killing innocent children is cool?

did you idiots see the question mark,no,not idiots,sheep!

Oh go and haunt some other site Mark…

Baa

Mark, Alex Jones is calling you

Thou shall not take Obama’s name in vain.

Spot on Mark. There’s nought much cool about drone bombings.

That’s probably what’s scariest about Obama; that he can pull off this “cool” image and play the Martin Luther King Junior saviour of black America card, all the while his foreign policy is just as violent and aggressive as any US President that went before him.

At least with Romney you know you’re getting a warmongering WASP

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06fCDiu9HiA

Have you forgotten who started these wars Mark? Have you forgotten the utter lies the Republicans used to start these wars Mark? Thats why you get all those red thumbs Mark

Dave: Obama started the war of regime change in Libya and is braying for military intervention in Syria but the pesky United Nations Security Council is in the way. There are a couple of undeclared wars in Somalia and Yemen. Innocent civilians, including women and children, have been killed and are being killed by a drone bombing campaign conducted in 6 countries over the past 4 years of the Obama Presidency, Yemen, Somalia, Yemen, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iraq. There have been at least 800 civilians killed in Pakistan alone. The democratically elected Pakistani parliament called for the end of that drone campaign in April but the drone attacks on Pakistan continued. Obama is the commander in chief of the US military. He is responsible. The buck stops with him. He is just as much of a war criminal as George W Bush. To suggest otherwise is an insult to the corpses of those women and children who were just going about their day-to-day lives before their lives were wiped out by a missile fired from a drone remotely operated from the United States. If Obama were to plead that it is not his fault but the fault of the US military industrial congressional complex, it would reek of the Eichmann defense: “I was just a little sausage”.

well said Paul! Facts tend to get in the way of the journal.ie readers a lot of the time though. Many are ill-informed on the reality of imperialism unfortunately

obama has exactly the same foreign policy as George W Bush. In hindsight Bush was ok cos we knew what he was about while obama tries to hide behind this veneer of being a loveable hip guy a black clinton without the adultery.

@Paul Carr: The reason the US havent moved on Syria is not because of the UN Security Council.Everyone and their auntie knows why the US haven’t made a move in Syria and that’s Israel!The Israeli lobby in Washington is phenomenal.

If Syria had democracy, true democracy, its people would not stand for what is happening to their muslim brothers and sisters in Gaza and Palestine, literally within 200 miles of them.The US has propped up dictatorships all across the middle east for the past 30 to 40 years.You can control one man and his regime but not the will of a people. Its a case of “He’s a dictator but he’s our dictator!”All US middle eastern policy is dictated around the best interests of Israel.The Israeli govt. couldn’t care less if Syrians were being slaughtered, no Israelis are dead and it makes Arabs look more brutal.The US propped up Mubarak until the people had their say.They done nothing serious about Gaddafi for 42 years until the people decided to change, coincidentally Lybia has the 5th largest oil reserves in the world.And to those now sighing that I mentioned oil, you need to cop on and realise that the world is run on powerful men coveting the resources of less powerful men.

Obama or Romney, either one of them will continue their geo-political game of chess to suit the needs of the profiteers that cater for mass US consumption.Its only going to get worse as oil resources dwindle, mark my words we are in for a lot more war!

And those Caspians in the country of Caspia dont like people cutting through their land to get to the sea See that Romney’s not as thick as we all think he is!! Wonder how he got on with the Caspian president, I believe he’s a bit of a recluse.

Great nation..are you for real..how many illegal wars are they involved in now..

He’s shaping up to be another G. Bush.
Seems to have the same levels of mentality.

Mattoid have you got a problem with the truth of the matter as suggested by Mark Whelan?

Bush was an idiot and managed it!
He also managed to start two wars and practically cripple the US economy, but that’s ok coz they just blame the black guy!

A nation founded on mass genocide of the Native Americans and sustained by hundreds of Imperial incursions, coups and invasions of South America, Africa and the Middle-East

They’re a great nation at that much anyway

worst thing is this banal and thoughtless comment of fotocrat’s receives 137 green thumbs up from clueless Irish people who’s obsession with America (founded on migration) blinds them to its realities

Great nation… Don’t think so. Reminds me of the Jeff Daniels character giving a savage rebuke to the idea of ‘America the Great’ in the 1st episode of the excellent series The Newsroom currently running on Sky Atlantic. On which protagonist I would choose, not sure. Romney’s foreign tour which has just ended was an unmitigated disaster but equally Obama has been a HUGE disappointment.

Hey Kerron, don’t be jealous or whatever… Everyone has a right to an opinion and a point of view about things just like you do.

It’s not jealousy. It’s contempt for the violent imperial machine that is the American ruling-class and sorrow for all the people it kills.

A (conservative) figure like this for Iraq alone is no cause for jealousy: 117,776

the figure for South America is in the millions with all the right-wing puppets like Noreiga and Pinnochet that the US has aided and abetted

What have you done or can you do against all this? Nothing. What has been done has been done. When we say Americans and what bad they’ve done, means that all this were done by immigrants,any of them Irish, and probably your ancestors or some kind of blood relations. Invasion has existed since the dawn of times and will continue as this the the very nature of human kind….to conquer. Same thing has happened at some point in Ireland, as no one here can claim their first roots were born here. This land had been invaded by immigrants of the time and the like.

what a load of gibberish and false assumptions

Gary, Bush may have started the wars, but Obama has perfected their killing capacity. Then again, he’s such a genuine fella, always ready with a smile and a kind word, so one can always look past the facts. It so much more comfortable and easy worshipping at the altar of brand Obama :)

Tell you what, if you truly believe Obama is a sound fella, give me a call, as I have a lovely bridge for sale :)

Well by rolling down through all the responses to this article, I can see you are on a bit of a rampage, defending your beliefs by imposing them on people’s comments and offering cookies and bridges etc. Thats even less funny as it is a valid argument and certainly doesn’t make it any more true. Obama has perfected the art or warfare has he? By killing Bin Laden? I say fair play to him. By pulling troops out of Afghanistan? Again fair play to him. I’m not saying he’s an angel, but he’s no religious freak who claims that god is great in the name of warfare, much the same as extreme Islamists claim Allah is great in the name of their beliefs. This thing ain’t gonna be resolved tomorrow but it has less chance with that bible thumping madman in office.

Warren’s right though, do the research, Obama’s major success is in PR, he’s just as war prone as the rest but somehow manages to get away with it.

War prone Paul? Well its kinda hard not to be when the Office you’re sworn into is sworn into 2 wars in the Middle East and economic war on him own doorstep, all graciously left to him by the bumbling moron George W. He has shaved a few billion off the war spending. If this other Jesus-freak gets in, how much will an all out war with Iran cost the federal coffers? That is a war that will drag on and get nastier as it does.. And what research are you talking about exactly Paul? Seeing that you’re bamboozling me with facts there!!

exactly. as all US presidents have been in the last 40 years or so.

I imagine that’s a s much the fault of the people as it is the fault of the government. The massive resistance to moving away from fossil fuels and the culture of cars seems to be ingrained in the national consciousness. Now whether that’s the result of some massive oil conspiracy I don’t know but many people could make a move away from oil if they really wanted to.

Personally I can’t afford the big investment for the long term return yet but the second I’m settled I’ll be getting solar panels and driving a hybrid.

I don’t think neither is a valid option. It’s two horse race, one of them will be president.

As Katie said, it’s going to be one of them – it’s a preference poll rather than a wish-list.

When voting,the choice not to vote is a option and just because one of them will be crown head puppet doesn’t mean i have to choose one or like the one that’s crowned.

Then don’t vote in this poll!

I’m sorry Timmy, am I not allowed a vote or to say which I’d choose or in this case, not choose !!!!!!

To be fair, it is very likely to be one of the above two, however there is more than two candidates running, so it seems only fair to me that they are represented as an option in the poll.

Micky Mouse usually gets about 200,000 voter write ins each year

Slightly off topic here, but – WHY do people get so thick because the choice that they would like to opt for, is not included in polls on the Journal? Its happening more and more and I’m really bemused by this new trend.

Tron Paul 2112

Lol true, forgot that. Actually from what I call the founder used to look through pip or hat or something onto plates that had the word or god?

Fairly sure no one else ever saw these plates.

He produced some gold plates which he claimed had the words of god inscribed upon them, but they were written in an unknown Egyptian dialect. He then proclaimed himself to be the only person who was able to translate what was written on them!

His views on social policies are enough to make me want to vote Palin, though.

My tinfoil hat has buffered me from your stinging remark.

Cheaper than the tablets!

Would I be a stereotype if I said I don’t take tablets :)

Hey, get your own avatar! Snookems

Separated at birth!

oh joe. <3

judge them by what they do ,not how they seem,and just because they seem interesting doesn’t make them a good choice-tree frogs are interesting,but they can kill you in seconds,much like a u.s president

I think it’s pretty ok for someone who won’t be voting in the US elections to say how candidates “seem”.

Mark, look out. The drones are coming.

What does this have to do with the American Libertarian Party’s 2012 nominee for the presidency?

Hey Tony,

It’s going to be one of them – it’s a preference poll rather than a wish-list.

Thanks,
S

so sinead.
basically you are removing any other non party candidates from history?
is that the job of journalists to ignore all pissibilities?

“pissibilities” is a fun word to say.
Go ahead. You can’t say it without smiling.

Well then why do we have “Don’t care” as an option?

How come no matter how these polls are constructed, there’s always somebody calling for another choice? It’s just a bit of light relief. It won’t actually make a difference to the US Presidential election you know?

Thought he might be a good choice myself until I realised he would destroy the economy (abolish the federal reserve how are ya?) and inflict a lot of pain on the working /middle classes, total capitalist.

As opposed to the fed destroying the economy :)

Ron Paul was a wonderful idea in theory. He had everything the moderate-to-right wanted to hear. But it is true that he would have dismantled the Fed and probably a whole lot of the rest of Government in the name of libertarian ideology veiled through a Republican hubris. It never ceases to amaze me when parties who are for smaller Government get so politically heavy and rhetorical when it comes to getting inside the institution they successively demonize every time an election year roles around. Ron Paul was a pop-politician. He would’ve only served to steal votes from either side of the partisan alley, never gaining enough electoral votes to secure either the nomination (as we’ve seen) or the presidency. However, he would’ve taken the most votes from Obama, co-opting the youth vote behind a slick veneer of ‘in-touch’ agenda points and a relaxed drug war policy. Realistically though, with the state of congressional distribution and state legislatures, the power for these decisions would inevitably become said state matters, turning Ron Paul’s ‘honest campaign’ of regulation of drugs and greater accountability etc. etc. into state issues by his own hand and general agenda. The perception that he is what is good for America et al. is quite misguided given the platform of holistic government destabilization.

Well you could choose by how far right they are?

It’s the lesser of two evils. I’d vote Vermin Supreme but that’s just me.

Incorrect James. At the time of the attacks Bin Laden was on the run from the taliban. It was made look like they were in cahoots because the taliban were reluctant to relinquish control of the trans afghan pipeline to western interests. Hence the placement of the ex oil executive Karzai as puppet president once the taliban were removed.

“You may not be interested in war, but war is interested in you”

Substitute politics in there.

Guantanamo will not be closed under Obama. If anything, what he’s doing with drones is worse than Gitmo because the US is now indiscriminately murdering vague targets and civilians in their radius rather than capturing and interrogating suspects.

I say that as someone who was very pro-Obama prior to the election but I think a lot of people have switched off their US foreign policy outrage because a Democrat is in office. Also, Romney isn’t anything like the Bush caricature some have painted him here as, but he has plenty of faults.

As for who I want to win, I’ll wait to see who the Republican VP pick is and then stay up late for the debates. I think a Romney-Christie ticket would give Obama a lot of trouble but for now it’s his to lose.

I do think people unaware of Obama’s drone policy should read this NYT article from last month though and take a second look at the man, not the image: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/14/opinion/how-drones-help-al-qaeda.html

So a person with an alternative viewpoint to you is a whacko ??? Very mature and grown up!!!

I believe that the majority of voters are actually aware of the current policies. I also believe that most are also aware of the stalemate that often occurs in the US governmental system.

A lot of American foreign policy and its use of drones in unconscionable. We (voters in the US) should aim our outrage at that, along with the many dilutions of civil rights. The question facing the voters in the US is which to choose, Romney or Obama – sorry to all the “libertarians” but these are the two realistic choices. To decide which should be the next president, one has to pick which would be BETTER, not which is perfect. Both have their faults. Obama has done a lot of harm and has not done everything he promised, but given the whole picture – not just one or two issues – Obama will be getting my vote, Romney will not. Anyone who thinks that Romney as president will cause fewer deaths at the hands of American drones, military, foreign aid programmes, etc. is deluded. A fair few of these programmes were put in place and continued by Mr Romney’s party.

Obama is hardly perfect but he is far better than Romney.

@Ru Na Digs – people with an alternative viewpoint to me are not necessarily whackos. I don’t agree with @Emmet, but I hardly think he is a whacko – he just has a different opinion to mine.

However people who throw around comments like “you’re still on the capitalist mainstream media gravy train, gently lowering the proverbial wool over people’s eyes and reinforcing the false left/right paradigm”, ” Obama is a socialist with communist leanings” and “tree frogs are interesting,but they can kill you in seconds,much like a u.s president” could fairly, in my opinion, be chucked in the “whacko” category. I hope this clarifies my position for you.

which would be relevant if the question were “who, including candidates that have no conceivable prospect of winning, would you like to win?”

The question was “Who would you like to see as the next president of the USA”.

Indeed and it was and all and anyways.

There’s also Johnson and Stein, but as one of my American friends said: “if you know that Johnson and Stein exist, you’re probably unlikely to be voting Democrat or Republican”.

Surely the Oval Office would get a bit crowded if all the candidates were elected President?

Such pedantry for what is a fairly meaningless online opinion poll. Its not like its an actual vote for presidency.

Would everyone have laid off the hysterical pills if the question had been “Which of the two candidates that have any chance of winning would you prefer to win?”?

Quite funny how you introduce the hegelian dialectic but resort to personal insults in the same sentence – a bit ironic no? :-)

Mark..to misquote your eminent friend Hegel: “No one understands you except one person, who misunderstood you”

Er, eh?
Susan, Editor, TheJournal.ie

Sticking it to the man there, Warren.

Warren Hallam stop talking codswallop,

If you don’t like the journal then stop visiting the website, its as simple as that,

That’s not a great response editor. You’ve made the effort to post a reply to the above comment in a falsely perplexed manner with the intention of brushing the comment aside. This is not Facebook. Defend your journal.

hail hail warren! tell it like it really is!

I would agree that the lack of a neither vote frustrates me but I wouldn’t say its because the Journal is bought and paid for by the political elite of the US, I think it might be more because they’re the only two candidates that the US media put up as options. If I was American, I’d vote for Jill Stein

Barry Somers, there’s proof in every day news that they’re both pure evil. Show me proof they’re not, I’d welcome it. Stop towing the party line fed to you by “journalists” and corporatists media empires. Think for yourself. Go on, try it.

I visit many different news sites, encasing many political, ideological, cultural and social viewpoints, and form my own opinions from what I can extrapolate from the information, no matter how accurate or biased, with which I am presented. Simple. As the saying goes, “Know thine enemy”.

Tell me how many people Obama has murdered with his hundreds of sanctioned drone strikes in Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen etc etc etc, and then tell me he’s a class fella. Don’t be fooled by that smile and warm handshake. Read up about his indiscriminate use of executive orders et al, then come back and tell me to stop talking codswallop.

As for Susan Daly, Steve Grant sums it up. My comment is based on the fact that your question for the poll is, “Poll: who do you want as the next president of the USA? Romney or Obama?”. Yes, one of them will be president, but your poll is biased in that you’re coralling people into one of 4 choices, none of which is “neither”. If you can have “undecided” or “don’t care”, why not “neither”? Simple. You’re an educated woman, I’m sure, so don’t denigrate yourself with thick comebacks. It’s unbecoming of the title “Editor”.

Rant over. I do appreciate all the hard work you do here. Good to have debate and drama. Just a little more balanced reporting, please :)

Away off to your communist utopia with you Warren…

Mattoid, because I use the word fascist accurately I must be a “communist”?!?!?
Honestly, you win the “here’s some crayons” award for thick comments. Obama is a socialist with communist leanings. I support communism as much as I support statism, corporatism, capitalism, despotism (amongst other equally silly ‘isms”) ad nauseam. I support freedom, equality and truth.

“Communist Utopia”, I actually laughed. Cheers for the smile, here’s a cookie.

“Obama is a socialist with communist leanings. “

-
Thanks for the chuckle.

OK Warren – you called me. That wasn’t my most sensible comment ever on the Journal, but it was not because you used the word ‘fascist’, it was because of your inference that everything western and capitalistic is evil, and your allegation that our free media is part of a conspiracy to mislead the general populace at every opportunity.

I do find it hilariously hypocritical that you accuse me of childishness and yet think nothing of throwing out personal insults about me and other contributors on this site!

Mattoid, I inferred that Obama and Romney are evil. What most people mistake as “capitalism” is actually corporatism, which I’m totally against. Case in point, the olympic “brand police”, as a great example of “freedom through capitalism”. It’s all political rhetoric at the end of the day. I’m for free society. True freedom, not “demockracy” as we know it (and I mean “deMOCKracy”)

My intention is not to mock, so apologies for the crayons quip. Heated moment et al.

In America there are only 2 serious choices. The Democrat or the looney, sorry Republican. Therefore the choices are given accurately. Should they have a different system is a different question and I would humbly suggest we sort out our corrupt body politic first before lecturing others.

” Obama is a socialist with communist leanings.”

No he’s not warren. He’s not even a leftist. He’s a centrist.

Turn off fox news please.

Too Trueleft, your assumption that I’d pollute my mind with the vitriol and filth that Fox spew is rather disappointing (I’d say the same for BBC, Sky, CNN, Al Jazheera, RT etc etc etc). Obama’s policies are very centrist, true, and all his overt actions point to him being a socialist. I’ll retract the comment on him being socialist, and rather just call him the dictator he is.

And how is he a dictator, warren. Give us a laugh……..

His indiscriminate use of executive orders is a pretty decent example. Never before has a president used his executive order “priveliges” to force through or block legislation as much as Obama. That strikes me as being kinda dictatorial, how about you?

“Yeah, yeah, I know you as an elected congress have voted, democratically, on this issue, but I disagree with the outcome, so I’m going to just cancel the vote and pass a different law because I’m always right. What, you’re requesting a freedom of information thingy regarding this? Sorry, I’m going to label it a “national security” issue, and whip out the old executive order, again, to block you from ever seeing who’s pulling my strings. It’s a terrorism thingy, and you’re acting like a terrorist now. You want me to pull out the old “Guantanamo Guestlist” and add your name to it? No? Sound, well behave then and shut your gob, or else you’re a terrorist. Or even worse. Your’re a RACIST!!”…..

Many of his actions are mirrored by that Austrian fella with the silly moustache (and that russian fella with the silly moustache too, strangely)…. oh wait, also that black fella in Zimbabwe who robbed the Austrian fella’s moustache :)…..
Is Mugabe actually Obama’s father?!?!?! Tinfoil hat time, I have to call David Icke right quick!

So Obamas a socialist fascist communist dictator.Cheers for proving why nobody should take you seriously. Back under your rock rethug…..

Rethug? That’s low.
Because I find him reprehensible I must be some republican thug? I find their entire corporatist system reprehensible, under both the guise of “democrat” or “republican”. Perhaps my belief becomes too convoluted by labels. Put simply, I disagree with both sides of the coin (even though the coin has many facets, contrary to the media spin). They’re both horrible choices who’s actions are being successfully covered by some of the finest PR known to man. “Brand Obama”, as vile a concept as it is to me, is sheer genius and PR/Advertising that would make Bernays wet himself with pride.

Warren you need a break from David Icke/Alex Jones.

If you’d read any of my comments you’d see I’ve taken the mickey out of them, and fox news, so please don’t assume I’m a fan of theirs because I think Obama and Romney are puppets and tools. The nicest thing I could say about Jones and Icke are that they’re entertaining in the same way that Rihanna has intelligent lyrics. But hey, you know better.

I agree with Warren on this one, there’s no real choice there. Same same.

There’s something wrong with your head warren.

So an all out war with Iran will help all this how exactly??

Where did you get your information? Fox News? You don’t like the man. I get it. But blindly grabbing any story you read with both hands to support your views seems sadly commonplace.

So by this comparative method we can assume that you think Romney is better for the American economy? The man who has basically pledged to not raise taxes, but at some point intends to lower them? The man who has systematically destroyed jobs as a plot point on his prove-sector CV? A candidate who rolled on healthcare just for the sake of the party nomination and has now got himself all rolled up in it? Romney’s track record as Governor is certainly surprising given the about turn he has faced the US nation with. However, when it comes to foreign policy, Romney is an infant. The only reason the Obama camp hasn’t beaten them over the head with it yet is because of Obama’s own mess with it. But if you think that Romney will be a benevolent leader to the rest of the Middle East, then there is some serious cognitive dissonance at work. Romney’s comments in Israel these days past are a perfect example of what I’m talking about. He’s pure Campaign Foreign Policy at this point – no substantive foresight into what he would ACTUALLY HAVE to do in office. And as for the war-chest and campaigning, let’s not even get started on Romney’s record thus far. Again, Obama’s no saint, and it is depressing that this is an election of the lesser of two evils (turd sandwich or a giant douche), but Romney’s tax plan, combined with his religious platform through office and then stirred in with his party’s awful recent history in social policy makes this a lackluster, but easy enough decision.

The facts show that Obama has done a better job than Bush, who was chiefly responsible for ALL the economic issues you mention above:

http://mediamatters.org/research/2012/05/01/fox-uses-misleading-numbers-to-attack-obamas-ec/184713

Rupert that is an educated and well informed point and made for some interesting anti-Obama reading. I respect your opinions and facts. But the point I made is that he broke an immigration amnesty. Whatever your views are on illegal aliens, I dont really care, but a Federal Amnesty is exactly what it says on the tin, and this guy broke it by getting Massachusetts state troopers to pull over a couple of busloads of Irish immigrants heading to a rally in Washington, and deport some of them. That is the point I was making. And Rowan, seeing that you’re flabergasting me with facts and figures there, Romneys sources publicly stated last week what his intentions towards Iran are if he gets in. I’ll blindly grab the fact that the largest burden on the federal coffers is WAR. A war with Iran will not end overnight, therefore any military ventures by them into that region, when they are gradually pulling out of it would represent a step backwards in my opinion. Do what you will with that opinion but blindly criticizing someones opinion without giving your own is, my friend, even more sadly commonplace and pointless.

Because right-wing politics have been so successful…

Americans are quite limited in terms of potential presidents. As someone said already, it’s either the Democrats or the crazy Republicans. However, I would praise Obama for having the courage to make real changes in the US, he’s had the most progressive policies of any American president in recent years.

Israel is a theocracy. A Jewish state for a Jewish people.

Marist – you’re right, Israel is a Jewish State for Jewish people. Hardly a theocracy, though.
The almost 25% of the population who are free-living and free-voting Arab Israelis don’t seem to be faring too badly, I’m sure you’d agree.

If you ever visit Israel you will realize that it actually is a theocracy. I’m not going again, though it was interesting to discover what it’s like to be treated as a second (or third) class citizen.

I assume the red-thumbers didn’t like my comment but realize they are not capable of refuting it. Sorry folks, you might not like the truth but it won’t change to suit you. Try visiting Israel, it’s a great laugh. Starting with the racial profiling and heavy handed treatment of non-Jews by El-Al security.