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Tim:

Well, the level response probably comes from debating liberals foryears. My style is more of a respond back with a smirk or makefactually snide remarks to them and it always got under their skin. They have my full respect and it's not me that blows up and start thepersonal attacks. Dom kinda did the same thing with the smirks, so itwas almost like a see-saw between us, but I would always throw in alittle starter like "okay Dom, let's be factual for a second because you haven't been." The rest was typical because they would blow up a lot. DannyQ and all his friends (not much Danny, but those CS dudes that lived nearby), random people from NMT since I wrote to that dirtrag, I even had Dr Minschwaner (Physics) get into this debate with me. That was actually a little tough for me. How do I respond to someone that I may have to take a class from in the future? LOL. Francis wasn't bad but his gf-at-the-time was ultra liberal. I wouldn't say anything, do my homework, and she'd just come into the room and rat away on random topics and I'm like "keep your emotions low and we'll debate" without even looking at her. Of all people, Will would be the most sensible liberal I debated with. I was debating Jim Moore's roommate (I did not start it), he ended up throwing a phone at me. He was a staunch libertarian. But he was passionately anti-porn. How can you be anti-porn and be a libertarian? So that was an easy one vs. him. Then there was Nina (Jewish). I ended up meeting her dad who was extreme liberal and he found out my stances...

You remind me of Michael Savage in the sense that he too is stuck in a liberal area (Bay Area - it can't get worse than that in America...maybe Santa Fe) and every now and then when I end up driving home at 9PM (have grad class on certain nights), his show would be on and I'd listen every now and then. This guy is ready to kill someone with the amount of anger he displays over the radio. So my theory pans out in that passionate conservatives living in an area full of liberals that are in power (and that's the key - in mass and power) can lead to cynicism. Which is why I don't feel any of it in Alabama, yet I do when in California. There is one area that Savage I think is liberal on and that's environmentalism. I think I can push his buttons to the point where I'll end up on the obituary list.

About Pat Buchanan, before I label him as a conservative, he, Bill O'Reilly, and many others in his mold are really America First types. There have been several elections where this party (or American Independence or simply just American) ran and they're conservatives. But when it comes to issues of foreign policy (including immigration,trade, etc.) they're extreme isolationists, to the point that there probably is no dialogue with other nations, no less trade. I'm at least for trading for goodness sakes and we live in a global economy, whether Buchanan likes it or not. This isn't the 50s anymore Pat. Isolationism may have worked back then when xenophobia ran rampant (and still kinda does now).

For trade, bottom overall line, my biggest issue is mainly security. In all actuality, it's only a select few countries, sorry, governments, in the world that cause the issues for me. For the most part, I'm all for the trade that's going on with countries that aren't considered industrial megapowers (Korea, Peru, Colombia, Central America, etc.). It's just to me, the 3 biggest culprits of (time for the favorite word) screwing us the worse are China, Japan, and the EU (those countries aren't sovereign anymore, they're one big union). Mainly China. Historically researching China since who knows when, these guys are not our economic partners. These guys will do anything to be the #1 and theonly #1 in the world. And if that means getting money from us, then so be it. I only shy away from protectionism because I feel they're total isolationists. That's not the case for me. But in a way, you can say I am.

I understand about providing the boost for other nations, but again, that's where my "nitpicking" comes in because certain countries don't need or should not get the boost for a lot of reasons. Luckily, that's in the minority. At this rate though (almost a "might-as-well"), Americans in this age need to strive for better then, and make sure the careers they choose end up paying them above a certain amount. The potential problem here, is frankly, it's just I know not everyone, to be blunt, is smart enough to do the "high" level jobs. Most high-level jobs are engineering, medical field, law, etc. Be honest, most high-paying jobs require a lot of skills and intuitive knowledge. Often I hear stories of "I took the engineering route, I hated it, so I ended up as a _____." In a way, the "problem" we're facing today is that technology is growing. We might as well accept now that things are going to get more advanced as years go by, which is why math and science are highly emphasized now. And on the "desire" sector, everyone wants all these products that are being advertised. But only people that can afford it, get them, so people want higher paying jobs, and to get higher paying jobs, they need to strive higher. Now, who makes these products? Ask a lot of Americans in this day and age and they'll say "no way, I don't wanna slave away. Ain't gonna roll up my sleeves to compose chips or wash dishes for shit wages." But there are plenty that would. This is where the foreigners come in for the ones that don't want to. And then when the bosses hear about how a lot of them would do it for minimum wage, their eyes start to glow. Maybe even ship the jobs out so they stay there and not get in trouble. But don't get me wrong, there are other reasons why they ship jobs out - taxes being one of them. It's not all just to save a buck, but it is a reason. When I say repeatedly I see what you're saying, I see what you're saying. I understand about your beliefs for #2 but it's a hit or miss for me. It's taking chances to think countries will be liberalized through trade. China (again) is just taking advantage of this, that's all, to build their industrial and military strength. We keep talking Communist nations and we ignore (unintentional I'm sure) the Middle East. We trade with them and there is no liberalization there. Hell, we're helping them flourish and at the same time you got the select few that run the country (which is always the case) going a little too extreme with their book of law to deem us as bad. I say the few because before Ahmadinejad took over, Iran really was a very moderate country that was almost pro-American actually. Bottom line, we stop getting oil from them, and those countries will be third world nations.

We're viewed as heartless because you just said it. We typically tell people to suck it up. Conservatives and libertarians for the most part feel responsibility is the key to success. Liberals create this huge welfare state.....actually it goes like this. When a conservative is in power, a liberal will run a campaign like the conservative is destroying this country (that trickle down, yuck). And if the liberal wins, it's because the masses of poor will vote because as you know, they outnumber the "CEOs." Once the liberal is in power, they create this huge welfare state that relies on the government. Then come re-election time, they create all these ads' saying the country is good again thanks to big government (not in those words though, otherwise, kiss of death). Vote for us and we'll keep it going, where in reality the country is worse. Look at Detroit, New Orleans, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Boston, DC, Oakland, etc. So they vote for them again. Liberals will win if they do a good enough job showing some guy on the street that no one loves. Either all that said or some third party does a good job siphoning votes away from conservatives.

About immigration, I support it fully. It's just we need to do a better job showing the world that our borders are secure. You wanna become a citizen? Come to our country, speak/read/write English (my philosophy is if you do 2 out of the 3 for English, that's all that's needed), and we'll take it from there. It made me laugh a little that Florida shut down this one very popular Mexican restaurant in the conservative part of the state because its hosts, waiters, and cooks were all non-citizens. Once it opened again, the owner had a tough time hiring new people and everyone complained that it's just "not the same" anymore. It does make me laugh when everyone says they cause all the crimes, when you look at our prisons or people getting arrested and majority of them are our citizens. Simple fact is this, majority of immigrants come here because their previous life sucked (in their home country), that doesn't mean let the borders open, but allow the ones that come clean with no history to enter if they qualify. The risk we run here is there are people completely clean...that'll only convert to some operative once they come here. This still doesn't mean we should close our borders.

About Bush, he didn't really preach the big government side in 2000. That's why I got attracted to his message. The way he ran in 2000 made it look like we just might see a full conservative in the office for the first time in a long time, but I still had my reservations in my head. He was an outsider and I think he got caught up in Washington. He thought his bipartisan talk would solve things (that's why I laugh everytime Ross Perot made it sound like it's easy to work with the otherside). He did do just fine with justices, I'll give you that, but there are a whole lot of things that's better left unsaid (education, healthcare, environment, foreign affairs - again, depending on who you ask but I personally felt he did fine here on an overall scale, etc.).

Donald:

Frankly, I'm a little pessimistic about McCain. I'm only voting for him because I refuse Clinton and Obama. Obama's grotesque lack of knowledge is just plain unacceptable for the presidency. With McCain, we're gonna see more of the same while he was a Senator. Also expect Russ Feingold to be his Treasury Sec, Ted Kennedy to be his Education Sec, and Joe Lieberman to be his Defense Sec as well.

You ask about immigration, there actually are certain conservatives out there against immigration. I mean full immigration. There are some that are so pro-American that they want the borders shut down altogether, solve the immigration issues we're having now (i.e. ship them out), and keep the borders closed. I at least, again, support immigration, just not the way of swimming across a river.