kakomu Wrote:In which case, do you concede that Bush is a hypocrite? I mean, he went after saddam on suspect and false info. Whereas both Iran and N Korea are note only suspected to have WMDs, they also both hate America. In fact, it would seem that a pre-emptive strike against either of those countries would be far more sufficient in ending unrule in the whole region in either case. In any case, N Korea's inhumane actions are probably far worse than Iraq's.
And no, humans aren't so hard-wired that they react the same way to everything. I won't respond to everything with force (and rarely do). In fact, i only made a threat. It's not like I even went over their and beat his ass.
What I want to know is: Why do you think War and a fist fight are the same? How can you reconcile that they are similar when the outcomes are so different?
I completely understand your point about North Korea and Iran. Here is how I view it:
Contrary to what a lot of people think, I am not convinced that Bush is a war happy president. I know that he knows that taking a country to war is serious business. Can you imagine how much the world would hate him if he attacked Iraq, Iran, AND N. Korea? Seriously, that would be just nuts. I believe that the president is privy to intelligence that is only for him. I don't care what Michael Moore, Al Franken, or anyone else tries to tell you about what the government did and did not know. I am sure that there is STILL intelligence that has not been released and is still confidential. I remember when the Iraq conflict was brewing that the President gave Sadaam SEVERAL ultimatums to comply with the inspectors and other stipulations. I never felt liked we 'rushed' to war. That is my opinion. I believe that in a world post-9/11 the president was not interested in a repeat attack on America. I believe that they felt that Iraq posed a very serious threat. A threat that was more serious and pressing than any threat from N. Korea or Iran. Many don't believe the president. I won't argue that. I think that if N. Korea genuinely posed a pertinent and dangerous threat that was a bigger threat than Iraq then we would have acted differently.
And to answer your question, I think ALL politicians are hypocrites from one time to another. Bush has been a hypocrite, but I don't see the value in him admiting he is wrong. Does John Kerry admit he is wrong? No candidate will admit they were wrong during an election. That is what sucks about politics. Everybody lies, everybody has problems and everyone is a hypocrite at one point or another.
I voted for Bush because I agree with him on more issues than Kerry. Bush has saved me money as a school teacher making less than 30K a year by reducing my taxes. He has funded education better than any other president, even with the budget for No Child Left Behind being 'cut', it still is better than it has been in the past. This year alone my grade school is getting $170,000 dollars for school reform and improvement. That is a TON of money for a grade school. There are more reasons that I don't feel like listing, but I think the 'I agree with Bush' reason is enough.
I also just don't belive in Kerry. I don't trust him to make the changes he promises as well as PAY for them. I don't see anything impressive in his senate record. I don't like how he touts his Vietnam 4 month tour of duty so much in this election. I don't like how Kerry has the nerve to critisize Cheney for getting 5 defermits during Vietnam when Kerry himself got FOUR and the reason he had to go to Vietnam was because his 5th defermit didn't come through.
and to your last question:
I think war and a fist fight are the same because it is a show of force and power. It is a way to send a message. Be it, don't attack America or don't threaten me to my face. It is a way to send a message and establish power and also a level of authority.
Ossie Wrote:My apologies if I misunderstood. It just struck me as odd that you specified it in terms of christians and muslims, I was under the impression that it had more to do with Serbian nationalism. mmmm I suppose the two could quite easily be connected..... anyway sorry again . It probably wasnt fair to use you to illustrate that point.
Hey no big deal Ossie, I felt you were very nice in the way you brought up your question and I was glad to be able to explain where I was coming from. I would hate for someone to think I was being critical of a religion/ethnic group. I actually used the 'christian' and 'muslim' terms because I had read that in a comparison of Bush's war and Clinton's war.