tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15005476.post6226336048012544785..comments2023-10-10T08:02:18.073-04:00Comments on Rationally Speaking: Will the Dems lose the 2008 Presidential?Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15005476.post-67104846714690579392008-05-17T19:04:00.000-04:002008-05-17T19:04:00.000-04:00But back to "losing the election", another side no...But back to "losing the election", another side note: have you seen Stephen Colbert's graphic "Democralypse Now", about how the dems are going to self destruct? It's pretty funny, look it up sometime.J. Marcelo Alveshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09967299561849915314noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15005476.post-30263972190125463412008-05-17T19:03:00.000-04:002008-05-17T19:03:00.000-04:00Side note: Why is Obama "black"?Definitely a good ...<B>Side note: Why is Obama "black"?</B><BR/><BR/>Definitely a good question, I keep thinking that myself all the time. Since Obama surfaced, I've started using him as an example that the concept of race is not biological (people usually do not believe me), but social.<BR/><BR/>Are you called black if you have more than 1/4 black ancestry, or what? That would be asymmetrical, of course. Or then, what's the skin absorbance threshold for considering someone black? Of course, there is no criteria. If you "look black" and are "accepted as black" by society, that's it, even if you're 3/4 German and 1/4 Kenyan, for example.<BR/><BR/>Another one I usually mention is Tiger Woods, "black" golfer according to many people I've heard in the media.<BR/><BR/>He is "one-quarter Chinese, one quarter Thai, one quarter African American, one-eighth Native American, and one-eighth Dutch. He refers to his ethnic make-up as “Cablinasian”(a portmanteau term he coined from Caucasian, Black, American-Indian, and Asian).[7] Woods is a Buddhist." (from Wikipedia)<BR/><BR/>And he married a Swede (whom I'm assuming is white, although I might be wrong). What does THAT make his boy? Confused?<BR/><BR/>We don't need no steekin' races...J. Marcelo Alveshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09967299561849915314noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15005476.post-16009663060369094102008-05-17T15:09:00.000-04:002008-05-17T15:09:00.000-04:00"....blacks *really* were involuntarily used for e..."....blacks *really* were involuntarily used for experiments on syphilis by the US government a few decades ago, so some degree of paranoia here is not entirely irrational."<BR/><BR/>I agree. That is a good point Massimo. Also part of the Wright controversy was also about him suggesting at least part of the causality of the 9-11 attacks to U.S. foreign policy. This of course is an argument made by purely secular analysts, and is well supported by evidence.Sheldonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03743116454273042629noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15005476.post-43326159770041530032008-05-17T14:55:00.000-04:002008-05-17T14:55:00.000-04:00"Personally, I won't vote for him due to his stron..."Personally, I won't vote for him due to his strongly avowed religious beliefs and his ties to the Democratic parties socialist platform."<BR/><BR/>Unfortunately, if you wish to vote for anybody who has a chance at winning the presidency, then you have to swallow the bitter pill that the candidate is obligated to make some strange religious noises. <BR/><BR/>But I think what really matters is how, if at all, they allow religious beliefs to infect policy decisions. Like for example sex education, abortion rights, science education, separation of church and state etc.. Overall, the Democrats are generally going to be on more on the side of secularism, than the Republicans. <BR/><BR/>Socialist platform? Oh how I wish you were correct on the latter point!Sheldonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03743116454273042629noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15005476.post-17385667427000939402008-05-16T20:27:00.000-04:002008-05-16T20:27:00.000-04:00Oh ho! So which one is the secret atheist? I migh...Oh ho! So which one is the secret atheist? I might have a candidate after all.<BR/><BR/>Nah, who am I kidding? <BR/><BR/><BR/>Duff-Man for President!Die Anywayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10632857696534495049noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15005476.post-82976332090734026972008-05-16T15:22:00.000-04:002008-05-16T15:22:00.000-04:00What if Obama shared most of his mother's opinions...What if Obama shared most of his mother's opinions on religion? (she was an atheist, right?). How would we ever know?<BR/><BR/>I'm surprised the swift-boaters haven't picked up on this. But I guess the sensation of having the middle name Hussein is just too luscious a fruit, which must be eaten first.<BR/><BR/>Then again, I thought Hillary was lying about religion, until I heard about the elite, bi-partisan Bible study group she attended in Washington.<BR/><BR/>All the same, if one knows early in life that one wants to be a politician, why not establish one's religious credentials early on, so that no one would suspect you were not sincere. Sort of like being a self-activated mole. (yes, I have read all of Lecarré's and Len Deighton's books, so call me crazy. I don't mind).paul01https://www.blogger.com/profile/06306440944379183875noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15005476.post-24511502875845372542008-05-16T15:09:00.000-04:002008-05-16T15:09:00.000-04:00Pigliucci's statements here are obscene. How dare...Pigliucci's statements here are obscene. How dare he so freely state the truth? Isn't he concerned about offending people?<BR/><BR/>Oh, wait, he never has been. ;-)Joseph Frantzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09002838588050900281noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15005476.post-45984502391206807952008-05-16T13:53:00.000-04:002008-05-16T13:53:00.000-04:00We have to admit that race still plays a part but ...We have to admit that race still plays a part but it swings both ways... there are whites who will not vote for Obama because he's black and blacks who will vote for him simply because he IS black. Yes, racism exists in America and while it's not as blatant as it was when I was growing up, I figure it will be another generation or two before it fades to background level.<BR/>Side note: Why is Obama "black"? If I have my genealogical facts correct, his mother is white, his father is black. That's 50/50. Why don't we just as readily say that he's white? <BR/>Personally, I won't vote for him due to his strongly avowed religious beliefs and his ties to the Democratic parties socialist platform. Won't vote for HC either, and not because of her sex, but for the same reasons that I'm opposed to Obama. Of course McCain is off my radar too. U.S. politics sucks.Die Anywayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10632857696534495049noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15005476.post-22205496309641900072008-05-16T12:52:00.000-04:002008-05-16T12:52:00.000-04:00NPR played a story about this issue yesterday. It ...NPR played a story about this issue yesterday. It was difficult to listen to some of the things people said in it. I think that this is the link to the article that I heard:<BR/><BR/>http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=90483754Robhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05655148766365313076noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15005476.post-7193898858742261112008-05-16T07:15:00.000-04:002008-05-16T07:15:00.000-04:00"Sure, the Rev. Wright said something pretty kooky..."Sure, the Rev. Wright said something pretty kooky, that the U.S. govt. invented AIDS to commit genocide against blacks."<BR/><BR/>I certainly agree it is kooky. Then again, blacks *really* were involuntarily used for experiments on syphilis by the US government a few decades ago, so some degree of paranoia here is not entirely irrational. Unfortunately, few people in the white community even know about that stuff, or about their government forced sterilization of thousands of "idiots" during the height of the eugenic movement in the 1930s.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09099460671669064269noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15005476.post-63595826599160628342008-05-16T05:04:00.000-04:002008-05-16T05:04:00.000-04:00I'm starting to think that the reason McCain is go...I'm starting to think that the reason McCain is going to win is because the divide between Obama and Clinton supporters is getting to the point that enough of the one won't vote for the other. At this point it looks like Obama is going to get the nomination unless Clinton can pull off some last minute behind the scenes type of deal with enough super delegates. From what I've been reading in the blogosphere and hearing on the radio, it seems like more and more Clinton supporters are at the point where they are either going to vote for a third party candidate or just not vote at all because of a perception that Clinton is not being treated fairly.<BR/><BR/>And I'll also agree with you on the average American intellect. Even though the polls always seem to show that people are unhappy with the economy and want universal health care and other so-called "Liberal" programs, they still tend to vote against their own interests and allow themselves to be easily swayed by fear tactics.Brucehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11338993634025153018noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15005476.post-14268577387984024972008-05-15T20:17:00.000-04:002008-05-15T20:17:00.000-04:00The whole Rev. Wright media frenzy thing was clear...The whole Rev. Wright media frenzy thing was clearly a play on white racial fears and anxiety. How dare that uppity black man complain about this countries racist history and present! <BR/><BR/>Blacks are supposed to pretend and play along with the majority of whites that much of American racism is behind us. Then if they don't, then they are accused of being racist. Of course you would expect it from Fox News, but to have the so-called liberal media, ABC, and all the others play along with the same plot is just pitiful.<BR/><BR/>Sure, the Rev. Wright said something pretty kooky, that the U.S. govt. invented AIDS to commit genocide against blacks. But so what, kooky shit is standard fare from preachers, and I find that less kooky than all the other kooky shit preachers continously carry on about, like fairy tales of heaven and hell. <BR/><BR/>SheldonHumanist.Observerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15306535562032283524noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15005476.post-85149068410628733812008-05-15T14:30:00.000-04:002008-05-15T14:30:00.000-04:00I did not say that doubting the honesty of a polit...I did not say that doubting the honesty of a politician is racist, that was just the entire quote from the NYT, the racist bit is at the end.<BR/><BR/>Then again, doubting Obama's honesty over, say, Clinton's or McCain's, that's dumb.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09099460671669064269noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15005476.post-74392960920207511272008-05-15T14:00:00.000-04:002008-05-15T14:00:00.000-04:00Okay, it's depressing that many people won't vote ...Okay, it's depressing that many people won't vote for him because he's black--but since when is doubting the honesty of a politician evidence of racism?The Uncredible Hallqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09565179884099473943noreply@blogger.com