Republicans usually think that Americans will lead their lives perfectly fine without government intervention;

Unless of course you want to use hemp for relief from the side effects of chemotherapy or are gay and want to marry your loved one or are in need of treatment for Parkinsons that stem cell research could provide.
Should I go on?

Lefty Left in the Dust [or smoke].

But to answer your question:

No.

Right leaning...
hemp is not illegal.
I believe that marriage is defend as the union of a man and woman, I don't want activists changing definitions to fit whatever lifestyle comes around, civil unions don't bother me. I also have a problem when the people of a state vote against gay marriage and a judge overturns the will of the people.
Bush and many Republicans support stem cell research, it is when you take them from aborted babies that many have a problem with it.

Unless of course you want to use hemp for relief from the side effects of chemotherapy

Sounds like you've been smoking some hemp. And as far as marijuana legal to smoke for chemotherapy? BULLSHIT. If you want the active ingredient, THC, then there is a perfectly legal prescription medication made directly from it call Marinol. I betcha the vast majority of smokers are NOT using it for therapeutic reasons.

Why don't we bring back diacetylmorphine (heroin) for severe pain relief while we are at it?

James,
Assuming you are a Republican, you think it's OK for the goverment to decided for you which form of THC you can injest? So Rupublicans don't really think that Americans will lead their lives perfectly fine without government intervention.

Heroin is much more effective then hemp at relieving the discomfort of whatever, LLR. I suggest you stop sucking on a glass d**k, go to a meeting. I heard there is a new 12 step meeting called IA. Idiots Anonymous. If you really want to be told what to do, get married.

With the problems facing this country, I don't see pot really being high on the list, and not exactly a valid arguement anyway. Democrats are control freaks, Republicans are control freaks, but just on different issues, okay? And where Democrats are inclined to pass legislation FORCING you to do what they think is right and proper - Republicans will usually (not always) just shrug and let the problem go.

Would it be okay screw up the economy with short-sighted refusal to drill for oil and allow other forms of energy to be developed, as long as pot was legal, Right Leaning?

As far as gay marriage goes - I've got no problems with it - as long as gay divorce is seen as the way to break up, and gay bigamy is what happens if you marry someone without getting a divorce first. Works for you? I'll bet it'd work for 100% of the divorce lawyers out there!

Backa to the original subject - good god but I'm tired of this Democratic/Republican garbage, where if one side's for it the other has to be against it to the point of lunatic obstinacy. Can't compromise, oh no. Can't give an inch - because if you give ground you'll lose your voter base, and you might not (oh the horror!) get re-elected!

But there's no way around it, no matter how hard you spin the politics. We need oil. We need alternatives. Until we HAVE the alternatives - which will be years if not decades in the future, we will STILL need oil. Lots of it. Which we have - but due to political idiocy we've locked it up and can't touch it! George Carlin would have had a friggin' field day!

Pot is very much a non-issue, unless you want to stick it in your tank and drive on it. Come to think of it, that's probably a good way to both reduce road rage AND increase drive-through fast-food sales...

"...it would be nice to not have to worry about balancing my checkbook anymore."-cassie

I'm going out on a limb and calling "Shenanigans" on Cassie's checkbook balancing!

"James,
Assuming you are a Republican..."-llr

Well played, old man!

Wow, from Americans being smart enough to "X," to gay marriage and Cassie's Checkbook. Sounds like the Left is desperate to divert attention from the original post. I wonder why? Is it purposeful, or are they not intelligent enough to handle a mature discourse?

right leaning lefty - you mentioned "are in need of treatment for Parkinsons that stem cell research could provide."

Um, no. Not even close. Your information must come from lefty talking points or Michael J. Fox commercials, becuase it bears no semblance of truth. I, on the other hand, get my information from heavy first-hand research and questioning, because my son is a type 1 diabetic (juvenile diabetes, meaning his pancreas doesn;t produce insulin, unlike adult onset type 2 diabetes, which is what most people have). My son could certainly benefit from stem cell research. ADULT stem cell research, which has real promise and has demonstrable results. Embryonic stem cell research is by and large a dead end. There is no hope in that direction, and before I voted on the matter in Missouri in 2006, I investigated it by talking to research scientists. (I'm not joking - I have the notes from one such interview with a heavily credintialed scientist that I've already shared online.)

Embryonic stem cell research holds no promise whatsoever. ADULT stem cell research, umilical cord research and other research that doesn't destroy embryos holds real promise AND is producing results.

So please, don't insult someone like me, whose family is directly impacted by this, with your ignorace because you want to score a cheap shot. If that wasn't your intention, my apologies. But where my son is concerned, I'll take on Michael J. Fox anyday.

"Sounds like the Left is desperate to divert attention from the original post."

When you have the facts on your side, you argue the facts. When you don't have them - "Look over there! Something shiny!"

So they toss up irrelevant garbage, hoping to derail the comments - but it's not going to make any difference in the long run. The country is STILL going to need oil tomorrow, next week, next year... and the Democrats aren't going to do anything that might bump up Bush's popularity no matter how badly it's needed.

Does it make sense to you? Because it sure doesn't to me, unless it's a "cut off my nose to spite my face" type of political suicide. The voters are going to remember who would drill, and who was loudly and passionately against it.

Bush: "But my point to you is that it's a little presumptuous on my part to dictate to consumers how they live their lives."

Obama: "We can't drive our SUVs and eat as much as we want and keep our homes on 72 degrees at all times...and then just expect that other countries are going to say OK. That's not leadership. That's not going to happen."

Right, don't dictate to consumers how to live their lives! Let them do whatever the hell they want to do with gasoline at $4/gallon. Don't interfere with the market!

There are lots of places where oil companies could be drilling right now, aren't there? Why are you talking about the Democratic Congress refusing to lift the ban, when these asshole corporations could be drilling right now? This issue makes a lot of otherwise reasonable people come across as very stupid, quite frankly.

hyperliar: "There are lots of places where oil companies could be drilling right now, aren't there?"

So says someone who neither understands petroleum engineering, nor is honest about the facts. For the record, my father was a project engineer in oil and natural gas for forty-plus years, and he taught me a lot. Certainly enough to know that our best resources for long-term petroleum drilling are right off our own coasts and in Alaska, in places where companies from China are allowed to drill, but not US companies. That the East and West coast states, run by Democrats, have refused for decades to allow construction of the refineries needed to process petroleum products cheaply and efficiently. That oil drilled and refined in the United States is not only significantly cheaper (supply and delivery logistics), but also much cleaner for the environment than importing the stuff, yet the Democrats insist on the dirtier, more expensive importation.

Be honest, just for once, hyperliar, and ask yourself just why Pelosi and Reid not only never kept their promise to work to bring gas prices below $2 a gallon, but in fact have fought every substantive effort to provide relief to industry and the consumer?

In a word, corruption Theirs, not Bush's.

Someone said that republicans want us to keep our own money. Is anyone but the very wealthy able to do that these days? Working two and three jobs and nothing left at the end of the month. If you vote republican and a working person you are voting against your own self interest.

"Republicans usually think that Americans will lead their lives perfectly fine without government intervention"

Unless they are gay, poor, black or non-christian.

hannah: "If you vote republican and a working person you are voting against your own self interest."

Lie.

Actually, that statement would be true if you replaced 'republican' with 'democrat', the reason being that paying more taxes is sure to make you poorer. If you work, the last thing you need is to pay more to someone who will not work, and that means working people shiould never support democrats.

"the reason being that paying more taxes is sure to make you poorer." "and that means working people shiould never support democrats"

Incorrect. That is just a gross generalization. If the taxes were paying for services that you use, and would otherwise have to cover yourself...

Ah...all the brainwashed people just PROVE that SOMEONE should take of them.

It's amazing to me that people who lean so heavily on religion, are on the side of the closest thing to evil, the human form can take (cheney).

It's this simple folks...
If you plan on voting for McCain, then you are either a blatant racist on complete moron (and you're free to be either)...but either way, do the country a favor and don't bother voting!!

You're wrong, Thomas. There is no need for such things as a memorial to Schumer, for example. And it is an established fact, that democrats raise taxes. Not just on the "rich", on everyone who works.

And, to 'Umust be (Obama)', fake names and hate speech don't work well with persuading adults. Go back to your middle school buds and go play your Wii or something.

"In a word, corruption Theirs, not Bush's."

The Bush administration corruption is separate, and on a whole 'nother level.

C'mon people...It isn't like either party would actually give you any of your tax money back. The only real question is where does it go. To the people who need it (and will spend it to drive the economy)...or to your extremely weathy friends who will only add it to their Cayman Island/trust fund account and help to send our economy into a death spiral...like what's happening now...Thanks to 8 years of "no rules, texas kill'em"

"And it is an established fact, that democrats raise taxes. Not just on the "rich", on everyone who works."

Again, gross generalization.
Example:

The $69 billion tax cut bill that President Bush signed tripled tax rates for teenagers with college savings funds, despite Mr. Bush's 1999 pledge to veto any tax increase.

Under the new law, teenagers age 14 to 17 with investment income will now be taxed at the same rate as their parents, not at their own rates. Long-term capital gains and dividends that had been taxed at 5 percent will now be taxed at 15 percent. Interest that had been taxed at 10 percent will now be taxed at as much as 35 percent.

The increases, which are retroactive to the first day of that year, were expected to generate nearly $2.2 billion over 10 years, according to the Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation, which issues the official estimates.

Tax manipulation is so nuanced, that no one can say "X raises taxes and Y lowers taxes."

What did Schumer have to do with anything?

#9 Epador:

"Is it purposeful, or are they not intelligent enough to handle a mature discourse?"

I think some of them are smart enough, but the liberals usually operate on feelings, not facts. Thus it's impossible to have a mature discussion with a democrat. Just look at the first response posted, half-truths that 'feel' good.

Instead of having a mature discussion, we get hyperbolist and his ilk flinging poo like monkeys at the zoo.

DJ,

Go back to your middle school buds and go play your Wii or something.

Hey, did you know that you can surf the net on the wii? So Umust could actually be spouting stupidity from his/her wii!

Hah! People are smart enough to figure out if they waqnt to drive less or not?

Just like they're smart enough to know how much house they can buy and afford.

Every time Bush opens his mouth I cringe at the inanity to come. How can anyone support ANYTHING this guy does? How do they look in the mirror and justify supporting the man who's done the most grievous ill to America since the Civil War?!

Umust B. Kiddin said:

"It's this simple folks...
If you plan on voting for McCain, then you are either a blatant racist on complete moron (and you're free to be either)...but either way, do the country a favor and don't bother voting!!"

What has this comment to do with the post, and what does "religion" have to do with "belief"? Where did you get racism from the topic of this thread, or are you proving to everyone what is motivating your vote, "race" card and anti-religion?

"C'mon people...It isn't like either party would actually give you any of your tax money back."

And while we're at it, how do you know who has and hasn't received money back from the government, and why would you assume it's only the rich?

DJ, your pointless and trivial appeal to authority is hereby negated: my father was also a chemical Engineer and project manager in the oil industry, and worked at developing the tar sands in Alberta for some years. But more to the point, who gives a shit whose dad studied what?

Gas costs $4/gallon. The Democratic Congress is doing one good thing: preventing your country from perpetuating its dependence on petroleum. The stuff should cost a hell of a lot of money, as it's too valuable to continue to set on fire. There are better things to do with it than pump it into cars and trucks.

Now go cope with market forces, you ruggedly individualistic conservatarian bastion of intestinal fortitude! You were bred for this sort of adversity! Or is whining on the internet the 21st century's version of American adaptability?

From 2000 to 2006

Under which party and president did 9/11 happen?

Under which party and president did we invaded Afganistan and missed Osama Bin Laden?

Under which party and president did America lost it credibility and respect all over the world since 1777?

Under which party and president did our leaders look straight in the camera and lie even when they are called christian conservatives?

Under which party and president did we see so much political victimization, political manipulation, highten hypocricy, and adsolute disappearance of honest leadership from Washington while so called conservatives kept quite and followed like lost sheep in the wilderness?

Under which party and president did we lied to the American people, and invaded Iraq, wasted tax payers money to provide business to our cronnies and corporate America, while destroying the social fabric of Iraq?

Under which party and president did Iran become strong and embolden?

Under which party and president did the rich who did not need it, and did not ask for it got a tax cut, and double our national debt that took over 200years to accrue?

Well, there ya go. A waste of bandwidth, bad grammar, incomplete sources and a time line of 2000 to 2006 that accounts for every year of government history from 1777. They don't call you "Prince" for nothin' do they?

"Americans are smart enough to figure out if they want to drive less or not." -- Chimpy

Correction: Some Americans are smart enough, and some are not. Clearly, the fellow with 20 speeding violations (along with 3 hospital stays) is not smart enough, right, conservatives? Also not smart enough is the fellow who belches filth into the air for others to inhale, causing smog and global warming with his 25-mile-per-gallon SUV. But the American abroad who has traded in her Volvo for a Cervelo bicycle is truly smart enough.

"Clearly, the fellow with 20 speeding violations (along with 3 hospital stays) is not smart enough, right, conservatives?"

Seems like he's punished himself for his speeding - so what's the point behind crafting a law designed to stop him? Apparently he only obeys the laws of physics!

A 25 MPG SUV? Dude, expect Detroit to call - you're gonna be rich!

Is it a Rav 4?

DJ, your pointless and trivial appeal to authority is hereby negated: my father was also a chemical Engineer and project manager in the oil industry, and worked at developing the tar sands in Alberta for some years. But more to the point, who gives a shit whose dad studied what?

As I recall, it was you who raised your nurse mother as the ultimate authority during our discussion on health care. :-D

"Under which party and president did America lost it credibility and respect all over the world since 1777?"

That qualifies for being one of the stupidest, most moronic and most idiotic things ever said on this site.

Cassy, you ought to start keeping a list of these gems.