Does justification for killing U.S. citizens concern anyone (Iraq, middle east, Taliban)

[jwm1964]

For those who support Obama I have a few questions.

Does his extension of the Patriot Act concern you?
Does the NDAA (indefinite detainment) concern you?
Does the justification to use deadly force via drones against U.S. citizens overseas concern you?

Do you see an authoritarian side to President Obama or do you believe this is just exaggeration and political slant/bias?

We have one political party, the big government party. It has a Republican wing that likes war and deficits and corporate welfare. It has a Democratic wing that likes war and taxes and individual welfare. Both wings have a single goal and that is staying in power.
Read more at Napolitano: Obama ‘stealing’ American lives

For those who oppose Obama I have a few questions.

Did the creation of the Patriot Act concern you?
Do you believe expansion of the Executive Branch under Bush was wise?
Do you believe the long term military occupation of foreign sovereign nations is justified?
Do you believe the continued militarization of domestic police under the guise of War on Drugs is wise?

For both groups.

Do you think powers granted under one parties administration will not be used/exploited by the other party?
Do you truly believe either party is concerned with limiting government encroachment upon civil liberties?

I support the GOP right now because I see it currently as the lesser of two evils, however I don't really see much difference between the parties in regards to the expansion of government authority, the indiscriminate growth of spending and the promotion of international interests over domestic business.

[kidkaos2]

Originally Posted by jwm1964

For those who oppose Obama I have a few questions.

Did the creation of the Patriot Act concern you?
Do you believe expansion of the Executive Branch under Bush was wise?
Do you believe the long term military occupation of foreign sovereign nations is justified?
Do you believe the continued militarization of domestic police under the guise of War on Drugs is wise?

For both groups.

Do you think powers granted under one parties administration will not be used/exploited by the other party?
Do you truly believe either party is concerned with limiting government encroachment upon civil liberties?

I support the GOP right now because I see it currently as the lesser of two evils, however I don't really see much difference between the parties in regards to the expansion of government authority, the indiscriminate growth of spending and the promotion of international interests over domestic business.

Yes
No
Yes in terms of having bases in allied nations like Japan or Germany but No in terms of occupying Afghanistan or Iraq
No

No
No

[jwm1964]

Originally Posted by kidkaos2

Yes
No
Yes in terms of having bases in allied nations like Japan or Germany but No in terms of occupying Afghanistan or Iraq
No

No
No

Thanks for the response, I appreciate it.

I think it is interesting how many points the Democrats and the Republicans have in common despite the supposed balkanization of the parties. Right now the Republicans are jumping up and down about spending, which BTW I think they are absolutely right to do and I will vigorously support them doing so - but they weren't concerned when bush was in office. I'm not giving Obama a pass, but people are correct to point out Bush was relatively as big an offender as Obama - both doubled the deficit they inherited.

I'm curious as to why you are concerned about bases in allied countries where we are a welcome presence but not concerned about bases in countries where significant segments of the native population view us as interlopers.

[KUchief25]

First you have to be on the ground over there to get a feel for who is accepting of our troops. I doubt the afghan folks like the Taliban ruling them like before. Some maybe did. On the other hand they surely don't like drones blowing folks up out of the blue either. Our leaders in DC surely aren't making life easier on our troops that is for sure. I don't think they really care as long as JP Morgan gets what they want though.

[chielgirl]

How many times (4 now) is this going to be a "new" topic.
Please use the search feature.
It's not the best, but it is effective.

[jwm1964]

Originally Posted by chielgirl

How many times (4 now) is this going to be a "new" topic.
Please use the search feature.
It's not the best, but it is effective.

Did you read the OP?
I addressed a common issue but believe I used it to propose a questions I'm not sure have been addressed.

[skoro]

Of course it does.

I'd like Bush and Cheney to justify the deaths of thousands of Americans who died needlessly in a horribly mismanaged debacle that they orchestrated. Then, perhaps they can go on to justify the trillions of taxpayer dollars flushed down the middle eastern toilet as their party gripes endlessly about "spending."

[Taratova]

I look at history of the parties... During Clinton administration JaNUT Reno came down very hard on American citizens in Waco and with the Cuban boy Elian. Big tanks and guns used against Americans.. During Bush administration Bush had a situation come up , another Waco.. Bush administration waited it out and no one hurt.

Democrats are harder on American citizens and use powerful weapons to save face in adversity situations and because of that history I don't trust them regarding our personal freedoms .

[Ferd]

I am at a loss to understand who any self-respecting person who was so blood and guts on GWBs indefinite detainment in GITMO can now be so utterly docile. You guys were ready to impeach and imprison GWB for war crimes related to GITMO and holding these guys with no charges etc.

Now it’s crickets.


The only conclusion I can come to is that you were never really worried about GITMO. You just used that as a political tool to voice opposition to a person you didn’t like for other reasons.
It is hard to respect people who think like that.

[Chimuelojones]

In framing this as an Obama problem you really dont want a serious answer to the use of drones.

Keep playing games. While the rest of try to work on real soultions to problems facing all of us.