Comments on: Election

By: Matt Hargett

Matt Hargett — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 22:04:42 +0000

I almost voted for McCain in 2000 — I disliked Al Gore (and his wife) that much. Alas, he wasn’t on the ticket. McCain is a survivor, in more ways that one. He knows what to do to make sure he can keep on keeping on. As a result, I don’t know what the fuck he actually believes or will actually do, at this point. All I do know is that Sarah Palin as VP is a complete, absolute farce. A complete transparent attempt to pick up Democrats and Independents that have been floating since Clinton was not nominated as the democractic candidate.

There are some real stand-up Republicans, who do good things. Politics are compromise, ultimately. Balancing getting good things done, and playing the game enough to survive to be able to do more good things, is difficult at best. These fiscally conversative, socially liberal republicans carry on the best intentions from when the party was first created. Just like good ol’ Abe Lincoln.

These folks are now in the minority in their party. Even so, tarring them all with the same brush would be utterly retarded. Just as retarded as voting republican blindly, without question.

The same goes for democrats, greens, libertarians, etc. Each individual has their own reasons for being in the party, but you aren’t voting for the party — you’re voting for that person.

The governor of Illinois’ decisions are only a fraction of why Springfield is dying. There is a city council who allows far too much retail to be built out, way beyond what the local economy can actually support. That yields low-income jobs that have a high turnover rate every time one of the dozens of Walgreens stores go out of business. There are entire neighborhoods, like the one that I grew up in, that are full of abandoned, boarded-up houses. Why on earth are there so many new apartments being built further out of town, yielding more money spent on fuel? Smart city planning (like where I live) takes all of these things into account and avoids these issues by knowing when to say NO.

These are all local decisions, unrelated to the dozens of bad decisions that the governor has made. Rod is Rod and Arnold is Arnold, but you can’t reasonably and intelligently extend that to saying that a Democrat is a Democrat or a Republican is Republican.

Think, for once.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 01:12:43 +0000

I am not seriously concerned over the outcome of this election. I don’t think McCain has a snowballs chance in hell. If he wins it will be through sheer racism.

As for these wars, I do not believe that our decision to use the military was wise. I think use of espionage would have been more effective strategy. I think if one month after 9-11 we had assassinated Osama Bin Laden then it would have been a better show of force. You don’t perform surgery with sludge hammers, you use a scalpel.

Before anyone counts me down for advocating assassination, think of what we chose instead. Thousands death, our economy in the toilet, no progress, torture war crimes, Guantonimo Bay ect ect.

By: Stacy

Stacy — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 22:48:54 +0000

I’m right there with you. I say take what you can and go to school, then move to Uraguay. It’s a nice country, with a temperate climate.
If I believed in a god that could snap his fingers and give me what I wanted if only I prayed, I’d pray for Obama to win the election. But, since I do not believe in fairy tales, I will vote for Obama myself.
And I’ll keep my fingers crossed that you don’t get screwed. I know how much you want out of here.
Stacy

By: Sunny

Sunny — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 22:33:16 +0000

You’ve got a Canadian sponsor over here, if there’s a worse case scenario.

As long as you freaks don’t make me eat tofu, that is. ;o)

By: mommy

mommy — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 21:16:05 +0000

I’ve been Republican most of my life. I voted Democratic once – for our current Gov. Rod. Look what HE’s done to Illinois. Put millions out of work and took millions of jobs and moved them out of Springfield, which has pretty ruined this city. Of course he was running against a crook, who is now in prison for stealing from taxpayers. Sooo…. what’s a person to do?
When this country was under attack by terrorists Sept. 11, 2001, what was the Republican party supposed to do? (By the way the entire Congress is Democratic- and everything has to be passed through Congress before anything can get done) I agree Bush did NOT do anything to find Osama BinLaden. Why he picked on Iraq is beyond me. BinLaden is still hanging out in Afghanistan and could attack this country at any time, just for fun, because he knows he can get by with it. But if this had happened when Bill Clinton was in office, I doubt Bid Laden would just “talk it over” and shake hands promising never to do it again. No – something HAD to be done. We cannot let other countries think we’re a bunch of woosies just to have anybody and everybody attack us. I’m still pissed over it. I’m proud that you were brave enough to enlist knowing full well were were at “war”. You have opened my eyes to what this country does (or shall I say does NOT do) for their Veterans – especially those who have served in another country during times of conflict – who includes your grandpa and your dad and step-dad. Grandpa enlisted, but Denny & Frank both were drafted. They had no choice. Did you know that 70% of the homeless are Vietnam Vets? Why is that? This whole “not enough funds to help our Veterans” is not new. It has been a constant struggle from the very beginning – doesn’t matter who is in office.
I totally agree that too much money is being spent in Iraq and Afghanistan building bigger bases. And I totally agree we should NOT be in Iraq at all. I DO think we should find the person who attacked this country and step up the forces we have here in the US so these attacks won’t happen again.
All that being said- I urge you not to run from this country for which you sacrificed 6 years of your life. I urge you to FIGHT for what is due to you and fight for every other Veteran. I mean what is DUE you. Take full advantage of every bit of free education you can get and anything else you can get your hands on. I, personally, am good friends with the Asst to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Greg Curran. Not that actually MEANS anything, but it IS his job to fight for Veterans rights, which he does on a daily basis. But one person can’t do it all.
It doesn’t matter WHO is in office. Veterans will be constantly fighting for their rights because there is NEVER enough money to support the benefits they promised you when you enlisted. Obviously the Vietnam homeless prove this.
Again, I also agree that McCain doesn’t have any plans of getting out of Iraq anytime soon – I completely disagree with that. We need out of there right now. Unfortunately even if Obama is elected, he still has to go through Congress to get anything done. That may take years. I would love to have a president that will end all war and we will never be attacked again. I would vote for Obama in a heartbeat if he could get that to happen. Then what about this economy- what about the healthcare system- what about the situation with foreign oil? We have to take all that in to consideration, too. I’m sure if you moved to Alberta, there will be things you won’t like about it, too. No one lives in a perfect world.
I hate talking politics, especially with the most important person in my life. I’m just so scared to vote Democratic because of what Gov. Rod has done. I have to admit that Bill Clinton had this country is pretty good shape before he left. I just have nothing to compare him to when it comes to this country being under attack. I don’t know what to do. I just don’t want my children (and their spouses) hating me because I many lean this way or that. And I will always fight for the rights and help support all Veterans of Foreign Wars because you have opened my eyes.