Comments Posted By Surabaya Stew
Displaying 201 To 210 Of 255 Comments
Drewsmom, you hope I am Conservative? Do you not associate with any Liberals or Moderates? What kind of a limits are these? Can there be no dissent allowed in your own little world?
Any true Conservative would be against torture of detainees, enhanced state powers, and budget deficits; something that Bush and Cheney are obviously not concerned about. Thats why they are Neo-Conservatives. I predict that Bush and Cheney will be bashed on the torture issue long after they are dead. Their actions and decisions overall in the past 8 years have at the very least been incompetent, at the worst, criminal.
BTW, only because the failed tenure of Bush and Cheney does Obama has a chance to be our 44th President. If for no other reason, you should bash them for that!
Comment Posted By Surabaya Stew On 21.08.2008 @ 09:53
Frank S., I think you are onto something with Obama not winning the popular vote. It is my gut feeling that he will pull a Bush 2000-style victory, loosing the national popular vote while eking out a win in the electoral college. With all the states that he is sure to win, he only needs 1 (no more than 3) of the toss ups to make 270. My guess is that the difference between Obama winning and loosing the popular vote count will be dissatisfied Hillary supporters.
Drewsmom, nobody outside of deranged leftists ever claims that the US is the only nation that uses torture. The fact is, our President and Vice-President has given their silent and/or direct approval to authorize torture in a substantial number of detainee and enemy combatant cases. As an American, this profoundly saddens me. Never mind what Russia does, we are supposed to be better than them.
Comment Posted By Surabaya Stew On 20.08.2008 @ 22:15
THE LEFT WILTS IN THE FACE OF AGGRESSION
Ah Drewsmom, where do I even begin? Apparently, "This is just my humble opinion so please don’t post anything too bad about me", yet without knowing me, I am a pot-sharing hippie who is on major drugs. Heh Heh heh...you crack me up! I am a political moderate, who is turned off by ranting and raving on both sides of the spectrum. Now calm down, and stop reading in between the lines of dissenting commentators.
The main point of my earlier post was not only do Obama and McCain have barely more authority in this as do you and I, but that both of them responded to the situation exactly as anybody could have predicted. That's all. Both of them were right about being "anti-war" and "pro-surge", respectively. Their entire campaigns revolve around them being right about those positions. One can debate who is right or wrong, but nobody can say that their replies were unexpected.
At any rate, how can the Georgia crisis count as a "3am moment" when our own president didn't feel the need to cut short his happy time in Beijing? (Remember, he spent 3 days hanging out at the Olympics after the invasion started.) Does he know things about that we don't? Can we really question his intelengence on this? Hey, he's the boss, so he knows what's right! Or is he on major drugs?
Comment Posted By Surabaya Stew On 16.08.2008 @ 14:08
My own 2 cents about the whole McCain-Obama difference in their responses to the Georgia crisis is quite simple... DUH!!!
Isn't Obama the "anti-war" candidate? Didn't McCain bet the farm on the "surge" in Iraq? Their actions are quite meaningless since they are only Senators. Yet both candidates are acting just any politically aware person suspected they would. This does not qualify as a "3am moment", nor do I believe is it an indicator of how either man would act as president. It's all about playing to what their bases expect.
Comment Posted By Surabaya Stew On 15.08.2008 @ 19:47
"...emotional, juvenile, stunted intellectually, and oblivious to the realities of politics."
A fascinating description. Me thinks the same could be said of the McCain apologists as well. Only difference is that they are not supporting their candidate out of enthusiasm, but out of fear.
Comment Posted By Surabaya Stew On 10.08.2008 @ 09:28
OBAMA IS SO RIGHT...AND SO WRONG
Fascinating observation Drewsmom, would a desire for a new house and senate extend to the presidential candidates? (I can't think of the last major candidate who made less than 6 figures.) This is all so confusing, because I always thought conservatives were all for people making as much money as legally possible. Shall there be a salary cap just like the NFL? (How socialist!) Also, isn't the free market able to solve all our problems, including energy supply? Perhaps that's why Pelosi is doing nothing; why are the Republicans desiring government intervention in a matter that the private sector is handling?
Comment Posted By Surabaya Stew On 11.08.2008 @ 10:31
Chuck, you have hit upon a point that I should like elaborate further upon. Naturally, what Obama said was totally lacking in context in terms of what we have been through and evolved as a nation. To us history minded folks, it's nonsense to go back to some better place in our past, unless as Ed Morrissey points out, he means the Clinton Era. And that is the whole idea!
Most Americans don't know much about history, and Obama knows this. For 60% of people, "...what it once was" in fact refers to Clinton era times. Of course Obama would never let Hillary run the show, as he thinks he is better than her (Ed might disagree with me here), and in fact he beat the Clintons at their own game. You can hate the current situation all you want, but I can't imagine that Hilary (with Bill in tow) would be preferable for us.
To get back to what Chuck said, the Republicans have had 14 years of running either Congress, the Presidency, or both at the same time. Only a partisan fool would argue that the GOP has done this nation well with their choice of actions. This is why the Democrats look likely to rule for a while; not so much because they promise to be good, but because their opponents have used up too many chances with the voters.
Comment Posted By Surabaya Stew On 8.08.2008 @ 23:28
Moral relativity is a hard game to play, and while Beijing 2008 is by no means perfect, it does not compare well to Berlin 1936. I have always thought that Mexico City 1968 was a more apt comparison, in the scale of government hubris, a thin veneer of "progress" applied to a decaying infrastructure, murdering of street animals, and crackdowns on dissenters. I am confident that progress in China will in fact come out of these olympics, even if it takes 30 years like it did in Mexico. (Remember that Seoul 1988 was followed by riots and political reform within a matter of a few years after the games.) Myself, I will be watching to cheer the USA on, to observe what the media does and does not report, and to give my brain a rest from the election! Should be very interesting...
Comment Posted By Surabaya Stew On 3.08.2008 @ 09:16
MY CHOICE FOR PRESIDENT - FOR NOW
Hey Rick, where's the rest of your long piece on the Conservative movement? Me thinks you write a damn fine essay, but veer off the rails when you do satire.
Comment Posted By Surabaya Stew On 30.07.2008 @ 20:48
TOP TEN THINGS THAT CREEP ME OUT ABOUT OBAMA
"Businessmen are notorious idiots when it comes to politics. Most politicians – right and left – rightfully view them with contempt. Just because you make a lot of money it doesn’t endow you with any special prescience when it comes to understanding political realities."
Actually, isn't good political judgement the hallmark of a successful businessman? Sure they don't tend to stick to one position or point of view for very long, but that is because they are realists, not idealists. The bottom line come before political ideology, something that us who work for the man tend to forget. Call me a fool, but I'd trust Silicon Valley's opinions of Obama long before I trust the Rust Belt's feelings for McCain.
One more thing about businessmen; you are quite correct that politicians may indeed view them with contempt... except when they come around for campaign donations and to beg them to set up factories in their states in exchange for favorable tax audits. Funny how some of us trust the business community with wealth creation for all citizens, research and development in advanced technology, health care, food production, even fighting wars! But trust them with understanding political realities? Nah, too complicated; they're all notorious idiots!
Comment Posted By Surabaya Stew On 27.07.2008 @ 23:44
