Alan Augustson - Politics

<< Alan Augustson

Topics

Opinions

Paying taxes is not patriotic. It's only patriotic if you have the option NOT to pay. Wanting to avoid fines and jail time is not patriotism.

President Obama will be a one-term president. Not at all a certainty, but the economy WILL continue to worsen, and it could cost him a second term. It really depends upon how well he can continue to make people "feel good" about him, personally, regardless that the news is still all bad.

The U.S. should not build a fence along the Mexican border.

The U.S. should end the embargo against Cuba.

The most appropriate term to describe the U.S. led military action in Iraq is invasion.

President Bush has appointed people that are too ideologically to the right to be fair judges. He has also "stacked" the Justice Department with civil servants and appointees based solely upon their religious affiliations.

Diplomatic measures or pressure are the appropriate next steps that the US should take with Iran. No more "pre-emptive wars". Period.

Social Security provides insurance against becoming destitute in retirement.

They are valid debts and the US Government must pay back funds on loan from the Social Security program in full when due.

Saddam participating in the planning, funding, and/or execution of the attacks of September 11, 2001 is an absolute justification for the invasion.

The invasion of Iraq was not lawful in consideration of the treaties signed by the United States and including the Charter of the United Nations - at least one applicable law or treaty was violated by the invasion.

The U.S. should not extend military soldiers' tours of duty.

A wall along the Mexican border will not decrease the likelihood of terrorists entering the U.S. If so, why then are we not building a wall along the Canadian border as well? People who are racist toward Mexicans should just admit it -- at least then they wouldn't be cowardly, lying racists.

General election debates should include third party candidates.

The U.S. embargo on Cuba has not been effective.

Sarah Palin is not qualified to be the President of the United States. Give me a break. The woman believes Jesus rode a dinosaur. Last week.

A woman in the first trimester should have unrestricted legal access without exceptions to terminate her pregnancy.

Sarah Palin had a negative impact on John McCain's candidacy. She solidified support for Obama by displaying the ignorance and backwardness of the Republican base.

The U.S. should join the International Criminal Court.

Vice President Dick Cheney should be impeached. Impeaching Bush without impeaching Cheney would be dangerous. It could conceivably result in a scenario wherein the most evil human being in this modern world ascended to the Oval Office

Military experience is not an important qualification for the presidency. I vote based upon the issues and positions, not the resume.

Obama's foreign trip will have a negative effect on his candidacy. Obama's absence gave the McCain campaign an opportunity to lob cheap shots without fear of rebuke. By the time Obama returned to the US, the damage was done and further discussion was moot.

Democratic candidates should not withdraw from the Fox News debate. No, but Faux News really needs its FCC license revoked, for trying to pass blatant editorialism as journalism, and opinion as fact. Mind you, they're not the only ones doing this -- they're just the most egregious offenders.

Films do not have the power to effect social change. Very little if any. If so, then "Fahrenheit 9/11" and "An Inconvenient Truth" should have been enough to unseat the Bush Administration,

Barack Obama will win the 2008 presidential election. But it's not a lock by any means. The Republicans have a whole *deck* of hate cards, race cards and fear cards that they haven't yet played. They have yet to break out their latest Karl Rove.

The U.S. government should not subsidize corn-based ethanol. Ethanol is a scam. It's a cash-cow for ADM, Monsanto, Cargill and other mega-agribusiness companies. It won't affect the price of gas, and YOU'RE BURNING FOOD!

The U.S. should set a timetable to withdraw troops from Iraq. And that timetable should be as close to "immediate" as possible.

Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama should not run on the same ticket. Republicans will not cross the aisle to vote for any ticket that has a Clinton on it. The Dems will sink themselves if they fail to appreciate just how much Republicans despise Hillary.

Race will negatively affect Barack Obama's candidacy. The Republicans will break out a whole DECK of hate cards, starting about two months before the election. They won in 2004 by fixating hateful Americans on gay marriage; they may do the same in 2008 by playing up race.

Regulations on campaign contributions do not violate the First Amendment. Campaign contribution regulations limit the influence of money, not people.

Courts should review the Guantanamo detainees' status, and determine which rights the prisoners receive. They should either be granted POW status, with all the rights thereof, or be properly charged with whatever crimes they are accused of. If neither of the above applies, they should be turned over to their home countries through diplomatic channels.

The U.S. is not safer from terrorism today than it was before 9/11. Hell, no. We are considerably less free, but not one bit more safe than we were on September 10th. Which, in all likelihood, was the real objective. Our great-grandchildren will have to decide, once the facts are permitted to come to light.

The phrase "war on terror" should not be used. When the United States Government has no clue how to respond to a situation, they declare a "war" on it. So it was with poverty. So it was with drugs. And so it is now with terrorism. I hope we never declare a "War on War", or else we're all utterly bone

The invasion of Iraq has not been successful.

Based on the information available at the time of the invasion of Iraq, it was not justified. I distrusted the intelligence, and the motivations for the invasion, from the very beginning.

The President should not order domestic warrantless wiretaps to combat terrorism.

'Waterboarding' should be characterized as torture.

U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War was not justified.

The use of torture as an interrogation technique cannot be justified.

The U.S. should not institute a national ID card system. We don't need a national ID card system; we have passports to serve this function.