QM, I tend to disagree with many of your political comments, but I have to say that I think youare right about something. That is: Obama has not lived up to the (gigantic) expectations that people had for him. The "change" that was "hoped" for was not to the extent that was needed/expected.

That said, parties aside, what would you have wanted to see done differently over the last 4ish years? I don't mean who does what. I'm not asking for your favorite candidate or historical president. For a minute I'd like to pretend that that doesn't matter or don't exist, and presidents never have names. I'm just interested in what actions/decisions could have been taken/made that you might have approved of. What could have been done differently to land us in a better place for us both, and Americans in general?

And, again without giving any mention to political stripes, how would you make the world a better place?


@notarobot

Thank you for your question.

We Americans are notoriously short-sighted. Our politicians do just enough to win reelection and pass the buck (debt) to the next poor bastards. I don't see any way to reverse this, so whatever is done that works has to be constantly reinforced and relearned. But it isn't.

The simplest answer: reduce the size, authority, roles (and payroll) of government in our lives. Government is a necessary evil and loves creating "solutions'" to problems which are worse then the problems themselves, thus guaranteeing it always plays a huge role in "solving" every problem.

At this point in our history, whichever side is in power, things will worsen until a space alien invasion arrives or there's a civil war to restore some measure of balance between the states and the federal beast. I'm not happy about it, but we've lost our way and (hopefully limited) civil war may be the only solution left. You don't get good government unless politicians are scared shi'r'tless of the people.

Back in 2008 I would've exercised a moratorium on all federal laws for 2 years. This would have put the kibosh on the economic uncertainty that the Obama regime (sorry to name names again) has put on not only Americans but the world. There would be many more arrests (than zero) for the banking crisis, no bailouts and no scamulus.

I'm not sure how in every instance, but I would start dismantling government meddling in health care, not ending socialist care overnight but creating tax-free health savings accounts and demanding the consumer have real options. You don't pay your auto insurance company to put gas in your car and change the oil. Same principle.

I'd end federal control of education, it's a waste of time and money. Let the states figure it out. Private schools do a better job at half the cost. How are you going to educate children to be socially and historically aware and awake citizens mistrustful of government power when it's the very entity "teaching" them?

I'd make war, war again. Soldiers are supposed to kill people and break things until the enemy surrenders. Anything beyond that is someone else's job.

One of the reasons the economy is staying in the sh!tter is people waiting for Obama to be removed from office. Much as the Arab world sighs with relief (but can never admit it) when we (or Israel) take out a radical nutball, so the American left can't admit what a screw-up and disaster His Earness has been (pride). They will breathe a sigh of relief when he's gone as they unify in hatred of another moderate (read: pu$$y) Republican president who will then go right on growing government and approving annual budgets of all those unconstitutional programs like the guy before him. Jobs will slowwwly return.


A final answer no one wants to hear (and why I can't stand the left's insistence on an "equality of outcomes"): while one-sixth to one-third of people are capable and intelligent, if not "good" in all circumstances, another one-sixth to one-third are just plain hopeless, there's nothing anyone will ever be able to do to help them. I'm not talking about people with medical problems or even mental problems, just ordinary people who don't give a sh!t. I would minimize the damage they cause through severe legal penalties, make it exceptionally hard for them to game the system and/or simply pay them off to keep to themselves and stay out of the way.

*quality *promote

Totally agree, he might aswell have shot the bloke, cos man is he going to get shafted now, poor bastard!

I bet this lady doesn't know that the earliest books of the bible spoke of Jesus as a spirit, not a living man.

And.. no root beer in Ireland? You poor bastards, your missing one of the greatest concoctions in the history of mankind! Luckily I live within pissing distance of the best root beer out there. Ithaca Root beer.

http://www.root-beer.org/DBI/Ithaca.jpg

>> ^criticalthud:

There was a time when Jesus was violent and angry. It was when he was kicking the money changers (bankers) out of the temple.
now there's a good lesson


Fuck, poor bastard would need an Abrams tank and a couple of tac nukes to do that to Wall St...

>> ^jimnms:

I've played on those before, flying home with a couple of friends during a 5 hour layover in Detroit.


5 hours in DTW? You poor bastard.

They have oil? Those poor bastards, we gotta help them!
>> ^blankfist:

>> ^gwiz665:
But do they have anything valuable?

If they had oil, I wonder if we'd see more of an humanitarian effort? Maybe even a militarized intervention by the US?

Poor bastard. I wonder if he's still in the closet.

Somebody build those poor bastards a bridge!

Poor bastard.

Agency completely dropped the ball.

Knew a guy who was killed by a train, points changed and trapped his foot. Yes, that actually happens.

So I cant find any reason to say this poor bastard deserved to be killed or his family deserve to be grieving.

-Edited-

Poor bastards. Dunno how they're going to stay sane down there.

I love ALLL the times where he successfully demonstrated how to disarm/get the assailant in a hold and THEN very unnecessarily knocks that poor bastard to the floor with a sweep or a swift push.

Poor Bastard.

Its obvious his wife killed him. She's belted him before.

She refuses to help him put pressure on the wound, refuses to drive him... she's hoping he just dies.

Listen to the way she yells at him to sit down. There's no sympathy in the voice at all, it's like she's threatening him. Poor bastard.

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=f44_1271214688

From SOURCE: "I don't know anything about this video other than my wife's relatives sent it to us. The footage shows a red shirt having his head blown off in what looks like a completely unprovoked attack. Now I'm no forensic scientist, but what occurs doesn't look like the work of a rubber b More..ullet, more like a point blank shotgun round being ploughed through the guy's skull.

I'm not uploading this with any political motivation; I am actually having a hard time trying to understand where the truth lies in all that is going on, mostly due to the conflicting media reports. I am neither red nor yellow, I am simply interested in current events such as this.

Red shirt or yellow, I care not. All I do see though is a poor bastard get his head blown off and some very naughty police work. "