Rebuttle in order. 1)Actually they are closer to passing a health care reform bill then any congress in decades. Something of this size and scope needs time. You can't just pass a bill like this becuase the president says so. He's only been in office a year. My reason for including it is becuase they are actually trying to do some good here and keep campaign promises. But becuase of the republicans who just want to stonewall and be the party of NO instead of offering good solutions for all americans, not just the privledged few, it probably won't pass. 2)I have no doubt that there are multiple forms of tortue that are carried out by our forces and intelligence agencies. But at least now we are at least putting on the face that we don't torture to the international community which improves our image. I could personally could care less what happens to Al Qaeda members once in custody. 3) CO2 is a greenhouse gas. That is a fact. What do you think billions of cars, people, plants, factories, animals emit everyday all day? Co2.. How can that not have any effect on our climate? More greenhouse gases = less heat escaping the atmosphere causing climate change. Its pretty simple actually and I'm not a sheep. Unless you count people who read science textbooks as a sheep, then yea..I guess I am? 4)Noone said anything about bringing democracy to that country. If you have a problem with bringing democracy into afghanistan then look back in 2001-2 when we invaded that country, destroyed the taliban government and institued a democratic government to replace it. Who was president back then? Oh yea...BUSH! 5)I have to be honest, I have no idea what your talking about. Did I say anything about him being black and thats why hes a better president?? *Edit* oh world image...Everytime bush went overseas, there was always a sizeable protest. When Obama went overseas, even before he was elected, he drew a croud of more then 200,000 people to cheer and support him, and he wasn't even president yet. So please tell me that the world image is exactly the same one more time. If you do, you really are high..Which makes sense given the forum we are on Psuedo #6)Presidents are supposed to be ELECTED. Not selected by a privledged few. Elections are not 100 percent accurate. But when you get down to real close votes, thats when the elections can swing either way very easily if there is any foul play going on. Obama won huge. They didn't need to rig any voting machines or call black voters and tell them to stay home or the election is tommorow so don't show up kind of bullshit the republicans do during elections. & 7)Of course Obama is using the same powers that Bush had, becuase he holds the same office, but for different (and better) reasons. Acutally, Obama probably has more executive power then he would have thanks to Bush extending his own power. What other "powers" is he supposed to use? 8) I'm not spitting campaign rhetoric, I'm talking about what I have seen happen over the past 8 years with my eyes. I'm not reading off some democratic script or anything. And if I did (if the democratic script is anything like a republican script) I would have two things to say, both lies, and I wouldn't be able to back up anything I said with any common sense basis or facts whatsoever. Just what my campaign contributers are paying me to say. Now don't get me wrong. Democrats can be just as bad as republicans but again I'm talking about Obama v Bush here.
None of the bills I've seen show any promise of doing any good to our health care system. I find it amazing that you actually have faith in these bills considering there is no way you actually read and understand them. These bills were written by lobbyists and they were made to benefit the large corporations who have a stake in health care (health insurance, big pharma, etc.). I like your approach. We're probably still torturing, but it's ok because Obama made nice with all the other powerful countries. Did you know that most of the people being detained indefinitely aren't part of al-Qaeda and that many of them get released only to join terrorist organizations? We're creating terrorist by giving them an enemy they can demonize (one that tortures and doesn't have any respect for human rights). This entire discussion is really outside the scope of this thread. Have you heard about Climategate? There were thousands of emails proving scientists faked data and then they had the balls to throw out the raw data in order to cover their tracks. Climate change is happening, but it's not on the scale that requires mandatory government regulation on something that trees actually inhale. FYI, plants don't emit CO2. The fact that you made this error leads to me believe you aren't very well-read on this subject. Oh man! The Bush-blaming never stops. How about next post you try to not mention him once. Come on, it'll be fun. Yes, it was the Bush administration that decided to invade Afghanistan, but that doesn't mean Obama has to continue occupying that country and running covert operations in Pakistan. Ok, I'll reiterate: explain how Obama has given us a better view throughout the world. The Europeans like him mostly because of ideology, but do you think the Russians like him? What about the Chinese? What about the Middle East? Africa? South America? Cuba? The fact we're being viewed worse and worse every day mostly because of how imperialistic and selfish we are. Elections aren't accurate at all anymore. There are tons of documentaries on this subject. I bet you could google "US voter fraud" and find a shit-ton of examples. On top of all of this, you should look into how easy it is to break and hack into the computerized voting machine is. All you need is access to the voting machine (they're not well-protected most of the time) some knowledge of how to upload your virus/malware, and access to the right malware. Intentions mean dick to me. The road to hell is paved with good intentions and Obama is a perfect example. He talks the big talk, but when you look at his actions, he's still a douchebag in power. As for your question, maybe you should read the Constitution if you don't remember what power the president is supposed to have. Most of what you said isn't backed up by facts. Most of what you said is the same shit being said on the news networks every single night. It's all empty rhetoric and I'm sorry if I wrongly compared what you were saying to "campaign rhetoric," but I thought it was a fair comparison.
Thats what always confused me about republicans. They are always shouting about liberty, freedom, less government, yet they are vehemently opposed to decriminalizing marijuana. A substance that can be regulated and controlled and is less harmful to your body than alcohol. It seems like I find myself agreeing with the GOP on most things except when it comes to the laws. It seems as if they take a nose dive into idiocy on those issues.
I posted a similar thread... something like "is obama ruining our chances".. Let me first come right out and say I am a conservative republican, very conservative, almost libertarian. I smoke MJ and have my MMR. There are many conservatives like me that will be voting yes to legalization in CA... but I smoke - thats a no brainer yes vote. For the others: There are other factors at play with legalizing MJ in CA, specifically $$$. Cold hard cash. "Fighting MJ is a luxury we cannot afford" will sell to both sides of the aisle; EVERYONE knows fighting MJ in CA is more than futile, the tax benefits cannot be denied.. and most importantly, it is essentially legal already - the perception that is going to legalize MJ in CA is: "Its already legal for anyone who wants to pay some doctor $100 and we are getting the tax benefits". Everyone knows that it is very easy to get a rec.. and they might as well legalize it and tax it. Why have it legal and not tax it? That is what will get the vote. This will pass in CA.. you cant judge the vote for legalization based strictly on "pot head vs non pot head" .. there are tangible and substantial beneficial reasons to legalize that will sell to the swing voter on this issue. This November is unlike ANY other vote to legalize MJ in the history of MJ prohibition. We will get MJ legal in November, no matter how badly Obama and the democrats screw up.
@kstings #1 I'm not partisan, I'm an independent and I look at every candidate and try to figure out what they support and if it lines up with my views. I vote based on that not the letter beside the name. More often I vote DEM but perhaps 30% of the time I vote repubs. #2 You are right - both parties are messed up. Both have messed up this country. #3 Politics are messed up. The parties do not work together they work against each other. This is not in the interests of the American people. #4 If you look at subprime and fannie and freddie the people who are perhaps most responsible are barney frank (D) and Chris Dodd (D). I understand the DEMS should take blame for a large potion of the fiscal and economic problems in this country. However, when you look at Reagan, Bush 1 and Bush 2 I think you see far more evil than Clinton and Obama. It's just a preference of a lesser evil compared to a greater evil. For the record - I would vote for a republican president if he had moderate views and I felt encouraged by the party. However, with Sarah Palin at the head of the party, with Bobby Jindal and Rush Limbaugh not far behind I can't see any great leaders coming from the Repubs any time soon. As for your graph - I wrote about GDP you are showing unemployment numbers.
Not a big deal, but you misspelled my name. Personally, I don't think either party does a very good job, which is why I usually don't vote for one of the candidates of the main two parties. Of course, there are exceptions. I like Alan Grayson, Ron Paul, and Dennis Kucinich even though they're a part of the main 2 parties. I like your 2nd point, but this one I think can be modified a bit. The parties look like they're not working together, but, in reality, they all work for the same people (special interests) and they're all interested in the same thing (keeping their power). The parties are so indistinguishable now-a-days that having faith in either is ignorant. There are a lot of people who are involved in the financial debacle, but at the end of the day, Obama gave many financial institutions free money with very few strings attached. As a college student, I would've liked some of those 0% interest loans. Why does this even matter? Clinton and Obama (and Reagan maybe) were both good speakers and both able to connect with the "common man"; however, I could easily prove that in terms of their political dealings, they're all just as bad as one another. I will admit that Bush 1 scares the socks off of me. Reagan was senile by his 2nd term. Bush only became president because that's what his dad wanted and he tricked most of the country into believing he's a cowboy from Texas, when in reality, he went to Yale, grew up in Connecticut and was a member of Skull & Bones. A lesser evil is still evil. I'd rather we try and stay away from evil because if you're not fighting against evil, then what the fuck are you doing? Unemployment is a better indicator of the economy than the GDP. You really think that GDP growth affects the common man at all? The GDP isn't really an effective indicator of the economic state of most Americans.
I won't lie broski but uhh I would consider libertarianism is far from being "very conservative" I'll illustrate albeit from European politics.
Every republican I have ever known say they're republicans because they are "fiscally conservative". WTF? Can any one point to an era where the republicans held the majority and actually demonstrated fiscally conservative spending programs? SeattleRes is johnny on the spot with this one (love the facts and figures man, good work). 8 years of Bush got us where we are today. But I believe its not just Bush and the republicans fucking shit up. It's this two party system playing good cop bad cop with the american voter leaving us to fight over this shit. Obama ran a campaign on "change". That's the biggest joke of all. Seems like the same ol' shit right? So long as a two party system rules our government, our government will rule us. We've been divided into two camps and the government plays both sides. If we want the change we desire, god damn it, it's time to get a third party in the mix. Opps. The point of the thread. The day the cannabis legalization movement ends will be the day the Internet ends. Or until it's legalized. Which ever comes first.
Instant favorite quote, because I was looking at some charts the US popular internet use and the acceptance of Cannabis sync up. Better watch it since I posted this the internet might get disconnected for all of us in the next five minutes. Sources: United States Internet Usage, Broadband and Telecommunications Reports - Statistics http://abcnews.go.com/images/PollingUnit/1100a3MedicalMarijuana.pdf