Nick Oliva - Politics

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Infidelity should not be grounds for a politician's removal from office. NOOOOOOO! Infidelity is a personal problem. Throughout history it has never been an indicator of whether a head of state (or any other public figure) is a good or bad or successful or unsuccessful leader. Also, it's not infidelity that brings down politicians, it's GOSSIP! Many, many politicians are thought to not mess around and are - much later - found to have been fiends! You remove the devil you know and replace him with the devil that better conceals his trists... brilliant!

President Obama's inauguration speech was good. It was very good. It wasn't Lincoln or Kennedy, but it was fresh air after the nightmare we had been through.

The Republican Party should try to rebrand itself. As two different parties... one for fiscal conservatives and one for religious conservatives. If it's going to stay "Republican Party" they should stick to fiscal conservatism and kick the Christian-agenda types out.

Outer space should not be militarized. The risks... far, far, and away... outweigh the benefits.

The presidential primary system should not be replaced Primaries are a good idea. I just like the idea of going back to where the runner up becomes VP. That would lead to far more civilized primaries.

Barack Obama's national security team is "Satisfactory."

Obama's campaign was the most significant factor contributing to his election victory. Was initially thinking about the primaries... Obama's dominance came about through his excellent organization.

Timothy Geithner is a good choice for Barack Obama's Treasury Secretary. He's in a thankless position... I think having support from across the aisle was a good thing.

Hillary Clinton is a good choice for Barack Obama's Secretary of State. She was... for many reasons. She's in the top tier of Democrats having made a very good run for the top job, and she's a heavyweight.

Leon Panetta is a good choice to head the CIA. He's a good choice in a bureaucracy. Sometimes you need outsiders.

The U.S. should not use military force to disarm North Korea. They don't have arms worth disarming.

The Department of Homeland Security has been effective. It seems to have accomplished what government is supposed to accomplish, much to the chagrin of starve-the-beasters.

Congress should eliminate the alternative minimum tax (AMT). The concept is a good one - that people should not find so many shams that they get to where they pay no taxes, but the formula needs revision.

Congress should pass an income tax surcharge to help finance the Iraq War. That would have put a stop to the war before it started. Funding wars out of income taxes would put a damper on conservative ideology.

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

The U.S. should not expand coal-to-liquid fuel production. Coal has to be contained.

The 1994 Assault Weapons Ban was not effective. If you shot at the ban with a shotgun, the pellets would just go through the existing holes.

Diplomatic measures or pressure are the appropriate next steps that the U.S. should take with North Korea. Which is just what the U.S. is doing... sending in the "Big Dog" to rescue the ladies in distress!

The U.S. should comply with the Geneva Conventions in the interrogation of suspected terrorists. It's about rights, dignity, fairness, and law.

The U.S. should not increase the size of the military. Already the methods employed to entice the weak with bait and switch and other deceptive practices is unconscionable. There ought to not be any need to military recruiters... if the job payed enough, etc., enough would join.

The U.S. should maintain the size of its nuclear arsenal. No reason to decrease it - not even proportionally. Redundancy is necessary in any system and obsolescence and failures mean that extras are a good thing.

The U.S. should have a winner-take-all primary system. If a portion of a representative could take office, then I suppose proportional would make sense.

The U.S. should not restrict prisoners' access to lawyers at Guantanamo Bay. The answer to questions such as, "Which countries restrict prisoners' access to lawyers?" ought never to include the U.S.

The U.S. should engage in bilateral talks with North Korea. Because, as they say, "jaw jaw is better than war war"... just why they say it like that is beyond me....

A third-party candidate cannot win the Presidency. No third party can overcome the same Republican dirty tricks that Democrats have to surmount to win an election. It was only because it was a landslide that Obama won with the margin he won. The actual will of the people was far greater than the tally in his favor.

The McCain-Feingold Act has not been effective. Has ability to spend money ceased to be a necessary requirement to win an election?

The U.S. military should permit active duty members to access social networking sites. The U.S. Military should not try to control people's lives. What soldiers do on their own time is their business only.

Incandescent light bulbs should not be banned. Incandescent bulbs should be obsoleted, not banned. When something truly better is available, people will stop buying them.

President Obama will be a two-term president. I suppose another Democrat could unseat him... the GOP is dead, splintered, unhinged, and praying for salvation... they should stick to local politics for a couple of decades.

Bill O'Reilly should not bear responsibility for the murder of Dr. Tiller. Absolutely not! (I hope I haven't contradicted myself on this one...) It's really difficult to draw the line that separates people that arm bears or shout theater in a crowded firehouse for regular folk.... I do believe in significant freedoms of speech. After all, isn't there little difference between O'Reilly calling Tiller a murderer and Tiller being killed, and someone saying that O'Reilly is "responsible for Tiller's murder" and O'Reilly is killed?

Puerto Rico should not become a U.S. state. I don't ever want to see Cuba become a U.S. state either. I'd like to see PR transition to independence.

Media outlets should use the word 'torture' when covering Bush-era detainee policies. I'll agree with @Montalvo here. What else would they do, call it by a Bush-era-euphemism? Healthy Forests... was "not". Enhanced interrogation is term coined by torturers to put a happy face on their craft. Making someone endure pain or suffering to induce them to talk is torture. The torturer does not decide some point at which what he's doing can be called torture... it's torture as soon as it goes beyond containment and questioning. Zero tolerance. I'm not saying I'm against all torture because I'd very much like to see draconian retribution against people that are proven to keep dungeons where they rape and kill children... but that's another matter...

Timothy Geithner should remain Secretary of the Treasury. It takes time to settle into any new job - in particular when you've inherited a disaster.

There are persuasive non-religious reasons for prohibiting abortions. And many abortions are prohibited already for these reasons. Abortion should be a last resort available without exception in the first few weeks after pregnancy can be easily detected, and when the life of the mother is at serious risk.

President Obama should appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Bush Administration policies. This is absolutely necessary... but it's more likely that we'll hear something along the lines of endangering the lives of American servicemen if we open this can of worms.

Private sellers at gun shows should be required to do background checks. Aren't shows and fairs just organized ways of evading taxes? A portion of the fee sellers pay for their booths could easily be used to pay a few background-checkers... saying it's a burden is disingenuous.

President Obama should release new photos depicting U.S. detainee abuse. Without transparency there can be no trust and no deterrent. If the policy is simply to release all pictures while preserving the identity/privacy of the victims, then future American jailers will think twice...

It is appropriate for a sign that reads, "Religion is but myth and superstition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds" to appear on government property alongside religious displays. Every religious display already represents a condemnation of every other religion... as heathens, infidels, etc. A sign like this should be required as are the warnings on cigarette boxes.

The U.S. should ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.

The U.S. should have diplomatic relations with Cuba. There should always be a line of communication by which to address and defuse situations that arise. Having diplomatic relations does not mean you are a patsy to a regime. I wish I could show the Old Guard Cubans in Miami my utter disgust at the way they exacerbated for decades the suffering of Cubans on the island with their hard-line approach. I wish people would ignore or at least ridiculue, those that argue that Communism wins a victory when my elderly aunt gets to meet my infant son.