the election will determine the fate of the U.S. for the next 4 years.

problem is those stats of hand counting were reported by Paulsies to begin with, and Obama people aren't the ones demanding recounts, but Paulsies.

the Obama camp knows that even if they manage to win this by margin of error, it's not going to be spun into any kind of a good thing. the point of winning NH wasn't delegates (which they are winning in) but momentum, and if he won it now, people might turn out in SC to vote for Hillary out of pity!

that's the prevailing theory as to why she won NH anyways.

hundley took kelp to cure his acid reflux against his doctor's orders, if I recall correctly. It largely depends on the doctor exactly how alternative the treatments can go; the doctors my family visit know about herbs and alternative medicine and will give you an educated opinion on whatever best choice is. some of that stuff does work, and as a future doctor I think it's important for someone in the profession to have a good knowledge of the available cures within their field. what paul's suggesting however is the dumbest shit and would probably kill tons of people, especially without the FDA to regulate things. let the free market decide which medicines work!!

oh, my mistake. I didn't know who told him KELP so. and yeah, I'm all in favor of alternative treatments, but I also believe for the most part they should be ALTERNATIVE treatment, not alternatives to treatment, which is what most of the curebies (hehehhehehe this isn't hte right term aspergers unite) tend to espouse.

I don't get what you mean?  Basically, they believe it works so that's why they use it???

Actually, I've seen it work so yeah.  I could be misunderstanding your post though.

1. yes. that is why they use it. cultural belief is almost all there is behind holistic medicine, since most drug companies would die to have perfect headache cures they could market to some freegan losers as natural. your argument was IT'S OLD IT MUST WORK, which makes no sense.
2. I know this from more first hand experience then whatever you've seen, since I have seen people in India die from homeopathy (well not seen them die but like, heard they were doing it and then a month after I leave they are dead)! there is a difference between Hundley acid reflux and cancer/pain relief treatments and you just don't want to admit that by and large alternative medicine does not market itself as an alternative treatment but an alternative TO treatment, claiming that you must do or take x to stay healthy.

I hate Penn and Teller's Bullshit, but they did have a very good segment on this where some chiropracters were doing chiropracty on babies.

also to those of you who hate this derail, go ahead and post about politics but I don't see this thread picking up till next primary!

alternative medicine wooot: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eben_Byers
http://www.quackwatch.com/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/Cancer/eschar.html
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Doktormartini on January 13, 2008, 11:45:08 pm
I understand what you are saying...

I've seen people die from western medicine too so I guess it happens with any medicinal system.

Ok sorry guys back on topic:
Go Kucinich I guess
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Saleop on January 16, 2008, 12:30:50 am
Hey guys the Michigan primary (http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/primaries/results/state/#MI) is going on right now.

It's not really anything for the democrats since there are no delegates at stake for them, but this is important for the republicans. Romney is winning in exit polls according to drudgereport
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Grunthor on January 16, 2008, 12:41:25 am
Hey guys the Michigan primary (http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/primaries/results/state/#MI) is going on right now.

Romney is winning in exit polls according to drudgereport

Yeah, we know how reliable exit polls are.   :argh: New Hampshire  :argh:

Anyways I'm more interested in the Democratic debate tonight.  Edwards can't be backing Obama tonight if he wants to have any hope of winning Nevada or South Carolina.  So it should be interesting to see if he goes on the offensive against both front runners.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on January 16, 2008, 02:00:46 am
Romney 37.41%
McCain 30.86%
Huckabee 15.85%
Paul 6.03%
Thompson 4.18%
Giuliani 2.75%
Hunter 0.34%
Other 2%

9% reporting

edit: already called for Romney

the gop race is gonna be a huge clusterfuck now
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on January 16, 2008, 02:23:31 am
come on [uncomfirmed] beat hillary so I can lol.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Randy Moist on January 16, 2008, 04:55:44 am
http://iemweb.biz.uiowa.edu/quotes/Nomination08_Quotes.html
Hey this is just something that's fun to look at. It's basically a market that people put some money on who's going to win the election, so it is pretty representative of popular opinion. Uh so now it isn't as interesting as people are going to be following the media and then the outcomes of caucuses more than any other factor (so when Obama won he goes up and when Clinton won New Hampshire she went up, but before it people were buying Obama as he was expected to win). But if you look back a few months at the republicans the fun thing is the red line which represents basically someone else. Yea for awhile it was winning, by a lot, which is pretty incredible. And Thompson enters and it plummets but after being completely unimpressive he plummets and it begins to rise sharply until Huckabee comes along and finally kills the lines.

Yeah pretty much useless now though and just fun to look at, see what happened to see candidates in the long run.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on January 16, 2008, 07:14:07 pm
Kucinich got almost as many votes as Giuliani lol

also

Quote from: 'cnn.com
According to CNN exit polling' date=' 68 percent of blacks chose uncommitted, compared with 30 percent for the Democratic front-runner.[/quote']
 
bad news for hillary!
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Wil on January 18, 2008, 09:44:26 am
lol romney http://onegoodmove.org/1gm/1gmarchive/2008/01/mitt_miffed.html
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: jamie on January 18, 2008, 08:25:05 pm
ahhh politics eh.

i wonder what happened to greg.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Wash Cycle on January 18, 2008, 08:36:38 pm
man he is a real horses ass (romney)

cant fucking wait till tomorrow eveninnnggggg (sc primary come on obama)
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Grunthor on January 18, 2008, 08:48:02 pm
man he is a real horses ass (romney)

cant fucking wait till tomorrow eveninnnggggg (sc primary come on obama)

Nevada is next for Obama, not South Carolina.  I think they hold their Democratic primary a week after the Republican one.  Someone correct me if I'm wrong.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Wash Cycle on January 19, 2008, 04:18:24 am
Nevada is next for Obama, not South Carolina.  I think they hold their Democratic primary a week after the Republican one.  Someone correct me if I'm wrong.
ah yes thats next saturday

man. my brain is so chronologically off right now
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Saleop on January 19, 2008, 07:03:18 pm
AP has called Nevada for Romney.

democrats..still waiting..
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on January 19, 2008, 07:51:28 pm
Paul might take third in Nevada.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on January 19, 2008, 09:14:37 pm
I haven't been following this one at all. The voting is already in progress? What's the status on the dems?
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Wil on January 19, 2008, 09:16:11 pm
RP might actually take second in Nevada. And Clinton won Nevada so blah. But who cares it's caucuses that no one cares about.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on January 19, 2008, 09:39:45 pm
RP might actually take second in Nevada. And Clinton won Nevada so blah. But who cares it's caucuses that no one cares about.
Wow, if we don't watch out, there might actually be a solid reason to campaign against Ron Paul. Up until now, some people have stayed away from exerting effort towards that because he's "never going to win anyway". I still don't think he'll win, but... still.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: `~congresman Ron paul~~ on January 19, 2008, 09:44:46 pm
There is virtually no chance of Ron Paul taking any state that isn't extraordinarily paranoid, don't-trust-the-feds redneck. Nevada has tons of rural conservatives who like RP's message. He won't carry states like Texas (moral conservative), or any swing states, which tend to go to more mainstream conservatives.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on January 19, 2008, 09:51:02 pm
That, but also Romney and him are the only ones who campaigned in Nevada.

EDIT:

Great.

Clinton wins.
Romney wins.
Ron Paulsies get a boost (despite losing by 40% in a terrible state, they will say "Second place, woot!").

Fuck you, Nevada.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Vellfire on January 19, 2008, 10:24:11 pm
The fact that Paul is getting anything right now is freaking me out.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Grunthor on January 19, 2008, 10:38:28 pm
that and Romney and him are the only ones who campaigned in Nevada.

EDIT:

great

clinton wins
romney wins
ron paulsies get a boost (despite losing by 40% in a terrible state, they will say SECOND PLACE WOOT)

fuck you Nevada.

He's only ahead of McCain by 23 votes with 79% of precincts reporting, so there's still time for him to finish third.  Kucinich got a whopping 4 whole votes.  I wonder if he'll finally get the clue and officially bow out now.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Saleop on January 20, 2008, 02:31:11 am
CNN has projected McCain to win South Carolina..

..The plot thickens.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Marcus on January 20, 2008, 04:53:51 am
How the fuck did Clinton win Nevada?  No wonder they call that the sin state.

(http://www.gamingw.net/pubaccess/26699/superman.gif)

vote for obama or superman will super punch you in the ballsack.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Marcus on January 20, 2008, 05:53:04 pm
So, I started watching news on my Wii now that I rarely watch television (which is a pretty cool setup) and the "race for SC" is pretty much a "race to win black people."  Obama has dodged 'racial' issues for a while despite being black yet Hilary has black support because Clinton was a pioneer for underprivileged youths.

So how do they compete?  Obama's wife is going after black women sewing circles while Clinton is attending black churches.  Neat.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on January 21, 2008, 07:33:38 pm
even though obama came in second in nevada he got more delegates. just a fyi
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Neophyte on January 22, 2008, 05:44:50 am
Haha, this is great. The SC debate was definately intense.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MD9F1t9GQzA
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: bonermobile on January 22, 2008, 10:40:02 am
i just found out our primary is before my birthday so i don't get to vote in november :(

I WAS SO STOKED TOO
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Grunthor on January 22, 2008, 01:09:54 pm
i just found out our primary is before my birthday so i don't get to vote in november :(

I WAS SO STOKED TOO

You do know that you're allowed to vote in the general election even if you don't vote in the primary, right?  I've done it every election since '96.  Voter Registration. (http://www.secstate.wa.gov/elections/register.aspx)  You're already eligible to register now since you'll be 18 by the next election.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on January 24, 2008, 10:47:09 pm
Kucinich dropped out today
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Doktormartini on January 25, 2008, 03:17:03 am
Kucinich dropped out today
Yeah :(

He said he isn't endorsing any particular democratic candidate though!
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on January 25, 2008, 07:12:54 am
Did he? But he endorsed Obama (http://www.swamppolitics.com/news/politics/blog/2008/01/kucinich_obama_is_my_second_ch.html) a while ago.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Cho on January 25, 2008, 07:25:48 am
Yeah, poor Kucinich has to settle for the consolation prize of shagging his wife. What a shame.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: jamie on January 25, 2008, 02:58:04 pm
isn't there a big primary today?
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on January 27, 2008, 12:02:27 am
jesus, one minute past the poll closing and Obama already called winner.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/01/26/sc.primary/index.html
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on January 27, 2008, 12:05:15 am
(http://gamingw.net/pubaccess/28695/Picture%203_14.png)

Hooray!!

EDIT: oh man.

(http://gamingw.net/pubaccess/28695/Picture%206_4.png)

Looks like this made the difference.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on January 27, 2008, 12:09:52 am
come on edwards. a third place showing for clinton would be ace
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on January 27, 2008, 12:11:35 am
obama also won white people and women, so it was pretty much a crushing victory.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: jamie on January 27, 2008, 12:12:01 am
hooray!
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Shepperd on January 27, 2008, 12:14:21 am
Fucking Sharapova won the Australian Open, I wanted Ivanovic to win :(
she's cuter

also landslide win yay
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on January 27, 2008, 12:15:43 am
obama also won white people and women, so it was pretty much a crushing victory.
He won in total amount of votes, but according to CNN, he didn't get a majority support from white folks.

(http://gamingw.net/pubaccess/28695/Picture%207_3.png)

(http://gamingw.net/pubaccess/28695/Picture%208_7.png)
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Shepperd on January 27, 2008, 12:18:50 am
come on edwards. a third place showing for clinton would be ace
I'd rather have edwards losing bad so he quits

when will he quit?
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on January 27, 2008, 12:19:28 am
if he gets third place perhaps tonight
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on January 27, 2008, 12:22:59 am
I do think he (Edwards) should get second place tonight because it will undermine Hillary's integrity. She was seen by many as the candidate that would land them (the democrats) a certain victory, but it turns out that things are not going to be so easy. I think when people see that she's not the juggernaut she was made out to be, they will certainly think twice before voting for her.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: ase on January 27, 2008, 12:34:25 am
Well, Obama's margin over Clinton is dwindling, since with less than 1% reporting the numbers are changing quickly, but Edwards is slowly closing the gap between Clinton and him.

Obama - 58%
Clinton - 28%
Edards - 13%

0% reporting


edit: shit shit

Obama: 52%
Clinton: 28%
Edwards: 20%

13% reporting

CNN just projected Clinton to get 2nd place!!!

edit2: ahaha Gravel has 8 votes so far...... in comparison Obama has 19,000.
edit3: McCain just got supported by Flordia governor
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on January 27, 2008, 02:34:49 am
Did anyone listen to Obama's victory speech? every speech he gives seems to get better and better.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Grunthor on January 27, 2008, 02:53:48 am
Iowa- Won by 196 votes
New Hampshire- Lost by 7479 votes
Nevada- Lost by 582 votes
South Carolina- Won by 150,000+ votes

He didn't just win tonight, he fucking crushed Clinton.  That's the biggest margin of victory so far on either side in the primaries.  I'm starting to like his chances much more now.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on January 27, 2008, 03:06:03 am
correction on Iowa, that's not votes but delegates, because the Iowa caucus is the stupidest thing ever.

still, he did well. too bad SC was his to win pretty much!
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on January 27, 2008, 03:13:09 am
he needs to translate this success into super tuesday votes. he's behind in many of the key states of super tuesday! (new york, california, new jersey)
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: The Truth on January 27, 2008, 06:30:33 am
Obama has a real shot to sweep across the southern primary states, he can really energize the african american vote in so many places.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: lampshade on January 27, 2008, 05:02:32 pm
supahman that ho!

Man, that was such a good victory speech. I hope super tuesday goes well for Obama.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Saleop on January 28, 2008, 02:43:28 am
Ted Kennedy's supporting Obama, and he says he'll be campaigning aggressively for him out west like Bill has for Hillary.

Good for him, really. It's unfair that Obama has to run against BOTH clintons
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Xeno|Soft on January 28, 2008, 02:53:48 am
Mr.Clinton is losing his pimpin status, everyone knows you don't stand up for your hoes.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on January 28, 2008, 03:56:32 am
the Ted Kennedy endorsement is pretty gr8. obama has been endorsed by both mass. senators
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: The Truth on January 28, 2008, 07:10:36 am
Not to mention Governor Deval Patrick (Who is one of his campaign co-chairs).

That's every relevant current politician in massachusetts folks.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: kentona on January 28, 2008, 05:57:37 pm
how long do these go on for?  Seriously, isn't the election more than a year away?  As senators, what happens to their responsibilities?  Are they just ignored until this eight month long campaign for candidancy is over, or what?
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Vellfire on January 28, 2008, 06:06:42 pm
how long do these go on for?  Seriously, isn't the election more than a year away?

No?
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Fire Mage on January 28, 2008, 06:22:31 pm
how long do these go on for?  Seriously, isn't the election more than a year away?  As senators, what happens to their responsibilities?  Are they just ignored until this eight month long campaign for candidancy is over, or what?
umm the election is about 9 monthes away but the last of the primaries/caucuses in like july or something (i'm going on fragile memory)

and no they keep their responsibilities obviously.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Kaempfer on January 29, 2008, 04:30:40 am
I love how the 2008 race has been news since the day after the 2006 interim elections (I am not sure what they were called). In the end of 2008, the 2010 interim elections will be news until 2012, et cetera. Mass media could love American politics for that reason alone! It wouldn't be bad if you actually learned political things in the news, but every time I watch CNN it just seems like more news about who kissed which babies. Not really helpful!
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Vellfire on January 29, 2008, 03:20:16 pm
I love how the 2008 race has been news since the day after the 2006 interim elections (I am not sure what they were called). In the end of 2008, the 2010 interim elections will be news until 2012, et cetera. Mass media could love American politics for that reason alone! It wouldn't be bad if you actually learned political things in the news, but every time I watch CNN it just seems like more news about who kissed which babies. Not really helpful!

To be fair, I'd rather hear them talk about the election too much than say "AND WHEN WE COME BACK, THIS DOG CAN ALMOST TALK!!!!!!"
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: kentona on January 29, 2008, 04:25:35 pm
Okay, so the actual election is not until Nov. 4th (over 9 months away).  It's Inauguration Day.that's a year away (January 20, 2009).
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on January 30, 2008, 12:46:16 am
McCain 33%
Romney 32%

if mccain wins this he's pretty much the gop nominee

edit:

McCain 34%
Romney 30%

mccain is widening the gap!

edit2:
McCain: 34%
Romney: 33%
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: WunderBread on January 30, 2008, 01:53:51 am
All the newscasters are saying that these primaries don't count at all. Any, technically, they don't (sucks for us), but the fact of the matter is that the outcome here in Florida can affect the decisions of the states that hold their own primaries on Super Tuesday (by the way, nobody could come up with something better than "Super!" Tuesday?). It can also decide whether certain candidates stay in the running or drop out (and endorse someone, perhaps). That's pretty gosh darned big, if you ask me.

And yet the people on the news treat it like it's all some kind of big in-joke. :P

LAWLZ FLORIDA MORE LIKE FAILORIDA
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on January 30, 2008, 01:57:31 am
the Republican ones do. the democratic ones don't, however.  (interesting to note that clinton has made several last minute visits and even declared victory in a state that was prohibited to campaign in by the democratic party)
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: WunderBread on January 30, 2008, 02:12:44 am
the Republican ones do. the democratic ones don't, however.  (interesting to note that clinton has made several last minute visits and even declared victory in a state that was prohibited to campaign in by the democratic party)
The Republican ones only count for half off the delegates. But I'm not talking in terms of the delegates earned from Florida, I'm talking about how a win here will affect the primaries in other states, and the success of the candidates' campaigns themselves.

And they said it was prohibited to campaign (and this I was thankful for, because the streets were so deliciously clean in the weeks leading up to this day), I still saw my fair share of fliers and signs and whatnot. And, I mean, to quote some random news anchor, "These people sure as hell didn't have them hanging around in their closets". Though the amount of campaigning has been quite low, the candidates (or, at least, their supporters) haven't exactly stayed true to their word.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Saleop on January 30, 2008, 02:15:10 am
McCain wins, and Giuliani is expected to endorse him.

loooks like we have a nominee.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on January 30, 2008, 02:18:00 am
well, as an obama supporter i'm a bit biased but i still think he will have the momentum going into super tuesday. his recent endorsements coupled with his huge win in sc should give him the edge momentum wise.

McCain just got called winner.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: `~congresman Ron paul~~ on January 30, 2008, 04:20:09 am
huge florida landslide for hillary; good it doesn't count
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Xeno|Soft on January 30, 2008, 04:25:52 am
but it does say something ... =\
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Randy Moist on January 30, 2008, 04:30:26 am
We'll be treated by another great Newsweek cover with her picture and a shitty quote like "I really found my voice this time"
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on January 30, 2008, 04:33:54 am
but it does say something ... =\

no it doesn't, he wasn't really campaigning there as far as I know.

http://mydd.com/story/2008/1/27/165022/889
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Grunthor on January 30, 2008, 04:37:46 am
no it doesn't, he wasn't really campaigning there as far as I know.

None of the Democrats were allowed to campaign in Florida.  Anyways, I'm glad McCain won because I'd like to have at least one candidate that doesn't disgust me if Hillary wins the nomination for the general election.


Edit:Edwards and Giuliani both dropping out today.  Giuliani is endorsing McCain, no mention though who Edwards will endorse when he gives his speech at 1pm today.  I really hope it's Obama, but I have a nagging feeling he'll endorse Clinton.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: lampshade on January 30, 2008, 05:52:17 pm
Edwards has said he won't endorse anyone in his speech tonight, rather that he'll just underline his issue of poverty.

Basically, he's waiting to see who echoes his campaign lines the most before he endorses them.

Even without an endorsement though, I think this can only be good for obama. I feel like alot of both Obama's and Edward's votes are anti-hillary votes.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: ase on January 30, 2008, 06:37:44 pm
Quote from: CNN
On the Democratic side, Tuesday's vote in Florida may have little impact on the presidential race because the party's national leadership said it would not allow the state's delegates to participate in the national convention after a squabble over scheduling the primary. The party's candidates agreed not to campaign actively in Florida

Republicans penalized the state as well but took away only half of their 114 delegates.

What's the deal with this? Someone explain.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on January 30, 2008, 07:06:42 pm
nader just launched an exploratory committee :(
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ratt on January 30, 2008, 07:10:46 pm
What's the deal with this? Someone explain.

Florida chose to have it's primary before super tuesday, so the Democratic convention chose to punish them by giving them no delegate seats. Thats the basic jest of it.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on January 30, 2008, 08:04:16 pm
Edwards has said he won't endorse anyone in his speech tonight, rather that he'll just underline his issue of poverty.

Basically, he's waiting to see who echoes his campaign lines the most before he endorses them.

Even without an endorsement though, I think this can only be good for obama. I feel like alot of both Obama's and Edward's votes are anti-hillary votes.
I'm not so certain whether it's good for Obama. I have a feeling that Edwards was soaking up a lot of white male voters which will now go to Hillary. It's true that Edwards is much closer to Obama, but that might not necessarily translate in an advantage for Obama.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Wash Cycle on January 30, 2008, 08:33:35 pm
huge florida landslide for hillary; good it doesn't count
well also I think that Obama gave up on the states that dont have any delegates because the Democratic convention stripped them of them (he lost in michigan and in florida heheh lets see if such a trend continues)
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: jamie on January 30, 2008, 08:35:20 pm
i realise this is irrelevant now but i just realised john edwards is 54 and i am blown away.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: The Truth on January 30, 2008, 09:19:14 pm
I'm not so certain whether it's good for Obama. I have a feeling that Edwards was soaking up a lot of white male voters which will now go to Hillary. It's true that Edwards is much closer to Obama, but that might not necessarily translate in an advantage for Obama.

Obama polls even with hillary on white males
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on January 30, 2008, 09:38:22 pm
Still, if Obama wants to comfortably win on Super Tuesday, he's going to want an endorsement from Edwards.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Wash Cycle on January 30, 2008, 09:56:36 pm
Still, if Obama wants to comfortably win on Super Tuesday, he's going to want an endorsement from Edwards.
well as I recall in the last debate that had Bill Richardson in it, Edwards kinda threw his support behind Obama when they ganged up on Hilary. He didnt seem to agree with her on much at all, so I'd be really suprised if he doesnt announce support for Obama.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: ATARI on January 30, 2008, 10:46:32 pm
i realise this is irrelevant now but i just realised john edwards is 54 and i am blown away.

Yeah I remember finding that out and being absolutely shocked.   He manages to stay quite youthful looking.   

Quote
well as I recall in the last debate that had Bill Richardson in it, Edwards kinda threw his support behind Obama when they ganged up on Hilary. He didnt seem to agree with her on much at all, so I'd be really suprised if he doesnt announce support for Obama.

yeah this.  I recall (although I am not certain of exact sources so what do I know) hearing that Edwards had in the past been quite supportive of Obama
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on January 30, 2008, 11:02:02 pm
Obama needs to do better in California and New York if he wants to do well on Super tuesday.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on January 31, 2008, 06:49:12 pm
oh shit Obama raised $32 million in just the MONTH OF JANUARY. that's equal to his three month fundraising record. also Hulk Hogan endorsed Obama

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/

edit: in comparison John McCain raised $29 million in ALL OF 2007
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Vellfire on January 31, 2008, 07:40:08 pm
oh shit Obama raised $32 million in just the MONTH OF JANUARY. that's equal to his three month fundraising record. also Hulk Hogan endorsed Obama

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/

edit: in comparison John McCain raised $29 million in ALL OF 2007

ffffff Just two days ago I was talking about how as far as JOKE OPTIONS go I wanted Hulk Hogan to be president.  This is the next best thing.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: tuxedo marx on January 31, 2008, 08:42:03 pm
ffffff Just two days ago I was talking about how as far as JOKE OPTIONS go I wanted Hulk Hogan to be president.  This is the next best thing.
Obama 2008: HOGAN'S CHOICE
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: GirlBones on January 31, 2008, 09:24:09 pm
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/31/us/politics/31donor.html?hp=&pagewanted=all

NYT endorsed Hillary this year (iirc) but they're running this article tomorrow, just before the big day (2/5). It's pretty long/interesting, but it basically discusses a secret deal made by Bill Clinton involving Kazakh uranium mines. Apparently, he used his influence to help an investor friend acquire millions of dollars worth of rights to some of the riches uranium mines around, and the guy responded in turn by donating $31million to Clinton's charity.

There's been a lot of speculation about whether this will affect the primaries. I am in favor of Obama at this point, so I'd like to see this negatively affect Clinton. Conversely, after having read the article a couple times, I'm not sure that what B Clinton did was either illegal or immoral.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on January 31, 2008, 09:28:34 pm
It echoes a sentiment that Obama has been vocalizing: namely, that the "old Washington", which has a vested interest in such things, is inherently corrupt. I don't think it will have a big impact unless more media pick up the story.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Saleop on January 31, 2008, 10:46:09 pm
Obama up 11 points within a week on Gallup poll. (http://www.gallup.com/poll/104071/Gallup-Daily-Tracking-Election-2008.aspx)

This could be the EDWARDS impact.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on February 01, 2008, 01:30:58 am
oh my god they're actually debating the issues.

pretty good debate so far!
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Marcus on February 01, 2008, 05:22:08 am
So has Hilary taken over California yet?  Or shall Baraquaman call upon his innate powers to talk to fish?

(http://www.gamingw.net/pubaccess/26699/baraquaman.jpg)
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on February 01, 2008, 06:42:49 pm
Moveon.org endorsed obama today
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Grunthor on February 01, 2008, 08:02:20 pm
Moveon.org endorsed obama today

He also just picked up the California service union that had endorsed Edwards.  That's really huge and hopefully gives him a large enough boost to defeat Hillary in that state.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: lampshade on February 01, 2008, 08:49:46 pm
Does anyone else feel like energy is building behind the Obama Campaign? I thought it was just wishful thinking, but honestly, other than the numbers, I have never ran into anyone who was totally for hillary. Their usually either totally for obama, or like obama, but are voting hillary because they are afraid obama will lose. Then i saw this graph:

(https://legacy.gamingw.net/etc/media.gallup.com/poll/graphs/020108DailyUpdateGraph2.gif)

I would love it so much to be able to tell my kids how he was behind the whole time then in the end overcame and won the nomination.

I would also hate for it to end up that he lost and we all settled for clinton. Who knows, maybe she would be good, but there is something special about this obama guy.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Xeno|Soft on February 01, 2008, 08:52:11 pm
What would suck is if he won and did a shitty job.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: tuxedo marx on February 01, 2008, 09:43:23 pm
I would love it so much to be able to tell my kids how he was behind the whole time then in the end overcame and won the nomination.
The electoral equivalent of SUPERFIGHT II
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Saleop on February 03, 2008, 03:49:18 pm
Obama now has a slight lead in California. Tied in NJ and Missouri. (http://www.reuters.com/article/bondsNews/idUSN0249533620080203)
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on February 03, 2008, 05:03:18 pm
Quote
A music video set to Barack Obama's stirring speech after the New Hampshire primary from Black Eyed Peas frontman will.I.am.. Includes celebrity supporters Scarlett Johansson, John Legend, Herbie Hancock, Kate Walsh, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Adam Rodriquez, Kelly Hu, Adam Rodriquez, Amber Valetta and Nick Cannon. Directed by Jesse Dylan, son of Bob Dylan.

<object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/35tI-8TaKmU&rel=1"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/35tI-8TaKmU&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: `~congresman Ron paul~~ on February 03, 2008, 05:11:07 pm
that video would be so much better without obama's track in the background
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: lampshade on February 03, 2008, 07:12:36 pm
Like look at that. Before, it was "Obama fucked: Behind by alot in almost every super tuesday state"

and now he's basically even in alot of them. Even if she gets more delegates, if it's close enough, I think he could still carry all the momentum.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on February 03, 2008, 08:31:55 pm
video


Man, that's an awesome video. Herbie Hancock and Jesse Dylan!
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Xeno|Soft on February 03, 2008, 08:59:51 pm
that video was awsome.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Lyndon on February 03, 2008, 09:04:18 pm
I'm pretty sure Jesse Dylan was the director of American pie aswell lol
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on February 03, 2008, 09:24:32 pm
http://vagabondscholar.blogspot.com/2008/01/that-damned-liberal-racism.html w00t everyone read this because it made me w00t.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Randy Moist on February 03, 2008, 10:29:31 pm
Sorry but I don't w00t

but it's a really good blog and I'll probably start reading it frequently.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on February 03, 2008, 11:52:28 pm
o dang Maria Shriver (Arnold's wife) just endorsed Obama. not really that significant but it will be front page news on every California newspaper tomorrow which is awesome for Obama.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on February 04, 2008, 10:04:51 am
(http://gamingw.net/pubaccess/28695/Picture%202_10.png)
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Saleop on February 04, 2008, 06:39:00 pm
According to this CNN poll (http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/02/04/national.poll/index.html), Obama now leads nationally by 3 points.

I swear it must be because of Edwards dropping out.

Also, it's funny how Obama has become the NEW RON PAUL. Every other article on Digg and Reddit is about obama now.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Grunthor on February 04, 2008, 08:40:49 pm
I swear it must be because of Edwards dropping out.


It's not hard to believe.  Many of the people that are followers of Edwards and Obama are basically anti-Hillary.  I just hope that the momentum he's built up since South Carolina will be enough to convince enough people to rally around him tomorrow.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: ase on February 04, 2008, 09:23:19 pm
ughghjd;hfahweoifiopq[

apparently i can't vote tomorrow since I'm at college at a different town/precinct and even if I did re-register, there's a 20-day waiting period THIS IS BULLSH*T
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: `~congresman Ron paul~~ on February 04, 2008, 09:38:04 pm
What about an absentee ballot?
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Wash Cycle on February 04, 2008, 10:31:16 pm
fucking ohio primary march 4th what sigh

I managed to register on time though so hooray!  :fogetbackflip:
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: The Truth on February 05, 2008, 04:18:21 am
ughghjd;hfahweoifiopq[

apparently i can't vote tomorrow since I'm at college at a different town/precinct and even if I did re-register, there's a 20-day waiting period THIS IS BULLSH*T

you can vote absentee or travel to your town.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: ase on February 05, 2008, 05:14:09 am
you can vote absentee or travel to your town.
pretty sure its too late for me to ask them to send me an absentee ballot, no? traveling back home is out of the question (it's a tuesday, i have classes :sad: )

or is there some other EXPRESS WAY i can get an absentee ballot and mail it back to my hometown
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: lampshade on February 05, 2008, 06:08:14 am
Oregon: MAY 20th.

Way to lead the nation Oregon.

But hey, that could be THE DECIDING STATE the way this election is looking. I hope so, cause if it happens, no effing way clinton will be our president.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: The Truth on February 05, 2008, 06:12:17 am
call your city hall duhhhh

also it would be worth it to miss class! don't they teach you guys.... civics up there on the heights?
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Randy Moist on February 05, 2008, 06:14:42 am
Oregon probably wouldn't be the deciding state of anything unless there's some momentum that carried into a tight race at the DNC. But basically at that point we'd have the rare circumstance where the candidate is picked at the conference and Oregon's delegates probably wouldn't lock anything up.

Also that sucks ASE, here you can do everything day off.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: ase on February 05, 2008, 06:19:01 am
Also that sucks ASE, here you can do everything day off.
Yeah my friend said that in NH, for example, you can register and vote on the same day (this helps the large college student population!) but stupid states like MA have not adapted this policy yet!
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: The Truth on February 05, 2008, 06:22:08 am
Yeah my friend said that in NH, for example, you can register and vote on the same day (this helps the large college student population!) but stupid states like MA have not adapted this policy yet!

it didn't matter however as christmas break was still underway and all of you parasites from out of state who take up spots in UNH were away from school  :gwa:

yeah that sucked the audacity of new hampshire etc


i hate my state being the black eye of the campaign i am so involved in
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: The Truth on February 05, 2008, 07:48:56 pm
Double posting to encourage all of you GWers in Super Tuesday states to



GET OUT AND VOTE for obama
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: `~congresman Ron paul~~ on February 05, 2008, 07:50:48 pm
How long until the states start being called?

also I missed the primaries. :( i was too lazy to register earlier, and I kind of feel like shit now. Oh well!! Florida doesn't really count and pennsylvania is going Obama according to surveys.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: kentona on February 05, 2008, 09:29:09 pm
Huckabee wins in first Super Tuesday test.

"Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee has drawn first blood in Super Tuesday's U.S. Republican primaries, winning the state of West Virginia."

*cringe*

A Huckabee nomination terrifies me to the core.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Jeff on February 05, 2008, 09:39:19 pm
Huckabee wins in first Super Tuesday test.

"Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee has drawn first blood in Super Tuesday's U.S. Republican primaries, winning the state of West Virginia."

*cringe*

A Huckabee nomination terrifies me to the core.
It isn't going to happen. His core support is from the religious right, but the religious right also has other alignments on economics or on national security, which means McCain and Romney will take away a lot of his potential support. I am with you on that, though. I hate the religious right so much and I don't want to see a representative of them in power. McCain has the best chance of being secular, since Romney has already said that you can't have government without religion and Huckabee is, well, Huckabee.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on February 05, 2008, 09:50:08 pm
Gee, you know, I really hope that Obama will win. I don't even think that the differences between Obama and Clinton are irreconcilable. They're pretty close when it comes to the actual issues, despite my personal views still being more aligned to Obama's. The problem, however, is that if Hillary Clinton does receive the Democratic nomination, then all of the independents and floating voters that Obama has been attracting are going to go to McCain. McCain has shown himself to be particularly good at attracting votes from this sizable group, whereas Clinton is terrible at it. Sure, she'll get some of them to support her, especially if Obama says "sorry guys, I lost, but please vote for Hillary instead", but she is simply not going to be able to retain them all. They don't like her.

Another thing that's extremely important is that if Clinton gets the nomination, then all of the Republicans who would otherwise stay home or support McCain from a distance, are going to run to the voting booth to vote against Hillary Clinton. They don't like her.

A Clinton nomination will seriously endanger the chance of a Democratic victory. That's the worst that can happen after eight years of Republican dominance.

I really don't have a problem with Clinton being the president, but I simply don't think she'll be able to reach that point. Obama has a much better chance, and that's why he needs to win this nomination so desperately.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Shepperd on February 05, 2008, 10:08:12 pm
Dada, on the other hand... Obama is black
your argument is very biased
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on February 05, 2008, 10:18:50 pm
Dada, on the other hand... Obama is black
your argument is very biased
You're a latino! You guys are the ones that are massively voting for Clinton!

You ought to be ashamed!

EDIT: looks like my good post (you know, the kind of post I usually refuse to make) got bumped off the page. I hate that, so here it is again to those who missed it:
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Shepperd on February 05, 2008, 10:37:38 pm
gee, it kinda offends me when you regard me as a latino.
Probably because I dont consider myself latino, don't look latino, and because my ancestors are from europe.
Probably also because I come from the most european of the southamerican countries.
When I think of Argentina I dont think latino. But I do think latino when thinking of colombia, venezuela or mexico.
Strangely enough I don't think of Brazil as latino either.

Just curiosities of my head.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on February 05, 2008, 10:58:56 pm
results will start being called in about an hour for most of the eastern states
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: ase on February 05, 2008, 11:04:42 pm
Man, I am really scared shitless right now from all the news commentary that Clinton is going to pull out a narrow victory.... all the political analysts are saying "Obama has been cutting the leads short.... BUT BUT BUT..... hillary wins"
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on February 05, 2008, 11:09:19 pm
well, more than likely Hillary will win more states. However in most of the states the difference looks like it will be so insignificant the delegate count will be rather even.

the next several primaries coming up however, are heavily favored for Obama and he could pull ahead then
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on February 05, 2008, 11:23:47 pm
oops, I was wrong. only Georgia closes at 7

Polls close in Georgia at 7 p.m. ET; Conn., Ill., Mass., N.J., Del., Ala., Mo., Tenn., Okla. at 8 p.m. ET
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: lampshade on February 06, 2008, 12:08:42 am
Yeah, but he was expected to win that. Good news, definitely, but it would be way sweeter if it was a contested state.

Still waiting word on how many percentage points/delegates he won by.

EDIT: Fromm CNN.com

Quote
Early results showed Obama with a 2-1 lead over rival Hillary Clinton in the first state to close its polls.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on February 06, 2008, 12:31:43 am
Apparently projections show Obama winning 60 of the 87 delegates of Georgia.

edit: That's three times more than expected. He also got 43% of the white vote as opposed to his ~20% in South Carolina. Things are looking good for Obama!
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: lampshade on February 06, 2008, 12:47:40 am
That couldn't be three times as much, or else he would only win 20 delegates, and hillary would win.

Your an ass!
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on February 06, 2008, 12:52:10 am
That couldn't be three times as much, or else he would only win 20 delegates, and hillary would win.

Your an ass!

someone doesn't understand how delegates work!
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: ase on February 06, 2008, 12:54:15 am
GEORGIA

Huckabee - 35%
McCain- 35%

2% reporting

:shock:
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: lampshade on February 06, 2008, 12:56:32 am
Quote
Apparently projections show Obama winning 60 of the 87 delegates of Georgia.

edit: That's three times more than expected

Someone doesn't understand how to correctly present what they are thinking then.  No one could look at that and not think 20 delegates. I will give you a chance to explain what you really meant, your welcome.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on February 06, 2008, 12:57:15 am
yes if huckabee wins several states it could re-clusterfuck the gop race. (kind of, mccain will still be in the lead but Huckabee could become a viable alternative for the Limbaugh-esque conservatives who hate McCain)

Quote
Someone doesn't understand how to correctly present what they are thinking then.  No one could look at that and not think 20 delegates. I will give you a chance to explain what you really meant, your welcome.

hey you pompous faggot how about you email that to MSNBC then? because that's where I got it from!
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: lampshade on February 06, 2008, 01:02:36 am
CNN Projects Mccain wins Connectifuckitcut and Illinois, Romney Wins Massachusets.

Obama Wins Illinois, Clinton Wins Oklahoma.

Pompous faggot? Ouch man. Sorry.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Neophyte on February 06, 2008, 01:15:51 am
Holy shit this is close...

MA: Clinton 45%Obama 45%
CT: Obama 49%Clinton 48%
NJ: Obama 49%Clinton 48%
TN: Obama 49%Clinton 48%
AL: Obama 49%Clinton 48%
OK: Clinton 51%Obama 22%

Edit: Not the full results, but this is what they are SO FAR.

Obviously Obama won Illinois.
Clinton is going to win New York though, so they kind of cancel out.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on February 06, 2008, 01:17:47 am
Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Jersey are the ones to watch. Obama is already tied in three states that Clinton had an almost 20 point lead in two weeks ago.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: lampshade on February 06, 2008, 01:34:41 am
CNN projects a clinton win in Tennessee.

Fuck.

That was more closely contested. Oh well, maybe it will be close.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: lampshade on February 06, 2008, 02:07:23 am
Obama wins Delaware!

EDIT: Sorry, DP.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: WunderBread on February 06, 2008, 02:29:00 am
What would suck is if he won and did a shitty job.
Ahahaha, yeah, that's the number one thing that I would be afraid of. I mean, most people thought Bush was a good president until around 2002-2003ish. No matter what anyone's policies are right now, their approval ratings will eventually drop before the end of their term and we might even end up despising them. And then we'll say, "lol, who elected this guy?" like we do with Bush now. The worst thing is that if one of the two Democratic front runners got into office and ended up doing not-so-well, it'll set this horrible precedent against change in the United States. :sad:
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: lampshade on February 06, 2008, 02:51:41 am
Clinton Wins New Jersey+ Massachussetts.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

Still though, obama is doing 40+%. And like they have been saying, no way it's over tonight, and the next primaries held after today are tilted in obama's favor.

Plus, there is still california.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on February 06, 2008, 03:01:26 am
The day so far has gone pretty much as expected
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: lampshade on February 06, 2008, 03:13:40 am
Obama wins north Dakota. Connectifuckitcut a very close race.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Saleop on February 06, 2008, 03:18:17 am
Obama won Connecticut.

(according to drudge)


AL: OBAMA
AR: CLINTON
CT: OBAMA
DE: OBAMA
GA: OBAMA
ID: OBAMA
IL: OBAMA
KS: OBAMA
MA: CLINTON
MN: OBAMA
ND: OBAMA
NY: CLINTON
NJ: CLINTON
OK: CLINTON
TN: CLINTON
UT: OBAMA
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: GirlBones on February 06, 2008, 03:21:18 am
I think the best possible outcome is Obama vs. McCain, for the sole reason that many, many conservatives deeply distrust McCain because of Rove's smear campaign in 2000. If they are presented with a choice between McCain and a non-Hillary democrat, some might choose to vote across party lines.

Also, I really, really do not support Hillary, and I hope she does not receive the Democratic nomination. Aside from the fact that she'll be fighting an uphill battle for Republican votes, she also has far more vested interests than Obama. I wouldn't be surprised if the Clinton administration was more corrupt than either the Obama administration or the McCain administration.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on February 06, 2008, 03:21:56 am
Obama just sweeped Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah according to Daily Kos
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: lampshade on February 06, 2008, 03:22:43 am
Obama Wins Kansas as well. YES WE CAN!
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: GirlBones on February 06, 2008, 03:28:06 am
reading through this thread, it seems like Obama is winning, but according to CNN, Hillary is leading overall with 299 delegates, compared to Obama's 225.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Jeff on February 06, 2008, 03:31:44 am
reading through this thread, it seems like Obama is winning, but according to CNN, Hillary is leading overall with 299 delegates, compared to Obama's 225.
That is right but he is gaining heavily on her from what the numbers were at the start of the day, so I would still say he is winning. California is the big deal though, for both republicans and democrats.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: GirlBones on February 06, 2008, 03:38:33 am
Obama just sweeped Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah according to Daily Kos

uh, obama is losing AZ, NM, CO, and UT, according to CNN, and I'd say that CNN is more trustworthy considering that very small percentages are coming in so far from these places so it would be a bit hard to SWEEP
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on February 06, 2008, 04:03:10 am
uh, obama is losing AZ, NM, CO, and UT, according to CNN, and I'd say that CNN is more trustworthy considering that very small percentages are coming in so far from these places so it would be a bit hard to SWEEP

yeah i just saw that. idk what they are talking about!

current called races:

Hillary Clinton:

      New York
      Tennessee
      Oklahoma
      New Jersey 
      Massachusetts
      Arkansas

Barack Obama:

      Delaware
      Georgia
      Illinois
      Alabama
      Kansas
      North Dakota
      Connecticut
      Minnesota
      Delaware
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Jeff on February 06, 2008, 04:36:11 am
FUCK FUCK SHIT FUCK Obama is losing heavily in California.

http://edition.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/primaries/results/state/#CA
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: lampshade on February 06, 2008, 04:44:11 am
Only 10% reporting though, like...if san fransisco hasn't voted yet, I'm sure that will up it. Yeah, clinton will probably win, but if he makes it close, I think he still could have the momentum. Just the fact that it's been this close today when two weeks ago it looked like he was WAY behind.

EDIT- Obama is giving speech on CNN right now. Watch, i'm sure it will be awesome.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Beasley on February 06, 2008, 04:44:35 am
With 10% reporting. I'm not too worried yet
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: lampshade on February 06, 2008, 04:46:20 am
Obama wins colorado

EDIT: AND UTAH!

its sweet to watch those two pop on the screen While hes giving his speech
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on February 06, 2008, 05:10:14 am
OBAMA JUST TOOK MISSOURI BY LIKE 3000 VOTES HOLY FUCK.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on February 06, 2008, 05:14:09 am
AND HE LOST CALIFORNIA

ROLLERCOASTER.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: lampshade on February 06, 2008, 05:29:28 am
That speech kicked ass. Serious Ass. He NEEDS to be our president. Missouri is good, california....he can survive. This is really the first time i've been more confident he's going to win than I am scared he is going to lose.

I'd like to hear about delegates won tonight.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on February 06, 2008, 05:42:30 am
so far projected with superdelegates Clinton's leading by 100 or so delegates, which was predicted and Obama did better than expected, so it's not a loss for the Obama camp.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Neophyte on February 06, 2008, 05:48:14 am
Actually it's only about 70. Which is good, because before today Obama was behind by more than 100.
But California....gah.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: ase on February 06, 2008, 05:52:49 am
how is losing by 100 delegates not a big deal?

also what states are up next for primaries?
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Mama Luigi on February 06, 2008, 06:06:02 am
When does Minnesota do this vote thing?
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on February 06, 2008, 06:18:16 am
Possible delegate count, MSNBC:
Clinton: 837
Obama: 841

how is losing by 100 delegates not a big deal?

also what states are up next for primaries?

look at this nub not knowin SHIIIIIIT
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: ase on February 06, 2008, 06:21:11 am
WHY IS MSNBC SO MUCH COOLER THAN CNN
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Neophyte on February 06, 2008, 06:28:17 am
I went on MSNBC and I don't see those numbers.
I did read an article saying Obama won more delegates tonight, and that he may be up by 4, but I still see no numbers.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: The Truth on February 06, 2008, 06:30:12 am
it is because my nigga chris matthews knows his shit.

guys

THIS IS A HUGE FUCKING WIN FOR US TONIGHT.

We have been talking on SA that losing by 100 delegates would be A GOOD THING and now it looks like we are going to win by a few delegates?

this is a really good day
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Sarhan on February 06, 2008, 06:41:23 am
I went on MSNBC and I don't see those numbers.
I did read an article saying Obama won more delegates tonight, and that he may be up by 4, but I still see no numbers.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23019673/?GT1=10856

At the bottom of the page.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: lampshade on February 06, 2008, 06:45:40 am
Yes, Definitely agreed. I just saw on CNN that Nationally, The popular vote went Obama 47% Clinton 48%. Jesus tits!

Remember when he was down 30 points nationally? This is fucking huge you guys. Huge. Plus he has alot more $$, most of her donors were rich bitches who have maxed out in donations already. I for one am planning to double my previous donation total of $10.

Analysts are talking about how she is running against not just a candidate, but a MOVEMENT. 

It's weird, all this time the cynic in me was letting me know that I would probably feel silly hoping so much he would win, and now, if he keeps 1/2 of the momentum he has right now, those hopes will be realised.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: The Truth on February 06, 2008, 06:46:10 am
Holy shit we just pulled ahead in New Mexico


SI SE PUEDE
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on February 06, 2008, 06:49:03 am
pop vote as of right now: 49 clinton, 48 obama
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on February 06, 2008, 06:55:13 am
So Clinton's winning California. They're 53% - 37% right now. Since Edwards is still on the ballot (why doesn't he officially drop out?) he gets 8% too. This is with 31% in. Note how 55% of the voters are female.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on February 06, 2008, 06:59:29 am
Clinton will take Cali, every poll has said this.

this is still an Obama "victory" as an SA poster put it:

Quote
Obama won in states where he wasn't expected to perform well. He carried Southern states, he'll probably take New Mexico, he did win a Northeastern state, he got a 60/40 split in Hillary's Senatorial state (a closed primary, for that matter), he might not get obliterated in California, and he grabbed nearly 40 percent of female voters.

Obama is favored in the next round of primaries too!
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on February 06, 2008, 07:05:20 am
Yeah, I don't expect him to win California, but maybe this isn't the final demographic we're seeing here, so maybe the margin will become a little bit smaller later on. It's unfortunate that now Clinton is able to claim a moral victory for tonight, despite that not being true.

What you say is true, though, because Obama's been going up and Clinton's been going down. Obama will have to make up for those 100+ delegates in the next round.

EDIT: why is Arkansas so stupid?
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on February 06, 2008, 07:08:02 am
it's more like 60+ now (including superdelegates obviously)

also the reason he took california is mexicans DESTROY DA BEANERS DEE DEE DEE
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on February 06, 2008, 07:15:41 am
Of the California exit poll:

(http://gamingw.net/pubaccess/28695/Picture%207_4.png)

Latinos and women, who needs 'em!

Blacks don't even have the right to vote here!!
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: The Truth on February 06, 2008, 07:18:47 am
I emailed the only Superdelegate from my state that hasn't declared (governor john lynch) with a long plea for his support at the convention.

I hope the rest of you do the same for your state's superdelegates
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: parasun on February 06, 2008, 07:30:21 am
Yay Hillary!
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Neophyte on February 06, 2008, 07:59:37 am
At least Obama has caught up some in California. He was at about 30% when they had 1% reporting. Now he's at 39% with 49% reporting.
Nothing huge, but at least it's not a blow out.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: `~congresman Ron paul~~ on February 06, 2008, 08:03:07 am
Well, there's still 50% to report - the California margin could close considerably considering most of the non-reporting areas are major urban centers like L.A.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on February 06, 2008, 02:59:05 pm
Looks like the margin stabilized at 42% - 52% with 95% of the votes in.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: GirlBones on February 06, 2008, 03:51:43 pm

EDIT: why is Arkansas so stupid?

bill clinton's home state
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: kentona on February 06, 2008, 04:59:31 pm
So, what were the final numbers?  Are they ready yet?
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: ase on February 06, 2008, 05:12:34 pm
oh man, New Mexico is ridiculously close right now. Obama is up by about 80 votes which is RIDICULOUS with 98% reporting. Hopefully he stays on top.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Cho on February 06, 2008, 05:47:24 pm
Quote
Obama won in states where he wasn't expected to perform well. He carried Southern states,

Wait, did people expect that Clinton would win in the South? The Southeast has the highest density of African Americans in the country (and they loves them some Obama, or so the polls tell me), and the highest density of people who hate Hillary Clinton. I mean, this is a place where I've heard extremely racist people say they'd vote Obama before Clinton.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: tina.anderson on February 06, 2008, 05:52:42 pm
Obama now has the momentum to win the democratic nomination. Even though he lost narrowly, I think his movement is gaining support and there are too many people that dislike Hilary Clinton for her to get into office at this point.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Saleop on February 06, 2008, 06:45:41 pm
According to this (http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0208/8358.html?reddit) article, NBC claims that Obama actually leads in delegates at 908 to Clinton's 884 after Super Tuesday

How are Obama's chances in the upcoming primaries and caucuses?
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on February 06, 2008, 06:46:41 pm
Obama is favored heavily in the saturday primaries AND the tuesday primaries. Tuesday is the Virginia/Maryland/DC primaries and Obama is expected to win all three.

Feb 12  District of Columbia        37 delegates at stake 
Feb 12    Maryland    99 delegates at stake
Feb 12    Virginia    103 delegates at stake

also yeah NBC and Politico are reporting that Obama, in fact, does have more delegates
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Jeff on February 06, 2008, 06:53:30 pm
Yeah MSNBC is saying it is 838-834 in favor of Obama at the moment, but I don't know how they count states delegates, since they aren't all 100% reporting yet.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Saleop on February 06, 2008, 06:54:08 pm
I'll be sure to vote in the va primary!
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on February 06, 2008, 06:58:36 pm
Me too. 8)
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Neophyte on February 06, 2008, 07:02:24 pm
Holy shit YES! This is great news.
CNN still shows Hillary up top though, so I dunno yet. It's clear though that the momentum is with Obama though. And I think it's pretty clear he's going to win the next primaries as well.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Shepperd on February 06, 2008, 07:10:31 pm
y'know i rather not talk, it was also pretty clear Obama was going to win New Hampshire
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on February 06, 2008, 07:13:20 pm
Holy shit YES! This is great news.
CNN still shows Hillary up top though, so I dunno yet. It's clear though that the momentum is with Obama though. And I think it's pretty clear he's going to win the next primaries as well.
That's what they said about New Hampshire, too. Let's not get too excited!

DON'T COUNT YOUR CHICKENS BEFORE THEY HATCH!

EDIT: why you...!!
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on February 06, 2008, 07:21:39 pm
This is a bit more reliable than New Hampshire. Obama has been ahead in these states for months. These three states also have large African American populations, which is another plus for Obama.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Wash Cycle on February 06, 2008, 07:25:05 pm
hmm Latinos not voting for Barack Obama (a black man) who would have ever guessed

also as much as this pisses me off guys, dont expect ohio to vote for barack, I dont know what the issue here is but a lot of people are still really hooked on Hilary, specially up north in the Cleveland area (so I guess dont be suprised or disappointed if hilary takes ohio she's led in the polls since forever and obama isnt really gaining on her much at all)
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Mongoloid on February 06, 2008, 08:27:44 pm
John Edwards has gained 1% of the vote, despite dropping out. Shows you how many people who vote actually keep up with the race.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on February 06, 2008, 08:44:29 pm
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Grunthor on February 06, 2008, 08:50:54 pm
Going by MSNBC's numbers there seems to be roughly 123 delegates unaccounted for at the moment (they have it as 838-834 at the moment).  Obama had 68 going into Tuesday, Clinton had 46.  Subtracting those out from their current totals, Obama picked up 770 and Clinton picked up 788  out of a possible 1,681.  Although I don't know if their numbers include super delegates or not.  I'm wondering when there will be an official total. So this thing could swing either way still.



I have way too much time on my hands.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on February 06, 2008, 08:54:01 pm
superdelegates are not committed btw until the final conference, where they go with the popular vote winner usually so.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: kentona on February 06, 2008, 08:59:37 pm
superdelegates are not committed btw until the final conference, where they go with the popular vote winner usually so.
Now I KNOW we've just crossed over in the Dragonball Z universe....


In all seriousness, what is the Democratic "magic number" of delegates to become nominated?
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Grunthor on February 06, 2008, 09:04:43 pm
superdelegates are not committed btw until the final conference, where they go with the popular vote winner usually so.

I'm well aware of that, though many of the news sites have been adding in the super delegates, for whatever reason.  Kentona the magic number is 2,025. 
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: The Truth on February 06, 2008, 09:06:26 pm
The 834 number is only delegates won LAST NIGHT

add up the other delegates as well
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Grunthor on February 06, 2008, 09:15:29 pm
The 834 number is only delegates won LAST NIGHT

add up the other delegates as well

Not according to their site.  It lists all the contests so far in the make up of that number.  Complete breakdown of totals (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22419475)
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on February 06, 2008, 09:52:35 pm
superdelegates are not committed btw until the final conference, where they go with the popular vote winner usually so.
That is kind of bizarre and disagreeable to me, but I guess it's to Obama's advantage, as Clinton currently has more superdelegates.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on February 06, 2008, 11:20:21 pm
bad news for Clinton:

Senior Clinton staffers working without pay (http://thepage.time.com/) and she had to loan her campaign $5 million (http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/)
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on February 06, 2008, 11:29:44 pm
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22419475 BTW for numbers

gravel got a way sad face goin on
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: tuxedo marx on February 06, 2008, 11:43:44 pm
Jesus Christ, this is close! MSNBC has 838 - 834 in favour of Obama at the moment.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Moriason on February 06, 2008, 11:55:23 pm
Good to see Obama doing so well!

Man that's close though.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Shepperd on February 07, 2008, 12:21:23 am
haha Clinton donating herself $5 millions is pretty desperate
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: parasun on February 07, 2008, 12:31:31 am
Seriously, I like them both, and I would be just as happy with either one of them as president. I just have a warm spot in my heart for underdogs, and I feel bad for Hill because everyone hates her so much... and the funny thing is that no one gives me the same reason as to why they don't like her and the reasons are never good ones to begin with.

What if she ends up as our democratic candidate? Will you guys vote for her, or vote republican, or not even vote at all? Would you be pissed?
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Xeno|Soft on February 07, 2008, 12:48:18 am
I don't really have anything againts her...it's just that she seems so...fake. I mean they are so alike that you have to start looking at the little things. Like when she gives speaches I can't help but br annoyed by how robotic it feels, she looks down to see what she wants to say next. While Obama seems so INTO it....I know its not really a REASON its just hard trying to justify it.

Not only that, but she scares me, I remember reading something about her being bought out when she was trying to push a better health care system when she was the first lady.


EDIT: also, yes I would vote for her.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Randy Moist on February 07, 2008, 12:49:27 am
Obama is/was the underdog dude. Clinton was pretty far up in the Summer, she's fallen a lot.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on February 07, 2008, 12:52:02 am
What if she ends up as our democratic candidate? Will you guys vote for her, or vote republican, or not even vote at all? Would you be pissed?

I don't dislike Clinton at all. I just vastly prefer Obama.

If she became the candidate than yeah, I would vote for her. She's still far superior to McCain/Huckabee/Romney.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Shepperd on February 07, 2008, 12:52:55 am
Hillary has the most annoying face ever.
Please dont allow her face to appear daily all over the world
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: parasun on February 07, 2008, 12:54:27 am
Obama is/was the underdog dude. Clinton was pretty far up in the Summer, she's fallen a lot.

I know, that's why I used to prefer him. I didn't like Clinton very much, but not even I'm sure why I never liked her. The only thing I really dislike about Clinton now (besides the lifeless speeches she gives, as xeno|soft mentioned) is that she used to be on the Wal-Mart board...  :blarg:
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Shepperd on February 07, 2008, 01:02:14 am
it's an international cause
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Moriason on February 07, 2008, 01:52:43 am
Obama's website says he won Super Tuesday is this true???
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: The Truth on February 07, 2008, 01:59:35 am
yes, read the thread
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on February 07, 2008, 02:19:51 am
Obama's website says he won Super Tuesday is this true???

yes. he did better than most expected, won more states, and narrowly won more delegates. he also outraised hillary 2-1 in January and looks to do the same in February.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Neophyte on February 07, 2008, 05:14:39 am
Obama has raised over $6 milliion dollars since yesterday.

http://tpmelectioncentral.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/02/obama_campaign_has_raised_over.php (not accurate since it's a few hours old, but there's the article)
http://my.barackobama.com/page/contribute_c/sincefeb5_email/graphic
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Sarah on February 07, 2008, 05:30:32 am
I don't know much about presidential elections but what does all of this money go to? Just the campaign?
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Sarhan on February 07, 2008, 05:34:49 am
I don't know much about presidential elections but what does all of this money go to? Just the campaign?

I can't remember the exact number, but Hillary and Obama have been spending an assload of money on their campaigns each day. It's in the millions. I remember that much.

EDIT: This was in preparation for Super Tuesday.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Mongoloid on February 07, 2008, 06:35:25 am
In two years, we'll all be saying "I never supported Obama/Hilary, I wanted Gravel. Gravel would've never done these things."

Btw, do the troops get to vote? Is there a separate place for them to vote, or do they vote like civilians? Who do the troops support?
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: `~congresman Ron paul~~ on February 07, 2008, 06:37:19 am
They send absentee ballots. Soldiers tend to be overwhelmingly Republican, so I would assume they mostly support McCain... and they're a high-voting group too, so they tend to be a big Republican boost (over a million votes).
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: jamie on February 07, 2008, 12:16:45 pm
i think a lot of te reason why people don't like hilary is cos she got a dirty vagina

admit it. you dun like dat vag.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: kentona on February 07, 2008, 03:41:19 pm
I like how all the candidates are for ChangeTM.  How inspiring!

Huckabee still terrifies me...  I'd take Guiliani over Huckabee.  *cringe*
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Sarhan on February 07, 2008, 04:11:36 pm
I like how all the candidates are for ChangeTM.  How inspiring!

Huckabee still terrifies me...  I'd take Guiliani over Huckabee.  *cringe*

Obama started that shit. After the other candidates saw how well it was working for him, they just started to copy. It's retarded.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on February 07, 2008, 04:43:00 pm
Obama started that shit. After the other candidates saw how well it was working for him, they just started to copy. It's retarded.
Yeah, it's apparently a MAJOR priority these elections. That's why the other candidates have been trying very hard to make it part of their curriculum. It seems to be too late for them, though.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Dale Gobbler on February 07, 2008, 04:48:40 pm
I voted for Huckabee because he was endorsed by Chuck Norris <insert Chuck Fact here> (Not really)

Here's: David Bowie's "Changes" with the presidential candidates. It's pretty funny (3/4ths of the way through). http://youtube.com/watch?v=OJtgEfIla0A
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Grunthor on February 07, 2008, 06:29:57 pm
Romney dropped out.  He just gave his concession speech. MSNBC article. (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23050678/)
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on February 07, 2008, 06:45:35 pm
it's not like he had a chance anyway. this will just make it all the more easy for McCain to get the nomination

edit: hahaha his concession speech is beyond laughable. it basically sums up as "i can't risk having the democrats win and us retreat.... and the terrorists win"
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on February 07, 2008, 07:30:47 pm
Yeah I grinned at the IN THIS TIME OF WAR thing. That's just ridiculous.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Xeno|Soft on February 07, 2008, 10:49:09 pm
You don't live in America right Omega? I wanted to note that I find it cool that people like you are very interested in this, if other people have the same level of interest in other countries as you seem to demonstrate it really just proves that  it's not only america that wants a better goverment, but the world wants america to get their shit together, too.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Grunthor on February 07, 2008, 10:56:00 pm
MSNBC just updated the scores it's now 861-855 for Obama. 
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on February 07, 2008, 11:03:27 pm
You don't live in America right Omega? I wanted to note that I find it cool that people like you are very interested in this, if other people have the same level of interest in other countries as you seem to demonstrate it really just proves that  it's not only america that wants a better goverment, but the world wants america to get their shit together, too.
Trust me, all of the world's eyes are on America right now. Not just here in the Netherlands, but in all of Europe. Every single primary and caucus has been reported on here in the Netherlands. The vast majority wants a democrat to win, too. According to some poll, Hillary Clinton is apparently the favorite here, Obama being a close second.

Another important thing is that the presidential elections are so incredibly spectacular in America. Everything that goes on here in Europe pales in comparison.

EDIT: but to some degree, that's also good... when you vote in the Netherlands, you vote more for the party than the person. There's also more to it than just two parties. Since every party that participates gets its fair share of seats in the Dutch House of Representatives (Tweede Kamer, or "Second Chamber"), and that's where most of the interesting stuff happens, it's possible for small parties to be effective too. A good example of why this works is a small party that has just a few seats (2 out of 150 I believe) that exists solely to discuss animal rights. They're very small, and one would expect them to not be capable of getting anything done, but they're actually surprisingly effective. They can raise questions that no other party would. They've introduced hundreds of ideas and plans, and some of them got accepted. So even a minority can have its voice be heard in a system like this. The downside is that we have less spectacular races for the House!

That was my daily America-bashing comment, thanks for your attention.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: The Truth on February 07, 2008, 11:37:08 pm
Don't worry someday we'll change this two party stuff.

Guys when i make the American Socialist Party join ok.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Cho on February 08, 2008, 12:10:13 am
Quote
Guys when i make the American Socialist Party join ok.

I definitely will, mostly because it means you'd also be in possession of a time machine that's capable of taking us back to the beginning of the twentieth century.

Quote
Not just here in the Netherlands, but in all of Europe.

This is why Americans think they're more important than everyone else.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on February 08, 2008, 01:46:04 am
Don't worry someday we'll change this two party stuff.

Guys when i make the American Socialist Party join ok.

i'm not one of those HEH FLIP FLOPPER faggots or anything but since when were you even remotely socialist? what made you decide to flip your political opinions? (not trying to be a dick i'm genuinely curious)
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: tomohawkjoe on February 08, 2008, 04:52:05 am
Steel, I need you to give me the biggest, fattest, most erect Anti-Ron Paul post with plenty of links and shit. I just quoted one of your Arguments on another forum, and I might need some more ammo.

PS: I gave you credit and shit though.

EDIT: Actually, you can PM it or whatever. I just need something to go off of hear.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on February 08, 2008, 05:09:27 am
Steel, I need you to give me the biggest, fattest, most erect Anti-Ron Paul post with plenty of links and shit. I just quoted one of your Arguments on another forum, and I might need some more ammo.

PS: I gave you credit and shit though.

EDIT: Actually, you can PM it or whatever. I just need something to go off of hear.

Ron Paul had several newsletters printed under his name over several decades that were pervasive with anti-semetic, homophobic, racist, and extreme right-wing paranoid conspiracy theory ramblings (http://www.tnr.com/politics/story.html?id=e2f15397-a3c7-4720-ac15-4532a7da84ca).  (The sheer number of craziness, filth, and crazy filth contained in these newletters is staggering; just read the article to see just how deep the rabbit hole goes.) 

Despite denying any connection to these newletters that bore his name--and were published by "Ron Paul & Associates"--for decades, Ron Paul continues to make prejudice remarks, describing those working for the Transportation Security Administration as looking "more suspicious to [him] than most Americans who are getting checked," (http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2007/06/02/ron_paul/index1.html) not to mention that he not too long ago voted against the renewal of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and published his reasons for disaproval with the Act (http://www.lewrockwell.com/paul/paul188.html). 

It is not surprising that Ron Paul continues to make these types of remarks considering the newletters and his legislative past, where he sponsored a bill that would make it easier for private schools to discriminate (http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d096:h.r.3863:), another that would weaken the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d098:HR04982:@@@L&summ2=m&), yet another that would deny Iranian students federal aid (http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d096:h.r.5842:), and finally one that would require unmarried minors to notify parents they requested an abortion or contraceptives, "[prohibit] the expenditure of federal funds to any organization which presents male or female homosexuality as an acceptable alternative lifestyle or which suggest that it can be an acceptable lifestyle," endorse "corporal punishment" against children, and repeal the estate tax--a tax which affects only the wealthiest of Americans (http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d096:HR07955:@@@L&summ2=m&). 

He has also recently published articles stating that he believes that the Left is waging a war on Christmas, that Churches should serve a role in society eclipsing that of the state (http://www.lewrockwell.com/paul/paul148.html), and that he opposes gay marriage (http://www.lewrockwell.com/paul/paul197.html) .  Plus, Ron Paul has recently (6/6/07) introduced legislation that would define life as beginning at conception (http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:h.r.02597:) and legislation that would prevent the Supreme Court from hearing cases on the Establishment Clause or the right to privacy, permitting the return of sodomy laws and the like--a bill which he has repeated reintroduced (http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c110:H.R.300:).  (A list of all the ridiculous bills he has sponsored over the past few decades can be found here (http://dneiwert.blogspot.com/2007/11/ron-pauls-record-in-congress.html).)

Oh, there's more.  SO MUCH MORE!

He was the sole vote against divesting US federal government investments in corporations doing business with the genocidal government of the Sudan. (http://www.govtrack.us/congress/vote.xpd?vote=h2007-764).  He wants to pull out of the U.N. (http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c110:H.R.1146:), disband NATO (http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c110:H.R.1146:), abolish the federal reserve (http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c110:H.R.2755:), reinstate the Gold Standard (http://www.house.gov/paul/congrec/congrec2006/cr021506.htm), believes in New World Order conspiracy theories (http://www.infowars.com/articles/nwo/ron_paul_first_bush_was_working_towards_nwo.htm), believes that the International Baccalaureate program is U.N. mind control (http://www.congress.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?r109:E14AP5-0007:), and...

Aw hell, just take a look at his own website (http://www.ronpaul2008.com/), where he advocates abolishing the Department of Education, the Food & Drug Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Social Security Administration, and a ton of other agencies that provide vital public services.

I did not write this, this is someone froM SA, but yeah.

also: does not include a link to the infamous 20 years of newsletters that were uncovered.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: tomohawkjoe on February 08, 2008, 05:17:23 am
That was quite the erect post
It will definitely help
thanks man.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on February 08, 2008, 07:15:06 am
I definitely will, mostly because it means you'd also be in possession of a time machine that's capable of taking us back to the beginning of the twentieth century.
There is more to socialism than just that, you know.

wørdz
Yeah this is amazing stuff. (Also, see the original topic (http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=2746491&userid=0&perpage=40&pagenumber=1) for more information.) Remember how I said I was going to fix up the Ron Paul article on Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_Paul)? It's just too difficult at this point, man. There are a couple of frequent editors who have stated before that "we now reliably know he did not write those newsletters" and other such things. I guess that I should at least wait until the sucker drops out.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: kentona on February 08, 2008, 03:22:45 pm
You don't live in America right Omega? I wanted to note that I find it cool that people like you are very interested in this, if other people have the same level of interest in other countries as you seem to demonstrate it really just proves that  it's not only america that wants a better goverment, but the world wants america to get their shit together, too.
Damn straight we do!
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on February 08, 2008, 04:53:32 pm
Damn straight we do!


*emphasis*

And next time you decide to cook dinner, don't make Europe do the washing up.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: parasun on February 08, 2008, 04:59:51 pm
It isn't clear to me as to who actually has more delegates. Why does every website I go to say different? Some say Clinton, some say Obama. I didn't think the delegates were something that was open to very much interpretation.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Cho on February 08, 2008, 05:05:48 pm
Quote
There is more to socialism than just that, you know.

Well, actually, I was referencing the fact that the American Socialist Party was founded in like, 1901.
(But I also think Socialism is a pretty terrible form of government)
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: The Truth on February 08, 2008, 07:23:26 pm
Well, actually, I was referencing the fact that the American Socialist Party was founded in like, 1901.
(But I also think Socialism is a pretty terrible form of government)

Yes, and it was broken up in the 70's and split into two groups that are much more radical.

Quote
i'm not one of those HEH FLIP FLOPPER faggots or anything but since when were you even remotely socialist? what made you decide to flip your political opinions? (not trying to be a dick i'm genuinely curious)

I'm pretty sure you can't take anything I said as a 17-18 year old idiot who knew nothing about politics or life for that matter seriously.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on February 08, 2008, 07:36:41 pm
http://dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/2/8/91557/31057/993/452583

recent polls by SurveyUSA (Highly reliable, probably the most reliable poll so far) has Obama up 59-37 in Virginia. The Clinton campaign has called Virginia a "must win" state so this is interesting shit!

also

Quote from: Tim Kaine
    Virginia Governor Tim Kaine, an early supporter of U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, told the News-Press in Richmond last week that he felt Obama, if nominated, "would be well served" by selecting Virginia's junior U.S. Sen. Jim Webb as his running mate.

    [...]

    "I think he should choose someone who is strong in foreign policy and defense issues," he said. He then went on to drop the name of Sen. Webb.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Dale Gobbler on February 08, 2008, 08:04:21 pm
Romney dropped out :(​.


Oh god, McCain is leaps and bounds ahead for the Republicans.

Between McCain, Obama, and Clinton. Obama Ftw.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Fire Mage on February 08, 2008, 08:07:23 pm
It's going to be McCain versu Clinton/Obama. I want Obama to win, but I can't vote yet. :(
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Cho on February 08, 2008, 08:45:08 pm
Quote
Yes, and it was broken up in the 70's and split into two groups that are much more radical.

I'd only say the old party was less radical because they were even less organized and united than the current Democratic party. If they actually had their shit together, they would  have been Kooky McRadicalCommies.

Quote
Between McCain, Obama, and Clinton. Obama Ftw.

I agree. Obama is an honest politician who will deliver on all of his promises, unlike that evil Clinton who will lie, cheat, steal and assassinate anyone who gets in her way. CHANGE. McCain is a warmonger and is old, therefore he is unfit.

Quote
Highly reliable, probably the most reliable poll so far

I've noticed that polls are considered more reliable when they say what people want them to.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on February 09, 2008, 03:24:12 pm
Ron Paul "scaling back" his presidential run: (http://www.politico.com/blogs/jonathanmartin/0208/Ron_Paul_pivots_to_his_reelection.html)

Quote from: Politico
Ron Paul appears to have had a Dennis Kucinich moment.

Just as the liberal Ohio congressman realized last month that his long-shot presidential campaign was imperiling his prospects for keeping his House seat, Paul appears to be choosing the comfort of incumbency over a continued effort to win a nomination that he has virtually no shot at capturing.

Quote
I've noticed that polls are considered more reliable when they say what people want them to.

actually SurveyUSA was one of the few polls still showing Clinton winning California, and has generally been correct throughout the primary season. SUSA got every single Super Tuesday state correct. sorry!
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on February 09, 2008, 03:54:05 pm
Ron Paul "scaling back" his presidential run: (http://www.politico.com/blogs/jonathanmartin/0208/Ron_Paul_pivots_to_his_reelection.html)
They should disallow commentary on that site. It immediately became apparent that their site is home to the political unsavory by looking at the people saying things like "a noble effort which will likely have an impact on the future of the GOP" and "Ron Paul defeated every other candidate in the presidential primary somewhere". They also accused the blog of being part of the conspiracy to prevent Ron Paul from getting media coverage. Then again, that's normal; wherever there's Ron Paul news, there are zealous fans waiting to pounce right onto it. It's their compensation which reassures us that Ron Paul was never more than an ant that tried to be an elephant.

He only quit a race that he could never win to begin with. I can only hope that the hype will disappear now. Who knows, maybe people will realize that they were supporting an anti-semitic racist sometime in the future, too.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on February 09, 2008, 04:01:38 pm
Ron Paul spoke at Liberty University (Jerry Falwell's college that is like 5 minutes from my house) yesterday. His crazy supporters also drove around my neighborhood and stuck signs and posters EVERYWHERE.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on February 10, 2008, 01:20:17 am
Washington Caucus results (27% Reporting):

Obama 66.3%
Clinton 32.41%

Nebraska caucus results (73% reporting):

Obama 69.10%
Clinton 30.85%

edit: nbc called Nebraska for Obama
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Sarhan on February 10, 2008, 01:28:39 am
Haha...yes. Man, as much as I wanted Obama to win, I still had my doubts, but everything that's happened since Super Tuesday made me think he could pull it off.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Saleop on February 10, 2008, 01:44:40 am
washington projected for obama....

history....... is being made.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Mongoloid on February 10, 2008, 01:52:54 am
I'm not surprised at all by Obama taking Nebraska. Aside from the old people, I've noticed that aside from the elderly, Clinton supporters are very few around here.


It is funny though, the grammas and granpas keep telling me "Obama only stands a chance because he's winning the young people."
lol as if we weren't going to run the country in a decade or so.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: lampshade on February 10, 2008, 03:10:23 am
Obama completes the sweep:

Projected to win Washington, Nebraska, and finally louisiana.

Winning close to 70% of the votes in the former two states
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Saleop on February 10, 2008, 03:14:37 am
superdelegates are not committed btw until the final conference, where they go with the popular vote winner usually so.

Is this true? If so, why does CNN count the superdelegates? Are you sure this is true?
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Sarhan on February 10, 2008, 03:16:34 am
Obama completes the sweep:

Projected to win Washington, Nebraska, and finally louisiana.

Winning close to 70% of the votes in the former two states

Eat it, Clinton. Eat it and like it.

Man, I'm excited. Does anybody have the up-to-date delegate count?
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on February 10, 2008, 03:17:43 am
Is this true? If so, why does CNN count the superdelegates? Are you sure this is true?



many of them committed to clinton when she was "inevitable"
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Saleop on February 10, 2008, 03:20:36 am
many of them committed to clinton when she was "inevitable"

I see. So do superdelegates not matter at all then?

Why do we even have superdelegates? their existance seems retarded
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Cho on February 10, 2008, 03:32:18 am
many of them committed to clinton when she was "inevitable"

And the other two are Bill and Hillary  :fogetshh:

Why do we even have superdelegates? their existence seems retarded

Well, the thing you have to understand is that the Democratic party? They pretty much have no clue what they're doing. I mean, the only thing they really do a good job of is sabotaging themselves. I mean, the 2004 Election? That should have been a SURE thing, and yet, look how it turned out. Other than that, they pretty much run around like chickens with their heads cut off. Ergo, Super Delegates.

Their general disorganization may not be such a problem now that the Bush administration has irreversibly damaged the Republican party.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on February 10, 2008, 03:34:28 am
super delegates are there to prevent clusterfucks. many of them are elected officials and members of the DNC
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: The Truth on February 10, 2008, 07:30:58 am
And the other two are Bill and Hillary  :fogetshh:

Well, the thing you have to understand is that the Democratic party? They pretty much have no clue what they're doing. I mean, the only thing they really do a good job of is sabotaging themselves. I mean, the 2004 Election? That should have been a SURE thing, and yet, look how it turned out. Other than that, they pretty much run around like chickens with their heads cut off. Ergo, Super Delegates.

Their general disorganization may not be such a problem now that the Bush administration has irreversibly damaged the Republican party.

They are there so the democratic party has SOME say in who they elect as their representative.


We're not voting for a public office for them, we're voting to see who will represent that party in the election.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on February 10, 2008, 08:54:08 am
I didn't know the voting would take place today! I forgot to record CNN. Oh well.

EDIT: I'm sure most people have seen this one by now, but still:

<object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/kica8hmSdAM&rel=1"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/kica8hmSdAM&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>

Did Steel suddenly turn black?
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: RPGoddess on February 10, 2008, 01:05:43 pm
Best quote ever:

"I know the pundits, and I know what they say: The math doesn't work out," Huckabee said Saturday morning at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington. "Well, I didn't major in math, I majored in miracles. And I still believe in those, too."

People still want this idiot to be president? Jesus.

[edit]

Just watched Dada's video.  AWESOME.   I actually hadn't seen that yet. Reporter looks to find stupid political follower, and finds someone actually informed and smart!  How about we elect that man for president?
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Cho on February 10, 2008, 04:52:27 pm
Quote
They are there so the democratic party has SOME say in who they elect as their representative.

And they ended up with Kerry in 2004. And currently, most are pledged to Clinton. Yeah, Super Delegates are working out REALLY well for them.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on February 10, 2008, 05:05:04 pm
Just watched Dada's video.  AWESOME.   I actually hadn't seen that yet. Reporter looks to find stupid political follower, and finds someone actually informed and smart!  How about we elect that man for president?
I'm sure he'd fare better than Huckabee! Actually, that quote about believing in miracles is pretty hilarious. (Too bad he's serious.)
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on February 10, 2008, 05:21:06 pm
Is this true? If so, why does CNN count the superdelegates? Are you sure this is true?

yes, it's true. what they do is vote for the "inevitable" candidate. so what CNN does is CALL them. each one. and then they say I'M THINKING HILLARY, and she "gets" that delegates vote, but if the balance shifts (a real possibility) they will vote for Obama.

also that reporter is so dumb ahaahah.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Lars on February 10, 2008, 06:41:21 pm
that interview seems kind of set up....................... staged, even...
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: ase on February 10, 2008, 07:31:26 pm
yeah that reporter fucking bugged the shit out me!

HEALTH INSURANCE??
HOW IS IT BETTER
WHY DO YOU KNOW THIS
ARE YOU SURE ABOUT THAT
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Neophyte on February 10, 2008, 07:33:41 pm
Haha, I loved that video. Even though the interviewer was being hard on all of the people he interviewed(he also interviewed the Hillary supporters), I think this guy easily had the most knowledge about everything.
DON'T SLEEP GUYS.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Xeno|Soft on February 10, 2008, 07:35:25 pm
Yeah, he was trying to make him look stupid, but I guess people are..smart ..who knew.


But think about it...sports fans may LOOK stupid(lol), but if you grill a fan who fucking goes to a rally about the team he is rallying for I'm pretty sure he can give all the stats of everyplayer of his team in great detail.

I would also expect it for someone who goes out to a rally for Obama..as weird of an analogy it may seem, its true ...I guess.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Wash Cycle on February 10, 2008, 07:40:00 pm
yeah, maybe I'm just too cynical but I find it impossible to believe that the average voter is THAT well informed. That's either a one in a million shot or it's staged. I also found it strange how the reporter was really grilling the fuck out of the guy in the beginning. It sounded more like a police interrogation than a casual interview.
it is impossible that your average voter is that well informed

most people are just like yeah universal health care its a good idea because then everybody gets it amirite?
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: `~congresman Ron paul~~ on February 10, 2008, 08:13:07 pm
video no longer available

:(
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Mongoloid on February 10, 2008, 08:22:48 pm
Huckabee just got my vote.

But from what I've seen this weekend, Obama is down by 60 delegates now?
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on February 10, 2008, 08:52:59 pm
video no longer available

:(
Liar.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: `~congresman Ron paul~~ on February 10, 2008, 09:07:42 pm
... interestingly enough it just started working again.

I have no idea what happened.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on February 10, 2008, 09:48:59 pm
I have no idea what happened.
Stop smoking weed l mao

http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid353515028?bctid=416343938

Here's an interesting video of Obama discussing religion and the government. It's especially interesting to those who have gotten tired of all the "yes we can" shouting and want to see something substantial.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: ase on February 10, 2008, 11:56:24 pm
NBC projects Obama will win Maine caucuses
With 59 percent of votes counted, he had 57 percent to Clinton's 42 percent

f...fuck yea weekend sweep
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Sarhan on February 11, 2008, 12:02:45 am
I didn't know the voting would take place today! I forgot to record CNN. Oh well.

EDIT: I'm sure most people have seen this one by now, but still:

<object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/kica8hmSdAM&rel=1"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/kica8hmSdAM&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>

Did Steel suddenly turn black?

That is the greatest man ever. Fucking badass.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: jamie on February 11, 2008, 12:06:23 am
those fox news demons really love obama this weekend.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Shepperd on February 11, 2008, 12:15:22 am
the fact that polls point that Obama and not Clinton can defeat McCain should be a terrific boost for Obama support.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: ase on February 11, 2008, 12:25:27 am
Also Clinton just fired and replaced her campaign manager.... SHIT IS GOIN DOWN
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Shepperd on February 11, 2008, 12:27:10 am
yeah, that and the fact she donated herself 5 million dolla to herself shows she's pretty desperate and will do what it takes.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Sarhan on February 11, 2008, 12:52:15 am
Also Clinton just fired and replaced her campaign manager.... SHIT IS GOIN DOWN

I heard about this while driving back from work today. Do you think a new campaign manager could really have that much of an impact in her campaign?
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: `~congresman Ron paul~~ on February 11, 2008, 01:02:08 am
Ditching the campaign manager is the political equivalent of firing the kicker.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: The Truth on February 11, 2008, 01:10:13 am
On a related note i hope ann coulter gets hit by a bus
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ratt on February 11, 2008, 02:25:43 am
obama projected to win Maine...a state that weeks ago was expected to be all Hilliary.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on February 11, 2008, 06:31:28 am
yeah, that and the fact she donated herself 5 million dolla to herself shows she's pretty desperate and will do what it takes.
Well, that must have just been a cry for attention, since according to CNN she still has plenty of money (http://edition.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/money/dems.html) left. A lot more than Obama, that is.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Wil on February 11, 2008, 08:38:12 am
can someone tell hillary that if she gets the nomination a democrat will not win office, k thanks
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: parasun on February 11, 2008, 06:12:16 pm
Ditching the campaign manager is the political equivalent of firing the kicker.

she didn't fire the campaign manager, she just left.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: The Truth on February 11, 2008, 09:55:16 pm
hey guys watch out about getting too interested in the most important election of our lifetimes.

you might be accused..... of obama dick jacking.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Cho on February 11, 2008, 10:34:39 pm
Wait, were you this interested in the 2004 election? The one that could have dramatically reduced the damage caused by the Bush administration? That one was a lot more important than this one, where all the front runners are pretty much ok. (Nevermind that Bush Jr. was pretty ok in 2000, and then circumstances changed and resulted in this trainwreck)
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on February 11, 2008, 10:38:00 pm
Wait, were you this interested in the 2004 election? The one that could have dramatically reduced the damage caused by the Bush administration? That one was a lot more important than this one, where all the front runners are pretty much ok. (Nevermind that Bush Jr. was pretty ok in 2000, and then circumstances changed and resulted in this trainwreck)

oh, he was interested.

he voted for Bush.

in that election where it was not 100% a certainty one party would win, as opposed to this one where even Sean Hannity said the Democratic party would have to try to lose in order not to win.

so yeah don't accuse Truth of maybe riding bandwagons and not having the most political sense because then he'll accuse you of being...a...apathetic...
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Shepperd on February 11, 2008, 11:11:20 pm
anyway I was thinking these Dem vs McCain polls have the huge flaw that the ones who participate these polls have the following mentality:

Guy is an Obama supporter. He's also all democrat.
He is asked who would he vote in a Clinton vs McCain scenario.
Guy says McCain, just to make Hillary look weaker against him and give Obama more arguments to win his candidacy.

Same thinking works with a Clinton supporter.

The difference is that polls also point out that there are much less Obama dislikers than Clinton dislikers, so there is where the difference lies.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Randy Moist on February 11, 2008, 11:15:29 pm
I agree. McCain has essentially locked up the nomination and that comes with a huge boost in all polls, including head to head polls like Clinton vs McCain. McCain is pulling better numbers than he will when one of them gets the nomination.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: lampshade on February 11, 2008, 11:35:27 pm
CNN projects Obama wins Hungary.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: The Truth on February 11, 2008, 11:53:16 pm
oh, he was interested.

he voted for Bush.

in that election where it was not 100% a certainty one party would win, as opposed to this one where even Sean Hannity said the Democratic party would have to try to lose in order not to win.

so yeah don't accuse Truth of maybe riding bandwagons and not having the most political sense because then he'll accuse you of being...a...apathetic...

I was also 18 years old thanks.

I'm getting tired of you accusing me of being a bandwagoner tex, i've been an obama supporter since september at least (when hillary was still considered the presumptive nominee). And of course this is more important than 2004. We have a MUCH BETTER CHANCE of winning this election obviously, the republicans are divided this year we can make inroads and hold the senate AND the presidency, that is huge.

John Kerry is also more similar to Hillary Clinton than Barack Obama (He voted for the war just like she did).

I am of the opinion that Obama is the most important candidate we've had come around in fifty years at least. I'm extremely interested in the Obama campaign, and it's not like I haven't made....... avatars.... about other things I was extremely interested in.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: crone_lover720 on February 12, 2008, 01:12:11 am
don't try to argue about it, Steel Paladine knows why you support Obama.


by the way at the time I wanted to vote for Bush too, but I was only 17 so I couldn't

crushed by a CaRRot CuSine you're like the worst human being ?
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Marmot on February 12, 2008, 01:26:47 am
i hope eugene debs wins
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on February 12, 2008, 01:39:01 am
I was also 18 years old thanks.

I'm getting tired of you accusing me of being a bandwagoner tex, i've been an obama supporter since september at least (when hillary was still considered the presumptive nominee). And of course this is more important than 2004. We have a MUCH BETTER CHANCE of winning this election obviously, the republicans are divided this year we can make inroads and hold the senate AND the presidency, that is huge.

John Kerry is also more similar to Hillary Clinton than Barack Obama (He voted for the war just like she did).

I am of the opinion that Obama is the most important candidate we've had come around in fifty years at least. I'm extremely interested in the Obama campaign, and it's not like I haven't made....... avatars.... about other things I was extremely interested in.

don't try to argue about it, Steel Paladine knows why you support Obama.


by the way at the time I wanted to vote for Bush too, but I was only 17 so I couldn't

crushed by a CaRRot CuSine you're like the worst human being ?

hafgsffff do you hear yourselves.

the past like twenty IMs Truth has sent me are ALL ABOUT THE ELECTION. here is a wonderful one I got the morning of Super Tuesday:

(14:55:20) DLF: YES WE CAN
(14:55:39) liquor: what
(14:55:46) DLF: YES WE CAN
(14:55:48) DLF: YES WE CAN
(14:55:56) DLF: I HAVE THE SUPER TUESDAY DISEASE

he's also had like a billion away messages exactly like this:

(15:55:27) DLF <AUTO-REPLY>: We've been asked to pause for a reality check, we've been warned against offering the people of this nation false hope. But in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope.
-Barack Obama

which is also in his sig!

let's not forget this:

(https://legacy.gamingw.net/etc/i7.photobucket.com/albums/y261/helloiamstealing/title-axeil-3.jpeg)

Render, just, please, do not reply to me again. passive aggressive is not shit I do and this is just getting pathetic on your part because you keep following me around saying OH YOU KNOW EVERYTHING and it's just sad, don't care, if I could put you on ignore I would, etc,  thanks for listening!

but Truth here is something you do not understand; it is not apathy to not fucking jerk off over everything Obama says. I support the guy. I might even campaign for him.

you aren't a bandwagoner because you wholeheartedly support Obama (I have supported Barack Obama since 2004, a friend was supporting his Senate bid and I got interested in him), you're a bandwagoner because you are completely fucking RABID about Barack Obama. phrases like "YES WE CAN" and "CHANGE" don't mean much to most of us, because we aren't swayed by fucking propoganda phrases. and yet you are sending them to me like I am supposed to...what? unite under the cause? I support Obama already. I don't think he's a magical socialist fairy flying down to fix everything, I think he's a very good Democrat and the real difference is the fact he doesn't have a history of acquiescing to others.

this painting of Obama as some magical liberal is kind of wack, and you getting mad because you are blatantly an OBAMAMANIAC and I called you such is pretty funny.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Shepperd on February 12, 2008, 01:46:04 am
I HOPE that the truth keeps saying YES WE CAN during 4 more years if OPbama wins the election. It would be tedious but amusing nonetheless, and it would trully become an Obamamaniac sharing good times with all his family and friends
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: headphonics on February 12, 2008, 01:54:31 am
hey guys watch out about getting too interested in the most important election of our lifetimes.

you might be accused..... of obama dick jacking.
well dawg it's clear you're like rabidly obsessed with obama and i don't even know why you're making an argument that you're not?  your last two or three avatars have been of barack obama, your member title is about barack obama, you have a fucking BARACK OBAMA QUOTE in your signiture, and apparently you just like message steel on aim saying "YES WE CAN."  i don't quite understand how this can make you anything but a crazy obama supporter.  this doesn't mean that i'd call you a bandwagoner, because i'm not sure i agree with him about that, nor does it mean that obama's a bad candidate, because he's clearly not; it just means that you're an ALARMINGLY RABID SUPPORTER of him and it's a little weird!

to put it in perspective you are like the kezay of barack obama.

also like the other two previously said, whether this election is the most important one in our lifetimes is pretty debatable.  an ethnic/female president is significant, but going beyond that, the first term of ANY of the democratic candidates would consist primarily of damage control.  how is reversing harm done by the previous administration the most important event of our lifetime?  i'd be inclined to agree that the prevention of the damage being done to begin with was more significant (gj supporting the forces of evil douglas..... no amount of votes cast for blackmen can redeem you now).  maybe if this election was coming on the heels of anything but the current administration, and maybe if anyone was introducing really crazy new ideas, i think it'd be more significant.  but as it is, none of the candidates could really be called RADICALS, and really, the gender/race thing would mean a lot more if it was happening for reasons that had more to do with a shift in society's perception and less to do with everyone wanting a change so desperately that even the notion of a female/black president isn't immediately dismissed anymore.  so yeah, i think you're probably exaggerating the importance of this event compared to other ones in the past, and you're DEFINITELY a little obsessed with obama.  i mean, getting really into some random shit is the TRUTH WE KNOW AND LOVE so i'm not especially surprised to see you calling this the DAWN OF A NEW AGE or something when it's not, or popping a boner over obama, but you have to admit that IN ESSENCE it is more of a shift in the opinions you hold than your actual personality from 2004 to now, and also that it sort of makes you look like a paulsie, except one that supports a good candidate instead of an awful one, so i guess that'd be an intelligent paulsie capable of understanding reason, but an incredibly obsessed one nonetheless!
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Immakinganaccountk on February 12, 2008, 02:10:27 am
Suppose I don't have much to say, I don't follow politics or anything of the sort because its all useless to me.
 But Hilary is a slut lets hope she doesn't win.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Wil on February 12, 2008, 02:11:29 am
yah bros before hoes barack obama 08 lmaao
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Cho on February 12, 2008, 02:15:58 am
Bill's the slut, Hillary's the Cuckqueen.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Shepperd on February 12, 2008, 02:18:18 am
thanks for your contribution, be sure to vote for obama or mccain then asshole

as in vote

I cant believe like just 10% of the population actively participate by voting.
I like the idea of voting not being an obligation as it is over here in argentina, but jesus christ 10% is really awful

edit: I didnt read it was 10%, just heard from someone else, but it is so impressively low I am hoping I am malinformed, J.C.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on February 12, 2008, 03:28:12 am
i hope eugene debs wins

if only :(

also shepperd i believe the number is more around 30-40%, but this election has had record turnouts so it will probably be higher

also guys i get to vote tomorrow for the first time i am excited :-)
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: crone_lover720 on February 12, 2008, 03:43:36 am
Quote
Render, just, please, do not reply to me again. passive aggressive is not shit I do and this is just getting pathetic on your part because you keep following me around saying OH YOU KNOW EVERYTHING and it's just sad, don't care, if I could put you on ignore I would, etc,  thanks for listening!
This is aggressive aggressive, what part of YOU ARE A FAGGOT sounds watered down to you


please, tell me right here why you think you have an amazing ability to psychoanalyze people and understand their TRUE MOTIVES so incredibly well that nothing they say to the contrary can make you believe otherwise. you do this shit all the time man

truth's strong support of obama is startling as hell, but what you posted was fucking ridiculous so whatever congrats on your huge success.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: headphonics on February 12, 2008, 04:08:13 am
ahahaha

"steel i'm sick of you always thinkin you know everything.... even though in this case i actually agree with you and just decided to pick a fight anyway"

thanks render that's a worthy cause you got yourself there.  by the way i think the best part about your post is that in yelling at steel for acting like he always knows what everyone is doing and why, you're really just reinforcing the fact that he was more or less on the mark about you, at the very least.  he has always been like this, so it's kind of odd to me that you would suddenly decide to start taking issue with it as soon as he said something about you.  it's almost as if you... you never even gave a shit before then and just got really defensive when he implied you might have been influenced by him in some capacity (i'm render version 1.0 baby aint nobody in da world like me).  the whole thing VERYTRANSPARENT and honestly the irony of you proving that he was right by following him around everywhere telling him he is wrong (even when you actually think he is right) is just too good.

damnit steel... y... you're not right about everything... except this.... and except about me.... and except about that other thing i agreed with you on.  quit actin like you know everything.... cause you don't (except all those times where you do)
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: crone_lover720 on February 12, 2008, 04:16:27 am
what are you talking about? I said truth's support of obama is startling BUT THEN I said steel's post was dumb shit? or did you miss this part of his post
Quote
so yeah don't accuse Truth of maybe riding bandwagons and not having the most political sense because then he'll accuse you of being...a...apathetic...

but yeah Bazookatooth the Great Mediator of Arguments you got me :(

edit: also it's fucking gross how the image you have of me is the strawman steel set up dude. also apparently it's ok for you to call him out when he's a faggot but if I do it it's not cool with you?
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Randy Moist on February 12, 2008, 04:21:57 am
It was question on my exam last semester and I'm pretty sure that 60% of the voting eligible voted in the last presidential election was the answer.

Edit: oh and I get to see Obama speak tomorrow which is rad I suppose.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: headphonics on February 12, 2008, 04:27:59 am
sorry what????  why are you saying truth's behavior is alarming, but then saying steel's post, where he called truth's behavior alarming and then called you pathetic, is dumb shit?  you don't get to agree with a post/not be able to explain what's wrong with it, and then call it fucking ridiculous, sorry!  or maybe you can explain how, despite the fact that truth is clearly obsessed and CAUGHT UP in obamamania, and despite the fact that you are clearly such a petty motherfucker that even when you basically agree with him you will come in and pick a fight (ps i like how you ignored the fact that this suddenly started up out of nowhere even though steel has a long history of acting exactly like this, always), what he posted was way way way way off the mark.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on February 12, 2008, 04:29:22 am
lets keep talkinga boutme instead of the election THAT'S REALLY RELEVANT.

ps:

Quote
so yeah don't accuse Truth of maybe riding bandwagons and not having the most political sense because then he'll accuse you of being...a...apathetic...

this is still true, just because he hitched his bandwagon to obama early doesn't mean he's developed political sense, it just means he hitched on early and wholesale swallows this change shit and while Obama is a good candidate he is, as Panda put it, OBAMA'S KEZAY.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: headphonics on February 12, 2008, 04:32:10 am
well i happen to think this derail is a bit more interesting than obamawatch 08!
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: crone_lover720 on February 12, 2008, 04:32:25 am
yeah look at my edit

also this'll be my last post (PMs??) because derail this is annoying as hell, but is it really that hard to understand what I'm saying. saying it's startling means just that, it doesn't include a deep psychoanalytic steel analysis of WHY he supports obama, which is my whole beef
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: AdderallApocalypse on February 12, 2008, 05:36:46 am
I really don't know as much about the candidates as I should. Of course, it doesn't matter, since I live in the Netherlands. The one I've read most about is Barack Obama, and he seems a very acceptable candidate.

People are saying it would really be something if Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton were to become the next president, since there haven't ever been black or female presidents before, but I personally am waiting more eagerly for the first atheist president.
Sorry, I know that this is an old post. Anyhow, this made me think, wasn't Abraham Lincoln an atheist?
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Mongoloid on February 12, 2008, 06:37:19 am
god damnit
can i frequent one fucking topic without there being a steel argument in it
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Randy Moist on February 12, 2008, 07:08:28 am
No but thanks for adding another off topic post!

I'm pretty uninformed myself about the republican candidates, or rather was. I've always known a bit about McCain but I was never impressed by or cared enough about them to look the rest up.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on February 12, 2008, 07:08:36 am
by the way at the time I wanted to vote for Bush too, but I was only 17 so I couldn't
You guys say "I was only n years old" like that somehow makes it all right. Are you implying that it's impossible to have a well-informed opinion when you're barely legal voting age? You should be saying "I wanted to vote for Bush, but that was back when I didn't have a clue about the world."

By the way, it's been about 7 years since the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001 and about 5 years since Iraq became a target. I was 14 at the time of the 9/11 attacks. I don't know when exactly you were 17, but it's not like there haven't been enough notable events that might have made you question the Bush authority. Unless you also agreed with, say, first deploying a team of weapons inspectors who find absolutely no evidence to back up an invasion and then invade anyway.

can i frequent one fucking topic without there being a steel argument in it
Steel is participating in the topic.

You are not.

EDIT: missed this one:
Sorry, I know that this is an old post. Anyhow, this made me think, wasn't Abraham Lincoln an atheist?
I wasn't sure, but according to Wikipedia he "attended churches, but never officially acquired membership in a church".
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: crone_lover720 on February 12, 2008, 02:41:11 pm
I dunno, I don't want to go off topic, but I'm still waiting for Steel to tell me about psychoanalysis and teach me some cool new Psychology terms :)

You guys say "I was only n years old" like that somehow makes it all right. Are you implying that it's impossible to have a well-informed opinion when you're barely legal voting age? You should be saying "I wanted to vote for Bush, but that was back when I didn't have a clue about the world."

By the way, it's been about 7 years since the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001 and about 5 years since Iraq became a target. I was 14 at the time of the 9/11 attacks. I don't know when exactly you were 17, but it's not like there haven't been enough notable events that might have made you question the Bush authority. Unless you also agreed with, say, first deploying a team of weapons inspectors who find absolutely no evidence to back up an invasion and then invade anyway
now this is an interesting derail!!

I don't have much time now, but I'll say right here that I'm not going to argue that it's alright. It was dumb of me to be sure, but I'm not really afraid to admit it because it was in the past. I have much more informed views now, and I'm glad I moved on.

Secondly, I really disliked Bush! I wasn't punkvoter.com but I never thought he was a good president at all. I just really disliked kerry too

Plus you're from a foreign country, so your experience is obviously different from mine. I'll dare to say you were maybe LESS informed than I, riding on 'bush should never be re-elected' rather than any info on his opponent? Again, I'm not going to bother arguing now who was better, my point is simply that I thought I was taking all sides of the conflict into consideration
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Cho on February 12, 2008, 04:06:58 pm
Quote
rather than any info on his opponent?

Well, y'see, you know how everyone has been shitting their bricks about the primaries this election? Perhaps if you (all of you) had been more active in the 2004 primaries, we wouldn't have all these problems we do today. I'm just sayin' is all.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: RWildcat on February 12, 2008, 04:27:36 pm
You guys say "I was only n years old" like that somehow makes it all right. Are you implying that it's impossible to have a well-informed opinion when you're barely legal voting age? You should be saying "I wanted to vote for Bush, but that was back when I didn't have a clue about the world."

By the way, it's been about 7 years since the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001 and about 5 years since Iraq became a target. I was 14 at the time of the 9/11 attacks. I don't know when exactly you were 17, but it's not like there haven't been enough notable events that might have made you question the Bush authority. Unless you also agreed with, say, first deploying a team of weapons inspectors who find absolutely no evidence to back up an invasion and then invade anyway.


I would respectfully disagree with your characterization of this situation.

Regime change in Iraq is a policy which predates the Bush presidency, signed into law by President Clinton (the Iraq Liberation Act of 1998).  The weapons inspectors in their testimony to the UN mentioned that Hussein's regime had deliberately provided misleading information, a material breach of the UN resolution (and the 17 that preceeded it).  Regardless, the believed stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction were only one of many issues with Saddam Hussein.  Hussein's regime was a known sponsor of international terrorism, a proven, indisputable fact, so that reason has been validated.  Hussein had promoted instability in the region by threatening his neighbors and his own people, including mass murder of his own people, including chemical weapons attacks (which is a good reason to suspect he had such weapons since he used them) and attacking a neighboring country.  Hussein repeatedly attacked U.S. planes and those of its allies patrolling the no fly zones, which are acts of war.  Hussein also attempted to assassinate President George H.W. Bush, another act of war.  Documents and sources since Hussein's being removed from power also demonstrate that while the stockpiles that had been believed to exist were no longer there / removed, Hussein clearly had active programs ready to launch to reconstitute them, including a nuclear program (see this translation of documents seized from Hussein's government - http://iraqdocs.blogspot.com/).  So the threat was there, it had just not fully gathered at the time of the invasion.  The incredible corruption revealed in the "oil for food program" in the aftermath has also been extraordinary.

Some of the intelligence was clearly wrong/incomplete, but it again predated President Bush coming to power.  Saddam's ties to Al Qaeda and Osama Bin Laden were regarded as common knowledge in the news media and on Capitol Hill prior to 2001.  Amazingly, these same news organizations and politicians now regard it as a complete invention of the Bush administration and can't remember even their own reporting.  Some of these reports are still out there online - here's a video on YouTube which illustrates this point - it is an ABC News report from 1999 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18uxVYN-5iY - 2 years before President Bush took office.  Moreover, there were far more intelligence sources showing the same information than those in the U.S. both before and after President Bush took office.

It can be said that the war was still a bad decision, given the expense and loss of life and the benefit does not outweigh the cost.  That's a legitimate view point one can hold.  But that doesn't make it appropriate to turn this into some grand evil plan that President Bush, Prime Minister Blair, etc. carried out, because in order for that to be true, they would have had to have extraordinary supernatural powers to manipulate intelligence predating their administrations in not only their own countries, but in many others.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Doktormartini on February 12, 2008, 04:47:58 pm
Sorry, I know that this is an old post. Anyhow, this made me think, wasn't Abraham Lincoln an atheist?
I dunno but he said this!
"The Bible is not my book nor Christianity my profession. I could never give assent to the long, complicated statements of Christian dogma."

- Abraham Lincoln, American president (1809-1865).
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: The Truth on February 12, 2008, 05:41:25 pm
How can you not understand why I'd think you're being apathetic? It's not like I am some bandwagoner pal, I've always been PASSIONATE about things I am interested in, this isn't new, I've done this about sports, videogames, whatever. It's not UNHEALTHY or PAULSIE. I'm not sticking my fingers in my ears and yelling LA LA LA LA LA when people bring up bad things about my candidate (i've actually said many times that obama's UHC plan is not the best and that a bunch of the supporters are uninformed, I have also said that the uninformed masses are important to win so drawing them in is not a bad thing.)

This is an election I am excited about dawg. I am incredibly inspired by Barack; he has so many of the values that I have come to register with in my adult life. He is a role model for me in the fact that public service is something I have always been interested in (Even when I VOTED FOR BUSH HU HU HU, it wasn't because i was an economic or even fully social conservative, I voted for him because he was pro life which looking back was an immature and dumb decision, I was still interested in HELPING PEOPLE. Contrary to popular belief I've always been a good person and always been somewhat of a socialist). You have supported him since 04, cool good for you man that's awesome. You act as if I'm some sort of sheep or bad person for being very excited in his campaign and getting into OBAMA MEMES, however politics and this campaign has been a big part of my life for the past 3-4 months. I have volunteered for the campaign for the past month or two, put in tons of time phonebanking, going door to door etc. I have been strongly thinking about dropping everything and applying to work on the campaign. It's something I'm PASSIONATE about, and that doesn't make me "the same" as a paulsie. Your problem with Obama Memes also puzzles me. Memes like YES WE CAN, CHANGE et all are helpful to the campaign for many reasons:

Visibility: Better than signs and commercials, things like the deepdive video and slogans like that get the campaign out there in bite sized pieces

They are also a rallying call for the campaign. EVERY campaign has done this, "I like IKE" "This is Clinton Country" etc. I truly believe that Barack is a once in a lifetime candidate so excuse me for getting a little GIDDY about the campaign.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Jeff on February 12, 2008, 05:46:43 pm
I dunno but he said this!
"The Bible is not my book nor Christianity my profession. I could never give assent to the long, complicated statements of Christian dogma."

- Abraham Lincoln, American president (1809-1865).

I believe this was in reference to a conversation about the separation of Church and State, though. Taken in that context, that is not necessarily an Atheist quote, simply a secular one combined with a non-denominational Christian one. It would be nice if someone could find a full record of that conversation, but since the Atheist movement has picked up on it, they have tried extensively to keep only that line.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Doktormartini on February 12, 2008, 06:02:19 pm
I believe this was in reference to a conversation about the separation of Church and State, though. Taken in that context, that is not necessarily an Atheist quote, simply a secular one combined with a non-denominational Christian one. It would be nice if someone could find a full record of that conversation, but since the Atheist movement has picked up on it, they have tried extensively to keep only that line.
Yeah that is true.  I never said he was an Atheist.  He could be a deist or something.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on February 12, 2008, 06:58:29 pm
so guys i had to do exit polling at my highschool today and probably 60-70% of all the people i questioned were voting for Huckabee. i got maybe a handful of McCain supporters. on the democratic side i got slightly more Obama than Clinton. granted I do live in Lynchburg but still it was pretty alarming!
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: ase on February 12, 2008, 07:21:50 pm
If Huckabee becomes president I am going back to Poland
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Jeff on February 12, 2008, 07:26:06 pm
If Huckabee becomes president I am going back to Poland
It won't happen. First off, McCain is secure for the nomination. Second, Huckabee will not risk breaking the republican party by running as an independent. Third, a "real conservative" does not have a chance against either Hilary or Obama.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on February 12, 2008, 07:33:58 pm
Secondly, I really disliked Bush! I wasn't punkvoter.com but I never thought he was a good president at all. I just really disliked kerry too

Plus you're from a foreign country, so your experience is obviously different from mine. I'll dare to say you were maybe LESS informed than I, riding on 'bush should never be re-elected' rather than any info on his opponent? Again, I'm not going to bother arguing now who was better, my point is simply that I thought I was taking all sides of the conflict into consideration
Whether you were more informed than I was, I don't know. One thing that you should know, though, is that we do get access to a considerable amount of substantial material regarding American politics here in the Netherlands. (I'm actually not sure whether we are very interested in politics as a country, but our elections get turnouts of over 80%, so I think that counts for something.) At least, I do think I was pretty informed about what Kerry was all about. Although there were only two candidates in the end, it wasn't simply a case of "anyone but Bush" to me, despite the fact Kerry wasn't an ideal candidate.

I would respectfully disagree with your characterization of this situation.

There are some things that are to be kept in mind:While it's true that Iraq under Saddam Hussein was a terrible country that routinely abused human rights, that on its own is no reason to go to war for. The weapons that were allegedly there did not exist (after all, they had ended their program in 1991), and there was never any solid reason to assume they were there. Clearly, the Bush administration wanted to wage war, despite there being only a really flimsy reason for doing so.

By the way, I've actually never heard of Saddam Hussein trying to kill George W. Bush, when did that happen? I know that some guy once threw a grenade at him that didn't explode, but that didn't exactly seem like an organized attempt.

Also I hope this topic now doesn't turn into an Iraq war debate, since that's not exactly my intention! I just post this here in response to what RWildcat states. He makes it seem as though there was a plausible reason to invade, and I disagree with that.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Jeff on February 12, 2008, 07:53:43 pm
Regime change, on its own, is not something you'd go to war for. Nor are Iraq's poor human rights record, their attacking of U.S. planes, or "spreading democracy", as it was called.
This is a bit (actually very) controversial. America has a massive military apparatus and had so even before Bush sized it up. There are many Americans who feel the justification for this massive military is that the United States should use it to help people around the world. Now then I realize that this is under harsh criticism, but it is not some EVIL DOMINATION PLAN or even something done out of needless arrogance. Many in the US believe that if people are having a hard time in the world that we should do what we can to help them out. This is kind of a fundamental American value: the desire to help others (or at least people want to claim it is and be seen that way). I say this because, and i will bring up the overused example, that not just the republicans voted for the "war". It was a decision made from both sides based on both the situation at the time, but also on beliefs that many Americans on both sides of the fence hold dear. I don't know whether this opinion is "right" or not, but I am explaining to you that while it might appear cut and dry that one nation should not interfere in other nations affairs, it is not so certain here in the United States.

The belief of Saddam Hussein having weapons of mass destructions was the meat of the rationale for invasion. The evidence presented to solidify that belief was widely criticized even before the invasion, and the weapons inspectors never found any hard evidence leading to said weapons.
As far as weapons of mass destruction, Saddam said that he had, indeed, dismantled all of the WMDs that were in his country when the evidence was acquired of them some decade or more ago. He did say, however, that he kept the facilities needed to make them and that should the need arise he would not have hesitated to reinstitute the program if Iran became a serious and aggressive threat to his country.

We've never found conclusive evidence that supports the claim of Saddam Hussein cooperating with al-Qaeda. He might have been a supporter of the group, but that's something different.
Actually, the FBI interview with Saddam -- he was told he was being interviewed privately by a high ranking government official, so you can probably take most of this as true -- turned up a few things. Saddam said that he would never cooperate with al-Qaeda or even support them simply because they represented values he did not hold true such as non-secular government, and also because they represented a destabilizing force of extremists when Saddam and his party's main platform was political and religious stability.

While it's true that Iraq under Saddam Hussein was a terrible country that routinely abused human rights, that on its own is no reason to go to war for.
As far as human rights violations, I will not argue with you there, however (and I am sure I will take flak for this) it is important to note that while the regime instituted political violence and repression, it was one of the more modern states in the Middle East, it was secular, and for the most part, under Saddam there was no sectarian violence as now grips the nation both in terms of the US occupation and the general citizens and government.

By the way, I've actually never heard of Saddam Hussein trying to kill George W. Bush, when did that happen? I know that some guy once threw a grenade at him that didn't explode, but that didn't exactly seem like an organized attempt.
I also have not heard anything about an assassination attempt.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Jeff on February 12, 2008, 07:59:01 pm
After rereading my post, I'd like to add for clarity, that I am not necessarily arguing in favor of launching the war. I was just trying to add some answers to Omeg's questions.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: `~congresman Ron paul~~ on February 12, 2008, 08:00:19 pm
As far as weapons of mass destruction, Saddam said that he had, indeed, dismantled all of the WMDs that were in his country when the evidence was acquired of them some decade or more ago. He did say, however, that he kept the facilities needed to make them and that should the need arise he would not have hesitated to reinstitute the program if Iran became a serious and aggressive threat to his country.

I know people in intelligence and foreign affairs agencies in government, and the general consensus seems to be that Saddam wasn't being taken seriously even by his own staff - he had been throwing money to people saying 'MAKE ME NUKES AND RAIL GUNS' for decades but they just embezzled it and filed false reports on research progress and such.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: crone_lover720 on February 12, 2008, 08:07:06 pm
Well, y'see, you know how everyone has been shitting their bricks about the primaries this election? Perhaps if you (all of you) had been more active in the 2004 primaries, we wouldn't have all these problems we do today. I'm just sayin' is all.
stop with the insights please :( we know

like I said, I was too young to vote anyway. also iirc his bad side only really started to show up once he started trying to be the IDEAL CANDIDATE. I was too young to experience the democratic primaries, so I dunno when exactly his campaign started to go downhill


which reminds me: in addition to my response to the points Dada brought up, I wanted to say that my reason for writing "when I was 17" was just to show that I was too young to actually vote. it does show that it was a different time though, I'm 20 now and a lot has changed since then
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on February 12, 2008, 08:17:26 pm
:woordz:
Just posting to say that I don't really intend to go toe-to-toe with Jeff, because his post more or less sheds light on the situation without vocally agreeing or disagreeing with what I've said. We really don't have to debate some of these things. (Like whether "spreading democracy" is a cause worth fighting for. Obviously I know that it's a good cause, and every self-respecting democracy should use its ability to criticize other countries when they do something wrong. If you're going to war, you might as well help democracy on its way while you're there "fixing things" anyway, but it's debatable how strong a reason it is.)

Thing is, there are always a lot of things you are unsure about. But I strongly believe that the rationale for invasion the U.S. had at the time were very flimsy and not worth violating another country's sovereignty for.

EDIT:
iirc his bad side only really started to show up once he started trying to be the IDEAL CANDIDATE.
Yeah, it was Kerry who at some point said "if you don't do well at school, you'll wind up in Iraq". Which is pretty much the worst thing he could have possibly said, since he painted a negative image of the soldiers serving in Iraq (who undoubtedly have the fullest respect of even the strongest opponents of the war) in order to criticize the war. It's just plain terrible and absolutely baffling that he said it. The media had a field day with the story and Bush suddenly didn't seem like the biggest idiot anymore after that.

PS: I am 20 too right now.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: lampshade on February 12, 2008, 09:36:38 pm
This topic, for me at least, turned from what I love about GW, to what I can't stand. Drama queen biatches, GTFO.

Heres a link to a time article about the elections today: http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1712198,00.html

The intro to it says that if he wins all three today, he could be "close to unstoppable".

And that gave me a boner.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Randy Moist on February 12, 2008, 09:40:50 pm
My favorite description of Hilary's campaign this Summer was 'inevitable' so yea that's nice and all but it ended up meaning shit.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on February 12, 2008, 09:53:48 pm
The intro to it says that if he wins all three today, he could be "close to unstoppable".
I think it's too early to call him the frontrunner at this point. Obama needs to do very well today if he wants to have a good shot at eliminating Clinton's lead in Ohio and Texas.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Sarhan on February 12, 2008, 11:14:35 pm
MSNBC is saying 1,025 delegates for Obama right now and 954 for Clinton, although she's got 1,215 to his 1,190 if you include superdelegates. From what I've heard, he's winning all three states today by a large margin.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Neophyte on February 12, 2008, 11:28:11 pm
On CNN it's showing Hillary with 1,157 to his 1,145 including the superdelegates. With todays hopeful wins, he could come out on top.
If Hillary doesn't win Texas and Ohio, it's pretty much over. But she's most likely going to win them, so the race might go on for a while.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Cho on February 12, 2008, 11:33:06 pm
Quote
eah, it was Kerry who at some point said "if you don't do well at school, you'll wind up in Iraq". Which is pretty much the worst thing he could have possibly said, since he painted a negative image of the soldiers serving in Iraq (who undoubtedly have the fullest respect of even the strongest opponents of the war) in order to criticize the war. It's just plain terrible and absolutely baffling that he said it. The media had a field day with the story and Bush suddenly didn't seem like the biggest idiot anymore after that.

He said that in 2006, two years after he ran. And he meant "If you don't study well, you get us stuck in Iraq." So it wasn't a botched "AMERICANS ARE STUPID" joke, it was a botched "BUSH IS AN IDIOT" joke. Had he been elected, I highly doubt Kerry would have said that.

Quote
. granted I do live in Lynchburg but still it was pretty alarming!

Why have they not changed the name of your town?
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on February 12, 2008, 11:35:20 pm
Why have they not changed the name of your town?

Quote
First settled in 1757, Lynchburg was named for its founder, John Lynch, who at the age of 17 started a ferry service at a ford across the James River to route traffic to and from New London.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Cho on February 12, 2008, 11:42:38 pm
And the Civil War was fought over State's Rights and had nothing to do with slavery. Honest.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on February 12, 2008, 11:55:17 pm
And the Civil War was fought over State's Rights and had nothing to do with slavery. Honest.

..what? Lynchburg was named after JOHN LYNCH. not LYNCHING

edit: CNN projects Obama wins Virginia. looks like another sweep!
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: The Truth on February 13, 2008, 12:09:36 am
VIRGINIA CALLED FOR OBAMA

let the.... dickjacking begin  :cake:
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Sarhan on February 13, 2008, 12:13:10 am
EDIT: Nevermind that. They don't have the final results yet.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Cho on February 13, 2008, 12:48:44 am
Quote
..what? Lynchburg was named after JOHN LYNCH. not LYNCHING

Yeah, I suppose if I lived there, I'd buy that too.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on February 13, 2008, 12:53:22 am
Yeah, I suppose if I lived there, I'd buy that too.

ahaha you're ridiculous. you got me! despite there being mountains of evidence contrary to what you are saying you're still right.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Saleop on February 13, 2008, 01:02:09 am
According to drudge, Obama won Latinos in va exit polls  55% - 44%

this is good.

The bad news though is that it looks like Huckabee will be winning va on the republican side. but what else can you expect from the home of Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell?

Anyways, hi5 to my fellow virginians for thwarting clinton today
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: tuxedo marx on February 13, 2008, 01:05:22 am
Cho, you are thinking of a different John Lynch (for whom Lynchburg, Missouri is named)
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Sarhan on February 13, 2008, 01:06:47 am
Yeah, I suppose if I lived there, I'd buy that too.

Does anybody else not find this funny?
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on February 13, 2008, 01:07:54 am
Obama wins DC, NBC projects
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: tuxedo marx on February 13, 2008, 01:09:23 am
Does anybody else not find this funny?
"i can't be wrong, it must be misinformation!"
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Wash Cycle on February 13, 2008, 01:09:55 am
so whats the delegate situation or is it still too early to tell?
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Saleop on February 13, 2008, 01:39:33 am
Well, it turns out McCain did win virginia after all.

yay i guess

so whats the delegate situation or is it still too early to tell?

different places will tell you different numbers. according to CBS, obama is winning in delegates. according to cnn, clinton is still winning by very few i think.

the reason for the disparities is apparently because the democratic party uses some complex formula to calculate delegates and it's tricky to get the numbers right.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Shepperd on February 13, 2008, 01:53:36 am
STICK TO ONE FORMULA

I dont really understand where the disparities lies other than subjective mind forces
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Neophyte on February 13, 2008, 02:15:32 am
CNN now says Obama is leading in overall delegates by 2. He has 1,170, Clinton has 1,168.
That lead is going to increase a little bit more as more results come in. But I think we can finally say who has a slight advantage now.

EDIT: Clinton's deputy campaign manager resigns.
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/02/12/clintons-deputy-campaign-manager-resigns/
Fantastic.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on February 13, 2008, 02:22:02 am
According to CNN, if Obama wins Wisconsin and Hawaii (likely), Clinton has to get 63% of the votes in Ohio, Texas, and Pennsylvania to catch him in delegates.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Impeal on February 13, 2008, 02:32:22 am
This was my first time voting, and it was much simpler than I was expecting (all these florida horror stories). I went with Obama.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: ase on February 13, 2008, 02:33:28 am
NBC just projected Obama and McCain to win Maryland with significant margins
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Wash Cycle on February 13, 2008, 02:37:57 am
yeah he got 68+% in both DC and Maryland (according to the interactive Yahoo primary map thingy)
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: GirlBones on February 13, 2008, 02:52:10 am
according to cnn, obama has more total projected delegates than hillary
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: ase on February 13, 2008, 02:55:46 am
oh my god Obama's speech in Wisconsin right now is giving me goosebumps
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Doktormartini on February 13, 2008, 03:14:52 am
This is pretty cool (sorry guys):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVKSfwfy0h8
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on February 13, 2008, 03:22:50 am
I hate black people.

I am black.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Saleop on February 13, 2008, 03:25:08 am
Ryan wins.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on February 13, 2008, 03:40:17 am
This is pretty cool (sorry guys):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVKSfwfy0h8

no it's not. it's LYING. saying barack obama is not for ending the war on drugs or taking troops out of Iraq is a grave misstatement.

please don't do this again. your unique brand of blinded advocacy is usually entertaining but we're actually in primaries now and I've fully illustrated what a poor choice Ron Paul would be a page ago.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Randy Moist on February 13, 2008, 03:42:41 am
oh my god Obama's speech in Wisconsin right now is giving me goosebumps
It was excellent dude. Maxed capacity 17k with overflow. The three hour wait was really worth it, there is just something really cool about seeing a president (nominee) in person. Hopefully I'll get to seem him after the nomination when he comes back.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: ase on February 13, 2008, 03:49:26 am
It was excellent dude. Maxed capacity 17k with overflow. The three hour wait was really worth it, there is just something really cool about seeing a president (nominee) in person. Hopefully I'll get to seem him after the nomination when he comes back.
oh shit i forgot you saw him in person! congrats to you! I wish i could have seen him a couple weeks ago when he was in MA :(
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Quest-Master on February 13, 2008, 03:51:07 am
This is pretty cool (sorry guys):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVKSfwfy0h8

Yeah, I'm gonna have to call bullshit on this one too.

http://norml.org/index.cfm?Group_ID=7499 - Obama: "I think the war on drugs has been a failure, and I think we need to rethink and decriminalize our marijuana laws."
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/13/us/politics/13obama.html?_r=1&ref=politics&oref=slogin - Obama's extensive plan to wind down the war in Iraq
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: ase on February 13, 2008, 04:04:46 am
I'M A DOCTOR I UNDERSTAND THE HEALTH CARE SYSTEM

DOCTOR RONALD PAUL TO THE RESCUE
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on February 13, 2008, 06:55:57 am
This is pretty cool (sorry guys):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVKSfwfy0h8
Would you kindly stop propagating Paulite lies?

The video links to KnowBeforeYouVote.com (http://www.knowbeforeyouvote.com/) which is the absolute most deceitful source of information on the entire internet when it comes to the elections. (And it's got 1299 Diggs.)
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Hundley on February 13, 2008, 09:12:44 am
man my dad got a full head of steam and voted for ron paul today. he mumbled something about how he liked one of his mindless rhetorics on economic policy or something. i tried to stop him, but i felt really stupid because i had forgotten entirely what it was about him that made me so incredibly sick to my stomach when i first read about him many moons ago. too bad i didn't read this beforehand i guess, because it's horrifying that my dad gave this disgusting creature a vote. not that it matters anyway, but it's one of those moral losses


in lighter news: i voted for obama, not knowing anything about him beforehand as i have not read one ounce of political information in possibly 6+ months, because a BLACK PRESIDENT will make racists really mad.

i can immediately think of a few people i have met in the past who 1)SUPPORT THE PRESIDENT AT ALL COSTS and 2)STOP ALL THE NEGROS AT ALL COSTS and i am hoping that this contradiction will wreck the shit out of them

beyond this i am finding it increasingly difficult to care who is in office as long as it isn't some fucking backwards homophobe racist that clearly poses some overwhelmingly apparent threat. i am no longer interested in keeping tabs on the figureheads they keep installing and blasting on my television set 24/7.

call me when the revolution comes, i shall be hibernating until then.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Lyndon on February 13, 2008, 12:32:32 pm
man my dad got a full head of steam and voted for ron paul today. he mumbled something about how he liked one of his mindless rhetorics on economic policy or something. i tried to stop him, but i felt really stupid because i had forgotten entirely what it was about him that made me so incredibly sick to my stomach when i first read about him many moons ago. too bad i didn't read this beforehand i guess, because it's horrifying that my dad gave this disgusting creature a vote. not that it matters anyway, but it's one of those moral losses

Ron Paul talks about how the dollar is increasingly becoming weaker (I remember a topic a few months back about how the canadian dollar is stronger that the US Dollar now). The main things I have read him say is that America borrows about 600 billion of dollars a year and prints money it doesn't have according to it's gold and silver supply, which according to the constitution is the only legal tender.  he claims that sooner or later the economy will lead to a recession if they keep on borrowing and printing new problem to hide the problem.

Ron Paul's solution is said to spend more wisely (i.e. not on war on Iraq) and stop printing money that the country doesn't have according to it's Gold or Silver supply.

I don't really know much about economics, but I had heard before that America are like 3 Trillion dollars in debt and continuing to spend and borrow money, which will eventually have to pay back.

Maybe someone with more knowledge on the subject can shed some light on this one for me.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Hundley on February 13, 2008, 01:51:13 pm
Ron Paul talks about how the dollar is increasingly becoming weaker (I remember a topic a few months back about how the canadian dollar is stronger that the US Dollar now). The main things I have read him say is that America borrows about 600 billion of dollars a year and prints money it doesn't have according to it's gold and silver supply, which according to the constitution is the only legal tender.  he claims that sooner or later the economy will lead to a recession if they keep on borrowing and printing new problem to hide the problem.

Ron Paul's solution is said to spend more wisely (i.e. not on war on Iraq) and stop printing money that the country doesn't have according to it's Gold or Silver supply.

I don't really know much about economics, but I had heard before that America are like 3 Trillion dollars in debt and continuing to spend and borrow money, which will eventually have to pay back.
i do not acknowledge politicial candidates that identify exceptionally elementary problems and then suggest ridiculous solutions that they probably won't be able to go through with anyway.

this is particularly the case when these politicians are racist homophobes
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Vellfire on February 13, 2008, 01:56:46 pm
i do not acknowledge politicial candidates that identify exceptionally elementary problems and then suggest ridiculous solutions that they probably won't be able to go through with anyway.

this is particularly the case when these politicians are racist homophobes

this sums up ron paul's entire campaign
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: kentona on February 13, 2008, 03:23:16 pm
Quote
McCain meanwhile offered a grim warning of the direction Obama or Clinton would take the country.

"They will paint a picture of the world in which America's mistakes are a greater threat to our security than the malevolent intentions of an enemy that despises us and our ideals."

...isn't that the general concensus though?  That America's mistakes are jeopardizing their security?
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on February 13, 2008, 04:24:28 pm
Ron Paul talks about how the dollar is increasingly becoming weaker (I remember a topic a few months back about how the canadian dollar is stronger that the US Dollar now). The main things I have read him say is that America borrows about 600 billion of dollars a year and prints money it doesn't have according to it's gold and silver supply, which according to the constitution is the only legal tender.  he claims that sooner or later the economy will lead to a recession if they keep on borrowing and printing new problem to hide the problem.

Ron Paul's solution is said to spend more wisely (i.e. not on war on Iraq) and stop printing money that the country doesn't have according to it's Gold or Silver supply.

I don't really know much about economics, but I had heard before that America are like 3 Trillion dollars in debt and continuing to spend and borrow money, which will eventually have to pay back.

Maybe someone with more knowledge on the subject can shed some light on this one for me.

the main issue is a few storms are colliding at once, like the housing bubble and all this shit, which has caused the US dollar to slip a little bit. Paul's philosophy is to DISMANTLE the Federal Reserve and introduce gold or silver currency as ALTERNATE CURRENCY. aside from the hilariousness of two competing currencies within a country and that gold standards never work and by necessity have to lead to crippling recessions (I can do this again if you want me to illustrate it), gold itself has...fluctuated in price OH MY GOD.

Paul's solution isn't to spend more wisely, it's to spend almost nothing at all. everyone knows that a little bit of inflation is a good thing (when it comes to debt and stuff) but people who graduated from the Von Mises/Chicago school seem to believe externalities don't exist and you can sustain a self contained isolationist economy in a globalized world, without a massive decline in well being for everyone involved.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: kentona on February 13, 2008, 05:14:42 pm
I made that post about the Canadian dollar.  Part of it was that the US economy was slipping, but the other side of the coin (ha!) was that the Canadian Dollar was gaining strength on the back of rising commodity prices, particularily oil, but also things like gold, uranium and potash.  The Canadian Dollar is tightly coupled with oil prices AND the US economy.

fyi, 1.00 CAD   =   1.00020 USD, so we are completely on par at the moment.  And it has been hovering around +/- 0.02 for some time now.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Jeff on February 13, 2008, 05:50:54 pm
Not to insult Canadians or anything, but it really shows that the US economy is slipping if we are on the same level as the Canadian dollar at the moment.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on February 13, 2008, 06:45:50 pm
Hillary Clinton is going negative in new Wisconsin TV ads (http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/)

Quote
Hillary Clinton is taking aim at Barack Obama in a new Wisconsin television ad for not agreeing to participate in a debate there.

"Both Democratic candidates have been invited to a televised Wisconsin debate," an announcer says in the new 30 second spot. "Hillary Clinton has said yes. Barack Obama hasn't. Maybe he'd prefer to give speeches than have to answer questions."
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: ase on February 13, 2008, 06:48:29 pm
what a douchebag!

edit: here's my commercial:

"Both Democratic candidates have been invited to a televised MSNBC debate," an announcer says in the new 30 second spot. "Barack Obama has said yes. Hillary Clinton refused. Maybe Chelsea could sound less fake on TV???"
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on February 13, 2008, 07:20:35 pm
I don't really know much about economics, but I had heard before that America are like 3 Trillion dollars in debt and continuing to spend and borrow money, which will eventually have to pay back.
Every other country in the world has such a debt. Granted, America's is most likely the largest in the world, but this is somewhat proportional to its size. Yes, it should be paid back eventually, but until that becomes possible, the only way to pay the interest on that debt is to borrow more.

So, that in itself shouldn't suggest that anything is wrong.

You know what's funny? I've heard the phrase "Ron Paul supports a sound fiscal policy" more than once. That phrase, all by itself. They know nothing about how the economy works (note: neither do I) but still advocate his solution as though it's crystal clear that it will save the U.S. economy.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on February 13, 2008, 07:28:05 pm
Hillary Clinton is going negative in new Wisconsin TV ads (http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/)

EDIT: correct link is http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/02/13/clinton-goes-negative-in-new-ad/ (http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/02/13/clinton-goes-negative-in-new-ad/) by the way.

You know, sometimes those negative campaigns work. But, while I'm not exactly an expert on the subject of political campaigning, I have the impression that they usually don't.

It didn't work when the Dutch government started a negative campaign on the subject of a unified European constitution which we were going to vote for (this is called a referendum (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Referendum)). The Dutch people voted against the proposal, mainly as a result of the poor campaigning by the government, which was very much for a European constitution.

The government told people in its campaigns that if they were to vote against this proposal, we'd "fall behind" and get all kinds of problems with our ability to compete with the rest of Europe. The fact the government thought of the referendum as only a formality didn't sit very well with the Dutch public.

Hillary has had some bad results with negative campaigning before, hasn't she? (I don't actually know too much about what she says in her advertisements since I don't have that much access to them.) I hope she knows what she's doing!
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Vellfire on February 13, 2008, 10:10:40 pm
I don't know if it's been mentioned in this topic, or when it happened (i first heard about it today), but someone on MSNBC said it seemed like Hilary was pimping her daughter around because her daughter was calling up every important person she can to talk about how great her mom is.  Hilary pretty much demanded an apology and kept talking about how offensive it is.  Also she took it LITERALLY (like, she thought they were saying she prostituted her daughter).

Okay I have to say right now that I don't see how someone who is so upset about the word pimp and misunderstood it in the first place can run a whole country.  Grow a fucking backbone.  In fact, I read somewhere that her daughter said that since she was involve with the campaign, she knew she was a target for criticism.

She also says she's a "mother first, and candidate second", but fuck, I want you to be a CANDIDATE FIRST.  Yeah I'm glad you love your kids, but if you're running my country I want you to be pretty damn committed.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: tuxedo marx on February 13, 2008, 10:12:56 pm
"sorry i can't deliver an address today on our next move in iraq it's my daughter's piano recital"
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Jeff on February 13, 2008, 10:21:12 pm
Hilary pretty much demanded an apology and kept talking about how offensive it is.  Also she took it LITERALLY (like, she thought they were saying she prostituted her daughter).
Maybe she took it literally because she thought they found out that she really WAS prostituting her daughter for votes.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on February 13, 2008, 10:55:48 pm
I don't know if it's been mentioned in this topic, or when it happened (i first heard about it today), but someone on MSNBC said it seemed like Hilary was pimping her daughter around because her daughter was calling up every important person she can to talk about how great her mom is.  Hilary pretty much demanded an apology and kept talking about how offensive it is.  Also she took it LITERALLY (like, she thought they were saying she prostituted her daughter).

Okay I have to say right now that I don't see how someone who is so upset about the word pimp and misunderstood it in the first place can run a whole country.  Grow a fucking backbone.  In fact, I read somewhere that her daughter said that since she was involve with the campaign, she knew she was a target for criticism.

She also says she's a "mother first, and candidate second", but fuck, I want you to be a CANDIDATE FIRST.  Yeah I'm glad you love your kids, but if you're running my country I want you to be pretty damn committed.

uh...what?

the term pimp is a highly offensive term, despite what Pimp My Ride and Nelly say; if she didn't get highly offended by it, I would be disappointed. do you really think presidential candidates expect a level of discourse where they are compared to prostitutes and the people who deal in prostitutes?
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Wash Cycle on February 13, 2008, 10:57:38 pm
I don't really know much about economics, but I had heard before that America are like 3 Trillion dollars in debt and continuing to spend and borrow money, which will eventually have to pay back.
last time I checked it was 9 trillion dollars

I mean yeah the difference between 3 trillion and 9 trillion is pretty big differential but we should have to worry about this bullshit anyway (as in it'd be great if we werent over a trillion dollars in debt at all to begin with)
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on February 13, 2008, 11:03:00 pm
Senator Obama, if a nigga try to play game on a nigga, should that nigga experience shame, and if so, to what degree?
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Xeno|Soft on February 13, 2008, 11:04:41 pm
uh...what?

the term pimp is a highly offensive term, despite what Pimp My Ride and Nelly say; if she didn't get highly offended by it, I would be disappointed. do you really think presidential candidates expect a level of discourse where they are compared to prostitutes and the people who deal in prostitutes?

You see this is one thing I hate about words, people love to abuse them. Everyone and their grandmother knows that she wasn't calling her a "pimp" it is a word that has evolved and has a double meaning(triple meanings). She took it the wrong way on purpose in my opinion just to get attention.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Lyndon on February 13, 2008, 11:38:27 pm
She also says she's a "mother first, and candidate second", but fuck, I want you to be a CANDIDATE FIRST.  Yeah I'm glad you love your kids, but if you're running my country I want you to be pretty damn committed.

yeah, saying this is a political mistake
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on February 13, 2008, 11:45:56 pm
You see this is one thing I hate about words, people love to abuse them. Everyone and their grandmother knows that she wasn't calling her a "pimp" it is a word that has evolved and has a double meaning(triple meanings). She took it the wrong way on purpose in my opinion just to get attention.

no.

pimping someone out means you are making a direct comparison between a presidential candidate and a whoremonger.

this is not suitable for any kind of actual political discourse.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Xeno|Soft on February 13, 2008, 11:53:21 pm
"pimping someone out means you are making a direct comparison between a presidential candidate and a whoremonger."

no, not really.

"this is not suitable for any kind of actual political discourse."
 Yes, this is true because their exsist people who love taking things the wrong way so they can get more attention or push things in their favor. So a person in that position (political spokesman) shouldn't fall for such a simple trap.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Vellfire on February 13, 2008, 11:58:39 pm
Quote
Shuster said on air Thursday, while talking about Chelsea Clinton placing phone calls to Democratic superdelegates on her mother’s behalf: “Doesn’t it seem as if Chelsea is sort of being pimped out in some weird sort of way?”

I don't see how so many people think that literally means PROSTITUTION, unless I'm the only person who has heard that phrase used the way he intended?  People have begun to use pimping out and whoring out to basically mean USING SOMEONE for any reason, and even though the comments are completely unfounded and the dude should have known better than to say that on the news, she should be strong enough to not make a big deal about it.

edit:  the part where it said chelsea is an obvious target if she is getting involved wasn't FROM chelsea, just about her, so i take that part back, but the rest stands.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on February 14, 2008, 12:37:17 am
"pimping someone out means you are making a direct comparison between a presidential candidate and a whoremonger."

no, not really.

"this is not suitable for any kind of actual political discourse."
 Yes, this is true because their exsist people who love taking things the wrong so they can get more attention or push things in their favor. So a person in that position (political spokesman) shouldn't fall for such a simple trap.

xenosoft

tell me what pimping someone means in this context.

TELL ME. if they are not directly comparing her to a whoremonger what is it? is it the style of dress? because I had no idea Hillary Clinton had a fascination with ridiculously long plumed hats and purple suits with leopard print.

this is incredibly offensive shit for a political commentator to say.

ps: did you know it's not a simple trap (are you fucking kidding me?) but that Hillary Clinton, who quite a few feminists like (NO REAL SCOTSMAN), has just taken a stance against the coopting of the word pimp to mean something good which would endear her to anyone even remotely feminist?

I don't see how so many people think that literally means PROSTITUTION, unless I'm the only person who has heard that phrase used the way he intended?  People have begun to use pimping out and whoring out to basically mean USING SOMEONE for any reason, and even though the comments are completely unfounded and the dude should have known better than to say that on the news, she should be strong enough to not make a big deal about it.

edit:  the part where it said chelsea is an obvious target if she is getting involved wasn't FROM chelsea, just about her, so i take that part back, but the rest stands.


it's a horrible term. you know, nigga isn't offensive, but I bet Russ Mitchell wouldn't address Barack Obama with "yo nigga, what's hood?" it's kind of offensive to ask a woman if she's whoring out her daughter for political reasons while using language that almost literally means whoring someone out, instead of asking a delicate question about delicate issues.

it has nothing to do with strength. it's an offensive comment and she has every right to be mad that she was compared to a pimp because her daughter called superdelegates. is she using her daughter, yes. can I say Hillary Clinton is pimping out her daughter? sure why not. should a member of the press be allowed to say that kind of shit? hell no. members of the press should not comment on presidential candidates with coopted slang. I do not want to hear that John McCain is ridin' dirty with PAC money, for fuck's sake. you and I are nobodies in political spheres, but I'd like to think in serious discourse people don't call each other faggots like I do every other day.

it's a bad accusation, phrased in a kind of gauche way. I don't see how she's overreacting by demanding an apology from a network that used a term with very modern origins in WHOREMONGERING while describing the relationship between a mother and daughter.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Vellfire on February 14, 2008, 12:52:28 am
they are not saying the same thing as whormongering at all

this is the definition he meant (straight from websters dictionary)

Quote
transitive verb : to make use of often dishonorably for one's own gain or benefit

When your daughter calls every member of The View as well as important political figures to tell them how great you are, it is not out of place to think that you are probably putting her up to it.  If he had said "using" instead of "pimping", there wouldn't have been a problem, so yeah, he fucked up there, but I don't see ANY way that you can say he was trying to use it to mean the other meaning of pimping at all.  There is NO reason to think he meant that definition, and I don't see how so many people think he did unless they're unaware it can be used the other way.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Xeno|Soft on February 14, 2008, 12:59:42 am
Velfarre pretty much summed it up.


crushed by a CaRRot CuSine, the word has many references to what a PIMP does, it was not a reference to a pimps whoremongering.

This is like a sport announcer commenting on a running back and saying "Whoa, he was like an animal in todays game." and him calling up and saying "I want an apology for you calling me a wild savage beast."
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Vellfire on February 14, 2008, 01:05:41 am
Also I'd like to add that it's one thing to want an apology, it's another to threaten to boycott that channel's debates and rabidly keep the press away from your daughter (who has proven to be capable of handling them herself, and is the main person involved in the comment) after you've already had the person responsible suspended and who will probably end up being fired, and he's already given you the apology.

THAT is overreacting.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on February 14, 2008, 01:25:28 am
Also I'd like to add that it's one thing to want an apology, it's another to threaten to boycott that channel's debates and rabidly keep the press away from your daughter (who has proven to be capable of handling them herself, and is the main person involved in the comment) after you've already had the person responsible suspended and who will probably end up being fired, and he's already given you the apology.

THAT is overreacting.

Quote
but someone on MSNBC said it seemed like Hilary was pimping her daughter around because her daughter was calling up every important person she can to talk about how great her mom is.  Hilary pretty much demanded an apology and kept talking about how offensive it is.  Also she took it LITERALLY (like, she thought they were saying she prostituted her daughter).

yeah these aren't the same at all. you said nothing about threatening to boycott the channel or anything like that.

they are not saying the same thing as whormongering at all

this is the definition he meant (straight from websters dictionary)

When your daughter calls every member of The View as well as important political figures to tell them how great you are, it is not out of place to think that you are probably putting her up to it.  If he had said "using" instead of "pimping", there wouldn't have been a problem, so yeah, he fucked up there, but I don't see ANY way that you can say he was trying to use it to mean the other meaning of pimping at all.  There is NO reason to think he meant that definition, and I don't see how so many people think he did unless they're unaware it can be used the other way.

hgfffff agdafdafffffff.

check this out:

Quote
nigger

3. a victim of prejudice similar to that suffered by blacks; a person who is economically, politically, or socially disenfranchised.

Senator Clinton, how will you deal with society's niggers?

WHOA WHOA WHOA WHAT DO YOU MEAN IMPLICATIONS.

the secondary definition directly derives from the first. you do not use reinterpretated slang to make political points. Yoko Ono made a song called "Women are the Nigger of the World", but you won't see people using that terminology outside of that song or among certain groups. people like you and I can call what she did pimping, we have no social responsibility. a media figure does have a responsibility not to refer to presidential candidates with offensive slang, regardless of how accurate it is. it's incredibly shady and yes it even is PIMPING HER DAUGHTER OUT, but being offended at being told that instead of "It seems to me Senator Clinton is using her daughter's connections to garner votes, which is morally ambiguous behavior at best" is not some crazy overreaction.

it's highly offensive to say anyone is pimping someone else out in the negative connotation, which is why I use it to describe people on these forums. it's a really cruel thing to say! being angry at that isn't some overreaction.

Velfarre pretty much summed it up.


crushed by a CaRRot CuSine, the word has many references to what a PIMP does, it was not a reference to a pimps whoremongering.

This is like a sport announcer commenting on a running back and saying "Whoa, he was like an animal in todays game." and him calling up and saying "I want an apology for you calling me a wild savage beast."

except a sportscaster is expected to talk in slang, animal has nowhere near the connotation pimp does, and the various other reasons!
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Xeno|Soft on February 14, 2008, 01:42:50 am
*facepalm*

You are the type of person who forgets what he is saying and just doesn't want to be "wrong" because their is no way (unless you don't like to read) you missed the part where I said that it was stupid to say something like that as a political announcer(your setting yourself up for a trap). We weren't debating that at all, you said he was calling her a "whoremonger"(referencing her to that aspect of a pimp) which would mean he is saying she is selling her daughter for sex/sexual deeds and calling her daugher a whore.

You are right, I am wrong. Yes he was calling her a whoremonger, infact? Why did he say pimping? he should have been more direct about it and saved us some time.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Erave on February 14, 2008, 01:48:38 am
I actually agree with Steel. The comment about Chelsea Clinton was pretty unprofessional.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on February 14, 2008, 02:22:42 am
*facepalm*

You are the type of person who forgets what he is saying and just doesn't want to be "wrong" because their is no way (unless you don't like to read) you missed the part where I said that it was stupid to say something like that as a political announcer(your setting yourself up for a trap). We weren't debating that at all, you said he was calling her a "whoremonger"(referencing her to that aspect of a pimp) which would mean he is saying she is selling her daughter for sex/sexual deeds and calling her daugher a whore.

You are right, I am wrong. Yes he was calling her a whoremonger, infact? Why did he say pimping? he should have been more direct about it and saved us some time.

goddammit.

PIMP MEANS WHOREMONGER.

REGARDLESS OF WHAT COLLOQUIAL MEANING IT HAS AQUIRED, IT MEANS WHOREMONGER.

TO CALL A CANDIDATE'S ACTIONS PIMPING IS HIGHLY INAPPROPRIATE IN A MEDIA SETTING AND GETTING ANGRY ABOUT IT AND DEMANDING AN APOLOGY ARE COMPLETELY FUCKING LOGICAL.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Impeal on February 14, 2008, 02:30:48 am
I think you're both right. It's obviously an incredibly unprofessional term, and slang like that doesn't belong in journalism. But at the same time I think Hillary probably is exploiting the incident a little. Like Velfarre said, the guy responsible has already issued an apology and been suspended, so it's kind of unreasonable for Hillary to keep boycotting the channel.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Jeff on February 14, 2008, 02:35:00 am
Well since Impeal posted but said nothing about the aggression, I will. Stop escalating this argument. I agree with one side of this argument but I won't say who because it doesn't matter, it is getting out of hand. The points have been made that are relevant to the presidential primary, which is HEY what this topic is about so lets drop it.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Impeal on February 14, 2008, 02:39:07 am
Well since Impeal posted but said nothing about the aggression, I will. Stop escalating this argument. I agree with one side of this argument but I won't say who because it doesn't matter, it is getting out of hand. The points have been made that are relevant to the presidential primary, which is HEY what this topic is about so lets drop it.
I figured the aggression would stop naturally when they realized there was an obvious middle ground.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Impeal on February 14, 2008, 03:22:51 am
Just drop it, bro.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: The Truth on February 14, 2008, 03:25:27 am
Maybe you guys don't understand context ok!

If my friend said to me "Hey looks like hillary is pimping out chelsea", I would assume he was using it in a joking manner and not get offended personally, however it is extremely different when a person says this comment on television, where obviously Hillary (and people who would be personally offended by the word like... I don't know... women?) would hear it.

Would you tell a woman that it seemed like she was pimping out her daughter? Of course not, it's disgusting and sexist.

but keep on arguing that words don't mean anything guys ok!!!
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on February 14, 2008, 06:59:36 am
Why the fuck did The Truth get a warning over this? He made a comment that makes perfect sense. Is he supposed to not talk about this because a couple of moderators want to avoid conflict and prefer shallow harmony over substantial discussions? There's a difference between making sure a discussion stays calm (which can be done WITHOUT ENDING THE DISCUSSION) and making a discussion prudish. If you want people to calm down and respectfully talk about a topic, then take some responsibility and put in some effort instead of just mindlessly clamping down. This is the kind of poor and easy moderation that I've always tried to avoid.

THAT SAID, I'd like to just point out that politics is a dirty game. Yes, it's true that the word "pimp" has more than one meaning, and it's true that its impact may have been reduced due to it being used so freely in youth culture, but it still has a very negative connotation to most people. This is because it is inherently a very offensive word. When a political commentator uses it, of course he meant to offend someone with it.

It's very easy to claim that "he only had the least offensive dictionary definition in mind when he used it", but that's, of course, incredibly naive. It's something to just keep in mind: that "having had a different definition of the term in mind" is not an excuse, ever.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on February 14, 2008, 06:37:53 pm
Romney is going to endorse John McCain today in Boston (http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/02/14/romney-to-endorse-mccain/)
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: tuxedo marx on February 14, 2008, 07:06:41 pm
THE DARK SIDE OF MODERATION
Quote
You are the type of person who forgets what he is saying and just doesn't want to be "wrong" because their is no way (unless you don't like to read)
This is really, really unfair of you, Xeno. Maybe Steel just disagrees with you, as I do? There's no need to judge him like that.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: `~congresman Ron paul~~ on February 14, 2008, 08:55:20 pm
Rockman I always wanted to ask you.

Why are you 'Rockman.'

also I heard on the radio today that Huckabee officially conceded, but I can't find it online.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: tuxedo marx on February 14, 2008, 08:57:34 pm
Rockman was taken when Mateui changed my nick. Oh well, it works like this.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on February 14, 2008, 09:02:58 pm
http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/02/14/665649.aspx

Obama is airing a response to the Clinton ad accusing him of dodging debates
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: kentona on February 14, 2008, 09:23:11 pm
Dada for President!
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: tuxedo marx on February 14, 2008, 09:40:21 pm
Yeah, I'd go along with that. =P
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on February 14, 2008, 10:09:09 pm
I'd be Barack Obama to his centrist Hillary Clinton, in that we would have the same policies but I have dark skin and also appeal to the young vote, and will ride a bandwagon to success.

the superdelegates are mods and admins who don't want to see me get in power though and have committed their vote to omeg.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on February 14, 2008, 10:18:36 pm
Yeah, and you could finally have your formal debates too. And I have my loving husband ASE on my side.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on February 14, 2008, 10:37:15 pm
Hillary Clinton wins New Mexico:

Quote
(CNN) — Hillary Clinton has officially won the New Mexico Democratic caucuses, more than a week after the state's February 5 Election Day.

After a nine-day vote count, Clinton now has one more delegate to add to her total. Clinton and Democratic rival Barack Obama were separated by just 1,709 votes — 73,105 for Clinton, 71,396 for Obama.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: tuxedo marx on February 14, 2008, 10:39:09 pm
Grrr! Come on Obama!
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on February 14, 2008, 10:40:26 pm
wow, they were recounting that fucking long?

it's not much a victory but still, interesting.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Shepperd on February 15, 2008, 12:00:43 am
oh no the momentum is lost
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Pasty on February 15, 2008, 12:15:01 am
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2008/02/14/ST2008021400104.html

he gets dismissed for not backing up his rhetoric (even though there are pages upon pages of shit on his website), and then when he finally comes out with a concrete, well-explained plan in front of everyone, all of a sudden it's plagiarism?

fucking charlatans
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on February 15, 2008, 07:14:32 am
I had a really strange dream last night. I dreamt I was watching TV, and some reporter invited both Obama and Clinton to take a walk around town together, just to be friendly to one another for the benefit of the Democratic party. Then they went into a subway of some sort, and suddenly the image turned to static for a moment. And then it turned out they both got blown up by a suicide bomber. But the reporter was still alive, and he was screaming HELP in slow-motion.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Shepperd on February 15, 2008, 07:38:40 pm
yeah they seem more prone to fanatic attacks or assasinations
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Saleop on February 15, 2008, 09:11:48 pm
Obama now ahead in American Research poll in texas.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on February 15, 2008, 10:19:56 pm
Obama now ahead in American Research poll in texas.
Interesting. So what this tells us is that even if Clinton wins Texas, it probably won't be a very large victory.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Neophyte on February 15, 2008, 11:38:28 pm
Has Wisconsin always favored Hillary? On that American Research website it's showing her ahead of Obama 50% to 41%. Since Obama has been campaigning there for the last few days, I thought he would be ahead.
Then again the survey was taken 7 days ago.
Also, some superdelegates are leaving Hillary and going for Obama now. Hillary seems so desperate now that she's put out 2 ads in Wisconsin attacking Obama. She also wants the Florida and Michigan delegates to count, even though she was the only person on the ballot in Michigan and Florida has been left out for a few months now. It's pretty obvious that she is going to do anything to win.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Grunthor on February 16, 2008, 01:01:57 am
Interesting. So what this tells us is that even if Clinton wins Texas, it probably won't be a very large victory.

It wouldn't be a large victory anyways as Texas actually has both a primary and a caucus on the same day, and the way delegates are awarded for the state is going to give just about everyone a damn headache trying to figure out the math.

Quote from: www.huffingtonpost.com/mary-mapes/texas-time_b_85728.html
In typical Texas contrarian fashion, the primary rules read like a DNA chart. On the Democratic side, 228 delegates are up for grabs. But it's not that simple.

The state has both a primary and a caucus -- on the same day. And you can't caucus unless you voted in the primary. On primary night, 126 delegates will be determined based on voting results in each Senate district.

The number of delegates in each district is based on how many Democrats voted in the last two general elections in that district. Got that? Well, there's more.

The selection of another 67 delegates will begin at the caucuses that night and culminate at the state convention in June. The remaining 35 delegates are some kind of unique political life form that will evolve into actual delegates at the National Convention later that summer.

It's quite weird, but I suppose the caucus part of it would greatly help Obama since he does extremely well in them.  So Obama actually could lose the popular vote and still walk away with more delegates if they are close in the primary.


Edit: Just read that Obama has gained the endorsements of two major labor unions in the last two days.  They represent a combined 3.2 million employees, and one of the heads of the unions is a super delegate who's now backing Obama. 

Quote from: AP
The endorsement of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), which counts 1.9 million members in North America, came one day after the Illinois senator was endorsed by the 1.3 million-strong United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) union.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: ase on February 16, 2008, 03:36:14 am
Today, I asked my parents whom they voted for in the primaries. They said Clinton. I asked why not Obama?

My dad answered, "You think I would vote for someone called Hussein?"

...

Are you fucking shitting me?

Then they both told me they don't think someone "of that race" should be President. "It gives a bad image to America"

this is translated from Polish to the best of my ability.

i always knew they were racists but I didn't think when I asked them "why don't you vote for Obama" that my dad would answer with "BECAUSE HE IS BLACK. This is a country of WHITE PEOPLE."


i wish i was making this up
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: something bizarre and impractical on February 16, 2008, 03:39:48 am
punhc him in the face

I'm serious.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: ase on February 16, 2008, 03:43:43 am
thanks, but i would like to continue allowing my parents to pay for my college tuition
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Saleop on February 16, 2008, 04:03:07 am
Ask for whatever rationale they could possibly have to justify that opinion.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Xeno|Soft on February 16, 2008, 05:28:57 am
Today, I asked my parents whom they voted for in the primaries. They said Clinton. I asked why not Obama?

My dad answered, "You think I would vote for someone called Hussein?"

...

Are you fucking shitting me?

Then they both told me they don't think someone "of that race" should be President. "It gives a bad image to America"

this is translated from Polish to the best of my ability.

i always knew they were racists but I didn't think when I asked them "why don't you vote for Obama" that my dad would answer with "BECAUSE HE IS BLACK. This is a country of WHITE PEOPLE."


i wish i was making this up

Just a tid bit of information I saw on cnn today; White people are only 47% population vs all the other races.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on February 16, 2008, 05:53:37 am
don't ask them to change their mind about Obama, convince them McCain is terrible.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: jamie on February 16, 2008, 02:19:50 pm
my dad said something similar last week, "you can't have a president obama...can you?"
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Shepperd on February 16, 2008, 04:52:30 pm
YES YOU CAN!
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on February 16, 2008, 07:43:07 pm

Ron Paul~!
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: headphonics on February 17, 2008, 03:32:25 am
Today, I asked my parents whom they voted for in the primaries. They said Clinton. I asked why not Obama?

My dad answered, "You think I would vote for someone called Hussein?"

...

Are you fucking shitting me?

Then they both told me they don't think someone "of that race" should be President. "It gives a bad image to America"

this is translated from Polish to the best of my ability.

i always knew they were racists but I didn't think when I asked them "why don't you vote for Obama" that my dad would answer with "BECAUSE HE IS BLACK. This is a country of WHITE PEOPLE."


i wish i was making this up
the right answer is to just never talk about anything social/political with them ever ever again and just try to forget that they have awful, reprehensible beliefs concerning race.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Shepperd on February 17, 2008, 03:38:15 am
or paint yourself black and make them get used to the fact they have a black son
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Xeno|Soft on February 17, 2008, 04:05:26 am
don't use the wrong paint though, you'll end up black forever...I learned that the hard way.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: ase on February 17, 2008, 05:23:02 am
the right answer is to just never talk about anything social/political with them ever ever again and just try to forget that they have awful, reprehensible beliefs concerning race.
yeah, I actually figured this out the last time I tried talking to them about homosexuality

it just isn't worth it to piss my parents off for the few days I'm visiting them away from school
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: jamie on February 17, 2008, 10:32:32 pm
i'd say it would be a decent move to try and show them how wrong they are at some point down the line

when your livelihood isn't dependent on them
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Doktormartini on February 18, 2008, 01:01:51 am
Not that it matters (because religion doesn't dictate who you vote for) but it's funny seeing all these people hate Obama cause they think he is a Muslim.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Wash Cycle on February 18, 2008, 03:05:36 am
Not that it matters (because religion doesn't dictate who you vote for) but it's funny seeing all these people hate Obama cause they think he is a Muslim.
tell that to the residents of Lynchburg or Virginia Beach or Salt Lake City
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: ATARI on February 18, 2008, 03:14:15 am
I filled out my application for voters registration today, and will be mailing it in to get my card on Tuesday (mail doesn't run tomorrow so yeah).

Quote
tell that to the residents of Lynchburg or Virginia Beach or Salt Lake City
heh I've even heard that as a reason not to vote for him at my school  :(​  (then again if you aren't a republican at my school you're pretty much affiliated with the devil)
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Shepperd on February 18, 2008, 03:19:37 am
conservatives are the worst people
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Jeff on February 18, 2008, 04:04:05 am
conservatives are the worst people
Not every conservative is a religious nut-job, thanks.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Mama Luigi on February 18, 2008, 04:15:32 am
Not every conservative is a religious nut-job, thanks.
Any person against stem-cell research is a nut-job, thanks.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on February 18, 2008, 04:16:42 am
Any person against stem-cell research is a nut-job, thanks.

while i agree with you, most conservatives are opposed to stem-cell research based on religious grounds
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: crone_lover720 on February 18, 2008, 04:19:26 am
they aren't against researching stem cells they're against killing embryos

and please don't bring this shit into the topic I don't want to have to read it

edit: on another note there is no good way to refer to that guy, even if you abbreviate his name it comes out as MEH
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Shepperd on February 18, 2008, 05:00:12 am
Not every conservative is a religious nut-job, thanks.
I said it in general, with all its implication, not just religion and my man JC Jesus Christ
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on February 18, 2008, 05:16:33 am
conservatives are the worst people
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Mama Luigi on February 18, 2008, 06:02:44 am
edit: on another note there is no good way to refer to that guy, even if you abbreviate his name it comes out as MEH
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on February 18, 2008, 07:04:54 am
they aren't against researching stem cells they're against killing embryos
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: The Truth on February 18, 2008, 09:04:51 am
The vast majority of religious conservatives aren't really bad people, they are just very dumb people who are conned by the right into believing that gays, mexicans, and liberals are a danger to them, and go against the will of god. In reality it is the right that I am pretty sure go against scripture the most. Kindness, forgiveness and not being judgemental are much more important and prominent in the bible than one or two out of context passages about homosexuality.

hey that's just my two cents as a very liberal catholic :)
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Erave on February 18, 2008, 04:53:40 pm
Ron Paul is going to be at my school today. Perhaps I should try and get a picture with him.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Mama Luigi on February 18, 2008, 05:29:05 pm
Ron Paul is going to be at my school today. Perhaps I should try and get a picture with him.
Try to get a picture of you kicking him in the nuts  :fogetbackflip:
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Erave on February 18, 2008, 07:12:36 pm
Try to get a picture of you kicking him in the nuts  :fogetbackflip:

I was going to try to do something reasonable but funny. Any ideas?
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: ATARI on February 18, 2008, 09:04:51 pm
Kiss him on the cheek and ask to marry him
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Vellfire on February 18, 2008, 09:07:17 pm
Kiss him on the cheek and ask to marry him
Take this one further and brumski (http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=brumski) him (first one obviously)
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on February 18, 2008, 09:16:51 pm
ask him for a subscription to his newsletter
This.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Shepperd on February 18, 2008, 10:55:22 pm
ask him for a subscription to his newsletter
ERAVE PLEASE DON'T FAIL US
Do THIS
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: ase on February 19, 2008, 01:19:11 am
Make sure your whole body is covered with Ron Paul pins and posters and stickers so that you have a 100% chance of getting to meet him. Also wave Ron Paul flags.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Terin on February 19, 2008, 01:35:45 am
I'll either be voting for Ron Paul or Huckabee.  Ron Paul's Libertarian agenda might do something different for the country -- and that would be nice.

Obama and Clinton scare me.  Obama is the lesser of the two evils, though.  I don't necessarily dislike him, but I usually vote more conservative or moderate/radical.  Liberal ideals are awesome on paper, but when it comes down to it, it's going to tear our economy a new one.  Health care for all of America?  That's going to rape us in taxes and our medical community will not be as decent as it used to be.  Nobody will want to be a doctor.  I talked to a few doctor friends of mine, and they're going to retire if Liberals get their way with social health care.

Just my few cents.  I know there are always two sides to a story.

--Terin
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on February 19, 2008, 01:50:40 am
man how do you fucking people not read anything in the topic.

the last six or so posts were about how shit ron paul was, and this topic is full of it.

good to see you're so heartless as to be afraid of being "raped in taxes" while allowing a fearmongering incubus who believes jesus gives him the right to beat his wife enter office!

ps: ask your friends who are so paranoid about liberals if they would still be doctors if their med school was free and they took a minor pay hit. if not, your friends are no doctors I'd want treating me considering money is really the last reason you should be operating on people for, win win.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: headphonics on February 19, 2008, 02:44:04 am
didnt you know steel the medical community is all about da benjamins ($$$)


9 out of 10 doctors agree that if they were forced to take a marginal paycut in order to provide healthcare for the millions of people who need it but don't have it, they'd say "fuck this shit"
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on February 19, 2008, 02:48:30 am
http://www.annals.org/cgi/content/full/148/1/55 for those interested in UHC and who don't get it.

if you have an SA account, http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=2732476 this is a FANTASTIC topic with a lot of questions answered.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Terin on February 19, 2008, 02:57:15 am
man how do you fucking people not read anything in the topic.

the last six or so posts were about how shit ron paul was, and this topic is full of it.

good to see you're so heartless as to be afraid of being "raped in taxes" while allowing a fearmongering incubus who believes jesus gives him the right to beat his wife enter office!

ps: ask your friends who are so paranoid about liberals if they would still be doctors if their med school was free and they took a minor pay hit. if not, your friends are no doctors I'd want treating me considering money is really the last reason you should be operating on people for, win win.

Fantastic flame.

Now, let's get onto the actual point of my post.  My point is that I don't care for the liberal side of things.  And a "minor pay hit" for doctors?  Really?  More like a massive pay-hit.  And if it helps people in school -- fantastic.  But my doctor friends are much older and have been out of school for years.  So not that fantastic for them.  There's a reason that US Health Care is awesome -- it's expensive and you get what you pay for.  Cuba...  Hmm.  Social health care.  Canada?  Same thing.  Then why is it that it takes you months to get your busted leg fixed in Canada?  Why did Fidel Castro get a doctor from outside of Canada?  I had a friend in Canada who had to wait a few months to get his broken/busted leg fixed and reset by the doctors because of the waiting list.

I would prefer to have my leg taken care of ASAP.  Or hell, if I get cancer, that'd be nice to have treated right away.  You know, instead of dying while I'm waiting for my health care to take care of me.

And as far as Ron Paul.  Fantastic.  Now, let me ask you this.  Aside from his poor "family skillz" and his "crazy beliefs," I'd actually like to see someone DIFFERENT get into the office.  Sure, he's got some problems.  Bush was an alcoholic.  Clinton (Bill) is a sex addict.  Everyone has their issues.  But what are they bringing to the table?  Ron Paul will bring Libertarian views to the US which would be a change of pace -- a very welcome change, in my opinion.

And I find it amusing that there are a lot of people in here who will go and say all of this.  If you actually *Vote* then I'll have some respect for you.  If you don't, then you have very little need to flame.  I pay my taxes, I go to work, I have my medical insurance through my company.

What I'd honestly like to see is a cut-down on some of the unnecessary government programs in the US, a revitalized push into helping with education and boosting that so that college fees aren't so damn expensive, someone kicking the RIAA in the balls, and less restrictive IP laws and stuff that won't kill torrenting and P2P (or at least attempt to).

Wasn't Hilary also trying to really start restricting game sales and stuff too?

--Terin

Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on February 19, 2008, 03:01:30 am
HE'S A FUCKING RACIST HOMOPHOBE NUTJOB THAT'S NOT A FUCKING PROBLEM THAT'S A FUCKING CANCER ARE YOU KIDDING ME.

christ i need to drink before i tear you to shreds and then panda will probably have to goad me because i will say IT DOESN'T MATTE RHE SUPPORTS FUCKING HUCKABEE WHAT DECENT PERSON DOES THAT.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Terin on February 19, 2008, 03:09:15 am
HE'S A FUCKING RACIST HOMOPHOBE NUTJOB THAT'S NOT A FUCKING PROBLEM THAT'S A FUCKING CANCER ARE YOU KIDDING ME.

christ i need to drink before i tear you to shreds and then panda will probably have to goad me because i will say IT DOESN'T MATTE RHE SUPPORTS FUCKING HUCKABEE WHAT DECENT PERSON DOES THAT.

Again, nice job flaming.  Seriously.  I love how you express your opinions in a very mature manner.  Even more so, I love how you totally just responded to what I wrote.

And who cares?  Racist?  Homophobe?  The President doesn't make laws -- it's Congress.  I would LOVE to see a Liberal/Conservative mix Congress/Senate that's more or less 50/50 and a president that's Libertarian.  That would be fantastic.  That's truly having your cake and eating it too.

And fyi whoever mentioned it earlier, Conservatives were against using embryos for stem cells, because it killed the embryo.  Funny now that since that barricade was put up, a few years (was it even that long?) later, they figured how to extract stem cells from an actual person themselves.  So now, no killing embryos.  Instead, we take stem cells from the person who needs them.  I think that's fantastic.

But hey, what do I know.

--Terin
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: headphonics on February 19, 2008, 03:15:06 am
doesn't mind a president that is openly racist and homophobic


awesome thanks terin
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on February 19, 2008, 03:23:51 am
you fucking idiot.

in 1991 David Duke, a white nationalist and former Grand Wizard of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, ran for governor of Louisiana. he only lost because black voters, horrified, voted against him. he nearly won.

now Terin.

Terin this is important.

do you understand the dangers of mass-electing a racist man to the governor's seat?

if you do not, then everything is wasted, and honestly, I'd like to ask you to leave. if someone else wants to ask about UHC or the gold standard or even race relations, and you have questions, I will answer them.

but if you cannot see this basic precept, if you cannot understand the absolute horror someone like myself or someone who is a minority in any way would feel at seeing a racist enter power, the dread and the fear and absolutely hopelessness we would enter, then please do not post. I don't begrudge you because you have not seen what race means to other people or what racism can do; you might just be 15 (although I hope your profile lies and you aren't 22) and confused. but I don't want to deal with it, because people like you break my fucking heart. it absolutely kills me to see someone say something like a racist can be elected because he will somehow miraculously hold objective beliefs otherwise and make things better.

the trains might run on time in Hitler's Germany, but my friends and I are still corpses in the camps.

if you don't get it, don't post. if you do and you meant something else, if you realize saying "how can a homophobic and racist president affect the law" is foolish, I'll accept that and post.

but otherwise, it's too much.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Terin on February 19, 2008, 03:41:30 am
you fucking idiot.

in 1991 David Duke, a white nationalist and former Grand Wizard of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, ran for governor of Louisiana. he only lost because black voters, horrified, voted against him. he nearly won.

now Terin.

Terin this is important.

do you understand the dangers of mass-electing a racist man to the governor's seat?

if you do not, then everything is wasted, and honestly, I'd like to ask you to leave. if someone else wants to ask about UHC or the gold standard or even race relations, and you have questions, I will answer them.

but if you cannot see this basic precept, if you cannot understand the absolute horror someone like myself or someone who is a minority in any way would feel at seeing a racist enter power, the dread and the fear and absolutely hopelessness we would enter, then please do not post. I don't begrudge you because you have not seen what race means to other people or what racism can do; you might just be 15 (although I hope your profile lies and you aren't 22) and confused. but I don't want to deal with it, because people like you break my fucking heart. it absolutely kills me to see someone say something like a racist can be elected because he will somehow miraculously hold objective beliefs otherwise and make things better.

the trains might run on time in Hitler's Germany, but my friends and I are still corpses in the camps.

if you don't get it, don't post. if you do and you meant something else, if you realize saying "how can a homophobic and racist president affect the law" is foolish, I'll accept that and post.

but otherwise, it's too much.

If you think for a second that a president can get away with being racist in office, then you're mistaken.  That's political suicide.  I speak as a minority.  And yes, I am 22.  And yes, I have a real job.  And I pay my taxes, I paid for my schooling, and all the like. 

If he continues that kind of rhetoric in office, then I say let him face the penalties for it when he's in office.  A governor has more power in his state than the president has for his country (at least, it does here in Texas).  I've read his comments about minorities.  Which may or may not have been even said by him, but let's assume they are (political writers could have written something with his name, but in any case, he should have issued some kind of apology).  I think it's amusing he made some extremist quote that 95% of the black community was responsible for crime or however he chose to say it.  I think that's absolutely absurd.  Now, if someone believes that, then they're retarded.  Can you maybe agree that in his example, I believe LA, had a lot of violence from black, male teenagers?  Sure.  I'd say the same with New Orleans.  (ok, I'm sounding racist, but let me make my point here)

The lower-class areas of a city/population is very easy to point out that's bad, and I believe there is some merit in pointing that out.  It furthers my earlier argument that we need a better education system.  I'm all for trying to get rid of the crap that goes on that screws things up for people.  We need to rehabilitate people and give them experience, rather than just throw thoughts and ideals at them.  Action rather than words.

However, I can understand your resentment towards someone like this and why he might seem like a nightmare.  But he's hardly the leader of the KKK.

--Terin
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on February 19, 2008, 03:48:21 am
so no you dont get it at all.

welp, there are some primaries tomorrow, huh? hawaii and wisconsin. obama supposed to win both, not by a huge margin though.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on February 19, 2008, 03:49:19 am
There's a reason that US Health Care is awesome -- it's expensive and you get what you pay for.

I would prefer to have my leg taken care of ASAP.  Or hell, if I get cancer, that'd be nice to have treated right away.  You know, instead of dying while I'm waiting for my health care to take care of me.

hahaha. get the fuck out of this topic with shit like this.

WHO CARES IF MY HEALTH CARE IS SO EXPENSIVE IT LEAVES MILLIONS UNINSURED

who cares. i want my god damn flu shot asap no waiting for me bucko
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Terin on February 19, 2008, 03:56:05 am
hahaha. get the fuck out of this topic with shit like this.

WHO CARES IF MY HEALTH CARE IS SO EXPENSIVE IT LEAVES MILLIONS UNINSURED

who cares. i want my god damn flu shot asap no waiting for me bucko

You know, most reasonable jobs provide decent insurance so it's almost next-to-nothing to pay for that kind of thing.  And you know, those benefits extend to the family pretty easily.  Now, let's just, for a second, read my other post about trying to make education better and cheaper, then I think more people would have access to decent jobs, and thus be able to take care of their families better.  However, if you decide that for some reason, it's perfectly acceptable to be a grocery store manager or something else that doesn't extend benefits, then maybe you should try to aspire towards something better.  Even better, marry someone who does.

And actually, as I recall, a friend of mine works for a grocery store as a manager and he gets reasonable benefits.

So because a few people have issues accessing health care, everyone else should get screwed over.  Especially when it's going to get a bunch of good doctors to quit because they won't get the type of money they deserve.

--Terin
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: ATARI on February 19, 2008, 04:00:29 am
You know, most reasonable jobs provide decent insurance so it's almost next-to-nothing to pay for that kind of thing.  And you know, those benefits extend to the family pretty easily.  Now, let's just, for a second, read my other post about trying to make education better and cheaper, then I think more people would have access to decent jobs, and thus be able to take care of their families better.  However, if you decide that for some reason, it's perfectly acceptable to be a grocery store manager or something else that doesn't extend benefits, then maybe you should try to aspire towards something better.  Even better, marry someone who does.

And actually, as I recall, a friend of mine works for a grocery store as a manager and he gets reasonable benefits.

So because a few people have issues accessing health care, everyone else should get screwed over.  Especially when it's going to get a bunch of good doctors to quit because they won't get the type of money they deserve.

--Terin

Those "few people" is only 40+ million people no biggy
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on February 19, 2008, 04:01:43 am
You know, most reasonable jobs provide decent insurance so it's almost next-to-nothing to pay for that kind of thing.  And you know, those benefits extend to the family pretty easily.  Now, let's just, for a second, read my other post about trying to make education better and cheaper, then I think more people would have access to decent jobs, and thus be able to take care of their families better.  However, if you decide that for some reason, it's perfectly acceptable to be a grocery store manager or something else that doesn't extend benefits, then maybe you should try to aspire towards something better.  Even better, marry someone who does.

And actually, as I recall, a friend of mine works for a grocery store as a manager and he gets reasonable benefits.

So because a few people have issues accessing health care, everyone else should get screwed over.  Especially when it's going to get a bunch of good doctors to quit because they won't get the type of money they deserve.

--Terin

are you kidding me? my mom has a "reasonable" job and we all have a $1,000 deductible. and, you know, there's 46.6 million uninsured Americans (as of 2005). i guess they just can't find a reasonable job? (not to mention my mom, who is a legal secretary, has a pretty "reasonable job" and we are basically uninsured)

you are so blindly unaware of how things actually are! it's pretty incredible!
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on February 19, 2008, 04:06:29 am
and ryan aint even got a nigger for a mom....
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Terin on February 19, 2008, 04:07:03 am
A $1,000 deductible?  For what?  For something like a surgery?  That's pretty standard.  If I have to have some crazy tumor removed for $50,000 and I pay $1,000, that's a good deal still.

I've actually taken care of myself with and without insurance.  So I've had to deal with expensive procedures that drained me.  And I've had to deal with the same procedures WITH insurance.  It's a fact of life.

Now, fine, if you want to complain that everyone has issues with insurance, then fine.  I can understand that and you have a point.

My real question is, would you be willing to screw over the quality of our health care for the sake of giving health care to everyone?  Would you rather save most people (85% of people let's say) or try to save everyone and only 40%-50% are saved?

--Terin
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on February 19, 2008, 04:09:50 am
A $1,000 deductible?  For what?  For something like a surgery?  That's pretty standard.  If I have to have some crazy tumor removed for $50,000 and I pay $1,000, that's a good deal still.

I've actually taken care of myself with and without insurance.  So I've had to deal with expensive procedures that drained me.  And I've had to deal with the same procedures WITH insurance.  It's a fact of life.

Now, fine, if you want to complain that everyone has issues with insurance, then fine.  I can understand that and you have a point.

My real question is, would you be willing to screw over the quality of our health care for the sake of giving health care to everyone?  Would you rather save most people (85% of people let's say) or try to save everyone and only 40%-50% are saved?

--Terin

--Terin

uh. do you know what a deductible is?

de·duct·i·ble      /dɪˈdʌktəbəl/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[di-duhk-tuh-buhl] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–adjective
1.   capable of being deducted.
2.   allowable as a tax deduction: Charitable contributions are deductible expenses.
–noun
3.   the amount for which the insured is liable on each loss, injury, etc., before an insurance company will make payment: The deductible on our medical coverage has been raised from $50 to $100 per illness.

so no. we pay up to $1,000 on EVERYTHING.

also nice statistics what part of your ass did you pull them from??? do you really think if we had universal health care we would suddenly just drop to 1930s-era health care?
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on February 19, 2008, 04:11:30 am
AHAHHA I love it when white folks try to say I TOO HAVE DEALT WITH POVERTY ONCE I SLEPT ON MY BROTHERS COUCH its the funniest thing in th eworld.

directed to terin who is saying HEH I KNOW WHAT POOR IS I ONCE PAID FOR A SURGERY.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: ATARI on February 19, 2008, 04:12:32 am
A $1,000 deductible?  For what?  For something like a surgery?  That's pretty standard.  If I have to have some crazy tumor removed for $50,000 and I pay $1,000, that's a good deal still.

I've actually taken care of myself with and without insurance.  So I've had to deal with expensive procedures that drained me.  And I've had to deal with the same procedures WITH insurance.  It's a fact of life.

Now, fine, if you want to complain that everyone has issues with insurance, then fine.  I can understand that and you have a point.

My real question is, would you be willing to screw over the quality of our health care for the sake of giving health care to everyone?  Would you rather save most people (85% of people let's say) or try to save everyone and only 40%-50% are saved?

--Terin

--Terin

A lot of "reputable" people with insurance are faced with not only the large deductable, a lot of companies also only pay up to a certain percentage or a fixed number that is set to something quite low afterwords too.  The problem that comes after that, is insurance companies will then weasel out of paying it claiming about pre-exisiting conditions and all the bullshit, but that is more of another topic there.

The main bullshit that the bottom line falls at, is in the states, the medical practice and the insurance companies that pay for them are looking for a profit out of this whole thing.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Quest-Master on February 19, 2008, 04:30:43 am
So because a few people have issues accessing health care, everyone else should get screwed over.  Especially when it's going to get a bunch of good doctors to quit because they won't get the type of money they deserve.

From what are you making these ridiculous conclusions from?

(https://legacy.gamingw.net/etc/ucatlas.ucsc.edu/health/spend/cost_longlife75.gif)
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on February 19, 2008, 04:35:09 am
dude, he had to pay for surgery once. he has insider info on this shit
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on February 19, 2008, 04:35:40 am
I wish I didn't get searched when I come through customs
I wish Christians stop beefin' with Muslims
Wish the poor didn't have to take welfare
Wish America had universal health care
Cuz ain't no help here
In a country where we don't fight fair
The American Dream becomes a nightmare
It's all hype here
And on this track, bust all I might bear
I wish Bush just get out of office (get out!)
Before he start World War III and try to off us
It won't cost them, but it will cost us
And right now, believe me, you lost us
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Terin on February 19, 2008, 04:47:55 am
AHAHHA I love it when white folks try to say I TOO HAVE DEALT WITH POVERTY ONCE I SLEPT ON MY BROTHERS COUCH its the funniest thing in th eworld.

directed to terin who is saying HEH I KNOW WHAT POOR IS I ONCE PAID FOR A SURGERY.

So I'm white now?  And apparently now because I've paid for surgery and been broke and working a low end job, I have no right to say anything?  Wow, ok.  I've paid my bills, which is more than you guys can probably say.

And FYI Ryan, there are different kinds of deductibles.  I pay $10 for doctor visits and $1,000 for actual medical procedures.  Two different deductibles.  I believe my new benefits are that medicine is also $10 as well.

Now, Atari and Quest-Master, you actually managed to explain this at a fairly mature level.

Atari: Yeah, I totally agree with you on insurance companies and companies themselves trying to avoid.  Was going to make a comment on healthcare being expensive to help facilitate better research, but hit the two caveats that 1) we're talking about insurance, not necessarily pharmaceuticals, etc; and 2) who's to say that even if it was someone who could put money to research, that they even would.  I totally understand.  But I think some profit should be achieved out of it too -- if you can make money, then it's a big deal, and you get selectively good people, ideally.  Maybe not always.

Quest: It costs more, yes.  But my question arises with if doctors are going to be paid less, are they going to want to be doctors still?  Money is a huge incentive for things.  I don't disagree that it is expensive here.  But what repercussions are we going to have if we start saying how much a doctor can make?  Or a surgeon?

I see the moral dilemma, make no mistake.  I'd be glad for everyone to have health care and live a nice long life, but the question is, if that happens, what repercussions is it going to have on our taxes and the quality of our health care?

Now, if somehow insurance companies got phased out, we got the same type of coverage with no additional taxes and everyone got coverage and paid less or nothing (or even if my premium rates only went up slightly -- like to $20 for visits to doctors/medicine, $1500 for surgery), that'd be reasonable.  I'd be in support if I got the health care I have now, but extended to everyone, and paid nothing (or little) else.  But the question that it boils down to is the *quality* and the *cost* in the long term.

Our military operations and the social security crisis right now is enough to scare me senseless with taxation right now.

--Terin
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on February 19, 2008, 04:51:57 am
whoa I'm not white I'm ASIAN heh....I worked hard.

I just...I'm sick of these taxes.

ps buttbuddy did you read my links?

the ones that demonstrated the complete NECESSITY of UHC??

or the ones about Ron Paul??

or are you just here like a fairy for Christmas STEEL PALADINES LOOK ITS A GIFT FOR YOU but I'M NOT YOUR GAME GOD I WILL FIGHT YU.

*throws up, drunkenly staggers to computer, plays Franco Battiato sobbing uncontrolablly*
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on February 19, 2008, 04:57:10 am
And FYI Ryan, there are different kinds of deductibles.  I pay $10 for doctor visits and $1,000 for actual medical procedures.  Two different deductibles.  I believe my new benefits are that medicine is also $10 as well.

Now, if somehow insurance companies got phased out, we got the same type of coverage with no additional taxes and everyone got coverage and paid less or nothing (or even if my premium rates only went up slightly -- like to $20 for visits to doctors/medicine, $1500 for surgery), that'd be reasonable.  I'd be in support if I got the health care I have now, but extended to everyone, and paid nothing (or little) else.  But the question that it boils down to is the *quality* and the *cost* in the long term.

sorry bud but our deductible is $1,000 for any medical procedure. including routine checkups.

basically what you are saying is "i won't pay a dime more in taxes to cover 47 million Americans." hope you sleep well tonight!
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Beasley on February 19, 2008, 05:01:06 am
AHAHHA I love it when white folks try to say I TOO HAVE DEALT WITH POVERTY ONCE I SLEPT ON MY BROTHERS COUCH its the funniest thing in th eworld.

i had to do this once. it was horrible.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on February 19, 2008, 05:08:25 am
i had to do this once. it was horrible.

imagine it for most of your life.

now imagine health care in that state.

off topic: any gws that want to experience the third world IN THEIR BACKYARD is free to stay with me in NC, just drop me a line.

its not that bad but you will see.............the nightmare................
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: headphonics on February 19, 2008, 05:15:55 am
sorry bud but our deductible is $1,000 for any medical procedure. including routine checkups.

basically what you are saying is "i won't pay a dime more in taxes to cover 47 million Americans." hope you sleep well tonight!
this seems a little ridiculous, man.  who's the insurance provider for your mom's company?  i can understand large deductibles, but generally there ARE differences in prices for different levels of treatment (i.e. the deductible isn't the same for a checkup as it is for major surgery).  plus, is a routine checkup even classified as a medical procedure?  a checkup is just that; they're not treating you while you're there beyond perhaps prescribing you some type of medicine, so i think there might be some sort of differentiation between it and an actual procedure like a colonoscopy or something.  anyway, i don't know much about insurance, but since the deductibles for my parents' insurance, for visits to the doctor, are like $10-15 too, i think even if it really is a $1,000 deductible across the board, you might just have really, really terrible insurance, because i feel like that's pretty atypical, even with all the other obvious problems with the health care system.  in my experience, most insurance, if you can actually get it, is at least somewhat useful, and yours is more or less totally worthless barring the need for serious medical treatment (incredibly unlikely).
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on February 19, 2008, 05:26:55 am
this seems a little ridiculous, man.  who's the insurance provider for your mom's company?  i can understand large deductibles, but generally there ARE differences in prices for different levels of treatment (i.e. the deductible isn't the same for a checkup as it is for major surgery).  plus, is a routine checkup even classified as a medical procedure?  a checkup is just that; they're not treating you while you're there beyond perhaps prescribing you some type of medicine, so i think there might be some sort of differentiation between it and an actual procedure like a colonoscopy or something.  anyway, i don't know much about insurance, but since the deductibles for my parents' insurance, for visits to the doctor, are like $10-15 too, i think even if it really is a $1,000 deductible across the board, you might just have really, really terrible insurance, because i feel like that's pretty atypical, even with all the other obvious problems with the health care system.  in my experience, most insurance, if you can actually get it, is at least somewhat useful, and yours is more or less totally worthless barring the need for serious medical treatment (incredibly unlikely).

Anthem/Blue Cross Blue Shield or whatever is our provider. my mom's employer pays for the health insurance, however they had to raise the deductible because the costs would be so tremendous otherwise.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: ase on February 19, 2008, 05:41:18 am
I have Blue Cross Blue Shield and the deductibles are as follows:

Personal Physician Visit: $15
Specialist Visit: $25
Emergency Room: $100
Prescription Drug: 20%

For middle, upper classes this is a piece of cake. My family is kind of borderline lower/middle class. Just recently my mom refused to return for a second visit to an optometrist about a problem with her eye because she felt he didn't help her at all and was forcing a second visit. Basically it was just HMM LETS TRY THIS MEDICINE MAYBE IT WILL HELP COME BACK NEXT WEEK. $25 may not seem like much, but when physicians make you keep coming back for follow-up visits for EVERYTHING including fucking CONTACT LENS FITTING, the payments build up quickly!

The ER payment is also kind of ridiculous considering thousands of people walk into the ER every day with shit like domestic violence that unfortunately occurs repeatedly.

But yeah, $1,000 for everything sounds quite ridiculous.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: headphonics on February 19, 2008, 06:13:15 am
I've never encountered the follow-up visit thing, but my experience with specialist physicians is also very limited.  To be fair, though, even for a borderline lower-/middle-class family, $25 per visit is pretty inexpensive.  Realistically, how often would a person need to see an optometrist?  I imagine that you'd go in every few months, unless maybe you've got serious eye troubles, and shell out the money for the checkup, at which point a follow-up one might be a good idea to monitor whatever treatment you tried the first time there.  It only adds up if you're using it a ton; I could understand if you were going every week and they actively seemed to be encouraging you to come back as much as possible to rake in the cash, but just going by family history (not even the healthiest of people!), visits to any type of doctor aren't common enough that follow-up visits would really strain our pockets, and we've probably fallen into roughly the same economic bracket as you the majority of the time.  Part of the problem on the employer's/provider's end is that, if the fees DON'T start to add up after a couple of visits, people don't feel any inhibition about scheduling appointments at all, for anything, because it's practically free.  I think this is why prices for things like specialists and emergency room visits are higher.  Not because they're trying to gouge you, but mostly because, from what I've heard, visits to such places are drastically higher (and as a result much more money for health care comes out of the employer's pockets) if they're priced more economically, so it's likely just put in place to discourage excessive use of things like ER facilities.

Mostly I'm saying that, if I had a plan like that, even as a lower-class family, I don't really think I could expect much better.  The only thing that might be a pain is, as you said, the emergency room.  But I think that's only for select cases, as I doubt there are many people who take regular trips to the ER (unless your dads tim the toolman taylor LOL), and most domestic violence instances don't even warrant going to the emergency room, I don't think, so what you'd probably be looking at is a somewhat high fee, comparatively speaking, every once in a blue moon.  Still, if you're living paycheck to paycheck, while I don't think $25 or maybe $50 every few months for a specialist visit is a big deal, $100 at the wrong time probably could be.  It's better than a $1,000 across the board deductible, though!
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: ase on February 19, 2008, 06:31:49 am
Yeah, what I should have said is that I consider my family to have one of the better insurance plans in terms of low deductibles/co-payments.

However, when you're already paying a few hundred bucks / month for health insurance on top of unexpected visits to specialists, when 1/2 of your family income goes toward paying for a son's college tuition, when the cost of living is skyrocketing everyday, it really can be a huge problem!

$25 is pretty inexpensive, yes. But I'm fairly certain almost every specialist visit involves more than just the initial visit! I don't really want to get into my parents' medical history but my father had to go to the ER twice last year (once for lacerating part of his finger on a lawnmower),  and we've had our share of specialist visits with things ranging from optometrists, urologists, dermatologists, chest x-rays, etc etc.

I don't know, maybe we are just a health-needy family, but despite not being in charge of paying for health insurance, I can't help but feel like my parents consistently have something to pay for!
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: headphonics on February 19, 2008, 06:39:04 am
Yeah, I guess you're probably right.  I doubt I have an appreciation for what it is to be really STRAPPED FOR CASH as a family since at this point, I'm essentially an only child, I don't have pricey tuition that needs paying, and the days of any of us really needing serious and frequent medical care are gone.  None of us really go to see specialists, and I've never even BEEN in an ER (although one time my brother almost cut his thumb off with a katana (yeah I'm serious) and that was pretty expensive).  Looking at it from the perspective of a family that might be more laden with bills and responsibilities than mine is, and might have an income that's already strained, the nickel and dime shit could potentially be really troublesome.  I've heard my mom complain in the past about having to send my brother thousands of dollars at a time because he's going to school overseas and has come fairly close to just flatout running out of cash and being homeless, so I can picture what that, in addition to a host of medical bills, could potentially do to a person's wallet.

I guess the path is clear for you, buddy.  It's time to stop screwing around in college and get a real job to help support your family!
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: ase on February 19, 2008, 06:42:00 am
I guess the path is clear for you, buddy.  It's time to stop screwing around in college and get a real job to help support your family!
b...but I'm perfectly content frying and serving chicken fingers at the dining hall from 8PM-3AM !!!

edit: OK BACK ON TOPIC EVERYONE. DO NOT FOLLOW IN MY FOOTSTEPS
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: The Truth on February 19, 2008, 06:56:38 am
Let's just all agree that terin is kind of an idiot and get back to primary issues i guess!
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Mongoloid on February 19, 2008, 06:59:25 am
so we now know that terin is a witch conservative.

when are the next obama sightings?
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on February 19, 2008, 07:24:26 am
There's a reason that US Health Care is awesome -- it's expensive and you get what you pay for.  Cuba...  Hmm.  Social health care.  Canada?  Same thing.  Then why is it that it takes you months to get your busted leg fixed in Canada?  Why did Fidel Castro get a doctor from outside of Canada?  I had a friend in Canada who had to wait a few months to get his broken/busted leg fixed and reset by the doctors because of the waiting list.
You know, you don't need to have experienced those health care systems firsthand in order to know what they're really like, but you do need to conduct the appropriate research first. I'm talking about reading studies and finding out what the situation really is like in those countries, then comparing them to your own and then determining whether either has benefits. That's research.

You just conclude that you're right based on what a friend told you.

Then again, you don't read the links we provide, you don't listen to the arguments we make, and you say you'd prefer a libertarian president because that means "things would change". It seems that you're an emotional voter, one who has a very shallow understanding of things but will gladly agree with a person who campaigns his views as though they are obviously good. Does being on the side of Ron Paul make you feel better because his following is essentially a minority that acts as though it knows a lot about politics?

You know, I don't even believe you're a minority now. Maybe you posted pictures in the Picture Topic before, I don't know, but it just strikes me as extremely implausible that someone who isn't white could support either Ron Paul or Mike Huckabee. You'd have to be really ignorant of the history of the U.S., the world and your race for that to be true.

EDIT: then again, you also think that Noah's Ark could have existed, so I could be wrong about that.

Ron Paul will bring Libertarian views to the US which would be a change of pace -- a very welcome change, in my opinion.
Would you support an anarchistic president?

Why not? They're quite similar. They're not the same, sure, but on a lot of fronts, they are in agreement. Libertarianism is sort of like "anarchism done right". On which fronts do you disagree with anarchism, and in what way do you think libertarianism solves that disagreement?
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: RedScythes on February 19, 2008, 07:43:52 am
I've never encountered the follow-up visit thing, but my experience with specialist physicians is also very limited.  To be fair, though, even for a borderline lower-/middle-class family, $25 per visit is pretty inexpensive.  Realistically, how often would a person need to see an optometrist?

Besides the cost of the visit, theres also the medication which costs tons of money, especially if you have a chronic illness or something that requires constant medication.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on February 20, 2008, 02:03:42 am
McCain wins Wisconsin.

Democratic race too early to call

edit: MSNBC call it for Obama.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Neophyte on February 20, 2008, 02:27:19 am
CNN also calls it for Obama.
10 win killing streak.

He is obviously going to win Hawaii.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on February 20, 2008, 02:29:42 am
yes i wouldn't be surprised if hawaii broke 80/20
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: The Truth on February 20, 2008, 06:47:36 am
As SA calls him, "The Wizard" Chuck Todd has been amazing this election season. I have learned so much more about politics and delegates from him than from any of the fluffed up "analysts" most networks put out there.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Shepperd on February 20, 2008, 07:18:37 am
please clarify me what was going on in Washington yesterday.
There were primaries going on? but didnt the primary already happen over there?
what's the deal?


Edit:
also, considering Obama has 2 challenges in 2 states, meaning the blue collars from ohio and the latinos from texas, I am under the impression that persuading the blue collars would be a much more easy task than the latinos.
He got more blucollar votes than hillary in Wisconsin
So I think he should do a big effort to win Ohio, it seems more factible than winning Texas, where he should try to keep the difference low
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: The Truth on February 20, 2008, 10:29:25 am
The State of Washington has a law that each party has to have a primary and a Caucus. The Republicans split up their delegate allocation, while the Democrats decide to only award delegates based on performance in the caucus.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on February 20, 2008, 06:51:39 pm
Clinton is basically finished, guys. obama will more than likely win both ohio and texas. (or come within 5% of clinton, either way is considered a loss for hillary. she won't be able to catch him in pledged delegates.)

however, she won't drop out. she's going to stay in this until the convention.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Shepperd on February 20, 2008, 07:19:43 pm
I like you confidence
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on February 20, 2008, 07:22:43 pm
I like you confidence

unless something catastrophic happens to the obama campaign (dean scream?) i really can't see how clinton could win this thing. it's already almost impossible for her to win the pledged delegate count. and superdelegates handing the nomination to someone who hasn't won the pledged delegate count is political suicide.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: ase on February 20, 2008, 07:25:09 pm
wait, I was under the impression Clinton was going to win in Texas by a fair margin???
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on February 20, 2008, 07:28:42 pm
wait, I was under the impression Clinton was going to win in Texas by a fair margin???

latest polls (taken before his wins last night) have obama statistically tied in Texas. wisconsin has an almost identical population (demographics wise) as ohio. obama also outperformed most of the polls taken in wisconsin.

edit: also obama crushed clinton in every single demographic under 65 in wisconsin
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: RWildcat on February 21, 2008, 04:44:14 am
hahaha. get the fuck out of this topic with shit like this.

WHO CARES IF MY HEALTH CARE IS SO EXPENSIVE IT LEAVES MILLIONS UNINSURED

who cares. i want my god damn flu shot asap no waiting for me bucko

My - way to keep the discussion civil.  Someone disagrees and you insult and shout them down.  If you think healthcare is expensive now, just wait until it is "free."  The quality will go way down, and the availability will drop like a rock.  Many of the issues we have with healthcare are due to the government's involvement in the system.  It doesn't need to get any more involved, thanks.  If we aren't satisfied with the care received what opportunity would there be for us to go elsewhere?  Essentially what you are saying is that you don't care if it isn't available or quality - just as long as it is "free."  During times of tight budgets, it could be decided that your health care won't be covered on a whim and you would have no place to go and just have to suffer or die with no options.  I do not want my body to belong to Big Brother.  No thank you.  And "waiting" that you refer is to going from needing a diagnostic exam and getting it scheduled in a day or so or waiting months or even a year at a time - I'm sorry, but "less expensive" isn't exactly worth it if the test is needed to check for an ailment.

But if the polls are any indication at this time, you may just get your wish to have government controlled health care (or the flowery term "unverisal health care" as some like to call it to make it sound nice), so here's some of what we have to look forward to:

A&E patients left in ambulances for up to FIVE hours 'so trusts can meet government targets' (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=515332&in_page_id=1770)
 NHS patients face humiliating treatment (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/12/05/nhs105.xml)
 Hospital blunders 'kill 90,000 patients'  (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=PCOB105NGNUQTQFIQMGCFFWAVCBQUIV0?xml=/news/2007/11/29/nblunder129.xml)
 Cancer lottery  (http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/2511_cancer_lottery.shtml)
 British woman banned from entering New Zealand because she is too fat (http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1927165/posts)
 Record numbers go abroad for healthcare (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/10/28/nhealth128.xml)
 I won't let Daddy die: Girl of six raises £4,000 for life-saving drugs the NHS won't provide  (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=490001&in_page_id=1770)
 Weigh up the costs of private health care  (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml;jsessionid=GH5KQHHGOKDFDQFIQMFSFFOAVCBQ0IV0?xml=/money/2007/10/24/cmhealth25.xml&DCMP=ILC-traffdrv07053100)
 Father delivered baby after partner was turned away from NHS hospital - TWICE  (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=488142&in_page_id=1770&ito=1490)
 English pull own teeth as dental service decays  (http://www.mg.co.za/articlepage.aspx?area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__international_news/&articleid=321961)
 Patients turn to DIY dentistry as the crisis in NHS care deepens  (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=487621&in_page_id=1770)
 The NHS wins when its patients die  (http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1910808/posts)
 Universal Care's Filthy Failure  (http://www.ibdeditorials.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=277082461633452)
 NHS Rationing 'Leads To Patient Deaths  (http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30100-1285546,00.html?f=rss)
 D’oh, Canada! (Canadian Politicos Prefer US For Their Health Care)  (http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1899812/posts)
 Patients suing province over wait times (Canadians flee to US for care)  (http://www.thestar.com/News/Ontario/article/253664)
 Canada's Health Care Rebellion  (http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1891836/posts)
 Dentists refuse to treat bad teeth  (http://timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/article1845202.ece)
 Mother forced to give birth alone in toilet of 'flagship' NHS hospital  (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/health/womenfamily.html?in_article_id=475941&in_page_id=1799&ct=5)
 Woman, 108, must wait 18 months for hearing aid  (http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,2137719,00.html)
 The Ugly Truth About Canadian Health Care  (http://www.city-journal.org/html/17_3_canadian_healthcare.html)
 Universal health care: Is it worth the long waits?  (http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1873616/posts)
 A Canadian Doctor Describes How Socialized Medicine Doesn't Work  (http://www.ibdeditorials.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=270338135202343)
 Anger over NHS plan to give addicts iPods  (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/health/article2116323.ece)
  Hospitals with a year-long waiting list  (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=P1E2TKIG0JZBNQFIQMGSFF4AVCBQWIV0?xml=/news/2007/06/08/nmrsa208.xml)
 Great Britain: Morale "terrible" among doctors (poll of NHS Docs:69% wouldn't recommend MD career)  (http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1816018/posts)
 U.K. hospitals seeing maternity 'crisis'  (http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1795239/posts)
Let me die, begged cancer patient, 85, left in her own mess (Socialized medicine nightmare)  (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=409705&in_page_id=1770&ct=5)
 The NHS scandal that cost a young boy's life  (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/health/healthmain.html?in_article_id=401657&in_page_id=1774)
 An NHS hospital has been penalised for treating its patients too quickly... (http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1678166/posts) (so if they don't make you wait a long time - they get reprimanded by the government!)
 Revealed: the true scale of NHS cancer waiting times  (http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/ViewArticle.aspx?articleid=2786966)
-----------------------------------------------------------

it just strikes me as extremely implausible that someone who isn't white could support either Ron Paul or Mike Huckabee. You'd have to be really ignorant of the history of the U.S., the world and your race for that to be true.

So his skin color should have something to do with his political viewpoints?  How is that not a racist comment on your part?
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Shepperd on February 21, 2008, 05:18:21 am
Wildcat, concerning your response to Dada:
recognition that the color of skin implies a politics of skin has nothing to do on whether Dada is racist or not.
That was a very uninformed and naif comment from your part
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: headphonics on February 21, 2008, 05:46:12 am
civil discussions are overrated btw.  i'm so tired of seeing every reply from some random faggot prefaced with "Well, at least we're keeping things mature, heh" or some other smug reply insinuating that to call someone an idiot for saying something idiotic, or really, talk in any way that could not be considered HIGH ELVEN (ps i bet none of you talk like this in person), is somehow untoward.  this is just how people talk, man; it's natural.  neither of you sound natural.  mostly it just sounds faked.


basically i only know one way to live............. and that's passionately.

also how is it racist for a person to expect that NO PERSON OF AN ETHNIC BACKGROUND would ever vote for an openly racist candidate?  are you kidding me?
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on February 21, 2008, 05:49:41 am
would like to point out that among RWildcat's articles (half of which are things that happen in the US at greater frequency) are links to notorious right wing site free republic, which has advocated easily some of the most deplorable positions ever. chances are, this list came from free republic.

hey tex, wanna go head to head with mistreatments under privatized health care?

of course you don't, because the people who hide behind big walls of links are also the people who don't bother to read them!
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on February 21, 2008, 05:58:09 am
why did you even do that.

seriously if that's all you can find ahahahahah what the hell.

hey I guess that study I linked by those physicians who know what they are talking about and gain nothing by releasing sensationalist news was just liberal hogwash...

seriously what the hell man. you can't just link news articles and say it's indicative of any kind of trend. people die in hospital bureaucracy all the time. by linking a bunch of shit (and disguising it as this correlation) all you're doing is saying is that it happens. whoa, I thought everyone lived forever under UHC SORRY FOR LEADING YOU ON EVERYONE.

dr. house would never work under uhc...

Quote
So his skin color should have something to do with his political viewpoints?  How is that not a racist comment on your part?
no it means that if you're not white and you voted for Ron Paul you're an idiot.

if you do not realize the complete idiocy of voting a racist into office while being a minority you have horrible viewpoints and are stupid as shit. your viewpoints aren't determined by race but if you can't see the line there you shouldn't ever vote :)
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on February 21, 2008, 06:25:57 am
heeeeeeeeeere's terin.

Quote
Steel, I'm amazed at your rhetoric.  You're right.  It's all propaganda.

And I went to go see Bill Clinton (in representation of Hilary) at my alma mater this evening.  It was kind of amusing.  You know how the thing went?

"We want <something>.  The Republicans and George Bush screwed it up.  <This> is a problem with our nation.  It is time for the Republicans' rule to end."

It was honestly just mud-slinging.  And I'm not saying Bush and other republicans don't.  But it's all the same.  Furthermore, it's amusing that Wildcat posts something, as do many others, in a very civil fashion and your response is

"LOL OMG WTF U FAG.  I M MINORITY FROM SHIT FAMILY CANT SUPPORT JACK SHIT NO REPUBLICANS HERE SO LIBERALS RIGHT ALL TIME  FUCK YOU DUDE.  REPUBLICANS RAPED MOM AND FUCKED DAD IN BUTT AND NOW THE ENTIRE WORLD IS FUCKED UP BECAUSE OF THEM.   WTF YOU IDIOT.  LOTS OF EVIDENCE"

And just FYI, it was amusing to find that I got about 5 IMs from people today who sent me an IM saying "Dude, Ryan and Steel are pretty left-wing, you should really watch about posting that stuff there.  But yeah, they're totally crazy and from low-income, low-class families in areas where they don't have any conservatives.  They act childish."

Just thought I'd share that with you, Steel and Ryan.  You talk big, but why don't you stop whining like a piece of shit and go out and do something with yourself, rather than spend hours a day posting on the internet.  I think that might further society a bit better, huh?

--Terin

hahahaha w00t.

low class!

I AM LOW CLASS AND LOW INCOME.

this is awesome.

I never thought I'd be insulted for the fact that my dad died at an early age and his medical bills crippled my single mother who thanks to right wing legislation could not get welfare, while her minority status ensured she wouldn't get a job that paid nearly as well as her white coworkers were promoted.

christ I did not think someone could say HEH BECAUSE YOU AREN'T WHITE OR RICH YOU DONT HAVE MY PERSPECTIVE ON HOW HARD LIFE IS.

ps: I live in North Carolina, easily one of the most conservative states.

pps: thanks to my apparently lack of skill and ability, I scored really well on the LSAT and will probably get into a top tier law school, and unlike your medical school buddies who apparently are so upset at having to treat niggers and poor folk, I plan on working the lowest paying jobs of criminal defense and civil rights litigation because, well, I feel like social equality is a good thing for someone to spend the rest of their life on. I also used to volunteer at a soup kitchen every weekend and still do when they call me, and my last job was helping a struggling civil rights law firm put together a law suit against a corporation who fired a man for having AIDS.

i dont do nothin i just post allllll day on the gw im totally crazy *reads marx in a coffeeshop with a scarf on*

ppps: hey fags who are IMing Terin, what's your names? why aint you backing up your boy in this topic? who are you? how do you know so much about me.....and my low class....

ohhhh, it's Samuel H. Invisible. my favorite member. am...am I shaking his hand right now Terin?
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on February 21, 2008, 06:26:47 am
Quote
Steel, I'm amazed at your rhetoric.  You're right.  It's all propaganda.

And I went to go see Bill Clinton (in representation of Hilary) at my alma mater this evening.  It was kind of amusing.  You know how the thing went?

"We want <something>.  The Republicans and George Bush screwed it up.  <This> is a problem with our nation.  It is time for the Republicans' rule to end."

It was honestly just mud-slinging.  And I'm not saying Bush and other republicans don't.  But it's all the same.  Furthermore, it's amusing that Wildcat posts something, as do many others, in a very civil fashion and your response is

"LOL OMG WTF U FAG.  I M MINORITY FROM SHIT FAMILY CANT SUPPORT JACK SHIT NO REPUBLICANS HERE SO LIBERALS RIGHT ALL TIME  FUCK YOU DUDE.  REPUBLICANS RAPED MOM AND FUCKED DAD IN BUTT AND NOW THE ENTIRE WORLD IS FUCKED UP BECAUSE OF THEM.   WTF YOU IDIOT.  LOTS OF EVIDENCE"

And just FYI, it was amusing to find that I got about 5 IMs from people today who sent me an IM saying "Dude, Ryan and Steel are pretty left-wing, you should really watch about posting that stuff there.  But yeah, they're totally crazy and from low-income, low-class families in areas where they don't have any conservatives.  They act childish."

Just thought I'd share that with you, Steel and Ryan.  You talk big, but why don't you stop whining like a piece of shit and go out and do something with yourself, rather than spend hours a day posting on the internet.  I think that might further society a bit better, huh?

--Terin

you don't get to cut and run from this shit you little f*ck (for ASE). man up, you horrible piece of filth.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Terin on February 21, 2008, 06:36:06 am
Keep it, Steel.  I read it a few times, read what some of the other people said and figured, "Not worth the fight."  So I knocked it out.  If you want to debate it, keep it up.  I don't care.  If you want to fight about it, go for it.  But that's your battle.  I don't care enough to fight with you about it, because I have better things to do.  And nobody is going to confront you because they have better things to do.

But my opinion stands.  You're a prick.  And I am as well for the response I gave you.

And I'm sorry your life has been so terrible and that you've been discriminated against *soooo* much.  Cry me a river, G.

You know, you don't need to have experienced those health care systems firsthand in order to know what they're really like, but you do need to conduct the appropriate research first. I'm talking about reading studies and finding out what the situation really is like in those countries, then comparing them to your own and then determining whether either has benefits. That's research.

You just conclude that you're right based on what a friend told you.

Then again, you don't read the links we provide, you don't listen to the arguments we make, and you say you'd prefer a libertarian president because that means "things would change". It seems that you're an emotional voter, one who has a very shallow understanding of things but will gladly agree with a person who campaigns his views as though they are obviously good. Does being on the side of Ron Paul make you feel better because his following is essentially a minority that acts as though it knows a lot about politics?

You know, I don't even believe you're a minority now. Maybe you posted pictures in the Picture Topic before, I don't know, but it just strikes me as extremely implausible that someone who isn't white could support either Ron Paul or Mike Huckabee. You'd have to be really ignorant of the history of the U.S., the world and your race for that to be true.

EDIT: then again, you also think that Noah's Ark could have existed, so I could be wrong about that.
Would you support an anarchistic president?

Why not? They're quite similar. They're not the same, sure, but on a lot of fronts, they are in agreement. Libertarianism is sort of like "anarchism done right". On which fronts do you disagree with anarchism, and in what way do you think libertarianism solves that disagreement?

Now, Dada, I think that insurance needs reform -- no doubt.  But if insurance becomes crappy as a result, as WildCat was saying, I think that we have a serious issue on our hands.  A lot of other countries like American health-care.  If, in the end, there was little difference in cost and everyone got health care, I'd totally be in.  Insurance providers do try to get out of everything.  That's a huge issue.  What good is insurance if they're not going to back you up?  $1,000 for a deductible sucks.  Especially if you're paying for some kind of special insurance.  My mother lost her insurance after my parents got a divorce, and she managed to find something that was decent enough and didn't screw up her checkbook.  Maybe it's a regional thing or something.  I don't know.

And an Anarchist president?  Why not.  It's crazy.  It's out there.  Hell, why not a Communist president (that doesn't make sense, since Communism doesn't have 1 leader, ideally...)?  The truth is that the President only has so much power.  The more variety we get in, the more difference there will be.  And ideally we'll have to pass bills that won't be too extremist in ANY form, so that EVERYONE can agree.  (or mostly everyone)  In that sense, we'll be doing something good for the nation.  So many people hate Bush and think he's done a poor job.    Why not try something else?  We've tried liberal and conservative.  Let's try something new.

--Terin
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: headphonics on February 21, 2008, 06:38:11 am
he called you g steel that means he identifies with you as a minority
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Terin on February 21, 2008, 06:38:43 am
he called you g steel that means he identifies with you as a minority

Thanks for catching that.  I told you, I'm a minority.  Isn't it obvious?

--Terin
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on February 21, 2008, 06:39:46 am
post pics to prove minority status.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Terin on February 21, 2008, 06:44:55 am
So the color of my skin makes me a minority?  Does my religion make me a minority?  Do the color of my eyes make me a minority?  Does the fact that I have a penis, vagina, or neither, make me a minority?  If I even posted something, I doubt you'd believe me and say, "You stole that from a MySpace.  You stole that from a friend.  That's not really you."

Look.  I have a problem with racist people.  I also have a problem with people who go and throw that in everyone's face, without explaining a damn thing.  When someone makes a reasonable, decent argument, because they have their own opinion, you don't go and act like an asshole.  There have been plenty of people who were decent enough to explain things in a very civil manner.  Not everyone knows your backstory, Steel.  And I do apologize for the crude comment about your parents.  I have a problem with you.  It sucks that your mother had these issues and that conservative people screwed her out of things.  I don't disagree that such a thing is rotten.

Edit: Let me try to be a little more sincere than just "I apologize."  Look, I *seriously* apologize, ok?  I've seen both ends of the spectrum of poor/rich.  I was raised in a poor, penny-penching family, probably until 8.  There were lots of problems, not a "ghetto" or anything like that.  But there were drive-bys in that neighborhood.  Sometimes, we missed meals because we didn't have the money to eat more.  My parents barely got by paying the lease for the house they were "renting."  Then they did get lucky and signed on with a startup company that managed to do well.  And yes, things were better, we got out of that bad neighborhood.  And it was fortunate with my own health issues that came up in the following years.  I don't know discrimination quite in the same way you do.  I do know what it means to come from a poor family -- and I know what it's like to also be poor on your own because you have a jackass father who throws you out because you don't agree with the bullshit he wants to throw at you--one of the issues we argued about was actually racism, ironically.  One of many, ugh, there were a lot of others--I'm not saying that it was the only one as some "champion" against racism.  But still.  I didn't eat for days at a time, had to crash with friends, etc, because the jackass claimed me as a dependent and screwed up my chances of getting school loans to finish school, I had to borrow money from other people who I was fortunate to have in my life (and whom I've since paid back).

But I don't know you.  And when you flame, who's going to take you seriously?  If you're seriously going to go and be a lawyer, then why can't you make a reasonable, decent, civil argument?

--Terin
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on February 21, 2008, 06:48:33 am
or just post a picture of you holding a sign with the word Terin on it.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: headphonics on February 21, 2008, 06:55:25 am
ahahaha DO YOUR EYES make you a minority dude??? seriously come on


quit blowing steam up our asses.  that doesn't sound like anything you'd be saying if you weren't lying to us.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Terin on February 21, 2008, 06:55:46 am
or just post a picture of you holding a sign with the word Terin on it.

I could very easily ask a friend of whatever race, religion, or gender to do it.  So it's still not going to be honest proof.

Also, please note that I am sorry about the crude comment, and that's why I removed it, because I was dissatisfied at the statement.

EDIT: I'll get you guys a picture soon.  I need to borrow a camera then.

--Terin
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on February 21, 2008, 06:58:18 am
or if you were a minority you would have I'M BLACK or just taken a pic :(

probably italian :(

ps no one here has brought up a single valid complaint against UHC that wasn't addressed in two links I provided earlier. why am I supposed to waste my time when you won't read it anyways!
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: headphonics on February 21, 2008, 06:59:43 am
actually, i don't really care if you're a minority or not, and i don't think steel does either.  don't go out of your way to take a photo, because i doubt he was serious.  i more or less assumed you were asian or third-gen hispanic or something.  i'm just heckling mostly, but i do think it's ridiculous that, if you REALLY ARE a minority, you would honestly even think of casting a vote for ron paul.  it really is something of a betrayal of your race!
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on February 21, 2008, 07:10:22 am
Now, Dada, I think that insurance needs reform -- no doubt.  But if insurance becomes crappy as a result, as WildCat was saying, I think that we have a serious issue on our hands.  A lot of other countries like American health-care.
Take a look at this map of countries that have implemented universal health care (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/c5/WORLDHEALTH2.png). You'll find that it includes some of what you could arguably call the better countries in the world (Norway, Iceland, Austria, Canada, Sweden, The Netherlands, and so go on). These countries have all been able to sustain universal health care for prolonged periods of time without the quality of the health care deteriorating (they're all listed very high on the HDI, let's not forget).

Your concern that health care will go sour once it becomes available to everybody is a real one, but it's obviously not a problem that cannot be solved.

I know that the only argument I'm making here is "it's possible", but I'm not going to debate on you with any specific obstacles yet. You should read the links that have been provided first so you can get a good idea of the case that the other side is trying to make.

EDIT: it's funny how the U.S. doesn't have UHC, but Iraq and Afghanistan do, as it's being funded by... the U.S.!

And an Anarchist president?  Why not.  It's crazy.  It's out there.  Hell, why not a Communist president (that doesn't make sense, since Communism doesn't have 1 leader, ideally...)?  The truth is that the President only has so much power.  The more variety we get in, the more difference there will be.  And ideally we'll have to pass bills that won't be too extremist in ANY form, so that EVERYONE can agree.  (or mostly everyone)  In that sense, we'll be doing something good for the nation.  So many people hate Bush and think he's done a poor job.    Why not try something else?  We've tried liberal and conservative.  Let's try something new.
Well, I don't know what to say, really.

Being the president is not the same as cooking.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Terin on February 21, 2008, 07:25:50 am
Dada, agreed on the first part.  It's possible, but I'm really worried that it's going to get screwed up and hurt our taxes.  And if there's a transition period, we're all going to get screwed up for health-care in that time.

On the second, I just think that no matter what, the president will have to fit into a very specific role.  Sure, he (or she) may be a jackass at first and do stupid things (i.e. how Bush has been portrayed -- or I guess in most eyes, has been).  But in the end, they'll have to fit into a more moderate role.  I'd rather see someone opinionated (although not a racist, so I suppose Ron Paul is mostly out of the picture, unless he'd magically pump out some kind of an apology or deal with his crap) and different from what we have been seeing.  Bush was originally so pro-Jesus all the time.  We still recognize him as such, but the past few things I've seen him in, he hasn't been so preachy.  But, let me just give this as an example:

Bush shot down taking embryonic stem-cells, as it would destroy fetuses and he was anti-abortion, etc (ironic that Texas allows for abortion -- a law that I believe he let pass while he was governor).  It caused scientists to have to find alternative methods, and now, they've discovered a way of getting stem-cells from the donor themselves.  I don't think we'd have figured that out unless someone had stomped their foot down and said, "No."  Now, the donor has a limitless (or mostly limitless -- a lot more than a fetus) supply of stem-cells, and they're easier to come by.  So we've made "progress" in that regard.  And someone who can stand tall for something like that, get some bad flack, and actually do something positive -- that's important to me.  That's something I see as "good" with Bush.  Maybe there's another side like "Bush didn't do that," or something -- but from what I can recall and remember, that was Bush.

And Bush eventually stopped sprouting all of this Jesus jargon all the time.  He backed off of things, and he's kind of been a bit quiet lately, at least, from what I've noticed on CNN and Fox News.  Ideally, I'd have some other sources, but I try to get things fast because I'm busy so often. 

--Terin
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on February 21, 2008, 07:37:03 am
Bush shot down taking embryonic stem-cells, as it would destroy fetuses and he was anti-abortion, etc (ironic that Texas allows for abortion -- a law that I believe he let pass while he was governor).  It caused scientists to have to find alternative methods, and now, they've discovered a way of getting stem-cells from the donor themselves.  I don't think we'd have figured that out unless someone had stomped their foot down and said, "No."  Now, the donor has a limitless (or mostly limitless -- a lot more than a fetus) supply of stem-cells, and they're easier to come by.  So we've made "progress" in that regard.  And someone who can stand tall for something like that, get some bad flack, and actually do something positive -- that's important to me.  That's something I see as "good" with Bush.  Maybe there's another side like "Bush didn't do that," or something -- but from what I can recall and remember, that was Bush.
Bush did not shoot down stem cell research so they could go ahead and find some other way of doing it. He did it because he found it perfectly acceptable that this form of research, which could one day make very great contributions to health care development, would get suffocated.

The fact that scientists managed to find another way to do it is not only miraculous, but also something you cannot attribute to George W. Bush. You make it sound as if he was right all the time. He wasn't. He gladly would have let this kind of research die out in the U.S., let's not forget. The very fact that he was willing, and able, to deliver a great blow to medical science, is what made that an extremely poor decision by him.

You say that Bush is moderate for this reason, but that's nothing short of ridiculous. (The reason why he's not been in the spotlight lately is because he's busy trying to polish his image as much as possible, which would account for his current Africa trip. He's not going to get all that much done anymore, anyway.)

Dada, agreed on the first part.  It's possible, but I'm really worried that it's going to get screwed up and hurt our taxes.  And if there's a transition period, we're all going to get screwed up for health-care in that time.
That last part is simply not true. I don't see how health care would be of poor quality during or after the transition. There are ways to prevent this, and it's nothing that has never been done before.

As for UHC costing money: yes, it does. You can't get something for nothing. But since when is that a problem? You live in one of the richest countries in the world. It has the means of doing this for the people who can't afford health care.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: ase on February 21, 2008, 07:42:42 am
(http://www.gamingw.net/pubaccess/32484/duty_calls.png)
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Terin on February 21, 2008, 07:48:18 am
Bush did not shoot down stem cell research so they could go ahead and find some other way of doing it. He did it because he found it perfectly acceptable that this form of research, which could one day make very great contributions to health care development, would get suffocated.

The fact that scientists managed to find another way to do it is not only miraculous, but also something you cannot attribute to George W. Bush. You make it sound as if he was right all the time. He wasn't. He gladly would have let this kind of research die out in the U.S., let's not forget. The very fact that he was willing, and able, to deliver a great blow to medical science, is what made that an extremely poor decision by him.

You say that Bush is moderate for this reason, but that's nothing short of ridiculous. (The reason why he's not been in the spotlight lately is because he's busy trying to polish his image as much as possible, which would account for his current Africa trip. He's not going to get all that much done anymore, anyway.)

I'm not saying that he had this in mind at all.  I'm saying that because he had the balls to go out there and do that (as cruel and unfair as it seems), it indirectly helped.  I think pulling stem cells from embryo's would be a bad thing (in my eyes -- everyone has different opinions on life, where it begins, etc).  I'd be worried a lot of people would find it more acceptable to just kill off life -- that one of these babies could grow up to be the next Einstein or something.  But you could at least agree that yes, as a result of his decision, we've found what could be considered a more responsible, morally "decent," method of finding stem cells?  We were forced to.  No, he didn't perpetuate these changes by saying, "Hey, look for other ways," because, yes, he more or less did just pull the plug on it.  But people found a way to get around it.  And now conservatives/Christians/etc can't say a damn thing about it.

And yes, I realize he's been out of the spotlight trying to fix his tarnished image.  I guess he's not so "moderate."  But maybe I just agree with what happened.  This is off on a tangent, but I feel like Iraq did have weapons of mass destruction -- just not in the form of nuclear weapons.  Biological agents, and all of the other crap that they found there, are serious problems.  Worse than Iran or North Korea, Russia, or somewhere else?  Probably not.  I feel like despite the problems with Iraq (I know I'm not there fighting right now -- and I'm not paying the bill for it yet), that it was the right thing to do.  Taking care of North Korea would be nice to do too, after seeing the type of shit they do to their people.  But that would assume a stronger "world police" role.  Which would be a pain in the ass and checkbook, for sure.  Maybe more so North Korea -- seriously, was watching a documentary and saw how they did "surgery" over there -- on fold-out tables that weren't clean, without antibiotics, and the people still say how their "great leader" is watching out for them.  I mean, at least he is pushing for them being self-reliant, but it still seems like they're getting raped within their own country.  Anyway.  Just my few cents on it.  I do worry a little that Bush was just trying to take out Sadam for the sake of his father, though.

@ASE -- my friend showed me that today, haha.  I'm totally about to hit the hay, damn, it's late.

--Terin
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on February 21, 2008, 07:53:13 am
stem cell research was mostly supposed to be done on in vitro embryos that were destroyed anyways.

they were destroyed anyways

it has nothing to do with abortion or the preservation of life.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: ase on February 21, 2008, 08:03:55 am
I feel like despite the problems with Iraq (I know I'm not there fighting right now -- and I'm not paying the bill for it yet), that it was the right thing to do.  Taking care of North Korea would be nice to do too, after seeing the type of shit they do to their people.  But that would assume a stronger "world police" role.  Which would be a pain in the ass and checkbook, for sure.  Maybe more so North Korea -- seriously, was watching a documentary and saw how they did "surgery" over there -- on fold-out tables that weren't clean, without antibiotics, and the people still say how their "great leader" is watching out for them.  I mean, at least he is pushing for them being self-reliant, but it still seems like they're getting raped within their own country.
Seems to me that the same kind of mentality that says it's time to "take care of" a nation is present in the people I overhear in public places saying "we shoulda just nuked the whole goddamn place... woulda solved all our problems" and in the people who believe that ignorance, bigotry, and racism are the best ways of "taking care of" groups of people with dissenting beliefs.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: headphonics on February 21, 2008, 08:09:09 am
Seems to me that the same kind of mentality that says it's time to "take care of" a nation is present in the people I overhear in public places saying "we shoulda just nuked the whole goddamn place... woulda solved all our problems" and in the people who believe that ignorance, bigotry, and racism are the best ways of "taking care of" groups of people with dissenting beliefs.
it's just an expression, dawg.  it doesn't necessarily have to have the same connotation when some random guy says it as when some redneck you live by does!
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Terin on February 21, 2008, 08:28:34 am
Seems to me that the same kind of mentality that says it's time to "take care of" a nation is present in the people I overhear in public places saying "we shoulda just nuked the whole goddamn place... woulda solved all our problems" and in the people who believe that ignorance, bigotry, and racism are the best ways of "taking care of" groups of people with dissenting beliefs.

Hm.  I didn't realize that connotation.  Unfortunately, I did grow in kind of a rednecky-area (but I wasn't one of the intolerant bastards -- although I'm sure I've led many of you to believe that I am), so maybe that's an issue with my "wording."  I don't think force is a great thing to use -- and people shouldn't be indiscriminately killed.  There were some Mormon guys I knew who said that about Iraq and the middle east.  Just turn it into a giant glass desert.  That really...  disgusted me.  I didn't talk to them anymore after that kind of crap.  I punched one of them in the face when they were telling a gay friend that all gay people should be flown to an island, and the island should be nuked.  I suppose that's a bit intolerant of me there towards them, but they were definitely ignorant and sick.

I guess I just would rather "liberate" a place, and only do such in a way that saves the people and doesn't put them into danger.  I think some of our efforts in Iraq have been pretty shitty, considering we're taking out civilians.  Iraq may not have been a prime place to take out -- but North Korea's issues really bother me.  Just seeing the way people (and reading about it too) react makes me wonder if they're brainwashed to believe that or if they're truly in belief of that.  War is a terrible way to solve these things.  Ideally, we'd be able to send supplies to North Korea or something to help out their hospitals, or treat their ill, and hopefully maybe their leader would do something to help out his people a little more.  Iraq had Hussein as a dictator, or at least, that's how we've seen him portrayed.  But it seems like a lot of the people at least didn't WANT him around and that we were in the very least doing some bit of service to a good portion of the people.  Liberating those who are in a situation that they're doing the best they can, but are incapable of achieving any "power" to revolt with, seems like a good place to intervene.  I guess my best analogy would be that your neighbor has a dog.  Your neighbor beats the shit out of the dog, who is mostly well behaved.  Do you just walk by and say nothing, or do you do something about it?  I don't think we have a right to "take care" of a nation.  I worry that nuclear power in the arms of people who don't like us could put us in danger, but at the same time, we have nukes too -- and it's not exactly fair that we bully them to NOT have them.

And Steel,

A lot of the stuff that the media portrayed and that I read at the time, said that a lot of stem cells would be coming from aborted fetuses.  In Vitro might be ok, at least.  But the points of basically almost saying, "Oh, you're going to kill that potential baby?  That's cool, we can use it for something else."  It's almost kind of encouraged.  It's good the fetus didn't go to waste, but it felt like a lot of people would follow that as a "morally acceptable" thing to do.  I'm not sure where I stand on the abortion issue -- if a woman is raped, she should have the choice to get rid of the baby, as contradicting as I suppose that seems.  But say someone like a white middle-class girl, who's just sleazy as hell, goes and gets knocked up -- I think she shouldn't be given the choice to abort.  She was stupid and reckless.  In a probably bad comparison, I think the raped victim would be someone who was stuck in the car of a drunken driver, and the drunken driver and the passenger both get their licenses suspended.  If the "victim" or passenger was there by chance and kind of against their will (say it was like an abusive boyfriend or something that forced her in), she shouldn't suffer the penalties, while the jackass driving the car should.  But I guess if it was just being destroyed anyway, that'd be ok.  Still kind of not a happy subject.  But now, we can kind of avoid the entire "is it morally acceptable to pull stem cells from a dead baby" discussion because of the new research which makes things totally easier to debate.  Or at least, hopefully it will, assuming some idiot doesn't decide to suddenly debate that using stem cells is going to screw up the laws of nature and piss off God.

I guess in the end maybe I've led a lot of you to think I don't care or respect for Human life.  But I do.  I think it's important to try to reach out to a lot of different places if we can and do what's right for people.  I don't think we have the right to say "This is right" and "This is wrong."  But when something is just so OBVIOUSLY wrong you feel like you should do something -- I think it's important that we take that step.  If someone starts blabbing on about Ku Klux Klan being the best thing in the world and spreading some propaganda shit, causing issues with other races/sexual-orientated-peoples, etc, I think we have a RIGHT to step in and resist those assholes.  Everyone has an equal right to freedom and should be given such.  I don't condone people complaining about a situation.  Tolerance is important -- I guess that's where I get a little hot-headed.  I can understand a lot of people's reservations towards issues.  But I don't know -- tolerance seems to be like the magic thing that I feel a lot of people are missing.  (I suppose that's a little hard to believe from me after that other post towards Steel -- I am sorry about that, Steel)

--Terin
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: The Truth on February 21, 2008, 09:25:25 am
Terin I stopped reading the entirety of your posts about two years ago, (TLDR hu hu) but you are pretty much the dumbest person that has ever posted on gw, I am including VideogamerXX45 TRUTH CIRCA 04 and maybe even a little bit of kk4.

At least with kk4 you could say "Yeah while he's a disgusting human being and all, I guess I can see how listening to Alex Jones all day and being a former neo-nazi, you'd have idiotic opinions like that".

However, with you Terin I just DON'T FUCKING GET YOU DAWG. You are the most misinformed person I've ever seen, you buy into the libertarian meme of "OUR INFRASTRUCTURE CAN'T HANDLE uhc (((((which people have refuted countless times in this thread fffs i can't believe how dumb you are)))))" And you think it would be "cool" and a "change of pace" to have a libertarian, hell an anarchist, hell a communist president. BIG CHANGE SOUNDS GOOD TO ME... WE NEED REAL CHANGE... FOR AMERICA HEH....

Not that I'm against change but I am not all YEAH SHAKE SHIT UP YO. I'm pretty sure you don't even know what communism, socialism, and Anarchism are, in fact judging from what I've read of you I bet you'd hate communism pal! (For all the wrong reasons.) Also your I'M A MINORITY I'M FUCKING KOREAN shit is hilarious as hell dawg. While it's pretty funny to hear you with the whole ME TOO GUYS I'M OPRESSED shit (why the fuck would you be proud of racists treating you like shit?????????), but asians aren't discriminated against nearly as much as Blacks/Latinos/Gays/Jews etc. Don't be such a condescending prick to Panda about being a minority when I guarantee someone hasn't said to you "You're not really asian, come on, you're too ELOQUENT."

I'm not even going to get into the whole stem cell thing dawg, because even as probably one of GW's most ardent pro lifers, I've NEVER been against stem cell research because guess what? IF YOU ARE YOU'RE FUCKING RETARDED.

Also I am going to agree with panda about the whole "heh.... more personal attacks against me and doctor paul.... looks like you can't refute us with these ridiculous attacks...". Guess what tex? I am now coming to understand where steel was coming from when he said "SORRY IF YOU HAVE UTTERLY REPREHENSIBLE OPINIONS ON THINGS YOU DESERVE TO BE TOLD YOU'RE A WORTHLESS HUMAN BEING." Like, I can't even express in words without borrowing panda's brain the kind of uh... i don't think disgust is the right word, maybe I just feel like I want to shake you like I am a English nanny and you are a small little baby. Wake the fuck up, step away from counter-strike for ten minutes and actually do some research about the world around you before you start up with this whole SWEAT OF MY BROW Ayn Rand bullshit.

smoke weedz everyday
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Vesper on February 21, 2008, 09:46:12 am
My - way to keep the discussion civil.  Someone disagrees and you insult and shout them down.  If you think healthcare is expensive now, just wait until it is "free."  The quality will go way down, and the availability will drop like a rock.  Many of the issues we have with healthcare are due to the government's involvement in the system.  It doesn't need to get any more involved, thanks.  If we aren't satisfied with the care received what opportunity would there be for us to go elsewhere?  Essentially what you are saying is that you don't care if it isn't available or quality - just as long as it is "free."  During times of tight budgets, it could be decided that your health care won't be covered on a whim and you would have no place to go and just have to suffer or die with no options.  I do not want my body to belong to Big Brother.  No thank you.  And "waiting" that you refer is to going from needing a diagnostic exam and getting it scheduled in a day or so or waiting months or even a year at a time - I'm sorry, but "less expensive" isn't exactly worth it if the test is needed to check for an ailment.

But if the polls are any indication at this time, you may just get your wish to have government controlled health care (or the flowery term "universal health care" as some like to call it to make it sound nice), so here's some of what we have to look forward to:


Are you seriously comparing a minority of cases against 40 millions uninsured people? A guy with a broken leg has to wait 5 hours but some guy with a fuckload of cancer in his belly can't go at all because he's poor? Last time I checked a life time of no health care is a whole lot longer than 5 hours.

And what the fuck. "I'm afraid of what it'll do to our taxes.." shut up and pay your damn taxes. Sweden got pretty much the highest taxes in the world but I would never trade lower taxes with UHC even though I'm 90% sure me and my family could cover any sort of health expenses (ok maybe not but a whole lot). You know why? Because I fucking care about those less fortunate, I might not give away a whole lot of cash but I'll never bitch about tax that goes towards saving the lives of the less fortunate.

does anyone have any +1 empathy rings for sale?????
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: bonzi_buddy on February 21, 2008, 12:25:20 pm
And what the fuck. "I'm afraid of what it'll do to our taxes.." shut up and pay your damn taxes.

Sweden got pretty much the highest taxes in the world but I would never trade lower taxes with UHC even though I'm 90% sure me and my family could cover any sort of health expenses (ok maybe not but a whole lot).

You know why? Because I fucking care about those less fortunate, I might not give away a whole lot of cash but I'll never bitch about tax that goes towards saving the lives of the less fortunate. QUOTED GATDAMN FOR THE MOTHERFRACKI*G  TRUTH
Man i'm glad that someone said this. You don't see North-Europeans speak for their system too often in these forums!

And Terin... pal. I'm going to be frank and honest now: You have said some of the worst stuff i have seen for quite some time here in the forums - i mean it. Your arguements just don't make sense at all. It's amazing how much stupid, uninformative, idiotic shit you say despite the quality of your text. Hell, if you thought and read about these things you would know that anarchy serves NOBODY AT ALL. (ummm i don't know about you but i gues you are not very rich so uhh why do you even support libertarianism?? (((heh so you want change huh why don't you vote obama and go chuck yourself...((also what the fuck are you trying to say with your last post.))))
Oh well, i guess common sense and verbal skills aren't really that correlative as i thought!

I'm not sure whether you know this but... social security pays back. You don't have that much rich folk but on the other hand you have less poor people. The gap between these two are actively being narrowed. OH SHIT MY MONEY but hey guess what unlike what your fellow marxist believes the country gets richer BECAUSE of this in the long run, as the population slowly grows into middle-class or w/e.

man i'd really like to write more about this (i'm not exactly satisfied about how this post came out!) but i'm pretty sick right now and my head just can't do this right now. idk if it's such a problem can't you guys have uhc as a standard and more expensive "richfolk" insurance-rolled hc as an alternative?? i wouldn't think the uhc would detoriate as a result at all!
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Vellfire on February 21, 2008, 01:45:37 pm
Quote
So many people hate Bush and think he's done a poor job.    Why not try something else?  We've tried liberal and conservative.  Let's try something new.
Terin has committed to the most common and worst idea Ron Paul supporters constantly have:  "WELL NOTHING HAS WORKED SO FAR AND RON PAUL IS DIFFERENT THEREFORE HE IS BETTER (AMERICA IS JUST AFRAID OF CHANGE)"

Guess what--different isn't better!

That is like saying "Liberal and conservative didn't work, let's try NAZISM!"
"Liberal and conservative didn't work, let's try SLAVERY AGAIN!"
"Liberal and conservative didn't work, let's try NO GOVERNMENT!"

"BUT IT'S DIFFERENT, YOU'RE AFRAID OF CHANGE"

Terin basically you are voting for a horrible racist who didn't vote to keep integration in schools and there is absolutely no way to make this okay.  Fuck, this guy could shit gold to save our economy and he could still not be a good option ever because he doesn't understand the basics of WE ARE ALL EQUAL IN AMERICA (which wasn't strong enough to begin with). 

Quote
I think it's important to try to reach out to a lot of different places if we can and do what's right for people.
Quote
"Given the inefficiencies of what D.C. laughingly calls the `criminal justice system,’ I think we can safely assume that 95 percent of the black males in that city are semi-criminal or entirely criminal"

How can you consider that right for the people ever.

Terin people aren't flaming you.  It sounds like it, yes, but we aren't.  We are trying to show you that you are supporting a terrible fucking racist and somehow trying to make him sound like that part of him doesn't matter in ways none of us can possibly understand.  Race does play a role in who you vote for when it means NOT voting for a man that would see your children taken out of normal schools and put into their own, probably shittier school like we already figured out it didn't work.  He'd be setting us back DECADES man.  Realize that.

edit:  asgohohw

Quote
guess I just would rather "liberate" a place, and only do such in a way that saves the people and doesn't put them into danger.
I was trying to go back and read through more of your posts but I read this and couldn't read any more.  If stuff like this was possible, they could liberate themselves.  The problem is that there is no way to run in and save the people without them being in danger because it's people CAUSING the danger.  You overthrow a dictator, you anger the citizens who for whatever reason liked the dictator.  How do you save just the ones who aren't going to hurt each other, and how do you keep them away from the ones who will?  There is no country in which there is a horrible dictator and every other person in the country besides that dictator is standing around waiting for the dictator to die.  Optimism is okay, but all of your opinions are absolutely idealistic with no reality in them at all.  It sounds almost good, but you have to be realistic about the things you're talking about.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on February 21, 2008, 04:41:50 pm
I'd like to tell you Terin fought the good fight, showed enough spirit in him that the Sisters left him alone. I'd like to tell you that. But that kind of ending is for storybooks and movies.

Not for Shawshank.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Terin on February 21, 2008, 05:19:02 pm
Not sure that I ever implied I was Asian.  I said I was a minority.  I could go into that, but I'm going to back off.

Now, I thought I posted this here, but I did pull back some of my statements about Ron Paul.  And I think a lot of you miss the point that if someone who's a president gets into office and manages to say some of this racist/nazi bullshit, they're not going to get away with it.  But comparing him to a nazi, I suppose I understand the resentment towards him a little more.  I grew up around racism, so I'm either a little apathetic when someone says something (words are words -- I heard it all the time), but if I see them do something I get pissed off and try to step in to stop it.

Now, a lot of you say I'm stupid and stuff and don't know what the political parties are, etc.  You do realize America has a national communist party.  I'm pretty sure they had an anarchist party (although that doesn't make much sense, since anarchy is "no government" and all).  Yes, I do realize the difference between each party.  Let's not quiz me on political science 101.  But I honestly don't think that a president is going to be able to do much as far as political movement is concerned.  And in the end, they're more like a figure-head anyway, since most of the power is in checks and balances between the congress, senate and the executive, and hell, the supreme court could shoot down a bill as unconstitutional if someone bothered to take it that far.

In a president, we'd need decent character.  You guys had me trying to defend myself so much I kind of lost sight of that, but I'll drop that.  Ron Paul doesn't sound like the type of person to have that, although I had only managed to look at the decent propaganda for him.  And after chewing on my lip a little and thinking about it, I think I remember Hilary actually having some of the best character.  Not that I like her.  I will have to do more research into a candidate.

And as far as UHC goes, I've read the documents (finally).  They only speculated at cost and failed to address the doctors who are already around.  If I recall correctly, all doctors have to intern under other doctors -- so even if we brought new doctors in and subsidized their education as an incentive, what happens if the only doctors that were left were poor ones?  Mind you, it's speculation.  Everything is at this point.  But the fact that we're doing very little for the actual doctors who already have finished school doesn't help them out much.  Being a doctor is a well-paid profession -- no doubt.  But I saw estimates at a 30% decrease in a paycheck.  Now, I'm just talking doctor's here.  If a doctor was at $100k/year, that'd drop to $70k under that though.  It could be more, it could be less.  But I think most people would be pretty pissed to see that chunk of change missing.

And about the "liberating" role, I agree.  It is idealist.  I'm not here to spout out that "This is what we have to do."  But it feels like sometimes we should.  But yes, it's not realistic.  But does it feel like it's the right thing to do under idealism?  A little.  People in America are so politically correct now.  It bothers me that you can't walk into a place and say "Merry Christmas" or "Happy Hanukkah" (forgive the spelling if it's wrong) because you might "offend" someone.  Or that you see someone spanking their kid, and someone decides to call in child protective services because the parent is now "beating" their child.

--Terin
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: kentona on February 21, 2008, 05:47:26 pm
I'd just like to point out that healthy people who lead long lives cost the health care system MORE than smokers and obese people.


UHC has it's pros and cons, but the pro of everyone having access to health care is one damn big pro.  And don't look to Canada for the UHC answer - even though our % GDP spending on healthcare is 2/3rds of the US's staggering 16.5% of GDP, we have several difficulties.  Probably because of our low population density (Canada has about 33 million people spread out over a country larger than the US) AND the "brain drain".  Being right next to the US hurts, because the US doctors are so highly paid.  It's not uncommon for canadian-trained doctors from going to the US to practice for 5-10 years and then come back to live in Canada after making $$.

Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on February 21, 2008, 05:52:56 pm
lol can't believe i found this in fyad

50% of Americans believe in Guardian angels. (link (http://www.adherents.com/Na/Na_517.html))
45% of Americans believe in ghosts. (link (http://www.uri-geller.com/polls.htm))
44% of Americans believe that the world is less than 10,000 years old. (link (http://www.religioustolerance.org/ev_publi.htm))
41% of Americans believe that Atlantis once existed. (link (http://www.cryptomundo.com/bigfoot-report/what-americans-believe/))
34% of Americans believe that UFOs of alien origins regularly visit Earth. (link (http://whitewatch.wordpress.com/2007/10/26/13-of-americans-believe-in-ufos/))
24% of Americans believe in witches. (link (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,99945,00.html))
19% of Americans believe that George Bush is doing a good job: http://americanresearchgroup.com/economy/
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on February 21, 2008, 06:49:43 pm
i haven't read all the posts but:

Quote
And just FYI, it was amusing to find that I got about 5 IMs from people today who sent me an IM saying "Dude, Ryan and Steel are pretty left-wing, you should really watch about posting that stuff there.  But yeah, they're totally crazy and from low-income, low-class families in areas where they don't have any conservatives.  They act childish."

Terin you're a huge faggot. i'm from LYNCHBURG VIRGINIA, home of fucking JERRY FALWELL.

i.. i guess i'm just low class scum from liberalsville california
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Terin on February 21, 2008, 07:14:26 pm
I apologized for that already, Ryan.  But if you want to keep it going, that's your choice.

Anyway, I researched Ron Paul a little more.  I'm not saying he's fantastic, but maybe this will explain some of his comments, etc.

For what it's worth...

Why Ron Paul shot down integration:
http://www.lewrockwell.com/paul/paul188.html

Apparently, he didn't make the racist comments in those newsletters, but someone else did.  That's an easy cop-out, so I don't know:
http://www.freemarketnews.com/WorldNews.asp?nid=41822

And finally, why he kind of bashed Lincoln:
http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?t=66449

Now mind you, they're probably more credible to him and from sources that support him.  But I was reading some other things about some of his supporters/employees have been black and didn't see any racism.  I think the first link I posted (his official response to shooting down that integration bill) kind of explains really where he's coming from.  But yeah, I think there are still issues with his problems with homosexuals, and I think someone said something about him having a "right from God to beat his wife?"  Or something?  Does anyone have a specific link to that?  I'm kind of curious.

--Terin
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on February 21, 2008, 07:21:45 pm
or how about instead of copping out so incredibly hard you stand by the fact that you're one of the worst members to ever grace a political topic and you're also incredibly insulting and just generally misinformed?

also yeah i'd love to know who your "homeboys" are (i am a low income, low class person so naturally i am a minority) who were IMing you. a little backbone would be nice!
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on February 21, 2008, 07:35:56 pm
I'm saying that because he had the balls to go out there and do that (as cruel and unfair as it seems), it indirectly helped.
So basically, you're saying that it was good he did what he did, because "it led to something good".

Let's get this straight: Bush was going to strangle embryotic research and thus ruin what many scientists believe is a great opportunity to find a solution to some of the worst diseases that plague mankind.

Do you really think that these scientists wouldn't have invented that new way of generating stem cells if he didn't? Maybe they'd have found out about it later, sure, but I still don't see how we should be thankful to Bush for this. The problem here is that you feel it is okay to take away an opportunity to save lives for some flawed sense of ethics, but when a new discovery is made that makes everybody happy, you suddenly point to Bush and say "look, he's the guy we should be thankful to". We should not. He wouldn't have cared if this research never saw the light of day. He wouldn't have cared about the fact that this may (and most likely will) save lives. He found his ethics to be more important than that, and that's why he tried to prevent it.

But still, you say it's a good thing he did it. Because what your gut tells you is right is more important than important scientific achievements.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on February 21, 2008, 07:39:25 pm
Terin has committed to the most common and worst idea Ron Paul supporters constantly have:  "WELL NOTHING HAS WORKED SO FAR AND RON PAUL IS DIFFERENT THEREFORE HE IS BETTER (AMERICA IS JUST AFRAID OF CHANGE)"
The funny thing is that the main idea behind libertarianism is minimizing the government. And why do they want that? Because libertarians believe that a smaller government, simply by virtue of being smaller, is better.

Like I said before, politics is not the same as cooking.

I'd just like to point out that healthy people who lead long lives cost the health care system MORE than smokers and obese people.
They more than make up for this by being more capable to work for their society.

Still, what you say is true, and it's unfortunate. That's why the government also has the duty to keep its people healthy through campaigns (and legalization, mostly for smokers).

Apparently, he didn't make the racist comments in those newsletters, but someone else did.  That's an easy cop-out, so I don't know:
http://www.freemarketnews.com/WorldNews.asp?nid=41822
In the end, it doesn't even matter whether he himself wrote them. Maybe he didn't, I don't know. The point is that he published them and put his name on top of the articles, implying his endorsement of the content.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: ase on February 21, 2008, 07:45:25 pm
No, Bush rejected embryonic stem cell research because he didn't want all of the world's major diseasis (sp?) to be cured. AIDS and cancer and   MS and FCA (fried chicken affinity) are all God's way of punishing gay people and blacks for thinking they can mess with God's will ("And the Lord made Adam out of the dust of the ground and he was white and procreated with women in order to pass on the image of God to more generations, not because it was a pleasurable act, and it was good." Genesis 1:19).
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Wash Cycle on February 21, 2008, 07:49:04 pm
They more than make up for this by being more capable to work for their society.
actually, most people retire around 65-70 so basically after that they're pretty much just leeches on society. so really the issue that we have is that the longer they live after retirement the more they fuck us in the ass. For instance, what economic contribution do senior citizens provide outside of propping up your local Cracker Barrel or Ponderosa? Or their unwavering support of the cottage industry of nursing homes and the pharmeceuticals? (oh and ruining social security for us) not a whole lot. and they drive slow. and they smell!

so there
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on February 21, 2008, 08:00:18 pm
actually, most people retire around 65-70 so basically after that they're pretty much just leeches on society. so really the issue that we have is that the longer they live after retirement the more they fuck us in the ass. For instance, what economic contribution do senior citizens provide outside of propping up your local Cracker Barrel or Ponderosa? Or their unwavering support of the cottage industry of nursing homes and the pharmeceuticals? (oh and ruining social security for us) not a whole lot. and they drive slow. and they smell!

so there
Argh I hate you, you bumped both my posts off of the page.

It doesn't happen very often that I make such good posts!!

You're right that people retire and then stop working. But they're still spenders, which too is part of the economic development. Though I must admit, you're right, me saying that they "more than make up for this" is an exaggeration. But there's still the fact that people who are able to get health care will be of more use to society. It's not just helping them back on their feet when they get health problems, it's also prevention of sickness. This will actually greatly help the economy in the long run.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: kentona on February 21, 2008, 08:06:06 pm
The point of the study was the debunk the myth that getting people skinny and/or stop smoking won't actually reduce the overall healthcare costs.

We should be motivating people to quit for the right reasons (health) and not the wrong false ones (mo' monies).
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Cho on February 21, 2008, 09:14:26 pm
Quote
Are you seriously comparing a minority of cases against 40 millions uninsured people?

Say what you will be if the other 260 million people in the country are insured you have to wonder if maybe they aren't doing it right.

Quote
I never thought I'd be insulted for the fact that my dad died at an early age and his medical bills crippled my single mother who thanks to right wing legislation could not get welfare, while her minority status ensured she wouldn't get a job that paid nearly as well as her white coworkers were promoted.

You are a walking liberal sob story, and yet, you are now bound for a top tier law school! Mr. Steel you have pulled yourself up by your bootstraps! gg.

Quote
For instance, what economic contribution do senior citizens provide outside of propping up your local Cracker Barrel or Ponderosa?

They are the lifeblood of WalMart.

OK GUYS ARE WE QUITE DONE WITH THE  LAISSEZ'S FAIR BULLSHIT? We've hit all the LF talking points, right down to the automated Ron Paul defense system, how UHC will fix every problem in the United States/Bring about the end of all civilization, and I even threw in "bootstraps" for free.

I hear those Democrats are debatin' down in Texas tonight. No one will win the debate because the "winners" in a  debate are arbitrarily chosen by the news networks.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on February 21, 2008, 09:16:43 pm
I'm the only person on gw who even knows what lf is (at least, I'd assume so seeing how recent it is and how no one seems to react when I mention it on IRC), and this apparently includes you because the UHC topic is in D&D and they mostly talk about why Clinton is even a person to vote for.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Cho on February 21, 2008, 09:19:53 pm
Yeah, because UHC never comes up in LF EVER.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Wash Cycle on February 21, 2008, 09:23:23 pm
Argh I hate you, you bumped both my posts off of the page.

It doesn't happen very often that I make such good posts!!

You're right that people retire and then stop working. But they're still spenders, which too is part of the economic development. Though I must admit, you're right, me saying that they "more than make up for this" is an exaggeration. But there's still the fact that people who are able to get health care will be of more use to society. It's not just helping them back on their feet when they get health problems, it's also prevention of sickness. This will actually greatly help the economy in the long run.
my post was pretty tongue in cheek, but yeah I really dont like old people. I guess working in food service instills that in you after a while. But I agree that working people should be kept as healthy as possible. (also before anyone says it, I dont really care what happens to me when I get old, I dont really want anyone or any system to take care of me and hobble me along for unnecessary extra years... when the time comes I want to just fucking die and not live a pitiful unindependent existance)

You are a walking liberal sob story, and yet, you are now bound for a top tier law school! Mr. Steel you have pulled yourself up by your bootstraps! gg.
fuck you man. I bet you wouldnt say horrible shit like this if you had actually had to live in a situation like that.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on February 21, 2008, 09:28:11 pm
Yeah, because UHC never comes up in LF EVER.

it's pretty rare to see anyone say the opinion that it will destroy anything. UHC comes up occasionally but not really that often. I mean, http://forums.somethingawful.com/forumdisplay.php?forumid=201 I'm looking at it right now, there's not a topic about UHC for the first page. there's a topic about plastic surgery and some candidate on the third page???

that and saying a political subforum devoted to current issues is discussing UHC and then a political topic on another forum discusses UHC isn't some kind of grand observation that GW is suddenly mirroring SA.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: The Truth on February 21, 2008, 09:36:07 pm
LF is by far the most entertaining forum on SA.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on February 21, 2008, 09:51:48 pm
I was confused for a second. I thought we had gone back to discussing Ron Paul, but apparently you're talking about an SA forum.

I am very bad with conputer
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: The Truth on February 21, 2008, 10:42:07 pm
I was confused for a second. I thought we had gone back to discussing Ron Paul, but apparently you're talking about an SA forum.

I am very bad with conputer

lf is ron paul
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on February 21, 2008, 11:21:57 pm
: ( I was browsing this wiki that tracks pedos and

Quote
The most recent controversy (March of 2007) involves polictics and the upcoming presidential election 2008. Ashford found pictures of presidential-hopeful Barack Obama's prepubescent children and posted them on his website, Puellula.com. He then wrote that he was supporting Obama because of how beautiful his little girls were. He did, however, take down the pictures at the request of Obama's lawyers.

http://www.wikisposure.com/Lindsay_Ashford

this is the worst thing : (
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: jamie on February 21, 2008, 11:43:56 pm
poor obamas, and jesus christ that is fucking creepy!
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: ATARI on February 22, 2008, 12:26:32 am
Man that's pretty awful.  Creepy pedos and their creepy websites.  They really shouldn't have websites.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: ase on February 22, 2008, 02:57:12 am
Clinton is totally getting shit on for that "change you can Xerox" comment during tonight's debate.

Obama stood his ground and responded to her comments with lots of certainty and civility, I think.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on February 22, 2008, 03:06:41 am
haha yes she got booed.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: crone_lover720 on February 22, 2008, 03:18:50 am
hahaha YES I loved that. clinton really does pull a lot of petty shit, and it's not at all surprising! it's pretty clear Obama can easily beat her in any speech or debate, which is why she needs to constantly try to slam him and it doesn't really work out for her
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on February 22, 2008, 03:20:32 am
whoa she got booed, really?

someone find a youtube of that after this is over, I don't have a tv.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: ase on February 22, 2008, 03:22:50 am
http://youtube.com/watch?v=mftuZFzS3Tc
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Vellfire on February 22, 2008, 03:29:31 am
Holy fucking shit how can anyone vote for Clinton with her SMUG CHEEK-GRIN she always has

The whole time she has a horrible "HEH YOU AND YOUR IDEAS" face.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Wash Cycle on February 22, 2008, 03:43:03 am
I was never able to figure out before what it was people liked about Hilary Clinton... but over the last few weeks I have been becoming ever more increasingly baffled why ANYONE could like her. Shes like a fucking viper she-devil bitch. (obviously some people arent as tied to likeability as I am, but in defense of myself, someone bitchy and arrogant like she is isn't a good foreign policy person) and what with obama and hilary being so close to each other in the actual issues fuckin hell I do not understand why people are still voting for her.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Shepperd on February 22, 2008, 03:50:17 am
they are close together BECAUSE THEY ARE DEMOCRATS THEY ARE FRIENDS




also



this photo tells me a LOT about hillary

(https://legacy.gamingw.net/etc/www.clevelandseniors.com/images/quiz/famous/bill-hillary-clinton.jpeg)
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Neophyte on February 22, 2008, 03:52:05 am
Damn her last speech. She obviously knew that it was going to be the end of her campaign, so she let out her best speech. I doubt this debate will change anything in the long run though. Hillary doesn't know how to bounce back now that she's the underdog.
I fucking hate how she grins.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Vellfire on February 22, 2008, 03:53:10 am
Oh shit Bill looks like Donal Logue (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0006610/)

(bonus:  i didn't know until now that that was that guy's name, woah)

edit:  When I clicked on that link again the banner on the side was about Hilary
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on February 22, 2008, 03:55:59 am
I was never able to figure out before what it was people liked about Hilary Clinton... but over the last few weeks I have been becoming ever more increasingly baffled why ANYONE could like her. Shes like a fucking viper she-devil bitch. (obviously some people arent as tied to likeability as I am, but in defense of myself, someone bitchy and arrogant like she is isn't a good foreign policy person) and what with obama and hilary being so close to each other in the actual issues fuckin hell I do not understand why people are still voting for her.

NOT

A

NIGGER.

ps thats really it!
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: kentona on February 22, 2008, 04:01:02 am
Holy fucking shit how can anyone vote for Clinton with her SMUG CHEEK-GRIN she always has

The whole time she has a horrible "HEH YOU AND YOUR IDEAS" face.
She reminds me of Miss Piggy for some reason...
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: ase on February 22, 2008, 04:07:06 am
NOT

A

NIGGER.

ps thats really it!
I have personal testimony to prove that this is true!
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Vellfire on February 22, 2008, 05:00:47 am
She reminds me of Miss Piggy for some reason...

This is really true, both of them have mouths that are sort of SINKING INTO their chins.

It's kind of like they were doing surgery on her face and thought they should put some testicles right under the skin of her cheeks as a joke
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Cho on February 22, 2008, 05:16:41 am
Oh Hillary. At least you still have the vote of the Texas Republicans.

Quote
and what with obama and hilary being so close to each other in the actual issues fuckin hell I do not understand why people are still voting for her.

Experience seems to be the most often cited reason, what with her being active in the political process before Obama was even born. (And yet, she still can't run a better campaign than him)

Also, everyone's secretly hoping for a Presidential nipslip and/or "Stepping out of a limo in a dress without wearing any panties" shot.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Mama Luigi on February 22, 2008, 05:26:31 am
The whole time she has a horrible "HEH YOU AND YOUR IDEAS" face.
Hah! I actually laughed out loud at that. It's funny because that's the exact truth.

Also, everyone's secretly hoping for a Presidential nipslip and/or "Stepping out of a limo in a dress without wearing any panties" shot.
Oh my fucking god I hope you get a warn for this (you don't really deserve it but christ that's gross NO ONE thinks that ewwww :blarg:​).
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Xeno|Soft on February 22, 2008, 05:29:17 am
We can photo shop this, where is Dada!?
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Shepperd on February 22, 2008, 05:39:34 am
we have Laura Bush already, move on

also CNN poll says Barack won the debate by 2/3

although we assume Barack already won the internet demographic
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on February 22, 2008, 06:56:26 am
it's pretty clear Obama can easily beat her in any speech or debate, which is why she needs to constantly try to slam him and it doesn't really work out for her
Hmm, I'm not sure about that. I read that Clinton has consistently done very well in debates, to the point where she complained to the Obama camp about him declining an offer to have another debate.

I'm watching it right now, I left my computer on last night to record it.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Shepperd on February 22, 2008, 07:18:25 am
it is just her final speech which just makes us all remember of the NH twist that makes me a bit uneasy.

it seems Barack was having a cold during the debate.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Terin on February 22, 2008, 08:23:10 am
I'm thinking of switching my vote out for the Elder Party now...

http://theelderparty.com/

They're an independent though, so I dunno.

--Terin
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Shepperd on February 22, 2008, 09:09:13 am
as long as they are not any of the main candidates you'll find peace of mind terin
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: BlizzardVeers on February 22, 2008, 09:51:44 am
I am sad that Ron Paul is not more charismatic/younger. If this election was on ideas/ideals/history alone, he'd run over the other canidates.

That said, it's going to be Hilary vs McCain.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: headphonics on February 22, 2008, 10:33:29 am
and it begins anew...
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on February 22, 2008, 10:34:53 am
If this election was on ideas/ideals/history alone, he'd run over the other canidates.
I visit Digg too!
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: bonzi_buddy on February 22, 2008, 11:11:29 am
argon hastily thrusted his bloody axe from the skull of bugbear as more twisted screams echoed from the dark hallway. then he calmly proceeded to wipe the blood (and suspicius substances) from the both sides of his axe to the one of the bodies' dirty rags. he could hear them clear now - the footsteps of new goblinoid wave.
adjusting the tower shield in his left hand, the dwarf stepped into a defensive stance, shield and axe high, and grinned as the first flickers of torches started gleaming and growing in the darkness.
"and it begins anew..."

as long as they are not any of the main candidates you'll find peace of mind terin
hahahahahahaha

Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: jamie on February 22, 2008, 12:45:30 pm
maybe i'm not the best guy to bring this up, but no-one else has.

i don't like the way hilary clinton is getting treated in all of this. it seems to me that a lot of people are just focusing on attacking her personally and the amount of times i see words like bitch, cunt and other gross sexist insults get thrown at her makes me think a lot of it is to do with her being a woman. she gets a lot of flack for not being likable or relatable, or whatever, but really she isn't any worse than many of the other male candidates have been. she's not anywhere near as charasmatic as obama is, but she isn't some cold fish up on the stage.

i don't think i'm stepping out of line saying that a lot of the stuff that is said about her, and there is a lot of it in this topic, comes from a cowardly hatred for an older woman who is trying to make a serious attempt at taking power.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Shepperd on February 22, 2008, 01:14:24 pm
Jamicus, blame Hilary's face, and be sure that it is not because she's a SHE but because she's Hilary and she has unappealing tactics.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Wash Cycle on February 22, 2008, 01:17:21 pm
i don't like the way hilary clinton is getting treated in all of this. it seems to me that a lot of people are just focusing on attacking her personally and the amount of times i see words like bitch, cunt and other gross sexist insults get thrown at her makes me think a lot of it is to do with her being a woman. she gets a lot of flack for not being likable or relatable, or whatever, but really she isn't any worse than many of the other male candidates have been. she's not anywhere near as charasmatic as obama is, but she isn't some cold fish up on the stage.
if she was a man I'd call her a petty piece of shit. bitch is just easier because shes a woman

But yeah BlizzardVeers have you been paying attention to the primaries since Super Tuesday? Hilary has to win like... 60% of the remaining delegates to even tie Obama (which wont happen lol (as in in no contest has she beat obama by more than 5-10%)
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Vellfire on February 22, 2008, 02:08:43 pm
I visit Digg too!

This comment made me laugh so much.  Digg is almost impossible to read when politics are going strong.

maybe i'm not the best guy to bring this up, but no-one else has.

i don't like the way hilary clinton is getting treated in all of this. it seems to me that a lot of people are just focusing on attacking her personally and the amount of times i see words like bitch, cunt and other gross sexist insults get thrown at her makes me think a lot of it is to do with her being a woman. she gets a lot of flack for not being likable or relatable, or whatever, but really she isn't any worse than many of the other male candidates have been. she's not anywhere near as charasmatic as obama is, but she isn't some cold fish up on the stage.

i don't think i'm stepping out of line saying that a lot of the stuff that is said about her, and there is a lot of it in this topic, comes from a cowardly hatred for an older woman who is trying to make a serious attempt at taking power.

I think they use the sexist insults because calling her DICKFACE doesn't really work so well.  I really don't think it has anything to do with her being a woman, it has to do with her being a really really fucking smug woman with a bad attitude.  Ugh, the kind of smugness that radiates from her has nothing to do with being a woman, it has to do with that being her personality.  I'm perfectly willing to just call her an asshole from now on if it enforces the fact that her being a woman isn't the issue.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on February 22, 2008, 02:34:44 pm
maybe i'm not the best guy to bring this up, but no-one else has.

i don't like the way hilary clinton is getting treated in all of this. it seems to me that a lot of people are just focusing on attacking her personally and the amount of times i see words like bitch, cunt and other gross sexist insults get thrown at her makes me think a lot of it is to do with her being a woman. she gets a lot of flack for not being likable or relatable, or whatever, but really she isn't any worse than many of the other male candidates have been. she's not anywhere near as charasmatic as obama is, but she isn't some cold fish up on the stage.

i don't think i'm stepping out of line saying that a lot of the stuff that is said about her, and there is a lot of it in this topic, comes from a cowardly hatred for an older woman who is trying to make a serious attempt at taking power.

here's a funny thing to back up what you are saying; everyone, EVERYONE, in the media said she won because she cried.

and in fact quite a few voters said they voted for her because of how the press was treating her, namely Chris Matthews and his completely horrible attitude.

Hillary Clinton is a bad candidate. she's vacillated on positions in the past and leaned to the right, her experience platform is based almost entirely on the fact we know the name CLINTON, and she was the first candidate to resort to mudslinging. none of that makes her a bitch or a cunt or any other wonderful sexist term.

it's sort of a reverse bandwagon; instead of saying HEH OBAMARAMA RULES you say HILLARY CLINTON MORE LIKE SHITLERY KKKLINTON. it's not just on GW but on other political forums as well.

honestly between Obama and Clinton there are very few reasons to vote for Clinton seeing as how they have the same platform and she's so unlikeable, but the misogyny on the forums is a little much.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: ase on February 22, 2008, 03:15:44 pm
maybe i'm not the best guy to bring this up, but no-one else has.

i don't like the way hilary clinton is getting treated in all of this. it seems to me that a lot of people are just focusing on attacking her personally and the amount of times i see words like bitch, cunt and other gross sexist insults get thrown at her makes me think a lot of it is to do with her being a woman. she gets a lot of flack for not being likable or relatable, or whatever, but really she isn't any worse than many of the other male candidates have been. she's not anywhere near as charasmatic as obama is, but she isn't some cold fish up on the stage.

i don't think i'm stepping out of line saying that a lot of the stuff that is said about her, and there is a lot of it in this topic, comes from a cowardly hatred for an older woman who is trying to make a serious attempt at taking power.
yeah, we talked about this in my feminism class. I tried to stay out of it because I know my TA's and professor are all HILLARY CRAZY but the discussion is fairly interesting. Just the fact that Clinton is the only candidate whose physical appearance is actually analyzed on TV, whereas none of us give a damn that John McCain wore a red tie. And yeah, like you said, when Hillary Clinton shows passion/aggressiveness about a topic she is called a "bitch" whereas a male candidate in the same position is just "strong" or "adamant."

You kind of wonder what the news reaction would be if Obama was caught crying during a dinner party. The professor's argument would be that a male candidate would be simply "caught up in the moment" or "passionate" or "emotional" about something. Hillary Clinton, of course, gets a totally different reaction (not necessarily from the media, who wouldn't dare saying that she's a  "pussy.")
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Roberson on February 22, 2008, 04:32:59 pm
http://youtube.com/watch?v=SZTo0iGc_Dw&feature=related

I am not voting for Obama.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: jamie on February 22, 2008, 04:43:40 pm
your post

yeah i should maybe clarify don't like clinton very much as a candidate i'm just annoyed at the way she gets treated because she's a woman, and surprised how it isn't being addressed (anywhere that i've seen)
 
Quote
I think they use the sexist insults because calling her DICKFACE doesn't really work so well.  I really don't think it has anything to do with her being a woman, it has to do with her being a really really fucking smug woman with a bad attitude.  Ugh, the kind of smugness that radiates from her has nothing to do with being a woman, it has to do with that being her personality.  I'm perfectly willing to just call her an asshole from now on if it enforces the fact that her being a woman isn't the issue.

i think a lot of the time a common kind of man can really over react to any perception of smugness because she's a woman. i'm not saying the smugness isn't there (although i guess i don't really see it), but i think when some closet misogynist picks up a whiff of smugness in a female he gets really really cheesed off.

the other guys made most of the points i should've/would've.


Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on February 22, 2008, 04:50:59 pm
http://youtube.com/watch?v=SZTo0iGc_Dw&feature=related

I am not voting for Obama.

you're fucking kidding right?

one guy doesn't know them offhand, so therefore there are none I guess.

also here's a shocker for everyone reading; very few bills proposed or sponsored by individual congressmen ever get through. VERY VERY VERY VERY FEW. maybe something around the realm of 5%.

Hillary Clinton, who has been around for twice as long, sponsored 100 bills, 6 of which became law. Obama has sponsored 63, 3 of which became law. you can do the same with McCain or anyone running right now.

goddammit don't you have basic government classes in high school.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: ase on February 22, 2008, 05:07:46 pm

cancelledbysbc (1 hour ago) Show Hide Marked as spam
0 Poor comment Good comment 
Reply | Spam
AGREED OUATEDEPHOQUE,

Obama Has Zero Chance In The General Election Once Hillary Supporters Start Following McCain To Avoid The Obama Disaster, Which Is Like Electing A Well Spoken, Black George Bush!
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Roberson on February 22, 2008, 05:09:18 pm
lol. I am fucking kidding. No, we don't have basic government classes in high school. Will that calm your irrational, knee-jerk rage?
Obama is all style and no substance. Throw the word "change" around, talk about vague "plans to save America", the guy still has no qualifications. I don't support Clinton, but that is my take on it. Feel free to unleash the Obama-supporting fire unto me.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: ase on February 22, 2008, 05:12:44 pm
lol. I am fucking kidding. No, we don't have basic government classes in high school. Will that calm your irrational, knee-jerk rage?
Obama is all style and no substance. Throw the word "change" around, talk about vague "plans to save America", the guy still has no qualifications. I don't support Clinton, but that is my take on it. Feel free to unleash the Obama-supporting fire unto me.

lemme guess your voting for dr. ron paul????
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Roberson on February 22, 2008, 05:14:15 pm
lemme guess your voting for dr. ron paul????
I don't see how that conclusion can be drawn, but SURE!!! :gwa:
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on February 22, 2008, 05:16:46 pm
you're pretty dumb!

Illinois State legis from 1996, US Congress in 2004 (where he won by the largest electoral victory in the state's history). that's, what, 12 years? Roberson what's your cutoff? did you know Hillary Clinton has only held a political office for eight years? why would you say he's all style and no substance considering he's apparently been in political office longer than the next contender? McCain's the only one with a real experience vote, seeing as how he's been around since, what, 1982?

as far as his plans: http://origin.barackobama.com/issues/ pretty well outlined here and elsewhere.

why would you come into this thread thinking you could post a youtube the Hillary Clinton people have been sending around, linked from once again TNR, and then say HEY GUYS DID YOU KNOW BARACK OBAMA NEVER DOES ANYTHING? do you think everyone in this thread is that dense?

funny how five pages ago I was the anti-barack guy lol.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Neophyte on February 22, 2008, 05:21:42 pm
http://youtube.com/watch?v=SZTo0iGc_Dw&feature=related

I am not voting for Obama.
I love how people can choose their candidate by watching a short video now instead of doing research.
Dude, read the topic. You can't even back up your claims as to why he isn't qualified when he clearly is.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: crone_lover720 on February 22, 2008, 05:24:00 pm
yeah I can't stand when people call her a bitch either. regardless of how you mean it, if you're a guy it does make you look pretty bad imo

Quote
i think a lot of the time a common kind of man can really over react to any perception of smugness because she's a woman. i'm not saying the smugness isn't there (although i guess i don't really see it), but i think when some closet misogynist picks up a whiff of smugness in a female he gets really really cheesed off.
this is really true. some people would probably be triggered simply by her being confident, or seeming like she's in control. sexism actually does have a lot to do with this, but it's not gonna make me vote for her and I do think she comes off as being a little smug

dada: oh, to be sure. she definitely isn't HELPLESS in a debate and she did pull a couple good moves in last night's, especially at the end there. I'd still call it a victory for Obama though, all her attempts at defacing him went down the drain and she even got booed for it at one point. Obama himself did a really good job though, and imo I think it was safe to say he can out-talk her
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Roberson on February 22, 2008, 05:26:27 pm
I don't support Clinton.
Roberson what's your cutoff? did you know Hillary Clinton has only held a political office for eight years? why would you say he's all style and no substance considering he's apparently been in political office longer than the next contender?
why would you come into this thread thinking you could post a youtube the Hillary Clinton people have been sending around, linked from once again TNR, and then say HEY GUYS DID YOU KNOW BARACK OBAMA NEVER DOES ANYTHING? do you think everyone in this thread is that dense?
you're pretty dumb!
And yes, automatically interpret me posting the video as my ONLY reason for not supporting Obama. Maybe I should've wasted time explaining "This is a funny video" and "I do not support Obama" as separate ideas, but I didn't feel like it. Christ, you'd think if that video was my sole reason for not voting for Obama, I'd say "AND THIS is why I am not voting for Obama"...
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: ase on February 22, 2008, 05:35:09 pm
And yes, automatically interpret me posting the video as my ONLY reason for not supporting Obama. Maybe I should've wasted time explaining "This is a funny video" and "I do not support Obama" as separate ideas, but I didn't feel like it. Christ, you'd think if that video was my sole reason for not voting for Obama, I'd say "AND THIS is why I am not voting for Obama"...
This is quite possibly the most ridiculous trying-to-get-out-of-deep-shit reasoning I have ever heard.

You can't come in to a topic about the presidential race, post ONE YOUTUBE VIDEO and the words "I am not voting for Obama" and NOTHING ELSE and expect people to ASSUME that you have more to say. Laziness is a horrible excuse. If you're too lazy to state your own opinions and instead rely on "*youtube video* THIS THIS x3" then you should not be posting in forums. At all.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on February 22, 2008, 05:35:57 pm
you post a video and say I'M NOT VOTING FOR OBAMA, as if somehow the two were separate

*posts propoganda about jews* I really dislike jews.

whoa guys I was KIDDING here, and honest HERE.

ps Roberson why didn't you address the fact that Obama has four years of experience over Hillary Clinton and that his positions are well outlined? why did you post a propaganda video and then say several untrue criticisms the opposing party and candidate have been trying to use as propaganda and then get mad when you were accused of maybe swallowing propaganda?

did you think no one would notice that I did refute your argument in the post you quoted?
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Vellfire on February 22, 2008, 05:40:39 pm
yeah i should maybe clarify don't like clinton very much as a candidate i'm just annoyed at the way she gets treated because she's a woman, and surprised how it isn't being addressed (anywhere that i've seen)
 
i think a lot of the time a common kind of man can really over react to any perception of smugness because she's a woman. i'm not saying the smugness isn't there (although i guess i don't really see it), but i think when some closet misogynist picks up a whiff of smugness in a female he gets really really cheesed off.

the other guys made most of the points i should've/would've.

...but what about when you're female?  You based that whole argument on how men react to her smugness.  By the way, I felt exactly the same towards George Bush's dumb SMIRK AT YOU face as I do to Hilary's HEH SMUG face.  She just comes off as really arrogant, especially during things like that video of the debates.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Roberson on February 22, 2008, 05:56:46 pm
Fine, I did fuck up by not explaining my stance. The video isn't a good example of anything, I stumbled upon it yesterday and found it interesting. My first post was ill-thought-out, and I understand why I would seem ignorant because of it.

But please stop assuming I love Hilary Clinton/I am getting mad because you're showing Obama's superiority over her. I did not ever say that Obama was less qualified than Clinton, nor did I realize I was posting a "Clinton propaganda" video. I did not refute your arguement because, as maybe you did not read, I do not support Clinton.

I am leaning towards McCain. Because he has much more experience, he's not going to cut taxes like crazy like other Republicans want to do, he is against universal health care, he is in favor of environmental protection, he does not want to pull out of Iraq early, and he doesn't let religion influence him greatly like most Republicans. And that is my stance.  :woop:
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: jamie on February 22, 2008, 06:06:56 pm
...but what about when you're female?  You based that whole argument on how men react to her smugness.  By the way, I felt exactly the same towards George Bush's dumb SMIRK AT YOU face as I do to Hilary's HEH SMUG face.  She just comes off as really arrogant, especially during things like that video of the debates.

yeah i know that's why i said i wasn't claiming that she couldn't be called smug. maybe some people find her that way regardless of gender, but i was making the point that there's a horrible kind of man who would interpret confidence or assertiveness as smugness, and that if they detected even a little bit of smugness, they would let their anger at the sheer audacity of it take over them.

when in comparison they might find bush's stupid grin totally acceptable (it annoys the fuck out of me too)
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on February 22, 2008, 06:19:42 pm
I am leaning towards McCain. Because he has much more experience, he's not going to cut taxes like crazy like other Republicans want to do, he is against universal health care, he is in favor of environmental protection, he does not want to pull out of Iraq early, and he doesn't let religion influence him greatly like most Republicans. And that is my stance.  :woop:

I'll ignore the rest even though it's still bullshit, and address this

Quote
Because he has much more experience

the question is what that experience entails. were this the 2000 election, I wouldn't say anything here, but since 2000, McCain's strong principles and experience has not mattered for much. he vacillated early in this election, and began to pander to the Christian right when before he hadn't. that and experience isn't something magical that means you're better. by this logic, because I've been around GW for a long time, I can pull so much more rank than you. as in, my posts, regardless of content, are more valid, not on the base of the argument, but solely on my join date. experience only matters when someone is lacking any experience. once you've put time in, you are experienced, and the level doesn't matter too much. it just means you might know how to manipulate better.

Quote
he's not going to cut taxes like crazy like other Republicans want to do

he has been against repealing the infamous Estate tax, and voted in 2006 to extend the largely ineffective Bush tax cuts.

Quote
he is against universal health care

there were several pages of discussion on this, and it's clear already you haven't even read the last two pages (no one expects anyone to read 26 pages, but honestly) considering how we beat this to death. regardless, let's grant him this, although I would never say it was a positive.

Quote
he is in favor of environmental protection

this is indeed a good reason to vote McCain. it is also a good reason to vote Obama or Clinton as well.

Quote
he does not want to pull out of Iraq early

McCain doesn't just NOT WANT TO PULL OUT EARLY; he wants to stay in Iraq for 100 years. he is on record as saying this. if you want a slow withdrawal of troops, a timeline, anything that indicates leaving Iraq EVER, you would not vote for McCain.

Quote
he doesn't let religion influence him greatly like most Republicans

he's in favor of DADT, a policy that not only puts a great deal of psychological stress on our very courageous soldiers already in stress situations (imagine if you were in a war zone and if you got spotted with a boner because some hot chicks were taking a shower in front of you) but also dishonorably discharges anyone who is suspected of being gay, he attempted to pass legislation in Arizona to make same sex marriage illegal, he wants to include intelligent design in public education, and he changed his position on Roe vs. Wade in recent years in an attempt to pander to the religious right.

that's a lot of social policies influenced by religion!
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Roberson on February 22, 2008, 06:46:01 pm
I don't see how I can win here, unless I get involved in a lengthy debate and you clearly aren't going to budge on anything, so I don't see the point. Like you said, I am too dumb/ignorant/full of bullshit to argue correctly anyway. I'm not admitting this sarcastically either, you are right. I am a propaganda-spreadin' idiot.

The contents of this post actually prove how dumb/unable to argue I am, right? Pretty cool, I'm doing your job FOR you!
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Cho on February 22, 2008, 06:49:15 pm
Quote
You kind of wonder what the news reaction would be if Obama was caught crying during a dinner party.

The crazy Obama fans (the same ones who denounced Clinton for using such a cheap and dirty tactic) would applaud Obama for having the courage to transcend the expectations of a patriarchal society and show emotion bear his soul. 
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on February 22, 2008, 06:52:46 pm
The crazy Obama fans (the same ones who denounced Clinton for using such a cheap and dirty tactic) would applaud Obama for having the courage to transcend the expectations of a patriarchal society and show emotion bear his soul. 

absolutely. I'd say it wouldn't even be Obama fans saying it, but media as a whole. remember when Gore openmouth kissed his wife? it was a courageous move...

I don't see how I can win here, unless I get involved in a lengthy debate and you clearly aren't going to budge on anything, so I don't see the point. Like you said, I am too dumb/ignorant/full of bullshit to argue correctly anyway. I'm not admitting this sarcastically either, you are right. I am a propaganda-spreadin' idiot.

The contents of this post actually prove how dumb/unable to argue I am, right? Pretty cool, I'm doing your job FOR you!

why did you even post this.

ps this isn't a request for you to post more.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Jeff on February 22, 2008, 06:54:09 pm
Since there is a lot of anger here and I saw the phrase "knee-jerk rage" and I have been hearing some other comments around about the "Ron Paul supporter" accusations, I would like to point out that comparatively, GW is very calm when it comes to partisanship and the like. For instance, I don't hear a particular lot of McCain hate here even though he IS Republican and I also don't hear near as many attacks on Hilary, but if you go to places like MSNBC and look at the comments there you quite literally have a bunch of ignorant people form both sides of the fence senselessly attacking the candidates of the other side based almost solely on the simple fact they are of the other party.

Here at GW we at least have a good deal of intelligent argument and not just MCCAIN SUCKS BECAUSE HE IS REPUBLICAN or HILARY IS A WEAK WOMAN DEMOCRAT BITCH + no substance. Even Steel took the time to address specific things he doesn't like about McCain even though it would have been easy for him to go MAN MCCAIN SUCKS because GW is very leftist and many people would agree with him. So for those of you I see making the GW POLITICAL TOPICS ARE SHIT comments (not just in this topic), I would urge you to rethink your position.

Despite the fact I am a Republican, I have found much of the information in this topic valuable to my decisions in voting, and I am sure I will rely on the information that will be presented in the General Election topic that will be forthcoming after this.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on February 22, 2008, 06:59:49 pm
politico is the worst. every topic about obama literally has 300 people saying "can't.... vote... for muslim"
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on February 22, 2008, 07:01:59 pm
I would also like to point out that the reason GW tends to talk about Ron Paul a bit is because he's such an unambiguously awful choice for President who had the most ridiculous campaign this election, complete with a blimp that flew with one side with a sign on it over South Carolina several months before the South Carolina primaries, while NH had theirs.

it's a very funny if irrelevant campaign that was a lot of fun to watch collapse.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on February 22, 2008, 07:05:41 pm
that and the fact that his supporters tend to generally deny reality and factual evidence
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on February 22, 2008, 07:45:52 pm
maybe i'm not the best guy to bring this up, but no-one else has.

i don't like the way hilary clinton is getting treated in all of this. it seems to me that a lot of people are just focusing on attacking her personally and the amount of times i see words like bitch, cunt and other gross sexist insults get thrown at her makes me think a lot of it is to do with her being a woman. she gets a lot of flack for not being likable or relatable, or whatever, but really she isn't any worse than many of the other male candidates have been. she's not anywhere near as charasmatic as obama is, but she isn't some cold fish up on the stage.
I agree with this. It's not like Clinton is a terrible candidate. I once read a comment on Digg where someone called her "Hitlary". These people know nothing about politics and just like to hike a ride on what Omega calls the "reverse bandwagon".

Even though we got a new prime minister just last year, I wouldn't be surprised if the government continues to devote most of its time to blowing America's dick. So here's hoping that you guys don't fuck up!!
Hey man, what's going on in Australia, anyway? To me, right now Australia is that country that's trying to ban porn. And that's a democratic socialist party. Which is kind of amazing, seen as how such extremities are usually only employed by the conservatives.

[...] he is against universal health care
The U.S. health care system is in shambles and your country is the only one in the top 20 of the Human Development Index that does not have universal health care. Why'd you be against this? I'm asking not because I'm anxious to try and trample your argument but mostly because I'm interested in how one could possibly think that universal health care is bad. What's your argument, what makes the clock tick?
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: The Truth on February 22, 2008, 09:08:20 pm
While I think the sexism is disgusting, don't fool yourselves, just like her husband she is a terrible person and terrible candidate who will use scorched earth tactics to win at any cost.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/2/22/144315/700/681/462064

new today hooray for the clinton attack machine
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on February 22, 2008, 09:20:57 pm
also I'm going to say this here:

HILLARY

HILLARY

I don't know how cutting the Ls down to one even happened but I see the other spelling so much I think I'm wrong sometimes!
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Pasty on February 22, 2008, 09:25:51 pm
he's in favor of DADT, a policy that not only puts a great deal of psychological stress on our very courageous soldiers already in stress situations (imagine if you were in a war zone and if you got spotted with a boner because some hot chicks were taking a shower in front of you) but also dishonorably discharges anyone who is suspected of being gay, he attempted to pass legislation in Arizona to make same sex marriage illegal, he wants to include intelligent design in public education, and he changed his position on Roe vs. Wade in recent years in an attempt to pander to the religious right.

that's a lot of social policies influenced by religion!

not that this makes the actual policy any better but I believe the punishment for disclosing a homosexual orientation results in a general discharge, not a dishonorable

imagine if courts-martial were held for every gay person in the military; that'd be a huge waste of time and resources.

Edit:  Officer in Clinton motorcade killed in accident (http://www.reuters.com/article/vcCandidateFeed1/idUSN2258699120080222)

man, that's pretty bad.  it really seems like things are falling apart on her end :/
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on February 22, 2008, 09:34:35 pm
Quote
WASHINGTON (AP) — Ralph Nader could be poised for another third party presidential campaign.

The consumer advocate will appear on NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday. Nader launched his 2004 presidential run on the show.

:'(
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on February 22, 2008, 09:37:01 pm
not that this makes the actual policy any better but I believe the punishment for disclosing a homosexual orientation results in a general discharge, not a dishonorable

imagine if courts-martial were held for every gay person in the military; that'd be a huge waste of time and resources.

if you say you are gay before you are caught, you get a general discharge. if you get caught and never told anyone you were gay, you get a dishonorable discharge. of course, telling people you are gay means you can't serve anyways, so basically you can't be gay in the military. it's pretty awful.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on February 22, 2008, 09:39:28 pm
if you say you are gay before you are caught, you get a general discharge. if you get caught and never told anyone you were gay, you get a dishonorable discharge. of course, telling people you are gay means you can't serve anyways, so basically you can't be gay in the military. it's pretty awful.

i dont know about you but havin f*gs "protect me" makes me want to  :blarg:
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Pasty on February 22, 2008, 09:43:43 pm
if you say you are gay before you are caught, you get a general discharge. if you get caught and never told anyone you were gay, you get a dishonorable discharge. of course, telling people you are gay means you can't serve anyways, so basically you can't be gay in the military. it's pretty awful.

i didn't know they gave out dishonorables for that kind of frivolous shit.  that's pretty bad!  of course, you'll get a general if you're too fat to do that last pushup, but an otherwise healthy person who is gay is just too much idk
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on February 22, 2008, 09:46:03 pm
honestly, I think too many people are taking this election seriously to waste their vote on a protest candidate.

that and Ron Paul will take away some votes from the Republican candidate when he goes independent.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on February 22, 2008, 09:47:59 pm
plus i am willing to bet obama will beat mccain by like 10% or so (which is huge, considering LBJ was the last democratic candidate to get more than 50.1% of the vote)
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on February 22, 2008, 10:43:27 pm
Whoah whaaaa? Man I hope that's not happening--I've not seen or heard anything about it to be honest. The exception is the banning of alcohol, drugs and porn in the Aboriginal communities, which has been talked about for a couple of years now. It should be noted though that the current party in power is pretty conservative, as is the PM. It's the first time they've run Australia in 10 years, after taking over from a party who were equally conservative (despite being called the Liberal Party of Australia).
So yeah I don't even know anymore man! And uh I really haven't heard anything abut banning porn except for the cases in the indigenous community at this stage.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/technology/web-porn-filter-takes-biggest-hit/2008/02/16/1202760663247.html

Apparently they first made a porn filter. That didn't work. Despite developing it for $189 million, it was a complete failure. Only a handful of people downloaded the filter and it was bypassed by a 16 year old hacker in less than an hour.

So with that plan in the bin, now apparently they want to ban porn by default, which essentially means that everybody who wants to see porn will have to explicitly request the possibility to do so from his ISP.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Jeff on February 22, 2008, 10:44:30 pm
(despite being called the Liberal Party of Australia)
Well, remember that classical liberalism would now be considered conservatism.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on February 22, 2008, 11:00:52 pm

watch glenn beck compare liberalism (and barack obama!) to fascism.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on February 22, 2008, 11:05:32 pm
Liberal Fascism has been DESTROYED by almost every political blog. the dude is pretty much fucked up forever.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on February 22, 2008, 11:07:34 pm
i think glenn beck is my new favorite pundit
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on February 22, 2008, 11:10:31 pm
man, the sad thing about this topic is that it's 28 pages and a lot of it has nothing to do with primaries and if we had a main site up ever in the past three years, you'd know this would be enough to push for a political subforum.

as it is if we made one now it would be pretty redundant. I like this thread because it's the only political thread on gw, but it's also become a catchall for any political trend.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: ase on February 22, 2008, 11:15:32 pm
Well........ we could make a Government & Politics subforum, create like 10 new topics, go through this topic and individually merge each of the 1092 posts into appropriate topics like "Dr. Ron Paul and YOU" "The U.S. Democratic Candidates 2008" "The U.S. Republic Candidates 2008" "Universal Health Care" "Primary/Caucus Results" etc etc

but i don't think anyone wants to do that.......
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Jeff on February 22, 2008, 11:22:57 pm
Well General would lose a lot of activity if we did politics in a different forum, and also I don't know if things will be so political after the election.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on February 22, 2008, 11:41:22 pm
well my point was that if we had enough members around or a stream of constantly refreshing members, the older members could have actually held a political forum together, but since we have no such thing, creating a forum is worthless.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on February 23, 2008, 01:38:07 am
Well General would lose a lot of activity if we did politics in a different forum, and also I don't know if things will be so political after the election.

well i think there would be enough stuff going around for at least the next two years. usually the first year or two of a new presidents term is the most active (new policies-wise)
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Grunthor on February 23, 2008, 02:56:17 am
She reminds me of Miss Piggy for some reason...

She reminds me of Cesar Romero's version of the Joker.  It was great last night when they started booing her for that "Change you can Xerox" line.  Anyways Clinton should really shut her fucking mouth about plagiarism.  She plagiarized her husband with that crap about the hits the average American takes daily and the last line about how they're all going to be fine was ripped directly from Edwards in one of their debates.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: jamie on February 23, 2008, 03:41:49 am
i think a political forum would be fucking great.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: jamie on February 23, 2008, 04:00:41 am
not only that, but this is one of the topics i would feel totally compelled to come in and participate in. it might actually be popular with your random member, too, seing as a lot of it involves opinion and people love talking about their own opinion. obviously there would be a lot of stupid pricks coming in and saying stupid stuff but every so often someone would either learn, think about something they wouldn't have otherwise, and we'd get some pretty cool topics and debates out of it.

i suppose it's not utterly necessary, cos politics can go in the general forum, but a politics forum would probably mean more topics about political stuff, and the poltical topics on this place have always actually been pretty good. it might create another cool little niche community in this place. so if the idea was floated consider me a yes vote.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on February 23, 2008, 04:06:38 am
Yeah me too. I mean, there IS quite a lot happening. The US elections, Castro and the recent events in Australia (new govt., apology to the indigenous population, porn) all provide discussion. There's always somthin' going on so I think there'd be a bit to talk about.

yeah me and jeff talked about it on irc so hopefully one will get made. there's certainly enough political stories going on for a relevant forum. i think he was gonna talk to ds about it.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on February 23, 2008, 04:28:22 am
the thing about a politics forum is that it would mean less shit for the general forum. The ask/tell forum already takes away a good chunk of the general forum content; taking away political topics would mean the general forum would be nothing more than a dumping ground for dumb news topics.

also these ideas are never as good as they seem initially. A whole lot of people wanted to see a sports forum happen and then when it did there were only 2-3 people who cared enough about sports to actually use the forum and it was largely dead for the most part. I think the only way the admins would agree to a politics forum is if someone pays the $30 or whatever it costs to have a temp forum.

but i think unlike the sports forum, which usually caters to a specific audience, (i think) most people are pretty interested in politics. since most of the current events are related to politics and they are generally all-encompassing. not only is this topic reaching nearly 30 pages, many of the discussions within it are equally deserving of their own topics. as for the ask/tell forum, i thought it was a bad idea anyway. it's not nearly specific enough to warrant an entire new forum.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on February 23, 2008, 04:37:39 am
I agree but this also reinforces my first point in that it would mean a lot less activity for the general forum.

yeah but i think something this specific with so much interest should warrant a separate forum. (you could say the same for the movie forum and to less of an extent the literature forum.)

edit: http://www.gamingw.net/forums/index.php?topic=69330
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Shepperd on February 23, 2008, 04:46:43 am
bullshit, most people are just popping an eye on the election season, because it when politics is the entertainment branch of industry, to quote zappa
although I'd like to promote political debates I guess
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: The Truth on February 23, 2008, 05:05:47 am
The failure of the sports forum (Which I feel awful/it's my fault) has expressed to me that gw really isn't SA, we're not going to be able to have the people for either kind of forum.

However i guess we could always try it!
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: headphonics on February 23, 2008, 06:28:04 am
I agree but this also reinforces my first point in that it would mean a lot less activity for the general forum.
how much less activity could it possibly mean?  there's never really been an incredibly large amount of political topics in this forum to begin with, so i don't think the hit would be all that big.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: The Truth on February 23, 2008, 07:18:41 am
What the fuck is wrong with John Mccain? When did he go from being a maverick centrist to being a conservative doushcebag? When talking about castro saying "I hope he has the chance to meet karl marx someday soon"

Like what the fuck KARL MARX, you mean the man who died penniless who was one of our greatest philosophers? He really is one of those douschebags who worships captialism HELLZ YES RONALD REAGAN WON THE COLD WAR
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: `~congresman Ron paul~~ on February 23, 2008, 08:07:06 am
man, marx was a smart guy who came up with an idealist philosophy. if you want to blame anyone for the horrible excesses and atrocities of communism, blame lenin, stalin, and mao
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on February 23, 2008, 09:08:33 am
The failure of the sports forum (Which I feel awful/it's my fault) has expressed to me that gw really isn't SA, we're not going to be able to have the people for either kind of forum.
Yeah, I think that a political forum would probably fail. Like, we're discussing plenty of things right now, but is it really enough for an entire forum? And what about one year from now?
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on February 23, 2008, 02:53:15 pm
What the fuck is wrong with John Mccain? When did he go from being a maverick centrist to being a conservative doushcebag? When talking about castro saying "I hope he has the chance to meet karl marx someday soon"

Like what the fuck KARL MARX, you mean the man who died penniless who was one of our greatest philosophers? He really is one of those douschebags who worships captialism HELLZ YES RONALD REAGAN WON THE COLD WAR

yes. he is now regularly pandering to the ultra-right and the religious right.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Wash Cycle on February 23, 2008, 03:50:44 pm
lol. I am fucking kidding. No, we don't have basic government classes in high school. Will that calm your irrational, knee-jerk rage?
Obama is all style and no substance. Throw the word "change" around, talk about vague "plans to save America", the guy still has no qualifications. I don't support Clinton, but that is my take on it. Feel free to unleash the Obama-supporting fire unto me.
last time I checked a basic government class was a requirement to graduate

also truth maybe it is possible John McCain has a sense of humor and hopes that a) Castro will die soon and b) when he gets to the afterlife Karl Marx will kick him in the teeth for doing a bad job? I dont know I did not hear that quote in context I am just throwing things out there.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Shepperd on February 23, 2008, 04:38:15 pm
man, marx was a smart guy who came up with an idealist philosophy. if you want to blame anyone for the horrible excesses and atrocities of communism, blame lenin, stalin, and mao
or blame marx for confusing politics with philosophy
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on February 23, 2008, 05:40:43 pm
reminder that John McCain went to Baghdad and said the market was safe and the next day because of the increased military presence he brought to the market, terrorists attacked and 21 people (I think) were killed.

then he went on the Daily Show and when John Stewart brought it up he joked about giving Stewart an IED.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on February 23, 2008, 07:36:46 pm
reminder that John McCain went to Baghdad and said the market was safe and the next day because of the increased military presence he brought to the market, terrorists attacked and 21 people (I think) were killed.

then he went on the Daily Show and when John Stewart brought it up he joked about giving Stewart an IED.

yeah that was really lol. sorry but if a market requires a fucking brigade with helicopter support to be called "safe" then it's ...... not really safe at all!
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on February 23, 2008, 07:38:41 pm
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1627025,00.html

this is so good ahahaha tancredo you are amazing

Quote
What evidence would convince you that global warming is a serious threat to the planet? —Jeff Young, SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA

I have no doubt that global warming exists. I just question the cause and what we can do to ameliorate it. But I wonder why the Sierra Club isn't going crazy about the environmental aspects of massive immigration into the U.S. The fact is, Americans consume more energy than anyone else, so if a person moves here from another country, they automatically become bigger polluters.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Mama Luigi on February 23, 2008, 08:16:24 pm
Quote from: Omega the Unknown
the environmental aspects of massive immigration into the U.S.

I want to do that thing where you keep repeating the quote over and over but keep making it in bigger text; however, I'm not sure if that is warn-worthy or not :(
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on February 23, 2008, 08:29:14 pm
YES IT IS DONE.

fyi: on SA this crazy schizophrene Paulsy kept screaming about how money should be "purestrain gold" and when finally answering what it was, said it was gold untouched since the creation of the universe.

IT IS DONE.

(http://www.gamingw.net/pubaccess/57278/99d98bed7ecc0b2d3fe804aaa794187152d08385.jpg)
(http://www.gamingw.net/pubaccess/57278/deba8fa0cd08ff06521645d4e894b9a14bd6d07c.jpg)
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: BlizzardVeers on February 23, 2008, 09:04:54 pm
I visit Digg too!
I don't!

if she was a man I'd call her a petty piece of shit. bitch is just easier because shes a woman

But yeah BlizzardVeers have you been paying attention to the primaries since Super Tuesday? Hilary has to win like... 60% of the remaining delegates to even tie Obama (which wont happen lol (as in in no contest has she beat obama by more than 5-10%)
Yeah. I've just recently caught up. Ahaha. I work nightshift, so I miss a lot of important things.

On that note, I want to vote for Ron Paul but see no point in doing so. I'll vote for Obama over McCain though. Simply because of what McCain has done since Bush became President. McCain is a McTwit, and that Obama might still be young enough not to have been completely corrupted by the idiocy and boy lovers in Congress.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on February 23, 2008, 10:25:18 pm
On that note, I want to vote for Ron Paul but see no point in doing so. I'll vote for Obama over McCain though. Simply because of what McCain has done since Bush became President. McCain is a McTwit, and that Obama might still be young enough not to have been completely corrupted by the idiocy and boy lovers in Congress.
Okay, so you're not voting for Ron Paul because he's not going to win anyway. But then why are you voting for Obama? He's at the complete opposite side of the political spectrum. Obama is a socialist democrat and Ron Paul is a libertarian (which is basically a nicer word for neo-anarchism, just in case you didn't know).

(He also published a newsletter filled with anti-semitic, homophobic and racist commentary, by the way.)

Why exactly do you support him?
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on February 23, 2008, 10:54:18 pm
i like talking ronpaul with omeg because he's just like so confused about everything. it is like THEY THINK THE GOVERNMENT SHOULDN'T RUN ANYTHING AND IT SHOULD ALL BE RELEGATED TO STATES and he is just liek HOW HOW HOW THIS MAKES NO SENSE :( BADLEY CONFUSED.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on February 23, 2008, 11:08:05 pm
i like talking ronpaul with omeg because he's just like so confused about everything. it is like THEY THINK THE GOVERNMENT SHOULDN'T RUN ANYTHING AND IT SHOULD ALL BE RELEGATED TO STATES and he is just liek HOW HOW HOW THIS MAKES NO SENSE :( BADLEY CONFUSED.
And I still just don't get it. The reason why I'm asking him why he supports Ron Paul is not necessarily so I can shoot it down, but because I'm really, really wondering what his exact reason for supporting libertarianism is.

Though, he probably either doesn't really know libertarianism (note: it's not like I'm an expert either; I basically just know their principles, their plans, and their similarities with the anarchist party) or he's very strongly a single-issue voter. Or he visits Digg, but he already said he didn't.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: BlizzardVeers on February 23, 2008, 11:29:29 pm
Okay, so you're not voting for Ron Paul because he's not going to win anyway. But then why are you voting for Obama? He's at the complete opposite side of the political spectrum. Obama is a socialist democrat and Ron Paul is a libertarian (which is basically a nicer word for neo-anarchism, just in case you didn't know).

(He also published a newsletter filled with anti-semitic, homophobic and racist commentary, by the way.)

Why exactly do you support him?
Airforce Surgeon, Is for State Regulation over Total Government Regulation, Doesn't want the government involved in my personal affairs, Pretty clear on what you're getting with him, Brilliant with Economics, Has the correct philosophy on American Military force (Strategic Defense)

By the way, Ron Paul is more of a Constitutionalist on most things than a Libertarian.

There is a difference between Government stepping away from the 'regulate the people' button and being completely gone. Anarchism is similar to Libertarianism in philosophy, but the practice and ideals are different enough that I don't like Anarchism. Government needs to provide Police, Fire Help, Military, etc. They do not need to tell me that I cannot do drugs in the comfort of my own house, tell me I can't get married to someone else, have sex with someone else, etc., since that is an intrusion on my right to happiness. Hm. By the way, the government looking to improve the overall state of the country rather than just the appeasement of certain small groups will work far better than just propping up a single group for a little while. The very fact that you've said that Anarchism is basically Libertarianism shows how little you actually know about something that can simply be wiki'd and read about fully and comprehensively.

Show me this anti-semetic, homophobic, and racist commentary. I want facts, with full details on -everything- said, not just hearsay. Then I want you to prove to me what he's said is not true if taken into the proper context of which it was written.

What I said was that I'd pick Obama over McCain anyhow. Also, a man with good ideas that I don't agree with is still a man with good ideas. I understand that I'm voting for someone that's pretty much the opposite of the one person I said I would vote for and have said that all along, but maybe it's time for someone else with different ideas to step up. It's rather simple to admit that perhaps your ideas are wrong, despite the fact that you believe in them strongly, and that someone else's might be the correct answer.

By the way, way to assume my intelligence level and what I actually know. You're so psychic! :D
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Cho on February 24, 2008, 12:17:16 am
Oh, BlizzardVeers, no.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on February 24, 2008, 12:24:10 am
Airforce Surgeon, Is for State Regulation over Total Government Regulation, Doesn't want the government involved in my personal affairs, Pretty clear on what you're getting with him, Brilliant with Economics, Has the correct philosophy on American Military force (Strategic Defense)

By the way, Ron Paul is more of a Constitutionalist on most things than a Libertarian.

There is a difference between Government stepping away from the 'regulate the people' button and being completely gone. Anarchism is similar to Libertarianism in philosophy, but the practice and ideals are different enough that I don't like Anarchism. Government needs to provide Police, Fire Help, Military, etc. They do not need to tell me that I cannot do drugs in the comfort of my own house, tell me I can't get married to someone else, have sex with someone else, etc., since that is an intrusion on my right to happiness. Hm. By the way, the government looking to improve the overall state of the country rather than just the appeasement of certain small groups will work far better than just propping up a single group for a little while. The very fact that you've said that Anarchism is basically Libertarianism shows how little you actually know about something that can simply be wiki'd and read about fully and comprehensively.

Show me this anti-semetic, homophobic, and racist commentary. I want facts, with full details on -everything- said, not just hearsay. Then I want you to prove to me what he's said is not true if taken into the proper context of which it was written.

What I said was that I'd pick Obama over McCain anyhow. Also, a man with good ideas that I don't agree with is still a man with good ideas. I understand that I'm voting for someone that's pretty much the opposite of the one person I said I would vote for and have said that all along, but maybe it's time for someone else with different ideas to step up. It's rather simple to admit that perhaps your ideas are wrong, despite the fact that you believe in them strongly, and that someone else's might be the correct answer.

By the way, way to assume my intelligence level and what I actually know. You're so psychic! :D

hahaha here we go again.

okay im gonna just copy paste dis post again.

Quote

http://www.tnr.com/politics/story.html?id=e2f15397-a3c7-4720-ac15-4532a7da84ca
http://www.littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=28537_Ron_Pauls_Personal_Details_in_Racist_Newsletter&only
http://www.tnr.com/politics/story.html?id=74978161-f730-43a2-91c3-de262573a129

Quote
Jean McIver, a former Ron Paul congressional assistant campaign manager, will be joining us as our Texas field coordinator. Together they will help direct our crucial Texas program.

(http://www.gamingw.net/pubaccess/57278/pauloops2.jpg)

also found a formatted post on SA.

Ron Paul had several newsletters printed under his name over several decades that were pervasive with anti-semetic, homophobic, racist, and extreme right-wing paranoid conspiracy theory ramblings (http://www.tnr.com/politics/story.html?id=e2f15397-a3c7-4720-ac15-4532a7da84ca).  (The sheer number of craziness, filth, and crazy filth contained in these newletters is staggering; just read the article to see just how deep the rabbit hole goes.) 

Despite denying any connection to these newletters that bore his name--and were published by "Ron Paul & Associates"--for decades, Ron Paul continues to make prejudice remarks, describing those working for the Transportation Security Administration as looking "more suspicious to [him] than most Americans who are getting checked," (http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2007/06/02/ron_paul/index1.html) not to mention that he not too long ago voted against the renewal of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and published his reasons for disaproval with the Act (http://www.lewrockwell.com/paul/paul188.html). 

It is not surprising that Ron Paul continues to make these types of remarks considering the newletters and his legislative past, where he sponsored a bill that would make it easier for private schools to discriminate (http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d096:h.r.3863:), another that would weaken the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d098:HR04982:@@@L&summ2=m&), yet another that would deny Iranian students federal aid (http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d096:h.r.5842:), and finally one that would require unmarried minors to notify parents they requested an abortion or contraceptives, "[prohibit] the expenditure of federal funds to any organization which presents male or female homosexuality as an acceptable alternative lifestyle or which suggest that it can be an acceptable lifestyle," endorse "corporal punishment" against children, and repeal the estate tax--a tax which affects only the wealthiest of Americans (http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d096:HR07955:@@@L&summ2=m&). 

He has also recently published articles stating that he believes that the Left is waging a war on Christmas, that Churches should serve a role in society eclipsing that of the state (http://www.lewrockwell.com/paul/paul148.html), and that he opposes gay marriage (http://www.lewrockwell.com/paul/paul197.html) .  Plus, Ron Paul has recently (6/6/07) introduced legislation that would define life as beginning at conception (http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:h.r.02597:) and legislation that would prevent the Supreme Court from hearing cases on the Establishment Clause or the right to privacy, permitting the return of sodomy laws and the like--a bill which he has repeated reintroduced (http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c110:H.R.300:).  (A list of all the ridiculous bills he has sponsored over the past few decades can be found here (http://dneiwert.blogspot.com/2007/11/ron-pauls-record-in-congress.html).)

Oh, there's more.  SO MUCH MORE!

He was the sole vote against divesting US federal government investments in corporations doing business with the genocidal government of the Sudan. (http://www.govtrack.us/congress/vote.xpd?vote=h2007-764).  He wants to pull out of the U.N. (http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c110:H.R.1146:), disband NATO (http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c110:H.R.1146:), abolish the federal reserve (http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c110:H.R.2755:), reinstate the Gold Standard (http://www.house.gov/paul/congrec/congrec2006/cr021506.htm), believes in New World Order conspiracy theories (http://www.infowars.com/articles/nwo/ron_paul_first_bush_was_working_towards_nwo.htm), believes that the International Baccalaureate program is U.N. mind control (http://www.congress.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?r109:E14AP5-0007:), and...

Aw hell, just take a look at his own website (http://www.ronpaul2008.com/), where he advocates abolishing the Department of Education, the Food & Drug Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Social Security Administration, and a ton of other agencies that provide vital public services.

Quote
The very fact that you've said that Anarchism is basically Libertarianism shows how little you actually know about something that can simply be wiki'd and read about fully and comprehensively.

if I was omeg I would outline these but instead I'm going to lol at the fact you told us to wikipedia shit when I got a bunch of anarchist books right next to me and omeg probably knows more about libertarianism than you do considering how fascinated he is by how stupid it is.

here's a gold standard link: http://econ161.berkeley.edu/Politics/whynotthegoldstandard.html

oh and regardless of what he says about not knowing: in 1990 (remember, he KEPT WRITING THESE after this), he said the quotes were "tongue in cheek, academic" writings.

so he knew.

he KNEW.

and he kept on truckin!
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: headphonics on February 24, 2008, 12:29:26 am
he said he wanted -facts- not leftwing propaganda.  he asks you for cold, hard evidence and you quote a forum post from something awful? heh... try getting us some wiki links before we take your argument seriously.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Cho on February 24, 2008, 12:30:45 am
Unfortunately, your information is simply propaganda that is misleading, inaccurate, and definitely with a political agenda. I am ashamed that I read your entire post. Moreover, you contradict yourself. Van Meses was a jew- so how can Dr. Paul be an anti-Semite. Do your research thoroughly without a political agenda and you will see that your are way off. Thank you very much but no thank you. Note: I am Hispanic and I despise smears.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: BlizzardVeers on February 24, 2008, 01:42:52 am
Well, if you're going to discredit Wikipedia with random websites. I guess I will too.

Quote from: Omega the Unknown
http://www.tnr.com/politics/story.html?id=e2f15397-a3c7-4720-ac15-4532a7da84ca
http://lonewacko.com/blog/archives/007378.html

Quote from: Omega the Unknown
continues to make prejudice remarks, describing those working for the Transportation Security Administration as looking "more suspicious to [him] than most Americans who are getting checked,"
So?

Quote from: Omega the Unknown
voted against the renewal of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and published his reasons for disaproval with the Act.
Lol. Did you actually read the article that you put? This goes with the 'Libertarian' aspect.

Quote from: Omega the Unknown
a bill that would make it easier for private schools to discriminate
It is within the rights of Private organizations to decide who they want to hire and what policies they use. This is freedom of choice.

Quote from: Omega the Unknown
another that would weaken the Civil Rights Act of 1964
Read it and tell me why this is a 'bad' thing. This goes with the Libertarian point of view.

Quote from: Omega the Unknown
yet another that would deny Iranian students federal aid
Why should the United States provide federal aid for education for other countries in general? He's an isolationist.

Quote from: Omega the Unknown
require unmarried minors to notify parents they requested an abortion or contraceptives, "[prohibit] the expenditure of federal funds to any organization which presents male or female homosexuality as an acceptable alternative lifestyle or which suggest that it can be an acceptable lifestyle," endorse "corporal punishment" against children, and repeal the estate tax--a tax which affects only the wealthiest of Americans.
#1: I see nothing wrong with that. A minor is a dependant. #2: I do not agree with this. This goes against things he's said in the past as well.  #3: Know many kids that never got punished? How'd they turn out overall? #4: Leaving out that he wants to allow deductions and exemptions for other social status.

Quote from: Omega the Unknown
believes that the Left is waging a war on Christmas, that Churches should serve a role in society eclipsing that of the state
Have you missed all the anti-religious things spewed recently? And that last part is not what is actually written.

Quote from: Omega the Unknown
opposes gay marriage
No, he doesn't. That's not what this bill opposes, and what this was doing was removing Federal Jurisdiction over marriage. Leaving it up to the states to decide.

Quote from: Omega the Unknown
recently (6/6/07) introduced legislation that would define life as beginning at conception
Unshakable foe of Abortion.

Quote from: Omega the Unknown
the sole vote against divesting US federal government investments in corporations doing business with the genocidal government of the Sudan
This seems odd given his track record on these things.

Quote from: Omega the Unknown
pull out of the U.N., disband NATO
Again. So? I am of the personal belief that the UN causes many problems with countries as you have diplomats that have no fear of reprecussion speaking rather than the countries actually communicating with one another.
Also, he's opting for the US to become a hermit, so, this makes sense from the perspective he's explained.

Quote from: Omega the Unknown
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c110:H.R.2755:
Because he also wants to abolish taxes and go back to Gold.

Quote from: Omega the Unknown
believes in New World Order conspiracy theories
Or maybe the 'New World Order' thing is taken out of context. He wasn't referring to it as a secret group. He was referring to it as a trade union.

Quote from: Omega the Unknown
believes that the International Baccalaureate program is U.N. mind control
Maybe not Mind-Control, but you can't argue that if you're teaching someone generally they're going to believe what you're teaching them. If there's a bias towards something in the teaching, then those people receive that bias.

Quote from: Omega the Unknonwn
http://econ161.berkeley.edu/Politics/whynotthegoldstandard.html
I'm going to receed on this particular subject until I've researched it a little more thoroughly.

So, he's predujice, racist, homophobic, anti-semitic, etc.
Though, at the same time, many of his comments if thought of with the perspective of the upholding of the constitution, of liberty, etc, you can clearly see he's going with the basic of his belief and not going to attack a single group. Since there are instances of him doing similar things when they had nothing to do with the race/gender etc. Outside of Iran, and that plays into the isolationist in him.

By the way, way to just completely dismiss something I say when what I said was, "something that can be wiki'd" and it CAN be wiki'd and learned about rather comprehensively if you've ever bothered to look. Just because it's not written in a book, or because it's on wiki does not mean it's not credible. However, there's a good chance that if it is on wikipedia without source, it isn't as credible.

I understand the Libertarianism philosophy, and I understand the Anarchistic philosophy at the most basic level. That is all I need to know to know that I agree with one and cannot stand by the other.

I've yet to read the news letters, which is why I didn't comment on that not because I'm avoiding it, I don't have time as I have to go to work. :\
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on February 24, 2008, 01:46:47 am
holy shit where do i even start.

christ even the only link you provided is horrible.

okay getting beer before I do this, omeg, if you feel like taking him down a thousand pegs feel free, because chances are I am just going to say YOU ARE A HORRIBLE  HUMAN BEING CONGRATS.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: BlizzardVeers on February 24, 2008, 02:03:55 am
holy shit where do i even start.

christ even the only link you provided is horrible.

okay getting beer before I do this, omeg, if you feel like taking him down a thousand pegs feel free, because chances are I am just going to say YOU ARE A HORRIBLE  HUMAN BEING CONGRATS.
Before you even start, I really don't care, I try look at things from an objective point of view and admit when I'm wrong and where I'm wrong. If I offended you, or made you go, "Homg you're so terrible." I really do not care. My line of thinking and opinions on various subjects are different than yours, get over it. Calling me a horrible human being is no different than me calling you a stupid naive one.

Just because you provide a whole crap load of links that give long drawn out opinions and 'facts' that can be taken out of context in a matter of seconds and I respond with my own and the reasoning for mine in a simple sentence or two does not make your's any more valid.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on February 24, 2008, 02:34:56 am
Well, if you're going to discredit Wikipedia with random websites. I guess I will too.

THOMAS is the government site for bills that senators have proposed. it includes the language of the bill, what the Senators say, and everything. the blogs I linked are all well respected (I could have linked Megan McCardle's well done refutation of the gold standard, but McCardle is an idiot with other things). it wasn't random websites.

Quote
http://lonewacko.com/blog/archives/007378.html

this on the other hand is. did YOU read this? it has all sorts of horrible shit, like the fact that the newsletters mention Paul's children IS NOT EVIDENCE OF ANYTHING AT ALL, it claims that Paul saying you can get AIDS from spit has all sorts of justifications, and best of all, it ignores a lot of the worst things he's said. that and remember where I said he DID admit to writing them in his 1990 campaign?

Quote
So?

that's called racial profiling, and it's completely awful. did you know most terrorist attacks in America are done by white people? maybe you are too young to remember the Unabomber. racial profiling is terrible and no one should ever engage in it. saying that security personnel who might look Muslim or Hispanic are therefore suspicious on the basis of their race is idiotic at best, and hideously racist more likely.

Quote
Lol. Did you actually read the article that you put? This goes with the 'Libertarian' aspect.

you clearly know very little about the fight for civil rights. states have always attempted to say that blacks should not be allowed to vote or have rights. it was the Federal Government that gave them this. by voting against it, Ron Paul took a stance that states should determine if blacks can vote.

I want you to seriously consider this. seriously think about it. remember in Florida in 2000 and Katherine Harris essentially denying Al Gore victory by illegally disenfranchising black voters.

I want you to seriously consider the ethical and social and political implications of repealing the only legislation in place that prevents states from doing this legally.

do you think they wouldn't?

Quote
It is within the rights of Private organizations to decide who they want to hire and what policies they use. This is freedom of choice.

this is a SCHOOL. you cannot teach whatever you want at an accredited private institution, because by nature of it being an educational institution, it must pass legal regulations.

that and consider the ethics of what you are saying. you want to chant FREEDOM OF CHOICE but it's okay for you to chant that because you think that freedom is yours. you don't realize what it means to be discriminated against clearly if you think it's okay to let private insititutions be racist because, oh they should have the choice big govt...stepping on those poor little country clubs...

Quote
Read it and tell me why this is a 'bad' thing. This goes with the Libertarian point of view.

the Civil Rights Act is the reason myself and every minority in this country is still around. read it and tell me why it's a 'good' thing to attempt to neuter it.

Quote
Why should the United States provide federal aid for education for other countries in general? He's an isolationist.

holy shit pal are you kidding. aid for EVERYONE BUT IRANIANS. do you not see how that is awful? how that is just racist shit?

WHOA THAT TOWELHEAD MIGHT BE A TERRORIST BY GUM.

also isolationism is impossible in the globalized world without creating a huge setback. look at the closed cities of China, which had to undergo a radical communist in order to catch up to the rest of the world. doing it now, in the age of the internet and global travel, is impossible.

Quote
#1: I see nothing wrong with that. A minor is a dependant. #2: I do not agree with this. This goes against things he's said in the past as well.  #3: Know many kids that never got punished? How'd they turn out overall? #4: Leaving out that he wants to allow deductions and exemptions for other social status.

a contraceptive.

call your mom

because you have to buy a box of condoms.

you don't seem to understand that a dependent is only a dependent in economic terms. that and countries with this kind of legislation don't experience less teen sex.

they do experience an increase in rape, teen pregnancy, and STDS because fucking is a lot of fun and they will do it without a condom.

I'm going to assume by number 2 you mean you don't like Paul's stance.

I have known children who had "corporal punishment". let's just ignore the shakey language in the bill that defines corporal punishment (WATERBOARD YOUR SON FOR SKIPPING CLASS). I have known a lot of kids who were physically beaten as children.

I also know a lot of criminals who were corporally punished. I know the statistics show that men who were beaten as a child grow up to beat their wives. I know that every single bit of criminological research indicates a positive correlation of beatings and criminal activity in life. it's not a causation because well, it's not like everyone who gets the shit beat out of them becomes a criminal.

but there is a direct link. whatever you think of corporal punishment, the US government should not be defining it to begin with, let alone attempting to legitimize it when speaking of child abuse. it's easy to say that it's okay to beat your kids, and it's quite another when the kids are going to school with black eyes from their dad because they blamed them for mommy leaving.

why repeal the estate tax? WHY. it taxes the rich! good! they should be taxed! we need money, THIS IS HOW GOVERNMENT WORKS.

Quote
Have you missed all the anti-religious things spewed recently? And that last part is not what is actually written.

there is no such thing as a war on christmas. none. there never has been. sorry.

also here we learn a wonderful thing called context.

Quote
Churches as institutions compete with the state for the people’s allegiance, and many devout people put their faith in God before their faith in the state. Knowing this, the secularists wage an ongoing war against religion, chipping away bit by bit at our nation’s Christian heritage. Christmas itself may soon be a casualty of that war.

Paul is saying that churches compete with state. as a result, secularists attack the church. this is bad.

ergo the church should not just be equal to the state (something it shouldn't be) but supercede the state in certain matters, one of which is...Christmas.

Quote
No, he doesn't. That's not what this bill opposes, and what this was doing was removing Federal Jurisdiction over marriage. Leaving it up to the states to decide.

FOOL OF A TOOK.

God, this shit is just unbelievable. do you know what state's rights are? he's saying your right to be married STAYS IN THE STATE YOU GOT MARRIED IN. do you understand that? do you not see how insane that is! DO YOU KNOW THAT THIS IS ONE OF THE FEW POWERS CONGRESS HAS???

goddammit do you not realize that state's rights are just a way of neutering the federal government's power in an area? the Civil Rights movement was nearly ended before Birmingham because the states threw people in jail. we NEED the federal government to have power over these things. you can't just say a fucking marriage ends at a border. you can't arbitrarily shift social contracts. jesus christ that means if I married my wife and went to a marriage free state I could just fuck whores forever and in the divorce settlement she can't bring it up.

arsdagasgsda why should states be allowed to annull marriages when you enter their territory. do you not see how stupid this is?

Quote
Unshakable foe of Abortion.

what happened to Freedom of Choice? you were okay when it was private organizations stopping niggers from getting in school. why can't private individuals deal with their bodies???

Quote
This seems odd given his track record on these things.

every single reasonable paulsy on SA stopped supporting him after this. every single one.

Quote
Again. So? I am of the personal belief that the UN causes many problems with countries as you have diplomats that have no fear of reprecussion speaking rather than the countries actually communicating with one another.

you...don't know what the UN does do you?

why would we withdraw from the UN? because they have peacekeeping operations?

this idea that diplomats don't represent their countries...christ, Ralph Bunche is rolling in his grave.

Quote
Also, he's opting for the US to become a hermit, so, this makes sense from the perspective he's explained.

but it doesn't make sense from any other context. why would we EVER go to isolationism? I said this already, but this would cripple any first world nation. you would never ever get back to first world, without once again some type of revolution. globalization is real, why would you try and HIDE from it?

Quote
Because he also wants to abolish taxes and go back to Gold.

have you used a library ever.

under Ron Paul, they won't exist. taxes pay for things. very very very important things. people would die if you didn't pay your taxes. it's that simple. they. will. die.

the gold standard is stupid and I linked a decent explanation but it's also hard to link every economic school of thought that isn't hilariously outmoded that knows this.

Quote
Or maybe the 'New World Order' thing is taken out of context. He wasn't referring to it as a secret group. He was referring to it as a trade union.

oh lord. did you not read where he mentioned the UN? did you not notice the CONSPIRACY THEORY SHIT HE WAS SAYING? he believes there is a fucking NWO.

Quote
Maybe not Mind-Control, but you can't argue that if you're teaching someone generally they're going to believe what you're teaching them. If there's a bias towards something in the teaching, then those people receive that bias.

BUT THERE ISN'T

IB PROGRAMS ARE LIKE FUCKING NATIONAL HONORS SOCIETIES.

JESUS FUCKING CHRIST.

Quote
So, he's predujice, racist, homophobic, anti-semitic, etc.
Though, at the same time, many of his comments if thought of with the perspective of the upholding of the constitution, of liberty, etc, you can clearly see he's going with the basic of his belief and not going to attack a single group. Since there are instances of him doing similar things when they had nothing to do with the race/gender etc. Outside of Iran, and that plays into the isolationist in him.

but that's the fucking problem. that is why omeg said I DONT' GET IT. the basics of the belief are abhorrent. the basics of his belief are that if you remove every single pieces of social legislation and key parts of economic legislation, somehow magically it won't recess society into the dark ages.

Quote
By the way, way to just completely dismiss something I say when what I said was, "something that can be wiki'd" and it CAN be wiki'd and learned about rather comprehensively if you've ever bothered to look. Just because it's not written in a book, or because it's on wiki does not mean it's not credible. However, there's a good chance that if it is on wikipedia without source, it isn't as credible.

man, omeg and I know our shit. I'd even say I know it better than omeg, because this was totally my shtick for a month. I read bakunin and de bord and all those guys like two years ago. we don't need to be told to fucking WIKI THE DIFFERENCE, we know there isn't that much, which I'm going to outline.

Quote
I understand the Libertarianism philosophy, and I understand the Anarchistic philosophy at the most basic level. That is all I need to know to know that I agree with one and cannot stand by the other.

but you don't see how taking a federal government and separating it into 50 jabbering, Balkan League-esque, sub governments would possibly be a bad idea?

that and when you say everything is at the state leve, what stops you from saying it should be even further local?

the difference between anarchism and libertarianism is that libertarianism endorses hiearchical capitalism and while anarchism is kind of hilarious a lot it at least wants to get rid of classism!

CAPTAINS.
OF.
INDUSTRY!!!!

Before you even start, I really don't care, I try look at things from an objective point of view and admit when I'm wrong and where I'm wrong. If I offended you, or made you go, "Homg you're so terrible." I really do not care. My line of thinking and opinions on various subjects are different than yours, get over it. Calling me a horrible human being is no different than me calling you a stupid naive one.

Just because you provide a whole crap load of links that give long drawn out opinions and 'facts' that can be taken out of context in a matter of seconds and I respond with my own and the reasoning for mine in a simple sentence or two does not make your's any more valid.

the fact I've done this at least five times before you have and knew about the horribly bigoted newsletters might lend me a bit more credibility tho.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Pasty on February 24, 2008, 07:26:11 am
anyone have a picture of these mailers (http://www.abcnews.go.com/Politics/Vote2008/story?id=4334724&page=1) everyone is all up in arms about?  I'd like to know what was on them.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on February 24, 2008, 12:17:00 pm
Man. I was asleep, sorry. Looks like I missed out on the first round.

Let me just start at the beginning. Lots of things have already been said, but I have some ADDENDA.

Well, if you're going to discredit Wikipedia with random websites. I guess I will too.
I'd just like to note something about the reliability of Wikipedia here. While there's no doubt that Wikipedia is an extremely good resource on pretty much every relevant topic, with well-sourced articles that form a good starting point for broader research. The problem that most easily arises in these topics, however, is also the least obvious one to the uninformed reader: bias. There are some articles on Wikipedia, for example the one about Ron Paul, in which some things are purposely omitted or written in a sense that would give the reader a certain opinion about the subject matter. These things are not very easily helped unless there are a couple of editors willing to put in many hours to fix up the article. This is a pitfall that you must avoid.

voted against the renewal of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and published his reasons for disaproval with the Act.
Lol. Did you actually read the article that you put? This goes with the 'Libertarian' aspect.
This is something I see more libertarians do: they assume they're right. For what reason, I don't know. You think it's not a bad thing that Ron Paul voted against the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which, by the way, is what Martin Luther King, Jr. (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a5/Martin-Luther-King-1964-leaning-on-a-lectern.jpg) died for, because it "fits perfectly with the fact he is a libertarian". About the right to vote, King said the following: "We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote." This was the reality: in some states, you simply could not vote if you were black. It wasn't until the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that it was determined that there should be no discrimination in this regard. Everybody was given the ability to vote.

By removing the Federal Government's authority to determine that everyone should be able to vote, what do the libertarians hope to gain? They think it's better to let the states decide this. Basically, when allowing this, all that's really happening is it's becoming easier for a state to take away that right.

Yet, you say his disapproval of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 makes sense because "he's a libertarian".

(And I'm the big loser here because I still don't get it.)

Read it and tell me why this is a 'bad' thing. This goes with the Libertarian point of view.
There you go again. You that that since "it's the libertarian point of view", it's good. You provide me with no insight as to why, aside from the fact that "it's a libertarian principle". I know by now that you like libertarianism, but I still don't know why.

For your information, this is why I initially suggested that maybe you don't know too much about the phenomenon to begin with. Many people who say they support Ron Paul are simply not able to explain themselves very well.

By the way, I never suggested anything about your intelligence, like you claim. I don't think you're not intelligent. What I do think, however, is that you're going with a political ideology that seems very attractive from a distance, but in reality is a dreamt up attempt to tear down the greatest political and human rights developments of the past century. You need to do more research into this. I'm sure you'll realize at some point that the things libertarians want will effect the very basic things we take for granted, such as the right to vote, for example. I'm sure you don't want that, because I do think you have a head on your shoulders with a brain inside that's capable of realizing the positive advances that the past century has brought.

No, he doesn't. That's not what this bill opposes, and what this was doing was removing Federal Jurisdiction over marriage. Leaving it up to the states to decide.
And again, there is no explanation as to why this would be good. I'll take a wild stab in the dark here and guess that it's good because "it's libertarian".

It's true, allowing states to decide whether they recognize a marriage is a libertarian principle. They believe that states are better off deciding on these things.

Then I raise the following point, which Omega also mentioned: what if some states won't recognize someone's marriage? Would that mean they simply should try to avoid those states? Let me just paint one of many possible scenarios here: two people get married, then go to a state that won't recognize their marriage. Disaster strikes. They get involved in a terrible car crash that puts one of the two in a coma. His living will states that his spouse is permitted to decide whether to turn off life support. However, that spouse is suddenly nonexistent, as the state they're in refuses to recognize him or her. Then what?

Or what if someone who is married goes to another state that does not recognize his marriage and then marries someone else? It would be a gigantic legal mess.

And this also clearly shows one of the biggest problems with libertarianism: why should someone have different rights in different parts of one sovereign country? What is there to gain from this?

Again. So? I am of the personal belief that the UN causes many problems with countries as you have diplomats that have no fear of reprecussion speaking rather than the countries actually communicating with one another.
I've always hoped that I wouldn't have to explain why leaving the United Nations (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2f/Flag_of_the_United_Nations.svg/640px-Flag_of_the_United_Nations.svg.png) is a bad thing.

Before we turn to this, let me first show you a map of the members of the United Nations (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5e/United_Nations_Members.PNG). Take a good look. I'm not sure whether you paid attention during geology class, but the only real country that isn't a member is Western Sahara, (which is due to the fact its political control is currently unclear). This is just so you can get an image of the reach of this organization.

With that in mind, we turn to the purpose of the U.N., which is to assist cooperation for the purpose of social progress, human rights, economic development and international security. The U.N. is an organization that intervenes when two or more parties have a conflict, thereby preventing war (or civil war), and attempts to bring about concerted efforts towards improving the situation in impoverished countries.

The U.N. has been criticized a lot, and there have been times where they simply failed in their efforts, but it's not exactly a flash in the pan. It has been recognized as a serious contributor to the drop in violent conflicts around the world. Here's what the first Human Security Report, written in 2005, had to say: "The first Human Security Report documents a dramatic, but largely unknown, decline in the number of wars, genocides and human rights abuse over the past decade. Published by Oxford University Press, the Report argues that the single most compelling explanation for these changes is found in the unprecedented upsurge of international activism, spearheaded by the U.N., which took place in the wake of the Cold War."

Ron Paul wants to denounce its membership of this organization, and for what reason? Because you believe it's better if countries communicate with each other directly rather than through the mediation of the U.N.? If it weren't for their mediation, the world would be a much more violent place today. That's also why so many countries are a member of the U.N.: because it does work, despite the fact they failed to prevent some bloody conflicts from occurring. It's true that they could have done more in the Rwanda, Congo and Srebrenica. It's true there's currently an ongoing conflict in Darfur that has now largely dimmed down but should have gotten more attention before. But what good will leaving the U.N. do? Will that somehow solve all these problems? It's a very strong protest, I agree, but it does not pose a substantial solution, does it?

Or perhaps you don't care about the U.N. at all and feel that the U.S. should be isolated from the rest of the world, which is also one of the things Ron Paul wants. I don't understand this, as it doesn't take international security into account. Keep in mind that the U.S. has soldiers in more places than just Afghanistan and Iraq. Suddenly leaving all these places will likely cause a shock wave of violence to occur in those regions. There's no realistic possibility of international organizations, like the U.N., being able to replace those forces all at once. Isolationism, all economic repercussions notwithstanding, would also be a security disaster, not only to the world, but evidently also to the U.S. itself.

Also, he's opting for the US to become a hermit, so, this makes sense from the perspective he's explained.
But why is this good?

I get it, he wants it because he's an isolationist. He wants to leave the U.N. too. But what is the merit of this position? What good can possibly come from it?

These are the things that I hardly, if ever, see Ron Paul supporters explain.

So, he's predujice, racist, homophobic, anti-semitic, etc.
Though, at the same time, many of his comments if thought of with the perspective of the upholding of the constitution, of liberty, etc, you can clearly see he's going with the basic of his belief and not going to attack a single group.
The interesting thing here is that Ron Paul supporters usually say that they don't trust other politicians, or that other candidates have shown themselves to be unreliable in the past. They say that Ron Paul is a man you can trust. ("Honesty" and "trust", weren't those John McCain's calling cards in 2004? "I will say things that you'll want to hear, and I'll say things that you won't want to hear. But I'll always tell the truth.")

So, what is exactly the reason for trusting him? He doesn't exactly have an edge over the other candidates. What has he ever done that would make us all trust him?

On the contrary, one must consider that saying politically incorrect things is entirely off-limits if a Republican nomination is seriously the goal. Would Ron Paul be able to gather any support if he actually made racist and anti-semitic comments? No. Especially with a black candidate poised to take the nomination for the Democratic party, that simply is not possible in this day and age. That's why he has not made such comments during his race and is currently distancing himself from the disparaging comments that were made in the Ron Paul Political Report in the early 90s.

It's not very hard to understand why he would stress his desire to "uphold the constitution". It's his strongest defense against the comments that were published in his newsletter articles. It gives people the ability to support him even if they believe he really is a racist; since he would "obviously never act upon those beliefs". This was also said when a video was posted on Digg in which Ron Paul claimed to "not accept the theory of evolution". It was said that "he obviously would not act upon his belief", and that "evolution cannot be definitely proven". The former is just plain funny, as the purpose of running for president is gaining the ability to strongly influence the country to take the direction you believe is right, so it makes no sense that he would not also make his personal beliefs an issue. The latter is simply incorrect. Admittedly, it's true that the theory of evolution cannot be proven to be right in the same way that 2+2 is proven to be 4, but that's because empirical claims made in science can never be proven to be logically necessary, as they depend on certain unproven assumptions about our world. However, if that's a reason for claiming that evolution is unproven, there's also no proof to claim that the Earth is round, or that the Earth exists at all. This sounds complicated, but when you think about it, it's really common sense (to most people).

Still, Ron Paul supporters will gladly assume that it's perfectly acceptable to defy logic and centuries of scientific development for the sake of believing Ron Paul is righteous and will not betray our rights, despite the fact he has made it very clear that his views conflict with what we consider to be right. Such as the position of evolution as a proven theory that children should learn about in school. But what reason do we really have to assume that this is the case? Ron Paul supporters say that he would never remove the right of black man to vote, but he voted against renewal of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. That's because that's what a politician does. They don't just state what they feel, they act upon their beliefs and try to get their jurisdiction to take the direction they want it to take. That's the entire purpose of his political career and his current candidacy.

I understand the Libertarianism philosophy, and I understand the Anarchistic philosophy at the most basic level. That is all I need to know to know that I agree with one and cannot stand by the other.
It's true, there are differences between anarchism and libertarianism. The label I gave to the latter was not incorrect, though. You can accurately think of libertarianism as "neo-anarchism", despite that not being any officially recognized or associated label.

Basically, both schools of thought find that a large government is inherently bad and should be either minimized or abolished. Why do they want this? Both agree that a smaller government, simply by virtue of being smaller, is better. Anarchism is more extreme in that regard, but both generally follow the same line. Modern libertarians who aren't shy of comparing the two (apparently, many are; that's not surprising) probably will think of libertarianism as "anarchism done right".

Like said, the main differences between the two are that libertarians want to keep their government, yet minimized as much as possible, while most anarchistic philosophies want to completely abolish it; and libertarians endorse hierarchical capitalism. Being able to support one and oppose the other is entirely possible, but the differences between the main lines of both philosophies are really not that great in many regards. So, logically, you should not condemn the other one so strongly. I actually don't know why you specifically disagree with anarchism. I'm guessing it's these two main differences that were mentioned, since those are the most important ones, but it would be nice if you'd specify your disagreement.

I think the main difficulty when arguing with a Ron Paul fanatic is the fact that they usually don't have that many solid and proven arguments to back up their beliefs. It's all very intuitive to them, it seems. That's partially because libertarianism simply doesn't have any success stories. Many of their individual points, if taken apart and traced back to actual occurrences "in the wild", really don't seem to be working very well. But that's not even illogical, seen as how libertarianism would tear down some important developments of the past century. How can that be good? It's as if a bunch of people decided to make a collection of ideas that are either unproven or proven to be bad. They gave it a name and started riding on the sentiment that personal freedom is important. It is, but there are some freedoms we shouldn't have, as they're proven to be bad. Such as the freedom to revoke the black man's right to vote.

And please note that this isn't a personal attack against you. It's an attack against libertarianism as a whole. And I'm sure that, if you were to do the appropriate research into the subject, you'd also conclude that there is no real way these ideas would work in practice. As for your support for Ron Paul, well, I'd reconsider that! Especially if, for some strange reason, you feel that Barack Obama is your second choice. That's really the strangest thing about all of this. The reason why I suggested before that you simply don't know too much about libertarianism is actually based upon that. I actually don't think there are other candidates that are further apart than Barack Obama and Ron Paul.

If you're going to vote for Barack Obama, then that's great, but I do think you should do it for the right reasons!
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on February 24, 2008, 12:19:01 pm
Man, I spent like an hour on this post. I am not good at conputer

EDIT: (http://gamingw.net/pubaccess/28695/Picture%2014_2.png)

Yes it does.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Phanixis on February 25, 2008, 03:25:36 am
Glad to see we have another Ron Paul supporter, Blizzard.  Let's see if I can't help you rebutt some of these claims.  Let's go back to the source:

Quote
Ron Paul had several newsletters printed under his name over several decades that were pervasive with anti-semetic, homophobic, racist, and extreme right-wing paranoid conspiracy theory ramblings.

This material was published by writers other then Paul.  At the time of publication, Ron Paul was working as a Gynecologist and not as a Congressman, resulting in a clear lack of oversight over his publications.  He has publically apologized and taken moral responsiblity for allowing such racist views to be published in his newsletter.

Quote
Despite denying any connection to these newletters that bore his name--and were published by "Ron Paul & Associates"--for decades, Ron Paul continues to make prejudice remarks, describing those working for the Transportation Security Administration as looking "more suspicious to [him] than most Americans who are getting checked,"

This is just criticism of the TSA.

 
Quote
not to mention that he not too long ago voted against the renewal of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and published his reasons for disaproval with the Act. 


What Ron Paul voted against was a bill called House Resolution 676, which celebrated the 40th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act, not the renewal of the Civil Rights Act, because he wished to expressed grievances over the additional regulation of businesses that resulted.

Quote
It is not surprising that Ron Paul continues to make these types of remarks considering the newletters and his legislative past, where he sponsored a bill that would make it easier for private schools to discriminate,

This is a minor change in the IRS's ability to evaluate private schools, it is difficult to tell what the actual effect would without more background and the portion of IRS code this is effecting.

 
Quote
another that would weaken the Civil Rights Act of 1964,


This is a prohibition against forced busing, no problems here.

Quote
and finally one that would require unmarried minors to notify parents they requested an abortion or contraceptives,


For a pro-life candidate, this is about as reasonable as a pro-life bill is going to get.  Minor's need to get there parent's written permission just to bring some aspirin to school, yet they can off an unborn child without even having to tell their parent's about it!  Mind you, they can still perform the abortion without their parent's approval, this only ensures that their parents will be aware of it.

Quote
"[prohibit] the expenditure of federal funds to any organization which presents male or female homosexuality as an acceptable alternative lifestyle or which suggest that it can be an acceptable lifestyle," endorse "corporal punishment" against children, and repeal the estate tax--a tax which affects only the wealthiest of Americans. 


The bill in this link does appears to be entirely different from what is described here.  However, in regard to the estate tax, this tax takes approximately 50% of the accumulated wealth of an individual upon his death.  Now besides the fact that the individual already paid taxes on this money when he earned it, and by all rights should be allowed to pass it on to his children, it also carries a nasty practical effect.  Private business in the individuals name will be taxed, essentially forcing the business to pay 50% of its value to the government.  Because it is unlikely any small business can suddenly sell off 50% of its assets and still remain intact, this forces the individual inheriting the business to sell off the entire business in order to pay the estates tax on the business.  The ultimate result is that small businesses are unlikely to survive their owner's death.  They instead get bought up by corporation which are not effecting by the estates tax, resulting in the consulidation of large numbers of small family business in to fewer, incorporated businesses.

Quote
He has also recently published articles stating that he believes that the Left is waging a war on Christmas, that Churches should serve a role in society eclipsing that of the state

He is a Christian, he just wants individuals to be able to openly celebrate Christian holidays.  I would hardly call that believing in a war on Christmas.  The link provides no evidence for your second claim.

Quote
, and that he opposes gay marriage


No, he is merely ensuring that the state's retain authority over marriage license.  The state's are currently responsible for marriage license, and have also shown a greater willingness to accept gay marriages than the federal government, which the religious right as been attempting to use to block gay marriages.  So protecting the states from federal courts may actually be helpful towards gay rights.

Quote
Plus, Ron Paul has recently (6/6/07) introduced legislation that would define life as beginning at conception and legislation that would prevent the Supreme Court from hearing cases on the Establishment Clause or the right to privacy, permitting the return of sodomy laws and the like--a bill which he has repeated reintroduced.  (A list of all the ridiculous bills he has sponsored over the past few decades can be found here.)

Being a Christian, he believes life begins a conception.  The link you provided provides no evidence for the other claims.

Quote
He was the sole vote against divesting US federal government investments in corporations doing business with the genocidal government of the Sudan.

Incidentally, this is also the bill that defines the civil war in Sudan as a genocide, perhaps he considered it just a civil war and not genocide.

Quote
He wants to pull out of the U.N.
,

The U.N. has an annoying habit of pulling us into wars we do not need to be in.

Quote
disband NATO,


NATO was formed to counter the threat the Soviet Union presented to the Western world.  Seeing as how their is no longer a Soviet Union, I don't see anything wrong with disbanding NATO.  What is wrong with temporary alliances anyway?

Quote
abolish the federal reserve,

It has been constantly devaluaing the dollar over the majority of the past century, and needs to go.

Quote
reinstate the Gold Standard,

We could use money that will retain its value.

Quote
believes in New World Order conspiracy theories,

He mentioned it in passing.  New World Order is a vague term that could mean several things.  It is not necessarily an endorsement of a conspiracy theory.

Quote
believes that the International Baccalaureate program is U.N. mind control, and...

Some criticism of particular ideologies being pushed on college students, but nothing about U.N. mind control.

Quote
Aw hell, just take a look at his own website, where he advocates abolishing the Department of Education, the Food & Drug Administration, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Social Security Administration, and a ton of other agencies that provide vital public services.

That is the general idea.

Quote
if I was omeg I would outline these but instead I'm going to lol at the fact you told us to wikipedia shit when I got a bunch of anarchist books right next to me and omeg probably knows more about libertarianism than you do considering how fascinated he is by how stupid it is.

here's a gold standard link: http://econ161.berkeley.edu/Politics/whynotthegoldstandard.html

oh and regardless of what he says about not knowing: in 1990 (remember, he KEPT WRITING THESE after this), he said the quotes were "tongue in cheek, academic" writings.

so he knew.

he KNEW.

and he kept on truckin!

Ok, in regard to the Great Depression being caused by the Gold Standard and the resulting deflation, two things need to be mentioned.  Please note that inflation and deflation are positive and negative changes in the consumer price index respectively:

1.) The price deflation that is so often mentioned as a cause of the Great Depression did not happen until after the market crash of 1929 and the Depression began.  Furthermore, the United States was actually accumulating gold during that time, meaning that the price deflation after 1929 was the result of the Federal Reserve removing federal reserve notes from circulation.

2.) Prior to the 1920s, their was a huge surge in the consumer price index, which rose from 9.9 in 1913 when the Federal Reserve was created to 20.0 in 1920.  During the 1920s, their was a contraction in prices for the first two years, but then in remained relatively constant around 17.1 until the market crash of 1929.  Therefore, the volatile 1920s followed a massive expansion in credit during the 1910s, and despite a two year contraction, prices during this time were nearly twice as high as in 1913.  Therefore, any claims in regard to the Great Depression being a result of prior deflation simply are not true, because with the exception of 1920-1922, deflation was not even taking place, and the 1920-1922 are minor compared to inflation occuring during the 1910s.

3.) The Federal Reserve obviously had plenty of power to expand the money supply despite the gold standard, seeing as how in managed to double the consumer price index in less then a decade.

Below is a table I obtained from the Bureau of Labor Statistics containing the data I am describing:

Year  CPI

1913 9.9
1914 10.0
1915 10.1
1916 10.9
1917 12.8
1918 15.1
1919 17.3
1920 20.0
1921 17.9
1922 16.8
1923 17.1
1924 17.1
1925 17.5
1926 17.7
1927 17.4
1928 17.1
1929 17.1
1930 16.7
1931 15.2
1932 13.7
1933 13.0
1934 13.4
1935 13.7
1936 13.9
1937 14.4
1938 14.1
1939 13.9
1940 14.0
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: The Truth on February 25, 2008, 05:53:25 am
It's almost like this topic is the movie groundhog day

idiotic paulsy pops up, spouts nonsense.

proof is put forth that ron paul is a racist/bigot/etc, paulsies say WAS NOT HIM HE SAID SO (when he openly admitted to this during his 1990 election to the house as said above).

....just like atlas..... truth.... shrugged
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on February 25, 2008, 06:33:41 am
Quote
This material was published by writers other then Paul.

no they weren't, no writer ever stepped forward, no writer was ever disclosed, the "writers" had the odd and queer foresight to write as if he was Paul many many times, he hired the man distributing his letters for his campaign, and in 1990 he claimed authorship of them by saying they were academic tongue in cheek quotes. and if all if this was untrue it doesn't change the fact that this is just criminally irresponsible and he shouldn't be President if he can't check racism in a small newsletter he's been running for decades that he signs off on personally.

Quote
This is just criticism of the TSA.

exclusionary, buddy, it was a racist criticism of the TSA.

Quote
What Ron Paul voted against was a bill called House Resolution 676, which celebrated the 40th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act, not the renewal of the Civil Rights Act, because he wished to expressed grievances over the additional regulation of businesses that resulted.

ah yes this is so much better when you vote against a celebration because it stopped people from kicking out niggers.

Quote
This is a minor change in the IRS's ability to evaluate private schools, it is difficult to tell what the actual effect would without more background and the portion of IRS code this is effecting.

the effect would be that private schools could now discriminate and the IRS can't check them on it, thanks for playing.

Quote
This is a prohibition against forced busing, no problems here.

the Civil Rights Act and the "forced busing" was the only way people could stop racists like Paul from preventing them from getting their rights. don't say no problems. I and every minority have a huge problem with repealing it.

Quote
For a pro-life candidate, this is about as reasonable as a pro-life bill is going to get. 

for a libertarian its completely ridiculous and an infringement on a woman's rights.

Quote
The bill in this link does appears to be entirely different from what is described here.

no it isn't. glad to see you've bought into the jargon of the estate tax instead of the reality and figured out something every single political economic theorist hasn't though. you sure are a clever one.

Quote
He is a Christian, he just wants individuals to be able to openly celebrate Christian holidays.  I would hardly call that believing in a war on Christmas.

Quote
The War on Religion
Quote
Knowing this, the secularists wage an ongoing war against religion, chipping away bit by bit at our nation’s Christian heritage. Christmas itself may soon be a casualty of that war.

Quote
No, he is merely ensuring that the state's retain authority over marriage license.  The state's are currently responsible for marriage license, and have also shown a greater willingness to accept gay marriages than the federal government, which the religious right as been attempting to use to block gay marriages.  So protecting the states from federal courts may actually be helpful towards gay rights.

except the greatest help to gay rights is to be for gay marriage. the bill anulls marriages as soon as they cross state lines. this is not helpful to gay rights at all.

Quote
Being a Christian, he believes life begins a conception.  The link you provided provides no evidence for the other claims.

as a libertarian he has an obligation to fight for all rights, even ones he dislikes, and yes it does, you clearly have no idea what removing judicial review would do.

Quote
Incidentally, this is also the bill that defines the civil war in Sudan as a genocide, perhaps he considered it just a civil war and not genocide.

you clearly didn't read the link, where he explained his horrible motives for giving government funds to Sudan.

Quote
The U.N. has an annoying habit of pulling us into wars we do not need to be in.

as a member of the ruling seven the US has the right to not follow any UN action and frequently goes over the UN's head. once again, you demonstrate a complete lack of knowledge on the subject.

Quote
It has been constantly devaluaing the dollar over the majority of the past century, and needs to go.
will destroy the economy according to every major economic thinker that isn't hilariously out of date.

Quote
We could use money that will retain its value.
will destroy the economy according to every major economic thinker that isn't hilariously out of date.

Quote
He mentioned it in passing.  New World Order is a vague term that could mean several things.  It is not necessarily an endorsement of a conspiracy theory.
yes it is, the NWO is a famous conspiracy theorist term and means only conspiracy theories. nothing else. what does it mean then? tell me. did he just create a term and quote the biggest conspiracy theory link of George Bush's speech for fun? he just said THEY didn't want you to know they exist, no conspiracy there, just pals.

Quote
Some criticism of particular ideologies being pushed on college students, but nothing about U.N. mind control.
way to be exclusionary

Quote
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to introduce a concurrent resolution expressing the sense of the Congress that the United States should withdraw from the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

UNESCO sponsors the International Baccalaureate program, which seeks to indoctrinate US primary and secondary school students through its ``universal curriculum'' for teaching global citizenship, peace studies and equality of world cultures. This program, started in Europe, is infiltrating the American school system.

Quote
That is the general idea.
will destroy society according to every major political thinker that isn't hilariously out of date.

Quote
that inflation and deflation are positive and negative changes in the consumer price index respectively:

1.) The price deflation that is so often mentioned as a cause of the Great Depression did not happen until after the market crash of 1929 and the Depression began.  Furthermore, the United States was actually accumulating gold during that time, meaning that the price deflation after 1929 was the result of the Federal Reserve removing federal reserve notes from circulation.

2.) Prior to the 1920s, their was a huge surge in the consumer price index, which rose from 9.9 in 1913 when the Federal Reserve was created to 20.0 in 1920.  During the 1920s, their was a contraction in prices for the first two years, but then in remained relatively constant around 17.1 until the market crash of 1929.  Therefore, the volatile 1920s followed a massive expansion in credit during the 1910s, and despite a two year contraction, prices during this time were nearly twice as high as in 1913.  Therefore, any claims in regard to the Great Depression being a result of prior deflation simply are not true, because with the exception of 1920-1922, deflation was not even taking place, and the 1920-1922 are minor compared to inflation occuring during the 1910s.

3.) The Federal Reserve obviously had plenty of power to expand the money supply despite the gold standard, seeing as how in managed to double the consumer price index in less then a decade.

Below is a table I obtained from the Bureau of Labor Statistics containing the data I am describing:

Year  CPI

1913 9.9
1914 10.0
1915 10.1
1916 10.9
1917 12.8
1918 15.1
1919 17.3
1920 20.0
1921 17.9
1922 16.8
1923 17.1
1924 17.1
1925 17.5
1926 17.7
1927 17.4
1928 17.1
1929 17.1
1930 16.7
1931 15.2
1932 13.7
1933 13.0
1934 13.4
1935 13.7
1936 13.9
1937 14.4
1938 14.1
1939 13.9
1940 14.0

glad to see you think you know more about economics than Dr. J. Bradford Delong, a Harvard educated economics professor who taught at Harvard, Boston University, MIT, and currently teaches at Berkeley and all these people:

http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/GoldStandard.html -Dr. Michael D. Bordo, London School of Economics, currently teaching at Rutgers
http://www.econbrowser.com/archives/2005/12/the_gold_standa.html -James D. Hamilton, Professor of Economics at University of California
and pretty much everyone else, such as professor Barry J. Eichengreen who wrote the fantastic Golden Fetters,  who has ever published a paper on the subject. ps: EVERYONE ELSE. there are no serious economists advocating a return to the gold standard (cue Greenspan namedrop).

regardless, no doubt you will be angry that I suggested you have zero credibility compared to a man who taught at MIT and Harvard and got his PhD from the top university in the country instead of refuting your arguments but let's give it a shot.

Quote
1.) The price deflation that is so often mentioned as a cause of the Great Depression did not happen until after the market crash of 1929 and the Depression began.  Furthermore, the United States was actually accumulating gold during that time, meaning that the price deflation after 1929 was the result of the Federal Reserve removing federal reserve notes from circulation.

by being stuck to the gold standard (if you read the link you'd know this), the Federal Reserve was unable to prevent the Great Depression. runs on the dollar resulted in the crash, and had the dollar not been tied to such a horrible (arbitrary) standard, it would have never happened.

Quote
2.) Prior to the 1920s, their was a huge surge in the consumer price index, which rose from 9.9 in 1913 when the Federal Reserve was created to 20.0 in 1920.  During the 1920s, their was a contraction in prices for the first two years, but then in remained relatively constant around 17.1 until the market crash of 1929.  Therefore, the volatile 1920s followed a massive expansion in credit during the 1910s, and despite a two year contraction, prices during this time were nearly twice as high as in 1913.  Therefore, any claims in regard to the Great Depression being a result of prior deflation simply are not true, because with the exception of 1920-1922, deflation was not even taking place, and the 1920-1922 are minor compared to inflation occuring during the 1910s.

I'm amazed you think you figured out some CPI shit that professors of economics would just magically ignore. did you know btw there was a huge depression before the Fed was around? the Panic of 1819 huh how did that happen....

I would refute this better but it's late and you saying that you just FIGURED OUT ALL THEM STATS THAT PROFESSOR WHO GAVE A LAYMAN'S VERSION DIDN'T GO INTO DETAIL ERGO HE'S WRONG is pretty funny. that and considering how much you've lied above and said OH IT DOESN'T SAY THAT leads me to believe your facts are almost certainly grossly inaccurate!

Quote
3.) The Federal Reserve obviously had plenty of power to expand the money supply despite the gold standard, seeing as how in managed to double the consumer price index in less then a decade.

no. these have nothing to do with each other. what are you, stupid?

okay let's ignore your huge fucking selective bias by skipping over the salient part of the link provided and jumping to AHA SEE THE GOLD STANDARD HELPED THE GREAT DEPRESSION because I don't care and there isn't a single piece of economic literature that agrees with you. let's play the hypothetical scenario game.

Quote
The US converting to a gold standard would require them to re-issue all currency in circulation as a fixed amount of gold. Since the US government doesn't have a lot of gold, it would mean a lot less currency. Thus, they would need to purchase gold — as a result, the price of gold would skyrocket. The US government would have to sell assets in order to purchase the now absurdly expensive gold, or run a deficit. Taxes would be forced to rise to finance this.

However, this would be pointless, since approximately 1 trillion dollars of goods flows out of the US economy every year. Thus, the economy would literally bled gold bullion. The only way to balance out is a recession, so deep and crippling, that it would eliminate the US trade deficit.

Okay, the regulatory mechanism for the gold standard works like this. Suppose we have two countries, A and B.

Now, for whatever reason, country A is on the gold standard. It doesn't matter what country B is on. Now, A and B buy and sell goods to one another. In order to buy and sell goods, the people in these countries need to purchase currency from one another to buy them.

When an economy buys things from another economy, they need to purchase money from the other economy to buy goods. So, for instance, country A needs to buy country B's currency (call it B$) to buy goods from country B. And vice versa.

Now, as they buy and sell, there usually will be an imbalance been how much people buy and sell in a given country. For instance, country A may be buying more from country B than it is selling. This leads to an imbalance in the currencies, because people in country A will be buying up B$ and selling A$. When it all comes out in the wash, there is a surplus of A$ on the market -- that is, the demand for A$ is lower than the amount supplied.

Now, people will work to correct this surplus, because it's pointless for them to have A$ sitting around no one wants to own. In a quasi-fiat system of freely traded currencies, the exchange rate does this. Bankers and financial dealers adjust the relative values of the currencies to make the "price" of A$ optimal. Currencies wax and wane in value based on their economies and variety of other complex mumbo jumbo which doesn't really matter here.

However, in the gold standard this doesn't happen, because A$ are linked to a fixed amount of gold -- that is, a commodity. Instead, people who hold A$ start redeeming them for gold, in order to sell them as a useful commodity. As a result, Country A's stockpile of gold, which they use to back their currency on, dwindles. In turn, the supply of money for country A falls.

Not enough money is circulation causes the economy to constrict, since doing basic business becomes increasingly difficult. It also can cause deflation, and a host of other problems. In short, the only way for A's domestic economy to come into equillibrium is for it to crash. Businesses shut down, and domestic demand for goods slows as the economy stalls.

While this is a bad thing, it does do one very good thing. If you have no money, because the economy is in recession, you can't very well afford to buy items from country B. Thus, the supply of A$ on the market falls, and people stop redeeming the excess for gold. The process brings the two markets into equilibrium again, and all is well in the world of international commerce.

Of course, the side effects are not exactly pleasant for people in country A.

or

Quote
The big problem is that once you move in to the scale of global markets on a gold standard you can no longer directly control the flow of money in and out of the country. This is well and dandy if you are running a trade surplus; money/gold flows in while goods flow out and you see a healthy level of inflation (gasp! Poor person tax ) and economic growth. Reverse that situation for a country running a trade deficit and a large amount of currency flows out of the country overseas. Lacking all this commodity based currency causes the value of money/gold to surge to the heavens and you see massive deflation. There isn't enough money in circulation so economic growth and investment stagnates and causes people to hoard what little they have left and it spurs a depression cycle.

Not to mention that there simply isn't enough gold out there to buy up to recognize and back the value of our economy so you would need to mandate a massive devaluation of currency right off the bat just to make the initial adjustment. Fiat systems work because the value of your currency is an aggregate of the total worth of your economy and is being constantly re-evaluated and re-appraised by other economies, countries, and foreign businesses. Only so much "Jew manipulation" can happen because if you push it too hard everyone else realizes you are trying to "print money" that doesn't have real economic backing and they devalue your currency for you because of that. Trying to tie your currency to a rock or oil or some other singular (or small set) of commodities is retarded because it will never be a truly accurate measure of your economy's worth, it might only keep in line for some periods of time if you are lucky.

TL;DR Gold Standard only works if you put the entire continental united states in a gigantic bubble and blast it off in to space so you never have to deal with any foreign bodies again

okay lets see if you can figure these out?

what gets me is the complete dishonesty you've been peddling. you clearly ignore salient points and jump on those you have weak rejoinders to. I'll at least admit I don't give a fuck about the Great Depression and the reason I linked had nothing to do with it (and even then you ignored the evidence like how every country not on the gold standard was okay and you know, the basic economic theory that makes your argument impossible), but you're just skipping over the bad parts, aren't you tex? whoa he didn't SAY mind control how can you exaggerate it...he just said the UN was secretly indoctrinating students.

please don't post again, thanks! you're clearly at worst a liar and at best purposefully ignorant and Ron Paul will never get elected, he was an awful racist candidate, you all wasted your money by supporting him, and thank god for that. it's no longer relevant and all you did was make everyone realize you are an awful idiotic human being.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on February 25, 2008, 06:44:57 am
worst part is I could have just written NO YOU ARE BEING MISLEADING over and over and it would say all that shit and probably get the same response :(
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Lyndon on February 25, 2008, 07:09:26 am
It's almost like this topic is the movie groundhog day

idiotic paulsy pops up, spouts nonsense.

proof is put forth that ron paul is a racist/bigot/etc, paulsies say WAS NOT HIM HE SAID SO (when he openly admitted to this during his 1990 election to the house as said above).

....just like atlas..... truth.... shrugged

Actually, I think Phanixis' post holds some weight. I read through some of the links and newsletters that Steel posted and they don't seem to be as concrete 'racism' as you all point them out to be.

He mentions that the majority of crimes are committed by black people, but not all of them.  This is actually true when you look at statistics, but to others its racism.  I can't speak for America, but in England most/majority of crimes are gang related.  Three people have been stabbed recently at my university on two seperate occasions and it was all related around gang culture.  It makes you think where people pick up this attitude to life that they can go round stabbing people and shit.

I very much believe that people generally fall in to categories based on who their friends are, what music they listen to, how they dress etc

Now, I like a lot of hip hop music and I know you all know that a lot of it has violent conatasions in it's lyrical content and you will probably say that it doesn't influence people. I, however disagree. Maybe it's not the lyrics, but the lifestyle they choose to lead.  They see films like Boy in the Hood and Menace II Society and idolise it. I bet if those type of films and angry hip hop didn't exist, the gangsta culture wouldn't be as much of a problem as it is now.  It's obviously not just black people who buy into this. A lot of white people adobt this attitude as well. We call them Chavs over here.

Where ever you go you get trouble makers, black or white. But I can argue with the statistics...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2007/02/19/do1901.xml

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4159/is_20070415/ai_n19016807

Quote from: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4159/is_20070415/ai_n19016807
Yesterday, a 14-year-old wounded in a drive-by shooting last week was released from hospital. He was luckier than some of the other victims in a series of turf wars. All seven of the young men shot or stabbed to death in London since the beginning of February have been black. This prompted Tony Blair to speak out last week, claiming the spate of murders in London was not being caused by poverty, but by a distinctive black culture.

As far as I can see, Ron Paul was pointing out that Black crime is a problem and occurs more than white crime. He also brings up why this is based on their culture towards white people. I have heard many black people use their colour of skin to gain some leveridge in an argument just as a woman will use her sexuality.  I have litterally heard some say "is it becuase I'm black?"

No kidding! They actually said that. Even when it was clear that the problem was due to their personal fault and unrelated to their colour of skin. But when they raise the race card, people will often back down. No one wants be called a racist....

This wouldn't work the other way around though. It's double standards and it's annoying.

You're not racist for talking about these issues in a newsletter. It's a cultural difference, which needs to be resolved.

I'm not saying I agree with everything Ron Paul has to say, but I don't understand the obvious malucious hate towards him. Reading through those documents, some of them are not clear whether they were even written by Ron Paul.  One of them says that you can tell it was written by Paul becuase he mentions his wife, Carol in the last paragraph :/
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on February 25, 2008, 07:16:42 am
no dude no.

you're kidding.

saying BLACKS ARE FLEETFOOTED

or 95% OF BLACKS ARE CRIMINAL

asfasfdasfdfff

dude come on.

if nothing else why would he distance himself from the writings if they MAKE SENSE oh come on lyndon.

you also know nothing about race relations apparently, christ Lyndon I liked you :(
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Lyndon on February 25, 2008, 07:25:41 am
I was basing my thoughts on the newsletter you posted, I didn't know he distanced himself from them.

basically my stance was on the high influx of black crime and that's what I thought he was addressing.

It's late and I've been up all night (7:24 am) and to be honest I haven't got the steam for political debates in writing.

Maybe I missed the point you were trying to bring up, I'll read those links again sometime...
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on February 25, 2008, 07:27:18 am
he was saying 95% of blacks were criminal dude, not saying that the crime rates were grossly inflated and we needed to take a look at the race gap.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Sarhan on February 25, 2008, 08:16:13 am
While debating with some Billary supporters on youtube, I brought up the point that Hillary tends to dominate the high school drop out demographic and asked them to explain the meaning behind it only to get this comment:

"College has screwed up the minds of too many people. I'd take "social intelligience" and "emotional intelligence" any day over college liberals who think Che Guevara is a hero. Many educated people are so arrogant and are such elitists, they lose touch with their own roots. "

I laughed.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: The Truth on February 25, 2008, 08:35:18 am
sometimes i try to memorize epic steel ron paul jones to recite to girls at parties


they are that good
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on February 25, 2008, 10:19:23 am
You know, the thing about these Ron Paul supporters is that they can't accept even the vaguest possibility of them being wrong. They will not be proven wrong. It's just not going to happen. That's why they approach every single point of criticism with "no you're wrong, because" instead of "this is a valid concern, but we can explain this with". No. Whenever they see criticism, they immediately go on the defense. There's not even any argumentation. Just look at the posts of BlizzardVeers and Phanixis. One didn't even explain why he supports Ron Paul and the libertarian viewpoint, the other basically just quoted Omega's post and said "nah" to every single point he made. He didn't even try to back up the "facts" he mentioned. Such as his "fact" that "the U.N. has a habit of pulling us into wars". He says it like it's a fact, while it is in fact ridiculous, and does not mention even a single shred of evidence to back up such a ludicrous claim. Neither wrote a post in which they actually explain why they're right, like Omega and I both did.

This is also why I assumed before that BlizzardVeers didn't know too much about libertarianism and his own candidate. Because supporters of Ron Paul usually claim to know a lot about everything, but cannot back up those claims. We've seen it yet again here with Phanixis' post.

Supporting an alternative candidate like Ron Paul is probably very exciting, because a lot of people in our demographic (people in their teens and early twenties) like to be alternative. But in the end, you can't substitute a good understanding of politics and the world with a standard list of demagogic statements.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Vellfire on February 25, 2008, 01:16:23 pm
Man was that PDF of his newsletter from December or whatever posted here or did I find it somewhere else because he says Martin Luther King Jr. seduced young boys and girls and assaulted them or something and it was fantastic.

edit:  http://www.tnr.com/downloads/december1990.pdf

He specifically mentions his wife in this one too.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on February 25, 2008, 01:39:16 pm
He didn't even try to back up the "facts" he mentioned. Such as his "fact" that "the U.N. has a habit of pulling us into wars". He says it like it's a fact, while it is in fact ridiculous, and does not mention even a single shred of evidence to back up such a ludicrous claim.

I still don't get what he's referring to. as part of the permanent seven, doesn't the US have the right to void any resolution it disagrees with?

While debating with some Billary supporters on youtube, I brought up the point that Hillary tends to dominate the high school drop out demographic and asked them to explain the meaning behind it only to get this comment:

"College has screwed up the minds of too many people. I'd take "social intelligience" and "emotional intelligence" any day over college liberals who think Che Guevara is a hero. Many educated people are so arrogant and are such elitists, they lose touch with their own roots. "

I laughed.

Hillary tends to win the drop-out demographic not because of some appeal she has (Ron Paul and his LEGALIZE IT got that on lock down) but I think because of name recognition. we know CLINTON. everyone does.

Obama isn't some unknown but he also wasn't married to the President and dragged in the spotlight when his wife had an affair and was more or less impeached.

also I brought up this terrible Penn and Teller episode with my roommate the other day, where they quoted DAVID FUCKING HOROWITZ (he is terrible) as the sane one and interviewed Chomsky and asked him if colleges were "liberal indoctrination centers" to which he looked very confused and said "uh...no"

and then my roommate said they were liberal indoctrination centers because they teach you critical thinking and philosophy and conservatives can't exist with those lol.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: `~congresman Ron paul~~ on February 25, 2008, 02:11:41 pm
okay getting beer before I do this, omeg, if you feel like taking him down a thousand pegs feel free, because chances are I am just going to say YOU ARE A HORRIBLE  HUMAN BEING CONGRATS.

dude is this like your HOBBY or something :(

Velfarre: the best was the one where he said the Civil War was over state's rights and how all Abraham Lincoln REALLY wanted to do was make the federal government extremely powerful because he was a closet socialist and that slavery didn't need to be ended.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on February 25, 2008, 03:02:09 pm
yes its my hobby, what else would it be!

also fun fact: Libertarians HATE Lincoln. he tops their list of worst presidents.

best:

Rank   President   Comparison
1   Harding   42
2   A. Johnson   39
3   Grant   37
4   Monroe   16
5   Van Buren   23

worst

35   F. Roosevelt   1
36   Carter   28T
37   Ford   28T
38   Wilson   6
39   Lincoln   3
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: `~congresman Ron paul~~ on February 25, 2008, 03:17:05 pm
hahaha what their list of top presidents has some of the WORST.

grant, johnson, van buren?
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: kentona on February 25, 2008, 03:28:38 pm
Wait...I thought HIGHER CRIME RATES were corrolated with BEING POOR and that a disproportionate number of black people are poor? 

Also, drinking Coca-cola gives you polio.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on February 25, 2008, 04:15:26 pm
Wait...I thought HIGHER CRIME RATES were corrolated with BEING POOR and that a disproportionate number of black people are poor? 

yes. Paul said that 95% of blacks were criminal, not that there was a higher percentage of black criminals than white.

if there's any doubt as to whether he thinks black=criminal, don't forget his quote where he said blacks were naturally "fleetfooted" and his frequent references to calling them "animals" and New York being "Zooville".
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on February 25, 2008, 06:52:51 pm
Andrew Johnson? holy shit. i'm fucking RELATED TO HIM and even I think he was terrible
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on February 25, 2008, 06:57:52 pm
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/02/25/obama-camp-slams-clinton-team-on-controversial-photo/

hillary clinton's campaign is awful. granted this was from DRUDGE REPORT but still.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on February 25, 2008, 06:59:29 pm
damn, the worst hitpiece ever just leaked:

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/ny-usark245589997feb24,0,2934440,print.story

this is...damn

Quote
But there is a little-known episode Clinton doesn't mention in her standard campaign speech in which those two principles collided. In 1975, a 27-year-old Hillary Rodham, acting as a court-appointed attorney, attacked the credibility of a 12-year-old girl in mounting an aggressive defense for an indigent client accused of rape in Arkansas - using her child development background to help the defendant.

.
.

Rodham, records show, questioned the sixth grader's honesty and claimed she had made false accusations in the past. She implied that the girl often fantasized and sought out "older men" like Taylor, according to a July 1975 affidavit signed "Hillary D. Rodham" in compact cursive.

.
.

The victim, now 46, told Newsday that she was raped by Taylor, denied that she wanted any relationship with him and blamed him for contributing to three decades of severe depression and other personal problems.

as a defense attorney you are supposed to use every defense for your client (even if that means implying a 12 year old girl lied about rape), but if the mainstream media picks this up, it's a deathblow for Clinton.

CLINTON CALLS 12 YEAR OLD SLUT, NEWS AT 11.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: ase on February 25, 2008, 07:06:14 pm
damn, the worst hitpiece ever just leaked:

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/ny-usark245589997feb24,0,2934440,print.story

this is...damn

as a defense attorney you are supposed to use every defense for your client (even if that means implying a 12 year old girl lied about rape), but if the mainstream media picks this up, it's a deathblow for Clinton.

CLINTON CALLS 12 YEAR OLD SLUT, NEWS AT 11.
yeah, except she is going to twist it around and say IT HELPED ME START THE FIRST RAPE HOTLINE IN ARKANSAS - GO WOMEN WHOOOOO
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Cho on February 25, 2008, 07:17:22 pm
I assume this is before Arkansas had a rape shield law. I... I don't know if I could really give Ms. Rodham a lot of flack about it, because this is pretty much the standard defense that every attorney used in rape cases.

At least I know that Obama would have never done such a morally reprehensible thing.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Lyndon on February 25, 2008, 07:37:53 pm
lol, who dug up this dirt on hilary?

Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: crone_lover720 on February 25, 2008, 07:49:55 pm
yeah, I don't think it's really a big deal. I can definitely see some people holding it against her/attempting to hurt her campaign with it, but I don't t hink it exactly spells disaster for her
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on February 25, 2008, 08:05:54 pm
also I brought up this terrible Penn and Teller episode with my roommate the other day, where they quoted DAVID FUCKING HOROWITZ (he is terrible) as the sane one and interviewed Chomsky and asked him if colleges were "liberal indoctrination centers" to which he looked very confused and said "uh...no"
Noam Chomsky was in a Penn and Teller episode? I need to see this. Which one?

EDIT:

PS: looks like our two in-house libertarians are still collecting blog links for their retaliation.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on February 25, 2008, 08:12:00 pm
yeah, I don't think it's really a big deal. I can definitely see some people holding it against her/attempting to hurt her campaign with it, but I don't t hink it exactly spells disaster for her

you don't think it could be spun into HILLARY CALLED A 12 YEAR OLD GIRL A SLUT?

or/and you don't see that being a deathknell?

Noam Chomsky was in a Penn and Teller episode? I need to see this. Which one?

this god awful one called College. did you know Dr. Dre didn't go to college? YOU DONT HAVE TO EITHER.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on February 25, 2008, 08:15:12 pm
did you know Dr. Dre didn't go to college?
But he's a physician!

(http://gamingw.net/pubaccess/28695/dr-dre-md.jpg)

I know I'd rather vote for Dr. Dre than Dr. Ron Paul.

EDIT: I found the episode you were talking about. http://youtube.com/watch?v=tzvpR14GPIc I can barely watch this.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: crone_lover720 on February 25, 2008, 08:30:31 pm
you don't think it could be spun into HILLARY CALLED A 12 YEAR OLD GIRL A SLUT?

or/and you don't see that being a deathknell?
like I said I can see people using it against her and spinning it however, I just don't see it striking that big of a blow to her campaign. you'd have to be kind of gullible to really hold it against her, but maybe most people are? I guess we'll see if/when the media gets it

in any case I kind of hope it doesn't get out even though I'd rather have hillary lose to obama, this isn't the type of thing I'd want to determine our future president. also it  wouldn't be good if she ends up against mccain and THEN this gets out
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on February 25, 2008, 08:34:11 pm
like I said I can see people using it against her and spinning it however, I just don't see it striking that big of a blow to her campaign. you'd have to be kind of gullible to really hold it against her, but maybe most people are? I guess we'll see if/when the media gets it

in any case I kind of hope it doesn't get out even though I'd rather have hillary lose to obama, this isn't the type of thing I'd want to determine our future president. also it  wouldn't be good if she ends up against mccain and THEN this gets out

thing is, the american people hate defense attorneys. a lot of people rail against the ACLU because they fight for those FUCKIN PEDOS etc.

considering Hillary's base is like 40 year old women, they would be shocked to hear something like this I think and it would really hurt her.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Cho on February 25, 2008, 10:34:09 pm
I was gonna say that I think most people would see it for what it is, but then I remembered this is the American public we're talking about and I made a sad face. Stranger things have happened, I guess. There are still black Ron Paul supporters.

Quote
thing is, the american people hate defense attorneys.

Don't be silly, they hate all attorneys. Defense attorneys let murders/rapists/etc go free, Prosecutors are all out to get us and let the real criminals go free, and civil attorneys tore us a new one during the divorce proceedings.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: GZ on February 25, 2008, 11:31:25 pm
to say he didn't know about the newsletters for 20 years is not possible. if you can somehow reason this then tell me why someone so incompetent as to allow a newsletter written under his name for 20 years with the most racist shit possible (MLK IS A GAY PEDOPHILE and THE LA ROITS STOPPED WHEN BLACKIE WENT TO PICK UP HIS WELFARE CHECK) could possibly be a competent politician is beyond me. something like this is so incredibly stupid and the lack of oversight with something he put his name on is astronomical.

you cannot deny this. stop talking about HEH THE BURDEN OF PROOF IS ON YOU TO PROVE HE REALLY WROTE IT. you are retarded if you use this defense. ron paul endorsed the newletters. it means nothing if he wrote it, at the end of the day he approved of it even if he didnt read it (hint: not an excuse). he even admitted it was as good as his own writing because it would confuse people to say otherwise, although now he is saying otherwise because he has to clear his record. if ron paul ever did become a real presidential candidate he would be torn to shreds just on the newsletters alone, barring any of his wacky policies. the most obvious contradiction of ron pauls ROCK SOLID INTEGRITY was proposing a bill for cold war medals (which would cost TAX PAYERS 200+ MILLION):

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c107:H.R.3417:

yet he denied the rosa parks medal when it was self funded by the u.s. mint (turning the vote into basically IS IT A GOOD IDEA TO GIVE ROSA PARKS A MEDAL???) saying the taxpayers shouldn't have to pay for it. ron pauls voting record is horrible in general, this, the we the people act, and the darfur bill are just the most obvious ones.

think about 20 years. that is probably longer than the age of most ron paul supporters (based off multiple graphs i saw that tracked the statistics of donations to ron paul, the large majority was male and young. i will post it if you would like to try and argue it). think about this again. do you think anyone should be able to be a potential president given they made such a gargantuan mistake that spans 20 years? it's virtually impossible to get you to agree ron pauls ideas are retarded, but surely you must agree something like this is such a grand error, that it at least should put DOUBT in peoples minds about his ability to be president. for most people it has been enough to convince them he is completely out of his fucking mind.

every time i have seen a paul supporter REBUT CLAIMS they do it by simply saying YOU ARE WRONG. there is no amount of evidence in the world that will ever convince you otherwise. you are already solid in your belief, even given that history paints a horrible record for libertarianism and the fact that no real nation uses a government like it. this results in made up GOBBLEDEGOOK that, by the way, as dada pointed out, consists of NU-UH BECAUSE <MADE UP SHIT> which no one other than yourself believes. don't even bother typing if you aren't going to post links with reputable sources. saying "well times have changed this is why it will work" doesn't cut it. post real, solid evidence of your claims. there is a reason ron paul has failed in his presidential bid, there is a reason the vast majority of this multinational forum thinks he is a KOOK, and you guys are doing no favours in trying to establish the credibility of libertarianism or ron paul.

all this said, a libertarian "government" will never ever happen in a civilizised society. i am going to wager to say this is why you guys are so angry because you think THE WORLD IS RETARDED I AM THE ONLY SANE PERSON AHGHHHHHH. the whole world is going to continue to laugh at libertarians and paul supporters, while you silently stew truly believing libertarians are the "real majority" but the world is too full of "sheeples" for it to ever come to fruition.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on February 25, 2008, 11:36:32 pm
This is usually the time when someone points out that the only reason people don't know about Ron Paul's fabulous plans is the fact the media are conspiring against him by not giving him any air time.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: ase on February 26, 2008, 12:43:33 am
think about this again. do you think anyone should be able to be a potential president given they made such a gargantuan mistake that spans 20 years? it's virtually impossible to get you to agree ron pauls ideas are retarded, but surely you must agree something like this is such a grand error, that it at least should put DOUBT in peoples minds about his ability to be president. for most people it has been enough to convince them he is completely out of his fucking mind.
no, the correct paulsie answer is: OH WOW so he is racist and maybe he doesn't like gays a little?? SO WHAT HIS IDEAS ARE STILL BETTER THAN THE OTHER CANDIDATES. heh nice try. why don't you give me some REAL proof............

also that bill was proposed by a Mr. Paul. I thought we were talking about Dr. Paul??? ? ????? /? ?? WRONG YOUR EVIDENCE IS WERONG
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on February 26, 2008, 02:14:21 am
Remember how hillary clinton and her husband said Texas was a must win? (http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/Vote2008/story?id=4318311&page=1)

i guess it's not a must win anymore. (http://www.texasmonthly.com/blogs/polldancing/2008/02/hillary-seat-michigan-florida-delegates.php) it must not matter like the rest of the states obama has won (http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/usa/2008/02/dont_worry_these_states_dont_m.html)

Quote from: Hillary Clinton
I’d love to carry Texas, but it’s usually not in the electoral calculation for the Democratic nominee. Florida and Michigan are.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: RedScythes on February 26, 2008, 10:17:18 pm
http://youtube.com/watch?v=JdpPj6UMG6A&feature=bz303

Hahaha.

I love how idiots on youtube make comments without presenting any evidence or examples.
Granted I stopped reading after the first few comments.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Shepperd on February 26, 2008, 11:33:54 pm
imo Madtv > SNL

MadTV's Obama is miles better than SNL's
http://youtube.com/watch?v=lsIIptHkFxA
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Cho on February 26, 2008, 11:43:17 pm
Clinton and Obama are going at it again tonight, on MSNBC, at 9 pm/8 central. Will Clinton finally deliver the deathblow she's so desperately been trying to put on Obama's run? Will Obama turn water into wine? Will Clinton call any young children sluts? Will Obama deal drugs during the breaks? Tune in and find out.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=JdpPj6UMG6A&feature=bz303

Its funny cuz its true!
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: ase on February 26, 2008, 11:50:33 pm
Chris Dodd announces support of Obama (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23347376/)

yay like 17 more votes nationwide
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Grunthor on February 27, 2008, 01:41:58 am
Chris Dodd announces support of Obama (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23347376/)

yay like 17 more votes nationwide

More importantly, Dodd adds one more super delegate to Barack's total.  20 minutes until the debate. 
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on February 27, 2008, 01:48:49 am
Quote from: my local news station
Is homosexuality ''fixed at birth'' or a choice?

It is ''fixed at birth'', genetic. 32%         

It is a choice. 54%

There is no strong evidence either way. 14%
            
Total: 1643 votes



on another note, Hillary appears to be backing down from perceived aggression.

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/02/26/clinton-on-obama-i-got-a-little-hot/

this looks to be another passive debate, but who knows!
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Xeno|Soft on February 27, 2008, 03:34:56 am
wtf, what channel was this debate!? I had cnn on all day.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on February 27, 2008, 03:37:46 am
MSNBC!

on another note, Russert was being an ass the entire debate. between him constantly interrupting and hammering Clinton to his stupid anti-Semitism questions to Obama. ugh

Also, this was the first debate where i think Obama was clearly the winner
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Cho on February 27, 2008, 04:21:22 am
After that trainwreck, "winner" doesn't really mean much.

But Clinton, you really shouldn't make comments about how the  press hates you! It does not endear you to the American public!
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Shepperd on February 28, 2008, 12:48:39 am
sounds to me like Hilly lost already.
sounds of failure, she the woman fall, and she was all cocky back then
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: jamie on February 28, 2008, 01:05:26 am
yeah she ain't so cocksure now
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on February 28, 2008, 04:13:07 am
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/28/opinion/28mike.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

damn. bloomberg isn't running. i'm sure about 30 people care!
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on February 28, 2008, 02:29:09 pm
http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/wrong_paul.html

hey guys...what happened to your Paul defense....
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Vellfire on February 28, 2008, 02:40:06 pm
Can I just say that The Onion's profile of Ron Paul (http://www.theonion.com/content/whitehousewar/ronpaul) is fantastic?

Quote
Vulnerability:
People may decide they like roads
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on February 29, 2008, 06:57:03 am
With the Ron Paul supporters having silently evaporated, let's talk about the other candidates again.

The demagogy continues (http://edition.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/02/28/tennessee.gop/index.html) with the Republican party showing a photo of Obama in traditional Kenyan clothes and talks about the "growing chorus of Americans concerned about the future of the nation of Israel ... if Sen. Barack Hussein Obama is elected president of the United States." So many people are afraid of anything Middle-Eastern, they've resorted to just plainly stating his full name in order to damage his reputation.

Nice quote from the article:

"The left always finds something to pick at other than to describe the issues; we're not surprised at all." (Bill Hobbs, GOP Communications Director)

Man, those left guys... all the same!
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: ase on February 29, 2008, 07:01:52 am
With the Ron Paul supporters having silently evaporated, let's talk about the other candidates again.

The demagogy continues (http://edition.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/02/28/tennessee.gop/index.html) with the Republican party showing a photo of Obama in traditional Kenyan clothes and talks about the "growing chorus of Americans concerned about the future of the nation of Israel ... if Sen. Barack Hussein Obama is elected president of the United States." So many people are afraid of anything Middle-Eastern, they've resorted to just plainly stating his full name in order to damage his reputation.
Yeah, as I stated before, my parents are deathly afraid of and simultaneously disgusted by Obama. My father asked me, and I quote "You would vote for someone with HUSSEIN in their name???" Also my mother repeatedly calls him "Osama" (not on purpose).

I'm assuming it is their fundamentally conservative Christian friends who are feeding them this bullshit because I refuse to believe that their only other source of news (the Polish news station TVN24) is stating such propaganda.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Shepperd on February 29, 2008, 07:09:40 am
ASE fill your room with posters of Barack oBama


also, seems like everybody knows Hillary is out so, did I read somewhere that the advantage Obama had over McCain fell and now is a draw?
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: headphonics on February 29, 2008, 07:10:14 am
hahahaha man

it is so good that your parents are actually deathly afraid of, and disgusted by, his middle name being hussein.  my mom thinks some pretty crazy shit too but she's nowhere near as bad as this.  WHAT CAN YA DO i guess but i don't know if i would be able to keep from yelling at them if they said shit like that.  it's gross that they're so transparent as to call him by his full name in an attempt to slyly imply that there's some association, but i thought it was worse when huckabee or whoever the fuck it was "accidentally" confused osama bin laden and barack obama during some random speech, multiple times.  that was disgusting and overt enough that, in comparison, this seems almost tame.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Summoner on February 29, 2008, 07:26:59 am
I find it kinda funny too because Obama is actually a Christian.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: lampshade on February 29, 2008, 07:37:10 am
Man, i'm sick of this fucking primary, I hope to god he wins texas and just shuts all of this down.

Then this thread can die and we can start a U.S PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION THREAD
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on February 29, 2008, 05:18:16 pm
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/02/29/clinton-campaign-obama-needs-to-sweep-march-4/

WELCOME TO THE NO SPIN ZONE

jesus hillary enough is enough. everyone already knows that if you lose texas it's over

edit: http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/02/29/clinton-raises-the-stakes-in-new-ad/

also a vote for barack obama will kill your children
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: The Truth on February 29, 2008, 06:26:39 pm
Smells of desperation and pandering to the biggest demographic in rural Ohio: Blue collar White "Dixiecrats" who are backhandedly racist and are VERY CONCERNED about who is going to answer that red phone....
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on February 29, 2008, 06:34:29 pm
Quote from: Bill Clinton
Now, one of Clinton's laws of politics is this. If one candidate is trying to scare you and the other one is trying to get you to think, if one candidate is appealing to your fears and the other one is appealing to your hopes, you better vote for the person who wants you to think and hope.

 :shocking:
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on February 29, 2008, 07:39:49 pm
It's a shame for Clinton. Her campaign failed to come up with a new strategy when Obama started winning states. It was already clear by then that attacking Obama would not work. Still, for the first time in this entire campaign, she kept at her persona, but it still didn't work. Now it's clearly too late to change strategy again. I was actually kind of surprised she didn't do that during the first Texas debate. That was pretty much the last possible time where she could have done so.

Negative campaigning simply does not always work, at least it certainly didn't work for Clinton. Her keywords are "strength", "experience" and "integrity", but she failed to focus on those keywords. Obama, on the other hand, did focus on his strong points. I think that's been the key thing in this nomination.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Wash Cycle on February 29, 2008, 07:41:07 pm
Smells of desperation and pandering to the biggest demographic in rural Ohio: Blue collar White "Dixiecrats" who are backhandedly racist and are VERY CONCERNED about who is going to answer that red phone....
gotta love em

hilary's ads that have been airing here are sickening. I cant wait till someone puts them on youtube.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on February 29, 2008, 07:46:13 pm
Nobody has the experience of answering the red phone when it rings. You tell both Clinton and Obama that a nuclear missile is on its way to the U.S.: the person you want to answer the phone at that moment is the one with the biggest ability to remain cool.

And we all know that black people are infinitely more cool that white people.

Yes, I played the race card. That's okay, though, it's the first time in this entire campaign.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Jeff on February 29, 2008, 08:49:28 pm
Guys, lets stop all this senseless debate and

(http://www.gamingw.net/pubaccess/44757/nader_green.png)
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on March 01, 2008, 03:41:52 am
Quote
    A reporter asked whether Clinton should drop out after Ohio and Texas. Obama adviser Richard Danzig responded:

    "I would encourage you on March 5 to call Sen. Clinton at 3 a.m. and ask that question."
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on March 01, 2008, 07:51:55 am
By the way, just in case there's anyone here who edits Wikipedia: the biased editors there have successfully managed to remove every single piece of criticism on Ron Paul in his article (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_Paul). The last bit that was still standing was about the newsletters that he wrote, but now they removed even that. They still mention it, but the section is basically just an apologia. Even the opening sentence of the section states that he probably was not involved in it since he was working in medical practice at the time. Then it's suggested that it's "just an old political attack" and that "he probably did not write them anyway".

Wikipedia has disgusted me before, but never as badly as right now.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: bonzi_buddy on March 01, 2008, 10:04:20 am
Nobody has the experience of answering the red phone when it rings. You tell both Clinton and Obama that a nuclear missile is on its way to the U.S.: the person you want to answer the phone at that moment is the one with the biggest ability to remain cool.

And we all know that black people are infinitely more cool that white people.

Yes, I played the race card. That's okay, though, it's the first time in this entire campaign.
Man that was such a bad comment, though the other comments were even worse than that.

Also Dada, tell me isn't there a way to report about the misusage of Ron Paul's wiki-page to the upkeepers of Wikipedia? Like this is just plain political abuse of Wikipedia, surely such act is punishable in some ways?
I think the xbox/wii/ps3 articles were LOCKED during the console arm-wrestling due to the abuse.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on March 01, 2008, 03:43:18 pm
Also Dada, tell me isn't there a way to report about the misusage of Ron Paul's wiki-page to the upkeepers of Wikipedia? Like this is just plain political abuse of Wikipedia, surely such act is punishable in some ways?
I think the xbox/wii/ps3 articles were LOCKED during the console arm-wrestling due to the abuse.
Some articles do get locked, but that's only when there's a furious edit war going on. That's not the case for Ron Paul. There aren't enough people who are against Ron Paul that are editing the article. There are more fervent Paulsies than anti-Paulsies. Besides, locking the article means making it impossible to put in any criticism, too.

The only thing you could really do is make a thorough list of complaints specific to the article, i.e. not just complaints about Ron Paul in general, but actual flaws in the article. This list can then be posted on the talk page of an article, and then you can rally people to help you. There's not much more you can do besides that, I think.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: ase on March 01, 2008, 05:45:29 pm
Can't you put up those huge THE NETURALITY OF THIS WHOLE FUCKING  ARTICLE IS RIDICULOUSLY DISPUTED banners???

or would they remove those too?
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on March 01, 2008, 06:11:00 pm
Can't you put up those huge THE NETURALITY OF THIS WHOLE FUCKING  ARTICLE IS RIDICULOUSLY DISPUTED banners???

or would they remove those too?
Good idea, let's try that right now.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: The Truth on March 02, 2008, 02:50:15 am
hahahaha this is brilliant

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmYMzxA_U-c
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Phanixis on March 02, 2008, 07:28:16 am
Quote
please don't post again, thanks! you're clearly at worst a liar and at best purposefully ignorant and Ron Paul will never get elected, he was an awful racist candidate, you all wasted your money by supporting him, and thank god for that. it's no longer relevant and all you did was make everyone realize you are an awful idiotic human being.

Its been a week, so I might have just left this topic be.  But seeing as how your so full of crap and full of yourself, I figured what the heck.

Quote

This material was published by writers other then Paul.
no they weren't, no writer ever stepped forward, no writer was ever disclosed, the "writers" had the odd and queer foresight to write as if he was Paul many many times, he hired the man distributing his letters for his campaign, and in 1990 he claimed authorship of them by saying they were academic tongue in cheek quotes. and if all if this was untrue it doesn't change the fact that this is just criminally irresponsible and he shouldn't be President if he can't check racism in a small newsletter he's been running for decades that he signs off on personally.

Why would the actual writer come forward when it would obviously destroy his or her public image?  You act as if the writers unwillingness to expose himself to the public is somehow proof that Ron Paul wrote these articles.

Quote
Quote
This is just criticism of the TSA.
exclusionary, buddy, it was a racist criticism of the TSA.

Precisely how is it racist or exclusionary.  Ron Paul merely mentioned the TSA, he mentioned nothing of the particular race or creed of the TSA members.

Quote

Quote
What Ron Paul voted against was a bill called House Resolution 676, which celebrated the 40th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act, not the renewal of the Civil Rights Act, because he wished to expressed grievances over the additional regulation of businesses that resulted.
ah yes this is so much better when you vote against a celebration because it stopped people from kicking out niggers.

There is a big difference between providing some criticism during the celebration of the civil rights act and voting against the act itself.

Quote
Quote
This is a minor change in the IRS's ability to evaluate private schools, it is difficult to tell what the actual effect would without more background and the portion of IRS code this is effecting.
the effect would be that private schools could now discriminate and the IRS can't check them on it, thanks for playing.

The last time I checked, it was not the IRS's responsiblility to enforce discrimination laws, so it does not follow that private schools would suddenly be able to discriminate.

Quote
Quote
This is a prohibition against forced busing, no problems here.
the Civil Rights Act and the "forced busing" was the only way people could stop racists like Paul from preventing them from getting their rights. don't say no problems. I and every minority have a huge problem with repealing it.

Forced busing has never been necessary to desegregate schools.  Forced busing allows the states school system to force children to attend distant schools as oppose to local schools.  The principle behind desegregation should be to allow students to attend the school of their choice, not to shuffle kids around over huge distances in order to produce the demographics politicans desired.  The basis for racial policy should be to treat children of all races like human beings, not to shuffle them around like pawns in order to create the appearance of racial integration.  Not to mention, it rather sucks for a kid who has to spend 1-2 hours each day making round trips to distant schools.

Quote
Quote
For a pro-life candidate, this is about as reasonable as a pro-life bill is going to get.
for a libertarian its completely ridiculous and an infringement on a woman's rights.

Nobody ever said Ron Paul was a libertarian, he is merely closer than the other candidates.

Furthermore, even libertarians recognize limited government authority.  We obviously believe that the government has the authority to prevent murder, so any libertarian who was convinced that abortion is murder might find restricting abortion acceptable.  Also, as long as it is still accepted that their are some curtails on the liberties of minors until they become adults(which there currently are), this could also be deemed acceptable on these grounds. 

Ultimately, this particular position does not restrict liberty, but only privacy.  As it stands, the legal guardians of children can abrige their childrens privacy under most circumstances anyway.

Quote
Quote
The bill in this link does appears to be entirely different from what is described here.
no it isn't. glad to see you've bought into the jargon of the estate tax instead of the reality and figured out something every single political economic theorist hasn't though. you sure are a clever one.

There are plenty of theorist out their who have postulated the same effect.  Besides, it doesn't take a Ph.D. in economics to figure out that if 50% of your businesses assets are seized, the business might go under.

Quote
Quote
No, he is merely ensuring that the state's retain authority over marriage license. The state's are currently responsible for marriage license, and have also shown a greater willingness to accept gay marriages than the federal government, which the religious right as been attempting to use to block gay marriages. So protecting the states from federal courts may actually be helpful towards gay rights.
except the greatest help to gay rights is to be for gay marriage. the bill anulls marriages as soon as they cross state lines. this is not helpful to gay rights at all.

Its better that gays have rights in at least a few states than no states at all.  And the regions in which gay rights will be accepted will expand as more state governments are convinced to legalize gay marriages.  At the moment, I see few individuals in power willing to grant gays the right to marry on the federal level.

Quote
Quote
Being a Christian, he believes life begins a conception. The link you provided provides no evidence for the other claims.
as a libertarian he has an obligation to fight for all rights, even ones he dislikes, and yes it does, you clearly have no idea what removing judicial review would do.

Again, he is not a true libertarian, only the closest to being a libertarian.

Quote
Quote
Incidentally, this is also the bill that defines the civil war in Sudan as a genocide, perhaps he considered it just a civil war and not genocide.
you clearly didn't read the link, where he explained his horrible motives for giving government funds to Sudan.

Horribly reasons?  The link just sends you to a site that list voting records. 

Quote
Quote
The U.N. has an annoying habit of pulling us into wars we do not need to be in.
as a member of the ruling seven the US has the right to not follow any UN action and frequently goes over the UN's head. once again, you demonstrate a complete lack of knowledge on the subject.

So, better to join the U.N. and then defy it(or dominate it) then to not join it and simply retain peaceful relations with other nations?

Quote
Quote
We could use money that will retain its value.will destroy the economy according to every major economic thinker that isn't hilariously out of date.

There are actually a great deal of economist that believe that we should return to the gold standard.  Furthermore, the sustained inflation that we have been suffering the end of the gold standard cannot be denied.

Quote
Quote
Some criticism of particular ideologies being pushed on college students, but nothing about U.N. mind control.way to be exclusionary

Quote
Mr. Speaker, I rise today to introduce a concurrent resolution expressing the sense of the Congress that the United States should withdraw from the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

UNESCO sponsors the International Baccalaureate program, which seeks to indoctrinate US primary and secondary school students through its ``universal curriculum'' for teaching global citizenship, peace studies and equality of world cultures. This program, started in Europe, is infiltrating the American school system.

U.N. Mind Control isn't even mentioned in this quote.  He wants to pull out of UNESCO, but we already knew that because he wants to pull out of the UN.

Quote
Quote
That is the general idea.will destroy society according to every major political thinker that isn't hilariously out of date.

Really?  Abolishing the federal department of education will destroy society, even though the states are the ones who are essentially responsible for paying for and running the educational system?  And EVERY major political thinker who is in date has said that?  I suppose you checked.  Oh, and the disapperance social security, despite the fact that it did not even exist for most of U.S. history, will result in the destruction of society.  Oddly enough, often when I am presented with the thoughts of political thinkers, it sounds like social security is on the path to its own destruction.

Perhaps these absurb sweeping generalization backed by no evidence should be avoided.

Quote
Quote
that inflation and deflation are positive and negative changes in the consumer price index respectively:

1.) The price deflation that is so often mentioned as a cause of the Great Depression did not happen until after the market crash of 1929 and the Depression began. Furthermore, the United States was actually accumulating gold during that time, meaning that the price deflation after 1929 was the result of the Federal Reserve removing federal reserve notes from circulation.

2.) Prior to the 1920s, their was a huge surge in the consumer price index, which rose from 9.9 in 1913 when the Federal Reserve was created to 20.0 in 1920. During the 1920s, their was a contraction in prices for the first two years, but then in remained relatively constant around 17.1 until the market crash of 1929. Therefore, the volatile 1920s followed a massive expansion in credit during the 1910s, and despite a two year contraction, prices during this time were nearly twice as high as in 1913. Therefore, any claims in regard to the Great Depression being a result of prior deflation simply are not true, because with the exception of 1920-1922, deflation was not even taking place, and the 1920-1922 are minor compared to inflation occuring during the 1910s.

3.) The Federal Reserve obviously had plenty of power to expand the money supply despite the gold standard, seeing as how in managed to double the consumer price index in less then a decade.

Below is a table I obtained from the Bureau of Labor Statistics containing the data I am describing:

Year CPI

1913 9.9
1914 10.0
1915 10.1
1916 10.9
1917 12.8
1918 15.1
1919 17.3
1920 20.0
1921 17.9
1922 16.8
1923 17.1
1924 17.1
1925 17.5
1926 17.7
1927 17.4
1928 17.1
1929 17.1
1930 16.7
1931 15.2
1932 13.7
1933 13.0
1934 13.4
1935 13.7
1936 13.9
1937 14.4
1938 14.1
1939 13.9
1940 14.0
glad to see you think you know more about economics than Dr. J. Bradford Delong, a Harvard educated economics professor who taught at Harvard, Boston University, MIT, and currently teaches at Berkeley and all these people:

http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/GoldStandard.html -Dr. Michael D. Bordo, London School of Economics, currently teaching at Rutgers
http://www.econbrowser.com/archives/2005/12/the_gold_standa.html -James D. Hamilton, Professor of Economics at University of California
and pretty much everyone else, such as professor Barry J. Eichengreen who wrote the fantastic Golden Fetters, who has ever published a paper on the subject. ps: EVERYONE ELSE. there are no serious economists advocating a return to the gold standard (cue Greenspan namedrop).

regardless, no doubt you will be angry that I suggested you have zero credibility compared to a man who taught at MIT and Harvard and got his PhD from the top university in the country instead of refuting your arguments but let's give it a shot.

Well excuse me for attempting to present some facts and evidence.  I merely presented a couple of basic facts.  I did not know that presenting arguments on this forum is automatically considered a direct challenge to every economist every who might have been critical of the gold standard.

Besides, there are some impressive individuals who would like to see the gold standard restored, such Dr. Robert Lucas and Dr. Robert Mundell, both of whom hold the Nobel Prize in Economics and are widely regarded as the experts in their field.  Does you rejection of the gold standard mean that you believe you are smarter are more learned than these individuals?

Quote
Quote
1.) The price deflation that is so often mentioned as a cause of the Great Depression did not happen until after the market crash of 1929 and the Depression began. Furthermore, the United States was actually accumulating gold during that time, meaning that the price deflation after 1929 was the result of the Federal Reserve removing federal reserve notes from circulation.
by being stuck to the gold standard (if you read the link you'd know this), the Federal Reserve was unable to prevent the Great Depression. runs on the dollar resulted in the crash, and had the dollar not been tied to such a horrible (arbitrary) standard, it would have never happened.

I couldn't help but notice that for two centuries, are country had no federal reserve, and yet we had nothing like the Great Depression, despite the fact that their existed no federal reserve to step in a stop it.

Quote
Quote
2.) Prior to the 1920s, their was a huge surge in the consumer price index, which rose from 9.9 in 1913 when the Federal Reserve was created to 20.0 in 1920. During the 1920s, their was a contraction in prices for the first two years, but then in remained relatively constant around 17.1 until the market crash of 1929. Therefore, the volatile 1920s followed a massive expansion in credit during the 1910s, and despite a two year contraction, prices during this time were nearly twice as high as in 1913. Therefore, any claims in regard to the Great Depression being a result of prior deflation simply are not true, because with the exception of 1920-1922, deflation was not even taking place, and the 1920-1922 are minor compared to inflation occuring during the 1910s.
I'm amazed you think you figured out some CPI shit that professors of economics would just magically ignore. did you know btw there was a huge depression before the Fed was around? the Panic of 1819 huh how did that happen....

I would refute this better but it's late and you saying that you just FIGURED OUT ALL THEM STATS THAT PROFESSOR WHO GAVE A LAYMAN'S VERSION DIDN'T GO INTO DETAIL ERGO HE'S WRONG is pretty funny. that and considering how much you've lied above and said OH IT DOESN'T SAY THAT leads me to believe your facts are almost certainly grossly inaccurate!

Like it or not, those facts are straight from the Bureau of Labor statistics.  It would be entertaining to have you explained how I exaggerated numerical data.

Quote
Quote
3.) The Federal Reserve obviously had plenty of power to expand the money supply despite the gold standard, seeing as how in managed to double the consumer price index in less then a decade.
no. these have nothing to do with each other. what are you, stupid?

okay let's ignore your huge fucking selective bias by skipping over the salient part of the link provided and jumping to AHA SEE THE GOLD STANDARD HELPED THE GREAT DEPRESSION because I don't care and there isn't a single piece of economic literature that agrees with you. let's play the hypothetical scenario game.

Quote
The US converting to a gold standard would require them to re-issue all currency in circulation as a fixed amount of gold. Since the US government doesn't have a lot of gold, it would mean a lot less currency. Thus, they would need to purchase gold — as a result, the price of gold would skyrocket. The US government would have to sell assets in order to purchase the now absurdly expensive gold, or run a deficit. Taxes would be forced to rise to finance this.

However, this would be pointless, since approximately 1 trillion dollars of goods flows out of the US economy every year. Thus, the economy would literally bled gold bullion. The only way to balance out is a recession, so deep and crippling, that it would eliminate the US trade deficit.

Okay, the regulatory mechanism for the gold standard works like this. Suppose we have two countries, A and B.

Now, for whatever reason, country A is on the gold standard. It doesn't matter what country B is on. Now, A and B buy and sell goods to one another. In order to buy and sell goods, the people in these countries need to purchase currency from one another to buy them.

When an economy buys things from another economy, they need to purchase money from the other economy to buy goods. So, for instance, country A needs to buy country B's currency (call it B$) to buy goods from country B. And vice versa.

Now, as they buy and sell, there usually will be an imbalance been how much people buy and sell in a given country. For instance, country A may be buying more from country B than it is selling. This leads to an imbalance in the currencies, because people in country A will be buying up B$ and selling A$. When it all comes out in the wash, there is a surplus of A$ on the market -- that is, the demand for A$ is lower than the amount supplied.

Now, people will work to correct this surplus, because it's pointless for them to have A$ sitting around no one wants to own. In a quasi-fiat system of freely traded currencies, the exchange rate does this. Bankers and financial dealers adjust the relative values of the currencies to make the "price" of A$ optimal. Currencies wax and wane in value based on their economies and variety of other complex mumbo jumbo which doesn't really matter here.

However, in the gold standard this doesn't happen, because A$ are linked to a fixed amount of gold -- that is, a commodity. Instead, people who hold A$ start redeeming them for gold, in order to sell them as a useful commodity. As a result, Country A's stockpile of gold, which they use to back their currency on, dwindles. In turn, the supply of money for country A falls.

Not enough money is circulation causes the economy to constrict, since doing basic business becomes increasingly difficult. It also can cause deflation, and a host of other problems. In short, the only way for A's domestic economy to come into equillibrium is for it to crash. Businesses shut down, and domestic demand for goods slows as the economy stalls.

While this is a bad thing, it does do one very good thing. If you have no money, because the economy is in recession, you can't very well afford to buy items from country B. Thus, the supply of A$ on the market falls, and people stop redeeming the excess for gold. The process brings the two markets into equilibrium again, and all is well in the world of international commerce.

Of course, the side effects are not exactly pleasant for people in country A.

The initial premise of this argument is faulty.  Sure, if you back the dollar with the same amount gold it was backed with in 1913, it is unlikely you could ever find enough gold to back all the currency in circulation.  But this entire scenario can be avoided simply by backing the dollar with less gold, in this case approximately 4 hundreths of the quantity used to back the 1913 dollar.  Then, their would be sufficient gold in our possesion to back all currency, without the need to import so much as a ounce of gold, and the imaginary disaster that befalls country A is averted(hooray!).

Quote
Quote
The big problem is that once you move in to the scale of global markets on a gold standard you can no longer directly control the flow of money in and out of the country. This is well and dandy if you are running a trade surplus; money/gold flows in while goods flow out and you see a healthy level of inflation (gasp! Poor person tax ) and economic growth. Reverse that situation for a country running a trade deficit and a large amount of currency flows out of the country overseas. Lacking all this commodity based currency causes the value of money/gold to surge to the heavens and you see massive deflation. There isn't enough money in circulation so economic growth and investment stagnates and causes people to hoard what little they have left and it spurs a depression cycle.

Actually, the deflation will act as an automatic control that will vastly discourage this type of behavior.  Because deflation is beneificial to individuals who save and invest, and harmful to individuals who borrow, individuals will provided with increased incentives to invest and save money they might otherwise spend on consumption.  Less consumption means fewer imports as fewer items are being consumed, and savings and investment encourage the development of new capita and business which will seek markets to sell their goods.  But because of decreased domestic consumption, these businesses on the receiving end of investiment will be forced to seek oversea markets, increasing exports.  Once the imports and exports stabilize, deflation will slow/cease, and a normal level of consumption will resume.

Quote
Not to mention that there simply isn't enough gold out there to buy up to recognize and back the value of our economy so you would need to mandate a massive devaluation of currency right off the bat just to make the initial adjustment.

Again, you just need to set your intial ratio of dollars to gold to ensure their is sufficient gold to back the current amount of currency in circulation.

Quote
Fiat systems work because the value of your currency is an aggregate of the total worth of your economy and is being constantly re-evaluated and re-appraised by other economies, countries, and foreign businesses.

And yet it is the Federal Reserve, not these other economies, countries, or foreign businesses, that ultimately regulates the amount of currency in circulation.  So if you need to incorporate these entities into the value of your currency, and they are not currently being incorporated into the value of your currency, how is this system considered "working".

Quote
Only so much "Jew manipulation" can happen because if you push it too hard everyone else realizes you are trying to "print money" that doesn't have real economic backing and they devalue your currency for you because of that. Trying to tie your currency to a rock or oil or some other singular (or small set) of commodities is retarded because it will never be a truly accurate measure of your economy's worth, it might only keep in line for some periods of time if you are lucky.

Gold is not intended to provide an absolutely perfect measure of the economy's worth, only a reasonably stable referenced through which the demand of goods can be compared.

Quote
TL;DR Gold Standard only works if you put the entire continental united states in a gigantic bubble and blast it off in to space so you never have to deal with any foreign bodies again

What about all that foreign trade we did before 1913, when we were neither in a gigantic bubble or in space?  It worked then, despite all your theories and hypothetical scenarios.  You talk as if the gold standard has never been used with any success.

okay lets see if you can figure these out?

Quote
what gets me is the complete dishonesty you've been peddling. you clearly ignore salient points and jump on those you have weak rejoinders to. I'll at least admit I don't give a fuck about the Great Depression and the reason I linked had nothing to do with it (and even then you ignored the evidence like how every country not on the gold standard was okay and you know, the basic economic theory that makes your argument impossible), but you're just skipping over the bad parts, aren't you tex? whoa he didn't SAY mind control how can you exaggerate it...he just said the UN was secretly indoctrinating students.


Yes, the horror, I used evidence when talking about the Great Depression and I don't use mind control and indoctrination interchangeably.  Surely, deception knows no greater depths.  Such are the perils of the internet.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Cho on March 02, 2008, 08:12:42 am
Quote
hahahaha this is brilliant

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmYMzxA_U-c

That shit is gonna give me nightmares.

Quote
What about all that foreign trade we did before 1913, when we were neither in a gigantic bubble or in space?  It worked then, despite all your theories and hypothetical scenarios.  You talk as if the gold standard has never been used with any success.

I was going to respond to some of your other comments, but I think this particular quote gave me an aneurysm.

EDIT from the ER: Though, really, this is pretty much THE definitive Ron Paul supporter quote, isn't it? 
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on March 02, 2008, 08:40:04 am
Let's review what I said earlier.

You know, the thing about these Ron Paul supporters is that they can't accept even the vaguest possibility of them being wrong. They will not be proven wrong. It's just not going to happen. That's why they approach every single point of criticism with "no you're wrong, because" instead of "this is a valid concern, but we can explain this with thus and so". No. Whenever they see criticism, they immediately go on the defense. There's not even any argumentation. Just look at the posts of BlizzardVeers and Phanixis. One didn't even explain why he supports Ron Paul and the libertarian viewpoint, the other basically just quoted Omega's post and said "nah" to every single point he made. He didn't even try to back up the "facts" he mentioned. Such as his "fact" that "the U.N. has a habit of pulling us into wars". He says it like it's a fact, while it is in fact ridiculous, and does not mention even a single shred of evidence to back up such a ludicrous claim. Neither wrote a post in which they actually explain why they're right, like Omega and I both did.

[...]

Supporting an alternative candidate like Ron Paul is probably very exciting, because a lot of people in our demographic (people in their teens and early twenties) like to be alternative. But in the end, you can't substitute a good understanding of politics and the world with a standard list of demagogic statements.

Phanixis, you are a demagogue. You claim to know a lot about politics but say frighteningly little of substance.

For example, you never mention exactly why it's a good thing to be against the rights of black people to vote as harbored in the Civil Rights Act of 1964. You simply state that "he provided some criticism". You don't mention what kind of criticism and why it's a good thing he did it. Because you don't know that. (By the way, he didn't just "provide some criticism", he actually voted "no". He also sponsored a bill (http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d098:HR04982:@@@L&summ2=m&) that would weaken it.)

You can't even explain why you really want to pull out of the U.N., that organization that has been proven to greatly reduce the amount of violent conflicts in the world, to which every single country in the world is a member. You feel it's okay that the U.S. is the only one that shouldn't take part in reducing violence in the world. You say "let's just maintain peaceful relations with other countries on our own", not realizing that the U.N. is not just about your own country's safety. That's selfish. The U.N.'s purpose is to help people everywhere in the world by providing food and development to those who are in desperate need of it. Their peacekeeping soldiers are there to help prevent bloody conflicts from occurring. You mumble something about "U.N. mind control", completely ignorant of the fact that the U.S. is one of the permanent members that has every right to not comply when the U.N. wishes it to do something.

I'm glad you actually tried to make a case for the gold standard, by the way, as opposed to just plainly stating that you're right. I'll leave that one to Omega, though, since he's the one who actually does have a lot better first-hand knowledge of economics than I do (too bad he's gone for a week), but I do think I should comment on one very important thing:
Quote
Again, you just need to set your intial ratio of dollars to gold to ensure their is sufficient gold to back the current amount of currency in circulation.
The total amount of gold that has ever been mined is estimated at around 142,000 tonnes (http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2002/of02-303/OFR_02-303.pdf). The price of gold has wildly fluctuated, being $27,300 per kilogram in 1980, around $8,000 per kilogram in 1999, and again around $27,500 in 2008. According to Kitco (http://www.kitco.com/), gold is currently $975 per troy ounce, which is about $31,000 per kilogram. Now, that would mean that the current combined value of the entire planetary stock of gold is around $4.402 trillion. That's much less than the amount of cash circulating in the U.S. alone, which is estimated (http://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/h6/current/default.htm) at $7.4 trillion. Since not all gold can be brought to U.S. bank vaults, either, the price of gold would be obscenely higher than it should be if the U.S. were to implement a gold standard. This in itself is not even the largest complaint against the gold standard (there's also the cost of even maintaining one, estimated at about 2.5% of the U.S.'s GDP, for example), but as you can see, things aren't that simple.

By the way, there are also nobel prize winning economists who strongly oppose the gold standard. I'll leave it as a readers' exercise to figure out who they are. (Annoying when people do that, isn't it?)

When you think of it, the gold standard is actually pretty anti-libertarian, isn't it?

Okay, last one for now:
Quote
What about all that foreign trade we did before 1913, when we were neither in a gigantic bubble or in space?
1913 was 95 years ago. If you believe that what happened then is still largely relevant with the globalization we're facing today, you must be dreaming. Ignoring the idea of global collaboration and integration at a time like this would be economical suicide. I'm not even exclusively talking about the gold standard here.

This is actually my largest complaint about Ron Paul. He ignores the fact that there's a world out there that's not part of the U.S. but still plays an important role in your daily lives. It's for this reason he also wants all U.S. troops on foreign soil to return home. He doesn't realize or doesn't care that this will send a shock wave of conflict through the regions that depend on U.S. troops that cannot be reinforced by U.N. troops on a short-term basis. (Then again, you think that the U.N. just controls minds into taking part in wars, so I cannot possibly expect you to provide a reasonable answer to that.)

Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Mongoloid on March 02, 2008, 09:03:42 am
So can someone give an update on the obama-hilary situation?
nbc and cnn are telling me dozens of things and i don't know what to think.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on March 02, 2008, 09:13:09 am
So can someone give an update on the obama-hilary situation?
nbc and cnn are telling me dozens of things and i don't know what to think.
Hillary (NOT Hilary, by the way) was the "inevitable" candidate for quite some time. But she's lost 11 contests in a row to Obama, who's now ahead in the amount of pledged delegates and is gaining superdelegates rapidly. Obama is likely to win the nomination at this point, as Hillary will have to win big in Texas and Ohio, but she is not going to be able to do that.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Phanixis on March 02, 2008, 10:18:44 am
Quote
Let's review what I said earlier.


You know, the thing about these Ron Paul supporters is that they can't accept even the vaguest possibility of them being wrong. They will not be proven wrong. It's just not going to happen. That's why they approach every single point of criticism with "no you're wrong, because" instead of "this is a valid concern, but we can explain this with thus and so". No. Whenever they see criticism, they immediately go on the defense. There's not even any argumentation. Just look at the posts of BlizzardVeers and Phanixis. One didn't even explain why he supports Ron Paul and the libertarian viewpoint, the other basically just quoted Omega's post and said "nah" to every single point he made. He didn't even try to back up the "facts" he mentioned. Such as his "fact" that "the U.N. has a habit of pulling us into wars". He says it like it's a fact, while it is in fact ridiculous, and does not mention even a single shred of evidence to back up such a ludicrous claim. Neither wrote a post in which they actually explain why they're right, like Omega and I both did.

[...]

Supporting an alternative candidate like Ron Paul is probably very exciting, because a lot of people in our demographic (people in their teens and early twenties) like to be alternative. But in the end, you can't substitute a good understanding of politics and the world with a standard list of demagogic statements.


Phanixis, you are a demagogue. You claim to know a lot about politics but say frighteningly little of substance.

I suppose I can understand some of your concerns.  But in regard to providing evidence to back my claims, sometimes I provide simple reasons and statements for my positions, in sometimes I go into greater detail providing specific evidence.  The reason why I often stick to basic statements is to keep these types of rebuttals concise, these topics can get very long very fast.  If particular issue is then taken with a given statement, it can always be further elaborated with evidence in a later post.  I am merely trying to strike a balance between being concise I providing sufficient evidence.

Furthermore, I haven't seen opponents using significantly greater evidence than myself in these Ron Paul topics.  They seem to start with a bunch hyperlinks, some of which could be taken as evidence, but then proceed essentially along the same lines as my own arguments.  If you do not believe me, consider a statement you just made:

Quote
You can't even explain why you really want to pull out of the U.N., that organization that has been proven to greatly reduce the amount of violent conflicts in the world, to which every single country in the world is a member.

You just made this statement, as if it were as clear as the light of day.  No evidence was provided to the effect that
1.) violent conflicts in the world have gone down
2.) the U.N. was the cause in the reduction of violence

You might actually have evidence of this or seen statistics that demonstrate this is true, but you never posted them here.  You just made the statement.  This goes for the rest of the reasons for your support for the U.N.

Quote
The U.N.'s purpose is to help people everywhere in the world by providing food and development to those who are in desperate need of it. Their peacekeeping soldiers are there to help prevent bloody conflicts from occurring.

Sure their good reasons for supporting the U.N., but you never provided the evidence this is true.  I had argued that it would be beneficial to leave the UN because the have dragged the US into wars, it was a good reason but with no evidence, perhaps I decided the fact was obvious as well.

Mind you, you were probably constrained for time and had no interest in provided detailed evidence for every claim you made in regard to the UN.  On an internet forum, such as this, this is perfectly understandable.  But please don't go criticizing me for not providing detailed evidence for every claim I made when you are not living up to the same standards you wish to impose on me.

As far as the demagogue claim goes, there may be faults in my arguments, but I don't ever remeber claiming that I was an expert of any kind in anything in this topic or even on these forums.  As long as I can remember, I have just been providing arguments.  If you think you have seen me claim I was an expert on a particular topic or claim that I  had complete understanding or mastery of a particular topic, feel free to quote me making those claims from whatever topics you can find.

I regard to some of your other complaints:

Quote
For example, you never mention exactly why it's a good thing to be against the rights of black people to vote as harbored in the Civil Rights Act of 1964. You simply state that "he provided some criticism". You don't mention what kind of criticism and why it's a good thing he did it. Because you don't know that. (By the way, he didn't just "provide some criticism", he actually voted "no". He also sponsored a bill that would weaken it.)

Ok, I didn't just claim he provided some criticism.  If you read my original posted, I actually pointed out that it was house resolution 676 that Ron Paul voted, which was a celebration of the Civil Rights Act, and not the actual Civil Rights Acts of 1964(after all, he was not in Congress in 1964).  In regard to the other bill, it pointed out it was forced busing, but I probably should have elaborated on how I came to that conclusion.  Still, Omega never criticized me for making that leap in logic, he just said it was necessary for desegregation.  In regard to this particular bill, here is the text:

Quote
Public School Civil Rights Act of 1984 - Eliminates inferior Federal court jurisdiction to issue any order requiring the assignment or transportation of students to public schools on the basis of race, color, or national origin.

Permits individuals and school boards to seek relief from court orders made prior to this Act unless the court makes certain findings, including: (1) that the acts giving rise to the order intentionally and specifically caused the segregation; (2) that no other remedy would work; and (3) that the benefits of the order outweigh its economic, social, and educational costs.


Basically, it is saying that a federal court is no longer allowed to assign transportation to students based on race.  If a student was assigned transportation based on race in the past based on his race, that student would no longer be bound by that particular order.  So without this bill, a federal court could assign a student transportation based on his race, and that student was stuck with this arrangement.  This actual sounds racist to me.  In any case, this practice has a more common name, "forced busing".  

I of course just threw out the term "forced busing", assumed everyone had read the link and new what I was talking about, and moved on.  No one posted saying that they read the link and found that it clearly wasn't forced busing, so I felt no need to elaborate further on the particular claim.

Also, as a matter of course, I have been reading many of the links provided and providing responses based on the content of the link, even going as far as to point out when the links weren't pointed to the correct material.  You can actually see this in my past responses if you read them carefully.

Quote
You mumble something about "U.N. mind control", completely ignorant of the fact that the U.S. is one of the permanent members that has every right to not comply when the U.N. wishes it to do something.

What I said about UN mind control was very specific.  Someone had intially placed a link supposedly proving the Ron Paul claimed the UN was mind controlling college students.  I read the link, saw no such statements, and pointed that fact out.

Quote
The total amount of gold that has ever been mined is estimated at around 142,000 tonnes. The price of gold has wildly fluctuated, being $27,300 per kilogram in 1980, around $8,000 per kilogram in 1999, and again around $27,500 in 2008. According to Kitco, gold is currently $975 per troy ounce, which is about $31,000 per kilogram. Now, that would mean that the current combined value of the entire planetary stock of gold is around $4.402 trillion. That's much less than the amount of cash circulating in the U.S. alone, which is estimated at $7.4 trillion. Since not all gold can be brought to U.S. bank vaults, either, the price of gold would be obscenely higher than it should be if the U.S. were to implement a gold standard. This in itself is not even the largest complaint against the gold standard (there's also the cost of even maintaining one, estimated at about 2.5% of the U.S.'s GDP, for example), but as you can see, things aren't that simple.

Now that is a good point, I will have to look into that somewhat further.  You could still deal with it by running gold as legal tender alongside U.S. fiat currency, although that wasn't quite what we were originally discussing.  Although I have no idea were you got the 2.5% GDP figure, that seems far to high a figure for the maintainance of any monetary system.

Quote
By the way, there are also nobel prize winning economists who strongly oppose the gold standard. I'll leave it as a readers' exercise to figure out who they are. (Annoying when people do that, isn't it?)

I never said there were no important economist who opposed the gold standard, I just pointed that there were also prominent economist who supported returning to it.

Quote
Quote
What about all that foreign trade we did before 1913, when we were neither in a gigantic bubble or in space?
1913 was 95 years ago. If you believe that what happened then is still largely relevant with the globalization we're facing today, you must be dreaming. Ignoring the idea of global collaboration and integration at a time like this would be economical suicide. I'm not even exclusively talking about the gold standard here.

Sure, but why are you so certain that it would no longer work when you haven't seen in action during the 21st.  I mention 1913 because that was the most recent date in which the gold standard was truly in place(without the federal reserve), although some semblance of it was retained up until Nixon, whereas there is nothing to indicate that we would be unable to use the gold standard in our modern economy provided we were able to reinstate it successfully.

Quote
This is actually my largest complaint about Ron Paul. He ignores the fact that there's a world out there that's not part of the U.S. but still plays an important role in your daily lives. It's for this reason he also wants all U.S. troops on foreign soil to return home. He doesn't realize or doesn't care that this will send a shock wave of conflict through the regions that depend on U.S. troops that cannot be reinforced by U.N. troops on a short-term basis. (Then again, you think that the U.N. just controls minds into taking part in wars, so I cannot possibly expect you to provide a reasonable answer to that.)

Ron Paul can be a bit too isolationist at times, but this is something I believe we actually need to do.  We are deep in debt and running a huge deficit, and we really do not have the luxury of indefinitely stationing troops across the entire globe.  I do not believe that the world is as quite as dependent on our troops(or on us in general) as we like to think.  We can at the very least, remove our troops stationed in stable regions of the world such as Europe.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on March 02, 2008, 10:38:00 am
You just made this statement, as if it were as clear as the light of day.  No evidence was provided to the effect that
1.) violent conflicts in the world have gone down
2.) the U.N. was the cause in the reduction of violence

You might actually have evidence of this or seen statistics that demonstrate this is true, but you never posted them here.  You just made the statement.  This goes for the rest of the reasons for your support for the U.N.

Sorry, but you're wrong. I did explain this, and actually provided a very in-depth explanation of why the U.N. is such a good organization.

I've always hoped that I wouldn't have to explain why leaving the United Nations (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2f/Flag_of_the_United_Nations.svg/640px-Flag_of_the_United_Nations.svg.png) is a bad thing.

Before we turn to this, let me first show you a map of the members of the United Nations (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5e/United_Nations_Members.PNG). Take a good look. I'm not sure whether you paid attention during geology class, but the only real country that isn't a member is Western Sahara, (which is due to the fact its political control is currently unclear). This is just so you can get an image of the reach of this organization.

With that in mind, we turn to the purpose of the U.N., which is to assist cooperation for the purpose of social progress, human rights, economic development and international security. The U.N. is an organization that intervenes when two or more parties have a conflict, thereby preventing war (or civil war), and attempts to bring about concerted efforts towards improving the situation in impoverished countries.

The U.N. has been criticized a lot, and there have been times where they simply failed in their efforts, but it's not exactly a flash in the pan. It has been recognized as a serious contributor to the drop in violent conflicts around the world. Here's what the first Human Security Report, written in 2005, had to say: "The first Human Security Report documents a dramatic, but largely unknown, decline in the number of wars, genocides and human rights abuse over the past decade. Published by Oxford University Press, the Report argues that the single most compelling explanation for these changes is found in the unprecedented upsurge of international activism, spearheaded by the U.N., which took place in the wake of the Cold War."

Ron Paul wants to denounce its membership of this organization, and for what reason? Because you believe it's better if countries communicate with each other directly rather than through the mediation of the U.N.? If it weren't for their mediation, the world would be a much more violent place today. That's also why so many countries are a member of the U.N.: because it does work, despite the fact they failed to prevent some bloody conflicts from occurring. It's true that they could have done more in the Rwanda, Congo and Srebrenica. It's true there's currently an ongoing conflict in Darfur that has now largely dimmed down but should have gotten more attention before. But what good will leaving the U.N. do? Will that somehow solve all these problems? It's a very strong protest, I agree, but it does not pose a substantial solution, does it?

Or perhaps you don't care about the U.N. at all and feel that the U.S. should be isolated from the rest of the world, which is also one of the things Ron Paul wants. I don't understand this, as it doesn't take international security into account. Keep in mind that the U.S. has soldiers in more places than just Afghanistan and Iraq. Suddenly leaving all these places will likely cause a shock wave of violence to occur in those regions. There's no realistic possibility of international organizations, like the U.N., being able to replace those forces all at once. Isolationism, all economic repercussions notwithstanding, would also be a security disaster, not only to the world, but evidently also to the U.S. itself.
But why is this good?

I had argued that it would be beneficial to leave the UN because the have dragged the US into wars, it was a good reason but with no evidence, perhaps I decided the fact was obvious as well.
First of all, the U.N. is there to prevent war. Not to wage war. Maybe the years of engaging in regime change have given you the wrong idea. The U.N. is a political organization that attempts to promote social and economic development in countries that badly need it and coordinates diplomatic and military efforts aimed at reducing the possibility of a violent conflict occurring.

Not only are you grossly wrong about the purpose of the U.N., you also ignore the fact that:
as a member of the ruling seven the US has the right to not follow any UN action and frequently goes over the UN's head. once again, you demonstrate a complete lack of knowledge on the subject.
... the U.S. does not need to take orders from the U.N. at all. And frequently doesn't.

But please don't go criticizing me for not providing detailed evidence for every claim I made when you are not living up to the same standards you wish to impose on me.
Did you not read my gigantic post (http://www.gamingw.net/forums/index.php?topic=3350.msg1258889#msg1258889) on page 29, which already provides a very detailed and personal assessment of many of the pro-Paul arguments given in this forum? I most definitely am explaining myself, not just by giving links (which, by the way, also are a valid way of making an argument).


And that's all for now, I'm working on a site that I need to finish so I'll continue later.

EDIT: I would like to reaffirm for a moment here that libertarianism is so objectively terrible that I could not even conceive their core ideas at first, let alone believe they were serious about it at all. (Just in case there were people who didn't know that yet.)

EDIT 2: just one more before I get back to work.
Now that is a good point, I will have to look into that somewhat further.  You could still deal with it by running gold as legal tender alongside U.S. fiat currency, although that wasn't quite what we were originally discussing.  Although I have no idea were you got the 2.5% GDP figure, that seems far to high a figure for the maintainance of any monetary system.
I got the 2.5% GDP figure from Milton Friedman (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milton_Friedman), who himself is vehemently opposed to the gold standard.

EDIT 3:

Sure, but why are you so certain that it would no longer work when you haven't seen in action during the 21st.  I mention 1913 because that was the most recent date in which the gold standard was truly in place(without the federal reserve), although some semblance of it was retained up until Nixon, whereas there is nothing to indicate that we would be unable to use the gold standard in our modern economy provided we were able to reinstate it successfully.
Back in 1913. You do realize that this was 95 years ago? Ghandi hadn't even started campaigning for India's independence yet! By the way, the Federal Reserve was actually conceived in 1913 by Woodrow Wilson.

You say there's "nothing to indicate that we would be unable to use the gold standard in our modern economy". I agree, there's nothing stopping you from doing it (except the fact every other presidential candidate than Ron Paul is opposed to it). But, the system is old-fashioned and has been abandoned by every single economy in the world for a good reason: its disadvantages simply do not outweigh the advantages, as most of those advantages are simply no longer relevant.

Like I said before, there's no problem with just providing essays written by experts in the field that know a lot more about it than I do, so here you go (http://www.j-bradford-delong.net/Politics/whynotthegoldstandard.html). There are some very good reasons in there that can tell you why it simply isn't a viable alternative.

Ron Paul can be a bit too isolationist at times, but this is something I believe we actually need to do.  We are deep in debt and running a huge deficit, and we really do not have the luxury of indefinitely stationing troops across the entire globe.  I do not believe that the world is as quite as dependent on our troops(or on us in general) as we like to think.  We can at the very least, remove our troops stationed in stable regions of the world such as Europe.
Every country (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/35/Public_debt_percent_gdp_world_map.PNG) is in debt. It's not just the U.S., you know. There's no need to be rash about it, either: there's no need to completely pay off the debt, and lowering the debt can be done in due time.

As for the military, this is really a big mistake by Ron Paul. This is why I mentioned before that he simply does not seem to care about the rest of the world. But by removing all of the foreign troops, he would also jeopardize the safety of the U.S., as many unstable regions will see strong surges of violence if there's no peacekeeping force around. Take Iraq, for example. Do you really think that it's a good idea to just leave right away? Don't you think that, as soon as such a thing happens, the entire region will explode? The Iraqi government needs to become responsible for its own safety, but this requires time. The U.S. troops do need to start packing their stuff, but they can't leave until the country's military demands can be satisfied by U.N. and internal troops. Ron Paul does not agree, however.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: lampshade on March 02, 2008, 09:22:04 pm
Dada you have a big penis.

EDIT- you too phanaxis.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on March 02, 2008, 09:51:26 pm
(http://gamingw.net/pubaccess/28695/Kofi-Annan_0063v_web.jpg)

I AM IN CONTROL OF YOUR SYNAPSES!!!!!!!!
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Shepperd on March 02, 2008, 10:15:07 pm
every time I see Kofi Annan I think of ghetto christ
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: The Truth on March 03, 2008, 03:40:05 am
heh... no wonder the good doctor hates the un... look at the mudbaby that runs it....

come to texax koffi time for us to teach you some things from the ron paul survival guide....
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on March 03, 2008, 03:43:52 am
i can't wait for tuesday when ron paul loses his own state by millions of votes
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on March 03, 2008, 06:38:58 am
here to say that I'm in Hawaii, not going to waste time posting about Phanixis, but I probably won't reply anyways because look at all that worthless text that makes no sense at all.

*Gw's best debater*
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: The Truth on March 03, 2008, 06:54:15 am
how is hawaii buddy
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on March 03, 2008, 06:57:05 am
but I probably won't reply anyways because look at all that worthless text that makes no sense at all.
Not kidding anyone.

By the way, you should be out dancing to 90s music and drinking Malibu.
heh... no wonder the good doctor hates the un... look at the mudbaby that runs it....
Kofi Annan is no longer the Secretary-General, by the way, but I'm sure you knew that.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on March 03, 2008, 07:12:44 am
i had to fill out a financial aid form due today so no partying for me!

also the secretary is ban ki moon which is still moon speak.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: GZ on March 03, 2008, 08:25:24 am
Quote from: Dada
He says it like it's a fact, while it is in fact ridiculous, and does not mention even a single shred of evidence to back up such a ludicrous claim.

Quote from: Phanixis
I suppose I can understand some of your concerns.  But in regard to providing evidence to back my claims, sometimes I provide simple reasons and statements for my positions, in sometimes I go into greater detail providing specific evidence.  The reason why I often stick to basic statements is to keep these types of rebuttals concise, these topics can get very long very fast.  If particular issue is then taken with a given statement, it can always be further elaborated with evidence in a later post.  I am merely trying to strike a balance between being concise I providing sufficient evidence.

Quote from: Phanixis
<TWO GIGANTIC POSTS, NO EVIDENCE OF CLAIMS>

Quote from: Phanixis
But please don't go criticizing me for not providing detailed evidence for every claim I made when you are not living up to the same standards you wish to impose on me.

Quote from: Dada
<previously and currently posted multiple outside sources to back-up claims>

Quote from: GZ
don't even bother typing if you aren't going to post links with reputable sources. saying "well times have changed this is why it will work" doesn't cut it. post real, solid evidence of your claims.

Quote from: Phanixis
As long as I can remember, I have just been providing arguments.

facts be damned

for someone who virtually uses GAMING WORLD as a debate club (as seen by the fact nearly every post of yours is about debating), people on this forum really give you too much credit.

jesus christ, i clicked on your post history and the only link i saw in your last 20 posts to was lewrockwell.com when talking about UNBAISED websites. lew rockwell is one of the biggest fucking kooks there is and many people believe he ghostwrote the newsletters for ron paul ( http://www.reason.com/news/show/124426.html ). for the record REASON is a pretty big libertarian magazine and i am literally using the least biased news article possible here.

as if this shit wasn't enough i clicked on your website and holy shit is all i can really say here:

http://phanixis.prohosts.org/Essays/politicaldictionary.html
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: The Truth on March 04, 2008, 10:14:43 am
Not kidding anyone.

By the way, you should be out dancing to 90s music and drinking Malibu.Kofi Annan is no longer the Secretary-General, by the way, but I'm sure you knew that.

clearly you know nothing about the illuminati triangle, and the filthy negro sitting at the top of it


also stop calling steel omega it is really confusing me for about 2 seconds then i am like "oh"
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Cho on March 04, 2008, 05:22:59 pm
Ok guys, big day for the Democrats! Clinton and Obama's final deathmatch (maybe). Will Clinton get the Republican vote she so desperately needs? Or will Republicans waste their time voting for McCain, even though he's got the nomination wrapped up? Tough to say, but in the past we've known Republicans to be a united, vicious force, capable of actually yanking the election from the hands of the Democrats. Or will Obama wrap it up? Teenage Internet Liberals think so! If he does, will Superdelegates appear out of the woodwork to "steal" his nomination by pledging Clinton? Will we finally be able to see Clinton drop the n-bomb, or Obama drop the c-bomb?

One thing we know for sure: The Republican battle was about as interesting as watching mud dry.

Come on guys, let's chant "Hope" and "Change" over and over, and maybe, just maybe, it'll be enough, because we believe in "Hope" and "Change"!
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Doktormartini on March 04, 2008, 05:37:58 pm
Not trying to start anything here but...
Quote
"U.S. Senate candidate Barack Obama suggested Friday that the United States one day might have to launch surgical missile strikes into Iran and Pakistan to keep extremists from getting control of nuclear bombs."

"But if those measures fall short, the United States should not rule out military strikes to destroy nuclear production sites in Iran, Obama said.

"'The big question is going to be, if Iran is resistant to these pressures, including economic sanctions, which I hope will be imposed if they do not cooperate, at what point are we going to, if any, are we going to take military action?' Obama asked.

"Given the continuing war in Iraq, the United States is not in a position to invade Iran, but missile strikes might be a viable option, he said. Obama conceded that such strikes might further strain relations between the U.S. and the Arab world. 'On the other hand, having a radical Muslim theocracy in possession of nuclear weapons is worse. So I guess my instinct would be to err on not having those weapons in the possession of the ruling clerics of Iran. … And I hope it doesn't get to that point. But realistically, as I watch how this thing has evolved, I'd be surprised if Iran blinked at this point
Do you agree?
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Cho on March 04, 2008, 05:45:20 pm
I'd giggle like a little girl if he decided to declare war on Iran after he pulls out of Iraq. I mean, his entire campaign is built around how big a mistake it was to invade a middle eastern country under suspicion that they have weapons of mass destruction.

Also, I'm not a nuclear engineer by any stretch of the imagination, but bombing a nuclear production plant does not sound like a good idea on so many, many, many levels.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Doktormartini on March 04, 2008, 06:06:32 pm
Well he doesn't want to start a war.  He basically said all options are on the table regarding Iran (including military action). 

How is missile striking a viable option?  Does he think we will drop a few missiles and it will be done?  I'm pretty sure Iran or Pakistan would retaliate (lol war).
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on March 04, 2008, 06:49:50 pm
Well he doesn't want to start a war.  He basically said all options are on the table regarding Iran (including military action). 

How is missile striking a viable option?  Does he think we will drop a few missiles and it will be done?  I'm pretty sure Iran or Pakistan would retaliate (lol war).

and just how exactly would Iran or Pakistan retaliate against the USA? other than economically, which would hurt them as much as it would us.

edit:

apparently Obama has 50 more superdelegates who will come out and endorse him tomorrow, probably as an attempt to negate any Clinton victories she has today

http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0308/Waiting_for_tomorrow.html
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: ase on March 04, 2008, 07:06:34 pm
Thank you Doktormartini for quoting 1/5 of the article (which is apparently only legally available through purchase on the chicagotribune.com archives). I found it on some random forum, but I'm not 100% sure it is complete. Also thanks for mentioning the date of the article (Sept. 25, 2004)

Quote
The Chicago Tribune

CAMPAIGN 2004: US SENATE RACE

Obama would consider missile strikes on Iran

By David Mendell
Tribune staff reporter
Published September 25, 2004

U.S. Senate candidate Barack Obama suggested Friday
that the United States one day might have to launch
surgical missile strikes into Iran and Pakistan to
keep extremists from getting control of nuclear bombs.

Obama, a Democratic state senator from the Hyde Park
neighborhood, made the remarks during a meeting Friday
with the Tribune editorial board. Obama's Republican
opponent, Alan Keyes, was invited to attend the same
session but declined.

Iran announced on Tuesday that it has begun converting
tons of uranium into gas, a crucial step in making
fuel for a nuclear reactor or a nuclear bomb. The
International Atomic Energy Agency has called for Iran
to suspend all such activities.

Obama said the United States must first address Iran's
attempt to gain nuclear capabilities by going before
the United Nations Security Council and lobbying the
international community to apply more pressure on Iran
to cease nuclear activities. That pressure should come
in the form of economic sanctions, he said.

But if those measures fall short, the United States
should not rule out military strikes to destroy
nuclear production sites in Iran, Obama said.

"The big question is going to be, if Iran is resistant
to these pressures, including economic sanctions,
which I hope will be imposed if they do not cooperate,
at what point are we going to, if any, are we going to
take military action?" Obama asked.

Given the continuing war in Iraq, the United States is
not in a position to invade Iran, but missile strikes
might be a viable option, he said. Obama conceded that
such strikes might further strain relations between
the U.S. and the Arab world.

"In light of the fact that we're now in Iraq, with all
the problems in terms of perceptions about America
that have been created, us launching some missile
strikes into Iran is not the optimal position for us
to be in," he said.

"On the other hand, having a radical Muslim theocracy
in possession of nuclear weapons is worse. So I guess
my instinct would be to err on not having those
weapons in the possession of the ruling clerics of
Iran. ... And I hope it doesn't get to that point. But
realistically, as I watch how this thing has evolved,
I'd be surprised if Iran blinked at this point."

As for Pakistan, Obama said that if President Pervez
Musharraf were to lose power in a coup, the United
States similarly might have to consider military
action in that country to destroy nuclear weapons it
already possesses. Musharraf's troops are battling
hundreds of well-armed foreign militants and Pakistani
tribesmen in increasingly violent confrontations.

Obama said that violent Islamic extremists are a
vastly different brand of foe than was the Soviet
Union during the Cold War, and they must be treated
differently.

"With the Soviet Union, you did get the sense that
they were operating on a model that we could
comprehend in terms of, they don't want to be blown
up, we don't want to be blown up, so you do game
theory and calculate ways to contain," Obama said. "I
think there are certain elements within the Islamic
world right now that don't make those same
calculations.

"... I think there are elements within Pakistan right
now--if Musharraf is overthrown and they took over, I
think we would have to consider going in and taking
those bombs out, because I don't think we can make the
same assumptions about how they calculate risks."

A last resort

Obama's willingness to consider additional military
action in the Middle East comes despite his early and
vocal opposition to the Iraq war. Obama, however, also
has stressed that he is not averse to using military
action as a last resort, although he believes that
President Bush did not make that case for the Iraq
invasion.

[Extra text deleted]
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on March 04, 2008, 07:20:16 pm
also stop calling steel omega it is really confusing me for about 2 seconds then i am like "oh"
No man. I waited a long time for this moment.

Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Shepperd on March 04, 2008, 08:07:37 pm
prolly, Hillary will win Ohio while losing the other states and claim SHE HAS THE MOMENTUM NOW
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Doktormartini on March 04, 2008, 08:16:44 pm
I'm sorry a friend sent me that and I didn't read the full article or didn't realize the date...I'm stupid.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: The Truth on March 04, 2008, 08:17:38 pm
Maybe I read D&D too much, however today literally has me developing an ulcer.

The Clinton's smear tactics are too much to stomach, sometimes i wish i took up smoking.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Wash Cycle on March 04, 2008, 08:23:02 pm
I voted today.

+1 Barack Obama
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on March 04, 2008, 11:33:43 pm
GUYS I AM NERVOUS

come on obama its been a tough week bud but we can do it.....
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: The Truth on March 04, 2008, 11:46:03 pm
 :thumbsupbuddy: :thumbsupbuddy: :thumbsupbuddy:RICHARDSON TO ENDORSE OBAMA SOON :putit: :putit: :putit:


nice timing :gwa:
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on March 04, 2008, 11:48:35 pm
where did you get this from
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: The Truth on March 04, 2008, 11:52:20 pm
MSNBC/SA

Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Sarhan on March 05, 2008, 12:01:21 am
Obama won Vermont.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: The Truth on March 05, 2008, 12:04:38 am
OBAMA WINS VERMONT :fogetbackflip: :fogetbackflip: :fogetbackflip: :fogetbackflip: :fogetbackflip:
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on March 05, 2008, 12:30:17 am
ohio polls closing now.

If Obama wins Ohio it's game over for Clinton
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Sarhan on March 05, 2008, 12:57:36 am
Shitty titties, guys. Clinton is winning Ohio thusly. Oh noes.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on March 05, 2008, 01:01:26 am
she probably will win Ohio. however at the moment 0% of the precincts are reporting so it's a bit too early to be making predictions
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Shepperd on March 05, 2008, 01:12:09 am
what is texas (P) and texzas (C) ?
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on March 05, 2008, 01:12:42 am
Texas has both a primary and a caucus. 2/3 of the delegates are allocated based on the primary results while 1/3 is based on the caucus results
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Neophyte on March 05, 2008, 01:13:15 am
Yeah, Texas is fucking weird.
Obama seems to be winning Texas so far though(60% to 39%). Only 0% of the precincts though so it could change!
Edit: It's changing already.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Sarhan on March 05, 2008, 01:14:04 am
Obama's kicking ass in Texas so far. 0% reporting, but he's got it in the bag.

So long, Hillary.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on March 05, 2008, 01:17:24 am
I wouldn't be too confident. Polls have showed Obama and Clinton extremely close in Texas. However Obama has a real chance at coming out of that state with more delegates than Clinton. He does phenomenal in caucuses and the densely populated black areas of Texas have a high delegate concentration compared to the hispanic districts
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Neophyte on March 05, 2008, 01:21:16 am
Yeah, so even if Hillary wins the state, Obama could still win the most delegates.
Right now Obama seems to be winning in the highly populated areas like Austin and Dallas, while Hillary is winning all of the smaller areas.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: ase on March 05, 2008, 01:34:36 am
MSNBC reporting ballot shortages in 15 Ohio precincts, so voting will be extended by a few hours.

My unscientific analysis says that this benefits Obama because younger votes are more likely to go out voting later, whereas old geezers supporting Hillary will be asleep.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on March 05, 2008, 02:03:46 am
John McCain is now officially the republican nominee
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on March 05, 2008, 02:21:16 am
Mike Huckabee is dropping out of the race now

edit: Clinton wins Rhode Island as expected
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: jamie on March 05, 2008, 02:33:48 am
bye mike...
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Shepperd on March 05, 2008, 02:40:40 am
looks like Clinton will win a few more delegates than Blackie O
I hope that 50 superdelegate bonus points is a real deal
Because at least it would be some pillow to shut that fucking Clinton a bit.

I mean, I read it everywhere that it is very difficult for hilarity to win the nomination, but she's fucking making this race long and intolerable.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on March 05, 2008, 02:42:28 am
it's nearly impossible for her to overtake Obama in pledged delegates. tbh it's relatively impossible for her to win the nomination short of some massive superdelegate switch.

Quote from: CNN
In what may be bad news for Clinton, Democrats across all four states overwhelmingly say they want super delegates to vote based on which candidate finishes ahead in the pledged delegate count at the end of the primary season.

Majorities of Democrats in Texas (62 percent), Ohio (61 percent), Rhode Island (57 percent) and Vermont (66 percent) all said the super delegates should cast their vote for the primary winner, not for who they think can best win in November.

Why is this bad news for Clinton? As CNN's John King has made clear on his interactive delegate map, it is nearly impossible for Clinton to catch up to Obama's pledged delegate count. She would have to win the rest of the states convincingly to do so, given that the party allots delegates proportionally. Barring large blowouts in the remaining contests, its likely Clinton will finish behind Obama in pledged delegates.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on March 05, 2008, 03:46:10 am
jesus christ.

Texas 23%:

Obama 49 -- 711,548
Clinton 49 -- 710,286

Ohio 50%:

Clinton 57
Obama 41

Obama is going to lose Ohio, however he should close the gap once the larger cities start coming in

edit: yep, cnn calls ohio for clinton
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Pasty on March 05, 2008, 05:04:01 am
if obama loses texas too I think I'm going to drink myself silly
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on March 05, 2008, 05:07:43 am
why? honestly the clinton spin on this is just unbelievable. she'll still be behind about the same number in delegates.

We've always been at war with Eastasia.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Neophyte on March 05, 2008, 05:08:23 am
Ahggh DAMNIT, why must this race continue. I mean Obama still has over 100 more pledged delegates, but Hillary is just...fuck.
This shit is gonna drag out until June.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Pasty on March 05, 2008, 05:10:24 am
why? honestly the clinton spin on this is just unbelievable. she'll still be behind about the same number in delegates.

We've always been at war with Eastasia.

because she will have a reason to continue and I don't really want them to drag this out to the convention.  this gives mccain a huge advantage
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on March 05, 2008, 05:14:00 am
because she will have a reason to continue and I don't really want them to drag this out to the convention.  this gives mccain a huge advantage

well, yeah. she's just pulling a huckabee and hoping that obama will have a "Dean-scream" moment or some huge news will come out of the Rezko trial pretty much.

i had a lot of respect for Hillary before the election began. since then shes proven that she's no different than the Karl Roves and the rest of the Bush lot.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Pasty on March 05, 2008, 05:18:40 am
well, no.  gleaning the figures leads the average voter to believe that unlike huckabee, sen. clinton is still a serious contender.  this concerns me.

then again, looking at county maps, obama's still taking big cities by double-digit margins
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Neophyte on March 05, 2008, 05:26:14 am
Some are saying that the Obama campaign took over the caucuses of Texas, which carries about 60 delegates. Apparently the people who ran the caucuses basically said "WHO WANTS TO RUN THIS?" because they had no idea on how big the turnout was, so most of the caucuses are now ran by Obama supporters.
We'll see though, it's still in speculation.

Edit: Obama has 56% in the caucuses. Hillary with 44%.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Cho on March 05, 2008, 05:48:50 am
i had a lot of respect for Hillary before the election began. since then shes proven that she's no different than the Karl Roves and the rest of the Bush lot.

I'm sorry, I really do not understand what you are trying to say, please elaborate. Are you upset because Clinton isn't rolling over for Obama and is actually trying to win the nomination?
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: ase on March 05, 2008, 05:50:34 am
NBC says Clinton won the Texas primaries :(
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Jeff on March 05, 2008, 05:54:12 am
I'm sorry, I really do not understand what you are trying to say, please elaborate. Are you upset because Clinton isn't rolling over for Obama and is actually trying to win the nomination?

I believe he is referring to her complete collapse of substance lately. Such as:

IF I WAS PRESIDENT I WOULD CALL A TRADE TIME-OUT
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on March 05, 2008, 05:55:06 am
I'm sorry, I really do not understand what you are trying to say, please elaborate. Are you upset because Clinton isn't rolling over for Obama and is actually trying to win the nomination?


or maybe shit like what her husband said after south carolina? (even jesse jackson won here!) or her 3 a.m ad? (fearmongering) or her saying john mccain is a better candidate than a member of her own party? (fucking suicidal for her party)

or.. her having almost no chance to overtake him delegate-wise yet still fighting on out of sheer selfishness?
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Sarhan on March 05, 2008, 05:55:57 am
NBC says Clinton won the Texas primaries :(

Yup. Obama should still walk away with more delegates however. Basically, each senator has won an equal number of delegates tonight, leaving the difference in delegates the same as it was before today.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Cho on March 05, 2008, 06:13:29 am
Quote
or maybe shit like what her husband said after south carolina? (even jesse jackson won here!)

Hate to break the news to you but Hillary and Bill are not actually the same person. I know we all think her to be a Malicious Harpy Puppetmaster, but the truth is she does not control everything her husband thinks.

Quote
or her 3 a.m ad? (fearmongering)

I blame Mondale.

Quote
or her saying john mccain is a better candidate than a member of her own party? (fucking suicidal her party)

Yeah, damn her and admitting that maybe the Republican party isn't so awful! I mean, I would respect someone a little bit more if they said "Hey, just because I'm a Democrat, it doesn't mean I think Democrats have all the answers, and maybe you guys shouldn't vote for someone just because they're a Democrat, you should actually pay attention to the issues*." I use the term "would" because we're talking about politicians and I have zero respect for politicians and nothing they say or do is going to make me think any better of them. Especially not during a campaign.

*Ideally, this would be the case, but as we've mentioned, what politicians SAY and their PLATFORMS mean absolutely nothing.

Quote
or.. her having almost no chance to overtake him delegate-wise yet still fighting on out of sheer selfishness?

She still has a chance, the race is still pretty damn close, I see no reason why she, or anyone in her shoes, would give up right now.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: lampshade on March 05, 2008, 06:17:53 am
Im just too upset. Clinton wins Texas, and I just saw a net neutrality thing...man, this election is an emotional roller coaster. Honestly, if she doesn't end up sweeping all of the states from here on out, How could she friggin win?

Even if the superdelegates all pile up and elect her, that would piss so many people off to overturn the will of the people.

Maybe that is what nader is counting on.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Sarhan on March 05, 2008, 06:31:09 am
Hate to break the news to you but Hillary and Bill are not actually the same person.

I think it's pretty shitty how some Hillary supporters are voting for her because "Bill was a great president so she will be too" but when negative shit is brought up associating her with Bill, they denounce it and go "but she isn't Bill." Not saying a majority of Hillary supporters do it, but a few kids I've talked to on campus do this and I find it ridiculous. You can't have it both ways.

Even if the superdelegates all pile up and elect her, that would piss so many people off to overturn the will of the people.

Maybe that is what nader is counting on.

This would be the shittiest thing that could possibly happen for the democratic party. If Obama wins in delegates and she gets nominated because of superdelegates, the democratic party would split. You'd have a bunch of people voting for McCain in the general election and we'd end up destroying the unity of the democratic party.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Wash Cycle on March 05, 2008, 12:43:25 pm
well not only would it split the democratic party, but it would fuck the nominating system forever. however, that could be a good thing. maybe it is time for a change in the way they do things.

also: ohio sucks
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on March 05, 2008, 06:49:12 pm
Hate to break the news to you but Hillary and Bill are not actually the same person. I know we all think her to be a Malicious Harpy Puppetmaster, but the truth is she does not control everything her husband thinks.

Yeah, damn her and admitting that maybe the Republican party isn't so awful! I mean, I would respect someone a little bit more if they said "Hey, just because I'm a Democrat, it doesn't mean I think Democrats have all the answers, and maybe you guys shouldn't vote for someone just because they're a Democrat, you should actually pay attention to the issues*." I use the term "would" because we're talking about politicians and I have zero respect for politicians and nothing they say or do is going to make me think any better of them. Especially not during a campaign.

*Ideally, this would be the case, but as we've mentioned, what politicians SAY and their PLATFORMS mean absolutely nothing.

She still has a chance, the race is still pretty damn close, I see no reason why she, or anyone in her shoes, would give up right now.

Hillary and Bill aren't the same person? Well damn, you'd think she was basing her entire "experience" claim on her being.. his wife during his presidency or something.

And uh, as a DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE FOR PRESIDENT, you don't go saying that the other potential DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE FOR PRESIDENT is not as qualified to be president compared to the REPUBLICAN nominee for president. Unless of course you're unbelievably desperate and selfish and will stop at nothing to get the nomination, even if it means absolute suicide for you and your party.

edit: and christ go watch the news or something. it's been stated about 6,000 times that she has to win over 60% of the delegates in every state yet to come to even TIE obama in pledged delegates. so no, she does not have a chance at winning this nomination other than some political implosion by the Obama campaign
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: riddley88 on March 05, 2008, 10:11:59 pm
Ohio indeeds sucks. If Obama wins I'll be very, very happy.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Moses on March 05, 2008, 11:54:13 pm
it's been stated about 6,000 times that she has to win over 60% of the delegates in every state yet to come to even TIE obama in pledged delegates.
That and she's a giant bitch.

I was really surprised last night's polls turned out the way they did.  I was pretty sure Obama would get Texas, and Hillary would get Vermont.  I live in Vermont, and everyone I've to whom I've talked has said they're voting/voted for Hillary.  I guess that's just my town, though.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: RWildcat on March 06, 2008, 03:10:22 am
(https://legacy.gamingw.net/etc/i246.photobucket.com/albums/gg113/NamesAshHousewares/Hillary_Obama_StarWars.gif)
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: jamie on March 06, 2008, 03:17:43 am
not appreciating that one bit rwildcat.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: onine on March 06, 2008, 04:04:58 am
(https://legacy.gamingw.net/etc/i246.photobucket.com/albums/gg113/NamesAshHousewares/Hillary_Obama_StarWars.gif)

thats funny. i cant stop watchin it :fogetlaugh:
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Cho on March 06, 2008, 05:37:26 am
Quote
Hillary and Bill aren't the same person? Well damn, you'd think she was basing her entire "experience" claim on her being.. his wife during his presidency or something.

Also that whole "Hey I've been active in politics since I was like, 18, which was before Obama was even born" thing. But let's ignore that and focus on the fact that she was just the First Lady (which, I mean, still, that's more experience in the White House than Obama or McCain).

Quote
And uh, as a DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE FOR PRESIDENT, you don't go saying that the other potential DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE FOR PRESIDENT is not as qualified to be president compared to the REPUBLICAN nominee for president. Unless of course you're unbelievably desperate and selfish and will stop at nothing to get the nomination, even if it means absolute suicide for you and your party.

So like, McCain shouldn't say that he thinks Obama would make a better president than Ron Paul? It shouldn't be about what's best for the party, it should be about what's best for the American people. HEY MAYBE WE WOULDN'T HAVE AS MANY PROBLEMS IN THIS COUNTRY IF DEMOCRATS AND REPUBLICANS DIDN'T SPEND SO MUCH TIME DEMONIZING EACH OTHER???? idk tho. Frankly, it shows that she's willing to bridge the gap between the parties, something Obama only talks about  :fogetshh:

Quote
edit: and christ go watch the news or something. it's been stated about 6,000 times that she has to win over 60% of the delegates in every state yet to come to even TIE obama in pledged delegates.

Which, realistically, she could do. In fact, if I were to watch the news right now, they'd all tell me she's gaining momentum or whatever the hell term they're using. But you're right, its not like a Democrat to screw up his front runner status during the primaries by doing something stupid (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Dean).

Hey I bet if Michigan and Florida get to actually have delegates, I bet all the Obama supporters will call Clinton an evil conniving bitch who's trying to cheat their man out of his nomination.

EDIT:
Something I don't feel like quoting, but you brought up the telephone ad earlier. I just wanted to point out that Obama's campaign retaliated with this (http://youtube.com/watch?v=PVnwsQfRK4k&feature=related). Obama's just as guilty of fearmongering as Clinton.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: The Truth on March 06, 2008, 06:01:54 am


Hey I bet if Michigan and Florida get to actually have delegates, I bet all the Obama supporters will call Clinton an evil conniving bitch who's trying to cheat their man out of his nomination.

what would that make her then?
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: cowardknower on March 06, 2008, 06:53:36 am
i will vote for whoever does something about reality tv
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Vellfire on March 06, 2008, 02:29:28 pm
The whole thing about experience pisses me off as a basis for voting for someone.

guess who had experience?  george w bush!
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: BlackRaven on March 06, 2008, 02:42:03 pm
Using experience as the main criterium makes a dictatorship a very viable alternative.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Xeno|Soft on March 06, 2008, 03:04:22 pm

Hey I bet if Michigan and Florida get to actually have delegates, I bet all the Obama supporters will call Clinton an evil conniving bitch who's trying to cheat their man out of his nomination.

EDIT:
Something I don't feel like quoting, but you brought up the telephone ad earlier. I just wanted to point out that Obama's campaign retaliated with this (http://youtube.com/watch?v=PVnwsQfRK4k&feature=related). Obama's just as guilty of fearmongering as Clinton.

1. You just lost your bet, Obama's stance is that he's all game for Michigan and Florida, as long as they are redone, because his name wasn't even on the ballot in Michigan, and In Both states he wasn't allowed to campaign. And he was following the rules layed down.

2. The add was not fear mongering, it was mocking in my opinion, Clintions ad. He even got laughs out of it in the last couple of speeches he made.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Finality on March 06, 2008, 06:31:07 pm
It was no surprise Hilary won Texas. Cause they rather choose a white woman than a black man. Racist ass America.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on March 06, 2008, 06:57:38 pm
Also that whole "Hey I've been active in politics since I was like, 18, which was before Obama was even born" thing. But let's ignore that and focus on the fact that she was just the First Lady (which, I mean, still, that's more experience in the White House than Obama or McCain).

how is being active in politics in any way a measure of how much experience you have towards RUNNING A COUNTRY? is rush limbaugh experienced enough to be president? how about chris matthews?

and.. how is being FIRST LADY in any way a qualifier to RUN THE COUNTRY? is barbara bush qualified to run the country? what about betty ford?

Quote
So like, McCain shouldn't say that he thinks Obama would make a better president than Ron Paul? It shouldn't be about what's best for the party, it should be about what's best for the American people. HEY MAYBE WE WOULDN'T HAVE AS MANY PROBLEMS IN THIS COUNTRY IF DEMOCRATS AND REPUBLICANS DIDN'T SPEND SO MUCH TIME DEMONIZING EACH OTHER???? idk tho. Frankly, it shows that she's willing to bridge the gap between the parties, something Obama only talks about

uhh.. no? since when did politicians give a shit about what was best for the american people?  they want what is best for them and (concurrently) best for their party. besides, ron paul is not a relevant candidate with a serious chance at the nomination. obama is. hillary is throwing the fucking kitchen sink at him and shit like that will destroy her political career if she fails to get the nomination.

Quote
Which, realistically, she could do. In fact, if I were to watch the news right now, they'd all tell me she's gaining momentum or whatever the hell term they're using. But you're right, its not like a Democrat to screw up his front runner status during the primaries by doing something stupid.

so you think there is a realistic chance that hillary will get 60% (or even win) wyoming, mississippi (largest % of african americans in the country!), indiana, or north carolina? sorry but every one of those states has like 20 point margins between obama and clinton. everyone with even the slightest bit of intelligence knows that clinton can not overturn obama's delegate lead. she just can't. her only option is to convince the superdelegates to swing to her.

and if a huge obama scandal does erupt, ok fine. but that's still besides the point: clinton will not win this thing based on pledged delegates

ssorry to burst your bubble... (http://www.newsweek.com/id/119010)
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Impeal on March 06, 2008, 07:14:35 pm
The whole thing about experience pisses me off as a basis for voting for someone.

guess who had experience?  george w bush!
Well yeah, that's a good point, but I think the argument has even worse problems with it.

I think the experience, aside from jading her, makes it likely for her to have a much larger personal agenda. If she were to ultimately win the presidency, the past four presidents will've been bush, clinton, bush, clinton. So yeah, people argue the experience thing as if it's something in her favor, but really it's just highlighting that she's part of a political dynasty, and I don't know why anyone would like that.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Grunthor on March 06, 2008, 07:20:57 pm
The whole thing about experience pisses me off as a basis for voting for someone.

Same here.  The thing that really pisses me off though is that it's a really stupid argument to make since McCain has a hell of a lot more experience than she does.  It's an argument that would backfire on her if she used it in the general election. 
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on March 06, 2008, 07:44:39 pm
I think the experience, aside from jading her, makes it likely for her to have a much larger personal agenda.
Yeah, that's the thing. Obama is a (relatively) young politician who hasn't allowed himself to be corrupted by the game of politics.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Neophyte on March 06, 2008, 08:50:42 pm
This is insane, Obama raised $55 million dollars during the month of February.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23504993/
I really don't like how Hillary plays that experience card as well. It's obvious experience doesn't matter. I hate how people just want the same shit over again(Bush, Clinton, Bush), it sickens me really.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: The Truth on March 06, 2008, 09:47:54 pm
Uh, no to burst your bubble Velfarre but I don't like misinformation being spread.

Dubya had LESS experience than Obama, and ZERO legislative experience.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Xeno|Soft on March 06, 2008, 10:47:32 pm
Yeah he came directly from being a CEO for some oil company I beleive.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Vellfire on March 06, 2008, 11:54:28 pm
Uh, no to burst your bubble Velfarre but I don't like misinformation being spread.

Dubya had LESS experience than Obama, and ZERO legislative experience.

yeah but he was reelected which means he had experience being a president


he was still FUCKING BAD AT IT
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Sarhan on March 07, 2008, 12:45:15 am
ssorry to burst your bubble... (http://www.newsweek.com/id/119010)

This is great news. I've been hearing how hard it would be for Hillary to catch up in delegates, but I never understood why. Great article.

I want to see what Cho has to say now.

Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on March 07, 2008, 01:15:55 am
Quote from: http://politicalwire.com/archives/2008/03/06/michigan_plans_revote.html
    The New Republic reports that Michigan "plans to get out of its uncounted delegate problem by announcing a new caucus in the next few days."

    Said the source: "They want to play. They know how to do caucuses. That was their plan all along, before they got cute with the primary."

    "Michigan Democrats had originally planned on caucuses after the legally permissible Feb. 5 date, but then went along with top elected Democrats, including Gov. Jennifer Granholm, who pushed for an early primary."

    The Hotline confirms the story.

Obama will more than likely win this, btw. so it's good news if you like Obama!
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on March 07, 2008, 05:29:22 pm

interesting stuff.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Neophyte on March 07, 2008, 06:35:22 pm
I was reading that while I was at school. I chuckled to myself as to why the news is blasting shit out of proportion. There is almost no way she can win unless she beats Obama in states like Mississippi and North Carolina.
I will be voting in NC that day, fuck this.

Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: `~congresman Ron paul~~ on March 07, 2008, 06:52:02 pm
Yeah he came directly from being a CEO for some oil company I beleive.

He was governor of Texas for two terms you schmuck.

I did see a special on CNN today about how Clinton has no chance at this point absent Obama pulling a YEEAAARRGGHHH or something like Howard did. Let's hope Obama's smart enough not to blow it!
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Xeno|Soft on March 07, 2008, 07:42:02 pm
He was governor of Texas for two terms you schmuck.

I did see a special on CNN today about how Clinton has no chance at this point absent Obama pulling a YEEAAARRGGHHH or something like Howard did. Let's hope Obama's smart enough not to blow it!

>>;   :fogetshrug: i knew that, kinda slipped my mind.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on March 09, 2008, 03:04:45 am
Obama won Wyoming by a large margin.

the clintons are trying to get obama as their vp, which is pretty laughable as he has twice as many states won and a large lead in delegates.

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/03/08/bill-clinton-a-clinton-obama-ticket-would-be-unstoppable/
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on March 09, 2008, 03:28:38 am
yeah, the obama camp will probably win. a few more remaining primaries are in his pocket, and that gives him the win almost assuredly (I'm a little wobbly atm so I don't remember the next few but I remember them being for him, including Wyoming which he won). there's a pretty good chance Obama will have the delegates to win, and let's hope any Clinton advocates don't switch alleigances.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Revolutionist on March 09, 2008, 03:36:05 am
Funny how Hillary is trying so hard to demonize Obama and show that he is a 'terrorist supporter' or some shit (Hinting that his origins lie from a Muslim family but who the fuck cares? That doesn't make a difference whatsoever and any hint of attacks on him for having some sort of Muslim origin is just pure racist and bullshit, showing Hillary's racist doctrine even more)... Even more funny how I never even posted in this topic since its conception even once.

At this point in time, Ron Paul isn't even a frontrunner in the republican nomination run so he's out... Mccain will win that. I'm leaning more towards Obama though in both the Democratic race and for President, I think he'll be able to stabilize America somewhat and also introduce a much more humanitarian foreign policy (in a sense though not completely).
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on March 09, 2008, 03:50:08 am
what do you mean WILL WIN I heard he did!
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: ase on March 09, 2008, 04:43:56 am
yeah McCain already won, he is the republican candidate. he got a minimum of half of the delegates so he automatically wins.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on March 09, 2008, 11:21:25 am
At this point in time, Ron Paul isn't even a frontrunner in the republican nomination run so he's out...
"Not even a frontrunner"? Well, no, with barely 20 delegates, it's hard to call anyone a frontrunner (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/frontrunner). You almost make it seem as though you're disappointed.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on March 09, 2008, 06:51:23 pm
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/03/09/obama-backed-candidate-scores-upset-win/

and also Ron Paul dropped out today (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_paul#2008_presidential_campaign)
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Shepperd on March 09, 2008, 08:59:33 pm
Ryan that link sends me to no article
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Vellfire on March 09, 2008, 09:21:21 pm
Ryan that link sends me to no article

if you mean the ron paul thing, here:  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/07/AR2008030703061.html

if you meant the other one, the article loads just fine so...
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Shepperd on March 09, 2008, 09:26:50 pm
eh it did work now, shrug
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Wil on March 10, 2008, 05:20:17 am
Quote
My dad showed me this. It is the scariest thing I've ever seen. If Obama is elected, there will be change. A change of the most horrible kind. As a christian, I get scared when I hear people calling him a "revival" and saying that he is the "hope" of America. No. Jesus Christ is the HOPE of this world. Jesus Christ is our revival! This is disgusting.
How can he 'preach' about America, yet parts of the add are NOT in English and on his campaign signs there are no flags. Very little of this candidate is actually American.
The beginning of Obama will be the End of America.

http://www.dipdive.com/dip-politics/wato/

Please check this out, and take it seriously.

This is the kind of thinking that goes on around where I live. Ignunt!

Oh and in reference to Paul's drop, whatever will we do without his so-called "campaign for freedom "? I hate how he leads his brigade of stupidity under the manipulated facade of "freedom and liberty."


Quote
Let us all stick together in this great cause of liberty and show the love that we all share for our country and the Constitution. Thank you for joining in.
Demagogue.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: The Truth on March 10, 2008, 06:54:08 am
is it just me or is the first girl in the new obama dipdive video a crackhead
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Wil on March 10, 2008, 07:07:07 am
Probably, the ad is really stupid and cheesy, I just wanted to point out that criticism against it. Who is that first girl anyway?
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on March 10, 2008, 12:42:43 pm
goddammit, Will I Am isn't the paragon of virtue, but how you can become so fucking dishonest and politically unaware is just beyond me.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Death Gulp on March 10, 2008, 01:16:44 pm
im not american, but i would like to see obama win...
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Revolutionist on March 10, 2008, 09:11:06 pm
"Not even a frontrunner"? Well, no, with barely 20 delegates, it's hard to call anyone a frontrunner (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/frontrunner). You almost make it seem as though you're disappointed.

Disappointed that he wasn't able to be competitive yes because I liked him the most out of all of the peeps trying to run for President but oh well... Obama is my next favourite though.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on March 10, 2008, 09:29:40 pm
Disappointed that he wasn't able to be competitive yes because I liked him the most out of all of the peeps trying to run for President but oh well... Obama is my next favourite though.

..aren't you black man?

you realize ron paul thinks you are a fleet footed thief who is ruining america
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on March 10, 2008, 09:30:11 pm
IT BEGINS AGAIN.

i just wish i could understand why ron paul fans think obama, a pretty clear establishment candidate, is the one they most fall in line with.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: crone_lover720 on March 10, 2008, 09:34:27 pm
rloveutionist ha haaa that was too easy :(

really though dude, read the topic, we've gone over how horrible ron paul is and how incredibly different he is from Obama (or any democrat) over and over again

Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Quest-Master on March 10, 2008, 09:38:47 pm
IT BEGINS AGAIN.

i just wish i could understand why ron paul fans think obama, a pretty clear establishment candidate, is the one they most fall in line with.

I'm thinking it might be his general anti-war (or at least Iraq war) convictions, and how strong they are in comparison to Clinton's or McCain's (heh). Considering how much emphasis was put specifically on that on Ron Paul's campaign in stark contrast to the rest of the Republicans, which brought in a pretty big amount of young people from what I've observed, it really wouldn't surprise me that much. And though Obama is definitely an establishment candidate completely opposite of Ron Paul on the political spectrum, I'm guessing his dedication to protecting civil liberties (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/01/opinion/01rosen.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=jeffrey+rosen&st=nyt&oref=slogin) excites some typical libertarians too.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: headphonics on March 10, 2008, 09:51:42 pm
do you guys seriously expect anyone to READ THIS ENTIRE TOPIC at this point
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: crone_lover720 on March 10, 2008, 09:53:52 pm
no but if I knew absolutely nothing about the candidates I'd skim through or at least look them up, we have a ron paul argument like every page
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on March 10, 2008, 10:00:48 pm
do you guys seriously expect anyone to READ THIS ENTIRE TOPIC at this point

no but there's been probably 10 or so ron paul arguments. several have been in the last 5 or 6 pages!
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on March 10, 2008, 10:05:43 pm
yeah there was just a rather good knocking down on page 31, so it's not out of line to expect someone to read that far back!
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: headphonics on March 10, 2008, 10:12:08 pm
well

if you were revolutionist, you'd probably think you knew enough about ron paul already, since he said he supported him, and i'd imagine that means that he didn't suspect he was openly racist.  it's not like anyone who supports bad candidates for the wrong reasons realizes at the time that they're uninformed, otherwise they probably wouldn't support them to begin with.  you also wouldn't know that there've been numerous ron paul arguments in the thread already!  35 pages is a pretty daunting number, so i honestly can't blame people for not going over an entire topic before making a post about the candidate they support, just to make sure that no one has argued about him before.  what would you even go back five to ten pages to look for?  evidence ron paul is a bigot that you never even suspected existed, and therefore had no reason to look for?  arguments about him based on said evidence that you wouldn't have known would take place?

but yeah i find myself not being too surprised that revolutionist would turn out to be a ron paul supporter.  if you don't actively go looking for facts about him, and just take a glance at his ideas on a superficial level, and don't know enough about politics or economics to understand that they are fundamentally bad ideas, he could probably sound pretty refreshing.  i've heard people immediately dismiss the news letters as slanderous propaganda/smear techniques, and if you don't know that they're ACTUALLY REAL, this is probably a pretty easy conclusion to come to.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on March 10, 2008, 10:16:34 pm
I'm surprised because his racist allegations pretty much killed the campaign and that fleet flooted blacks quote is pretty famous with supporters and detractors alike, and I can't imagine how you could justify it if you were a minority.

also I guess I expected more from revolutionist.......

rEVOLutionist.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on March 10, 2008, 10:17:13 pm
and you are right, but no one cares to make a forum about it where there would probably be a sticky with all the ron paul stuff so we pretty much post everything political in two or three topics that grow three times faster than any other.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on March 10, 2008, 11:21:16 pm
Disappointed that he wasn't able to be competitive yes because I liked him the most out of all of the peeps trying to run for President but oh well... Obama is my next favourite though.
We've been through this a few times so I won't go into detail, but there is something wrong with what you're saying here. Basically, you're saying that Paul is your favorite candidate, but that Obama is your second favorite. However, Paul is on the complete opposite side of the spectrum. He wants to practically abolish most of the federal government, as per his libertarian beliefs, whereas Obama is a social democrat. There are actually no two candidates further apart than these two.

This isn't my opinion, either. Both will gladly agree that it's true. So if you like both of them so much, it must mean your reasons are emotional as opposed to intellectual.

Am I wrong?

EDIT: by the way, who agrees with me that Paul supporters switching to Obama is the greatest hilarity of this entire presidential election?
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Wil on March 10, 2008, 11:39:09 pm
I thought Quest-Master kind of addressed how it's conceivable for someone to switch from Paul to Obama.

I think the GREATEST hilarity in the election is just that there was any support for Ron Paul demagogue to begin with. My friend here at university has been so glazed over by his dreamy rhetoric concerning "liberties" and "freedom", that he fails to realize how counterintuitive his policies truly ARE to those principles.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on March 10, 2008, 11:52:11 pm
I thought Quest-Master kind of addressed how it's conceivable for someone to switch from Paul to Obama.
Yes, he addressed some reasons, but they're not particularly strong. I don't see how anyone can switch from Paul to Obama without being either completely oblivious to what politics are and how they work, or being so completely blinded by their single issue that they can't see that they differ strongly even there. (Paul wants to pull out all the U.S. troops because he disagrees with that policy, which will undoubtedly cause a shock wave of unrest and instability to be sent through the world, whereas Obama has a much sounder and, if you will, normal policy that also involves leaving Iraq  in due time.)
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Wil on March 11, 2008, 12:35:24 am
completely oblivious to what politics are and how they work, or being so completely blinded by their single issue that they can't see that they differ strongly even there
American voters
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Quest-Master on March 11, 2008, 01:40:48 am
I only pointed those facts out earlier to try and demystify some of the reasons why they may be switching over. Not saying at all that I believe they are valid reasons, let alone their strength, but based on what I've observed in other online communities and heard from some Paul supporters I know in real life, those are exactly the reasons why.

And the truth is, yeah, American voters can be easily swayed by views on very few issues. I'm pretty sure his complete and total anti-war leanings (only matched in scale by other "nuts" like Kucinich and Gravel) were a huge factor in his wide support among youth.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: The Truth on March 11, 2008, 02:04:33 am
i think this is a pretty good example of how a political/debate forum would be great.

like sa does we could close the primary thread and make new ones when it got too big.

i like the idea now.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on March 11, 2008, 02:06:29 am
yeah but alas unless someone buys it it doesn't look like it's gonna happen
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: The Truth on March 11, 2008, 02:43:06 am
thanks admins you @$$holes... thanks for nothing
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on March 11, 2008, 02:51:39 am
according to steel panda is gonna buy it so thx panda :)
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: headphonics on March 11, 2008, 02:55:04 am
http://www.gamingw.net/forums/index.php?topic=69870.new#new

all you political people who care enough to, go CHOOSE YOUR CHAMPION or whatever
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on March 11, 2008, 07:51:16 am
And the truth is, yeah, American voters can be easily swayed by views on very few issues. I'm pretty sure his complete and total anti-war leanings (only matched in scale by other "nuts" like Kucinich and Gravel) were a huge factor in his wide support among youth.
Yeah, you're right that this was most likely the biggest issue. That is, aside from the various other demagogic and plain naive claims: such as saying Ron Paul supports "a sound fiscal policy" (very nice non-issue; I don't think I've ever heard a candidate say that they support an unsound fiscal policy), or the claim that Ron Paul is the "only one" who supports the constitution.

It's too bad that even his anti-war views are ridiculous and completely out of touch with reality. These same people who supported him for his anti-war stance don't understand that the U.S. have troops all over the world that are busy ensuring stability in various troubled regions. Retracting all of these soldiers without regard for the safety of those areas is a suicidally bad idea. It would certainly result in a shock wave of unrest and violence through those regions that cannot immediately be backed up by U.N. or regional troops. This includes Iraq, which is yet another region that is unable to stand on its own two feet at this very moment, of course.

This isn't even a very deep analysis I'm making here. It's very basic. It goes to show that Ron Paul supporters simply don't think very deeply about these things and will gladly accept a viewpoint that, at a glance, might seem very acceptable.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: `~congresman Ron paul~~ on March 11, 2008, 04:49:56 pm
At the same time I see this huge OBAMA CULT OF PERSONALITY style movement forming, and it's kind of weird. I like Obama a whole lot, but I know a bunch of people who think he is going to SAVE THE WORLD and END POVERTY. As counterintuitive as it sounds there's a lot of similarities between Paul and Obama supporters! I guess it's because he's revolutionary, ooooohhhh, which would probably also explain why so many Paul dumbasses are switching to Obama.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on March 11, 2008, 04:58:31 pm
At the same time I see this huge OBAMA CULT OF PERSONALITY style movement forming, and it's kind of weird. I like Obama a whole lot, but I know a bunch of people who think he is going to SAVE THE WORLD and END POVERTY. As counterintuitive as it sounds there's a lot of similarities between Paul and Obama supporters! I guess it's because he's revolutionary, ooooohhhh, which would probably also explain why so many Paul dumbasses are switching to Obama.
Well, both Obama and Paul are well-liked by the naive demographic (which, by the way, is our demographic, in case you didn't know). How exactly Paul managed to do this, I'm not sure. I think his "libertarian straight talk", which many people confuse with "the truth that Washington rejects because it does not want to hear it", has something to do with it.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Wil on March 11, 2008, 09:50:27 pm
Ron Paul attracts the tinfoil hat crowd too.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on March 11, 2008, 10:04:22 pm
Mississippi is today. I predict 65%/35% for Obama.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on March 12, 2008, 12:58:55 am
obama wins mississipi.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Xeno|Soft on March 15, 2008, 03:10:16 am
I thought this was funny
(http://img80.imageshack.us/img80/244/mccainzv1.gif)
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Jeff on March 15, 2008, 03:12:29 am
Oh man, that is amazing.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Shepperd on March 15, 2008, 04:03:43 am
dude that's amazing
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: ase on March 15, 2008, 08:24:01 am
wow normally those kind of animations are really gay and 4chan-ish, but that was actually really entertaining to watch!
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: jamie on March 15, 2008, 09:04:50 am
hahaha that's great!

mccain has become confused.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on March 15, 2008, 05:47:53 pm
that was terrible, and I've seen it already, and there's no joke, there's just that bullshit OBAAAAMA ron paul bullshit arsdasfff UNSATISFIED.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: The Truth on March 15, 2008, 08:27:15 pm
wtb new primary thread this is too big (also a bunch of information in the first post would be gr8888 too)
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on March 15, 2008, 08:48:24 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DF2wH5hlT0o

told you

also yeah ryan make a new thread.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on March 15, 2008, 09:33:55 pm
it's still the same gay shit though. heh, Hillary can't take McCain GO OBAMA HOPE CHANGE, same kind of bandwagoning (UH OH MAGIC WORD) that happens every campaign.

I just don't find political propoganda funny, even if it is POKEMON.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: The Truth on March 15, 2008, 10:00:03 pm
i'm really suprised anyone finds the stupid pokemon things funny
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: jamie on March 15, 2008, 10:22:58 pm
it is obviously obama propaganda, but i've never seen any pokemon jokes like that before and that one kind of represented the themes of the race so far in a funny way if you look at it as satire or endorsement of obama's campaign so far. so i think it was pretty funny.

edit:

ach whatever steel is right
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on March 15, 2008, 10:29:02 pm
i'm really suprised anyone finds the stupid pokemon things funny
I wonder about this too. It kind of reminds me of Family Guy in a way, in which all the humor is basically some kind of REFERENCE to something. I can kind of see why people would think it's funny, but it just doesn't resonate at all with me for some reason.
ach whatever steel is right
Get off.

EDIT: REFERENCE HUMOR!!
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Shepperd on March 15, 2008, 11:17:54 pm
it wasn't funny, it was amusing/entretaining
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: jamie on March 16, 2008, 12:19:54 am
get off?
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Artis Leon Ivey Jr on March 16, 2008, 12:24:13 am
there's been a bunch of bandwagoning topics, thats what he's referring to.
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on March 16, 2008, 12:30:02 am
i'm gonna make a new thread probably tomorrow night since i'm kinda busy. also if any of you guys could get links to some of the important shit from this thread (ron paul arguments, etc) and pm them to me that would be gr8
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: The Truth on March 16, 2008, 03:11:52 am
I can make a new topic with all kinds of info in the op if you give me the ok/lock this one later.


HU HU VOTE FOR NEW THREAD TITLE

I vote US Presidential Primary: RACE WAR

but that's just me
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Wash Cycle on March 16, 2008, 10:42:18 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080316/ap_on_el_pr/clinton

sigh
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on March 16, 2008, 11:09:47 pm
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080316/ap_on_el_pr/clinton

sigh
I know we agreed to not count the Michigan votes but I want to I want I WANT I WANT I WANT I WANT I WANT I WANT!!!!!!!!!
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: dada on March 16, 2008, 11:11:38 pm
Title: U.S Presidential Primary Thread
Post by: Ryan on March 18, 2008, 01:34:39 am
making the new thread now. also truth are you gonna pm me with that stuff or not???