America is Doomed in 2012!

[ScratchIt 12]

Of course it is, and such would be the first sentence in a con argument. However, it would be just as ridiculous to say that America has no worries at all, nothing to see here, move along.

Is that an order??

As was stated in the movie quote, we have serious problems. Nowhere did I even remotely claim otherwise. America will be "doomed" if we continue to fight against each other rather than be united.

Excerpts from a speech by future Senator & President, Abraham Lincoln, Springfield, Illinois, June 16, 1858

...A house divided against itself cannot stand.

...I do not expect the Union to be dissolved -- I do not expect the house to fall -- but I do expect it will cease to be divided.

[Obama 2012 1,714]

I for one am thankful for our tax system & government every time I get behind the wheel of my truck. I drive on nice, well maintained roads and have complete freedom on them as long as I obey the rules. The idea of privatizing the highways and paying "for-profit" companies for the privilege of driving on them pisses me off to no end. There is a reason we are the United States and a reason for the feds to exist. The flip side is that there are numerous areas that the feds should keep their noses out of. The states have plenty of power and capability to do many of the things that the feds try to control. I think that if you want medical marijuana, fine, move to California. If you want gay marriage, fine, move to California. I just don't feel these things need to be legislated by the feds. To an extent I agree with Mr. Paul, but I can't stand the man. He just doesn't exude confidence or wisdom and to comes off (to me) as a weasel.

To say that America is “doomed” in 2012 is ridiculous. Obama is not out to destroy the US. Bush wasn’t out to destroy the US. I feel both men had/have good intentions. Sadly one was far less sensible and educated than the other, much like their respective followers. A speech from a movie I enjoyed many years ago spells out what I would like to hear most any president say about America and his duty as president:

President Andrew Shepherd: For the last couple of months, Senator Rumson has suggested that being president of this country was, to a certain extent, about character, and although I have not been willing to engage in his attacks on me, I've been here three years and three days, and I can tell you without hesitation: Being President of this country is entirely about character. For the record: yes, I am a card-carrying member of the ACLU. But the more important question is why aren't you, Bob? Now, this is an organization whose sole purpose is to defend the Bill of Rights, so it naturally begs the question: Why would a senator, his party's most powerful spokesman and a candidate for President, choose to reject upholding the Constitution? If you can answer that question, folks, then you're smarter than I am, because I didn't understand it until a few hours ago. America isn't easy. America is advanced citizenship. You gotta want it bad, 'cause it's gonna put up a fight. It's gonna say "You want free speech? Let's see you acknowledge a man whose words make your blood boil, who's standing center stage and advocating at the top of his lungs that which you would spend a lifetime opposing at the top of yours. You want to claim this land as the land of the free? Then the symbol of your country can't just be a flag; the symbol also has to be one of its citizens exercising his right to burn that flag in protest. Show me that, defend that, celebrate that in your classrooms. Then, you can stand up and sing about the "land of the free". I've known Bob Rumson for years, and I've been operating under the assumption that the reason Bob devotes so much time and energy to shouting at the rain was that he simply didn't get it. Well, I was wrong. Bob's problem isn't that he doesn't get it. Bob's problem is that he can't sell it! We have serious problems to solve, and we need serious people to solve them. And whatever your particular problem is, I promise you, Bob Rumson is not the least bit interested in solving it. He is interested in two things and two things only: making you afraid of it and telling you who's to blame for it. That, ladies and gentlemen, is how you win elections. You gather a group of middle-aged, middle-class, middle-income voters who remember with longing an easier time, and you talk to them about family and American values and character. And wave an old photo of the President's girlfriend and you scream about patriotism and you tell them, she's to blame for their lot in life, and you go on television and you call her a #######. Sydney Ellen Wade has done nothing to you, Bob. She has done nothing but put herself through school, represent the interests of public school teachers, and lobby for the safety of our natural resources. You want a character debate, Bob? You better stick with me, 'cause Sydney Ellen Wade is way out of your league.

I have a love/hate relationship with that speech.... It was a Global Warming propaganda speech/the movie itself. Hell and this was 1995 mind you too.

Great speech, but horrible reasoning behind the speech and the legislation they were trying to pass in the movie.

[The_Dude 1,142]

Ron Paul has some great ideas, but if he were elected, he'd run into a few problems. First and foremost, you can't just start abolishing departments of the government. He could defund some of them, but he would never get his budgets passed. I really do hope he runs again though. If nothing else, he will force both the Democrats and the mainstream Republicans to address his ideas and possible incorporate them. If you're a real Libertarian though, you'd vote for Bob Barr, the only true Libertarian candidate.

[Obama 2012 1,714]

Ron Paul has some great ideas, but if he were elected, he'd run into a few problems. First and foremost, you can't just start abolishing departments of the government. He could defund some of them, but he would never get his budgets passed. I really do hope he runs again though. If nothing else, he will force both the Democrats and the mainstream Republicans to address his ideas and possible incorporate them. If you're a real Libertarian though, you'd vote for Bob Barr, the only true Libertarian candidate.

Unfortunately, the media did everything possible to keep him out of the debates two years ago. They didn't want him there, nor did the other Republicans. It was with reluctance they even let him attend the 2 he did.

Until the media loses control of the debates (which isn't going to happen) then we won't get to see anything except the mainstream canddiates they want us to see.

[The_Dude 1,142]

Unfortunately, the media did everything possible to keep him out of the debates two years ago. They didn't want him there, nor did the other Republicans. It was with reluctance they even let him attend the 2 he did.

Until the media loses control of the debates (which isn't going to happen) then we won't get to see anything except the mainstream canddiates they want us to see.

I wouldn't count on that in the next election cycle. However, I do think that the media does realize Ron Paul's clout. His problem is perception. He isn't as charismatic as say Mitt Romney or even Barack Obama. He's a shot old man who is soft spoken with a very unassuming voice. But people listen to him, and that is what matters to the media.

[ScratchIt 12]

I have a love/hate relationship with that speech.... It was a Global Warming propaganda speech/the movie itself. Hell and this was 1995 mind you too.

Great speech, but horrible reasoning behind the speech and the legislation they were trying to pass in the movie.

The speech was an answer to Rumson's allegations that the President wasn't up the the job due to his affiliation with Annette Benning's character. Had nothing to do with global warming. Well written speech about the character of the President and the bad habit of politics of scaring you to their side. If you don't vote for me terrible things are going to happen... boogah boogah boogah! The movie wasn't about global warming, it was about "the American President" and his relationship with his daughter and girlfriend and the political machine that interferred with, and fed off of those relationships. Global warming and gun control could have easily been replaced by healthcare, immigration, war, welfare, you name it. In 1995 those just happened to be top picks for political controversy. Not a great movie by any stretch but decent in its own right.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Unfortunately, the media did everything possible to keep him out of the debates two years ago. They didn't want him there, nor did the other Republicans. It was with reluctance they even let him attend the 2 he did.

Until the media loses control of the debates (which isn't going to happen) then we won't get to see anything except the mainstream canddiates they want us to see.

Bob Barr's major malfunction was his barber. No white man should ever wear a narrow bushy mustache(the name escapes me), unless he wants to be associated with the Klan, or the Aryan Nation.

[The_Dude 1,142]

Bob Barr's major malfunction was his barber. No white man should ever wear a narrow bushy mustache(the name escapes me), unless he wants to be associated with the Klan, or the Aryan Nation.

LoL, for some reason, I always pictured you with one of those mustaches bill. Nothing to do with the racist element you introduced there. It just seems like the uptight white guy from northern california fashion.

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

LoL, for some reason, I always pictured you with one of those mustaches bill. Nothing to do with the racist element you introduced there. It just seems like the uptight white guy from northern california fashion.

I am originally a perverted West San Fernando Valley white guy type. You know, hanging out in the hills above Chatsworth, off Valley Circle, drinking beer, shooting guns, and howling at the moon. I sport a bushy ##### tickler, past the sides of the mouth, and occasionally a soul patch, or goatee.

[alienlovechild 75]

I am originally a perverted West San Fernando Valley white guy type. You know, hanging out in the hills above Chatsworth, off Valley Circle, drinking beer, shooting guns, and howling at the moon. I sport a bushy ##### tickler, past the sides of the mouth, and occasionally a soul patch, or goatee.

How often does your drum circle meet?

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

How often does your drum circle meet?

Heard a few of those as well, when working the Renaissance Faire's in Blackpoint, and in Agoura, during my younger days. Even had one playing across the street, on warm summer evening, several years back. Damn hippies!