I-Man wrote:
I am also a dissenting voice.
Obama is a Socialist and an empty suit. Some of the measures he's taking behind the scenes regarding military reassignments on home soil make me wonder what he's gearing up for.
And to directly tie into Watchmen, it's interesting to note that Harry Reid has been trying to get the presidential term limit changed. This is frightening in the extreme. Imagine Obama for more than eight years...imagine him pulling a Watchmen Nixon.
And worst of all, Obama has no regard for human life. His stance on abortion has disgusted even the most pro-choice advocates.
He's far more dangerous than an Ozymandias could ever be.
you know, after seeing this:
Struggling States Look to Tax Marijuana, Porn, Prostitution: "Everything Is On the Table"
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/01/us/01sin.html?_r=2&hpI also had to chime in. To my knowledge, this isn't on Obama's agenda, and even though he's made some marijuana-related noises, I doubt he would pass any weed-related legislation until his second term. At risk of sounding like Rorschach or the Comedian's supposedly more reprehensible political viewpoints, I just have to say the idea of marijuana legally in the hands of the American people is terrifying to me. Just as they can't be trusted not to drunk drive, why could they be trusted to do anything responsibly with marijuana. Not only that, but I think the effects of marijuana are so different on everyone across the board that it's impossible to make any accurate statements about whether or not its use is safe from a mental or physical point of view. And although making it legal would remove the stigma of it being a "drug", it still is a gateway drug nonetheless, with much more potent psychoactive effects than either alcohol or cigarettes - our two socially-sanctioned addictions.
I do think that a lot of the war on drugs has been a sham that has resulted in jailing of people on minor offenses. And obviously, the war on drugs drives an entire business underground, thus promoting racketeering and organized crime, etc. So although it does have one upside, I think drug-related violence is potentially minor in comparison to the effects we could see if we put high grade marijuana legally in the hands of the people.
Prostitution, however, is less a threat. as we have seen in society's that either condone of prostitution or make it fully legal, there is a stigma attached with patronizing a prostitute that doesn't go away. That's not to say that the stigma couldn't be lifted, or even that there is anything inherently unethical about the transaction, assuming it is between to consenting adults of sound mind. But ultimately, rather than jeopardizing other lives, the only victims of this crime are the participants. So the benefit we see is hopefully a drop in human trafficking, which DOES exist in the USA, and is one of the most heinous of all crimes, but we also see another drop in the prison population. Most importantly, this is the kind of industry that could benefit by non-police oriented standardized industry practices, as prostitutes are often victimized by pretty much everyone in they interact with (must suck).
In any case, these are exactly the type of crimes that Watchmen's most level-headed character is referring to when he justifies his comfort with having left the vigilante business (despite the unfortunate effect on his virility). Who needs all this hardware to catch hookers and purse-snatchers? The hardware he's talking about - in all crimefighting-related comic books - is essentially a metaphor for the police and justice system. How much crime, prison, and revenue-raising problems could actually be solved by legalizing these things?
PS., Regarding Obama being a socialist, that may be true, as most highly educated left-leaners have dabbled with socialist thoughts themselves. That said, I think he's ultimately 100% a centrist. If the USA had an actual socialist party, like many European countries do, I don't think we'd see Obama on that ticket. He'd still show up as a Democrat. In any case, it is impossible to solve this financial crisis without expanding government and advocating policies that might be portrayed as socialist, depending which party lines you're watching from. Really, if you take this in light of practical and theoretical socialism, how could you make any efforts towards resolving the financial crisis without doing some things that look like socialism? I assure you that McCain would find himself being forced to deal with some of the same tough choices, especially since he would've been entering an administration with a Democrat majority in the legislature. Finally, as far as expanding term limits, that was a major way the US got through WWII and the Great Depression. With a popular leader, it is proven to have worked on at least one occasion. Obama isn't Nixon after all. The world in Watchmen looked the way it did was because of Nixon's culture of suspicion and warmongering (although given his actual foreign policy record in terms of communism, I'm not sure we would've seen the Cold War escalate to the levels it did in the GN). We need at least two consecutive Democrat terms to relieve the damage of the Bush Administration - Obama or not.
EDIT:
PPS.
I-Man wrote:
Some of the measures he's taking behind the scenes regarding military reassignments on home soil make me wonder what he's gearing up for.
I haven't heard anything about this, what's the story? Do you suspect he's preparing for some kind of civil war? Something like this:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/feb/2 ... -recession?
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Later, I found out Rush Limbaugh was the keynote speaker. 
