Comments on: The slow boring of hard boards

By: cell phone batteries

cell phone batteries — Tue, 09 Nov 2004 15:41:48 +0000

where did you find this comment script?

By: Charles

Charles — Fri, 05 Nov 2004 00:56:24 +0000

Church and State should be separate. We have a very serious problem that has developed in the United States. The perception of one man, the President, is influencing the destiny of this country based on his faith and his beliefs, while ignoring the faith and beliefs of all other americans and people around the world. It is a dangerous course that this country is on now. We may be the world’s only remaining super power because of our military, but America should not try to impose it’s beliefs and ideas on the rest of the world. Democracy is not working in this country. Just take a look at the Presidential election. Certain groups of people in this country are still marginalized and locked out from enjoying the riches of this nation. This nation is now under the control of large corporations, who dictate policy and law to our so called government. The people of this country no longer control their goverment, or it’s elected officials. Government, for, of and by the people left this country a long time ago.

By: cmptrbil

cmptrbil — Thu, 04 Nov 2004 18:23:32 +0000

I think the truly frustrating thing for me is that so much of the “heartland” voted for Bush based on a sense of national security yet those of us in the truly at risk areas,( both coasts and Chicago) felt comfortable enough to vote for John Kerry. If a terrorist strike is going to a happen you can pretty much count on it happening in a major metropolitan area,( disclaimer: unless it is one of those wacky anti government militias). To me it’s hard to take someone serious when they are so worried about a terrorist strike in Peoria Illinois.

By: cbl

cbl — Thu, 04 Nov 2004 04:05:06 +0000

A: “The American people are easily frightened, easily fooled and easily bored.” B: “Americans have stopped voting with their brains, and no one knew that so many Americans had such small hearts.” I believe ‘A’ is the underlying reality which explains why many people see ‘B’, and therein must lie the solution to the Demos problems. How often do fear and kindness go hand in hand? There is, however, hope. If folks are easily bored, they will become bored of being frightened. If they are easily fooled, their minds can be changed (apparently on the flimsiest of pretexts). The Demos need to find a clear and simple message that feels good to identify with, which can appeal to people of a religious and conservative bent without selling out Democrat-ic ideals. Someone mentioned something like this earlier, but I feel this one has a better ring: Responsibility, Compassion, and Civil Rights Its got a good rhythm to it. It can be repeated endlessly. If you get behind it, it means you’re good, you’re caring, and you’re free – that sure as hell beats being worried about terrorism when you can’t really do anything about it personally. I think the Demos could unpack these terms and build a platform that is consistent and coherent with across-the-divide appeal. Success in politics means compromise. For example, ‘Civil Rights’ has to be as much about gun ownership and private property as gay civil unions (give it 10 or 20 years, people) and a repealed Patriot Act (ASAP!) – something many left-demos will find unpalatable. However, politics is not religion, and attachment to dogma leads to certain ineffectuality. This would be an even more bitter pill to swallow while watching certain factions of the Republican party try to make a Christian Rome out of the United States.

By: cbl

cbl — Thu, 04 Nov 2004 04:04:32 +0000

By: cbl

cbl — Thu, 04 Nov 2004 04:01:51 +0000

By: jet

jet — Thu, 04 Nov 2004 03:02:07 +0000

This site continually reinforces the meme I learned as a kid. The right sees the left as misguided zealots who are ashamed of unshared wealth. The left views the right as either greedy gazillionaires manipulating the people, or a bunch of hoodwinked idiots baying at the moon. No wonder the left keeps growing smaller. You can’t keep thinking you are the only holder of “the truth” and that everyone who disagrees is just a foolish toy of the devil. You’re just pissing in people’s cheerios instead of changing their minds.

By: Brian

Brian — Thu, 04 Nov 2004 02:07:24 +0000

Bush has made mistakes, there is no denying it. But I have a suggestion, if I may be so bold. He’s been re-elected, like it or otherwise. Give the President a chance. Mr bush is not incompetent he knows he will take full responsibility for further failure in domestic policy and especially regarding the fiasco in Iraq. A sensible man, will correct his failures. Lets give Bush a chance before we write off our President. Last I checked we were “one nation” under god….lets act like it, pull together and throw our support to the President until such time as he proves himself unworthy. I voted for Bush because I know he has Americas Best intrests fundamentally at heart. I dont think he will dissapoint us again. “no spin zone”

By: Brian

Brian — Thu, 04 Nov 2004 02:06:12 +0000

By: fyreflye

fyreflye — Wed, 03 Nov 2004 21:21:05 +0000

The Ways of God, and those He appoints to carry out His mission on Earth, are mysterious to Man. So why should any good Evangelical Christian bother wondering about lost jobs, a deteriorating environment or the number of dead Iraqui civilians? He may not be able to justify it rationally; but, since it’s God’s Will, he doesn’t have to.

By: Scott Martens

Scott Martens — Wed, 03 Nov 2004 20:54:01 +0000

Claims such as “Americans have stopped voting with their brains” or “Americans had such small hearts” is a good indication that your political view is much, much further left than the middle political view of the country. No fucking duh. At this point, Richard Nixon was much, much further to the left than the middle political view of the country. You don’t have to be some Marxist radical to think that half the American electorate is off their rockers. How do you think these results sound to anyone to the left of insane? Democratic moderates, for instance. A president who has ended his term with less employment and lower stock market indices than he started with is lauded as good for the economy. A president who goes to war for no discernable national security reason and screws it up so badly that the liberated people are 80% against him – even the ones who support the occupation seem to be against him – gets rewarded with reelection and an increased majority in Congress. That suggests that a lot of American voters have stopped using their brains. A president who lies, who keeps the people’s business secret, who eschews open government, runs successfully as a moral leader? On his coattails, anti-homosexual laws get written into the books in almost a dozen states. That suggests a lot of very small hearts. James, there is a decent chance that I actually know more evangelicals than you do. My grandfather was a missionary who preached Jesus and chastity in Africa. My uncle is an evangelical pastor working a rural community. My mother was (and I think still is) an elder in an evangelical church. And we’re not talking some weird liberal church, we’re talking the hard core: Mennonites. Western Canada is full of them, and they still hate Bush. The real hard core – the traditionalists who think Christianity is a lifestyle best practiced through segregation – think Bush is a poseur because they think war and political office are inherently incompatible with Christianity. Even on gay marriage, Canadian evangelicals are split. A big chunk figure the state ought to just get out of the marrying business – just have civil unions – because the government shouldn’t be involved in sacred convenants before God. This isn’t about whether or not evangelicals are the problem. This is about people voting stupid and voting mean. Voting stupid and mean because you think it’s your religion is no better, no worse and no different than voting it because some halfwit on FoxNews told you to or because you’re in the thrall of some free market messiah. Stupid in God’s name doesn’t get less stupid because it’s in God’s name. Bush’s message of Christian redemption, of rising from being a drunk to being God’s instrument in the White House – a significant American population is responding to that. The values he represents – God the authoritarian and Bush as his chosen instrument – are real, and they are real to some sizeable number of voters. This alignment of their faith and his message is dangerous. The people who voted Bush for his values will forgive him anything he can’t shrug off, telling themselves either that it is as God wills, that it’s not really his fault, or that it simply didn’t happen. Rare is the televangelist called to account when he asks for forgiveness. Bush doesn’t have to do anything but admit to making mistakes and they are all his. Christian forgiveness is a fine thing, but government without accountability is tyrrany. Evangelicals are quite capable of making that distinction. They get no special consideration from me for their faith if they don’t.

By: Scott Martens

Scott Martens — Wed, 03 Nov 2004 20:51:46 +0000

By: Uncle Kvetch

Uncle Kvetch — Wed, 03 Nov 2004 20:37:49 +0000

Henry, I’m basically in agreement with you. The point I was making is simply that with the Right’s extraordinarily well organized and well funded media apparatus, it’s going to be an uphill battle to hold this administration accountable for any of its actions. We do need to organize, and above all, we need to follow the Right’s lead in “gaming the refs”—i.e., creating our own alternative to the Mighty Wurlitzer. It ain’t gonna be easy.

By: Henry

Henry — Wed, 03 Nov 2004 19:11:58 +0000

“uncle kvetch” – I think Schmitt’s argument is that the only way that Bush will be held accountable is if we organize to make sure that he will be held accountable.

By: Uncle Kvetch

Uncle Kvetch — Wed, 03 Nov 2004 19:00:09 +0000

The American people are easily frightened, easily fooled and easily bored. The first two characteristics won Bush re-election; the third will become dominant well before 2008. That’s the best (and most succinct) summing up of the current state of play I’ve seen so far. As far as Mark Schmitt’s view—I’d like to agree. The thought that Bush will now have to clean up his own goddamn messes is one of the very few consolations I can cling to today. And with Republican control of the legislature, there’ll be nobody else to blame. Except, of course, that that isn’t true. You’d never know from listening to Hannity or Limbaugh or the rest of the them that their side was in charge for the last 4 years, because scapegoating and persecution complexes are intrinsic to their modus operandi. It’s not inconceivable that Bush’s second term could be as catastrophic in terms of actual results as the first, and a good chunk of the American people will remain convinced that it’s all the fault of the liberal media, Hollywood, Hillary Clinton, trial lawyers, and queers. What a country.