LowerCaseRepublican

There was no general debate in 1968. (looked it up)

He's the perfect example of the Horatio Alger myth. Unfortunately, not everybody can be the exception. As for reasons I'd be not liking him...having his childhood values instilled to him by a Nazi (his daddy was a member of the Nazi party), the fact that his policies etc. are not very clear since he is a movie star dabbling in politics (Note: I have nothing wrong with movie stars dabbling in politics as long as they know their s***) etc. As SS2K4 said, there are plenty of embarassments to go around. :finger Republicrats

The biological studies I've seen show definite differences in the brains of homosexuals and heterosexuals (size of different brain structures etc) so there is a case for biological differences and different programming.

Educating people about sexuality and removing the taboos associated with it would lead to a great deal of people not f***ing like bunnies in the multitudes that they are now. There is such a great stigma put on sex and sexuality in American culture for some f***ed up reason (for example, Reagan said he believed it was "tinged with evil") and these feelings of stigmatism make people feel dirty and repressed. Putting all the information out there about sex and sexuality...birth control, "the 5 officers beating the suspect" (had to use that masturbatory reference today), "plunging the happy hole" etc. Get an educated discussion going with people about sex and sexuality giving people a better understanding of it. Taking away the "I wonder what it's like, wonder what it feels like" ignorance really takes away a lot of the forbidden fruit allure. Now, how to implement this is a different story altogether (schools...after school program...etc.) It's selfish but not always irresponsible. I mean, there's always the cases of women getting raped or incest but problems that could come about with the woman's health in the birthing process etc. It's not like most women are "I'm gonna get an abortion" and be happy about it. It's an unfortunate thing that they need done and it's good that there are well equipped knowledgable medical professionals for the procedure. I think a well educated population can stem a lot of the pregnancies that arise but also access to birth control, condoms, etc. so all people can get them. The current pro-life movement had a few things I disagree with. 1. The pro-life groups like the Army of God (behind the Atlanta Olympic bombing and numerous killings of clinic doctors) have gotten a free pass with this adminstration. Ashcroft did not add them to the list of terrorist organizations even though they bombed places successfully within the US. Also, many groups went and sent letters full of white powder to clinics during the anthrax scare. 2. The partial birth abortion ban was signed on the stage with Bush and all fat white men. When Clinton vetoed it, he had women on the platform with him that had had the procedure done before and put a human face on it. All I saw with the Bush signing was a bunch of grinning white guys saying that womens' bodies needed to be under the watchful eye of the government while turning a blind eye to all sorts of corporate welfare and demanding de-regulations of corporations. Gays getting married...I don't think a lot of guys are gonna wake up and be like "Oh s***. You mean I could have married a guy? Goddamnit!" Gay marriage is not about gay sex (that's already legal) but it is about two people of the same sex standing before their friends and families and promising to spend the rest of their lives together. I find it near impossible to believe that any thoughtful American would feel the need to amend the Constitution to prevent a mutual promise. The vows typically consist of stuff about love, honor, cherish, in sickness and in health, well, you know the rest. While many expect a marriage to produce offspring, the legitimacy of an American marriage is not measured by the number of children produced by the couple participating in it. Therefore, anybody who argues that marriage should be limited to heterosexuals because homosexual couples can't reproduce is wrong vis-à-vis marriage and reproduction. This argument would necessitate the denial of marriage licenses to infertile couples, and I'm guessing that movement isn't gathering much steam. Since marriage is about taking and honoring vows, the only folks who threaten the sanctity of the institution of marriage are those who break their vows. If Americans wish to protect the sanctity of marriage, they could very well start by denying marriage licenses to some of these schmucks. Dubya's own brother, Neil, recently completed a messy divorce from his wife, Sharon. Adultery played a factor. Then there are icons Rudy Giuliani and Newt Gingrich, with one and two marriages ended via affairs, respectively. In short, until the pro-marriage folks do something about their own, who have been wiping their backsides with their marriage vows, they have absolutely no business talking about anybody else's marriage threatening whatever sanctity that the institution of marriage may still possess. Any couple, straight or gay, that can make and honor marriage vows is upholding the sanctity of marriage. Period. Incest is different than a gay relationship because most brothers and sisters are not sexual and pretty much almost all sexual (gay and straight) relationships do not involve family members. Because people do not procreate (see infertile couples, elderly couples) does not mean that their marriage is invalid.

Happy birthday Tex.

I think a 3rd party (be it Libertarians/Constitution on the right or Green on the left) may take some votes away from both candidates. It's sad because neither of these assclown goons should be there.

Nice straw man argumentation! Putting a quote I didn't write in there and then using the non-existant quote in an attempt to debate the point. 1500 people out of 250,000+ is a pretty good number. The Black Bloc is probably the ones responsible (I'm just hazarding a guess here on that) and they are widely dispised in the activist community. (Quick history lesson: the Black Bloc were the small group of asshats in '99 that vandalized the Starbucks etc. in Seattle. In Genoa, Italy -- both Black Bloc and cops showed up at the G8 protests. Funny thing is, there is video of cops getting out of marked squad cars dressed as Black Bloc members going out to start vandalizing and thus allowing the Italian police to start cracking heads) They're a bunch of assholes.

I guess I missed the day in civics class when the Constitution gave the powers of government to define what marriage was to entail. And PA, making abortion illegal doesn't make it go away. It just makes it more unsafe for women to get them (not to mention the racist roots of the pro-life movement: "We need to have babies so the white race is not overrun by mongrels." and other fun statements from the American Medical Association throughout the 1880s and into the 1930s when abortion was seen as more acceptable.) Abstinence education doesn't work. It's like sticking your fingers in your ears and yelling "LA LA LA I CAN'T HEAR YOU" to the problems. And if you're really tied to the pro-life premise, why not lock arms and form blockades around cemetaries? In the words of Bill Hicks, "What matters is that if you believe in the sanctity of life then you believe it for life of all ages. That's what I hate about this child-worship syndrome going on. "Save the children! They're killing children! How many children were at Waco? They're killing children!" What does that mean? They reach a certain age and they're off your f***ing love-list? f*** your children. If that's the way you think then f*** you too. You either love all people of all ages or you shut the f*** up." It's fun as a Republican that you are railing for more government involvement in peoples' lives. Gay marriage. I'm more worried about heterosexuals that f*** over the meaning and "sanctity" of marriage more than I'm worried about two people who love each other getting married if they are consenting adults. If anything, people who love each other can only strengthen the idea of marriage...and they don't have to get married in a church. Personal responsibility is something this country is lacking and I do not need a big-government uber-daddy telling me what I can and cannot do with my body as long as I am not harming another human being.

It's not saying he was the only one, PA. It's just saying he was one of them who did not get justice for doing cocaine.

The crowd solidly clogged the street, storefront-to-storefront, for almost three miles. -- Little tidbit from a friend of my in NY (actually goes to school there and lives there, not part of the protest). I think they have a little bit better vantage than the media you're getting PA. So when they say 250,000-400,000 I'm inclined to agree.

I've got 4 foreign exchange students in one of my classes this semester (3 British and 1 Scottish) and last year there were two Aussies in a class. It's a lot of fun. They bring a lot of insight but they are (especially this year in the class I have - Crises of Political Tolerance) very concerned about saying critical things about the US at all. They're usually a helluva lot of fun.

Nice assertion but there should be a progressive tax on the concept of -- if you make more, you pay more. We pay the lowest taxes of any industrialized country. I'd gladly pay more taxes to better provide for public services and pay public servants like cops, firefighters etc. better, create better school systems here and provide for health care. Let's face it, it'd be better to have a well paid protective force, an educated youth and a healthy population.

There are bad apples in every bunch. To dismiss the entire movement based on the actions of a few people is insane. One could do the same with the VA guy in the convention passing out Purple Heart bandaids. The fact that there are 250,000-400,000+ people and 1 cop gets assaulted says something. It's a pretty damn safe event for the most part. As for hypocrites, I believe there was a candidate in 2000 that said that he would not use the military to go on adventures and did not believe that the military should be used for nationbuilding. Can you name him? Hint: He's now the President of the US.

SS2K4, notice the semantics I used. -- considered in the finals. The Bush/Hitler ads were removed and not considered at all. Nuke, they've lost all credibility being busted in lies in the previous ads. Plus the quotes they use are from testimonies that he got from other people (they did an excellent job of cutting out the context and making it look very biased) As for the cocaine usage, MoveOn wasn't the one who broke that claim...biographer JH Hatfield looked into everything about Bush. His book is really interesting and really paints Bush in a human light (especially his childhood) From Salon.com: But Hatfield quotes "a high-ranking advisor to Bush" who confirmed that Bush was arrested for cocaine possession in Houston in 1972, and had the record expunged by a judge who was "a fellow Republican and elected official" who helped Bush get off "with a little community service at a minority youth center instead of having to pick cotton on a Texas prison farm." Hatfield quotes a former Yale classmate who told him: "George W. was arrested for possession of cocaine in 1972, but due to his father's connections, the entire record was expunged by a state judge whom the older Bush helped get elected. It was one of those 'behind closed doors in the judges' chambers' kind of thing between the old man and one of his Texas cronies who owed him a favor ... There's only a handful of us that know the truth." Another source named only as "a longtime Bush friend" described the situation this way: "Say you get a D in algebra ... and now you're going to be required to repeat the class the following year, but your teacher says if you promise to be tutored during the summer by a friend of hers who's good in math, she'll change the D to a C. You spend a few hours a week during the summer vacation learning all about arithmetical operations and relationships, and then the teacher issues you a new report card, replacing the old one on file in the principal's office ... Something akin to that scenario is what happened with Bush in 1972." Hatfield also says that when he asked Scott McClellan to comment on the allegation of a former Yale classmate of Bush's that the presidential hopeful was arrested for cocaine possession in 1972 and had his record expunged in exchange for community service at Project P.U.L.L., the Bush campaign spokesman said, sotto voce, "Oh, s***," followed by, "No comment."

I'm sure the audit would find enough money to more than cover a 15% cut. I mean, the GAO did a small one of the Pentagon and found just on the surface that they couldn't account for a billion dollars. I'm sure further investigations would do more. There's always cutting the military bloat or...*gasp* raising taxes. I love how this country proclaims they love their cops, firefighters, military as heroes and yet we want constantly lower taxes so they end up being paid really s***tily.

Other organizations for seniors that have millions of members like ones that can be seen here: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,104187,00.html analyzed the bill with their legal teams also and found a lot of the negative points of the bill that have been brought out. There's more than just the AARP representing seniors.

MoveOn made no bones about it that they were anti-Bush. However, in the TV ads that were considered for airing in the finals, all the things they said about Bush were true unlike the numerous lies that the Not So Swift Boat Vets have been caught in.

It was a delegate from Virginia. The GOP asked him to stop. The fact that people took them from him and it took over a day to stop his dumb ass shows a little something. Purple heart band-aids...that makes me sick to my f***ing stomach. Bush made a really interesting comment when asked about the SBV4T. "I can understand why Senator Kerry is upset with us. I wasn't so pleased with the ads that were run about me. And my call is get rid of them all, now." Us...Us?...I thought Bush had nothing to do with it. Treasonous activities from Moveon.org? WTF? And don't even go for the 2 contributions that were taken offline and never considered for winning the Bush in 30 Seconds contest because that was independent people sending them in to Moveon much like the independent dumbass from VA was handing out Purple Heart band-aids. The Medicare increase is actually opposed by most elderly organizations because it is a "poison pill". From the Boston Globe: The first provides a much-needed, if modest and excessively complex, drug benefit. But while this new benefit is generous for some low-income seniors, it will end up raising out-of-pocket drug costs for other poor beneficiaries. And because it is poorly designed and does not include effective ways of controlling drug costs, the plan will ultimatelyleave most seniors little better off than they are today, and some worse off. The second, darker side of the new Medicare bill is a slew of changes that have little or nothing to do with drug coverage and everything to do with special-interest demands and ideological animus toward Medicare. These include huge new subsidies for private insurers, and provisions that ensure that drug companies will be spared from their greatest fear: that Medicare will use its massive buying power to demand reductions in drug prices. Perhaps most ominous, the bill also contains elements that favor private plans and risk further degeneration of Medicare's all-in-the-same-boat structure. Six sizable "demonstration projects" are intended to introduce greater competition into Medicare; they will also likely raise costs for seniors who remain in the traditional program. What is most striking about the bill is not the consistency of its vision, but its deep incoherence. In the name of greater free-market competition, the legislation offers massive new subsidies to the pharmaceutical and insurance industries. In the name of providing greater protection, it threatens Medicare's guarantee of universal benefits. (Indeed, it even provides more than $6 billion to support Health Savings Accounts outside of Medicare, risking the fragmentation of the broader insurance risk pool.) And in the name of greater cost containment, it encourages the expansion of private plans that have, to date, not saved Medicare money, while creating new budgetary rules that could very well make Medicare less equitable and affordable down the road. Stem cells, abortion and gay marriage are 3 issues the government should have no stance on. What a woman does with her body and peoples' personal lifestyles that are not harming others are not meant to be legislated by government. I remember a party that used to be for less involvement of government in peoples' lives. What was the name -- oh yeah, the Republican party. As for education, he increased funding but when you look at the details of NCLB, you find that he drastically UNDERFUNDED his NCLB plan for education. So schools are still in the s***ter and worse off now because they are under the harsh federal mandates with not enough cash to meet them. And from the looks of it, your 20/20 vision does seem to be failing.

Swift Boat Veterans for Truth Republican Connection Maybe they're just Swift Boat Vets for Smearing Kerry... Bush-Cheney campaign's web of connections: William L. Schachte Jr. - long-standing supporter of President Bush and a lobbyist whose client FastShip Inc. recently won a $40 million grant from the federal government. [1] George Herbert Walker Bush - Daddy Warbucks Bush calls charges 'compelling'. [2] Laura Bush - Stepford wife, Anti-Kerry Ads Not Unfair, Laura Bush Says. [3] Karl Rove - Bush's White House political director; longtime associate to Bob Perry; consultant to Hutchison; most senior advisor to Bush campaign. [4] Kenneth Cordier - Former Bush-Cheney campaign advisor - forced to resign after appearing in Swift Boat Veterans for Bush commercial. [5] Benjamin Ginsberg - Former general counsel to Bush-Cheney - resigned after it was discovered he was advising both Bush and the Swift Boat Veterans. [6] Harlan Crow - Bush Foundation trustee; [7] longtime friend of Bush family; longtime fundraiser for Bush family; donated at least $25,000 in seed money to the Swift Boat Vets for Bush. On Board of American Enterprise Institute where Vice President Cheney's wife Lynn is "Fellow". [8] Bob Perry - Largest Republican donor in Texas; donated hundreds of thousands to Bush family campaigns; donated at least $200,000 in seed money to the Swift Boat Vets for Bush; close colleague of Rove in Texas governor's race; longtime friend of John O'Neill. Kay Bailey Hutchison - Longtime friend of Spaeth; former client of Rove; current co-chair of Bush campaign John O'Neill - Longtime friend of Bob Perry; very close law firm connections to Bush as governor; close friend to Spaeth, former colleague to Spaeth's husband/Bush's 1994 running mate; front man for Swift Vets for Bush. Merrie Spaeth - Provided media consulting to Swift Boat Vets; longtime friend of Hutchison; longtime supporter of/donor to Bush campaign; provide debate prep for GHW Bush; met with and gave media training to current, top White House officials; close associate to John O'Neill; advised smear campaign on McCain in 2000. Tex Lezar - Late husband to Spaeth; former running mate with Bush in 1994; law partner to John O'Neill. Internet website lists Lezar on page with six tobacco whitecoats agents showing family tolerance for frauds. [9] Harriet O'Neill - Close associate to John O'Neill, Lezar & Wilson; Bush judicial nominee. Harriet's husband Jack was Jonh O'Neill's law partner. Margaret Wilson - Law partner with John O'Neill, Lezar; Bush administration official; former counsel to Governor Bush. [10] Bush-Cheney Campaign HQ Florida - Regional Bush HQ in battleground state; coordinated activities with Swift Boat Vets for Bush rally; rally forced to be cancelled. Minnesota RNC - Official Republican website in battleground state; coordinated linkage with Swift Boat website, providing direct link to Swift Boat commercial. DCI Group (Tech Central Station) - Political strategy firm with close connections to Bush campaign & Swift vets, employs LaCivita and Friancis. [11] Charles Francis - Longtime friend/supporter of Bush; works for political firm with close ties to both Bush campaign and Swift Vets for Bush; colleague of Lacivita. Thomas J. Synhorst - Advisor to Bush campaign 2000; "major contracts" with Bush campaign 2004; works for firm with close ties to Swift Vets for Bush; colleague of Lacivita at DCI; worked on anti-McCain phone banking in South Carolina in 2000. Chris Lacivita - Senior advisor to Swift Boat Vets for Bush; close ties to Bush campaign; associates with Synhorst & Friancis.

Alan Keyes is an absolute lunatic. As for the comparisons to Hillary, comes from this March 2000 gem ''I deeply resent the destruction of federalism represented by Hillary Clinton’s willingness to go into a state she doesn’t even live in and pretend to represent people there, so I certainly wouldn’t imitate it.'' And he wants to run on the idea of moral character?

None of the above. Libertarian...and FYI, Nader isn't endorsed by the Greens this year. He's an independent. Cobb is the Greens candidate for 2004.

What a f***ing idiot. God...just...what an idiot.

When he ran for governor (I've read a few bios about him. One really good one is JH Hatfield's "Fortunate Son" -- really makes him seem human), his wife told him that she didn't want to be involved in politics actively with him. So it's natural that she may be more than a bit uncomfortable and also sorta explains why she's not one of the most public first ladies that we've had in a while.

You said that with a straight face? Bush is a guy who is notorious for fun things like not knowing the definition of sovereignty when asked at a press conference. If he is not giving a canned speech prepared for him, he can be up for grabs about what the f*** he is gonna say. (This is a guy who Rove had to drill with policy experts just to get Bush to know that people from Iran are Iranians, people from Iraq are Iraqis, etc. because he thought that people from Greece were "Grecians".)

If one does not like what is on the radio/TV, then parents should do a better job checking out what their child ingests. I do not feel safe nor comfortable giving my ability to choose what I want to read, watch, see, hear, say, listen to, who I f***, what I put into my body in the hands of the government. As the late comedian/philosopher Bill Hicks stated: Here is my final point. About drugs, about alcohol, about pornography and smoking and everything else. What business is it of yours what I do, read, buy see, say, think, who I f***, what I take into my body -- as long as I do not harm another human being on this planet? Freedom of speech is a bedrock to this nation. "If there is a bedrock principle of the 1st amendment, it is that the government may not prohibit the expression of an idea simply because society finds the idea itself offensive or disagreeable." - Justic Brennan in TX vs Johnson, 1989 And if you believe that TV shows and radio have caused the decay of society, I'd rather say that the destruction of education (skyrocketed by the underfunding of NCLB which will close schools that don't meet up to expectations...yet are not given the funds to purchase the tools to meet the goals), increased fighting of the drug war putting people in long term prison sentences for small amounts with no intent to sell leading to non-violent prisoners siphoning increased tax money which could go to better social programs, etc. As for increased sexuality being partaken, Larry Flynt so eloquently noted: "I think the real obscenity comes from raising out youth to believe that sex is bad and ugly and dirty. And yet, it is heroic to go spill guts and blood in the most ghastly manner in the name of humanity. With all the taboos attached to sex, it's no wonder we have the problems we have. It's no wonder were angry and violent and genocidal. But, ask yourself the question, what is more obscene: sex or war?" As for the Iraq war, let's face it. Our leaders in Congress and the US peed on our legs and told us it was rain. From the nuclear material in Niger to the non-existent mobile labs that Powell railed on to the non-existent ties to AQ etc. etc. etc., the actual rationale for war was never given to us. And to send these troops in with inadequate kevlar, inadequate Humvees, old helicopters (remember some of the helicopters shot down at the beginning were because they were obsolete and didn't have certain anti-RPG capabilities), piss poor chemical/biological weapon protection equipment (friend of mine is a retired Major of the Navy and is an expert in chemical and biological weapons and discussed with me in great detail how the suits the military is handing out are not protective by any means and are just false assurances) is a slap in the face. The cuts to veterans' benefits that have been slammed through, the increased co-pays for veterans, the increased wait they have to wait to get checked out when they are back in the States etc. are all part of the Bush reforms. Ahmed Chalabi and the Iraqi National Congress got busted for having misleading information that was highly touted by Pentagon neo-conservative hawks to get us to invade Iraq. Now with the Israeli spy possibility in the Pentagon, more information is coming out that this spy was important in the development of our Iraq policy. I don't like it that there is mounting evidence that our intelligence and rationale for war seemed to be born out of countries and interests that had THEIR best interest at getting us engaged with the 3rd world dictator. John Kerry voted against Gulf War I and in fact, in July 1990 when Iraq was preparing to invade Kuwait for a) slant drilling into Iraqi oil fields and B) mass flooding the oil market to drive down prices which made the war ravaged Iraq unable to restore it's economy (remember the whole Iraq-Iran war that we got Saddam to fight for us...it sorta tore apart his country's infrastructure) In fact, Iraq came to the US in the summer of 1990 and asked what would be US opinion on a pending invasion of Kuwait. US ambassador April Glaspie stated: "We have no opinion on your border dispute with Kuwait." To emphasize she stated, "James Baker has directed our official spokesmen to emphasize this instruction." During the 1990 war, the strong Iraqi democratic movement was greatly rebuffed by US interests because they were also anti-Gulf War. They didn't want their country in shambles and knew that it could be resolved peacefully. In mid-January a Washington Post/ABC poll asked if Iraq withdrew and the UN took a resolution to consider the conflict would they support it - 2/3 agreed. In fact, numerous Iraqi democratic delegations and other middle eastern delegations were rebuffed by Bush I to end the conflict, have Iraq get out of Kuwait and let them resolve things peacefully. -- but that was never discussed in the US media. Voting for intelligence cuts after the 93 WTC bombing. Evidence showed that the FBI made the bombs and provided all the materials to their informant. (see Dec. 15, 1993 Chicago Tribune and Oct. 28, 1993 NY Times) So his proposed cuts don't seem all that insane in that context. Doesn't care all too much for defense spending. We're in a glut of defense spending currently. Recently Congress gave the Air Force 100 new mid-air refuelers after the Air Force already said they didn't need them. The Pentagon cannot account for over a billion dollars. A simple 15% cut from the current rate that we have adequately funds social programs and more than already protects this country. There hasn't been another terrorist attack and I'm wondering sometimes how we've only had 1 in the history of the US. (not saying I'd like to see one but I just think we're damn lucky) Neither of these guys are soft on terrorism and in fact both of them are pretty big promoters of the neo-conservative agenda created by PNAC. Bush/Cheney 04: Don't Change Horses Mid-Apocalypse Kerry/Edwards 04: You Decide, I Agree It's all about Badnarik/Campagna in '04