I honestly believe that Bush thinks that this is what he’s doing and that it’s not just a clever political ploy. I also believe that Bush and the neo-conservatives who back him are as crazy as a bunch of shithouse rats…and far more dangerous.

Or, in the words of a man much smarter than myself:

“Those who seek absolute power, even though they seek it to do what they regard as good, are simply demanding the right to enforce their own version of heaven on earth. And let me remind you, they are the very ones who always create the most hellish tyrannies. Absolute power does corrupt, and those who seek it must be suspect and must be opposed. Their mistaken course stems from false notions of equality, ladies and gentlemen. Equality, rightly understood, as our founding fathers understood it, leads to liberty and to the emancipation of creative differences. Wrongly understood, as it has been so tragically in our time, it leads first to conformity and then to despotism.”

If someone truly believes it’s our duty to rid the world of evil and suffering, I can respect that. I wouldn’t support him, but I could respect it.

But I absolutely loathe the hypocritical, opportunistic BS.

I’m not going to vote for a guy who claims that it’s America’s role to free the oppressed in Iran.

I could respect that if it was based on anything. I have a big problem with those that insist we should “free” Iran and not Darfur or Burma. Or vice-versa for that matter.

It’s a moot point anyway…I’m not going to vote for a guy who claims that it’s America’s role to free the oppressed in Iran.

I’m not so sure it’s a good idea to vote for someone if we’re not sure they can physically finish out their term.

I’m absolutely not going to vote for him, but I wouldn’t avoid him just because of his health. I would just screen his VP closely to make sure I was in good hands either way.

http://fredfile.fred08.com/2007/ahmadinejad-speaks-at-columbia-fred-responds/

Screw what I said before, Thompson sucks.

Actually, I’m more curious about that race too. I even considered whether Obama might be worth a vote until I checked out his record on the issues.

http://www.ontheissues.org/senate/Barack_Obama.htm

Pro-union, pro-welfare, pro-socialized medicine, anti-immigration…think I’ll pass on him.

On the Republican side, though, Thompson’s probably not the worst of the bunch, but there’s also roughly a 50% chance he won’t survive to finish out his term because of his non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma:

http://www.sacbee.com/111/story/376419.html

And to be honest, I wonder if the odds aren’t worse than that. In the latest appearances I’ve seen the guy looks horrible (although that was back in August and it’s possible he just had a couple of bad days). The 50% stat was the 10 year survival rate for lymphoma from the time of diagnosis (his was found back in 2004) so he’d be in year five by the time he actually took office (63% survival rate). I’m not trying to dance on the guy’s grave and I wish him well, but I’m not so sure it’s a good idea to vote for someone if we’re not sure they can physically finish out their term.

As much as I don’t like Fred and will be voting for Ron Paul (if he’s still in during the Texas primary), Fred’s the only one that has captured the hearts (as they have no minds) of the neocon faithful and has a message anywhere on the same planet as libertarians.

I choke when I say this, but I’m actually more interested in whether Obama beats Hillary than anyone that has a chance of winning on the Republican side.