TomAiello

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Everything posted by TomAiello

  1. TomAiello
    That would have been impossible, because when the issue came under discussion, there was not yet any content to react to--just the lesson plans with the assignment about supporting the President in his goals. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
  2. TomAiello
    The thing that caused me concern was actually that he had put both his comment and his parenthetical aside on the same line. Apparently, even the dreamfu master has his weak days. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
  3. TomAiello
    They've already got a symbol. He is the Sun President, rising to shine his light on the unfortunates across the land. L'etat, c'est Obama! -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
  4. TomAiello
    Wow. Just wow. Who needs rules, anyway? They just slow things down. Hey, if no one wants to speak just now, who really needs the 1st Amendment, anyway? It's not all about your party and the other party. There are some other people (and principles) around here, too. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
  5. TomAiello
    I bet that war seems pretty real to the folks dying, no matter where they are. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
  6. TomAiello
    Right. The fuss would be coming from the other side of the political spectrum. You know, those folks who were "anti-war", so long as the war was in Iraq, but are now pro-war, simply because it's moving to Afghanistan. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
  7. TomAiello
    If the text of the speech was available at the same time as the assignment for children to "help the president with his goals" then people might know what those goals were. Absent that, people have to make assumptions about his goals, based on his statements and his agenda. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
  8. TomAiello
    Freedom of speech does not include a right to force others to listen. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
  9. TomAiello
    I don't trust the government. I certainly don't trust them with the power of life and death. I'm not sure why you're trying to stereotype people. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
  10. TomAiello
    Yes, it might have even been both. I'll concede that. But why are you so willing to believe that the 44th Administration couldn't possibly do anything like that? Because he thinks there are only two sides in politics, and if you don't have a (D) after your name, you must have an (R). And if you didn't like Bush, then of course, you must love Obama. No room for shades of gray--it's all or nothing, black or white, love or hate. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
  11. TomAiello
    I seriously think that many kids would be better off with non-traditional schooling, such as home schooling, than they would be if they were forced into public schools. Yes. Seriously. No, I'm not being silly. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
  12. TomAiello
    There is a HUGE difference between making something available, and forcing people to listen to something. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
  13. TomAiello
    You know, it'd be easier to believe you really wanted to discuss things if you left out your bits about "Commie plots". Stuff like that is just an attempt to stereotype people without listening to what they are saying. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
  14. TomAiello
    The original curriculum handout from the Department of Education, actually. It had an assignment requiring children to explain how they would help the President achieve his goals, and suggesting they be held accountable for doing so in the future. I realize it's been changed now, because of public outrage. The fact that it was there to begin with gives me reasonable doubts as to his intentions. I'll cue you now with another comment about how I must be a paranoiac with undersized metallic headgear. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
  15. TomAiello
    Probably. Hey, here's an idea. Instead of discussing the issue, let's throw out an unrelated issue, type some all caps, and try to somehow link two different groups of people together. I'm an atheist. I think prayer in public schools is inappropriate. I'm a strong supporter of free speech rights. Forcing you to listen is not part of my right to speak. Forcing my children to listen is not part of your right to speak. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
  16. TomAiello
    Exactly. That's exactly it. I realize you were probably sarcastic, but yes, that's exactly what I want. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
  17. TomAiello
    Ah, so immediately calling people paranoid, in ALL CAPS, is your way of listening to what they have to say? -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
  18. TomAiello
    Ah, yes. Anyone who disagrees with you must be wearing tin foil hats? Right? So much easier to just throw that accusation around repeatedly, rather than actually discussing things. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
  19. TomAiello
    Ah, yes, the last guy's fault, again, isn't it? Look, I don't care who made mistakes in pursuing the imperial policies in pushing around people in foreign countries. You guys are welcome to argue about how best to implement those policies, which people to bully, who to kidnap and torture, and where you're going to do the torturing. I'd like to see a broader discussion about whether or not the government ought to be doing those things. But Obama, despite some indications to the contrary during the campaign, is clearly not willing to actually consider that real, fundamental change. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
  20. TomAiello
    You don't happen to have some data that's not about specific candidates, do you? Your data doesn't really contradict Turtle's point, since he's talking generalities, and you're looking at a single, specific, election. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
  21. TomAiello
    I'm still not convinced of that, actually. I do see some things where I think Obama has done better than McCain would have (the tightrope around the Iranian elections, for example), but I've been pretty disappointed with Obama, and I really feel like he's gotten a free pass for escalating the war of his choice because his party matches the majority in Congress. If the President and Congress were from opposite camps (i.e. McCain was President), I suspect we'd have seen a lot more criticism of the Afghan escalation strategy. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
  22. TomAiello
    I don't have actual data handy, but the last time I saw it (it's been about 10 years) it indicated that bachelor's degree holders were more likely to vote for Republican candidates, while those with both less and more education (high school or lower and graduate degrees) were more likely to vote for Democratic candidates. There was also a startling degree of correlation between area of study and voting preferences for those with graduate degrees (although not nearly as much for those with bachelor's degrees). Things got really interesting when you asked graduate degree holder's to self-identify their politics. If I remember correctly some vast majority of those with Ph.D.'s in sociology and allied fields self-identified as "progressive" rather than "Democrat", while the group most likely to self-identify as "libertarian" (at rates something like 15 times the average) were Ph.D. holders in economics. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
  23. TomAiello
    I don't really think that family structure or divorce rate is something I want the government involved in. Those are intensely personal decisions, best left to individuals (and their families)--not government functionaries. I've made choices about how I want to raise my children, what family structure I want to live in (and want to raise them in), and what emphasis I want to put on education for me, and for them. Everyone else has a right to make those choices for themselves, too. If that means they make decisions I wouldn't, then that's their right. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
  24. TomAiello
    Preventing people from hurting each other is almost the only morally justifiable role of government. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com
  25. TomAiello
    You'll forgive my skepticism. I've found that most of the time, when politicians are "just talking" to people, the results can actually be pretty sinister. -- Tom Aiello Tom@SnakeRiverBASE.com SnakeRiverBASE.com