- Most of the alternatives supported the war? Who cares. They were wrong. I also believe they supported it for political reasons, not because it was right. You had someone else in there that was not pushing the war, they would have never suggested or asked to go into it.
- Osama is still alive and kicking. Doing very well. Bush has scared many children and teenagers into joining his forces.
-They were enemies, but they were making progress. We sent them back 20 years.
- Umm, in every nation gas went up. When he got into office the Canadian dollar was worth 60 cents to the US. A couple of months ago it was worth $1.10. Our gas was through the roof too. It has to do with Countries working with the US less for several reasons, Countries switching currencies, and the overall internal economic health of the nation.
- Awareness does save lives, lies do not. What really was the purpose of the terror colour code?
- How has the Patriot Act saved lives? Is that something that is just generally assumed or has it actually done something. The Patriot Act just removed civil rights of many Americans in the nation. Moved it one step closer to a police state.
- He also brought unemployment down to 0 natural (not to mean there was no unemployment, but the natural part includes those who are between jobs in the same industry), balanced the budget (because building more debt is ridiculous), and increased economic activity at an amazing rate. Heck, if one more percent off of my income is needed to do that, fine. It will guarantee me many more percent in the future.
[youtube]aqbcSeEMD5E[/youtube]
It's Miller Time: In this recently aired segment on the O'Reilly Factor, comedian and part-time pundit Dennis Miller sizes up the Bush-bashers who reveal themselves as bigger doofuses than the "Dumb W" they can't stop trying to dis' ...
Absolute rubbish.
The North Korean regime has been so hosed up over the last ten or fifteen years that the U.S. and its allies couldn't find a way to help the people there. It would have been the same as giving cash to a holdup man. Now that the North Korean government is starting to make sense on the nuclear weapons issue, maybe there can be some better news on that front as 2008 unfolds.
Iran? The Iranian government has been taking in about $44 billion per year in revenues derived from their oil industry and spending about $22 billion of that in subsidies to keep gasoline prices dirt cheap and way below world market prices for the average Iranian. That's how the Iranian government has been currying favor with their middle and lower class people in order to keep from being overthrown. The result? For years there's been no forward movement by Iran in terms of vehicle gasoline mileage or fuel efficiency. There's been no incentive to implement basic energy conservation and air quality standards like vapor locks or automatic shutoff valves on their gas station nozzles. The air quality in Tehran sucks. With the amount of hydrocarbons they're inhaling, it's no wonder they're nuts half the time. (Like their RG Navy speedboat crews.) And as of July 2007, they had to start rationing of gasoline. You can read about it here on the Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty website:
It's not the U.S. or its allies that sent North Korea and Iran "back 20 years". It's the morons who've been running those countries that are to be awarded with 100 percent of the blame (or credit ...) for that accomplishment.
Last edited by rinselberg; 01-11-2008 at 07:42 PM.
We've discussed this before. "Inflation" refers to an inflated money supply; not necessarily inflated prices. Inflated prices often, but not always, follow an inflated money supply so some people now use "inflation" synonymously with "price inflation". Have you taken shanbaum's civic literacy quiz yet?
You are correct that I should have pointed out that trade deficits, not just budget deficits, are responsible for the weakened dollar. There is a lack of international demand for the dollar partially because there are too many of them in circulation. I, too, would like to switch to a more stable currency!#48 Inflation:
A. results from an over-abundance of goods and services.
B. has not been a problem since the Great Depression.
C. reduces money’s purchasing power even when some prices decrease.
D. is monitored daily by the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
E. remains beyond the influence of central banks due to oil price fluctuations.
Not uncommon for U.S. presidents to do some of that. But this poster is turning gray into black. That's like saying that Bush (43) instinctively responds to bad news by shooting the messenger. And here's a major example of how that particular W dis' falls flat on its face:That's a reference to Ryan Crocker, the U.S. ambassador in Iraq. The selection of Ryan Crocker for this post reveals how far off the mark this poster is with his remarks. If Bush (43) were actually the fathead that this poster has depicted, he'd still be relying on "yes-men" and doofuses instead of the likes of Ryan Crocker and General David Petraeus.Crocker, who co-wrote a 2002 paper predicting a "perfect storm" of things likely to go wrong after an ill-conceived U.S. invasion, was one of a number of U.S. diplomats who urged early caution. Since his arrival in Baghdad in March (2007), he has insisted that the U.S. role is to "steer, push, prod and pound the table" to help Iraqis move forward without trying to do everything for them.
I don't think that anyone can reasonably say that "Crocker is just the one exception that proves the rule." If that were true, "things" would be even more screwed up on all fronts (foreign and domestic) than they already are. The new attorney general (for another example) strikes me as a discernible improvement (already) over Alberto Gonzalez. And Condoleeza Rice, who may well have sucked as a National Security Advisor, has been an improvement (IMO) at State upon the overly malleable Colin Powell. If not an improvement, at least an equally capable successor in that post.
I don't think that future historians will say that Bush (43) came in like a lamb and went out like a lion. But this is an administration that has put some stronger players on the field in the fourth and final quarter of play.
The mistake that many Bush (43) critics keep making is to look backwards with an uncritical eye and hail the Bill Clinton days as some kind of "high water mark" for the U.S. and its allies. They're off the mark with that idea. I may have more to post about this as the day wears on. There's so much at play in this thread that I can only assemble my thoughts in dribs and drabs, and I don't want to wait until the end of the day and present it all as one big post.
"Post early and often."
Last edited by rinselberg; 01-11-2008 at 07:44 PM.
No, it was pressure from China that made this happen. China was looking at a militarized Japan and a nuclear South Korea, and had no choice but to intercede by threatening to cut off their oil. Even that may not be enough in the end.
You're right to say that GW didn't "lose" North Korea- they've been a lost cause from day one. One could say he lost Venezuela, is losing Russia with his missile defense in eastern europe, and Iraq, with his cluster**** handling of the war, primarily by his blind faith in the rumsfeldian "just enough troops to lose" doctrine.
Science is a way of trying not to fool yourself. - Richard P. Feynman
Experience is the hardest teacher. She gives the test before the lesson.
Most of the alternatives supported the war? Who cares. They were wrong. I also believe they supported it for political reasons, not because it was right. You had someone else in there that was not pushing the war, they would have never suggested or asked to go into it.
- Osama is still alive and kicking. Doing very well. Bush has scared many children and teenagers into joining his forces.
There are some quotes from hillary here.
http://www.snopes.com/politics/war/wmdquotes.asp
There is an Edwards quote here.
http://www.rightwingnews.com/quotes/demsonwmds.php
I see you are living in Canada. Sorry you may have no decent alternative. (unless you are an American residing in Ca.)
Osama IS dead.
- Umm, in every nation gas went up. When he got into office the Canadian dollar was worth 60 cents to the US. A couple of months ago it was worth $1.10. Our gas was through the roof too. It has to do with Countries working with the US less for several reasons, Countries
Exactly! Thank you. Nothing to do with GW.
-They were enemies, but they were making progress. We sent them back 20 years.
You don’t know much about commy negociating. Apeasement is considered weakness to them
- How has the Patriot Act saved lives? Is that something that is just generally assumed or has it actually done something. The Patriot Act just removed civil rights of many Americans in the nation. Moved it one step closer to a police state.
There have been many foiled terrorist attacks due to the Patriot act. I believe one was some terrorist trying to sneak explosives across the Canadian bouder into the US
For Canada's $. Way past time they hopped to and lended a hand North American's economy. They are Americans too, and they should not forget it.
Don't forget to remind the Democrats that neither Clinton, Obama, nor Edwards will commit to getting the troops out of Iraq by 2013*...and that Clinton expects it to be closer to 2017, the end of her SECOND term.**
GW goes to war. War needs to be funded. US doesn't have sufficient funds/incurs debt. Federal Reserve inflates money supply to provide funds/cover the debt. Inflated money supply weakens the dollar. Oil is typically bought and sold in US dollars, but the dollar is weak so oil producers need to charge more dollars per barrel. Gasoline is manufactured from oil. If the price of oil goes up, the cost of gasoline goes up. Now what was it that caused the price of gasoline to go up?
Other factors probably play a large part in increase fuel prices (e.g. increased demand in China), but it's not inconceivable that GW has something to do with it. As noted above, one could easily put Clinton and Edwards at that chain of events. Without them and others like them who simply passed along their Constitutional powers to the Executive branch, GW couldn't have gone to war.
*Source: http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/09/27/dems.debate.ap/
**Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gov-bi...t_b_66355.html
Last edited by 1968; 01-11-2008 at 11:00 AM. Reason: Playing God... changing "nothing" into "something".
Just because you say Osama is dead, does not make it so. There has been American intelligence recently that have supported him being alive.
As for North Korea and Iran, it is not about the governments as much as the people. See this is the problem, you guys want to get rid of the leaders in these nations (like Iraq). So you go into the nations and you get rid of the leader. Just one problem, you have negative PR against their people. They hate you and really did not understand that the previous leader was bad. Then you have the civil disputes that have arisen in Iraq. You were making progress in Iran and North Korea. Nations together were trying to change North Korea by making its citizens step up. Then dubbya and his big mouth ruined it.
The only case when a terrorist in Canada tried to sneak a bomb across the border was in Seattle, Year 2000 new years. It was foiled and had nothing to do with the removal of civil liberties act.
Edit - Oh, and I never blamed dubbya for the increase in gas price.
I heard that from my mother in law. She couldn't vote for Obama because his name is too close to Osama. Not that she would anyway, she's a straight-ticket Republican.
I asked her if there was a perfect Republican candidate, but his name was Hetler, would you not vote for him because his name sounds like Hitler?
Blank stare...
DragonlensmanWV N.A.O.L.
"There is nothing patriotic about hating your government or pretending you can hate your government but love your country."
Yeah, right. Dubbya and his big mouth.
Welcome to Prison Camp 22 of the People's Republic of North Korea.
The date is January 15, 2003.
How about another fairy tale? Goldilocks and the Three Bears? Or maybe it's the Three Beers! That might help explain your thinking.
Last edited by rinselberg; 01-28-2008 at 03:21 PM.
In Iran and North Korea, I think it is more about the governments. The people in North Korea and Iran are likely only to get the news that their governments want them to receive. As rinselberg has suggested, this is particular true in North Korean where the citizens are essentially on "lockdown". Iran may be slightly different in that some Iranians can travel to the United States and some Americans can travel to Iran via circuitous routes.
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