[WARNING! Democrats, Liberals, and Tree Huggers should look away now!]

>.> Truely, the current condition of this country makes me wish I grew up somewhere else....off of the continent of North America. I would have even settled for Vietnam. Reduce the strength of our military?!?!? ARE YOU INSANE?!?!! World Peace?!!? A New World Order?!?!?!! WHAT?!?!?! Idiotic politicians that know nothing about why we ARE a superpower are running this country from a first-world country to a FOURTH-WORLD country. Amnesty for Illegal Immigrants? They can take the test and get their citizenship the right way. Just because it's the "nice" thing to do doesn't mean it's the right thing to do. My Dad is even considering leaving the country come the presidential election. Every single one of those candidates are going to screw this country royally. Barack Obama wants to concentrate on domestic issues. Alright, while your focusing on just the country, the terries will grow in numbers and strength. Then we all die. John McCain wants to ban and instate alot of things that will cause this country to nose dive from superpower to no-power. Hillary Clinton....need I say more than that last name? Ron Paul and Mike Huckabee, if the Athens Mental Institution were still open, I'd put you in there. Though, I wouldn't mind throwing you in Folsom for awhile. Now....about Global Warming....People, learn this. It isn't real. It's simply a solar cycle in which the sun heats up....then cools down....then heats up again. Also, PETA, stop trying to save everything that has 4 legs.....Every animal and species has it's time. When it's time is up it becomes extinct. Simple as that. Stop trying to play God and save everything.....Thanks for reading.

~~~Your humble Conservative,
Origin.

You know, I agree with you on almost every point....

but.... you know what's sad? I was actually *afraid* to post here for fear of it driving people away from me/my site. There is a ton of anti-conservative prejudice where I live (the East Coast). It's so irritating. It's not like I'm even outspoken about it, but utter the word 'Republican' and watch people flee!

At least, in New York City and on college campuses this seems to be the case.

Kind of ironic I'm a conservative given I run a French Revolution site, but hey, to each his own.

In before crap storm.

Oh, could this be moved to the debate forum or something? Considering the nature of the post, anyone posting a disagreement can technically be flaming him. It seems like he's just hiding behind the forum rules to keep himself from getting flamed.

And alright, I lol'd a bit. I'll admit that.

I'm amused that you even burned the republican candidates. XD I don't agree with 99% of the above, but to each their own, I have no arguments to make. ^_^

Just as a warning to people considering flaming, please don't. Thanks!

I was torn between being amused and being mad, but Loth's post inspired me to be amused instead. I actually laughed out loud the second time through, as I also (probably not surprising if you've read my posts elsewhere on RPG-D) disagree with a large percentage of what was said.

Scanning for things I agree with:
- I also with I'd grown up elsewhere, just for different reasons.
- Mike Huckabee is most likely crazy.


Yup, that's it ^.^

I was also amused. Though I'm only seventeen and not able to register as anything yet, I consider myself Independant. Where I live it seems like everyone is Republican. And mostof the time it drives me crazy. Most of the things you said I agree with. But since I wasn't actually born in the US I have known what it is like to live elsewhere. And Australia has never looked better before now.

That one really made me laugh. I feel exactly the same way.

As for the Presidential election...don't get me started. If I was old enough to vote for anyone it would be Obama. And even that is a stretch. Things don't look good for this country. And you didn't even include things like the unhealthy state of youth, poverty, and Bush. You have an interesting outlook on our country - it makes me smile.

Considering that I tend to avoid politics like it's a rabid beast - which is not always an inaccurate description - I don't have much to contribute, save to ask what you mean by

Perhaps I should pay a little more attention to the more broad public news, but I've heard nothing even mentioning that on Army/military sources.

I encourage everyone to read their news source of choice daily.

Ranting is usually the ignorant complaining about ignorance. I see this as no exception. Go get informed, people! Hee.

I hesitate to recommend The New York Times after that recent muckraking article about John McCain. I'm pretty sure both parties concerned have more integrity. BBC International is also good.

Yes, still amused.

I am technically an Independant, but I tend to lean towards the conservative end of the scale. I agree with several of your points, with the notable exceptions being Hillary Clinton, global warming and PETA (although to a lesser extent). I think that Clinton has the potential to make the country a bit better financially, even though her health care system terrifies me. Luckily, it's much too grandiose to ever be truly implemented.

Obama is a fool; what is this about pulling all troops out of Iraq, biding our time and entering the Pakistani mountains to search for Bin Laden? Something tells me that the Pakistani government would not like that. I also think he's very obnoxious, but that's neither here nor there. McCain is a washed up old fossil, and is about as conservative as John F. Kennedy. I'm with Ann Coulter on this one, folks; Clinton is the most conservative candidate in this election, and she's a Democrat! I'll probably be voting for her in the general election, if she gets the nomination. Her husband needs to learn to be tactful, though. He did some good things for this country, but he's become a complete idiot; maybe she'd stand a better chance of winning if he wasn't shooting his mouth of every five minutes.

I'm probably more liberal than you are and I once ran a late-Ancien Régime role-play. Being a "log cabin" Republican is also kind of funny. Hahah.

Really, you should stop listening what your parents are telling you and learn to think for yourself.

I'm going to break down every single one of your arguments so that, in the future, you will either not WANT to debate me, or you'll have to come up with some real examples and reasons behind your opinions. Because it's clear that you are being taken for a ride.

The point is not really to reduce the size of our military, but much less to stop trying to consistently dominate other countries. Honey, our military occupies OTHER COUNTRIES. Examples being Japan, Germany, Guam (which is actually a US Territory), Iraq, etc. How many countries has their own military forces stationed here?

It doesn't look like we're even close to being as poor at Haiti, hon. If anything, while we may be having economic problems, and while the value of our dollar may be declining, think of rational reasons WHY this is so. The point is that we're still doing quite well.

Have you even taken a look at the test? You have to pass it with at least a 70%, I believe, and most US citizens can't even pass it. I suggest this - you take the test, without access to google for your answers, and let me see how you do on it.

Let's see what your reasoning is for this.

Slippery slope fallacy. We have domestic terrorists here that intend to do just as much harm to our government as foreign terrorists. Keep in mind that, before the attacks of 911, one of the worst attacks on this nation was in Okla. City, OK.

Oh really - and you know what these are?

Wow there, looks like you can't even come up with a viable reason for that one OTHER than your bias against her surname...or should I say your parents' bias.

Actually, the problem here is that the Earth is heating TOO QUICKLY. The Earth does get warmer, but it's a really long, drawn out process, and it doesn't happen as quickly as expected.

I do agree with this.

However, America has different people, with different values and differing opinions. I respect your right to have an opinion, but I feel that you should educate yourself more on these issues, rather than going off of what your parents or others are telling you.

*ahem*

INDEPENDENT is not NON-PARTISAN.

Independent refers to the "American Independent Party" which is the super crazy right-wing psychos. (Sorry to all Independents here, but . . . .) At any rate, I would advise non-partisans to refer to themselves as "non-partisans" to avoid any humiliating confusion in the future.

As for me, I want to join the Mario Party.

And all of the political candidates suck. Even moreso than last time. Greaaat. We're all going to hell.

Clearly, American politics not my thing... but meh... you know how I hate to be left out of discussions!

Kevin07 (the new Aussie PM) got in with one of his major campaigns being the promise to pull troops out of Iraq - which is going to happen. They're on the last circulation now, and then they're out of there. I don't agree with this. No - it's not our war. No - we shouldn't have been there in the first place, but you finish what you bloody started. Promises like that I find to be nothing more than campaign filler, sentimental rubbish to hook military families on-side. Isn't Kevvie so nice, bringing some of our boys back?

*rolls eyes*

Oh, I double this challenge. Although there's a joke that goes along the lines of how to tell an immigrant from a convict-Australian.... the immigrant knows the words to the national anthem. Sad. But probably true. I know two verses... yay me!

That's my natural cue to dance. *dances*

I'll break out the pavlova, and make up some vegemite sandwiches... those who want to move over here, you're most welcome...

But on a more serious note, I don't believe it's right to judge a country by it's politicians. Clearly, some do a better job than others - that's life - but there is no right or wrong way to run a country, just as there's no right or wrong way to run a board. I highly doubt that anyone will be capable of running America into the ground - and given that the world judges America by it's television... we're not expecting much from you guys anyway. XD

That was a joke. I love American TV. Honest.

The one thing I do disagree with, and this is probably my biggest gripe with American and politics, is those who complain endlessly about the pollies - but don't vote. Fair enough if you're not eighteen, that's fine - you're not considered old enough to vote and complain away... but if you're going to sit there and bitch about the state of the country, but won't get up off your couch on election day to vote - even if it's just for the best of a bad lot - I think you give up your right to whinge.

But anyhoo, that's just me.

More than you might think. There were soldiers from four different militaries at Fort Sam Houston when I was there a couple of years ago, and I don't imagine that it's any different at other installations. To be specific, I can tell you that the Royal Marines maintain a presence at MCB Quantico. I know also of several men and women of the Canadian military who live and train on US installations fairly frequently.

My advice for you is: study before saying things that you have little or no knowledge about. International politics are a much more complicated thing that a small dinner table conversation and some random ramblings can cover can cover. Watch news and read newspapers yourself, read the essays from political and economic commentators.

I"ll explain a little thing for you called high-tech war: more technological advanced weapons with higher range, that require a minor number of troops to operate and dominate the enemuy. The thing is called [b]saving human lifes[b]! I guess you don't remember that nearly 4000 mothers and wifes received folded american banners do you?

Aside from this, the international community is extensively unhappy with the US military and it's deployments around the world. Example are their interferance in internal politics of other countries and the behavior of the troops (Japaneses communities near US bases in places are fighting for years thanks to all the nose of aircrafts in their bases, the damage made by the use of heavy machinery, and the number of crimes by the troops that are covered by military authorities... ah, did you know that the number of suicide by Iraqi girls since the start of the war have enormously increased? That's because they are raped by soldiers - not all soldiers are rapists, but there's always a minority - and since Islam tells that they became outcasts and lose all their rights, they have no life perspective).

And yeah baby, Cold War ended a now you have a New World Order with a bunch of liberal democracies that perceived the opportunities to grow. While the scenario for the new era is being forged, some things are bound to happen... and well, the economic problems of US are not but the fault of Federal Reserve and the bad use of credit market so... is not like the fault is from politicians alone, but it from a bunch of people.

And come talk about fourth world after you pay a visit to Sierra Leone, ok?

Here, think with me:

The theory says that carbon dioxide retains the heat earth's surface, right? So by this logic if you have more carbon dioxide it'll retain more heat. Now, a solar cycle with more solar explosions means more heat that will come to earth and more heat that will be retained inside earth... so yeah, what is happening is that the world is heating much more a than in past solar cycles... you should pay more attention to geography classes >_>

Technology alone cannot fight wars. There will always been a need for boots on the ground, never mind technical expertise.

With regard to your second paragraph: oh yes. We (we meaning the military as a whole, all branch services included) flagrantly disturb those communities in which we have installations and posts, with little regard for the civilian population. We're only there to demonize the citizens and create uncomfortable living situations. So evil of us! That was sarcasm, by the way. I should not have to speak of undertakings like Operation Joint Guardian, or even involvement with KFOR, to illustrate that not all US military presence is a negative.

I have never been forward deployed, so I'm sure that my opinion means nothing as a result, but I know - from many sources - that anyone who gets jammed up by civilian authorities at foreign postings is more likely to be turned over to the civilian courts than he or she is to be made subject to UCMJ. With regard to the statement made about Iraqi females and rape by US servicemen - do you have sources for that? I will acknowledge that my brothers and sisters on the ground may not always behave appropriately, but it's a disservice to all of us to suggest that all bad things that are happening there are entirely our fault, simply for being there.

We, the US military, are not the only forces forward deployed either. Our British, Canadian, and Norwegian colleagues have been excellent, with special notice for the CF's activities in Afghanistan. There are several other countries who are actively involved in the Middle East. The US is not the only presence there, though clearly we are the more constantly-critiqued one.


Edit: I am finished with this discussion. Debate my posts all you like, I shall not respond further.

Yes sir, I know that technology alone cannot fight wars, my father is retired infantryman and I understand that. But the military is moving towards a new world where they're aiming to be more effective with a minor number of troops.

And I would just redirect you for the wikipedia article on USFJ ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Forces_Japan ), I respect soldiers duty, the majority of the soldiers are responsible, but as I said, there's also a minority. In KFOR alone some human rights reports from UN points many violations by US troops. My father served in Haiti and when he was stationed there he said that locals started a insurgency after two american soldiers raped a 14-y.o.and if wasn't for brazilian troops calming the population and asking for a posture from the US command, the two would escape without punishment.

About the data in Iraqi girls, my teacher showed me some human rights reports about that too, I quit high school last year, but I'll try to get in touch with him and ask for copies.

Ok, being another Australian I know very little about American Politics.

However, I think it's a bit ignorant to just say global warming isn't real. Of course the sun has its own cycles but right now this cycle is a lot bigger then any other cycle has been in the last 100,000 years. I don't think that's a coincidence. Also, that's all very well and good to say when you live in America, but Australia has been having pretty screwed up weather lately. Honestly, where I live used to go into the negatives when I was younger, and it hasn't gone below 10 degrees for ages.

As for your PETA statement, I agree. Not everyone in the world is going to go vegan. Get over it and stop trying to force us.

Where I live, right in the middle of the US, we didn't have weather below freezing until late December and we're having one of the coldest Februarys we've ever had.

A single cold month is not irrefutable proof of a lack of global warming, just like a single hot month is not an iron-clad proof for it. It's not about single temperatures. It's about global climate, which is a long-term recognizable graph.

This entire thread depresses me, because it's a snapshot of the state of mind of the American majority. Spouting off buzzwords that you hear on FoxNews doesn't make you informed. It does, in fact, the opposite. The American people need to wake up and start researching and thinking for themselves, but as long as the religious neocons continue to sow this terrible culture of fear no one will -- because they're scared to. And that's terrifying.

ETA: Origin, please look at your word choice. You use 'liberal,' 'democrat,' and 'treehugger' like they're foul, dirty words. That -- and the opposite, from those who use 'republican' and 'conservative' the same way -- is what's killing this country. That divisive spirit of hatefulness is eroding everything that this nation is supposed to stand for. Can't you see that?

I'm checking on it, and I am aware that there are countries that are occupied here - mainly allies. However, I do NOT believe that there are as many countries that occupy us as we do. American troops occupy every inhabited continent on Earth. I do know that as of 2003 we had over 730 military installations in 50 countries worldwide. Now, seriously, we should think about this one - that is too freaking many, for ANY country, at one time. We're even stationed in countries that we're on neutral terms with, or are just trying to "help" other countries (Such as the Demilitarized Zone).

As for the rapes thing - Actually, a rape just happened in Okinawa not too long ago. I think the girl was like 14 or so. I have to check Mixi again, but yes. Granted, rapes by servicemen are generally VERY few and far between, they do happen. I have nothing but support for our troops, but I do think that things like troop behavior should be regulated, or the servicemen that commit such acts be tried under the <country's> laws.

About troop misconduct: such instances happen in any war zone, and in any region where troops are stationed. I am by no means excusing the few American soldiers that do such terrible things, but it's not as if it's solely limited to our troops.

During the German occupation after World War II; British, Russian and American troops misbehaved with the local women. The high African American presence in Bavaria and the resultant influx of multiracial children (Germany had been previously devoid of citizens of African descent) is but one famous instance, and does not mean that the other two armies (with much fewer numbers of black soldiers, allowing their offspring to pass as a full German) did not do the same.

I don't see how this really warrants a criticism of America, given the fact that it happens more often than you think, and with many different countries involved. The rowdy, drunken American soldier has become a stereotype, and I find it a bit disrespectful to the vast majority of brave, honorable men and women who serve their country overseas. I mean, I do not think this is right, but there's nothing we can do to stop these isolated instances entirely.

The problem is when it happens, this minority brings a stigma against a whole force composed by a majority of honest hardworking people, and that stigma cause major unrest by international community and a enormous prejudice against US military.

Reducing the number of troops, increasing their combat effectiveness and pulling troops from overseas would do wonders for US international image that, as someone living outside US, is pretty much unpleasant.

I have to disagree with that. Pulling troops out of overseas stations wouldn't necessarily improve the world's vision of the US. More than likely, pulling troops out of areas such as Iraq would leave the global public with the same feelings I'm left with now - that the Government can't handle the responsibility of the tasks they started, and are backing out at the last second.

Yes, the US is pretty well known for barging in on situations that didn't really need Big Brother America, and yes, there's a few people over this side who are a little annoyed that Little Brother Aussie gets dragged along... I don't blame the US for that, but those responsible for giving our troops orders.

The US international image isn't something you can really do anything about. I've got many American friends, love them to death, but sometimes it seems like they live in a little bubble world where America is the be-all and end-all. Which I suppose it is, for a country of that size and population, it's nothing to do with governments - it's culture.

Besides.. I love America as it is. It's like that loopy arrogant big brother, that half the time you want to hug to death for giving you hand-me-downs like Hollywood and the Internet, and the other half the time you want to knock out with a piece of two-by-four for telling you you're wrong to put a U in colour.

.... but I've got majorly off point.

I'm not American, and have never lived there, but I have to say I do love the country. The only thing I REALLY hate is the healthcare system and Iraq... Otherwise America is awsome :p

Mousie, make sure to tell your government to Zerox a good amount of Australia's Citizenship Test, because I can almost guarentee (almost.) that there will be an influx of American's come November. I'm not giving it a major or minor prefix, but just a foward note. Now, the rest of you who think I'm just using my own parents views I'm not. Per se. They're my parents beliefs the have been modified by freelance study I do myself. Anyways, to whoever said something about the nearly 4,000 families that have recieved folded American flags, yes, I agree it is not a good thing. However! It IS better than the few million families that recieved folded flags during and after WWII as they found more American bodies. Pretty much all I'm going to say for now because I'm sick and tired.

The number of casualities for US soldier in WW never reach 500,000 - the report of the War Office (that became the current Department of Defense in 1947) and additional sources point at the exact number of 416,837 military deaths(roughtly 0,32% of the population at the time) - including those not related to combat such as accidents, equipment malfunction, illnesses, post war discoveries, etc... a lot of people but very far from the figure of a milliion of families, let alone a few million.

And it doesn't matter, a death is always a death and the time period, the technological level, the protection gear and the scale of the conflict are completely different, it's still a lot of people dead by a pretty small, underarmed and bad trained enemy.

The ignorance by some of the posts in this thread is both stunning and revolting at the same time.

Here's a tip for everyone involved:

Never put "Bush" and "conservative" in the same sentence without the word "social" in between the two. Anything else is an insult to conservatives.

Amen.

Quite false. An "independent voter" is a voter that votes on issues and not on partisan lines. It is not the AIP, which at its heart is an anti-communist movement.

And if you think the candidates suck more than last time, I don't even know what to tell you, except that you haven't looked at the issues lately.

What a straw man.

Want to do a body count on number of American/Israeli dead versus number of Muslim dead?

It's not pretty. Or rather, want to compare the number of American deaths (400k or so) to the number of Soviet deaths (~20 million) in WWII? Again, it's not pretty.

Sure, McCain isn't a conservative. Hell, only Ron Paul is a conservative in this entire election (though anyone that supports a fair tax, including Huckabee, is debatably conservative). But he's sure a hell of a lot more fiscally conservative than this regime. You don't want to reduce the size of the military, but you are talking about how the country is descending into the "fourth world." I can tell you right now that the the rise in budget is almost entirely due to the Iraq War and interest on our loans. Stop spending so much on impossible occupations and you'll see improved confidence in US asset markets.

My advice to you would be to stop following every buzzword you hear on television, go to a site like ontheissues.org, and actually read up on the candidate's voting record, then making an informed decision based on what you feel is best. This kind of ignorant diatribe doesn't help your case at all.

For someone who says they 'study,' you sure are remarkably ignorant about actual numbers and actual issues. Even thirty minutes on bbc.co.uk will give you more and better information than what you're spouting here.

I also like how you completely ignored all of the very valid criticisms leveled at your points; that's pretty par for the course for any uninformed fanatic, no matter their political or social spectra.

What studying did you do, kiddo?

You just got owned in your own thread, and now you have nothing to say, and now choose to make a passive-aggressive copout because it isn't going your way.How cute.

This is not a flame, but what I will say is that it is pretty cowardly for you to talk about how pathetic America is, claim to study, and then when someone brings cold hard fact your way, you flee. Just the same way you want to flee because America isn't the way you and your parents think it ought to be. You don't have a single good reason as to why.

You're sick and tired? You have not responded back, which makes me think you're either trolling or are terrified that people have arguments that you can't respond back to using your normal train of thought, because someone is going to come along and derail that train horribly. Yet you're sick and tired.

So, you're claiming that you're going to leave because this country isn't as conservative as you want it to be, then what would keep you from fleeing Austrailia? And the country after that, and after that?

Studying using only Fox News, Rush Limbaugh/Michelle Malkin/Ann Coulter and other ultra-conservative Blogs (Because, truthfully, most conservatives aren't even that bad) doesn't mean that you've studied ANYTHING at all. ALl you're doing is making a heavily biased argument, and still haven't taken the time out to get out of your comfort zone and THINK.

Ignorance is lethal, man. I love my country, despite the problems that plague it, and I dislike when people talk about how much they want to run from it and give all these reasons that aren't founded in anything but pure ignorance. The grass is always greener...

-sigh- Look, I HAVE been sick for the last three days with something I'm calling the AllergenicPneumoniaCold. Because I don't know exactly what I have. It could be allergies, it could be pneumonia, could be a cold, it could be any of the three combined, hell I don't know. Anyways. >.> I don't have it in me to argue today, my brain feels like it's about to fall out of my head. So, once I'm fully functional n such again, I'll come back on.


Edit/Note: Didn't really intend for it to be responded to, it was just a rant at the end of a bad week. This is the forum for ranting, right?

I agree with you. Everybody seems to flee if you claim that you're a Republican, and I find that disheartening.

&& On the first poster, Origin, I can see what you're saying on On MOST of it. I'm conservative, and it seems like even if you're moderately conservative people jump down your throats because they assume you agree with everything the President's done or everything that's happenening in the world today - like the poor economy and whatnot. I agree with you guys on most every point though, I do have to say that much. I really don't want to get into any debates or ranting or anything, so it's probably good that I do.

But what I do NOT agree with you is when you say how Pathetic America is. That pretty much brings you down like Obama's wife, a strong liberal fundamentalist, who claimed recently in a speech that she just NOW has hope for America, she has only this year taken pride in the country. That's like saying, that she didn't have reason to believe in our country when we made it through 9/11, and whatnot. That's just me. But that's a strong to the core liberal belief what you have here, so it's hard to see you as a conservative. Liberal in the sense that you're almost Anti American in the way that you proclaim your opinion.

No offense to you, and hopefully no offense taken in return <3

I agree. McCain is not a conservative. I'm sure as hell glad that I don't have to vote this year. I would vote for McCain over the other candidates, Mike Huckabee, Ron Paul, Obama, and Clinton for sure, but McCain's not any bit as conservative as any one else. He even sided with some of the major senate majority leaders, if you look at his record, and he does not have a firm stance on a firm economy, on creating a smaller and less power government, and immigration laws. He does have at least the common sense on the whole national security thing, which I will give him credit for. But he is not a true conservative, I can see right through that much.

I will say and admit fairly that I have listened to Sean Hannity on Fox News, and the occasional Rush Limbaugh show. But I do balance it out, I want to hear both sides of the arguement, and exactly as well as you put it, you have to get out of your comfort zone and have to have understanding of the opposing's opinion. What they're arguing for, before you find flaws within it. You can't just take something that somebody else is arguing on your side, and claim it to be true, without having enough evidence with all your own listening and research to prove the claim to be hypocrisy or whatnot. Those are all relatively Conservative Networks, so I try to balance it out with a bit of CNN [yes, I know. It pratically stands for Clinton News Network these days] and read some of the liberal rags that are out there. The truth of the matter is, both sides will be a bit biased, and have their own opinions that they would pose as facts. You have to be wary of that.

Oh, for goodness sake.

If you really want me to respond point by point to every pile of misinformation in your post, I certainly can, but it's been my experience that it won't be read -- because, frankly, the kinds of people who spew this horribly hateful and damaging misinformation are the same sorts of people who tell you that they have their minds made up, and please don't confuse them with the facts. Here, I'll give you just one: what Mrs Michelle Obama said was that right NOW she is proud of her country, NOT THAT SHE WAS NEVER PROUD OF IT BEFORE. Have you never said, for example, 'wow, Dad, I'm proud of you today?' Should he snatch you baldheaded for saying that you were never proud of him before? NO, BECAUSE THAT ISN'T WHAT YOU SAID. The neoconservative movement took her words and twisted them, because that is the culture that they have founded, and that is ripping this country apart and you are helping make it happen.

Please, for the sake of whatever it is that you actually believe in, read more than one news outlet. If you only listen to Fox News, you will only ever get their viewpoint. If you only read the New York Times, you will only ever get that viewpoint. You can never, ever ever ever ever ever EVER, get the truth from one source. That's the nature of human faillibility. It's especially damaging in this internet age where one source gets cited all over creation on a billion different blogs, and there's an entire culture that thinks just because they can publish something that makes them journalists.

Secondly? I've been a registered Republican since I first registered to vote (in my state, declaring a party affiliation is mandatory), and even though that's personal and none of your business I am forced to share it so you will stop writing me off as some liberal treehugger just because I don't agree with your aforementioned hateful misinformation. I believe in personal privacy, states' rights, and fiscal responsibility, things the Republican party used to stand for, and what the terribly damaging neoconservative movement has been pouring into a hole and setting on fire in the Republican name since 1980.

You are not a Republican. You are a social conservative. The way they keep getting mixed up is incredibly insulting.

I just came here to express my opinions, nothing more nothing less, everyone has the freedom of the choice to believe what they want to hear. I didn't really assume I'd get any flaming, but as usual, I'm wrong. I consider myself a Republican, though I don't have a license or anything to prove that, because I'm a minor - sorry to point that out to you for one. I believe you don't have to be registered for a party to stick up and believe in what you stand for or are. That would be like me claiming that you were a Tree Hugger, or some crap, but when truth be told is? I don't know you, seeing as this is the internet, and who knows what you act like or speak like on a dailly basis at home or at work or whatnot. You may have the opposite opinions of what you're speaking for all I know. When it comes down to it? I don't think people should judge on political beliefs, and agendas.

I appreciate people who don't have the need to flame others. This is why people like me are afraid to speak up in society these days. They're afraid of getting ridiculed, made out to be some sort of fool when they're not. Everyone uses puns, plays on words, to make it seem that way.

Call me a social conservative, moderate conservative, spew any other word that would describe me out, but I stand behind what I said earlier. I'm a Republican, and I would like to think that I believe in some of the fundamental values that others in the party do. I don't think that it requires questioning from others.

Mrs. Michelle Obama, word for word,

And later:

I'm not misquoting, I am reading exactly what has been televisised and publcizied on many media mainstream networks, regardless of political bias and whatnot. That's what she said. Believe what you want, but I think if she had something to say like that, she knew that people would be able to misconstrew it to any direction.

I don't know about you, but I'm still proud to be an American. If you look at where we've came technology wise, medicine wise, in the past hundred years. How people reacted and came to aid one another after 9/11, I think that's something to be proud of.

Protip: disagreement != flame.

The present GOP bears no resemblance to the Republican party. The Bush administration has created the largest government structure ever in the history of the United States and that is anathema to the core tenet of the ideals the party was founded on. That is not a flame. That is a fact. And that's just one!

I just would like to say that I agree with this wholeheartedly. Current "Republicans" are not Republicans, and I think people would do themselves a great deal of good to finally realize that. Most people who are unaware of their history do not seem to grasp that concept, and thus all Republicans are labeled as "evil hyper-religious psychos."

I am gay. I'm not a hyper-religious, socially conservative anything; would it make sense if I were? I am sick of people associating neoconservatism with "Republican" when its not even a true Republican ideal.

And here is what the neocons did NOT tell you -

And she has a point here - and you would be hard-pressed to deny it. People have not been all that active in elections, particularly young people, the way they are now. A common complaint that I hear has been said in this thread and many others - "I don't like any of the candidates, blah blah blah." And a lot of these people, from my own personal experiences working with campaigns and such - do NOT come out to vote.

However, these are the same ones who will complain later.

Media always takes things out of context to make for a juicier story.

Except she said that a few days later after she realised what she said could affect Obama's campaign.
Meh, to be fully honest, I actually really like all the candidates, McCain, Clinton, Obama.... While I like some better, I really think the States got lucky this year, and it going to have a great president, no matter which.
But I do agree about the anti-conservative prejudice that all the youth today seem to have. It's this assumption that just because you believe in individual responsibility, and individual freedom that you hate charities, and believe all who have AIDS 'deserve it' which is totally untrue (I can't speak for all conservatives though...).