Question for Washertalk and Others

[kevinpreston8]

Sorry, I thought this earned it's own thread, and this is the last I will comment on it-- <br
Washertalk, your statement <br
"republicans - racist, scandal riden, fear mongering, sexist, fiscally irresponsible, truth blocking, global warming deniars, fox news propagandists, drug addict limbaugh supporting, job deporting, piggy mouthed blame-game playing, gasoline price fixing, corporate scandal plagued, divisive, election fixing, war creating, cheating, power hungry, blatantly lying, hypocritical, christian delusional, pedophile- republicans &quot <br
Has it remotely crossed your mind what you are saying? Do you get that roughly 1/2 this country is Republican, and there is a great many democrats who don't buy off on global warming, watch Fox news and on an on. You state in your blame-game passage that Republicans are blame-game playing. Yeah, makes alot of sense <br
I could go on about how, if you're a liberal, you're supposedly compassionate and open minded. But obviously, you're not. You would rather call a great number of people here pedofiles, make fun of my religious outlook (I don't know how dopey it is to infer that all Republicans are Christians, guess my Jewish republican acquaintances don't count) <br
I'd be happy to debate you all day long on any political point of your choosing, perhaps on a different forum and not here. While I don't agree with the liberal agenda, about the last thing I would do is call democrats or left leaning people pedophiles, or racist, or "Christian delusional" <br
Perhaps I should not stop you, people like you are burying yourselves and your whole party come this November and in 2008, so maybe I should encourage you to keep up with the propaganda and further lessen your chances on influence. Then again, I think a strong two+ party system that is short on rhetoric and long on results is the way to go, but I guess I should keep dreaming <br
I don't know what bothers me more. That someone would come on a hobby interest board and call members here pedophiles and racists, or the dearth of anyone else speaking up against such statements. I don't mind a good political debate and am guilty as anyone else in partaking in those discussions here previously. It's one thing to disagree with someone politically, but there's a line here being crossed, and its being crossed frequently <br
I will tell you this. I am a Tide particle breadth away from leaving this forum and not coming back.

 

[petek]

Thank-you Kevin for speaking out it like it is. I enjoy reading peoples thoughts, political or otherwise until it degrades into immature name calling rants. Not only is it immature and childish it's pointless since it turns the other side off immediately. Don't you go anywhere!!

 

[rickr]

Focusing on the personal side....

Hi Kevin
I guess would be an "other" here. So I will tell you how I feel. The current administration likes to use gay civil rights as a wedge issue to try to get the "redneck" part of their base stirred up so they get out to vote. This is very painful to me. The republicans go on and on about what a threat I am to their "moral" values. I do not like being used, and that is just what they are doing. I have earned my reputation in my community. Left home while still in high school, put myself through college, "pay as you go" took care of my grandparents as they declined in health, took care of my parents, through their illness with cancer,and their deaths. I pay taxes, own my own home, and am on good terms with my family. I do not owe anybody anything. I ask only for the same respect everyone else gets in this country. I do not get respect from republicans, nor does any other gay citizen <br
So perhaps now you can now understand why most gay people hate the current republican party. <br
And I have not, and will not talk about any of other issues here <br
I hope you do not leave here Kevin. You would be missed. But please try to understand that many of the gay people here feel violated by this administations choice of their "wedge issues" The whole thing just makes my blood boil. We just went through this two years ago, and they are doing the same crap in this election right now. They try to make people afraid of us, and they try to make people hate us, and try to hold us back. How can you expect us to like them <br
Take care, and see you on the forum Kevi <br
Ric <br

 

[washertalk]

1. This isn't my private Email address, you will kindly find that on my profile like everyone elses <br
2. So many contradictions and distortions in your statement.? <br
3. As has been said and can be clearly read in my posts, I haven't directly attacked or called anyone here ANYTHING, unless it was simply to be quirky and fun. <br
4. This is the section of the site relating "other" items by members of this group. There is no rules as to what is or is not discussable. ? Though, I can tell you that I would always try and be humorous and informative and respectful and certainly never obscene or posting inappropriate or rated X pics. That is just me. <br
5. I'm a member of this group, have been on an off for the last 4 years. <br
6. Your thinking of leaving. huh? I don't know what you were thinking to get by making this statement. But, I know it can't be because of me- I don't know you. There is nothing in your profile, I have never talked with you before.
But IF in your thinking it is because of me, I guess your interest in Washing machines and appliances or the benefits of this site isn't very strong.
That because if a few posts I legitimately made, that you have chosen to respond to, because it led you to feel guilty or whatever, has led you to believe you should leave. hmm.
I guess you have to do what your comfortable with.
Will miss you. <br
7. Common Sense says we all have opinions. And we need to respect that, just as in the "real" world. That's a given. This site doesn't provide for all my social needs and no one should expect it to provide for all of theirs either, that wouldn't be healthy. Although we all have some interest in appliances, that is a broad group. What one person likes another may not. One is certainly not better than the other. Likewise we all live different lifestyles and come from different backrounds, and we can all learn from each other because of that. That is what makes this or any other good groups work. <br
8. Thanks for thinking of me <br
Erik Marku <br

 

[rp2813]

On the thread where this discussion originated, someone lamented the fact that politics seemed to be entering into a lot of the posts here. I think that says something about people's concerns about the current state of affairs both domestically and internationally <br
The "What's your biggest fear?" thread went political fairly quickly. The fact that people are afraid for themselves, their country and the entire planet based on the events of the past 5 years says a lot. It also plays right into the hands of Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld/Rice in their latest strategy to instill fear in order to keep the republicans in control <br
I have voted in every election since Nixon vs McGovern in 1972. Posts from Kevin and people who share his views only reinforce my convictions to vote for change on 11/7 <br
On both sides of the aisle we have a good ol' boy political network. Here in California the democrats had a chance to support Steve Westly for governor, a guy who the polls had beating the Terminator going into the primaries. But the democratic network couldn't abandon their supposed golden boy and so we have the Terminator running away with the election and leaving the uncharismatic wet noodle democratic challenger in the dust. Employing this logic in supporting the wrong candidate hurts both the democrats and the republicans depending on the race <br
The great thing about this country is that we can actually discuss all of this without fear of reprisal from our government, even from the current idealougues running the show in DC <br
One of Bush's slogans has been that he's a uniter, not a divider, yet we currently have a clearly and sharply divided country politically--just read some of the posts on the parent thread to this one. I have never seen anything like it. How can Bush claim to be a uniter? He has been exactly the opposite. His leadership borders on fascism, as he knows best and demands that the people support his misguided fiscal and foreign policy endeavors <br
Everybody is entitled to their opinion. That's the bottom line. I don't need to accept Kevin's point of view any more than he has to accept mine. That's the beauty of this country. <br
My hope is that on 11/7, the smart people will get out to vote and put this country back on the right track. That's my opinion and I'm sticking to it. We can all still get along on here talking about appliances, and there is no need for people like Kevin or myself to feel we have to abandon this website due to a few people who might disagree with us about non-appliance related subject matter <br

 

[Unimatic1140]

We'll continue the drama in just one moment...

Kevin, please don’t take you toys and go home in a huff because people are expressing their opinion that is different from your own. Now that being said, it is two weeks before the election and everyone is on pins and needles I would like all political talk to PLEASE stay within this new thread. If I catch it infiltrating in other threads I’m going to delete it out of those threads. Thanks everyone, now its time for my opinion <br
Bravo Rick, well said (insert applause here). It is quite simple, the 90% of republicans are attacking our gay families for their own political and monetary gain. And while its quite obvious to me that most republicans couldn’t care less about gay people either way, they have no problem making believe they do and using and abusing our families in the most heinous way to win their elections. When they do things like that they HURT REAL PEOPLE and they HURT REAL FAMILIES, but they are too selfish to give a s&^%. I loathe the current administration and I will do everything in my power to legally take them down. When that pig Mark Foley was caught, what’s the first thing they did, they announced to the world that he is “gay”. Who do you think was behind that and what were their motives? Please, rocket science it ain’t. The best thing that could ever happen to the gay community would be for all of us to wake up one morning with cute little pink triangles on our foreheads to wear proudly for the world to see us. There is a wonderful gay man now who is exposing hypocritical gay republicans and I am 100% for him and his work. Sorry if this pisses some people off, but I see gay republicans as Jews for Hitler, just my opinion, nothing should be more important than ones family. You can read his blog at the link posted below. As for the obsessive religious wrong, (and by that I mean all religions) these people have a lot of nerve trying to shove their delusions down everyone’s throat and they can continue to try, but we will keep fighting them and we will never give up. <br
I thank god I live in a one of the most liberal cities in USA where I generally don’t have to see any of this crap in my day to day life, but as soon as I turn on the TV or read the news websites on the internet its all clear again. Unfortunately for us the republican national committee has chosen our beautiful city to hold their nasty convention in 2008. It ironic considering no district in either Minneapolis or St. Paul has voted for a republican president in decades. Well let me tell you we will take their filthy neocon money and put it the metro's economy and then we will protest loudly. I plan on taking the entire week off of work in Aug ‘08 to join in the protest, I hope others will come and join us as well. We have a wash-in and protest-in <br
YAY for Ms. Nancy Pelosi you might be our hero! I saw her interview the other night and I'm very impressed. As for Paul Wellstone, we miss you Paul, rest in peace. And to top it off I cannot wait to vote for Al Franken in '08. Ahhhh I feel better already.

http://www.blogactive.com/

 

[goatfarmer]

With a statement like "if you're not with us,you're against us",Bush can hardly be called a uniter. Bush demands loyalty,look at those who spoke their minds,and are now on the outside. That's nowhere close to being someone who "unites" <br
But the Dem's also have their problems.Hillary in '08 will never go over,she is a lightning rod politically. I don't see any Democratic frontrunner in '08 that I would vote for <br
kennyGF

 

[dalangdon]

I'll chime in and echo what Uni said. I don't think a lot of people understand what it is like to be a second class citizen in your own country. We're good enough to serve as cannon fodder in unnecessary wars, we're good enough to pay taxes, but we can't have legal recognition of our relationship status. <br
Here's a real-world example of how that plays out: A friend of mine died unexpectedly. Right after the funeral, his family (the same family that hadn't spoken to him for years) came to his house and took all his stuff, and esold the house out from under his partner, even though they had purchased the house together (he couldn't afford to buy them out). Those of you who are married who have difficult relations with your inlaws, consider what you would do in that situation. How you would feel. The civil contract of marriage protects you from that. <br
Compound that with the trash that is talked about us on a daily basis by the likes of Limbaugh, Hannity, Coulter, Savage, etc, and I would hope you can understand why we are angry. <br
As far as liberals in general being angry, again, we have been demonized for thirty years, usually with simple-minded slogans and sound bites that people just accept without thinking about. When we try to counter with facts and logic, we get dismissed, usually with some half-witted allusion to Clinton. He hasn't been president for six years guys - find yourself a new scapegoat. <br
Finally, a word about the war: How many of us have been personally impacted by this horrid distraction from the real terrorist threat? I have two cousins over there, and I think about them daily. These guys are older than me, and have no business being there. A kid from my parent's church (I was an altar boy at his folk's wedding) was killed over there last year. A friend from college works for the VA and everyday she sees men and women who have had their lives shattered - a whole new crop of people, many of whom will end up on the street, for the conseratives to piously denounce as lazy or crazy. <br
It's not right, it's not American, and it's certainly not Christian. <br
But don't take my word for it. National conserviative figures such as Richard Viguerie - the father of modern-day conservatism, along with Barry Goldwater - are denouncing what is going on. Read his editorial from the Washington Post. It's a real eye-opener. <br
I was no fan of Ronald Reagan, but even he would be appalled by what's going on.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/19/AR2006051901770.html

 

[frontaloadotmy]

Kevin, Don't leave AW.O

because of the political differences. Or because individual
express their opinions somewhat caustically. Like the Mother said in the musical "Hair" "Kids, do what ever you want to do; be what ever you want to be, just so long as you don't hurt anybody!"

 

[washertalk]

It's not about baseball anymore !

I have no doubt that there are a lot of hard working, well intentioned people who claim to be republican and are NOT fiscally irresponsible or pedophiles and the like. My very parents and relatives are this way. I have never been republican, but in the past I could at least respect what they stood for. <br
HOWEVER, The traditional republican party, meaning those 'in power' actually making day to day decisions, is long GONE. but the people who grew up with it, are still here and see in those who are in the White House now as similar to what they had, say with R. Reagan. Hopes aren't enough <br
If You or a relative is say 60 or older, most of ones life in the U.S. one could count on the media representing the truth and a reasonably honest election process. And a society that was constantly moving forward. NOT ANY MORE <br
Those who have taken over the title REPUBLICAN PARTY and posessed it ARE radicals way beyond what is legal and typical in the U.S. in the past <br
These elections aren't a matter of disappointment because of a 'our team lost' vs 'your team won' mentality <br
There are serious problems lurking under the fabric of our society, many of which have been discusssed in prior posts.
The most important being
Media and News outlets can not be trusted for accurate information because we as citizens are no longer protected with the Fairness Doctrin
and
The Ability to count on a Fair election process because of defective or easily reprogrammed electronic election computers
which have been pushed into use since the 2000 election.
an
and now the chopping up of our person freedoms as afforded everyone for centuries under our Constitution. <br
Just add those three things together, these are a recipe for disaster for the typical American way of life.
Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but perhaps when it is far too late. Actually, enough has happened already but we are so used to thinking that "oh, in the end, everything will be OK". Tell me how, now? It's just a matter of time <br
Prior administrations have come and gone with their problems in the past. But we knew if we didn't like them there was an election process and criminal procedings. But how, Now <br
There are plenty of liberal/Progressive people with "traditional" republican family members and parents but the challenge is in trying to communicate to them, 'things have changed <br
I hope I'm not coming accross as too negative because in general I'm a positive person. But, Positive change requires being a realist. <br <br <br

 

[kevinpreston8]

Misc thoughts and responses

"Kevin, please don’t take you toys and go home in a huff because people are expressing their opinion that is different from your own.&quot <br
Robert, statements like that and some others I have read make it sound that because people here have a different opinion than I, that I am being too sensitive. Couldn't be further from the truth. Let me give you an example of what I mean <br
I am about as far apart in politics of say RickR on this board. (we have very similar opinions and interests in many other things, like many of my other friends). It is clear to me that he views conservatives of not having compassion and understanding in areas that are important to him. I understand his opinion, and he only loses me when he says things like "I do not get respect from republicans, nor does any other gay citizen.&quot <br
Well, I think Rick is a pretty cool individual, and he has as much of my respect as any person. I could care less if anyone is gay. That's their lifestyle interest and it has nothing to do with my friendship or relationship with the person. In my mix of friends, both sides of the political aisle, I don't know anyone who is hostile to any one other group, (although I cannot see what is in their hearts), I don't see the gay hating Republican deal. Again, Rick is entitled to his opinion and it doesn't bother me at all <br
The line I talk about crossing is very simple, and the gay aspect had not even been raised. I reject talk about how the President should be shot, and as I said before, that would be if Bush, Clinton, Carter, or in the future, a Kerry or Hillary or whoever. I may disagree with their philosophy, and want them gone after four years, but talk about killing people or foaming over movies depicting such is deplorable to me. I reject, as being a republican, to be called such things as were indicated. <br
Further, if there is a large contingent of gay folks here, and they feel that they are second class citizens, than I would surely assume that they as a group would be especially sensitive of hurtful and incorrect generalizations <br
Need I remind folks a while back that someone's mom did not want them to attend a convention because of the insinuation that some people may be "pedophiles". How often have I as a straight male heard that idiotic association with gay folks? And not from some crazed right wing conservative but by any stupid person? I vigorously reject such statements as well <br
This is the same exact things folks. It has nothing to do with debate or politics, but it's cheap shots <br
Robert, even YOU said in a statement that may appear to be innocuous at first <br
"It is quite simple, the 90% of republicans are attacking our gay families for their own political and monetary gain. &quot <br
Where did you get that figure? Is that a debate point or just some crazy statistic from some source? Simple math would calculate that if Republicans are 50% of the population then roughly 45% of the population (not counting any anti-gay democrats out there) are attacking gay families for their own gain! Who might I ask of all the conservatives I know, and in my huge extended family, are doing such a thing? Obviously there are close minded people out there attacking any particular group, but 90%??? <br
Are some folks so passionate in their beliefs that they miss the big picture on how misrepresentative such statements are <br
Washertalk replied to my initial statement that he didn't direct his remarks to anyone personally. Well, how exactly does that change anything? That's like saying "anyone who is gay is xxx" or "anyone who is black is xxx" or "anyone who is straight is xxx", and just make the xxx things like racists, pedofiles, etc. But see, I didn't name names, so it's OK! If washertalk is gay, and I don't know if he is, how does he feel about blanket, incorrect, uninformed, and hurtful statements about gay folks <br
It's beyond name calling, and I think it's a bit beyond any level of even basic respect. <br
I don't expect anyone to accept my political viewpoints, nor do I demand it. I don't mind other people's opinions, and am happy to debate them even passionately. I don't need to be babied and am demanding nothing, simply expressing my response. I do hope that abusive comments might be considered for what they are and not misconstrued as a political debate or excused because people are on pins and needles for an upcoming election <br
Again, this is not my site, I am but a guest here, but it's my outlook, and I think it's pretty damned fair.

 

[Unimatic1140]

Oppsie I made a mistake

<i>"It is quite simple, the 90% of republicans are attacking our gay families for their own political and monetary gain. " </i <br
You are correct Kevin, taken in my exact words that statement is not true, unlike a certain president I know, I will be the first to stand up and announce that I have made an error and correct it and not make any excuses or try to blame someone else. I made a mistake and here is my correction: <br
This is what I was thinking when I was typing that <br
<i>"It is quite simple, the 90% of professional republicans politicians are attacking our gay families for their own political and monetary gain. " </i <br
And that's easy to prove, all we have to do is looking up the voting records on specific issues that try to give or take rights away from our community

 

[rickr]

Kevin, I am not certain you are understanding what we are trying to tell you
When we say that we are hated and mistreated by republicans, we do not mean you, Venus, or Austin Wilder. We are speaking about the republicans in power. We are speaking about republicans like the Bush Administration, including Rove, Coulter, Limbaugh, plus all of churches that try to sway people to vote republican while slandering the gay community in the process. <br
In other words
If you are to say that you hate progressives/liberals, I do not take that as you hate me. <br <br
Perhaps you may have to be gay to understand this, but as I have said before, this current republican administation uses gay civil rights as a wedge issue. These are direct attacks on us as a people, and this sort of treatment would not be tolerated by any other minority. <br
By the way, I know of several republicans around Indiana, that are not happy with the Bush team. <br
Ric <br <br

 

[dalangdon]

Oh Come on Kevin, now you're being deliberately over-sensitive. <br
I think it should be obvious to you, or anyone of reasonable intelligence, that when broad, sweeping statements are made about republicans, that they are mostly refering to Republican LEADERSHIP. None of us (that I know of) are professional writers, and emotions get the best of all of us at times. <br
In any event, I would think that you would be able to separate yourself from your party enough to recognize that there are serious problems with the way the GOP has been conducting themselves, recently, or do you put party affiliation over national well-being? <br
Furthermore, You can say that you are fine with gay people - and I have no reason to believe that you are bigoted - but don't you understand that your electoral approval of the GOP is de facto homophobia? It's like saying "some of my best friends are black" on your way to a KKK meeting. <br
I respect many of the tenents of true conservatism, and I think I understand where you are coming from. But the current Republican party is not about conservatism anymore. It's about corporate greed and protection of the upper 1% of the country at the expense of the rest of us. <br
I urge you to read the Richard Viguerie column I linked to, and THINK about the party you support so earnestly and with such well-meaning, and see if they really do represent you. <br
Vote your values and not your party. <br
And I should have said it in my first post, and I forgot, but I'd urge you not to leave. I got my feathers ruffled over some stuff on this site once, and left for a few months, and it was just stupid and petty on my part. I took things too personally, and I was mad at myself because I couldn't sway others to what I considered THE intelligent viewpoint on an issue. That was dumb and arrogant of me, and hurt no one but myself. Don't make the same mistake. <br
We all want good things for this country. We just have different ways of going about it. But the best thing we can do is vote as Americans, and not partisans. <br <br <br <br <br

 

[washertalk]

It doesn't matter if you are gay

You all are making very good points. <br
I am talking about a way of life that goes far beyond gay people. <br
If we can't count on fair elections, honest media, and Civil Liberties, Where are ANY of us <br
To simply shrug off ones rights because 'well, right now policies are in my favor' thinking kicks in is short sighted. <br
What if something happens next week and your life is changed in some way and you no longer agree with policies. Isn't it nice to know that change is legitimately possible, even if you never use it <br
It is like insurance, we all have various types of insurance(hopefully), we hope we never need, but just in case....
Our constitution is the same way. In ones lifetime most of won't use all those rights but, just knowing that it is there is reassuring. <br
... and what about those times we needed the insurance <br
Others have said better here, than I can, in previous posts the extent to which this HATE-ful administration is trying to antagonize the American people.
(I believe, part of it is out of sport.)
(Google the the name Michael Skakel and/or the murder of Martha Moxley in 1975. Michael is a distant cousin of jb jr. A gruesome murder that went unprosecuted for 25+ years. in one of the nations richest, if not THE richest neighborhood in our country. 25 years of trying to hide. How many other Marthas are there.) <br
Being rich and using that wealth to further your life isn't unheard of.
But being rich and using your money to elevate yourself so you can step all over and hurt others, well... that is just a crime against humanity. And that is what this administration is all about.

 

[panthera]

Kevin,

I really enjoy your contributions - and I would hate to see you go. Please don't
These are tough days for principled republicans in your country. Living in Europe (I am back in Germany for a while) I can not tell you how often I am accosted and blamed for the actions of your country's administration. The fact that I am neither an American citizen nor share the views of your administration regarding torture and dissolution of habeus corpus not-withstanding...I have an American accent, therefore I must be one of the "villans.&quot
I think a lot of gay and lesbian people have reached a point similar to the situation of many black people in the US in the 1950's. The republicans are in charge of all three branches of your federal government. Very many of them have used their position to actively pursue discrimination against those of us who are homosexual. I am sorry that some of us have said things in a hurtful manner to you; one can be an honorable conservative and republican. I can't recall you ever being anything but polite and courteous, of course you resent being attacked. (Well, ok, that vent hood sort of had your dander up, now didn't it...
The divisions which the last years have carved into your country's soul are mirrored in our forum
This said - please remember: You are much better at articulating your beliefs and feelings than are the majority of us. And, forgive me - I know you have also had serious unfairness done to you in your life - we homosexuals are the last group of normal people in the US against whom it is legal and encouraged by your government to discriminate. I find it hard to remain cool, logical and abstract in my thinking when dealing with such a situation
Keven

 

[58limited]

I usually do not partake in political discussions. I consider myself middle-of-the-road rather than either conservative or liberal. I vote for the candidate, not the party - sometimes I even vote third party (some consider this throwing my vote away, but at least I feel good about voting for what I believe in). My observation of the political process is that control of congress shifts every 10-20 years. The majority party starts to have scandals, ethics problems, and ideological differences with the public that the minority party capitalizes on to gain control. Then, in another decade or two the process repeats. I will have to verify this, but it seems that only rarely since WWII has one party controlled both the executive and legislative branches at the same time, and often control of the House and the Senate of the legislative branch is split. It seems to me that the public basically wants control split to balance the power of both parties. Each party complains that they can't get anything passed, but I think it forces the politicians to compromise, which helps to prevent passage of one-sided or extreme laws. I realize that in reality this does not always work, but it is a nice theory <br <br
I personnally distrust most politicians. I always joke that the people who really should be in politics to better our nation, people like you and me from all walks of life, are the ones that wouldn't stand for all the B.S. of politics and therefore would probably be horrible politicians. <br

 

[peterh770]

Sorry, y'all... "Gay" politics is the furthest thing from my mind.. <br
I will vote for the candidate that will finish up the job in Iraq and Pakistan <br
I will vote for the candidate that will close our borders and enforce immigration laws <br
I will vote for the candidate that will support throwing out the current tax structure and institute a better method of taxation (the fair tax) <br
I will vote for the candidate that will make the government smaller and stop the spending <br
I will vote for the candidate that supports PRIVATE stem cell research that is NOT funded by the government <br
I will vote for the candidate that supports our current PRIVATE medical profession and NOT socialized medicine. <br
If that means voting Republican, then I will. If that means there is a Democratic candidate that does NOT sound like a Socialist/Communist and will not penalize me with higher taxes because I choose to achieve, then he/she get my vote. If it means that I "waste" my vote on a Libertarian candidate, then I will <br
Gay issues, give me a friggin' break! That is the furthest thing from my mind and the last thing to worry about with the current state of affaris (so to speak).

 

[dalangdon]

Communist/Socialist, Peter? Give me a break. "Y'all" need to find some new bogeymen <br
And please give me a list of medical initiatives where the basic research has been funded by the private sector. Do you have any idea how much the pharmaceutical industry depends on state run universities and the military for basic research, Or is that too Socialist to contemplate <br
Stem Cell research CAN'T be conducted by the private sector in the United States (outside of a few existing cell lines which are already polluted) because the "culture of life" would rather see the extra eggs from in-vitro fertilization thrown out. Flushed down the drain. That's quality of life for everyone concerned, isn't it <br
And just what "job" is there to finish in Pakistan? Don't we have enough unfinished jobs already? And How do you expect us to pay for it? Being the "world's policeman" costs money. <br
I wish all these gung-ho military types would enlist and actually put their butts on the line instead of being keyboard warriors. That, I could respect.