OT: US Pres election

[thejeff]

Yeah, I really don't get the couple of comments saying some variation on:
I don't vote or vote third party but I hope X wins.
Someone early one said voting for either was a waste, but McCain winning would prove how pathetic American voters are. Huh? How does that make sense?
If you want someone to win, vote for them.

And if you really do despise them both, look at your more local elections. You've got more influence there, since there are fewer other voters and those will often have at least as much influence on your life.

[licker]

Originally Posted by thejeff

Yeah, I really don't get the couple of comments saying some variation on:
I don't vote or vote third party but I hope X wins.
Someone early one said voting for either was a waste, but McCain winning would prove how pathetic American voters are. Huh? How does that make sense?
If you want someone to win, vote for them.

And if you really do despise them both, look at your more local elections. You've got more influence there, since there are fewer other voters and those will often have at least as much influence on your life.

Well if you were referring to me I didn't say that I hoped McCain will win, I said I think he is going to win.

I want someone to win, but I don't want that person to be either McCain or Obama, so I won't be voting for either one. The pathetic electorate will vote for them though, and one of them will win. Even though there is essentially no difference between the two of them in as far as having actual meaningful changes occur in washington.

And I agree, vote local first, which I do, but the topic of this thread is US Pres election afterall...

[thejeff]

You did say McCain winning would "show how pathetic the electorate has become", which implied to me that Obama winning would not.

[licker]

Originally Posted by thejeff

You did say McCain winning would "show how pathetic the electorate has become", which implied to me that Obama winning would not.

Indeed, but I made no real distinction between Obama and McCain. That statement was based on the democrats attacks on McCain as him being a pure continuation of the Bush administration.

As to global warming...

Well its out of the news now, and I'll give you one guess why (and it has nothing to do with the election).

[thejeff]

We are going deep towards flame-war territory here, but I'll risk another post.
True: abstinence is the only 100% sure way NOT to get AIDS.
Surprisingly, telling people not to have sex has remarkably little effect on their sex lives. Abstinence works. Abstinence only sex education doesn't. This is seen in the US with teen pregnancy rates rising again after 8 years of gutting actual sex education and pushing abstinence. Teaching it doesn't work.
I'm not touching the abortion issue at all.

Oddly the climate change hysteria seems to be strongest among climate scientists and weakest among oil company executives. Though even they are starting to come around. The biggest problem is that the effects seem to be happening even faster than the hysterical claims predicted. The unprecedented melting of both Arctic and Antarctic ice caps is just the most blatant evidence.

As for your PS- I've seen no such debunking. If you're going to call BS, I want a link. And to something at least as reputable as the major papers that have carried the story.

[Edi]

You guys want a thread on abortion, fine, we can have one. The "abortion is murder" argument straight up without qualifiers is idiocy of the highest order. As Trumanator said before, it is a matter of when the fetus starts gaining human rights and when those rights are weighty enough to overshadow the mother's right to make medical decisions about her own body.

But don't expect this to stay on topic if you keep making claims without any argumentation to back it up. Failure to pay the topic detailed attention and making pithy statements as if they were fact are one of the easiest guaranteed ways to get me to take the gloves off and bring out the brass knuckles.

Normally I'd bring a flamethrower, but gratuitous arson is generally frowned upon here.

[Trumanator]

Okay Edi, I'll try and keep the heat down :wink:

@SlipperyJim- I guess I should clarify that what bothers me about GW are the calls that we have to fix it now!now!now!, forget how much economic damage it will do. Its nice to know I'm not alone against the hordes though. (no offense intended to "the hordes", just saying I'm outnumbered.)

I didn't say abstinence only education was the one and only way to do things. Contraceptives don't work though if the teenagers want kids. I'll see if I can find the article, plus the one about the bogus rape kit story...

rape kit story: http://article.nationalreview.com/?q...UwZWYwNTVlMTQ= and before you impugn the source remember that the main stream media also reported the bull about Palin covering for her daughter's pregnancy.

contraceptives only work sometimes: http://article.nationalreview.com/?q...FjN2I5ZDk4Zjk=

National Review is a reputable magazine. You might disagree with its politics, but the stories are grounded in fact.

[Tifone]

I just would like to point out that Palin is also strongly opposed by Batman

Sorry, lil' joke Oh, wait, doesn't matter, someone is still gonna call it "liberal hatred"

Really enjoying the discussion here. I see really valid points from many of you guys (I took the freedom to "thank" the most worthy, they will be useful for me in future debates probably here overseas )

[quantum_mechani]

Originally Posted by Tifone

I just would like to point out that Palin is also strongly opposed by Batman

Wow, that pic is astoundingly creepy.

[Gandalf Parker]

Personally voting is fairly easy for me. I dont consider either party to be right ENOUGH to make too many changes. So I consider myself a "Toggle Party" member. Whoever has been making the laws for awhile, I vote the other direction. Give things a chance to balance out in the middle.