USA - Election 2008

[Slade]

It's probably no secret that I'm a Republican

You’re a Republican Cerise. I should have guessed. At times you come across as hard-line.

*Runs and hides behind a corner*

No seriously though I don't really think you can be completely right-wing or left-wing nowadays. A lot of people would probably deviate from centre-left to centre-right etc.

[Cerise]

Lol. Yup, that's me Honestly, I'm not always such a hard-line... I get annoyed very easily... that's all

[Cal]

Progressive Democrat here Hi!

Well, we're almost extinct in this country, unfortunately. Only two seats in the Government... and in a few days the PDs may pull out altogether

[emmasi]

Congrats, Obama. I hope this goes well for him and for the country, and for all the countries that this presidency will hopefully change for the better.

[Traceve]

Very happy Obama won Loved his speech, I just wanna hug that guy <3

[Cal]

From Rté.ie

Obama orders closure of Guantanamo Bay

Thursday, 22 January 2009 16:50

US President Barack Obama has ordered the closure of Guantanamo Bay prison camp within one year.

The signing of the executive order at a White House ceremony today sees a reversal of the anti-terrorism policy employed by the administration of his predecessor, George W Bush.

Shutting the controversial camp, where terrorism suspects have been detained for years without trial, would fulfill a promise Mr Obama made during his campaign.

'The message that we are sending around the world is that the United States intends to prosecute the ongoing struggle against violence and terrorism and we are going to do so vigilantly,' Mr Obama said at a signing ceremony in the Oval office.

'We are going to do so effectively and we are going to do so in a manner that is consistent with our values and our ideals,' he said.

Officials in Obama's Democratic administration acknowledge that deciding to close the prison is simply the first step in a long, complicated process to determine the fate of its 250 inmates.

The US wants to try about 80 of the prisoners on terrorism charges.

It has cleared 50 other detainees for release but cannot return them to their home countries because of the risk they could be tortured or persecuted there.

Yesterday, in one of the first moves of Mr Obama's administration, military trials at the centre were suspended for 120 days while a presidential review is carried out.

The new US Director of National Intelligence has backed closing Guantanamo and said humane treatment standards for terrorism suspects must apply throughout the government.

'I agree with the president that the detention centre at Guantanamo has become a damaging symbol to the world and that it must be closed,' retired Admiral Dennis Blair said.

'There must be clear standards for humane treatment that apply to all agencies of US government, including the intelligence community,' Mr Blair said.

President Obama also signed an executive order rejecting abusive interrogation tactics and requiring investigators to comply with the Geneva Conventions.

A promising start.

[superman's girlfriend]

Obama Lifts Ban on Overseas Abortion Funding

Go Obama!

[Cal]

Great!

It's still illegal here, though...

[Slade]

A promising start.

Yes it is and we can’t expect him to fix or solve all the worlds’ problems overnight but there are still things which concern me such as the environment, the dispute between the Palestinians and Israel etc. And the same questions keep entering my mind, namely how can the Americans realistically hope to ratify the Kyoto protocol without substantially affecting their economy? This is not realistic. Any change would take years to implement as they would need a viable alternative in place and the only plausible way they can meet the demands of the huge amount of energy they require and not pollute the planet with more greenhouse gases is to build nuclear power stations. Regarding the Israelis and the Palestinians I’m not sure what Obama’s policy is but I would be surprised he was pro Palestinian. Most of the former presidents (regardless of whether they have been Democrats or Republicans) have generally tended to favour the Israelis. The only one I can think of recently that really made an effort was Bill Clinton when he brought Yasser Arafat and the Israeli leader at the time (I can’t remember his name) to Camp David to try and resolve the dispute.

[superman's girlfriend]

A promising start.

Yes it is and we can’t expect him to fix or solve all the worlds’ problems overnight but there are still things which concern me such as the environment, the dispute between the Palestinians and Israel etc. And the same questions keep entering my mind, namely how can the Americans realistically hope to ratify the Kyoto protocol without substantially affecting their economy? This is not realistic. Any change would take years to implement as they would need a viable alternative in place and the only plausible way they can meet the demands of the huge amount of energy they require and not pollute the planet with more greenhouse gases is to build nuclear power stations. Regarding the Israelis and the Palestinians I’m not sure what Obama’s policy is but I would be surprised he was pro Palestinian. Most of the former presidents (regardless of whether they have been Democrats or Republicans) have generally tended to favour the Israelis. The only one I can think of recently that really made an effort was Bill Clinton when he brought Yasser Arafat and the Israeli leader at the time (I can’t remember his name) to Camp David to try and resolve the dispute.

There were rumors Barack Hussein Obama has Jewish blood in him

also Bill Clinton was a good president,at least no warlord

Let's wait and see

America plans to withdraw troops from Iraq but are they expecting Europe to take over