dwt's Comments (99)

“Speaking of uninformed, let me help you out as someone who actually lives in the District.:
a brake is a part on the cars for sale at Fuccillo's.”

“Other "technical" Americans, now living, we can denigrate:

Arnold Schwarzenegger
Henry Kissinger
Craig Ferguson
Madeline Albright
Elizabeth Taylor
Ted Koppel
William Shatner
Michael J. Fox
Alex Trebeck
Patrick Ewing
Hakeem Olajuwon
Yao Ming
Wayne Gretsky
Neil Young
Yo Yo Ma
Carlos Santana
Eddie Van Halen
Jerry Yang”

“You mean the ones (recently freed) who were in CHINA when they were kidnapped by NORTH KOREANS who crossed over the border.

I feel differently about them.

YA THINK?”

“Maybe they should have just switched from the lizard to the caveman as a concession to the intelligence level of Becks audience”

“Seven score and eleven years ago, Abraham Lincoln gave his famous "a house divided against itself cannot stand" speech.

"I believe this government cannot endure, permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved -- I do not expect the house to fall -- but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing or all the other."

History shows that the Union became all free - but did NOT CEASE TO BE DIVIDED.

A minority of people in this country, 100% white and mostly residing in the same states that seceded 155 years ago, remain to this day intransigent ignorant, selfish, greedy, intolerant, jingoistic, racist, xenophobic, and evangelical Christian. Many of them are worse than merely ignorant: they are dangerously unhinged, as no less so than their counterparts in the middle east, who kill in the name of religion.

The election of Barack Obama represented a huge backlash against the utter failure of the Bush Administration, which was run by and catered to this minority. For them to still have an influence over such crucial issues as health care in this country is a travesty. That the Obama Administration and Democratic majorities in the House and Senate don't simply shove them out of the way and enact either a single payer or public option plan is a joke.

This divided house is simply bound to fall. If I were young, I would seriously consider getting out before”

“Any ideology - whether political, philosophical, or, indeed religious -which has as its core the dogmatic claim to Unique and Absolute Truth - is a danger to everyone who does not accept the proposition. It is precisely the justification for prejudice, marginalization, hatred, xenophobia, war, murder, terrorism, genocide, etc., as against all who disagree. Far right and far left extremist political philosophies are no less insidious whenever their doctrines are asserted as irrefutable and infallible.

The bitter irony is that any claim to Unique and Absolute Truth, is, itself, false on its face. This is proved by the living example of the inherent contradiction between the mutually exclusive Truth claims of Christianity and Islam. Which is correct, and who decides? Both prove their Truth by circular reasoning: “[The New Testament] [The Q’ran] is the Only One Truth because it says so in [The New Testament] [The Q’ran]” Neither has any logical priority. Therefore, humans of necessity engage in Wars to settle all religious and political disputes.

If logic and reason don't work, stuff it down their throats or kill them. How quaint in the 21st Century.

Freedom of Religion certainly is or should be a universal human right. But by the same token, so is or should be Freedom FROM Religion.

Religion is personal and subjective and belongs in the head, or the home, or shared in a place of worship. It does not belong in politics, public education, or anywhere else.”

“Proving the proposition that while all conservatives have their heads in the sand, not all people that have their heads in the sand are conservative.”

“Usually I regret getting older. Not so the fact that I will be long dead by 2050.

In the case of the inevitable effects of global warming, my only regret is that I will not live long enough to watch all the selfish, self-centered right wing troglodytes eat crow as they suffer through the privations that may have been prevented had they a modicum of sense and awareness of anything beyond the end of their noses.”

“Nailed it!”

“For services that the public health plans do not cover; for example, semi-private or private rooms in hospitals and prescription drug plans, plus elective medical services such as laser vision correction surgery, cosmetic surgery, and other non-basic medical procedures.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_insurance#Canada”

“Ever occur to you that regular exercise is beneficial to health?

Oh, I forgot, Rush has already decreed that exercise nuts boost health care costs due to all their injuries.

Congress may be full of "greedy thugs", but that doesn't make you any less self-centered and self-important, huh?”

“The shoe is on the other foot. The fact is that you and your hate mongering friends - Coulter, O'Reilly, Limbaugh, Hannity, Savage, Palin - the lot of you - should get over YOURSELVES.

And look in the mirror if you want to see what is wrong not only with this country, but everywhere on earth where religious fundamentalism, bigotry, xenophobia, and prejudice rule the roost.

I can't tell you how SICK TO DEATH I am of still having to deal with you, now that the joke of an Administration you supported and the rest of us suffered through for 8 years was thrown out of office on its lily white, fat, lazy ass.

Please, crawl back into your cave, and take Fox News with you.

HAVE YOU NO DECENCY?”

“Not everyone who denies Global Warming and decries science is a religious fundamentalist, but every religious fundamentalist denies Global Warming and decries science.

The good news is that the only demographic which is not deserting the increasingly unhinged Republican Party in droves is frequent church goers. As the Party merges with this group and alienates itself from the majority as a permanent fringe group, the influence of religion in government and pseudo science (can you say "intelligent Design") will finally wane.

And the congregation shouted "HALLALUEHLAH!"”

“Interesting. My wife and I had a conversation on this very subject Saturday when discussing "what to do tonight." The last two films either of us could remember liking were Crash (which we both loved) , Michael Clayton (which I loved and she liked), Casino Royale (both enjoyed) and Burn Before Reading (which I loved and she and everybody else we know hated) .

The one we decided to see Saturday was Start Trek, which I talked her into due to universally good reviews and a Rotten Tomatoes rating in the high 90's. We were entertained but not impressed. If this is what qualifies as a good American film, our thought was that we are screwed.

I figured we had just become out of touch, irrelevant seniors - we are are uncomfortably close to 62, when you get cheaper tickets because seniors don't go to movies much.

Thanks for letting us know we actually still have clue.”

“Apparently the intent of the US was to force false confessions that Saddam Hussein was connected to Al Qaeda in order to "justify" Cheney's phony war.

http://rinf.com/alt-news/war-terrorism/torture-worked-to-sell-the-iraq-war/5475/

I would equate that with the Spanish Inquisition.

Evil doesn't get much worse than torturing people to confess to falsehoods.

Cheney and Rumsfeld should hang. Bush gets a pass because executing the mentally retarded is cruel and unusual punishment.”

“How are things going on your planet?

Here on earth we find that the abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib by a "few bad apples" led to an INCREASE in recruitment by terrorists intent on the destruction of the USA.

And as far as high level US Officials such as Cheney, Rumsfeld and Rice sanctioning CIA torture of prisoners in order that they would "confess" to confirming a link between Al Qaida and Iraq - well, maybe on your planet there never was a Spanish Inquisition.

On earth, torturing people to confess to falsehood, fantasy and lies is as utterly deep and depraved as evil can descend.

The perpetrators of this despicable policy will be investigated, tried, convicted and sentenced. And because the USA has returned to the community of civilized nations, they will NOT be tortured - at least in this life.

Those who believe in an after life have a different opinion.”

“Who said anything about a far left agenda?”

“The far right is a MINORITY in this country. Look at any poll.

Among other things, they ruined our economy with voodoo economics, caused world-wide chaos with neo-con foreign policy, deny global warming, and think if you haven't accepted Jesus Christ as your personal saviour you are condemned to "hell."

They accuse the media of a liberal bias, in spite of Fox News, the NY Post, the Drudge Report, CNBC, and now CBS

They lost the 2008 freaking Presidential election.

They want an insurrection to overthrow the "Socialist" government.

And they think it's everyone else who is crazy, wrong, immoral, dangerous, anti-American and hates freedom and democracy.

Franz Kafka couldn't write fiction any better.

Anybody else besides me scared shitless?”

“Nice try, Olaf.

The test of race in the USA is whether a cab will pick you up after midnight in Manhattan. They go by appearance, not DNA tests.

Don't you get tired of being an ignorant troll?”

“The source of all the bitter divisiveness in American politics over the past 2 or 3 decades is the insertion of religion into government, local, state and federal. Specifically,r 20th Century version of Evangelical Christianity, of which Sarah Palin is a card carrying member.

The problem precisely is not liberalism, which is aligned with pluralism and tolerance But those who are tolerant are easy to manipulate by intolerant ideologiques, who insist o that there is one truth and that they alone possess it. Adherents to a claim of absolute truth can not and do not compromise, can not and do not accept democracy if they find themselves in the minority, can not and do not abide people who are not 100% assimilated into their cult and ideology. Placating such people is impossible (be careful with Rick Warren, President Obama): If you give and inch, they take a mile. Over the past 2 or 3 decades, they have taken so many miles that the center of this country has moved so far right we are the laughingstock of much of the rest of of the world, with seeming insurmountable domestic problems.

Modest proposal as a litmus test for public office: If your religious beliefs trump the US Constitution, you are not qualified and you may not serve.”

“Which came first: a media which pays more attention to celebrity, sound bites, and sexy-superficiality than hard news, economics, foreign affairs, and substance - or the brain dead public which buys it?”

“The "politics of division" espoused by the Sarah Palins in this country has one common source: fundamentalist Christianity.

Religion reduced to the level of a comic book.

The fallacy that 'there is only one truth, and we own it" - which legitimizes, division, discrimination, marginalization, prejudice, and ultimately genocide.

The simplistic notion that the mysteries and complexities of life and the entire universe can be resolved by one interpretation of one religion in one tiny corner of the world - to the exclusion of all the others, let alone reason, logic, and science.

The absurdity of "cheap grace": that by simply believing in "a get out of jail for free" creed - but not absorbing the message in one's deeds and actions - that one is "saved."

The dangerous delusion that there will be an Armageddon in this lifetime, and that only fundamentalist Christians will be saved, whisked off the planet in the Rapture. Which justifies hastening the end of the world by fomenting war between Jews and Muslims in Palestine.

The only difference between radical Christianists in the USA and radical Islamists in the Middle East is the level of violence they use against those who don't drink their cool aid.

The war the rest of us are fighting is not against "Terrorism" which, after all, is a tactic, not an entity. It is against intolerant fundamentalism of ANY group which claims exclusive possession of the truth and justifies any tactic - including terrorism - in advancing its agenda.”

“A major SIMILARITY between Islam and Christianity is their (ironically mutually exclusive) claim to ownership of a monopoly on Absolute Truth.

The problem IS religious and lies in the core of religions such as these. Neither Hinduism, Buddhism, nor Taoism, as examples, have exclusivity of Truth claims at their core. Hinduism, indeed, at it's core stands for the proposition "One Truth; many faiths." And to paraphrase Sam Harris of End of Faith fame, there are ZERO Buddhist suicide bombers in the history of the world.

When one religious - or political, for that matter - group, believes it alone possesses the "Real Truth", marginalization, discrimination, exploitation, xenophobia, violence and ultimately genocide, are inevitable.

It must be understood that there IS no Absolute Truth - not in this life on this earth for any one person or any one group to possess. "Exclusive" possession of Absolute Truth is an oxymoron: if it can be possessed and reserved by one group over another, it is no longer absolute. Duh.

This illusion of exclusivity among believers of scant intelligence must be abolished before there can be any hope of a pluralistic peaceful world.”

“Clevelandchick: you nailed it!”

“That rich.

A dittohead advising "think for yourself."

Can you say "IRONY'?

Get over yourself, Olaf, and crawl back into your cave.”