The US election process explained in < 2.5mins

pdwyer · Post by **pdwyer** » Mon Jan 07, 2008 1:12 am

I read the wikipedia articles on the canditates, I like Obama the best. I think he might have a challenge being only 46 but he'd have my vote.

Huckabee looks kind of scary to me, if Bush just mouthed the religious line to get votes then Huckabee lives it.

The next election looks to really be polarised even though they all talk about red and blue unity.

thefool · Post by **thefool** » Thu Oct 09, 2008 3:26 pm

Is mcCain senile? Or is Putin really the president of germany?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfealLrW ... re=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEtZlR3z ... re=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WI0iIOqPGak

SFSxOI · Post by **SFSxOI** » Thu Oct 09, 2008 5:21 pm

Lets face it, McCain and Obama both have good ideas and bad ideas. Even President Bush has good ideas and bad ideas. On the economy, one wants to spend the money now and not worry about the future and the other wants to not spend the money now to have it in the future. On the war, one wants to pull out now thus bringing our troops home but leave no controls in place and the other wants a slow withdrawal with leaving controls in place. On other issues, one wants to dream and the other wants to do.

None of their good ideas are really either good or bad. I don't think Obama is facing reality when he says no taxes as that is simply not going to happen plain and simple as there is no where else for the money to come from. I don't think McCain is facing reality by not having a solid tax plan in place. Joe Biden gives me the creeps and reminds me of a used car salesman, Palin makes me comfortable but sometimes gives a "no one is home" signal.

Obama talks in dream like concepts, and McCain talks of solid concepts but doesn't tell us how we get from point A to Point B. Joe Biden talks like he has dreams of being president (in a way) and Palin talks like a practical person.

If we could combine them all into one person and elect that person then we would probably get something done.

The problem with government is that it has become too complicated for the people to understand and has become split along party lines. We no longer elect a president, we elect a party.

Personally, if Ronald Regan were still around and could run again i'd vote for him.

I really admired Regan some what, I actually got to meet him a few times while he was president. I've had the opportunity to meet six presidents actually, Nixon, Carter, Regan, Clinton, both the Bush's. I met them as part of their protection details while I was still in the military when they visited the various bases I was at, i've even been on Air Force One several times (toured it - its really fascinating - got the T shirt and every thing

). Nixon, when I met him, gave me an opinion of confidence but paranoia. Carter when I met him gave me an opinion of kindness but nervousness. Clinton when I met him gave me the opinion that I needed to go wash my hands and that he would break out the joke book at any minute and a lack of seriousness (strangely enough when i met Hillary she gave me the opinion of strength and conviction), however both Bill and Hillary had a distaste for the military and didn't mind letting us know it. Bush Sr when I met him gave me the opinion of strength but confused. The preset Bush when I met him gave me the opinion of strength but clueless. Regan when I met him gave me the opinion of strength, kindness, knowledge, understanding, confidence, compassion, and moral conviction, and an undying love of country. I even met McCain once several years ago, he gives me the opinion of dedication and knowledge but a little shy. Of all of them though i'd say I felt the most secure with Regan, I even met Mrs. Regan and a nicer person you will never meet. Mrs. Regan is like the best mother, best grand mother, angel of mercy and Mary Poppins all rolled into one, and a very intelligent, stong, and graceful woman with undying love for country and its people. I'd vote for Mrs. Regan if she ran, she wouldn't take any gruff off anyone at all and would make sure things were straight. The other First Lady's gave me the opinion they really didn't want to be there, except Ms. Carter as she was just a nice person who believed as her husband did. I've never met Obama.

I've also had the opportunity to meet a few other world leaders when they visited. I remember Margret Thatcher, liked her, shes got a good sense of humor and is very stong and confident person. I'd vote for her for president if she could run for office here. I remember the visit from Japan, I still get a christmas card and calendar from the Japanese Counsel General of Japan every year and an invitation every year to the Emperor's birthday party at the Japanese embassy in New orleans (they celebrate the emperors birthday at all the japanese embasies each year, he's not actually there. I have joked about showing up one time.). I even get their news letter every month. All because i got detailed once while in the military to the japanese body guard detail when they visited. Very nice people the Japanese, polite, smart, well aware of world events, up to date, and eager to join the world community in a more positive influence role.

thefool · Post by **thefool** » Thu Oct 09, 2008 6:39 pm

of dedication and knowledge

..the man doesn't know Czechoslovakia doesn't exist, and he thinks putin is the president of germany.. Maybe americans just have no clue whats going on around europe?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IW-yr3UYr_w

What makes me distaste him the most though..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WI0iIOqPGak

The impression you got of mccain is really the opposite of what we got in europe. To be honest, almost none like him around here.

Very nice people the Japanese, polite, smart, well aware of world events, up to date,

Yeah i like most japanese people. But don't judge the whole country because you met a few. I don't judge america to be full of idiots either.. That was not a stupid comment or anything, thats just the truth. Manyi've met was insanely convinced their country just rocked. If you visit it, you see the opposite. My friends told me horror stories about very poor and "blue"(as in sad) cities they visited. Obviously, this differs from place to place.

Maybe i'm just too used to northern europe heh.

i've met great americans too, of course.

One thing though, new york was a nice place to visit. And the people i met in the hasty visit was really nice and cool.

But you seem to judge people too fast. Don't think you always know whats underneath, especially if you're dealing with lurky and smart people. Its hard to tell whats going on inside you know. Sometimes bad surprises comes. sometimes good

SFSxOI · Post by **SFSxOI** » Thu Oct 09, 2008 6:47 pm

I didn't say i liked him, I just said thats the impression he gave me, and that was actually several years ago now. Things change. Actually your not unique in your thoughts because no one outside of the U.S. ever like any U.S. president or cadidate really.

Actually i'm not offering an opinion of Japan based upon that one meeting. I was stationed in Japan once, lived on the economy and in a japanese community. Its like any country, there are poor and the good and bad. When you look at a country for its value you have to look beyond what you see, you look to the spirit of the people as a whole.

thefool · Post by **thefool** » Thu Oct 09, 2008 6:49 pm

SFSxOI wrote:I didn't say i liked him, I just said thats the impression he gave me, and that was actually several years ago now. Things change. Actually your not unique in your thoughts because no one outside of the U.S. ever like any U.S. president or cadidate really.

You're wrong. Almost everybody likes Obama. We seem to have a shared opinion that he will be the best solution for your country right now. Clinton was also quite well-liked. I don't think i've heard any comments about Obama other than he is most likely the best candidate you've had in nummerous years

SFSxOI · Post by **SFSxOI** » Thu Oct 09, 2008 6:53 pm

Clinton was only well liked by those who could not see thru his smoke screen. The man is , well, actually 'greasy' is the best way I can put it. Sure he had his good points, but his foundation is rotten. He was like that when he was the Governor of Arkansas also. If it wasn't for Hillary he would have never been elected President, she was the brains behind it. One quality the man has is that he's able to pick out smart people to help him because he can't do it on his own. Clinton was liked by those outside the U.S because he was willing to give them what they wanted while with holding from the American people. Even with all this the man did have his strong points, one of which was the ability to make a point and act on it, so i'll give him that much.

I didn't say anything about either liking or not liking Obama really. But i'll say this, I know several hard line Democrats here locally who have told me that they will not vote for him because they are un-easy on a personal level with what he wants to do. These are Democrats that participate in everything to do with the democratic party. I personally will say this, and i believe it, if Obama is elected the economy will go down the tubes fully, inflation will rise (although I think unemployment will stabalize at some point), and I think he will be slapped around by the world hard liners like a two dollar whore on saturday night. He seems like a nice guy, but thats the problem, he wants to be a nice guy and everything is rainbows and lollipops. He is not tough enough to lead a country in a world like it is now.

thefool · Post by **thefool** » Thu Oct 09, 2008 7:04 pm

personally will say this, and i believe it, if Obama is elected the economy will go down the tubes fully, inflation will rise (although I think unemployment will stabalize), and i think he will be slapped around by the world hard liners like a two dollar whore on saturday night.

have you heard mccain speak about the economic situation?

And stop talking about whore's, its your economys fault they need to be 2$. Its already down the drain, it has been for a long time. Also before the bank crashes. Tons of poor people, tons of people with no health insurance. Your whole foundation just ...

You'll probably tell me i'm not enough into politics to say that. But i can tell you we have no 2$ whores around here, everybody goes to school, everybody has a chance. And everybody has free health care, no matter what their situation is.

SFSxOI · Post by **SFSxOI** » Thu Oct 09, 2008 7:09 pm

Yes, i've heard him speak, but have you really heard him speak?

I'll put it this way, there are many things that any of the candidates are and are not. And yes, I believe Obama will get treated like a $2 whore by the world hard liners, almost none of them like him already and the man is not even elected yet. I think especially Russia and North Korea will beat the man senseless, and then he will not deal with Iran effectively. His entire stragety is spend spend spend, then retreat and let someone else take the blame. His whole thing is that diplomacy can solve anything and when it can't give up and wait and see. Heck, even Clinton understood that diplomacy can't solve everything and so have past presidents. The reason people like him is because he's telling them what they want to hear instead of telling them what they need to hear.

Hmmmm...no its not my countries fault exactly. Its the banks fault, and everyone of those banks in the U.S. that are much publicized in this economic farcas were backed by banks in other countries who helped push them further then they should, even from Denmark. Its every ones fault.

thefool · Post by **thefool** » Thu Oct 09, 2008 7:50 pm

i'm not just talking about the current situation but how it has been for as long as i can remember. But true, i will not talk about these things. I don't have enough insight in your politics, i think its enough following it on a sideline. I'll just have to wait and see how it goes, no predictions from my side..

My only worry is that obama will be shot because he's black heh

thefool · Post by **thefool** » Thu Oct 09, 2008 8:25 pm

you gotta admit that he got style

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65I0HNvTDH4

the.weavster · Post by **the.weavster** » Thu Oct 09, 2008 8:59 pm

Tipperton wrote:Personally, I think we should abandon the electorial colege so that the next president is chosen purely by simply counting how many votes they got from the voting population.

This is because there have been times where the electorial college actually chose the loser of the election when only the number of votes recieved by the candidates is considered.

We have the same issue, in 2005 the Tories won the largest share of the vote in England, but not the largest number of seats.

Consecutive governments have also redrawn the boundaries between marginal seats and strongholds to improve their chances at the following election. I guess at least that's a stunt US politicians can't pull in a state by state model.

I would like to see a model more like Switzerland where you pay more taxes locally and get to vote on what they're spent on, maybe then being parted from my hard-earned wouldn't make me feel quite so murderous.

Kaeru Gaman · Post by **Kaeru Gaman** » Thu Oct 09, 2008 10:35 pm

@SFSxOI

congrats to your 1111th posting ...

SFSxOI · Post by **SFSxOI** » Fri Oct 10, 2008 3:00 pm

thefool wrote:i'm not just talking about the current situation but how it has been for as long as i can remember. But true, i will not talk about these things. I don't have enough insight in your politics, i think its enough following it on a sideline. I'll just have to wait and see how it goes, no predictions from my side..

My only worry is that obama will be shot because he's black heh

Yep, it has been with us for a long time. When I was a small kid we had the Cuban missle crisis, I remember the fear everyone had and noticed it even as a small kid, the threat was real. I was living in Miami Florida at the time, and i remember the costal batteries being set up and the actual mine fields layed on the beaches and seeing the troops travelling the streets. I remember my brother in law's six tours in Vietnam, then when i was old enough for military service I even had a brief stint of 180 days in Vietnam before the collapse and the end. I remember my parents telling me of their involvement in WWII, and I was born during the Korean war. I remember my military service during the cold war and up to the first few years of the current Iraq war and know exactly where I was on Sept 11th 2001 and saw those planes fly into the world trade center live on TV and immediately deployed my teams to protect the base I was on at the time taking us to a fully locked down and secured installation in less then 15 minutes, I recognized an attack when I saw it and didn't need to wait on orders to tell me we were at war, and thats kind of sad really because my whole life experience had instilled in me that sense to know where as my civilian associates continued on with their life. War and conflict has been affecting my whole life at some level. Now that i'm no longer in the military, the war still wages, the strife still wages, the poor are still here, but something different has happened, the world has fundamentally changed because now everything is global even our economy. The point is this; It will always be with us, but for the first time in all of this, this many years and the history of what has been, this election will determine and cement the fundamental course for the future and we have a unique chance to decide how things will be instead of things deciding for us.

Your opinion does matter even if you can't vote here. Your opinion does matter. Believe me, the opinion of the rest of the world does have an influence now a days. Good or bad, our destiny as a country, the destiny of all countries, is influenced by what goes on all over the world. Just take a look at how the economic crisis has affected the economy of other countries. President Bush, Senator's Obama and McCain are indeed listening to world opinion, although i'm in no way speaking for them I do realize they have no choice but to listen because I think they are pretty sure they know the rest of the world opinion and actions can affect their presidency. Although what you hear on the debates might not be an accurate representation of what people on an individual basis think should be done, what they say actually has a larger scope behind it and may seem dis-jointed or confused but its that way because it also takes into account the world effects it might have also. Its one reason I lean towards McCain more then Obama because Obama doesn't seem to have a larger world picture in what he says where as McCain (while people may not agree) does take into account the world picture.

I personally am of the opinion that we should take care of our own country (which Obama seems to portray more then McCain) before we worry about the rest of the world but I also realize that what we do affects the rest of the world. We all have an obligation to put leaders in office that have a view of the effects of the entire world. Isolationism is actually harmful in this world, even China realized that and is now joining the world community. I personally am opposed to the global thing in some aspects because there is too much of an effect if some other country wants to act foolish and stupid, but I also realize that without the rest of the world working together at some level that the world will not survive as we know it. So its important to side step the superficial and dig deeper to find out whats really going on.

So yes, your opinion, and the opinion of the rest of the world matters and is being listened to. And believe it or not it does have its effect on the outcome of the elections here in the U.S. It is important that you continue to voice your opinion, vitally important.

CherokeeStalker · Post by **CherokeeStalker** » Fri Oct 10, 2008 4:15 pm

thefool wrote:You're wrong. Almost everybody likes Obama. We seem to have a shared opinion that he will be the best solution for your country right now.

Do you really mean 'the best solution for other countries' ? It's not YOUR country - so it doesn't really matter what you think. We need to deal with our own problems here. Until then, if another country's populace wants to fight amongst themselves and slaughter each other, should helping them ( especially @ OUR cost - financial & otherwise ) be our top priority ? F*** THAT!