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i think the promises that he went will hurt me more than the ones he broke.
Closing down Gitmo and going against the Bush anti-terror method puts me and my family in danger. Not to mention the troops, who some are personal friends of mine, have to fight with their dicks in their hands because of so many restrictions (due to the Geneva Convention) and the fact that so many Gitmo detainees have been released (which many are already caught shooting at our troops again).
so, for putting some of my friends in harms way, i'm more pissed at him keeping his promise.
Your friends' selfless and noble contributions to our country aside, I have a feeling that they may have a more favorable opinion of the Geneva Convention if they were the ones, say, being held captive. Let's remember that this is not the first conflict to have been fought under the application of the Geneva Convention.
Trust me, soldiers captured by the Taliban or al-Qaeda have much more to worry about than water boarding. yes, it would be great if we could go by war rules, but guess what, the enemy doesn't go by these rules. They're much worse than we can possibly imagine (our guys come back in pieces).
if the enemy decided to fight a gentleman's war, than i can accept the Geneva Convention. But they don't, and we can't even be as evil as they are in treatment of the enemy. hell, they torture their own people for God's Sake.
What the taliban do to those they capture is truly terrible but to say that some American or other person wouldn't do something as terrible seems overly optimistic and faithful. The Taliban and other terrorist groups are just "proud" to show their cruelty whereas most countries keep such information secret because it isn't too popular with the population.
The Geneva conventions, is something we should follow no matter what. Not following them will not give us an advantage or level the playing field, it is only cruel and with the intent of revenge. Just because the terrorist seem to lack any morals doesn't mean America should continue to throw away its morals.
So how has it limited our abilities in any way? Your just making stuff up. No one "tells our troops" how to fight the war, but civilization itself demands rules for those who engage in it. Saying bad guys don't follow the geneva convention is no excuse not to follow it. What if our constitution "got in the way" of this so called terror war at home. Would you ignore that too? Do you not see how these things are related?
Oh and by the way torture doesn't work for getting reliable information. We know that, and if you wanna whine about people releasing Gitmo prisoners comlpain to the former administration who released most of the ones you were talking about because they had nothing to charge them with.
I'm all for freedom of speech, but I think in an historical perspective, those who fought to abolish slavery will likely be put on the same axis as those who fought against torture.
torture on what level? OOOO, you mean deciding that torture should all just be grouped into "is it comfortable? no? than it's torture".
maybe i believe that coerce interrogation should not just be classified as torture, mainly because it really isn't. water boarding (which we used three times in extreme circumstances) does not cause prolonged physical or mental harm and done under the officials, will not result in any injury or death. this is a procedure used in US Navy Seal training.
then there's emotional interrogation such as playing music that they hate on a loop on different speeds (it used to be white noise, but the interrogators like to pick their favorite songs for the programs now). once again, no prolonged physical or mental harm occurs.
so, even though it is not torture, certain people DECIDE to define it as torture because it's not a pleasant experience. and the people decide to just follow this ideal like sheep. without questioning it or seeing the facts.
these methods are used against enemies who are known to have information. it's not like slavery where random people were taken from their homes after doing nothing and forced to work for people they've never seen before.
and these methods are nothing compared to real torture. what the Taliban does to our soldiers is NOTHING compared to what we've done to only three of them. our guys come back missing limbs after slow dismemberment, joint by joint. these guys come back with their heads bashed in. with their skin melted off.
I love how you have this false idea that there is "real" torture and there is "fake" torture. I'm gonna say AGAIN. We have EXECUTED people in the past for performing waterboarding on our troops. It is torture. Yes people can die from it, it is controlled drowning. WHY can't you understand??? Only people with NO moral compass say things like "but they're doing worse" as a justification for things like this. We choose not to do these things because they are unreliable and WE ARE BETTER THAN THEY ARE. Ugh.
Obama has let me down. I didn't think he would do everything he said, in fact i was skeptical that he would not follow through on a lot of his promises that got him the votes, especially from the grass roots population. To see obama actually going agaist what he said he would do, instead of just ignoring it like i thought he would, is very depressing. All i hope is that, due to the poor economy he has had to realocate resources and will return to his promises after the economy picks up again.
He promised to fill up my car with petroleum fuel and yet my Expedition is still sitting in my driveway with more than 3/4 of an empty tank! That liar needs to come and fill up my car's fuel tank!
That was disingenuous at best - completely and transparently dishonest at worst. Had you started it from the beginning with a title that automatically assumes the point you're hoping to drive toward, that would be a different story. But you can't change the debate after people are already discussing the merits of what you've proposed to favor only one side and then expect to be taken seriously.
Well I believe that the title of my debate doesn't really matter if I change it or not. You see, when I invited people to this debate I asked them to please pay no mind to the title and only read the description. In my mind, as I'm sure in most intellectuals' minds, the title of the debate only matters so much whereas reading the description of a debate topic truly reveals what the purpose of said debate is.
So, with that said, my description for this debate did not change and so your argument has become invalid.
At this point most intelligent people know that he is better at running for than he is at being the President. But most are too biased to realize or admit it.
Watch, before you know it, this debate will be filled with the "give him time, he just started" argument. Well we don't have time for that!
And certainly, I would be one of those while you are one of the others. What can he do in such a short time with so much to overcome? Bush put this country in the deepest of black holes so there will be many others who think as I do and say give him time. I do not believe John McCain and Sarah Palin would be anywhere near where President Obama is today. He is trying to tackle and address so many things at once, give the guy a chance. It's not been 3 months but close to it.
Tell me you're not biased Jake. That is really an unfair statement to all who believe in him. We're no dummies by any stretch and I for one will put him down hard if needs be...but not at this point! I think you want too much too soon.
And oh, so are you but in a very bad way. Have you ever heard the expression that you need to spend money to make money? It is oh, sooooooo true. He's already cut taxes and added others. I'm glad to hear you think you're pretty biased because that's one true thing about you Jake. I can also say I don't blindly follow anything or anyone but I'm looking at the end of the year for the real upshot of all these bail-outs and such. I would have given the same to McCain because he would be facing the same things Obama is and you cannot wave a magic wand over all this and have it go away in less than three months. Shall we see how it goes?
It an age old tenet Jake and it does make sense if you let your mind go with it. Let's say you were a kid with money. The best time for you to get in on the market is NOW. Why? Cause it's cheap and when it comes up you'll make money. Invest if you can and reap the rewards in the end.
I have not only supported and defended a Republican, I've voted for three of them since JFK! Everyone has good points Jake...everyone!
Not serious baby, you know how I get when we're talking business...LOL!
How can you say that you don't blindly follow anything when you just implied tax cuts and less spending can end a recession. If you had even listened to what Obama said yesterday you could have had it explained to you. It's basic economics. If you cut spending during a recession, the recession gets worse because people aren't spending! That's the point. The government increases spending to temporarily feed demand and pull us out of recession. Stop being a parrot for things that you obviously don't understand.
How? it's easy. It's my opinion. What makes you think I am a blind follower? Even if I'm wrong about everything(which I'm not) that is still be my own personal opinion.
Reagan pulled us out of the rescission by lowering taxes, it also lead to the great economy that Clinton had. (and got credit for)
Obama's spending plan will hurt the economy in the long run, it will come back to hurt it.
Bush also hurt the economy by strategies just like Obama plans to. If we don't cut government spending and taxes this recession will last longer.
You seem to generally have the same opinions as the mainstream media. I could call you a blind parrot follower but I don't know you well enough to make such an assumption. So I ask you to have the same courtesy for me.
Once again, just because you say it doesn't make it true.
Wikipedia:
Pressured to counteract the increased deficit caused by the recession, Reagan agreed to a corporate tax increase in 1982. However, he refused to raise income taxes or cut defense spending. The Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 1982 instituted a three-year, $100 billion tax hikeāthe largest tax increase since World War II.
You can't call me a blind follower because I obviously research what the hell I am talking about and have an understanding of it. You have just expressed opinions that are completely factually inaccurate. You say them over and over without a shred of evidence. I just provided you with the information to how Reagan ended the recession: corporate tax increase, no spending cuts and the biggest tax hike since WWII.
Not to latch on to an axiom that doesn't make a lot of sense to begin with (when's the last time someone told you you were eating your food the wrong way?), but...
...to be fair, what we're really dealing with is someone else's leftovers.
And if you don't mind me asking, what would be the preferable alternative to bailing out the banks (which, I assume is the biggest burr in your saddle re: spending)? I'd like to see them go under as much as the next guy if they're the ones who ran themselves into the ground, but I'm pretty certain we'd give the Great Depression a run for its Greatness if we did.
"...what the democrats running congress and senate left behind. "
Absolutely. But Bush also holds a major stake in the blame, as do the Republicans in congress. This isn't a crisis that took root in two years.
"If they fail, then they fail."
Hrm, I wonder if anyone smarter, more capable, or better informed than you or I has thought of that.
"In a related matter, President George W. Bush said in an interview released Monday that Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson warned him weeks ago that bold action was needed to avert a new Great Depression.
"I can remember sitting in the Roosevelt Room with Hank Paulson and Ben Bernanke and others, and they said to me that if we don't act boldly, Mr. President, we could be in a depression greater than the Great Depression," Bush told ABC News."
I think that three months is long enough to make an attempt at going around filling up people's fuel tanks. I mean, if I had heard that he was starting in D.C. and making his way to California then I'd be somewhat content, but I have heard no such news so I feel that it has been long enough to call him a liar in that aspect.
You might find this link informative....govtrack.com This is a way to track everything that is going on in congress as we speak. You must also recognize that the real policy that is happening occurs in congress, I encourage you to begin there. peace.
Because it wasn't an argument, it was an opinion. That doesn't quite belong on this site, so I can't complain that I was voted down.
I won't start to list the reasons I hate George WarCriminal Bush-- the gaping chasm of reason between his detractors and supporters prevents any effective dialogue. The main reason I like Obama relatively is that at least he's reversed some of the mistakes of the past decade. I don't like either because they're both fundamentally the same.
What do you mean by the bias comment? Bias isn't objectionable in a private citizen's opinions. Seems genitals aren't the only things everyone has that you Righties want people to be ashamed of ;)