No shit, I'm not making this up. I've pulled the select quotes from the GOP 2008 platform. You have to read them for yourself.
See if you can spot the real platform behind the carefully selected quotes. I can't tell if the Republican party lives in dreamland or if its just so full of shit that it doesn't even bother to analyze what wants to say.
http://www.gop.com/...
We need to do what is necessary to protect this country. If you have your phone calls recorded, it means you are talking to terrorists. Is my granny's phone bugged? I highly doubt it! I have never heard more than one or maybe two stories of an innocent American citizen getting his rights trampled by US Intelligence...and how many has it saved?
Devin - Lebanon, ME
We support the FISA bill, warrantless wiretaps (because we don't believe that a Repub administration will misuse this privilege) and other activities to protect us against terrorists and radical Islamists. It is ridiculous that our radicals in the Supreme Court have granted enemy prisioners at Gitmo full rights under our Constitution. If we have to release the Gitmo prisioners if the courts decide they must be released, I suggest that we drop them off at the homes of the 5 Supreme Court Justices who read something into the Constitution that did not exist. We want you to protect American citizens.
Cathy - Lebanon, TN
Hundreds of thousands and maybe even more Americans were victims of warantless wiretapping thanks to the extra-constitutional power grabbing of the George W. Bush administration. Thanks to this precedent, any president, operating as Commander and Chief, can spy on his real or perceived enemies.
I file this under Republican Government overreach, Extra-constitutional Government, Bigger Government
We need to finish what we started in Iraq and Afghanistan. Whether we should be there or not is irrelevant right now. We are there, and we need to finish the job we started. We cannot do what we did in Viet Nam, and pull out before we accomplish an absolute victory. We also need to get politics out of trying to run the war. We need to tell our Great Military minds to "Git er Done." We have the greatest military in the world, and they should be able to do what they are trained to do.
Maurice - Sheridan, OR
Republican President Richard Nixon ended the Vietnam war without victory. Johnson escalated the war and tried to find a way to win (after assassinating President Diem, a corrupt, but beloved government figure of the South Vietnamese) but it was Nixon who capitulated to the Chinese and ended the war- allowing the communists to overtake the country. When the South Vietnamese begged for American aid to fight off the capitalists- Nixon stood by silently. Not even the Vietnamese who had aided the US and were waiting at the embassy for a flight out of the country were helped. Many others drowned to death or were tortured by Thai pirates in their diaspra out of Vietnam. The Republican administration of Richard Nixon did very little to help.
We'd all like to see the war in Iraq and Afghanistan end but we can't just pull our troops now. The job has to be finished and when we do leave we have to leave with a stable government in place. Few people remember WW2 and the fact that it took us many years to resolve many of the issues there too. As far as what the countries think of us the war would probably be over if we weren't so concerned with political correctness. The left would love us to surrender and would have most likely done so in 1945. I want the Republican Party to make certain the we win and create stability in both countries.
Pete - Richland Hills, TX
World War II was fought and won under a democratic president. So this argument is illogical on its face. Eisenhower, the first Republican president elected after World War II was a RINO (Republican in Name Only). First asked to run as a democrat, Eisenhower chose to run as a republican after spending his entire career as an a-political soldier and military leader.
Although Eisenhower was able to balance the budget despite fierce opposition from Republicans in congress, he was responisible for more government expansion (Interstate Highway System- a great investment in infrastructure).
A great read about this issue can be found here: Eisenhower's Pursuit of the Middle Way
All Federal funds should be cut off from state and local governmental units, which refuse to abide by and enforce Federal laws. Those funds should be given to state and local governmental units that uphold and enforce Federal laws. Giving "Sanctuary" to illegal aliens is a prime example where this carrot/stick approach should be used.
Chuck - Berrien Springs, MI
Therefore the government should further trample on "State's Rights"? Now I am really getting a headache.
File this under Make up your damn mind, exanded federal power
The Pentagon procurement process must be streamlined, to ensure that our troops always have the best equipment available, in a timely manner. We live in a dangerous world. We must ensure that our military is of sufficient size to deal with any threats to our homeland, or citizens and interests overseas.
Michael W. - Arlington, MA
Therefore we should continue to fund the obsolete F-22 Raptor. An untested, unreliable aircraft that has not flown a single combat mission EVEN THOUGH the United States has been in a constant state of war since 2001.
File this under Fiscally irresponsible
Our military is severly underappreciated. The only, and I mean only reason I would EVER support a tax increase, would be to increase the pay and benefits of our soldiers. These people should be paid in proportion to what they are risking. They should be among the wealthiest people in our country. They should not pay taxes. I say that any soldier, in any branch of the military, should earn no less than 100K. This would boost morale, and give incentive to the best and brightest we have to join the military.
Jason - Greensboro, NC
Talk about re-destributing the wealth! The military draws upon the economically vulnerable lower and working class for its all volunteer army. That's why they can get away with paying them essentially minimum wage+ to risk life and limb for their country and give them lopsided boiler plate contracts which could conceivably trap them in the service for life, strip away their rights as American citizens and force them to abide by the Uniform Code of Military Justice and live under the totalitarian dictatorship of the elite and priveledged classes. As a service veteran, I will not even be bothered by the self agrandizing military grandstanding by those who could never be bothered to serve themselves.
Support our veterans by honoring their promised benefits for medical care and education. Support the provision of veterans advocates in every county to ensure that they receive their benefits. Treat our vets with the utmost honor and respect. Make sure that the families of veterans and National Guardsmen are provided for and adequately supported while they are away on active duty. Provide continued medical support and re-entry serices for veterans injured in the line of duty.
Marcia - Fort Jones , CA
In other words, government health care is a good thing? I thought we didn't want beaurocrats getting in between doctors and patients? Oh, I forget, this is only for military families... they don't deserve top quality care.
The USA should not support the effort by the International Criminal Court to charge Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir with genocide. It just doesn't make sense to forfeit access to Sudanese oil to the Chinese. We should be building bridges with the Sudanese government.
George - Washington, DC
So, as long as a country will give us oil and not the Chinese then we can afford to be moral relativists. So how, then, was Obama in the wrong in dealing with the Iranian elections?
File under bizarre Republican orthodoxy
We cannot back down from the missile shield, no matter what Russia says. We should continue expanding NATO, no matter what Russia says. We should increase sanctions against Iran, no matter what Russia says.
Mark - Great Neck, NY
Nothing makes me feel more safe than provoking the largest nuclear power in the world into a game of missile chicken. Eliminating nuclear weapons is naive and stupid but taunting a country by surrounding it with armies and missile shields is sound foreign policy.
File this under NEVER ALLOW THEM TO BE IN POWER AGAIN