Great moments in U.S. History

Now that their last President has the lowest approval rating in recorded history, the Republican party is doing their level best to lower the bar of political discourse, and distract voters from the crippling problems that began plaguing their country since W. came into power. Aside from referring to his opponent, standing next to him on stage, as “that one.” McCain couldn’t muster up the respect to shake his hand after the debate.

What blows my mind is that these people are the “Christian” party. I’m trying to keep my mouth shut about U.S. politics, now that we don’t live there any more, but its really hard right now. The economy is in shambles, the war to nowhere still has no end in sight, the Constitution is in shreds, and no one’s even trying to find that terrorist guy any more — they’re too busy calling each other names.
Meanwhile, the “free market” hasn’t been able to balance itself, so the tax payers just forked over $700 billion to bail out the greedy capitalists who drove the country’s economy into the ground. And what did AIG do after receiving their $85 billion cut? Sent their executives on a corporate retreat to the tune of $440,000. Check the actual invoice

How is this a self-regulating free market? And besides, how is what has become of capitalism a Christian concept to begin with? Doesn’t the Bible say “Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another…?” Well, the U.S. currency is based on debt, and now the economy is being propped up by it — with no evidence in change of behavior.
Now I know Fox News spins all of this a vastly different way, and sources like Huffington Post can spin things their own way, and the real truth is really hard to find. But even if you strip out all the opinions, and out of context sound/video bites, the reality has to be in there somewhere: we’re not winning a war or terror, just a war on people bring water bottles onto airplanes; the economy is not improving, its collapsing; the party currently in power hasn’t solved any problems, they’ve overseen some of the darkest times in recent history.
Gah! I should just stop reading news until the election is over. Its not like my opinion matters anyway. So, in conclusion, I leave you with this great moment:

Note: “That One” picture blatantly stolen from this guy.
PS: If you’re still pro-McCain, try reading his abbreviated history. If you’re still pro-Palin, ask yourself if baptism at your church included this.
PPS: GAH!!

12 thoughts on “Great moments in U.S. History

  1. Those don’t matter.
    Don’t get me wrong, Canadian politics are screwed up too. But we have more than 2 parties, and the decisions of our government don’t generally have sweeping repercussions that affect the entire world.
    Canada’s government may be inept, but its stupidity is usually pretty localized.
    But Karl, I’ll try to do exactly that. I’m woefully behind on Canadian politics, having been out of the country for over two years, and I have to admit, I wasn’t that interested in politics before we moved to the States. I think it was the drastic polarization apparent in the U.S. that made me pay attention. I’d never seen anything like it in Canada, nor had I ever witnessed politics being so intertwined with religion as what I found in the States.
    But I should do some research on Canadian politics anyway — we have an election coming up!

  2. i dont agree with the palin video. what is wrong from protecting her from witch craft? they are praying over her in jesus’s name and reading from the bible……..
    i dont think either of our candidates are the best for president…. but i will never support a president that has a muslim background…. i recieved a really long email today talking about all of baracks funding from iraq and other places over there… and tells us to ” beware of the enemy from within”………..
    i dont know much about politics so i dont normally say much if anything at all……
    but barack should not be the leader of our country…….. it scares me… and
    of course you can find dirt on both parties… that is politics……. that is why,,, i dont like to pay much attention…..

  3. I’m not going to comment on most of the rest of the post, but there is no way you can blame the current economic downfall on the Republican party. The housing market crashed because the Clinton federal government extended Affirmative Action to effectively cover home loans. They pressured major banks to lend 50% of their portfolio to ‘racial minority borrowers’ regardless of credit history or job status. They even allowed welfare payments and unemployment to qualify as valid sources of income to qualify for a mortgage. So is it any surprise that the vast majority of those borrowers defaulted on their loans? But like all things I guess it’s easier to blame Bush than to look deeper.
    PS: As for the Iraq ‘War’ have you noticed that deaths and general violence are on a sharp decline and that the last five months have been the most peaceful on record ? This exact thing happened when the US occupied Japan after WWII. It took a little under 7 years to stabilize Japan, but just look at the progress Japan has made to date. I can never understand why everyone wants the ‘troops out of Iraq’ or ‘out of Afganistan’. Whether or not you agree with the reasons for invading the country is it not better to setup a stable democracy then to let the same corrupt government take power again?

  4. Did you actually watch the “that one” and ‘handshake’ video? I can’t believe how much those were blown out of context, and I can’t really believe you would link to them. Especially the handshake one considering McCain’s limited arm movement and that he had already shaken Obama’s hand that night.

  5. Adam, not only is that the most ridiculous theory I’ve ever heard, its also the most offensive — that’s gotta be the Republican in you talking. I can guarantee you there are as many poor white Americans who can’t afford their mortgages right now, as there are black Americans. That you’re blaming poor black people for the massive collapse of major U.S. banks, is frankly a little bit disappointing. Even, if we say, for the sake of argument that all, or even the majority, of the bad mortgages were to black people, it was the banks that agreed to those bad mortgages, then sold them to each other — and it is now the banks who are being bailed out, not the black people being given a free ride due to affirmative action.
    But the reality is, the economy was many times better under the Clinton administration. The median household income was higher, the national debt was lower, and the poverty rate was better.
    http://www.ppionline.org/ppi_ci.cfm?knlgAreaID=107&subsecID=295&contentID=252964
    I’m not pro-Clinton, but lets not pretend George Bush saved the country, and McCain is going to put the polish on it. Bush drove the nation into the ground, and McCain may have once fancied himself a “maverick” but its clear he’s towing the party line now.
    Brooke, I’m not really trying to pick a fight with anyone in the States right now, but Obama is not Muslim, nor has he ever been Muslim, and no one in his immediate family claims Islam as their faith:
    http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/bl_barack_obama_muslim.htm
    http://voices.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/2008/06/was_obama_a_muslim.html
    Political discourse cannot be allowed to sink to the level of blaming whole races for the current problems, and resorting to fear mongering when that doesn’t work. That’s one of the many things wrong with the political arena right now, and until recently, both candidates generally had the presence of mind to avoid it…
    I’d better get a new post up with cute pictures of the kids or something, before this degrades into a shouting match :-p

  6. You know it really doesn’t even matter who we all vote for because it’s really become more of an illusion that we are picking the president, because the electoral college can overide the popular vote and choose whoever they want, which is what happened last election. Plus were screwed either way. I want to move to Canada.

  7. Jon, I promise not to hold your political leanings against you!
    I’m no fan of either candidate as neither are fiscally or socially conservative enough for me. That said, I don’t put too much weight on who the president is, it’s the House and Senate who actually do the damage down here. I just wish they would stay out of our lives for the most part.
    I know dozens of people who have come to America with the clothes on their backs and change in the pockets and through hard work and determination are able to make a good life for themselves without the big brother stepping in. Why is it that so many citizens feel they need the government to help them succeed?
    Times are tough now as they have been in the past, but in the great scheme of things we are still well off. Heck, a poor person in the States has a place to live, food to eat, a car, a microwave and a cell phone.
    Peace!

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