via Allen Clifton of Forward Progressives
1) Do you realize that the House Majority leader of the United States of America was just defeated in their primary for the first time ever by an economics professor who couldn’t even answer a simple question pertaining to his stance on the minimum wage?
2) If you’re so big on “Constitutional rights,” why do so many conservatives believe that we should have left Bowe Bergdahl in Afghanistan to die based on the accusations that he was a deserter? You do realize that’s essentially sentencing someone to death without due process, right?
3) If 30 “urban looking” African-Americans strolled into a predominantly white upper-middle class neighborhood with AR-15′s and AK-47′s strapped to their backs, do you think the people living there would feel safe?
4) If a criminal, in possession of a gun, walks into some place determined to commit a crime (robbery for example) and you’re openly carrying your weapon where they can see it – don’t you think you would be the first person they’d target?
5) If “the only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun,” then why in the Nevada shooting (in one of the most pro-gun states in the nation) did no “good guy with a gun” stop the two shooters? In fact, the third victim would probably still be alive had he not tried to confront one of the shooters (he had a concealed weapon).
6) Do you realize that had John McCain been elected president in 2008, we’d still have tens of thousands of troops in Iraq and troops in Syria, Egypt and Libya – as well as still be fighting in Afghanistan? For the record, that’s 5 wars, not including what he might have done in Iran.
7) Explain to me how Ronald Reagan is an “American legend and conservative icon” when he illegally sold missiles to Iran to negotiate the release of American hostages, yet President Obama is “anti-American” and should be impeached because he traded five terrorists for Bowe Bergdahl?
8) Are you aware that no matter how much oil we drill here in the United States, almost all of it still gets sold on the open market to the highest bidder? “Drill baby drill” doesn’t make any sense unless we essentially nationalize all of our oil. Are you then suggesting we nationalize our oil?
9) In Iraq, Obama basically had 2 choices: Keep troops in Iraq indefinitely, costing trillions more over probably the next 10-20 years (because that’s how long it’s going to take to even try to establish real democracy in the country). Remove our troops, likely handing the country over to radical Islamic insurgents shortly after. Which solution would you have had him choose to clean up Bush’s mess? Oh, all while reducing our deficit and listening to the vast majority of Americans who wanted us out of Iraq.
10) We all want energy independence. So, tell me, out of the following three which two are unlimited, can’t be taken away from us, don’t pollute and would completely remove us from relying on other countries to meet our energy needs?:
- Oil
- Wind
- Solar
25 comments:
Good questions. If read with an active and fresh mind that is.
Hey, why does everything need to be framed in con -vs- lib terms???
It seems reasonable, as well as logical, to frame things as reason -vs- lack of reason.
Reason being based on observable facts and or scientific data that allows us to predict outcomes and lack of reason being that which is based on faith and lack of data and knowledgen.
Simplistic I suppose and that might be the greatest obstacle to acceptance.
Maybe it's a lack of sleep.
OFF TOPIC:
Please take note that (O)CT(O)PUS appears today as GOOGLE'S featured piece of TITLE ART –– slithering tentacles and all. ;-)
opUDTOPUU
"2) If you’re so big on “Constitutional rights,” why do so many conservatives believe that we should have left Bowe Bergdahl in Afghanistan to die based on the accusations that he was a deserter? You do realize that’s essentially sentencing someone to death without due process, right?"
We believe in Constitutional rights when they agree with our agenda, otherwise they're unAmerican and the work of the Devil.
RN
"Hey, why does everything need to be framed in con -vs- lib terms".
Because we are a nation divided into political classes instead of being Americans with different opinions. There are extremes and hypocrites on both sides and they will never change. There are those who see both sides and agree with some of the positions on both sides. I fall into that category. I also believe in taking personal responsibility for your actions and choices.
RN: "Hey, why does everything need to be framed in con -vs- lib terms??? It seems reasonable, as well as logical, to frame things as reason -vs- lack of reason."
Good point. I tire of labels that divert attention away from the real fallacies under discussion.
Re: #10 - Well, we're now producing more oil than we're importing, so we've got that going for us...
More to the point, with regards to #9, everybody's forgetting that we left because the Iraqi government wanted us out. Regardless of anything else, they wanted us out, so why should we have stayed?
Within the theme, be it conservative/liberal or reason/lack of reason...
I am sure I could conjure up a series of questions that the other side would find equally amusing and which many of us would struggle to answer.
One of my struggles with politics is this... not everyone on the other side of the aisle is evil, or even comes from an uninformed place. They just have honest differences in how to get there. Certainly this does not apply to the fringe/extremists, but to many it does.
There has got to be a middle ground that we can find, or we really are doomed as a nation...
#2 I don't think that is in the constitution
#10 I can't wait to drive a wind powered car.
7) Explain to me how Ronald Reagan is an “American legend and conservative icon” when he illegally sold missiles to Iran to negotiate the release of American hostages, yet President Obama is “anti-American” and should be impeached because he traded five terrorists for Bowe Bergdahl?
here's how the wingers would explain it:
Obama is a Kenyan!
Shaw... a tad off topic, but today Rodeo Clown announced on his show that us essentially commie, socialist, America hating evil libturds were right in opposing the war in Iraq.
Too bad it won't bring one dead soldier back to life or give a forever maimed Marine his or her legs, arms, or any other part that was lost in this idiotic war back.
There is no joy here in Mudville for me. Just disgust at the way people called those of us who opposed this war from the beginning unAmerican and treasonous.
We must not let up... we cannot stand by and let our President send another soldier back into Iraq.
Is this Obama's War? Hell no, never was and never will be. The blood of our soldiers is on the hands of men like Richard Pearl, Paul Wolfowitz, Dick Cheney, Bill Kristol, Donald Rumsfeld and the rest of the neo-cons for persuading George Bush to start this ill-advised and badly planned disaster.
And yes Lisa, Skud and any other conservatives who choose to post here, I know many Dems also voted for this clusterf*%K... and they were wrong too.
Just sayin...
If you watch CNN's "The Sixties" on of the things you will find interesting while reliving all those moments is how different our politicians were back then. They didn't talk all this crazy talk; they respected the President even if they did not agree with him. Honestly, John McCain, Lindsay Graham, Ted Cruz, they all are so appalling and so stupid, in comparsion to these old newsreel.
I know everyone wants to claim that partisanship always existed...but it is nothing compared to the hatred, stupidity, and just sheer lying that goes on today....
TEN QUESTIONS ANSWERED - PART ONE
1. Do you realize that the House Majority leader of the United States of America was just defeated in their primary for the first time ever by an economics professor who couldn’t even answer a simple question pertaining to his stance on the minimum wage?
RESPONSE: I don’t know any such thing. I do know he holds a degree in Theological Studies from Princeton and a Ph.D in Economics from American University, so he couldn’t possibly be as as ill-nformed as this interrogator would have us believe. I am, personally, delighted to see any incumbent from either party toppled from his throne. I hope Doctor Brat will turn out to be a rip-roaring force for good in the District of Columbia. Only time will tell -- not sniping from partisan bigots bent only on the personal destruction of ant perceived threat to their power.
2. If you’re so big on “Constitutional rights,” why do so many conservatives believe that we should have left Bowe Bergdahl in Afghanistan to die based on the accusations that he was a deserter? You do realize that’s essentially sentencing someone to death without due process, right?
RESPONSE: That’s a false assumption using charged rhetoric and twisted logic to support a prejudiced point of view.The primary objection to the “deal” was not to the return of Private Bergdahl, it was -- and remains -- to the release not-one-but-FIVE dangerous leaders associated with “Al Kyda.” I would agree, however that jumping all over PFC Bergdahl was not only distasteful, it was politically inept as well.
3. If 30 “urban looking” African-Americans strolled into a predominantly white upper-middle class neighborhood with AR-15′s and AK-47′s strapped to their backs, do you think the people living there would feel safe?
RESPONSE: Of course not, What a stupid question! They’d be foolish if they did not feel alarmed. That said ANY group of young thugs -- Negro, Caucasian, Hispanic, Semitic or Asian -- armed to the teeth -- should strike fear in the heart of any sensible person. “Race” has little to do with it. BEHAVIOR is the point at issue -- or should be.
TEN QUESTIONS ANSWERED - PART TWO
4. If a criminal in possession of a gun walks into some place determined to commit a crime (robbery for example) and you’re openly carrying your weapon where they can see it – don’t you think you would be the first person they’d target?
RESPONSE: Absolutely not. The criminal would be dead or seriously wounded before he had the chance to think at all. When it comes to obvious threats, “shoot first and ask questions later” is usually the safest sanest policy. An unarmed person has no chance at all in the situation outlined.
5. If “the only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun,” then why in the Nevada shooting (in one of the most pro-gun states in the nation) did no “good guy with a gun” stop the two shooters? In fact, the third victim would probably still be alive had he not tried to confront one of the shooters (he had a concealed weapon).
RESPONSE: Yet another loaded question! The short answer: Because perfect consistency is not attainable this side of Heaven. You might as well ask, “Why maintain a police force, since, despite valiant efforts to thwart them, the criminal class still threatens our peace and safety anyway?
6. Do you realize that had John McCain been elected president in 2008, we’d still have tens of thousands of troops in Iraq and troops in Syria, Egypt and Libya – as well as still be fighting in Afghanistan? For the record, that’s 5 wars, not including what he might have done in Iran.
RESPON5SE: I am no fan of Senator McCain, but given the alarming deterioration of international relations, increasing violence and destabilization throughout the Middle East, foolishly referred to as The Arab Spring, and the horrendous developments just this week in Iraq, the world might be safer and saner today if we HAD followed the patterns the questioner ascribes to Senator McCain. As it is, things could hardly be worse, could they?
TEN QUESTIONS ANSWERED - PART TWO
4. If a criminal in possession of a gun walks into some place determined to commit a crime (robbery for example) and you’re openly carrying your weapon where they can see it – don’t you think you would be the first person they’d target?
RESPONSE: Absolutely not. The criminal would be dead or seriously wounded before he had the chance to think at all. When it comes to obvious threats, “shoot first and ask questions later” is usually the safest sanest policy. An unarmed person has no chance at all in the situation outlined.
5. If “the only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun,” then why in the Nevada shooting (in one of the most pro-gun states in the nation) did no “good guy with a gun” stop the two shooters? In fact, the third victim would probably still be alive had he not tried to confront one of the shooters (he had a concealed weapon).
RESPONSE: Yet another loaded question! The short answer: Because perfect consistency is not attainable this side of Heaven. You might as well ask, “Why maintain a police force, since, despite valiant efforts to thwart them, the criminal class still threatens our peace and safety anyway?
6. Do you realize that had John McCain been elected president in 2008, we’d still have tens of thousands of troops in Iraq and troops in Syria, Egypt and Libya – as well as still be fighting in Afghanistan? For the record, that’s 5 wars, not including what he might have done in Iran.
RESPON5SE: I am no fan of Senator McCain, but given the alarming deterioration of international relations, increasing violence and destabilization throughout the Middle East, foolishly referred to as The Arab Spring, and the horrendous developments just this week in Iraq, the world might be safer and saner today if we HAD followed the patterns the questioner ascribes to Senator McCain. As it is, things could hardly be worse, could they?
TEN QUESTIONS ANSWERED - PART THREE
7. Explain to me how Ronald Reagan is an “American legend and conservative icon” when he illegally sold missiles to Iran to negotiate the release of American hostages, yet President Obama is “anti-American” and should be impeached because he traded five terrorists for Bowe Bergdahl?
RESPONSE: First, any attempt to impeach President Obama would be be a fatal mistake. It’s a political impossibility. Only a fool would think otherwise. Second, attempting to reduce the stunningly successful presidency of Ronald Reagan to the conjured up, politically-motivated scandal called Iran-Contra, a relatively minor affair in the great scheme of things, could pnly belong in the category of cynical legalistic bickering designed in the hope of repeating the triumph the triumphant journalistic coup d’etat called Watergate. In the main the country was in better shape during the Reagan years than it has been at any other time since Eisenhower worked in the Oval Office.
8. Are you aware that no matter how much oil we drill here in the United States, almost all of it still gets sold on the open market to the highest bidder? “Drill baby drill” doesn’t make any sense unless we essentially nationalize all of our oil. Are you then suggesting we nationalize our oil?
RESPONSE: That is a an obvious leftist canard. Restraint of trade and the destruction of private enterprise are hallmarks of the Marxian Agenda to which I say PHOOEY!!! ;-)
TEN QUESTIONS ANSWERED - PART FOUR
9. In Iraq, Obama basically had two choices: Keep troops in Iraq indefinitely, costing trillions more over probably the next 10-20 years (because that’s how long it’s going to take even to try to establish real democracy in the country). Remove our troops, likely handing the country over to radical Islamic insurgents shortly after. Which solution would you have had him choose to clean up Bush’s mess? Oh, all while reducing our deficit and listening to the vast majority of Americans who wanted us out of Iraq.
RESPONSE: Already answered above in response to Number Six.
10. We all want energy independence. So, tell me, out of the following three which two are unlimited, can’t be taken away from us, don’t pollute and would completely remove us from relying on other countries to meet our energy needs?:
Oil,Wind, or Solar?
Yet another loaded leading question! The answer the interrogator wants to hear is patently obvious, but he ignores the logistical problems and the deleterious effects of attempting to use wind and solar power as main sources of energy. Hydrogen probably has a much greater potential, and frankly I favor the use of EXCREMENT more popularly known. known as Ess-Aitch-Eye-Tea. God knows the planet is full of it, and the supply is inexhaustible as long as animal life lasts. And no I am not kidding.
Tao
Not defending all the criticism obama gets but it starts at the top. When you have H Reid speaking lies about the republicans and obama blaming his lack of accomplishments on GWB and the gop it is difficult to not fire back.
Your right, back in the day politicians were more respectful of each other. It was a time when the news took no side and we didn't have in internet to rile everyone up.
Mr. F.T., I know the enormous effort it took to respond to those 10 questions. Thanks for giving us your opinion and for doing so without hostility.
skudrunner: "...obama blaming his lack of accomplishments on GWB..."
Can you give us an example of President Obama blaming GWB for what YOU characterize "lack of accomplishment?"
You are aware that that characterization is biased and seen through the eyes of a partisan, are you not?
In fact, considering the total lack of cooperation this president has faced with the current TeaPublicans, Mr. Obama has accomplished quite a lot:
First and foremost, health care is a reality. After a very bad roll-out, the A.C.A. can now be considered a success. The first year enrollments came in ABOVE projections. Health care reform has been a goal of presidents, Republican and Democrat, for the past 100 years. Mr. Obama accomplished it without the help of one Republican vote, and the TeaPublicans have tried to repeal it over 50 times.
Climate policy: The new rules on power plants are the most important environmental initiatives since Republican President Nixon's Clean Air Act in 1970.
Financial reform. The Banksters and Wall Streeters have turned their backs on the Democrats as a result of the financial reforms initiated by the Obama administration.
End of DADT, Lily Ledbetter Act, the capture and execution of Osama bin Ladin, etc., etc.
That you and other partisan hacks continue to repeat the lie that Mr. Obama has accomplished nothing only proves to the rest of us that you cannot be relied upon to tell the truth, so when you actually do have a legitimate criticism of this president, it is suspect, since you and the opposition fail to give him credit where credit is due for ANYTHING.
It's the Cry Wolf Syndrome. You cannot be believed because you're dishonest when you say Mr. Obama has accomplished nothing.
Yeah skud, even accomplishing negative results is accomplishment of those results. Perhaps re-wording, citing specific examples of failure acomplishments, and linking to reputable sources supporting your info. might lend more credibility.
Just sayin...
Ms Shaw
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder as are his accomplishments.
The majority of people still do not want obamacare. The fact that it passed with no republican support shows the strong arm tactics used.
Climate change I will give you. It is in fact getting warm here, called summer.
Financial reform D-F, has made it more difficult for the middle class and small businesses to get a loan or a mortgage.
Democrats panders to WS the same as republicans and WS rewards both parties to stay in favor.
He was a good shot with bin Ladin so that is something.
skudrunner: "Ms Shaw
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder as are his accomplishments."
And any of PBO's accomplishments are seen as ugly by partisans.
skud: "The majority of people still do not want obamacare."
Do you know how many of those who've been polled don't like the present form of the A.C.A. because it doesn't go far enough in its coverage? Are you ignoring the number of people who are not happy because they wanted a single-payer system (including me!). So some of those unhappy folks are unhappy because they wanted the A.C.A. to be more accessible to more people and to be more like Medicare.
skudrunner: "The fact that it passed with no republican support shows the strong arm tactics used."
Actually that was more of an indication of insurance corporations' strong-arm tactics on Republicans. The Congressional Republicans were carrying out their overlords' instructions to obstruct, defeat, obstruct.
skudrunner: "Climate change I will give you. It is in fact getting warm here, called summer."
Ignorance on this subject is not funny.
skudrunner: "Financial reform D-F, has made it more difficult for the middle class and small businesses to get a loan or a mortgage."
Perhaps President Warren will be able to change that in 2016.
skudrunner: "He was a good shot with bin Ladin so that is something."
And Ronald Reagan personally destroyed the Soviet Union and it didn't collapse because it was unsustainable. Yeah. Reagan = The Soviet Slayer; Obama = didn't get Osama bin Laden.
You guys are so cute.
skud said "The majority of people still do not want obamacare. The fact that it passed with no republican support shows the strong arm tactics used."
no. no STRONG ARM TACTICS...truth is the majority of Americans support the ACA. That it passed with out Republican support shows that most Republicans in Congress chose to ignore their constituents.
there. I have refuted your claim with the same aplomb as you presented it.
ohohoh...and there are wind powered cars...wind power generates the electricty that powers the batteries in those cars. I have driven one.
Re: David Brat and "Princeton."
As it turns out, he [Brat] did obtain his masters in divinity at Princeton, which is a well respected theological institution but not the prestigious Ivy League school that Princeton University is recognized as.
Mbugua says that occasionally people “make an association between the institutions here in Princeton — an incorrect association.” Although the two institutions are located in the same town there is no connection between the two.
"What is the primary form of communication to low-information voters? Political ads. What do they do? Intensify contempt for various candidates along stereotypical partisan lines. Rinse and repeat ad nauseam, and cut yourself off from anyone with a different viewpoint, and you have our gridlocked society. And all the Supreme Court seems to do is usher in yet more money to finance yet more of this poison; and all the media seems able to do is reach for ratings by exploiting these emotions."
FYI:
Princeton Theological Seminary
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Established 1812
Type Private
Religious affiliation Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
President M. Craig Barnes
Location Princeton, New Jersey, United States
Campus Suburban, 23 acres (93,000 m²)
(Princeton Borough and Township)
Website Princeton Theological Seminary
Princeton Theological Seminary (PTS) is a seminary in Princeton, New Jersey, and the largest of ten seminaries associated with the Presbyterian Church (USA). It is the second-oldest seminary in the United States, founded in 1812. Reverend Dr. Archibald Alexander, and the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A.[1] It is unaffiliated with Princeton University which is in the same city.
The Seminary is influential in theological scholarship with the second largest theological library collection in the world, behind only the Vatican Apostolic Library in Vatican City. These collections are well known for the Karl Barth Research Collection in the Center for Barth Studies. Princeton also lists leading and preeminent biblical scholars and theologians among its faculty and alumni....
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