Tonight shows why Republicans are still stupid.

[Pelicans78]

Have they not learned their lesson after the George W. Bush years? Santorum represents everything that went wrong during the Bush years. Santorum's actually worse than Bush because he actually believes all the nonsense that Bush's adviser's were spewing to GW himself.

Santorum supported the spending of the Bush administration, supported the stupid war in Iraq, supported increased domestic spending.

Its no surprise that Romney or Paul aren't getting more traction in this party because most Republicans still view Bush as the gold standard Republican. That's why Santorum in still in this race. Deep down most Republicans are like him, even though they know he won't ever win the nomination or even come close to beating Obama. Still, the Republicans want a true George Bush conservative. Thankfully the rest of the country won't make the mistake of electing trash like Santorum.

[SA210]

Honestly, Americans are stupid in general. We live in a country where speeches make us think the world of someone rather than their actions on those speeches. Just because it sounds great, he said all the right words..so he deserves to be President. :lol What morons.

[Cry Havoc]

The GOP is a joke at this point.

[cheguevara]

the OP is pretty on point. They are voting for a guy who thinks the worst president since Nixon was what the country needs. Shit, Santorum credited the killing of Osama Bin Laden to the Bush administration :lmao

They are voting for a guy who claimed the jihadists are building missile platforms in latin america. :lol

Fucker not only wants to invade all the middle east, he would go to venezuela and cuba. :rollin

[101A]

the OP is pretty on point. They are voting for a guy who thinks the worst president since Nixon was what the country needs. Shit, Santorum credited the killing of Osama Bin Laden to the Bush administration :lmao

They are voting for a guy who claimed the jihadists are building missile platforms in latin america. :lol

Fucker not only wants to invade all the middle east, he would go to venezuela and cuba. :rollin

They're not voting FOR anyone. They're voting against a couple of others.

I live in Pa; watched Santorum get throttled in his last election HERE - and this is a state he HAS to win. I never understood why he was in the race in the first place; he can't win. But then again, neither can Romney, or Newt. If Paul got his message out, unfiltered, I think he would have a punchers chance (not a great chance, but a chance); it's catchy.

....and that is against the weakest incumbent since Carter.

[Goran Dragic]

I think it's an understatement calling Bush the worst president since Nixon, the only presidents arguably worse than Bush were Warren G. Harding or any of the pro-slavery presidents right before Lincoln who did things to cause the civil war.

[Sportcamper]

President Obama spoke at the national prayer breakfast... The president said that his Christian faith is the driving force behind his economic policies...So I guess instead of blaming Bush, it's now all Jesus’ fault...

[101A]

I think it's an understatement calling Bush the worst president since Nixon, the only presidents arguably worse than Bush were Warren G. Harding or any of the pro-slavery presidents right before Lincoln who did things to cause the civil war..

What has Obama done that is different from Bush?

[cheguevara]

I think it's an understatement calling Bush the worst president since Nixon, the only presidents arguably worse than Bush were Warren G. Harding or any of the pro-slavery presidents right before Lincoln who did things to cause the civil war.

Nixon was smart but a criminal, Bush a complete idiot and pretty much incompetent at most things.

We can already see the fruits of Nixon presidency, he was guilty of war crimes in Vietnam, opening "trade" with China wich eventually lead to US industrial death, petrodollar bubble which is about to burst and send dollar to oblivion, not to mention Watergate crimes hurt the office of the president for probably forever.

We have yet to see fully the "fruits" from Bush presidency in a few years, so we can't fully grasp how bad this presidency was. But it looks like Bush presidency will give Nixon's a run for his money.

[Viva Las Espuelas]

.

What has Obama done that is different from Bush?shutdown a website quicker than Gitmo?

[Winehole23]

kill list of US citizens?

[Winehole23]

The continuities are many, so many in fact that continuity is the theme par excellence of Obama's presidency. But there are a few differences.

[EVAY]

.

What has Obama done that is different from Bush?

Damn good question.

But it makes me wonder why the Republican base hates him so much.

[Borat Sagyidev]

Nixon was smart but a criminal, Bush a complete idiot and pretty much incompetent at most things.

We can already see the fruits of Nixon presidency, he was guilty of war crimes in Vietnam, opening "trade" with China wich eventually lead to US industrial death, petrodollar bubble which is about to burst and send dollar to oblivion, not to mention Watergate crimes hurt the office of the president for probably forever.

We have yet to see fully the "fruits" from Bush presidency in a few years, so we can't fully grasp how bad this presidency was. But it looks like Bush presidency will give Nixon's a run for his money.

Che is a wise person.

Reagan was pretty bad in foreign policy as well. We wouldn't have had Sadaam Hussein, the mujhadeen (precursor to AL-Qaeda) led by Osama bin laden without military and monetary assistance provided from the Reagan administration in the 80's. Republicans like to take credit for him ending the Soviet Union.
reality...where has pure communism succeeded?

I think Bush II legacy will be primarily from the petro dollar bursting. Those people have nothing but distate for the American govt at it's highest levels now. We and associated euro interests likely invaded Libya to prevent that, why else would we do it there and not anywhere else?
Ghadafi was highly rumored to soon begin exchanging currency away from US dollars and Euro.

[cheguevara]

Borat on point imo

1. Just prior to the air strikes, Gaddafi had planned to introduce a new currency, the “Gold Dinar”.
2. The currency was to be supported by Libya’s massive gold reserves of 144 tonnes.
3. The gold coin was to be accepted throughout Africa and the Middle East and would have been the only currency accepted for purchases of oil.
4. This strategy would likely crush both the Dollar and the Euro, making the Dinar the dominant international currency.
5. The NATO military action is the result of a US-led plan to crush Gaddafi’s currency plans and to protect Western financial interests. The military action is supported by US oil interests, who are seeking to obtain access to Libya’s massive oil reserves.

[Winehole23]

did we lack that access before?

[cheguevara]

Ghadafi had $8 billion of gold in his banks. Yeah, the gold dinar would have been a killer

[Winehole23]

I thought normalizing with Qaddafi was supposed to get our foot in the door wrt oil development. Did that effort fail?

[Borat Sagyidev]

Borat on point imo

1. Just prior to the air strikes, Gaddafi had planned to introduce a new currency, the “Gold Dinar”.
2. The currency was to be supported by Libya’s massive gold reserves of 144 tonnes.
3. The gold coin was to be accepted throughout Africa and the Middle East and would have been the only currency accepted for purchases of oil.
4. This strategy would likely crush both the Dollar and the Euro, making the Dinar the dominant international currency.
5. The NATO military action is the result of a US-led plan to crush Gaddafi’s currency plans and to protect Western financial interests. The military action is supported by US oil interests, who are seeking to obtain access to Libya’s massive oil reserves.


The more pressing thing is that the US as a generally technologically advanced nation keeps avoiding non-petroleum energy.

We've had highly functional electric cars for over 2 decades. Don't believe me? look up Solectria Force, the GM EV-1 or the Toyota Rav4-EV

Tesla is about to release a sedan with 300 mile range electric. Yet here we are invading other countries in the middle east with oil reserves.

China will be the biggest economy (via GDP) within the next decade, militarily within 2 decades. They also have the largest lithium ion reserves on the planet, very useful for high capacity batteries.

We will have deserved that downfall.

[coyotes_geek]

Damn good question.

But it makes me wonder why the Republican base hates him so much.

Because Obama has a "D" after his name and that's all that matters.

[101A]

Che is a wise person.

Reagan was pretty bad in foreign policy as well.

Foreign policy during the Reagan years WAS the cold war. As it was pretty much for all of his predecessors post WWII. Judging him/them through post cold war goggles is ridiculous.

Did FDR suck at foreign policy because he allied himself with Stalin?

[101A]

Because Obama has a "D" after his name and that's all that matters.

Nevermind, although conservative, I'm probably not "the base".

Bush....Obama....Romney

Bush.....Obama....Obama

No difference.

If you doubt, follow the money.

[101A]

BTW, the oil/dollars conspiracy does interest me; enough coincidences there to raise eyebrows.....and if it has legs, just another example of Bush = Obama.

[coyotes_geek]

Nevermind, although conservative, I'm probably not "the base".

Bush....Obama....Romney

Bush.....Obama....Obama

No difference.

If you doubt, follow the money.

Yep. November is basically just a contest to see who gets to administer W's 4th term.

[101A]

We've had highly functional electric cars for over 2 decades. Don't believe me? look up Solectria Force, the GM EV-1 or the Toyota Rav4-EV



I looked up the EV1 - here it is in The American Spectator's, errrrr, I mean Time's list of 50 worst cars EVER:

http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1658545_1658544_1658535,00.html

If you'd like me to keep looking up the others, I will.

[101A]

The Selectria Force:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solectria_Force

WOW, a Geo Metro (has anyone EVER wanted one of those), but slower, and with only a 37 mile range. "Honey - get the keys, we're trading in the Caddie!"

[Borat Sagyidev]

Foreign policy during the Reagan years WAS the cold war. As it was pretty much for all of his predecessors post WWII. Judging him/them through post cold war goggles is ridiculous.

Did FDR suck at foreign policy because he allied himself with Stalin?

Yeah, I'm sorry the good lord made the Reagan administration sell weapons to Iran (Iran-Contra scandel), fund+train the Mujhadeen including Osama Bin-Laden and fund+train Sadaam Hussein's military.

Sadaam invaded Kuwait because he had been promised oil wealth to invade Iran by the Reagan administration. But hey, we shouldn't judge..he was a cold war president.

FDR made a mistake by allying himself with Stalin? :lol Nice comparison there

[Borat Sagyidev]

I looked up the EV1 - here it is in The American Spectator's, errrrr, I mean Time's list of 50 worst cars EVER:

http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1658545_1658544_1658535,00.html

If you'd like me to keep looking up the others, I will.

That article is retarded.
"The EV1 was a marvel of engineering, absolutely the best electric vehicle anyone had ever seen."

"The early car's lead-acid bats, and even the later nickel-metal hydride batteries, couldn't supply the range or durability required by the mass market.

NMH batteries can supply the range and durability needed (similiar batts are in the toyota prius).

In fact when they switched to those batts it became very functional.
GM owned the patent on those then, then they sold it to Chevron. Chevron hasn't let anyone manufacture them and has violated contracts to produce them ( they have been sued many times). I wonder why.


Children cried when they were crushed and their owners pleaded with GM to let them keep them.

Crappy car indeed

[Borat Sagyidev]

The Selectria Force:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solectria_Force

WOW, a Geo Metro (has anyone EVER wanted one of those), but slower, and with only a 37 mile range. "Honey - get the keys, we're trading in the Caddie!"

You can put that inexpensive drive train in any car with lithium ion batts and you have a 30k+ car the runs for pennies.

get back to me when gas is $5/gallon, which it will hit.

[ElNono]

The electric Rav4 was great, or at least owners of it swear by it. The biggest issue to commercialize it was the lack of availability of the batteries because of the patent issue pointed above (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patent_encumbrance_of_large_automotive_NiMH_batter ies).

Then again, that's ancient tech by today's standards. The difference here is that Toyota kept developing the concept and a lot of that tech ended up making it into the Prius, a very successful hybrid car, while GM went basically down the tube.

The good news is that some of those patents should expire soon.

[101A]

Yeah, I'm sorry the good lord made the Reagan administration sell weapons to Iran (Iran-Contra scandel), fund+train the Mujhadeen including Osama Bin-Laden and fund+train Sadaam Hussein's military.

Sadaam invaded Kuwait because he had been promised oil wealth to invade Iran by the Reagan administration. But hey, we shouldn't judge..he was a cold war president.


US foreign policy was to win the cold war; Reagan did what he had to to do that. It meant fighting the Soviets in Afghanistan (watch Rambo III - even Rocky thought that was OK). Iran Contra was what it was; again; fighting Communism in S. America, etc....etc....

I stand by my analogy with Stalin, btw: in that "the enemy of my enemy is my friend". The cold war was at least as pervasive in US foreign policy even than the "war on terror" has been. As the president who presided over victory in that struggle, citing Reagan's foreign policy as "failed" or even "poor", reeks of biased hatred/revisionism.

[101A]

BTW; regarding Electric cars; you are right, there is promise there; esp. if the Tesla does what it's maker says it will.

However, the "solution" to $5 gas already exists in droves; just look at Europe. 5 -7 passenger vehicles that get over 40mpg. Small, light, diesel; many are funny looking, but you can't argue with the performance (in terms of efficiency). Govt. regulations are the biggest reason those cars don't come over here/notwithstanding American appetites. Electric is more complex/more expensive and less tested; why we would leap frog successful, proven tech confounds me.

[boutons_deux]

"why we would leap frog successful, proven tech confounds me."

The car mfrs and oilcos make these decisions and strategies, not the consumers, who are just passive suckers.

"Old Europe" has nothing to teach God's Greatest Country In The History Of The Universe.

[Borat Sagyidev]

BTW; regarding Electric cars; you are right, there is promise there; esp. if the Tesla does what it's maker says it will.

However, the "solution" to $5 gas already exists in droves; just look at Europe. 5 -7 passenger vehicles that get over 40mpg. Small, light, diesel; many are funny looking, but you can't argue with the performance (in terms of efficiency). Govt. regulations are the biggest reason those cars don't come over here/notwithstanding American appetites. Electric is more complex/more expensive and less tested; why we would leap frog successful, proven tech confounds me.

I've designed some diesel engine components you see in Europe more than a decade ago before I commissioned in the military and grad school. There have been attempts to bring those vehicles over many times, but they all fail.

European diesel tends to have a much higher cetane rating than in the states and hence more work produced (it also costs more to produce). Sad to say, those efficiency figures don't hold up as well when you import them here. US diesel is pretty much devils brew crude with minimal cetane levels. In 2007, they took out the excess sulfur for emissions, but energy quality wasn't improved. When you consider US emission regulations that came with that sulfur reduction, further reduce efficiency. Combine that with the increased cost to manufacture diesel engine and the market won't show much interest.

Diesel needs need stronger blocks, lines (much stronger especially for high pressure injections).

A direct injection gas/petrol sedan can easily achieve 35-40mpg highway nowadays and much lower upfront cost and less fuel cost per gallon than diesel.

If you want to justify someone paying a 3k premium or more for a diesel engine, with +.50/gallon fuel and marginal fuel efficiency increases, be my guest. It's not so much simple regulation. The auto companies are influential enough to push for that if it was profitable.

compare VW Jetta TDI vs Hyundai Sonata is straight forward reason why it's not gonna happen.

[Borat Sagyidev]

Back to the topic of this thread.

The apprehension republicans show with people or things who are unfamiliar to them drives their agenda than any type of rational thought.

It could be old fashioned technology or some person advocating to burn homosexuals at the stake and they flock in droves.

[Wild Cobra]

The GOP is a joke at this point.
Sure, but not as much of a joke as the democrats.

[boutons_deux]

False equivlence