I keep hearing republicans say they don't trust Kerry to do the right thing on foreign policy, it's their phrase of the moment.

So what is the right thing?

It isn't what you think Kerry will do, that is for sure, according to you guys.
And it isn't what Bush did, he has pretty blatantly screwed up badly. Even Brent Scowcroft said so.

So if you aren't for Bush's foreign policy (really no thinking person is) and are not for Kerry's, what do you suggest be done regarding the war on terror? What's the plan?

Well, I'm kinda tired right now, so I'm only gonna post a short thing. The one thing I don't think we should do is pull our troops out. It is my understanding that that is what Kerry intends to do. I don't see how pulling troops out of, not just Iraq, but other countries as well, will help things. In order to be perceived as a strong nation against terrorists, and to try and root out terrorism, we shouldn't back out. We're in there now, and whether or not it was right doesn't matter. What does is seeing it through and making sure we are safe. I don't know if Kerry is planning on pulling all troops out, but to do so at a time like this is not the right thing to do, imo.

Faulty premises will get you nowhere, Archie.

I don't trust John Kerry to act pre-emptively when the need arises. He has shown in the past that he is unwilling to get tough with the enemy; what should I expect of him in the future?

Hehe, it's this kind of thing that worries me, that so many people make uninformed decisions.

I don't believe that's what Kerry wants to do, meaning pulling out troops without "finishing the job" first.

Or he could go into a war that most of our allies disagree with, and continue to defend it, even though every reason he gave for going to the war has been proven wrong :wink:

I don't have any faulty premises, sorry. What is the proven value of pre-emption? The only major case where it has been used so far, Iraq, is a disaster of major proportions. Is there any evidence you can point to that would show this policy is the right way to go?

Here's a graphic illustrating that Bush supporters don't usually even fully understand their candidate's own positions. Neither do some Kerry supporters but notice the difference.

So if you aren't for Bush's foreign policy (really no thinking person is)

That's a faulty premise.

A pre-emptive attack on Afghanistan, back in 1998 would've prevented 9/11 from ahppening.

This is something that i've suspected for a long, long time. I think a lot of this has to do with the fact that church's tell people to vote for Bush, and people will do anything they hear in church.

"The price good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men." -Plato

Here's a poll I recently took:

Bush supporters who are educated on the issues - 98%

Kerry supporters who are educated on the issue 23.7482737%

Wow, what a stark contrast.

And I assure you, my poll was really educated and stuff.

Same here, I've always though republicans are republicans because of lack of infromation more than anything.

some of their "stands" on many issues jsut seem so...illogical.

Plato is dear to me, but the truth is dearer still. - Aristotle ;-)

I agree. I think the problem a lot of Republicans have is they vote for the guy they think would be fun at a BBQ. Not that being a fun guy is a bad thing, but is it so wrong to want your president to be smarter than you? The republicans have done this amazing job of spreading populist themes. They somehow make it seem as though they're the party of the people, even though their policies hurt most of their supporters.

Oh yes, and the 90% support for the Democrats from black people is only attributed to African-Americans being educated on the issues. Plez, spare your self-righteousness for some other place.

What? The reason 90% of black people support the Democrats is because the Democrats were (are) the one's fighting for them to have equal rights. It doesn't have anything to do with being "educated on the issues". It's quite easy to tell who's helping you and who isin't.

Gah! All that poll shows is where voters perogatives lie. Almost all of the information on it has to do with foreign and global policy. That is something Democrats choose to make an issue.

If you put a poll up there right now about Gay Marriage, it would look something like this.

Legally Recognized Gay *Marriage*

Bush = Strongly Opposed Bush Constituency that Knows that = 100%
Kerry = Something about Marriage being between a man and a woman, something else about civil unions which can be legally recognized.

Kerry Constituency that Knows that = 75%

So it depends. Yes I'm shocked only 20% of his constituency knows Bush isn't opposed to land mines...but then again, its only an indication that they don't care, and aren't choosing to focus on that as one of the topics that informs their vote this November. That's what it says.

-Dolce

Oh really? Then how do you explain the fact that it was a Republican who ended slavery and Republicans in Congress who saw the Civil Rights Act pass?

Of course it's easy to pretend that Democrats are the only ones caring about black people. Of course it's noble to support government giveaways to the poor. The only problem with thta is that the surest way to get rid of poverty is not to sponsor it. But that would politically-incorrect.

This is true, but what does it say about the Republicans that they don't care enough to find out all of their candidates beliefs before dedicating themselves 100% to him?

It says that the poll is idiotic and was designed to make Republicans look stupid.

Ha! I knew it! The poll was conducted by my favorite research center - PIPA! You know, the place where smoke a big PIPA! :-D

I knew you were going to bring that up. Yes, let's compare the Republican party of the 1800's to the Republican party now. This makes loads of sense, and is completely relevant to today's issues!

All? I don't think anyone of them has the time to research ALL of his positions what with him pushing to extend the workweek, cut overtime, raise the age of retirement, and eliminate child care support. That's what this polls shows, that they pick certain issues, and as this poll shows, for Bush supporters, its clearly not actually international policy.

-Dolce

Of course if the results were opposite, this would be your favoritests poll evar.

Civil Rights Act was passed in 1964, which, as far as I can tell, was 65 years after the end of 1800's. But I might be wrong.

Good one, dolce.

I dunno. I just think it's important to fully understand your candidate of choice and to try and find out as much as humanly possible about them. This is why I have many regrets about voting for Kerry this year.