I can't believe that no one has mentioned the biggest fundamentalist christian spam of all. It called "vote for George W Bush as President".
Dominic, That is the best T-Shirt line I've ever read. I didn't stop laughing for 1/2 an hour after reading that. I called three different family members to tell them the line and I could hardly stop laughing long enough to repeat it for them. That line is just so perfect on so many levels.
Some people have convictions and some don't.... Some people only vote to what will personally benefit them financially...... Maybe some people should remeber the words of JFK - NOT what your country can do for you, but what YOU can do for your country. I have to vote for the candidate that supports the very core of my belief. I have no right to vote for what only affects me but everyone - it has to be what is right - not what is popular or just feels good. (And yes there are absolutes, sorry to burst a bubble.)
Politics is funny... it's interesting how riled up people can get over it. The only thing that I think is stupid is what a large percentage of the population votes based on their "party". It doesn't matter who it it... it just matters what party they run for. In fact, if you switched the Kerry and Bush's party, all of a sudden you would have all the republicans talking about what a great war hero Kerry is and all the democrats talking about how great Bush is. Personally, I think it would be good for the system to somehow do away with the party system altogether. Historically, this is what I thought about past presidents... I thought Reagan (Republican) was a great president. I thought the first Bush (Republican) was a mediocre president. I thought Clinton (Democrat) was a great president. I think the second Bush (Republican) is a terrible president. Maybe that pattern will hold, and Kerry will be elected, and in 10 years, I'll think he was a great president... you never know. I really didn't have much of an opinion in the Bush vs. Clinton election. Bush was okay, and I didn't know anything about Clinton. But looking back, I'm glad Clinton won. Same thing with Gore vs. Bush... I really didn't care who won, because I didn't think either of them were great choices (and who knows... Gore may have been worse). But now that Bush has had his 4 years, he has not really done anything to make me want to reelect him, in fact quite the opposite. The main thing I'm going to remember Bush for is not specific things he did or did not do, but I'm going to remember him as the first president that caused me to be embarrassed to be an American. I don't know how Kerry would do as president, but I'm willing to give him my "Republican" vote and let someone else try.
I am very independent Shawn as you know. I think the same way, when Jimmy Carter was making blunders in Iran during the hostage crisis, the voters were tired of the shame of it all. We elected Ronald Reagan, the hostages were released before he took office. I do not understand why you label yourself if you feel this way, you should simply state you are an independent voter. I will vote for what is best for this nation, not any party, I know one thing, the Republican party has been BAD for this country since Reagan left office. Bush Senior is the cause of these current problems and his entire adminsitration is running this silly war extended from 1991. That is 15 years of Bullshit leadership, thousands of lives on both sides destroyed, Trillions of dollars wasted. Oil prices at record highs, what the hell, Bush Senior's goals have been met, he increased the value of the OIL/MILITARY complex and that was always his true aim. With Dick Halliburtion running the show Trillions have been sent to offshore banks for the fat bastards.
I have also gotten the "Jesus Loves You! Refinance today!""Get out of debt the Christian way" etc. Spam. Every since Passion of the Christ came out Jesus is an A-Class Marketing tool. He was recently on a top 100 Actors List!
Because fundamentally I share more of the Republican ideals. I don't think the government should supply health care for example. Republicans put the focus on business, and ultimately let the businesses take care of their employees... While democrats want to put that responsibility in the hands of the government. Either way, I don't care who is in what party.. their party is not enough to make me vote for them.
I agree with you Shawn "I'm going to remember him as the first president that caused me to be embarrassed to be an American." I am an indepedant and I tend to Vote Republican. I think he has failed during his first term so Why Re-Elect (or should I say elect him). He is acting as a Tyrant. I want a President who can admitt when he is wrong. That's it if Bush would have said that the War in Iraq should have been handled in a different way- I might still be in the middle. He says that he will never change his mind - is that Democracy or Dictatorship. Bush constantly says that Kerry voted for the removal of Sadam based on intelligence they both saw didn't the 9/11 commission say that most of it was false. We all know that Sadam is evil but he is not guilty of Weapons of Mass Destruction.
You guys continue to forget one thing and I always am amazed that folks don't think. If Bush senior would have not made a bad "oil deal" with his former friend/enemy Saddam, we would have had Saddam out of power in the first Gulf war. When we left then (Bush Senior left Saddam in power) Saddam then gassed the Kurds killing hundreds of thousands. Bush Junior is a man I really feel sorry for, he was really a puppet for dear old Dad. Put the blame on the entire Bush senior administration that are the main components of the current administration. Not Bush Junior.
Bush junior is worse if thats the case. Damn puppet. As Americans, what do you guys think of the war? Should it have happened? As an Aussie, I beleive so. I think it just happened for the wrong reasons. As Lavel Said "We all know that Sadam is evil but he is not guilty of Weapons of Mass Destruction."
Personally; I don't think we needed to pick a fight with Iraq. This isn't to say that Saddam hussein didn't bear watching; but he wasn't the one to work on or go after.
I think it should have been done right the first time. This time around, they were reaching for straws thing to find a reason. The thing that scares me is if that's how our government starts doing things domestically (convicting people for things they WILL do in the future). Some American's think it was the "right" thing, but there are a lot that don't (I'm one of them).
As the Iraqi's i've seen on the news say : "The Americans aren't here to protect us, theyr'e here to protect themselves". I couldnt agree more DP when you say "it should have been done right the first time".
I agree here. Unfortunately; the elder shrub called it quits as I recall. In the beginning; I thought it was the right thing. I also expected us to find the wmd and all the things they said they were going to find. It didn't take long for me to realize that we screwed up, and shouldn't be there. The current administration we have needs to go. While I don't believe that the younger shrub is doing this to be vindictive; I do believe he is trying to save face - because of dad - and I also believe that he thinks what he's doing is the right thing to do. But it's his dads admin; and they are all old school I think. I like what Kerry has to say; and I hope he wins; I think he will, but it will be close.