Well, it's time to concede. Q's man Ron Paul is out of the running for the Presidency in 2008 and once again, Americans are left with less than stellar options for their choice of President. I'll freely admit that I'm not staunch Republican or Democrat (it's hard to be staunch anything when both parties are both composed of ambitious millionaires). It seems as though McCain's economic policy is similar to Bush's (= less money in your and my pocket). And for all the imagery of Barack Obama which would no doubt be positive for America's international image at a time when it is so low, there are a few questions I would like all of you to consider when picking your candidate on November 4th (or earlier for those of us with an absentee ballot):1. Mr. President, what do you intend to do with the PATRIOT Act? Will you try to revoke this legislation that limits our civil liberties and allows greater spying powers by our own police forces? Furthermore, how will you deal with the detainees at Guantanamo Bay? Will they be given fair trials like any other prisoner of war or we continue to be the country that "spreads democracy" while not giving it to our own people or our prisoners of war?
2. Mr. President, what, if any Executive powers will you give back to the Congress, to the states, to other governmental entities, and most importantly to the people? Mr. Bush in his tenure has increased the unchecked powers of the presidency exponentially. Will you exponentially give them back or are you as power-hungry as your predecessor?
3. Mr. President, how willing are you to pander to the religious zealots in this country? Will you concede that issues such as same-sex marriage and abortion have no business in the federal government? If I recall there is nothing in any section of the Constitution about such matters, therefore they should be given to the states, no?
4. Mr. President, how do you feel about the legislation of morality? Why are penalties for recreational drugs under the guise of the federal government (FBI, DEA, ATF, etc.)? Those issues should also be handled by the states as they are not explicitly mentioned in the constitution either. Will you still allow federal agents to trump state power (unconstitutional) and raid state sanctioned marijuana distributors in places like California? Shouldn't cancer patients be able to get some relief from their pain? Is not the purpose of drugs to work? If you want a boner, don't you take a Viagra? People use it because it works.
5. Finally Mr. President, why aren't we out of Iraq yet? You've wasted all this time talking to me and yet our troops are still being shot at by angry Iraqis. When will you realize that country has been fought over for centuries with no clear winner? Ask the British, they tried the same thing and they failed. What excuse could you possibly have to have our young men and women killed and maimed in a desert? We cut and ran in Lebanon and Vietnam, why is this war any different? Staying in Iraq justifies what George W. Bush did and I thought you were different from him. Maybe nogt.
