*boom*

You're only viewing them as connected. That's racist in itself by hating "The Man" because you see the white man running the country. It's your belief that they are connected that causes the very roots of racism. You believe that the world's corruption is related to 'the white man' being in power in developed nations. This has nothing to do with developed nations, and nothing to do with the color of one's skin. There are just as many corruption problems in underdeveloped countries, and I would argue that there are in fact more corruption problems (look at any South American or African country or their neighbor and you will find some awfully bad corruption issues).

And CNN is about as left-wing as they can get:

Read about half-way through this article...notice the question from Alexandra Trustman about Macs vs. PCs.
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Now read this article about Alexandra Trustman's question that was planted by CNN:
http://www.wstm.com/Global/story.asp?S=1520657

CNN admitted to planting a question at a Democratic Presidential debate. If Fox had done that there would have been a GIANT uproar today...but you didn't hear about it because it was CNN that did that. She was told that should could not ask her question because the producer told her that her own question wasn't "lighthearted enough." I didn't go try to find out what her original question was, but it's irrellevant anways...CNN planted audience questions during the Democratic Presidential debate.

You missed my point, what I was trying to say is that they are both prevelent in the U.S., corruption and a largely all-white leadership. I am not trying to defend my argument, to the contrary, I was trying to say that I write stupid things and make non-valid statements when I am angry.

EDIT: And I agree with you about the media being largely liberal. Though I don't not think that is a justification for Bush to "bypass the media filter" and deliver his propaganda to the citizens of the United States. Exactly opposite and equally as detrimental, he will only give hyped "good news" in contrast to the "bad news" which he believes the liberal media offers. If it were up to Bush you would never hear about soldiers dying.

And another thing that bothers me is the idea that liberals "hate america" and are unpatriotic. Whatever that guys name is that wrote "Lies, and the lying liars that tell them," made a good analogy (I didn't read the book, just an excerpt, and I am paraphrasing at best): Conservatives see America as the infalible mother who can do no wrong and should not be criticised. Liberals see it as a spouse who has faults that need to be recognized. While I don't totally agree with the drastic generalization of conservatives I do agree with the second part.

VIVA LA RAZA!!!

Yeah, that was Al Franken. Quite possibly the most unsupported group of statements I've ever read.

To me, more important issues are lack of educational funding, gun control issues, poverty, unemployment, homelessness - drilling oil in national wildlife reserves, traffic and air quality, taxes... and so on. See the difference? I hate when these things get pushed aside and the courts and the media are all tied up on where someone puts their penis or what color a persons skin is. I truly could give a crap about what political party fixes some of these problems in our country, as long as they get addressed. I don't see that happening with Bush in office. Period.

Bush has tried to address those issues that we both consider important, but there is always liberal resistance.

Having worked in public schools for several years, I can tell you with the utmost assurance that funding is not a problem for schools. The problem is that the people handling the money given to schools aren't using it wisely. When money is being wasted on worthless stuff, there will always be the need for more money to go to the things that matter. I know of several people in the local school system here who do absolutely nothing productive, and yet take home $70k+ a year.

Gun control is always going to be an issue. My view on it is that criminals are going to get guns regardless, so taking the second amendment right away from everyday people only screws them out of security. I think it was Australia that has no gun control and a low crime rate because would-be criminals think twice about robbing somebody who's packing.

Hey, poverty sucks. The only things that can happen to help it is jobs being created, and welfare being abolished. Think about it, the government gives the poor a free ride on food stamps. Where's the motivation to form a capitalistic mentality?

Alaska is an oil goldmine. The places Bush wants to drill are pretty much barren. Developing Alaskan oil drilling would create jobs in all 50 states. Alaska's land is remarkably resistent to oil damage. Remember the Exxon Valdez spill in '89? 240,000 barrels of oil were spilled into the Prince William sound, but there is a bacteria in the water there that somehow eats oil, so now there is very little trace anything was ever spilled there. Don't take that to mean that there wasn't a clean up job, but Alaska hasn't been damaged by any form of oil disaster.

Traffic and air quality is going to get better as soon as people accept the fact that CO2 isn't a pollutant. The thing that would end a lot of problems is solar power, but neither liberals nor conservatives want it because you can't tax the sun.

In the past century, the percentage of income taxed by Americans has gone from 3% to 25%. That is insane, why don't liberals want to cut taxes?

I think one of the big issues is that gays are making themselves a big issue. There is an episode of South Park where one of the citizens comes out of the closet, and can say "fag" without being censored. There's more truth to that than most people want to admit. Too much of the gay pride movement isn't just a fight for equality, but a fight for exceptions to be made to the rules. They want special treatment and that is something NOBODY in America should recieve.

Hang on tight, y’all– this one’s gonna be a long one: Random, you’ve brought a tough debate on me, here. I’ll do my best to convey what I think (as if I need to at this point…) Anyway, remember, it’s all good. :D

Al Franken is – without a doubt – never going to get the credit he deserves as a political analyst and he recognizes this – HE’S A COMEDIAN.

However, his book is genius. And far from unsupported. I promise it will shock the sh*t out of you. If not for the lies he exposes, the extent of his research will. My favorite part is how he points out that many contemporary socio-commentator authors lie with footnotes. Ann Coulter is the best example. She lies like a rug. And Franken proves it (a dozen times over, I might add) If that doesn’t interest you, you may like to read the chapter: “Bill O’Reilly: Lying, Splotchy Bully” or Chapter 30: “Fun with Racism”

And, in response to this: “I know of several people in the local school system here who do absolutely nothing productive, and yet take home $70k+ a year.”
I wasn’t talking Ivy League, man. I’ve never met a teacher that made more that $45K, annually. After 30 years on the job! Locally, Las Vegas’ School District laid off teachers this year, shortened the school year, and went on a hiring freeze.

Gun Control is a tough argument. I agree that screwing with the constitution is a serious thing. BUT – one must realize that things have changed since the slave-owning, pot-growing founding fathers signed it. Agreed? I’m not sure what to do to solve it – that’s why I’m a graphic designer, not a politician. Somehow, I think we can do a better job of keeping people from shooting each other in the face 65 times in homeroom, though.

Did you know that there are over 4300 Homeless Vets in America?
Check this link out : http://www.klas-lv.com/Global/story.asp?S=1520943&nav=168XJ3hB

Hey, poverty sucks… especially on Veteran’s day.

On to Random’s take on Oil Drilling: “Alaska is an oil goldmine. The places Bush wants to drill are pretty much barren.” No, they are not. 2 examples: Yellowstone National Park and Zion National Park. This is something I feel VERY strongly about, since I personally hike and photograph them several times a year, and I think anyone who feels strongly like I do, check out this site:[securl= NRDC.org]http://www.nrdc.org/]NRDC.org[/URL][/securl] . Dick Cheney should be ashamed of himself for allowing the place he calls home (at least on paper – he lives in Texas) Wyoming, be the target of his boss.

And finally, as I’ve said, bigotry is bigotry. None of it is good. South Park has a lot of relevant issues. I’m with ya on that. I’m leaving the anti-gay thing to someone else to comment on. I’m biased. My girlfriend and I both know people who have been the target of homophobic crime. My classmate is dead because of homophobic redneck idiots. I hope their asses are getting pounded in prison for what they did. Daily.

I said before, I don't care about partisan politics. I call 'em like I see 'em. Bush is backing his funding, as I see it. He got money from A, B, and C. So far, he's made all three of them beyond rich, and flat out ignored these issues. hell, Random and I have spent more time on these than the Bush Administration has!

keep up the good reading... peace.

The borders work both ways.

You can leave the country as easily as, unfortunately, you can come in.

Canada is looking good.

GG,
I realize Al Franken is a comedian, and it's hard to view his book as anything but. But his books are more of a opinion essay, whereas both of Ann Coulters books have the tone of fact, of which can be checked out by the huge footnotes. I saw Ann at the University of North Carolina Law School giving a lecture and she was freakin' on fire. She nailed every question asked of her without faltering and with silencing knowledge.

I wasn't talking about teachers, but public school administrators that sit on their asses and point fingers.

If my memory serves me right, the topic was drilling in Alaska. Yellowstone sits in between Idaho and Wyoming and Zion national park is in Utah.

The topic was racism.... (oops!)

I was talking about GW passing legislation to legalize drilling for oil in National Parks. Alaska is a state. Ann Coulter's tone is what makes her a liar, she uses footnotes that are unproven. I'm late for a meeting!!! :D

Originally posted by thehermit
...It is a pretty basic and universal fact that minorities cannot exhibit racism towards majorities....

Ahhh, not in a big and general way perhaps, but don't you come and state those facts when talking individuals, that's not a true statment or fact when it comes to persons...

I know for a fact, as a fulltime union-employee (spellcheck), that the racism is more "touchable" when coming from a minority representative, then the opposite. And it's, sadly, more common that these individuals use the implied racism on them as a defense/exuse to "feel" jumped on, when there in fact is no racism pointed at them...

Now, get me right here, I do not stand behind racism. By that I mean from any angle. In sweden, it might not be as violent as one understand it to be in other countries, but we do have it here, and it comes from both sides, the white nationalists do not like the immigrants or homo's of any kind, but the immigrant and homo's are using the fact that some poeple are racists and play it that way, wich by me is as bad...

So them % of both sides who have extreme point of view's in any way are both very wrong...