Republican National Convention

[GePap]

Originally posted by Patroklos
Us not removing Saddam was not our idea. We were playign the the multilateralism at that time and a decade after, still provided 90% of the funding and troops and got no where.

UN and major European powers have proved one thing in the last ten years, and that is they are either not willing or capable of doing anything relevent. Hell even 90% of the firepower in Kosovo was US, and that was IN EUROPE!!!

The first Bush administration correctly surmissed that removing Saddam would involve the US is a long process which might in the end undermine our interests in the gulf region. That is why poppa didn;t keep going.

Pappa was right.

[GePap]

I think David Brooks actually said something lucid when Lehrer was asking questions at the end of the convention:

Lehrer asked that if someone with no preconceptions or foreknowledge were to have watched the two conventions, would he have gotten a good sense of the difference between the two parties- and Brooks said he would have gotten a sense of two different realities for the people in each convention.

I agree wholeheartedly. People in Boston and in MSG have too totally different ideas of what ther world is like today, and hence what needs to be done.

I for one don;t buy for a microsecond that Islamist terrorism is an existential threat to the US. Not for a second. Hence this existence of fear in which we must strike out now has no resonance for me, none at all.

[Sikander]

Originally posted by The Mad Monk

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=564&u=/nm/20040903/ts_nm/campaign_kerry_dc_3&printer=1

You know, this just gives us permission to keep whacking him on VietNam.

That's not a bright move on Kerry's part.

Firstly he begs the question: How do you feel about President Clinton, who actively dodged the draft rather than simply applying for perfectly legal educational and family deferments?

Secondly what the hell is the Presidential Candidate doing muddying his hands with the Vice Presidential Candidate from the opposing party? I thought Edwards was a charismatic trial lawyer, let him kick Cheney in the crotch for a while, smiling the whole time.

[Sikander]

Originally posted by GePap
I think David Brooks actually said something lucid when Lehrer was asking questions at the end of the convention:

Lehrer asked that if someone with no preconceptions or foreknowledge were to have watched the two conventions, would he have gotten a good sense of the difference between the two parties- and Brooks said he would have gotten a sense of two different realities for the people in each convention.

I agree wholeheartedly. People in Boston and in MSG have too totally different ideas of what ther world is like today, and hence what needs to be done.

I for one don;t buy for a microsecond that Islamist terrorism is an existential threat to the US. Not for a second. Hence this existence of fear in which we must strike out now has no resonance for me, none at all.

True enough for what it's worth, but there are very few existential threats to the United States that don't involve comets.

[Agathon]

Did anyone notice that Bush claimed the US had brought democracy to Nicaragua?

I nearly fell off my chair when he said that.

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

You raise a good point G, regarding presence of clear and present danger.

OTOH, given all the other dragons have been slain, the only remaining boogeyman is Islamist fanatics, which we ignored previously in favor of concetrating on our first priority elimination/containmnet of communism mainly the USSR.

It is within this backdrop tho' that 9/11 is a central point for the repubs in order to remind people that communism never found a means to bring death and destruction to US soil but Islamic fanatics did.

I wonder why the feeling is waning that Islamic fanaticism poses any less a threat today.

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by Agathon
Did anyone notice that Bush claimed the US had brought democracy to Nicaragua?

I nearly fell off my chair when he said that.

I saw that and shook my head. Apparently internationally certified free elections in 1984 don't count.

[MikeH]

What I can't believe is that as bad a president as Bush has been domestically this contest is going to be close.

[GePap]

Originally posted by Ogie Oglethorpe
You raise a good point G, regarding presence of clear and present danger.

OTOH, given all the other dragons have been slain, the only remaining boogeyman is Islamist fanatics, which we ignored previously in favor of concetrating on our first priority elimination/containmnet of communism mainly the USSR.

It is within this backdrop tho' that 9/11 is a central point for the repubs in order to remind people that communism never found a means to bring death and destruction to US soil but Islamic fanatics did.

I wonder why the feeling is waning that Islamic fanaticism poses any less a threat today.

Well, for one, supposedly thanks to the greatactions of our president we are a lot safer, NO?

2. Just as the capabilities of state actors to inflict damage increases, so do the cabalities of non-state entities to do so grows as well. But the fundemantals of how we will have to deal with them do not- and just becuase their capabilities have gone up does not make them fundamentally new or different.

If the communist did not hit us at home, it was a simple reality of their interests not being helped by that.

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by notyoueither
Why wasn't Saddam ever on the list of exporters of terrorism before 9/11? Or was he, and I just missed him with all the talk about Lybia, Syria, and Iran?

He might have been. Considering, however, that all Iraq did was give payments to the families of suicide bombers after the fact after the Israelis bulldozed their houses. Not exactly providiing funds or support for terrorists. Also, Abu Nidal lived in Bagdad for quite some time, but AFAIK, he hadn't been up to anything while he was there. They did have some contacts with Al Qaeda, but the U.S. intelligence says that never amounted to anything.

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by Sikander
How do you feel about President Clinton, who actively dodged the draft rather than simply applying for perfectly legal educational and family deferments?

IIRC, Clinton had an education deferment. You can't dodge and then come back to the U.S. It's not like Clinton was in exile until Carter pardoned him.

[PLATO]

Originally posted by chegitz guevara


all Iraq did was give payments to the families of suicide bombers

Simply unbelievable...

[dojoboy]

Originally posted by MikeH
What I can't believe is that as bad a president as Bush has been domestically this contest is going to be close.

Domestic problems haven't been his doing. Why on earth do people still asscociate how well an economy is doing to the President. The President can only recommend. The legislature (Dems & Reps) is the one who holds the economic card.

[Agathon]

Domestic problems haven't been his doing. Why on earth do people still asscociate how well an economy is doing to the President.

Because the government sets the rules by which the market operates, and sets the amount and the distribution of our non-market spending on public goods.

While in a decentralized economy the boom/bust cycle is beyond the control of the government, a wise government can enact polices that mitigate the effects of market irrationality.

Bush is a failure because all right wing fundamentalists are failures in this regard: they do not understand that state spending can be a source of increased efficiency in many areas of the economy (although not all).

[DinoDoc]

Originally posted by MikeH
What I can't believe is that as bad a president as Bush has been domestically this contest is going to be close.

Blame the Democrats for chosing a bad candidate. They also have to contend with the fact we've never turned out a war time President.