Why Bush Sucks

[c| Spetsnaz.]

After watching the State of the Union, I had a  realization that Bush will not be reelected. His rhetoric although effective on the less agile minded, did not posses the stinging potency to unify Americans behind his regime.

 Ten Reasons why Bush Sucks

1. The Patriot Act- In his State of the Union speech the President attempted to pass this act off as an invaluable tool  in the so called war against terrorism. This is somewhat disconcerting as many of the 9/11 hijackers were in the San Diego phone book under their real names which were also on suspected terrorist lists.

"Just 45 days after the September 11 attacks, with virtually no debate, Congress passed the USA PATRIOT Act. Many parts of this sweeping legislation take away checks on law enforcement and threaten the very rights and freedoms that we are struggling to protect. For example, without a warrant and without probable cause, the FBI now has the power to access your most private medical records, your library records, and your student records... and can prevent anyone from telling you it was done.

The Department of Justice is expected to introduce a sequel, dubbed PATRIOT II, that would further erode key freedoms and liberties of every American." From the American Civil Liberties Union.

2. Iraq- not much explanation needed here, to date 503 American troops have died because of Bush's aggressive foreign policy. In the coming months you will see more unrest as the people of Iraq call for direct national elections and the U.S. calls for a complicated caucus system. Already a majority of Iraqis favor a government that is run under traditional Islamic religious law, which undermines the democracy the U.S. will attempt to put in place. It will not be pretty, if the U.S. attempts to install a puppet regime as it has on countless other occasions. Not to mention Iraq is divided heavily between the Sunni, Shi'a and Kurdish peoples, although Saddam was a bastard he still kept these 3 extremely volatile sects from ripping each others head off. Mark my words 10 years from now Iraq will be more dangerous to the U.S. than it was when Saddam was in power, when an Islamic radical takes control as we have seen on numerous occasions in the middle east.

3.Osama Bin Laden-remember him? Odd how this man was not once mentioned in the President's State of the Union, did I miss something? or is this guy still out there plotting the next terrorist attack on the U.S., how does this make Bush suck? Well this was the man responsible for the 9/11 attacks and yet he remains free while our attention has been distracted to good old Saddam.

4. Tax Plan- I could go into a multi paged synopsis about his plan, but I'll keep it short and sweet. His plan favors the rich, the people who are in need of tax relief the least.

5. Prescription Drug Plan- This is great and extremely good legislation, if you're a CEO of a large Healthcare company, I however am not.

6. Environment- This is another topic in which I could go pages on, but again I'll keep it short. His cleverly named "Clear Skies" and "Healthy Forests" legislation are absolutely great, if you're a Corporation that pollutes and or a Logging company. "Clear Skies" rolls back the Clean Air Act and shields Corporations from damaging fines if they pollute.

7. Mars/Moon-What the hell? Boosh wants to spend billions on space exploration, when so many other programs of importance on Earth (specifically America) are neglected and underfunded, mmmmk.

8. Immigration policy- Well good old G.W.B wants to let Illegal Aliens become legal residents and obtain work permits. Again that is an awesome idea if you're a multinational corporation looking for nearly slave wage labor.

9. Abstinence Programs-Is this man insane? How about he give the money promoting Abstinence to programs that promote safe sex, because in reality who the hell practices Abstinence.

10. Same Sex Marriage- Being a heterosexual male that is quite secure, I see no reason why in the United States of America you cannot marry whoever the hell you want, is this not a supposedly free society? The President came out against this and I think it will come back to bite him in the ass.

Well, this is just my opinion on why Bush sucks, thank you have a nice day.

[Toxic::Joka]

Yea he does suck, but i like the mars plan...and the base on moon stuff too

[BFG]

Yeah, hell its not like there is anything more usefull that he could do with one trillian dollars is there.......

[tasty]

I'd prefer to just concentrate on the state of the union. Here are the most glaringly bad parts:

1. The part where he said America has the best health care system in the world. We don't. It's terrible.

2. The part where he talked about keeping kids of drugs and funding drug testing in schools

3. The part where he talked about steroid use in pro sports. Topicality, please.

4. The part where he talked about "family" and marriage and even threw out the idea of a constitutional amendment. This was the most offensive part to me.

5. The part where he wanted to make the tax cuts permanent, without mentioning the fact that either
a. the deficit will grow even more ridiculous
or
b. he will cut shitloads of programs

Also, his health ideas were awful.

So I don't sound all negative, he did an OK part defending his foreign policy decisions even if I don't agree with them. The domestic agenda however, was outrageous.

["Sixhits"]

4. The part where he talked about "family" and marriage and even threw out the idea of a constitutional amendment. This was the most offensive part to me.

I've been busy, so just a quick note in agreement:

Britnay Spears does more to destroy the sanctity of marriage than two gay men  putting rings on each other's fingers. Jeez, George, stop being such a hypocrite.

I mean, come on! One of the world's most high profile people got married on a lark in Vegas, while drunk, and then had the marriage annuled.

But no, it's the shitrammers that Bush is afraid of. (Well, perhaps not, it may just be the sort of voters he wants to attract are bigots and homophobs) What does gay marriage do to destroy marriage? Other than let human beings love each other in a formal way? Other than being equal protection to equal people, everwhere? Nothing. It does nothing but liberate.

This country is not so biased as to support a Constituional Ban on gay marriage. Indeed, the government tends to do a poor job when it tries to regulate social life: take for example the ammendment on booze and our war on drugs. Yah. We sure did a bang up job on both of those. Now, let's try and ruin the lives of decent people by making their love life and human passion officially Wrong. Gah! Bush you fucking fascist. When are the pink triangles coming out?

[BTs_GhostSniper]

After watching the State of the Union, I had a  realization that Bush will not be reelected. His rhetoric although effective on the less agile minded, did not posses the stinging potency to unify Americans behind his regime.

 Ten Reasons why Bush Sucks

1. The Patriot Act- In his State of the Union speech the President attempted to pass this act off as an invaluable tool  in the so called war against terrorism. This is somewhat disconcerting as many of the 9/11 hijackers were in the San Diego phone book under their real names which were also on suspected terrorist lists.

"Just 45 days after the September 11 attacks, with virtually no debate, Congress passed the USA PATRIOT Act. Many parts of this sweeping legislation take away checks on law enforcement and threaten the very rights and freedoms that we are struggling to protect. For example, without a warrant and without probable cause, the FBI now has the power to access your most private medical records, your library records, and your student records... and can prevent anyone from telling you it was done.

The Department of Justice is expected to introduce a sequel, dubbed PATRIOT II, that would further erode key freedoms and liberties of every American." From the American Civil Liberties Union.

2. Iraq- not much explanation needed here, to date 503 American troops have died because of Bush's aggressive foreign policy. In the coming months you will see more unrest as the people of Iraq call for direct national elections and the U.S. calls for a complicated caucus system. Already a majority of Iraqis favor a government that is run under traditional Islamic religious law, which undermines the democracy the U.S. will attempt to put in place. It will not be pretty, if the U.S. attempts to install a puppet regime as it has on countless other occasions. Not to mention Iraq is divided heavily between the Sunni, Shi'a and Kurdish peoples, although Saddam was a bastard he still kept these 3 extremely volatile sects from ripping each others head off. Mark my words 10 years from now Iraq will be more dangerous to the U.S. than it was when Saddam was in power, when an Islamic radical takes control as we have seen on numerous occasions in the middle east.

3.Osama Bin Laden-remember him? Odd how this man was not once mentioned in the President's State of the Union, did I miss something? or is this guy still out there plotting the next terrorist attack on the U.S., how does this make Bush suck? Well this was the man responsible for the 9/11 attacks and yet he remains free while our attention has been distracted to good old Saddam.

4. Tax Plan- I could go into a multi paged synopsis about his plan, but I'll keep it short and sweet. His plan favors the rich, the people who are in need of tax relief the least.

5. Prescription Drug Plan- This is great and extremely good legislation, if you're a CEO of a large Healthcare company, I however am not.

6. Environment- This is another topic in which I could go pages on, but again I'll keep it short. His cleverly named "Clear Skies" and "Healthy Forests" legislation are absolutely great, if you're a Corporation that pollutes and or a Logging company. "Clear Skies" rolls back the Clean Air Act and shields Corporations from damaging fines if they pollute.

7. Mars/Moon-What the hell? Boosh wants to spend billions on space exploration, when so many other programs of importance on Earth (specifically America) are neglected and underfunded, mmmmk.

8. Immigration policy- Well good old G.W.B wants to let Illegal Aliens become legal residents and obtain work permits. Again that is an awesome idea if you're a multinational corporation looking for nearly slave wage labor.

9. Abstinence Programs-Is this man insane? How about he give the money promoting Abstinence to programs that promote safe sex, because in reality who the hell practices Abstinence.

10. Same Sex Marriage- Being a heterosexual male that is quite secure, I see no reason why in the United States of America you cannot marry whoever the hell you want, is this not a supposedly free society? The President came out against this and I think it will come back to bite him in the ass.

Well, this is just my opinion on why Bush sucks, thank you have a nice day.

Okay, my turn

Sorry to disappoint you, but Bush will be re-elected.  The very short reason for this is that the vast majority of the people of this country DO NOT trust the Democrats on National Defense.  For that one reason alone, no Democrat will be elected President in 2004.

Okay, now for your points....

1.  Just what key freedoms and liberties have you lost?  There is NO difference in my life since the passing of the Patriot Act.  If this is something that scares you, maybe you should take a look at what you are doing wrong....cause those are the only people who should be scared by the Patriot Act.

2.  I love this one....how Saddam kept these 3 volatile sects in line.  Any clue how he accomplished this?  How about mass murder, rape, torture, and imprisonment.  Guys, you have got to stop believing that Saddam was some kind of Saint.  And, 503 American troops have died.  Yes, and some of them were friends of mine.  And guess what, they died doing what they believed in....namely giving FREEDOM to those that have never known it.  I love how people who have never served in the Military throw around our dead as a statistic.

3.  As for Osama....we will get him.  Just like we got Saddam when nobody said we would....

4.  His plan favors the rich???  Just who the hell do you think PAYS most of the taxes???  I'm sick and tired of everyone thinking that the rich should have to pay a higher percentage of their income in taxes than anyone else!  Hell, I'm far from being rich, and I get taxed to DEATH!  The tax cuts that he has put forth have helped my family out a great deal (and I'm just a middle-class family of 3 with one person in the house working).

5.  The Democrats blasted Bush like crazy for not having a Prescription Drug Plan for Medicare.....and now that he gives them one, they gotta find reasons to blast him for doing it....heaven forbid he does something that Democrats have wanted to do for years.  The Democrats are just pissed that he is taking all of their steam away.

6.  Please, would everyone just get off the environmental band-wagon a moment.  If you are so worried about the environment, then you need to sell your car and/or never buy one again, sell that Macintosh that is using up excess energy, and stop using electricity all together.  Until you stop creating polution, you have no right to dictate anything.

7.  Bush didn't even mention the Mars thing in his State of the Union Address.

8.  Ahh, the Immigration thing.....another thing that Democrats are pissed off about because THEY wanted to do it first!

9.  Heaven forbid kids practice abstinence before marriage.  I'm sick and tired of seeing 12 year old girls getting pregnant.

10.  Sorry again, my morale values tell me that Marriage was created by GOD to be between a man and a woman.


Peace.

-GhostSniper Out.

[BFG]

Just a few bushism's for the fun of it

? "Security is the essential roadblock to achieving the road map to peace."
?''I know what I believe. I will continue to articulate what I believe and what I believe?I believe what I believe is right."
?"More and more of our inports are coming from abroad"
?"Rarely is the question asked: Is our children learning?"
?"The fact that he relies on facts...says things that are not factual...are going to undermine his campaign."
?"There's an old saying in Tennessee?I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee?that says, fool me once, shame on?shame on you. Fool me?you can't get fooled again."
?"When I was coming up, it was a dangerous world, and you knew exactly who they were. It was us vs. them, and it was clear who them was. Today, we are not so sure who the they are, but we know they're there."
?"The most important job is not to be governor, or first lady in my case."
?"It's clearly a budget. It's got a lot of numbers in it"
?"I think we agree, the past is over."
? "Our country puts $1 billion a year up to help feed the hungry. And we're by far the most generous nation in the world when it comes to that, and I'm proud to report that. This isn't a contest of who's the most generous. I'm just telling you as an aside. We're generous. We shouldn't be bragging about it. But we are. We're very generous."
? "The war on terror involves Saddam Hussein because of the nature of Saddam Hussein, the history of Saddam Hussein, and his willingness to terrorize himself."


Awh its just so easy.. there are just thousands of them

[MainMaN]

I think hes a great president you guys over kill everything.

I mean, the only mistake i didnt like was the crusades speech.  

[PsYcO aSsAsSiN]

7. Mars/Moon-What the hell? Boosh wants to spend billions on space exploration, when so many other programs of importance on Earth (specifically America) are neglected and underfunded, mmmmk.

Honestly, I cannot believe that you are saying this. Do you really think that if we cut back on space exploration and the new frontier, we would really solve the problems we have here on Earth, much less the United States? COrrect me if I am wrong, but looking back on fiscal year 2002, a total of $14.5 billion was spent on NASA while a total of $1.3 trillion was spent on social programs (health care, education, etc.). Do you think by slashing the entire NASA budget (if given to social programs, it represents a whopping 1% rise in spending) we would be doing humanity a favor?

It is human nature to expand beyond the borders as we know them. It is reasonable to think that a lunar base will expand our ability to explore deep space due to it's low gravitational pull and abundance of a perfect fusion fuel, H₃.

The question you have to ask yourself before posting this stupid is this: Is putting a mere band-aid on today's problems worth mortgaging the potential futire of humanity? What would the world be like today if we took your thinking and applied it to all the great expeditions that have occured?

[c| Spetsnaz.]

1.  Just what key freedoms and liberties have you lost?  There is NO difference in my life since the passing of the Patriot Act.  If this is something that scares you, maybe you should take a look at what you are doing wrong....cause those are the only people who should be scared by the Patriot Act.

 1. Any freedom that is infringed upon by the government deserves opposition, this is the first step in the extinction of personal privacy.

2.  I love this one....how Saddam kept these 3 volatile sects in line.  Any clue how he accomplished this?  How about mass murder, rape, torture, and imprisonment.  Guys, you have got to stop believing that Saddam was some kind of Saint.  And, 503 American troops have died.  Yes, and some of them were friends of mine.  And guess what, they died doing what they believed in....namely giving FREEDOM to those that have never known it.  I love how people who have never served in the Military throw around our dead as a statistic.

2. No one thinks Saddam is a saint, but ruthless dictators like him come a dime a dozen. Im sorry to break it to you, but they died for oil. Ha, if people like myself did not bring up such statistics then the dead would all too soon be forgotten. The DOD won't even allow press at the return of the coffins for PR purposes, now that is in my opinion the most disgraceful thing you could do to the fallen. I will not forget.

3.  As for Osama....we will get him.  Just like we got Saddam when nobody said we would....

3.Thats super, but for now he is utilizing his CIA training to plan the next attack on the U.S. while we have our thumbs up our ass in Iraq.

4.  His plan favors the rich???  Just who the hell do you think PAYS most of the taxes???  I'm sick and tired of everyone thinking that the rich should have to pay a higher percentage of their income in taxes than anyone else!  Hell, I'm far from being rich, and I get taxed to DEATH!  The tax cuts that he has put forth have helped my family out a great deal (and I'm just a middle-class family of 3 with one person in the house working).

4. Everyone will always complain about Taxes. I find it interesting that this President has received hardly any criticism for racking up the largest defecit in history. As for the rich, well fuck the rich.

5.  The Democrats blasted Bush like crazy for not having a Prescription Drug Plan for Medicare.....and now that he gives them one, they gotta find reasons to blast him for doing it....heaven forbid he does something that Democrats have wanted to do for years.  The Democrats are just pissed that he is taking all of their steam away.

5. Typical right wing response. Im not a hardcore democrat, just someone who sees the injustice of taking advantage of the weak, and giving to those who are motivated by greed.

6.  Please, would everyone just get off the environmental band-wagon a moment.  If you are so worried about the environment, then you need to sell your car and/or never buy one again, sell that Macintosh that is using up excess energy, and stop using electricity all together.  Until you stop creating polution, you have no right to dictate anything.

6. Ok, that has to be the most elementary argument I've ever heard.

7.  Bush didn't even mention the Mars thing in his State of the Union Address.

7. Musta thrown in the anti-steroids thing instead.

8.  Ahh, the Immigration thing.....another thing that Democrats are pissed off about because THEY wanted to do it first!

8. May I ask where you get your inside information of the Democratic parties political strategy?

9.  Heaven forbid kids practice abstinence before marriage.  I'm sick and tired of seeing 12 year old girls getting pregnant.

9. That's Harve's fault.

10.  Sorry again, my morale values tell me that Marriage was created by GOD to be between a man and a woman.

10. The GOD argument is hardly academic, my Patriotic values tell me that this is the land of the free.

7. Mars/Moon-What the hell? Boosh wants to spend billions on space exploration, when so many other programs of importance on Earth (specifically America) are neglected and underfunded, mmmmk.

Honestly, I cannot believe that you are saying this. Do you really think that if we cut back on space exploration and the new frontier, we would really solve the problems we have here on Earth, much less the United States? COrrect me if I am wrong, but looking back on fiscal year 2002, a total of $14.5 billion was spent on NASA while a total of $1.3 trillion was spent on social programs (health care, education, etc.). Do you think by slashing the entire NASA budget (if given to social programs, it represents a whopping 1% rise in spending) we would be doing humanity a favor?

It is human nature to expand beyond the borders as we know them. It is reasonable to think that a lunar base will expand our ability to explore deep space due to it's low gravitational pull and abundance of a perfect fusion fuel, H₃.

The question you have to ask yourself before posting this stupid is this: Is putting a mere band-aid on today's problems worth mortgaging the potential futire of humanity? What would the world be like today if we took your thinking and applied it to all the great expeditions that have occured?

I say fuck the Moon and Mars lets go straight to Uranus.

[Typhy]

I think hes a great president you guys over kill everything.

I mean, the only mistake i didnt like was the crusades speech.  

Mainman, pull your head out of Bush's ass. There's not enough room beside GhostSniper's.

1.? Just what key freedoms and liberties have you lost?? There is NO difference in my life since the passing of the Patriot Act.? If this is something that scares you, maybe you should take a look at what you are doing wrong....cause those are the only people who should be scared by the Patriot Act.

The Patriot Act infringes on the rights and expectations associated with being an American. The Patriot Act was a rushed attempt to make American citizens feel safer in their contry after 9/11, regrettably, it's done the exact oposite.

 2.) Democracy in the middle east is an idealistic response to a bad situation. Ideally, the different ethnic groups in the middle east would come together and unite to form democratic govornments. Then again, ideally, the world will be a place free of terrorism and sadists. Neither is going to happen in the immediate future, or even in 10-20 years. As weapons technology expands, the major world super powers ( America and it's allies ) will have to accept the ability of terrorists to aquire weapons of mass destruction with ease. I'm not saying negotiate with terrorists. Far from it. I'm saying don't create more terrorists than already exist.

503 US Soldiers dead. Put yourself in the shoes of an Iraqi for a moment. There are foreign soldiers patrolling the streets of your home town. Each day, they conduct raids on buildings, taking prisioners - most of who will be released after they're deemed innocent. You see 3 humvies pull up to your house, soldiers jump out and kick in the door. You've got an AK-47 next to you. What are you going to do? Let them take people from your family away? Hell no.

The resistance in Iraq won't be stopped by raids, or capturing key resistance leaders. In fact, in most cases, such activities will just provolk more resistance. If there are an infinite amount of people willing to give their lives up trying to take yours, you won't win by force in such cases. That's common sense.

What'd we go to war in Iraq for? To remove the threat posed by non existant weapons of mass destruction? The Bush administration is now leaning towards the "liberation" approach. Personally, I'd feel a hell of a lot safer under a stable govornment ( Saddam's govornment was horrible, but it was stable, and the living conditions for the average Iraqi weren't bad ), than with the American forces there.

Ok, enough about Iraq.

3.) In my opinion, Osama Bin Laden isn't nearly as big of a threat as he was in 2001 ( i.e., before the US invasion of Afganastan ). Afganastan was the perfect place for Al Quida. He no longer has as good of places to train people, and let's face it, his forces were decimated in Afganastan. I'm not saying I don't want to see him caught, or that it's not important to catch him. Only that he's not nearly as much of a threat as he used to be, so I can understand the Bush administration wanting to concentrate it's military power elsewhere.

4.? His plan favors the rich? Just who the hell do you think PAYS most of the taxes? I'm sick and tired of everyone thinking that the rich should have to pay a higher percentage of their income in taxes than anyone else!

4.) GhostSniper, I've never understood that approach, perhaps you could enlighten me? Yes, the rich are the ones who pay the most taxes. That is how it should be. They can afford it. Look at it this way - who needs tax relief? Multimillionairs, or peoeple who are just barely getting by? Shouldn't the answer be obvious?

You pay for what you get. You want a good country to live in, you've gotta pay some taxes. The money has to come from somewhere .

I won't comment on his perscription drug plan, because I don't know much about it.

6.? Please, would everyone just get off the environmental band-wagon a moment.? If you are so worried about the environment, then you need to sell your car and/or never buy one again, sell that Macintosh that is using up excess energy, and stop using electricity all together.? Until you stop creating polution, you have no right to dictate anything.

Just, please, for a minute, pull your head out of your ass and think.

The idea is to minimize out pollution. As in don't pollute anymore than is necessary. I think you're smart enough to be able to reread what you said and notice how lame it sounds.

6. Environment- This is another topic in which I could go pages on, but again I'll keep it short. His cleverly named "Clear Skies" and "Healthy Forests" legislation are absolutely great, if you're a Corporation that pollutes and or a Logging company. "Clear Skies" rolls back the Clean Air Act and shields Corporations from damaging fines if they pollute.

Look at Bush's background. What does he care about the enviornment? I think that most people can agree that Bush's approach to enviornmental issues is "fuck the enviornment, I'll be dead by the time it gets TOO bad. . ."

7. Mars/Moon-What the hell? Boosh wants to spend billions on space exploration, when so many other programs of importance on Earth (specifically America) are neglected and underfunded, mmmmk.

I don't really have a problem with his space exploration plan, other than the fact that I think he showed his ignorance about such issues, and his goals involving Mars and completly unrealistic. Like Sin pointed out, the amount of money that NASA gets is insignificent compared to many other things. Looking at the potential of sending another mission to the moon could, like Sin pointed out, open up the potential for new energy methods.

9. Abstinence Programs-Is this man insane? How about he give the money promoting Abstinence to programs that promote safe sex, because in reality who the hell practices Abstinence.

Very few people, when at a party, are going to be thinking "I can't! She might get pregnant!" That's not something that runs through our heads. Schools and other youth events would be better off promoting safe sex - something that we might actually take note of.

10.? Sorry again, my morale values tell me that Marriage was created by GOD to be between a man and a woman.

I'm split on this issue. Part of me says that Marriage is something between a man and a women; that's what it is nothing more to it. However, another part of me says "why shouldn't gay people be entitled to the same rights as those of us who are straight?" They're born without access to the same rights as us.

[PsYcO aSsAsSiN]

I say fuck the Moon and Mars lets go straight to Uranus.

Very mature, I doubt the "Uranus" comment was a coincidence. Come back to me with a real argument and I might not ignore your posts in the future. Just because you don't agree with something doesn't mean you should to ignore it, rather, you should take into consideration why someone else thinks that way and try and counter their points like I did with you.

Added: The flaming was deleted from the thread by me. Anymore unconstructive flames will get a warning and multiple warnings will get you a ban.

[c| Spetsnaz.]

I say fuck the Moon and Mars lets go straight to Uranus.

Very mature, I doubt the "Uranus" comment was a coincidence. Come back to me with a real argument and I might not ignore your posts in the future. Just because you don't agree with something doesn't mean you should to ignore it, rather, you should take into consideration why someone else thinks that way and try and counter their points like I did with you.

Added: The flaming was deleted from the thread by me. Anymore unconstructive flames will get a warning and multiple warnings will get you a ban.

PsYcO, Twas a joke, In my opinion the potential future of humanity is on this earth. Although the space endeavors have given us countless technological innovations (tempurpedic mattress, tang ect..) perhaps we should focus on improving life in the very world in which we inhabit. 1 in 6 children, 1 in 10 families, 1 in 8 individuals and 1 in 10 seniors live in poverty. To me this is unacceptable. The President however neglects these fundamental social issues. Space exploration is inevitable for human kind, however it sickens me to know the very infrastructure in which this country is built upon is crumbling, and companies are exporting jobs over seas in extreme numbers and we want to allocate monetary funds for further space exploration. I wonder who is going to make the rockets that send us to Mars and the Moon? Lockheed Martin perhaps? or Raytheon? Whichever makes little difference, I will support further space exploration as soon as our country gets its priorities straight. Will it choose the people or will it choose monetary proliferation? I fear the latter, but time will only tell. I apologize for my "Uranus" comment, if you found it offensive.

[Cossack]

I like how Bush is not even a real conservative. Remeber 2000? I sure do, he ran on the platform of small government. The government now is much larger than Clinton's government, and these arent even organs to help people, they are organs to control people. With the expansion of the government he drastically cuts taxes and then he proposes a Mars program. This wont be done on his administration because many legislators in his party objected to the massive amount of spending that it would require along with the excessive security.

Go to Mars and establish a Moon base. It will be a testament to the might of humanity just as the moon landing and Yuri Gagarin's flight around the earth. However, we should prepare for it and save up for it, not make the tax cuts permanent.

[c| Lone-Wolf]

I 'm going to avoid getting into the entire debate, but one thing that struck me, was his section about the whole abstinance programs, drug education programs, standardized testing, and the anti-steroid business.  Just keep in mind im currently a senior in highschool, and granted, it is just one section of society (a fairly well off area is sending kids to the highschool, so im not seeing the conditions youd see in the heart of a major city like NYC or Chicago) but either way...

To kick it off, I think Typhy said it the best.  When the opportunity presents itself, the last thing in your mind is "gee, i wonder if she will get pregnant."  I dont know from personal experience (yes, blast me if you want, im abstaining by personal choice, not by what some educational program taught )  I know this from interacting with a group of people who are proud to not abstain (as you would expect with many teenage males) the point im trying to get across with this one is, it doesnt matter how much you tell people this, douse them with educational programs and what-not, i can garuntee you, from having point blank views of the age-group he is hoping to change, it wont make a lick of difference (no pun intended).

Moving on, the drug education thing is pretty much the same, and again, a warning, most people at my highschool are intelligent enough to avoid the major drugs (X, Acid, Meth, etc) but, i personally dont think that is what he was saying in his speech.  What i think he was saying, is that law enforcement should crack down on weed, or whatever you want to call it.  This however, would be even more pointless than the abstinance education.  I can go through my entire senior class, and count on just my two hands, how many people, myself included, do not drink or smoke dope on an almost weekly, if not daily, basis.  The only way to bring down substance abuse in the teenage population in this country, is to make the penalty for even being in possession, so harsh, that it would be too much a risk to smoke.  However, even with that in place, two more huge changes would have to happen.  First, police would have to be much more observant and in-tune with the happenings of their area, where the parties are, who the dealers are, and also being able to find the grow rooms etc.  In the state of Washington, in particular the Pacific-Northwest, where I happen to live, you have, roughly, a 1 in 10 chance of being caught growing marijuanna plants.  In addition, by growing about 15-20 plants, one could, according to a documentary (which is very recent) make about 50,000 a year.  With no income tax, etc.  Youre going to have to spend astranomical ammounts of cash to make it more dangerous to grow it, than it is to get caught.  Plus, youll have to provide all the extra prison space for the flood of new inmates.  Good luck with all the tax cuts pulling that off.

Ah yes, next up: Standardized Testing! Boooo hiss!
Now, this may be slightly biased, because im a student, but here we go.
Ok, i dont remember the exact words, but essentially, Bush said standardized testing helps keep everybody on a generally even level of education, so that anyone who is getting left behind, will be noticed and helped back up to speed.  A pitty that isnt QUITE how it works.  How it works, in Washington at least, if there is a major deficiency in scores (this is in reference to the standard, 1st 4th 7th and 10th grade tests that all states now give) in one school, be it in people just passing, or in one area in particular (note, there are only two areas, verbal and math, completely excluding science, history, and everything else, making the test quite faulty right there) the school gets looked over by the state, or county, or whatever.  That means that job in-security for teachers goes through the roof, since if parents have been recently complaining about a teacher, for whatever reason, they can then get the boot.   Not only this, when the cause is found, almost always being due to tremendous class sizes, or lack of funding, the schools get reprimanded, and, surprise, get no more extra funding.  Zero.  Zip.  Zilch.  Nadda.  So the kids that are falling behind, come 2007 in Washington, do not graduate until they pass the standardized test, or WASL (in Washington.)  So there they sit, in highschool, unable to get extra help because of lack of more funding, but just re-cycling in the school system, being generally un-productive, when they could be out in the workforce, but are being held back by a standardized test that barely tests anything.  Now, im not saying they make some, month long testing marathon in which every subject from A-Z be tested in depth, but i think it is foolish to try and assess someone's academic knowledge by asking them about 200 questions in two fields.  Like someone who is destined to be a mechanic.  Im not a car person, but last i checked, there werent alot of verbal, nor math skills, required to being a mechanic that could fix just about everything that could go wrong with a car.  But that person could be stuck until theyre 21 in the school system because of this standardized test, when they could be out making a pretty hefty salary.  Sounds like a good idea to me.

Now, i think this last one really speaks for itself.  How many of you, as a result of hearing about a sports jock using steroids, started shooting up.  Cmon, lets have a show of hands please.  Oh, nobody? Well thats a su-oh wait, this isnt a "Steroids Anonymous" meeting, this is the STATE OF THE FREAKING UNION ADDRESS!!!!!!! Sorry, wrong building.  

*rings a bell* ok everybody, back at each other's throats!!

Lone-Wolf

[MainMaN]

Good job, ty. you really got me there  

[Cossack]

THE IMMIGRATION ISSUE

Rarely do I side with Pat Buchanan, but what Bush wants to do in his immigration policy is just flat out wrong. He wants to take away jobs from higher charging Americans and want to give them to desperate illegal aliens that will work for barely nothing at all. Any dumbass knows that companies exist to make profit. So if you have an American worker that wont work below $8.00 an hour and an illegal immigrant from the Central Plateau of Mexico that is willing to work for $5.50 an hour, who are you going to pick to make your buisness more profitable?
This decreases the employment rate of American citizens and legal aliens. Aren't they the people the government should be representing? Now, if these immigrants are willing to work for such low wages, they should enter the country leagaly and apply for a work visa, and then be eligible for hiring.
       Now, how about the lack of security. I know, I know I sound like a hypocrite, because in my last post I said there was excessive security. I should clarify that we are investing in the wrong sectors in security, we are investing in citizen surveillance. Look at our borders! They are about as pourous as the Iraq-Iran border. How can you tell that the immigrants coming over arent Al Queda. Put a Punjabi in a poncho and you wont even be able to recognize him from a Mexican. Dont say the government does not have the resources to adequatley patrol the border either.
      My homecountry, the Russian Federation has an extreamly tight border, and the longest borders ever. They have to patrol from Sochi on the Black Sea all the way across the endless steppes of Siberia to Vladivostock on the Pacific. The southern fronteir is one of the most secure borders in the world considering it length and Russia has less man power and less financial resources than the United States. If a bunch of drunk and hairy Russians such as myself can do, then you Americans can do it.
                                  THE GRAND ALLY OF ESTONIA

      I like how Bush boasts about his grand new coalition in Iraq with all the international help he gets. Oh no! Buckle down Abdul! The Estonians are coming!!
Not to put down the nations that do endorse him, but they are economicaly and diplomaticaly insignificant countries. Estonia pop 1.5 million is about the size of Austin, Texas in land area and people, not to mention the many other small European countries simillar to them. What Bush has done is alienate ourselves from other more influencial and benificial European Allies most notably Germany who is an economic and diplomatic power to be reckoned with. They make cars and pharmecuticals from the Ruhr, develop machine tools, and hold many finances in their banks. All Estonia does is export a few barrels of Oil Shale from their beaches around P?rn?.
       Apart from our allies he angered some of our competitors. With his invading of Iraq he has disgruntled the leaders of China along with Vladimir Putin and the Duma. I dont need to tell you how valuble a trade partner those two nation, especialy China are.

*will spell check later

[Noto]

Ten Reasons why Bush Sucks

Reason number 11.  If you can't pronounce the word 'Nuclear' correctly, then you shouldn't be the "leader of the free world".  I mean come on.  Nucular?  Who says that?

Also, being that I am a teacher, I find it quite disturbing that our Federal government has spent more money on education in Afghanistan and Iraq than it has on our own schools in the United States.

Here are some scary facts:

1.   The Department of Defense budget was 312 Billion dollars this past year.  It was considerably less for education.

2.   The Federal government of the United States contributes only 8% of all money spent on education in the entire country.  The other 92% comes from the States.

3.   According to the Coalition for Juvenile Justice and many other organizations and reports,

In the adult criminal system, 82 percent of prison inmates dropped out of high school.

 Hmm, you do the math folks.  Perhaps we should concentrate of giving our children the education they deserve instead of ear marking billions of dollars into a fucking moon base or exploring Mars.  (Please take me seriously about this moon base thing even though I used the word 'fucking'.  Normally, you should not use expletives when rationally discussing topics, but it's a fucking moon base.)

Final thought:

Bush will most likely be re-elected due to the simple fact that the Democratic party is literally tearing themselves apart, and on television no less.  Plus, if any independent candidates run, they will probably run on platforms more closely aligned with Democrats since the Republicans are going to try to put the same guy back into office.  If the Independents try to resemble Republicans, which they sometimes do, they will simply be overlooked as they usually are.  Another reason why Bush will most likely be re-elected is that Democratic voters might be disenfranchised and will not vote at all.  Bush could possibly win the presidency again merely due to the lack of Democratic votes.

One of the largest issues that I wish would be resolved, by either party, instead of being talked about is definitely education.  Education is the key to everything else in our world today.  Unless you want a bunch of mindless citizens who can't graduate high school and then end up in jail.

.::|N| Noto

[Noto]

4. The part where he talked about "family" and marriage and even threw out the idea of a constitutional amendment. This was the most offensive part to me.

But no, it's the shitrammers that Bush is afraid of.

I have a question here.  What would happen if homosexual marriages were allowed at all levels?  Well, I think the biggest fear is not a bunch of "shitrammers" leering at your children or giving you a slap on the ass in the office.  I think the biggest fear must be some sort of financial hooblah.  Being married has a lot of financial strings attached, some bad, but many good.  It just seems that since the United States is more caught up with capitalism rather than religion or morality, I believe this issue of homosexual marriage is somehow related to money.  Does anyone else agree with this view?  I just can't believe that Americans in general would really care if homosexuals were married.  It's "big business" that's problem from where I'm standing.

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[Noto]

4.) GhostSniper, I've never understood that approach, perhaps you could enlighten me? Yes, the rich are the ones who pay the most taxes. That is how it should be. They can afford it. Look at it this way - who needs tax relief? Multimillionairs, or peoeple who are just barely getting by? Shouldn't the answer be obvious?

You pay for what you get. You want a good country to live in, you've gotta pay some taxes. The money has to come from somewhere

Well, I half agree and half disagree.  I agree that the "rich" pay most of the taxes, because just percentage wise, the rich will always end up "paying" more.  Frankly, I would like to see across the board tax percentages.  Different taxes for different incomes hasn't worked very well ever since it was implemented.  Perhaps it's time to try something new.

Now here is where I disagree.  The rich are usually rich for one very big reason.  They worked for it and they earned it.  If I was a rich man (No fiddler jokes please), I would be pissed that the government would want to tax me at a higher rate than some schmoe making 12k a year.  Perhaps that window washer should stop bitching about how much they are being taxed and get an extra job, or a different job.  Everyone has choices, even if they don't seem feasible.  Basically, the rich earn what they make (for the most part), and I do not think the government has the right to take advantage of these hard working Americans.  Why do you think so many of them get offshore accounts and use the Swiss bank?

I think we all can agree (Americans) that our tax system is very screwed up due mostly to its complexity.  But, the system is very large and complex.  There's no way to "fix" it completely.  The only thing that can be done is to patch it up as time goes by, but for every item you "fix", another one rises in its place.

.::|N| Noto