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Title: Yes, Virginia, the election is almost over.... Posted By Stephen M. Walt Monday,
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URL Source: http://walt.foreignpolicy.com/posts ... ia_the_election_is_almost_over
Published: Nov 5, 2012
Author: http://walt.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2012
Post Date: 2012-11-05 15:21:56 by tom007
Keywords: None
Views: 185
Comments: 16
Yes, Virginia, the election is almost over.... Posted By Stephen M. Walt Monday, November 5, 2012 - 11:31 AM Share Today we're all obsessed with -- and exhausted by -- the U.S. election. There's a lot wrong with America's political institutions -- starting with the absurd Electoral College -- but right up there with the EC is the ridiculous length of the campaign season itself. No other modern democracy spends at least twenty-five percent of a presidential term determining who the next president will be, and this feature both inflates the cost of elections (thereby increasing the clout of well-heeled donors and lobbies) and distracts us all from the broader issues of the moment. All that's keeping us going now is the knowledge that it will soon be over. Unlike my FP colleague Dan Drezner, I'm not going to offer a lengthy election endorsement. If you've been reading this blog and can't tell who I'm voting for, you haven't been paying attention. I've been disappointed by some of Obama's foreign policy decisions -- most notably his caving on the Middle East peace process and his decision to escalate in Afghanistan -- but I didn't expect a lot of dramatic foreign policy successes during the first term anyway. Unlike Dan (and Rosa Brooks), I don't think a better process would have made that much difference: Once you had populated the administration with the usual Democratic party wonks, you were going to get the usual post-Clintonian Democratic party foreign policy. Not realism, in other words, but good old-fashioned liberal interventionism suitably sobered by the Iraq debacle and the financial crisis. Obama has scored some limited successes, has avoided big disasters (like an attack on Iran) and has for the most part dealt with friends and foes in a sensible way. In the absence of a better alternative -- and such an alternative is clearly absent -- he gets my vote. What makes it easy is looking at the other side. The Romney campaign's critique of Obama's foreign policy is about as factually accurate as its fairy budget proposals. It's also schizophrenic: The Romney campaign wants you to think Obama has been too hard on our allies and too easy on our foes, yet in the third debate Romney agreed with almost all of Obama's policies. Moreover, his campaign's reliance on a bunch of neoconservative retreads tells you he's either craven or a bad judge of talent, and neither is an especially appealing quality for a future leader. If you're still undecided, all you need to do is contrast Obama's pitch-perfect foreign tour in 2008 with the gaffe and pander-filled Romney tour last summer. On foreign policy grounds, therefore, this decision is a no-brainer.
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#1. To: tom007 (#0)
On foreign policy grounds, therefore, this decision is a no-brainer. No, a "no brainer" is a vote for Obama. If you don't like Romney (and I don't and won't vote for him) it doesn't mean you have to vote for the statist whore with a D after his name. You could vote independent, write someone in or just say ef it and not waste the time and effort. But voting for Obama, after four years of all his bs? I don't get it. Liberty is not a means to a higher political end. It is itself the highest political end. Lord Acton The human herd stampedes on the fields of facts and the valleys of truth to get to the desert of ignorance. Saman Mohammadi "If a politician found he had cannibals among his constituents, he would promise them missionaries for dinner." Mencken "..if the military is going to defend our freedoms, then we need freedoms to defend. Our freedoms must be restored before the military can defend them..." Lawrence M. Vance Você me trata desse jeito só porque eu sou preto. Junior (my youngest son)
I'm voting for Romney even though I despise him, because I really enjoy seeing liberals in agony.
There are actually govt agents who spread conspiracy theories among the gullible to help promote the illusion that the govt is all powerful.
Well, we have had four years of the lying, duplicitous Kenyan and that is enough for me--more than enough actually. I just think it is sad that a country with a population of more than 300 million people can't come up with anyone for a "choice" but one guy who isn't even legally qualified and another one who, just like the one in there now, will use the Constitution for toilet paper.
Liberty is not a means to a higher political end. It is itself the highest political end. Lord Acton The human herd stampedes on the fields of facts and the valleys of truth to get to the desert of ignorance. Saman Mohammadi "If a politician found he had cannibals among his constituents, he would promise them missionaries for dinner." Mencken "..if the military is going to defend our freedoms, then we need freedoms to defend. Our freedoms must be restored before the military can defend them..." Lawrence M. Vance Você me trata desse jeito só porque eu sou preto. Junior (my youngest son)
We the people have no say whatsoever in the selection of potus.
“The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out... without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Almost inevitably he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane, intolerable.” ~ H. L. Mencken I agree. And anyone who thinks they have much of a voice in who gets any opportunity to run for "the big chair" is living on Fantasy Island.
Liberty is not a means to a higher political end. It is itself the highest political end. Lord Acton The human herd stampedes on the fields of facts and the valleys of truth to get to the desert of ignorance. Saman Mohammadi "If a politician found he had cannibals among his constituents, he would promise them missionaries for dinner." Mencken "..if the military is going to defend our freedoms, then we need freedoms to defend. Our freedoms must be restored before the military can defend them..." Lawrence M. Vance Você me trata desse jeito só porque eu sou preto. Junior (my youngest son)
“The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out... without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Almost inevitably he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane, intolerable.” ~ H. L. Mencken Damn! that's back when 60K was nearly worth 10K!
“The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out... without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Almost inevitably he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane, intolerable.” ~ H. L. Mencken LOL! Yeah, almost being the operative word. Especially if you compare it to what a dollar was worth before the Federal Reserve was foisted off on a gullible public.
Liberty is not a means to a higher political end. It is itself the highest political end. Lord Acton The human herd stampedes on the fields of facts and the valleys of truth to get to the desert of ignorance. Saman Mohammadi "If a politician found he had cannibals among his constituents, he would promise them missionaries for dinner." Mencken "..if the military is going to defend our freedoms, then we need freedoms to defend. Our freedoms must be restored before the military can defend them..." Lawrence M. Vance Você me trata desse jeito só porque eu sou preto. Junior (my youngest son)
NIGPOTUS has to go, even if it means his white counterpart playing a very similar role. Meet the new boss, same as the old boss: In the absence of a better alternative -- and such an alternative is clearly absent -- he gets my vote.
#2. To: James Deffenbach (#1)
#3. To: Turtle (#2)
#4. To: James Deffenbach (#3)
#5. To: Lod (#4)
#6. To: James Deffenbach (#5)
indeed - enjoy -
#7. To: All (#6)
#8. To: Lod (#7)
#9. To: tom007, James Deffenbach (#0)
-Alex Kurtagic
#10. To: Lod (#7)
Well yeah, but answer me this: What makes gold worth some twenty bucks an ounce? I love that. Damn! that's back when 60K was nearly worth 10K!
Mike Flaherty: Yeah, it's been there a long time. I wish I knew which corner.
My Man Godfrey (1936)
#11. To: X-15 (#9)
ARGGGGGGGGGGGH
"Satan / Cheney in "08" 
#12. To: Lod (#4)
Bull-shit ! You people never quit sayin shit about the elections ... never. We the people have no say whatsoever in the selection of potus.
"Bankers" - Kill em all and let Satan sort em out" !!!
#13. To: noone222 (#12)
We can say all we want - it doesn't mean that we make a difference.
“The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out... without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Almost inevitably he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane, intolerable.” ~ H. L. Mencken
#14. To: Lod (#13)
Our vote is worth $22.
"Satan / Cheney in "08"
#15. To: tom007 (#14)
Send me a check. Thanks.
“The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out... without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Almost inevitably he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest, insane, intolerable.” ~ H. L. Mencken
#16. To: tom007 (#0)
Yes, Virginia, the election is almost over....
Mike Flaherty: Yeah, it's been there a long time. I wish I knew which corner.
My Man Godfrey (1936)
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