Let me show a completely ridiculous example. Nobody disputes that the sky is blue. But maybe you think it’s best that the sky is blue because that’s the way nature made it. And maybe your friend thinks it’s horrible that the sky is blue because it’s not his/her favorite color. Maybe your friend thinks it’s a shame that the sky is not red. Either way, that’s taking the facts and seeing how two different people can see the same thing two different ways. When applied to political articles, videos, books, shows, films, etc. that try to change people’s opinions, that’s called spin. Let’s just try to share our interpretations of the truth respectfully and have open dialogue rather than sit here and insult each other and people that we likely don’t know – other than seeing them on TV sometimes.

Open invitation: If you would like to try to get me to vote Republican, send me well thought out, original insights about why I should. But I don’t care how close I am to you – don’t send me spin!!!!

I can’t wait to sit down and respond to T. Dillon. Thank you for your well thought out response!

Please keep sending responses – favorable, unfavorable, I love to hear it all! Just keep it respectful.

Looks like you are all set!
Good luck Komrade!

1. Overall I agree with you. One cannot control their upbringing. A child has no control over where they are sent to school, etc. In this aspect, I think the video failed. However, since we are talking about having no control over your upbringing; why is it that some on the left have filed to suit to block McCain’s candidacy since he was born outside of U.S. borders? Did he have any control over that?

2. The “present” votes cannot be dismissed with a wave of the hand. It demonstrates a lack of clear conviction. Sure, he can say he did it because he was concerned with certain parts of bill, either morally or constitutionally. If he was that concerned, why not vote “No”? This, taken on its own, is not that big of a deal. It’s just another piece of the puzzle.

3. You must be joking. Really. I understand that this cannot be attributed to Obama, other than once it came to light, he should have demanded it been taken down. Regardless of what “symbol” his picture may have become he was still a brutal murderer. I recommend that you research the “real” Che Guevara. This is akin to saying “Well, Joseph Stalin is a great symbol of collectivization today, because he turned the Soviet Union into an industrial powerhouse!” Nevermind that millions of his subjects died from starvation and that he further murdered millions more for daring to disagree with him. You just cannot separate out an “image” from the acts of the man behind it.

4. The pin issue: It’s not so much the fact that he doesn’t wear it, it’s the reasoning behind it. I don’t wear a flag pin everyday, most people don’t. You don’t hear anyone questioning mine or their patriotism. It’s when the man running for POTUS tells us that he doesn’t wear the pin because he doesn’t think the country is great is when we have a problem. As for the hand over the heart: You just don’t get it. It’s not about whether or not you think the current government is doing a good job, its about respecting the men and women who have sacrificed their lives to give you the right to post on this blog. Remember that next time you have the audacity to interrupt my remembrance of those I knew who have died to give you the right. Oh, and it only took to item #4 for Godwin’s Law to raise it’s head, impressive!

5. First, on this point, you bring up something that strikes me as insanely funny. You are a supporter of a BLACK MAN who has a very good chance of being the next PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. Yet, somehow, there is still too much inequality in this country. Are you kidding me? I have had black bosses, white bosses, asian bosses, hispanic bosses, etc, etc, etc. Are there some folks out there that are still racist? Sure. On all sides.

Next, on this point, Obama supporters all like to roll out the wackos that tend to endorse the Republican candidates. You seem to miss an extremely important distinction. McCain does not attend Robertson’s, Falwell’s, or Hagee’s church. Nor has he attended any of their churches for over 20 years. You cannot make a rational comparison between being endorsed by someone you don’t know, and being endorsed by the guy who you consider to be your mentor, the guy who baptized your children, the guy whose church you sat in and listened to his message of hate for 20 years. See the difference? Think about it logically. If you do, you will see how your comparison makes no sense.

6. Michelle Obama. Funny. Now if she isn’t a shining example of what you can do if you put your mind to it, I don’t know who is. Lower middle class, graduates Princeton, then Harvard, becomes a prestigious lawyer, now could very well be the VERY first black first lady. Goddamn that oppression!

Again, you totally miss the point. No one is asking you, or Michelle, to be proud of the current Administration. They are asking you to be proud of your COUNTRY. 2 entirely different entities. Not even remotely the same thing. Are you telling me that your not proud of the help our country (not our gov’t, our citizens) sent to the areas devastated by tsunamis in 2004? Are you not proud of all the good our country does every day for each other and those around the world? Remember, we’re not talking about the government here, we’re talking about the COUNTRY.

This important distinction is what has people upset. Had she said that right now was the first time she had been proud of her government, no big deal. But she didn’t. She disrespected the country that allowed her to come up from the class of her birth and rise to the elite. Does that sound like a country that we should be ashamed of?

7. There is so much “fail” here, it’s hard to start.

A: Ask yourself this. If the health care in Europe, Canada, etc is so great, why do thousands upon thousands of folks from those countries come here every year and pay cash for health care?

B: Infant mortality. The statistics are skewed. And you know why? Because WE have the best health care in the world. What?? How can you reconcile high infant mortality with the best health care?? Easy. In the United States, we have incredible doctors and technology. We make every effort to save every baby ever born, even if they are born SIX MONTHS premature. And we succeed a lot. But because we try, those deaths get record as infant mortality. Whereas in other countries, those babies never would have even been considered babies, and there births never would have been recorded, voila, no baby death. Interesting.

C: Life expectancy: The US enjoys 20% (12.2 years, BTW) longer life expectancy than the average earthling, yet our life expectancy is only 5% (4 years) lower than the nation with the greatest life expectancy. So, let me get this straight. There are AT LEAST 150 nations that have a lower life expectancy than citizens of the US, yet somehow we “sit firmly with third world countries”. I guess I don’t understand.

D: Welfare: I think you unknowingly hit the nail on the head. No rational, logical, sane single woman would quit her cushy job, adopt 2 kids, and try to work at Burger King. A woman in that position would be smart enough to figure out that that won’t play. All those single women out there popping out babies should figure that out too. Or maybe just figure out how to use a condom. Sure, there are women who lost their husband, got divorced, whatever. But, you and I both know, that is NOT the case for the bulk of welfare recipients. It’s a lifestyle. Why work when you don’t have to?

Welfare, when used properly, is a good thing. However, from personal experience, welfare is the most abused government program in the history of this country. I worked retail for 5 years. Heck, not even retail. I worked at a damn convenience store. And you know what? We took food stamps. Only we don’t call them that any more. Now its a debit card with electronic benefits. You know, wouldn’t want to embarrass anyone. Why in the world should someone be able to use food stamps to buy soda, candy, chips, Gatorade, etc? If you are hurting so bad that you can’t afford to even buy food on your own, you damn sure shouldn’t have enough many to waste your government assistance on junk food.

E: The 2nd Amendment. Your statements are almost humorous, coming from someone who supports the candidate advocating withdrawal from Iraq because we’re “losing”. Who do you believe we are losing to? Infantry divisions? Tanks? Air Force? Navy? Nope. The other side is fighting with nothing more than rifles and improvised bombs. So, just to straighten this out: Our Military is losing in Iraq to guys with nothing, but they would kick ass and take names here? What makes you so sure that the guy down the street (who happens to be a bomber pilot) will happily rain down bombs on his own neighborhood because there are “rebels” around? Its amazing the double standard I see from the Left. The US is getting its ass handed to it by a bunch of rag tag rebels in Iraq, but the 2A is bunk because our military could easily kill everybody. Can’t have it both ways. So, which is it?

Oh, and BTW, if the 2A is outdated; so is the 1A. If you believe that our government would bomb its own citizens, indiscriminately for rebelling, what makes you think you can still say whatever you want to say? Would it be fair to argue that your speech here, in this blog, isn’t protected? Why? Why not? Why should it be? We are way outside the realm of what our founding fathers probably imagined in terms of communication. Should the internet, therefore, not fall under the purview of the 1A?

F: Is Obama a Marxist? I wont argue that point. There are so many different tenets of Marxism that one could easily classify him as such in one category or another. As to fear mongering: didn’t you employ that tactic earlier in comparing our national anthem to a Nazi rally?

8: You are totally and completely wrong. I thought of something interesting. Is Obama even really Black? Is he? Think about it for a minute……….. Ok, got it? Isn’t he really just as much a white man as a black man? I mean, its 50/50 either way right? But, I digress. His comment was racist, and should be called out as such. If it would be wrong for a McCain to say the same about a black person, then it’s wrong for Obama. There is no defense. Stereotyping is wrong. Period. I’m white. My wife is not. Therefore, can I say whatever I want about her race? Can our children?

9: You do realize that we have been trying the communication thing since, oh about 1947, don’t you? We have tried to work it out with these people for over 60 years. It hasn’t worked yet, why do you think it will all of a sudden? Do you think that if you had sat next to Mohammad Atta on the morning of September 11, you could have talked him out of it? I doubt it. You have to understand that to jihadists, we are nothing. We deserve nothing less than death. They don’t want to talk. They want us to join them in radical Islam or die. That’s it. Nothing else. There is no middle ground.

Last: To hit your last comments. I don’t necessarily agree that Obama is all those things either. I don’t know what he is. He’s an empty suit, “Just Words”. He talks about change, hope, audacity, etc but what has he really said? What are his policy goals, other than taking from the rich and giving to the poor? What will he DO for our country?

I agree, the comments that this country was formed to get away from socialism and communism *is* wrong. It was formed to escape a theocracy. Which, really, when you think about it isn’t much different from communism. So, maybe she’s partly right. I also find it funny that you knock your friend about for not knowing that, then relate how you “nearly fell out of your chair” upon learning that the US is not a democracy. Maybe if you had paid attention to the National Anthem you would have notice that we “Pledge allegiance … to the REPUBLIC for which it stands”. A pure democracy is doomed to failure. When the majority can vote to take away the rights, property, etc of the minority, well, things quickly fall apart.

And your damn right. I’m sick and freaking tired of the current Republican party. They are nothing more than democrats in disguise. And jeez, never in my life did I think I’d agree with Feingold. The Patriot Act is an abomination.

As for the McCain video: Really, try it. He might be a little left for my tastes, but I seriously doubt you could come up with anything remotely damaging. Try as you might, in your entire blog, not once did you dispute any of the actual facts presented in the video. They are all true.

Thanks for your time!

T