Poll: United States Presidential Election
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Actually we found all the WMDs we KNEW he had except the anthrax, including mustard, sarin, and cyclosarin gas, along with a few hundred tons of uranium (not bomb grade, but a nasty contaminant in a conventional dirty bomb.) What we didn't find were the WMDs we THOUGHT he had, those WMDs made after the first Gulf War. (They are actually the same war; the USA insisted on the right of any combatant to renew combat if Iraq violated the terms of the armistice that ended the fighting.)Do4600 post=18.71728.739553 said:
The reasons for that are anybody's guess. Some blame the Russian cargo flights and the truck convoys that went between Syria and Iraq in the weeks before the fighting was renewed. Some say he never had them and was just bluffing; some say he had them but destroyed them prior to the invasion. (Although it seems insane that Hussein would destroy his WMDs without allowing verification by the UN, thus removing Bush's strongest weapon in public opinion.) Others think Hussein was deceived by his own weapons scientists, since the price of failure was often torture and/or death. And some think they are still buried somewhere in the desert. We have dug up an operable Mig fighter and at least one centrifuge, after all.
Personally I think it's a combination of Hussein bluffing and exiled Iraqis lying and/or exaggerating to get him removed so they could come back home. If we have any evidence that the Russian flights were carrying WMDs we probably would have leaked it (intentionally or not) by now - probably they were carrying Russian property or things Russia sold Hussein in violation of the UN sanctions. They might even have been carrying bribes to obtain assistance from Syria in the event of an attack, or goods to trade to Syria for conventional war material. Allied signals intelligence did pick up commands to use WMDs, and the Iraqis had stockpiled massive amounts of WMD protective equipment, but those commands might easily have been given in desperation by men in no position to know if Hussein was bluffing.
I can't think of any reason he would destroy the newer, more potent WMDs whilst retaining the old stuff, just as much a violation but militarily much less useful. The two chemical weapons used that I can recall off the top of my head were obviously used by terrorists without much knowledge of chemical weapons; they used them as IEDs, but combined with massive explosives which guaranteed they would be virtually useless.
On the other hand, there was every reason for Hussein to hint that he had extensive stocks of WMDs, even though it would have been suicide for him to openly admit it. Having just disastrously lost two wars in a row, there were lots of disaffected people in Iraq with reason enough to want his head. Although WMDs (excepting nukes) are not particularly effective on a prepared military force, they are devastating to civilians. With a demonstrated willingness to use them on civilians, retaining any substantial stocks of WMDs made a widespread revolt suicide. Thus a coordinated whispering campaign to make the threats of WMDs credible, combined with buying the Russians, Chinese, Germans, and French with lucrative oil contracts and bribing the UN itself (remember the Oil for Food scandal?), was his best chance of walking the tight rope between being weak enough for Iraqis to overthrow and being strong enough for the US to intervene.
And it was working great until 9-11.
A. There is no way a Bob Barr or a Ron Paul would win the general election. I personally would love it if either of those 2 got in, but it's just not possible, so I feel it would be a waste of my vote to put it to either of them.Slycne post=18.71728.735697 said:
B. Yeah, there's a lot of people fed up with both parties (myself included), but the numbers throughout history show that people don't really care.
C. The Democrats have had control of the legislative branch for about a year and a half, I find it hard to believe anyone can expect a massive amount of reform in that short time period.
On topic: I'm a Ron Paul supporter at heart, but I'm voting Obama, because he is the lesser of the two evils, and my candidate doesn't have half a chance of getting even 1 state.
You really think that Obama is an underdog? He's a media darling! I have serious doubts that john mccain is going to win.kanyatta post=18.71728.739649 said:
Edit: And for those of you who really do think Obama's an underdog...
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5ijClHoidEl8XEJMJoUooHU1R_nmgD939B4880
The poll shows a 48-46 split with a two percent margin of error. That's as close as you can possibly get.
A few months ago I would have agreed with you. But now I have hope. Obama might be a good leader, but with the people he surrounds himself with I seriously doubt it. I think McCain could actually be potentially a good leader. He has had Military Experience (It should be required to have Military(prefered active duty and possibly war time) experience before you are in a position to send kids to their deaths.)Mistah Kurtz post=18.71728.739872 said:
I agree with Kurtz, he is got a good chance of failure because how much the Media has been hitting him. But then again the Media has been crap for all of my life sooo... who really knows.
Personal Note: Colin Powell should be our first African-America President because he such a freaking BAD ASS.
He never said that Obama was an underdog, just Ron Paul. Kurtz, you're an intelligent guy, you stand up for what you believe in, and I respect you for that. However, you seem to have a habit of mis-understanding what people post. I've done that myself a few times, maybe you're just having an off day, but you seem to be doing it a lot lately.Mistah Kurtz post=18.71728.739872 said:
Does it really matter who wins? The "free" media holds all the power anyway, I mean if you posted a poll here for "Was Weapons of Mass Destruction found in Iraq?", the majority of of people would vote yes.
When you look into the Florida recounts a lot of really messed up things come to light. Such as the enforcement of an old law stopping convicted felons from voting, except they decided that convicted felons means "Anyone who shares a first and last name with anyone of their same ethnicity who was a felon at any point in the history of time". As such hundreds of people had their votes taken away. Mostly among poorer predominately black neighborhoods who had polled reliable democratic. (The data company paid to make the list of "felons" was told to ignore factors such as birthdate, middle name, and whether that felon was already DEAD)Mistah Kurtz post=18.71728.738885 said:
Also the Republicans came out against hand recounts saying they were unreliable, or a waste of time. When in fact they themselves had promoted a recount in Texas saying that "a hand recount is the surest and most accurate method of finding the results". They did a 180 when they found out that the hand recount would have given the election to Gore. They also threw out hundreds more ballots for being indented, Even though it was clear which candidate they had voted for the design of the ballots made it nearly impossible to punch the hole after a few people had already used the box.
The sheer amount of corruption that has come to light after the election is staggering. The Republicans stole the election. Gore should have won, he might be a douchebag, but he should have won.
Hey guys all of you people that were talking about free healthcare being better.
I was talking to a doctor a real doctor at a real doctors office and she said that Canadian healthcare sucks and that it would not work in America.
Says she'll get payed less; there will be huge waits at medical centres; taxes will sky-rocket and the government will screw up our paper work. (also says she would not vote if not for Palin)
I was talking to a doctor a real doctor at a real doctors office and she said that Canadian healthcare sucks and that it would not work in America.
Says she'll get payed less; there will be huge waits at medical centres; taxes will sky-rocket and the government will screw up our paper work. (also says she would not vote if not for Palin)
The Great Barrier Reef is dying from the rising acidity in the ocean. Acid rain comes from pollution which with some common sense leads me to believe pollution is causing the rising acidity. The reef contains and supports about 75% of ocean life. To assume that pollution doesn't have a negative affect on our planet shows you don't think. People that call it global warming are only half right, it should be called climate change. When it gets hotter it also gets colder. So stop calling it global warming and maybe the stupid people will stop arguing it doesn't exist. As for ethanol it is the dumbest solution I have ever heard, we should stop producing it right now. My reasoning for that is it's just another form of oil. Oil comes from plants and animals that were trapped underground. So using plants to make oil is just skipping a step. Eventually there won't be any nutrients left for us to grow food! All we are doing is raising the price of food with gas. Wind good, water okay, solar is by far the best idea. The only problem is it's a one time purchase which means there are no massive profits to be made, if you see that as a problem. Those that think it's too expensive must not know about the solar panels produced by Honda-Soltec. They only cost about a grand because they are not made of silicon which is the reason all the other one's are so expensive. With those and an electric car most problems would be solved. Now why we argue over anything I mentioned is ridiculous. We have the technology so why don't we use it. Maybe just maybe it's not too late to make a difference. i just saw earlier their video clips in pollclash and thats why i made this comment.. you can see the video clip in http://pollclash.com/?id=161
You're a silly poopie head.BaronAsh post=18.71728.741217 said:
Sorry couldn't resist.
I'm gonna say Obama. Swing by Real Clear Politics sometime, they do some mean poll averages that'll knock your socks off. In particular check out the electoral map (click No Toss Up States) and the Intrade Real Time Quotes (If the invisible hand of the market supports Obama who are you to judge).
But really its still way to close to call. Oh the suspense.
Wrong, except for the "she'll get paid less" bit... the Canadian health insurance system wastes far fewer dollars on administration than the US HMO system, refuses far fewer claims because it's not-for-profit, and is less choked with forms than dealing with private health insurance. Taxes did not sky-rocket here when the reforms were instituted; yours might, but that's because for the last eight years you've been electing presidents on the "don't tax but spend anyway" platform and your government's nearly broke. Just paying to fix bridges and roads will need a tax hike.BaronAsh post=18.71728.741180 said:
*sigh* So much disinformation down in the US... might as well be the Kremlin sometimes.
-- Steve
I should also throw in; an American doctor may get paid more, but his/her malpractice insurance premiums will also cost a lot more given how HMOs bill.
That's not to say that the Canadian system is perfect; there are slow-downs and wait times for procedures that aren't critical or for treatments dealing with chronic conditions, and some provinces aren't terribly good at covering prescription costs. And yes, some specialists do migrate south for the bigger paycheque. But even given those shortfalls, I still prefer the lower premiums you get by vastly increasing the subscription base in a universal health insurance system.
-- Steve
That's not to say that the Canadian system is perfect; there are slow-downs and wait times for procedures that aren't critical or for treatments dealing with chronic conditions, and some provinces aren't terribly good at covering prescription costs. And yes, some specialists do migrate south for the bigger paycheque. But even given those shortfalls, I still prefer the lower premiums you get by vastly increasing the subscription base in a universal health insurance system.
-- Steve