The Good Post Gallery

[memphis]

Patrick and Torie,

I know I've invited this attention, but I just don't want another update thread to spring up in place of the one that is locked.  Lord knows the moderators had enough trouble keeping the first one contained, let alone having two or possibly three.

Nope - you told me you could handle it.  From now on, you do your own containing.  I advised you to keep it locked months ago, and you opened Pandora's box... whatever happens now is yours to deal with.

[memphis]

The problem with America is most people are running on the tread mill and doing okay.  So they vote like they are doing okay.  Well when the lay off happens and you have a wife and kid that few hundred dollars a month you saved up goes bye bye real quick.

What happens if you get pulled over by the cops after having three beers at the bar on the way home for work.  Well you could be in financial hurt real quick.  What happens if an illegal alien with no insurance because you live in a Nazi state hits you?  Well your insurance will cover it but guess what?  Your insurance rates will go into the stratosphere.  If you have a a legal, medical, or career emergency you could be living in your parents basement or worse under a bridge real quick.  What keeps America going is the illusion of security.  The reality is most of us are dancing on the knife's edge and don't even realize it.

[memphis]

Inks, I know you have good intentions here, but if you really want a Republican Party you can be proud of, you need to stop defending them for awhile.  There was a time when calling either party reprehensible was pure hackery, but that time is not now.  The Democratic Party, whether you agree in it's ideological conclusions or not, is morally superior to the Republican Party in 2012.  You of all people should know, your state GOP nominated Pete Hoekstra.

Over the past ten years, groups like Club for Growth have made sure any noble man better not seek election under the R brand.  Only those interested in making $$$ need apply, even if you're uneducated and have no idea how to run a national government.  That's not a hack opinion.  That's a description of most of the candidates we've seen run as Republicans in the past four years.

Yes, the Republican leadership is obstructionist and the Republican caucus is mostly full of know-nothings.  We don't have the Watergate tapes to prove it, but it's pretty obvious. 

It was certainly obvious with Romney long before "47%" and "gifts."  Yet Republicans spent a whole year trying to tell me what was obvious with my own eyes and ears wasn't true.  That Romney was some sort of noble person and it was the liberal media or hackery warping my perception.  No dice.  I would like to hold an objective position that Romney and Obama, or current Republicans and Democrats,  are the same in how much they care about people, how personally greedy they are, how much they listen to their big donors over the common folk, etc., etc. but that wouldn't be an objective position.  Barack Obama is a much better person than Mitt Romney is.   The Democratic Party of 2012 is much a better party than the Republican Party of 2012 is.  1990 GOP vs. 1990 Democrats? Probably equal.  The Bushes and Clintons? Probably equal.  Republicans today? No way.

Defending the GOP right now is the equivalent of going to a dinner party, being served a platter of feces, and eating it because the host has served real meals to you in the past.  We need to accept that the Republican Party has being sh**tting on plates for the past few years and demand better food.

[memphis]

In short, he doesn't give religion a get out of scrunity free pass? Absolutely scandelous!

[memphis]

Ok, Phil, here's what I don't get. The politicians you choose as your favorites, like Berlusconi and Santorum, are known for being bullies who roll over their opponents. Take a lesson from people like krazen and Sam Spade–you need to own that this is your preference. If you talk about how great someone like Santorum or Berlusconi is, when they pull stunts like this, then you need to be triumphalist and not complain that people aren't being fair to the poor guy. Santorum pounds his adversaries into the dust, like in this case - he doesn't play the victim himself. People aren't going to have sympathy that his critics are "mean" to him after he torpedoed a treaty defending the rights of the disabled. He did this, you should take pride or call out people who disagree with him for being weak. Not many people have a second act like Santorum did - Rod Grams and Conrad Burns lost in the same election and they're footnotes to history. Santorum's out killing treaties in the Senate and running for President as not-Romney.

I already know your response to this, but I don't care--if you think jerks make the best elected officials, then recognize that jerks can't be victims. Harry Reid is a jerk who takes no prisoners, and there's not a soul who would be taken seriously for saying "stop being mean to Harry!"

[memphis]

You seem to be under the opinion that because your belief is principled or because it's a logical extension of existing, commonplace reasoning (i.e., that life begins at conception), it's not radical.

But in this society, it is. We're at a standoff regarding abortion rights in general, but very very few people seriously believe that raped women should be forced to have their baby. It's absolutely radical, and it's not a light decision. After having a man strip away her right not to be raped, we as a society believe that a group of men shouldn't then force her to carry her rapist's baby.

A lot of us are very conflicted on the issue of abortion. We know the facts -- we know what happens at conception, at what point a fetus is viable outside the womb, and we know the dangers of late-term abortions for both baby and mother. We try to create a patchwork of laws and rules to do the least amount of harm over an issue that no one will ever agree. I'm largely pro-choice, but not in 100% of situations. Just as some people are largely pro-life, but make exceptions for the life of the mother or rape.

It's not just about the baby, dude. It's about the woman. A woman who was just forcibly raped. And this woman is living in a highly discriminatory culture -- one where rape victims are frequently blamed for their own attack. One where, behind closed doors, high school football players in Ohio joke about raping and killing a classmate. It's a crime where perpetrators are almost never brought to justice. You can pretend that our culture abhors rape all you want -- the truth is that men in our culture are just a little bit too okay with it.



Why is that chart important? Because it's shows a side of rape we'd rather not see. Rape babies are often seen as the woman's fault. It's because the woman didn't fight hard enough to set off that mythical "in-body rape defense." It's because the woman "raped so easy." It's because the woman is trying to use being drunk as a defense about the sex we all know she probably wanted anyway. It's because the "rape" didn't happen -- it's just an excuse for the woman to get her abortion and escape the shame of being called a slut. Because isn't that what women who have sex with people who aren't us are? Sluts? These arguments are a very pervasive part of the ultra-conservative Republican culture right now. And they're abhorrent.

Being forced to choose between abortion and raising a rape baby is a pretty terrible thing for anyone -- pro-life or pro-choice. Our society believes that the woman -- the victim, forced to carry her attacker's child -- has the right to make the terrible decision on her own. What good can forcing this woman to carry her child have? You're just guaranteeing a terrible life for the child, a terrible life for the mother (who is obviously going to be unprepared to raise a child), and a "victory" for the genetic line that was somehow able to rationalize and commit one of the most heinous of crimes.

This isn't a question about intelligence. It's a question about culture and a question about empathy. And for those in the public who see good arguments on both sides of the abortion issue, there's really no middle ground here. Of course you err on the side of the mother here, rather than force her to live a nightmare for the rest of her life and birth/raise a baby she'd rather have aborted. Of course. Anything less is radical.

[memphis]

It does us no favors to pretend that hard-line conservatives aren't often racist.

[memphis]

What's up with the outrage about rational people speaking out against the irrational and inhumane views someone in a position of power holds? The new pope, the last one, and probably the next one, deserve to be criticized for their oppressive views on gays and their harmful views on contraception. He may care more about the poor than previous popes, which is great, but he manifests that by criticizing capitalism? Wealth creation should be encouraged along with redistribution to the needy. I don't really see what there is to like about him and why he should be shielded from criticism.

[memphis]

First of all, what is an ‘internet atheist?’ I mean, I’m sure people who say they don’t believe in god are probably non believers the rest of the time too. But I know what is meant by it, because we all know that type of person online. We’ve all met them and they generally are assholes. And that’s why atheists in general are horrible etc etc. Problem is, it seems to apply to any atheist or agnostic who simply states his position partly as a way to detract credibility. It’s okay for people who are religious to talk about their faith and their belief and evangelise but if we do it, it’s arrogant or boring or fanatic. None of us on this forum are telling you ‘you must not believe in god’; we’re just saying that we don’t. If you go on Facebook and your Christian friend can’t even go a single post without saying god makes them happy, god provides for them, they’re praying for you it’s met with general silence, but say that you don’t believe and make a post then ‘whoa buddy don’t be so fanatical about it.’

I lost my faith after years of intense and down right f-cking traumatic personal reflection when I emerged into the adult world and realised people like me in one way through faith didn’t like me and actively stood against me because of something else. I’m not an ‘internet atheist’ or a ‘New Atheist’ or whatever label is used. I reached my conclusion by myself through reading, through asking and even in the early stages through prayer. Most of you in this forum experienced that with me. I can argue my position respectfully and consistently and on this forum I discuss it on this board or in any post where politics and religion overlaps; I don’t shoehorn it in to everything I say. I find immense beauty in reality, awe in the position of our sun as essentially the closest ‘godlike’ object in our presence and I’m passionate about science and human progress. If that leads you to conclude ‘internet atheists lol’ then you know what, you’re the asshole.

[memphis]

But aren't you nice to bad people in real life on a daily basis?

Yes, but I'm not convinced that is a virtue.

I think Gus and I would get along better if he would stop referring to those with whom he has differences as "bad people." It's easy to get emotional about politics, but nobody on here is a "bad person." I find that sort of comment to a demonstration of something very important about character and judgment.

[memphis]

From what I can tell, Chafee has governed to the left of the Democratic Party. 

It would be hard, for any at least partially sane person, to avoid that.

Although I very much agree with the sentiment, that post doesn't belong here, and this isn't the first time we've had a similar situation. This thread isn't for copying posts that you really, really agree with. It's for posts that are well thought out and particularly insightful

[memphis]

Can't provide a direct quote because the thread is now locked, but here's some Bacon King for you:

Holy it what the ck Bushie, are you cking serious? I've suffered from some pretty intense migraines in my day, and I have friends who have them even worse than I do. Migraines are so painful that they completely floor you... a headache doesn't warrant being placed on a numerical scale, let alone be a cking "nine out of ten," if you can still drive down to the reservation and back, stare at the computer screen for so long unphased, or even manage to coherently think about what you're supposed to be doing tomorrow. The fact that you're being so hyperbolic here suggests to me that you've been so cking babied for so long that you literally have no concept of how tough the real world actually can be, if some minor daily nuisance that doesn't actually keep you from doing anything is a "nine out of ten." Like, honestly, just cking grow a pair and cut it out with all this prissy pouty it.

[memphis]

I didn't think this particular poster would end up in this thread, but here we are. Life is surprising sometimes.

It's a great representation of our country. Nothing says America better than fast food. Unless you're taking your sports car through the drive-thru, pay with a credit card, and also order soda while wearing jeans and a t-shirt.

[memphis]

Beet is a girl?

Card carrying member of the prude brood. As close to female as Atlas posters get.