Who will be the next President of the United States?

[AVGWarhawk]

Originally Posted by Happy Times

After watching this, i would put my money on him, a lot of money.

He is a bright young man. My only concern is his thoughts with the international community. Quite frankly, if there was any one black that could be elected to the Presidency it is this fellow. I also believe he is going to do it also. Many think it can't and will not happen... I think Obama is going to give them one hell of a run for the money.

[Happy Times]

Originally Posted by AVGWarhawk

He is a bright young man. My only concern is his thoughts with the international community. Quite frankly, if there was any one black that could be elected to the Presidency it is this fellow. I also believe he is going to do it also. Many think it can't and will not happen... I think Obama is going to give them one hell of a run for the money.

What thoughts?
Hopefully no one shoots him, that could cause some serious times.

[AVGWarhawk]

Originally Posted by Happy Times

What thoughts?
Hopefully no one shoots him, that could cause some serious times.

Yes, that has been put out there as well. But, it comes with the territory no matter if you are white or black. I'm sure you can name a few that caught a bullet, some lived and some died. I read somewhere that if you type in google, asassinate obama you get over 2000 hits. But, every president had his whack who wanted to have a moment in the spot light.

[Tchocky]

And Rudy is GONE!!!

Wooo!!!

[geetrue]

Originally Posted by elite_hunter_sh3

mccain is a moron, whos worse then bush.. he was one of a few who spearheaded the failed illegal immigrant amnesty bill... hes a traitor and should be jailed for life "100 more years in Iraq" he says.. over my dead body... he wants to bomb Iran more then bush.. clinton is a communist.. obama will do to america with what mugabe did to zimbabwe, mccain is a more evil bush, romney wont win, huckabee has no chance... in simple terms.. U.S.A is FUBAR

Now I know I'm on the right side ... :rotfl:

[Skybird]

"Dynasty" is back!

http://www.spiegel.de/international/...532247,00.html
(reprint from the NYT)

If Hillary Rodham Clinton serves two terms, then for 28 years the presidency will have been held by a Bush or a Clinton. By that point, about 40 percent of Americans would have lived their entire lives under a president from one of these two families. (...)
We Americans snicker patronizingly as "democratic" Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Singapore, India and Argentina hand over power to a wife or child of a former leader. Yet I can't find any example of even the most rinky-dink "democracy" confining power continuously for seven terms over 28 years to four people from two families. (And that's not counting George H.W. Bush's eight years as vice president.) (...)
The counterargument goes like this: As voters, we should always choose the best person for the job. We should evaluate candidates on their own merits and not drag in their families. We punish ourselves if we spurn the best person because of his or her family background.
Yet we have faced this trade-off frequently over the last 215 years and regularly inclined on the side of fresh blood. In 1796, George Washington's skill and popular mandate seemed invaluable at a perilous time in our nation's infancy. Yet we overwhelmingly believe that it was good for American democracy that he stepped down after two terms.
As Thomas Jefferson put it: "in no office can rotation be more expedient" than in the presidency.

[August]

Originally Posted by Skybird

You couldn't find a "democracy" that could survive such a thing besides the US either...

[elite_hunter_sh3]

did anyone watch the deliberate censorship of Ron Paul at the debate last night?!!!

[Skybird]

Originally Posted by August

You couldn't find a "democracy" that could survive such a thing besides the US either...

That's the question - if it really has survived until here. You know I labelled the US a plutocracy in the past, and the European nations oligarchies turning into plutocracies.

I would say the author of that essay probably would not totally agree with me, but wants to warn of exactly this developement: the loss of democracy, due to dynasties taking over.

[August]

Originally Posted by Skybird

That's the question - if it really has survived until here. You know I labelled the US a plutocracy in the past, and the European nations oligarchies turning into plutocracies.

I would say the author of that essay probably would not totally agree with me, but wants to warn of exactly this developement: the loss of democracy, due to dynasties taking over.

Well the "dynasties" in both cases are really confined to just four individuals. As soon as they leave office they loose their power.

[Skybird]

Originally Posted by August

Well the "dynasties" in both cases are really confined to just four individuals. As soon as they leave office they loose their power.

Tell that the Kennedys, to name just the most wellknown. and there are many more cliques, defined as that by family bonds, and relations between capital and industry.

I do not accept you to paint it all clean and tidy, and you do not accept me to cast a shadow of a doubt on the system. We know where this discussion would end, then, for we have been there before. Recommend we skip this round - it's not interesting anymore.

[August]

Originally Posted by Skybird

Tell that the Kennedys, to name just the most wellknown. and there are many more cliques, defined as that by family bonds, and relations between capital and industry.

I do not accept you to paint it all clean and tidy, and you do not accept me to cast a shadow of a doubt on the system.

There you go again.

You accuse me of extremism while you claim to be merely slightly suggesting. Your idea of casting a "shadow" of doubt is like whacking somebody over the head with a 20lb sledge hammer and then claiming it was only a minor love tap. Is that some kind of German debating tactic?

[Skybird]

Originally Posted by August

There you go again.

You accuse me of extremism while you claim to be merely slightly suggesting. Your idea of casting a "shadow" of doubt is like whacking somebody over the head with a 20lb sledge hammer and then claiming it was only a minor love tap. Is that some kind of German debating tactic?

Well, at least I am sure that all this turns into YOUR debating tactic now if I would accept to play it by your rules - so I refuse to continue it from here. Deal with the content of the essay, or don't. After all it is an American author asking some reasonable questions about his home nation. Me - I just linked it, which can be taken as an indicator that I somewhat agree with the author's concerns. If you can't see any reason in why somebody asks questions about the fact that just two rich and influential families having been in power for almost three decades now, and other family clans and cliques influencing and controlling politics over deacdes and even half a century, you probably never see much reason to ask questions in your life anyway.

[geetrue]

Originally Posted by Skybird to August

you probably never see much reason to ask questions in your life anyway

Remember your heart August ... save it for the Super Bowl

[August]

Originally Posted by Skybird

Well, at least I am sure that all this turns into YOUR debating tactic now if I would accept to play it by your rules - so I refuse to continue it from here. Deal with the content of the essay, or don't. After all it is an American author asking some reasonable questions about his home nation. Me - I just linked it, which can be taken as an indicator that I somewhat agree with the author's concerns. If you can't see any reason in why somebody asks questions about the fact that just two rich and influential families having been in power for almost three decades now, and other family clans and cliques influencing and controlling politics over deacdes and even half a century, you probably never see much reason to ask questions in your life anyway.

I dealt with the "content of the essay", twice. You of course attempted to radicalize my answers like you always do with anyone who questions your self proclaimed expertise in all things.