I agree it’s a slippery slope, but man Canada’s still way way WAY at the top of that slope. “down the drain” is strong.
BTW I haven’t been here long, what’s with the “El Ale”, is that beer-related or is it to mess with the search engines that would pick up the airline name and result in a 20-person Mossad hit squad with Irish, Canadian, and Kiwi passports knocking at your door saying “land shark”?
I agree it’s a slippery slope, but man Canada’s still way way WAY at the top of that slope. “down the drain” is strong.
BTW I haven’t been here long, [color=#FF0000]what’s with the “El Ale”, is that beer-related[/color] or is it to mess with the search engines that would pick up the airline name and result in a 20-person Mossad hit squad with Irish, Canadian, and Kiwi passports knocking at your door saying “land shark”?[/quote]
Ahhhhh! I hope nobody else thinks I’m referring to the airline hit squad. It’s all about the ale, bro, and how I destroy ale so fast I’m gonna need new pants soon if I don’t get back to running. 
You really think Canada’s at the top of free speech? Sure, we’re more free than China, Russia, Cuba, Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, etc, but is that anything to be proud of?
How much lower could we go? It’s not fair to say we’re not that bad because we haven’t blocked citizens from the internet yet. But I want this era over in a hurry and common sense, and free speech, restored.
Heheheh cheers to that, Taiwan’s expanded my waistline significantly as well, technically, Old Speckly and Erdinger
[quote=“Chuanzao El Ale Destroyer”]You really think Canada’s at the top of free speech? Sure, we’re more free than China, Russia, Cuba, Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, etc, but is that anything to be proud of?
How much lower could we go? It’s not fair to say we’re not that bad because we haven’t blocked citizens from the internet yet. But I want this era over in a hurry and common sense, and free speech, restored.[/quote]
Come on now, there are what, about 200 countries in the world, you could probably add 150-170 to that list of 5 you gave. Who said that absolute freedom of speech is a good thing? It’s all about what you’re banning - like yelling fire in a theater, threatening the president, and libel - these are generally accepted prohibitions in our first world countries. To this Canada and some European countries have added Hate Speech - given Germany’s ahhh “past proclivity” towards murdering large segments of their ethnic minorities, not entirely unjustified in their case. I agree that the government needs to be seriously monitored on that front, but the concept of banning public Hate Speech (they don’t ban it in private settings), I just don’t see it as an entirely bad thing. Yeah in practice you gotta be super careful, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be done. Canada’s a long way from the bad place.
As far as I’m concerned, your comments above show that while you’re just a slightly more articulate form of the Turtonite position, you’re still talking from the fringe (calling Bush a war criminal or Nazi etc.). 
Even with the 100,000 Iraqis dead, the 4,000 or so Americans dead, and the 31,000 Americans injured, Bush will lauded in the history books for bringing democracy to the middle of the Middle East. Does building democracy take time? Sure, there are still Americans stationed in Japan and Germany almost 65 years after the end of World War II aren’t there? However, with the different factions of Iraq talking in downtown Baghdad about the structure of the new government and with violence significantly reduced from 20606/07, surely it is a victory for democracy and the coalition effort, no? Obama has reversed his campaign rhetoric from 2008 and hasn’t changed things that much, but let’s not forget the pessimism of the defeatist press and of many liberals. And the lunatic fringe of the Democratic Party, well represented on Forumosa, that calls for war crimes, is so far off from mainstream thinking, their positions are truly laughable. Whether it’s Andrew Jackson or FDR or Bush, the power of the executive expands in times of war. Get over it!!!
Heheheh cheers to that, Taiwan’s expanded my waistline significantly as well, technically, Old Speckly and Erdinger
[quote=“Chuanzao El Ale Destroyer”]You really think Canada’s at the top of free speech? Sure, we’re more free than China, Russia, Cuba, Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, etc, but is that anything to be proud of?
How much lower could we go? It’s not fair to say we’re not that bad because we haven’t blocked citizens from the internet yet. But I want this era over in a hurry and common sense, and free speech, restored.[/quote]
Come on now, there are what, about 200 countries in the world, you could probably add 150-170 to that list of 5 you gave. Who said that absolute freedom of speech is a good thing? It’s all about what you’re banning - like yelling fire in a theater, threatening the president, and libel - these are generally accepted prohibitions in our first world countries. To this Canada and some European countries have added Hate Speech - given Germany’s ahhh “past proclivity” towards murdering large segments of their ethnic minorities, not entirely unjustified in their case. I agree that the government needs to be seriously monitored on that front, but the concept of banning public Hate Speech (they don’t ban it in private settings), I just don’t see it as an entirely bad thing. Yeah in practice you gotta be super careful, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be done. Canada’s a long way from the bad place.[/quote]
Let’s not forget these comments:
Freedom of speech is an American concept, so I don’t give it any value." - Dean Steacy, lead investigator of the Canadian “Human Rights” Commission
The old “bringing democracy to Iraq” is a great fall-back after all the other excuses for the invasion were proven false. Had that been put on the table to begin with, I wonder if our country would have supported it. While I personally prefer democracy to other forms of government, I don’t believe any country has the right to ram one form of government down the throats of another. It may not work everywhere and it should be up to the people there to fight for it. You think Dems and Repubs can’t get along? Let’s see how the Kurds, Shiites and Sunis do.
I can’t believe you’re comparing our presence in Japan and Germany to that in Iraq. The only similarity is that it projects our power farther around the globe. We need to be in Iraq to keep the factions from killing each other in a civil war, which is hardly the case in Japan and Germany.
Warrant-less wiretapping is illegal, wartime or not.
[quote=“CraigTPE”]
The old “bringing democracy to Iraq” is a great fall-back after all the other excuses for the invasion were proven false [/quote]
The Congressional Declaration of War listed 23 reasons for the invasion only three of which dealth with wmds. Despite three reports (Duelfer, Blair and Senate Intelligence), which all concluded that neither Blair nor Bush lied about WMD, you seem to know better. Perhaps, with your extra special insights, you should be doing work that is far above the pay grade you’re currently receiving in Taipei.
They’re negotiating as we speak with regards to the new government, are they not? Why the pessimism now that things have improved so much compared with just a few years ago?
Dude, you ARE obsessed. The position I hold is hardly a fringe position. In fact calls for investigations into Bush-era war crimes is the plurality, if not majority, position.
usatoday.com/news/washington … poll_N.htm
[ul]Even as Americans struggle with two wars and an economy in tatters, a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll finds majorities in favor of investigating some of the thorniest unfinished business from the Bush administration: Whether its tactics in the “war on terror” broke the law.
Close to two-thirds of those surveyed said there should be investigations into allegations that the Bush team used torture to interrogate terrorism suspects and its program of wiretapping U.S. citizens without getting warrants. Almost four in 10 favor criminal investigations and about a quarter want investigations without criminal charges. One-third said they want nothing to be done.[/ul]
It is you loons on the fringe who think torture, murder, and invasion are peachy keen who are in the minority, Chewy.
Hundreds of thousands murdered, another two million injured, and three million exiled. Bush will be excoriated in the history books for failure on every front, as well as bankrupting the US and gravely harming its social and political institutions.
Vorkosigan
[quote=“Vorkosigan”]
Dude, you ARE obsessed. The position I hold is hardly a fringe position. In fact calls for investigations into Bush-era war crimes is the plurality, if not majority, position. [/quote]
So, you think it is a norm position to call politicians Nazis?
[quote]http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2009-02-11-investigation-poll_N.htm
[list]Even as Americans struggle with two wars and an economy in tatters, a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll finds majorities in favor of investigating some of the thorniest unfinished business from the Bush administration: Whether its tactics in the “war on terror” broke the law.
Close to two-thirds of those surveyed said there should be investigations into allegations that the Bush team used torture to interrogate terrorism suspects and its program of wiretapping U.S. citizens without getting warrants. Almost four in 10 favor criminal investigations and about a quarter want investigations without criminal charges. One-third said they want nothing to be done [/quote]
Smells like a tabloid push poll to me. And you believe that such a poll by a tabloid is a true representation of American opinion? :roflmao: :roflmao: Just how long have you been away from the real world for? I thought real academics with tenure were supposed to be in favour of accurate statistics to back up their argument.