Real quick points....
G.I.Jim wrote:1. I will concede on the cocaine...I researched it, and apparently I was thinking about the leaked story from Fox, and thought that he had admitted it. I'll give you that one, and I was wrong.
Thanks. I appreciate that.
G.I.Jim wrote:2. Who the hell cares if Eleanor Roosevelt munched carpet? Was SHE President? How many affairs did Clinton have? Now, answer how many have Reagan, Bush Sr, or Bush JR had?
Her husband, the President, engaged in affairs too.
And was allegedly even in the throes of one at Warm Springs where he died.
Look,
Jefferson fucked slaves.
Grover Cleaveland had an out of wedlock bastard child.
James Buchanan sucked a cock.
None of this means anything in the scheme of history.
The fact that we excessively concern ourselves with it today, speaks volumes about the dumbing down of the electorate and the press.
G.I.Jim wrote:3. While he is saying in the video that the U.S. doesn't torture people, there are a few different ways to look at this...
(a) He doesn't believe that waterboarding someone is torture, but merely a non-harmful means of abstracting information (which is what I believe).
There is no basis for this in fact.
We have prosecuted the action every time it’s been committed to us – including court martialing our own troops for using it.
Waterboarding is drowning someone. Period.
It’s hardly “non-harmful.”
G.I.Jim wrote:(b) He doesn't believe that terrorists should be classified as "people", but should be considered murderous animals. (I also believe this).
Lots of generalizations being flung here.
How do you know who’s a terrorist if they can’t challenge their own detention, as Bush initially had it?
How many detainees at Gitmo were rounded up in raids and don’t belong there?
Why are you running from the same system of law and order that sentenced Timothy McVeigh and Ramzi Yousef to justice?
G.I.Jim wrote:(c) He informed Congress about these procedures, and was given the go-ahead!
This is murky ground.
The Senate Intelligence Committees are briefed and told to keep info on the DL.
And, if Pelosi is to be believed, they were not told the whole truth.
Congress notwithstanding, there are laws on the books against torture.
Uphold them or change them
I’ve never been so naive to say a politician doesn’t lie.
You are showing me nothing.
Also, none of the aforementioned examples are on the scale of lies about war crimes or trampling on the 4th amendment.
G.I.Jim wrote:
5. The constitution has always been ammended and changed throughout our country's existence. They didn't have cell phones to tap back when it was written, nor did they have digital forms of communication that (if monitored) could help us catch terrorist's who where plotting to destroy this country!
Great.
But Bush didn’t change the laws.
He ignored them.
HUGE difference.
Congress even changed FISA as part of the Patriot Act to make wiretapping easier for law enforcement, and Bush still went around the law.
G.I.Jim wrote:And to answer your other part of this question...Yes I did swear an oath. Is it any of your business?
I would like to think that, if you took the words to heart, you’d be standing on the same side of strict constitutionality as the Ron Pauls’ and Bruce Feins’of the world- and not wallpapering over executive high crimes.
I'm not impugning your service, I just don't understand how you can defend the indefensible.
G.I.Jim wrote:6. Even if Bush DID put all of the war expenses on the books....would it equal what Obama proposed?
Over 100 billion of the budget is devoted to war costs.
Of course, it doesn’t equal the scope of a stimulus budget.
Why would it?
G.I.Jim wrote:8. Bush has been very liberal with his spending (which is one of my beefs with him, as I've stated on here before). We did have a surplus. In his defense though...how many lengthy military conflicts did Clinton have to deal with? Oh yeah...he was busy releasing detainees (not terrorists), so that they could prepare a plan for flying planes into the Twin Towers, AND the White House!
First off, what military scuffles Clinton did engage in where routinely fought against by the Right – including strikes against Osama.
As far as releasing the 9-11 hijackers… I know nothing about this.
Woodward, PBS, and other sources reported that the NSA had the flight school guys in their sights, there was just a failure to share intel.
Also, Bush’s military conflict in Iraq was a 3 trillion dollar war of choice.
G.I.Jim wrote:To counter some of Bush's spending though... How many natural disasters did Clinton have to deal with (which could have been avoided if the freaking state had spent the money allocated for the levy that it recieved!

) that cost us anywhere NEAR what Katrina cost?
I’ve never heard this.
Pre-dating Katrina, the New Orleans Times Picayune even chronicled how money that would’ve went to the Army Corps of Engineers was being diverted to Iraq.
G.I.Jim wrote:9. Finally, why is it that you only quote and discuss what you know will further your arguement? You failed to include the treatment that Bush gives to his Secret Service agents (as well as anyone else I've ever read about). He treats people the way he would want to be treated. He not only cooks for people all the time, but he also SERVES them. That's a sign of a true leader. NOT a politician. He knows all of his employees AND their families on a 1st name basis. Hillary and Bill call the Secret Service agents (who train to give their LIVES) "Trained personal pigs". Hillary doesn't let them make eye contact, and makes them keep a distance of 10 yards.
Because this is the equivalent of saying Hitler loved dogs.
What the President does behind closed doors isn't the measure of their legacy.
For every heartwarming personal story about Bush, I can direct you to one like Tucker Carlson reporting on Bush chuckling as he reminisced about sentencing a woman to death.
Also, I don't care about the Clintons.
Alan Greenspan called Bubba "the best Republican president ever" and his track record of disastrous deregulatory policies confirm that (NAFTA, Telecomm Act, Repeal of Glass-Steagall et al).
G.I.Jim wrote:If you want to support this kind of president...more power to you, but I think the next election is going to look a LOT different. Bush did fuck up a LOT in some areas (spending, immigration, etc...) but after this country gets nailed with outrageous taxes, and ridiculous spending...it'll be ready for a conservative president who knows how to take care of the country and it's needs.
Keep waiting.
Even the GOP's ideological lodestar, Ronald Reagan, raised more taxes than any other peacetime president.