Presidential debate

[clifffclaven]

comments like thta are exactly why I hate discussing politics

Why?

[fett]

Why? Because everyone has an opinion. And in last few years there have been so many issues that have tended to polarize and reinforce said opinion that it makes it difficult to not get snippy, Skippy.

[Snow007]

I'm Canadian but I would vote for Ron Paul in a heart beat if i could.

[Cygnus X1]

I'm Canadian but I would vote for Ron Paul in a heart beat if i could.

I'm either going to get tossed, or this thread is going to get locked, or both.
But I have to say, there are always candidates like this. Sometimes I will throw away my vote to such candidates to keep the mainstreamers in line.

But, the realities of the way politics actually works make such populist candidates a bit dangerous. I'm not saying they are like Hitler, or Mussolini, but that's pretty much how that kind of mess happens. It's hard to argue with history. It's also difficult to choose "between the lines", but in the end, it works. Churchill noted that democracy is the worst political system there is, but it is the best we have.

[fett]

Number 1. These aren't "Debates". They are BS QA media events. The voters will stop watching this. If I were Fred, I would not participate in these shows.

[monk]

Churchill noted that democracy is the worst political system there is, but it is the best we have.

Maybe, but you can not judge the efficiency and pro/cons of democracy if the people are not told the truth in the first place. How can you expect anyone to make a good decision if the "facts and information" they are told to base their voting on is wrong in the first place?

I could respect any politician, be it Hitler or Mahatma Ghandi, as long as he/she clearly state what he/she wants to do, how and when he/she are going to do it. Then let the people decide. Free and accurate information provided to the people is one of the corner-stones of democracy. Else it just become a dictatorship/oligarchy in disguise, don't you think?

And I don't agree that R. Paul is just "telling things that people want to hear". I have found clips of him from like 10-20 years ago and he was saying exactly the same things back then, but no one seems to listen. Also, the guy must have one of the most consistent voting records in the history of US politics, right? Else, you should send him over here to fight our own very special breed of politicians