Random Politics & Religion #00

They are fighting evil liberal thieves wanting to take the hard earned tax payer (conservatives) money. You have true heroes in UK.

I'm convinced the Conservatives (UK party currently in power) are evil, they have just voted through cuts of £30/week to disabled people.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/esa-wrag-disability-benefit-cut-disabled-mps-vote-tories-iain-duncan-smith-a6918556.html

Even a lovely list of who voted for the cuts and my MP just happens to be on there.

Disclaimer: I didn't vote for him.

I just realized that this is why none of the conservatives here use the Thief from FF1 as an avatar

I saw someone driving down the berm yesterday...and my wife was all wtf is that person doing?... and I said "at the risk of being called a racist, my guess is that they are probably from india... "

/pull up alongside
india indian and female!

me~ "called it!"

The Sun Sentinel Editorial Board is not going to make an endorsement in Florida's March 15 Republican presidential primary because the kind of person who should be running is not in the race.

We cannot endorse businessman Donald Trump, hometown Sen. Marco Rubio or Texas Sen. Ted Cruz because they are unqualified to be president. Ohio Gov. John Kasich is the best of the bunch, but if you measure a candidate by the caliber of his campaign, Kasich's lack of traction and organization make a vote for him count for little.

We showed our cards a year ago, before the extraordinarily large field of Republican candidates shaped up. We favored the adult in the room, Jeb Bush, a smart, experienced and principled conservative. But the nation wasn't ready for another Bush, and our former governor wasn't ready for the anti-establishment edge in today's Twitter-fueled campaign era.

So now, here's how we see the choices:

Donald Trump

If you're angry, like so many voters are, vote for Trump. If you want to send a message to the Republican establishment and the Washington elite — and you feel voting for Trump will poke a stick in their eye — knock yourself out. Trump's celebrity and trajectory could well propel him to the White House in November.

Maybe you think Trump doesn't really mean all the over-the-top things he says about Mexicans, Muslims, McCain and more. After all, this guy authored "The Art of the Deal" and knows negotiations start with an extreme position. He's already said he's willing to cut a deal on one of his hard-line immigration stances — mass deportations.

But if you believe Trump doesn't really mean everything he says, then you believe he is fooling everyone. So you're buying a pig in a poke.

And what if you're wrong?

Part of Trump's appeal is that he's willing to change his mind, that he's not in lockstep with the rules that make Washington dysfunctional. He's taken positions other Republicans have run from, such as funding Planned Parenthood's non-abortion health services and calling the Iraq War a mistake. To get things done, he says you've got to be flexible.

But conservative Republicans exhausted by the Obama Administration fear Trump is too willing to compromise and too bendable on core values. He has been both pro-choice and pro-life, for and against a ban on assault weapons, and for and against bringing in Syrian refugees. That he wrote checks to Hillary Clinton's last presidential campaign is a final straw.

Trump also is absurdly vague on how he would "make America great again." We all know Mexico is never going to pay for that wall and we're never going to round up and deport 11 million undocumented immigrants. When asked to explain how he will implement his bombastic pronouncements, Trump's complete lack of government experience shows.

Supposedly, Trump is a good businessman, but we know folks in Tampa who lost huge sums of money on Trump Tower Tampa, which never broke ground. His list of failures goes on: Trump Shuttle, Trump Vodka, Trump Magazine, Trump University, Trump Steaks and Trump Mortgage. You might think the Trump brand suggests quality, but history proves you wrong.

Trump would shake up Washington, no question. He might even unite Republicans and Democrats against a common enemy — himself. But given his smug, erratic, often petulant demeanor, do you really trust him with the keys to our nuclear arsenal?

The presidency is serious business, not reality television. Trump may be entertaining, but he lacks the experience and temperament to be president. He does not deserve your vote.

Marco Rubio

If you think Marco Rubio can unite the Republican Party under a winning banner, vote for him. But remember that he has almost no experience and has done little but run for office. Then, when he gets in office, he doesn't go to work very much. He holds the worst attendance record in the U.S. Senate.

Because Rubio has failed to do his job as a senator, broken the promises he made to Floridians and backed away from his lone signature piece of legislation on immigration, we cannot endorse him for president.

Without question, Rubio has a great personal story and tremendous political skills. He is smart and knows the issues beyond the talking points, no matter that one rote debate performance.

But Rubio is not the new-age Republican he claims to be. His positions on abortion, same-sex marriage, immigration, gun control, government surveillance and Cuba are those of yesteryear. And unlike Trump, Rubio is reliant on big donors who will expect big favors down the road.

Rubio's strongest suit appears to be foreign policy, but his neoconservative views should give voters pause. In an October interview about ISIS, for example, he advocated a no-fly zone over Syria that would take down any Russian jets there, too. Asked if he thought a military conflict with Russia would scare the American people, he said, "Sure. But the consequences of not doing anything would scare them even more."

Let us be clear: war with Russia is the last thing this war-weary nation wants and it was alarming to hear Rubio so cavalierly roll the dice. Fortunately, more considered minds from the U.S., Russia and other powers last month negotiated a cessation of hostilities in Syria's civil war.

We recognize that Rubio and Ted Cruz are the party's best shot at stopping Trump. If Rubio can secure Florida's winner-take-all primary, and certain other cards play out, perhaps Trump won't cross the finish line and another candidate can emerge at a brokered convention.

But a vote for Rubio should be more than a protest vote.

Rubio lacks the experience, work ethic and gravitas needed to be president. He has not earned your vote.

Ted Cruz

If you want someone who won't compromise on social issues, who will stand strong for limited government and will make his decisions based on the Bible, your choice is clear: Ted Cruz.

Cruz is unequivocal. He is anti-establishment and anti-Washington. And he is so determined to kill Obamacare that he was willing to shut down government for 16 days, America's economy be damned.

In talking tough against ISIS, Cruz promises to carpet-bombing Syrian villages, which betrays his ignorance of smart-bomb technology, let alone our nation's military strategy. Gen. Paul Selva, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has said that wanton bombing is categorically "not the way that we apply force in combat. It isn't now, nor will it ever be."

In the push for needed tax reform, Cruz promises to replace the Internal Revenue Service with a tiny office in the Treasury Department that will process tax returns submitted on postcards.

And in the face of Washington gridlock, Cruz has alienated almost everyone he's worked with, leading Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham to half-jokingly say that if someone killed Mr. Cruz "on the floor of the Senate, and the trial was in the Senate, nobody would convict you."

Cruz scares us. He also should scare Republicans who want to win in November. Cruz has not earned your vote.

John Kasich

If you consider yourself a mainstream Republican, Ohio Gov. John Kasich is your man. He's a solid conservative who's fought public services unions, opposed same-sex marriage and battled to limit abortion rights. He supports a path to legalization — though not citizenship — for undocumented immigrants. He has strong credentials in government at the state and federal levels. And he's popular with those who know him best, boasting a 62 percent approval rating among Ohioans.

If he could survive the primary, Kasich would prove a strong candidate in November. Recent polls show he averages a 7.4 lead over Hillary Clinton, which is larger than the leads posted by Rubio, Cruz or Trump.

But while Kasich is the most qualified of the four candidates left standing, he lacks presidential presence. And he doesn't have a chance of winning because the Republican base is in rebellion and he got out of the gate too late to build a viable campaign organization.

Perhaps in a more-rational election year, the Sun Sentinel would endorse John Kasich. But we can't urge you to vote for someone who doesn't have a chance of winning the nomination.

That's the millennial way.

"If you don't agree with me, then you're worse than Hitler."

Is there anything more lazy?

That's the millennial way.

blarghle

Trump only wishes he had Hitler-tier oratory skill.

It is so pathetic. It really is. Open up Facebook and you have to scroll through 35 articles or posts comparing Donald Trump supporters to the rise of the Nazis. If the fools on the left would wake up and ignore the (R) in front of his name, they would realize that Donald Trump is Bernie Sanders minus the HELP I AM TRAPPED IN 2006 PLEASE SEND A TIME MACHINE tax policy and free college, but with an actual resume of accomplishment and real life experience.

Eh, whatever negative traits you want to assign to The Trump™, sure, but he CAN work a crowd. That's basically his only actual skill, and he's well on his way to securing the GOP nomination with nothing but some hilariously bad policy proposals and his ability to work the mic/camera.