leejo

I think that Bill Crosby speaking to black people about black issues is very different than a guy from Chicago talking to a group in San Francisco about rural people clinging to this or that.

In any case, Barak Obama claims to have what it takes to break down all sorts of divides, yet he makes statements like this that DO alienate many people (vis-a-vis PA - look at a map of all the counties he won - http://maps.google.com/maps/mpl?modu...m=pa%20primary - and consider his performance in the government to date - the most liberal record in the Senate.

Hell I can run around saying I can leap tall buildings in a single bound. Eventually someone's going to want to see how high I can jump. Obama has some work to do to back up his audacious claims. Calling country folk gun-toting, god-clinging racists may not be the best prescription.

You seem to think it's fine. Good. I encourage you to tell everyone you know about it. Keep drumming the message that well hey it's cool because they really DO cling to god and guns.

ScratchMonkey

Good point. I should avoid using "government" as shorthand for "form of government". The former can be confused with those stuck in the job of implementation (which tends to lead to cop-bashing threads), while the latter (and what I object to) is more about the monster we've created. It's like blaming guns or attack dogs for the violence they do. It's the finger on the trigger and the trainer that have ultimate responsibility.

Alas, every candidate in the old parties save one has advocated making the monster bigger, which makes it more intrusive, more violent, and more voracious.

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Sig

BeSiege82

President Theodore Roosevelt made a good point on the media when he made this statement:

"Men with the muckrake are often indispensable to the well-being of society, but only if they know when to stop raking the muck." "An epidemic in indiscriminate assault upon character does not good, but very great harm." "There should be relentless exposure of and attack upon every evil practice, whether in politics, in business, or in social life. I hail as a benefactor every writer or speaker, every man who, on the platform, or in book, magazine or newspaper, with merciless severity makes such attack, provided always that he in his turn remembers that the attack is of use only if it is absolutely truthful."
Washington, DC, April 14, 1906

This might also help in the conversation:

"A vote is like a rifle: its usefulness depends upon the character of the user."
An Autobiography, 1913

"I don't think any President ever enjoyed himself more than I did. Moreover, I don't think any ex-President ever enjoyed himself more."... "Success - the real success - does not depend upon the position you hold, but upon how you carry yourself in that position."
University of Cambridge, England, May 26, 1910

America seems to have lost its will to mentor its coming generations and that makes me look at the family structure. What happened to the family? the future lies with my generation and those who come after me. Traditionally the mother was the one who raised and taught the children manners and a work ethic; but not today. I consider Roosevelt's statement on mothers fitting.

"Alone of human beings the good and wise mother stands on a plane of equal honor with the bravest soldier; for she has gladly gone down to the brink of the chasm of darkness to bring back the children in whose hands rests the future of the years. "
The Great Adventure, 1918

"No community is healthy where it is ever necessary to distinguish one politician among his fellows because he is honest. Honesty is not so much a credit as an absolute prerequisite to efficient service to the public."

“The things that will destroy America are prosperity at any price, peace at any price, safety first instead of duty first and love of soft living and the get-rich-quick theory of life.”

“A typical vice of American politics is the avoidance of saying anything real on real issues.”

I know I could go on, but I know that America has lost much of its glory because it has lost its will to make the nation better for all of its citizens. No matter how much we complain of the problems of the current generations, we do nothing to help the current generation-- we lay in the mud complaining, yet we do not try to escape the mud.

Barring an act of God, the mothers will not teach their children, the press will remain biased, the government servants will remain entertainers, and the citizens will remain dumb and blind sheep.

America the beautiful, the land of the free, and the home of the brave has become the prostitute, the land of the slaves of pride, and the home of the brazen. Roosevelt said “Keep your eyes on the stars, and your feet on the ground,” and it is true, for when we strive for something we should look to the stars (figuratively speaking) and push towards the mark, this is different from the idea of looking for your inner strength which is what breeds pride.

What has happened to our constitution? We add to it and manipulate it for gain, and yet we still cling to it as the ultimate shield from unjust laws. How can we use this document when it has become a broken looking glass?

People have shut their eyes and stopped their ears to reality and to what is right.

I do not like the Democratic candidates or McCain because of their liberalism, but the only one I consider at the moment is Huccabee; but he might be out of the race...

I have trouble continuing my thoughts at this late hour, I will talk later...

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lTG-Irrl BeSiege82
A platoon leader in his own right...

"Courage grows strong at the wound."
"Virescit Vulnere Virtus."

"{My grump-o-meter starts to make a high-pitched whine when I point it at your post, though.}" -- Axis

BeSiege82

Yet, can a candidate truly carry out his will to calm the beast?

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lTG-Irrl BeSiege82
A platoon leader in his own right...

"Courage grows strong at the wound."
"Virescit Vulnere Virtus."

"{My grump-o-meter starts to make a high-pitched whine when I point it at your post, though.}" -- Axis