[quote]I don’t relish being taxed out of my head, but sensible foreign policy and accountability at the top would go a long way to atleast restoring some equilibrium.[/quote]

So taxing us to death for a bad foreign policy is somehow more evil than taxing us to death for a bad domestic policy? Personally, I’d rather be taxed to death for a bad foreign policy than have someone telling me that I have to buy health insurance. At least with a bad foreign policy there is a chance that everything will come crashing down on us in a short period of time. A bad domestic policy will simply allow for a drawn-out collapse.

I think he got the VP spot…the other three just got cabinet posts “Heckuva job, Pesti…er…Brownie!” :-)

If real change is going to happen, its going to have to happen from the bottom up. We’re not going to elect a President like Ron Paul, or even Sanford or Johnson, until we have more Congressman, Senators, and members of state legislatures that believe in the things that they do.

Exactly! All politics is local.

Or, more accurately, they’ll inflate the shit out of the currency, and yet STILL continue to spend so much money that we’re in deficit. It’s the American Way, right?

I agree Bush sucks, but things aren’t nearly as bad as they could be.

If you think that Bush’s presidency has been anything short of catastrophic you’re on crack.

We’re in a completely unnecessary war in Iraq that we’re losing primarily because of the President’s incompetence that’s cost the lives of 4,000 troops (and untold numbers of civilians)with no end in sight. We’ve pissed away most of our goodwill in the international community by electing that war-mongering shitkicker twice. The Bush administration helped enact four of the worst pieces of legislation in U.S. history (PATRIOT Act, Medicare Plan D, Bi-Partisan Campaign Finance Reform, MCA of 2006). And our government is now on the record as endorsing torture and opposing human rights and the rule of law. But you’re right, Bush hasn’t caused the earth to explode, yet, so I suppose we should all be grateful that he was only the shittiest president of the last 60 plus years rather than the Fourth Horseman of the Apocalypse.

Seriously, Doug, sometimes I think you really do need to pull your head out of your ass on just how bad of a president Bush has been. I find it highly unlikely that Gore or Kerry would have been worse…particularly as they’d have been facing a Republican Congress.

Do you think that there is a real possibility that the American people would ever elect a charismatic demagogue who would do more than just give us universal health care, especially if he or she came along in a time of crisis?

I have absolutely no idea what you’re getting at with this question…but I believe that people will vote for just about any philosophy if the timing is conducive to it and the candidate does a better job of selling his position than his opponent does.

One thing Obama has done has sign a pledge for open government here

I’ve got to give him credit for that and his stance on Iraq if nothing else. I don’t relish being taxed out of my head, but sensible foreign policy and accountability at the top would go a long way to atleast restoring some equilibrium.

Well, you are right there, which is why I thought from the beginning that concentrating on the White House didn’t make sense.

If real change is going to happen, its going to have to happen from the bottom up. We’re not going to elect a President like Ron Paul, or even Sanford or Johnson, until we have more Congressman, Senators, and members of state legislatures that believe in the things that they do.

Sure, we’ll have better candidates from time to time, but the other dynamics won’t be there.

It was the situation.

- A WIIIIIDE open race in which a half a dozen candidates all had huge baggage.
- No incumbent, no vice-president.
- A worsening economy
- A failing war

It is very unlikely that Sanford or Johnson will ever have that kind of ammunition on their sides when they decide to take on the status quo.

For whatever reason, the general public didn’t see it. Partly, I think it’s because most people didn’t buy in to the doom-and-gloom scenario (and, when it comes to some of the more passionate of those scenarios, I’m not sure that I do either).

I don’t believe that Ron Paul was the last best hope of the freedom movement. I don’t even know that he was the best hope from what’s out there. Mark Sanford and Gary Johnson would’ve made far better candidates.

He wouldn’t even need to be charismatic. Witness 2004.

I agree Bush sucks, but things aren’t nearly as bad as they could be.

I was not referring to every Ron Paul supporter, just those that told me that America would not survive if Ron Paul wasn’t elected and those who told me that he was never, ever wrong.

And I picked the Halle Berry quote because it was quite representative of things I’ve been hearing from a segment of Obama supporters for weeks now. The man talks and talks about hope but nobody seems to know what he stands for…..and yet they love him. I’d call that a cult.