political commentator * author * publisher * bookseller * radio presenter * blogger * Conservative candidate * former lobbyist * Jack Russell owner * West Ham United fanatic * Email iain AT iaindale DOT com
Monday, January 07, 2008
Ron Paul for President
There's a new USA Electoral Compass test you can take to test which candidate you are closest to. Take the test HERE. I was closest to Ron Paul and furthest from Barack Obama.
Just to show that Iain has a broad pool of readers... I was nearest Obama (although rather more socially progressive!), and furthest from Fred Thompson.
That's not to say that I agree with all of Obama's politics though!
Mind you, given that some of the questions were only relevant to Americans and therefore, I couldn't care less about them, and the ambiguous nature of some questions, I not sure what it really says about me, except that I now have one thing in common with Verity!! Ahhhhggggg! Half my hair is turning blue already.
O/T The four-eyed slaphead has just been on the BBC Ten O'Clock News (TV and Radio) to rubbish Tory proposals on welfare reform. Nothing about Brown and his Health Service "vision".
Geezer- I agree that some of the questions were of interest only to Americans, who would be more informed, and care more, about those questions.
I am always puzzled when British people mention blue hair. Did little old British ladies used to get blue rinses put in their hair. I know grey haired American ladies had a fad, around 30 or more years ago and believe that is where the phrase 'blue rinse brigade' came from. It was American. On none of my visits to Britain have I ever seen a grey-haired lady with a blue rinse in her hair. Never.
This seems to be another usage adopted wholesale, without roots (whatever their colour), from the US. I keep intending to compile a list of around 100 usages that don't relate to Britain but that the British adopted because they sounded snappy.
Perhaps you should take the plunge and apply to join the US? Then at least you could claim title to all these much adored usages as an American? And American elections would have more immediacy as you'd actually be a citizen and wouldn't look like such a wannabee with nose pressed against the pane?
i was closest to edwards and i am pleased to see thar there are a few others in the same quadrant. I would like to see an Obama/edwards ticket for the election (either one as lead) and would expect them to lead US away from the decline that is Bush. I am however realistic and know that whoever wins will be kow-towing to the money men of business (just like the tories and new labour).
I was closest to John Edwards and furthest from Fred Thompson. I generally prefer Obama but Edwards is OK.
And I am a Conservative voter. I don't think Conservative members/supporters should blindly support right of centre parties especially when the current Republican party is sooooo far to the right. I worry about the possibility of the incorporation of religion into the Conservative platform and also absolutist free market policies. I do believe people and communities make better decisions in a free market than the government but even Adam Smith said that there are limits to free markets and areas of society that must never be abdicated to the "invisible hand".
As for Iain being close to Ron Paul I wonder if he knows/agrees with Paul's opposition to Roe v Wade, withdrawal from UN and NATO (non-interventionist in general), no gun control, abolish all federal taxes and most federal agencies (including Federal Reserve and reverting to hard money which would kill the global economy). How is America's free market health provision serving the 50 million who have no access? What about the appalling child mortality rate in the US, one of the most highly developed countries in the world?
Admittedly he has some good civil liberty credentials regarding habeas corpus, no ID cards, no domestic surveillance, no torture, free internet, no Imperial presidency.
It's all Ron Paul baby, woop! I'm pretty much slap bang in the middle of the North East quarter, I don't really have a proper political home. Is there a UK Libertarian party?
To the anonymous person who has just posted two comments, the reason I haven't let your comments through is that they contain gratuitous abuse of another blog commenter. You accuse that person of insulting people but they do not use such harsh language as you and they do not hide behind the cloak of anonymity like you do.
So courageous to call someone what you did and hide behind an anonymous identity, isn't it?
I was closest to Paul, like most people, and furthest from Thompson.
The aggregation and ranking of issues on this site is terrible, though. Ron Paul - wants to abolish the federal income tax, never voted to raise taxes, opposes social security (and would allow people to opt-out), wants to return to the gold standard and basically advocates total economic freedom - is economically on the same ranking as Mike Huckabee - a big government conservative with a record, as documented by the Club for Growth and Cato Institute, for increasing state expenditure 65% in 10 years, increasing the average tax burden by 47% and adding $1 billion to Arkansas' state debt. The only thing Mike Huckabee has in common with Fiscal Conservatism is the F - the grade he got from the Cato Institute on fiscal policy for his final term as governor - where he received the joint-worst Republican score, beneath 16 Democrats!
If Huck wins the nomination, the Reagan coalition is rent. No fiscal conservative will vote for John Edwards in evangelical clothing.
Had you asked that question a week ago, the answer would have been no. Now, there's this, but as with any fledgling party, nobody really knows about it.
There is, however, the excellent Libertarian Alliance, the closest thing there is to an organised party - and they don't approve of an organised party.
[12:02] "I don't think Conservative members/supporters should blindly support right of centre parties especially when the current Republican party is sooooo far to the right."
In other words, you're a lefty trying to persuade intelligent ladies and gentlemen here that the Reps are monsters when actually, they are for civilisation and capitalism. Yawn.
"I worry about the possibility of the incorporation of religion into the Conservative platform." Mop your fevered brow, sweetheart. There's always the Supreme Court to rip up the Constitution.
"withdrawal from UN and NATO (non-interventionist in general) W-a-a-y too good to be true. I personally am for blowing up the UN. On a working day.
"How is America's free market health provision serving the 50 million who have no access?" Beats the hell out of me, but the last time I looked, county hospitals were obliged to take care of the truly indigent free at taxpayers' expense. If I were an American taxpayer, I would not like this. Children, OK. Everyone else, pay for the incredibly expensive technolog, highly trained manpower and drugs.
"Admittedly he has some good civil liberty credentials regarding habeas corpus, no ID cards, no domestic surveillance, no torture, free internet, no Imperial presidency."
Not even Paula Abdul played at the max for 24 hours?
I seem to remember that it worked. Agreed, not all torture. But Paula Abdul, yes. I would go so far as to add Céline Dionne to the playlist.
Waterboarding also works.
No offence, but I don't believe you came up conservative on the quiz. You're scurrying into the quiz as a vehicle to try to ram through a suicidal "liberal" agenda.
"In other words, you're a lefty trying to persuade intelligent ladies and gentlemen here that the Reps are monsters when actually, they are for civilisation and capitalism. Yawn."
Republicans aren't homogeneously for 'civilisation and capitalism' - they're a coalition, which includes authoritarian as well as civilised streaks. Small-government conservatives (the civilised, pro-capitalism part) no longer dominate, as in the 1950s and 1960s. Rather, the coalition now incorporates a large religious bloc, which, for instance, endorses interference in school curricula on the issue of creationism and an expanding 'compassionate' welfare state, and an authoritarian neoconservative bloc, who advocate foreign intervention and consequently high taxes and irresponsible deficit spending. The traditional conservative approach - that of Barry Goldwater and Robert Taft - is to jealously guard freedoms from any attack, from the socialist left, judicial activism or the authoritarian right.
Paul supports 'free internet' in the sense of free speech or free association - not the free provision of access to the internet.
"Mop your fevered brow, sweetheart. There's always the Supreme Court to rip up the Constitution."
"And he doesn't believe in torture?...
Waterboarding also works."
These two statements - one, attacking the Supreme Court's attempts to 'rip up the Constitution' (even though they've been one of its most steadfast defenders against encroaching executive power - eg, at Gitmo - according to Judge Andrew Napolitano), and two, advocating torture on people - are mutually incompatible. Either you believe in the principles of the US Constitution, which explicitly forbids "cruel and unusual punishments," or you believe in the totalitarian - 'whatever works,' regardless of the cost to individual freedom.
You can't believe both - which is why Ron Paul, hitherto unknown nationally, is gaining popularity amongst the dormant component of the party which favours the Constitution, individual freedom, small government and free-markets. The free-marketeers have gone along with the expansion of executive power in the civil sphere after 9/11 because they've never had a candidate to vote for who's opposed the measures. This year will show how strong their ranks remain in the face of the threat from the Wilsonite neocons and the Evangelical authoritarians.
aaagh I have to go and have a lie down, I was furthest away from John Edwards (which did not surprise me) and closest to Ron Paul (which did). Thank God (if there is one, sorry Huck) I've lapsed from membership of the Labour Party.
Closest to Edwards, furthest from Thompson. But the most interesting thing was to dig down and see who you're closest to on the individual issues. In my case certainly it was a bit polarised.
They've got Obama in the wrong spot by focusing on outdated issues, and not following his promise to get public debt down, eliminate lobbyism and simplify the tax code. He is economically more traditional than this quiz has noticed.
I was economically trad and socially lib, split down the middle.
I must be the wrong sort of Conservative as to my amazement I was closest to the Democrats, Obama at abut 88%, and far from any of the Republicans. It seems that they are right wing and I am not. That is a shock after 50 years of calling myself a Conservative. Mind you, when I lived in South Africa in the apartheid era I was thought to be left-wing.
Here is an extract from the review of Obama.s Audacity Of Hope in NYT -
"Mr. Obama strives in these pages to ground his policy thinking in simple common sense — be it “growing the size of our armed forces to maintain reasonable rotation schedules” or reining in spending and rethinking tax policy to bring down the nation’s huge deficit — while articulating these ideas in level-headed, nonpartisan prose."
Don't sound too left wing to my ears. But don't tell the setters of the quiz. They've clearly already made up their minds despite the evidence.
Fascinating, I consider my self a liberal (small l ) conservative and foundI was closest to Obama and furthest from Fred Thompson. Fiding Iain closest to the neo con Ron Paul was strange. Perhaps there is a weighting behind the questions that skews the result..
Andrew Roocroft: "Rather, the coalition now incorporates a large religious bloc ...". I am baffled about this notional "large religious block" because I never encountered any of them except once,and even then, she wasn't exactly gung-ho. Certainly there are a lot of very religious people in the United States, many of them aggressive muslims. The Catholic citizens of Dearborne, MI are intruded upon five times a day in their own homes with amplified muslim calls to prayer. This is cruel and unusual punishment for people who have done nothing wrong, and it takes place in their refuge - their own homes. They can't block it out unless, I guess, they invest in double glazing and keep their windows shut year round.
The Supreme Court under Sandra Day O'Connor was a lefty dream come true and they interpreted the Constitution under fanciful lefty guidelines. Thank God for Clarence Thomas.
I am not getting the point here: how is punishing terrorism suddenly in the category of "cruel and unusual punishment"? No one dies from waterboarding. You're aware, I'm sure, that a large percentages of released prisoners from Gitmo have applied for Green Cards. Gosh, they must have been really scared in Guantanamo, where, almost without exception, they all put on weight - despite exercise facilities.
How would you deal with terrorists intending to murder large number of citizens? Tell them not to be naughty, or subject them to 30 unremitting hours of Jo Brand?
(I agree that balancing the budget is of major concern, and I'll tell you that one person who hasn't a clue how to do it because he doesn't know how to work in Washington, is Barak Obama.
The Catholic citizens of Dearborne, MI are intruded upon five times a day in their own homes with amplified muslim calls to prayer. This is cruel and unusual punishment for people who have done nothing wrong, and it takes place in their refuge - their own homes. They can't block it out unless, I guess, they invest in double glazing and keep their windows shut year round.
Oh, poor bloody darlings. I assume they're all suffering from PTSD after this War on Christmas I hear so much about. When did conservatives turn into such a pack of mewling, puking, invertebrates?
I also have to wonder which Mitt Romney they used as a baseline - the fairly moderate Republican Governor or the candidate who will flip, flop and fib about pretty much anything for a vote. I guess Mormons aren't that big on the whole 'do not bear false witness' passage in the Decalogue.
Just wanted to thank you all for your (critical) comments and taking the test. As one of the makers of the test we really appraciate you providing us with comments and passing the link on. Please note that the end result can still be analysed issue by issue and you can combine any cluster of issues. Just click on the ones you deem important. Andre Krouwel Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
I was closest to Mitt Romney. Furthest, thank God, from opportunistic slimeball Barak Obama.
ReplyDeleteI was closest to Ron Paul - furthest from Fred Thompson - kind of 7mm NE on the graph.
ReplyDeleteYou must have been a tad right wing and less progressive than me.
Ugh had this horrible thought I might me a fence sitter.
Thanks for that link. Mine was Mitt Romney most distant from Obama.
ReplyDeleteBit dissapointed as I really don't like him. But then again, I'm not an American voter. ;)
Is it sad that i found that utterly compelling. We should have one for UK politics!
ReplyDeleteHmmmm. Closest to Giuliani and furthest from Obama. I think any ideas of being sympathetic to a Democratic candidate have just been completely erased.
ReplyDeleteI am closest to Barack Obama and furtherest from Fred Thompson (phew!)
ReplyDeleteGo Obama! :)
I just saw Hillary Clinton on the news doing a 'Heather McCartney'! Crocodile tears... boohoo :)
ReplyDeleteBut I still like her.
I was closest to Matt Romney,
ReplyDeleteand furthest away from Obama
Just to show that Iain has a broad pool of readers... I was nearest Obama (although rather more socially progressive!), and furthest from Fred Thompson.
ReplyDeleteThat's not to say that I agree with all of Obama's politics though!
Takes all sorts I guess. ;-)
Closest to Ron Paul and furthest from Obama too.
ReplyDeleteMind you, given that some of the questions were only relevant to Americans and therefore, I couldn't care less about them, and the ambiguous nature of some questions, I not sure what it really says about me, except that I now have one thing in common with Verity!! Ahhhhggggg! Half my hair is turning blue already.
Closest to Giuliani, furthest from Obama. Sounds about right.
ReplyDeleteI'm closest to Bill Richardson (who?) and furthest from Fred Thompson (another who!)
ReplyDeleteQuite pleased I turned out to be a Democrat though ;)
Bloody hell! Closest to John Edwards and furthest from Fed Thompson.
ReplyDeleteClosest to Ron Paul
ReplyDeleteFurthest from Fred Thompson
O/T The four-eyed slaphead has just been on the BBC Ten O'Clock News (TV and Radio) to rubbish Tory proposals on welfare reform.
Nothing about Brown and his Health Service "vision".
furthest too
ReplyDeleteNO edit button gggrrrr :)
I appear to be to the right of Attila the Hun.
ReplyDeleteNo change there then.
Just to the right of Barack Obama.
ReplyDeleteLike Tony, I was furthest from Obama and almost exactly coincident with Giuliani. (Sounds about right.)
ReplyDeleteClosest to Ron Paul seems to account for a larger area of the map than closer to any other candidate...
ReplyDeleteGeezer- I agree that some of the questions were of interest only to Americans, who would be more informed, and care more, about those questions.
ReplyDeleteI am always puzzled when British people mention blue hair. Did little old British ladies used to get blue rinses put in their hair. I know grey haired American ladies had a fad, around 30 or more years ago and believe that is where the phrase 'blue rinse brigade' came from. It was American. On none of my visits to Britain have I ever seen a grey-haired lady with a blue rinse in her hair. Never.
This seems to be another usage adopted wholesale, without roots (whatever their colour), from the US. I keep intending to compile a list of around 100 usages that don't relate to Britain but that the British adopted because they sounded snappy.
Perhaps you should take the plunge and apply to join the US? Then at least you could claim title to all these much adored usages as an American? And American elections would have more immediacy as you'd actually be a citizen and wouldn't look like such a wannabee with nose pressed against the pane?
I am very close to Obama and should obviously be the next President of the United States.
ReplyDeleteI was the same as Verity
ReplyDeleteAnd when is Iain getting a new banner? I'm sick to death of that pedestrian, clichéd puerile background.
ReplyDeleteVerity, Verity, patience, please! The new blog design is being worked on at the moment and I hope to have it launched before I go to Washington.
ReplyDeletei was closest to edwards and i am pleased to see thar there are a few others in the same quadrant. I would like to see an Obama/edwards ticket for the election (either one as lead) and would expect them to lead US away from the decline that is Bush. I am however realistic and know that whoever wins will be kow-towing to the money men of business (just like the tories and new labour).
ReplyDeleteMr Dale Goes to Washington. Could be a movie in it ...
ReplyDeleteI was closest to John Edwards and furthest from Fred Thompson. I generally prefer Obama but Edwards is OK.
ReplyDeleteAnd I am a Conservative voter. I don't think Conservative members/supporters should blindly support right of centre parties especially when the current Republican party is sooooo far to the right. I worry about the possibility of the incorporation of religion into the Conservative platform and also absolutist free market policies. I do believe people and communities make better decisions in a free market than the government but even Adam Smith said that there are limits to free markets and areas of society that must never be abdicated to the "invisible hand".
As for Iain being close to Ron Paul I wonder if he knows/agrees with Paul's opposition to Roe v Wade, withdrawal from UN and NATO (non-interventionist in general), no gun control, abolish all federal taxes and most federal agencies (including Federal Reserve and reverting to hard money which would kill the global economy). How is America's free market health provision serving the 50 million who have no access? What about the appalling child mortality rate in the US, one of the most highly developed countries in the world?
Admittedly he has some good civil liberty credentials regarding habeas corpus, no ID cards, no domestic surveillance, no torture, free internet, no Imperial presidency.
It's all Ron Paul baby, woop! I'm pretty much slap bang in the middle of the North East quarter, I don't really have a proper political home. Is there a UK Libertarian party?
ReplyDeleteTo the anonymous person who has just posted two comments, the reason I haven't let your comments through is that they contain gratuitous abuse of another blog commenter. You accuse that person of insulting people but they do not use such harsh language as you and they do not hide behind the cloak of anonymity like you do.
ReplyDeleteSo courageous to call someone what you did and hide behind an anonymous identity, isn't it?
I was closest to Paul, like most people, and furthest from Thompson.
ReplyDeleteThe aggregation and ranking of issues on this site is terrible, though. Ron Paul - wants to abolish the federal income tax, never voted to raise taxes, opposes social security (and would allow people to opt-out), wants to return to the gold standard and basically advocates total economic freedom - is economically on the same ranking as Mike Huckabee - a big government conservative with a record, as documented by the Club for Growth and Cato Institute, for increasing state expenditure 65% in 10 years, increasing the average tax burden by 47% and adding $1 billion to Arkansas' state debt. The only thing Mike Huckabee has in common with Fiscal Conservatism is the F - the grade he got from the Cato Institute on fiscal policy for his final term as governor - where he received the joint-worst Republican score, beneath 16 Democrats!
If Huck wins the nomination, the Reagan coalition is rent. No fiscal conservative will vote for John Edwards in evangelical clothing.
@ gregor, 12:09 am;
ReplyDelete"Is there a UK Libertarian Party?"
Had you asked that question a week ago, the answer would have been no. Now, there's this, but as with any fledgling party, nobody really knows about it.
There is, however, the excellent Libertarian Alliance, the closest thing there is to an organised party - and they don't approve of an organised party.
Closest to Fred Thompson and furthest from B Hussein Obama.
ReplyDeleteI know that Duncan Hunter wasn't on there but I think if he had been then I'd have ended up closer to him.
[12:02] "I don't think Conservative members/supporters should blindly support right of centre parties especially when the current Republican party is sooooo far to the right."
ReplyDeleteIn other words, you're a lefty trying to persuade intelligent ladies and gentlemen here that the Reps are monsters when actually, they are for civilisation and capitalism. Yawn.
"I worry about the possibility of the incorporation of religion into the Conservative platform." Mop your fevered brow, sweetheart. There's always the Supreme Court to rip up the Constitution.
"withdrawal from UN and NATO (non-interventionist in general) W-a-a-y too good to be true. I personally am for blowing up the UN. On a working day.
"How is America's free market health provision serving the 50 million who have no access?" Beats the hell out of me, but the last time I looked, county hospitals were obliged to take care of the truly indigent free at taxpayers' expense. If I were an American taxpayer, I would not like this. Children, OK. Everyone else, pay for the incredibly expensive technolog, highly trained manpower and drugs.
"Admittedly he has some good civil liberty credentials regarding habeas corpus, no ID cards, no domestic surveillance, no torture, free internet, no Imperial presidency."
Free internet???? Wha'''???? Why not free cars? Free utilities? Free McDonald's? Free furniture?
And he doesn't believe in torture?
Not even Paula Abdul played at the max for 24 hours?
I seem to remember that it worked. Agreed, not all torture. But Paula Abdul, yes. I would go so far as to add Céline Dionne to the playlist.
Waterboarding also works.
No offence, but I don't believe you came up conservative on the quiz. You're scurrying into the quiz as a vehicle to try to ram through a suicidal "liberal" agenda.
No sale.
@ verity, 1:02 am;
ReplyDelete"In other words, you're a lefty trying to persuade intelligent ladies and gentlemen here that the Reps are monsters when actually, they are for civilisation and capitalism. Yawn."
Republicans aren't homogeneously for 'civilisation and capitalism' - they're a coalition, which includes authoritarian as well as civilised streaks. Small-government conservatives (the civilised, pro-capitalism part) no longer dominate, as in the 1950s and 1960s. Rather, the coalition now incorporates a large religious bloc, which, for instance, endorses interference in school curricula on the issue of creationism and an expanding 'compassionate' welfare state, and an authoritarian neoconservative bloc, who advocate foreign intervention and consequently high taxes and irresponsible deficit spending. The traditional conservative approach - that of Barry Goldwater and Robert Taft - is to jealously guard freedoms from any attack, from the socialist left, judicial activism or the authoritarian right.
"Free internet???? Wha'''???? Why not free cars? Free utilities? Free McDonald's? Free furniture?"
Paul supports 'free internet' in the sense of free speech or free association - not the free provision of access to the internet.
"Mop your fevered brow, sweetheart. There's always the Supreme Court to rip up the Constitution."
"And he doesn't believe in torture?...
Waterboarding also works."
These two statements - one, attacking the Supreme Court's attempts to 'rip up the Constitution' (even though they've been one of its most steadfast defenders against encroaching executive power - eg, at Gitmo - according to Judge Andrew Napolitano), and two, advocating torture on people - are mutually incompatible. Either you believe in the principles of the US Constitution, which explicitly forbids "cruel and unusual punishments," or you believe in the totalitarian - 'whatever works,' regardless of the cost to individual freedom.
You can't believe both - which is why Ron Paul, hitherto unknown nationally, is gaining popularity amongst the dormant component of the party which favours the Constitution, individual freedom, small government and free-markets. The free-marketeers have gone along with the expansion of executive power in the civil sphere after 9/11 because they've never had a candidate to vote for who's opposed the measures. This year will show how strong their ranks remain in the face of the threat from the Wilsonite neocons and the Evangelical authoritarians.
what happened to Dennis Kucinich and his Essex girl missus?
ReplyDeleteaaagh I have to go and have a lie down, I was furthest away from John Edwards (which did not surprise me) and closest to Ron Paul (which did). Thank God (if there is one, sorry Huck) I've lapsed from membership of the Labour Party.
ReplyDeleteThank you Andrew Roocroft.
ReplyDeleteClosest to Edwards, furthest from Thompson. But the most interesting thing was to dig down and see who you're closest to on the individual issues. In my case certainly it was a bit polarised.
ReplyDeleteSome democrat minnows I've not heard of, then Obama and Hilary. Republicans all way down the list, which is reassuring, as they can be a bit scary.
ReplyDeleteThey've got Obama in the wrong spot by focusing on outdated issues, and not following his promise to get public debt down, eliminate lobbyism and simplify the tax code. He is economically more traditional than this quiz has noticed.
ReplyDeleteI was economically trad and socially lib, split down the middle.
I must be the wrong sort of Conservative as to my amazement I was closest to the Democrats, Obama at abut 88%, and far from any of the Republicans. It seems that they are right wing and I am not. That is a shock after 50 years of calling myself a Conservative. Mind you, when I lived in South Africa in the apartheid era I was thought to be left-wing.
ReplyDeleteVictor
Closest to Mitt Romney, furthest from Obama.
ReplyDeleteI'd still vote for Fred Thompson if I had a vote.
Here is an extract from the review of Obama.s Audacity Of Hope in NYT -
ReplyDelete"Mr. Obama strives in these pages to ground his policy thinking in simple common sense — be it “growing the size of our armed forces to maintain reasonable rotation schedules” or reining in spending and rethinking tax policy to bring down the nation’s huge deficit — while articulating these ideas in level-headed, nonpartisan prose."
Don't sound too left wing to my ears. But don't tell the setters of the quiz. They've clearly already made up their minds despite the evidence.
I should add - no wonder John Redwood admires Obama.
ReplyDeleteFascinating, I consider my self a liberal (small l ) conservative and foundI was closest to Obama and furthest from Fred Thompson. Fiding Iain closest to the neo con Ron Paul was strange. Perhaps there is a weighting behind the questions that skews the result..
ReplyDeleteI LOVE Ron Paul so much, that if I was a woman and 20 years older I would marry him, given half a chance.
ReplyDeleteWhat else can I say. How's this
He is God on earth, but even better.
If Ron Paul had been running the USA for the last 20 years. I would have become an American citizen even if I had to swim all the way there.
Andrew Roocroft: "Rather, the coalition now incorporates a large religious bloc ...". I am baffled about this notional "large religious block" because I never encountered any of them except once,and even then, she wasn't exactly gung-ho. Certainly there are a lot of very religious people in the United States, many of them aggressive muslims. The Catholic citizens of Dearborne, MI are intruded upon five times a day in their own homes with amplified muslim calls to prayer. This is cruel and unusual punishment for people who have done nothing wrong, and it takes place in their refuge - their own homes. They can't block it out unless, I guess, they invest in double glazing and keep their windows shut year round.
ReplyDeleteThe Supreme Court under Sandra Day O'Connor was a lefty dream come true and they interpreted the Constitution under fanciful lefty guidelines. Thank God for Clarence Thomas.
I am not getting the point here: how is punishing terrorism suddenly in the category of "cruel and unusual punishment"? No one dies from waterboarding. You're aware, I'm sure, that a large percentages of released prisoners from Gitmo have applied for Green Cards. Gosh, they must have been really scared in Guantanamo, where, almost without exception, they all put on weight - despite exercise facilities.
How would you deal with terrorists intending to murder large number of citizens? Tell them not to be naughty, or subject them to 30 unremitting hours of Jo Brand?
(I agree that balancing the budget is of major concern, and I'll tell you that one person who hasn't a clue how to do it because he doesn't know how to work in Washington, is Barak Obama.
Closest to McCain, furthest from Obama.
ReplyDeleteOn another quiz (I'll try & find the link) I was closest to Hunter & farthest from Edwards.
World's Smallest Political Quiz:
ReplyDeletewww.theadvocates.org/quiz.html
2008 Candidates (just put in 12345 as zip code)
www.wqad.com/Global/link.asp?L=259460
I'm sure there's many others
Ian,
ReplyDeleteCome over to UKIP - you know you want to....
Ron Paul Revolution on UKIP TV
"Is there a UK Libertarian Party?"
ReplyDeleteYes UKIP
The Catholic citizens of Dearborne, MI are intruded upon five times a day in their own homes with amplified muslim calls to prayer. This is cruel and unusual punishment for people who have done nothing wrong, and it takes place in their refuge - their own homes. They can't block it out unless, I guess, they invest in double glazing and keep their windows shut year round.
ReplyDeleteOh, poor bloody darlings. I assume they're all suffering from PTSD after this War on Christmas I hear so much about. When did conservatives turn into such a pack of mewling, puking, invertebrates?
I also have to wonder which Mitt Romney they used as a baseline - the fairly moderate Republican Governor or the candidate who will flip, flop and fib about pretty much anything for a vote. I guess Mormons aren't that big on the whole 'do not bear false witness' passage in the Decalogue.
ReplyDeleteClosest to John McCain and furthest from Obama.
ReplyDeleteGood, but I'd still vote for Fred Thompson (if I was an American, that is).
Closest to ron paul, furthest from fred thompson, you must have been a bit more socially conservative than me. Age differences i expect.
ReplyDeleteClosest to Bill Richardson and furthest from Fred Thompson.
ReplyDeleteGuess that makes me a Democrat and one who is an outsider on the margins. A great place to be?
Was that because you're a WASP and in the internet, Iain?
ReplyDeleteJust wanted to thank you all for your (critical) comments and taking the test.
ReplyDeleteAs one of the makers of the test we really appraciate you providing us with comments and passing the link on.
Please note that the end result can still be analysed issue by issue and you can combine any cluster of issues. Just click on the ones you deem important.
Andre Krouwel
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam