current American politicians that you respect

[jackflashdrive]

I'm libertarian personally, but I have tremendous respect for Ralph Nader. You should see the documentary "Ralph Nader: An unreasonable man." Yes, it's a puff-piece, but it does provide factual information to buttress the man's character a lot.

His past efforts with regard to consumer advocacy have significantly altered the consumer and employee landscape (largely for the better). Not many individuals have had such a substantial positive impact on American life, and that is quite an acomplishment (despite the fact that most people nowadays are ignorant of what he has done).

I certainly see why some people are skeptical of the man's judgment, but as for which politician is deserving of respect, admiration, and imitation, I think Nader wins hands down.

[guids]

mccain-feingold is a crock of [censored].


I really cant respect any politician nowadays. Any politician that I do respect will not be able to do much to change the landscape of the US, because of the oligarchy we have in place. Until someone has some balls, a good head on their shoulders, and priorities I agree with, actually is able to gain enough power to enact change, than I will change my tune.

[Borodog]

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What bill are you talking about?

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McCain-Feingold. Yet another in a long line of Incumbent Protection Acts.

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I think you are wrong.

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It explicitly outlaws certain kinds of political speech. Outlawing something is pretty clearly "infringing" upon it.

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Can you be more detailed please? Is giving senators free golf trips and expensive hookers a form of political speech?

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Is running television ads advocating certain positions on issues not?

Don't be ridiculous.

[Borodog]

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Campaign finance reform, done under the guise of preventing special interests and lobbyists from buying influence, actually has the effect of making it a lot easier for incumbents to stay in office and significantly decreases the threat of new candidates. Hypothetically, if you have a 3 term incumbent with name recognition and a new challenger, if they are both limited to spending 5 million dollars, it will be a lot harder for the challenger to make up for the head start the incumbent has. So when politicians go around promoting campaign finance reform and saying all the right things, they are really doing it to increase they own job security and make it harder for people to get them out of office. I am grossly oversimplifying things but that is the general effect. If you search around you can find someone who can explain it way better than I just did.

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*Any* campaign restriction favors the incumbents.

Do you see why?

[owsley]

because the incumbents are the ones writing and passing the bills, no representative wants to make a law which will result in them having less power

[amplify]

I respect John McCain because he is a badass who survived tougher conditions than I can imagine.

I respect Fred Thompson because he pulls great tail.

I respect Barak Obama because he seems to have a spirit of bipartisanship and compassion at heart.

I respect Hillary Clinton because she continues to support this horrible war in Iraq despite it possibly giving her great trouble in the primary.

I respect Bill Clinton because he is smarter than I am. Fred Thompson needs to give him some lessons in pulling tail, though.

I respect George Bush because he is obviously a man of deep conviction, though you may have concerns about the nature of those convictions.

I respect Ron Paul because he is correct about everything, but this will get him nowhere.

I respect Dennis Kucinich because his cause is so hopeless.

[kyleb]

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Can you be more detailed please? Is giving senators free golf trips and expensive hookers a form of political speech?

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Yes, actually, it is.

[BadBoyBenny]

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RON PAUL,

because he actually acts on his beliefs, rather than being a giant douchebag and voting in pork.

I would honestly forgive just about any politician for anything ever if they swore off ever voting for pork spending bills.

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Are you a supporter of Tom Coburn? I think the guy is nuts on a lot of his positions but respect that he is sincere about fighting pork.

[DannyOcean_]

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RON PAUL,

because he actually acts on his beliefs, rather than being a giant douchebag and voting in pork.

I would honestly forgive just about any politician for anything ever if they swore off ever voting for pork spending bills.

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Are you a supporter of Tom Coburn? I think the guy is nuts on a lot of his positions but respect that he is sincere about fighting pork.

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Never heard of him, but if he exists then i'm glad. Perhaps he can make the famous 'Approved by DannyOcean_" list.

[DannyOcean_]

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I'm libertarian personally, but I have tremendous respect for Ralph Nader. You should see the documentary "Ralph Nader: An unreasonable man." Yes, it's a puff-piece, but it does provide factual information to buttress the man's character a lot.

His past efforts with regard to consumer advocacy have significantly altered the consumer and employee landscape (largely for the better). Not many individuals have had such a substantial positive impact on American life, and that is quite an acomplishment (despite the fact that most people nowadays are ignorant of what he has done).

I certainly see why some people are skeptical of the man's judgment, but as for which politician is deserving of respect, admiration, and imitation, I think Nader wins hands down.

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I hate to break some unfortunate news, but Ralph Nader is not a libertarian's friend. Maybe you are saying you respect his character, but the main wants to maim and rape the free market. Screw him.