Does anyone have anything nice to say?

I think that one of the reasons that so many people get turned off by politics is that most of the debate focuses on the shortcomings of the other side, rather than the good qualities of the different political figures. We always seem to get to the point where we think of an election as a choice between the lesser of two evils, because by the time we are voting, everyone has been so tainted by all the negativity. It's discouraging to have to think, "I don't like this person, but I'm gonna vote for him because at least he's not as bad as the other choice."

Even coming to these boards can be tiresome after awhile. Look at the threads --- most are negative comments of one kind or another about one politician or another. Even the positive ones are often a "Hooray for our side --- the other side did something stupid that's gonna hurt 'em!" Whenever I come here, I know I'm either going to get sucked into feeling I have to defend "my" side, or add my two-cents to a rant about the "other" side.

Exposing the failings of politicains is a valid part of politics, but it's not the only aspect. In this thread, try to find something good to say about one of the candidates or another political figure. It can be a personal quality or a policy. It can be someone you support, but it might be even more thought-provoking if you try to find something good about someone you do not agree with, even someone you may despise.

Pretend like your mother is watching, so "If you can't say something nice, then don't say anything at all!"

Here are some smilies to get you in the mood: :):thumbsup:;):jointsmile::hippy::D:stoned::rasta: :rastasmoke::smokin::o:dance::clap::greenthumb:

I'll start it off:

• Obama is an inspiring speaker. He seems authentic and comes across as believing the things he says. He's not afraid to discuss controversial subjects that are politcally risky such as racism, and he doesn't take simpleminded pandering positions on these complex issues. He's willing to recognize the multiple sides of an issue. He brings a perspective and point of view to the table that represents a big part of America that doesn't often get a voice. He's brought a lot of people into the political process who have not been inspired to participate in the past.
  
• McCain is a decorated war hero. He served the country honorably and well in Vietnam, and displayed courage and integrity when offered an easy way out. He has been more willing to "reach across the aisle" to get things done than other more ideological politicians. He's been willing to tackle politically risky issues that get to the root of problems in our political system such as campaign finance, the influence of lobbyists, and curruption.
  
• Clinton is a tennacious and tough politician. She is a politician who actually studies policy and is very educated about the issues. She knows how to wear a pantsuit --- work it baby!
  
• Bush seems like a fun-loving guy. He is loyal to his people --- maybe TOO much like in the case of Rummy, but at least he doesn't throw them overboard at the first sign of trouble. His No child Left Behind and the money for AIDS in African were motivated by decent instincts.

LMAO!

Bush- Did a hell of a job getting us through 9-11 and recognizing that an evil dictator had to go.:thumbsup:

McCain- Spent his time in hell and recognizes that we are faced with a danger that has to be dealt with.

Clinton- Takes no shit. Put up with a lot of crap from her ol' man.

Obama-He's articulate.

That's the best your getting out of me. Back to rippin' some ass.:thumbsup:

Have a good one!:s4:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Psycho4Bud

That's the best your getting out of me. Back to rippin' some ass.:thumbsup:

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Ha ha! Now that wasn't so bad was it? Don't you feel just a bit better about life?

Ok, look out assclowns! Story time is over and P4B is comin' to getcha!

Anyone else have anything nice to say? Didn't Hillary's hair look nice today? Wasn't Obama entertaining bantering with Coop?

Here are a few more smilies to keep you going: :):thumbsup::jointsmile:;):D:smokin:

Ok here goes....

Bush - .......

.....

No sorry I can't.

Oh now wait I thought of one!

Bush - He hasn't bombed my country yet.

Tony Blair - He seemed like a nice guy, a man with great integrity... way back in 1997.

Gordon Brown - At least he's not Tony Blair, well not exactly.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by McLeodGanja

Ok here goes....

Bush - .......

.....

No sorry I can't.

Oh now wait I thought of one!

Bush - He hasn't bombed my country yet.

Tony Blair - He seemed like a nice guy, a man with great integrity... way back in 1997.

Gordon Brown - At least he's not Tony Blair, well not exactly.

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Small steps, McLeod. Small steps. You should be very proud of this effort. Maybe tomorrow something about Thatcher? Better late than never! (Or maybe not.)

Here is a smiley for you: :jumphappy:

I can think of one about Thatcher - She's still alive! :(

Anyone else? It seems like when you say, "If you can't say something nice, then don't say anything at all!" it really shuts the place up. I'm hearing crickets.

What do you mean? I didn't mean anything bad by that! ;)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by McLeodGanja

What do you mean? I didn't mean anything bad by that! ;)

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Ha ha! I wasn't talking about your post! I was just trying to get a few more people to chime in. Your compliment to Thatcher was very nice, and I could tell you had to dig deep for that --- good job.

Are you daring to suggest that I was being disingenuous!

McCain - Does good over chips.

Al Gore - Would have made a great president.

Condoleeza Rice - probably a really nice person deep down.

...

You are right though, other people should get a turn in this thread, gets a bit boring when it's just me talking.

I encourage everyone to give this a try. Finding something nice to say about politicians, especially the ones you hate, gives you a warm feeling in your chest --- it's called a "warm fuzzy," and it comes from an expansive mood of generosity toward your fellow man, not bile and acid burning its way up your esophagus, like you might think. Of course, if your "warm fuzzy" get's too intense, you might want to take a few Tums or a Pepcid AC, and it will probably go away...

Oh that, that's called love you fool. I can only do love after a gallon of ale, I'm having a week of beer vipasana, in preparation for the The Kills on saturday.

Put it this way, if Tony Blair or any of his cronies stood down from their soap boxes and begged for forvigeness, I'd probably grant it, right. By that I mean I'd probably refrain from pissing on their graves at some point in the far future, if the opportunity to do so ever came along. But while they are still there talking bollocks and restricting my freedom to live, I wont be taking any o' the diel's spunk up my ass for them.

Sorry but they will have to face the wrath of god on their own, I'm not getting caught out saying nice things about them.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by McLeodGanja

I can think of one about Thatcher - She's still alive! :(

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Thatcher and Reagan made a good team. I know she kicked some ass in the Falklands.:thumbsup:

Have a good one!:s4:

McCain DOES know how to use a rifle!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTRZ88WMWQQ[/youtube]

Quote:

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Originally Posted by McLeodGanja

Oh that, that's called love you fool. I can only do love after a gallon of ale, I'm having a week of beer vipasana, in preparation for the The Kills on saturday.

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I'm ready for love after two pints. After a gallon I'm ready to be put to bed, and the love is optional, if it can be managed at all. And what the hell are "The Kills"?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by McLeodGanja

Put it this way, if Tony Blair or any of his cronies stood down from their soap boxes and begged for forvigeness, I'd probably grant it, right. By that I mean I'd probably refrain from pissing on their graves at some point in the far future, if the opportunity to do so ever came along. But while they are still there talking bollocks and restricting my freedom to live, I wont be taking any o' the diel's spunk up my ass for them.

Sorry but they will have to face the wrath of god on their own, I'm not getting caught out saying nice things about them.

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Ooooooh. That's not nice at all. You next smiley will have to be a nasty one: :S3:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Psycho4Bud

Thatcher and Reagan made a good team. I know she kicked some ass in the Falklands.:thumbsup:

Have a good one!:s4:

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Well, there you go. Something nice about Reagan and Thatcher --- they kicked ass together.

Here is a smiley for each of them in keeping with the theme: :Tomcat::apachecopter:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Breukelen advocaat

McCain DOES know how to use a rifle!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTRZ88WMWQQ[/youtube]

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Damn, McCain is good with a rifle! We'll have to air-drop him into the Pakistani tribal regions to hunt down Bin Laden!

Here are some smilies for you in keeping with the rifle theme: :rambohead::rambo::gunfighter2:

:clap: :jumphappy: :lol5:
So much love in the "lions den"! It must be mating season!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dragonrider

Damn, McCain is good with a rifle! We'll have to air-drop him into the Pakistani tribal regions to hunt down Bin Laden!

Here are some smilies for you in keeping with the rifle theme: :rambohead::rambo::gunfighter2:

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"I use a gun for huntin' animals, not men."

When it comes to Al Quada, he's right on target!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by happiestmferoutthere

:clap: :jumphappy: :lol5:
So much love in the "lions den"! It must be mating season!

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Yes, Spring is in the air! Here is your love smiley: :s3:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Breukelen advocaat

"I use a gun for huntin' animals, not men."

When it comes to Al Quada, he's right on target!

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Yes, you're right about that. And my request that you find something nice to say about hated enemies does not extend to Bin Laden --- although he does have quite a nice beard, doesn't he? Not quite long enough to wrap around his neck and hang him, but it's getting there.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dragonrider

I'm ready for love after two pints. After a gallon I'm ready to be put to bed, and the love is optional, if it can be managed at all. And what the hell are "The Kills"?

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A band. See my thread on them in the music room.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dragonrider

Ooooooh. That's not nice at all. You next smiley will have to be a nasty one: :S3:

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OK then "Mother Teresa", say something nice about Hitler. Go on. I bet you can't can you? And meaningless neutralities such as, he's got a nice moustache don't count.

John Major - Not long enough in power to have done any long term damage.

Giles Brandreth - A good enough reason not to watch Countdown.

Mary Whitehouse - Better than "Amy Winehouse"

Bob Dylan - A subscriber to the world of Starbucks.

Bob Geldof - Give him your fooking moaney!!

Woke up feeling like Bill Clinton.......raging hard-on.:D The man definately had/has his game on. LOL

I'm feeling "fuzzy" now.....but we won't talk about that.;)

Have a good one!:s4:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by McLeodGanja

OK then "Mother Teresa", say something nice about Hitler. Go on. I bet you can't can you? And meaningless neutralities such as, he's got a nice moustache don't count.

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Actually, I always thought the mustache was kind of odd, but I guess it wouldn't have fit the Nazi aesthetic for him to grow it out into a nice handlebar.

Ok ... here goes ... something nice about Hitler... Drum roll, please! Hitler was a powerful orator! TA! DA! Something nice about Hitler, Ladies and Gentlemen! Thank you very much! I'll be here all week!

Hitler had certain talents, but I guess he was an extreme case of misapplied talents.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dragonrider

Actually, I always thought the mustache was kind of odd, but I guess it wouldn't have fit the Nazi aesthetic for him to grow it out into a nice handlebar.

Ok ... here goes ... something nice about Hitler... Drum roll, please! Hitler was a powerful orator! TA! DA! Something nice about Hitler, Ladies and Gentlemen! Thank you very much! I'll be here all week!

Hitler had certain talents, but I guess he was an extreme case of misapplied talents.

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More nice things about Hitler:

He was a good artist.
He loved dogs, and had a German Shepherd named "Blondi".
He married his mistress, Eva Braun, the day before they committed suicide in the bunker.

Does anybody have anything nice to say about Stalin?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Psycho4Bud

Woke up feeling like Bill Clinton.......raging hard-on.:D The man definately had/has his game on. LOL

I'm feeling "fuzzy" now.....but we won't talk about that.;)

Have a good one!:s4:

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Yes, Bill was/is guite the virile man. He will probably be remembered as our horniest president. Bob Dole got Bill a viagra hookup, and I heard Hillary is running just to get out of the house for awhile. Remember when Dole's wife ran? Same deal. Viagra is driving women into politics.

So something nice about both Bill Clinton and Bob Dole: They can both get it up, and they stand behind their wives! (Gotta do something with that boner.)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Breukelen advocaat

Does anybody have anything nice to say about Stalin?

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Stalin had a much nicer mustache than Hitler.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dragonrider

Stalin had a much nicer mustache than Hitler.

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Saddam Hussein had a pretty decent mustache too --- not the spider-hole goat beard he grew on the run, the nice Stalin mustache when he was in his prime.

This is why when people say Bush is a dictator, I don't believe it --- he doesn't have the facial hair for it.

For their charisma, i like Obama, David Cameron and Boris Johnson.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Reefer Rogue

For their charisma, i like Obama, David Cameron and Boris Johnson.

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Hey, Reefer Rogue, how did you get a picture of me completely buried in weed for your avatar? You can't really see much of the face, but I swear it looks a lot like me smoking a joint, wearing shades and covered in weed. But I don't remember ever having been covered in weed!

Spooky...

Or maybe it's just my evil twin. Freakin' doppleganger always has all the fun...

hmmmm.....I got nothing.

well, well, well,

bush- makes me laugh
obama - very articulate, and pisses hilary off
hilary - tough bitch, and chelseys kinda hot i think
mccain - war vet, all us army guys love a vet

bill - blowjobs aint sex no more so its not cheatin
reagen - looked good with the monkey
tony blair - hes english and is their problem
thatcher - ?

stalin - did have a nice moustache, but i think it was his policies that inevitably caused russia to lose the cold war
hitler - (i know im goin to get a lot of shit for this but...) was the one of the greatest leaders of the 20th centuary

:D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by McLeodGanja

. . . Mary Whitehouse - Better than "Amy Winehouse" . . .

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:D i have no idea who Mary Whitehouse is but that still cracks me up . . :stoned:

okay, i'll give this a shot. uhh, Hillary was kinda cute when she was First Lady, especially when she would get mad :rastasmoke:

yeah, that did feel kinda warm and fuzzy :hippy: uhh, Obama seems really cool and he smokes herb. :thumbsup:

McCain is a true blue American hero, okay than one was easy. . .

uhhh, okay, you know that president guy of Iran, he has a really nice smile, kinda looks Gilligan, tho, i think, you know in that one episode where he grew a beard . . .:stoned::stoned::D