I find it interesting that everyone here knows how to run the country

[WeekendWarrior]

and respond to a crisis (or however you want to characterize it) without a single shred of inside knowledge.

Thank God none of you are President.

[morningfog]

1. What inside knowledge do you have that suggests what is said here is wrong?

Setting that aside, deciding to start an unnecessary war has *nothing* to do with running the country.

[cali]

2. honestly, is there a dimmer comment than that?

by your absurd little construct, none of us should have opinions on anything. how democratic of you, dear.

sadly, there are too many thoughtless extreme partisans.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

75. nothing dumber that this OP that i have read recently

except maybe pat robertson "aids rings" comment

[villager]

3. That pesky "democracy" thing again! Only those who can afford higher office should make decisions

...for us!

Or to quote Peter Lorre: "What right do I have to think, eh?"

[HardTimes99]

62. For the oldsters on the Board, there was a joke that used to make the

rounds about Nelson Rockefeller's presidential candidacy: "He owns the country so he ought to be able to run it."

[villager]

107. Now it's how the Koch Bros. think

[Harmony Blue]

4. It is the weekend so educate us

please?

[hfojvt]

5. just think if one of us was President on 19 March 2003

without being privy to all the inside knowledge that Bush had, we might have been so stupid that we would not have even invaded Iraq!

The horror. The horror.

[SammyWinstonJack]

22. heh. I was waiting for someone to point this out.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

44. Thank you. Jesus, have people learned NOTHING over the past 10 years?!

[LWolf]

86. +1

[senseandsensibility]

104. Zing!

Exactly. How will the OP respond to this, or will it be ignored?

[Sam1]

6. Inside knowledge is that inside the bubble?

[Warpy]

81. It is and that's the problem. The intelligence agencies are untrustworthy

They lie at worst and are incompetent at best. After all, they completely missed the imminent collapse of the USSR but could assign pounds and ounces to all those chemical weapons Saddam Hussein had.

[Autumn]

7. You know, we should just close down DU until this is all over.

That way people wouldn't have to read about people exchanging their thoughts on these current events.








Thank god you aren't in charge

[AsahinaKimi]

51. Do you think the OP would allow us to

discuss Miley Cyrus or some other top POP person, ya know, since god forbid we can not talk about politics?

[Autumn]

52. No, that might get too controversial. Maybe we could discuss coloring crayons.

I'm sure that wouldn't be offensive and cause hurt feelings. And there's no one who hasn't used coloring crayons.

[AsahinaKimi]

53. Brilliant idea!

Here is mine..

[Autumn]

55. How perfect is that!! We all have inside knowledge on crayons.

We know the colors are pretty and who hasn't has crayons melted.

[AsahinaKimi]

56. Thanks!

Your turn!

[Autumn]

59. Great, now we have a problem. There are six crayons missing from that color palette.

Someone left those out. I don't know if it was by accident or design. I know for a fact, due to my insider knowledge that there are sixty four crayons in the large box of crayons.

[AsahinaKimi]

60. Do your best

with wotcha got!

[Autumn]

65. Maybe crayons aren't as harmless as I thought.

But seriously. I loved that picture. I have a large sketchbook and I think I'll show that to my Granddaughter and let her try that. I remember when her Mother was young I would give her a large piece of white cotton material and she would color a picture and then we would put the iron on low and iron it.

[treestar]

8. I'm willing to think there is genuine disagreement but

so many of the arguers are people who 1) happen to always disagree with him, 2) don't want him to be right and 3) jump on any chance to prove 1 and 2 valid without even considering his side of it.

[Andy823]

40. +100 nt

[LWolf]

87. And so many other arguers are people who

1) happen to always agree with him
2) want and need him to be right no matter what and
3) jump on any chance to prove 1 and 2 valid without even considering the principles and/or issues being violated

[notadmblnd]

9. So you just came here to throw shit and insults?

I'm certain that there are some people that post here that are indeed capable of running the country and many of them do have inside knowledge.

Perhaps if you spent more time reading and less time instigating, you would learn who these people are? Then you could direct your insults on a more personal level instead of just throwing shitty insults at everyone.

[Egalitarian Thug]

10. Yeah, 'cause the parasite class has done such a bang up job...

Personally, I trust a random person on the street far more than the scum that rules us now.

[Nay]

48. Zakly. I, or anyone else on here, could hardly do worse. At least we might be trying to do

stuff for the people and the country, instead of robbing the poor and middle class.

[HardTimes99]

64. A monkey throwing darts at a dartboard would have at least a 50-50 chance of doing

better than the 1% parasites that currently hold sway

[Egalitarian Thug]

66. One of the great unspoken truths. You're absolutely right, and the same can be said for

dozens of so-called professions, most notably, every single part of the "financial industry". From Blankfein down to the lowly runner on the exchange floor, none of them do anything of any real value to anybody except other charlatans making their livings bilking people.

When random chance achieves better results than you do at your job, either your job is nothing but make-work, or you are incompetent and should look into another field for employment.

[HardTimes99]

68. There was a study done by some academic that actually tested random stock picking (maybe

by monkeys literally throwing darts at dart boards even!) and the results showed that random stock picking performed better than about 80-90% of the professional money managers\stock pickers. This study is often cited in defense of modern asset allocation theory, IIRC, which says you can achieve the best results not by making specific stock or bond picks but by simply allocating your assets across a variety of asset classes in accord with your age and risk profile.

But the larger philosophical implications that you note are also ineluctable conclusions one can draw from said study.

[Egalitarian Thug]

69. You do recall correctly, and it's been ongoing for over 30 years. The monkey,

trained to throw darts at the board, has outperformed the DJIA and the major trading houses every year. Wall Street is a scam set up to benefit its owners, nothing more. By legalizing the theft of pension funds and forcing the sheeple into their game, "our leaders" started the countdown to self-destruction over half a century ago.

Mr. Adam Monkey is one of several that have been doing this for decades. There's now software from the Cass Business School at City University of London, that replaces the monkey but still outperforms the "experts" every year.

About half the working population of America are getting by on bullshit, they do nothing of any value to anyone but the better bullshitter they work for. Even worse, the other half that do something of real value are the people doing it for less and less.

[HardTimes99]

71. Yours is one sobering post and probably deserves to be its own OP, methinks - nt

[Egalitarian Thug]

72. Thank you very much, I appreciate it. Unfortunately, very few here are interested in reading

anything that doesn't agree or support whatever cause they're invested in, and nobody anywhere ever wants to hear the unvarnished truth about anything.

When one begins to look closely at the 'truths' that serve as our internal justifications for our actions, not very many of us have the stomach for what we find.

[HardTimes99]

73. Don't mean to hijack this thread, but is something about Occupy Wall Street (Los Angeles)

that I most appreciated: the willingness to look reality ('truth') in the face unflinchingly. Of course, the reaction by the protectors of this Potemkin Village was eminently and tragically predictable, but here's to the truth-tellers who cannot be silenced forever, only momentarily muzzled.

[Egalitarian Thug]

79. This thread is worthless, hijack away.

The determined obtuseness of the anti-OWS crowd was, to me, a dead giveaway. They've been declaring it dead, worthless, irrelevant, misguided, unrealistic, etc., since the first day in the park. I find that most of them are bullshitting parasites or one variety or another and pay them no heed.

I just wish OWS had started 10 or 15 years earlier when I could still do something significant to help.

[HardTimes99]

80. Actually, come to think of it, Occupy Wall Street has a lot of relevance to the OP, as there was

1,000,000 times more democracy in that brief 3-month experiment than among the plutocracy that currently passes for leadership in the corridors of power in D.C. So maybe there's some redeeming value in this malicious and mean-spirited OP after all

[socialist_n_TN]

82. Well there you go...........

I believe I agree. I'm not sure they could do worse anyway.

[Egalitarian Thug]

84. I'm just going by the odds of that random person having the cunning, contacts,

or the wherewithal to actively work against the nation's interests. I'm sure the odds are that whoever it was that was picked, would be embarrassingly ignorant of the issues at hand, but do I believe that, in the end, that person would work hard to try and make the best choices to benefit the most people.

And that may well be the only remaining positive left to the label, American.

[nebenaube]

11. Hey

George Bush Jr did it for eight years... it can't be that difficult. Oh wait... nevermind.

[WeekendWarrior]

12. I find it interesting that you assume I'm a partisan who supports

an invasion of Syria. I don't. Far from it.

But I also don't support opinions based on rumor, half-truths, lies, and faulty information. Too many of us are attacking the President for something he hasn't done and may NOT do. And we do it without a single insight into what's going on behind those closed doors.

No matter how many times you say it, Obama is not Bush and the circumstances here are different than they were in 2003—how can they NOT be?—so all of the sniping about what he should or shouldn't do is largely uninformed bullshit.

That's all I have to say. So have your fun with me. I really don't care.

[tkmorris]

38. It's Saturday

Shouldn't you be at war somewhere?

[dennis4868]

42. I'm with you 100%

DUers, who have zero access to the intel, seem to think they know better than the prez because they can't stand him. ING he has our metadata! haha!

[socialist_n_TN]

83. And that was the EXACT thing that the Bushites said about us........

back in '03 or so. I mean EXACTLY.

[Le Taz Hot]

91. Anyone else noting

the irony in this post?

[mick063]

13. I find the OP alarming

In a true Democracy, citizens employ their leaders to operate the nation to a consensus.

In a true Democracy, we would collectively, indirectly "run" the country.

The President should absolutely be given latitude when our nation faces imminent threat.

So now it comes down to the definition of imminent threat.

[markpkessinger]

14. Where have I heard comments like this before . . .

. . . oh, right, it was during the run-up to the invasion of Iraq.

And anyway, I'm not sure what intervening in another country's civil war has to do with running our cou try.

[forestpath]

33. +1000

[Bluenorthwest]

15. I find it interesting that in a democracy you think people should not have opinions or speak them

The very idea of 'secret reasons to bomb' is disgusting. The idea that one person is supposed to 'run the country' without checks, balances and fully honest reporting to the Congress and the people is very Neo Con at best, fascist at worst.

[Moses2SandyKoufax]

19. No kidding.

As mentioned above this sounds like the run up to the Iraq war, and Nixon's bombing of Cambodia.

[Pholus]

49. ^^^ THIS, MR. OP! nt

[1-Old-Man]

16. What a load of horseshit. nt.

That load of horseshit isn't even worth commenting on.

[bunnies]

21. Yep. Though...

I love that we can see who rec's posts now. Its pretty enlightening sometimes.

[Laelth]

36. Quite enlightening, yes. n/t

-Laelth

[ctsnowman]

102. I did not know that

Thanks for the tip.

[Iggo]

17. Well gosh, you sure told us!

[FSogol]

18. Obama should fix everything! That's what I would do!

[bunnies]

20. Dick move "WeekendWarrior".

Seriously. Total dick move.

[Hydra]

23. *lmao*

Absolutely no one in DU or the US for that matter is qualified to make decisions President Obama does?

Where do you think Presidents come from? You think we grow them in special vats with all the strongest genetic strains we can find, so that they are superhuman and incapable of making genuinely stupid decisions?

Hint: They start right here with people who are paying attention. If you think you are not capable of doing the job, we would be happy for you to step aside and have a seat at the kids table. The rest of us will be happy to continue our fact finding and advocacy.

[Moses2SandyKoufax]

24. Given his job performance and despite having all the "inside knowledge" on all issues it seems that

the current president also doesn't know how to "run the country", and "respond to a crisis".

[dennis4868]

43. That's BS

this place is frightening.

[Moses2SandyKoufax]

58. If you don't like some of the opinions expressed here

you're free to find another forum, or you can start your own.

On second thought, please start your own, and take the half dozen or so brain dead sychophants with you.

[libdem4life]

25. ...of the people, by the people, for the people,...

At the end of the democratic day, we are collectively and individually responsible for our nation and our government and its actions.

Reminds me of an old saying I'm thinking it was Henry Ford..."I may not know everything there is to know, but I know those who do." I didn't find this one when looking it up, but did find those below and I think they apply equally to helping other nations go to or continue warring ...

"A peaceful nation is one that has the means to make war and restrains."

"War is not a matter for the professional pacifist or militarist. It is for the unprofessional people. They finance and fight it, they bear its losses. Therefore, they should have the deciding voice concerning it. To do this, they require all the information upon which decisions are made. They should know in a difference, whether it is soluble by rational intelligence, or inevitable by force. Not once in a thousand instances would our people (this may not be true of all peoples, however) approve an offensive war. Never would they be lax in defensive action. For this is their country. However, most of their enemies are within it."



http://www.thehenryford.org/research/henryFordQuotes.aspx

[ellisonz]

26. Tired argument. n/t

[Rosa Luxemburg]

27. a single shred?

hmmm!

[cthulu2016]

28. That some major autocratic, authoritarian and un-American horse shit

[Democracyinkind]

29. Almost comical if it weren't so dangerous.

[Coyotl]

30. Don't you mean rule the world?

I'm reminded of Pinky and the Brain!

Pinky: Russia! I've heard of that place! Isn't it full of cheating, lying and backstabbing intrigue?
Brain: The Cold War is over Pinky. Now Russia is a place of free-market capitalism.
Pinky: What's free-market capitalism?
Brain: Erm... cheating, lying and backstabbing intrigue.

Pinky: Egad Brain! I wish I was as smart as you.
Brain: I wish you were as smart as a tree stump, Pinky.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

31. It's called democracy.

[Laelth]

32. You'll need a lot more straw to fully stuff that man. n/t

-Laelth

[MFrohike]

34. Yawn

Self-righteous passive-aggressiveness went out of style last season. Could I offer you self-righteous indignation based on an internet psychiatrist's diagnosis of presidential criticism?

[truebluegreen]

85. Very well put. Thank you.

[whatchamacallit]

35. I find it interesting that so many Americans

like being livestock.

[Egalitarian Thug]

57. They don't seem to realize that all sheep share a common fate. n/t

[ZombieHorde]

37. Are you a monarchist?

Your argument seems to lean that way.

[Octafish]

39. Who knows? With more information, this could become a democracy.

Not that the People are smart enough to know what to do.

Just out of curiosity: Have you met any politicians, WeekendWarrior?

If so, what did you think? Were you impressed?

[cthulu2016]

41. The recs are a real rogues gallery

[Douglas Carpenter]

45. Amen! Imagine the arrogance and insolence of people who think they can talk back to the leaders and

disobey the government when they should be doing what they are told and keeping their goddamn mouths shut -

It's time to return to old fashioned values of obedience and reverence for authority

[SomethingFishy]

46. I find it interesting that you seem to KNOW who to TRUST..

http://m.apnews.com/ap/db_289563/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=ZHzwo2p8


""President Barack Obama declared unequivocally Wednesday that the Syrian government was responsible, while laying the groundwork for an expected U.S. military strike.
"We have concluded that the Syrian government in fact carried these out," Obama said in an interview with "NewsHour" on PBS. "And if that's so, then there need to be international consequences."

However, multiple U.S. officials used the phrase "not a slam dunk" to describe the intelligence picture - a reference to then-CIA Director George Tenet's insistence in 2002 that U.S. intelligence showing Iraq had weapons of mass destruction was a "slam dunk" - intelligence that turned out to be wrong....

snip

Over the past six months, with shifting front lines in the 2½-year-old civil war and sketchy satellite and human intelligence coming out of Syria, U.S. and allied spies have lost track of who controls some of the country's chemical weapons supplies, according to the two intelligence officials and two other U.S. officials.

U.S. satellites have captured images of Syrian troops moving trucks into weapons storage areas and removing materials, but U.S. analysts have not been able to track what was moved or, in some cases, where it was relocated. They are also not certain that when they saw what looked like Assad's forces moving chemical supplies, those forces were able to remove everything before rebels took over an area where weapons had been stored""

More at the link although the AP is not really a good source and it's probably all bullshit

[Savannahmann]

47. Everyone is entitled to an opinion, and has the right to express it.

That would be the First Amendment if you were counting them up.

[NuclearDem]

50. Well, it would help if we knew what some of that inside knowledge is.

You know, so the public can make an informed decision based on the evidence and not just someone's say-so.

Kinda how democracy is supposed to work. Radical leftist idea, I know.

[adirondacker]

54. * ran it for 8 years. I suspect anyone on DU could do a better job. nt

[HardTimes99]

61. What an insulting post. I can't think of an insult to respond with that

doesn't violate the rules. But I am thinking them.

[kentuck]

63. (|:-)__~~~%

[pipi_k]

67. I saw what you just did here...

for one brief moment in time you managed to get a group of DUers to focus their anger on someone other than each other, even though they likely do not agree on the current issue.

Kind of like when the cops show up at the home of a couple involved in a serious domestic dispute. Sometimes they stop fighting with each other and go after the cop.

Well played, WW...well played...

[distantearlywarning]

70. Welcome To The Internet

Where everybody knows everything about everything.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

74. you know these recent trends that seem to claim that citizens should not interfere

in governance didn't seem to exist here when Bush was the president

[hrmjustin]

76. Is you OP a way of saying we should just be silent and not give our opinion?

Because that is how I read it. If you support the presidents position on this you can do an OP that clearly states your view. This OP seems to belittle people who disagree with you.

[MADem]

77. But..... but...... but......!!! YOUR opinion has no validity!!!!!!!

Only those who do not like what you are saying have valid points of view!!!





That's the internet for ya!

[BeyondGeography]

78. A lot of people here deserved that

Moi aussi.

[LukeFL]

88. Agree

[Douglas Carpenter]

89. back in 2007 - I would never have imagined that here on DU we would be caught in a fight between

the democratic left and the authoritarian right - here on a progressive forum.

[ljm2002]

90. Yet another post...

...bemoaning the discussion of politics and current affairs by those who participate in a political discussion board.

Yawn.

[spanone]

92. i find it interesting that you find that no one should have an opinion without 'inside knowledge'.

[WeekendWarrior]

93. You folks crack me up

Nearly every reply to the OP is full of the same kind of assumptions about my motives as they are about what's going on in D.C. A lot of armchair generals screaming nonsense with little or no information.

Hey, I don't have a single problem with you expressing yourselves. This is, as someone said, a democracy. But it seems to me that in the last few months, DU has turned into Freeper Hard Left, and it's pretty damn disheartening.

[wtmusic]

95. You're just claiming to be a better armchair general than everyone else

That cracks me up.

[WeekendWarrior]

96. I haven't made any claims at all

Except that probably 99% of you don't know what you're talking about and make assumptions accordingly.

[Cerridwen]

94. I hire the most knowledgeable to care for my car.

And my plumbing.

Construction.

Political representatives.

Damned straight!

When they act like they're stumbling around and haven't a clue when even I know better, you're goddamned right I get pissed. I don't "appeal to authority," I expect the goddamned authority to know even more than I do.

[Jasana]

97. Damn democracy (republic) - what a drag. nt

[tavernier]

98. My rule of thumb...

Do the direct opposite of anything Lieberman advises.

[99Forever]

99. Bucket O'Fail

Appeal to authority, much?

[NaturalHigh]

100. I don't know how to run a country...

but I know damn good and well that our country doesn't need to be involved in another war.

[Logical]

101. Ahhhh, whining about the DU. And feeling hurt I assume? n-t

[LittleBlue]

103. That's an appeal to authority

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argument_from_authority

Congrats, you've just used a logical fallacy. Enjoy the rest of your stay on DU.

[hughee99]

105. Exactly, people without inside knowledge don't know anything! That's why we should always vote for

the incumbent, right?

[kentuck]

106. If everything everyone says here is worthless...

Then your comments are also worthless. How do we tell the difference?

[CakeGrrl]

108. It's always easier to criticize than to govern.

Speculation is easy and cheap - no consequences.

Decisions are difficult. I'll bet there are a bunch of Congresspeople cursing those who insisted that they be consulted.