# The election is over, so drop it! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 27, 2001, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-election-is-over-so-drop-it/78272 "2001-08-27T02:27:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![waterj2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/858c86/32.png) [@waterj2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/waterj2)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2001, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-election-is-over-so-drop-it/78272/81 "2001-08-28T05:58:29Z")
Incidentally, **DPWhite** , it’s a pain in the ass to have to scroll past an entire long quoted post to see the couple sentences you included at the end. ---
**Author:** ![DPWhite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d26b3c/32.png) [@DPWhite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPWhite)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2001, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-election-is-over-so-drop-it/78272/82 "2001-08-28T06:00:56Z")
Now potty mouth has his feeling hurt. Sniff. Sniff. Clearly I have nothing better to do. Fascism is the corporatization of power. Nazism is the bending the entire purpose of a state to one person’s will for the greater glory of the state, defined as that person’s will. Now, if you can manage to take all the profanity out of your posts people will start taking you seriously. Even those that know better. Incidentally, slander is spoken, libel is written. Both are varieties of defamation. ---
**Author:** ![DPWhite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d26b3c/32.png) [@DPWhite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPWhite)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2001, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-election-is-over-so-drop-it/78272/83 "2001-08-28T06:03:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by waterj2 \* > \*\*Incidentally, **DPWhite** , it’s a pain in the ass to have to scroll past an entire long quoted post to see the couple sentences you included at the end. \*\* Yes it is, I still figuring it out. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2001, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-election-is-over-so-drop-it/78272/84 "2001-08-28T06:07:53Z")
Here’s a cite for George’s dictatorial aspirations: > [@](#): > > Bush Claims Good First 6 Months > Updated: Thu, Jul 26 9:21 PM EDT > WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush conceded Thursday he’s had his struggles with Congress and is bound to have more, joking that “a dictatorship would be a heck of a lot easier.” Still, he said the relationship is a healthy one after his first six months in office. Triskadecamus has been using a sig that applies nicely to Mr Bush: “The people have always some champion whom they set over them and nurse into greatness…This and no other is the root from which a tyrant springs; when he first appears he is a protector.” ~ Plato ~ So stop whining and let the people have their tyrant ! ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_Ellis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Michael\_Ellis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael_Ellis)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2001, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-election-is-over-so-drop-it/78272/85 "2001-08-28T06:09:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by DPWhite \* > **Now potty mouth has his feeling hurt. Sniff. Sniff. Clearly I have nothing better to do.** Evidentally not. Are you trying to get yourself banned? ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_Ellis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Michael\_Ellis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael_Ellis)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2001, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-election-is-over-so-drop-it/78272/86 "2001-08-28T06:10:50Z")
Ever hear of a sarcastic comment? ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2001, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-election-is-over-so-drop-it/78272/87 "2001-08-28T07:15:54Z")
Oh, shut the flying, farting fuck up, DP. You don’t know what a fascist is, and by throwing the term around so loosely, you only betray your own ignorance. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2001, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-election-is-over-so-drop-it/78272/88 "2001-08-28T10:37:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Legomancer \* > \*\*I’m not a Democrat or a Republican (or one of the omnipresent internet libertarians) but I’ll offer a deal. > > I’ll not mention the 2000 elections again if the Republicans will SHUT THE FUCK UP ABOUT CLINTON. He’s not president anymore. You people pissed and moaned about him for eight years - eight years that the so-called elite party whined like little schoolkids about Clinton. And now it’s over, he’s not the president, and they STILL won’t shut up about him. You think you’re sick of hearing about Florida? We’re all sick of your non-stop Clinton tirade. > > Let’s all agree to give it a rest. \*\* Sure, just as soon as he isn’t on the news any more. Why the fuck was there a news report on CNN in August about his vacation plans being delayed due to a family illness?? That’s too bad, but who cares? Why doesn’t he settle down out of the public spot-light like a normal person would? Nope, got to start a media circus again every chance he gets…now in NY instead of Washington. As long as he insists on “making news” people are going to remember and talk about what he’s done to piss people off. And it’s not as though he’s the only former president whose misdeeds have been railed against long after he left office. Does " I am not a crook" mean anything to you? It does to me, despite having been said years before I was born. ---
**Author:** ![johnson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@johnson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnson)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2001, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-election-is-over-so-drop-it/78272/89 "2001-08-28T12:24:16Z")
> [@](#): > > Yes, I will concede that W is not physically and personally tearing up the paper treaties are written on. This is called a metaphor. Oh, a **metaphor**. Silly me–here I was, thinking the President was rummaging around in the Archives, seeking out “legally binding treaties” and ripping them into shreds. Thanks so much for clarifying that. Anyway, the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty? Rejected by the Senate on October 13, 1999. START? Well, [this](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A44090-2001Jul24.html) article indicates that the Bush Administration is considering accelerating the START II treaty. If that’s breaking a treaty… Atmospheric Test Ban Treaty? I can’t find one source that indicates any actions Bush is taking that will violate the treaty, which has been ratified and is legally binding. And the ABM Treaty? Again, withdrawing from a treaty according to the provisions of the treaty itself is hardly reckless disregard for the legality of treaties, as you seem to imply. So of the “half dozen” “legally binding” treaties you mention, I’ll give you half a point. Oh, and **Squink** , thanks for the cite for Bush’s dictatorial aspirations. Certainly cause for concern, no? Good thing the article mentioned he was joking, or I would be very concerned. And funny, but I would argue that the Plato quote could be applied to virtually any moderately successful politician with whom you disagree, even some recent presidents of other parties (though I dare not mention any names). ---
**Author:** ![Legomancer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/779978/32.png) [@Legomancer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Legomancer)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2001, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-election-is-over-so-drop-it/78272/90 "2001-08-28T12:58:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jodi \* > \*\*SOFA, I for one can say with perfect seriousness that I am in awe of how skillfully you paint legal policy decisions as so much more reprehensible than perjury and obstruction of justice. I mean, I don’t _agree_, but still – admirably done. \*\* I agree Sofa. From your post, you make subverting the Constitution and setting up your own personal shadow government so you can avoid having to run things past Congress sound so much worse than lying about a blowjob. ---
**Author:** ![vanilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f19dbf/32.png) [@vanilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vanilla)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2001, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-election-is-over-so-drop-it/78272/91 "2001-08-28T13:29:47Z")
To lighten things up a bit; loved the parrot joke. I’ve never heard it before. ---
**Author:** ![DPWhite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d26b3c/32.png) [@DPWhite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPWhite)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2001, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-election-is-over-so-drop-it/78272/92 "2001-08-28T13:46:50Z")
Star Wars, or son of Star Wars, violates the Atmospheric Test Ban Treaty and the space based weapons treaty. And are you saying that Bush isn’t expressing his true feelings when he says he would prefer a dictatorship? Like some squirrley teenager insulting someone and then saying “just kidding”? No, he is not, just kidding. He pretends to be, but this guy, who said on July 4, 2001 “Nobody cares what you think” to a reporter, who doesn’t consult with allies, doesn’t consult with the political opposition, or even his own party members behaves like a dictator. As for tearing treaties up, you complained that he wasn’t tearing anything. No you say you never said that. As citizens, we have the right to voice our opinions and point out that he is a lawless fool for tearing them up. He endangers us physically and squanders international prestige that took half a century to build up and has made this world a safer place for everyone. ---
**Author:** ![Sauron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@Sauron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sauron)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2001, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-election-is-over-so-drop-it/78272/93 "2001-08-28T14:04:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by DPWhite \* > And are you saying that Bush isn’t expressing his true feelings when he says he would prefer a dictatorship? Like some squirrley teenager insulting someone and then saying “just kidding”? No, he is not, just kidding. Incredible! I have never seen a better usage of the “Because I say so” brand of arguing. Lemme know if it works. I’ll try it out on the wife ASAP. ---
**Author:** ![johnson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@johnson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnson)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2001, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-election-is-over-so-drop-it/78272/94 "2001-08-28T14:07:21Z")
I was using your words. If you want to believe that I thought Bush was literally ripping up pieces of paper, fine. Lawless fool? You have yet to prove that Bush and the United States have violated one single treaty you’ve mentioned. Not one. Disrepect for other’s opinions? Well, there’s room for argument here. But he’s the President of the United States. I think polling citizens and leaders of Western Europe isn’t really necessary for him to determine what’s in the best interests of the US. And Star Wars violates the space-based weapons treaty? I’m not an international lawyer, but my reading of the language of the treaty doesn’t indicate that. From the **Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies**. > [@](#): > > Article IV > > States Parties to the Treaty undertake not to place in orbit around the Earth any objects carrying **nuclear weapons or any other kinds of weapons of mass destruction** , install such weapons on celestial bodies, or station such weapons in outer space in any other manner. > > **The Moon and other celestial bodies** shall be used by all States Parties to the Treaty exclusively for peaceful purposes. The establishment of military bases, installations and fortifications, the testing of any type of weapons and the conduct of military maneuvers on celestial bodies shall be forbidden. The use of military personnel for scientific research or for any other peaceful purposes shall not be prohibited. The use of any equipment or facility necessary for peaceful exploration of the Moon and other celestial bodies shall also not be prohibited. Emphasis mine. Hard to define weapons that shoot down missles as weapons of mass destruction. And the treaty says nothing about military installations or weapons testings in **space**. Keep looking, though. Maybe you’ll stumble across some substance at some point. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-election-is-over-so-drop-it/78272.md?page=4)