President Obama

[Thor]

Wait, you think that the economy is the Democrat's fault? 7 out of the 8 largest expenditures per year were in the last 7 years of Bush's presidencies. (The other one was in his father's term in office.) These record deficits were caused by Bush's failed policies and the war he started to secure Middle East oil supplies. The Democrats only gained a majority in the 2008 election year. If you're going to twist the facts in your party's favor, at least don't be TOO overt about it.

This problem was not caused by Bush, or the war. To put forth that it was indicates a rather simplistic understanding of economics.

That being said, while the Establishment Party (with its Democratic and Republican wings) bears the blame for this, I would argue that the Dem wing bears a bit more.

[Adine]

yeah...thats never going to happen...ever.
I'm moving to america soon from england and I think Obama can hardly do much more damage than is already done.

Who knows, with a chance he might actually get somewhere

I think he's under too much pressure to be honest. He is the first US Black President - everything he does is going to be overcritised by people because of that.

if anything hes under too little pressure because of it. the media for the most part swoons over him as if he were god . heck man he could say the declaration of independance was writen by Ghandi in a serious manner and it wouldent be reported .

[Shinigami]

Okay. A bunch of guys hijack four planes, fly two of them into the WTC, one into the Pentagon, and one is taken over by the passengers and crash-lands.

Now, this is taken as an act of war, which is ludicrous. The hijackers were citizens of several Middle East countries, but they were NOT part of the armed forces and NOT operating under their countries' direction. Did we declare war on Korea because of the Virginia Tech shootings?

The government decides to invade to secure the oil supplies, which are in the hands of extremists, but they realize that their argument is incredibly flimsy. Hence, the WMD scare.

Show me proof, not words. I want links of this. I have never found any real proof on this other than on extreme conspiracy theorist sites.

So, I restate what I said. Show me proof of the desire to secure oil, and I'll show you proof of a WMD. Either way you look at it, the main purpose in my eyes of this war, was to help Iraq set up a govt. not setup on terror.

[Andreya]

At least you hav a president who can make some kind of decision - we spend our time checking out candidates, going to make our vote, watchng the news avidly for the results and then just follow what america is doing. there was more coverage here in england on your elections than on our own! maybe i should start making a choice of republican or democrat, cos you guys rule us!!!

On the plus side, your president has got a smile (it is getting more forced lately but its prob jus pressure), ours permanently look like he licked pee off a nettle, and his wife is a donkey too!

[kamikazewave]

Alright, let's leave the conspiracy theories out of it, as well as the war propaganda.

Considering that Fox News and the press releases by the government leading up to the Iraq War was all about WMDs etc, let's just accept the fact that the story for the war was WMDs. So either the government really thought Saddam had WMDs and made a mistake, or an alternative, more clean theory is more accurate. I'm not going to say that the sole purpose to the Iraq War was a desire to secure oil, but considering that the US never invaded Cuba or North Korea, but did intervene in Panama and Granada, it's more likely that there was a less altruistic reason behind the Iraq War than possible WMDs or because Saddam Hussein was a tyrant.

And Shinigami, it's not "you show me your proof first and I'll show you mine." There was no proof of WMDs, and some intelligence suggested that the government knew there was a low chance of WMDs. Thus, alternative theories are created to fit the data. Your argument is the same as asking someone to prove that there is no god, or to prove that Creationism isn't correct. It goes against the whole logical idea of burden of proof.

But back on topic to this off-topic topic, I honestly think Obama will do fine. His inflationary policies will depreciate the dollar and may lead to attempts to dethrone the dollar as the currency standard, but it may help shorten the duration of the depression. I'm happy this administration is no longer following trickle down economic theory, and has also begun to scale back the war in Iraq.

And Andreya, how's everything going on in our 52nd state? (51st is Canada).

[gustavus_2]

?It is time to set a new course for this economy, and that change must begin now,? Obama said in a recent speech. I think the Obama Administration sees the troubled economy as a perfect opportunity to "fundamentally transform" the United States like he promised during his campaign.
I am all for positive change, but there is nothing new or even that successful to the European style so******t policies he has been advocating so far. Europe is in decline in every major way, economically, socially, militarily, etc. They can't even reproduce in enough numbers to replace their aging population. Even in Europe some countries like Denmark and France are trying to stem the tide of 'entitlement' so******m to help re-start their economies. Should we really go down that same failed road? The liberty and prosperity we enjoy in the United States is unique in History. I don't want to see that light dimmed.
You can't borrow your way to prosperity!

[Darwin]

With a democrat in office, they slip by as much so******m as they possibly can during their term(s), with a republican in office, they slip in about a quarter of that so******m and say they are defending the United States from so******ts, either way I look at it, it's a lose lose situation.

[Adine]

the thing that scares me more than anything else is the "Obama can do no wrong" syndrom that seems to be going aroundi dont even watch MSNBC or any of the NBC afilliates as far as news goes anymore because its such a joke

[Darwin]

Oh yes, that's very true Adine.
Too many people think Obama is just this messiah come to save us all, and blah blah blah.
That's dangerous thinking. At this point, Obama definitely has a "cult of personality."
The last few times we had a cult of personality, we saw Mussolini, Hitler, Mao Zedong, McCarthy, etc.

[Devilmind]

Now, I'm all for a good political debate. I've even been known to get into long-winded arguments with a lot of my colleagues at uni, but I must ask... Why is this topic even open? According to rules for this forum, seen here http://bbs.civony.com/showthread.php?t=617 , politics is a no no for the forum, as it has the potential to derail things. I'm not saying they will be derailed, but there are definite signs from what everyone has said. The moderators who have participated in this debate should also know better.

It isn't just this topic, I'm sure there are more against the rules, but this is the first one I've seen.