I have no idea how McCain would do it, because he has been almost as vauge as Obama has. Just so you know, I am not voting for McCain.

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There can be no bystanders in the battle for survival. Anyone who will not fight by your side is an enemy you must crush.

We are at war with forces too terrible to comprehend. We cannot afford mercy for any of its victims too weak to take the correct course. Mercy destroys us; it weakens us and saps our resolve. Put aside all such thoughts. They are not worthy of those in the service of country.

I don't get it either. Even the ardent "I'm an American, Fuck Everybody Else" crowd has to realize that you can manipulate and take advantage of the rest of the world much more efficiently if they feel good about the process.

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Congratulations President-Elect Obama

Not a problem.

The difference is not that he is calling for international cooperation, but that he seems to have a grasp of why that is needed. He is the first to do so that I'm aware of in a position of leadership within either party.

He even correctly identifies the problems: the global economy, the global environment, and global terrorism. Nobody else has come out and said that these problems have no national solutions, in so many words.

The psychological problem is that this situation is unprecedented. Never before have the main problems we face been global in scope. Always before, our problems had national solutions, or at worst solutions that could be achieved mainly with national effort along with a minimal level of coordination among allies.

The fact that he seems to recognize the situation we're in is why I don't believe these words are only lip-service.

These words, on the other hand, suggest to me that you do not understand the situation we're in. International cooperation always involves a compromise of sovereignty and of national freedom to maneuver. To say that we should not engage in it if it costs us anything along those lines is to say we should not engage in it, period -- and that is to say that we should not solve the problems we face and should instead let them overwhelm us.

The UN, for example, could one day attempt to enforce its ridiculous restrictions of free speech and expression on us. Or move to ban personal ownership of firearms, which they have tried to do in the past.

__________________
There can be no bystanders in the battle for survival. Anyone who will not fight by your side is an enemy you must crush.

We are at war with forces too terrible to comprehend. We cannot afford mercy for any of its victims too weak to take the correct course. Mercy destroys us; it weakens us and saps our resolve. Put aside all such thoughts. They are not worthy of those in the service of country.

There is nothing in his speech I found to be original nor imaginative.

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"We can't screw it up any worse than they have." - Barack Obama

Wanna bet?



"You never want a serious crisis to go to waste...." - Rahm Emmanuel

Well you are entitled to your own view, but I have to agree with German (ZDF) TV commentators, who said this analogy is not appropriate.

It was just an election speech; it wasn't bad, it wasn't brilliant and one really shouldn't put more in it than there was.

For America and the world I hope that Obama will be challanged to elaborate much more on his plans, but given that McChain is the GOP candidate, there is a chance that Obama maybe will win without really being challanged by other ideas/plans/values.

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"bellum omnium contra omnes; atque in eo bello jus esse omnibus in omnia."
Thomas Hobbes

"Homo Homini Lupus"
Thomas Hobbes

Bush has never held his hand out for support. He said, "You're either with us or against us", and then he applied it to every fucking policy imagineable. For 8 years it's been this constant stubbornness where he goes somewhere with his mind made up, tells everybody what for, doesn't listen, makes really stupid bad jokes, and pisses everyone off.

No olive branches, no listening, no thinking. Bush and his team have alienated America in a way that has never been seen before, and the entire world is hungry for balance again. That's why they like JFK and Reagan, because at least they listened and tried to work things out and understood that you can't just go to war every single time there's a problem, or refuse to deal with people because there are differences, like in Iran and North Korea, two countries who are way more dangerous now than before the stupid "axis of evil" comments.

Bush has carried out a unilateralist and interventionist foreign policy, behaving like a dictator, ignoring good advice, and leaving an imprint on his people of fear of the outside world.

After today though, it's like there's finally some light at the end of this dark tunnel, even if I am voting for Ron Paul.

Obama knocked it out of the park today.

Anyone analyzing today's speech for "details" is tone deaf.

That's not what it was about today. What it was clearly about was saying that some healing is on the way should Obama be elected.

Nobody's gonna take your gun... calm down.

It's also a pretty far out and irrational fear that Obama would defer the jurisdiction of domestic American freedoms to the U.N.

I see the domino theory at play here, but I haven't even seen the first domino tumble in that direction.

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Congratulations President-Elect Obama

Well, lo and behold -- hell hath not yet frozen over.

Should you ever have anything good to say about Obama, please give us reasonable warning so that we can be sitting down and not operating dangerous machinery. Those with heart conditions may also wish to adjust pacemakers. I thank you for in advance for being so considerate.

(I also won't hold my breath waiting.)

[quote=TSGracchus;1257005]
He even correctly identifies the problems: the global economy, the global environment, and global terrorism. Nobody else has come out and said that these problems have no national solutions, in so many words.

You have honestly never heard anyone comment on those problems and call for a global solution? where have you been living?

I don't understand the situation we are in? Really? I have only been on the front lines of this 'situation' we are in.

If we compromise our sovereignty or our freedom to maneuver, what good is a victory or agreement? We certianly wouldn't be around as a free and sovereign nation to enjoy it. We would simply be at the whim of the world masses. A great man once said "Those who would sacrifice liberty for security deserve neither." I am sorry, when it comes the the freedom, liberty, and sovereignty of my nation, I will not compromise.

__________________
There can be no bystanders in the battle for survival. Anyone who will not fight by your side is an enemy you must crush.

We are at war with forces too terrible to comprehend. We cannot afford mercy for any of its victims too weak to take the correct course. Mercy destroys us; it weakens us and saps our resolve. Put aside all such thoughts. They are not worthy of those in the service of country.

That's because it was about tone, not about details.

He did challenge the European Union to send more NATO troops to Afghanistan though.

How come no warmongers heard that?

It's also a pretty far out and irrational fear that Obama would defer the jurisdiction of domestic American freedoms to the U.N.[/quote]

Perfectly calm here, BS. Pretty far out and irrational huh? He already supports international agreements over our own form of justice. Simply look at Gitmo.

That is because, I believe, Obama being elected will be the first.

__________________
There can be no bystanders in the battle for survival. Anyone who will not fight by your side is an enemy you must crush.

We are at war with forces too terrible to comprehend. We cannot afford mercy for any of its victims too weak to take the correct course. Mercy destroys us; it weakens us and saps our resolve. Put aside all such thoughts. They are not worthy of those in the service of country.

Could you specify what you mean?

Last time I've checked, I thought he want's to be President not a doctor, so what's the talk about healing?

__________________
"bellum omnium contra omnes; atque in eo bello jus esse omnibus in omnia."
Thomas Hobbes

"Homo Homini Lupus"
Thomas Hobbes

I have never before heard anyone recognize that a national solution to these problems is impossible.

Sometimes being on the front lines can make it more difficult to see the big picture. At any rate, if you did really understand it you wouldn't say this:

Then you will not achieve any solutions.

What matters is not the freedom of the nation, but the freedom of its people. These should not be confused. We are facing a juncture beyond which is either the end of the sovereign nation-state, or the end of civilization. The end of civilization will curtail freedom for people much more than the end of the sovereign nation-state will.

This does not mean that our internal guarantees of free speech and expression, freedom of religion, the right to bear arms, etc., etc. need to be curtailed; these are rights of the people not rights of the nation. However, the right of the U.S. (and of other countries) to make war at will, to make decisions on energy or labor policy or trade or the environment without regard to the rest of the world, these must be sacrificed. (And of course, not only by us -- by all nations.)

I realize from your previous posts that these truths are anathema to you. However, that does not make them any less true. The fully sovereign nation-state is a dinosaur and the meteor is almost here.