Random Political Thoughts

[pate]

anti-lady ghostbuster movie

I tried to solve that anagram using "insurance companies" as a start point, got

"Nowhere"


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIXqXqcdcO8

[CornyCrow]

Yep, I'm not far from where you're at but I'm going to vote for Trump.  God help me if my worst fears come to pass.  He does have a fascist air about him.  I can't deny that. As for my health problems, it had nothing to do with cigarettes but panic attacks, anxiety and sleep disorders. As a matter of fact, I don't even smoke.  Never have except for a few fags here and there throughout my life.  Never became addicted though.

Oh, your avatar smokes, so I got the idea that you may as well.  You seem like such a calm person, so I suspect that whatever you're doing is probably working for you.  Trump seems to be ahead of Hillary in the polls now.  I don't think it is his bump from the convention, but her loss because of her VP pick.  Maybe there are a lot of Sanders supporters who are also angry about the fracking thing.  She may have shot herself in the foot with this one.

[21st Century Man]

Oh, your avatar smokes, so I got the idea that you may as well.  You seem like such a calm person, so I suspect that whatever you're doing is probably working for you.  Trump seems to be ahead of Hillary in the polls now.  I don't think it is his bump from the convention, but her loss because of her VP pick.  Maybe there are a lot of Sanders supporters who are also angry about the fracking thing.  She may have shot herself in the foot with this one.

I am a calm person now.  My problems were alleviated a long time ago.  Thank God.  It was a hellish time.

[GuerrillaUnReal]

2016: When the Republicans are the pro-Gay, pro-Cannabis, pro-Freedom party and the most based cop in America is a black Republican.

https://twitter.com/SheriffClarke/status/757604390807089154

[21st Century Man]

2016: When the Republicans are the pro-Gay, pro-Cannabis, pro-Freedom party and the most based cop in America is a black Republican.

https://twitter.com/SheriffClarke/status/757604390807089154

[21st Century Man]

[Jackstar]

[GuerrillaUnReal]

Once again, the question I've been asking since Bernie Sanders became a national figure... Is Bernie Sanders retarded?

[ItsOver]

Once again, the question I've been asking since Bernie Sanders became a national figure... Is Bernie Sanders retarded?

"Hmmm... could be."

[Kidnostad3]

All that follows comes under the heading of unsolicited opinion and is in no way advocacy of any candidate as I think you will see.  My original intent in putting pen to paper (or in this case finger to iPad) was to lay out my thoughts on the 2016 presidential race for evaluation as sort of a self-applied sanity check.  Take it for what it's worth or reject it completely as you see fit.  I am sharing it with others only to see whether the dilemma I seem to be faced with is common to voters or just me overthinking the issue. 

I have voted in every election since Johnson vs. Goldwater and this is the first time I have felt that there is no best choice.  Hilliary is a one-woman crime wave who has taken the art of denying in the face the of undeniable facts and lying with a straight face to a new level of sophistication.  Trump continues to impress as a hot head with a messiah complex whose knee jerk responses and off the cuff comments make one  cringe a lot and wonder whether any part of his brain was involved in his choice of words. Voting for a third party candidate for me is a non starter because it amounts to voting for no one.  Any one of the alternative candidates making it to the White House is as likely to happen as me running a four-minute mile in high heels.

I am an independent that tends toward the middle-right on social issues and to the right-right on fiscal policy and defense to include personal defense (read 2nd amendment right to bear arms).   Having conservative leanings, I keep waiting for Trump to get a grip and stop saying dumb-ass things but he seems to be stuck on stupid.  He has yet to demonstrate to me that he thinks clearly under pressure or that he possesses the gravitas to effectively lead the country.  On the other hand the thought of Hilliary and Bill in the White House again is down-right depressing to me
It would mean that even after all the evidence against this dastardly duo is in, the electorate either doesn't believe their lying eyes or just doesn't care as long as their pocket book and/or pet issue seem to be served; honesty, integrity and trustworthiness be damned!  All this tends to dispel any remaining belief I have that the two party system ensures that qualified candidates with the best interests of the American people at heart are nominated for the presidency.  At this point it seems to me that voting for either Clinton or Trump would be a massive cop out.

What really saddens me is that any one of the republican candidates in the primary field other than Trump would beat Hilliary in a walk. Yet what we have is The Donald who too many voters think is a self absorbed playground bully who lacks the necessary depth and substance to hold high office.  This being the case, It seems likely that we are in for another 4 if not 8 years of disproven socialist dogma, lame  attempts at social engineering, cooked and spun employment and economic statistics, and limp wristed diplomacy backed by a severely weakened military.  (We all know what such feckless foreign policy has done for us over the last 8 years in terms of our world standing and national security.). Barring some sort of reshuffling of a ticket made necessary by an act of God or grand jury indictment, I fear that we as a Nation are about to get the Government we deserve and that scares the hell out of me. 

What to do?  At this point I haven't a clue.  But, as it happens my wife and I will be in Brisbane, Australia on Election Day.  I wonder if persistent angst and an intractable sense of doom in anticipation of the consequences of a presidential election irrespective of who wins is grounds for a petition for political asylum.  Enough said.  G'day and good luck to all.

[21st Century Man]

U.S. Sent Cash to Iran as Americans Were Freed
  *Obama administration insists there was no quid pro quo, but critics charge payment amounted to ransom

http://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-sent-cash-to-iran-as-americans-were-freed-1470181874

Unbelievable.

400 million smackers.  Our tax money. 

[ge30542]

"Why he attacked a Muslim family whose son sacrificed his life for his country". Listening to CNN on SiriusXM, just heard the lib host ask the lib Muslim college student what she'd say if given a chance to speak with Trump.
He did not attack the son. He said what I thought as I saw the mother standing, not speaking, she's probably not allowed to speak, I thought to myself.
He attacked no one. This is not a "death blow" to his campaign.

[ge30542]

Kidnostad3, great post, I feel your pain.
Vote for Trump, as it is a vote against the Sea Hag.
This Country will not stand eight more years of the smartest person to ever run for elected office's policies.

[creepygreenlight]

Polls are worthless.

But for "poll people" here's a cool site.

https://www.longroom.com/polls/

Vote for Trump, as it is a vote against the Sea Hag.

True stuff right here.

[Jackstar]

Unbelievable.

400 million smackers.  Our tax money. 

"Unbelievable," haha, you're adorable. Wait until you find out about Tim Osman.

[Humilia Lepus Foramen]

Kidnostad3, great post, I feel your pain.
Vote for Trump, as it is a vote against the Sea Hag.
This Country will not stand eight more years of the smartest person to ever run for elected office's policies.

My sentiments exactly. Unite against the sea hag!  If DT sucks as president, just vote him out in 4 years.  Once you get past the massive ego & big mouth, in a nutshell all he is saying is he wants us to get our house in order and stop interfering in the affairs of other countries.  I for one am tired of activist presidents.

Conversely, a vote for the sea hag is a vote for corruption.  Once corruption has penetrated the highest levels of government, there's no turning back - just ask Mexico.  I'm sure there have been elements of corruption in many past administrations, but what we are seeing with the sea hag is unprecedented, especially with all the ongoing revelations about her underhanded tactics.

[Jackstar]

I'm sure there have been elements of corruption in many past administrations, but what we are seeing with the sea hag is unprecedented, especially with all the ongoing revelations about her underhanded tactics.

[Zetaspeak]

Polls are worthless.

But for "poll people" here's a cool site.

https://www.longroom.com/polls/

HEY I consider myself a poll person (which sounds weirder every time I say it lol) First off, I always raise an eyebrow for any site that calls themselves in their title anything like "unbiased" or "truth" or "patriot", they are usually the biggest BS sites I see This site is not giving themselves any favors by having a front page articles reminding me as one-sided as Drudge.

Looking at it's content, it seems like EVERY poll (except for Quinnipiac) is claimed to have a Pro-liberal bias, including all places like Fox and the normally comically pro-GOP Rasmussen (Who last year had Romney winning in their final poll) Heck if we looked at last year, while Obama won by 4, the vast majority of polls had him only winning by 1% or so, if anything polls underestimated Democrats.

I have no idea what's their track record, and for some reason after seeing their front page I have doubts they predicted Obama winning in previous elections. Salon has an 2012 article up on a website called "Unskewed Polls" (site no longer available, of course)  the site had Romney winning 52% to 44%. My favorite part of the article was that Rick Perry retweeted the "Unskewed poll tweet" and said "Always nice to get unfiltered or in this case "unskewed" information." Haha

[Juan]

My research as a reporter 20-years ago showed that people hated being bothered by pollsters, so they lied. This as in the era of push polls, so people were really annoyed by the questions.

[Radio Activity]

[pate]

I forgot witch candidate (sister company) I should write in for the next election; C'thule or Taint>?

If some one from a party that wants my vote would chime in, I mite say:

Cr'oft saltpeted, nevuhr defeeted

twit3iot:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WyyQaDK738Q

'poll oh, jeez!  FurGoat to put in the visual AIDS

[mikuthing01]

really makes you think...

[Robert Ghostwolf's Ghost]

I think I've figured out what's really going on with the presidential election. The Clintons and Trumps are plotting to steal the Hope Diamond, so they don't care who wins. Boom, baby!

[Evil Twin Of Zen]

[Kidnostad3]

I originally wrote this as an email to my brother who just returned from spending a year in Iraq as a Lockhead Martin contractor.   He is a staunch democrat but in his defense, he comes by his unfortunate condition honestly being from Connecticut where the majority are of the Democrat persuasion including most of our extended family.  As an indepent with conservative leanings I take pride in being one of the black sheep in the family.  I thought I might use this epistle to weigh in on this forum and so I have adapted it for this purpose.   To Democrats:   The language herein includes some brotherly chiding so don't take it too personally.  Cheers!

Those of the Democrat persuasion (I was going to say "dumbass-liberals but that would be redundant) in their haste to regurgitate the latest DNC talking points on behalf of the one-woman crime wave that is their candidate, never fail to leave out the things that they most dread having to deal with: FACTS.   Below are a few among the many they consistently ignore when discussing the merits of their candidate and how we got to our present sad state of affairs.

The Bungling of the trio of Obama/Clinton/Kerry is responsible for the development of the worst of the problems we now face in our international relations.   The one exception would be North Korea.  That particular monster was the creation of Bill Clinton primarily through his seeking to pacify Pappa Kim by providing him with our technology, including nuclear, that he was supposed to use for peaceful purposes.  (What could possibly go wrong there?) Equally to blame is George W. Bush who in his wisdom sent the very person who created the problem back to Pyongyang to muck out the mess he created.   We all know how that turned out.  Just to remind  the Dems of a few of the cadavers brought to life by the aforementioned trio, the following is offered.

     a.   The expansion of Radical Islam.  The exponential increase in the number of jihadi groups vying for dominance, including the rise of the 14th-century-throwback army of neck cutters known as ISIS (or to democrats as the "JV team" ) is the result of the void created when Obama bolted for the exit in Iraq after having made no real effort to obtain a status of forces agreement.  This foreclosed on retention of a small, select force comprised of ground troops and aircraft that would serve to bolster the Iraqi military and provide the logistics base and infrastructure for any augmenting forces that may be required in an emergency.  When the the JV Squad rapidly rolled up the Iraqi Army and captured a vast amount of territory, our intrepid Commander in Chief was left holding his male member in his hand.  This was of course was a surprise to everyone except those in the intelligence community who were directed by the White House  to be more optimistic in their intelligence assessments.  Here we have politically motivated amateurs at work whose only goal is to get the President reelected

     b.   The Refugee Crisis.  The ongoing refugee crisis that has reached proportions not seen since WW2 stems from the failure of Obama to enforce his red line declaration in Syria while at the same time insisting that Assad must go.  Being unwilling to take any effective measures to remove Assad in order to stop the slaughter or to provide protection within Syria for the many hard pressed refugees he did nothing of consequence.  While he led from the rear viable options available earlier in the crisis were overtaken by events that made those options no longer viable. The above reference to what he was left holding applies here too.

     c.  Libya.  The horror flick currently running in Libya is the direct result of the Barack/Hilliary team by making it possible for Khadafi to be toppled with no plan for dealing with the aftermath.  In this cosmic irony the dynamic duo of Obama and Clinton did exactly what they pilloried Geeorge W. for doing in Iraq.  And no, I'm not forgetting the complications created by the Arab Spring.  However, I would ask those who decided that we were going to get out of Iraq come hell or high water by a date certain whether having a foothold in the Middle East would have increased our options and comforted our allies in that part of the world.  I think the answer is obvious.  I was about to again cite the above reference to what they were left holding but that wouldn't precisely  apply in the case of Hillary would it. 
   
     d.  Russia.  Our limp wristed foreign policy over the last 8 years has encouraged the reemergence of a chesty Russia that felt free to annex a portion of a neighboring state and promote and facilitate a separatist insurgency that has led to the civil war that still rages.  The retreat of the U.S. from the Middle East and its stiffing of traditional allies in that area left a leadership vacuum that an emboldened Russia has filled having reasserted its influence in the Middle East by obtaining basing rights in Syria and actually entering the frey militarily on the side of the Assad regime.  And let's not forget Russia's belligerent attitude towards our NATO Allies and the buzzing of our warships in the Baltic.  (As a retired Naval Officer who served on active duty during a major portion of the Cold War and through to its end, I am sickened that this poke in the eye has gone without a stiff proportionate response.).    Given all of the above, maybe Obama tenderly whispering in the ear of the Russian Foreign Secretary "Tell Vlad that I'll be able to do more after my reelection" with an open mike nearby wasn't such a great idea.  And we all remember O'bama's apology tour shortly after taking office and Hillary's restart button. 

The spinelessness of the Obama administration is not just embarrassing, it's dangerous.  What has proven true time after time over the course of history is that weakness, or even the perception of weakness, invites aggression. We stayed strong and resolute throughout the Cold War and despite some drama the doctrine of mutually assured destruction prevailed and it ultimately led to the salt treaties and elimination of Russia as an existential threat.  In reality that doctrine keeps our adversaries from seriously contemplating a nuclear strike to this day.  I grieve that Obama and Clinton have squandered such a huge accomplishment by pursuing their policy of not having a policy and meeting the serious challenges to our sovereignty and security with half-hearted measures accompanied by cooked intelligence and a campaign of spin and misdirection designed to allay our fears. To me this is nothing short of traitorous.

This is turning into a tome so I won't make it any longer by restating what any adult with an IQ greater than his shoe size already knows vis-a-vis China and Iran.  All can be summed up on that score by saying that the leaders of the nations that represent the greatest threat to us, to include these two, have eaten Obama's and Clinton's lunch on a regular basis.   Do we really want Obama Par Deux

For many of you what I said here is old news. It was submitted mainly for the benefit of those still suffering from cranial-rectal inversion with respect to their politics which unfortunately includes my brother.  So, in the interest of not further clogging up the thread, I will refrain from addressing Obamas failures on the domestic front at this time.  Besides, it would just be restating the obvious for those not afflicted by the above condition.  But, I give you fair warning.  If provoked, I'll launch another screed of equal or greater length dealing with things, like Obama Care, the IRS scandal, Hilliary' email, the Clinton Foundation, etc. etc. etc.         PEACE, OUT

[pyewacket]

...
For many of you what I said here is old news. It was submitted mainly for the benefit of those still suffering from cranial-rectal inversion with respect to their politics which unfortunately includes my brother.  So, in the interest of not further clogging up the thread, I will refrain from addressing Obamas failures on the domestic front at this time.  Besides, it would just be restating the obvious for those not afflicted by the above condition.  But, I give you fair warning.  If provoked, I'll launch another screed of equal or greater length dealing with things, like Obama Care, the IRS scandal, Hilliary' email, the Clinton Foundation, etc. etc. etc.         PEACE, OUT

Please post more! 

[Humilia Lepus Foramen]

Well, at least they admit it...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ESUUhncaYk&ebc=ANyPxKrl9LbYbXyO_QIGhnJEQrwDvrC64USyW6h4YOvNZ-eGmmr_TSuij0yM3TzSaZ_XqlmpFIQY

[mikuthing01]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04kbyrrEnt0

[albrecht]

There is record flooding again in LA and some parts of TX but really bad in areas of LA and, yet, I see no criticisms of the Democratic Gov (who was away on vacation but will return home) or President Obama (who is away on vacation and playing a record-braking number of golf matches for a US President and just has his minions make comments on the flooding or on his constituency going wild in Milwaukee.) If Bush, or any Republican, or even just a non-black, there would be much more criticism and in an election-cycle the media and candidates would be "running" on the issue of "golf while cities burn and places flood" and be all over these politicians who care more about their entertainment and vacations than the people or country.

[onan]

There is record flooding again in LA and some parts of TX but really bad in areas of LA and, yet, I see no criticisms of the Democratic Gov (who was away on vacation but will return home) or President Obama (who is away on vacation and playing a record-braking number of golf matches for a US President and just has his minions make comments on the flooding or on his constituency going wild in Milwaukee.) If Bush, or any Republican, or even just a non-black, there would be much more criticism and in an election-cycle the media and candidates would be "running" on the issue of "golf while cities burn and places flood" and be all over these politicians who care more about their entertainment and vacations than the people or country.

Much too busy with Benghazi, emails, and tax returns.