I don't want to see them asked about it, either. It was merely a follow-up to my point about Repub talking points somehow dominating the Dem candidate debate.

It was simply the best example of a blatantly pandering question devoid of any actual political substance that would not cross party lines in pre-primary rhetoric.

Well, fuck. Now you've got me over here crossing my fingers.

That's where i have kind of lost faith. Dennis Kucinich is the 10th District Congressional representative in Ohio. I fall into that 10th District. This district has done nothing but go down hill since he has decided to run for president. We're one, if not the highest taxed county in Ohio, maybe the nation.

Cleveland and the outlying suburbs are going to hell, and nobody is coming up with any solutions to make the situation better. The best thing the state of Ohio can come up with is a law that states erotic dancers aren't allowed to touch patrons, and they have to stay a minimum of 6 foot away with the patron, along with some other stupid rules. They still won't allow gambling in Ohio, so everyone leaves the state and goes to every surrounding state to spend their money. Not one or two, every surrounding state has legal gambling.

It seems like everything in this district is just out of control because there is no leadership. No one is listening to the voters because the leadership is too busy trying to gain a presidential seat. Ohio is becoming a useless state, fast. They keep harping on how we are becoming a vacation spot, who wants to come to an old steel city, with a high crime rate, with no gambling, and a dancer can't even touch you?

I am upset because he was elected to do a job, and he is basically ignoring that job to get a better paying job.

I'm not against people bettering themselves, but don't forget what you were elected to do in the first place, and don't forget why you are where you are!

Alas, perhaps that is one of the greatest pitfalls of politics, namely avarice (greed is pretty close to that one and may on occasion be the greater of the two evils. But for the sake of argument, let's just call them the same thing). I'm generally suspicious of people who get into politics in the first place anyway (I think most are just trying to do themselves and their buddies favors once they latch on to the tit of power). Damned if there aren't a few good and honest people who really do care about their constituents and their country instead of themselves.

FYI, the reason why I said I'm more inline with Kucinich isn't because I support him. I don't know a damn thing about him to be honest (other then the fact that he once saw a triangular shaped UFO). I took a test and responded to different politician's anonymous remarks in favorable vs unfavorable format. At the end they reveal who you found most favorable to least favorable according to their remarks. For me, it turned out to be the Kuc (can I call him that?) I was surprised, but then again, he does want to impeach the entire executive wing of government, so he does earn a few major kudos from me in that regard.

Im sorry things suck for you in Ohio. They suck here too.

Columbus is actually doing pretty well, in spite of a noticeable brain- and 20-something-drain trend.

But shit's been hard on Ohio over the course of the years that each neighboring state has legalized some form of "entertainment gambling" (read: casino or riverboat) that is a draw, as opposed to the pissant horse-racing and video poker you can find here and there in Ohio. And Kentucky still has us beat for horse-racing anyway.

Still, Columbus is overall on an upward trend, and I think Strickland is a terrific governor.

Hmm, perhaps you could compensate by legalizing something else instead of gambling... I guarantee that Ohio's problems would be over quickly, one way or another. (Then again you'd have a whole other nut to crack, namely Federal prohibition statutes.)

On that note, I hear that California's #1 cash crop isn't exactly legal, but it sure is tender.

Yeah, Ohio division of NORML is pretty big. It has held Hempfest smack dab in the middle of the OSU campus for the better part of two decades now. Sadly, we've only just now gotten into the third year of freedom from a Republican vise grip on our state politics, and it's slow goin' with such things when you've got people voting for a fucking law that makes titty clubs close at midnight and institute a 6-foot zone. I'm not a huge fan of what these clubs represent, and will only ever give custom to the wonderful Zanzibar of Toronto, ON for the remainder of my life, but that's all beside the point. There's no reason such things should be legal limitations of businesses of that type.

"HMMM, how is this "thread"?"

Oh, okay:

"Hey Democratic candidates:

Please free me and all of my brothers and sisters from ideological slavery. Please return us to a country where at least lip service is paid to all being equal, as opposed to a land where the President himself declares atheists to be un-American because of lack of adherence to a McCarthy era change to the Pledge of Allegiance, which was originally nothing more than copy from advertisements for a flag-making company.

Video games, weed, and stupid movies aren't going to do nearly as much damage to us as the ransom of our children into the pockets of men furnishing their golden parachutes that give out sloppy blowjobs.

Please please stop talking about attacking Iran.

Amen, or, wait fuck--"

Amen. Goodnight and good luck. I'm turning in, I've got to work at 9:00 AM and I've been up till dawn the last two days... I'm turning into an SG zombie & I need to stop.

The funny thing is he oversees different construction crews for a contracting company that he will either one day have part ownership in or he will start his own. I just told him to wait till he has his own company he'll realize how directly local and federal laws affect what and how he can do what he has to do. He told me he still won't vote which I don't buy. I mean shit, my dad is an educator/researcher and I'd always consult him about certain position that were up on the ballot. I mean, there were certain people who if got elected would have effected his ability to obtain funds and perform certain research. It's just so obvious to me that voting matters, but I'm preaching to the choir.

And yeah, I'd concede that his intelligence is a bit myopic. There was resistance to the idea that I couldn't put my finger on. Perhaps it's just apathy. But when I said intelligent he is generally thoughtful and can discuss nuanced positions beyond just the black and the white.

Personally, I think the lottery is a bad idea. People would be voting for the wrong reasons, and I believe the percentage of uninformed electorate would gradually increase. I think giving people the day off is a good idea though. I think a lot of people who would like to vote but put their job above voting would be given the opportunity.

Detroit's like what two and a half hours away? And they have three big Casinos, and then Windsor is just across the river. That's four cool casinos just a couple hours away.

He's still pretty young. Hopefully he'll come around, and you can be sure I'm going to try and help quicken that process.

Thanks, I'll need it.

I still think you under estimate how many left leaning people who dislike Hillary Clinton, not because of her specific point on some political spectrum, but because of the type of slimy wishy washy politician she is. She is not just the definition of an opportunist, it's like she read the definition and decided she could do it one better. It appears as if she has engineered her entire life, both private and public, not for profit, not personal empowerment, not pubic service or representation, but entirely for political advancement.
She is not just a political animal, she is alarmingly close to politics incarnate.

There's a dozen casinos within one to two to three hours of me. The point is that the religious zealots think that gambling is hell on earth. That's money just walking out of Ohio. Rather than spend the cash in Ohio, they drive two to three hours to get to a casino and spend money there.

Bus trips around here are a dime a dozen, that is flocks of money leaving the state of Ohio to never return, because no one comes to Ohio. Around here we have perfect places like the Cuyahoga River for Casinos, but once again, the religious zealots fear that people with "gambling addictions" will threaten the welfare of the state.

The same religious reich thinks that they need to keep me safe from the soul sucking stripper.

Columbus is the only city prospering in Ohio, Cinci is dieing, Cleveland and Akron are dieing, and Strickland has his hands full trying to fix things. It's just not a good state to be in right now.

Thank you. FTR, did you watch one single debate in the 2004 election cycle at all? What the hell are you talking about? Kerry clearly stomped Bush in both the first and the third debates, and he didn't lose the second one either.

I know people are all into that after-the-fact, "told you so"- style hating on Senator Kerry and Al Gore and anyone else who's ever lost an election in the history of democratic political systems, but you ought at least to try to sound like you know what you're talking about while spewing that.

Please substantiate any of those statements you just made, in any way--particularly that last one.

Go.

Likability has little to do with "trouncing." Did he on knowledge? Yes. Could John Kerry say a sentence without rambling on for hours? No. Boring your audience to death is not a quality debating strategy.

Remember all those crisp, nice sound bites out of Kerry? Yeah, neither do I. I guess that is why the Daily Show continued to show him babbling on and on every night of the campaign, unable to make a quick concise point, because he was an awesome speker. Don't pull this "I told you so" shit out, when I watched Jon Stewart slam his head into his desk night after night as he felt the same way many of us did. If you don't see the same thing with Hillary, good luck to you.