Ghostly Apparition on 2/7/2008 at 02:39
I find it quite biased as a matter of fact. along with a lot of conjecture and opinion.
The author is a self described conservative Republican who has the opinion that
presidents don't have much choice in foreign policy decisions. I strongly disagree.
Starrfall on 2/7/2008 at 02:44
Quote Posted by Zygoptera
Have to admit I'm lollin' at Stitch's "Obama has to be as welcoming and respectful as possible" when, as per near every political thread on the internet the Obama supporters have spent the vast majority of their posting time saying that Hillary is worthless and that toys would be thrown from the pram if she was picked for VP. Yeah guys, that
really says you value her supporters
so much and will
really endear you to them.
Her campaign was worthless and I don't care for her personally but given the options I couldn't care less if she's VP.
The supporters of hers I value will have already grudgingly accepted Obama as the nominee. They don't have to think he's great or even vote for him to realize that if they really care about the things Hillary stands for, he's better than McCain.
The small number who are still screaming for Hillary to save them are either being stupid or actually don't care about the things Hillary stands for. And Obama
can win without them, so I couldn't care less about them either.
the_grip on 2/7/2008 at 02:49
Quote Posted by Ghostly Apparition
I find it quite biased as a matter of fact. along with a lot of conjecture and opinion.
The author is a self described conservative Republican who has the opinion that
presidents don't have much choice in foreign policy decisions. I strongly disagree.
He is a self described conservative Republican, no doubt. i also would disagree with him i'm sure on many points.
However, i fail to see the bias that you see in most of the stuff i've heard/read from Stratfor. Of course this is opinion... it is not simply news. It is an editorial based on the author's reasoning.
And i do agree that i think many presidents are faced with foreign policy decisions that they have to accept vs. what they want to accept. Simply pulling troops out of the Middle East without ANY regard for responsibility for the shit we caused would be disastrous. We are looking at Israel and Iran probably going to war over the next couple of months, and you would be mixing in very violent and divisive Islamic sects to boot with a void of power.
i am very much against the Iraq war, but i think it is naively optimistic to think we can just pack up and roll out without any concern to the dignity and respect of the Iraqi people. Obama, who i'm sure would love to pull troops out as badly as i would, surely realizes that he can't just operate on ideals and has to accept the situation at hand in a responsible way. That would constrain his decisions on foreign policy, and that's what the article drives at in part.
the_grip on 2/7/2008 at 02:52
And, to be sure, Obama would be constrained b/c of good 'ol GWB. Israel would, from what i read, probably want to strike Iran while Bush was still in power. Obama would get to inherit all of this crap.
So thanks a shitload Mr. Bush. Go fuck up something else much less severe next time you get a notion to strive for a position of grandeur.
WAREAGLE on 2/7/2008 at 03:20
I think we're boned on this one no matter who wins. But at least with McCain, I know there is some pro-military/defense minded policy. I would find the video of Obama saying how he'd shrink the national defense and size of the military etc etc but I am too lazy and just don't care anymore.
Tocky on 2/7/2008 at 03:42
I fear you are entirely correct the-grip. What I hope is that Bush can keep his finger off the WWIII button long enough for a cooler head to get into office but the neocons are antsy bastards. I don't blame Israel for not wanting to be a mushroom cloud as Irans president has offered as thier solution but if there is any chance for talk that beats hell out of the alternative and McCain likes the big stick better than "talking to enemies".
And big thanks to China and Russia for selling Iran the parts to armeggedon.
