Let it be known that I am most certainly for smaller government and anti-welfare. However... McCain's attack ads keep calling Obama out as a tax and spend liberal, and people around here keep equating Obama with excess spending and big government. I'm baffled. The military is part of the government too, and right now we're pouring two billion of dollars down the drain each week in Iraq. Obama says he will get us out of Iraq in a timely fashion. McCain won't. No matter what stupidass liberal thing Obama does, I'm pretty sure it won't waste two billion dollars per week for years on end. Now here come the war-for-any-reason apologists. Let me try to head them off: If you're a coward and want a secure nation at any cost, here's how to do it: 1. Build the damn boarder fence you keep whining about. Won't do a damn bit of good, but it's trivially cheap in comparison. 2. Deport anyone who is a national of a theocratic Muslim nation. Re-admit only top-qualified professions (masters and above... maybe doctorate and above) on an as-needed basis. 3. Mandatory surveillance and check-ins for any exceptions to the above. Mandatory surveillance and check-ins for any foreign residents, regardless of nation of origin, if they espouse hardline Muslim views or are otherwise suspect. (Note that all of this is for non-USA citizens ONLY. Ignore bleeding hearts who would rather see our citizens' civil rights get trampled on than offend non-citizens.) I would support any politician (Democrat or Republican) who would commit to such a plan. If you honestly believe that we can fix Iraq, and that this will translate into a tangible resource far outweighing a mere "ally for the war on terror": 1. You need to realize that 's not a matter of time or effort, but of resolve. The USA of today does not have the resolve to make it happen, because the international standards of acceptability have changed so radically since the occupation of Japan. We can not / will not break their spirit, for fear of committing 'war crimes'. We can not / will not dictate their government or internal policies, for fear of being called imperialist. The citizens of Iraq are a thousand times crazier than the Japanese ever were, and our hand needs to be that much harder if we actually expect to accomplish anything. But it's just_not_going_to_happen. Not in today's world... it would be international political suicide for the USA. 2. Meanwhile, we flail away at them with our limp (but very expensive!) wrists. We're whacking a hornet's nest, insisting that with just a few more whacks we'll have killed them all, oblivious to the swarm that surrounds us. Every innocent civillian killed (and in war, it *just happens*) is just another piece of propoganda to be used against us... they're just more potential recruits for al-Qaeda. You want to talk about al-Qaeda in Iraq? Read up on their history. al-Qaeda started their anti-American craze after the king of Saudi Arabia laughed in the face of its leader, Osama bin Laden. Why was he laughing, you say? Bin Laden was offering the services of al-Qaeda to use against Saddam Hussein. You see, al-Qaeda is a racial Islam shitforbrains organization. Saddam ran a very selfish, relatively secular (by Islamic standards) despotic country. They had no reason to get along; in the Sunni Muslim world they were practically opposites. Of course, now one of al-Qaeda's biggest enemies is dead, dropped from a rope we helped tie... surprise surprise, al-Qaeda is in Iraq now. Not sure if there's much we could do at this point except attempt to partition the country. Whoops, we've already recognized their sovereignty... damn politically correct neo-colonialism. 3. We're giving them to Iran! God damn it, but every knowledgeable person has been saying this since 2003. Give democracy to a divided people, and you will allow the majority to oppress the minority. The old minority (Shi'ite) are now the majority, and you can bet your ass that sooner or later they will get over the race thing and become best of buddies with Iran. Iran. You know, the guys with the huge standing army? The batshit crazy guys next door that keep trying to build nukes? *** In conclusion: Democrats, in general, want to stop the war and stop pouring $2 billion down the drain each and every week. They also want to stop kicking the hornet's nest, perhaps because they realize that it's done fuck all for our "war on terror". They also want to start a bunch of a dumbass welfare programs. I don't like this, but I'd rather American citizens be the recipient of my tax dollars than Iraqi citizens. I'm also pretty damn sure it isn't going to be $2 billion / week's worth, either. If you're really a conservative, if you really believe in less spending and a smaller government, vote Obama. Get us out of Iraq. Stop kicking the hornet's net, stop feeding the pig that cannot be satisfied, stop helping destroy our already precarious economy. Then, after we're out, get some republicans back in congress (and back in the white house come 2012) and repeal any the stupid little welfare programs they've managed to pass in the meantime.