tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8401041856819184248.post5186770070527576199..comments2023-09-29T06:01:17.987-04:00Comments on True Christianity: Divide America: The McCain/Palin StrategyBottshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03968482808951322862noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8401041856819184248.post-32512957469395221932008-10-09T16:15:00.000-04:002008-10-09T16:15:00.000-04:00Seeker,I was thinking mostly about the fact thatso...Seeker,<BR/>I was thinking mostly about the fact thatsomething like 80% of Congress are lawyers, and reminded myself of the old joke:<BR/><BR/>What do you have when you send 1000 lawyers to the bottom of the ocean?<BR/><BR/><BR/>A good start.GearHedEdhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09288513835630145996noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8401041856819184248.post-79603242107405647322008-10-08T21:10:00.000-04:002008-10-08T21:10:00.000-04:00Agggghhhh....sorry for triple posting, but I can't...Agggghhhh....sorry for triple posting, but I can't resist.<BR/><BR/>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEP-l9R_U3Q<BR/><BR/>Go there. Watch the ad. Read the comments. And weep for America.Asylum Seekerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02500952310972756918noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8401041856819184248.post-23756747259953996762008-10-08T21:04:00.000-04:002008-10-08T21:04:00.000-04:00Oh, and if anyone is interested about the kind of ...Oh, and if anyone is interested about the kind of crap that has been going that Botts is probably reacting to, try here:<BR/>http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/06/mccain-does-nothing-as-cr_n_132366.html<BR/>Ugly, ugly stuff. They really opened Pandora's box by the very creative Obama-Ayers connection, which not only misrepresents their relationship with one another, but intentionally misrepresents Ayers as well by just calling him a "terrorist" and letting the GOP mobs assume that it is an equivalent form of terrorism to what we face now. It would be kinda funny if people didn't take it seriously (which I guess is a good summary of the entire campaign season thus far).Asylum Seekerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02500952310972756918noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8401041856819184248.post-17001331337191936342008-10-08T20:43:00.000-04:002008-10-08T20:43:00.000-04:00"Another thing occurred to me recently: that no on..."Another thing occurred to me recently: that no one of any substance or integrity is even pursuing high offices in America anymore"<BR/><BR/>This is true, for the most part. I actually have come up with a rather entertaining (though not necessarily accurate) possible explanation for that little problem. We, as a people, bitterly divided as we are, want our candidate for President (and most other offices as well) to be all things at once. A profoundly talented person who isn't among "the elite". A person who is aggressive and passionate, yet calm and in control. Someone who is charismatic and has the ability to lead, yet he doesn't try to come off as a demogogue or a zealot. We want someone who is a master military tactician, economist, diplomat, and an all around good-guy who will nonetheless tear our enemies to shreds and forfeit good economic and military strategy in favor of our individual rights. We want in the office of President, collectively, a walking contradiction with a penchant for moderate positions, to appease both parties sufficiently. We want to elect a demigod as king of America. <BR/><BR/>So, the problem becomes finding someone who fits the bill. And that is our predicament: we are collectively searching for an ideal candidate that cannot and will not exist. So we settle for the closest thing we can find: the people who are slimy and deceptive enough to convince us that they are actually close to ideal. Thus, our legislature and the Imperial Court (ahem...White House...) get filled to the brim with people whose only talent is tricking us into thinking that they are the best thing since sliced bread. And we fall for it, even when they fail over and over again, because very few people of integrity and actual aptitude would dare to challenge the master smear-merchants and charlatans that have mastered the art of getting elected.<BR/><BR/>Of course, this is just speculation. It could just be that everything in general is going down the crapper. Or that we just have an overly idealistic view of the past. I dunno. Just kind of fun to think about.Asylum Seekerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02500952310972756918noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8401041856819184248.post-4623143346168107452008-10-08T20:38:00.000-04:002008-10-08T20:38:00.000-04:00Botts:I think you have once again "hit it on the h...Botts:<BR/><BR/>I think you have once again "hit it on the head". It is clear that the problems the rest of us may be having with "Christians", and particularly, as in this case, with "fundamentalist christians", is not that they believe that they have the right take on Christ's message, but that they have been convinced that it is their duty to force or at least coerce everyone else to agree with what their pastors tell them is God's will. They have clearly lost sight of Jesus' call to bear witness to His message by example, rather than by coercian and, in the process, have lost sight of the sin of pride (in their case in the "rightness" of their particular version of Christianity) and failure to love thy neighbor as thyself. Now, when the political fervor that the fundamentalist base brought to the last two elections has been waning, McCain and his choice for VP (a choice clearly made to pander to this fundamentalist base) are reduced to negative, largely exagerated or flatly false campaigning. It is obvious that although they may not actively urge the ultrarightists to do harm to Obama, they are not terribly upset that there are people who will do so in their support. One can only hope (or pray, if that works for you) that enough of the majority of people in the USA who have been exposed to the precipitous decline that eight years of the current adminstration has brought this country will recognize this effort as the unlimited lust for continued power that it represents.Harveyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10797750710657979526noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8401041856819184248.post-59731318631639865502008-10-08T18:58:00.000-04:002008-10-08T18:58:00.000-04:00Hey Ed,I guess socialist atheists are just not 'mo...Hey Ed,<BR/><BR/>I guess socialist atheists are just not 'mooing' in tune.<BR/><BR/>Perhaps the herd worries that they can't trust THEMSELVES not to get carried away and go totalitarian the other way and be 'mooing' to another tune, vilifying leeches on society(money 'elite') instead of society's intelligence 'elite'.<BR/><BR/>Someone did say, in some old book that no-one really pays attention to that, "The love of money is the root of all evil."<BR/><BR/>Seems to me that if you hear that in a church though, the pastor is asking you to give him your money.pboyfloydhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01475980562742243007noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8401041856819184248.post-88270539416107989082008-10-08T18:12:00.000-04:002008-10-08T18:12:00.000-04:00Another thing occurred to me recently: that no one...Another thing occurred to me recently: that no one of any substance or integrity is even pursuing high offices in America anymore. I'm with you that neither side looks good, as neither side has looked good for the last 8 presidential elections.GearHedEdhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09288513835630145996noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8401041856819184248.post-4203478150892392582008-10-08T18:09:00.000-04:002008-10-08T18:09:00.000-04:00Floyd,I've said all along that greed at all levels...Floyd,<BR/><BR/>I've said all along that greed at all levels is what got us where we are. The slick people knew there was going to be an accounting for their greed, but they took the money and ran, leaving the not-so-slick ones who saw the potential but didn't jump in immediately holding the bag.<BR/><BR/>Yes, humans are that simple, when considered as a herd. We allow ourselves to be led by the nose as a group because, face it, it's easier to let someone else make the decisions. This is especially true in the case of religion.GearHedEdhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09288513835630145996noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8401041856819184248.post-76911898157077395992008-10-08T15:04:00.000-04:002008-10-08T15:04:00.000-04:00Well Botts,seems to me that McCain and Palin want ...Well Botts,<BR/><BR/>seems to me that McCain and Palin want power for the sake of power just like Bush and Cheney did and they are willing to say anything to get it.<BR/><BR/>On the other hand I don't think that Obama is being as specific or detailed about what he intends to do as you imagine.<BR/><BR/>McCain's 'five grand medical bail-out' sounds too good to be true. It sounds like someone working at McDonald's is supposed to imagine that McCain is going to throw five grand at them!<BR/><BR/>I had a really bad feeling about Bush and Cheney because they were so obviously front men for the neo-cons, why isn't everyone SHOUTING that McCain and Palin are the same damn thing!?<BR/><BR/>Are the American people that damned stupid that they can't see that Bush's "New sheriff in town!" and Palin's "I won't blink!" is exactly the same nonsense. <BR/><BR/>What's amazing to me is that entire countries are at risk of going bankrupt because they invested in high yield/high risk securities and, seemingly didn't realise that there WAS a risk at all.<BR/><BR/>Has everyone forgotten that 'The Devil is in the details!"? <BR/><BR/>Was it a case of, "Well, everyone else is doing it!"?<BR/><BR/>I don't think that Obama or McCain are addressing this problem. <BR/><BR/>The 'mantra' seems to be that, "There's plenty of blame to go around!"<BR/><BR/>What are they saying here, "Everybody got greedy?"<BR/><BR/>Are human beings THAT 'simple'? How many 'greed' bubbles do we have to go through before someone, let's say a Ph.d in economics, points this out to governments?<BR/><BR/>I think that computing power should have helped but, "Noooooooooo!", it just made everyone greedier.<BR/><BR/>If there are 'personifications' of good and evil, I think that they are blind driving forces, the little bit of good in everyone added up and the same for evil.<BR/><BR/>'Satan' certainly seems to we 'winning out' here and 'he' has commandeered organized religion too.<BR/><BR/>Seems the the new definition of 'God' or 'Godly' is now, "The evil that the believers pour onto the world whenever possible!" <BR/><BR/>Funny, shouldn't there be some Ph.d in Theology pointing THIS out on all the religious sites?pboyfloydhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01475980562742243007noreply@blogger.com