we do not condone torture. i have never ordered torture. i will never order torture. -geroge w. bush

But yet he is so blind to the matter. Torture happens right infront of him and does not even see it. But hey what should we expect he is a republican after all now isn’t he?

...but he, or she, has The Vote.

They are able to conflate movies with The Real World and draw a bizarre conclusion from it. They actually think that “24” is real.

Beware. There are many more like them out there..and like I said, they have, The Vote.

Pilt

How incredibly stupid are these people who think that if we allow government to torture that the government will keep torture to just foreigners. They are already torturing “suspects”...why not murder suspects here since some of the people in Guantanamo are American citizens. Why not rape suspects? Why not tax evaders? Why not people stupid enough to condone torture? I pray these braindead thugs who support torture are one day falsely accused of “terror” and end up in one of Bush/Cheney’s torture chambers.

This talk of being extremely naive and ill-informed certainly displays the narrow view of so many. I’m not talking conservative or liberal. I’m talking about being human. If you feel the only way to stay safe is to beat it out of everyone you think is an enemy and then stand back and pound your chest, put yourself in the company of lost civilizations throughout the thousands of years we’ve been here. From Sparta and Athens to Hitler and Stalin, their paranoia slowly chipped away all the good and bad they accomplished and ate them away from the inside out. Believing all were enemies, the mistrust led to the extermination of their very own. You may feel safe now, but as the paranoia grows in this country of ours and all appear to be enemies, who will really be safe. This isn’t being anti-patriot, it is seeing things for what they are and learning lessons from those humans that made those fateful mistakes throughout history. The US needs to get back to Soft Power. The world’s respect is waiting for us, but we will never earn it by bombing villages and schools and terrorists camps. It comes with diplomacy, encouragement, shared resouces and humanity. The power and protection that so many think only the military can grab for us is already in our hands if we just treat the world like the friends they are. I know you want to say grow up and open your eyes, but from father and son to country and country, you can’t earn someone’s respect by beating it out of them.

Few in the U.S. (Democrat or Republican) are truly afraid of facing our enemies straight on. Despite what the pundits say or what the polls may indicate, both sides are, in my opinion, willing to fight to the death for just causes.

However, what many are afraid of (and should be) is the idea that brutality will save us. It will not. It may win the day, but it will not win the war. Brutality, for that is what torture is, is what has a grip on so many African’s at this point; and it serves no purpose but to propagate hate and death.

The “idea” of the United States has been, and I pray will continue to be, a place where torture and brutality is anathema. Where people want to come simply because they think they’ll get a fair shake and will not have their hands and feet cut off because they don’t belong to a certain tribe.

The current administration has done more than any one in my lifetime to dilute the American ideal. I pray that the next President, whomever he or she may be, will set our rudder straight once again…and that the era of B-movie plot politics will end.

Pilt

I suppose some good has come from this administration….......it has guaranteed a record turnout at the polls!!
JP

Agreed. But I just can’t believe the war we have created in Iraq is the wall between us and an attack by terrorists. It’s not how soon we forget, but rather how we yearn to move on. I don’t want to down play the World Trades attack, it was a truly horrible event. But terror is not a new phenomenon. From the beginning of time, small bands of extremists have caused problems for the well established groups and have, at times brought about change. The advantage here is that the change these extremists wish to impose on the world is too far out of the mainstream.

By waging an all out war in a country that we really don’t understand, by an administration that is incapable of diplomacy or reason, is not the defense this country needs. This civilization is too far advanced to fall back on the tactics this administration pushes. They present this preemptive attitude to us as if we are schoolchildren.

I’m not sure where we would be if we had a different president when those jets hit the towers, but I think we would be just as safe, but not in the foreign relations disaster we are in today if we had a president that understood that this is a small world, a small neighborhood, one that we must be part of , not one we must be the bully of.

A learning experience, indeed. Now it is a relearning experience.

JP

I’m truly exhausted from all the bantering about torture and a war that was a mistake. I’m exhausted from the constant bashing of Bush and second guessing. Every time I get into one of these “debates” I ask the question: on 9/12 what would you have done? Most of the time I get: “Well I wouldn’t have done what Bush did”. Ok, great, what would you have done? The second most popular answer is something to effect of meeting with world leaders and discussing our options blah blah blah.

Personally I believe Afghanistan and Iraq were necessary. People don’t seam to understand that an unstable middle east is what we can’t afford. Bin Laden thrived on that as do all terrorists. This isn’t a country we are fighting, it’s extremists looking for a country. Regardless of what you think Hussein was the next home for them.

Yes, the war hasn’t gone as planned, yes there were stupid decisions, but come on people- are we living in the perfect world where this is easy? Where we can have our 3 month war with air strikes and no casualties and come home? What are you thinking? I’d hate to see all you at Normandy!

Bush saw a weakness, and he acted on it. So what do we have now? Candidates that will remove the troops from Iraq, who don’t give a crap about the borders, and who will get rid of the patriot act because some will be upset there is a chance that they will be eaves dropping on their phone call to the 900 number AND will give better treatment to possible suspects of terror. “ oh ok, you don’t feel like talking?, here have an ice tea, let us know when you’re ready, ok? Sorry for the trouble as your partners plan the next`attack.”

Total frustration- but hey- Peace Man! Everything will be OK!, be one with harmony of love!

Sal

Hey man, I just called the Department of State to find out why the f*** PA votes so late and is the ONLY state to vote on April 22! Here’s the story I have so far. There is a law that has been in existence for about 70 years that says PA votes on April 22. Don’t ask me which one cause I don’t know yet. Last year in 2007 the Senate was working on passing a law to move the date up either to Super Tuesday or the week after. Unfortunately, for some reason(s) the bill was never voted on. I’m going to find out more information about this because I believe this is absolutely unfair to all the people living in PA. And someone has tried to mention that usually in these cases it’s because there was something more important going on. First of all you need to find out what actually happened while this law was supposed to be decided. If there indeed was something more important than this law, you have to logically decide for yourself what is more important than every citizens right for a fair vote. Now you see the problem. I believe that it is very possible that this law was intentionally ignored because either way you look at it, that is what happened. An unfair vote is the absolute conclusion.

I have to say to all of you bashing this war, you are the reason our soldiers come home with their heads hung in shame believing no one appreciates the sacrifices they are making to try to protect our country. Have none of you stopped to remember the bombing of the USS Cole or the attacks on 9/11. So many of the attacks that have occurred on our soil have been linked to radical Islamic terrorist, a group of people who believe it is there religious duty to eradicate us from the planet. How can you imagine a world of peace with them still around. My husband enlisted in the military knowing full well the sacrifice he may have to make. But he took that responsibility with honor and pride. Knowing they’re there doing away with someone who may have very well been the next hijacker helps me sleep at night. Just remember there have been no attacks on the U.S. since we began operation Iraqi Freedom. Peace is possible but only by eliminating the people who stand in the way of it. Who would you rather see die? Osama Bin Laden when our troops find and kill him or your children if we pull out and wait around for the next attack.

The war in Iraq really has little to do with terrorism. It has actually created more terrorism, but of course that is going on in Iraq, not NYC, so we don’t notice.

The Operation in Iraq is for a few different reasons:

— attempting to stabilize what was a “rogue state.” – so that Israel and Saudi Arabia are more secure.

— attempting to plant a liberal democracy in the Middle East.

— Protecting American interests and allies in the region (as stated above).

— Gaining another base of operations on the other side of Iran, so that Iran is wedged in between our troops in Afghanistan and Iraq.

There were no terrorist training camps in Iraq. There were no WMDs. There was only a strategic piece of land with lots of oil underneath.

The same people who are against the war and protecting our country as it needs to be protected are the same liberals who also feel that children should be given equal status and should be befriended by their parents NOT parented. This is the reason why our youth has become so violent and direspectful to each other as well as their parents and other adults. As a parent of two children who I am raising to not only show my love and attention to am also teaching them the value of life and respect of others. I fear everyday that one of their peers who is not getting the same guidance and feels they have the right to take another’s life with no regard to the consequences will cross their path while they are in school, church, etc. I am not a strict conservative but I do believe the core values that our country was founded on and am very saddened by the way our country has lost those values and in turn has allowed our country to become a mockery. Never in our history have we had so many innocent lives taken (school shootings, church shootings, mall shootings, I could go on and on) because liberal views have taken over so many of our citizens and consequences are not realized until it is too late. I pray for our youth and hope that the ones being brought up to value life and liberty can prevail and bring back our country’s core values before all is lost.

Can anyone tell me who are the individuals that select or nominate electors for each political party

I am glued to my television set. I am observing every facet of the US elections. I am at times shocked to realise that Americans at times are just like Africans. The fact that most Africa states have fallen is nothing than electing the same leaders over years look…look at Zimbabwe today.. Whether you Americans like it or not. The Democrats that are voting for Hillary are simple voting Bill for the third term in Office! Bill is already involved in this campaign and I can assure you a first men is far different from a first lady.

Ben Ngairorue

[That’s the first thing that came to mind reading much of these ‘genius’ posts.]

Its been said millions of times Ben… Africa is NOT a country. Blurting out general statements about an entire continent with diverse people, cultures, terrain, etc., and immediately adding malformed opinions to them, is the surest way of placing oneself in the most ignorant of positions.

While corrupt ‘leadership’ has its part today, surely, the fall of African states occurred long before their so-called independence and right of their citizens to vote. Maybe Walter Rodney’s “How Europe Underdeveloped Africa” will shed some light on things here; or Dr John Henrik Clarke’s ‘Christopher Columbus and the African Holocaust’; or the many others on that topic which show that by the time the Industrial Revolution or Berlin Conference rolled around, it was already too late for that continent.

To the others too dumbed-down to realize that history has only repeated itself – this time with a more definite twist, I say: enjoy your New World Order and all the ‘goodies’ it brings. You truly deserve it!