Posted on 06/10/2004 12:19:49 AM PDT by kattracks
June 10, 2004 -- NOW is a good time to look back at the landslide win that sent Ronald Reagan to the White House in 1980, because lots of analysts think 2004 could turn out the same way — close for a long time and then suddenly breaking wide open. In 1980, the break came just days before the vote, when Democrat Jimmy Carter finally agreed to debate. Reagan came off as sunny instead of scary and when he admonished Carter with a smile, "There you go again," it was all over.Like President Bush, Carter faced voters nervous over both the economy and foreign policy and wondering whether it's time for a change — in Carter's case, skyrocketing inflation at home plus the endless Iran hostage crisis.
But there's a big difference, since Carter kept getting bad news on both fronts, while Bush is starting to get good news on both the economy, with a surge in new jobs, and Iraq, with international support for the June 30 transfer of power.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
Hinduism are not pagan and India and outlying countries under its influence had a high level of thriving civilization long before Jesus Christ was born. Including trade. People who have not studied Hinduism deeply often do not know that its foundation is indeed monotheism - the first in the world.
Just because a man is conservative does not guarantee that he is also sane.
I personally predict a pretty big margin for Bush, unless some very major earth shattering even occurs between now and November.
Kerry will get nothing but 2 core bases, the hard core democrats, and the huge anti-american crowd... which are largely overlapping segments.... Kerry will not get the moderate to casual democratic voters to even show up to vote... he doesn't excite or inspire confidence, he doesn't motivate.
So the only thing he really has is the "hate bush" vote, and that frankly is not enough to pull off any sort of victory... I predict it won't even be close....
Especially if Al Quaeda tries some domestic terrorism on the eve of the election hoping to swing the Vote like they did in Spain. The reaction in the US will be far different than spain. We don't have a fragmented parlament where a minor shift due to being multi partied can affect who's priminister even when they don't win the majority of the vote.
Worst thing in the world for the Dems would be spotlighting national security right at election time.
Ok, I'm a government employee. That does not mean that I am "sucking the government tit". I manage, operate, repair, mainframe computers in an activity that creates programs that operate the weapons systems on USN combat vessels. I do this work because I love it and not because I can't find work elsewhere. I could make a lot more on the outside as a government contractor, do a lot less work. When I'm not repairing systems or helping programmers, I get to sweep, mop, and dust the computer room since my shop was down sized from 30 people to two under Clinton.
Those of you who are closed minded about this, that the government only employs shiftless unemployables. Well, there are a lot of engineers, scientists, programmers, and technicians that work for the government. All of them work for a lot less than they could in the private sector. We do this from a sense of pride. Many of our people ride ships, subs, and planes right beside the sailors; testing and repairing operational hardware and software.
You people who are always downing the government employees need to give us a break. The DoD is made up of a lot of people, and not all are in uniform. We are all part of the team and the vast majority of us are veterans who are continuing to serve this country out of uniform.
Contrary to other opinions, I am a conservative. I just have very strong doubts that, with all of the Neocons around, President Bush still is. His domestic policy is in the gutter and I see a lot of waffling on the war.
Would a liberal want to see private ownership of property returned, control of our national parks returned to the US vice the UN, the UN out of our lives, our boarders secured, the goals we set in Iraq and Afghanistan achieved and our troops home,etc. I think not, but I feel strongly about these things. You will find that most of the government employees in the DoD feel the same about this. Most of us are very conservative and have dedicated our lives to our country's service.
We need your support, not your contempt.
The government has been conducting studies to determine if work being done by government employees could be done cheaper by contractors. The government actually has to bid against contractors to keep the jobs under the study. So far the government has won 90% of the studies because they have shown that in those cases, it is cheaper to use government employees than contractors. Therefore, if you get rid of the government employees, you will have a choice of not getting the work done or paying more.
In 1994 the republicans recaptured the Congress... not one poll remotely captured the absolute stunning outcome before election day.
Polls are what they are... nothing more.
I don't see any correlation between free trade and any particular religion.
I see the Torah, as with all religious texts, as a complete record of the totality of a civilisation and culture. In those times, religion and society were intertwined. Religion was the history, the mythology, the politics, the laws, the science, and the health codes of a people. It was the sum of their daily lives. It was the very fabric of their culture, not because their culture sprang forth from religion, but because it was woven into it.
With the rise of the state and the various sectarian dogmas, religion has become dislodged as the cultural center. Religion has become specialized to only address the spirital, while other areas such as science and government have taken on their own specialized tasks.
Early civilisation, which sought to explain things that it couldn't, looked to the supernatural. Because of this, it is easy to mistake religion as the source of their society, but in fact their society is the source of religion. New ideas and new ways of doing things were woven into the tales of the civilisation, which became the basis of their religious texts. Religion was much more wholistic in those days. Things that were became attributed to the gods, then later to God (the evolution towards monotheism itself is very interesting and has a lot to do with politics). Fundamental laws such as the Ten Commandments did not create a new morality, but in fact were merely the record of the established morality inate in all societies out of neccessity.
I don't know how that happened. I don't think i have any argument with you.
You can have a moral foundation that has nothing to do with God. Japan, for example, is as close to an atheist society as you can think of and that society certainly has a moral foundation.
In any event, you're creating a false dichotomy. A religious moral foundation also contains many theories on social engineering and societies. Do you really think that Christianity, Judaism, Islam etc. don't engage in social engineering?
I should really get to work on that. I easily have enough miscellaneous non-sucking stuff to fill a DVD by now.
Jack,
Don't get too worked up, most people's exposure to government is their drivers license office etc... they have never seen a DOD research lab, or the like.
I work for a company that subcontracts to NASA and the DOD, there are some sharp minds and some unbelievable projects going on.... ON the same token We also subcontract to Army acquisitions and see people who frankly would be washed out of any streamlined private business in a week.
Not all government employees or organizations are bad or lazy... there are definately some where laziness and mediocrity are just part of their culture... but its certainly not all.
>his domestic policy really sucks for the middle class majority
how?
Morality is innate in all human beings because all humans have God in their hearts, those who want to can hear His voice to some degree. We are living off the cultural capital - rather, squandering it - of having a culture roughly based on Judeo-Christian morality. Which also had its foundation, long ago, in Vedic culture. Currently India is also squandering its heritage.
If one is a rational atheist, there is only utility, emotion, and self interest to guide one. Of course, the self-interest also spreads out in ripples to others, like a stone dropped in a pond. Some peoples' concerns spread quite far, some not far at all, but it is all centered on the self, and he/she considers right and moral, which can and often does contradict what others consider right and good.
Those who do not worship God in one way or another worship something or someone else. It is inevitable. You may say, "Well, I don't worship anyone or anything!"
Answer: Atheists and those falsely posing as religious (and they are legion) worship their own minds, desires and intellect. They themselves are the supreme authority.
Hmm.... I don't know about capitalism, as that's a pretty modern concept, but Hindus, Confucians, Daoists etc. have known about trade for a very long time. After all, the Silk Road from China to the Levant has existed for most of recorded human history, and certainly before the existence of Christianity. Marco Polo was trying to break into the highly profitable Eastern market, but the West had very little to offer in the way of trade in those days.
I just replied to counterpunch's reply to you.
You sound like a weak, phoney sheeple. It looks like you are part of the problem and one of the reasons why we can't get rid of the Democrats. And....you give real meaning to the adage, "It's the voters, stupid."
decimated = 1 out of 10 survive
Not quite. Decimated means one out of ten dies.
United States of America's President and Armed-Forces Commander-In-Chief, George Walker Bush wins a minimum 44 states to the "Democrats'" presumtive pretender's 6 -- or fewer!Gotta love it ! "There you go again" :^D
You are making two almost universal mistakes of atheists (I don't know if you are one you are making two of their primary arguments).
You are confusing "posing as a believer in God" with an actual believer in God. An actual faithful believer in is actually FOLLOWING instructions. Such a faithful person will act as Clinton, Bakker, Bin Laden have done. Such swine are merely using their veneer of religion to do evil. Whether they are knowingly being false or are so deluded they imagine themselves sincere doens't matter.
Second, you are confusing sect with God. God isn't a Christian, a Jew, a Muslim, a Hindu, or a Buddhist. He is the father of all, whether they reject Him, believe Him, or not. Just because there are many sects of various religions doesn't nullify the essential truths and nature of the Supreme. Even Taoists and Buddhists who are not theists in the strict sense of the word have a glimpse of the light of God.
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