Political Hippo Circle Jerk - America, farg YEAH!

[Munson]

I'm not that mad if warrants are needed as that's kind of how the justice system was working before hand anyway.

[Sgt PSN]

how can you really act like you know whats good for the military and for combat and all that stuff unless you actually experienced it.

i don't necessarily believe that either.....at least not as an absolute.  obviously, first hand knowledge and experience goes a long way.  i've got that, rusty and dio don't.  but that doesn't make me or any other serviceman the know all, end all on the subject.  in some ways it probably handicaps me because i only know one way of doing things.....the marine way.  so it never hurts to get some outside perspective on things. 

besides, we're arguing the draft as a constitutional issue which is something that serving in the military does not make me an expert on by any means.  it's actually a legal issue and i would say that i'm far from being anything even remotely close to a legal expert. 

in this case, i'm just a dude with an opinion.  granted, i'm absolutely right.  but still just a dude who is no more or less qualified than the rest of you nitwits to have an argument on this subject. 

[rjs246]

Look, I'm not going to argue how the military works because I don't have the first idea. My point, and I'm sure Dio's point, is that once everyone has a stake in the matter, people tend to be more engaged. I don't know if it would work in real life the way it does on paper, but the idea is sound. Sarge obviously makes very valid points, btw, so I'm not claiming that this idea is some sort of bulletproof concept, but in theory the draft would force us all to take war a little more seriously. Oh, and farg off MDS.

As for Munson's point about weakening of the Patriot Act. Yes it has been watered down with more legislative red tape and yes that is an incremental improvement with regard to our rights, but the fact that the farging thing still exists is an abomination. One that every single person in this country should be ashamed of.

[rjs246]

Quick profile of Indiana's Republican governor.

Kind of a non-sequitor obviously, but my opinion of the Republican party has nose-dived because there don't seem to be any centrists on that side of the aisle (at least none that get any press), so reading about one was interesting.

[Sgt PSN]

Look, I'm not going to argue how the military works because I don't have the first idea. My point, and I'm sure Dio's point, is that once everyone has a stake in the matter, people tend to be more engaged. I don't know if it would work in real life the way it does on paper, but the idea is sound. Sarge obviously makes very valid points, btw, so I'm not claiming that this idea is some sort of bulletproof concept, but in theory the draft would force us all to take war a little more seriously. Oh, and farg off MDS.

i completely and totally agree with that concept....or at least the theory of it.  however, my contention is that in this country we can't and shouldn't force people into doing anything they don't want to, especially when it comes to the possibility of fighting in a war and maybe dying. 

i mean, in theory, the patriot act makes this country a safer place, right?  sure, we all have our privacy invaded but it helps the gov't find terrorists so we really shouldn't complain.  while we're at it, i think that in order to collect a paycheck in this country you should show proof that you voted in at least 70% of the elections/proposals for your county, 85% for your state and 100% federal.  that would make the country more engaged too, right? 

i'm not trying to mock or belittle, but our freedoms and rights in this country are a double edged sword.  they're our greatest strength because they give anyone the opportunity to be whatever they want, have an opinion on anything they want and decide each and every day what they are going to do.  they're also our biggest weakness because unfortunately, they also give people the right to be lazy, ignorant douche bags who do nothing but waste air and drain the economy.  it sucks for most of us who get up every single day and do the right thing.  we go to work or go to school.  we pay our taxes.  some of us have kids that we try and raise to be upstanding people.  we take an interest in the lives of others.  we take an interest in what our city, state and fed gov't is doing with our money and the laws they are passing.  and there's part of the population that doesn't do shtein.  they don't work.  they don't try to be anything but trash and they have audacity to sit around all day and bitch and moan when they've done absolutely nothing to try and better their situation or to make changes in what's going on in this country.   

i farging hate that shtein.  but you know what?  there's not a damn thing i, or anyone else can do about it because it's their absolute right as a citizen of this country to be completely worthless human beings.  and as much as people piss me off and as much as i wish that everyone would take even the slightest farging interest in what's going on this country, i still don't believe in forcing anyone to do that. 

i would love nothing more than to see people get more engaged in everything that goes on in this country.  that's the main reason why our politicians are barely held accountable for their actions....because most people don't give a shtein.  they don't think it affects their daily lives. 

the reason that "we the people" don't have any say in this country is because over the last few decades we've given all the power to the idiots we keep electing to office.  the only way anything would ever change is if we all stood up and let washington know that we're sick of their shtein and take that power back.  but we won't because we're a lazy society and for the most part, we run around in our day to day lives giving little thought to the things that go on outside of our immediate world.  if it doesn't tangibly affect us or our families, chances are we're not going to give a shtein.  and that's tragic. 

As for Munson's point about weakening of the Patriot Act. Yes it has been watered down with more legislative red tape and yes that is an incremental improvement with regard to our rights, but the fact that the farging thing still exists is an abomination. One that every single person in this country should be ashamed of.

completely agree.  the patriot act, in it's original form, gave the gov't the ability to conduct a witch hunt in every corner of this country, even if that included looking under your bed.  i like that barry tried to clean it up a little bit, but christ....at least change the farging name man.  because it doesn't matter what the actual content of the patriot act is.....he could have completely re-written it so that every american gets a pot of jew gold but if you keep the name "patriot act" it's going to incite rage and fury in a lot of farging people. 

[rjs246]

Oh yeah, also, a few pages back the topic of term limits came up.

I'm torn about them. There are lots of examples of good governing being done by politicians who have been in the game forever, but at the same time the endless election cycle has tainted their ability to do right by their constiuency in the face of The Party. In my opinion the real problem is gerrymandering. If you draw up districts that are extremely partisan in the interest of creating un-loseable districts (which is exactly what we have now) there's no incentive to do anything other than cater to the fringe/toe the party line, so that you're always the nominee for the party that will always win the district.

Anyway, here's my two-part solution. First, farg gerrymandering. Redraw the districts in (roughly) geographical shapes that make some goddamned sense and don't create un-loseable, unrepresentative districts. Second, implement term limits in the House of Representatives only. This is the real key. What this will create is competition for Senate seats. If a Senator isn't doing right by his constiuency, there will always be younger, driven, politicians from the lower house with motivation to challenge stale incumbents. Senators who do their jobs well won't have to worry about losing their jobs any more than they do currently. Senators who do their jobs poorly, or don't do right by their people, will struggle to get reelected with a newly formed influx of politicians vying for their seat.

I haven't given this a lot of thought, so feel free to pick this plan apart if I'm missing something obvious, but I think it could work.

[Susquehanna Birder]

i figured it has to be something that he's doing to cater to the right in an attempt to garner some of their support to get other issues resolved....like maybe healthcare or something.  still....i care a lot less about healthcare than i do my rights. 

I wonder if he gained access to additional information once he took office, and it swayed his approach to the whole thing.

[MMH]

It's 100% political. Anything he does to lessen the Patriot Act's powers can be construed as weak on terrorism. farging bullshtein is what it is. farging bullshtein.

Anyway, I agree with Dio. Bring on the draft and watch what happens.

Can you really see 60's style protests from anyone in this country?  As long as they can buy shtein they don't need for less than it should cost, they can't bring themselves to really care about much of anything else.

The majority of the population are farging asinine sheep who follow a party because they're too lazy and stupid to learn about a candidate.  Which is why the Congress is full of shteinstains on both sides of the aisle.

Oh, yeah, and Obama can suck a diseased dick for re-upping the Patriot Act.  Some socialist he's turning out to be.

[Sgt PSN]

on the flip side, i'd love to see the reaction of all the righties who have been bashing obama up until now.  what do they have to say now that he extended one of bush's most beloved policies?  i seriously do want to know what beck and limbaugh are saying right now.  i want to know if they're finding a way to spin it in a negative light, are they applauding him or did they both spontaneously combust upon hearing it? 

if it's the latter then i can only assume that was part of barry's plan in the first place, in which case i applaud him.

i'd turn on fox news and see for myself but i set the parental lock for that channel and closed my eyes and hit random buttons when i created the pass code so that i can never even accidentally stumble upon that rubbish.  and even more importantly, so that my kids never do either. 

[Munson]

My guess is they'll just say "oh all those liberals bashing it blah blah blah more big government invasion into our lives blah blah where's the change"


When anyone they would have put into office wouldn't have been a change at all, but they would have been singing their praises.

[shorebird]

Oh yeah, also, a few pages back the topic of term limits came up.

I'm torn about them. There are lots of examples of good governing being done by politicians who have been in the game forever, but at the same time the endless election cycle has tainted their ability to do right by their constiuency in the face of The Party. In my opinion the real problem is gerrymandering. If you draw up districts that are extremely partisan in the interest of creating un-loseable districts (which is exactly what we have now) there's no incentive to do anything other than cater to the fringe/toe the party line, so that you're always the nominee for the party that will always win the district.

Anyway, here's my two-part solution. First, farg gerrymandering. Redraw the districts in (roughly) geographical shapes that make some goddamned sense and don't create un-loseable, unrepresentative districts. Second, implement term limits in the House of Representatives only. This is the real key. What this will create is competition for Senate seats. If a Senator isn't doing right by his constiuency, there will always be younger, driven, politicians from the lower house with motivation to challenge stale incumbents. Senators who do their jobs well won't have to worry about losing their jobs any more than they do currently. Senators who do their jobs poorly, or don't do right by their people, will struggle to get reelected with a newly formed influx of politicians vying for their seat.

I haven't given this a lot of thought, so feel free to pick this plan apart if I'm missing something obvious, but I think it could work.

That could work, only thing is like NHM says, most voters are going to vote for their party no matter what. A lot of people think Ted Kennedy was a great American and yes he did back the working class and minorities, but imo, he stayed in office so long because of his name more than anyhting else. He could have commited murder and still have been elected. Wait.......

[rjs246]

It's 100% political. Anything he does to lessen the Patriot Act's powers can be construed as weak on terrorism. farging bullshtein is what it is. farging bullshtein.

Anyway, I agree with Dio. Bring on the draft and watch what happens.

Can you really see 60's style protests from anyone in this country?  As long as they can buy shtein they don't need for less than it should cost, they can't bring themselves to really care about much of anything else.

The majority of the population are farging asinine sheep who follow a party because they're too lazy and stupid to learn about a candidate.  Which is why the Congress is full of shteinstains on both sides of the aisle.

Oh, yeah, and Obama can suck a diseased dick for re-upping the Patriot Act.  Some socialist he's turning out to be.

I don't disagree with any of this. I'm just saying that right now, our consumerism doesn't even get interrupted when an unnecessary war is going on. I'd like to see that comfort level dip a bit...

[MMH]

That I completely agree with.

[Diomedes]

Why do we have term limits for president but not congress?  I'm not asking a historical question.  I'm asking why we think it's a good idea for the President but not for the people who actually make the laws?

[rjs246]

There's too much paranoia about power in the executive office and not enough about power in the legislative. Fear of a dictator is more tangible than fear of an unwieldy/un-representative parliament...