# Four more years! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [November 3, 2004, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/four-more-years/272782 "2004-11-03T16:36:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2004, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/four-more-years/272782/21 "2004-11-03T17:44:59Z")
Yeah, after we stomped all over it first. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2004, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/four-more-years/272782/22 "2004-11-03T17:54:19Z")
> [@Johnny L.A.](#): > > I was much better off four years ago than I am now. I’m better off now than I was four years ago, but I consider myself fortunate. It doesn’t mean I have to like Bush being in bed with Halliburton, presiding over an intelligence agency so incredibly fucked up that our impression of conditions and opinions among the Iraqi people were just about 180 degrees away from the truth. I don’t have to like a President and party who seem to think it really important to tell people how to live their lives and whom they can marry. I do know that many Democrats agree with them on that, but the trend is much stronger among the Republicans and in the red states. I don’t have to like a President and party who believe in small government and states’ rights, except when a state enacts a liberalizing law of which the Federal administration disapproves. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2004, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/four-more-years/272782/23 "2004-11-03T17:58:34Z")
> [@Bear\_Nenno](#): > > Are you fucking kidding me?! The women of Afghanistan were doing just so fucking great four years ago, right? I agreed with the decision to attack the Taliban, but I still wanted Kerry to win. Attacking Afghanistan wasn’t a decision driven by presidential politics. I think Gore would have done the same thing if he’d been in the White House. Most of the international community was behind us on that, recognizing it as something that needed to be done. ---
**Author:** ![Batsinma\_Belfry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@Batsinma\_Belfry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Batsinma_Belfry)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2004, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/four-more-years/272782/24 "2004-11-03T17:59:00Z")
Four more years of material for the comedians! We may be jobless, homeless and starving to death, but atleast we’ll be entertained. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![kung\_fu\_lola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f4b2a3/32.png) [@kung\_fu\_lola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kung_fu_lola)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2004, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/four-more-years/272782/25 "2004-11-03T18:00:04Z")
If it went the way you posited, then at least it would have been **my choice**. Not because some overprivileged fat cat with an ugly tie decided to wave his penis around so that everyone could see how huge it is. I know the Middle East is not and was not a bastion of peace and democracy before it was bombed, but now it isn’t much better. Bombing it wouldn’t have been so bad if the US had actually done something about rebuilding it after. But nothing has happened, it’s still a pile of rubble, there isn’t a smooth-running fully fledged democracy quite yet. It’s like we went to a slum, offered to raze the houses and build nice bungalows, then did the demolishing and none of the building. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2004, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/four-more-years/272782/26 "2004-11-03T18:10:59Z")
> [@fessie](#): > > Oh, sure. Because, you know, you’re the only person who matters. Yeah, him and the 51% of the rest of the country. I’m better off then 4 years ago and am quite confident I’ll be even better 4 years from now. ---
**Author:** ![kung\_fu\_lola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f4b2a3/32.png) [@kung\_fu\_lola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kung_fu_lola)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2004, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/four-more-years/272782/27 "2004-11-03T18:19:53Z")
> [@gatopescado](#): > > Yeah, him and the 51% of the rest of the country. If a million people believe in a stupid idea, it’s still a stupid idea. Popular support does not confer merit. ---
**Author:** ![UrbanChic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9dc877/32.png) [@UrbanChic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UrbanChic)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2004, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/four-more-years/272782/28 "2004-11-03T18:49:35Z")
Four? Try _twelve_. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2004, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/four-more-years/272782/29 "2004-11-03T18:51:45Z")
> [@gatopescado](#): > > I’m better off then 4 years ago and am quite confident I’ll be even better 4 years from now. While the rest of your country goes up in smoke, Nero. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2004, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/four-more-years/272782/30 "2004-11-03T19:03:17Z")
> [@gatopescado](#): > > I’m better off then 4 years ago and am quite confident I’ll be even better 4 years from now. 4 years ago the vast majority of Americans were completely and utterly 100% safe from terrorism. Now they are completely and utterly 100% safe from terrorism. In 4 years time they will be completely and utterly 100% safe from Islamic terrorism. Your govornment is lying to you to keep themselves in power. And you are all believing them. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2004, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/four-more-years/272782/31 "2004-11-03T19:23:13Z")
Fucking Democrats need to figure out how they can lose elections to what everyone around here calls an idiot. You numbnuts get New York, California, Illinois and New Jersey right off the bat and still can’t win. Go jump in any random rathole city ruled by Democrats. Al Qaeda is a frigging farce now. Slow economic growth is fine because companies are becoming more productive at a record pace, and jobs go overseas because we live in a free market. Everyone needs to take some basic economic classes and then get their mouths in trouble. Please, tell me how you would keep jobs here? Legislate it? Yeah, then companies will tell you to blow it out yer ass and relocate their entire companies to another country. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2004, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/four-more-years/272782/32 "2004-11-03T19:27:52Z")
You know what survey they should have conducted at polls? They should have asked everyone who voted Democrat if they did so because of the economy, then they should have asked them what their cable bill is every month. Additionally, they could follow that up with questions about how much they spend on booze and bad interest rates because they don’t spend wisely. ---
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2004, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/four-more-years/272782/33 "2004-11-03T20:07:03Z")
My answer, **Philster** , to that survey would’ve been, “I voted for Kerry because I believe that Bush is a fucking liar, thief, and a murderer; and I can’t understand how he hasn’t already been brought up on charges for what he’s done to the U.S.” ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2004, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/four-more-years/272782/34 "2004-11-03T20:33:15Z")
> [@Philster](#): > > Fucking Democrats need to figure out how they can lose elections to what everyone around here calls an idiot. Yeah, the Dems keep making the mistake of thinking that the elections will be held _fairly._ ---
**Author:** ![Darwins\_Finch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darwins_finch/32/20304_2.png) [@Darwins\_Finch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darwins_Finch)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2004, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/four-more-years/272782/35 "2004-11-03T20:39:13Z")
> [@Bear\_Nenno](#): > > There are casualties in every war. Some wars should still be fought. Look at every country that has ever fought for it’s indipendance. People died. Whenever a people stand up and fight for their freedom, people die. That’s all fine and well, but neither Afghanistan nor Iraq are examples of “people stand[ing] up and fight[ing] for their freedom” - unless you consider that who they are fighting against is _us_. In neither country did the people rise up against their oppressive leaders to “fight the good fight”; we invaded, and forced “freedom” upon them. One may consider that a good thing, or a bad thing, but it still isn’t a case of folks standing up for their own freedom and dying noble deaths as a result. They are, for the most part, collateral casualties as a result of clashes between governments. Nothing brave or noble about that. ---
**Author:** ![blowero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/41988e/32.png) [@blowero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blowero)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2004, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/four-more-years/272782/36 "2004-11-03T20:48:42Z")
> [@Philster](#): > > Fucking Democrats need to figure out how they can lose elections to what everyone around here calls an idiot. Because a bunch of idiots voted for him. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![UncleBeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/977dab/32.png) [@UncleBeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBeer)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2004, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/four-more-years/272782/37 "2004-11-03T20:58:53Z")
> [@Kythereia](#): > > Yeah, after we stomped all over it [Afghanistan] first. Actually, that was the Soviet Union. Your memory is way too short. Or way too selective. You choose. > [@Johnny L.A.](#): > > But I’m much worse off now than I was. I guess that you think that as long as we’re better than the Somalis, then we’re doing okay. Remember, tho’, in the grand scheme of things **you** are an isolated incident. Nations, and the world as a whole, are what make up broad, long-term, sustainable trends. Four years and your job an econimic trend do not make; only an anecdote. Your perspective is a bit narrow. I guess you think that as long as jobs aren’t exported, thus giving denizens of the third world opportunities to catch up with you a bit, everything’s hunky-dory. Frankly, as a member of the party that promotes its compassion and aid to the disadvantaged, you should be applauding globalization and the wider-spread opportunities for achievement and advantage it brings. Protectionism has never been a mainstay of the liberals; they have always shouted _loudly_ in favor of helping the unfortunate - _wherever_ happenstance caused them to be born. It seems that when your principle crashes upon the hollow geode of your checkbook, principle shatters. Damned shame, that. ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2004, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/four-more-years/272782/38 "2004-11-03T23:26:36Z")
> [@Darwin's Finch](#): > > That’s all fine and well, but neither Afghanistan nor Iraq are examples of “people stand[ing] up and fight[ing] for their freedom”…In neither country did the people rise up against their oppressive leaders to “fight the good fight”; we invaded, and forced “freedom” upon them. They were powerless to rise up against their oppressive leaders! That doesn’t make it right to leave them oppressed. Black slaves in the United States would never have had their freedom if it weren’t for some white men in powerful positions. Many men died in the Civil War. Were those deaths not worth the freedom that blacks now have in this country? Was it ever right that they were slaves in the first place? No way! Does the fact that they never rose up against their oppressive leaders mean that they were happy and content? No! It means they were powerless to do anything! The Civil War was not just about slavery, but it was a big part of it. And the abolition of slavery was worth all the deaths - civilian or otherwise. Similar are the wars we’re fighting in the Middle East right now. It’s not all about the freedom of the people over there, and it may not have been the motivating factor of our government, but bringing freedom to those countries is worth the bloodshed alone. ---
**Author:** ![Keapon\_Laffin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e274bd/32.png) [@Keapon\_Laffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keapon_Laffin)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2004, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/four-more-years/272782/39 "2004-11-03T23:48:43Z")
> [@kung fu lola](#): > > If a million people believe in a stupid idea, it’s still a stupid idea. Popular support does not confer merit. Well said. Except its 59 million people. SIGHHHHHH… ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2004, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/four-more-years/272782/40 "2004-11-03T23:51:20Z")
> [@Lobsang](#): > > 4 years ago the vast majority of Americans were completely and utterly 100% safe from terrorism. Now they are completely and utterly 100% safe from terrorism. In 4 years time they will be completely and utterly 100% safe from Islamic terrorism. Your govornment is lying to you to keep themselves in power. And you are all believing them. Right. So it was only that 3 years and six weeks ago we were under any actual threat, right? :rolleyes: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/four-more-years/272782.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/four-more-years/272782.md?page=3)