Man, would I hate to be a Democrat these days, and in the years to come. Things are looking like they might get awfully embarassing for the Democrats. First of all, you have the War in Iraq. How many times did we hear from a Democrat, "Oh, the elections will never work out!" "No one will show up to vote!" "The Iraqi people cannot handle and do not want a democracy!" The great thing about the last quote is that this comes from a party that claims to champion minorities--and you had literally Dems coming out of the woodwork to claim, "The Arab world is not fit for democracy." Well, 70% voter turnout later, the Iraqi people voiced their opinion about how they felt about democracy and their chance to determine their own destiny. I know, what will come next, "But, but, Jcs17, they elected a pro-Iranian, partially non-secularist government..." First of all, the fact that they elected a pro-Iranian government is not necessarily a bad thing, and I would argue that it's actually a positive. A representative government with strong connections in Iran has the opportunity to show the mullahs that democracy, even if the country still wants to have a government with an Islamic background is still possible.

The other great thing to come from the Iraqi Elections and the Bush Doctrine, is the fact that the roots of democracy are finally taking hold in the Middle East as a whole. Egypt is actually allowing challengers in their national elections against longtime "soft-core" dictator Hosni Mubarak, Libya is seeking normalized relations with the West, the Palestinians are voting for the first time, Saudi Arabia is running local elections, and the masses are speaking in Lebanon for the removal of Syrian forces. Now, some will argue that the Bush Doctrine had nothing to do with these developments. Are you kidding me? Do you not think that the people in these countries were blind from all media when the Iraqi elections were held? Do you actually think that had the US not oustered Saddam Hussein that these events would actually be taking place? Of course, in the Lebanese case, the real precipator of the event was the assassination of a Lebanese politician, but do you think the people would be on the streets railing for the removal of Syrian troops. I doubt it.

You know what this eerily reminds me of? The fall of Communism. During the years of the Reagan administration, the Democrats railed on the harsh criticism that Reagan gave to the Communist regimes, and his harsh policies against Communism. Well, what have the Democrats been railing against...American involvement in Democracy in the Middle East. Listen, Dems, do you really want to be 0 for 2? Do you really want to be the people 10-15 years from now who were saying that the Arab world cannot handle democracy. Do you want to be the Teddy Kennedys and the John Kerrys of the 1980s who were whining about American involvement in toppling communism. Does this really bode well for a strong Democratic party?

On the homefront, you've got the same old do-nothing Democrats wanting to do-nothing about Social Security. It has been made clear time and time again that the system is failing. A person like me, at age 22, might never see a social security check when I retire because the system is collapsing. Why not allow personal choice in determining where ones social security goes. Especially, when that choice is basically no-risk. Why not allow our economy to grow by allowing people to invest their social security? Won't it be more harmful if we keep going down the path of destruction that we're headed down right now? Pumping more tax payer dollars into giving a patch to social security won't solve a thing. The system needs reform and it needs it now.

So, Democrats, do you want to be on the losing team? Do you want to be the party that opposed reform in the Communist bloc and the Arab world? Do you want to be the ones blamed for a collapse in social security? The choice is yours.

Fix it....Don't Nix it!


Made me laugh.

Quoting JCS17 (reply 0): Bush Doctrine

So it's a doctrine now is it ? "He tried to kill my Daddy, lets bomb the crap out of him" is a doctrine ? Wow. They sure have lowered the standards since Monroe's day.

First Bolton, and now the Democratic party. Jcs is in his usual bitchy mood.

Not getting laid these days, Jcs?

It's still premature to claim victory for the Bush Doctrine. Iraq remains unsettled, with most of the nation-building yet to be done, and it remains uncertain whether democracy will spread throughout the Middle East - or whether the spread, should it really occur, will be in America's best interests. As for Social Security, while it clearly needs reform, it is not an issue demanding immediate attention. Waiting a few years will not make reform impossible.
In short, there's no real reason why the Democratic Party has to become strongly activist right now. Party leaders can bide their time, waiting for Bush to stumble, and for Hillary to win the 2008 election ... and let's face it, she's looking more and more unbeatable, with Bush having failed to groom a successor.

*yawn* Democrats are stupid, Republicans/Bush is wonderful. Same old, same old...

Selectively quoting Fareed Zakaria must be a new course taught at Jcs's community college.

However, the Dems ARE lost in space. The initial reasons and the lies trotted out by GWB for going to war in Iraq will be seen as a mere casualty of the final outcome - a potentially free Iraq. If Iraq does cobble together a democracy (and why shouldn't it? We, the American people, are paying a billion dollars a day to ensure it does.), then the WMD fiasco will become a mere footnote in the annals of history.

I don't trust Wolfowitz or the neo-cons in power right now - after all, they're the same people who courted the worst Arab dictators, including Saddam Hussein - and I don't believe that "freedom" and democracy and liberty are their ultimate goals. I still believe that Operation Iraq was an exit strategy for us to reduce our dependence on Saudi oil, and put the fear of God in the Saudis that the reason they were important would no longer be relevant. Wolfowitz so far appears to have pulled it off. The Dems, in contrast, appear irrelevant.

During the years of the Reagan administration, the Democrats railed on the harsh criticism that Reagan gave to the Communist regimes, and his harsh policies against Communism.

What a bunch of crap again.

The Dems opposed the stupid Star Wars programs, but not once did the Dems oppose Detente with the Soviets, the proxy war against the Soviets in Afghanistan, or condemn Reagan's denunciation of the USSR as the evil empire post KAL007. Get a grip.

The other great thing to come from the Iraqi Elections and the Bush Doctrine, is the fact that the roots of democracy are finally taking hold in the Middle East as a whole. Egypt is actually allowing challengers in their national elections against longtime "soft-core" dictator Hosni Mubarak, Libya is seeking normalized relations with the West, the Palestinians are voting for the first time, Saudi Arabia is running local elections, and the masses are speaking in Lebanon for the removal of Syrian forces.

LOL.

Talk about an over reaching causality.

Egypt has a major fundamentalist Arab opposition it can no longer ignore, so Hosni is offering a SOP. He's held them at bay for over 10 years now, and has no choice. He either provides a SOP or gets assassinated. Libya's normalized relations with the West had nothing to do with the Bush Doctrine and everything to do with UN and French negotiations, Arafat is dead, and the Saudi local elections are a joke. As for the masses in Lebanon, it was more the power of Hariri, his wealth, and the enormous infrastructural changes he brought about in Lebanon that made him so popular and caused the revolt in Lebanon.

Prove the effect of the Wolfowitz doctrine in Beirut, and you win a prize.

I am reading Zakaria's "The Future of Freedom" right now. Very interesting thesis that is proposed. If only people who love to throw around the word "democracy" actually understood it in its full capacity then it would make for much more enlightening and useful discussion than just anecdotal buzz words. "They voted! Yeah for democracy!"

Quoting Falcon84 (reply 3): Not getting laid these days, Jcs

Ever since he found out the hobbits might be gay wanking just hasn't been the same for him.

Ever since he found out the hobbits might be gay wanking just hasn't been the same for him.



POW, RIGHT IN THE KISSER!  

At least JCS17 isn't out defiling young girls. Let him rant. At very least it's entertainment in a twisted sort of way....

Your pathetic Jcs, you dont know how uninformed this makes you look. "Democrats suck" why? "Just because" is the typical answer I get from Republicans.

  

Quoting PROSA (Reply 4): with Bush having failed to groom a successor.

Too early to call that one sir.

I do believe Hilary will lose on the basis that a) She's a woman, too early for that it seems. b) She's a Clinton- who wants 4 more years of shit. c) Shitty, worthless political record...election to a state she was never from, for a blatant political 'resume builder'. So at this point, McCain would even beat her with an excellent margin.

There's my peace.

DeltaGuy

Quoting JCS17 (Thread starter): and the masses are speaking in Lebanon for the removal of Syrian forces.

And the, umm, slightly bigger masses are rallying in support of Syria. Go figure ! Yeah, that must be GWB's doing.

The Democrats, if they're smart, will run someone who stands for something. Kerry was a flip-flopper. I voted for him, mind you, because as has been said a billion times "anyone but Bush". However... he wasn't the best we could do by a longshot.

Eventually, I'd like to see Obama on the democratic ticket for president. I highly suspect that we'll have a black male before a white woman for a president... and if we (all of us, Democrat and Republican... and hell, the rest of the world, too) are lucky, it will be Barak Obama.

I agree, The Democrats are out spent by the republicans, out spun, and simply over powered my the republican machine. The one party system is here. Hopefully the republicans will implode from there wars lies and hate and then maybe the democrats can make a come back.