How easily the terriblebadness of John Kerry is forgotten so soon

Santorum kinda of whack job

Kerry was a whack job and a douche all rolled up into 1

Santorum is exponentially worse of a candidate than Kerry ever could dream about.

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World of Warcraft: Kallaystra, Gweila, Steakumn, Tarathia [ Feathermoon/Horde ]

Kerry was just nothing at all. Him and Romney are basically the same.

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Kerry was more like Romney is now than a whack job freak like Santorum. He was weak and underwhelming. Santorum is a flat out idiot. Seriously, let's talk about contraception and separation of church and state? Hey.. Let's not!

The fact that people are actually voting for Santorum is scary.

And that those people think that he is a Conservative is sad.

Santorum is a religious nut-job. He is less of a conservative than George W. Bush.

How about Santorum gushing about his mother's college education? What a snob.

Yeah I cant see why anyone is voting for Republicans this year, they just dont have any good nominations. They all seem crazy!

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"Creating Havoc and Pie Since 2001!"
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I plan on writing in

Abe Lincoln "Vampire Hunter"

on my ballot

Yeah, Newt was the only one I'd had my eye on, but for all his experience and familiarity with the government...he can't help but let his crazy slip out before he can catch it. MoonBase? really?

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Larreth Wolfsong (long retired)
Lanys T'vyl, Everquest

Zinky, Lvl 60 Warlock
Thunderhorn, WoW

Yeah, we basically go from walking on the moon half a century ago to arguing about how it is too hard and expensive now. Much less a base. And people wonder why we are slipping?

Is it just me or does this seem like the 2004 election in reverse? Although the Republican base hates Obama with a passion and we just felt like Bush was an idiot. I had a guy tell me that if Obama gets re-elected this country is done and he's moving somewhere else. Yes, he was serious.

Bush I felt was just a child who everyone just told him what to do and he just didnt care.

Funny that guy says he is moving and what country is doing any better overall? Europe? They seem to be in the same boat in the same areas, or possibly canada?

_________________
"Creating Havoc and Pie Since 2001!"
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Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/cakvala

I have friends in Australia because Bush was re-elected. No joke.

I respected John Kerry for a few minutes back when he ran. He was asked for his position on gay marriage, and he said, "I'll tell you the short answer, but you have to stick around for the long one."

Reporter person said okay, and he said, "I don't support gay marriage."

Then he went on to say, "No one should care whether I support gay marriage. I'm running for a federal office, and marriage is a state matter under the 10th Amendment."

If nothing else, I can appreciate that Kerry was honest about it. Being a Democrat(particularly from the northeast) and against gay marriage isn't exactly convenient.

Sadly, I think Kerry was pretty fake in other ways =/

Finding people that are honest and genuine even under circumstances where it's not popular is pretty difficult these days. People either don't speak when their position differs from the majority(aka cowards), or find convenient avenues/positions of agreement.

Finding a politican that meets that criteria narrows it even further.

Voicing dissent in a majority-vote situation is brave, but not always smart. Politicians live and die on popularity; it's not cowardice for them to stay silent when speaking won't help. It would certainly help us understand their opinions, but in that moment that's not in their best interest either.

But in this era of politics is isn't that they answered the question it is how they can rephrase the question into the answer that they want to give.

How could any candidate for federal office be looked negatively if they answered the Gay Marriage question in this manner:
"The government is not in the marrying business. When two legal adults wish to enter into a contract with the government protecting offspring, property, and benefits under a unified agreement, then what business is it of the government to regulate the wishes of these consenting legal adults? As for marriage, that is a bond made by the religious or secular to perform."

Yes, that would make all current "marriages" a "civil union" and then the wedding would be the realm of the manner of worship that the couple believe. It would not "threaten" anyone's belief about who should or should not be married (other than two legal adults) because if your church or whatever doesn't feel that two men or two women could be married, then I doubt there are any of those couples in your church. The rest of the world could move forward.

The problem is the rest of the world thinks it is their business whether there are same sex couples in their church or not.

Don't you dare pass any legislation that limits the number or type of guns I can own.

Tell those damned homosexuals they can't have a civil union!

They want the government involved in protecting the rights that they feel are important, but fuck the rest of the country.

Fucking hypocrites, all of them.

Krby - I absolutely love your answer to the question.

I totally agree, civil unions for all and let the "ceremony" be handled by whomever.

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"Creating Havoc and Pie Since 2001!"
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Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/cakvala

Perhaps not smart in the short term politically during an election cycle. In the long term, I'd definitely argue that the faith people have lost in politicians is largely due to the fact that very few are genuine and true to their beliefs. "Silence is betrayal" etc. When you inject such new blood into the system, I wouldn't be surprised to see a new voting contingent capable of getting more people elected (similar to Ron Paul, in a way, where before those people wouldn't have voted).

Politicians do indeed live and die on popularity, which is PRECISELY why it's cowardice for them not to speak their mind. Machiavellian notions of getting elected first, THEN carrying out some brand of justice(when we don't even know where they stand) is precisely the kind of politics that has been ruining our country's system for decades. People NEED to know the stands that a person in office will take. Encouraging the people to have no idea with a suggestion of "Well, once he gets elected he'll do good stuff!" only corrupts the system further.

Unfortunately, politicians aren't the only people who are unwilling to take stands that are unpopular. Nor are they the only people that are disingenuous. Most of America(not to isolate it to America, per se) fits a similar characterization, and so they'll happily elect someone like them.

Santorum says every crazy thought that fires crosswise through the dead leaves in his head. He's completely, bluntly honest about what he thinks. If he's elected, I'd leave Earth convinced the rest of the voting public are fucking aliens.

It's great that we know this about him now, before anyone votes -- but the lesson his party will learn is that being open and honest with the voting public only works if you're not an escapee from an asylum on the Clown Planet, and they don't seem to be able to field much else just now. Remember the beginning of the Primary? Remember how many of those dudes said what they really thought? All it really does is give your opponents armor-piercing ammunition instead of the regular kind.

I'm probably going to vote for Santorum in Georgia's open primary, mostly to guarantee Obama's re-election.

Even if I don't really want Obama to win again, he's a thousand times better than any of the mouth breathing psychopaths the Republicans have put up against him.

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World of Warcraft: Kallaystra, Gweila, Steakumn, Tarathia [ Feathermoon/Horde ]

What if half the country has the same plan as you?

Popular vote doesn't matter, as proved by Bush II v Gore. :p

Also, I decided to be more politically honest and get a Democratic primary ballot -- it was pretty easy. Abstain from voting for Obama, vote yes on Sunday alcohol sales for my county.

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World of Warcraft: Kallaystra, Gweila, Steakumn, Tarathia [ Feathermoon/Horde ]

Not voting Obama is casting half a vote for the GOP.

He's the only candidate in the primary. It's either be politically dishonest and do a Republican ballot, or "do the right thing" and get a Dem ballot.

Also, Georgia goes red, so my vote really won't matter.

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World of Warcraft: Kallaystra, Gweila, Steakumn, Tarathia [ Feathermoon/Horde ]

You could move out of the effing 3rd world....

You speak as someone who's probably never set foot in the southeast.

Georgia is far from third world compared to neighboring states. Besides, I live close enough to Atlanta that the crazy doesn't really touch me. :p

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World of Warcraft: Kallaystra, Gweila, Steakumn, Tarathia [ Feathermoon/Horde ]

I'm about 45 days away from moving in to Decatur from the sticks, Vana. 20 minute commute, here I come.

Define "the sticks" -- some people define "the sticks" as anywhere outside 285, which isn't really fair.

I live in Kennesaw, I typically have a 30 minute commute because I leave the house in the morning before rush hour and leave the office before rush hour.

I also enjoy having the option to work from home basically whenever I want to unless there's a meeting that day.

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World of Warcraft: Kallaystra, Gweila, Steakumn, Tarathia [ Feathermoon/Horde ]

Between Conyers and Covington.

Yes, that would define as the sticks.

Decatur is pretty nice, it's a place I've considered, but I prefer the property cost and lower sales tax of Cobb County, and the wife prefers the easy access to school and work.

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World of Warcraft: Kallaystra, Gweila, Steakumn, Tarathia [ Feathermoon/Horde ]

Actually, Vanamar, I've been around this country quite a bit, though half my out-of-state trips were either business or EQ.

I could a define much broader region of that area as the sticks.

In seriousness though, you honestly think Obama is better than Romney? Even in the worst case scenario, Romney would at least shake things up. Something this country desperately needs, IMO. We're in cruise control.

I mean, neither is very good... but if you thought this was a lame duck Presidency, what happens during the second term, exactly?

I don't see why you'd purposefully want to see him re-elected. At least put your efforts into raising up a third party candidate. Santorum doesn't have a shot, but I think putting him on a higher pedastal than he's already on is borderline dangerous. We don't need more perceptions that this country is full of uneducated idiots.

This country IS full of uneducated idiots, especially in the south.

Before anyone jumps Xan for that, let's hear from the US Department of Education.

That table was the result of these data requests:
- School year 2009
- Grade 8
- Subject: Reading
- Include confidence interval

Raw table data here. Sources cited at the bottom of both pages.

Not only does the South look retarded on average, but there's a fascinating correlation between lower overall scores, and a wider rift between 25th and 75th percentiles.

I correct myself:

- School year 2011

Honestly, the situation just sucks. From the data I've seen, it correlates strongly with income levels. A generation of poor people is likely to pass on the same problems, etc. Education and smart work ethic has always been revered in the upper echelons, and while that doesn't mean poor don't WANT to be educated(nor that they don't make efforts), the emphasis eventually becomes survival when a choice needs to be made between lofty goals and putting food on the table.

Either way, the first step is in acknowledging the problem. People in poorly educated areas want to continue to deny that there's a problem. If there's more racism in some areas, etc, there's even more denial. At some point you have to face it and come to terms with it as a larger community/society. Being defensive about it whenever someone brings up a funny comment about the south only makes the wound fester.

I'm only bein defensive about a specific metro area.

The South is a shithole. However, Atlanta is a bastion of sanity and intelligence. Plentiful jobs, low cost of living (relatively at least, suburbia is still far cheaper than inside the city), and there are many outstanding school districts.

South Georgia? Farms and football. South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee are much worse.

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World of Warcraft: Kallaystra, Gweila, Steakumn, Tarathia [ Feathermoon/Horde ]

I donated money to build a computer lab in Compton. By the time anyone could get pictures of the completed setup, there were gang symbols carved into three monitors. The machines were there less than two months before they were all stolen one night.

Your correlation isn't with income level. Both education and income level correlate inversely with corruption rate -- people who believe their assistance will be abused, won't provide it.

Hell, I live in the south, in Texas. I work with people across Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and North Florida who make plenty of money, yet they're still ignorant idiots who believe everything they get in an e-mail from Fox News. I couldn't even begin to estimate how many times a week I have to debunk some bullshit someone is spreading because they read it in an e-mail or saw it on some conservative "news" website.

As long as people are too lazy to educate themselves on the truth and think that pundits and websites like Newsmax and The Drudge Report are the gospel, this gap between the right and left is going to continue to widen.

I think the GOP has been twisted into an evil beast, who's sole intent is to eliminate the middle class and create something resembling a feudal system, where those in the know are the only ones who own property, and ignorant serfs toil and pay harsh rents to their masters.

And the people who will be crushed underfoot seem to be welcoming it. I honestly don't see how anyone who makes less than 500,000/year can call themselves a Republican at this point. (conservative, yes... Republican.. no.)

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World of Warcraft: Kallaystra, Gweila, Steakumn, Tarathia [ Feathermoon/Horde ]

I don't really get it, either. But the Republicans do tend to talk a lot about "common sense" (hate that term) stuff that probably resonates very well with people who aren't even really aware of WHY they're in the bad situations they're in.

That is totally correct, people are so ignorant on information. If they just do a few minutes of digging around they get the correct information easily, but they don't they are lazy. ugh!

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"Creating Havoc and Pie Since 2001!"
My Website: http://www.anthonyhays.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/cakvala

In my experience, the Republicans have the middle class southerners brainwashed into thinking that if you hate taxes (Which honestly, don't we all?) then you're a republican. That's their thing that gets all of them thinking they are republicans to me. Well, that and guns. Still waiting on Obama to come get our guns like the right is constantly spreading is going to happen.

Tell uninformed people that the Democrats will raise your taxes and take your guns and you've pretty much got them.

If someone was to run as a true fiscal conservative and social liberal, I think there would be a significant showing for that person but politicians are too caught up in pandering to the right or left.

You have got to be fucking kidding me... Wait a min, we are talking about the theocrat Santorum we are talking about...
Full story


Glad he is worried about the important things like energy sustainability, job growth, weak dollar... In Santorum's world they must be fixed.

Finally, Rick Santorum exits the race.

Hey, I stayed in the race long past when I needed to withdraw, so please help me pay for that stupid ego-driven mistake!

Now Gingrich and Paul need to step down too. The Republicans need to unite behind a single candidate if they hope to have a chance of winning.

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World of Warcraft: Kallaystra, Gweila, Steakumn, Tarathia [ Feathermoon/Horde ]

It is going to be tough to find a VP candidate that won't outshine the wet blanket. :/

I'd like to see Condi Rice as the VP nominee. I think that she would be a start contrast to Biden and bring some Foreign Policy experience to the ticket that Romney lacks. I think Romney must have a woman on the ticket. I think that Condi is nearly everything that Palin can't be. Where Palin is a media troll and political neophyte Condi is a person that knows how to use the media to get what she wants without being the subject. By selecting Rice that won't energize the Republican base but I think that it would be a smart political move.

She could definitely court women voters and speak on a solid foreign policy record. It's been said before but the current administration can't afford to run on its record. Particularly when it comes to foreign policy. I'd be surprised if she were offere and accepted though. I get the impression she isn't interested in being that involved again.

That's one of those things you keep hearing Republicans say right before they dodge the issues and talk about abortion and gay marriage for the millionth time.

I think the current administration could run on the record of stuff they tried to get through that was blocked by a hostile congress they had to play ball with in a first-term scenario.

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Indeed. Could a campaign be run on the basis of "We tried and failed. (Brings out tissue): The mean bad people wouldn't let us do anything"?

Not sure if the excuse/whiner mentality will work, but maybe it will in our current economic climate where everyone wants to blame someone else for their own failures?

That's more of a hypothetical where both sides are equal, since plenty of other factors make Obama an easy win against Romney. Sucks =/

I guess that argument would go something like: "We had a super majority in the Senate, a vast majority in the house and an incredibly popular president. We wasted our opportunity on an unpopular health care reform that didn't do anything for the economy and may get repealed by the supreme court. We subsequently lost our super majority, still control the senate, and now can't seem to govern at all while still outnumbering the republicans."

I'm not sure a matter-of-fact explanation of the actual influences blocking progress really qualifies as whining. The name-calling in the hopes of inhibiting expression of that position really just makes you part of the problem -- and hey, you're skipping ahead in the strategy. The GOP can't really start hammering the "ineffective President" thing home until they're done out-crazying each other in the primary. If you start the chant too early, some folks might get fucking tired of hearing it by... y'know, November.

Republican pressure had little to do with the administration's foreign policy blunders. We don't vote on the speeches the President gives or the deals he brokers abroad. Even if one can not approach objectivity, this is not solely an American viewpoint. The President started leaking foreign praise in short order. Of course now his supporters will say "oh we don't care anyway" or will brush it with the nationalism they decried in the last election.

We have taken a strong hand where it was not needed, a weak one where strength was necessary, and are giving credibility to regimes that are responsible for pretty awful suppression. It is not an issue to drive a candidate out of office alone, but it is hard to look at it as success by any reasonable standard. There is also no one else to blame. There is even dissent in his own ranks over this stuff.

An example would be nice,I can't think of much that I'm mad about Obama saying to another nation, really.

I too would like an example: Particularly where Obama has used a "strong" hand. I have never seen him confront anyone directly, except maybe during the debates. He always seems like he's playing the cheerleader, depending entirely on which way the wind is blowing.

Probably part of the reason he can't get votes in Congress. He's so busy trying to please everyone that no one is willing to back him because they don't know if they're really on his side or not.

Just scan through the news. Look at how we're handling Iran, China, Russia, Sudan, and Syria compared to Lybia. The same Lybia in which the people we 'helped' are now waging an execution campaign. With the exception of Clinton he and his advisors are clueless. It is kindergarten diplomacy. To the point where the others at the table aren't even veiling their positions because they know he will just roll.

Waiting until our hand is forced is not a 'plan'. The only interest is keeping a lid on everything until the election. It simply won't wait that long. Especially in Iran's case. I guess by then the Syrian regime would have had time to kill all the unhappy people.