Subject:
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Re: Question for the Conservatives out there
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.off-topic.debate
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Date:
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Thu, 3 Jun 2004 19:15:53 GMT
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Viewed:
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1245 times
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In lugnet.off-topic.debate, John Neal wrote:
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In lugnet.off-topic.debate, Dave Schuler wrote:
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Here’s a hypothetical:
Let’s suppose a major event occurs between now and November 2, something on
the order of 9/11. Now let’s suppose that Dubya’s administration either
postpones or cancels the Presidential election in the wake of the disaster,
citing the need for consistent leadership and contiuity of policy, both of
which would be compromised by a change of President.
How would you Conservatives react to this? Would you be relieved, since it
would mean an automatic extension of Dubya’s reign (and near carte blanche
to do whatever he wants with the Executive and Judicial branches)? Or would
you cry foul, since it would amount to a declaration of dictatorship?
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(puts conservative hat on;-) Well, first, I wouldn’t ever be happy that an
attack on the order of 9-11 would occur.
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Certainly not! I didn’t mean to imply that, and I apologize.
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Frankly, I share your suspicion (if
that is indeed where you are going) that an attack will occur on our soil
to influence our election (presumabley to elect Kerry), a la in Spain.
Unless the attack was something on the order of a nuke on Washington D.C., I
can’t imagine a good reason for delaying the election. Only a delay for
logistical reasons would be valid IMO.
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Bush is in both a tough and a clever spot, in a way. To date, he’s been running
as The Man Who Can Keep Us Safe. But if a terrorist attack occurs on US soil,
he’ll instantly transform into The Man Who Will Lead Us During This Crisis.
It’s clever, because he thereby hedges his bet. But it’s tough for him, because
one hopes that the media would finally wake up and start reporting on relevant
issues, rather than whether Kerry threw away his medals or his ribbons, or
whether they were somebody else’s medals or ribbons.
Ever since the big recent blackout, I’ve suspected that a strike at the power
grid would be just the ticket to sow sufficient chaos to disrupt the election on
a national scale. Here’s how I imagine it:
A big swatch of the (predominantly blue-state) northeast is blacked out due to
an attack on a major switching station. In the resulting tumult, elections are
suspended, and the northeast states postpone their for a week or so. This would
be extremely valuable for Republicans, because I sense that Conservatives are
better at energizing their voter base, whereas Liberals might not bother to
reschedule their own voting. If that should sort of apathy should occur, then
the Liberals deserve what they get.
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But back to Bush-- if a nuke is detonated in D.C., I would have no problem
with Marshall Law until things were set right. What would be terrible would
be to have to deal with such a calamity on one hand, and have Liberal hacks
screaming “dictatorship” on the other.
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There’s the rub! If similar circumstances had caused Clinton to declare martial
law and remain in office after his term, how would Conservative hacks have
responded? Some of them still blame him for Vince Foster, so they’d almost
certainly declare outright that he was responsible for the nuke.
I guess the bottom line is that the de facto dictator would have to establish
clear boundaries for his power and his tenure, to avoid a Castro-esque
presidency-for-life.
Thanks for your input.
Dave!
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Message has 1 Reply:
 | | Re: Question for the Conservatives out there
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| (...) problem (...) would (...) hacks (...) A slightly on-topic response... If a nuke detonated in DC, there would probably be no BF!!! And that means no Christina either if the blast was large enough or the fallout engulfed Arlington... ;( (20 years ago, 3-Jun-04, to lugnet.off-topic.debate)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Re: Question for the Conservatives out there
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| (...) (puts conservative hat on;-) Well, first, I wouldn't ever be happy that an attack on the order of 9-11 would occur. Frankly, I share your suspicion (if that is indeed where you are going) that an attack will occur on our soil to influence our (...) (20 years ago, 3-Jun-04, to lugnet.off-topic.debate, FTX)
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