Half-baked Republican Presidential Fruitcakes (and fellow confections)

Permabear · 08-09-2011 5:27pm

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fontanalis · 08-09-2011 5:31pm

You're absolutely right but at the same time the average voter expects a lot from a president, such as creating jobs.

Did Bachmann do her promise for cheap gas again? So much for gubberent staying out of private industry.
It might be a bit early to take Perrys surge seriously aswell, at one stage in the game at the last election McCain was way down the list.

Permabear · 08-09-2011 5:46pm

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amacachi · 09-09-2011 4:06am

If only Ron Paul could get the nomination, I could sleep through the results next November and not care.

The Mad Hatter · 09-09-2011 10:13am

From Twitter:

Permabear · 09-09-2011 12:59pm

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robindch · 09-09-2011 1:04pm

Out of curiosity?

Galvasean · 09-09-2011 1:20pm

As I stated she's hardly going to be too interested in a long term financial plan (which America needs) if she thinks the world won't exist in two years time.

The fact that her belief on evolution (or lack thereof) is apparently on a par with the majority of Americans is what is very concerning to me. Basically a president reflects the Zeitgeist of the people and when the president is hostile toward scientific inquiry it means the people are too. Scientific progress is very important but it seems many would rather avoid it altogether.
Someone brought up the point of George W. Bush's opposition to stem cell research, something which could help a lot of people. Bachmann would certainly oppose it just as aggressively, if not more so.

The president does have plenty of sway. Sure (s)he cannot just one day decide to bring the minimum wage down to a dollar, however the fact that she's even suggesting such a thing, in my mind at least, represents that she is living in Kaka-Coocoo Land.

Make it as hard as possible for them to achieve the rights they deserve, marriage etc.

Interestingly, the survival of the human race is not how we measure the success of the US president.

Basically (I've said this earlier, so I suppose it's a bit of a recap) a president with such views being elected represents that a large proportion (indeed a majority) of the population agree with those views and would like to see their state run by someone with said views. This to me is cause for great concern to the point where I would be very fearful for the direction the United States is going in.
I hope that clarifies my opinion on the matter.

edit: I will ad that my use of the word 'terrifying' has been somewhat tabloidesque. However I do find the idea of someone like Michelle Bachmann being the supposed leader of the free world a scary notion.

The Mad Hatter · 09-09-2011 1:50pm

Tell that to the 3000 people who died in the September 11th attacks, or to the tens of thousands of US, Afghani and Iraqi casualties in the absurd "war on terror".

Permabear · 09-09-2011 2:16pm

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Galvasean · 09-09-2011 2:37pm

When did I say 2012? As far as I'm aware Biblical End timers don't give a toss about the Mayan calendar. Or does the year 2012 have any special relevance to them (honest question)?

Hey, I'm not saying a president shouldn't believe in God or a divine creator or whatever. I do however think that they should not take anti-science stances and oppose useful scientific inquiry with such zeal as is the case with Bachmann.

Were 6 day Creationists at the forefront of this research? I am very much of the opinion that much more in terms of science would have been achieved by now without Creationist /anti stem cell research political lobbying doing it's best to throw a spanner in the works.

You have my interest. Do you have any sources/literature for me to look up? It still sounds very daft to me, but I'm willing to read up on it for the sake of discussion.

That has little or no bearing on choosing today's presidential hopefuls. I could say Abe Lincoln was a member of the Republican party and abolished slavery, ergo we should all support today's Republican candidate.

I want the big cheese to have similar views to me? Shocker! I'm sure we would be hard pressed to find many people who would like to see a US president with drastically different views to their own.

Permabear · 09-09-2011 2:48pm

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Permabear · 09-09-2011 3:18pm

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Galvasean · 09-09-2011 3:28pm

I find a majority of people in America in the 21st Century believing the world was made in 6 days very concerning, not people simply believing in a God or higher power creating the universe. Big difference. Of course, I think you knew that and are just trying to muddy the waters to undermine my opinion.

I thank you for the links you provided. I don't have the time to read them properly today. I will most likely be back tomorrow evening to discuss them further.

rossc007 · 09-09-2011 3:46pm

I may have the wrong end of the stick here, but are you drawing comparisons between the US entering WW1, WW2 and Vietnam with the US entering Iraq?

Permabear · 09-09-2011 3:49pm

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Permabear · 09-09-2011 3:52pm

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Mark Hamill · 09-09-2011 4:02pm

Cognitive dissonance and/or intellectual dishonesty is not a very quality to have in a president.

The way you put it, makes its seem like the American president is as powerless as the Irish one.

Point number one would be a major hindrance to anyone wanting to do stem cell research, no?:
"The derivation process (which begins with the destruction of the embryo) was initiated prior to 9:00 P.M. EDT on August 9, 2001."

Oh thats nice. Stem cell research in America is retarded by Bush's bill, but American scientists can still read about everything everyone else is doing.

This just says that 46.8 % of economists want to abolish the minimum wage, nothing about why, which I assume is what Galvasean wanted to know. (Incidentally, it also says that 37.7 want to increase it).

The Mad Hatter · 09-09-2011 4:26pm

It's pretty common knowledge that there was quite a bit of evidence prior to the September 11th attacks that Al Quaeda was going to attack the US. Bush himself wasn't directly responsible, of course, but it was his administration that oversaw the various failures of intelligence that allowed the attacks to happen.

I agree with you that neither party in the US has a good record when it comes to war, but why on earth would that excuse Bush? I don't want to get into a game of "my guy is better than your guy" with you, since it would be totally pointless and disingenuous, and in general I consider the democratic party in the US to be not even the lesser, but the frailer of two evils.

Incidentally, I don't think many of the above wars you mentioned are good counter-examples in any case, since the US interventions in the two World Wars were arguably justified in bringing both those wars to an end, and the Cuban Missile Crisis was hardly unprovoked.

Permabear · 09-09-2011 4:38pm

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AhSureTisGrand · 09-09-2011 4:59pm

Minimum wage laws might make sense if they were regulating the slavery industry — however the notion that a free and consenting individual cannot work for whatever they agree on with their employer is absurd

robindch · 09-09-2011 5:29pm

I'm shocked to find myself agreeing with Ms Bachmann on something.

Permabear · 09-09-2011 5:41pm

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TwoShedsJackson · 09-09-2011 7:28pm

And there I was thinking it was the Japanese that took the US into World War II... And the Russians who brought the world to the brink by putting the missiles in Cuba in the first place...

pljudge321 · 09-09-2011 7:36pm

Conveniently after the Americans had already placed missiles in Turkey.

Mark Hamill · 09-09-2011 10:33pm

You make it sound as if it doesn't matter at all who is president then, as the checks and balances will ensure no damage could be done. So why is there any discussion then? If these checks and balances work unbiasedly then there shouldn't be any issue, should there?

One of your justifications for the restrictions that Bush put on stem cell research by saying that other nations where unaffected and that American scientists could still read about it in conferences: "Embryonic stem-cell research proceeded unhindered in other nations and was published in internationally available journals and discussed at international conferences, which American academics were free to read and attend.".
Also, nothing to say about point number 1? Dont you think putting a date limit on usable embryos (essentially limiting the number of stem cells that could be tested) wouldn't be a major hindrance on research?

Permabear · 09-09-2011 11:23pm

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rossc007 · 10-09-2011 9:40am

Don't want to drag this too far off topic, but the US entering both World Wars, and to a lesser extent Vietnam, was somewhat justified. The US entering Iraq was not only injust, but illegal. Simply saying war is war doesn't cut it, some wars are justified, otherwise you might be reading this post in German.

Mark Hamill · 10-09-2011 6:44pm

Wouldn't having a complete crank of a president, who wastes everyone's time, effort and money trying to pass nutjob policies past the House and the Senate not be a bad thing? Yes they probably wont get anything damaging through, but they will delay anything sensible by wasting time, assuming they dont try to block it themselves.

Research can only proceed with funding, so I imagine those doing the research would really like federal funding, if it was going. I agree that given your evidence, Bush didn't effect research very much, but he still put hindrances in place despite the checks and balances.

fontanalis · 12-09-2011 3:46pm

Plus Presidents don't authorise wars; Congress does. The vast majority of the democrats voted for the Iraq war.
There seems to be a romaticised view of the Demorats in Ireland.

gargleblaster · 12-09-2011 6:11pm

308 Economists from one American organization.

Quite meaningful I'm sure.

Also congress votes for what they think will get them re-elected. Not appearing patriotic after 9/11 was viewed as certain death. There's no romanticized view of Democrats who voted for the war, they were cowards.

What there is, is a recognition that it wasn't Democrats who set up the Office of Special Plans. It wasn't Democrats who were sending love notes about aspens to sorry excuses for journalists who faithfully and dutifully passed on an avalanche of lies to the public in order to build support for that illegal and unnecessary war.

On edit: Sorry, not 308 economists - that was from a 2000 study. The number surveyed for the 2006 survey was 83. Even more meaningful.

magicbastarder · 13-09-2011 5:58pm

http://reason.com/blog/2011/09/08/what-the-gop-debate-about-immi

not a stance i suspect we'll see many republican candidates today echoing...

magicbastarder · 13-09-2011 6:03pm

off immediate topic, but worth a watch:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9n1JmuPXx2Q

sponsoredwalk · 23-09-2011 5:50pm

The latest from mars:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XitvtG-654Y

To quote the entire internet: You can count the amount of times Ron Paul
appears in 2 hours on 1 hand!

robindch · 04-10-2011 10:12pm

Oops, looks like the Koch brothers, the guys who bankroll the Tea Party, are suspected of earning millions by trading illegally with Iran:

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/billionaire-koch-brothers-in-the-dock-over-trades-with-iran-2365181.html

Mistress 69 · 04-10-2011 10:36pm

Pull up some dust and sit down.... John Lee Hooker for President!

Bit of a Contra with Oliver North!

sponsoredwalk · 13-10-2011 8:28pm

The bullseye on mars will be cleaned by straight, unemployed, former
service men who lost legs serving their country against the threat posed
by Grenada in the 80's & the first privatized flight leaving nasa to take them
there will be paid for by our presidential candidates just to illustrate how
strong their commitment to novel job creation is:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VB1dq5xQ-MM

(Maybe change to the 720 version linked to at the start
once Rose introduces the candidates)

robindch · 10-11-2011 10:56am

Governor Rick Perry suffers meltdown during a live debate.

http://www.thejournal.ie/watch-rick-perry-forgets-which-agencies-he-wants-to-abolish-in-debate-gaffe-275660-Nov2011/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpVD0v17WyA

sponsoredwalk · 03-12-2011 11:54pm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJGxVeQw3SE

Extremely relevant to what Penn is talking about

sponsoredwalk · 07-12-2011 4:52am

Fantastic stuff to watch out for:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7B3Fw5TPJK8

Also here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pn6C7PN_pyk

Article here:

news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/republicans-being-taught-talk-occupy-wall-street-133707949.html

Posting here because not only because of the illustratory nature of this
fantastic experiment in manipulative psychology but because P&T
interviewed that guy :P:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=If9EWDB_zK4

Something to keep an eye on (as if this stuff wasn't already insanely
obvious in the previous debates) as the freakshow rolls along.

Pace2008 · 08-12-2011 5:40pm

Rick Perry being pure sound:

EggsAckley · 09-12-2011 12:12pm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BbrI3F7p6-o

robindch · 09-12-2011 12:41pm

^^^ Classic combo!

Delirium · 09-12-2011 2:50pm

Rick Perry with the Brokeback mountain look while being anti-gay? :pac:

Doctor DooM · 09-12-2011 3:14pm

Have you seen the dislikes on Perry's video on youtube? lol.

Speaking of which, I have been following his exploits on the Atheist experience.

Known as the "stupid one" when Bush was still a local force in Texas, Perry ignored the advice of his advisors with regards to fiscal policy and drove the state well into debt.

His answer to this? Ask people to pray, yes, in his position as govenor of the state, he threw his hands up and said I dunno, "let God sort it out"

At the same time there was a terrible drought in Texas. Perry also asked people to pray for this. In fact, he organised a big football stadium for everyone to join up in and pray together. He called it the response.

This was an amazing event, not for the reason Perry wanted it to be though. It was protested by both the Atheists of Austin AND the Westboro baptist Church, possibly the first time it had happened. It led to local problems with other religions, too.

Despite his prayers, the drought didn't stop. In fact, it got worse, and because of his fiscal policy leading to cutbacks in the fire department, the bush fires got worse and worse.

I can't remember the exact ending to this tale (it was ongoing over weeks and weeks of the Atheist experience and the Non Prophets podcast) but I believe the drought broke on the day of an Atheist convention.

This is how much of a massive eejit Perry is.

EDIT: just found this...