"johnny2bad" had made a useful start on some of "Reasons Not To Vote For John McCain", with the following starter-list of treasonable acts perpetrated by the party of John McCain:

-- Starting an illegal war using lies. (International war crimes)

--Outing CIA agent Plame. (treason)

-- Politicizing the justice department.

--Legalizing torture.

There would be plenty more such reasons.

As an outsider (a non-US citizen), I believe one major reason that US citizens should strongly feel is that John McCain has supported and is supporting the criminal politicies of GW Bush and Gang - which have brought the world to the brink of disaster (for the whole human race and to many other species living here).

John McCain is also being supported in his bid for US presidency by War Criminal GW Bush. (I have plenty more reasons to put up - but my reasons are irrelevant in this election, of course, so I shall refrain).

Whether or not my stated reasons above are accepted by any US citizen (who are obviously the only ones who count in this coming election), I feel that items on a list of "Reasons Not To Vote For John McCain" should be categorised in a way that would enable contributors clearly understand just how damaging voting for John McCain would be disastrous (for the US; for the whole world; and for them as individual US citizens).

Here are some categories that I feel should be explored:

-- War Crimes committed by GW Bush and Gang

-- Acts of treason (by GW Bush and Gang) against the US as a nation

-- Acts of incompetence (by GW Bush and Gang) AND the costs of those acts of incompetence to the US; to individual US citizens; to the world

-- Acts that have damaged the US in the eyes of the world

(There would be many other categories of course).

One issue that should be explored in some depth: Specifically why should those acts by GW Bush and Gang be held against John McCain?

To be fair to John McCain (and to US citizens generally), it would also be appropriate to list in detail just why US citizens SHOULD vote in McCain's favour against Barack Obama.

And there obviously should be lists of elements for and against Barack Obama, as well - Democratic voters should list all of these as well: as the Republicans will be listing all the reasons NOT to vote for Barack Obama - inventing a large number of them, in fact, out of whole cloth, so to say - it would be useful for Democratic voters to anticipate those reasons in order to be able to counter them effectively.

If there is adequate examination of such listings by US citizens AND if there is enough democratic reasoned debate of the elements appearing on them, then I believe US citizens would have a good grip on how to make a good vote in the coming election.

[Obviously, these lists when made effectively cut through to the very heart of the election process. (If then they are discussed effectively, the US would have a 'good and truly democratic election'). At this point of time, I do not see these basic underpinnings of enabling US citizens make a good vote being put in place. Alas].

GSC

As pointed out by others here, the Supreme Court ruling (by the slimmest possible margin of 5-4) does not really condemn the GW Bush criminality the way it should have.

It really is very high time indeed that US citizens get their act effectively together to bring under control the criminals who've taken control of their nation.

The GW Bush maladministration has:

-- committed war crimes by going to war after lying to US citizens about the WMD (remember those?) in Iraq; lying to the US Congress to get the funding it needed for its foolish and illegal war; tried to lie to the world (though none except the leaders of the 'Coalition of the Willing' were taken in);

-- brought the US to its nadir in the opinion of the world around by the behaviour it condoned and in fact encouraged by its representatives in Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo: the US is today perceived worldwide as being scarcely better than the terrorists it ostensibly opposes;

-- reduced the nation's effective global power enormously despite the overwhelming military power it does possess;

--squandered more than $ 500 billion in this foolish war that has in fact only served to strengthen the enemies it was intended to fight; this war is set to cost the US at least $ 3 trillion in the view of the Nobel-winning economist Joseph E. Stiglitz;

-- and there is plenty else in the list of charges that can be laid against GW Bush and his Gang. (Dennis Kucinich has, I understand, brought out a list of at least 38 items of impeachable actions by GW Bush and Gang).

Now when will US citizens wake up from their seeming slumber, take effective action against the criminals who rule them today, throw them out of power and put them into jail for the rest of their miserable lives?

(Those US citizens who do not actively at least register their protest against these criminals who rule them today would have to be perceived to be participating in those crimes).

GSC