The more I read, the more confused I become

[Shannow]

I get that here, when I talk of voting independent, versus the big two.

"Why waste your vote on indies ?"

"Why are there only two 'big two' ?" (particularly when one of the big two is a coallition who don't like each other very much...toffs and farmers)

 

[Samilcar]

Originally Posted By: oilboy123
Originally Posted By: TooManyWheels
When I see someone with an absolutely set opinion, it tells me they are either incapable of, are not interested in extending the breadth or depth of their knowledge.


I feel the same way........


Reminds me of one of my favorite quotes, "It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." -Aristotle

 

[Pablo]

Originally Posted By: oilyriser
The whole system is designed to split people down the middle on issues so they cannot form their own independent group. Ever wonder why the votes are always so close? It's called Divide and Conquer.


Look at how the "press" (shame on CNN) has tried to pigeonhole the last three (lone) shooters. Especially in one direction, they have to tell us shooter #1 and #3 came from the XXXXX (on Napalitano's list). And #2 really didn't........hmmm....

 

[Gary Allan]

Originally Posted By: oilyriser
The whole system is designed to split people down the middle on issues so they cannot form their own independent group. Ever wonder why the votes are always so close? It's called Divide and Conquer.


I tend to look at it as trade offs ..except you're only informed of the apparent benefits ..while ignoring the liabilities. That's why "key issues" are put in bold print. The devil is always in the details.

I'll give you what you want. You'll enable me to do as I please. Construct your sales pitch to corral your target herd. It's always given us the very worst in net results from either persuasion. That's "us" as in a "we" thing. Your mileage may have varied.

 

[FiremarshalRob]

Originally Posted By: Pablo
Join the club.

For example, I was a hard bound evolutionist from HS all the way until about 40 years old. So much "hard" dogma. Yet so many cheezy gaps. I was a man of science.

So how has your view changed? Just curious

 

[TooManyWheels]

Originally Posted By: Samilcar


Reminds me of one of my favorite quotes, "It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." -Aristotle


Nicely put.

 

[TooManyWheels]

Originally Posted By: Pablo


Look at how the "press" (shame on CNN) has tried to pigeonhole the last three (lone) shooters. Especially in one direction, they have to tell us shooter #1 and #3 came from the XXXXX (on Napalitano's list). And #2 really didn't........hmmm....


On the other hand, had the press not done that you might have been offended that it "wasn't doing its job", especially if the perp's belief systems contrasted with yours.

 

[VeeDubb]

Personally, I like the two party system. In an ideal world, it would be great to have multiple parties, candiates, etc. But in the real world, you need an enlightened population to pull that off and I know of no society in the history of the world that had enlightened masses. So to me, the two party system that gravitates toward the center is protection against wack jobs like Hitler, Chavez and Ahmadinajad who exploit the uneducated and the oppressed to get into power.

 

[Tempest]

Quote:
So to me, the two party system that gravitates toward the center is protection against wack jobs like Hitler, Chavez and Ahmadinajad who exploit the uneducated and the oppressed to get into power.

Are you at all paying attention to the news?

 

[VeeDubb]

Please Tempest. Try to exhibit a tiny bit of intellectual honesty once in a while rather than parrot your favorite spin-doctor radio host.

And no, I am not a democrat. I refuse to engage in partisan politics at all.

 

[Tempest]

So you are perfectly Ok with what it going on?

 

[VeeDubb]

I didn't know that my failure to equate a U.S. politician with a tyrant on the scale of Hitler or Chavez means that I'm "perfectly ok with what is going on."

I never like politicians and I have serious problems with some of big O's policies. But to equate him with Hitler or the like is simply ridiculous. Just like I wouldn't make the same comparison with Bush.

 

[Tempest]

You said:
Quote:
who exploit the uneducated and the oppressed to get into power.

Ever heard of Saul Alinsky?

I would love to post a link about Chavez but would probably get in trouble...

 

[Pablo]

Originally Posted By: TooManyWheels
Originally Posted By: Pablo


Look at how the "press" (shame on CNN) has tried to pigeonhole the last three (lone) shooters. Especially in one direction, they have to tell us shooter #1 and #3 came from the XXXXX (on Napalitano's list). And #2 really didn't........hmmm....


On the other hand, had the press not done that you might have been offended that it "wasn't doing its job", especially if the perp's belief systems contrasted with yours.


Not true at all. Just report the truth and be done with it. Don't label some kook job as some kind of offshoot a legitimate political party when a) it's not true b) it happens to somehow seem to further your cause.

 

[Win]

Originally Posted By: Gary Allan


So ..as far as "truth" ..I really don't think it exists. It's too easily formed in the context of one's existence bubble. Results, effects, etc. ..they tend to tell you what's real.


Of course truth exists.

Take a look at the second paragraph of The Unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen United States of America a/k/a Declaration of Independence, for a cogent recitation of some of the more important ones.

The idea that reality is subject to perception can certainly lead to confusion. It does make my job easier that people can be bamboozled that way.

 

[PeteTheFarmer]

Old economics joke. It's the only field in which two people can get a Nobel Prize for saying exactly the opposite thing.

 

[Gary Allan]

Quote:
Take a look at the second paragraph of The Unanimous Declaration of the Thirteen United States of America a/k/a Declaration of Independence, for a cogent recitation of some of the more important ones.


I have ..yet we see those who have different interpretations of just what life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness includes ..and that which it excludes.

..which is totally dependent upon your existence bubble "frame of reference".

For example: For Tempest, happiness includes the economic disenfranchisment of anyone that can be ..and being some instrument involved in the process. He wants the liberty and a long enough life to see it occur. He wants to do it with impunity and "the rule of law".

Was that what the writers had in mind ..or are they just untended results of absolute truths?

 

[Tempest]

I see that the smear campain continues...

 

[Win]

Originally Posted By: Gary Allan


Was that what the writers had in mind ..or are they just untended results of absolute truths?


If you want a clear picture of what they had in mind, the best indicia of that I can think of would be Article 1, Sections 8 and 9, Constitution of the United States.

Everything outside of that is an unintended result.

 

[Gary Allan]

Originally Posted By: Tempest
I see that the smear campain continues...

(visions of Laura Petty in Tank Girl as she had just got done breaking the neck of one of her captures and the rest of them pointed guns at her)

Whaaaaaaaaaat!?! Was any of what I said incorrect?