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Originally Posted by sokinwet
NACL H20 - I pride myself on being an independent thinker and don't jump on anyones bandwagon without thorough examination of positions. On one side I am a hunter and gun owner, I have lost job opportunities to affirmative action and I deplore the attitude that we should be appoligists for the past and advocates for every fringe group, which puts me at odd's with many in the Democratic party. On the other end of the spectrum I am an environmenalist and I see the republicans as anti environment; I work in the housing field and have seen the republican administration throw the middle class under the bus when it comes to it's housing policies; I am not a religious person and I see the republicans pandering to religious conservatives; I am a parent who has seen the administration slash college financial aid while pushing for corporate and capital gains tax reductions; I have seen billions go to Iraq while our own cities suffer; I have seen oil companies make record profits while I suffer to fill the tank in my boat; I have seen the administrative take unprecedented actions in their secrecy and refusal to participate in the checks and balances of government; I have seen the administration controlled by neo-cons who have used current events to push the doctrines of the PNAC. And you're right , I have never been a GB supporter and have never been afraid to speak my opinion for 55 years. I'll paraphrase Regan by asking you "Are you better off than you were 4 years ago? By the way is that your picture in your avatar?
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I wasn’t going to jump in but…I have no self control. I’m a indepedndent conservative and defended and supported Bush that last 4 years or so. I was going to post that I have no faith in him and I’m very disappointed in his policies and ability to adapt to changing circumstances. He comes off as an idiot to me too. I am disheartened and pissed.
That said in response to the post above. Lets look at a few things that have happened (facts, not opinions) in the last 6 years.
1. the blow up of the largest stock market bubble in history (larger than the crash of the 30’s), crash of the dot coms
2. The largest attacks in history on American soil, killing more civilians than ever before, resulting in a disaster for the airline and travel industry as well as closing economic markets for days.
3. Scandal in some of Americas largest corporation, lowering confidence in the stock market and corp. americe. Who would have ever thought Arthur Anderson as an accounting firm would poof…disappear?
4. A new, smaller world, due to the information age, cell phones, digital cams, internet etc. More technology is available to the average person than NASA had 20 years ago. Who knew this would happen so fast, who knows what it will mean?
Taking all that in consideration,
The US economy is very strong, recovering from the market crash, recovering from the corporate scandal, recovering from terrorist attacks, and fear of terror. We have increased our security and put terrorists on the run. I am not saying its perfect, but it is progress. We have shaken the base of operations for terrorists globally. We had had NO terrorist attacks on US soil since 9/11.
I don’t give necessarlily give Bush credit for any of this, but earth shattering things have happened in 6 years that no one could foresee. Taken all that into consideration, I think we are all pretty well off.
My bushy friends won't even talk about the discussions we had 4 or 5 year ago. Truth hurts. Better hope this middle east democracy business works out. Anyone who could look beyond 3 months could see that it was a awfully risky proposal, including C. Powell, and many top ranking military tops. But one thing the pres is good at is silencing dissentors. Gotta give him that. Glad he dumbs it down for me, but I still don't know "ecalectic" means.
Hybrid Mode
