*Make this country a modern day freaking Constantinople. *

Aptly, Constantinople fell to the Muslims...probably because some fifth columnist pacifists ranted and raved all day instead of modernizing their armed forces and defensive walls.

The rest of your insane rant deserves no response.

HAHA. Yeah, we still have over 10,000 nukes. How much defense do you want? You wish to blow up the world, what 16X over instead of say 14,when the great force of evil attacks us? We spend more in military then the next top 10 countries combined. We have enough nuclear bombs to literally make any country in the world a modern day Atlantis-sunk into the ocean for good. Heck lets build a huge freaking wall around the country while we are at it. Make this country a modern day freaking Constantinople. Maybe that's how we solve the unemployment mess. Hire the population in mass to build the great wall in the name of national defense.

*The fact we are involved in EVERY corner of the globe is simply to support the military industrial complex that Eisenhower warned us about some 50 years ago. It has NOTHING to do with moral obligations, or promoting democracy. It's all about HYPING up bogus international threats, to keep the MEGA military industrial complex this country in business. A complex that is a MASSIVE portion of this economy now.*

Is the "military industrial complex" a bigger chunk of our budget than entitlements? I'm guessing it isn't. Further, the federal government is supposed to provide for a common defense. Conversely, our founding documents say nothing of making sure everyone has 3 hot meals a day and health insurance.

The left really over blows Kennedy as a 'great' president.
The fact is he TOTALLY BOTCHED the Bay of Pigs, and it was one of the biggest foreign policy debacles of this century. The fact we did not have a nuclear exchange in the later Cuban missile crisis was largely because of the Russians, NOT because of Kennedy. Now that we have rather open relations with the Russians, most that were part of the Khrushchev reign say that Khrushchev was fully prepared for a nuclear exchange, and was within seconds of ordering the launch. The fact that he wasn't tipping the Vodka that day, and had many advisers begging and pleaing him not to, was what likely stopped an all out nuclear exchange. I'd hardly give praise to someone for playing brinkmanship, and simply getting lucky. If Khrushchev held his ground he was, and orders a launch, there would have been no winners, just millions of deaths on both sides.
.
As far as today's foreign policy. The fact we are involved in EVERY corner of the globe is simply to support the military industrial complex that Eisenhower warned us about some 50 years ago. It has NOTHING to do with moral obligations, or promoting democracy. It's all about HYPING up bogus international threats, to keep the MEGA military industrial complex this country in business. A complex that is a MASSIVE portion of this economy now. Many on the hill secretly WANT a war with Iran. Of course they will never come out and say that, but they know a war is great for an economy (as long as your country is not bombed). No better way to employ people then by hiring them in mass to build bombs, and keep the industrial complex going, and beat down those damn evil doers! You know, those camel jockeys, who are somehow going to take over the world if we don't act NOW!

Poobah. I acknowledged that we lost the war in Viet Nam with the statement "The politicians lost the war."
As far as the war on the ground, the one with real guns and ammo, the Americans were winning up until the political betrayal by congress.
I plainly stated the context in which American imperialism exists with this quote "American Imperialism is a liberal term objecting to our financial and cultural influence on the world."
Now we're done.

poobah - Better watch it, I don't think Lester is going to tolerate your kind of talk. He'll take off on one of his disjointed rants again.

Third_Eye, your comments have confirmed two things. The first is that American imperialism exists and the second is your unwillingness or inability to acknowledge the fact that America lost the war in Vietnam. There's nothing left to discuss.

Poobah. We, the soldiers, won the war in Viet Nam.
The politicians lost the war.
Is this the discussion you want to have instead of the one presented regarding imperialism?

You think we won the Vietnam war, Third_ Eye? Now THAT is classic.

Poobah says, QUOTE"America soon matured into the imperialistic, oppressive government from which our founding citizens had escaped." END QUOTE
Wrong.
American Imperialism is not classic imperialism. Classic Imperialism is taking over the political structure of a country when defeated in war. Where is our take over of Germany? Japan? Viet Nam?
American Imperialism is a liberal term objecting to our financial and cultural influence on the world.
I hope I did not misspell any words for Poobah to point out.

John, watch the movie 2016.

donnaw, you certainly have every right to disagree, but on the issue of immigration things aren't as much of a one-way street as you portray.

"WE RAN OUR EIGHTH national survey in March 2009. The collapse of the U.S. housing market, high unemployment and the global financial crisis were then common knowledge, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average swooned, closing at 6547.05 on March 9.

Risk-taking was out of fashion. There was a sharp drop-off in the number of people who had made their decision to relocate overseas, but a steady number remained interested. Our ninth survey followed in March 2011. We expected to see some recovery in the numbers, but nothing substantial. In our baseline surveys between 2005-07, an average of 1.4% of U.S. households planned to relocate (about 1.6 million households, representing well over 3 million people). In 2009, it fell to 0.8% of households planning relocation.

The 2011 total was 2.5% of households planning to leave these shores, closing in on three million households and six million people. What changed?

The key was found in the breakdown by age group. Those from 25 to 34 years of age are young adults, some 42,000,000 of them. They are among the most energetic, innovative and creative Americans. They go where they feel the jobs and excitement are. Our wider research indicates a growing interest in Asia and Latin America, less so in Europe.

In 2009, less than 1% of this age group was actually into the planning stage of relocation. In 2011, it is 5.1%. While the 35-to-54 and 55-to-69 age groups also set new highs, it is those aged 25 to 34 who are the major factor in the increase of interest. In all our surveys, we have never seen a shift of this magnitude of those actually planning to relocate in any age group.

Behind them, the 18-to-24 age group includes many still in school or unable to find jobs. They are likely demoralized in these hard economic times, and the number planning relocation has collapsed. However, those “seriously interested and likely to relocate” and those “somewhat interested and may relocate” rose to 39.6%. In other words, nearly 40% of that age group have turned their minds toward leaving the U.S., whether or not they can afford it right now. In 2007, that total was just over 15%. [ http://www.americawave.com/2011/11/28/th... ]

poo...I respectfully disagree with you. I do believe America is exceptional. That doesn't mean we have to rule the world but that we are proud of who we are. If we are not exceptional why have people sacrificed all they have to immigrate here, legally and illegally? We need a president who is proud of America, rather than want to systematically change it, as Obama has said he wants to do.

Im actually loving this! Seeing Eyster fall flat in front of the world and reading of Judge Juan's bungle on the union law only incites the conservatives to action on election day. If these two articles are not reason enough to get out and vote for change I dont know what is.

Lester I must have hit pretty close to home. Is it what I said about braggadocio? I will reiterate we can use the armed forces against terrorism the way we have been and we will never settle the issue.

*Kennedy could only go toe-to-toe with Khrushchev and force him to blink because of American power.*

Kennedy wouldn't have had to endure the Cuban Missile Crisis had he not been such a pushover in his previous dealings with Krushchev. At least he learned something.

*You can almost see the spit and drool flying out of the righties mouths. They just love wars they won't have to fight in and kill lots of little brown people. *

The people of Japan, Korea and Vietnam would like you to know that the Presidents who started and escalated those wars were not "righties".

*America was founded by people fleeing oppression by an imperialistic government. *

America was founded by puritans who weren't allowed to be as puritanical as they wished by an absolute monarch in their old land.

Thank you Poobah. It seems John has awakened all of the hawks of southern Cheeseland. Romney will certainly want to invade Iran now that Afghanistan is winding down. If that doesn't work, let's just throw billions toward Syria and blame it all on the "lefties".

America was founded by people fleeing oppression by an imperialistic government. America soon matured into the imperialistic, oppressive government from which our founding citizens had escaped. We became our abusive parents. Our hope now is that through a national awakening, and with a healthy world-view instead of the selfish view exhibited by the majority of comments here, we can begin to understand we have become what we had escaped and learn to live as a peaceful, compassionate and caring neighbor to the world.

I think it is futile to ask the "what if" questions about events in the past. I think our time is better spent looking forward. We know what Romney would do; he has told us this when he said, "In Syria, I'll work with our partners to identify and organize those members of the opposition who share our values, and then ensure that they obtain the arms they need to defeat Assad’s tanks and helicopters and fighter jets." "Share our values...." Romney is still suffering under those twentieth century delusions that America can somehow turn Islamic countries into Christian democracies. Romney has also requested an expansion of our military budget by $2 trillion dollars. We already spend as much as the next twenty highest spending nations combined and over four times as much as China and Russia combined So it's clear that Romney is not yet ready to recognize we have become what we escaped. Obama does not have the naive and selfish perspective of the world shared by Romney. America finally has a president with a world-view that can lead to healthy, constructive relationships with other countries as opposed to supporting another century of domination, bullying and control that would bankrupt the United States as surely as it bankrupted the Soviet Union.

Let's quit trying to dominate the world, quit fooling ourselves with our egotistical view that we are somehow more exceptional than others and start becoming the peaceful, compassionate neighbors we would want to have.

Labor,
Please see my 8:18AM post.

Lets see now; if Obama was Prez 50 yrs ago:
1. He would have told the Russians to wait after the election when he's more flexible
2. Lead from bebind tbrough the UN
3. Watch it happen with drones and not do anything
4. Blame it on Bush
5. Then accuse Romney of playing politics

If we must read Friedman's left leaning diatribe, then if you have not read David Horowitz's Left Illusions, you owe it to yourself to read it with all deliberate speed. In fact, I would urge you to read it before you cast your vote in our 2012 US Presidential election.

http://www.amazon.com/Left-Illusions-An-...

John, prove to me that the "world" was capable or willing to fight terrorism over the last 11 years, or communism the prevoius 50 years. Who else was capable or willing to take charge? Your ultruistic view is short sided. It's a slap in the face to veterans who have served across the "world" for the saftey of Americans as well individuals in other countries. It is your prerogative to speculate. Doing so to tout your candidate and diregard the sacrifices of the United States military so you can speculate, is reckless. Tread lightly. Your on shaky ground with this topic.

Sadly, there are people who might have actually believed this "news alert" (headline below), are the same people who believe the "world is flat" theory. Everyone should have equal opportunity, but equal results are NOT guaranteed. If results were guaranteed, we would not be seeing all the "green" company failures.

CBS News affiliate calls 2012 presidential race for Barack Obama weeks ahead of election

The 2012 presidential election is still more than two weeks away, but on Friday a CBS News affiliate in Arizona called the race for President Barack Obama.

For 17 seconds, Phoenix, Arizona CBS News affiliate KPHO ran a lower third graphic that showed that Obama had won the Nov. 6 election over Gov. Mitt Romney with 99% of the precincts reporting. The lower third graphic appeared around 3:30 p.m. on Oct. 19, during an episode of “The People’s Court.”

http://dailycaller.com/2012/10/21/cbs-ne...

NO, I do not agree. I think the world is a more dangerous place than 4 years ago. After a world wide apology tour, our enemies do not fear us and our allies do not trust us. Missteps have been numerous. I have no idea how Romney would do --- he has as much experience for all practical purposes as Obama had in 2008. No president can know everything and be everything. That is why the selection of cabinet and advisors is so critical. I believe that is an area where President Obama sadly failed. BTW, I think George Bush also failed by letting Rumsfield and Cheney basically take over his duties. So I do agree but with the previous posters, not with your assessment.

John,
You epitomize the problem with leftist thinkers in this day and age. You project YOUR idea of what conservatives think instead of taking the time to learn and understand what they really think and believe.
***
Conservative ideas are not the problem, YOUR closed mind is the problem.

Image that John is on the same side as Chavez, Castro, and Putin: Four more years!

http://times247.com/articles/obama-recei...

According to John, this success record is a good one...

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-w26cZJj8UPs/UG...

And, OBTW, using Kennedy’s handling of the Cuban Missile Crisis as a lead-in to Friedman’s inane Flat World theory is a lot like the Women’s Temperance League toasting Prohibition. Kennedy could only go toe-to-toe with Khrushchev and force him to blink because of American power. If Kennedy didn’t have Curtis Lemay’s unparalleled Strategic Air Command backing his position, we’d have missiles in Cuba today.

Tell me, is there Councilor Ding Dong Friedman in China, pushing them to change their worldview, scale back their military, and set their sights lower? Nope, didn’t think so.

Romney believes in American exceptionalism. Obama does not. I believe Romney will "walk softly and carry a big stick." I think we have completely under estimated the grave danger militant Islamists have in store for us. We are fat, dumb and happy. The day will come when we, or our children, will look back and ask why we didn't do something. Being nice, apologizing for being American, etc sure hasn't worked.

“What IF a person with Romney’s world-view had been US president on this date – October 22, 1962?”
I’m sure Romney would handle it with aplomb and competence. Far better than Obama, would either bow and scrape before Khrushchev while apologizing profusely, or wait until the missiles became a fait accompli, then blaming everything on an intelligence lapse and his hapless SecState. Where does the buck stop, anyway?

Why do you lefties despise the US so very much, and insist that a powerful US is bad for the world? Powerful Rome eventually turned into toothless Italy, but no one in their right mind would have planned it that way.