WhyNot, if I understand your post correctly, you’re arguing that George Bush is actually a true patriot who is intentionally mismanaging the country in order to force the American public to elect better politicians.
All I can say is that that’s an interesting viewpoint.
Which will do what, exactly, beyond pissing off the half-dozen countries still willing to sign on for our current half-baked foreign policy ventures?
Congress met for 97 days this year, which is barely three months unless I’ve forgotten how to count. (Okay, I got the number from The Colbert Report, but I think it’s accurate.) How do you feel about their output?
The last thing we need is to weaken Congress even further as the Executive Branch goes nuts. I’m sure isolationism would work great in this day and age, too, although you could probably convince people to go along with it.
This varies by state. I first voted in Michigan where (at the time; I don’t know if it’s changed) you could vote in primaries without stating your party affiliation. This meant you could vote for the people you felt were best qualified overall.
In Ohio, you declare your party affiliation when you cast your vote in a primary. If you say you’re unaffiliated, your vote is limited to non-partisan issues and races.
I’ve never had to declare a party affiliation other than in a primary election. What other processes are out there?
GT
Ah, shit, was I supposed to have a point? 
If I had any point at all, it was that this thread reminded me of that quote. Claudius, as portrayed by Graves, certainly was a good leader trapped in a bad, bad political world. Is Bush? Honestly, it didn’t occur to me until I was typing that last post. Generally, I’m of the “somewhere between stupid and evil” camp of Bush haters. But honestly I don’t generally believe that someone stupid could have achieved what he has. That leaves evil. I generally don’t believe in people actually being unmitigatedly evil. So I need another option. I’m not sure that devious patriot is right, either, but I’ll ponder it for a bit.
I’m sure that if you asked him, he’d consider himself a patriot, no doubt. Whether or not he’s secretly trying to goad us into revolution, I couldn’t say. But it is an interesting theory, now that I’ve unwittingly come up with it!
Yeah, and look what that did to us.
Well, you must of liked Reagan, I did. So think of it this way, Carter got us Reagan.
If once these Republicans took complete control they had been reasonable, if they had kept religion out of politics, if they started wars for honorable reasons instead of lies, if they did not pander to every stereotype our more liberal fellow citizens had always portrayed the Republican party with, this could have been a great period for reform and responsible government. Some serious debt reduction could have occurred. Bureaucracies could have been cleaned up a bit.
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This current right wing group in power has squandered a great opportunity. It has left many moderate Republicans ashamed to be in the same party. I know you are to right of me on many issues, but you cannot be comfortable with the religious agenda that is permeating current leadership. I think I know that much about you.
Would you rather have a Republican like McCain or Bush as President currently?
Are you comfortable with a wartime government being run by a “Daddy exception legal draft dodger”?
I have never been. In fact I prefer my Republicans leaders to have a very good military record. Not an absolute requirement but preferred.
Jim
The Senate is in session for 120 days each year. The House for only 94.
But that’s how Reagan got himself into office, by inviting the moral majority etc. into politics. You can hardly complain about religion in politics if you approve of the man who made that particular pact with the devil.
No, I can complain, I am an American. I can also realize it was the worst mistake he made with James Watt* being the second worst mistake.
Hmm … I’d put his massive budget deficit up there with his biggest blunders. That along with the deregulation of the savings and loan industry.
You Republicans really shouldn’t be surprised that the Bush administration and the current Congress have turned out this way. The seeds of the current crisis were sown by Reagan himself. A modern industrialized nation with major worldwide commitments simply cannot run itself like a loose confederation of gentleman farmers. So from it’s very beginning in the 1980’s modern Conservatism has been a confidence game, peddling an unsustainable model for how the United States should operate. It kind of worked as long as the Democrats had some power to keep things in check. But as soon as the Republicans got complete control of everything it promptly ran off the rails.
What is this “Republican Plan” which you imply makes them so superior to Democrats?
'Cause the only thing I’ve been seeing lately is “Do whatever it takes to keep ourselves in power.”
While I’m far from a huge fan of the Democrats, I think this is unfairly harsh. If you’re running for bus driver, the simple fact that the current driver has the unfortunate habit of crashing the bus into trees every few minutes really has to be your biggest selling point. “I’ll stop smashing into things” is hardly inspirational, but it does get to the heart of the matter.
Exactly, and thank you! Regan was second to Bush as one of the worst presidents we’ve ever had. Just my own personal opinion of course.
Bah, I just say we need to flush congress like a toilet.
Shouldn’t we move this to another thread, it seems wrong in this thread to go off on the tangent of the Pros and Cons of Reagan. Despite good reasons to feel the way you do, it is also apparent that a large portion of America disagrees with you.
If you start a GD or IMHO on Reagan, I will be glad to chime in. It might wander to the pit if past threads on Reagan and Clinton are any guide. BTW: I think Clinton was a pretty good President.
Jim
I’m really sorry Jim! I shouldn’t have made that remark in this thread and I really do apologize. I disagreed with a lot of his policies, but I don’t think he was a horrible person. I really feel the same way about Bush Senior. I didn’t vote for him for the same reasons but he always struck me as a very honorable, decent man.
I wish the masses would stop complaining about what?who?why?when? and HOW EVERYONE who voted during both election(s) ( in 01’ and 04’ ).Obviously,those who voted;chose a man they knew little or absolutely nothing about i.e…his policies(foreign & domestic),his reputation in and amidst D.C. and abroad (Daddy has alot of “foreign friends” nothing wrong with that just that it makes for a good conversation while drinking/eating tea and crumpets all the while chattering about the next oil projections/predictions for the following years AND YOU ASK WHERE DO I? JOE BLOW equate in all of this mess.The sole purpose for his win was “SHIFTING GEARS” during wartime, and the one that I love…
“LIKEABILITY” rather than will he take any responsibility,accountability, or stand regarding everything he has laid before his administration and his country. I see why we have an ELECTORAL COLLEGE…because the masses are just walking and talking well…like Christopher Walken said in the movie “THE PROPHECY”…well you all are MONKEYS. GOD BLESS THE BUSH FAMILY AND GOD BLESS AMERICA…I see why now Noam Chumsky can sell books.
Vertize, I think I speak for everyone when I say “huh?”
If Americans really wanted term limits, we wouldn’t be reelecting the same jerks over and over. If America really wanted a small government that stayed out of people private lives, we wouldn’t be flocking to the polls to support religious advocates as government candidates, and Constitutional Amendments out of Leviticus. If Americans really wanted a government that conserved our assets, our environment, our rights, and our children’s futures, we would not be voting for representatives known to be responsive only to industrial influence in the form of wealth. If Americans really wanted honest men in office, we would not support the people who made bribery legal.
We have exactly and precisely the government we want, and deserve. Our republic exactly reflects our people. Our foreign policy is the true reflection of our attitudes toward people who are not like us. Our Government is the best and brightest of us, acting in exactly the way that we the people expect, and even desire them to act. In the very few cases where offices are held by those who have never been in government before, we can claim that that is not the case, but otherwise, we chose them because we wanted them. Or, we failed to make a choice because we really don’t care.
It’s a democracy, folks, and it’s all your fault. Live with it. Or dedicate your life to changing it.
Tris