I want a t-shirt that says "Free Gavrilo Princip"
 

Yes, I read what you said and asked the question with Rwanda in mind. Though I am not sure what distinguishes Rwanda from other Arfican countries in terms of how much our efforts would help.

Hello, pot?
 

Tell me about it.

CAFTA
 

Do you disagree that CAFTA will raise the income of the average worker in the CAFTA area?

I want a t-shirt that says "Free Gavrilo Princip"
 

Don't be bothered by dtb. she is all about grammar and typos, and nothing else (except underwear tightness but that doesn't transmit over the internet).

You should go to the Spanky board and not spend so much time locked here. IMHO

CAFTA
 

I don't have an opinion on that. I think it will certainly have a depressive effect on wages of American workers, the constituency to whom our government should be most responsive. I'm sure it will probably create jobs in the Central American signatories, having an inflationary impact on wages there. Whether there is a net gain when you compare the loss in American wages vs. the increase in Central American wages, I'm not sure.

I, too, saw God through mud.
 

Nice way to dodge your stupid statement. If we have a national security interest in Serbia then we have a national security interest in every country in the world. If we were justified in bombing Serbia on national security grounds then we are justified in bombing every country on the planet under national security grounds.

Kosovo is part of Serbia. Serbia is a soverign nation. They were not invading anyone or breaking international law. If we had no right to invade Iraq then we had no right to bomb Serbia. I have stated when I think the US should push for regime change or when the US should intervene militarily. You say that under my logic we would overextend ourselves, but following your logic we would be militarily intervening right now in every country in the world.

I want a t-shirt that says "Free Gavrilo Princip"
 

What are we not getting?

I, too, saw God through mud.
 

Nice way to dodge your stupid assertion that the situation in Cuba is comparable to Serbia.

I, too, saw God through mud.
 

And military bases, with a few hundred thousand of our people living there.

But economics is also a big part of national security -- the EU is one of the Big 3 in terms of trade, and our own economy would suffer as a result of a European war.

After all, if economics weren't an element of national security, why would the Mideast be a strategic region?

I want a t-shirt that says "Free Gavrilo Princip"
 

Did he win some election that I am not aware of? Or is there some other way to set up a legitimate government. Not a Despot? A dictator that throws hundreds of thousands of people in jail for their political beliefs. That is not a despot?

Do you really want to stand by you statement that saying "Castro is an illegitimate despot is patently ridiculous"?

I want a t-shirt that says "Free Gavrilo Princip"
 

He did win an election. Many of them, actually. Evidently, you are not aware of them. Are you sure you've been to Cuba? Legally?

Absolutely. I want to stand by me statement (whatever that means...). I would never have admitted it before going there (I've been there many times), but there it is.


Edited because I missed this gem:

Cite, please? The population of Cuba is about 11 million. Where do you get this figure?

I voted for Augusto Pinochet . . . uh, wait, I guess I didn't. My bad.
 

But if he were pro- free market, he'd be peachy-keen with you, right?

Free markets, not people!
 

Commie.

I, too, saw God through mud.
 

You stated that the only grounds for military intervention were if there was a national security risk to the United States.

I said "If you believe the only reason for armed intervention if another country is if they pose a national security risk you are the one most "bereft of morality and brains" than anyone on this board."

I said that Serbia did not pose a national security risk to the United States, so following your logic, boming Serbia made us a "rogue" nation.

I said I thought we were justified in bombing Serbia because of the ethnic cleansing and would be justified in taking out Cuba because of Castro is illegitimate dictator who is ruining his economy. But I don't remember comparing Cuba to Serbia.

I want a t-shirt that says "Free Gavrilo Princip"
 

Why would we lose San francisco if we invade N. Korea? Is Spankyland going to be occupide?

Why do we have to invade anybody? That social security surplus burning a hole in your pocket? Liberate the Mojitos!

Free markets, not people!
 

HA! If there's anyone on this forum who has a personal reason to hate Castro, I am that person. (I know you're kidding NB.) There are obviously plenty of reasons to think communism is a failure, my personal situation notwithstanding. I don't need to go into them here; but to say that Castro is an illegitimate leader is to be wilfully ignorant.

I want a t-shirt that says "Free Gavrilo Princip"
 

Are you really going to go there. And yes Stalin won elections also. But did Castro win a legitimate election.



Ok you think Castro is the legitimate leader of Cuba and is not a despot.


Edited because I missed this gem:



I should have left off the number. Would you disagree that he has many political prioners. Do non despots keep political prisoners?

I voted for Augusto Pinochet . . . uh, wait, I guess I didn't. My bad.
 

Now you are learning. Yes. Because if his economy was growing his people would be getting wealthier and would eventually have the means with which to change their own government.

I want a t-shirt that says "Free Gavrilo Princip"
 

The fact that people are even debating whether to invade Cuba is quite possibly the DUmbest thing I have heard in quite some time. Is this a joke? Are you guys baiting Spanky or something? What is this board , anway? A bumch of barracudas luring in the one lone Republican guppy?

I come from an entirely Republican family and they would mostly agree that I am mainly correct whenI say, wtf? CUba?

I want a t-shirt that says "Free Gavrilo Princip"
 

Are you really going to go there?

Free markets, not people!
 

I notice you dropped "despot". How do we know he is a legitimate leader if he won't hold legitimate elections? Or are you capable of reading every cuban citizens mind and now how they would vote?

I voted for Augusto Pinochet . . . uh, wait, I guess I didn't. My bad.
 

And what if (hypothetically, of course), the people had the means, and didn't want to change their government?

Free markets, not people!
 

Are you?

(I like to mix up words -- I didn't intend to concede anything by using a different vocabulary word -- sorry if that threw you.)

Free markets, not people!
 

hank, could you please fix this up so it is legible to dtb? You know how Spanky has issues with those that try to fix his grammar and/or spelling. TIA!

I want a t-shirt that says "Free Gavrilo Princip"
 

Why shouldn't he? There isn't much evidence to the contrary.

I, too, saw God through mud.
 

Cite, please.

Actually, I'm Dumbest, though I have some good competition lately.

As previously noted, the situations in Serbia and Cuba are hardly comparable. You're following your own straw man, not my logic.

No. You failed to distinguish the situations. Do you not see a distinction between genocide and a garden variety Caribbean dictator?

I want a t-shirt that says "Free Gavrilo Princip"
 

You make it sound like going to Cuba is a big deal. I know you would like to feel special in the fact that you got to go to Cuba, but I am afraid that many US citizens travel to Cuba now and have been going regularly for quite some time. I went to Cuba about ten years ago and went back just a few years back. It was annoying to have to go through Mexico and Canada but not an unsurmountable obstacle.

I want a t-shirt that says "Free Gavrilo Princip"
 

Well, see -- it's illegal to go through Mexico and Canada. I went through Miami.

I want a t-shirt that says "Free Gavrilo Princip"
 

I think Spanky thinks that all political prisoners held in Cuba (on Cuba?) are attributable to Castro. Which would have the dual effect of inflating Castro's numbers and bolstering the argument that the US doesn't hold political prisoners.

Win-win!

ITT Stole My Country And All I Got Was This Lousy Shirt
 

Why don't you ask the Chicago Boys?

I want a t-shirt that says "Free Gavrilo Princip"
 

[psst. dtb. this line of discussion is only going to lead to Spanky trying to out-worldly you. quit before he starts in with his Japan and Paris stories. seriously, this is one worldly mountain man.]

I want a t-shirt that says "Free Gavrilo Princip"
 

Do you think he thinks he's special because of it (and not in the way I think he's "special")?

I want a t-shirt that says "Free Gavrilo Princip"
 

PB Spanky is markedly condescending and unjustifiedly pedantic on this board. I don't find that to be a good argument strategy and certainly not a good social style.

I want a t-shirt that says "Free Gavrilo Princip"
 

I was going to mention that very thing, but figured it wasn't worth it -- thanks for the backup, p.

I want a t-shirt that says "Free Gavrilo Princip"
 

Interesting twist. Even if they are not all attributable to Castro, however, it still doesn't raise a counter example.

I want a t-shirt that says "Free Gavrilo Princip"
 

This is how he got his initial lawtalkers nickname: Social Cripple. He's moved to other boards from time to time to try to wash the stigma away. Sad, really.

I want a t-shirt that says "Free Gavrilo Princip"
 

I don't even understand that.

Paigow, you should keep in mind that most people are acquainted with Spanky thru this board. Which explains our perhaps previously inexplicable-to-you dislike of him, as well as explaining the prior thread title.

I want a t-shirt that says "Free Gavrilo Princip"
 

For the record, I think Spanky is neither a Social Cripple nor stupid.* I think he hasn't learned how to let go of a losing position on the PB gracefully.

*However, the idea that we should invade Cuba in 6 months is really, really stupid, unless he's got a long position in casino stocks.

I want a t-shirt that says "Free Gavrilo Princip"
 

People can have different personalities on different boards. the Spanky board isn't the FB because of the very reasons that makes him seem different there. plus everyone there welcomes him and everyone here attacks him. Like on the FB I'm generally considering charming- sparkling really, but on Spank board I'm seem as tiresome to some.

I want a t-shirt that says "Free Gavrilo Princip"
 

I found the "Now you're learning" to be an espeically offensive. It is frankly very un-Spanky. I didn't relaly read past that line bc reading the politiical arguments would be about as much fun as sitting at a table of drunken middle aged men loudly debating the relative merits of a ketch versus yawl, and just as pointless.
But I think if I was yawl side and some ketch guy sayid "Now your're learning", it would ruffle my feathers. Its just rude and doesnt count as an argumentative point. Its like calling a dog an asshole.