Who are you supporting in the upcoming American election

[Premium Parrots]

I met obama at my neighbors house 2 years ago at a lawn party. [my neighbor was leutinant governor of Illinois and hes the go to man for political stratagy in Illinois] At the time he was being groomed for nomination and was seeking advice from my buddy. Anyway all the women seemed to be mesmerized by him. Hes an eloquent speaker and has a ton of charisma. I was suspicous of him.

sadly I felt we didn't have a choice of cannidates this time. However, it is heart warming that a black man ran for and won a presidental erection. This seemed to be an emotional win for all the black people. Good for them......and good for America......but this guy better do his job. I think he may.

[Zero]

Yeah, the man has a good speaking voice and a strong chin. Sadly, people are fickle and superficial halfwits and, in the books of many, this is sufficient qualification. What do you expect? It's in our nature. The Enlightenment was a good first step, but it could hardly undo millions of years of evolution. Especially when we act as groups, humans are still a gang of really dumb animals.

[RobsanX]

The really scary part is how the younger generation is reacting...

I think it has more to do with Obama's age and looks than anything politically relevant... Although I wasn't alive, I've heard many stories about the same thing happening with Kennedy...

I just think that people who idolize him might be in for a big letdown if things don't go his way. Look at what happened in '06 when the Dems took over congress. Their approval rating took a nosedive. The Righties hated them just on principle, and Lefties were hating on them because they weren't doing enough to drive the country left.

Even with a larger Dem majority, I don't see any drastic changes. Pelosi just said this morning that she intends to govern from the center. She and every other member of Congress knows that if they try to push a left wing agenda too hard that their jobs will be in jeopardy.

[chainsnuser]

There's a fair chance that changes happen now, because, though I really like Zero's economic logic, there's no equality of arms between the U.S. (and the western countries in general) and China.

China has no market-economy. China is just a communist dictatorship with leaders who happen to think, that some kind of controlled "stone-age-capitalism" (workers in China are more like slaves than free people, there even are no unions) might be in their favor. And not only that, the Chinese currency is artificially low-rated because of interventions by the dictatorial government. The real costs of labor and production in China are much higher than they appear to be.

Under normal circumstances, the whole "China-problem" wouldn't exist, because their products simply would be "taxed to hell" by all western countries. Unfortunately, the western governments seem to believe, that doing unrestricted business with China is a good thing, but I simply think, that once a worker in America gets the same wage as a worker in China, he or she will no longer vote republican or democratic but will gladly vote for any communist or fascist wannabe dictator, who promises 50 cent more per hour. So a change simply must come.

Apart of that, I think that Zero is absolutely right, that the world will change. The western lifestyle is far too excessive and consumptive and it's better that all human beings come to share the same standard of living, than that third world countries try to catch up (which will not be possible anyway). I also really would have problems to morally justify any "isolationism" against democratic countries like India.

But nowaday's China, no, China is just a "volitional" problem. That communist country is really not worth it. Tax their products (if only according to the advantages, Chinese businesses have, compared with businesses in western democracies) and the problem is gone. Apart of that and not to underestimate the performance of Chinese workers, but really, the quality of Chinese products is about as high as the wages in China.

Obama may be a marionette just like his predecessor, but the real mighty will be endangered, if everything goes on like it used to.

Cheers!

[Zero]

I use China as a metaphorical object in my argument - obviously the real issue with China is much more complex and certainly I don't agree with most of what their Government does. Nevertheless, I don't think the problem is ever solved by unions or import tarrifs. The problem is only ever solved when people are allowed to have social and economic freedom.

[RobsanX]

Well here we go...

Obama Spokesman Says 'Obama Ready to RULE on Day 1'
By Warner Todd Huston (Bio | Archive)
November 10, 2008 - 02:02 ET

The co-chair of Barack Obama's Transition Team, Valerie Jarrett, appeared on Meet the Press this weekend and used, shall we say, an interesting word to described what she thinks Barack Obama will be doing in January when he's officially sworn into office. She told Tom Brokaw that Obama will be ready to "rule" on day one. It's a word that reflects the worst fears that people have for Obama the "arrogant," the "messiah," that imagines he's here to "rule" instead of govern.

Jarret told Brokaw that "given the daunting challenges that we face, it's important that president elect Obama is prepared to really take power and begin to rule day one."


Someone needs to get to Jarrett and inform her that American politicians are not Kings and do not "rule" from office. But if this is the attitude of Obama's transition team, what does The One himself imagine he is about to unleash? Could the fears that Obama thinks he is being anointed America's King be far off with this sort of talk flying about?

[Slydel]

I don't think that the general population is informed enough to make a competent decision. I have said before that neither of the major U.S. candidates are worth my vote. When the population of a republic or democracy decides that an election should be determined by which candidate is going to give "the people" more free stuff, then that government and its people are doomed. Freedoms and rights should be the most important things that our government should protect, but they have been so heavily eroded that it makes me pissed that there are not any candidates that are covered by the press that really gives a shit about the people that take care of themselves and are productive members of society. They just want money from those people...the ones that can "afford it"....to take care of those people that have not worked to take care of themselves. There are exceptions to this minimal generalization, but it holds true IMO. Soon I will not be able to do anything without be taxed and restricted. When those people that can "afford it" run out or our economy gets so bad that the majority of the populations is screwed then maybe something will change. Unfortunately, this may not happen and the country will end up not being the land of the free...the place where if you work hard you can make a better life for yourself and your children.
I hope this does not happen, but I got a feeling it will. In years to come, will those 20 and 30 year-olds reflect upon their stupidity when they get older and possibly become wiser? Nah, they got TV (Communist News Network) to watch and their government cheques to cash.