Warning: Political Material. Do Not Open If Allergic!

[Bill Blue]

Bill,

Are you saying that because he "owes no favors", then he will not hand favors out liberally because they agree with his "quirky" political agenda? Also when last I checked, most business leaders do not feel they are obligated to serve the will of the people. The business leader is in charge of making all the underlings do as the business leader sees as fitting the leaders goals (serf as opposed to citizen ). I do not want to see anyone elected to be President that feels that they know what is best for me and is not going to listen to my input.
My personal litmus test on a candidate is his attitude about the Second Amendment. Eliminating the right to own weapons only makes the people eliminating that right safer because they will still be protected by armed security forces. It is certainly obvious that elimination does not help the average person to become safer, just check the violent crime rates in merry old U.K. and Australia since private gun ownership was all but eliminated.

Don, I'm only saying that he should not feel any obligation to anyone for getting him into his office. We might even get an administration with a list of "secret friends" that is shorter than Dick Cheney's. My hope is that by being wealthy way beyond his needs, he can afford to do what is right for the country, sort of in the tradition of our early Presidents, most of whom served out of patriotism and at some personal cost. Maybe a later day Teddy Roosevelt. But obviously, I don't know.

Remember, a president cannot remove your right to bear arms. That would have to come from the legislature, with the consent of the president. But I understand where you are coming from. The way things are going in Washington, we might need them for a new revolution. I also understand this issue as a litmus test. I personally will not vote for a candidate that rejects evolution in favor of creationism. I feel for a person to hold that view, they are one (or more) of the following:
Stupid
Have a basic disregard for science
Have no common sense, not even believing what they see in rocks
Have allowed religion to get the better part of their intelect

Not a list of choices I like to see decision makers.

Bill

 

[mikephillips]

I'd like to see people running for office have to take a test on the fundamental principle and ideas behind thr republic. Most nowadays happily violate the constitution spending money and granting favors they have no right to give. I wonder how many may have never even heard of the federalist papers, much less even read what the founders thought of as original intent.

Which is not to say that the constitution should never change but the use of the commerce clause to justify any and all favorite projects shouldn't be done. Amend the document if these things truely are important to the nation.

 

[Nickodell]

Bill: the sight of half the Republican presidential candidates saying that they do not believe in evolution is staggering, and sad, for the prospective future leaders of the greatest, most advanced nation on earth, and for the leader of the free world.

However, one reason you omitted: Politicians pander to whichever group they think they need to be elected. If geocentrists were a major voting group, you can bet that several candidates, of both parties, would declare that the idea of the earth rotating around the sun was "just one theory" (a common refrain by creationists).

Currently, they are all terrified of losing the Hispanic vote - legal and illegal - hence the agonizing about the abortion of an immigration bill, and the fact that the border fence, for which billions of $ were appropriated years ago, is still largely an illusion.

Incidentally, over 40% of the general polulation of the US also rejects evolution. As Phineas T. Barnum famously said: Nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public.

 

[Bill Blue]

Nick, I think you underestimated the response of the Republican candidates. I think it was two or three of the 10 (or so?) who believe in science.

After I posted that piece, I realized I did not mention pandering. Or in this case, outright lying. Two more good attributes to choose from.

Bill

Ooops! Checked, three did not believe in evolution. Still, they are checked off my list.

 

[skywords]

I'd like to see people running for office have to take a test on the fundamental principle and ideas behind thr republic. Most nowadays happily violate the constitution spending money and granting favors they have no right to give. I wonder how many may have never even heard of the federalist papers, much less even read what the founders thought of as original intent.

Which is not to say that the constitution should never change but the use of the commerce clause to justify any and all favorite projects shouldn't be done. Amend the document if these things truely are important to the nation.

Mike I think your on to something.

 

[Nickodell]

And America is soon going to be flooded with Cheap made in China cars. They haven't distroyed our auto industry yet.

In the news last week. The prototypes of the cars China plans to start exporting, first to Europe and then to the rest of the world, including the USA, just failed all of the European safety tests.

 

[mikephillips]

You see also that there's something on the order of 1/2 million chinese tires being recalled in this country due to safety defects. All I've seen are odd off brand names for now but who knows in the future.