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Hugeboobfan

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Re: MERGED: The Politics Thread
« Reply #1110 on: April 06, 2009, 07:49:05 AM »
Quote:

Dearc said:
Illegal drug use probably kills more people than guns do, but there's no fucking outcry here for that!      I bet there are more drug users here on the Forum than gun owners!  lol



Why would there be an outcry?  Illegal drugs are already illegal, assault rifles are not.

And let's compare the illegal drug marijuana to any type of legal gun and see which has killed more.

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DruulEmpire

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Re: MERGED: The Politics Thread
« Reply #1111 on: April 06, 2009, 12:28:56 PM »
Obviously people will kill each other any way they can -- I can only repeat that the gun was invented to make that easier.  I can appreciate the idea of people wanting to protect guns in the name of self-defense, citizen's arrests, and the Constitution -- it would be refreshing, though, if Team Gun simply owned up to the design and function of guns, and admitted that there is indeed a degree of hazard higher than certain other items.  Take for example cars, those great heavy machines which propel people at up to 55 miles an hour, we document those and try to make them safer and find ways to keep them safer.

Actually, Dearc, I happen to agree that we could stand to talk more about drugs -- and I don't even care so much about illegality, since medicine cabinet stuff is open to abuse, plus there's the whole Libertarian argument that legalizing everything makes the problems go away.  My own objection to drugs is a combination of public health -- drugs leaving people ill and also motivating crime, though unfortunately for you that also goes to guns, guns magnifying the effects of violent crime -- and geopolitics.  I'm one of the few people I know who sees drugs as the lunatic fringe of agribusiness.  It's bad enough that the cash crop system encourages whole nations to dump sensible self-sustaining crops in the name of supplying our bad habits, and I see the drug trade as the extreme of that.  Our high demand is ruining us badly enough, and it's ruining other parts of the world even worse.  So for what it's worth you're not alone on that.

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Dearc

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Re: MERGED: The Politics Thread
« Reply #1112 on: April 06, 2009, 05:20:33 PM »
I know guns are used to kill people.  I know many innocent people are dying by gun violence.  I know there are far too many people with access to guns and ammo.  Banning them, I truly believe, will not solve gun crime.  Laws aren't working well because enforcing them is harder than writing them.

And yes, it looks like the last several nat'l news stories about several people gunned down by gun violence was done with someone with little or no criminal history.

I finally bought my M4 two weekends ago (pic attached w/ friend's shotgun bought last fall).  Sales for this type have gone through the roof, for fear of any AR ban.  And no, I didn't NEED it, but if anyone claims they only buy what they need, they're lying.  At least I provided to the economy, buying an American-made product.  

The truth is, I can't explain how to solve this, and it's a problem worth addressing.  We're all adults (supposed to be, to get a login), and it's much more constructive to debate and differ, than berate and insult.  Of course, jokes at another's expense are obvious and inevitable.

I'll reiterate: I like & buy guns.  I'm near-sickened at the attrocities commited by gun violence.  Just as much as saying: I drink alcohol, but despise **92** drivers.
Stand up for what you believe, even if you must stand alone.

"There are over 550 million firearms in worldwide circulation.  That's one firearm for every 12 people on the planet.  The only question is how do we arm the other 11?"  Yuri Orlov "Lord of War"

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MunchWolf

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Re: MERGED: The Politics Thread
« Reply #1113 on: April 06, 2009, 08:00:49 PM »
Quote:

DruulEmpire said:
Dearc posted yesterday.  Meanwhile, Munch hasn't been around since the 25th.




I haven't?

-Munch "Maybe I just haven't had anything to say ... or maybe I disappeared again" Wolf

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TheZookie007

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Re: MERGED: The Politics Thread
« Reply #1114 on: April 08, 2009, 03:14:24 AM »
A lot of pretty good parody songs on this page ("The Year of Barack", "Biden/Obama: Joe Sings About Barack" and "Nancy in the Speaker's Chair" are my favorites, from a musical perspective).
AOC, HC, TW, BO, KH: FU. FUATH. 100x.

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TheZookie007

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Re: MERGED: The Politics Thread
« Reply #1115 on: April 08, 2009, 05:02:43 PM »
From our "What The Hell Was He Thinking?" Dept.:

YouTube: "Turkish News Anchor Dons Blackface to "Welcome" President Obama"
AOC, HC, TW, BO, KH: FU. FUATH. 100x.

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Q_BE

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Re: MERGED: The Politics Thread
« Reply #1116 on: April 08, 2009, 05:13:55 PM »
Quote:

Dearc said:
I know guns are used to kill people.  I know many innocent people are dying by gun violence.  I know there are far too many people with access to guns and ammo.  Banning them, I truly believe, will not solve gun crime.  Laws aren't working well because enforcing them is harder than writing them.

And yes, it looks like the last several nat'l news stories about several people gunned down by gun violence was done with someone with little or no criminal history.

I finally bought my M4 two weekends ago (pic attached w/ friend's shotgun bought last fall).  Sales for this type have gone through the roof, for fear of any AR ban.  And no, I didn't NEED it, but if anyone claims they only buy what they need, they're lying.  At least I provided to the economy, buying an American-made product.  

The truth is, I can't explain how to solve this, and it's a problem worth addressing.  We're all adults (supposed to be, to get a login), and it's much more constructive to debate and differ, than berate and insult.  Of course, jokes at another's expense are obvious and inevitable.

I'll reiterate: I like & buy guns.  I'm near-sickened at the attrocities commited by gun violence.  Just as much as saying: I drink alcohol, but despise **92** drivers.



Hear, hear, hear, my dear Dearc!

We live and we die, my friend, by morality, not legislation. I'll have nobody telling me I cannot be free! In taking up arms, I defend my individuality, and, as an individual, I am the ultimate minority!

Nevertheless, I stand by God, and with Him, I declare my majority! Quod erat demonstrandum!

Q-"Cogito, ergo sum!"-BE

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TheZookie007

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Re: MERGED: The Politics Thread
« Reply #1117 on: April 08, 2009, 05:24:41 PM »
Quote:

Politico: "Obama's TV: sports, surprises"

President Barack Obama can't stand to be without his Entourage.

Call it a guilty pleasure, or maybe it just rings familiar to him. The HBO series about an aspiring actor features a fast-talking agent named Ari, based on the real-life brother of Obama’s chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel.

For less R-rated fare, he tunes into Hannah Montana or SpongeBob SquarePants in the White House with his daughters. Aides said he would have watched Monday night’s NCAA championship on TiVo on his way home from Iraq Tuesday night.

Jon Stewart’s smackdown of CNBC’s Jim Cramer? Obama was eager to see it. But when it comes to the real news, and not the fake kind, Obama takes a pass — rarely ever tuning into 24-hour cable chatter or replays of his own performances.

“We usually tell him how we think he did,” said longtime friend Valerie Jarrett.

In some ways, it’s a TV diet that doesn’t seem so different than many American men’s, featuring a heavy dose of sports, including that staple of the channel-surfing set, ESPN’s SportsCenter.

But some of Obama’s choices definitely have an edgier bent — such as the HBO drama The Wire. His favorite character is Omar, a gay stickup artist who steals from drug pushers to give to the poor. (“That’s not an endorsement. He’s not my favorite person, but he’s a fascinating character,” Obama said last year.)

“When you hear he likes Entourage, you have to go, ‘That figures,’” said Robert Thompson, a professor of pop culture at Syracuse University. “Anything Obama does is cool by definition. He’s the Internet president, he’s the BlackBerry president, and now, I suppose, he could be called the HBO president.” Obama likes Entourage so much he even rearranged his campaign schedule not to miss an episode.

“We would talk about Entourage all the time,” said White House press secretary Robert Gibbs.

“A couple of times during the campaign, we would have these Sunday night calls at the same time as Entourage,” Gibbs recalled. “I remember one time I e-mailed him because the call was scheduled for the last 15 minutes of Entourage and I said, ‘Just be late and we can just watch Entourage and still get on and do the call.’”

“And it worked,” Gibbs continued, laughing. “We got to see Entourage.”

And of course, with Obama, there is basketball — NBA and NCAA games and lots of ESPN.

“Sports, sports and more sports,” Jarrett said of Obama. “On the campaign trail, as soon as we would get on the bus, the first thing he would do is turn the channel to sports channels.”

When he has a few moments, Obama is known to go searching for highlights of basketball games on SportsCenter, a show he has watched religiously for years. “I remember sitting in a hotel lobby with him when he was running for the Senate and watching SportsCenter in silence,” said Michael Strautmanis, a senior White House aide.

But when you’re the president, you don’t just watch TV — you are TV. ESPN hosted Obama for a show called “Barack-etology,” in which he unveiled his March Madness college basketball picks.

And he’s got the ultimate man-cave — Air Force One. Strautmanis said he and Obama watched an NCAA basketball game on Air Force One last month as they traveled back from California on a late-night flight.

Seated in the office on the plane just hours after taping The Tonight Show With Jay Leno, Obama was focused on the game, analyzing the team’s every move.

“When he’s watching the game, he’s watching the game,” Strautmanis said. “We’re not talking about work or politics.” Obama’s diagnosis: The losing team should have played half-court defense.

But he steers away from the news — when you are one of the biggest stories in the world, with daily economic and national security briefings, maybe it’s sort of been there, done that.

Although many TVs in the West Wing are tuned to MSNBC, aides say Obama hardly ever watches news programs, preferring to “read the news,” as one aide put it. And he never watches reruns of his own speeches or news conferences, aides say.

“Sometimes we’ll show him like a YouTube clip or something off a website itself, and he gets a kick out of that,” Gibbs said.

Sometimes he’ll even tune in to watch Gibbs’ briefings. Gibbs has a photograph of Obama watching his first briefing on a small television — not a flat screen — in the White House residence.

Naturally, the first couple is no different than most. “Sports would not be her first pick,” Jarrett said of Michelle Obama. She prefers “comedies and positive shows. Nothing sad or depressing.”

But forget the tube. Lately, it seems, the first family has taken advantage of one particular White House perk: the movie theater.

Recently the Obamas have seen both Slumdog Millionaire and The Wrestler,” Jarrett said. They can request movies from the Motion Picture Association of America.

So if you can judge a man by what he watches, what does Obama’s channel-surfing say about him?

It’s hard to resist the art-imitates-life aspect of Entourage — that Obama is drawn to a show about an upstart young actor chasing an improbable dream, surrounded by his closest friends from his hometown and a fast-talking, foul-mouthed guide to his new city. Sound familiar?

“I’m sure he can relate on some level to the premise of these guys coming to Hollywood to do what they want to do,” said Julian Zelizer, a professor of history at Princeton University. “And he has a certain confidence about him, kind of like the lead character in the show.”

But, he quipped, Obama’s “team probably isn’t as exciting.”

Overall, Obama’s viewing preferences suggest a “cool, hip president who is in the know,” Zelizer said. “On the one hand, he’s this regular guy who likes basketball. On the other hand, he likes some of the sizzle that Entourage captures.”

Sports were a staple in the elder and younger Bush White Houses, particular SportsCenter or baseball games. Bill Clinton was a sports fan, too. Since leaving office, Clinton has confessed a love for Grey’s Anatomy, 24 and Boston Legal.

Ronald Reagan once said that his favorite TV show was Family Ties, whose main character, played by Michael J. Fox, was a die-hard Republican.

And George H.W. Bush’s vice president, Dan Quayle, singled out the show Murphy Brown after the title character, played by Candice Bergen, had a baby as a single mom.

Obama’s not launching any culture wars over TV these days, and, in fact, uses it to show off his pop-culture cool.

At a recent town hall in California, Obama joked with one man in the crowd who asked him a question. “Everybody likes you, man,” he told the man as the crowd cheered. Then he turned to the crowd and asked, “What is he on, like, Gossip Girl or something? ... I didn’t recognize him, but maybe. Is he a movie star?”

After the Gossip Girl mention, Internet users posted it on YouTube exclaiming, “President Obama watches Gossip Girl!”


AOC, HC, TW, BO, KH: FU. FUATH. 100x.

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PregNut

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Re: MERGED: The Politics Thread
« Reply #1118 on: April 08, 2009, 05:40:10 PM »
I'm glad Barry made it back safely from his "Apologizing for America" European tour.
"Whenever someone talks about doing something for reasons of justice, you should put your hand in your pocket, because you're about to get it picked."

Avatar courtesy of Getty Images.

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Hugeboobfan

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Re: MERGED: The Politics Thread
« Reply #1119 on: April 08, 2009, 09:54:33 PM »
Quote:

Q_BE said:
We live and we die, my friend, by morality, not legislation. I'll have nobody telling me I cannot be free!



Interesting comment coming off the guns-drugs comparison by Dearc.  I assume you support the legalization of all drugs then, since you live by morality not legislation.

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Dearc

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Re: MERGED: The Politics Thread
« Reply #1120 on: April 10, 2009, 04:41:02 PM »
Quote:

Hugeboobfan said:
I assume you support the legalization of all drugs then, since you live by morality not legislation.




Medicinal uses for marijuana aside, it's generally accepted that most illegal drugs (coke, heroin, meth, etc) do NOT emphasize a healthy or moral lifestyle, but destroys lives.

Q-BE, although we may be bound by a different order of belief, at least we have faith.  
Stand up for what you believe, even if you must stand alone.

"There are over 550 million firearms in worldwide circulation.  That's one firearm for every 12 people on the planet.  The only question is how do we arm the other 11?"  Yuri Orlov "Lord of War"

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TheZookie007

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Re: MERGED: The Politics Thread
« Reply #1121 on: April 10, 2009, 08:37:37 PM »
Define "moral". Whose "morals"? That's the problem.

The Huffington Post: "Baracknophobia: Hannity, Bachmann, and Beck Terrified of Obama"

If anyone is going to criticize the current President and his administration, at least do so from a position of truth and not just make crazy shit up. These people (esp. Beck and Bachmann) sound unhinged. "Mandatory service"? WTF has this woman been smoking? And even if our nation's youth were to be made to serve the nation for a year, perhaps in the armed forces, perhaps in an "Americorps on steroids" program, what, really, is wrong with that? (We earlier on this thread talked about the mandatory service in the armed forces that citizens of Israel and Switzerland have to do, and there's not much negative blowback from that in either country to the best of my knowledge.)
AOC, HC, TW, BO, KH: FU. FUATH. 100x.

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TheZookie007

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Re: MERGED: The Politics Thread
« Reply #1122 on: April 11, 2009, 07:16:15 AM »
AOC, HC, TW, BO, KH: FU. FUATH. 100x.

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Hugeboobfan

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Re: MERGED: The Politics Thread
« Reply #1123 on: April 11, 2009, 09:04:08 AM »
Quote:

Dearc said:
Quote:

Hugeboobfan said:
I assume you support the legalization of all drugs then, since you live by morality not legislation.




Medicinal uses for marijuana aside, it's generally accepted that most illegal drugs (coke, heroin, meth, etc) do NOT emphasize a healthy or moral lifestyle, but destroys lives.

Q-BE, although we may be bound by a different order of belief, at least we have faith.  



What does that have to do with it?  If you live by morality, not legislation, then I can't see why you would support legislating the illegality of drugs.  If it's "generally accepted" that drugs do not emphasize a moral lifestyle, then you shouldn't need legislation to back up the morality.

I was just trying to pin down what Q-BE meant by his statement that he believes in living by morality not legislation.  He said morality not legislation, not morality through legislation.

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Real

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Re: MERGED: The Politics Thread
« Reply #1124 on: April 11, 2009, 12:51:53 PM »
because you dont need YOUR morality legislated, other people do lol.  that's the foundation of social conservatism...
My current avatar is: Manda Dawn