Jezebel 
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New York, 7:08 PM
Mon Nov 9
52 posts in the last 24 hours
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09/05/09
09/04/09
09/04/09
I think that these presidential speeches should be aired at schools. We have a right to know what's going on in the world, regardless or whether we like the president or not. Back in third grade, we were shown footage of the Twin Towers collapsing to the ground. If we can handle that in THIRD GRADE, we can handle a little speech in eleventh.
-SIGH- Done now. Sorry for the slightly long comment. (By the way, this is my first time commenting. I've been a long, long time reader of the site. I've never had the courage to comment until now.)
09/04/09
09/04/09
I was talking to my mom who grew up in CT at a time when it was a quintessential Republican stronghold, but it was like Rockefeller Republicans, not this miasma of stupidity like it is today. Her dad was REALLY conservative (my mom's liberal) and she said that even he would be completely disgusted with the GOP today. I think even before he died she said that he was not a fan of Bush, because Bush is stupid and my grandfather was anything but stupid.
Well of course now the GOP has lost the northeast just about completely and for the forseeable future, because the people for whom the republicans actually work for (rich people) got turned off by Nixon's southern strategy and focus on demented "debates" and bullshit social issues.
It's a coalition of borderline mentally ill idiots and I would say it should be marginalized as much as possible. Do they not realize that they're being "indoctrinated" by Fox news and the like? Seriously, my inner Marxist is screaming FALSE CONSCIOUSNESS at these asswads.
Fuck, if I had kids and there was going to be a Bush speech at school, I'd still let them go and then have a "teachable moment" at home. Nice parenting, jackasses. ARGHHHHHHWTFFFFHULK SMASH
09/04/09
Sounds absolutely horrific, doesn't it? So bad that we MUST lash out every time our president opens his mouth. For Chrissakes.
09/04/09
Go ahead, put your kids and your health in the care of for-profit entities - but know that your taxes WILL pay for those who can't afford private-sector service. It's that fucking simple. You have a choice, good luck affording it. We are where we are now because the private sector, given free reign, WILL EAT ITS' HOST.
BUSH told you to invest your retirement in the markets and the markets FUCKED you. How does someone like Madoff become so successful? BECAUSE THE MARKET DOES NOT POLICE ITSELF. Merrill Lynch, Lehmann Bros, they all knew better than to be involved with the guy, they all knew the housing market was driving them toward a cliff, yet none of them had the restraint to avoid CANNIBALIZING the economy.
GAHHHH!!!
/rant
09/04/09
civics 101, my friends.
09/04/09
09/04/09
Now, I'd like everyone to stand up, face the flag at the front of the room, put their hand on their heart and say it with me:
"I pledge ALLEGIANCE to the flag
of the United States of America.
and to the REPUBLIC, for which it stands:
one nation, UNDER GOD, INDIVISIBLE, with liberty and justice for all."
09/04/09
09/04/09
And the original protocol, before a flag code was established, was a salute to the flag, which was abandoned during WWII because it was strikingly similar to the Nazi salute and, well, we don't want anyone thinking the U.S. is nationalist.
I'll keep my opinion to myself on this issue since lately that's all I feel like doing during these discussions, but I hope this provides a thought exercise for both sides.
09/04/09
"I Pledge Allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all."
09/04/09
I know! Right about the same time we wanted to prove we were different from Godless socialists... so many coincidences in the history of the pledge. If I didn't know better, I would think someone was actively changing it in order to influence the values and beliefs of the country and teach them to children.
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09/04/09
Also that "large and intrusive gov't bailout" was engineered by "conservative" Dubya. Then again the economic collapse that brought about the bailout was mostly engineered by GOP corporate policies w/r/t taxation - so there's a cause and effect. You can't cherry pick and claim that Republicans are true conservatives. They just like power and dupe a bunch of mo-rans into voting against their economic self-interest.
Furthermore the FDR big-gov't policies following Keynesian economics fucking, um, worked, so I don't see your point there.
FURTHERMORE furthermore nobody is arguing for a command market, but EVERYBODY (even Adam Smith, the GOP's professed god) argues for a regulated market. This nonsense that somehow the Democrats want to end capitalism is completely unfounded.
I don't mind true conservatives - they tend to have a misanthropic distrust of utopian schemes and favor evolution over revolution, as do I - but there aren't any left in the Republican party.
09/04/09
Your statement that modern conservatism is to thank for "near every right and privilege" is baffling and doesn't do much to refute your point that conservatives are uneducated morons. There has been a broad expansion over what we as a society considers rights and privileges and if we're "keeping score" I'd say it's split evenly over both sides of the ideological spectrum over the history of the country; although conservatives haven't done a great deal for the past 100 years.
09/04/09
FYI, Liberals don't want a large and intrusive government in your personal life. They just want the government to take care of things like healthcare. Which, to me, is way less big government the major talking points of the conservatives...which is apparently making sure those less fortunate get screwed every which way possible, Christian morality as law, and all kinds of social influence the government shouldn't have. That's not respect for individual rights.
Also, I think the "free market" idea as some kind of nebulous that doesn't need any oversight is, at best, problematic. It clearly does.
Glenn Beck isn't a Conservative, by the way. He's someone who has come unhinged and spouts uneducated lies.
09/04/09
09/04/09
09/05/09
09/04/09
I am truly appalled at an entire class of people who reject the public school option because their children might hear something that the parents disagree with. It's bad enough that my brother brags that his children have no idea who Britney Spears is because their access to the "outside" world is so tightly controlled. How are these children supposed to actually live in the world with the rest of us? Are they so weak that the merest exposure to Britney's abs will cause them to throw off their clothing and become prostitutes?
I am the opposite. I expose my son to whatever the world has to offer, and do it while I'm with him so that we can talk about it. It makes him stronger in himself and he can talk about the kids who smoke pot, drink, and have sex, without needing to be one of them. Of course, I am not a member of the cult of Christianity so I am not threatened by my son having knowledge. Perhaps that is the difference.
09/04/09
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09/04/09
I was like WTF? Disturbing. That the President is addressing the nation's school children & the teachers are supposed to talk about it. They were lesson plans, asking questions examining the content of the speech & it's importance.
It really upset me as I generally regard him as a pretty smart dude but I felt he really missed the mark. I felt it was no different than how we generally talk about past speeches by past presidents.
Talking to children does not automatically make a speech propaganda!
09/04/09
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09/04/09
Is it my turn to tell them off the same way? Hopefully with a big smarmy grin?
I hated every minute of Bush's presidency when I was a student, but I paid attention to what he was doing and saying. I didn't respect any of it, but I wanted to be informed. I couldn't rely on my republican parents or our conservative leaning local newspaper for the true facts. I wanted to hear him speak and then make up my own mind. And so I could break down the crazy piece by piece and have something to argue with my parents about over dinner.
But why is a speech telling kids about the benefits of education even controversial? I don't want to blindly hate republicans. But I'm surrounded by republicans who, while maybe not spewing the crazy themselves, buy into all this shit enough to not take back their party and act a little more logical when dealing with political disagreements. You don't like Obama? Great, tell me why, we can discuss it! We can debate it! There was little I enjoyed more than talking about how much I didn't like Dubya. But your circular logic (or typical lack of logic all together) is making rational discussions impossible.
Stop the name calling and do some fucking research. Get your questions and objections in order and then go about projecting them in a reasonably not crazy fashion. When I wanted to be taken seriously that's what I did. Don't accept anything the news says at face value. Please stop being offended by or scared of educated people. Stop throwing around words you clearly don't understand.
And for the sake of puppies and unicorns, stop comparing Obama to Hitler, you racist, ignorant, assholes.