The 2012 "Election" thread

[JackRiddler]

You really should stop using this girl as a prop. You have no idea who she is, or what she thinks.

[thatsmystory]

Seriously, ninakat, does your memory not extend back further than 2004?

You can cite numbers of deaths all you want, and Bush will be the "winner." What you conveniently omitted from your argument was the policies and escalation of policies that CREATE DEATH AND DESTRUCTION. That's where Obama's worse, by a long shot. And that's what matters in the long run. His legacy is DEATH and MORAL DEPRAVITY. He has continued Bush's policies and increased the likelihood for MORE wars and MORE humanitarian atrocities. But go ahead, spend your time looking at published charts and graphs that make Obama look like he deserved the Nobel Peace Prize, if it makes you feel better. Jesus.

Ugh...in regard to the drone program we are talking about deliberative panels. Intelligence specialists poring over actionable intel. Rumor has it that a deliberative panel missed a tee time to have one extra look at the intel. That is public service at its finest.

All the naysayers act like it's weird for a bunch of self serving political types to sit around eating donuts while they decide who to murder based on sketchy agenda driven intel. The criticism is bizarre.

[ninakat]

Freedom Rider: Not Voting for Obama
by BAR editor and senior columnist Margaret Kimberley
Wed, 10/24/2012

Two weeks before Election Day, most polling indicates that Barack Obama has sufficient support to win an electoral college victory. If the past four years are any indication, that victory will do little to help the millions of people who put Obama in office. His claims of success are either dubious or obviously harmful for people in this country and around the world.

The health care plan is a great unknown, not the Medicare for all that we need, but a bail out of the private insurance companies who have created the health care crisis in the first place. The war in Iraq which Obama brags about ending would have ended no matter who was in office because Bush signed an agreement mandating the departure of most combat troops. Obama has used the Federal Reserve to bail out the banks to the tune of 16 trillion dollars.

The three presidential debates between Obama and Mitt Romney showed more agreement than disagreement. Obama proclaimed that he and Romney probably agreed about Social Security, that is to say, both think it should be on the budgetary chopping block. Romney was forced to say during the third debate on foreign policy that he agreed with the president on crushing the Iranian economy or killing people with drones or thousands of Syrians in an effort to over throw their president.

Given this degree of collusion, why would it be so terrible if Obama lost? His supporters argue that the end is near if Mitt Romney is inaugurated in January 2013. They point out that he would overturn Roe v. Wade and appoint conservatives to the federal judiciary. He has said that he will repeal the Obama health care plan, but the benefits of “Obamacare” are unknown and it isn‘t clear what sort of repeal Romney would enact when he pushed through a nearly identical plan in Massachusetts.

As we have pointed out in Black Agenda Report, it is a lack of progressive activism which has precipitated this crisis. In the absence of strong and coordinated opposition to Democratic Party duplicity, progressives meekly go along with whatever bad deals are presented to them and then recoil in fear every four years when they are told that the barbarians are at the gate. Republicans only help make the case for this complicity with openly racist and misogynistic policies.

Now that the White House has publicly announced a continuation of its kill list program, complete with an Orwellian term “disposition matrix” used to justify murder, it is time to question all of the assumptions which lead us to the polls and guide us how to vote. It is obvious that Obama and the Democrats are not the lesser of two evils. They are just the more effective evil, having made their evil more palatable to their supporters. The ever-rightward moving shift of the Democrats has brought us to this juncture, where we are told to fear Republicans who are more radical on social issues precisely because the Democrats have copied them in every other aspect. If Democrats also believe in wars of aggression and bail outs and subservience to finance capital, Republicans are only left with abortion and gay marriage as issues to differentiate themselves.

Progressives are protecting less and less with each election cycle. The winner-take-all electoral system makes other parties irrelevant and relegates them to spoiler status, but the argument against supporting them is weaker as the system deteriorates. The argument that voting changes nothing for the average person is a valid one, and the sight of Romney and Obama declaring agreement on the issues of empire and finance makes that point quite clearly.

We are left with a plea to honor the memories of those who sacrificed, sometimes with their lives, during the freedom struggles of the 1960s. But those people fought and died for full citizenship rights, of which voting was just a part. No one today should worry about dishonoring or dismissing their sacrifice by refusing to take part in the farce that national elections have now become.

It is acceptable not to vote at all, or to vote for someone other than Barack Obama. Some who claim to be leftists argue against particular Obama policies only to conclude at election time that he should be elected anyway. These people undercut their own arguments and make a mockery of themselves. Their pleas to stop surveillance or drone assassinations or the destruction of nations such as Libya and Syria become hollow because they refuse to acknowledge the corruption that is an integral part of the system.

Arguing for the re-election of a person who so clearly is a danger to the nation and to the world is at best illogical, and at worst is immoral. The time for defending tiny victories should end. Barack Obama and the Democrats should know that their critics mean business, and will cease supporting them. Racist statements from right wing pundits and bizarre statements about rape and pregnancy shouldn’t fool anyone into supporting policies that are wrong for this country and for the world.

On November 6th it is perfectly acceptable, morally right, and politically principled to boycott the election or to vote for a party other than the Democrats. Hand wringing about a Romney victory is mostly phony, and geared to keep progressives silent in the face of each new assault. Obama may win after all, but it shouldn’t be because people who claim to be on the left are complicit and a party to his wrongdoing.

[compared2what?]

Seriously, ninakat, does your memory not extend back further than 2004?

You can cite numbers of deaths all you want, and Bush will be the "winner."

They're not numbers to me. They're innocent dead people.

What you conveniently omitted from your argument was the policies and escalation of policies that CREATE DEATH AND DESTRUCTION.

No. I did not omit that. Conveniently or otherwise. I fucking posted a chart showing that Obama stepped up the drone strikes, and also mentioned that he had for good measure. Additionally, I mentioned that deaths in Afghanistan have increased year over year under his administration.

Both of those figures are the result of Obama's policies. Specifically, his policies regarding the two distastrous wars he inherited from Bush.

That's where Obama's worse, by a long shot.

Oh, really.

WORSE HOW?

And that's what matters in the long run. His legacy is DEATH and MORAL DEPRAVITY. He has continued Bush's policies and increased the likelihood for MORE wars and MORE humanitarian atrocities.

Less rhetoric, more evidence please.

But go ahead, spend your time looking at published charts and graphs that make Obama look like he deserved the Nobel Peace Prize, if it makes you feel better. Jesus.

ninakat, CAN YOU EVEN READ?

I can't stand the fucking guy. But I'm not crazy about fact-free, emotionally overcharged propaganda that encourages people to feel good about dismissing the murder of more than a hundred thousand ordinary people as mere "numbers," either.

Speaking of things that fucking increase the likelihood for MORE wars and MORE humanitarian atrocities. I mean, how do you seriously fucking propose to decrease them when you can't be bothered to remember or protest the ones that get in the way of your winning a political argument? That doesn't look too good on a saintly crusader for lives lost in foreign wars like yourself.

Bottom line: Obama's policies are the same or worse than Bush's, which ultimately leads to death, destruction, poverty, despair out here in the real world which you inhabit as well.

At this point, I'd be surprised to learn that you knew what the policies of either actually were.

You're coming across as a desperate Obamapologist, with statements like this: "So if -you focus exclusively on those metrics, there's some risk that Obama will look like a worse war criminal than Bush. But unless you do absolutely no thinking for yourself and/or exist in a state of near amnesia, it's pretty minimal. Because there's really no comparison." Give it time, honey.

You really don't give a damn for those poor lost souls when their deaths don't answer a personal need of yours, do you?

I'm sorry about that.

[compared2what?]

[

But go ahead, spend your time looking at published charts and graphs that make Obama look like he deserved the Nobel Peace Prize, if it makes you feel better. Jesus.

ninakat, CAN YOU EVEN READ?

I can't stand the fucking guy. But I'm not crazy about fact-free, emotionally overcharged propaganda that encourages people to feel good about dismissing the murder of more than a hundred thousand ordinary people as mere "numbers," either.

Also just to state the obvious, since it seems to have gone over your head:

THOSE CHARTS DIDN"T MAKE OBAMA LOOK LIKE ANYTHING. THEY SHOWED THE DEATHS OF CIVILIANS IN U.S. WARS OVER THE LAST DECADE.

I thought you had some strong feelings on the matter. My mistake.

________

On edit: Sorry. But I really can't believe you looked at the death tolls I posted and thought, "Oh, well, she's just posting numbers because she lo-o-0-oves OBAMA."

What's the matter with you?

I posted those charts because I"M OPPOSED TO MASS MURDER.

[compared2what?]

Is there anything wrong with "Bush Lite," ffs? It would be accurate, at least.

"Worse than Bush" is just wrong. And an insult to the dead. And an invitation for history to repeat itself.

Other than that, I have no problem with it.

[peartreed]

My perspective as your frozen neighbor to the North is as clear and cold as the icicle of fear your upcoming election is offering up to all outside observers unable to vote but who will be seriously affected by the outcome either way.

Our perilously poisoned planet has become too small and vulnerable for internecine war and destruction while your influence as a warmonger nation and capitalist privateer has grown too large and intimidating to be comfortably accommodated even upon your own tumultuous turf.

You remain one presidential heartbeat away from pressing the global self-destruct nuclear button and blowing all of us to Hell simply because your megalomaniacal man in the Oval Office might feel divinely so directed or inspired.

And it is that very sense of God-given righteousness, that freedom, that is your fundamental evil.

While I’m related to many of you who I love as brothers, much as our nations have allied in pan-continental close proximity across the world’s largest undefended border, we have become as dysfunctional as a global family in direct proportion to your country’s passion and prime directive rallying cry for so-called “freedom”.

That has become nothing more than a selfish calling to not respect nor comply with the rights, rules, regulations and resources of other countries and people, let alone your own outsiders. Your patriotic fervor over the point is your license to profit, to manipulate, overpower and exploit everyone else everywhere, institutionally, commercially and morally at all levels of global society, and to feel justified doing so. When that fails to persuade, historically you have then attacked with weaponry.

Ubiquitous U.S. media carries the flag and flies it in the face of people around the globe. The obnoxious banner is held aloft by the figurehead carried aboard Air Force One, and the profile of that particular passenger impacts all of us below.

Obama personifies the progressive, popular orator. Domestically he was the people’s choice amongst the idealists, the downtrodden, the disenfranchised and the despairing. But in elected office he bailed out the bankers by bleeding the domestic taxpayer coffers while enabling innocent civilian deaths overseas by drones, all striking anonymously out of the blue. On the pretext of protecting Americans from terror he became the ultimate predator, both economically at home and militarily abroad. A promise broken, a presidency breached, a principle of peace betrayed.

Romney is a fanatical fascist formed from famous family finances and finessing falsehoods into faithful followers and fiscal fiefdoms. His hypocrisy, histrionic hyperbole and Hell-bent heavenly hubris all homogenize into a harbinger of hollow hype. But handsome entitlement and privilege appointed to hallowed office is a right-wing recipe for a radical and rapacious regime for the rich. It is riding upon a record secretly rotating upon religious and righteous wrath of revenge due all opponents, idolators, sinners, heathens, all lesser low-lifes, and the fallen. Woe to anyone not deserving of his blessing. His role becomes his deity’s designation (due to his delusions, DNA and his disciplined drive and divine directive for dutiful destiny).

A crazed Capitalist and cultist at the quivering controls of unequalled world power. Or a compromised and condemned incumbent inculcated into corporate corruption and deadly, droning destruction.

This very oversimplified scenario is, in its essence, the situation as seen by the largely uninformed onlookers who, like most of you, are bewildered at the choice you are facing having devolved to this. Perhaps that, in itself, is the real price of “freedom” as it has been practiced by a long series of presidents and their people.

Freedom gone mad, running amok, making its own monsters.

But at least the freedom of speech allows critique, and concern from neighbors. We wish we could exercise your franchise and cast a ballot as well as these obnoxious bricbats. FWIW the concensus up in this quarter leans to the lesser of two evils already holding office, in the hope his conscience starts to restore his convictions.

But while awaiting the outcome of the oddly undemocratic Electoral College system you have in place, I'll still be here reading your rants and reviews of the race. I just hope they become less personalized in their rancor and rage towards participants here. You are all valued.

[8bitagent]

D'OH! I guess that's going to be the benefit if the elite install Mitt Zombie. It means the left will once again come together like it did under Bush.

Kind of tired having to pretend like the left still means something. Is it me or did the left by and large fall apart and fall asleep after Bush, OWS not withstanding.

Romney will be the boost in the arm the liberal activists need. Til then, I'm not going to pretend Hopemunculus is on the side of humanity. Too many pictures of mutilated (innocent) Pakistani and Yemenis, too many broken dreams. Yeah yeah, I know Obama bin Laden is just "trying to work within the confines of the system"...we need to "vote for Obama to bide us some time". It's been eleven years of fucking bullshit, it's time to cash in the chips and call a duck a duck or whatever the appropriate maneuvering is. Making nice is just an exercise in futility. I don't care how nasty the racist fucktard right gets, I'm not going to be bullied into voting the "lesser of two evils".

[JackRiddler]

A couple of you seem to have acquired a compulsion to show you don't give a crap about facts but are in this to assuage your own wounds and prejudices. You do so every time you repost that picture of an unidentified woman, whom you do not know, standing in an unidentified location and doing nothing recognizable, with the caption stating that she is an "Obamabot" who doesn't care about protesting war. I suppose that on looks alone, she must fit the stereotype of what an "Obamabot" is supposed to look like (vegans? hippies? a pastel tone? white rasta!). It also happens to be the right-wing's stereotype. For all you know, the actual person in the picture thinks just like you, or maybe isn't even from this country. You probably think it's very clever humor. Pathetic.

It's probably time to repost that Arthur Silber article again! I think there still some threads that haven't received it yet.

[JackRiddler]

D'OH! I guess that's going to be the benefit if the elite install Mitt Zombie. It means the left will once again come together like it did under Bush.

Idiotic comment. Under Bush everyone spent the first two years shocked, depressed and in fear while a bunch of maniacs who spoke in praise of executive power by divine right ("unitary executive") used 9/11 to transform the world for the worse in every way and prepare and commit some of history's biggest crimes. It was an enormous set-back for the left. And excuse me, you want "the left" to come together to do what? Vote out Romney? Because that's what they'll be focused on, just like when they finally "came together" again in 2004 and 2008. Really, if it's true that Republicans pay talking-points dispensers, you should at least apply for the side-income.

[barracuda]

Re: baby killing:

Jack Kennedy was a baby killer too. I know I know... you KNEW Jack Kennedy. Jack Kennedy was a FRIEND of yours. And Obama is NO JACK KENNEDY. I get it. Nevertheless, Kennedy killed babies. In a war of choice.

FDR killed babies - by the ton-load. By air, sea and land he killed 'em.

Abe Lincoln was a notorious baby-killist. And was hated far and wide for causing the deaths of the very young by rifle, artillery, bayonet, fire and privation. Ruthlessly.

Fun fact: the VERY FIRST U.S. president was actually an army general! And killed people! Of all ages!

I suppose one could point to the Ford or Carter administrations as escaping the responsibilities of prosecuting wars, sort of, but only by the luck of the dice-roll. They were both completely prepared to kill babies, as far as I'm aware, but never really got a good shot.

My understanding has been that GWBush was responsible for the deaths of possibly over a million persons as a result of his war of choice in Iraq. Over a million. And I always consider that this is a likely a conservative estimate, because people are still dying as a result of his actions.

These sort of actions are, in reality, one of the main functions of the rank of Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the United States of America. That's what you are voting for - the Supreme Commander of the what has become the largest armed force in the history of the known universe. That's what all the photo ops, speech-making and baby kissing in rolled up shirtsleeves is meant to deal with: that military expenditures in the U.S. require at present and estimated 50% of all tax revenues and nearly 40% of the federal budget.

The U.S. Department of Defense budget accounted in fiscal year 2010 for about 19% of the United States federal budgeted expenditures and 28% of estimated tax revenues. Including non-DOD expenditures, military spending was approximately 28–38% of budgeted expenditures and 42–57% of estimated tax revenues

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_b ... l_spending

Whoever is really calling the shots, they aren't working very hard to hide this very essential function of the executive.

Vote your conscience, for fucknessake. But don't kid yourself that if Jill Stein were to sit her ass behind the Resolute desk she wouldn't be responsible for the actions of the military. That's what the Emperor does. It's not due to some lack of progressive activism, people. Whoever you vote for will kill babies if they win. That's the job description, for those of us who aren't buying the phony narrative.

And I don't expect to or even particularly want to convince anyone that the American kill machine project is anything but fucked up from the feet up. 'Cause it ain't. But please don't tell me you're gonna sit around hoping for a Republican administration to take over. Every time I have to look at Mitt Romney's smug fucking smirk for the next eight years, I'm gonna remember you said that. Don't give it to him, if only because every fiber in his huge, misshapen head screams out that he feels he deserves it, that he was born to it, that it belongs to him. Deny him that, please.

I think Lena Dunham is partly right for the wrong reasons - I mean, you're gonna get fucked in the ass anyway. Do you really want to look over your shoulder and see Romney?

If the duopoly is just a set of twins, then the Republicans are the evil twin. The wart-covered, syphilitic, squirrel torturing, lunch money-stealing twin.

Full disclosure: didn't vote for Obama, won't vote for Obama, my vote doesn't matter in California, &c, &c.

[compared2what?]

A couple of seem to have acquired a compulsion to show you don't give a crap about facts but are in this to assuage your own wounds and prejudices. You do so every time you repost that picture of an unidentified woman, whom you do not know, standing in an unidentified location and doing nothing recognizable. I guess on looks alone she fits your stereotype of what an "Obamabot" looks like (vegans? hippies? pastel? white rasta!). It also happens to be the right-wing's stereotype, and for all you know, the actual person in the picture thinks just like you, or maybe isn't even from this country. You probably think it's very clever humor. Pathetic.

It's probably time to repost that Arthur Silber article again! I think there still some threads that haven't received it yet.

There's also that little matter of "Obama's wars." You know. All the wars Obama has led the country into. You don't? Well, fine. Pick them out yourself from this handy timeline of U.S. military actions over the last twelve years:

2000 - 2009

2000 – Sierra Leone. On May 12, 2000 a US Navy patrol craft deployed to Sierra Leone to support evacuation operations from that country if needed.

2000 Nigeria. Special Forces troops are sent to Nigeria to lead a training mission in the county.

2000 – Yemen. On October 12, 2000, after the USS Cole attack in the port of Aden, Yemen, military personnel were deployed to Aden.

2000 – East Timor. On February 25, 2000, a small number of U.S. military personnel were deployed to support the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor

2001 – On April 1, 2001, a mid-air collision between a United States Navy EP-3E ARIES II signals surveillance aircraft and a People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) J-8II interceptor fighter jet resulted in an international dispute between the United States and the People's Republic of China called the Hainan Island incident.

2001 – War in Afghanistan. The War on Terrorism begins with Operation Enduring Freedom. On October 7, 2001, US Armed Forces invade Afghanistan in response to the 9/11 attacks and "begin combat action in Afghanistan against Al Qaeda terrorists and their Taliban supporters."

2002 – Yemen. On November 3, 2002, an American MQ-1 Predator fired a Hellfire missile at a car in Yemen killing Qaed Salim Sinan al-Harethi, an al-Qaeda leader thought to be responsible for the USS Cole bombing.

2002 – Philippines. OEF-Philippines. January 2002 U.S. "combat-equipped and combat support forces" have been deployed to the Philippines to train with, assist and advise the Philippines' Armed Forces in enhancing their "counterterrorist capabilities."

2002 – Côte d'Ivoire. On September 25, 2002, in response to a rebellion in Côte d'Ivoire, US military personnel went into Côte d'Ivoire to assist in the evacuation of American citizens from Bouake.

2003–2011 – War in Iraq. Operation Iraqi Freedom. March 20, 2003. The United States leads a coalition that includes Britain, Australia and Spain to invade Iraq with the stated goal being "to disarm Iraq in pursuit of peace, stability, and security both in the Gulf region and in the United States."

2003 – Liberia. Second Liberian Civil War. On June 9, 2003, President Bush reported that on June 8 he had sent about 35 US Marines into Monrovia, Liberia, to help secure the US Embassy in Nouakchott, Mauritania, and to aid in any necessary evacuation from either Liberia or Mauritania.

2003 – Georgia and Djibouti. "US combat equipped and support forces" had been deployed to Georgia and Djibouti to help in enhancing their "counterterrorist capabilities."

2004 – Haiti. 2004 Haïti rebellion occurs. The US first sent 55 combat equipped military personnel to augment the US Embassy security forces there and to protect American citizens and property in light. Later 200 additional US combat-equipped, military personnel were sent to prepare the way for a UN Multinational Interim Force,

2004 – War on Terrorism: US anti-terror related activities were underway in Georgia, Djibouti, Kenya, Ethiopia, Yemen, and Eritrea.

2004–present: Drone attacks in Pakistan

2005–06 – Pakistan. President Bush deploys troops from US Army Air Cav Brigades to provide Humanitarian relief to far remote villages in the Kashmir mountain ranges of Pakistan stricken by a massive earthquake.

2006 – Lebanon. US Marine Detachment, the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit[citation needed], begins evacuation of US citizens willing to leave the country in the face of a likely ground invasion by Israel and continued fighting between Hezbollah and the Israeli military.

2007 – Somalia. Battle of Ras Kamboni. On January 8, 2007, while the conflict between the Islamic Courts Union and the Transitional Federal Government continues, an AC-130 gunship conducts an aerial strike on a suspected Al-Qaeda operative, along with other Islamist fighters, on Badmadow Island near Ras Kamboni in southern Somalia.

2008 – South Ossetia, Georgia. Helped Georgia humanitarian aid, helped to transport Georgian forces from Iraq during the conflict. In the past, the US has provided training and weapons to Georgia.

2010–Present

2010-11 War in Iraq. Operation New Dawn. On February 17, 2010, U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates announced that as of September 1, 2010, the name "Operation Iraqi Freedom" would be replaced by "Operation New Dawn". This coincides with the reduction of American troops to 50,000.
2011 - Libya. Operation Odyssey Dawn. Coalition forces enforcing U.N. Security Council Resolution 1973 with bombings of Libyan forces.
2011 - War on Terrorism. Osama Bin Laden is killed by U.S. military forces in Pakistan as part of Operation Neptune Spear.
2011 - Drone strikes on al-Shabab militants begin in Somalia. This marks the 6th nation in which such strikes have been carried out, including Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Yemen and Libya.
2011 - Uganda. US Combat troops sent in as advisers to Uganda.[16]
2012 - 150 US troops deployed to Jordan to help it contain the Syrian Civil War.

I'm sure you can see how there was an escalation that CREATED DEATH AND DESTRUCTION, increasing the likelihood for MORE wars and MORE humanitarian atrocities, which -- PS -- lead to poverty and despair out here in the real world which you inhabit as well.

So quit being such a Romnesiac Obamapologist. It's like you only care about dead babies if someone shows you a picture and makes you feel like a super-special rebellious insider know-it-all for being angered by it or something. Shame on you.

[compared2what?]

[

D'OH! I guess that's going to be the benefit if the elite install Mitt Zombie. It means the left will once again come together like it did under Bush.

You know they didn't. You posted complaining about it.

I don't care how nasty the racist fucktard right gets,

You mean like this?

2000 - 2009

2000 – Sierra Leone. On May 12, 2000 a US Navy patrol craft deployed to Sierra Leone to support evacuation operations from that country if needed.

2000 Nigeria. Special Forces troops are sent to Nigeria to lead a training mission in the county.

2000 – Yemen. On October 12, 2000, after the USS Cole attack in the port of Aden, Yemen, military personnel were deployed to Aden.

2000 – East Timor. On February 25, 2000, a small number of U.S. military personnel were deployed to support the United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor

2001 – On April 1, 2001, a mid-air collision between a United States Navy EP-3E ARIES II signals surveillance aircraft and a People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) J-8II interceptor fighter jet resulted in an international dispute between the United States and the People's Republic of China called the Hainan Island incident.

2001 – War in Afghanistan. The War on Terrorism begins with Operation Enduring Freedom. On October 7, 2001, US Armed Forces invade Afghanistan in response to the 9/11 attacks and "begin combat action in Afghanistan against Al Qaeda terrorists and their Taliban supporters."

2002 – Yemen. On November 3, 2002, an American MQ-1 Predator fired a Hellfire missile at a car in Yemen killing Qaed Salim Sinan al-Harethi, an al-Qaeda leader thought to be responsible for the USS Cole bombing.

2002 – Philippines. OEF-Philippines. January 2002 U.S. "combat-equipped and combat support forces" have been deployed to the Philippines to train with, assist and advise the Philippines' Armed Forces in enhancing their "counterterrorist capabilities."

2002 – Côte d'Ivoire. On September 25, 2002, in response to a rebellion in Côte d'Ivoire, US military personnel went into Côte d'Ivoire to assist in the evacuation of American citizens from Bouake.

2003–2011 – War in Iraq. Operation Iraqi Freedom. March 20, 2003. The United States leads a coalition that includes Britain, Australia and Spain to invade Iraq with the stated goal being "to disarm Iraq in pursuit of peace, stability, and security both in the Gulf region and in the United States."

2003 – Liberia. Second Liberian Civil War. On June 9, 2003, President Bush reported that on June 8 he had sent about 35 US Marines into Monrovia, Liberia, to help secure the US Embassy in Nouakchott, Mauritania, and to aid in any necessary evacuation from either Liberia or Mauritania.

2003 – Georgia and Djibouti. "US combat equipped and support forces" had been deployed to Georgia and Djibouti to help in enhancing their "counterterrorist capabilities."

2004 – Haiti. 2004 Haïti rebellion occurs. The US first sent 55 combat equipped military personnel to augment the US Embassy security forces there and to protect American citizens and property in light. Later 200 additional US combat-equipped, military personnel were sent to prepare the way for a UN Multinational Interim Force,

2004 – War on Terrorism: US anti-terror related activities were underway in Georgia, Djibouti, Kenya, Ethiopia, Yemen, and Eritrea.

2004–present: Drone attacks in Pakistan

2005–06 – Pakistan. President Bush deploys troops from US Army Air Cav Brigades to provide Humanitarian relief to far remote villages in the Kashmir mountain ranges of Pakistan stricken by a massive earthquake.

2006 – Lebanon. US Marine Detachment, the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit[citation needed], begins evacuation of US citizens willing to leave the country in the face of a likely ground invasion by Israel and continued fighting between Hezbollah and the Israeli military.

2007 – Somalia. Battle of Ras Kamboni. On January 8, 2007, while the conflict between the Islamic Courts Union and the Transitional Federal Government continues, an AC-130 gunship conducts an aerial strike on a suspected Al-Qaeda operative, along with other Islamist fighters, on Badmadow Island near Ras Kamboni in southern Somalia.

2008 – South Ossetia, Georgia. Helped Georgia humanitarian aid, helped to transport Georgian forces from Iraq during the conflict. In the past, the US has provided training and weapons to Georgia.

I'm not going to be bullied into voting the "lesser of two evils".

It's good to put yourself first.

[brainpanhandler]

You remain one presidential heartbeat away from pressing the global self-destruct nuclear button and blowing all of us to Hell simply because your megalomaniacal man in the Oval Office might feel divinely so directed or inspired.

Especially if your goal is to become a capo god of your very own world after the resurrection. Gotta toe the spiritual line.

[8bitagent]

See it's not just the drone strikes, or the lies about it. It's the even worse war crime of secondary strikes. When Eric Rudolf bombed an abortion clinic, he put in place secondary explosives to kill rescue workers and cops. Thats exactly what the Obama regime is all about http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree ... s-pakistan
It's the callous viciousness, then the lies(oh, hardly any civilians have died!) that makes me sick to my stomach.

D'OH! I guess that's going to be the benefit if the elite install Mitt Zombie. It means the left will once again come together like it did under Bush.

Idiot. Under Bush everyone spent the first two years shocked, depressed and in fear while the world was transformed and some of history's biggest crimes were committed and prepared. It was an enormous set-back for the left. And excuse me, you want "the left" to come together to do what? Vote out Romney? Because that's what they'll be focused on, just like in 2004 and 2008. Really, if it's true that Republicans pay talking-points dispensers, you should at least apply for the side-income.

Vote out? The way some talk, it sounds like Romney will be uber fascist dictator on steroids(which I wouldnt be surprised about) that one couldnt vote out.

And I meant I was comparing the 2004-2006 left to the post 2008 left. There's not that many people like you and Greenwald in my view. I agree about the disarray of the 2001-2003 left in America.
The whole anti globalization/WTO/pro free trade and "bush stole the election" firebrand was snuffed out in one morning.