[boots]

In this world:

1) Bush can make mistakes...and many can even be forgiven/overlooked.

2) Kerry's plans might not always work out.

3) People can be constructive AND critical at the same time.

4) People can disagree and still respect each other.

5) Why does the entire world insist that there be a number 5? This is my world, and I say there is no number 5.

6) People deconstruct ideas, not each other.


Have at it.

[Joshua]

Originally posted by boots:
In this world:

1) Bush can make mistakes...and many can even be forgiven/overlooked.

2) Kerry's plans might not always work out.

3) People can be constructive AND critical at the same time.

4) People can disagree and still respect each other.

5) Why does the entire world insist that there be a number 5? This is my world, and I say there is no number 5.

6) People deconstruct ideas, not each other.


Have at it.

[crickets chirping]

[BRussell]

In before lock.

[itai195]

Originally posted by boots:
6) People deconstruct ideas, not each other.


Have at it.

That's really asking for a lot, dumbass

Sorry to derail your thread, hope it all works out. There are a few people on each side here that still talk constructively with each other rather, but the number seems to decrease every day.

[BlueSky]

Originally posted by boots:
5) Why does the entire world insist that there be a number 5? This is my world, and I say there is no number 5.

Then your next Bushological step would be to invade number 6 and keep number 4 in the dark.

[boots]

Originally posted by BRussell:
In before lock.

Yeah. Non-partisan bickering is the most vitriolic kind of bickering there is. It will soon get out of hand.


Here's an example:

Problems:

Bush's administration did a poor job planning for AFTER the invasion. (That's a big one, so I'll give a couple of Kerry problems.)

Kerry is trumping up unemployment numbers EVEN AFTER HE'S BEEN CORRECTED!

Kerry can't pay for everything he's got a plan to fix. Not even close. He's counting on economic expansion to fix the budget problem.

Good things:

Bush is trying to shake things up. Some things may work out fine, some things won't, but at least he's changing some of the things that have been problems (education, medicare)

Kerry can come in with a "clean slate" for international diplomacy. He could probably open up dialogue with countries that won't currently give Bush the time of day.


One good reason to vote for Bush: Don't change horses mid-stream. This may have started out looking bad, but in perspective they a) aren't as bad (see Spliffdaddy's thread) and b) they are getting better (slowly but surely).

One good reason to vote for Kerry: His economic policies have been endorsed by most of the top economists as being better than Bush's.

One good reason to vote AGAINST Bush: Osama Bin Laden got away, mainly because we are too tied up in Iraq.
One good reason to vote AGAINST Kerry: His record is pretty thin. It's not that it's bad, there just isn't much leadership-type substance to it.


See, it isn't hard to like or dislike either of them. Give it a try! Rational thinking is liberating...it takes a lot of energy to be angry all the time.

You may agree or disagree with anything posted above, but it is your opinion, and it doesn't mean I think you are an idiot for disagreeing. On the contrary, we just may learn something from each other if we actually listen to what someone we disagree with is saying.


PS I am not a flip-flopper. I just see the nuance in the issues.

[boots]

Originally posted by Bluesky:
Then your next Bushological step would be to invade number 6 and keep number 4 in the dark.

And the next Kerryological step would be to raise taxes on the upper 2% of the income brackets so that we could fund bilateral talks between 4 and 6 to figure out what drove #5 away.

And that misses the point that THERE IS NO NUMBER 5!




No soup for you!

This is for non-partisans only. Please get the "bush-itis" out of your system somewhere else.

[Voch]

Are we allowed to make fun of the United Fascist Union candidate?

[deedar]

Originally posted by BRussell:
In before lock.

Best. Ever.

[itai195]

Originally posted by boots:
Problems:

Bush's administration did a poor job planning for AFTER the invasion. (That's a big one, so I'll give a couple of Kerry problems.)

Kerry is trumping up unemployment numbers EVEN AFTER HE'S BEEN CORRECTED!

Kerry can't pay for everything he's got a plan to fix. Not even close. He's counting on economic expansion to fix the budget problem.

2 Kerry problems to 1 Bush? I question your non-partisanship

Okay, in seriousness, I could add many things to the list for each candidate but in the spirit of bipartisanship I will add one problem that both have. Neither one talks nearly enough about renewable energy and energy independence. I think this is one of the critical issues we'll face going forward, with broad ramifications. The *only* reason I'd give Kerry a small edge over Bush on this issue is because Bush thinks we can drill our way out of the problem, and that's just not realistic.

Wouldn't it be ironic if this non-partisan thread ends up being the biggest MacNN flamewar ever?

[Spliffdaddy]

Originally posted by boots:
In this world:

1) Bush can make mistakes...and many can even be forgiven/overlooked.

2) Kerry's plans might not always work out.

3) People can be constructive AND critical at the same time.

4) People can disagree and still respect each other.

5) Why does the entire world insist that there be a number 5? This is my world, and I say there is no number 5.

6) People deconstruct ideas, not each other.


Have at it.

omg there really is a hell.

[Millennium]

Originally posted by Spliffdaddy:
omg there really is a hell.

Nah; hell is when either of the two "partisan" sides turns out to actually be right.

[MrBS]

Both bow down to the religious peoples too much, in my opinion. Just because those people vote.

~BS

[boots]

Originally posted by Spliffdaddy:
omg there really is a hell.

See? We can learn things in the most unlikely places. And any day you learn something is a day that isn't wasted.

[boots]

Originally posted by itai195:
[B
Wouldn't it be ironic if this non-partisan thread ends up being the biggest MacNN flamewar ever? [/B]

Especially since it's really a spoof of the masterbatory partisan threads.

[MrBS]

In the spirit of being non-partisan, here are some points I don't like about Kerry:

He's more gun friendly than I am. He seems to support reasonable legislature, which is good. I think I probably go to far to the left in reaction to all the crazy nuts with anti aircraft guns and cannons and aks for self defense and sport hunting.

Think he took the weasly way out on gay-marriage stuff. I'm actually for civil unions, but I think that's all anyone should have in the eyes of the law. They should do a big ol' %s/marriage/civil union/ig on all of our laws and insurance policies. Marriage should be a strictly religious thing, and they can have all the exclusionary rules and practices that they want. Your church wants to 'marry' penguins and michael jackson (where the slippery slope would obviously end up) that's fine, but other churches don't have to recognize it. But civil union would be between two people of legal age. Interracial, a jewish guy and a catholic girl, a guy and a guy, a guy with blue eyes and a girl with green eyes.

I don't think he campaigns as well as he should. Although our system is pretty screwed up in that regard, it would be nice if there were some tests and real debates on issues instead of just testing the candidate on an arbitrary skill such as campaigning.


~BS

[zigzag]

Originally posted by itai195:
Wouldn't it be ironic if this non-partisan thread ends up being the biggest MacNN flamewar ever?

I bet I can be more non-partisan than you. In fact, I've got $20 that says either Bush or Kerry will win the election. Any takers? Didn't think so.