Quoted from Heretic Romney seems to me to be driven by ideology to a greater degree than is Obama.  I'm not a big fan of that.  In fact I'd be happy to say I think a couple of Romney's opinions are unforgivably stupid.  I guess my dislike of Romney puts me in Obama's corner.  If nothing else, his firm belief in American exceptionalism is, I think, a danger, until such time as America manages to put together a democracy worth spreading.

Quoted from a canadian press release...

And wait patients must. A hospital survey of five countries (United States, Canada, New Zealand, United Kingdom and Australia), conducted by Robert Blendon and colleagues in Health Affairs found that “waits of six months or more for elective surgeries were reported to occur ‘very often’ or ‘often’ by 26–57 percent of executives in the four non-U.S. countries; only 1 percent of U.S. hospitals reported this.[b][/b] Half of all Canadian hospitals reported an average waiting time of over six months for a 65-year-old male requiring a routine hip replacement; no American hospital administrators reported waits this long.

A democracy worth spreading?

We don't want to spread it...

WE JUST WANT TO KEEP IT.

No one I know of signed on for this type of health care.

We live in a free market society here. At least the last time I looked we did.

Shawn.....><

Quoted from Ledbetter I've been fantastic brother! I've got one I'm writing right now but won't be done for a few. Will give you a shout when it is. How about you? Something up here you would like for me to have a go at? Opinions! You nailed it Andrew. Everyone seems as though if you (for some reason) are not completely in line with everything the media is churning out, then you are a fucking loon. I'm personally sick of it! No, I don't think every illegal immigrant should be automatically given the rights that Americans have fought and died for. No, I don't support same sex marriage. No, I don't think we should bankrupt our country by handing out free EVERYTHING to lazy none working fuckers who defraud the system. Yes, I do think it's the best country on earth. And YES! If you do work your as$ off, you can make something of yourself here. I'm just very tired of all of the self entitlement going around that says, give me what I want and give me what you have. FUCK THAT!!! Go out and work for it like I do! Thats the AMERICAN WAY!!! Shawn.....><

Make sure you send it over when you need some fresh eyes.

Unfortunately not being doing much writing 'cos i'm busy producing, line producing, runnering, and production assitantering all types of stuff. Plenty of time on shoots just learning so much. Best thing any writer can do, IMO.

Shawn, what I love about your comments there is the fact you don't try to tear down the opposing views but lay out what you believe in and think. That's the way it should be. Totally respect you laying it down like that - people know where you stand. Healthy debate starts from that point!

I had this long diatribe but I deleted it. When you disagree with both sides, bad things happen. But Shawn and I are decently close (about 70%).

I was born and raised a Republican and mostly always will be. I will vote for Romney although I hate when the religious side of republicans rears its ugly head. I am so not religious and this always shapes the way many Republicans feel in certain topics.

I do, however, believe in their economics. I know the rich find ways to avoid taxes, but so do the poor. I'm middle-class all the way. I'm one of the grunts who help keep this country afloat, but I've always aspired to be wealthy. If I ever get there, it would piss me off after all of the hard work to have the government take it and give it to the poor.( not because I'm that much of a greedy bastard, but because I don't trust the government with money. Look at social security, It'll be gone when most of us retire).

I was always a fan of the flat tax rate... you pay 17% if you make 10 million, you pay 17% if you make ten thousand. That'll never happen. Several hundred thousand accountants will instantly be looking for new careers.

I also fear what Obama can do as a second term president. When he no longer has to fear re-election. If he gets a majority in the house and senate, he'll push his healthcare through. I don't believe in it at all.

On the other hand, he did get Osama. I'll always credit our service men and women first and foremost for that, but he did have the balls to give the go-ahead to invade Pakistan. That could've been a disaster. Can't wait to see the film on this.

Government is stagnant. It's designed to be that way. No matter who gets elected it always moves slow. I'll still wake up and go to work in the morning. I'll still be bitching when tax season comes.

James

Considering the mess he inherited from the previous administration, I think Obama has done about as well as anyone else would have. He's also done more for the protection and advancement of my people's rights than any of the previous Presidents combined, so I'm a little biased toward him anyway. Having said that, I still recognize that he is and always will be only one thing: a politician, which means that he cannot be truly trusted. With anything. Ever.

On the other hand, it's impossible for me to take Romney seriously on anything. Every single time he's on TV all I can do is wonder if he's wearing his magic underwear. Romney's a boorish, bigoted, unintelligent, misogynist zealot. I wouldn't trust him with my dog let alone a government.

In my opinion, Obama will take it. Maybe he'll do some crazy stuff in his second term since re-election won't be a worry for him, or maybe he'll surprise us all and do something great (although this seems unlikely). And in the meantime, it might be a good idea for the Republicans to put someone up there who doesn't just want to give America back to God.

Hey Led,

To clarify my careless writing, I was referring specifically to Romney, who as I say is a strong believer in American exceptionalism (or so I understand).  I would see that as an unfortunate perspective for a US president at this time.  

I don't know enough about American healthcare to comment on that specific issue (somehow I get the sense that I didn't quite get the whole picture from Michael Moore...); as for Canadian healthcare, all I can say is that my personal experience of it has always been highly positive.

I would though contest the claim that Americans don't want to spread democracy.  Isn't it fair to say that spreading liberty and democracy to the oppressed people of the world has been a fairly significant and fairly successful justification for many of the conflicts the U.S. has involved itself in over the last century?  It seems to me that Romney's just the kinda guy to believe in that sort of thing.  Then again, Obama probably is too.  I feel a little aloof up here, but I think if I lived in the States I'd probably feel much the same way Balt does.  

If I could vote I'd have to bite my lip and vote for Obama, no matter how nauseating it would make me feel, but Romney is a Mormon, I could never vote for someone who believes in such a dopey religion, I mean Jesus Christ, you have to have some kind of retardation to actually believe in something so silly, and that's not even an opinion that's a fact, I mean most realigions are goofy, but I can handle baptists, even catholics, but Mormonism, C'mon, it's just as realistic as Santa or the tooth fairy, so in the end I could not vote for someone who believes in fairy tails. And it's scary there are people that would.

Being a bleeding heart libertarian myself I can honestly say I'm most dissatisfied with both candidates.

Quoted from Hugh Hoyland Being a bleeding heart libertarian myself I can honestly say I'm most dissatisfied with both candidates.

And isn't it sad how Libertarian thinking was basically the original Tea Party thinking, but somehow got hijacked and turned into far right thinking? Libertarians want less government in our lives. They don't care who's gay or who's doing what, but somehow it's now far right extremism.  

Quoted from Heretic I would though contest the claim that Americans don't want to spread democracy.  Isn't it fair to say that spreading liberty and democracy to the oppressed people of the world has been a fairly significant and fairly successful justification for many of the conflicts the U.S. has involved itself in over the last century?

Wonderfully said.

And that is exactly what America is founded on.

At this point though, many of us are simply trying to hold on to that principle while it still exist.

Shawn.....><

At least you guys discuss your politics, no matter how dopey your pollies are.

Over here, our country is run by fuckwits, no matter who we vote in. People have had enough of millions of dollars of taxpayers sent overseas to countries like Indonesia. We have fucking boat people coming in every week, wasting more of our money. Some detention centers are like hotels with pay tv, meanwhile we have Aussies starving on the streets and homeless in all major cities.

If our govt acted the same in other countries, they would have been over run and executed years ago.

http://detroit.cbslocal.com/20.....t-after-driver-shot/

http://pjmedia.com/victordavishanson/california-the-road-warrior-is-here/

Canaries in the coalmine. Detroit, Chicago, state of California. This is blue state America. That's what's at stake.

Greece. Spain.

Then there's the treasonous divulging of secrets for political gain.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-Xfti7qtT0  

Jeff Bush for President!

Quoted from Grandma Bear And isn't it sad how Libertarian thinking was basically the original Tea Party thinking, but somehow got hijacked and turned into far right thinking? Libertarians want less government in our lives. They don't care who's gay or who's doing what, but somehow it's now far right extremism.

Unfortunately thats what happens and has happened to honest movements in this nation for a long time, they get hijacked (usually by the status quo). But I still think there are many people who want less government and more individual freedom.

Quoted from Pale Yellow Jeff Bush for President!

THIS is what we need. Another Bush in the whitehouse. I could imagine some atrocious reviews for some of the bills in the hopper.

James