PhilsFan
Blue Crack Addict
BVS said:You can see why many don't take you seriously right? You don't even seem to understand the platforms for which you're cheering for...
What?
BVS said:You can see why many don't take you seriously right? You don't even seem to understand the platforms for which you're cheering for...
You can see why many don't take you seriously right? You don't even seem to understand the platforms for which you're cheering for...
Diemen said:Could you resist making this personal?
Paul Ryan is Romney's attack dog, and will make Mitt seem more conservative. He's not boring like Pawlenty, he's young, and has definite appeal to certain voters. I think it's a brilliant choice
I exempt you from that comment. I think your posts display a humility and willingness to challenge and be challenged that is mostly lacking in the contributions from the other left wing posters on here. Age may not necessarily bring wisdom!
mittens used to love us.
Romney, on the other hand, has endorsed Wisconsin Republican Paul Ryan's budget, which will cut hundreds of millions of dollars out of the federal plans that support poor women. The undoubted effect: The number of abortions in the United States will increase. On these facts, Obama is much more pro-life than Romney.
Cafardi's right, of course — thinking you can reduce the number of abortions by making abortion illegal and then making life extra crappy for women so they'd be more likely to want to have abortions is sort of like a pitcher walking all of the batters in baseball so none of them hit home runs and then acting all confused when the score keeps increasing. Sure, some abortions will always be matters of "convenience" or "lifestyle," two reasons for terminating a pregnancy often sneered at by the anti-abortion rights set, but many of those "convenience" abortions occur because it's not very "convenient" when you're a single woman trying to live on a minimum wage income and you're not getting any help from anyone.
Ta-da. Thank you.
Not to mention, the Republicans will do anything to distract voters from the fact that their economic plans, if they have any, aren't anything new and helpful to your average citizen. It's the same old strategy that's been used for years: talk about "culture war" issues to get the base all riled up so you don't have to answer actual questions about the economy and why your economic plans favor your rich buddies yet again instead of the middle and lower classes you claim to care so much about.
corianderstem said:I thought Donna Brazil (sp?) had moderated a debate back in 2008. Was it not a presidential debate?
I thought Donna Brazil (sp?) had moderated a debate back in 2008. Was it not a presidential debate?
Paul Ryan's love of Rage Against the Machine is amusing, because he is the embodiment of the machine that our music has been raging against for two decades. Charles Manson loved the Beatles but didn't understand them. Governor Chris Christie loves Bruce Springsteen but doesn't understand him. And Paul Ryan is clueless about his favorite band, Rage Against the Machine.
Ryan claims that he likes Rage's sound, but not the lyrics. Well, I don't care for Paul Ryan's sound or his lyrics. He can like whatever bands he wants, but his guiding vision of shifting revenue more radically to the one percent is antithetical to the message of Rage.
I wonder what Ryan's favorite Rage song is? Is it the one where we condemn the genocide of Native Americans? The one lambasting American imperialism? Our cover of "Fuck the Police"? Or is it the one where we call on the people to seize the means of production? So many excellent choices to jam out to at Young Republican meetings!
Don't mistake me, I clearly see that Ryan has a whole lotta "rage" in him: A rage against women, a rage against immigrants, a rage against workers, a rage against gays, a rage against the poor, a rage against the environment. Basically the only thing he's not raging against is the privileged elite he's groveling in front of for campaign contributions.
You see, the super rich must rationalize having more than they could ever spend while millions of children in the U.S. go to bed hungry every night. So, when they look themselves in the mirror, they convince themselves that "Those people are undeserving. They're . . . lesser." Some of these guys on the extreme right are more cynical than Paul Ryan, but he seems to really believe in this stuff. This unbridled rage against those who have the least is a cornerstone of the Romney-Ryan ticket.
But Rage's music affects people in different ways. Some tune out what the band stands for and concentrate on the moshing and throwing elbows in the pit. For others, Rage has changed their minds and their lives. Many activists around the world, including organizers of the global occupy movement, were radicalized by Rage Against the Machine and work tirelessly for a more humane and just planet. Perhaps Paul Ryan was moshing when he should have been listening.
My hope is that maybe Paul Ryan is a mole. Maybe Rage did plant some sensible ideas in this extreme fringe right wing nut job. Maybe if elected, he'll pardon Leonard Peltier. Maybe he'll throw U.S. military support behind the Zapatistas. Maybe he'll fill Guantanamo Bay with the corporate criminals that are funding his campaign – and then torture them with Rage music 24/7. That's one possibility. But I'm not betting on it.