obama's speech

[Jayman01]

We really need to over haul congress to get any where. However; I am in favor of eliminating federal income tax as it is all together and eliminate the IRS. Go to a standard national tax of 15% on all purchases. That is the federal government's budget in a nut shell. The tax is fair across the board. Everyone pays their fair share. You buy 500 million dollar yaht cough up the 15% up front. You buy a candy bar for a dollar cough up the 15% up front. We might find that we can fund everything with only 10%. Who knows...

If you want to fix health care. No problem. Place all public servants on the same health care system that all americans have. From the President, to the justices, to Senators, and congress men a like. I would imagine this would get fixed almost over nght.

You want to see social security get fixed. Eliminate retirement pensions for public servents from the President, to the Justices, to Senators, and congress men a like let them know they will receive standard social security. Congress would fix this over night too.

Want more control over privatized retirement plans? Now that congress only has social security to rely on other than what they can stock pile in their own pvt. retirement plans. Watch how fast safeguards are put in place to secure retirements...

OK, Now; how do we make this happen??? LOL

 

[tampa24]

Tampa,

You have written about the inability of both major parties to deal with the concerns that affect us all. That seems to be a theme going through this thread. With that in mind, I don't know why you object to voters getting involved.

Maybe from your point of view, these voters are on the wrong side of the issue. Maybe the protesters were a bit uncivil. They are using "sound bites" against the "sound bites" they are getting from their elected officials. All useless.

We have not even started the debate on health care reform. I would like to see all Americans voice their opinions on this issue and let our politicians know we are paying attention. I don't want to deal with a 1000 page bill that has a lot of fine print. That fine print is where our politicians reward their boys and girls and screw the rest of us. Let's debate this issue for as long as it takes and get it right. A nice 30 page bill, typed in caps, would be nice.

Tim

C'mon Tim... You call that behavior "getting involved"? Getting involved means you show up with intelligent questions that highlight your concerns and points of disagreement with a proposal. Not just armed with slogans to heckle the speakers with.

And speaking of armed. Would you consider showing up at presidential events and healthcare rallies with loaded guns on full display of your person as "getting involved"? You may have the right to do it. But it's nothing but bullying and intimidation. Those people aren't there to listen and participate. They are only there to frighten the people they disagree with.

 

[tim114]

Tampa,

Do you not sleep? The debate is not going to happen at this level. This is all designed as a media event from both sides. Our current media is an Ass. The real debate has to take place in Congress. Maybe CSpan. All issues on the table and all in public. And take the time to do it.

And Rapper has to be careful about his cave. The government can nationalize all caves and leave him homeless.

Tim

 

[slimvintage]

Tampa, apparently there's a stand up comedian turned rabble rouser called Beck who has replaced Rush Limbaugh as the inciter to hooliganism among those Americans on the far right willing to take a stab at sabotaging the political process in their districts. If I'm not mistaken he's a plump, baby-faced, piggy-looking blond who recently carried his theatricality to the point of faking tears on his nightly broadcast in the name of patriotism. I love that sort of thing. Decent, thoughtful Americans like me, who lived abroad through the Bush years trying to defend their country against the jeers of the rest of the world, can be grateful that the clowns are now in opposition and their antics, mega-visible and super-risible, are merely distracting but not decisive.

Obama has been getting a lot of flak. I hope he doesn't turn out to be a one term president. The idea of having to hide my shame again if someone like Palin or Bush replaced him is depressing beyond words. Like I say, it's all about me.

 

[rapper]

In the shitty situation you describe it's no wonder that the country now couches it's political options much more in "moral", "ethical" and "emotional" terms (take note Thomas), and a little less in so called logic, the right turning to fundamentalist Christianity and "patriotism" and the left to Humanism. Politics seen through these lenses places questions such as a putative "deficit" farther down the list than it probably should be, but these are extraordinary times...

...in which the most shamefully cynical and morally corrupt administration since Nixon's has just left office, obliging the opposing party to attempt a massive clean up operation, treading new ground and remedying the outcomes of discredited solutions.

I taught for several years and in various European institutions a course called "Experiments in Applied Creativity". Original problem solving, somewhere along the line, requires risk taking, or what we call the "creative leap". To succeed in its goals it requires intelligence of course, and vision, as well as knowledge and calculation. It's hampered by fear.

We are now in the US at exactly the point were the unimaginative, the fearful, the excuse makers, are trying to put the brakes on initiatives for progress and the greater good, out of cowardice on the one hand and partisan rancor on the other.

It was obvious from here by early summer 2007 that Obama was going to be elected by quite a margin. It is amazing to me that the same political grouping who screwed the country for so long, in almost every single way possible, are now, such a short time into the opposition's administration, positioning themselves for a try at scuppering the creative solutions to their monumental fuck ups during Bushy. The right at other junctures in American politics has served the nation nobly and courageously. At the moment, and certainly in its most extreme form, it's nothing more, really nothing more, than a band of intellectually bankrupt yahoos, powerless except to trash the efforts of their moral betters.

A "Creative leap." I like that term . . . Currently Hugo Chavez is having a "Creative leap" turning Argentina into a dictatorship. I enjoy watching him seize power . . . Unfortunately, there is nothing original about his tactics. I find it interesting that his public is still arguing on whether or not he's a dictator. No! Tell me it isn't true! He is only a caring individual who wants to take care of his countrymen.

 

[tampa24]

I referred in an earlier post to an article by Joe Klein in which he expresses his dismay at the current state of the Republican party. I think he articulates very well many of the points of those of us in here who favor healthcare reform. He also expresses the reasons for the anger on the left (and I dare say the center) over the lack of pragmatic, mature leadership coming from the Republicans.

Here is his article: "The GOP Has Become a Party of Nihilists."

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1917525,00.html

 

[rapper]

I referred in an earlier post to an article by Joe Klein in which he expresses his dismay at the current state of the Republican party. I think he articulates very well many of the points of those of us in here who favor healthcare reform. He also expresses the reasons for the anger on the left (and I dare say the center) over the lack of pragmatic, mature leadership coming from the Republicans.

Here is his article: "The GOP Has Become a Party of Nihilists."

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1917525,00.html

Hey! Thanks for the reference and I DID read it. I want to mention a couple of things and then I will get to the serious business of looking at these naked men have sex. The two party system has been quietly dying for years now. What we have in D.C. is a couple of groups of butt-heads fighting over the power and gravy available. "They" want us to get embroiled in Dem vs. Rep as if there is a difference. I continue to be shocked at the ignorance of the electorate. Did anyone notice that in the recent presidential election no one had a platform? No one made any claims about what to do except maybe "Change." We had the well dressed black guy straight out of the Chicago political machine and the aging war hero going at it. Nothing was revealed in that contest which dragged on for months and months. The black guy won; He wears a suit well, had ample funding, an attractive family and a good smile. Great! As my old granny used to say; "Keep your eye on the ball." We have the federal gov't pumping billions of dollars we don't have into a collapsed financial system. We have the Fed nationalizing industries . . . we have a Dem controlled congress voting bills in before the bill has even been published. And we have Rom Emanuel quoted as saying "Never let a good crisis go to waste" Now we have Humana sending a letter to their customers suggesting that a health insurance take over might not be the way to go. There is great hue and cry about Humana having a position with their own customers they need to be investigated. What about freedom of speech in this country?? Health care DOES need to be reformed, but true reform means identifying the problem and fixing it. Not just making healthcare another federal agency. It is naieve in the extreme to think Gov't can successfully run health care. Really now, what GSE, (Gov't sponsored enterprise), do we have that works? The Postal Service, Amtrak, Fannie Mae, the Senate cafeteria? All I can say is follow your mother's advice . . . that is "Pay attention to the character of your associates." Obama is packing the executive branch with these Czars of dubious character. The popular press doesn't even mention these people. Obama is a Harvard lawyer for God's sake. Hasn't he ever heard of "Balance of Powers" Does he respect the Constitution? He's still pretty vague about it, but so far I don't care for his ideas about "Change."

 

[slimvintage]

Hey! Thanks for the reference and I DID read it. I want to mention a couple of things and then I will get to the serious business of looking at these naked men have sex. The two party system has been quietly dying for years now. What we have in D.C. is a couple of groups of butt-heads fighting over the power and gravy available. "They" want us to get embroiled in Dem vs. Rep as if there is a difference. I continue to be shocked at the ignorance of the electorate. Did anyone notice that in the recent presidential election no one had a platform? No one made any claims about what to do except maybe "Change." We had the well dressed black guy straight out of the Chicago political machine and the aging war hero going at it. Nothing was revealed in that contest which dragged on for months and months. The black guy won; He wears a suit well, had ample funding, an attractive family and a good smile. Great! As my old granny used to say; "Keep your eye on the ball." We have the federal gov't pumping billions of dollars we don't have into a collapsed financial system. We have the Fed nationalizing industries . . . we have a Dem controlled congress voting bills in before the bill has even been published. And we have Rom Emanuel quoted as saying "Never let a good crisis go to waste" Now we have Humana sending a letter to their customers suggesting that a health insurance take over might not be the way to go. There is great hue and cry about Humana having a position with their own customers they need to be investigated. What about freedom of speech in this country?? Health care DOES need to be reformed, but true reform means identifying the problem and fixing it. Not just making healthcare another federal agency. It is naieve in the extreme to think Gov't can successfully run health care. Really now, what GSE, (Gov't sponsored enterprise), do we have that works? The Postal Service, Amtrak, Fannie Mae, the Senate cafeteria? All I can say is follow your mother's advice . . . that is "Pay attention to the character of your associates." Obama is packing the executive branch with these Czars of dubious character. The popular press doesn't even mention these people. Obama is a Harvard lawyer for God's sake. Hasn't he ever heard of "Balance of Powers" Does he respect the Constitution? He's still pretty vague about it, but so far I don't care for his ideas about "Change."

You're actually right rapper. Obama is too busy trying to clean up after former president Cheney to do much else. I guess all of us, probably you included, are disappointed in him. His promise was so resplendent that the fact that he hasn't fixed everything in five minutes has led a lot of us to ruminate on the nature of fact as opposed to that of dream. I just hope that the mob doesn't lynch him politically before he has a chance to do us the good he proposed a year ago. Fascinating times. The electorate shouldn't, on the other hand, give you cause for worry. Every time a partisan fanatic laments the state of the citizenry, I just bring up of a vision of Americans en masse, and am instantly comforted. Don't blame the voters for despising Bush and wanting the farthest thing from him they could get. They did a good thing in electing Obama, they did the only thing they could legitimately do.

Yeah, Chavez is actually very creative in his leadership strategies and tactics. He's a repugnant asshole, but I think you're right in saying his creativity quotient is above average.

 

[tampa24]

You bring up a lot of points Rapper. Where do I start? Should I say thanks for reading the Joe Klein article? haha I did read the letter from Janet Contreras on Glenn Beck's show. And I agreed with most of what she was saying.

First of all Obama had a good chance of winning just by assuring people that he wasn't George Bush, his last name wasn't Bush, and that he wasn't a Republican. The last 8 years have been horrible! You had a clueless ineffectual "leader" being guided behind the throne by a self serving, power hungry, amoral and cunning tactician. Cheney nearly brought this country to ruin. And we are still cleaning up the mess.

We haven't seen a figure on the world stage like Cheney who had such a negative impact on a country and ruler in a long while. Probably not since Rasputin held such powerful sway in the Russian royal court of Tsar Nicholas II. There you had a guy of limited intelligence who became king based on his family name and political connections. He deluded himself into believing that he was capable of the job when he really had no clue. He was easily manipulated and controlled by someone else in the palace (Rasputin) who had personal and political agendas of his own. Agendas and ulterior motives that had little to do with what was best for the country or the putative ruler. Sound familiar? Rasputin gave the tsar wartime advice during the Great War among many other important issues of the day. And we all know how WW I turned out for Russia and the Romanov dynasty.

Anyway... back to the present. I understand your disillusionment and disappointment with the two party system. We have needed a viable third party for decades.

I must take exception to your claim that neither candidate had a coherent platform in the election. I think that was true of McCain/Palin. What did they stand for? Lower taxes, victory in Iraq, support the troops, make the tax cuts on the wealthy permanent, smaller government...yada, yada, yada.

I can think of many things that formed a platform of Obama's campaign. Restoring respect for human rights by the U.S. in accordance with the Geneva Conventions. Repairing damaged ties with our friends and allies. An end to unilateralism in the conduct of our foreign affairs. Pulling our troops out of Iraq. Refocusing our efforts in Afghanistan. Closing the prison in Guantanamo Bay. Reform of the healthcare system. A stimulus package to pull both U.S. and world economy back from the brink.

And those are just a few things off the top of my head. I would hardly consider that no platform at all.

One can bring up their concerns about whether the appointment of all these czars to handle specific problems is the right way to go. I'm not convinced of that myself. But I haven't yet seen where any of that is extra-constitutional.

Some of the biggest overreaches of presidential authority against the balance of powers (and the Constitution) came from the Bush administration. The executive branch unilaterally decided that the U.S. didn't have to follow the Geneva Conventions for "enemy combatants". They decided that waterboarding wasn't torture among other torture tactics. As far as violating the Constitution the Bushies decided that they could read our emails, monitor our computer activity, tap our phones and gain access to our financial records. And all they had to do was claim that it was an issue of "national security". That was all the excuse they needed. Whether they had valid, provable concerns of illegal activity or not.

The Republicans still deserve more time in the political wilderness. Their current behaviour shows that they haven't learned much from the experience of being booted out of office. They did the country a terrible disservice by not reining in the excesses of the Bush administration.

 

[rapper]

He's Baaaak!

I agree with almost all that you said there above with a few different takes. You are quite right about the government pressuring Fannie and Freddy to give mortgages to people who could never ever afford them. That did happen.

I'm a liberal myself in my politics but I'm a centrist liberal. I think that many conservative principles are valid and sound, provided that they are adhered to in a responsible manner. I'm upset with the Republican party though for subjecting us to nearly a decade of Bush, Iraq, Katrina, the financial meltdown, etc. If they had practiced what they preached we wouldn't be swimming in all this debt.

They picked and chose which conservative principles to follow and managed to give us some of the worst combinations possible. Fiscal discipline went out the window. Disdain for government regulation of financial services became all the rage... to disastrous effect. Conservative aversion for "nation building" went out the window and then we were stuck in the cesspool of Iraq. Obviously I could go on with more examples of where they selectively followed and ignored their own core principles to the detriment of the country.

I have little respect for Glen Beck, Rush Limbaugh, etc. Glen beck and his 9-12 email campaign (along with the Hillsborough (county) Republican party phone banks were the ones who organized the angry mobs who stormed the town hall meeting on health care in Tampa last month. The protesters there told the St. Pete Times that Glen Beck's 9-12 email system alerted them to the meetings as well as direct automated calls from the local Republican party. The national Republican party was so pleased with their results in Tampa that they rolled out the "spontaneous" angry mobs all over the country.

This kind of behavior is what passes as grownup political discourse nowadays. Joe Wilson heckling the president in the halls of Congress figured he'd be considered a hero. He figured that since the right apparently fully approves of all the tactics being used at the town hall meetings that the Capitol Building was fair game also. Why not hurl obscenities and insults at ANY political figure you disagree with at ANY time in ANY setting?

Back to my point about the private sector though. When someone uses the examples of government agencies that don't work well or are broke financially...Postal Service, Medicare, etc...I also keep in mind just how many private sector companies are in the same shape. Without massive government intervention many of the free market private sector companies would be bankrupt and out of business themselves right now.

AIG bailed out. Leahman Brothers bankrupt and out of business, Citibank bailed out, GM bailed out and still bankrupt, Merryl Lynch bankrupt and bought out, etc, etc... The free market let us all down in a huge way. And if indeed the free market is at risk of being taken over by government whose fault is that? The free market allowed itself to fall into this vulnerable position in the first place. Government did not create this crisis. The greed of a select few in the free market/private sector did.

Can the private sector USUALLY run a company or program better than government? Yes. But just as during the Great Depression, people's confidence in the free market is badly shaken. It is hardly a paragon of efficiency, profitabilty, ethical standards or reliabilty right now.

Tampa: Congrats on a well reasoned but somewhat liberal spin on things. I thought you did quite well. I see that this painful debate has continued in my absence. I want to speak to you in generalities now, for a few minutes so bear with me. We have gone quite a while with a situation where the government creates a problem and then sets out to "Fix" the problem with new initiatives. Right now Obama is moving quickly to convert us to a Socialist system. I think that odd since our terrible system has rewarded Obama personally with a gold-plated education and this "Racist" nation recently elected him President. Now, he's rushing to end the current political system. Most of these "Crises" we're focusing on are synthetic. Do you consider how this country came to be the richest standard 0f living in the history of mankind? No, it wasn't by stealing from the poor. It was because of an unusual idea about FREE Enterprise. Yes, letting people benefit from their labors. If you will allow me a moment of levity, I will say that being "Poor" in this country means you ride the bus to get around and your flat screen TV is smaller than 42 inches. Okay, I know there are some pitiful cases around, but it is rare that people just drop dead on the street because they couldn't get care. This situation has been developing for years. D.C. lets us believe that these nasty old companies are just being greedy. Well how did they get that way? Not even a modicum of oversight. (From congress). The housing industry has been the most recent vehicle for fluffing our economy. Then we had the sorry situation of persons with no regular job, no proof of income of any kind could "Buy" a house with no down. The banks were pressured to make these loans. And when the banks were sinking, then the Gov's authorized Fannie Mae to buy these phony assets from the banks so they wouldn't get stung. Well it wasn't too long before Fannie Mae collapsed and everything just fell apart. What was Fannie Mae doing buying phony assets? Ta-da! Fannie mae is a Government Sponsored Enterprise. Does this tell you anything? In fact it was only a few months before the Fannie Mae collapse that Barney Frank scuttled an investigation of them and assured everyone that Fannie Mae was "Solid." I will stop going on for now. Just wanted to give you a little reality check. All I can say is "Keep your eye on the ball." None of this fake crisis necessitates nationalizing every thing in the USA. This is an excuse to take over the country and end a free economy. I am growing faint from typing. Let me close by pointing out that Obama was with ACORN before he got in the Illinois Legslature. What was his job? It was pressuring banks to make phony real estate loans to people who hadn't a prayer of paying. Now Obama is playing the innocent about how this housing crash developed. Lets get back to looking at hot men having sex. My respect for you is undiminished, Tampa. Respectully Rapper.

 

[tampa24]

Well Rapper,

Thank you for the kind words. I see things through a more liberal perspective and you look at those same things from a more conservative perspective. So fair's fair. And you make some good points about the housing crisis and Fannie Mae.

I just wish I could get past that earlier post of yours that led many of us to believe that your conservative views are extremist. I do respect the fact that you have every right to your opinions. And the right to state them.

Be well my brother.

 

[rapper]

I guess I am . . .

Well Rapper,

Thank you for the kind words. I see things through a more liberal perspective and you look at those same things from a more conservative perspective. So fair's fair. And you make some good points about the housing crisis and Fannie Mae.

I just wish I could get past that earlier post of yours that led many of us to believe that your conservative views are extremist. I do respect the fact that you have every right to your opinions. And the right to state them.

Be well my brother.

Tampa - I promise to limit my remarks. I guess from the current political perspective I am a an extremist. I need to reassure you that, up until now, I have always honored the office of President even if I didn't particularly like the person sitting in the oval office at the time. However the Change Meister is a horse of a different color. (figuratively). He is a Marxist, he is straight from the corrupt Chicago political machine and he is backed by buckets of Soros money. If he still has control of Congress after the Mid-term elections next year, he will take the gloves off and perhaps his intentions will become more clear.
Respectfully . . .

 

[mikeyank]

He is a Marxist, he is straight from the corrupt Chicago political machine and he is backed by buckets of Soros money. If he still has control of Congress after the Mid-term elections next year, he will take the gloves off and perhaps his intentions will become more clear.

I had previously said that I would not respond to this kind of rhetoric, however, I would like to ask you a question, Rapper. What exactly are you implying? I dislike it when someone says that I am going to find something out, but doesn't tell me exactly what it is. Why don't you stop making general allegations implying something, but not coming out and saying it. I would appreciate it if you would post to the forum exactly what you believe President Obama's "true" intentions are, and what his real agenda is. If your prediction is accurate, I will commend you for having foresight to see things that I am blind to. But if you are totally off base, will you say that you were wrong?

In my own naive way, I believe that the current President of the United States, is a good man, who truly loves America, and is doing everything in his power to bring the U.S.A. back on track domestically, and back to prominence in the eyes of the world. Every idea that he has may not work, but he has a passion and a love for the U.S.A., and all of our citizens. I have stated my beliefs, so what exactly do you believe it is that he would like to do?

Respectfully,

Mike

 

[rapper]

My oh My . . .

I had previously said that I would not respond to this kind of rhetoric, however, I would like to ask you a question, Rapper. What exactly are you implying? I dislike it when someone says that I am going to find something out, but doesn't tell me exactly what it is. Why don't you stop making general allegations implying something, but not coming out and saying it. I would appreciate it if you would post to the forum exactly what you believe President Obama's "true" intentions are, and what his real agenda is. If your prediction is accurate, I will commend you for having foresight to see things that I am blind to. But if you are totally off base, will you say that you were wrong?

In my own naive way, I believe that the current President of the United States, is a good man, who truly loves America, and is doing everything in his power to bring the U.S.A. back on track domestically, and back to prominence in the eyes of the world. Every idea that he has may not work, but he has a passion and a love for the U.S.A., and all of our citizens. I have stated my beliefs, so what exactly do you believe it is that he would like to do?

Respectfully,

Mike

Mike: I am trying to extricate myself from this situation as gently as possible. I have no desire to interfere with your good feelings about our current president or the future of this nation. I know you try to inform yourself prior to voting and that you follow the news, (Probably from NBC, CBS and ABC). I want to point out that the Big Three have been angling to elect Obama from the get-go. They never report anything negative about his government. If you listen to them you will feel that everything is rosy now that the "War monger" is out of the White house. But I must ask you outside of the fluff, what do you know about Obama? Really, very little. David Axelrod, who ran his campaign and writes many of his speeches, do you know what his business was prior to coming in with the President? Do you know what a "Community Organizer" does? Well it isn't charity work. I figure you will now accuse me of being vague. Well check it out. In that regard "Google" is your best friend. I will say it again . . . you know, what your Mamma told you . . . "You can judge a man by the quality of his friends and associates. I don't mean his associates are sort of liberal. They are extreme lefties . . . yeah, a couple of them were bomb-throwers in the 60's and quite unashamed of it. Hell, even Jane Fonda apologized. You might want to read a George Will column sometime. He isn't a screaming radio entertainer. A very rational man. Obama is a genius in one regard; He knows that the voters have very, very short memories and don't look too deep into things. He uses sound bites to great advantage. He'll provide a quote in a bite and then having taken that public position, will go do what he wants. He knows the news media won't tell on him. I have to laugh about his public utterances about health insurance. His idea about having the government plan in tandem with the private inurance companies. The Gov't doesn't have to worry about paying expenses. They have a bottomless pit of phony money. And, oh yes, none of this will cost us any more. He promised. (Where is the Smiley that is sticking it's finger down it's throat.) Honestly, Mike, in a partnership between an elephant and a mouse. Guess who has the control?? Mike, I haven't given you any evidence. But all I can do is tell you to check it out for yourself.
Best regards, Rapper

 

[mikeyank]

I will say it again . . . you know, what your Mamma told you . . . "You can judge a man by the quality of his friends and associates. I don't mean his associates are sort of liberal. They are extreme lefties . . . yeah, a couple of them were bomb-throwers in the 60's and quite unashamed of it. Hell, even Jane Fonda apologized.

Wasn't our previous president, George W. Bush a heavy drinker, and didn't some of his college friends say that he used cocaine in his younger days? Did you judge his associates and friends from his younger days when you voted for him? I try to judge a man on whom he is today.

And as you suggested that I might say, you still did not directly answer my question. You said in your previous post:

"He is a Marxist, he is straight from the corrupt Chicago political machine and he is backed by buckets of Soros money. If he still has control of Congress after the Mid-term elections next year, he will take the gloves off and perhaps his intentions will become more clear."

What exactly do you surmise that his intentions are? You are still using rather vague generalizations and implications. I would appreciate a more direct answer. Thank you.

Mike

 

[rapper]

Wasn't our previous president, George W. Bush a heavy drinker, and didn't some of his college friends say that he used cocaine in his younger days? Did you judge his associates and friends from his younger days when you voted for him? I try to judge a man on whom he is today.

And as you suggested that I might say, you still did not directly answer my question. You said in your previous post:

"He is a Marxist, he is straight from the corrupt Chicago political machine and he is backed by buckets of Soros money. If he still has control of Congress after the Mid-term elections next year, he will take the gloves off and perhaps his intentions will become more clear."

What exactly do you surmise that his intentions are? You are still using rather vague generalizations and implications. I would appreciate a more direct answer. Thank you.

Mike

Mike, Twice I have typed an answer to your inquiry. Twice it has just disappeared. Maybe I'm going on too long. I'll try again tomorrow.

 

[mikeyank]

Mike, Twice I have typed an answer to your inquiry. Twice it has just disappeared. Maybe I'm going on too long. I'll try again tomorrow.

Could it be that Obama's "secret agenda" people have all ready taken power, and they now control this Broke Straight Boys Forum, too? You may be right Rapper. It may be too late to take the country back.

Mike

(Obviously that was total satire).

 

[tampa24]

Mike, nothing frightens me more than the current state of heightened disbelief. You can show a birther the birth certificate and they claim it is forged. You can tell them that if the death rate claimed in Canadian emergency rooms were true over a million would be dying (out of a population of thirty million) per year in Canada and that's not possible and they still tell you it's true. You can explain to them that requiring all Americans to pay to secure concealed handguns on Amtrak passenger cars is equal on the scale of imagined socialism to postal subsidies, farm subsidies, medicare, and the military, but they don't hear you. We live in a society where Oklahoma nobodies are given access to the airwaves to announce coups, where so called ministers are allowed to pray publicly for brain cancer for our president, and where people actually believe that United States senators are carrying on God's work by discriminating against homosexuals while violating the sanctity of the institution of marriage they are so strongly claiming to protect. And it's no wonder they are so confused - they are being bombarded by publicity seeking windbags who fill the airwaves with lies, misstatements, misinterpreted data, and the idea that if we don't go back to the good old days when the America of John Ford and John Wayne didn't exist, we are doomed to the fate of the Roman Empire.

You simply can't argue with these people Mike. They don't understand your truth or your logic. There's something missing in the process. It's like baking a cake and forgetting an ingredient and not knowing what that ingredient is. You can't expect a cake in the end. These people are going to remain half-baked until that ingredient is found. Maybe they'll finally have to realize Rush Limbaugh is a druggy, Bill O'Reilly is a fool, Pat Robertson is a publicity hound who'd sell himself for power, and for once and for all: when Rome fell it had a Christian Emperor and the persecution of Christians had long been outlawed!

I will say I am proud of the office of president and I am very proud of the man who now holds that office. He represents me and he represents all those who came before me and I don't know where anyone gets the idea that he's going to push us over the edge into anything. Only George Bush and Dick Cheney thought they could rewrite the Constitution and we're finding out now how much they failed at that. (Can you hear Frances Scott Key building in the background?) So cut this conspiracy crap tweetiepierapper and listen to what these good gentlemen are trying to tell you. When you insult President Obama you insult all of us in "the land of the free and the home of the brave!"

Bravo Rifle!

I'm so tired of people letting these political messiahs of the airwaves tell them what to think about the current state of politics. These political commentators are very ego driven. They care only about saying shocking things to get higher ratings and drum up controversy. Make no mistake though. Their overwhelming agenda is to maintain and enhance their own cult of personality. They feel they should be adored and nearly worshipped by their followers. And unfortunately for the country their whackjob conspiracy theories find many listeners and believers.

 

[rapper]

Oh really ??

Could it be that Obama's "secret agenda" people have all ready taken power, and they now control this Broke Straight Boys Forum, too? You may be right Rapper. It may be too late to take the country back.

Mike

(Obviously that was total satire).

What a hoot! No, I don't think "They" are after us yet. Contrary to the current fad, concertive types aren't screaming paranoids with a twitching finger on the red button. I gotta go to work today, but will return this evening. I see you've got Tampa all fired up . . . oh well . . .

 

[tampa24]

Contrary to the current fad, concertive types aren't screaming paranoids with a twitching finger on the red button.

Plese refer to the letter and video link on post #39.

Also refer to Joe Wilson finger pointing and heckling the president of the United States inside the halls of Congress.