z

Young Writers Society


Iowa wins for Huckabee and Obama



User avatar
1258 Reviews



Gender: Female
Points: 6090
Reviews: 1258
Sun Jan 06, 2008 9:11 pm
Sam says...



Mind if I spar a little bit, Gladius? ^_~

real problems: closing the borders; helping the Iraqi people win back Iraq; kicking the terrorists' butts in Afganistan, Iraq, Iran, and across the globe so they know not to mess with us again; keeping the market and healthcare in the hands of the people and private buisnesses; and cutting taxes. Hunter, Thompson, and Huckabee (yes, even him) have good ideas--Huckabee with the fair tax bill, Hunter and Thompson with the War and problems at home.


At the moment, cutting taxes=bad. Yes, I know, taxes are a pain in the butt, but with a national deficit in the trillions and an expensive war like Iraq in the works, everyone should probably be pitching in more. Just what everyone wants to hear, right?

Nay, what we want is not a person who plans to cut taxes, but a person who knows how to manage a budget. Granted, that's not entirely the president's job--but we still need a person who knows enough about budget-making to pick people who can do it without screwing things up.

And as far as terrorism goes, we've got the short end of the stick. The Brits would probably tell you as much--as well as most other people of different nationalities. 9/11 was horrible, yes, but we shouldn't treat Iraq as "revenge". It should be an effort to restore a region shattered by war and violence.

Speaking of "uniting" Iraq--there is simply no way. I gave a speech about this on Saturday, actually: in order to "fix" the situation in Iraq, you'd have to completely overhaul the country's educational system. The children are not taught (if they attend school at all) that they are Iraqis. Iraq as we know it was an attempt by past dictators to keep the area more easily under control. Instead, kids are taught based on community--they're Sunnis, Shiites, Kurds, or whatever denomination of Islam they might be. This is why the media reports victories in Iraq as winning Baghdad by "neighborhood"--true Iraqi political ideology rests in community, and not in the country as large.

I simply cannot stand by and watch as our noble President--the symbol of American freedom--is sneered at, thrown dirty remarks, and slandered by our own citizens. I will stand by our President, despite the mistakes he may make with the best of intentions.


Amen, sister. Just because I'm a Dirty Hippie Liberal doesn't mean that I am not offended by people making a laughingstock of my government. If you don't like him, don't elect him--or better yet, don't elect electorate members whom you know will elect him. Or better, better yet--tell your congressmen (and women) to shape up. It's not only the president at work in Washington.
Graffiti is the most passionate form of literature there is.

- Demetri Martin
  





User avatar
111 Reviews



Gender: Female
Points: 4194
Reviews: 111
Sun Jan 06, 2008 9:24 pm
Gladius says...



Ah! I just had my long post finished and for some reason it ate it!! >.< To summarize in brief what I had said:

1) I didn't say image wasn't everything. It has its place, and right now that issue in deciding who our next president should be is rather low on my priorities. We need to go beyond fancy speech to decide how a candidate thinks on certain other, more important issues. In peacetime, play the image game all you want--in war keep your ambitions to yourself and do what's best for your country (listen to the people)! Also, politics+war, in my opinion, is not a good mix. Other than in nominal issues, politics shouldn't hold any place in war. And yes, we need someone with an image like Obama, but that doesn't mean it has to be him. I'd much prefer the image even Huckabee gives--it's much closer to Reagan and the people.

2) I should have rephrased 'kick butt' better. Yes, stability is an issue, but from what my brother, based south of Baghdad doing convoy guard, says, there's almost no activity anymore. They're lying low, and stability has returned, to some degree. Now we have to go in and capture what remain of the terrorists in Baghdad so they can't cause any more trouble. Hence, 'kicking butt.'

3) Yes, Bush has some issues image-wise and even some on some other topics. But aren't you glad it was him rather than Kerry? We'd be a lot worse off it we didn't have Bush these last eight years. And now, we need someone at least as Republican as him. Ie, either Huckabee, Hunter, or Thompson (in order, top three, least to best). I'll say it again--we don't have to have Obama this term. We could just as easily elect Huckabee and be much better off in the long run.

Edit: Ok, now that I've actually managed to get something up to try to keep you people off my back (XD)--I will adress what other people have said.

Sam wrote:9/11 was horrible, yes, but we shouldn't treat Iraq as "revenge". It should be an effort to restore a region shattered by war and violence

I didn't say we should treat it as revenge--in my first *long* post, I said we have to help the Iraqis get the place back together. If it means taking the regions back one neighborhood at a time, so be it. We still have to fight against the terrorists as they harrass us at any given turn we make. And if the educational system has to be overhauled...so be it. Let's get the different leaders together and see if we can find areas where they agree. If they dont' agree on certain major issues, well, then, they can add what they want to to what would be a general, standardized, guideline-like curriculum in the Shiite, Suni, whatever area a school might be in. They could, instead of a singular president that's of a certain faction or something, have a group of leaders like our Congress that represent different areas (like Britain's Parliament) and maybe they could elect a head of _______ (insert name of gov't organization here) that would be kinda like our President (or rather, the Vice President, head of the senate) and/or settle in-session disputes.
Oops, that kinda went from education to government. >.> XD But they are closely linked...

Sam wrote:At the moment, cutting taxes=bad. Yes, I know, taxes are a pain in the butt, but with a national deficit in the trillions and an expensive war like Iraq in the works, everyone should probably be pitching in more. Just what everyone wants to hear, right?

Why do you say that?

All right, I think that's enough sparring for today! XD
When Heroes fall and the Sacred Blade is captured, can Evil be stopped?~The Wings of Darkness

I'm also ZeldaMoogle on Fanfiction.net!

"Funny is a formula for which there are a million variables, and it is impossible to backtrack unless, possibly, you make a living out of it."~Rosey Unicorn
  





User avatar
16 Reviews



Gender: Male
Points: 1040
Reviews: 16
Mon Jan 07, 2008 2:57 am
Phindin says...



Gladius wrote:3) Yes, Bush has some issues image-wise and even some on some other topics. But aren't you glad it was him rather than Kerry? We'd be a lot worse off it we didn't have Bush these last eight years.

This statement chills my soul every time I see it.

What's worse is that it gets tossed around among conservatives like it's an indisputable fact; the guy didn't even get a chance. And while I'm sure there are arguments one can use to say Kerry would have bee worse, cripes, at least offer some of those arguments instead of just saying it like it's an undeniable truth.
"Buy, buy, buy, buy; sell, sell, sell
How well you've learned to not discern;
Who's foe and who is friend,
We'll own them all in the end."
  





User avatar
55 Reviews



Gender: Female
Points: 890
Reviews: 55
Mon Jan 07, 2008 5:40 am
starrynight89 says...



Well, I haven't registered yet and after listening to tonight's re-run of yesterday's debate, I'm strongly thinking of being an independent voter.

I must say that Clinton, though she attacked Obama from the geck go, did have some key points which Obama couldn't and, more importantly, didn't refute. For one, she had the concept of realism and the fact that giving great speeches isn't enough.

words aren't actions.


Edwards supported Obama through Clinton's attacks but he seemed to have a compelling argument as well. His talk about the middle class was convincing but that's all he talked about. When asked about their course of action after a potential attack on a major city in the future, his answers were quite bland.

He said the first thing he'd do is figure out who is responsible and go after him....and that was gist of his point. This was a great opportunity for him to refute what Obama was using against him: the fact that he had agreed to a war in Iraq initially. But he didn't, all he said was he was going to go find the bad guy.

Obama, who I was rooting for, has been a dissapointment. He started of well and withstood Clinton's snide remarks about questioning his stance. For instance, his idea to mandate healthcare for children and not adults didn't strike me as being a problem. Clinton claimed to have gone the "extra step". Hello, Adults aren't naive; they have a voice, why would they reject proper healthcare? (Hypothetically, if the majority can afford it). I think Obama was right by saying that children don't have a choice and it has to be enforced.

But, towards the end of the debate, Obama just died down. He answered less and seemed to not have much to say. Furthermore, he was being extremely redundant. In the last fifteen minutes or so, Clinton came back by driving the debate on experience vs. change, while Obama just sat there.

Richardson will make the headlines with his quote of the day: "I've seen hostage situations better than this"

Oh and in response to Gladius:

Nothing good came out of going to Iraq and arguing about this would be like arguing about whether the sun rises in the east or the west.

Gladius wrote :
I said we have to help the Iraqis get the place back together.


Before the Americans arrived, Iraq did have it's domestic issues with the Shittes, Sunnis and the Kurds and the tension with Iran. But honestly, do you think it's better off now? The war has done nothing but infuriate the lives of many Iraqis and Americans.

And second of all, Bush went to Iraq, not to fight terrorists, but to disable "weapons of mass destruction" Here's my thought and I assume thoughts of many: If they did have weapons of mass destruction, why didn't they use them when their country was being brutally attacked.

Terrorists you say? They were in Afganistan, not Iraq (when the war started). Besides, this theory came out after Bush realized that there aren't any weapons of mass destruction.

kicking the terrorists' butts in Afganistan, Iraq, Iran, and across the globe so they know not to mess with us again


I know you said the kicking the terrorists' butts part was a tad extreme but that's not why I quoted you. Initially, you said that Iraq needed American to help with their infrastructure but, now you're just contradicting yourself. Do you actually think by invading all those countries that the message of "Don't mess with us again" will shine through?

There isn't a a valid reason for the war, all those excuses were fabricated around lies. I believe very strongly in this and wrote a couple of papers analyzing this issue; the gist of the issue is that it's become stagnant and cumbersome.

And America's so called "helping" Iraq was denying France's Food Aid and replaced it with their own. Not to mention the fact that America only delievered a 1/3 of what was actually necessary for those people (despite France's ability to provide a lot more) and the Aid was placed in the outskirts of the Baghdad.

People came rushing and fought over the food and water because there was so little. ALl this was extravagantly covered by the media and in Roy's book, she says a journalist depicts this as "freedom"



I wasn't trying to be harsh but, I just can't imagine siding with Bush on anything. He rejected a bill on education and so fees for graduate schools have already gone up, economy is down, value of the dollar has gone down. I mean, do you think all of this is worth the distorted pleasure of being the "boss" of the world...
“Anyone can give up, it's the easiest thing in the world to do. But to hold it together when everyone else would understand if you fell apart, that's true strength.”
  





User avatar
531 Reviews



Gender: Female
Points: 8846
Reviews: 531
Mon Jan 07, 2008 7:22 am
Caligula's Launderette says...



I have been watching the primaries though I don't consider myself particularly political, that is perhaps that my niece is entrenched in politics, she loves it, she is going to make her job all about it.

One thing I read earlier that someone had posted talked about Edwards being off topic. I watched the debate last night, and Edwards had his game on, or it appeared that way to me. About redundancy, I know that it seems annoying, but it is something that all the candidates have to do to get their points across to their audience.

Sam talked about taxes, I totally agree with her. I found an interesting site last night, U.S. National Debt Clock: "The estimated population of the United States is 304,013,043, so each citizen's share of this debt is $30,261.84". That's mindbogglingly to me. Cutting taxes isn't going to help our country get in the back.

As for the candidates that I like or have appealed to me: Republicans Ron Paul and Mike Huckabee seem to have a brain in their heads and are using it, they seem to be rational indidivuals who know what they stand for and stand by it; as for Democrats, I really love Obama's heart, but most often I find myself agreeing with Edwards.

Ta,
Cal.
Fraser: Stop stealing the blanket.
[Diefenbaker whines]
Fraser: You're an Arctic Wolf, for God's sake.
(Due South)

Hatter: Do I need a reason to help a pretty girl in a very wet dress? (Alice)

Got YWS?
  





User avatar
863 Reviews

Supporter


Gender: Male
Points: 2090
Reviews: 863
Mon Jan 07, 2008 7:46 am
Griffinkeeper says...



Please take further debate into the debate forums where it belongs. The news threads are to be informative only. Commentary on the news is fine, but commentary on other people's positions is debate.

If debate is continued, I will lock the thread.
Moderator Emeritus (frozen in carbonite.)
  








"Nothing of me is original. I am the combined effort of everybody I've ever known."
— Chuck Palahniuk