Senate candidacy announcement

[Gabu]

After much thought and consideration, I've decided to throw my hat into the ring and declare my candidacy for Senate seat 5B.

I look forward to a good campaign with StevenNick and any others who may come along later.

I'll take any questions here.

[The Dowager Mod]

Good luck!

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Excellent :-)

[Gabu]

Good luck!

Thank you.

[Akno21]

Gabu, I really hope you win, although it all depends on the re-districting.

[Platypus]

Good luck, I endorse you

[Gabu]

Gabu, I really hope you win, although it all depends on the re-districting.

Sort of; I haven't seen any redistricting plans that would dramatically alter the setup, though I suppose plans K and K1 might.

On another note, nobody has any questions?  C'mon, you know you want to interrogate someone.

[Fmr. Gov. NickG]

Under Plan K, D5 gains IA and MO and loses ND and NM.
Under Plan K1, D5 gains MN and loses NM.

[TeePee4Prez]

Go Gabu!

[Akno21]

Gabu, what is your opinion on missile defense?

[Gabu]

Gabu, what is your opinion on missile defense?

I'm currently undecided on this issue.  Obviously, it would be good to be able not to die if another nation launched a nuclear missile at us, and due to that the idea certainly has merit.

However, the main reason that the Cold War was able to end without any large-scale conflicts with massive casualties equalling or even exceeding those of World War II was because of the concept of MAD: mutually assured destruction.  If anyone launched a nuclear missile, everyone would die, so nobody did.  With a missile defense system, however, it would be possible not to have MAD in a nuclear war, which could lead to the use of nuclear weapons against another nation for the purposes of conquest or any number of other things, which could lead to all sorts of tragic consequences.

Of course, if every nation had a missile defense system, this would nullify this effect, but currently I don't know of any other nation planning such a thing.

I have also heard some news articles of people testifying that the defense system is largely ineffectual and costly, although I'm not sure regarding the reliability of such testimony.

As it currently stands, I would say to leave everything as it is.  If we find out that another nation has started to build a missile defense system, then I would say that we should build our own, but I feel that having a missile defense system at the current time could disrupt the balance that resulted from the Cold War, and I feel that that problem would outweigh the potential benefits of a missile defense system at this time.

This isn't set in stone, however.  If someone could prove to me that its benefits outweighed the potential risks stated above, then I could support it.  I simply have not seen proof of this yet.

[Siege40]

Gabu, what is your opinion on missile defense?

I'm currently undecided on this issue.  Obviously, it would be good to be able not to die if another nation launched a nuclear missile at us, and due to that the idea certainly has merit.

However, the main reason that the Cold War was able to end without any large-scale conflicts with massive casualties equalling or even exceeding those of World War II was because of the concept of MAD: mutually assured destruction.  If anyone launched a nuclear missile, everyone would die, so nobody did.  With a missile defense system, however, it would be possible not to have MAD in a nuclear war, which could lead to the use of nuclear weapons against another nation for the purposes of conquest or any number of other things, which could lead to all sorts of tragic consequences.

Of course, if every nation had a missile defense system, this would nullify this effect, but currently I don't know of any other nation planning such a thing.

I have also heard some news articles of people testifying that the defense system is largely ineffectual and costly, although I'm not sure regarding the reliability of such testimony.

As it currently stands, I would say to leave everything as it is.  If we find out that another nation has started to build a missile defense system, then I would say that we should build our own, but I feel that having a missile defense system at the current time could disrupt the balance that resulted from the Cold War, and I feel that that problem would outweigh the potential benefits of a missile defense system at this time.

This isn't set in stone, however.  If someone could prove to me that its benefits outweighed the potential risks stated above, then I could support it.  I simply have not seen proof of this yet.

Good position.

Siege

[Defarge]

Best of luck Gabu