Saddam found guilty, sentenced to hanging

[SteppinRazor]

correction not voting does nothing.

some interesting reading

By CALVIN WOODWARD, Associated Press Writer Sun Nov 5, 12:31 PM ET

WASHINGTON - Government of the people, by the people, will be missing a lot of people Election Day.

 

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It's a persistent riddle in a country that thinks of itself as the beacon of democracy. Why do so few share the light?

 

Compare U.S. voting with foreign voting and it's not a pretty sight. Americans are less apt to vote than are people in other old democracies, in new ones, in dangerous places, dirt poor ones, freezing cold ones, stinking hot ones and highly dysfunctional ones.

 

Even that theocratic "axis of evil," Iran, has bragging rights over the United States in this regard. So does chaotic Iraq, where an estimated 70 percent of voters cast ballots in December parliamentary elections.

 

The pitched battle for control of the House and Senate in Tuesday's election has raised hope that voting will rise above its usual anemic levels. But competitive races are not reliable predictors of turnout and doubts exist about whether Republicans will be as fired up as Democrats and whether independents will vote with their feet or their seat.

 

As in other aspects of American life, the people who run elections work to make things easier for everyone. Yet they achieve little more than blips in increased turnout, if that.

 

Participation, paradoxically, is highest in states where making it to a polling station can be misery on a wintry day. Minnesota, Alaska, Maine, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Wisconsin and Wyoming are among states that lead the nation in getting voters out, and they put the Sunbelt to shame.

 

About 40 percent of U.S. citizens of voting age population cast ballots in nonpresidential year elections.

 

Despite the competitive nature of the 2000 presidential race and the certainty of having a new chief executive no matter who won, just more than half turned out. In 2004, a polarized year when everyone remembered the near dead heat four years earlier, turnout climbed over 60 percent — edging a little closer to the likes of Iran, Iceland and Somalia.

 

Some of the best states for voter turnout have conveniences such as same-day registration. But it is their culture of civic engagement that is most credited for their relative success. The expansion of absentee voting in many states has yet to produce a clear spike in overall participation.

 

Curtis Gans, who has been studying the riddle for three decades, says making voting easier does little to make people vote. "We know that it isn't procedure because we've constantly made procedure easier and voter turnout has gone down," he said.

 

Nor is it demographics.

 

The population today is more educated, older and less mobile than in the past — all things that should steer people to the voting booth. But that does not happen.

 

Gans' diagnosis: lack of motivation.

 

Blame the politicians, in part:

 

_the attack campaigning casting the choice as one between bad and worse;

 

_the lack of clearly defined choices on issues;

 

_the string of deviousness or wrong turns over the years — "I am not a crook," "I did not have sexual relations with that woman," " Saddam Hussein ... continues to develop weapons of mass destruction."

 

And blame people and their culture, too.

 

"We've had the fragmenting and atomization of our society," Gans said, driven by the 500-channel TV culture, the interstate, strip malls, abandonment of farms and the rise of the Internet. "All of those things have undermined community."

 

Gans is director of the Center for the Study of the American Electorate at American University.

 

A recent AP-Pew poll looked at the 45 percent of the population that can be characterized as nonvoters because these people rarely vote even though most are registered.

 

Most broadly, the poll found that nonvoters are not just disconnected from politics, but also from their communities. Nonvoters were less likely to trust others, to have a strong support network of friends and family or to know their neighbors than regular voters were.

 

Among those who were unregistered, only 14 percent said it was complicated to register where they live. Most had not done so because they lacked the time, had not gotten around to it, had no confidence in politicians or just did not care.

 

The United States lags about 130 countries in voter participation. Discount ones that enforce compulsory voting laws — fewer than a dozen — and America's standing hardly improves.

 

___

 

EDITOR'S NOTE — Trevor Tompson, manager of AP news surveys, contributed to this story.

[WORDISM45]

^^^ I fucking hope so... that's probably the only execution worth watching. Not because I hate the guy... personally I don't give a fuck if he lives or dies... but when's the last time somebody got hanged? Let alone SADDAM HUSSEIN. In the end it doesn't matter because his death wont solve anything or bring anyone back.

 

Also if this guy has personally affected you don't give a shit about what I just said. Just a random thought anyway.

 

what a poster child for bread and circuses

 

 

 

seriously all i could do was shake my head and wonder what the fuck is wrong with the world when i heard saddam was going to be killed. yeah he himself killed plenty of people and he probably doesnt have any kind of claim to living however what the fuc kis anyone gonig to gain from him being executed? all that will happen is it will inflame iraqis even more and cause mroe sectarian violence.

[SteppinRazor]

should stop hunting bin laden too yea

should just gather all world leaders who rape women and kill children. who torture people to death before they were suposed to face a firing squad. then we can sit in a circle and hold hands sing kumbya. do you think any of them would have mercy on you?

sectarian violence will continue no matter what. conflict in the middle east has been going on since the days of Christ

there have been more deaths in the name of religion than any other cause

[LIVERWURST*]

^You only capitalized one word in 7 posts and it's "Christ".

 

I know about the SUNNIS but I'm not sure about the "Sunis". Are you saying that Iraqi's are beyond reproach because they won't see our way as the right way? I ask because in one post you mention the "iraqi people are fucked up and cant take care of themselfs" (note: themSELFS) but then in defending your position you say "most of the rest of the country seems to be celebrating though." Whats it going to be? Do Iraqis support our actions or are we leaning on them with military and political force?

 

Again maybe your incapable-of-passing-basic-middle-school-standardized-testing self might add something other than generalities. I hate cross fire...

[WORDISM45]

should stop hunting bin laden too yea

should just gather all world leaders who rape women and kill children. who torture people to death before they were suposed to face a firing squad. then we can sit in a circle and hold hands sing kumbya. do you think any of them would have mercy on you?

sectarian violence will continue no matter what. conflict in the middle east has been going on since the days of Christ

there have been more deaths in the name of religion than any other cause

 

As moronic as your reply is on numerous levels i thought i'd reply just to explain a few things to you.

 

It has nothing to do with 'showing mercy' (not that there is anything at all wrong with showing mercy), it's about reducing violence rather than excaserbating the problem. You imply that it would be ridiculous to stop 'hunting bin laden' yet your commander in chief has already said that he neither knows nor cares where Bin Laden is.

 

Your second sentence makes absolutely no sense. And your attempt at sounding knowledgeable at the end has absolutely no relevence to the topic at hand. You probably have absolutely no idea about the history of the middle east because you're obviously of quite low intelligence, but supposing you were well versed on it's history you would realise that the vast majority of the violence that has occured there for the past 2000 years has been the result of foreign intervention in the area, re: Roman Conquest, The crusades, Colonialism, American Imperialism.

[IOU]

Robert Fisk | This Was a Guilty Verdict on America as Well

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/110606L.shtml

Robert Fisk writes: "So America's one-time ally has been sentenced to death for war crimes he committed when he was Washington's best friend in the Arab world. America knew all about his atrocities and even supplied the gas - along with the British, of course - yet there we were yesterday declaring it to be, in the White House's words, another 'great day for Iraq.'"

[SteppinRazor]

IOU clinton was the one who didnt do anything about that.

 

yumone it still was in the cause of religion

 

my rotting liver we went in and it didnt work out how we thought. war doesn't go as planed. and when you have such a fucked up lack of a plan like we had, then it really isn't going to work out.

like i said if anyone actually wants to make a difference besides just talking about it then VOTE

[Qawee]

[Theo Huxtable.]

Not that your academic credibility isn't evident in your lack of capitals at the start of sentences and names, BUT can you prove your claims? How about the Iraq "housing terrorist" <sic> claim? Why are we there again?

 

^You only capitalized one word in 7 posts and it's "Christ".

 

I know about the SUNNIS but I'm not sure about the "Sunis". Are you saying that Iraqi's are beyond reproach because they won't see our way as the right way? I ask because in one post you mention the "iraqi people are fucked up and cant take care of themselfs" (note: themSELFS) but then in defending your position you say "most of the rest of the country seems to be celebrating though." Whats it going to be? Do Iraqis support our actions or are we leaning on them with military and political force?

 

Again maybe your incapable-of-passing-basic-middle-school-standardized-testing self might add something other than generalities. I hate cross fire...

 

 

 

 

 

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