Hooray

Elrac

Mon Apr 02 12:22:19 -0700 2007

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I'm most content to see the Bush administration being kicked in the gonads on an almost daily basis.

After GWB's Second Coming (an entire nation couldn't be dumb enough to make the same mistake twice - or could they?), I had been seriously thinking about trading in my US citizenship. Now I see a ray of hope.

I'm not under the illusion that the Democrats are much better than the Republicans, but it seems that science and technology - and more significantly, The Truth - fare just a little better with them. Or maybe they're just un-suppressing Truths suppressed by the GOP.

Impeachment, anyone? Dare we hope?

Hooray

Beryllium Sphere(r)

Mon Apr 02 13:38:10 -0700 2007

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Two more years in which to appoint more Supreme Court justices, and remember that he tried to put his personal lawyer on the court. 7 of the sitting justices were appointed by Republicans. And this was a 5-4 decision.

EPA should merge with Planned Parenthood if they really want to reduce global warming...

computersareevil

Mon Apr 02 15:04:55 -0700 2007

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After GWB's Second Coming (an entire nation couldn't be dumb enough to make the same mistake twice - or could they?), I had been seriously thinking about trading in my US citizenship.

It's not that bad. War time Presidents are historically always reelected. If it wasn't for 9/11 he likely would have lost badly.

...but it seems that science and technology - and more significantly, The Truth - fare just a little better with them.

To hell with "Truth"!  I want FACTS. Truth is in the eye of the beholder. Every religion claims to have the "Truth". Every criminal swears to tell the "Truth".  Facts don't lie. People can lie about facts, but the facts never change.

And the REAL solution to Global Warming and our energy problems is still too socially taboo for anybody to even think about:  FEWER PEOPLE!  As long as we keep on breeding, we will need more resources, period. There is no other solution. Six billion plug-in Priuses will still lay waste to the planet...

EPA should merge with Planned Parenthood if they really want to reduce global warming...

berck

Mon Apr 02 15:14:38 -0700 2007

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And the REAL solution to Global Warming and our energy problems is still too socially taboo for anybody to even think about: Nuclear Pebble Bed Reactors.

EPA should merge with Planned Parenthood if they really want to reduce global warming...

computersareevil

Mon Apr 02 17:24:57 -0700 2007

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I have like pebble bed reactors, but people are already talking about them, and they still consume a limited resource and produce a highly toxic waste product that's difficult to dispose of, even if it is well-encapsulated. You won't be lining your garden with spent uranium pebbles anytime soon. It still doesn't solve the problem of 10-12 billion people consuming food and energy, and farting out greenhouse gases.
Next!

Hooray

Skyler Visconti

Tue Apr 03 00:42:26 -0700 2007

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I gather that you would rather have our president remain an idiot and get impeached than to change his ways? Perhaps it is time you trade in your citizenship papers... France would love have you.

Aside from that, our president is not to blame for every fault in our federal government. The president did however, appoint Mike Leavitt who appointed Steve Johnson as the head of the EPA, but it is Steve's job, not the president's, and not Mike Leavitt's. He is not a king, a dictator, or supreme ruler. Our government works by appointing specific people to places of power, sure they may not be the best appointees, but I didn't see Al Gore applying for the EPA position.

I know full well that most people here do not support our president, but you claim you don't have a bias. Sorry but I just don't believe that. Your over-use of the word "truth" shows where you get your information... movies produced in Hollywood.

Impeachment shouldn't be used for vanity (as we saw used on our last president). I'm sure you'll say he violated his duty to uphold the constitution when he signed the Patriot Act, but it was a vietnamese man who authored the bill, and FBI agents who abused (and still abuse) it.

If you feel it necessary to blame the president for all wrong doing in federal government, let me know how many murders, police beatings, bribes, and other scandals your mayor is being accused of, so we can worrk our way from the bottom to the top.

Hooray

Elrac

Tue Apr 03 02:31:28 -0700 2007

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Hello Skyler, and thank you for your thoughtful comments.

I would love for GWB to miraculously become smarter and/or to change his ways. But as modern medicine hasn't mastered the problem of brain transplants yet, I take it as a given that our President will remain a stubborn idiot, and there's nothing that can be done about it. Unless you prefer to live in a country ruled by an idiot, impeachment is the only legal way to change this.

You speak of the due processes and lawful mechanisms of government as if they worked, and as if they were the only processes affecting the operation of activities further down. After years of watching the Executive abusing its power to strongarm vital political processes throughout the country, I can't see how you can claim with a straight face that the President's MO differs significantly from dictatorship. To cite just a few examples that come to mind:

• "Signing statements" indicating wide-reaching extensions of presidential discretion, often in direct reversal of the laws being signed;
• Appointment of cronies to important positions including the Supreme Court;
• Blackballing of the bearers of inconvenient news (e.g. Plame);
• "Litmus tests" for scientists and other appointees to ostentatively neutral, but politically sensitive positions;
• Firings of attorneys not in tune with the party line;
• Veto on stem cell research against not only congress but also popular opinion.

In my opinion, the amount of influence exerted by the President and his aides, crosscutting the established lines of responsibility and circumventing the constitutional checks and balances, has been nothing short of alarming. The recent fall from grace of the Republican party is a partial turnaround but I still feel the President wields more power than the Constitution intended him to.

I claim I don't have a bias? How much more rotten produce do I have to fling at our presiding chimp and his incompetent, corrupt-to-the-core goon squad to make it clear that I don't like them? You must have misunderstood me.

I don't follow your connection between my use of "Truth" and Hollywood. I'm using the word mostly in quotes because I'm aware of the complications associated with that word. Let's just say my use of the word left my meaning less clear than I'd have liked, but it's too big a topic for me to clear up here.

I agree that impeachment should not be used for vanity or partisan politics. The proceedings against Clinton over a blow job were patently absurd and have contributed to making the USA the laughing stock of the world. In most sane countries, people pay much more attention to what the ruler does with his pen than with his dick. Now then, let's look at what Bush has done:

• He has botched the US' reprisal against Afghanistan and Bin Laden; Years later, Afghanistan is still a country where peacekeeping forces must fear for their lives and opiate production is way up from pre-war times. Bin Laden is still on the loose and Bush says that's not important. After the more-or-less successful bombing campaign, the administration has failed to follow up with the promised "hearts and minds" campaign. Money for food, health care and other foreign aid was short because...
• Bush started a war against Iraq based on falsified evidence and suppressed facts. He's furthered the causes of extremist Muslims beyond their wildest hopes and made the whole world, the US included, a more dangerous place. He has sent more Americans to their deaths than were killed in 9/11.

There's more, but I'm taking up a lot of space already. Especially the last act, the War for Oil, is something I consider a presidential act of bad faith against the entire nation (of the US, not Iraq), an act of treason that should rightfully be met with more than mere impeachment. High treason carries a death sentence, and I consider few public figures of recent history as deserving of this fate as George Walker Bush.

Your attempts to move responsibility away from the President are ludicrous. The President and his aides bear a significant portion of the responsibility for every damn thing that happens in the country, because they have the power to do something about it. With great power comes great what, deniability? Your quaint pastorial views are a leading cause of the US' troubles.