The Run for President USA

[XeEmO]

Obama. Do you like him? Hate him? Personally I think he's the lesser of the evils so far. He's wants to pull our troops out of Iraq, and he wants to provide cheaper high education.

McCain scares me a bit. He reminds me of Bush. He even got Bush's approval recently. He wants the US to stay in Iraq. He said that "we're almost done fighting this war" he thinks that in 2 years it'll be over and everything will be great. He also said that if we pull our troops out of Iraq then the war will come over here. I call BS. If that happened I'd join the army. McCain is also blatantly racist(but that's beside the point).

I'm not trying to make this an advertisement for Obama. I'm interested in what everyone else thinks.

[eleanor]

[font="trebuchet ms"] In all honesty, the surge plan wasn't a failure. Even as a democrat, pulling all of our troops out of Iraq will just be utter catastrophe to me. Mostly I'm just bitter that the US caused all of this crap, and now we're just going to leave, regardless of whether or not it was because the Republicans that were in power then and the Dems in power now (in the legislature, at least). What will happen if we just pull all our troops out? Civil war?

And to me, Obama is Hilary, and I don't care which one gets the nomination. The only thing it's doing now is splitting the Democratic Party, and they're both acting dumb because of the cat fights they're getting in. [/font]

[Raiha]

[COLOR="DarkOrchid"][FONT="Times New Roman"]As a loony bin conservative, I'm currently amused at the way the party's tearing itself apart at the seams. And while I agree that Hillary and Obama are both socialists, and not people I'd vote for unless you paid me enormous sums of money... I think Hillary is a far more polarizing figure than Obama.

If she's elected to anything, she'll do her best to push her personal agendas, do what she wants and devil take the consequences. For example, Florida and Michigan primaries and the talk of a 'do over.' And who will pay for it? They're talking about making the states pay for the do overs because their votes aren't going to be counted, but it's [mostly] because Hillary is a power hungry berserker. If she played World of Warcraft, she'd be the jerk that goes n00b hunting.

But I think Obama is a totally inexperienced blank slate that people have been writing all their hopes and dreams on. He's voted 'present' during his time in the Senate at least 130 times. That's essentially not taking a stance on anything, perhaps to leave no record for people to point at when asking about his history on anything. I dislike someone who can't just vote yes or no on important issues. And he also talks about he's always been against the war, but he wasn't even IN the Senate when it came to a vote. We have no idea if he would've really voted against it, because you never know what someone will do when they're in that kind of position.

Explain to me please just HOW he'll provide cheaper higher education. I have yet to hear a real plan come from him. So far it's just rhetorical feel good speak. "It's time to mean what we say and say what we mean." And his wife has told us that Obama is going to 'heal our souls.' I don't know about you, but I really don't want a president who thinks he can heal anyone's soul. I especially resent the whole Messianic thing he's got going on. People who cheer when he blows his nose, people who swoon when he comes near them. In the media, he's already been elected, and that's terribly irritating. [/FONT][/COLOR]

[Japan]

[SIZE="1"]I am very concerned about this election. As far as I'm concerned, Obama doesn't even care about our country. I have several friends in the Army and even those that were stationed in Iraq. They all agree on one thing. Pulling out of middle east would be disasterous. When I was listening to the radio I heard a very funny thing. A black man was called racist when he called Obama by his full name.

Anyways...I am not very happy with the democrats at all. Not saying that Bush is awesome or anything. However, Washington state elected Christine Gregoire. She promised better higher education. She has been in office for what, two years. She has not done a thing and in fact, education has declined. Democrats talk to get elected and Republicans are too silent or too afraid. I do not like any of the candidates period.[/SIZE]

[Morpheus]

[quote name='Japan_86'][SIZE="1"]I am very concerned about this election. As far as I'm concerned, Obama doesn't even care about our country. I have several friends in the Army and even those that were stationed in Iraq. They all agree on one thing. Pulling out of middle east would be disasterous. When I was listening to the radio I heard a very funny thing. A black man was called racist when he called Obama by his full name.[/SIZE][/QUOTE]
Obama can see the writing on the wall, so he doesn't care about this country? there's no way in hell we will stop the civil war from erupting, the only choice is whether we want to be in the middle or not.

[quote name='Japan_86'][SIZE="1"]
Anyways...I am not very happy with the democrats at all. Not saying that Bush is awesome or anything. However, Washington state elected Christine Gregoire. She promised better higher education. She has been in office for what, two years. She has not done a thing and in fact, education has declined. Democrats talk to get elected and Republicans are too silent or too afraid. I do not like any of the candidates period.[/SIZE][/QUOTE]
You're expecting too much from your elected representatives. They're not magic. They don't have the power to all of a sudden funnel enough money into education to both combat inflation and lower costs. With 179,408 students in only the main public 4 year colleges in Washington, $1,000,000 straight towards tuition would only lower tuition $5.62, inflation not even factored in. The governer also has no control over college programs and renovations, which increase tuition costs.

[pooperson]

[COLOR="DeepSkyBlue"][SIZE="1"]As a LEADER, I indubitably support Obama. For the issues, I agree the most with McCain.
Hillary's a political bi--- well, you know where this is going.[/SIZE][/COLOR]

[Retribution]

[quote name='Raiha']As a loony bin conservative, I'm currently amused at the way the party's tearing itself apart at the seams.[/QUOTE]
[font=Arial]Let's not act like the Republican party is unified though. I've lost count of the number of conservatives saying "I will not vote for McCain" and things of the sort. He's just not popular within the GOP... it seems the party as a whole has been stricken by a widespread discontent with all candidates.

[QUOTE]Explain to me please just HOW he'll provide cheaper higher education. I have yet to hear a real plan come from him. So far it's just rhetorical feel good speak. "It's time to mean what we say and say what we mean."[/QUOTE]
You're not looking hard enough. People assume Obama is all talk and no platform, but that's only because he's such an excellent orator. Check out the website, folks.

[url]http://www.barackobama.com/issues/education/#higher-education[/url][/font]

[XeEmO]

[quote name='Japan_86'][SIZE="1"]I am very concerned about this election. As far as I'm concerned, Obama doesn't even care about our country. I have several friends in the Army and even those that were stationed in Iraq. They all agree on one thing. Pulling out of middle east would be disasterous..[/SIZE][/QUOTE]

This may sound a bit selfish, but pulling out of Iraq would be disastrous for whom? As far as the constitution goes we shouldn't even be in Iraq. If I recall, didn't Bush somehow give himself the power to make that decision? I may be proven wrong with upon further research, but that's what I seem to remember.

[Adam]

I'm a huge Obama supporter

130 present votes out of 4000 over 8 years is nitpicking. That's 3 out of 100 and some of the votes were on issues where it was safer to vote Yes or No than just Present

In terms of the economy...I went to business school with a degree in economics; by all accounts I'm as fiscally conservative as they come but I have been VERY disappointed in the Republicans' handling of our finances. First, there's been little emphasis on the long-term. The US is falling behind in areas like green technology (Toyota is lapping US car companies) which will be the future. Also, by making legal immigration harder, we're turning away the brightest minds in the world. Also, this latest $600 check rebate idea screams of desperation.

Second, discretionary and pork-barrel spending have increased beyond reason. If we're going to waste so much money I'd prefer to spend it on humanitarian things like health care for children than throwing it away on no-bid contracts and what-not

Obama's not perfect, but he has a record of accomplishment that goes beyond Hillary's. Here's a well researched article comparing the two.

[url]http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/2/20/201332/807/36/458633[/url]

[[Sound_Nin]]

[COLOR=Navy][FONT=Book Antiqua]Another political thread, eh? Well, here we go.

I support Obama, and here's why. He knew from the start that Iraq was a bad idea, and stood strong on it. He's for the people, all the people, and not just the upper class. And he's sincere. Look at him; he obviously cares about the country and is REALLY excited about this.

Hillary. She just seems to me like she'll say ANYTHING to get the election. And as for these 'cat-fights', they seem mostly one sided. Hillary, once again, saying anything for a vote. Even turning into a complete b***h. She is a horrible representation of the Democratic party, and I would never vote for her.

McCain: the next Bush. You know he must be a little loony from years of torture in Vietnam (that's the one he was in, right?) and I don't think we need another old man for president.

Also, about Hillary, being as the Muslims have no respect for women, I doubt they'd take seriously a country with a female president.

As opinionated as I am, I don't see why people don't just recognise this for what it is.
And I just don't understand Republicans at all. Oh, wait... they want money. Okay, I forgot for a moment.
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[DeathKnight]

[color=crimson]I have the amusing distinction amongst the people here of voting for Obama twice already. The Texas two-step was not nearly as fun as the name implies. I got out of the Caucus at about 11:20, lol.

The Republican party, the party of individuals who drive their country into the ground (Reganomics, Iraq War) and suck Corporate tit, seems to have appointed (after much drama from people who have no idea what being a "Christ"ian is) a very capable individual. John McCain has aggressiveness and he knows how to handle himself in a campaign.

As a socialist, I do not really get much amusement from the two-party duopoly that exists in America. I'm not sure how many people here even know that there is a Socialist Party USA it is so mired in the "third party" status. Technically, there are at least three that are to varying degrees socialist/communist, lol. Too bad "socialism" is a dirty word to the masses. People calling Hillary's medical plan "socialist" really have no idea what socialism is, lol.

Howver, the Democrats this year present two able individuals. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama differ very little in the substance of their platforms. I merely support Barack Obama as I have strong anti-lobbyist tendencies and he has positioned himself as an individual only slightly corrupted by Washington D.C., especially when compared to Clinton or McCain.

I do not enjoy their Iraq War plans as I am against pulling out. Neither do I understand the ignorance of people similar to the one's Laura (Japan) has talked to. The Mid-east has always been a disaster and policies of European nations in the not-so-distant past are primarily to blame for today's issues in Palestine/Israel and Iraq. Iraq is not so much a country than three puzzle pieces glued together in the wake of the Turk's collapse.

However, though we are there falsely, I do not believe that we should allow a country to fall into an orgy of violence that would occur due to our incompetent overseeing of it. The blood is already on our heads. Why increase it?

Oh well, I agree with them on most everything. Stem-cell, Women's reproductive rights, increased taxes on the rich. [/color]

[quote name='[Sound_Nin]']McCain: the next Bush. You know he must be a little loony from years of torture in Vietnam (that's the one he was in, right?) and I don't think we need another old man for president.[/quote]

[color=crimson]Don't cross that line. He survived the disaster on the USS Forrestal only to end up as a prisoner of war for five and a half years in Vietnam where he endured much torture.

You being naive is worse for the Democratic party than Hillary Clinton ever could be.[/color]

[[Sound_Nin]]

[quote name='DeathKnight']
[COLOR=crimson]Don't cross that line. He survived the disaster on the USS Forrestal only to end up as a prisoner of war for five and a half years in Vietnam where he endured much torture.

You being naive is worse for the Democratic party than Hillary Clinton ever could be.[/COLOR][/quote]

[COLOR=Navy][FONT=Book Antiqua]It wasn't meant to be offensive, or naiive, or anything like that. I was just saying, after all that, how can someone's sanity stay intact? It's human psychology. You just can't withstand that.
I just don't think the country really needs ANOTHER Republican, especially one endorsed by Bush.
My opinion.

As for socialism, it's often incorrectly generalised as 'far-right', when, as a Socialist myself (yes, I know I'm going to get a lot of BS over this, so please, don't even start.) I share a lot of qualities with the Left. Abortion, gay marriage, etc. However, I support the 2nd Amendment. EVERY Amendment, in fact. And border control, with few exceptions. I think you need to know English to live here. Generally speaking, yes, Socialism is neither Left nor Right, and neither is Communism, although these two things have major differences.


And I dislike the idea of organised religion taking over the government. Completely outdated, IMO.

As I said, this is a political discussion, and we all have different beliefs when it comes to this. So don't cross the line from debate to argument. :p
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[DeathKnight]

[quote name=''[Sound_Nin];807265'][COLOR=Navy][FONT=Book Antiqua]As for socialism, it's often incorrectly generalised as 'far-right', when, as a Socialist myself (yes, I know I'm going to get a lot of BS over this, so please, don't even start.) I share a lot of qualities with the Left. Abortion, gay marriage, etc. However, I support the 2nd Amendment. EVERY Amendment, in fact. And border control, with few exceptions. I think you need to know English to live here. Generally speaking, yes, Socialism is neither Left nor Right, and neither is Communism, although these two things have major differences.[/FONT'][/COLOR][/quote]

[color=crimson]... :sweat:

Alright. Whatever you say, man.[/color]

[[Sound_Nin]]

[quote name='DeathKnight'][COLOR=crimson]... :sweat:

Alright. Whatever you say, man.[/COLOR][/quote]

[COLOR=Navy][FONT=Book Antiqua]I'm just going to assume here you don't even get what I was trying to say. :D So yeah. I'm done here.[/FONT][/COLOR]

[DeathKnight]

[quote name=''[Sound_Nin];807269'][COLOR=Navy][FONT=Book Antiqua]I'm just going to assume here you don't even get what I was trying to say. :D So yeah. I'm done here.[/FONT'][/COLOR][/quote]

[color=crimson]Yeah, you could say I lost you at "socialism is generalized as far-right" since I have never heard that said before and do not agree with you whatsoever.[/color]

[[Sound_Nin]]

[quote name='DeathKnight'][COLOR=crimson]Yeah, you could say I lost you at "socialism is generalized as far-right" since I have never heard that said before and do not agree with you whatsoever.[/COLOR][/quote]

[COLOR=Navy][FONT=Book Antiqua]If you kept reading, it'd be cleared up that I DO NOT believe it is, but it's a common misconception, regardless of whether you've heard it before or not.
It's just a case of trying to fit everything into two neat boxes marked 'Left' and 'Right'.
[/FONT][/COLOR]

[DeathKnight]

[color=crimson]Okay. To be fair, let me see if I am misunderstanding you.

Are you saying that socialism is thought of, to some degree, as a right wing ideology? The same right wing that most social conservatives and fiscal conservatives belong to? [/color]

[[Sound_Nin]]

[quote name='DeathKnight'][COLOR=crimson]Okay. To be fair, let me see if I am misunderstanding you.

Are you saying that socialism is thought of, to some degree, as a right wing ideology? The same right wing that most social conservatives and fiscal conservatives belong to? [/COLOR][/quote]

[COLOR=Navy][FONT=Book Antiqua]Yes, and I don't see why, honestly, because the similiarities end with 'nationalism', which in many cases isn't shared.
Anyway, to sum it up, that's exactly what I'm saying. :]
[/FONT][/COLOR]

[eleanor]

[quote name='XeEmO']This may sound a bit selfish, but pulling out of Iraq would be disastrous for whom? As far as the constitution goes we shouldn't even be in Iraq. If I recall, didn't Bush somehow give himself the power to make that decision? I may be proven wrong with upon further research, but that's what I seem to remember.[/QUOTE]

[font="trebuchet ms"] You don't sound selfish, you sound uninformed. [/font]

[QUOTE='[Sound_Nin];807219'][COLOR=Navy][FONT=Book Antiqua]

McCain: the next Bush. You know he must be a little loony from years of torture in Vietnam (that's the one he was in, right?) and I don't think we need another old man for president.[/FONT][/COLOR][/QUOTE]

[font="trebuchet ms"] What the ****? Try being tortured for five years as a POW in Vietnam, getting your arms and legs broken continuously and getting beaten everyday, and then say "he must be a little loony". And no, I don't trust your psychological evaluations. If you have to ask "that's the one he was in, right?", I don't even know why you're attacking McCain. If anything, the fact that when he was offered to be released but refused until all of his fellow soldiers were released and therefore stayed for several more years gives me more respect for him. [/font]

[quote name=''[Sound_Nin];807219'][COLOR=Navy][FONT=Book Antiqua]Also, about Hillary, being as the Muslims have no respect for women, I doubt they'd take seriously a country with a female president.[/FONT'][/COLOR][/quote]

[font="trebuchet ms"] You'll find that even though a country's leaders can lack respect for women's rights, they won't disregard the US because its president is a women, lol. The idea of this is ridiculous. Let's totally ignore and not take seriously the world's only superpower... oh, wait. [/font]


[quote name='Japan_86'][SIZE="1"]I am very concerned about this election. As far as I'm concerned, Obama doesn't even care about our country. I have several friends in the Army and even those that were stationed in Iraq. They all agree on one thing. Pulling out of middle east would be disasterous. When I was listening to the radio I heard a very funny thing. A black man was called racist when he called Obama by his full name.

Anyways...I am not very happy with the democrats at all. Not saying that Bush is awesome or anything. However, Washington state elected Christine Gregoire. She promised better higher education. She has been in office for what, two years. She has not done a thing and in fact, education has declined. Democrats talk to get elected and Republicans are too silent or too afraid. I do not like any of the candidates period.[/SIZE][/QUOTE]

[font="trebuchet ms"] I don't see how caring about your country and having civil war break out in the Middle East is directly correlated. Caring about your country can mean taking care of problems here and not somewhere else, so it's sort of foolish to jump to the conclusion that Obama doesn't care about the country.

And education... all I can say is, there is a point where the state's help ends and students have to be willing to learn. It's not the US government's fault that places like China and India are producing more educated and able workers.[/font]

[XeEmO]

[quote name='Lunox'][font="trebuchet ms"] You don't sound selfish, you sound uninformed. [/font][/QUOTE]

I'm pretty sure I just meant to sound selfish. I was trying to say that it would be a bigger problem for the middle east than it would for the USA. The war costs the USA 12 billion dollars a month. The national debt has been rising at a rapid rate ever since Bush was in office.

You better be stocking that gold away in a vault. Another depression's just around the corner.

[Aberinkula]

[quote name='Lunox']
[font="trebuchet ms"] You'll find that even though a country's leaders can lack respect for women's rights, they won't disregard the US because its president is a women, lol. The idea of this is ridiculous. Let's totally ignore and not take seriously the world's only superpower... oh, wait.

I don't see how caring about your country and having civil war break out in the Middle East is directly correlated. Caring about your country can mean taking care of problems here and not somewhere else, so it's sort of foolish to jump to the conclusion that Obama doesn't care about the country.[/font]
[/font][/QUOTE]

[COLOR="1234"]First of all, I don't think you're a leader of any county that lacks respect for women, are you? And second of all, dont underestimate the power of people underestimating others. So what if we're a superpower, that didn't stop the terrorists from attacking, now did it?

And from what I interprete you're saying the US is the only superpower? Thats highly unlikey, one of the few maybe, but the worlds's one and only superpower, I don't think so.

I do agree about the second part however. Just because Obama wants to withdraw troops from Iraq, doesn't mean he doesn't care about the country. Withdrawl from Iraq could be disasterous, yes, but that doesn't mean Obama doesn't care about our country. ****, if he didn't care about our country, than why the hell would he go thorugh the trouble of trying to run it?

That sort of reminds me of a girl at school who thinks you have to know the National Anthem by heart to be patriotic, which is a load of bullcrap. I live by the philosophy that words are just words. It's not what you know or say, it's how you act that shows your patriotism.

And personally, I do not want McCain to run this country at all. For some reason I feel that the Republicans have been screwing up lately, and I'm also Democratic. I myself want Hilary in office, she has been in politics for a long time, and shes also had a husband who was President. Now, Obama is very skilled from what I gather, but perosnally I think time and experience beats shorter time and experience. [/COLOR]

[The13thMan]

[COLOR=DarkOrange][FONT=Century Gothic]Let me start off by saying that i generally don't like politics and am quite ignorant of it. It bores and frustrates me, at once. Seems almost contradictory!

But don't take this to mean that i don't care about a lot of potentially political issues. I've participated in my fair share of abortion, gay marriage, stem cell, and so on debates. It's just that the politics of it all don't mean a lot to me. It's not, "should we make a law against abortion?" it's more like, "Is abortion immoral?" I think once we answer those core questions the politics should come without any problem.

Who do i support? I'm not sure. I typically lean to the left. Hm... screw this crap, why should i tell you who i support? What kind of absurdity is that? There's no way any presidential candidate is going to feel exactly the same as i do on every issue. Instead let me point out the most important qualities i feel my ideal president should have.

First and foremost i believe that the president should be scientifically literate. I'm not saying he needs to have a degree in physics or biology, i'm just saying he needs to understand the scientific process and not be completely ignorant of science news. He should also take the side of science when it comes to evolution/ID, global warming, autism/vaccines, stem cells (which is less of an issue now than before), and many other things. Let me say right now that this is why i strongly dislike Huckabee. He's a creationist and he doesn't believe in evolution. Evolution is one of the strongest and most supported scientific theories we have and is the entire basis of biology. How he can sit there and tell people that he thinks all of the science is fooey is mind boggling to me.

The ideal president should also feel strongly about changing our education system. I don't know how exactly, i'll leave that to him/her. What i do know is that it's crap right now and needs to be changed. On average our kids today are at the bottom of the international barrel. It's pathetic. I don't know the stats off the top of my head, all i recall is a feeling of shock and awe when reading through them.

Seperation of church and state should be something he firmly believes in. I personally am an agnostic. I don't care what religion my president is, just so long as he keeps it to himself. I actually really don't want to know what religion he is! I believe relgion is a private matter. I wouldn't go so far as to advocate removing "In God We Trust" from our currency, but if he decided that would be for the best i wouldn't object.

Morally speaking he needs to be in the same ballpark as me. This really shouldn't be hard for anybody to fulfill. Just as long as the president is a cold hearted baby killer, i'm ok.

And lastly he must not be black or a woman!



Just kidding. =P

[/FONT][/COLOR]

[[Sound_Nin]]

[quote name='The13thMan'][COLOR=DarkOrange][FONT=Century Gothic]Let me start off by saying that i generally don't like politics and am quite ignorant of it. It bores and frustrates me, at once. Seems almost contradictory!

But don't take this to mean that i don't care about a lot of potentially political issues. I've participated in my fair share of abortion, gay marriage, stem cell, and so on debates. It's just that the politics of it all don't mean a lot to me. It's not, "should we make a law against abortion?" it's more like, "Is abortion immoral?" I think once we answer those core questions the politics should come without any problem.

Who do i support? I'm not sure. I typically lean to the left. Hm... screw this crap, why should i tell you who i support? What kind of absurdity is that? There's no way any presidential candidate is going to feel exactly the same as i do on every issue. Instead let me point out the most important qualities i feel my ideal president should have.

First and foremost i believe that the president should be scientifically literate. I'm not saying he needs to have a degree in physics or biology, i'm just saying he needs to understand the scientific process and not be completely ignorant of science news. He should also take the side of science when it comes to evolution/ID, global warming, autism/vaccines, stem cells (which is less of an issue now than before), and many other things. Let me say right now that this is why i strongly dislike Huckabee. He's a creationist and he doesn't believe in evolution. Evolution is one of the strongest and most supported scientific theories we have and is the entire basis of biology. How he can sit there and tell people that he thinks all of the science is fooey is mind boggling to me.

The ideal president should also feel strongly about changing our education system. I don't know how exactly, i'll leave that to him/her. What i do know is that it's crap right now and needs to be changed. On average our kids today are at the bottom of the international barrel. It's pathetic. I don't know the stats off the top of my head, all i recall is a feeling of shock and awe when reading through them.

Seperation of church and state should be something he firmly believes in. I personally am an agnostic. I don't care what religion my president is, just so long as he keeps it to himself. I actually really don't want to know what religion he is! I believe relgion is a private matter. I wouldn't go so far as to advocate removing "In God We Trust" from our currency, but if he decided that would be for the best i wouldn't object.

Morally speaking he needs to be in the same ballpark as me. This really shouldn't be hard for anybody to fulfill. Just as long as the president is a cold hearted baby killer, i'm ok.

And lastly he must not be black or a woman!



Just kidding. =P

[/FONT][/COLOR][/quote]

[COLOR=Navy][FONT=Book Antiqua]You basically summarized (well, not summarized, because that wasn't short at all) what I was meaning to say before I got all side-tracked on Socialism.

As for the US being the only super power, nope. You have the EU, and there's Russia.
What I strongly dislike about the American Government is the idea that they're the world's police force, and they can occupy whomever they want under the pretense of 'Democracy'.
We had every right in the world to occupy Afghanistan, and none whatsoever to invade Iraq.

However, I don't think ANY of the candidates have the necessary qualifications. None of them have ever been President before. And I strongly agree with Obama that, in all of Hillary's experience, she only had to make one choice, (whether or not to approve the war) and she made the wrong one.

FINALLY. Listen to me when I explain why McCain must be 'a little loony'. NO ONE CAN WITHSTAND TORTURE. Especially not over the course of years and years. It wasn't a cheap shot at his expense, it's only rational that he must have some form of post-traumatic stress disorder. YOU try being tortured and see how sane you'd be after that.

Anyway, I'll sum this up. I started off supporting (of all people) Guiliani. And now I'm whole-heartedly supporting Obama. End of story. :p

(And what I meant by a woman president is, it's just not what we need NOW. In four years, absolutely.)
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[Allamorph]

[quote name='Lunox][font="trebuchet ms"] You'll find that even though a country's leaders can lack respect for women's rights, they won't disregard the US because its president is a women, lol. The idea of this is ridiculous. Let's totally ignore and not take seriously [U]the world's only superpower[/U']... oh, wait. [/font][/quote]
[quote name=''[Sound_Nin]'][COLOR=Navy][FONT=Book Antiqua]As for the US being the only super power, [B]nope[/B]. You have the EU, and there's Russia.[/FONT'][/COLOR][/quote]
[FONT=Arial]Keep China in mind, neh? Can't be turning a blind eye to the East.


As for the "disregard for a woman President", no; no one will do that. However, as someone so kindly pointed out to me this week, the first woman in office will find herself embroiled waist-deep in foreign relation doo-doo as [I]every single country[/I] that does not hold its women in high regard begins to test her mettle and resolve. I do not envy the first woman to win the election. I would wish her the best of fortune, but I would not want to be her.

Ironically, I think Hilary might have the fortitude to survive and withstand such a mess of crap, but I'd rather her not be our first impression on the foreign front.[/FONT]

[eleanor]

[quote name='Premonition'][COLOR="1234"]First of all, I don't think you're a leader of any county that lacks respect for women, are you? And second of all, dont underestimate the power of people underestimating others. So what if we're a superpower, that didn't stop the terrorists from attacking, now did it? [/COLOR][/QUOTE]

[font="trebuchet ms"] A general study into international politics will show that a country's "power" doesn't go down because a women is in charge. Just because the US hasn't had a female president doesn't mean other major countries haven't... UK, Pakistan, etc. No one disrespected or gave less attention to the UK when Margaret Thatcher was PM.

And the terrorists didn't attack the US because they thought we were "weak" or someone to "ignore", they attacked us because we're an international power that has great influence in the Middle East. Attacking the US doesn't mean you don't take them seriously. Quite the opposite, in this case...[/font]

[quote name='Premonition'][COLOR="1234"]And from what I interprete you're saying the US is the only superpower? Thats highly unlikey, one of the few maybe, but the worlds's one and only superpower, I don't think so.[/COLOR][/QUOTE]

[quote name='Allamorph'][FONT=Arial]Keep China in mind, neh? Can't be turning a blind eye to the East.
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[font="trebuchet ms"] I'm sorry, I just have to disagree with this. China is an [i]emerging[/i] superpower, and we don't even know if China with withstand its very possible economic bubble. [/font]

[QUOTE='[Sound_Nin];807345'][COLOR=Navy][FONT=Book Antiqua]
As for the US being the only super power, nope. You have the EU, and there's Russia.

FINALLY. Listen to me when I explain why McCain must be 'a little loony'. NO ONE CAN WITHSTAND TORTURE. Especially not over the course of years and years. It wasn't a cheap shot at his expense, it's only rational that he must have some form of post-traumatic stress disorder. YOU try being tortured and see how sane you'd be after that.
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[font="trebuchet ms"] What I'm saying is that the US is clearly the world's strongest, if not only, superpower, and that these other countries, while they come close, aren't on the same level.

Russia? No, they're not close to China's scale, and that's the closest thing that comes to being a superpower. Their economy is strong now because the rising oil prices, but oil is never a stable commodity. What happens when oil prices go down, and then Russians have to deal with a crappy economy and the human rights they've given up to maintain economic stability? Russia has only recently gained power as an international player, and it's a far stretch to say they're a "superpower".

The EU...? I don't know about that. It's not even a solid organization when it comes to its power play. EU members still have to figure out if the EU will play the role of a loose confederation or a strong federal system. I wouldn't count it was a world superpower.

And if you disagree, I think it's safe to say that the US is the world's greatest superpower.

And the fact is, neither of us have been tortured, and probably never will be. You've taken the more irrational side and called McCain loony. So, are all Holocaust survivors loony? Congolese women who have been raped for years every day? What about the ones that have experience that and are spearheading organizations to help treat these women? Post-traumatic stress disorder doesn't happen to everyone, and it doesn't define someone's life.
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