It's been awhile. A LOT longer than I thought. Sorry, RL got in the way, and will continue to be in the way for a long time.
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Bale wrote:
Who, exactly, are "we" and "you"? And what, exactly, is a "conservative" to you (or a "moderate," "liberal," etc.)?
Don't blame me for putting Barry and his 40-some-odd extraconstitutional czars into office. I may have voted for Bush, but I realized it was a mistake, and said so. (
http://eqasylum.yuku.com/topic/1398?page=1)
A bit late, and I'll go ahead and take it back...to a degree. I've seen you go absolutely batshit with regards to ANYTHING that involves a Dem for the most part, with the usual parroting of whatever the party line is bitching about. OMG THE MESSIAH!
As opposed to most of the usual suspects on the left, who immediately turn anything and everything into "OMG, capitalism is terrible, Bush is Satan, America is a terrible country that's destroying the planet, all Christians hate gays and all Republicans are haters and anyone else I don't like is a hater and judgmental and needs to DIE DIE DIE!!!1!!1!"
But enough about Fribur (for now).
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Bale wrote:
One of the bad things about what's happening with Obama is that it's re-energizing the Republicans. The Democrats in charge are no good, but the Republicans who'd presumably replace them aren't a whole lot better, and in some ways might even be worse. Oh, I'm sorry. I'm being a shithead and a partisan hack again. It must be true, because some guy on the internet says so.
On this point, we agree. But once again, in the past, I've seen you towing party line /shrug.
Who doesn't?
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Bale wrote:
So, Mr. "I don't vote for pandering politicians," who did you vote for? Bet it was either Barry or his clone from Arizona. And what are the real "issues" you care so much about? Do you even know what's in the Constitution about anything, much less what it says about how anything not specifically enumerated therein is reserved for the people and the states? No, I didn't think so.
While this may amuse you, I didn't vote for either. I voted for local and state government. You know, the ones that matter most in my day to day. Issues I care about are fiscal conservatism, social liberalism, and low taxes and small government.
Much of which is in line with me. I knew Obama was no good because he never said who he is or what he stands for until he was elected, and even then he's tried to hide it. And McCain isn't a lot better because he's tried like hell to limit people's ability to participate in politics via their First Amendment rights. I wasn't about to reward either one of them with my vote.
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Now, as for the Constitution, I'm fairly close to being Jefferson Constitutionalist. That said, I think there are areas that require mandates from the federal government.
The Constitution states what areas the federal government is supposed to be involved with. If you read it, it's apparent the Founders never intended for this country to be ruled by a ruling elite the way we have for a century. The idea was for the people to take care of themselves and one another. Failing that, the states were resposible to care for their citizens. The federal government was strictly limited to only a few things, simply because the Founders had first-hand experience of life under a monarchy. Remember, too, that Britain was probably the most liberal Western country at the time, yet the Founders were so incensed at the lack of true freedoms they enjoyed that they fought and died to create a country that was based upon freedoms and liberties that nobody else had.
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Accreditation of colleges, educational standards (not no child left behind ;P),
No child left behind is a mess. Bush was responsible for it, both because it has teachers worry about "teaching to the test" rather than actually educating kids, and because he allowed a
ard named Kennedy to write the damn bill. Basically, a bad idea all around.
Thanks again, George.
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protection of civil rights (slavery, women, gays, abortion)
The first three not only are covered by previous constitutional amendments (primarily "equal protection under the law"), but are common sense. Abortion, you're going to have a fight from me because I consider it to be murder to kill a child. But I also recognize that an awful lot of people disagree. And it doesn't matter what anyone's opinion is right now, anyway, because the Supreme Court's not going to overturn Roe v. Wade anytime soon because it generates a lot of hysteria, and therefore money, for too many people.
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and also health care.
If health care/medicine is a right, does that also mean food, shelter, clothing, and anything else are also "rights?" Then there's air, and water, both of which are seen as "rights" by -- well, everyone, but especially environmentalists. I'm not saying it's good that a lot of people lack health insurance. But some things are more necessary to survival than the ability to see a doctor. Besides, for the last 24 years anyone can go to a hospital for medical assistance, regardless of ability to pay. And, if the health care "reform" debate is about covering the uninsured, there are ways to do so without grabbing between 1/6 and 1/7 of Amerioca's assets to pay for it.
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Federal Healthcare more because if the rest of government is trimmed down, the required operation will be more streamlined and transparent.
You're being waaaayyyyyy too naive here, Tali. I know you were in the military, and you're not a kid (I think mid-30s). In your experience, when has *anything* involving the government actually been trimmed down, streamlined, or more "transparent"? The pols and bureaucrats may talk a good game, but it's just a lot of bullshit meant to make sure we keep the same people in power, because "he (or she) is fighting for me."
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There are instances where the federal government is required to supercede states' rights that aren't clearly defined in the constitution. Note my use of the word clearly.
That's exactly the opposite of the contents and intent of the Constitution. Like I said earlier, the power is supposed to reside with the states and the people, not in Washington. The central government is supposed to basically keep its damn nose out of everyone's business. We, the people, are supposed to be the guarantors of liberty. You may disagree, and use the example of forced integration as an example of how I'm wrong. However, I suspect that, for every use of Army troops to protect civil rights by integrating a school in the South in the '50s or '60s, you can come up with an example of the federal government wrecking civil rights in some other way, like the Elian Gonzalez fiasco or the "cap and trade (money into Al Gore's bank account)" bill, or distoring the construction of families via tax laws that make it financially more rewarding for couples not to marry (for example).
There's a reason not to put much faith in government. It's good to see that more and more people are seeing the point. Hopefully they won't be steered into believing some other politician's load of crap before they can bring about the real change the country actually needs.
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There was another thread where I saw you ranting about states' rights w/o it being too coherent.
My apologies for not being more clear at the time.
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It just sounded like you were another ex-neocon bandwagon jumper turned half ass Ron Pauler at the time.
Bandwagon jumper? Bush and friends tried their best to use the people and ideas of many good people in order to push his progressive agenda. Like the original progressives, he used his office to push an agenda that grew the government and took away individual rights. And he did so while using moralistic rhetoric, just like Teddy Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson. Why the hell would I want to jump on *that* bandwagon? My biggest concern in '04 was that he was better for national defense than Kerry was. I still believe that to a degree, but I also know that voters needed better candidates than either of those two were.
Ron Paul has some decent ideas, and a few that are way out there. He would've won the nomination, in my opiion, except for his odd ideas (mainly about Israel) and the fact there was no way in hell the Republican power brokers were going to let anyone other than McCain get the nomination.
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If that was not the case, I'll take it back. But I've yet to see much more beyond the usual neocon stances minus a few exceptions. Once again, if I'm wrong in that regard, I'll take it back.
Apology accepted.
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But your last post? It was fucking retarded. Even you can admit that. Messiah? Really? Drop knowledge, instead of insults (or include it with insults like I do!), and maybe it won't sound as kneejerk retarded.
Well, I dunno, Tali. Ever listen to the network news, or NPR, or an awful lot of Democrats? They seem to have this breathlessness when they speak of Barry, sort of like a high school bimbo who just got hit on by the cute-guy quarterback. "Oh, he's soo adorable, and smart, and suave, and talented, and he knows so much more tha anyone else, and he plays sports, and he cares about the environment and my Aunt Betty's health insurance and Fribur's man-crush, and he knows all the best things to say and he sounds so good when he says them. Plus everyone says he's gonna save the world from itself because he says he's a citizen of the world and not just a dumb American, and he won the Nobel peace prize, and he's just sooo monderful! I can't stand it!!!"
They act like the man is a god. You go to a store, and what do you see? Obama shirts, hats, mugs, bumper stickers, posters, notebooks, book covers, coloring books, children's books, biographies (all hagiographic, of course), autobiographies, magazines, DVD's, table covers -- the list goes on and on. And if anyone says anything critical of the man, he or she is seen as an idiot, a mutant, or -- worst of all -- a non-believer. Because, to Barry's supporters, Obama's not just a politician. He's essentially a god, a messiah who'll make everything all right. He'll heal race relations. He'll cause people in other countries to love us again. He'll heal the sick and give us all free medical coverage. He'll save the planet. He'll even give people money, gasoline, and houses out of the goodness of his heart. Hell, the poor reporters on NPR blamed everyone for the loss of Ted Kennedy's seat on everyone and everything -- except Obama, even though his policies are what got people so pissed that they refused to vote for yet another progressive Democrat to be US Senator from Massachusetts. No, instead we're told that we must believe. Believe? In what? Another damn lying politican who wants to take from the people and give to his cronies? He's not a messiah, he's a fraud. And therefore, he is someone to be mocked and ridiculed - preferably by reminding him and his followers what he is not.
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Bale wrote:
Jackass.
Great, and after your last post in this thread, I'll take jackass as opposed to just plain ass.
Bravo!
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While Bale certainly is a total idiot, he has in the past written a long diatribe about his dislike for Bush.
I'm not sure if that's half a compliment or three-quarters of an insult, but whatever. Thanks for playing!