I really have absolutely no interest in a single candidate for President.

[NCclimber 0]

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How about election reform?

Wouldn't it would be great if no one could register or campaign before March or April of the election year? A few months for primaries, have the conventions and 3-4 months for the parties' candidates to campaign, and then we're done for three and a half years.

Yeah... I know... a pipe dream.

This crap of starting your run almost 2 years before the election is obscene. It's not candidacy. It's a fucking war of attrition.

So your solution would be to go beyond McCain-Feingold and complete piss on the 1st Amendment? You're talking about prior restraint - and how do you distinguish between regular politicking and running for president? You can't.

You infer quite a bit. Just looking (perhaps too hard) for something to bitch about?

[NCclimber 0]

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I think we tend to put Presidents from other generations up on pedestals(sp?). With the scrutiny modern presidents are put under, it's hard to compare.

LBJ, Nixon, Reagan and Clinton all have some great aspects to their legacies.

Do you also praise Mussolini for making the trains run on time?

Using herring for troll bait?

Tsk, tsk

You guys crack me up.

[Gawain 0]

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The more I learn about the Cuban Missile Crisis, the scarier it is for what almost happened, but the more impressive it is for how the JFK administration handled it. But again, I get the impression Robert Kennedy was the guiding influence behind John Kennedy.

President Kennedy was a ferocious anti-communist, and he was left with bad choices. Unfortunately, it strengthened Castro even more. Soviet shipments to Cuba began in 1960 or earlier. We knew this. While the US had placed 15 Jupiter IRBMs in Turkey in 1961, the Soviets had already been planning for several dozen missiles in Cuba.

The Jupiter missiles were obsolete almost as soon as they were installed as US Nuclear Submarine forces were robust at the time.

The outcome was as good as could have been hoped for, as if the US had invaded Cuba, the Soviets would have rolled through West Berlin and the Cubans would have used tactical nukes on the beachhead of the invasion.

In the final analysis, the President did well, but I can't help but think the whole situation played into the hands of Khrushchev.

So I try and I scream and I beg and I sigh
Just to prove I'm alive, and it's alright
'Cause tonight there's a way I'll make light of my treacherous life
Make light!

[warpedskydiver 0]

I agree Max, I find it quite amusing that most people seem to think that JFK was some kind of superhero, in fact it was quite the opposite, he just did not live long enough to reap the whirlwind.
(or maybe he did)

The fact is he probably played right into the USSRs plans and in fact lengthened the cold war.

Can anyone say Viet Nam?

Bay of Pigs?

Assassination of a recognized foreign leader?

Illicit drug use?

Election Rigging? (multiple instances)

Halsey was right to insist on keel hauling the derilect.

He was a horrible skipper and yet his father saw to it that he was proclaimed a hero.

[Steel 0]

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Kennedy handled the Cuban Missile Crisis extremely well. Unfortunately, his time in the White House was short and we never really got to know if he would go down in history as a great president.

First off, I haven't posted here in a long time because most of the dissent I encounter, I believe is too hopeless and offensive. However, I always thought of you as one of the better ones, not because I agreed with you most of the time, but because I never saw you attack somebody's personal character.

Anyhow for that reason I am taking the time to tell you why I think you are dead wrong about Kennedy and the Cuban missle crisis. First of all the Cuban missle crisis was hardly about Cuba, as those were Soviet missles that Castro (He was the entire Cuban government) had no say in whatsovever with regards to those missles.

Those missles were a Soviet response to the U.S. placing Jupiter missles in Turkey. With the help of the Kennedy freindly media and the Soviet Union staying quiet (knowing they really won that dispute), Kennedy was able to appear like a hero, when in reality he was weak on Communism.

Kennedy's agreement with the Soviets involved taking out the Jupiter missles from Turkey and having the Soviets take out their missles from Cuba. However, for the official (Kennedy freindly) newspapers, Kennedy was the tough guy who made the Soviets back down, by ONLY agreeing to let Cuba go to shit, that is agreeing never to use the Platt amendment of 1901, which gave the U.S. the right to restore law and order, when the Cuban Constitution was not being followed and mass murder was taking place. (Pretty much the conditions that never really stopped since Castro assumed control in January,1959.

If you believe that Cuban life and Cuba is worthless, then you can say that Kennedy had and even swap with the Soviets, ie.. they took out their missles we took out ours. If you believe there was any value in Cuba, then the Soviets won. But there is no possible way that anybody, who is objectively looking at the facts, could say that because of Kennedy the U.S. came out on top.

Many alarmists will have you believe that taking this loss was the only way that Kennedy had to avoid World war 3 and there is no absolute proof supporting or contradicting this. I don't believe that to be the case and I will state that these same alarmists also were quick to suggest that Reagan was taking us into World War 3 by his actions in the Reykjavik Summit in 1986. As much as dissenters may try to rewrite history, we know for a fact what actually did occur in the following years due the the response of a president who was not weak on communism.

If you or somebody else has a meaningful question that is not answered in these 5 or 6 paragraphs, I will reply. "Well disguised" attacks or spin I will ignore.

If I could make a wish, I think I'd pass.
Can't think of anything I need
No cigarettes, no sleep, no light, no sound.
Nothing to eat, no books to read.

[warpedskydiver 0]

You are preaching to a choir of around five individuals.

Other than that the rest of the weasels will never believe you that JFK was not our saviour.

He was a POS

[NCclimber 0]

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However, for the official (Kennedy freindly) newspapers, Kennedy was the tough guy who made the Soviets back down, by ONLY agreeing to let Cuba go to shit, that is agreeing never to use the Platt amendment of 1901, which gave the U.S. the right to restore law and order, when the Cuban Constitution was not being followed and mass murder was taking place. (Pretty much the conditions that never really stopped since Castro assumed control in January,1959.

Thanks for such a well formed post. I do have one question. Wasn't the Platt Amendment of 1901 repealed in 1934, making claims about it's enforcement in 1959 irrelevant?

[nerdgirl 0]

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Many alarmists will have you believe that taking this loss was the only way that Kennedy had to avoid World war 3 and there is no absolute proof supporting or contradicting this. I don't believe that to be the case and I will state that these same alarmists also were quick to suggest that Reagan was taking us into World War 3 by his actions in the Reykjavik Summit in 1986.

Thank you for the thoughtful post.

From the lessons that one could learn from these Cold War-era incidents, what lessons would you argue the next president should pay attention to for:

(1) dealing w/current nuclear proliferation, i.e., DPRK & Iran's allegedly nascent weapons program,

&

(2) dealing with radical Islamism/global Salafists?

VR/Marg

Act as if everything you do matters, while laughing at yourself for thinking anything you do matters.
Tibetan Buddhist saying

[Steel 0]

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Thanks for such a well formed post. I do have one question. Wasn't the Platt Amendment of 1901 repealed in 1934, making claims about it's enforcement in 1959 irrelevant?

I know a lot about Cuban history because it interests me because pretty much my entire ancestry was there between 1898 and 62. However, I don't claim to be an expert on history. That being said I have never heard of the Platt amendment being repealled in 1934, but am intrigued. If you know of any articles addressing this, please link them as I am interested in learning more about this.

If I could make a wish, I think I'd pass.
Can't think of anything I need
No cigarettes, no sleep, no light, no sound.
Nothing to eat, no books to read.

[Steel 0]

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.

Thank you for the thoughtful post.

From the lessons that one could learn from these Cold War-era incidents, what lessons would you argue the next president should pay attention to for:

(1) dealing w/current nuclear proliferation, i.e., DPRK & Iran's allegedly nascent weapons program,

With Iran, I am open to other possibilities. However, my gut feeling currently is to support Israel and let them handle the issue, the only way I believe it will be taken care of for the moment. (bombing their nuclear development facilities)
&

(2) dealing with radical Islamism/global Salafists?
That is a tough question to answer. There are a lot of strategies that need to be ued to minimize death that has and will continue to occur. The only thing I can say for sure is to not pretend we don't know what the problem is. Its not 80 year old Swedish women, its Middle Eastern males 18-45. That being said focusing on a group and discriminating a group is not the same thing. Pulling somebody into a room after getting home form a long trip at an airport, and questioning them aggressively for hours, with no proof whatsoever, somebody who at no point was trying to push the envlope, is not the answer. I have known of people to whom this has happened recently.

In anycase this is kind of a differnt topic all together.

If I could make a wish, I think I'd pass.
Can't think of anything I need
No cigarettes, no sleep, no light, no sound.
Nothing to eat, no books to read.

[kallend 2,147]

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I am not sure about Thompson yet but I am listening

He has poor judgment in picking convicted felons as campaign aides.

I suppose you hold that against him

Yes. Either he doesn't do his homework, or he chooses to hang out with a convicted felon. Either way it's a big negative.

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[kallend 2,147]

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In the final analysis, the President did well, but I can't help but think the whole situation played into the hands of Khrushchev.

I thought it was the reason Khruschev got fired.

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

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[NCclimber 0]

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That being said I have never heard of the Platt amendment being repealled in 1934, but am intrigued. If you know of any articles addressing this, please link them as I am interested in learning more about this.

I just googled "Platt amendment of 1901". The first 3 or 4 links all said the same thing,... that FDR cancelled the agreement as part of his "Good Neighbor" policy. We did retain the lease (in perpetuity) for Guantanamo Bay, though.

[mnealtx 0]

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I am not sure about Thompson yet but I am listening

He has poor judgment in picking convicted felons as campaign aides.

I suppose you hold that against him

Yes. Either he doesn't do his homework, or he chooses to hang out with a convicted felon. Either way it's a big negative.

Wow - you regularly do background checks on your acquaintances?

Mike
I love you, Shannon and Jim.
POPS 9708 , SCR 14706

[warpedskydiver 0]

or vice versa?

Philip Martin received a probational sentence.

Many of the Klinton supporters were current criminals, and some were on the lamb.

Quite a few received pardons, in fact the Klinton pardoned his own ner do well drug dealing brother.

Iran Contra had ties to Mena AR, and yet the Klintons had no idea it was going on while they were in the Govenors Mansion?

hmmmmmm

Yes it is relavant considering Hitlery is running for the presidency.

I sincerely hope that the 3,000,000 pages of documents the klintons had sealed under a presidential directive are unsealed and the truth becomes known.

[SkyDekker 1,465]

I do if they want to work for me....

[masterblaster72 0]

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Yeah, it's not like the good old days when you were voting for either JP Morgan or JD Rockefeller every time. Or maybe we still are, where are the good conspiracy theory experts?

Yes, we still are electing those that are puppets of the banking cartel.

The Rockefeller family help found the Council on Foreign Relations, David Rockefeller helped found the Trilateral Commission. Coincidentally, Jimmy Carter (member of Trilateral) was elected and appointed over 20 members of the Trilateral Commission to his cabinet.

Clinton was a member of TC, appointed many members of that organization to his cabinet as well.

Most 20th century presidents with the exception of Reagan have been a members of the CFR.

I don't think that's coincidence; I think it's all by design. Republican or Democrat, they serve those who issue the nation's money.

The Rockefellers and Morgans helped found the Federal Reserve (more a private corporation than government agency), and still run it to this day.

Quote from FDR:

The real truth of the matter is, as you and I know, that a financial element in the larger centers has owned the Government ever since the days of Andrew Jackson..
Letter to Col. Edward Mandell House (21 November 1933)

One more from Woodrow Wilson for ya, after he let the Federal Reserve come into being:

"I am a most unhappy man. I have unwittingly ruined my country. A great industrial nation is controlled by its system of credit. Our system of credit is concentrated. The growth of the nation, therefore, and all our activities are in the hands of a few men. We have come to be one of the worst ruled, one of the most completely controlled and dominated governments in the civilized world. No longer a government by free opinion, no longer a government by conviction and the vote of the majority, but a government by the opinion and duress of a small group of dominant men."

...let the "tin foil" comments commence...

Be humble, ask questions, listen, learn, follow the golden rule, talk when necessary, and know when to shut the fuck up.

[AWL71 0]

I think it is easy to see the correlation that you make. It is easy to hide in plain sight if done properly.

The most terrifying words in the English language are: I'm from the government and I'm here to help.

[idrankwhat 0]

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Yeah, it's not like the good old days when you were voting for either JP Morgan or JD Rockefeller every time. Or maybe we still are, where are the good conspiracy theory experts?

Serving in public office, passing legislation for the lobby that they're going to work for next year.

[akarunway 1]

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In the past it seems there have been more sitting or former governors in the race than this year. Bush, Clinton, Reagan, Carter and Nixon were in State house somewhere prior to the White house. I wonder why none this year.

Gov. Richardson, D-NM. He's one of the better "qualified" on the left, but he's being ignored by the media.

Waht do you think of Duncan Hunter?

I like him, but I think he would be better as SecDef in Fred Thompson's administration.

I am not sure about Thompson yet but I am listening

He has poor judgment in picking convicted felons as campaign aides.

I suppose you hold that against him

This to funny.>
Even Fred Thompson doubts he'll be president
By Toby Harnden in Bedford, New Hampshire
Last Updated: 4:45pm GMT 06/11/2007



Even Fred Thompson doesn't think he will become president. Chatting off-air to a television reporter, a stunningly candid off-the-cuff quip from the Hollywood actor cemented the impression that his heart is not in the 2008 race.



Trying to encourage his studio to hurry up so an interview could start, Carl Cameron of Fox News said into his microphone: "The next president of the United States has a schedule to keep." Standing beside him, a deadpan Mr Thompson interjected: "And so do I."


As some Thompson aides looked bemused and others cringed, a taken-aback Mr Cameron, Fox's chief political correspondent, exclaimed: "You can't do that kind of stuff!"

I hold it true, whate'er befall;
I feel it, when I sorrow most;
'Tis better to have loved and lost
Than never to have loved at all.

[Rookie120 0]

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On the upside, Teddy has kept the legacy alive.

Thats more than what we can say he did to keep Mary Jo Kopechne alive.

If you find yourself in a fair fight, your tactics suck!

[Rookie120 0]

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Do you also praise Mussolini for making the trains run on time?

What? Where did that come from? I guess you have to have a PhD to understand that one.

If you find yourself in a fair fight, your tactics suck!

[livendive 8]

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. . .I like Ron Paul because of his views and FT because he knows when to keep his religious opinions to him self. He also understands that his personal religious beliefs have no place in government and seems like a good man……………

I like Ron Paul too, but I'm a little concerned about his pro-life position, especially this (from his website): "In Congress, I have authored legislation that seeks to define life as beginning at conception, HR 1094."

Now I tend to doubt that he would get such legislation passed, but the fact that he wants to makes me unlikely to vote for him.

What you said. His hardcore anti-abortion stance seems to run counter to his otherwise attractive platform, and is the only negative I have seen so far on him. Still, he's probably my second choice after Obama.

Blues,
Dave

"I AM A PROFESSIONAL EXTREME ATHLETE!"
(drink Mountain Dew)

[masterblaster72 0]

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. . .I like Ron Paul because of his views and FT because he knows when to keep his religious opinions to him self. He also understands that his personal religious beliefs have no place in government and seems like a good man……………

I like Ron Paul too, but I'm a little concerned about his pro-life position, especially this (from his website): "In Congress, I have authored legislation that seeks to define life as beginning at conception, HR 1094."

Now I tend to doubt that he would get such legislation passed, but the fact that he wants to makes me unlikely to vote for him.

What you said. His hardcore anti-abortion stance seems to run counter to his otherwise attractive platform, and is the only negative I have seen so far on him. Still, he's probably my second choice after Obama.

Blues,
Dave

Don't let his anti-abortion stance turn ya off too much. Any time I've heard him speak about the issue, he said his approach would be to leave it up to the states.

I've never heard him say anything about banning abortion on a federal level.

Be humble, ask questions, listen, learn, follow the golden rule, talk when necessary, and know when to shut the fuck up.

[Shotgun 1]

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Don't let his anti-abortion stance turn ya off too much. Any time I've heard him speak about the issue, he said his approach would be to leave it up to the states.

I've never heard him say anything about banning abortion on a federal level.

But (at the federal level) he wants to define life as beginning at conception. And I think one of the implications of this would be that abortion would then be defined as murder, so would that still be up to the states?