Political leaders you disagree with, but respect.

[Ecthy]

Drogue, the French greens were in government too, with social democrats and socialists. in germany, such a coalition would result in a soviet state

[Drogue]

French Greens? When? I thought th e German government was Greens and Social Democrats? I suppose without the Socialists, but I can't see Germany going that far left

[*End Is Forever*]

You're conveniently ignoring Fischer's extreme-left communist rioting background I see...

[Drogue]

Not at all. The fact that he did that in his past does not mean he is an "extreme-left communist" now. From what I know of his policies, he is not that extreme now. He is certainly a leftist, but not a radical leftist. The fact he was in his past is irrelevant to me.

[Q Classic]

koizumi. i think he's repulsive he goes to that shrine; he feels it's his duty. he's unable to change anything in japan, economically, stymied by his own party. but he tries. i think he's crazy for remilitarizing, but i also think it's the right thing to do.

[Drake Tungsten]

"Remilitarizing"? You need to lay off the Korean sources, Q Cubed.

[Q Classic]

"Remilitarizing"? You need to lay off the Korean sources, Q Cubed.

what do you expect. i can't read native japanese editorials yet.
as i said, i think it's a good idea for them to do it anyway--the us isn't going to be there forever in great strength, china's getting stronger, and you have wildcard nkorea, who's just as likely to take a stab at hurting japan as it is to laying waste to its brethren, just to take out a few americans.
in a sense, it is remilitarizing, too. removing some of the restrictions on its self-defense forces, allowing them to operate overseas... so long as japan never turns into a militarist state, neasia should be fine--and both china and the koreas will see to it that japan won't turn that way again.

in good news, my older cousin will be done with his compulsory military service (korea has it for all males) in a month.

[Drake Tungsten]

in a sense, it is remilitarizing, too. removing some of the restrictions on its self-defense forces, allowing them to operate overseas...

I don't really see the recent changes as "remilitarizing." Seems more like a move to legitimize Japanese peacekeeping operations.

so long as japan never turns into a militarist state

This is what you should be worried about. Japan isn't going to remilitarize unless the pacifistic mood of the population dissipates.

[cinch]

Castro: I'm not a communist and I don't agree with his cracking down on dissidents, but I do respect him for giving the people of Cuba a chance, in a region where so many are so destitute.

McCain: Obviously! The man's just a stand-up, heroic fellow. I'd be giddy if he were President, even though I disagree with a good number of his policies.

Trudeau: He wasn't all he's cracked up to be, I don't think, but I do like that he actually made Canada interesting for a while. A good man at his core, I think.

Chamberlain: Sure, he made some horrible mistakes in appeasing Hitler and Mussolini, but he really was doing only what his people wanted, and the freaky situation he faced was not of his own making. I think he gets a bad rap.

[Al B. Sure!]

Jimmy Carter... (though he's not that far from me politically). Somewhat like a Mr. Smith... quite a bit naive when he came to Washington, filled with his farming, Southern and born again Baptist idealism, and he largely wasn't a successful president but he's probably a great guy.

LBJ... just because he treated everybody like his *****


thanks

[Al B. Sure!]

as for someone more recent, our former mayor and now governor, Ed Rendell... being more of a union democrat, he's not so bad (he hardly caters to the liberal elite), and he always seems very down to earth but also hyped about philly. i think everybody in philly got this image ingrained in their minds of him on the street eating a soft pretzel and having mustard on the sides of his lips and hyping people up about one of his new programs.

[Spiffor]

Historically :

Emperor Meiji and Ataturk. Both have transformed their country significantly, from a backward feudal state to a modern power. It took skill and ambition to reach that, but they made it. However, it also required an utter ruthlessness and the sacrifice of the standards of living of a good part of the population to reach that as well as massive authoritarianism.
This is the very same reason I respect Putin : despite being quite authoritarian in Russia, and murderous in Chechnya, he seems to be the right guy needed to stop the chaos and to turn Russia into a powerful and modern country once again.

(however, I loathe Stalin, because his paranoia led him to order ridiculous massacres, and his first concern was his own little life at the expense of millions others, not the future of his country )

Today :

Alain Juppé, former French PM. I don't agree on anything with him, from the reform on the retirement system to privatizations, I think he has it all wrong. However, this guy has political courage : his ideas are directed to get France out of its problems, and he will not hesitate to push for them, even at the expense of his own career.
Besides, he is now the mayor of Bordeaux, and he didn't hesitate to put the whole traffic in turmoil for 3 years, to do the big infrastructure work Bordeaux needs so badly. He pissed off the entire population for the future of his city, again regardless of his career