War thread...

[Mr. Hyde]

I wish the best to our troops and their families. I have a nephew that probably won't have to go to war in the initial attack. I'm glad for him.
He is just a kid. When I talk to him, it's hard to picture him as the strutting bad ass soldier but I know he is well prepared if he is called to go.
For those that are there now, I can only imagine that friends and relatives have had thoughts similar to mine about their cousins, brothers, sons and daughters, friends and relatives.
My best wishes to any of you who have someone they care about putting their lives on the line.

I posted a reply to some Daschle/ Democrat bashing that regularly occurs on the Maiden board. Why I bother, I'm not sure. Maybe some part of me believes that people actually pay any attention to something I have to say. I realize that extremely opinionated people rarely listen to anyone who doesn't agree with their point of view.

We may be few here at the IMG but one thing we do is show respect for the ideas and opinions of others. I've probably pissed a few of you off a couple of times by posting so much non musical stuff on here. I do it because I know that the individuals here at least aren't going to post the typical F.U. reply if they disagree. I offer much respect to you guys for actually allowing discussion of things or at least allowing someone to vent without jumping all over them.

Here is what I posted on that other board about Daschle;
"What you haven't mentioned is how Daschle acts as if he has nothing to do with the sad state the U.S. is in right now. We are being lied to. All politicians lie and he is as much a part of what is going on in this country right now as Bush is.
Elected officials are the voice of the people in government. We don't elect them so that the can keep their mouth's shut about things and follow along like sheep so that they can some day point their finger at someone else.
If he doesn't like what Bush is doing, or has done, he should have gotten off his ass a long time ago and said something. In my opinion, he is acting like an opportunistic jellyfish.
That said, how can any of you be happy that our representatives are intentionally divisive because it makes it easier for them to maintain power over us?
They are supposed to represent the people, not a few. That means doing their best to create unity and having sound policies that do the greatest good for the most people while hopefully doing as little harm to any specific group as possible.
Why doesn't it bother more people that our representatives spend more of their time paying back their political contributors than they do working for the people that they are supposed to represent?"

I think that you guys can at least understand my frustration, even if you don't agree with my opinion on things.

Take care everyone.!!

 

[rabies]

man..this is bad...but I have been so out of the loop on what has been going on in world events anymore. No time..between the kid and work. I don't watch TV..and never listen to public radio (only listen to my mp3 player).

..but you are right..you won't get no bashing here...even if you lay down an awful guitar solo track - like I've been known to do!
Hell..we are barely even recording anymore..we gotta use this board for something! Post on brother!

 

[Mr. Hyde]

man..this is bad...but I have been so out of the loop on what has been going on in world events anymore. No time..between the kid and work. I don't watch TV..and never listen to public radio (only listen to my mp3 player).

..but you are right..you won't get no bashing here...even if you lay down an awful guitar solo track - like I've been known to do! !
Hell..we are barely even recording anymore..we gotta use this board for something! Post on brother! !

You haven't heard an awful guitar solo until you've heard what my playing has become.

You know your playing is getting bad when you start thinking that Mary Had a Little Lamb sounds like a challenge.

 

[Eddies cellmate]

You've probably noticed Mr Hyde that I don't bother much with the Maiden BB anymore. Such jackasses and children anymore... it's sad.

We used to have some mighty good political/issue discussions there, but now it's a bunch of Rush Limbaugh mimics. It's become so shallow that any deep thought on any issue gets drowned out by rhetoric. Too many peeps of both parties are locked into that win at all costs attitude and it's killing thoughtful discussion. Peeps are more worried about being good spin doctors than they are for actually thinking and researching issues. Very sad, really. :zombie:

 

[Mr. Hyde]

You've probably noticed Mr Hyde that I don't bother much with the Maiden BB anymore. Such jackasses and children anymore... it's sad.

We used to have some mighty good political/issue discussions there, but now it's a bunch of Rush Limbaugh mimics. It's become so shallow that any deep thought on any issue gets drowned out by rhetoric. Too many peeps of both parties are locked into that win at all costs attitude and it's killing thoughtful discussion. Peeps are more worried about being good spin doctors than they are for actually thinking and researching issues. Very sad, really.

Exactly. It seems like a lot of them don't understand what a debate or discussion truly is. It is truly sad.

 

[Eddies cellmate]

Exactly. It seems like a lot of them don't understand what a debate or discussion truly is. It is truly sad.

It's gotten to the point that they just don't care I think. They're far more interested in scoring points (as they see it) for thier respective parties than they are for actually adding intelligent commentary. They spend all of thier time trying to tell you what you think, rather than what they think. It's the first mark of a political hack in my opinion.

For example,

You: I think they ought to increase the minimum wage somewhat to bring wages more in line with cost of living and inflation. Doing this will benefit the economy by putting more money into worker's pockets, allowing them to invest and help stimualte the economy.

Them: You &#@(*) Liberals are always anti-business! You're anti-free markets! Why do you always turn to the government for handouts! Next, you'll be asking for free government dinners! I hate Democrats and thier whiny idea that the government should take care of them Cradle-to-Grave! Socialists! !

You: Jeez, where did I say all that? (Insert giant speech to assure that you actually support free market Capitalism and point out that even free markets must be regulated to function properly)

Them: Why would you want the government involved at all?!?? They screw everything up! I guess you'd want to create a massive government to take care off you your whole life too, huh?!? First it's a minimum wage, then it's government housing for you and God knows what else! I say screw the government, they should keep thier hands off of my money!!!

You: Um, I didn't say any of that. And what's your money have to do with it? (at this pont you usually disconnect from the discussion because you realize that you'll never get around to actually discussing the issue at hand. It turns into a big rhetoric fight, so you leave)


It's disgusting, and it goes against everything that I think is a citizen's right and duty to participate in. If a person's spending more time framing the debate to destroy the other viewpoints than he/she is actually hashing out the specifics I feel that myself and our country in general have no real use for 'em. The fact is that it's much, much easier to simply advocate nothing and criticize everything than it is to think about real solutions that could actually exist in the real world. The Clintons called it "The Politics of Destruction", and I think that's an accurate description. I really wish people would move away from it. Sadly, I think it'll just get worse.

 

[Constantine]

Keep on posting Mr Hyde.
BTW, you have never pissed me off

take care
Constantine

 

[Mr. Hyde]

Keep on posting Mr Hyde.
BTW, you have never pissed me off/forum/images/smilies/supergrin.gif

take care
Constantine

Thanks Constantine.

Ec, I think you created an accurate depiction of what goes on in about 99.5% of the posts I've read on almost every other board.

"The Politics of Destruction", what an accurate description.
The divisive nature of rhetoric and bad policy that we accept from our politicians has begun to silence the voice of the people and create a sense of apathy. The media love to stoke that fire with controversy after controversy.
I feel that open honest debate of facts, ideas, and opinions, can only strengthen this country. Instead of that, a lot of people seem content to fight, bicker and leave the true thinking up to someone else so that they can absolve themselves of any personal responsiblity when things go wrong. The politicians are all too willing to feed more of the same to the public. In the end we all pay a great price for allowing ourselves to be divided to such an extent.

I too feel that the problem is getting worse.