U.S. Election – Do you Care?

Charlie, I would like to apologise, Publically for the rant you and I had on this Post, I guess both of us got carried away in the heat of the moment.
my Apologies to you also Kev.
Jim.
Lincoln .7

Good grief, Lincoln, it’s long forgotten but I appreciate and accept the apology.:) Life would be dull without the odd forum spat, wouldn’t it?

I’m a little late to the party, but here goes.

I’m hoping for an Obama win, simply because I think that it’s the least worst option. Part of the reason for his limited successes is, I think, due to the obstructionism of the Republican party, who have made it their job to try to block literally everything he has put forward. Senator McConnell said so himself when he said their first political objective was to deny Obama a second term. The way they harp on about they harp on about the economy you would have thought it would be that. If the GOP win this election is effectively endorses this strategy. If the President isn’t from your party, filibuster everything, make them look bad. It might win the next election but it makes for a dysfunctional nation.

Speaking of the economy, yes the US needs to reduce its debts. Unfortunately the Republican party has a very poor record with this, party because their economic policy boils down to one thing: tax cuts, mostly for the wealthy. They have a point that regulation can be stifling, but there is also a necessary level of regulation – not none at all, which is what the GOP seem to want. Cutting corporation taxes doesn’t help companies actually turn a profit in the first place, something which too few people seem to understand. Obama’s policies will help the US economy become one of the future, with a clean energy industry, a healthier population and a more intelligent approach to foreign relations. Romney’s plan is ‘drill baby, drill’, throw out a plan he himself put forward as governor, and international antagonism.

On a personal level I like Obama, he seems to be an intelligent, though not always politically savvy man. As for Mitt Romney, I genuinely do not know. His opinions have changed wildly over the years, not always a bad thing, but it always seems to be that his view is whatever will help him get elected. Frankly, I think the man is a liar. I also dislike his religious affiliation. It’s his right to attend whatever church, religion or whatever he wants, but it seems to me that a persons religious beliefs inform their whole worldview, and I think that Mr. Romney’s beliefs are dangerously irrational.

/rant, and apologies if I hit a nerve with anyone.

Jim.

Water under the bridge, and it’s not the biggest disagreement we’ve ever had by a long chalk. 🙂

Regards,

kev35

Charlie, I would like to apologise, Publically for the rant you and I had on this Post, I guess both of us got carried away in the heat of the moment.
my Apologies to you also Kev.
Jim.
Lincoln .7

(We’re not all as dumb as you guys over on that side of the pond think.) 🙂

Phantom,

Not dumb, but many Americans take a very parochial view of life.

As with several on here I think Obama will probably follow a foreign policy which will cause less grief to humanity in general, less belicose. It has always puzzled me why the US wants to become involved in wars so far away from home. I can understand why it was concerned about what was happening in Cuba, Mexico or Canada but Afganistan or Iraq: I don’t get it.

Also do not understand why the US is lecturing Iran about the development and possession of nuclear weapons. Now if it was Switzerland doing the lecturing I could undertand it……….

Planemike

Phantom. thanks for taking the time for your reply.

As far as your remarks reference Romneys forign policy are concerned, all we have to go on, is what the guy has said in that respect. Speaking purely for myself, I find some of what he has said concerning Iran, Russia etc bellicose and hardly conducive to constructive dialogue with certain other countries, that at some time or another, he is going to have to deal with.

I fully appreciate that he has to play to his domestic audience, after all, it is those people that will put him in the White House, should he win the poll. Speaking purely for myself, Romney ‘beating the war drum’ at home, is all very well, but some of his comments in my view, are worthy of concern. Being as I am not a US citizen, I know nothing of your domestic issues, so I defer to you on those matters.

It’s for the above reasons I’ve posted above, and some others, that that I am hoping for an Obama victory, but that is only because I find him the lesser of two evils, nothing more.

Thanks, Phantom – nothing confusing about that and maybe just enough of your countrymen will feel the same way as you do to swing it.

I wasn’t going to mention anything regarding my opinions as I wanted it to stay focused on people from other nations, but since you asked I’ll own up.

I’m hoping for a Romney win, and as ill informed as I’m sure some people (based on the responses I’ve seen) will think I am, I’ve already voted for him.

The direction my country is in is not one I was hoping for when we were promised “Hope & Change” in 2008. Granted, I wasn’t a supporter of Obama in 2008, but I’m in the military so I was obliged to trust in him as my commander in chief, and I gave him the benefit of the doubt, hoping that somehow he could improve things. In my humble opinion he has simply made our situation worse in a variety of areas.

As far as Romney goes, the main reason I like him is that he has a much better idea of how to fix things economically speaking than Obama does. Obama’s economic policies are absolutely killing small businesses among other things. Big government isn’t as popular here as it is in other parts of the world (Western Europe), and despite what the media here is trying to do, most Americans aren’t in favor of it. It isn’t what our country was founded on, and when it comes to things like the new healthcare plan, we don’t want it. Obviously I cannot speak for every American, but the media has become pretty left leaning over here, and the far left agenda is constantly being pushed on us.

As for Romney & foreign, I’m deeply concerned based on what I read here as far as what people seem to think this guy is going to do. He is already being painted as a far rightwing nutjob that will attack any nation who dares blink at the U.S.A. That could not be farther from the truth, and being that I’m pretty familiar with the U.S. political system, I can tell you he is much more of a moderate compared to previous Republican presidents. Again, I think the smear campaign that the left-wing media has put out has a large part to do with a lot of incorrect assumptions about Romney.

The sitation we are in on this side of the pond is getting graver by the day. We are experiencing a culture change in this country whereupon a large part of the country is now seemingly living in what we refer to as an “entitlement culture.” It is seemingly more and more popular to lean towards far left economic policies (namely redistribution of wealth)…at least the media here is putting out that rhetoric. If you identify with American conservative beliefs, you are painted as uncaring and bigotted. The most ironic thing I’ve found in recent years is that if you don’t agree with a liberal in this country, you are absolutely slammed and denigrated for your beliefs. It’s ironic to me because liberals (& Democrats in the political system) try to paint themselves as the party of acceptance…until you have the audacity to disagree with them.

If this post has confused anyone please ask and I’ll try to clarify. My limited understanding of U.K. and Western European politics leads me to believe that what we consider left-wing here in the USA would in some cases be considered right-wing on that side of the pond.

As I said perviously thanks for your comments.

Tough call – eenie, meenie, minie, mo….

Mitts a mormon best say no!:D

Tough call – eenie, meenie, minie, mo….

Well sorry Charlie.
I’m a non voter.
Non of them represent my opinions–so why should I vote for them?
In the same way as why should I employ someone who I consider to be a useless w*nker??
Sadly, I’d like to be able to describe politicians in those simple terms but my contempt for them runs much deeper than that.

As to American politicians my life isn’t long enough to find out or care.
I used to be rather fond of Americans and certainly the country. These days it seems like it was another person.
As I now can’t stand airports, I can’t ever see myself getting there again.

And Derek.
You’re correct–that piece is very old.
It’s an odd day, I’m almost in agreement with you.
I must try harder in future.

So if that is true, why did 65% bother to vote in the last election? It hardly squares with your unstatistical claims for the majority of voters.

It’s a night out, isn’t it.

My God, that must be 10 years old at least. The last time it did the rounds it was attributed to John Cleese.

Oh and “ize” is correct. 🙂

There is a funny post circulating on Facebook, I will quote the first few lines …

A MESSAGE FROM THE QUEEN

To the citizens of the United States of America from Her Sovereign Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

In light of your failure in recent years to nominate competent candidates for President of the USA and thus to govern yourselves, we hereby give notice of the revocation of your independence, effective immediately. (You should look up ‘revocation’ in the Oxford English Dictionary.)

Her Sovereign Majesty Queen Elizabeth II will resume monarchical duties over all states, commonwealths, and territories (except North Dakota, which she does not fancy).

Your new Prime Minister, David Cameron, will appoint a Governor for America without the need for further elections.

Congress and the Senate will be disbanded. A questionnaire may be circulated next year to determine whether any of you noticed.

To aid in the transition to a British Crown dependency, the following rules are introduced with immediate effect:

———————–

1. The letter ‘U’ will be reinstated in words such as ‘colour,’ ‘favour,’ ‘labour’ and ‘neighbour.’ Likewise, you will learn to spell ‘doughnut’ without skipping half the letters, and the suffix ‘-ize’ will be replaced by the suffix ‘-ise.’ Generally, you will be expected to raise your vocabulary to acceptable levels. (look up ‘vocabulary’).

It is quite long, for those who have a Facebook account : click here

It’s been fun!:), although I fear some of us became bogged down in our affairs rather than answering your question. Out of interest, which of the two is your preference?

To all who have commented, I thank you for your time. I apologize for seeming to have started a series of arguments among some, but I couldn’t resist asking the question.

Interesting to see some of the perspectives…thanks again!

Oh and for the record, this particular American knows (and knew beforehand) that the Prime Minister is David Cameron. (We’re not all as dumb as you guys over on that side of the pond think.) 🙂

I never said I wasn’t interested.

kev35

I stand corrected – with apologies.

Comments noted.
Jim.
lincoln .7

I never said I wasn’t interested. I did say that I didn’t worry too much about British politics. I have other concerns which take priority over that.

For a start Jim, I have no wish to be tarred with the same brush as you. The fact that we appear to be in agreement over certain issues does cause me some little concern. I always vote Jim, I vote with my conscience. People died so I might have that privilege. I exercise it religiously. To refrain from voting as you do yourself means that you are part of the apathy which ensures that change is rarely for the better. Now Jim, I wish to be wholly disassociated with the following comment of yours…..

“I am sure Kev knows far more about the subject than you will ever know”

I would never presume such and from his posts I suspect Charlie knows far more about politics than I do. So perhaps you owe Charlie an apology?

As an aside, I found the following of yours interesting…..

“I didn’t vote, for your information, as for 30 yrs, I listened to Barristers lie in Court through their back teeth.And if you can’t trust them there, what hope is there in them telling the truth in Westminister?

Much as we couldn’t trust South Yorkshire Police to tell the truth about Hillsborough?

Regards,

kev35

I think I’ll add my opinion here. I went off on a tangent about the far east in my previous comments :rolleyes:

I’m interested in the US election. Although, I wouldn’t claim I was one of those people who stares avidly at my google news feed – waiting to hear the latest news from Washington on the president’s breakfast or what shampoo the governor’s wife uses.

I do however, sit up and take note when Mark Mardell makes an appearance on the 10 o’clock news.

I’m not dazzled by either candidate, as one American voter said “Obama’s bad, yet his opponent’s worse”. As a republican supporter I hope Mitt scrapes in, although given the number of gaffes he’s made over the past few months; that may be a struggle.

Yes, the winner might be the best of a poor couple, but it will go to the wire that’s for sure. I too hope Romney wins, but it will indeed be a struggle. Roll on Tuesday then we’ll know.