gethro - Politics

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Endorsements do influence the outcome of elections. Voters' decisions are usually influenced small, unofficial "endorsements" to some degree. Does every endorsement carry influence? If Sarah Palin endorses Bloomberg tonight, I doubt that'll get him anywhere. Actually...it would have a negative outcome.

The Guantanamo detention center should not be closed.

Hillary Clinton is a good choice for Barack Obama's Secretary of State.

President Obama should loosen restrictions on federally funded embryonic stem cell research.

All troops should not be removed from Iraq at the end of President Obama's 19-month timetable.

Rahm Emanuel was a good choice for Barack Obama's White House Chief of Staff.

Eric Holder is a good choice for U.S. Attorney General.

Columbus Day should be celebrated as an official holiday. At this point, it'd be more trouble than it's worth to remove it from an official holiday. It's also isn't necessarily the celebration of Columbus' sole credit for discovering the New World. Hispanics and Italian-Americans celebrate their unique heritage on this day as well.

Obama's campaign was the most significant factor contributing to his election victory.

Timothy Geithner should remain Secretary of the Treasury.

Israel should withdraw from the Golan Heights as part of a peace agreement with Syria.

The EU should not deploy U.S. missile defense shields.

The post-cease fire Israeli air strikes in Gaza were not justified. The new UN report stated clearly that Israel committed war crimes in that the military intentionally targeted civilian buildings. I believed that they were justified before but have changed my mind.

Barack Obama's election does not represent the fulfillment of Martin Luther King Jr.'s 'dream.'

The U.S. should allow dual citizenship.

Governor Patrick should make a temporary appointment to replace Ted Kennedy in the U.S. Senate.

The U.S. government should not privatize the Postal Service.

Relations between the U.S. and Cuba will not improve now that Fidel Castro has left office.

A third-party candidate cannot win the Presidency.

Protests over the Iranian election will not lead to a revolution.

The U.S. should not use a flat tax system. Work-related effort and contribution doesn't come close proportionally to earned income.

State should play a role in enforcing immigrations laws.

Sonia Sotomayor is a good choice to replace Justice Souter.

Timothy Geithner is a good choice for Barack Obama's Treasury Secretary.

Media outlets should use the word 'torture' when covering Bush-era detainee policies. Channeling my inner "Daily Show" sarcasm: What? Do readers actually expect their news to, like, be a filter between what White House press statements and what the actual facts are? God forbid!!

Candidates' personal lives should play a role in campaigns. Politicians are like baseball players. They've abused their pulpit so irreparably through corruption, sex scandals and incompetence over the years that constituents can't help but associate these things to them instinctively. Point is, in their job application to become very important public servants, questioning their moral background is the LEAST we can do.

Mark Sanford should not resign as governor of South Carolina. At least not for infidelity. But maybe for bad governorship. Time magazine did after all name him among the worst governors back in '05 http://www.time.com/time/press_releases/article/0,8599,1129509,00.html

The Obama Administration should not issue a statement of support to the Iranian election uprising. It's a Iranian domestic affair and the U.S. would do well to not meddle in these kinds of affairs for once.

Bill O'Reilly should not bear responsibility for the murder of Dr. Tiller. If you are prepared to go down the road of assigning culpability to the inspirations of murder, you'll find yourself on the wrong side of free speech more often than not. You'll reach out far beyond the media landscape and into schools, communities and homes. And if you thought O'Reilly was bad, wait till you see what's said when the camera isn't rolling. Also, should you take on this enormous task, we expect preventive foresight next time...not the sort of Monday morning quarterbacking that's taken shape this week in the crime's aftermath. Because what if O'Reilly were simply to have conveyed strong disagreement with Dr. Tiller's practice that was short on sensationalism but long on criticism? Is he less culpable? If so, we'd seek another thing to blame. After all, we like nothing better than to explain life's atrocities. O'Reilly was an easy out in this case.

There are persuasive non-religious reasons for prohibiting abortions. Saying there are not is an endorsement for abortions to be performed as a reasonable birth control alternative to contraception. Don't confuse this with the rhetoric of the liberal pro-choice movement, which seems so sanctimoniously committed to "a woman's right to choose" that they ignore the broader issue at hand: unwanted pregnancy.

President Obama should not release new photos depicting U.S. detainee abuse.

President Obama's first 100 days were satisfactory. Satisfactory isn't a ringing endorsement, nor should it be. Give the guy some time before you anoint him.

The U.S. should not negotiate with the Taliban. I guess the wisdom of my position benefits from waiting a couple weeks until after the Taliban has advanced to within 70 miles of Islamabad. Civil war might not be far off. Give them an inch...

Memos about CIA torture techniques should have been released by the Obama Administration. Where'd the 57 unregistered opinions saying 'no' come from?

The Department of Justice should prosecute CIA officials who carried out Bush Administration interrogation methods. Not as a blanket policy, but they shouldn't be immune to prosecution. Hopefully further investigation will show which officials took cruel and unusual pleasure in torturing their victims...and they should be held responsible.

Fox News' coverage of the Tea Party protests is not appropriate. No, it wasn't, but @JamesRainey makes a good point: MSNBC was unfair as well. They spent more time making fun of the name of the event than actually reporting what the event was about.

Paying taxes is not patriotic. revised comment: Paying taxes isn't something to be proud of or appreciative of. I would and will always pay taxes but I will always make sure that I'm doing everything I can that's legal, reasonable and moral to look out for myself as well.

Pirates should not be officially labeled as terrorists. Not unless/until their criminal cause becomes something other than trying to get rich.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will have a negative effect on the Middle East peace process.

The U.S. Department of Justice should not drop the charges against former Senator Ted Stevens.