5 high level Taliban commanders for 1 low level deserter?

Ayotte has no US ground infantry combat experience.

A Chick Hawk Coward wrote:

Ayotte has no US ground infantry combat experience.

As opposed to the pretender in chief?

Treadstoned wrote:

A Chick Hawk Coward wrote:

Ayotte has no US ground infantry combat experience.

As opposed to the pretender in chief?

Good Lord. When the history of the decline of the USA is written, this thread should be used as an example.

Treadstoned, isn't Barak Obama YOUR President too ?

Look, I know having a black man as President is really really hard on many of you, and you're struggling to adjust, but really, is 8 years of guerrilla warfare and the destruction of your entire polity worth it? When Hillary wins in 2016 (I know, Benghazi!!!! right ?), will you continue to obstruct, smear, desecrate, fight ?

Just think, possibly 16 years where the right will have offered nothing constructive to political debate in the USA. Will your roads and bridges still be crumbling, your court system shut down because of underfunding, air traffic control centres still using systems written in the 1970's, Medicare fraud in the hundreds of billions because Congress won't approve a bill to give the fraud detectors additional budget (see this weeks Economist), and I could go on and on.

The USA is slowly asphyxiating itself. What was once a beacon of hope, freedom, democracy and vibrancy to the entire world is fast becoming an ignorant, dirty, rent-seeking, crony-capitalist, unjust, dysfunctional plutocracy.

It's your country, not mine, but I would have thought a little shared vision, civility and working together might be what you need right now. Fat chance.

awesome post and perfect rejoinder

but in defense of the US, there is a giant middle that doesn't care so much about partisan politics. don't let the loudmouths on the ends of the spectrum define the country.

awesome post and perfect rejoinder

but in defense of the US, there is a giant middle that doesn't care so much about partisan politics. don't let the loudmouths on the ends of the spectrum define the country.[/quote]

Actually his/her post is not a great one - in fact it sucks. Why do you mention Obama's race as the reason we oppose him. Can you read into our minds? Good lord - why would you mention his race. If Jimmy Carter was president today, and was enacting the same policies as Obama, I would be just as strident in my opposition. Good lord why do you have to inject race into this conversation? Is that because your position is so weak?

As a white conservative I oppose Obama because of his policies. What policies? Like shoving Obamacare down our throats. We could have insured the uninsured for a fraction of what Obamacare will cost. So many of us had health care we loved already. But Obama didn't want to just insure the uninsured. He wanted to control the whole health care system. And he shoved Obamacare down our throats with lies, lies and more lies. He told us we could keep our health care and our doctors, fully knowing that up to 95 million would lose our insurance. NOT ONE REPBULICAN was allowed input on the health care legislation. Not one!

The targeting of conservative groups by the IRS. That is stuff the Soviet Union used to do. So many scandals this president has his hands dirty on. His Justice Department is supposed to apply justice evenly. Instead it has become one that only goes after white people.

He is supposed to be president of the entire country. Instead his whole agenda is for advancing his leftist ideology. He vilifies conservatives. His policies are dividing the country.

Have you seen all of his lies? Staggering. It is surprising when something coming out of mouth is truthful. He is an embarrassing president. In wasy over his head. He has brought the corruption of Chicago politics and slimed the Oval Office with it. To win his Senate seat he attacked his opponent with egregious lies. He did the same with Romney. He has no scuples. None whatsover.

Sally, right on cue, I thank you for emphasising my point for me with your partisan boilerplate.

Oh, but you forgot two key words.....

libtards and......

BENGHAZI!!!

Oh, and PS, I don't have a "position". I'm just disappointed that the USA has lost sight of what makes a country great. Smearing your President every chance you get and obstructing every bill, every appointment, every attempt to move your country forward just doesn't strike me as a very effective way to resolve your many many problems.

Frightened Inmate # 5 wrote:

Sally, right on cue, I thank you for emphasising my point for me with your partisan boilerplate.

Oh, but you forgot two key words.....

libtards and......

BENGHAZI!!!

Oh, and PS, I don't have a "position". I'm just disappointed that the USA has lost sight of what makes a country great. Smearing your President every chance you get and obstructing every bill, every appointment, every attempt to move your country forward just doesn't strike me as a very effective way to resolve your many many problems.

Easy question for you. You are likely a liberal. If a far-right conservative president was attempting to pass a bill that you vehemently opposed and thought was terrible for the country, and all Democratic Congresspeople were shut out of the drafting of it, would you not oppose it too?

One more thing.. Please tell me exactly how I smeared him. Everything I said was true. Just to say "you smeared him" does not make it true.

Treadstoned wrote:

Ebenezer wrote:

"We also must continue to keep Army Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl, who has been held prisoner by the Taliban for nearly five years, in our thoughts and prayers - and I renew my call on the Defense Department to redouble its efforts to find Sergeant Bergdahl and return him safely to his family."

Senator Kelly Ayotte, May 24th, 2014.

http://www.unionleader.com/article/20140525/OPINION02/140529438

That's because Obama refuses to be open and honest with congress or share info with them about anything. Had Ayotte etal known this guy was a deserter/traitor I highly doubt she/they would have made the same statements. Look at her own words YOU posted "....held prisoner...." She obviouly thought, on the info she was privy to, that he was simply a pow kidnapped and held unwillingly by the Taliban.

Do you think Senator Ayotte (or anyone on her staff) read the Rolling Stone profile of Bergdahl before making that statement?

Have you read the Rolling Stone profle of Bergdahl? Maybe you should attempt to to gain some understanding about the situation before blindly blaming the President.

Easy fella, it was just a simple retort. You cant call out a senator for not having military experience then ignore the pretender in chief not having any. Or was it the name that offended you so as to play the race card in desperation?

But now that you brought it up and please correct me if I'm wrong but isn't Obama half white also? Could have swore I read that somewhere.

Look just because you have a infatuation or man crush on him so much that you choose to walk around with blinders on and defend every scandal that comes up, seems like there's a new one every day, doesn't mean the rest of us have to.

This is America afterall, in case you've forgotten. We the people not only have a right to speak out against a wrong but an obligation to speak on it. Discourse and asking for answers to questions are what makes our government function more effectively. It's called checks and balances. Without it one party would rule and jam every unwanted policy they can down the everyones throat.

But why am I saying this to you. It's not your country. Or a better question is why do you even give a fuk about something that's none of your concern? What country are you from anyway, Iran? Syria? Russia? No balls to say I'll bet.

Either way why dont you stick to your own countries problems and stop criticizing ours. We are proud Americans whether you or any other foreigner likes it or not. We have rules, we have laws, and we have the best damn country on Earth. And I think both sides of the aisle can agree on that. The only real argument is the best plan going forward.

So although I admire your enthusiasm and passion, if it's all the same to you why dont you go criticize your own countries problems and leave us real Americans to tend to our own business, our own way.

gurney halleck wrote:

Do you think Senator Ayotte (or anyone on her staff) read the Rolling Stone profile of Bergdahl before making that statement?

Why dont you ask her?

rojo wrote:

Partisan morons, please stop.

I have one more question.

3) Have we ever negotiated with terrorists before? If not, that's an AWFUL PRECEDENT to be setting. AWFUl.

When Lord Reagan was President, the US exchanged weapons to Iran in exchange for helping with the release of hostages.

And as a twist, included sales of weapons to fund the Contras of Nicaragua.

But my big question remains with this whole Guantanamo Bay thing.

The fact that the US could put a naval base there on a perpetual lease where both sides must agree on termination. That just seems shady.

And then to put a detention camp there that is outside of US jurisdiction and that prisoners there are not entitled to protections of the Geneva Conventions.

How did we get away with that?

Then we invade other countries, capture their people and take them there.

Then the soldiers of Afghanistan defend themselves and capture a US soldier who was sent to their land to kill them.

The 5 for 1 exchange looks bad.

But the 5 are being released form a place that should not exist.

1. If you are trying to claim that a good portion of southern right wingers don’t care about Obama’s race and that race never clouds their views, then you are mentally challenged and do not know much about the country. The GOP is primarily a southern white party. Do you even remember the birth certificate issue that something like half of republicans believed?

2. The Jimmy Carter/Obama parallel is a strawman. False. Obama has presided over a time of increased prosperity, increased peace, decreased deficits (excluding year one which goes to Bush), and shrinking gov’t size around the country. There is almost no inflation, rock bottom crime rates…where exactly is the parallel?

3. Shoving obamacare down your throat? Sorry to break it to you – but congress makes laws. I know you don’t agree with all laws, but well that’s how a republic works. The WH doesn’t make laws.

4. Control the whole health care system? Total myth. Obamacare forces some people to buy PRIVATE health insurance. Plse explain how this republican idea, sourced from the heritage foundation and first tried by a republican (Romney) is a gov’t takeover.

5. You have a point on the ‘you can keep your plan’ talk – I honestly have no idea why he said that. He probably didn’t understand how the law would play out. And so there have been fixes.

6. Not one republican had input? Well, that’s not even true.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/health-care-meeting/republican-ideas

and “In the Senate, a group of Republicans did negotiate with Finance Chairman Max Baucus for months,” Plus the whole thing conceptually was a republican idea. I’m not saying this was a bipartisan bill, but it never could have been. That’s how a two party system works.

7. The IRS ‘scandal’ – oh man. You law and order types should have been overjoyed that the IRS was finally cracking down on these tea party groups that put the word ‘patriot’ in their name so they could evade taxes illegally. If lefty groups put ‘social justice’ in their titles to evade taxes you would be all up in arms. There was massive illegality going on – it is the job of the IRS to crack down. That’s what they do. And two other things – the WH had nothing to do with it, and 40% of the groups flagged were democrat type groups anyway.

8. Obama doesn’t hav e his hand on any scandals actually. This is the cleanest administration I can remember. There have been no indictments - nothing. Remarkable, really.

9. Corruption? Where? Show me? See above.

10. His level of ‘lying’ seems in line with presidential standards. Nothing to be proud of, but his lies are generally pretty low level.

easier to read:

1. If you are trying to claim that a good portion of southern right wingers don’t care about Obama’s race and that race never clouds their views, then you are mentally challenged and do not know much about the country. The GOP is primarily a southern white party. Do you even remember the birth certificate issue that something like half of republicans believed?

2. The Jimmy Carter/Obama parallel is a strawman. False. Obama has presided over a time of increased prosperity, increased peace, decreased deficits (excluding year one which goes to Bush), and shrinking gov’t size around the country. There is almost no inflation, rock bottom crime rates…where exactly is the parallel?

3. Shoving obamacare down your throat? Sorry to break it to you – but congress makes laws. I know you don’t agree with all laws, but well that’s how a republic works. The WH doesn’t make laws.

4. Control the whole health care system? Total myth. Obamacare forces some people to buy PRIVATE health insurance. Plse explain how this republican idea, sourced from the heritage foundation and first tried by a republican (Romney) is a gov’t takeover.

5. You have a point on the ‘you can keep your plan’ talk – I honestly have no idea why he said that. He probably didn’t understand how the law would play out. And so there have been fixes.

6. Not one republican had input? Well, that’s not even true.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/health-care-meeting/republican-ideas

and “In the Senate, a group of Republicans did negotiate with Finance Chairman Max Baucus for months,” Plus the whole thing conceptually was a republican idea. I’m not saying this was a bipartisan bill, but it never could have been. That’s how a two party system works.

7. The IRS ‘scandal’ – oh man. You law and order types should have been overjoyed that the IRS was finally cracking down on these tea party groups that put the word ‘patriot’ in their name so they could evade taxes illegally. If lefty groups put ‘social justice’ in their titles to evade taxes you would be all up in arms. There was massive illegality going on – it is the job of the IRS to crack down. That’s what they do. And two other things – the WH had nothing to do with it, and 40% of the groups flagged were democrat type groups anyway.

8. Obama doesn’t hav e his hand on any scandals actually. This is the cleanest administration I can remember. There have been no indictments - nothing. Remarkable, really.

9. Corruption? Where? Show me? See above.

10. His level of ‘lying’ seems in line with presidential standards. Nothing to be proud of, but his lies are

generally pretty low level.

That's all fine Treadstone. I guess as you in the USA look inwards after the debacles of Iraq and Afghanistan, I shouldn't be surprised that you take constructive advice from someone who has admired the USA from afar for many many years badly.

It's absolutely your right to ignore my comments, though I think on a world wide message board, I have as much right as you do to express my views, don't you think, "fella" ?

You consistently refer to your President as a "pretender in chief". Why do you consider him a "pretender" ? Did he steal an election ? Did the majority of Americans not prefer him over Mitt Romney and John McCain ? Do you not view him as your President and Commander in Chief ? If not, who DO you consider your President ?

I agree than an opposition party absolutely needs to hold the governing party to account and to stress-test every piece of legislation and every appointment proposed. But this constructive attempt to ensure laws are fit for purpose seems to me to have devolved into outright obstructionism. And I'm not alone. The Economist for one, a well respected, free market and right of centre publication has written at length about Republican policy being bad for America and by extension, bad for the rest of the world.

It's your right to support politicians who spend potentially 16 years engaged in guerrilla warfare against it's own government and somehow view no progress on your many problems as somehow a success. I guess the name conservative by very definition connotes fear and suspicion of change.

And no, I'm not from Russia or Iran or Syria. Lol. I've made no secret of the fact I'm from the United Kingdom - cue limey, bad teeth, Islamic takeover, Euro-weenie insults. I'll be amazed if you can control yourself Treadstone.

Sally Vixxxxxens wrote:

Easy question for you. You are likely a liberal. If a far-right conservative president was attempting to pass a bill that you vehemently opposed and thought was terrible for the country, and all Democratic Congresspeople were shut out of the drafting of it, would you not oppose it too?

Yes, it is an easy question. I consider myself neither liberal nor conservative. I take a position on each policy topic I consider to be the sensible one. I have no interest in whether I am ideologically pure. I'm a pragmatist. What works is what's important to me.

In terms of your question, I consider the main aim of the opposing party when not in government to hold the governing party to account and to stress-test proposed legislation and appointments.

That is very different to the policy that the Republicans appear to have employed for the past 6 years, which is to oppose and obstruct every piece of legislation and every appointment suggested by the governing party. This seems to me to be wholely counterproductive and unprecedented in the history of the Republic.

Terrorists in the White House

http://familypedia.wikia.com/wiki/File:Reagan_sitting_with_people_from_the_Afghanistan-Pakistan_region_in_February_1983.jpg

You know you have one hell of a nerve getting up on your high horse and saying things like this about OUR country;

"The USA is slowly asphyxiating itself. What was once a beacon of hope, freedom, democracy and vibrancy to the entire world is fast becoming an ignorant, dirty, rent-seeking, crony-capitalist, unjust, dysfunctional plutocracy."

You think becuse this is a worldwide message board that it gives you the right to criticize America? Who the fuk do you think you are? Do you pay taxes here? Do you vote here? You want to critcize our wars? The UK, GB, England, or whatever you call yourselves on any given day, (your island is so disfunctional you people cant even agree on what to call yourselves) didn't also invade Iraq? You cant do shit without our permission you ungrateful fuk. Your little island is so stuck in the past you still have kings and queens. Grow up! Your island has had its azz kicked so many times you've set a world record. You couldn't even defend yourselves against small countries without us running over to save your azzes.

You owe America an apology!

Inmate - the Economist is NOT a right-leaning publication. It is a liberal one.