Politics: Where we struggle to kneel in the muck.

[Not Me]

Originally posted by sebastian_dangerfield
I actually believe in a creating force of some sort. I mean, something staretd this whole thing, right?

But who started the something that started this whole thing?

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally posted by Did you just call me Coltrane?
This is fine if it was hindsight for everyone. But it wasn't.
It was only hindsight for a very small minority. A minority that lacks even a minute amount of prescience.

so you're saying keeping the Iraq Army intact, and assuming its loyalty could be switched like a light was a unquestionable decision? At long last has your hatred for Bush gone to the extreme that you do not even care what nonsense you sling as long as you can direct it at Bush. Fuck some cite Ty has to what some General thought. Some General always thinks things should go different, especially after the fact. I bet you can find lots of Generals in '46 who were saying what they had told Ike in '44 about watching out for a counterattack in France.

[Shape Shifter]

Originally posted by sebastian_dangerfield
Am I too Chicken Littleish here or is this shit as scary as it seems?

Nope. It's scary. Esp if W is able to make SC appointments.

Sure there are some Dem social conservatives, but it's relative. I don't recall any Dem-backed plans in the last 10 years to prohibit teaching evolution in public schools.

[sgtclub]

I'm not a regular reader of the times, so I don't know anything about this author, but I find this interesting:

tolen Honor: Wounds That Never Heal," the highly contested anti-Kerry documentary, should not be shown by the Sinclair Broadcast Group. It should be shown in its entirety on all the networks, cable stations and on public television.

This histrionic, often specious and deeply sad film does not do much more damage to Senator John Kerry's reputation than have the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth's negative ads, which have flooded television markets in almost every swing state. But it does help viewers better understand the rage fueling the unhappy band of brothers who oppose Mr. Kerry's candidacy and his claim to heroism.

Sinclair, the nation's largest television station group, reaching about a quarter of United States television households, backed down this week and announced that it would use only excerpts from the 42-minute film as part of an hourlong news program about political use of the media, "A P.O.W. Story: Politics, Pressure and the Media.'' That's too bad: what is most enlightening about this film is not the depiction of Mr. Kerry as a traitor; it is the testimony of the former P.O.W.'s describing the torture they endured in captivity and the shock they felt when celebrities like Jane Fonda and Tom Hayden visited their prisons in North Vietnam and sided with the enemy.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/21/ar...ner=ALTAVISTA1

[dtb]

Originally posted by Say_hello_for_me
Oh sweetie, let me put this in pretty picture for you.

There is
1.) an affirmative belief (conviction) in God (or Gods, or a higher power, or the Mountain);
2.) an affirmative belief that there is not a God etc.; and
3.) anything in-between.

So, for starters, I'm not threatened by the "fact" that someone does not believe in God. How did you come away from this daylong discussion with this impression? Your final question is the equivalent of me asking why you hate black people (i.e., huh?).

As to your first question, if you can set out any (i.e, any) explanation for a fear that is not based on judgement, punishment, pain or something along those lines, than have at it. Last I checked, Sebby was backpedaling away from that position, and I'm not sure he wants to sacrifice you as his rear guard. No matter, y'all find a better word to describe his "concern" about what happens, and I'm all ears. Meantime, I've answered his question about why people feel they can impose morality on others. If this (imposing morality on others to, e.g., enfranchise others) weren't a fundamental part of human history, defenseless people like blacks and women would still be traded on auction blocks and prohibited from voting with the enfranchised white men. How could we do this to southern slaveholders? How could we do this to wife beaters and Mormons? And why are you arguing that we shouldn't have?

Hello

Oh little angel, your condescension is really so unbecoming. It appears that the only person you have convinced is yourself. That must make you so proud -- and deservedly so!! If only you were here so I could print out your post (I can tell you tried really hard) and hand it to you with a big happy face on it!! In sparkly ink!!

Until then, enjoy your pretty picture!!

Big kiss!

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally posted by Shape Shifter
Nope. It's scary. Esp if W is able to make SC appointments.

Sure there are some Dem social conservatives, but it's relative. I don't recall any Dem-backed plans in the last 10 years to prohibit teaching evolution in public schools.

Numbskull.
there are no dem backed plans to change how history is taught in schools? no plans to de-emphasize the United States' role in World events, the role of Europeans in US history?

Shit you want to start spouting extreme positions- Some Dems proposed switching teaching in Oakland school to ebonics. Does that mean if Kerry wins we'll be going forward?

[greatwhitenorthchick]

Anyone else read the WSJ article today about parents' (of all political stripes) using their kids' Hallowe'en costumes to advertise their political views? I found this pretty disgusting. The parents actually seemed proud of it. One choice quote:

"She's a walking billboard for our opinions" - parent of four year-old who will be sporting a John Kerry-stickered backpack with her Tinkerbell costume.

And another:

"She's a big supporter" - parent talking about daughter on whose kangaroo costume he's considering putting a BC campaign button.

Not that Hallowe'en is sacred or anything - it just seems very crass to use kids as billboards and not see anything wrong with that.

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally posted by sgtclub
I'm not a regular reader of the times, so I don't know anything about this author, but I find this interesting:



http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/21/ar...ner=ALTAVISTA1

I have yet to see a SBVFT ad. What is wrong with me? Not enough TV?

[Not Me]

Originally posted by dtb

No one can prove there is or isn't an afterlife

Actually, if it does exist and there is any cross over between this life and an afterlife, it is provable. The only issue is becoming technologically advanced enough to gather the evidence to prove it. Perhaps once we understand consciouness better we will have the tools to assess whether consciousness outlives our flesh.

[sebastian_dangerfield]

You know, I'd thought he lost it about a decade ago, but occasionally he comes back with something that shows the lights are still on.

He's right, but he's always been right.

Originally posted by Replaced_Texan
Another reason that Sebby shouldn't vote for Bush. Spree: Rolling Stone article.

ETA Bulletin:

BULLETIN
KERRY WINS GONZO ENDORSMENT; DR. THOMPSON JOINS DEMOCRAT IN CALLING BUSH "THE SYPHILLIS PRESIDENT"
"Four more years of George Bush will be like four more years of syphilis," the famed author said yesterday at a hastily called press conference near his home in Woody Creek, Colorado. "Only a fool or a sucker would vote for a dangerous loser like Bush," Dr. Thompson warned. "He hates everything we stand for, and he knows we will vote against him in November."

Thompson, long known for the eerie accuracy of his political instincts, went on to denounce Ralph Nader as "a worthless Judas Goat with no moral compass."

"I endorsed John Kerry a long time ago," he said, "and I will do everything in my power, short of roaming the streets with a meat hammer, to help him be the next President of the United States."

[Not Bob]

Originally posted by greatwhitenorthchick
Not that Hallowe'en is sacred or anything - it just seems very crass to use kids as billboards and not see anything wrong with that.

Obviously you are not a parent. In accordance with the religious beliefs of Mrs. Not Bob and I, the Not Bobette will be out trick or treating dressed as Rhoda Morgenstern (original Popess of the First Universal Church of Mary Richards).

Mis-ter Grant!

[Not Me]

Originally posted by sgtclub
I'm not a regular reader of the times, so I don't know anything about this author, but I find this interesting:



http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/21/ar...ner=ALTAVISTA1

Umm, what exactly do you find interesting about it?

[Shape Shifter]

Originally posted by Hank Chinaski
Numbskull.
there are no dem backed plans to change how history is taught in schools? no plans to de-emphasize the United States' role in World events, the role of Europeans in US history?

Shit you want to start spouting extreme positions- Some Dems proposed switching teaching in Oakland school to ebonics. Does that mean if Kerry wins we'll be going forward?

I haven't seen any laws on the books to that effect.

Why is it that people who are so afraid of evolution have no problem having a chimp for president?

[Greedy,Greedy,Greedy]

Originally posted by greatwhitenorthchick
Anyone else read the WSJ article today about parents' (of all political stripes) using their kids' Hallowe'en costumes to advertise their political views? I found this pretty disgusting. The parents actually seemed proud of it. One choice quote:

"She's a walking billboard for our opinions" - parent of four year-old who will be sporting a John Kerry-stickered backpack with her Tinkerbell costume.

And another:

"She's a big supporter" - parent talking about daughter on whose kangaroo costume he's considering putting a BC campaign button.

Not that Hallowe'en is sacred or anything - it just seems very crass to use kids as billboards and not see anything wrong with that.

Of course, sometimes kids choose these opinions for themselves pretty early (and sometimes they choose the opposite opinion just to tease their parents). So the "SHE'S a big supporter" doesn't bother me, though the "she's a walking billboard for OUR opinions" does.

It's interesting, very few parents hesitate to impose, say, their religious views on their children, yet many hesitate to impose political views. Why is that?

[Say_hello_for_me]

Originally posted by dtb
It appears that the only person you have convinced is yourself. That must make you so proud -- and deservedly so!!

Its so sad to see the sacrifices of a rearguard. The only person I'm sure I've convinced of anything is Sebby. He was last seen running away from his "fear" (well, the use of the word "fear"). And he left pretty little you here as a distraction.

Regards,

Hello