2016 USA Presidential election thread I: The warm-up

[notorious bum]

19-year old college student grills Jeb Bush harder than 90% of journalists likely would: http://www.nytimes.com/politics/firs...-created-isis/

[Andalusian girls]

funny thing is they're both right. American destruction of the malicious but stable Ba'athist regime combined with incompetent occupation policies birthed the rise of radical Jihadist groups within Iraq where none had previously existed, yet those groups were largely defeated or heavily suppressed prior to our complete disengagement with Iraq which resulted in Maliki continually alienating the Sunni minority providing the AQI remnants with a new base of support.

[Tyrath]

Yeah but without the former the latter option wouldn't have been there to be made. The former was a fuckup and we shouldn't have to deal with all the issues in the region. I don't always agree with Bill Maher on everything, but goddamn is he right when he says let the Middle East deal with Middle East problems. We don't ever make them better.

[Serra]

I think it's fair to argue we've repeatedly made the Middle East worse.

[Andalusian girls]

Yeah but without the former the latter option wouldn't have been there to be made. The former was a fuckup and we shouldn't have to deal with all the issues in the region. I don't always agree with Bill Maher on everything, but goddamn is he right when he says let the Middle East deal with Middle East problems. We don't ever make them better.

to be sure, Obama may have made the wrong decision but the act of having to decide was forced upon him by Bush volunteering this nation for an unnecessary war

[Buffy]

I think it's fair to argue we've repeatedly made the Middle East worse.

Iran says hi for sure. We jacked that up hard core in the late 70s/early 80s.

[Serra]

Don't forget more recently -- the Axis of Evil did a ton of damage to Iran.

[Byrthnoth]

Honestly, she was disappointingly incoherent and I'm sad that this exchange is getting any press.

[Serra]

So if you average the latest two polls (Fox News and Public Policy -- both released on the 13th), Carson is in the lead of the candidates who have announced..

[Tyrath]

These polls are going to change weekly just like last time lol.

Gonna come down to who the Koch Bros. want to pay.

[NinjaLotter]

lol @ Presidential elections.

Goldman Sachs is gonna' pick two dudes and then we're going to freaking flip out on each other about how our dude is better than your dude, who hates America.

Then one of them is going to win and it isn't really going to matter at all.

So excite.

[zoobernut]

lol @ Presidential elections.

Goldman Sachs is gonna' pick two dudes and then we're going to freaking flip out on each other about how our dude is better than your dude, who hates America.

Then one of them is going to win and it isn't really going to matter at all.

So excite.

Let me guess, Libertarian?

[Blubbartron]

lol @ Presidential elections.

Goldman Sachs is gonna' pick two dudes and then we're going to freaking flip out on each other about how our dude is better than your dude, who hates America.

Then one of them is going to win and it isn't really going to matter at all.

So excite.

Might not be Goldman Sachs specifically, but yeah, pretty much. As in South Park, we'll end up having to pick between a Giant Douche and a Turd Sandwich. Neither one will do anything to help any of us, because we're not part of the powerful elite.

[Sho]

I don't always agree with Bill Maher on everything, but goddamn is he right when he says let the Middle East deal with Middle East problems. We don't ever make them better.

Correct. Should only really been maintaining with Saudi Arabia.

[NinjaLotter]

Let me guess, Libertarian?

No, because libertarianism is a huge waste of time. It isn't practical at all. It's basically just political-fantasy. In my experience, libertarians are people who have become disenfranchised with the Democrats or the Republicans (usually the Republicans), and so they just latch on to something else that isn't in any way controversial. It's the mainstream `third party option` that people pretend isn't mainstream. "I'm a libertarian" is usually said in a metaphorical top hat and monocle.
They're the equivalent of right-wing political-hipsters. They declare their ideological affiliation with an air of self-righteousness, but it's hard to take them seriously when they themselves wouldn't even have the balls to implement what they claim to believe in if they had the opportunity.

The most they would ever dare to do is `tone down the size of government`, which just makes them, in practice, a Republican that isn't utterly full of shit.

They may as well just cut the act and start referring to themselves as that-- "The `Republicans that aren't full of shit` party."

[6souls]

Obama has his own Twitter account now and one lucky Minnesotan got a visit from the Secret Service for a message sent to the Pres.

https://twitter.com/jeffgully49/stat...82538398375936

Obama's account - https://twitter.com/POTUS
Article detailing the debut - http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/22/us...osts.html?_r=0

[Tyche]

lol @ Presidential elections.

Goldman Sachs is gonna' pick two dudes and then we're going to freaking flip out on each other about how our dude is better than your dude, who hates America.

Then one of them is going to win and it isn't really going to matter at all.

So excite.

The next president is probably going to be replacing at least one Supreme Court justice. That alone makes it matter.

[Tyche]

And speaking of Supreme Court justice retirements, they're making a Ginsburg biopic. She'll be played by Natalie Portman. Who isn't as hot as RBG.

[Serra]

Rick Santorum will announce his second presidential bid on Wednesday, lacking much of the network he built in 2012.

http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/rick-sant...round-two-2016

[Serra]

George Pataki, the Republican who won the governorship three times in heavily Democratic New York, is running for President in 2016.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/05/28/politi...016/index.html