babylonDon

I bought a couple made with hemp at a head shop once. Not good.

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“The irony of the Information Age is that it has given new respectability to uninformed opinion."-John Lawton

Chantytown

The pot chocolate chip cookie were tastey, though!

gonzo

That subject on this board? I'll stay mute.

babylonDon

Well, enough jocularity

Your points deserve discussion, I just find it opening more avenues, I guess.

This morning I heard on the radio( I didn't research it, but it must be out there) that a new study shows that as a group, conservatives are happier than liberals.
The study shows that on subjects like poverty, and race relations, liberals tend to feel more anxiety. That's because(according to the study) liberals give more thought to these issues. Conservatives, avoid deliberation of the problems, by only considering them in comforting 'buzz-words' or phrases, designed to provide easy answers.

If that seems inflammatory, or partisan, I can only tell you, that I heard it on a news segment on an AOR station. Not NPR or Air America or anything like that.

The Wright issue?

I can't speak for the left as a group (more about the left, as a group later) I can only give you my thoughts. Which, damn you, you've made me elucidate to myself better.

I don't really follow any news gurus either. I've always been a fan of actual journalism, so I have tended to study it more as a process, than a news source. I feel like I've got a pretty decent handle on what's news and what's spin. Anything I hear or read, I look at with a jaundiced eye.

When the Wright story first came out, I saw it as spin. I imagine most people on the left did too. I really have no respect for it as a news story, and I'll give you my reasons.


I distrust all organized religion, and find man's surety of the knowledge of spirituality either laughable or frightening, depending on how it's being presented. So right off the bat, I find Wright's calling and his faith questionable. That's the filter I start hearing his words through. I not only agreed with much of what he had to say about social issues, I took much of it as pretty clear headed interpretation of historical fact. Some of his more esoteric beliefs (AIDS, etc.) I didn't agree with, but as i had already dismissed his entire raison de Etre(sp?), I didn't find it especially hard to reconcile my disinterest.

As the 'issue' was kept in the spotlight, the things that you could possibly say about it, were all said. You can't really fault the left for that. There were stock slogans and fake outrage about Wright, which were repeated over and over again. After you've said everything that can possibly be said, and your opposition keeps filling space with it, your only option is repetition. If the defense sounds like sloganeering, it's because of how many times you heard it.

But like I said, you made me think about it, and it kind of helped me think past the usual point-counterpoint of it all, so....

First of all, I didn't care when Obama supported him, and i didn't care when he denounced him. I'm pretty sure i understand (in a general way) how it all went down. Obama wouldn't have had to say anything more, had Wright not got caught up in the spotlight, not uncommon for men of his vocation.

And like I said, I find the whole notion of my country's future being decided by who's shaman shares the prevailing view of invisible friends in the sky, a little disheartening.

The other thing I came up with, and it's not exactly an epiphany, but sometimes basic things get lost in the process, is so what/

So what if Obama knows somebody, even spends time with somebody whose ideas i don't wholly support? Do we expect our leaders to avoid life-long contact with anyone who has any other world views?

Knowing, dealing, or listening to someone outside the accepted political fashions, is a good thing, isn't it? A diversity of experience, is an attribute, not a detriment. Are we looking for someone who runs screaming every time, someone says something politically unpopular?

This is how we know things, isn't it? If strict adherence, to the point of ignoring outside views, is the ideal couldn't we just elect whoever happens to have read the most editions of Readers Digest?

This is getting too long.

I'm not rejecting your idea that people on the left can be victims to sloganeering. I am saying the left is a less organized group with more diverse and less clearly defined linear goals, so it doesn't lend itself to definitive declaration accepted as group think.

__________________
“The irony of the Information Age is that it has given new respectability to uninformed opinion."-John Lawton

babylonDon

I told you my Phish-'Ganja Butter Cookie' story, right?

__________________
“The irony of the Information Age is that it has given new respectability to uninformed opinion."-John Lawton

BillCosby

Well I like much of what you said & thnX you for taking the time to spell it out. I agree w/ much & appreciate your approach........

TO clarify I did not say or example someone on the left........ But rather a democrat........ Dems can run from the far left to the far right. Religious & not......... etc.......

I believe that ppl on the left are far less likely to get sucker punched by the james carvelle & other pundits out there..........

Simply because they are perhaps more willing to question these "generally held truth"s as NOT NECESSARILY SELF EVIDENT........

This is not an exclusive to ppl on the left either... Example The Heritc...... I have known his posting for several years & he is not necessarily a leftie or a rightie & questions both & thus has taken heat from both. I have seen threads were he is simultaneously being called a right & a left wing wackO.......

Run of the mill dem or rep........ IMO not much different in their thinking or approach......... Both parties are an intricate part of the military industrial complex & if your putting all your nuts in one of them baskets your likely to get them kicked........lol

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Preventive war is not war!!!!Counter-terror is not terror

babylonDon

O well, in that case!
I identify myself as a Dem, primarily because it's as far left as I can get, and hopefully get something accomplished.

I don't have many illusions about who the candidates are, or their motivations. I mostly just want to see the pendulum swing back farther my way.

__________________
“The irony of the Information Age is that it has given new respectability to uninformed opinion."-John Lawton

BillCosby

Me to........

IMO it has now swung way to far to the right.............

I am not a dem but will be supporting them if Obama is the candidate....... Which look pretty likely now.......

We don't have to agree 100%....... Actually it is even better as we go forward...... Personally I enjoy examining my views & I have no problem making adjustments as I find need.....

Have a fun day.................

__________________
Preventive war is not war!!!!Counter-terror is not terror

babylonDon

__________________
“The irony of the Information Age is that it has given new respectability to uninformed opinion."-John Lawton

Chantytown

No. But I demand you tell it now.