you just don't get it Nader...

"... You will not hear one word of how every single country in Europe, the Arab world, Latin America, Asia, and Africa opposes US policy. And you will never hear mention that Ralph Nader's positions are those of the overwhelming majority of the people of the world regarding Iraq and the Middle East." - Peter Miguel Camejo

Ralph, here is an idea for you: When "Europe, the Arab world, Latin America, Asia, and Africa" start to get it right then we will listen to them. Until then, no.

If Europe (you mean France of course) and the Arab world are upset with us I argue is a good thing. The last thing I would like to do is listen to a bunch of Frenchies that have been utterly irrelevant in world affairs other than as a play ground for the Germans, and camel jockeys that think it is a wonderful thing for their daughters to have their clitoris cut out, circumcised we say so it sounds more antiseptic, so they are sure to not enjoy their life, that is up until they blow themselves up killing Jews and Christians that have done nothing to them.

Fie.

Hey Peter - do you really think corporations pay taxes?

"The fact that over 30 years, 90% have received no increase in their income. When adjusted to inflation, in spite of the greatest growth in the economy ever in the history of the United States, they will not mention that corporations are no longer paying their taxes, estimated to be as high as $300 billion per year." - Peter Miguel Camejo, VP Candidate with Nader... I have no idea what party exactly they represent.

Hey Peter - do you really think corporations pay taxes?

Are you really that dense or is it just a show to motivate ignorant people? Corporations NEVER pay taxes. If you hand them a tax bill those costs are passed on to the consumers - you and me - and we pay them. Stop the class warfare. It keeps people ignorant and angry which is not healthy nor helpful to a legitimate debate of the matters of the state.

Corporations are not the boogie men you paint them to be. They provide jobs, goods, and services that make America work. Raising taxes on corporations is tantamount to raising taxes on the consumer. Or, if not look at the job losses. The corporations will always make money, one way or another.

Tell me where I am wrong...

Ralph Nader still off the deep end

"Given the mainstream media's unhealthy fixation with uncritical coverage of the Bush administration's ongoing experiment with the new imperialism"

Uncritical coverage? Right.

New Imperialism? Right.

Kind of makes ya smile, eh? Kind of like the drunk at the pub talking to himself.

... a greater capability for NBC...

Kerry said "Thirty-five to forty countries in the world had a greater capability of making weapons at the moment the president invaded than Saddam Hussein."

Bush should have answered thus: "...Other countries possess weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles. With Saddam, there is one big difference: He has used them. Not once, but repeatedly. Unleashing chemical weapons against Iranian troops during a decade-long war. Not only against soldiers, but against civilians, firing Scud missiles at the citizens of Israel, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Iran. And not only against a foreign enemy, but even against his own people, gassing Kurdish civilians in Northern Iraq. The international community had little doubt then, and I have no doubt today, that left unchecked, Saddam Hussein will use these terrible weapons again. The United States has patiently worked to preserve UNSCOM as Iraq has sought to avoid its obligation to cooperate with the inspectors. On occasion, we've had to threaten military force, and Saddam has backed down. " - President Bill Clinton, national address, 12/16/1998

Read it at http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/stories/1998/12/16/transcripts/clinton.html or listen to it at http://news.bbc.co.uk/olmedia/235000/audio/_236858_clinton_full.ram

Global Test?

Kerry said "The president always has the right ... for preemptive strike ... [but] you have to do it in a way that passes the test, that passes the global test where your countrymen, your people understand fully why you‘re doing what you‘re doing and you can prove to the world that you did it for legitimate reasons."

What is he talking about? Bush worded best:

I'm not exactly sure what you mean, "passes the global test," you take preemptive action if you pass a global test. My attitude is you take preemptive action in order to protect the American people, that you act in order to make this country secure.

Again, Kerry shows just how inept he really is. This guy is saying that you have the right to preempt, but only if the world (UN? France?) says it is OK...

Anonymous says that "the Australian government does not listen to its people"

The Australian government is democratically elected, same as the US. If the majority of the people in Australia are against this war and the Australian support of it then the existing government will be voted out.

With the help of people like John Kerry's sister, Diana Kerry - who is actively working to oust the current Australian PM John Howard - I'm sure you will succeed.

As far as "Millions of Australians took to the streets to protest against our involvement in the war on Iraq" you have some shoddy math. Are you trying to pass off
Bob Brown's and the Greens rabble here? Common. Australia has a population, nation wide, of roughly 20 million. As millions is plural are you saying that 10% of the country is out protesting? That would be just over half of the population of Sydney...

(For those that do not follow Australian politics, Bob Brown is an Australian Senator for the Green Party)

Can someone help me to understand?

"How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?" - John Kerry

Jim Lehrer asked Kerry, "are Americans now dying in Iraq for a mistake?"

Kerry said "No, and they don't have to"

If Iraq was a mistake - after all, if it is the "wrong war at the wrong time at the wrong place", and if something is wrong then it is not right, and if we did something that is not right, then by definition what we did was wrong, and if we did not deliberately do something wrong then we made a mistake - the Lehrer's question is dead on. Kerry contradicts himself again.

When Kerry flip-flopped again, a pang of fear rushed over me. It smacks of Lyndon Johnson declaring that he would not be the first American President to lose a war.

Looks like Kerry not only wants to fight the Vietnam war all over again with language, but wants to do it with solders and marines in Iraq...

Where is Kerry running?

John Kerry said:

"Let me just quickly say, at the current pace, the president will not secure the loose material in the Soviet Union -- former Soviet Union for 13 years. I'm going to do it in four years. And we're going to keep it out of the hands of terrorists."

Is John Kerry running for election in the "former Soviet Union", usually called Russia in these later days, or is he running for election here in the United States?

If we could make the "former Soviet Union" just destroy all of its NBC stockpiles, weapons and waste, then I will need to rethink my love of Ronald Reagan...

Bush is not leading?

Kerry keeps saying that George Bush is not leading.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition defines lead as "To show the way to by going in advance; to guide or direct in a course."

I think what Kerry means is we are not a throng of nations singing in consensus, out of time in a noisome UN vaudeville show entertaining dictators in hope of making them smile, thereby producing in us a sense of accomplishment. Then boastful in our ability to paint over the rust, to take a pain killer so that we do not feel the tumor that has grown in us, we laud our cast of singers, dancers, and clowns until, at last we feel the need to go entertain again…

Consensus amongst a gaggle of thugs and rascals

Kerry wants to find Consensus amongst a gaggle of thugs and rascals.

Margaret Thatcher said that, "Consensus is the absence of Principle and an abundance of expediency."

So true… so true. It would be much easier and expedient if the entire world, North Korea and Iran included would have come down on Iraq. It would have been a true bureaucratic quagmire, but what of that? We would compromise everything for everyone, and prove Lady Thatcher right.

Who has the sense of Duty?

Bush used the word duty in a morally clear and very specific way. On at least six different times he used the term duty to spell out what we ought to do:

• “I have a solemn duty to protect the American people, to do everything I can to protect us.”
• “we can look back and say we did our duty"
• “we have a duty to our country and to future generations of America to achieve a free Iraq, a free Afghanistan, and to rid the world of weapons of mass destruction”
• “This nation of ours has got a solemn duty to defeat this ideology of hate.”
• “We have a duty to defeat this enemy. We have a duty to protect our children and grandchildren.”
  

When Kerry used the word duty, in each of the four instances he was referring to people on “active duty”, such as “…9 out of 10 active duty divisions of our Army…”
The closest Kerry came to talking about duty was when he talked about winning:

• “I have a plan for Iraq. I believe we can be successful. I'm not talking about leaving. I'm talking about winning. And we need a fresh start, a new credibility, a president who can bring allies to our side.”

Lets look at this statement point by point:

• “I have a plan for Iraq” - You never spelled out your plan.
• “Believe we can be successful” - We all “believe we can be successful”, and we have been, and will continue to be.
• “I'm not talking about leaving” – not in this debate, but you did last week.
• “We need a fresh start” – What does that mean? Are we, like children playing a game going to call for a “do over”, or perhaps a mulligan?
  

“A president who can bring allies to our side” – “(Bush) And now there's 30 nations involved, standing side by side with our American troops”

• What Kerry means is France is not in Iraq – why else would he look at the following nations and say we have no allies in Iraq?
• Albania - 71 non-combat troops to help with peacekeeping, based in northern Iraq.
• Azerbaijan - 150-man unit to take part in patrols, law enforcement and protection of religious and historic monuments in Iraq.
• Bulgaria - 485-member infantry battalion patrolling Karbala, south of Baghdad. An additional 289 will be sent.
• Central America and the Caribbean - Dominican Republic (with 300 troops), El Salvador (360), Honduras (360) and Nicaragua (120) are assisting a Spanish-led brigade in south-central Iraq.
• Czech Republic - 271 military personnel and three civilians running a field hospital in Basra; 25 military police in Iraq.
• Denmark - 406 troops, consisting of light infantry units, medics and military police. An additional 90 soldiers are being sent.
• Georgia - 69, including 34 special troops, 15 sappers and 20 medics.
• Estonia - 55 soldiers, including mine divers and cargo handlers.
• Hungary - 300-member transportation contingent in Iraq.
• Italy - 3,000 troops in southern Iraq.
• Moldova - Dozens of de-mining specialists and medics.
• Netherlands - 1,106, including a core of 650 marines, three Chinook transport helicopters, a logistics team, a field hospital, a commando contingent, military police and a unit of 230 military engineers.
• New Zealand - 61 army engineers assigned for reconstruction work in southern Iraq.
• Norway - 156-member force includes engineers and mine clearers.
• Poland - 2,400 troops command one of three military sectors in Iraq.
• Portugal - 120 police officers.
• Romania - 800 military personnel, including 405 infantry, 149 de-mining specialists and 100 military police, along with a 56-member special intelligence detachment.
• Slovakia - 82 military engineers.
• South Korea - 675 non-combat troops with more forces on the way.
• Thailand - 400 troops assigned to humanitarian operations.
• Ukraine - 1,640 soldiers from a mechanized unit.
• United Kingdom - 7,400, 1,200 more planned.
• Amoungst others
  

NOTE: this listing is about 8 months old, so this is not exact


Kerry did a great job debating, but he had no substance. All Kerry offered last night were tired old talking points that don’t take much to be corrected.

As a former Marine, I have know that feeling and pride that comes with duty – of a job well done. If John Kerry is the great war-hero that we keep hearing of, then why no reference or even a fleeting sense that this man even knows what duty is?

Ralph - stop and think before you open your mouth

According to Ralph Nader:

“Eisenhower, when he was running for president in 1952, promised the American people that he would get us out of the Korean War. It was a harder war to get out of because behind North Korea was Communist China and the Soviet Union, but he got us out of the Korean War.”

Hey Ralph, you want to be “Commander in Chief” of the US Armed Forces - are unaware that we are still in Korea?