[Purple Haize]

I think States Rights has also become an easy way of not answering something.

I had this discussion with a friend of mine. And with apologies to JB I'll use the phrase State rights.
At the end of the day, whether it is out of rigid conviction, passing the buck or bending to current trends, if the federal government has less power and States have more who cares how it gets there? The fact would be a less powerful and intrusive federal government.

CIDER - I'm trying to earn a Coach Emeritus status on the QB team!

[Purple Haize]

HOLD THE PRESS
According to Miami Online and several other sources there are rumors of a Romney/Paul ticket! Apparently they have some sort of secret alliance. I believe Paul did this with McCain or Huckabee?

[jbock13]

HOLD THE PRESS
According to Miami Online and several other sources there are rumors of a Romney/Paul ticket! Apparently they have some sort of secret alliance. I believe Paul did this with McCain or Huckabee?

Well theres clearly something odd going on between those two

[NG33]

Apparently Ron Paul was supposed to speak at convo on Friday, but now convo's canceled...

http://www.liberty.edu/index.cfm?PID=18495&MID=48512

Presidential candidate Ron Paul was tentatively scheduled as the speaker for the Friday, Feb. 24, convocation. Because he is no longer planning to visit campus, convocation has been canceled.

[Purple Haize]

HOLD THE PRESS
According to Miami Online and several other sources there are rumors of a Romney/Paul ticket! Apparently they have some sort of secret alliance. I believe Paul did this with McCain or Huckabee?

Well theres clearly something odd going on between those two

Maybe Paul realizes that Mitt truly is the best option. OR he is angling for a Romney/ RAND Paul ticket?

I would come hear Dr Paul speak at convo.

[Humble_Opinion]

I thought Romney had a strong debate and I don't think Santorum did as bad as everyone thinks. He was taking heat from two people at once...

Obviously, there is something going on behind the scenes here. I'm not sure why Paul would take so much time to attack Santorum on his voting record, in particular his earmarks, while simultaneously passing over Romney's support of a government-run healthcare system in MA. I actually thought Santorum missed an opportunity to defuse the whole "hypocrit" argument that Romney was throwing at him last night in regards to the earmark issue. Santorum's use of earmarks that he now says is a bad idea is the same sort of stance that Romney takes on healthcare.

Ultimately, my feeling here is that the deal likely centers around Rand Paul being a part of a Romney Administration (maybe VP). I think Ron Paul is ready to retire personally. He's just campaigning for the ideals he stands for to keep them a part of the discussion until his son, Rand, was better positioned to take over for him.

[jbock13]

All I know is that Paul's little courtship with Romney has knocked him down a couple 20 notches in my book. I hope they stay abstinent before marriage.

Unfortunately, the typical Republican Tea Party voter is a like a dog and a bone. The establishment throws the bone, and the tea party goes to find it, only to find it never left the establishment's hand. Disappointed, they want that bone. The establishment throws the bone, only for the tea party to find out again they were tricked! And this goes on, and on, and on...

It's too bad we couldn't nominate people with solid economic credentials, like Paul, Bachmann, or Perry. BUT WE HAD TO HAVE A GOOD DEBATER!!!! And we couldn't have someone who hated abortion, we have to have someone who really really really really double god hates abortion!

My frustration is finally showing isn't it?

[Purple Haize]

Bachmann and Perry? Really? I thought you railed against the flavor of month? Or is my lack of sleep causing me to miss the sarcasm?

HO- What continue to gets glossed over is that Romneycare is State and Obamacare is Federal. Romney promises to abolish Obamacare and return money to the States to let them run it. If Iowa wants a system like Romneycare off they go. If Minnesota wants a State HMO have at it. That's a huge difference.

[jbock13]

"What continue to gets glossed over is that Romneycare is State and Obamacare is Federal."

In other words, hey don't make fun of my candidate! it's okay if my candidate does it, but that Obama better not!

Bachmann was trashed from the beginning. Perry was only a flavor of the month until Cain came along. I've liked Perry as a Governor for a long time. Look at his state's economy... you can't deny those results.

[Purple Haize]

"What continue to gets glossed over is that Romneycare is State and Obamacare is Federal."

In other words, hey don't make fun of my candidate! it's okay if my candidate does it, but that Obama better not!

Bachmann was trashed from the beginning. Perry was only a flavor of the month until Cain came along. I've liked Perry as a Governor for a long time. Look at his state's economy... you can't deny those results.

You miss my point. I don't care what they do in MA because I live in VA. I do care what they do in DC because I do live in the US. When VA is able to determine how they handle healthcare I will care. I did like Romney's original plan a lot better then what came out after the MA legislature got through with it. I'm not sure either is the right solution for VA. But that's the crux of the argument. The fewer decisions made by the Federal government on healthcare, education etc the better IMO.
Would you rather have politicians from Wyoming, New York, LA and Texas making those decisions for us here in VA or delegates from Salem Newport News Lynchburg making those decisions. ( option 3 NONE is also ok but not Germaine to this discussion).

[Humble_Opinion]

Texas is blessed by the energy industry though. It would be difficult for any governor to fail on the economy in that state. I'm not saying that Perry wasn't a solid governor, but he had some help.

I think this leads to a different point. If we expanded the energy industry in this country, we could likely fix the issues of job growth and the debt crisis in 8 years. Imagine only having to pay $2.00 per gallon. We could own China instead of them owning us for a change. It would be a strategic move of epic proportions for the rest of the 21st Century.

Hopefully by then there are real viable alternatives to fossil fuels. Otherwise the world is screwed as we know it anyways.

[Humble_Opinion]

Speaking of the debt. Does anyone in here by chance watch the show Castle on ABC? It comes on Monday nights... but the past two weeks' episodes were very interesting. It was essentially about how a small incident, or "linchpin" could set off a domino effect of events that could lead to the destruction of countries.

If any of you are bored you should head on over to hulu and watch them.

[Purple Haize]

Speaking of the debt. Does anyone in here by chance watch the show Castle on ABC? It comes on Monday nights... but the past two weeks' episodes were very interesting. It was essentially about how a small incident, or "linchpin" could set off a domino effect of events that could lead to the destruction of countries.

If any of you are bored you should head on over to hulu and watch them.

Haven't seen this weeks episode. The wife and I love this show!

[Humble_Opinion]

It's an awesome show Purp - particularly this week's episode. When you watch it let me know what you think

Also, I have to admit that on all these foreign policy issues my opinion is slowly changing. If the Afghan military, that we spent our own money to equip and train is going to kill our soldiers over the accidental burning of their beloved Quran then we just need to pull out and let them throw rocks at each other. Seriously... and to then have our president turn around and apologize for it only makes it worse. If I were president I would have held a news conference that consisted of me walking to the microphone saying the words "Hey Afghanistan" and then making one particular gesture and subsequently walking off to issue the pull out order. I think we need to stop nation building. If a country messes with us - bomb them into ruins and then let them clean up the mess.

[jbock13]

[quote="Humble_Opinion"If the Afghan military, that we spent our own money to equip and train is going to kill our soldiers over the accidental burning of their beloved Quran then we just need to pull out and let them throw rocks at each other. [/quote]

You are coming around my friend! Think about it, we want to export democracy to Afghanistan, and these will be the people who decide? There's no hope for the country, there never has been, just let them be backward ignorant people and move on.

Also, you're correct about the attacks. Of course, if a country attacks us, we should hunt them down and make them pay.

You are coming around my friend! We're glad to have you.

Two questions to ask the general public here of our Dear Leader Obama.

1. I guess nothing offends Muslim terrorists more, then offending Muslim terrorists.
2. Are the Muslims in Afghanistan "bitter clingers" to their guns and religion, who display "antipathy to those who don't look like them?"

Just some thoughts.

[Humble_Opinion]

JBock - I don't think I'll fully come around to Ron Paul's philosophy on foreign policy. I essentially held out as long as I could on the belief that all people want to live peacefully and free - but such is not the case with many of these countries that are predominantly Muslim.

Ultimately, if the people whom live in the country are not willing to organize, stand up on their own and fight for freedom then there is no chance that we could succeed in our mission of nation building. The system of federalism and representative democracy have worked here in the U.S. because it was bought with the blood and treasure of the people in our country. With nations such as Afghanistan though, it's just not possible to impose any such system on them because their culture is totally backwards to ours.

I had no problem with us going in to Afghanistan and I still have no problem with our actions in Iraq (at least the initial operation to remove Sadaam). But I think serious though needs to be given to what we do with a country after we accomplish our military mission there. If we decide to stay and provide security while they train up their army and install a peaceful government - fine by me, but let's ensure that we get something for it too. If not then let's get out of there and save our money and our soldiers lives.

[jbock13]

we can agree to disagree lol.

For the record I disagree with Ron Paul on torture. Waterboarding is not torture.

[Humble_Opinion]

Yeah I did it to myself... it's not that hard to combat, if you know what you're doing in the water at least...

[Purple Haize]

we can agree to disagree lol.

For the record I disagree with Ron Paul on torture. Waterboarding is not torture.

Look at you turning all neocon on us ! The results of water boarding are greatly exaggerated. I recommend the book Black Banner by Ali Soufan who waste top FBI interrogator. While some of it is self serving it does a great job laying out what works and what doesn't. I think having the THREAT of it on the table is very effective, which is something he doesn't address very well IMO.
About 12 years ago, some "friends" of mine made a very good analysis of Afghanistan. They said the best US policy was to go in wipe out the Taliban and take out OBL. We did one of the 2. By doing this we would be able to find which tribes were friendlier to us then others. Once the Taliban was beaten to a stump,withdraw our forces. At that point chaos would ensue, whether we were ther or not, and just like the 80's supply those friendly tribes with weapons and logistical support, satellite photos etc in exchange for information. This keeps us influential in the country, allows the country to 'govern' itself and we don't get bogged down.
Seems like a good idea stilll

[jbock13]

shhhhhh don't tell my fellow Ron Paul supporters that I'm siding with the Bilderburgs

[Purple Haize]

shhhhhh don't tell my fellow Ron Paul supporters that I'm siding with the Bilderburgs

I thought I saw you with a tattoo of an owl..

[jbock13]

shhhhhh don't tell my fellow Ron Paul supporters that I'm siding with the Bilderburgs

I thought I saw you with a tattoo of an owl..

no remember I get very fundamentalist over those things

[Humble_Opinion]

I saw the secret handshake...

Or wait that's the free masons.

[Purple Haize]

Just some follow up on Obama's energy speech last week.
We need help, not Kelp!
We should no longer call it drilling. We will now refer to it as a Deep Earth Massage!

[jbock13]

Just some follow up on Obama's energy speech last week.
We need help, not Kelp!
We should no longer call it drilling. We will now refer to it as a Deep Earth Massage!

watching "The FIve" there Purple?