Current Events in the News (commentary) Split #2

[Maturin]

I'm English, have lived for many years in Spain and now have spent quite a few years living in Sweden. Also I have spent a lot of time in all the countries he's listed.  I am pleased to report that none of these countries are failed states.

Whilst all of them operate socialist policies by differing degrees, including the current USA, I would much rather have any one of those country's methods of governance than what currently passes for the circus show of US politics.  It is a complete joke - I guess the only positive thing coming from the presidential race is that the Republican Party has utterly fucked itself beyond repair.

[Guest]

Following the news on the presidential candidates, I think the U.S. government should this time cancel the election for very severe reasons and ask the parties to start from the beginning and find new candidates. None of the existing ones are suitable for the position.

[Maturin]

Following the news on the presidential candidates, I think the U.S. government should this time cancel the election for very severe reasons and ask the parties to start from the beginning and find new candidates. None of the existing ones are suitable for the position.

A very good point. Personally I think America doesn't understand how much it needs Bernie Sander's policies, however, he needs to run against credible opposition, not one of  the plethora of nasty clowns that make up the Republican list. How a country can let itself get to such a position where people are seriously considering any of them is beyond me.

[Guest]

Sanders has very interesting and fresh ideas that would change the U.S. towards a welfare society (I think they have close to 30 million poor people now). He is unfortunately 10-15 years too old, and of course the Republicans would do everything possible against him (and the poor people) irf he was electedf.

[Thestarider]

I find that the perspective from around the world of our presidential election quite interesting.. I would like to add just a fact about socialism ok..... 6.8 trillion in US debt 8 years ago with a worldwide credit rating of A, Now 19 trillion in in debt, with a world wide credit rating of B-. I like everyone to please respond to the facts, not just the likes or wants. We in the states will soon be following the debt of the European Union if we don't stop this crap of overspending and policing the world. I am not democrat, or republican.. I am what we call a moderate/ If Bernie is president we will be in the same shape as Greece in 8 years of his outlandish spending.One thing for sure, since Bill Clinton, we have not really had a good candidate for president, What this country really needs is another Reagan type, but I just think there is  not one out there. I will say this Reagan was not a lot different than Trump is now....Not given a chance to win the presidency, and look what happened. We will find out in the next year for what direction the country will  be headed.

[Guest]

One more comment only, as I have no vote in your election. By choosing one of those candidates as president, I am afraid the U.S. will start losing its political and economic power in the world, and the Chinese leaders will clap their hands, bow and thank.

[Foamy T. Squirrel]

Some people forget that the following programs are highly regulated or fully controlled and mandated by the US government, with most of them financially corrupt or mathematically unviable: Social Security (retirement/disability/survivor benefits), Medicare (older mandated health coverage for the retired), the Veteran's Administration (health care for Veterans), Community ReInvestment Act (that is what caused the "Great Recession"), Student Loans, various mandates for Education, subsidies for voting blocks in Agriculture, Industry and Unions, and of course, the "Affordable Care Act" which has essentially doubled the cost of medical insurance and pushed business start-ups to their lowest levels ever.

Retail is where people go when they lose their professions and industries in the rest of the economy, and now all major retailer's are facing severe cut-backs and bankruptcies.

I expect to die in poverty. With over half of our populace supported entirely by the government, I think we're close to socialism, but just not quite there yet. Maybe I will vote for endless free stuff so we live like wealthy Europeans.

However, we have a huge national debut. It seems to me that the average US citizen could do much better if the US got the hell out of everyone's business. Then we could afford Sander's free stuff. If we start by removing military bases in Europe and withdrawing from NATO, then the EU (which I understand is extremely productive and wonderful) can have control over their own continent. After all, the Cold War is over and Putin's a nice guy. He only wants to sell you fossil fuel products.

[Maturin]

Europe would be no worse off without American bases here, I agree.  A European army to take the place of the Euro contingent of the US armed forces might not beat Russia in a war but really, Europeans would lose a war between the US and Russia if it was fought on our soil anyway  - Battle Ground Europe would be torn to pieces just as much with or without the US - even if we won it would be a pyrrhic victory. The UK and France have enough nukes to flatten Russia in retaliation so we don't even need those as a shield.

I totally agree that the US needs to start looking inwards and extract itself from situations in which it is having no positive effect on the world.  Successive administrations have turned a large part of the planet against the US on principle whilst also selling out jobs overseas to the lowest bidder, all the while doing shady deals with banks, finance guys and the arms and oil industry to keep select groups of people richer and everyone else poorer.

Trump says he can make America great again, with his big plan of building a wall?  What utter nonsense.  Rubio will make America great again by enacting policy that returns the status of women to little more than medieval chattels? Nonsense!  Cruz is completely and utterly insane and should not be let anywhere near the halls of power.

Only one thing can make your country great again, and it's probably what made it great in the first place - people standing together to reject the flock of shitehawks and the policies they've imposed over the past 30 years.

For the record - I don't hate America in the slightest.  I've worked with many Americans and have had quite a few US drinking buddies and friends. I think 20th century American literature represents the finest example of the art.  It would be churlish to reject a nation that stood with us in two world wars or to forget that your nation sent people to the actual moon and gave us blues and jazz music. It is your politicians that have let you down, the whole political industry is really, but really shit and does not do you justice.

[Timewarp]

An interesting bit of polling with regard to the upcoming South Carolina GOP primary. These are Trump supporters.

20% of [polled] SC Republicans favor banning gays from the country. 25% want to ban an entire religion. 30% wish the South had won the Civil War (meaning they wish we still had slavery). 47% want to create a registry of Muslims. A registry. Know what a registry of an entire group looks like? Nazi Germany.

[BBsq69]

Only 30% wish the South had won the Civil War ... can it really be that low? And I don't mean because they agree with slavery, just they that would have liked to have won first and in the passage of time eventually have abolished slavery?

An interesting bit of polling with regard to the upcoming South Carolina GOP primary. These are Trump supporters.

20% of [polled] SC Republicans favor banning gays from the country. 25% want to ban an entire religion. 30% wish the South had won the Civil War (meaning they wish we still had slavery). 47% want to create a registry of Muslims. A registry. Know what a registry of an entire group looks like? Nazi Germany.

[BBsq69]

I'm going to disagree wit Maturin' here. I think we would be worse off if the US left. I do not wish for 1 second for the US to back to its isolation policies. I am perfectly comfortable especially with Russia under a dangerous man. I do not fear for Western Europe at all but for those poor ex-Soviet states and the countries that border them we need to provide as much protection as possible and having US backing helps increase confidence in those countries that they won't be conquered once again by a new Russian Empire. Anyone who ever trusts the Russians is in for a great deal of disappointment.

I wish their was a Global Force or an effective UN that would protect the democratic (and other parts of the) world but we all know there is not. I don't relieve believe in an EU force. Can you imagine the French taking orders from the British or vice versa. However with the US providing overwhelming numbers it helps the other nations become more focused. America more than any other country was founded on great values by some outsanding men. Something seems to have gone a bit awry with their political system which is not about left and right, but that out of £300 million it could select some better candidates as potential presidents ... surely the could do better than the Bushes and Clintons again or a TV egotist with not one iota of diplomacy in his veins.

But like it not the rest of the West needs the US.

[Maturin]

I'm going to disagree wit Maturin' here. I think we would be worse off if the US left. I do not wish for 1 second for the US to back to its isolation policies. I am perfectly comfortable especially with Russia under a dangerous man. I do not fear for Western Europe at all but for those poor ex-Soviet states and the countries that border them we need to provide as much protection as possible and having US backing helps increase confidence in those countries that they won't be conquered once again by a new Russian Empire. Anyone who ever trusts the Russians is in for a great deal of disappointment.

I wish their was a Global Force or an effective UN that would protect the democratic (and other parts of the) world but we all know there is not. I don't relieve believe in an EU force. Can you imagine the French taking orders from the British or vice versa. However with the US providing overwhelming numbers it helps the other nations become more focused. America more than any other country was founded on great values by some outsanding men. Something seems to have gone a bit awry with their political system which is not about left and right, but that out of £300 million it could select some better candidates as potential presidents ... surely the could do better than the Bushes and Clintons again or a TV egotist with not one iota of diplomacy in his veins.

But like it not the rest of the West needs the US.

Well, we don't need TTIP or the nascent hyper-capitalism that brought about the 2008 crash or the fact that there is even less regulation on the banks today that caused it. Nor do we need our weasly prime ministers to lie to the nation about wmds in order to join the big boys in a phony war that placed oil and arms profits over the lives of soldiers and civilians.

There is a version of America that seems to have gone to sleep and I wish its people would wake up and realise that their country hasn't been taken from them by immigrants, Muslims or non white people. It's been taken from them by lying politicians in pacts with a broken media, financed by banking cabals and Marshall ed by war mongers in order to keep its people poor and uninformed so that they will be in power indefinitely.