Americans... Get Your Mind Straight

[The-Deadly-Spoon]

on respect to the upcomming elections; you are all talking about how Kerry lied about his war history, how Bush says dumb shit all the time, how Bush choked on a pretzil, how Kerry fell of his bike and Bush fell of whatever that thing was he was riging on.

THOSE ARE NOT THE THINGS THAT ARE SUPPOSED TO INFLUENCE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS!!!

I get the feeling Americans just vote according to a candidates image: "Bush is a strong leader" SO WAS HITLER! The way you are talking about politics seems abortion and gay marriage seem more important issues than foreign and environmental policy!

To all Americans: Dont let the media circus get your mind off the essentials. Dont base your voting decision on whether or not you think you would like the candidate as a person. You are voting for the man to lead the most powerfull nation in the world, you will decide upon the way things will go worldwide, so let the state of the world also influence your decision, not just the state of America.

[Maus]

I read a letter in Time magazine that made me fairly frothy. In it, this lady says that Kerry reminds her of JFK's good looks and wonderful hair, and that Edwards will make a better Veep because he's in better physical shape than Cheney. What a way to choose your leaders. This isn't the Miss America pageant.

The Vietnam war/conflict/engagement/whatever will figure heavily in elections until the candidates are too young to have participated, because of the draft, and it's implications. You either served, or you dodged.

[TurkM938]

Heh, most of the people that allow these things to influence their political views will not be voting, they're too dumb to get to the county clerk's office..(thats who you register through in my county for those that know of other means..)
Although I think Kerry's hair may not be a good reason to vote for him, look at Kim Jong-il ::pinky against lip::

Meh so Smartzorz ::drool::

[Maus]

I registered at my high school. We had to, in order to pass a class our senior year. Anyone that turned 18 before Sept. 1994 had to register, or we didn't graduate. How's that for motivation, eh?

[cheshirepus]

Well apparently, thos only issue at hand this election is some abstract idea dubbed "The war on terrorism". From what I've seen, education, healthcare, energy, and welfare are virtually non-existant in this debate, and I'm scared to think what will happen no matter who gets the office. It seems like all you have to do is yell "global war on terrorism" and people will forget all about whatever it was you were talking about before.
And as for the whole Kerry throwing his medals thing. Colin Powell himself (possibly the only respected man in America anymore) has stated numerous time how the Vietnam war had been "medal inflated"; that they were giving out medals left and right to whoever the hell wanted them. It's not that big a deal that he threw his medals... I'd bet that 90% of Vietnam medal recipients didn't deserve them, not just Kerry.
It worries me greatly that the only thing on anyone's mind is war. What about the arts? How about funding some universities so that we can finally cure AIDS and cancer? Even better, why don't we vote for the next guy who's policy it will be to find out exactly what it is we're doing to piss these "terrorists" off, and then stop it. Poking a beehive with a stick after you've been stung once isn't going to help very much.
Anyway, yes, I agree. Everyone's apparent reasons for voting for one or the other generally falls under the category of stupidity. I wouldn't have too much faith in the voting system right now, either. If we somehow managed to get stuck with Bush once (god knows how that happened!), it just might happen again.

[Gooie]

At 9/1/04 03:10 PM, cheshirepus wrote:

Because war is far more important issue to handle even though the others are very important too, and you can't just "stop" it Osama claim war on America, he wants all of us DEAD no peace get it through your fuckking mind Terrorist = No peace either kill them or be killed, and by stupidity it looks like your referring to the people who vote for Bush, but what I call stupidity is making a "defence" plan and only going after the approval of other countries, and I pray to God that he gets elected again, its always easy to just think anyone else is better when they never had the job before

[jake1337]

but those r the things that the americans will payattention 2
we dont wana hear about how fair the voting is or wat he did in the past but wat he will do in da future wit abortorn n wars n taxes

[cheshirepus]

Are you following me?
Let me guess... Your parents are Republicans and are going to vote for Bush, aren't they? Anyway, not to sound too mean or condecending, but you're a little too young to be making statements about how you think the world works. "Kill or be killed"? Seriously now, the only time I've ever even seen that phrase used in the real world (y'know, not in the movies), was graffitied on a wall in Montreal about 10 years ago.

[ShotInTheHead]

At 9/1/04 03:46 PM, Fryl0ck wrote:

either kill them or be killed,

no they want us to ph33r. thats how terror works. dumbass.

[Gooie]

At 9/1/04 04:51 PM, cheshirepus wrote:

ok..... its true "kill or be killed" have you seen an attack yet? No because we are hunting those assholes and if you believe in peace with these twisted fucks please stop posting NOW

[Gooie]

At 9/1/04 04:54 PM, ReD-VII wrote:

At 9/1/04 03:46 PM, Fryl0ck wrote:

either kill them or be killed,

no they want us to ph33r. thats how terror works. dumbass.

Ya I was really sc4r3d of them when they killed 5,000 people im sooo scared

[The-Deadly-Spoon]

At 9/1/04 04:56 PM, Fryl0ck wrote: Ya I was really sc4r3d of them when they killed 5,000 people im sooo scared

...

anyway, its nice to see not all Americans vote with their guts instead of their minds. I wonder if there will be enough though.
What will it take to get it through their thick minds that they are supposed to think for themselves instead of believe everything one source tells them?!

Oh and Fryl0ck just because something seems like the most important thing doesnt mean that has to be the ONLY thing to talk about.

[The-Deadly-Spoon]

At 9/1/04 03:10 PM, cheshirepus wrote: Even better, why don't we vote for the next guy who's policy it will be to find out exactly what it is we're doing to piss these "terrorists" off, and then stop it.

Because they dont want the war on terror to stop. Why? Because Bush senior is one of the big guys in the Carlyle group, a company that owns 90% of the USA's weapon industry.
Nice situation they have created for themselves isnt it? Son waging war, and dad making huge amounts of money off it.
Oh and guess what.. they own some big ass oil companies as well.

[The-Deadly-Spoon]

Ps.

some reading material on the carlyle group

[Nylo]

At 9/1/04 02:18 PM, Maus wrote: I registered at my high school. We had to, in order to pass a class our senior year. Anyone that turned 18 before Sept. 1994 had to register, or we didn't graduate. How's that for motivation, eh?

Are you serious? I had a heavily advanced placement United States government class my senior year and they mearly handed us out the forms. I can't believe they made it mandatory at your school, kinda disturbing.

[Nylo]

At 9/1/04 06:15 PM, The_Deadly_Spoon wrote:

Because they dont want the war on terror to stop. Why? Because Bush senior is one of the big guys in the Carlyle group, a company that owns 90% of the USA's weapon industry.
Nice situation they have created for themselves isnt it? Son waging war, and dad making huge amounts of money off it.
Oh and guess what.. they own some big ass oil companies as well.

I miss hating Bush =( I'm so torn on both these asshole candidates that I don't even know how to feel about any of them anymore.

[EnragedSephiroth]

At 9/1/04 01:43 PM, The_Deadly_Spoon wrote:

:: THOSE ARE NOT THE THINGS THAT ARE SUPPOSED TO INFLUENCE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS!!!

The thing is... Bush led the country to war... blindly... he even admitted that he didn't have good enough evidence... and we didn't find shit, all we did was kill Saddam's two sons and capture Saddam... where the hell is Bin Laden? Still at large, thanks a lot Bush...

As for Kerry, what happened over in 'nam was none of my business, I wasn't even born at the time, what is my business is that the man WAS ACTUALLY THERE whereas Bush has close to NOTHING on his military record, and if he does have something tangible it was more than likely fabricated by his good ol' friends.

[The-Deadly-Spoon]

At 9/1/04 02:18 PM, Maus wrote: I registered at my high school.

Registered for what?

[John-Kerry]

At 9/2/04 06:06 AM, EnragedSephiroth wrote:

At 9/1/04 01:43 PM, The_Deadly_Spoon wrote:

THOSE ARE NOT THE THINGS THAT ARE SUPPOSED TO INFLUENCE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS!!!

The thing is... Bush led the country to war... blindly... he even admitted that he didn't have good enough evidence... and we didn't find shit, all we did was kill Saddam's two sons and capture Saddam... where the hell is Bin Laden? Still at large, thanks a lot Bush...

Thats all we did???

LOL...you need to stop going to www.ihatebush.com for your information.

As for Kerry, what happened over in 'nam was none of my business, I wasn't even born at the time, what is my business is that the man WAS ACTUALLY THERE whereas Bush has close to NOTHING on his military record, and if he does have something tangible it was more than likely fabricated by his good ol' friends.

Come on man, go find your intelligence and then come back here. If you dont think character studies apply to presidential candidates you need to go live in a dictatorship so you don't have to worry about voting.

[Montgomery-Scott]

um, ihatebush.com is a porn site dude. how could he get his info from there. Unless you were trying to be sarcastic, which you aren't very good at.

[bumcheekcity]

At 9/2/04 11:24 AM, Quanze13 wrote: um, ihatebush.com is a porn site dude. how could he get his info from there. Unless you were trying to be sarcastic, which you aren't very good at.

He was trying to suggest that the other poster only uses very biased websites. Which is funny considering that TS never gives sources.

[La-Z-boi]

Right on! :)

Politics are not about one-liners or white teeth! ^_^

[cheshirepus]

At 9/2/04 12:35 PM, La-Z-boi wrote: Right on! :)

Politics are not about one-liners or white teeth! ^_^

It sure as hell is in America, though!

[Proteas]

At 9/1/04 06:05 PM, The_Deadly_Spoon wrote: What will it take to get it through their thick minds that they are supposed to think for themselves instead of believe everything one source tells them?!

Because it's that one source that people get their information from as to who they should or shouldn't vote for. If they review that information and make an intelligent decision shortly thereafter, then they have effectively gone through the process of thinking for themselves.

[Camarohusky]

At 9/1/04 06:05 PM, The_Deadly_Spoon wrote: What will it take to get it through their thick minds that they are supposed to think for themselves instead of believe everything one source tells them?!

It's like a diet pill that Americans are so infatuated with. It's the quick fix, no effort way to learn about the candidate; Have someone else tell you who to vote for! I mean why should the average American have to worry about what goes on in a city that they probably could not ifnd on a map (I'm talking about DC,) when they can let the smart people pick for them. The average American has another shitty FOX reality show to watch, they have no time for politics.

[The-Deadly-Spoon]

At 9/2/04 01:38 PM, Proteas wrote: Because it's that one source that people get their information from as to who they should or shouldn't vote for. If they review that information and make an intelligent decision shortly thereafter, then they have effectively gone through the process of thinking for themselves.

Well believing everything one source tells you when dealing with mass media, one has already proven to be incapable of making intelligent decisions.. so what you said is kind of a paradox.

You say its all about the channel you pick (for example), some channels allow you to think for yourself, and some try to force their opinions on you. Well if thats the case you have a lot to learn about mass media, because NONE of them are objective.
The only way to truely think for yourself and make an intelligent decision is to absorb as much facts (not opinions) as you can or need, and there is no one single source in the mass media that will give you all the facts.
For example, CNN is a fairly objective channel in my opinion, always letting the two different parties say what the want blah blah blah but they dont have a single article on the carlyle group. Its not just about opinionated journalism, its also about what things you talk/write about and what things you just never mention. So to make an intelligent decision you will HAVE to use different sources of information.

At 9/2/04 01:43 PM, Camarohusky wrote: It's like a diet pill that Americans are so infatuated with. It's the quick fix, no effort way to learn about the candidate; Have someone else tell you who to vote for!

I see what you mean, Americans need to get more politically aware. The sad part is that would probably be best achieved by some kind of political version of Oprah.

[witeshark]

It is ridiculous that anyone would favor a candidate because his look is similar to that of another in history! I'd like to add that any school that disallow graduation and forcing voter registration is wrong. choosing not to vote is a free choice

[Maus]

At 9/2/04 04:48 PM, witeshark wrote: I'd like to add that any school that disallow graduation and forcing voter registration is wrong. choosing not to vote is a free choice

You can be registered, and still not vote. They didn't make it compulsory to vote. Only to register. I'd like to also clarify that it was for a specific class (AP American Politics and Government). If we didn't register, we didn't pass that class, and subsequently, did not graduate. They didn't make the whole school do it.

But I just had a thought: If they make men register for the draft at 18, why shouldn't people be forced to register to vote?

[cheshirepus]

At 9/2/04 06:36 PM, Maus wrote:

At 9/2/04 04:48 PM, witeshark wrote:

But I just had a thought: If they make men register for the draft at 18, why shouldn't people be forced to register to vote?

Probably because it's easier to convince people to vote for a useless President than it is to go fight a meaningless war. Besides that, the more voters there are, the more power the common people have. Though I'm not one to claim that our government is some all evil power bent on global dominance (though Bush does make it seem that way sometimes), I would imagine that a large number of young voters would be a scary thing for an old politician with his hands in all sorts of cookie jars.

[tails1990]

i dont even know why people bother arguing about which president should win anymore. At this point, no matter how hard u try, ur not going to be able to persuade someone to agree with ur ideas. The only thing we can do at this point is wait till the voting actually comes and see what happens.
(and for the record, a much larger part of the country is pro bush than most people realise)