Tuesday, May 31, 2011

My Top Three Presidential Voting Regrets

3) Jimmy Carter, 1976 - Ford had done decent job and probably deserved re-election.............2) Ross Perot, 1996 - I wanted to vote for Clinton (and, yes, should have) but was afraid that he was probably going to be impeached (for something serious, I'm saying, NOT FOR FRIGGING LEWINSKI!). Mr. Dole lost me when he said that tobacco wasn't any worse for you than milk (his wife's from North Carolina, the tobacco lobby influence, yada yada).............1) Ralph Nader, 2000 - I was actually tempted to vote for Bush 2. I liked his bipartisan background as Texas Governor and the way that he talked about our having a "more humble foreign policy". Gore, though, who I don't particularly care for personally, is who I no doubt SHOULD have voted for. At the very, VERY, least, he would have kept us out of frigging Iraq (one would only hope, right?).

22 comments:

Rusty Shackelford said...

Hell,believe it or not....I voted for Carter in 1976....what the f#*k was I thinking! Then interest rates went north of 20%,the Iranians put a stick in our eye and Carter wanted us to turn our thermostats down to 58 degrees.Yea,Reagan looked damn good to me in 1980 and to the majority of americans.

Will "take no prisoners" Hart said...

I didn't think that you were old enough to vote in '76, Russ. You're an old guy like me?......True confession, dude, I voted for Anderson in '80. The campus chaplain convinced me that that was the best way to go (he was for the smallest military budget of the 3). We were peaceniks who simply couldn't stomach Carter.

Dervish Sanders said...

I did not vote for Carter, but only because I wasn't old enough. I would have if I could have. I voted for Clinton because I thought Perot didn't have a chance. If IRV had been in place I'd say that my vote should have been for Perot...

because of NAFTA. At the time I wasn't as politically aware though, so I didn't know what bad news it was (I ended up losing my job because of it).

"Kept us out of Iraq"? What the hell are you talking about Will? You make it sound as if there was an actual REASON we invaded the country. Other than bush wanting to be a "war president" and transfer billions in taxpayer money to his war contractor cronies.

I can ASSURE you Gore never would have done that! There would have been no need to hope. I think it's likely that 9/11 would have been averted if the SCOTUS hadn't installed bush.

Will "take no prisoners" Hart said...

The stated policy of the United States for quite a while was regime change in Iraq (a stupid thing in my mind in that Saddam was the only powerful couterweight to Iran). Clinton was smart enough to not utilize military means to achieve this. Hopefully Gore (who I don't think is anywhere near as smart as Bill) would have been smart enough, too.

Commander Zaius said...

Voting regrets?

Pat Buchanan in 2000

Could not stand "W" and Gore was as slimy as Romney is now about wanting the office.

Will "take no prisoners" Hart said...

What a couple of nutboys we are, huh, double b; me voting for Nader and you voting for Buchanan.......Oh, well, at least we now regret it. LOL

Dervish Sanders said...

The policy regarding Iraq under Reagan and GHWB was to use him as a counterweight to Iran (it was during that time that we sold him the chemicals he used to gas the Kurds).

Half a million dead, and we supplied Saddam with the money and weapons... this is something you supported??! Personally, I disapprove of our government encouraging two countries to go at it and slaughter each other's citizens.

The policy regarding Iraq under Clinton was containment and use of the UN inspectors to make sure he didn't restart his weapons program (and it worked, which is why GWB found no WMD).

It wasn't until GWB that the policy became regime change.

I don't know how Gore was "slimy". He was VP, which meant the nomination went to him. That's how it usually works.

Will "take no prisoners" Hart said...

It was a choice between 2 bad options. And, yes, the fact that they bludgeoned each other for 8 years was probably to our advantage.......I believe that there was a UN resolution involving regime change that predated Clinton, and that that was part of our foreign policy objective for years. It didn't necessarily have to come about via a military intervention on our part.

Mike said...

The REAL issue though is that a hard core safe right wing district (NY's 26th) voted liberal because they CHOSE to keep Medicare and Social Security rather than give tax cuts to billionaires and dismantle unions and and cut public sector salaries and benefits.

That district voted 80% republican in 2010 and they now elected a a democrat........and thats the canary in the coal mine for 2012.

Mike said...

Rusty Shackelford said...
Hell,believe it or not....I voted for Carter in 1976....what the f#*k was I thinking! Then interest rates went north of 20%,the Iranians put a stick in our eye and Carter wanted us to turn our thermostats down to 58 degrees.Yea,Reagan looked damn good to me in 1980 and to the majority of americans."


Sorry Rusty I dont believe you voted for Carter or pretty much anything that comes out of your mouth........but I'll bet Obama looks pretty good to the majority of Americans right now when faced with that field of right wing misfits wanting to privatize and dismantle Medicare and Social Security........I'll bet a LOT of older staunch republicans will vote Democrat when faced with losing their Medicare and Social Security so we can give more tax cuts to billionaires!

Rusty Shackelford said...

Holy shit....Mike must have gotten released from the "hospital."
Its pretty obvious Mike know absolutly nothing about Ryans plan.It will not effect anyone who is 55 or older today.Its not "killing" medicare.What by the way is the democrat plan to stabilize medicare and SS?
I know you libs wet your pants over NY's 26th but it actually did'nt mean all that much.The woman elected is more conservative then Mitt Romney.As for Obie,you may want to look at the most recent poll's,he's droping like a rock and the economic news today is going to kick him right in the ass.

Its the economy stupid...there is no recovery and the dreaded double dip is on us.

Will "take no prisoners" Hart said...

I was going to say, Russ, that lady from the NY 26th is far more my kind of Democrat than she is the progressives'. Hell, I wouldn't mind 434 just like her.

Will "take no prisoners" Hart said...

Let me also clarify something, gents. wd is absolutely right. We clearly should NOT have provided Saddam Hussein with chemical weapons.......I DO, however, think that it was probably wise to tilt toward Iraq during the Iran-Iraq war. I say this in that I think that a Shia crescent from the Afghan border to the Saudi border (and possibly beyond - I can definitely see the mullahs wanting to invade the "kingdom") would have been exceedingly dangerous.

Rusty Shackelford said...

Job numbers came out for last month....35,000 jobs created,off a projection of almost 200,000...not good news for Obie.
Rusty predicts the unemployment numbers to be released Fri.go up to 9.1% maybe 9.2.This along with the lastest poor housing news....could be trouble for Barry.

Will "take no prisoners" Hart said...

That's not good news for anybody, Russ.

Mike said...

Rusty Shackelford said...
Holy shit....Mike must have gotten released from the "hospital."
Its pretty obvious Mike know absolutly nothing about Ryans plan.It will not effect anyone who is 55 or older today.Its not "killing" medicare.What by the way is the democrat plan to stabilize medicare and SS?"

I know MORE about Ryan's plan than you little man...........what your limited intellect fails to grasp is that most people 55 and over arent greedy scum like you willing to throw their kids and grandkids under the bus to give MORE tax cuts to billionaires.

Sorry Little man Ryans Voucher system is a a plan to privatize and destroy Medicare and the public seems right through your transparent little power grab to destroy the new Deal safety nets enacted by FDR. those over 55 are not willing to throw their kids and grandkids under the bus and those under 55 DONT WANT to be left to the mercy of private insurance companies with a shitty voucher that doesnt even pay a fraction of the costs.

The Democrats plan will be to shore up Social Security and Medicare by making the billionaires pay their fair share, raising the income caps on Social Security tax and taxing hedge funds speculators and speed traders with transaction fees.

Mike said...

Rusty Shackelford said...
I know you libs wet your pants over NY's 26th but it actually did'nt mean all that much.The woman elected is more conservative then Mitt Romney.As for Obie,you may want to look at the most recent poll's,he's droping like a rock and the economic news today is going to kick him right in the ass."

Sorry little man despite what your masters tell their ignorant little trained parrot to say it means a LOT..........its the canary in the coal mine for what 2012 will bring the right wing.

the overwhelming majority of the population wants Medicare and Social Security and wants Billionaires to pay their fair share of taxes the EXACT opposite of what the right wing wants and stands for...........without Bush's riddiculous tax cuts for the wealthy and his off budget wars the deficits would be miniscule compared to what they are now......all you need to do to shore up SS and Medicare is wind down the wars, reign in military spending, increase the cap on SS taxes, tax speculators and speed traders, and make the ultra wealthy pay their fair share of taxes.

Rusty Shackelford said...

Mike,your ideas have always been impressive and you take them down to basic simplicity....I mean who would have thought all the countrys ill's could be solved by taxing the rich and the....as you call them the "ultra rich."
Have you sent your ideas to the democratic leaders in Washington?My god man if your plan were implemented our deficit would be zero in no time at all.Mike,the people of america beseech you...get your plan to the dem leaders post haste...there is no time to waste...

Rusty Shackelford said...

While you at it Mike....could you also think up a plan to reduce the 9% unemployment level down to say 7%.And could you do something about the really shitty housing market.Oh yea,if you have some spare could you also think of a way to get millions off food stamps.You do know there are more americans using food stamps then any time in history.

Dervish Sanders said...

Rusty: While you at it Mike... could you also think up a plan to...

This question AGAIN?? Rusty, I answered the question the last time you asked it. On 12/1/2010 you said, "just what do you consider real progressive policies? You guys continue to bitch and moan about Obie being too centrist yet you never ever say what these progressive wonderment cures actually are".

I posted a response on my blog the next day (12/2/2010). Read it, don't read (I'm sure you won't), but you can stop lying about how we "never ever say" what our ideas are.

You know what they are. Just like we know what yours are. You want to cut taxes and pay for it by killing old people.

Our ideas have a proven track record of success (they're responsible for the prosperity we enjoyed post-WWII up until Reagan) and your ideas have a proven track record of failure (everything that has happened from Reagan until today). I don't know why there is even a debate anymore.

The solution, in a nutshell, is pretty simple: abandon Reaganomics and go back to the New Deal.

Rusty Shackelford said...

You have a blog WD? Never been there but if you're giving out cures I'd guess they are the typical lib screech....tax the rich....tax the rich.....give us more free stuff.Thanks but no thanks heard it all before.
Keep trying to re-write history,if you say it enough you may convince yourself...I guess you've accomplished that mission.

Dervish Sanders said...

Rusty said he wanted to know, but from his response it's clear he lied... which is typical Rusty. That is mostly what he does here... Lie about, and bash progressives. It's getting pretty boring.

BTW, have you heard about Chris "Extra Crispy" Christy? ("Extra Crispy" is in reference to how he likes his KFC).

This lard-ass spent 3144 taxpayer dollars to take the state helicopter to his son's baseball game and a GOP fundraiser. Mr. Fiscal Conservative has since been shamed into reimbursing the state.

(Taking a swipe at someone because of their weight is not something I would ordinarily do... but I imagine this is how Rusty would phrase it if Christy were a Democrat).