Random Political comments...
- Thread starter Bliss
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Thump
Well-Known Member
Nay.
She doesn't have the disposition to make cruel decisions. Could anybody really picture Oprah sitting in the White House war room and ordering drone strikes into populated areas?
Bliss
Well-Known Member
Well, never thought of that. A great point.
The Dark King
Well-Known Member
If that's our metric for a good leader then we are truly fucked
andreboba
Well-Known Member
The presidency isn't the same as being in charge of a day care center.
Every decision coming out of the WH isn't necessarily 'moral'.
Remember, Bill Clinton was given a kill shot against Osama Bin Laden in the late 1990s, and Mr, Clinton refused because of the potential collateral damage to civilians.
In hindsight, was Clinton right in giving the stand down order NOT to murder OBL because of the risk of killing innocents, or should he have ordered our military to shoot the missiles???
POTUSes have to make tough decisions in times of conflict, and then must wait for history to judge them.
Every decision coming out of the WH isn't necessarily 'moral'.
Remember, Bill Clinton was given a kill shot against Osama Bin Laden in the late 1990s, and Mr, Clinton refused because of the potential collateral damage to civilians.
In hindsight, was Clinton right in giving the stand down order NOT to murder OBL because of the risk of killing innocents, or should he have ordered our military to shoot the missiles???
POTUSes have to make tough decisions in times of conflict, and then must wait for history to judge them.
Thump
Well-Known Member
Right, nobody walks out of the oval office without blood on their hands.
Thump
Well-Known Member
It's not the only metric, but it is a part of the gig. For every photo-op in the rose garden, there's a de-briefing in the oval office about a covert military strike.
Bliss
Well-Known Member
You know there are people who want us dead. It's either kill, or be killed, yeah. Can't 'love" your way, or love your enemy into peace. ...that's what she knows.
Plus, she is pro-illegal immigration, wanting to grant every illegal, citizenship.
That era is over.
It's funny...l read somewhere a comment regarding the insane reaction to her speech (paraphrasing).."So, this whole womens movement/me too/times up has now culminated into Oprah becoming Madame President.'
Most Power position indeed, lol.
The Dark King
Well-Known Member
Well I think everyone rises to the job. Roosevelt was capable of giving us the New Deal and deploying troops to kill Germans and their allies.
The Dark King
Well-Known Member
Yeah I keep hearing that and truthfully who's president doesn't matter the military is a regime all its own. And no its not killed or be killed that strategy is outdated and frankly bullshit. Our foreign interests are far more about resources and land acquisition. All sending drones to destitute areas does is create terrorists.
Illegal immigration can be solved in mere months if we stop making drugs illegal and stopped creating situations for people to leave their homes.
andreboba
Well-Known Member
FDR also had military intelligence that Japan was preparing to strike Pearl Harbor, but he allowed the attack to happen to convince the American people the USA needed to enter WW2.
When it comes to foreign policy in times of war, it's a hard job for anyone.
bodhesatva
Well-Known Member
It's not the only metric, but it's an important one. The horrible reality of governance is that you have to make decisions that hurt people, and that's true even outside wartime. Even "feel good" decisions, like providing more funding for public schools, hurt people -- someone has to pay for that funding, after all, and so you're taking money from them. If I use the federal funds available to fund a homeless shelter in Cincinnati, then that means the homeless shelter in Kansas City is going without federal funding. Remember that every welfare program (most of which I support by the way) are still in essence taking money from one group of people and giving them to another.
To emphasize, this doesn't mean I'm against funding homeless shelters, or funding public schools, or against a progressive tax system. I'm not. I'm just saying that one truth of being a government official is that every single choice you make will hurt somebody, because resources are not infinite so somebody has to lose out. Regardless, I think the more important criticism of Oprah is that she's a celebrity personality with no government experience, and it feels like this is a lesson we should have learned with Trump. I don't think liberals should fall in to the same trap just because she happens to agree with our positions more often.
bodhesatva
Well-Known Member
I absolutely agree with others here that Foreign Policy is one of those areas where no President can win. There are no good choices. Bomb a foreign country, get criticized for your violent aggression; don't bomb a foreign country, get criticized when the common people are slaughtered by a tyrannical regime; bomb a little bit, get criticized for your weak, half hearted response. It's really, really difficult to do right, and there isn't a catch-all answer, because different situations require different responses.
The Dark King
Well-Known Member
Yeah I disagree someone has to hurt. One thing I've learned working in finance for all these years is wealthy people aren't taxed enough. I've seen people make 12 million in a fiscal year and only get taxed 15%. So they keep roughly10 million and you know what they do with it often. The same shit most people do and that's waste it on dumb shit like a new boat even though the last one is barely 3 years old. Buy their greedy spouse expensive 6 figure jewelry that only makes an appearance to show other spoiled people how tastefully rich they are. Meanwhile you go to grand central these days and people are living in bathroom stalls. And don't get me started on incredibly wasteful government spending as it applies to obsolete military ordinances. No one has to do without in this country. That's a complete and utter falsehood.
andreboba
Well-Known Member
+1000.
One thing attractive about an Oprah presidential candidacy to me is she's said on more than one occasion the U.S. is the richest country in the world and can afford whatever our priorities are.
People talk like the American economy would collapse if we cut the military budget by $150 billion, or doubled spending on social programs, or made 4 year college tuition free for all.
There's so much more we could do as a country that would push the potential of this nation through the stratosphere, if it wasn't for the greed of the 1%.
The Dark King
Well-Known Member
Exactly
You have conservatives who lose their shit when they see a poor person with an IPhone but act like its only right someone with an 8 figure income buy a new private that they subsidize through tax dollars. The rich have done a stellar job of fooling poor people to despise other poor people.
Peach State Scholar
Well-Known Member
Plus, conservatives who are so in love with the idea of people with business experience being President can't complain about Oprah. Unlike Trump, she's exactly the kind of self-made billionaire they claim to respect so much.
DudeNY12
Well-Known Member
Exactly! To even suggest he's a self-made genuis is sad and funny at the same time. Clearly, Oprah who came from poverty is self-made
andreboba
Well-Known Member
Not a single bankruptcy in sight either. It's bizarre to me how the media brushed over Trump 5(?) bankruptcies, instead of using them to attack the narrative he's a successful businessman.
If Oprah or Mitt Romney had one bankruptcy, the media would have destroyed their candidacies before they ever began, since running businesses is their main 'presidential' experience.
bodhesatva
Well-Known Member
So Joe Arpaio is running for senate in Arizona, and apparently polls suggest it will be neck and neck with the other Republican primary opponents.
As should be obvious, we are in the middle of anti-elite, anti-intellectual wave in conservative America. This is very dangerous, but not the least danger is that people who are disliked by "elites" and intellectuals are often dislike for good reason -- but in the midst of a populist wave being hated by snooty egg heads becomes a badge of honor. Personality disorders almost become a *recommendation* -- hey, he's not looking down his nose at us, acting all snooty like! And the intellectuals hate him, so he must be good!
As should be obvious, we are in the middle of anti-elite, anti-intellectual wave in conservative America. This is very dangerous, but not the least danger is that people who are disliked by "elites" and intellectuals are often dislike for good reason -- but in the midst of a populist wave being hated by snooty egg heads becomes a badge of honor. Personality disorders almost become a *recommendation* -- hey, he's not looking down his nose at us, acting all snooty like! And the intellectuals hate him, so he must be good!