This Tuesday is Election Day in the United States, and as anyone who’s looked at the sidebar over the past six months knows, I, like Ambush Bug, Savage Dragon and Bruce Wayne, am supporting Senator Barack Obama.
Like I said, this shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone, as despite my Red-State residence, I’ve been a die-hard liberal for as long as I can remember. I agree with Obama on virtually every issue, but for those of you who are still undecided, it really comes down to three key points:
1. He Karate chopped Cobra Commander.
2. He took down MODOK singlehandedly, using only his oratory skills.
And finally, 3. He gave Yotsuba some ice cream.
So remember, folks: If you’re in America, get out and vote tomorrow. And when you do, vote Barack Obama for President!
Heck, I did early voting in my Ultra Red state, so the die has been cast for a while here.
However, if I was still somehow undecided, this would definitely put him over the top for me.
What’s this I heard about Obama palling around with Destro?
I was already going to vote Obama BEFORE I heard about the MODOK showdown.
Now I am going to vote for Obama so hard it will break the booth.
But Obama wants us to sit down at the negotiating table with Kahndaq and Qrac without preconditions!
Preconditions!
WITHOUT THEM!
MY GOD MAN
Well, now that he has the crucial Man-child who puts goofy crap on the internet vote, he’s a shoe in!
Seriously though, I can’t wait to see if you Yanks go with George Bush’s Third Term or Black Jimmy Carter.
Thanks for your endorsement of Senator Obama, Chris.
You’ve done the Republican party a tremendous favor.
Also, I’m sure he craps out rainbows. Really, I don’t know if anybody else is down with Geoff Johns’ Lantern color system, but Obama is definitely a Blue Lantern, just full of hope. As for McCain? I don’t know…is there a color for being a curmudgeon?
Seriously, I will be voting Obama. He could reveal himself to be a Skrull at this point, and he’d be better than the alternative.
I cast my ballot for BHO about three weeks ago. Early voting is the cat’s pajamas.
I’ll be so glad when this election is over, but mostly I’m just excited for Tuesday.
If Obama wins, I’m moving to Cybertron.
Registered Independent here. I don’t have a problem with people who think McCain will be bad, I have a problem with people who think Obama will be good, or any better than McCain for that matter.
He’s not going to get the troops out of Iraq, and even if he does, he’s just going to put them back in Afghanistan or send them of the Sudan in some misguided nation building exercise. Why the peaceniks like him, I’ll never know.
He supports the Telecom Amnesty bill in the name of national security, so hope you like wiretaps!
He and Biden would revive Clinton’s horrible COPS program, money that was supposed to go towards community policing but only ended up being wasted as small communities began using it to prop up unnecessary SWAT teams.
I could go on, but my point is while the Rebublicans deserve to lose, the Democrats certainly don’t deserve to win.
Sure he can take down MODOK but can he defeat MODOP (Mental Organism Destined Only for Presidency)?
Bruce Wayne may be a Democrat, but Batman is a Republican.
Apparently posting political stuff brings out the jerks. Who knew!
To be fair, most of us were jerks before the the political stuff got posted.
I could go on, but my point is while the Rebublicans deserve to lose, the Democrats certainly don’t deserve to win.
*yawn*
Oh, I’m sorry, didn’t mean to be rude, but that “both parties are equally bad” nonsense was tired when Clinton was President.
If Obama actually manages to change anything, it’ll be by accident.
Oh, I’m sorry, didn’t mean to be rude, but that “both parties are equally bad†nonsense was tired when Clinton was President.
You’re welcome to try and prove otherwise. Or you could just make pithy remarks, your choice.
Three words prove the Republicans are worse:
Supreme Court. Abortion.
Now fuck off back to whatever hole you crawled out of.
Supreme Court. Abortion.
You’re basing your argument on that?! Nevermind that the Democrats will be way worse on spending than Bush ever was, or that Democrats hardly believe in state’s rights either, or even less so than the repubs. Now go fuck yourself!
You’re basing YOUR argument on the “state’s rights” shibboleth and “spending”?
Oh, man, I thought I was getting into an argument with a real person, not a sad little Libertarian troll!
Never mind! You’re just too fucking funny to waste the time!
Here’s a picture a cute little seal pup:
http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/9183/cutepuppypicturet3505ci3.jpg
Everybody feel better?
Yeah, that’s right, I give actual reasons and I’m the troll.
Enjoy your trillion dollar deficit, asshole!
Seriously though, I can’t wait to see if you Yanks go with George Bush’s Third Term or Black Jimmy Carter.
Didn’t Jimmy Carter win a Nobel prize? I also understand he’s very respected worldwide and his presidency was – on long term – very successful?
(I’m not American, so maybe I’m looking this from the long perspective. Would just think that being a “black jimmy carter” would be a *good* thing.)
Hmm, yes, spending will be much worse under the Democrats than under Bush, who took Clinton’s $127,000,000,000 surplus and turned it into a $400,000,000,000+ deficit. Of course it doesn’t matter what the parties would spend that money on — all good South Park libertarians know that the government cannot accomplish anything useful no matter what.
Also, “states’ rights” was a tired argument even in the Antebellum period.
Anyway, Chris, Obama had my vote in the New York primary and he’ll have it again on Tuesday morning. I’m sure that will be what tips the election to him.
Didn’t Jimmy Carter win a Nobel prize?
So did Yasser Arafat. I’m not calling Carter a terrorist, just saying that it’s not really the best criteria.
I also understand he’s very respected worldwide and his presidency was – on long term – very successful?
No, not really.
“Didn’t Jimmy Carter win a Nobel prize? I also understand he’s very respected worldwide and his presidency was – on long term – very successful?”
Only in the sense that Reagan had to put the pieces of the economy back together after Carter was finished with it.
Carter got a well deserved Nobel Prize for his peace efforts once he left office. It’s fair to describe him as our greatest ex-president. As a president, however, he was a disaster.
It’s easy to have a surplus when you raid social security and medicare. Don’t forget the Congress was Republican at the time.
Oooh, I want to play, too!
Respectfully, Sparky, if you really think that the Democrats are equally as bad as Republicans, you haven’t been paying attention the last eight years. Iraq lies, corporate welfare, global warming denial, no-bid contracts, Hurricane Katrina, ANWAR, torture, extradition, Wall Street deregulation, rampant corruption and cronyism, attacking gay rights, illegal surveillance of citizens, appealing to voters’ xenophobia and racism, abstinence based sex ed, voodoo economics, unfunded education mandates, the Cuba embargo, incompetently planned and executed war, ballooning defecit, slashing veterans benefits & combat pay, Sarah Palin… I could go on and on.
State’s rights? That’s conservative code language for institutionalized bigotry. You know who were big fans of states’ rights? Slave owners. Nowadays? Christian fundamentalists and intelligent design advocates.
Spending? Under Bush, federal spending rose 20% – five times more than Clinton.
There is a HUGE difference between the two parties. No, the Democrats don’t have a lock on morality or good ideas or common sense, but the difference between them and Republicans is stark and indisputable.
Well Dave, I wasn’t denying thet the Republicans are bad, just that the Dems are any better.
As I’ve mentioned, Obama won’t do anything about Iraq, surveillance, and a Democrat congress and presidency certainly won’t help the budget any. Do you seriously believe the Democrats will stop corporate welfare?
And I think State’s rights should be important, what with the Constitution and all. Of course, the Dems never met a problem that couldn’t be approached with federal overreaction.
States rights also include the right to decide State abortion and and marriage laws, where the constitution places them.
It’s interesting how a post about Barack Obama owning MODOK (and giving ice cream, and karate chopping) apparently means “Yes, please use THIS post to make pithy comments or long essays about how detrimental my chosen candidate would be! Despite how I’ve indicated that I agree with him on pretty much everything, I’m actually very open to being politically converted based on a few paragraphs by a semi-anonymous internet commenter!”
Yeesh.
For the record, that DIPLOMACY! picture is awesome. The only thing better would be Obama punching a shark.
I think the point was not to convince Chris, but simply to express an opinion on a public forum that will be read by many people in a (perhaps vain) hope that someone else might agree.
Here’s a picture a cute little seal pup
THIS ANGERS ME!
Yay for Obama! (Not American, though. Too bad for the voting.)
Question: He can use DIPLOMACY! against MODOK but what about MODOT?
And is MODOK hovering with fart power?
“For the record, that DIPLOMACY! picture is awesome. The only thing better would be Obama punching a shark.”
The tagline for that should also be “DIPLOMACY!”
Yay! November the 4th. I can’t wait…
…because it’s the eve of Bonfire Night! Fireworks (oooh, aaah), parkin, setting Guys on fire. Marvellous.
What? It’s some election day as well? I hope that Brown fellow doesn’t get in again. Then again that Mr Cameron isn’t much better. And apparently there are other candidates as well! More than two political parties?!? Who’d have thought it! People might actually think that who they voted for would make a difference.
What? It’s the election day in the US of A, you say? Oh well… carry on.
Remember to vote for the right lizard!
Obama is so awesome, he can bring 20000 people to a rally and have them hang on his word, even when it starts pouring rain.
Then he draws his katana Hope and holds off an army of ninjas with one hand, while punching a bear with the other.
States rights also include the right to decide State abortion and and marriage laws, where the constitution places them.
States’ rights are those only not appropriated to the federal government via the Constitution, and abortion is considered by many to fall under the liberty clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and thus be federally protected. That’s really the whole point of Roe v. Wade. Similarly, the equal protection clause of the same amendment is used by proponents of federal protection of gay marriage.
Now, you can argue that the writers of the Fourteenth Amendment didn’t intend for it to protect abortion and same-sex marriage. This is called “the judicial philosophy of originalism.” The problem is that originalism as a philosophy is essentially bankrupt, depending on a combination of facetious misinterpretation of original interpretation of the purpose of the Constitution (the Founding Fathers intended it to be a “living document,” designed to change and adapt along with a mutable society) and willful disbelief in the essential intelligence of previous legislators.
Also, I’m pretty sure if the United States ever wants to regulate jetpacks if and when jetpacks ever become common, they won’t want to introduce a new Jetpacks Amendment.
I wanna get some ice cream, too.
Wow. Between yours and Colbert’s endorsements, SC is becoming a veritable BASTION of the Liberal Media(TM)!
I’m sorry, but Obama is wrong on the key issue of the day. Who can vote for a guy who can’t even get basic facts straight?
Also, “states’ rights†was a tired argument even in the Antebellum period.
Darn that federalist system the founding fathers came up with! It’s always getting in the way of Washington’s “Big Plans” for us!
Hmm, if we had more states rights, maybe your state could have refused to send troops to Iraq, or refused to participate in provisions of the Patriot act, or refused to use taxpayer dollars for a Wall Street bailout. But since we don’t, we all have to participate in nonsense the Feds come up for us. Yippee!
Also, states rights are why we don’t have RealID in every state right now. But states rights almost died when Reagan forced the 21 year old drinking age down the states throats with Fed highway money extortion – they are only now recovering.
I voted Bob Barr, but you already knew that, right?
I could go on, but my point is while the Rebublicans deserve to lose, the Democrats certainly don’t deserve to win.
They both suck so let’s quit and that will fix everything! Hooray!
If only more candidates would step up and take such a progressive stance towards MODOK… don’t they realize that by using the same old methods against they’re only creating him, they’re only creating more Mental Organisms Designed Only for Killing? (Which, awesome as it may sound creates logistical problems at the very least).
Based on her staunch stance on MODOK (she’s against him, and her track record clearly shows it), and my certainty that she could take down Cobra Commander WITH ICE CREAM SHE LATER GAVE TO SOMEONE, I propose Squirrel Girl as Obama’s new, last minute, game-changing vice president.
Sorry, Mr. Biden. Maybe you should spend less time riding the train to work, and more time producing hilarious panels of Dr. Doom covered in squirrels.
I think the point was not to convince Chris, but simply to express an opinion on a public forum that will be read by many people in a (perhaps vain) hope that someone else might agree.
Don’t you have your own website for that, Trevor?
Oh, wait, you wanted people to read it. Gotcha.
What? It’s the election day in the US of A, you say? Oh well… carry on.
Yeah, because the USA elections of course made no difference to Tony Blair, that paragon of independence and concern only for the welfare of Brits.
Hmm, if we had more states rights, maybe your state could have refused to send troops to Iraq, or refused to participate in provisions of the Patriot act, or refused to use taxpayer dollars for a Wall Street bailout. But since we don’t, we all have to participate in nonsense the Feds come up for us. Yippee!
If this were the case, we’d cease to be a Union at all. This country nearly fell apart TWICE when we had this kind of state-based governing: immediately after our independence, and… well… everyone knows the second time.
My rule is: Don’t vote for candidates who go on Letterman and say they’re BFFs with Hitler-adoring terrorist wannabes.
Shorter me: Don’t vote for Republicans.
Diplomacy! rocks. Where did you get the Obama figure?
I’ve heard that Batman planned, at one point, on using nunchucks made out of twin Barack Obamas. But Superman pointed out that if he used those even once, there’d never be any crime to fight ever again, and Batman would have nothing to do with his Friday nights.
Yeah, because the USA elections of course made no difference to Tony Blair,.
I don’t know whether it made a difference to Tony Blair – you’d have to ask him. Of course, he’s no longer our PM so the outcome of this election probably won’t (or maybe it will?) make a difference to him. Who knows?
All I know is that folk are taking scenes of various plastic toys very seriously indeed. :)
Best presidential endorsement since these ones: http://everydayislikewednesday.blogspot.com/search/label/super-endorsements
I won’t get into the whole internet ranty thing because it is probably the most pointless thing ever. I doubt that anyone here will convince anyone else, and on the off chance that someone is reading these comments and undecided, this probably won’t help them. So let’s just go with Obama defeating a MODOK with his mutant oratory powers being the most awesome thing ever and be happy.
I’m voting for Barack Obama because he’s black and ninjas wear black, so Barack Obama is a ninja and ninjas are awesome and will protect our nation best from the imminent threat of the hordes of pirates and zombies just outside our borders. Don’t you want a ninja president?
Hey, it makes about as much sense as voting for McCain/Palin because they’re mavericks.
Oh, and Shon, you do read this blog, don’t you?
Now I’m pretty sure I am just going to take a handful of sleeping pills and skip the next few days.
Excellent, the Psycho Pirate’s nw “Political Outrage” button is working exactly as planned. Now nobody will notice when DOOM moves in and conquers your miserable little country!
ALL HAIL DOCTOR DOOM! LATVERIAN AMERICA WELCOMES YOU!
I still want to vote Luthor!!
Chris, this post of yours has more content and heart than most political ads. And those are paid for. Of COURSE it’s controversial!
I really need to stop reading comments.
As persuasive as your arguments are, Chris, I’m still voting for Etrigan. Why settle for the lesser evil?
Why am I voting for Obama? Simple:
Tony Stark: OUT.
Nick Fury: BACK IN.
—-
Don’t Yield! Back S.H.I.E.L.D.!
I just never thought that I’d live to see Barack Obama causing MODOK to have an anal prolapse through the power of diplomacy.
TEH INTERNSTE FOR TEH WIN!!!!elevelty!
I hate this notion that the Nobel Peace Prize is worthless because it was once given to Arafat.
PEACE IN MIDDLE EAST FOREVVVVAHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
JIMMY (and Arafat, bless his soul, and the Gush Shalom and every good Israeli and Palestinian ever) ROCKS!!!!!!!!
FUCK YOU HAMAS AND ZIONISTS AND FUCKTARDS OF ALL KINDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I heard it was almost given to Dubya, of all people. If that came to pass, it would have been truly worthless.
Wow, Chris Sims, Dave Campbell, kalinara and mightygodking.
Add Aquaman, Green Lantern and the Flash and you’ll have Grant Morrison’s JLA of comic bloggers.
Don’t you have your own website for that, Trevor?
Oh, wait, you wanted people to read it. Gotcha.
I do, Chris, but you can’t really complain about a discussion after you post a blatantly political message.
Oh, I see! That was another one of your “jokes”, wasn’t it? It’s hard to tell with your writing, it’s just so obtuse. (Hi-yo!)
If you really don’t want to vote for the lesser evil, ghostman, you have to Vote Cthulhu!
Cthulhu, the choice of those who wished Cheney was on the ballot.
Gah. At least you don’t live in California where we have to deal with all this Prop. 8 nonsense. $30 million so bigots can try to constitutionalize discrimination and $30 million to fight them. What a waste.
Well, you’ve posted your message now, Trevor, so don’t let the door hit you in the arse on your way over to WorldNetDaily.
Stop the madness! I’m moving to Latveria RIGHT NOW.
So:
Castlevania II
Tribbles
Centaurs
Cousin-fucking
Scans_daily
All horrible things that will be defended in the ISB’s comments section.
I eagerly anticipate what indefensible thing Chris will find fans of next.
Can we add Republicans to this list?
MSJ Said:
And is MODOK hovering with fart power?
MODOK’s flatulence powers are well documented.
I think the last eight years have been plenty proof that yes, it does matter who’s in the White House. And at this point I just don’t think the Republican Party can be trusted. They need to spend a while in the wilderness if they’re ever going to be reasonably sane again, and a McCain/Palin victory would, at best, delay that.
Obama won’t raise the dead, but he’ll make things a little better.
Re: Carter- a major problem Jimmy Carter faced in office was that he was a true “outsider” and actually had a lot of conflict with others of his own party. The Democrats weren’t really that solidly behind him, so he had trouble getting things done. Which is why he’s accomplished much more outside the office.
Sorry, Chris, no can do. Obama would try to take away Hex’s guns (unsuccessfully of course)
There’s an election going on in the republic to our south? Really? But things have been so quiet…you’d think the media would report on these things.
And is this election only between 2 parties? How can you have a good election between 2 parties? Where’s the fun in that? Doesn’t it just devolve into slurs of who’s stupider? Oh wait, you just had 8 years of proving that you’ll elect the village idiot to the highest office….
That was one funny post and some great pics! Let’s hope for the best tomorrow!
Huh. Apparently “Doodles McDoodles” had so much rage that he had to pretend to be “Scrooge McDuck” just to express it.
Sorry, Chris, no can do. Obama would try to take away Hex’s guns (unsuccessfully of course)
I sincerely hope you’re planning on writing in Ulysses S. Grant. I know he was a Northerner, but surely Jonah wouldn’t vote for Horace Greeley!
Ooh. Busted.
Bookrats has the right idea. Me? I’ll see you guys on Wednesday. Hope everything turns out okay, because if the USA screws this up most of the rest of the world will pay the price. No pressure.
Whatever you do, don’t vote Nurglon (r):
Just vote. It’s the only legal way to cancel out your neighbours.
I was undecided–leaning towards A.I.M.–but that MODOK win has me convinced. Kung-Fu Grip Obama is my man.
And by the way: don’t feed the trolls; hug them.
Scrooge McDuck, Sparky McRockit,
Um, I think the rule is that you automatically lose all Internet arguments in a forfeit by not using your real name.
And if your parents, the McDucks and McRockits, did name you Scrooge and Sparky repsectively then, well, I’m sorry to hear it.
One more day and this garbage will be over for another four years.
DAVE LETTERMAN/IRA GLASS ’08 – Change you can believe in!
Huh, Trevor’s been busy here too. I think five different names in one thread has to be some sort of record.
I refuse to vote until Rakim’s declaration that Eric B. is President is recognized.
I know who I’m voting for:
http://community.livejournal.com/scans_daily/6528192.html
Prez: Because your allegory should never be subtle.
Chris,
Does that mean you’ve got IP logging turned on? Can you tell us playing the home game which 5 commenters are Trevor’s sock puppets?
Huh, Trevor’s been busy here too. I think five different names in one thread has to be some sort of record.
Chris, if you honestly think that I’m willing to contribute more to a polictical discussion on a comic blog beyond “Black Jimmy Carter”, then you overestimate my initiative.
Besides, If I was going to fake it, I’d use the MST3K names for David Ryder.
Can you tell us playing the home game which 5 commenters are Trevor’s sock puppets?
Sure. Trevor (except for that last one), Sparky McRockit, Egads, Somebody Else, Scudsy and RNC were all from the same source.
You guys think this is bad? Chris’s first draft included Lego Short Round holding a John McCain bobblehead in a tiger cage.
Hey now, Chris, be fair. Maybe Trevor has 5 friends who share his computer and his political views. Surely there are at least 6 people on Earth who still think that Democrats are just as bad as Republicans, despite evidence to the contrary.
Dave, I’ve got a hard enough time believing he has five friends period.
We’ll be here all night, folks! Try the buffet, it’s wonderful.
Having read through all the comments, I just want to say- number 28 has convinced me never to pick a fight with Dave Campbell. The man doesn’t fuck about. :-P
Hey, Dave. Your “Six people on Earth” comment reminded me of that Saturday Night Live skit where they were searching a jury pool for OJ’s robbery trial by interviewing people who never heard of the 90’s OJ trial. They included a caveman recently unfrozen from ice, an amnesiac, a woman who only lived in the woods with wolves, a space alien, etc.
And Ley, I sympathize with you Californians having to deal with Proposition Hate. I can’t believe it’s gotten that much traction there of all places. Hope you guys strike it down to the ignominious defeat it deserves. Here’s a clue: When a proposed amendment involves TAKING AWAY people’s rights, it doesn’t deserve to pass, period.
Three words: John Liefeld McCain.
Yeah. Think about that.
Just moved from Ohio to Red State south of the Mason-Dixon. I got in one last absentee and made it a good one.
Go Obama
@Edward Liu Thanks for the link. What is funny is I actually haven’t seen that post at all. I would have remembered that weird Black Terror picture. September was such an awful work month.
Well, I’m pro-Cobra, so I’m voting for Obama.
Sure, he karate chopped the Commander, but given his history…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54yNit5n5F0
You have to figure that in his first budget Obama WILL be funding the Weather Dominator.
Yes, we can. Co-BRA!!!!!!!!
“Dave, I’ve got a hard enough time believing he has five friends period.”
Maybe he lives on some kind of compound. I understand this was quite common for American conservatives during the Clinton years. He’s not using fake names, he’s just old school.
Well, my only comment will be on state’s rights. While it is true that state’s rights has been used tp justify some ugly legislation in the past, it’s a bulwark for putting to much power into a centralized entity. Like anything, it has a potential for good as well as evil.
For instance, in my town there is a proposed amendment to rewrite the city’s charter to specify that the city can only protect the rights of groups of people identified in the state’s civil rights ordinances. Not only will this revoke the city’s non-discrimination clauses for homosexuals, it will also deny housing rights set up for veterans and students and future discrimination against genetic health profiles, obesity, and the like, unless it is voted on as a state-wide constitutional amendment.
Our town is giving up a right for self-determination and an area of legislation that was within its purview to a larger group – and given this state’s most likely vote tomorrow to ban same-sex marriage, I think it will be pretty hard to see that being codified into the civil rights of the state any time soon.
MODOK’s legs in “Diplomacy!” are so perfectly positioned for the blast; it makes Obama’s DIPLOMACY that much stronger. I agree with Kalinara #31 — & at #103 it’s just about time.
I’m going to make this really simple for you all.
It is agreed that Batman is the greatest in all things, yes? What Batman wants and believes is obviously the greatest possible combination of good and awesome, yes?
Batman believes that guns are a bad thing.
The NRA – a staunchly Republican organization – are in favor of weaker gun laws and easier access to guns.
Clearly, Batman would not support any candidate who supported the NRA. Therefore, Batman would not support most Republican candidates for any office.
It seems likely then that Batman, faced with the prospect of an unacceptable candidate assuming office, would use his vote (and, quite possibly, influence and fortune as Bruce Wayne) to support whoever was most likely to defeat the unacceptable candidate. In this – as in most cases – the Democratic challenger.
Therefore, all other things being equal, Batman is a Democrat and therefore would support Barack Obama. :)
Ahhh, But Starman, you make the assumption that Batman is a one issue candidate. Maybe The Caped Crusader is a big “Pro-Life” advocate or a death penalty fan.
I’m playing Devil’s advocate here because I do guns are probably Batman’s biggest political concern if he had to boil it down.
On the other hand, the anti-gun stance coming from a guy who hurls razor-sharp, exploding boomerangs (not to mention car batteries) at poorly-educated disenfranchised hoods is pretty hard to swallow.
I’d love to see Batman “accidentally” killing thugs right and left with his so-called non-lethal tactics. You know, not every crook whose head hits the hard concrete is gonna get up again. Now THAT would be “realism”.
Sorry, got a bit tangental there. Lots of psychic energy floating around today…
-Citizen Scribbler
Chris, while I respectfully disagree with you, I find it great that you have found a candidate you support and one that can karate chop terrorist organizations (though one wonders how diplomacy works with giant floating cyborgs designed only for killing).
Personally I’m still hoping for Zod to sweep the election, followed by his inauguration being disrupted by the arrival of the team-up of Optimus Prime and Mr. T.
Obama won’t raise the dead[…]
I’m very glad to hear that. Enough of those fucking Marvel Zombies…
I don’t really see Batman as pro-death penalty. As we all know, Batman’s stated philosophy is, “I don’t kill.” Of course, in application, it involves throwing lit torches into kegs of blasting powder, forcing cop cars off the road, and leaving people to die in horrific subway accidents, but it’s the principle that counts.
Some of you may have voted for BHO, but I voted for BTO. You ain’t seen nothin’ yet!
Wait – this isn’t Kris’s Indivisible Super Rock?
First term senator with zero relevant experience and a history of radical religious fanaticism (which he now denies, of course) who wants to make us a socialist nation with his “redistribution of wealth” ideas, or the lifetime dirty politician who will probably croak 6 months into office leaving us with an Alaskan beauty pageant queen as President.
Hmm…
Yeah, we’re screwed either way. Go USA!
I find it interesting that people keep bringing up McCain’s age and how he would die within a few months.
I also recall similar concerns about Cheney, what with his history of heart attacks. And yet he is still alive. My point being the man is rich and can afford a very high standard of health care, and should he become President, he’ll have the best doctors available to him in the world. I highly doubt that if elected he’ll die in office.
First term senator with zero relevant experience and a history of radical religious fanaticism (which he now denies, of course) who wants to make us a socialist nation with his “redistribution of wealth†ideas, …
Hey, psst, you know who else thought the rich should pay higher taxes? Adam Smith!
OH SNAP!
(And which religious fanaticism? The Muslim fanaticism or the Christian fanaticism? Or is he so sinister that he’s a FANATICAL CHRISTOMUSLIM! OMG!) :)
On the McCain age thing, I remember people making the same argument about Bob Dole back in 1996, namely, that he might not last out even one term. I saw Dole on TV talking about this campaign–12 years later, and 4 years after his second term would have ended if he’d been elected.
Just recall that McCain’s mother is still alive and was running around the country campaigning for him. And when, during the primaries, Chuck Norris, a Huckabee supporter, suggested McCain was too old, Mama McCain implied she’d slug Norris if she met him. That’s got to be better than punching a bear.
The current administration refused to talk to MODOK-testing AIM because they’re a terrorist organization.
A few months later, we had reports that not only AIM had MODOK, but an anti-human red dinosaur had acquired a baby MODOK.
Only Obama has pledged to stop the proliferation of MODOKs. With DIPLOMACY!
I also recall similar concerns about Cheney, what with his history of heart attacks. And yet he is still alive.
Well, he’s running on Pure Evil.
(A green source of power, BTW.)
I never thought that I would live to see this day
Are you sure you have VA? Or are you really a skeleton?
[quote]I also recall similar concerns about Cheney, what with his history of heart attacks. And yet he is still alive.[/quote]
He’s more machine than man, twisted and evil.
What’s startling is that conservatives should be downright upset at Republicans. These are a group of people that are traditionally small government, for reduced spending, and don’t go to war, as well as have been known (at least used to be known) as a dignified and educated group.
Today they spend more than the Democrats, pick any fight possible, believe that they’re the policemen of the world, and make up some of the least intelligent people in the country.
I agree with David Campbell on much of what he said, but I think one thing should be noted. People are not bad for being conservative OR liberal. Corruption and ignorance happens everywhere and anywhere. In the past 8 years, the bad people happened to be Republicans (most likely because of so much power to their heads). The country had been run to the ground by irrational, illogical, and unintelligent fools. Hopefully the Democrats will be smarter (heck, if Obama can run this effective a campaign, I’m confident he’ll make good decisions, even if they don’t end up being popular).
I’ve really only got one rule:
If you feel the need to dirty my comic-related reading with your politics, I feel the need go away and stop supporting you and your site.
I’m not stopping you.
Oh no, somebody peed in Harpo’s comic blog Wheaties.
I’d like to volunteer to take Harpo’s place as site supporter and Chris supporter. Please, dirty me with your politics!
How will Chris ever get by without his support? His valuable contributions of… um…
PS — I’m not the other Jamie up there. Charlatan! Jackanape!
People are not bad for being conservative OR liberal.
Dave Park speaks the truth. I may not agree with true small govt conservatives, but you have to respect people for living by their principles.
Not such a fan of rabid, hateful social conservatives or incompetent big-spending neocon manifest destiny imperialist chickenhawk crooks, who have really dragged the conservative movement into the mud. I sincerely hope that we can put this sad chapter in American history behind us all and find some sort of common ground. I think a little humility and a genuine dialogue between liberals and conservatives would go a long way right now. Schadenfreude is fun and all, but unless everyone gets a seat at the Big Dinner Table Called America, we’re going to just piss away this golden opportunity. A golden shower of failure, if you will.
I’m Pollyana and I approve this message.
“I sincerely hope that we can put this sad chapter in American history behind us all and find some sort of common ground.”
What’s funny is that, as bad as you think it now, this is not the low point of our Democracy, nor will our grandchildren’s history books see it as such. If the growing spate of articles is to be believed, Bush eventually faces vindication if Iraq becomes a stable democracy (10:1 odds); his tax cuts for the “middle class” remain, even if under a different legislative coding; and Obama adopts and adapts his “No Child Left Behind” to a better, working act. Among other legacy issues.
The oppression of our civil liberties these past seven years hasn’t been bad…or existent…at all. Nothing compared to the World War years, Civil War era or earlier, when the Alien and Sedition Acts were being passed. You, the average citizen, probably didn’t have your phones tapped or your bank account rifled through. Our newspapers, if anything, became more critical of government without any negative, censoring recourse.
Many of us got worked up to a fine lather these last seven years, but nothing bad really happened. The 1984 world never came to be; terrorists never attacked our native shores again. Newspapers and journalism of all kinds is freer and more able to spout than ever. The Internet is still a (largely) tax-free zone. Abortion, despite the conservative majority on the bench, hasn’t been outlawed – because Laura Bush is pro-choice and W. doesn’t really care!
People, weight the last seven years with the previous hundreds in our history. Chill out a little. Accept Obama if you haven’t already; stop beating on Republicans. Try to realize most of us want the same thing, but just have different methods of getting there.
-Hooper
Many of us got worked up to a fine lather these last seven years, but nothing bad really happened.
Oh, I don’t know, I’d say that other countries dumping their political prisoners on us to detain and torture in an offshore holding facility where they’re denied basic rights is pretty bad. Sure, it didn’t happen to me, the average citizen, but I tend to care about that sort of thing even when it’s not directly interrupting 30 Rock.
Let’s also think of Katrina, huh?
Or Kyoto. Or a VP claiming he was not, actually, answerable to anyone at all. Or boneheaded appointment after boneheaded appointment. Or politically-motivated firings in the DoJ.
Or two wars, one of which was bullshit from the start and has resulted in countless hundreds of thousands dead and an entire region in turmoil. And that war, used as a blanket excuse for a severe infringement of civil liberties.
But hey, none of that happened to me PERSONALLY, so no big deal!
I would dearly love Hooper to say that to the grieving families of some dead soldiers.
Oh hey, remember when Bush wanted to privatize social security and put it in the stock market? That SURE would have turned out well!
God, what a stupid thing to say.
We face a difficult decision about what to do with enemy combatants, as they’re termed, and I don’t doubt there are a number of illegaly detained invididuals who, in the course of a normal war and its cessation, would’ve been released by now. Unfortunately, we’ve stumbled as often as we’ve walked.
***
1. Partial privatization Social Security isn’t wrong or bad. In fact, it can be great, especially since we’re talking about young workers using small amounts of their overal SS withholdings. It’s not the wholesale selling of the Social Security Adiminstration to Wall Street. And since it’s optional, there is no risk for anyone that doesn’t make the choice, understanding the negative returns possible.
2. Kyoto is/was terribly flawed. There are better ways to get to its end result (but I guess that’s the point of our disagreement).
3. It seems like for every military family that comes out against Iraq, there are those for it. And didn’t a majority of military personnel/families/retirees vote for McCain, obviously hawkish as he voted for Iraq and pushed the surge, and not the anti-war candidate? From the soldiers who’ve returned home, the first things out of their mouth are what they built, not who they killed. And yeah, not all returned home; that is the unfortunate consequence of war. But what I’m getting, from those who served, is a sense of participating in something positive, long-term, for both countries.
But you know what? Instead of getting all this off our chest, maybe we should focus on getting some stuff ON it:
http://thedenofmystery.blogspot.com/2008/11/audacity-of-joke.html
All I can say is, thanks for not lowering the discussion by basically cursing me out.
-Hooper
1. It is, however, terribly flawed (and moronically stupid), and was rejected soundly, as it should be.
2. I guess that makes Bush policies like tax breaks for corporations who buy SUVs for their fleet OK, then!
3. That doesn’t make those soldiers alive again, and it sure as hell doesn’t make the hundreds of thousands of dead Iraqi civilians alive again. Please don’t play the “no harm no foul” card when mass graves are a sad reality. He lied about the war, and there is no good reason for us to be there or for those people to be dead.
There is no justification for that. None.
4. And again, Katrina.
There’s no nobility in ignoring the many, grievous sins of the past. You know that old saw about learning from history so we don’t repeat it? That’s what this is.
And, what do you know, 250,000 jobs lost in October.
But that doesn’t affect me personally, so why should I care…
We’re going to differ on the Iraq war. I think it was inevitable we were going to fight; it was just a matter of when. Remember, regime change as a foreign policy for Iraq existed under Clinton.
SS reform was flawed, but also misunderstood and vilified by anti-Wall Street types and those who get support from seniors by scaring them into thinking big bad Republicans are going to throw their retirement income into Enron and WorldCom.
Presidents can’t stop hurricanes. It happened, people were dumb and stayed, and that’s that. Bush mismanaged the timetable of the initial response, but funds and support still came, and it was no trickle.
Corporate tax cuts affect every corporation, not just gas-guzzler-producing car companies or Big Oil. Let’s remember that cuts in corporate taxes lowers their built-in cost per item at every step in the production process. I’d love to see corporate taxes slashed even more.
And blaming job loss on Bush is like crediting the tech boom to Clinton. Both happened under their watches, but neither were responsible. The current financial situation stems from as much the decision to get rid of a gold standard as it does mortage legislation under Clinton, inaction under Bush, stonewalling by Congressional Democrats and greed on the part of 1) Wall Street and 2) everyone else. Looking at the the US automobile industry, it’s been crashing slowly for 30 years, not one or two or eight. Jobs have been running overseas to better tax havens where wage cost is lower (but then again, cost of living is lower) for well over a decade (when was the first time an Indian answered your customer service call?).
The decline in the economy, or the underlying forces that drive it, began decades ago. It’s a complicated situation that not only do few understand, but few choose to understand. By blaming a Party, a Congress, a President – (D) or (R) – one is closing their eyes to that very complexity and pretending the wave of a magic wand can fix everything. Tax cuts for Oil and the Wealthy (and all other corporations and every other household) didn’t get us here. Barney Frank’s allegience to Fannie Mae was not the root cause of their collapse or the lack of regulation. Clinton signing laws or Bush not pushing them hard enough only altered the flow of events slightly. We’ve been riding a sub-surface wave of economic reckoning for a long time. It’s the very ignorance of our mistakes, our history, that got us here – not just the last few years’ worth.
-Hooper
Ahh, my old friends the “Not as bad as it COULD be” argument and the “it would’ve happened anyway” argument.
Because anyone who has a broken leg will cease to feel the pain as soon as it’s pointed out he’s not dead.
And when a little girl dies in a fire, her parents sure feel better when you tell them that the fire would’ve happened eventually in a few years. Because what are a few years in the life of a little girl or even the possibility of NOT HAVING BEEN IN THE HOUSE?
Please note that that last paragraph is the precise thing that the mother of one of those dead soldiers would be reading into your thoughts on the Iraq war.
Those soldiers might not have died. This war might not have been fought for a decade hence. I say “inevitable,” but I do not follow it with “…to start in March of 2003 and continue to slog on into 2009….”
I’d hope the parents of those 4k+ dead soldiers would find solace in the positive change they’ve brought to Iraq and the potential for great societal realignment that a generation ago would’ve been impossible for an Iraqi to consider. I’d hope that, but I’d know it wouldn’t be the case with every grieving parent. Some – many, possibly – would say as you do that if the war took place in a few years, their boy might still be alive, and why did he die anyway? For our security? For oil? For brown people we don’t even care about?
How do we justify war, where we know the prime of our country will die, as with theirs, along with an indeterminate number of civilians and “non-combatants?” We try to link it to a cause worth fighting for, something intangible and beyond ourselves. There is no doubt we’ve failed throughout history to do this, including the run-up to this war. But that’s not to say we should never have gone in; just that we should’ve done it better.
I think I’d agree with you, though, were this about World War I, where far more US soldiers died for a truly pointless cause. For no cause at all, really, just another senseless European ground war that would’ve ended, by all accounts, in 1918 regardless of our involvement. 117,465 of our soldiers died for that farce, by far a more terrible number and with no justification. None. It was not our war.
History will weigh this war against its eventual close and ramifications to Iraq, the US, our military and foreign intervention.
-Hooper
Man, Hooper. I liked you so much better when you were doing car stunts with Sally Field.
Hooper –
We have had a government that tried to openly ignore habeas corpus, and regularly used torture. As bad as some of the rough spots in American history are, I think those two alone set a new low.
I don’t agree with Obama on every issue. But he is the first politician in my lifetime that I actually respect personally – I honestly believe that he is a good man. I believe that even on the issues where I strongly disagree with him, he has done his homework, thought through the issue, and is not just making a knee-jerk reaction. I believe that he is willing to listen to people who disagree with him, and that he is willing to take stands for what he believes even when it is not popular.
I think that many of his supporters expect too much from him – he’s not a Messiah, he’s just a politician. So I’m always a little uncomfortable with the emphasis on “hope” that surrounded his campaign. But given the sad state of our economy, the way we’ve become bogged down in two open-ended wars, and the decline of America’s moral authority in the world, I have to admit that it does give me hope to have this man in the Oval Office next. I don’t expect miracles, but I am convinced that he will do a better job there than McCain would.
Chris, I should never have gotten in that rocket car.
***
I consider any time with slavery or institutionalized segregation lower points in our history than waterboarding potential enemy combatants. Gitmo & et al might be the current moral failing of the country, but our everlasting regret was the enforcement through law, society or cowardice of white supremacy until the Civil Rights Act.
Electing Obama is a watershed moment that no one can ignore, much less overplay or fail to underscore enough.
He’s not the end-all, but his is such a decent person. Nebulous politically, he is still fresh air for us all. I hope you don’t take some of my views about the past eight years as indication of some anger or discontent with the next four.
-Hooper
Kevin Lowery-
You seems unaware that national guard troops answer to the governor of the state in which they are based – they are in fact a militia of that state. The governors or each state consent to allow the Feds to grab them and throw them into Iraq. A state government could refuse to allow this – I am sure the president could try to force this issue but its hardly clear that it would succeed. The union is based upon the consent of the states, not the other way around. You seem to favor a system of strong central government that tramples over the rights of its members, as long as it implements what you want it to. The constitution (or at least the Jeffersonian interpretation that I favor) acts as a guide to protect its members from a tyranny of the majority. Not that I’m saying this will happen under Mr. Obama, but allowing a bit more federalism into the system is not going to lead to a civil war – it’s not in the member states best interest to do so. Why would it be?