Friday, August 29, 2008

I Think I'm in Love



So, Alaska governor Sarah Palin is John McCain's VP choice. The more I learn about her, the more I want to take a second wife.

On the economy: “I am a conservative Republican, a firm believer in free market capitalism. A free market system allows all parties to compete, which ensures the best and most competitive project emerges, and ensures a fair, democratic process.”

On guns and hunting: “I am a lifetime member of the NRA, I support our Constitutional right to bear arms and am a proponent of gun safety programs for Alaska's youth….I have always strongly supported the personal use of fish and game by Alaskans. I grew up hunting and fishing in Alaska, and I am proud to raise my children with this same uniquely Alaskan heritage. … Anti-hunting groups who oppose hunting and fishing rights will be the winners if we allow them to pit us against ourselves….As an Alaskan with strong beliefs on this issue, I am confident in my ability to build consensus among diverse user groups and reconcile the many competing interests.

On healthcare: “I support flexibility in government regulations that allow competition in health care that is needed, and is proven to be good for the consumer, which will drive down health care costs and reduce the need for government subsidies.”

On abortion and gay marriage: “I am pro-life and I believe that marriage should only be between and man and a woman.”

She also considers herself a 'hockey mom'.

Uhmm, honey...can Sarah come live with us?

Lofty

71 comments:

  1. and she looks like Tina Fey (i.e. I would do her)

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  2. She is kinda hot in a hockey mom/librarian sort of way.

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  3. Ummm yeah, but can she lead the Country if McCain kicks the bucket?

    She's a trophy VP.

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  4. "Ummm yeah, but can she lead the Country if McCain kicks the bucket?

    She's a trophy VP."

    She was a mayor for 6 years and has been a governor for 2. This is basically equivalent to Obama's local/national experience, except that a governor has to make executive decisions, whereas a senator does not.

    So if she's a "trophy" VP, then what does that make Obama?

    By the way, I'm convinced dems are a bunch of sexists. First they throw Hillary under the bus, despite her experience and leadership ability. Then they refuse to make her the VP choice, despite her experience and numerous polls showing that she would boost Obama's numbers. Instead they choose an old, white guy. And NOW they're resorting to calling Ms. Palin a "trophy" pick, etc. Dems play the race card, I think it's time for us to play the gender card.

    Dems are all women-hating sexists.

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  5. Didn't any of you Pinkos ever see "Fargo"? Or hear of Margaret Thatcher or Golda Meir?? Who better to Distract Ahmanidejad or Putin with her long legs while the ICBMs take out their Nuclear Centrifuges? Plus she's hot.

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  6. No, just a realist.

    Female? Check
    Hot? Check
    Young-ish? Check
    Experienced? Negative
    Moderate conservative? Negative
    Likely to win female moderate vote? Negative

    It's called realism, baby.

    OBAMA-BIDEN!!!

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  7. anonymous,

    you are a clown. OBAMA BIN BIDEN. tell me one thing he's got planned other than 'change' and one thing he brings to the table other than his skin color... just one (and be specific). love it that he picked a guy for VP who is on tape having an orgasm over john mccain and saying, in the same interview, that obama had 'no experience'. good luck with that you racist, sexixt, homophobe, hippie.

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  8. She would be hot if she didnt have "old person neck."

    That always was a turn off for me.

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  9. Mr. Hat,

    You have mistaken my critisism of Trophy VP for a liking of Obama. No where did I say the Obama ticket was the way to go. Assuming is also not the way to go.

    C.

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  10. I have to say that for the first time since all this started, I'm finally excited. Go kick ass, Sara.

    And actually, Anon., Sara has more governing/executive experience than The Messiah.

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  11. I knew as soon as the news broke that I would come to this blog and find some bullshit post about how this pretty, young (you say 'hot')woman with NO experience at this level would help the Republican party continue it's world domination.

    Eat shit. She's going to be the biggest mistake your party has ever made. Thanks for the giggles.

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  12. anonymous,
    thanks for coming over here and showing us what the meaning of 'mean spiritidness' and 'hate' really is. it belongs in your party you collossal douchebag. governor palin has more experience in her pinky nail than obama has in his entire body. you guys are toast, and the first woman vice president of the United States will be a Republican. come on back anytime and watch as your candidate, picked BECAUSE he is black, gets creamed by a conservative ex-prisoner-of-war and his very female conservative, traditional, heterosexual mom who is a true feminist. you are an angry fool, please do continue to show us the depth of your hate for your country and expose your party for what it is, the refuge of scoundrels.

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  13. Knew it wouldn't take long for the 'highly-educated' doctor to use the term 'douchebag'.

    Please, do us all a favor and learn a new word...one you can use often when you lose in November.

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  14. Zofty- you rock.

    Love,
    Conservative College Chick

    McCain-Palin!!!

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  15. Anonymous- when all your other arguments fail, resort to grammar, word usage and such.

    Good day.

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  16. She's smart, she's capable and she's down to earth (no slick here)

    Trophy? Not at all. She's awesome.

    To those who say she's a nobody - so was Obama until recently. And he's still just a puppet.

    Why remain anonymous? If Obama/Biden is such a great ticket, put your name up.

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  17. I just love all this "inexperience" bullshit this woman has been getting...about how she is only the governor of a state with 13 people and some caribou...yes....I actually read that on CNN

    Let's see.....she is a pilot, a moose hunter, an ice fisherman, a former commercial fishermen, a mother of five children including one with Down's Syndrome and one who is scheduled to deploy to Iraq soon, a former journalist, a mayor, and now a governor known for her belief in the free market and having no tolerance for bullshit or pork spending

    As opposed to a man who went to an elite private school onto to an elite university onto to an elite law school onto "community organizing" This man has had never had job in his life!

    I just love when politicians go on and on about experience. Please...they have no concept of reality. They live and work in a very insulated environment with great hours, wonderful vacations, good benefits...and they hold the only job where they can vote to give themselves a raise....and they do this all with other people's money. I mean Democrats are giving the impression that Biden's greatest asset is his ability to take the train to work.....in what world do these people live in?

    And BTW...have been to Alaska and worked with many Alaskan patients when I was in the ED at a major Seattle hospital. These are amazing people. They have an independence, self-reliance, and love for liberty that is inspiring. You screw up in the Alaska bush you die....it is that simple.

    I say you go girl!

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  18. My not agreeing with you makes you miserable? Wow. It's that easy? Thanks for letting me know. Will let all my friends know how to make a conservative jerk miserable!

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  19. no, anonymous, you are free to disagree and as you can see, if you can read the big words, there are lots of disagreements on this blog and they are handled like adults handle disagreements... with reasoned argument.

    you however, are the poster child for modern liberalism. full of perceived wrong, full of a desire to extract vengeance, but, since you are powerless to extract this yourself you look to others to do it for you. hence your love for obama and his victim politics.

    you make me miserable because i have just wasted 15 minutes typing to an anonymous, troll, coward, anencephalic ass monkey on the internet when i could have been masturbating or taking a shit.

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  20. Reading an Obama supporter's conclusion that someone is inexperienced is about the funniest thing I have read in years. Not that it matters, but Governor Palin has about the same amount of governmental experience as Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Roosevelt, Thomas Jefferson, and several others who have served as president. I just wish that she were heading the ticket, with McCain in second place!

    Powerful,
    intellegent,
    a good mom,
    pro-life; and,
    plenty handy with a gun.

    TALK ABOUT A SMOKIN' HOT BABE! YA, BABY!!!

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  21. Nobody is mentioning the fact that Palin's husband is also hot.

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  22. Oh, 911doc, lemme give you another great word: execrable. That’s, ex•e•cra•ble (ex•e•cra•ble•ness, noun, ex•e•cra•bly, adverb). It has fallen out of use, but I want to revive it, and I am sure that, with your help, I can do it. It is just a terrific word! Try it right now. Common, say it with me: “EX-E-CRAB-LE.” Don’t you just LOVE how it feels as it explodes out of your throat and over your tongue? And when pronounced with a suitable tone of contempt, it cuts through the air like a bloody scalpel propelled out of the hand of a first year resident gone psychotic from sleep deprivation. Execrable. Use it ten times this week, and it will be yours forever.

    You're welcome.

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  23. I'll take 'execrable' if you take 'poltroon'

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  24. People, people!

    I leave to go to a conference for a few hours and the shit hits the proverbial fan. NICE!

    Anonymous, soft-shouldered, morally-vane, liberal fuck-face who claims to stand for peace,
    fairness, tolerance, the poor,the disenfranchised, and the environment...please understand something. IT'S A BANNER FUCKING DAY and you know it. That's why you're trolling here. To try to convince yourself that we're not beside ourselves with joy.

    Sarah Palin is EXACTLY what we needed. It's game over as far as I'm concerned. Young, fresh, energetic, no-nonsense, HOT, female Republican VP.

    BANNER FUCKING DAY!!!!!!

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  25. Oh, whoever sees McCain-Palin bumper stickers on the net first, let me know. I need a shit-load of those.

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  26. I just trolled the Hillary boards http://www.hillaryclintonforum.net/discussion/showthread.php?t=26109, and they are all saying Sarah blew it out of the field, saying that she just won over Hill's 18 mil. Wow. Just. Wow. One guy called The Messiah, Oblahblah...

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  27. I have been reading up on her this afternoon and she is funny, cute, and has a lot of great qualities. I don't just think I want to vote for her, I think I want to BE her.

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  28. http://www.zazzle.com/mccain_palin_bumper_stickers_bumpersticker-128166323848411155

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  29. "I'll take 'execrable' if you take 'poltroon'"

    You're on, Doc! And, you are right. Poltroon is a superb piece of verbal art.

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  30. Haven't heard any of the Talking Heads comment on...
    1: Alaskas the only state that Borders on Russia, even if it is a water border, so shes been the first line of defense against the commies for the last 2 years.
    2: Wonder what her choice of a handgun is? Traditional 357 Magnum, or 45 Auto, or something more modern? Wonder if she was packin today?

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  31. Sorry guys, but it doesn't really matter who McCain picked. The majority of americans are sick and tired of 8 years of shrub's shit. Doesn't matter that shrub is not even McCain's shadow of a man, all people will see is a continuation of economic decline, increased deficits, rampant spending (yes dear 911 bill clinton was indeed much more fiscally conservative than shrub...look it up), and a war in Iraq that was brought about by lies and never should have happened (editorial comment: dear 911 I served in army infantry unit so please leave your rear echelon doc comments to yourself). McCain is a good man who would make a solid president but he is a victim of the moron who preceded him. He will not be elected. That's what happens when one sided ideologues (right or left) such as yourself blindly vote for the party and not the man.

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  32. Yeah. She's hot. Yeah, she shares about the same experience, but honestly, if Dems had put up Hillary, they would have been blasted for it as much as NOT putting her in the race.
    Let's just remember one thing, they are ALL politicians, so believe half of what they do and none of what they say.
    Said by a non-woman hating, slightly rascist, hippie hating, liberal with no true affiliation to Dems cuz they let themselves be rolled over by...uh...EVERYBODY.
    And I'm glad to see poltroon. Execrable just doesn't roll well for me. Thanks for probably the most entertaining and informative blog on the web.

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  33. She also a creationist. Does that concern any of you men of science or did she have you at "free market system" and NRA.
    It's just been made a hell of a lot more interesting horse race.

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  34. Now, now Lofty can't you debate a subject without swearing like an 8 year old who just learned a bunch of new words? Your example is NOT the "typical middle class american" and we both know it. A minority of americans have bought houses they could not afford thanks to ARMS. But where was the regulation to say no? Oh yeah the bankers got that thrown out to make quick bucks of high interest loans. Now they are crying to (and getting funds) from the fed ie. you and me. I am not justifying individual fiscal irresponsibility, but very simply that has little to do with overall economic decline, rampant federal funding, and the war in Iraq. Do you actually understand that shrub's predecessor was more of a fiscal conservative than he is. Do you understand what the phrase "fiscal conservative means"? I have a reach for you lofty, how about actually learning about the issues and debate them instead of swearing like an 8 year old. God help us if you truly are a doctor.

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  35. anonymous,

    the reason lofty calls you a fuckhead or whatever else is that there is no point in arguing with religious fanatics. the best thing to do with religious fanatics is either to ignore them or to punch them in the face.

    your points are straight of the talking points memos distributed by the bought and paid for MSM.

    besides the fact that you don't have the courage to identify yourself you believe, all emotion based, that middle americans are too stupid to make good decisions. you think folks like yourself can fix it all and this is the reason we actually do hate you with the white hot intensity of a thousand suns. no one is that smart and centralized governments produce frozen social classes and misery. every single time. the genius of america is that we have shunned this model and with great success.

    any politician or party that has, as it's platform, 'looking out for the little guy' is simply telling you that they will grow the government and become more intrusive in all aspects of our lives AND in the name of whatever religious fad of the day, global warming for instance, will put brakes on the economy and discourage investment and hard work because those who actually plan to do worthwhile things, like start a business and employ people, will not do it if the paperwork and regulations they have to follow is handed to them in a book the size of the LA White pages.

    i have no idea where your self-loathing came from but i do pity you. you must live a very lonely existence... hard to be as smart as you are and have all the answers and cry while the people you know think just as you do are seen for exactly who they are, power hungry, career 'politicians' who have never done anything of consequence outside of politics.

    when Amercica surrenders to folks like you you will see a 'brain drain' from the country and misery that we haven't seen since that absolute moron jimmy carter ran the white house.

    you know that this pick was revolutionary and after watching the governor's acceptance speech i know she will absolutely destroy biden in the debates. biden is a useful idiot. he has, on video and audio, so many flip flops and flat out stupid statements that the rest of obama's campaign will be an excercise is keeping him the fuck quiet.

    on obama's side you have two candidates who have never done jack shit outside of politics. on mccain's side you have a conservative 'maverick' who is often at odds with the Republican establishment who fought for his country and refused the 'easy out' offered him early in his imprisonment and torture at the hands of the north vietnamese. rather than surrender his principles or turn his back on his country and his fellow warriors he chose imprisonment and torture. i know you would have been out of there in five minutes.

    you also have a 'stay at home mom' who, starting with the PTA, created a name for herself that was strong enough to carry her to a mayorship and then a governorship of one of the most independent states in the union.

    she is as far from a 'beltway insider' as you can get AND she is very much a woman and has succeeded without becoming mannish and without riding her husband's coattails into office.

    in the next two months you will see your beloved party stab obama in the back again and again because the clintons, just like the sopranos, do not tolerate disloyalty.

    in fact, hillary and ferraro have already come out in praise of the nomination of the governor from alaska. the long knives are out. when obama is forced to answer the difficult questions he will be shown to be what he is, a conveniently colored empty suit who has absolutely no business in the highest office in the land.

    he's done nothing outside of his priveleged upbringing, and, though i do not know this for a fact, was probably preferentially admitted to harvard based on his race, and then given every position he has ever had, in large part, based on his race. he is a pawn, and he is not up to the challenge. i feel bad for him because he's had it all handed to him and now he will have to swing on his own. he will whiff and already has.

    now, anonymous, i hope you understand why those of us here at MDOD, and by the way we are not down the line Republicans... we are, by average, more libertarian than Republican, think that it is a waste to engage you in debate because you are a fanatic. you do not have ideas, you have talking points. you are quite pitiful and, since you want to make this fact public, we will continue to point it out to you.

    there, that took way too much time, from now on i will simply refer to you as a douchebag, which is what you are. have a wonderful evening thinking about what could have been... centralized government, power in the hands of vindictive fools interested only in their own power, power in the hands of folks you expected to 'make it all right for you' and folks who would punish people like us here with censorship and lawsuits.

    meanwhile, folks like us will continue to do the best we can to take care of our families and our patients and continue to look to ourselves, not the government, to fix our problems.

    douchebag. look it up.

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  36. I had this called on my blog last night. I have a poll up now asking people to take a look. Check it out.
    http://www.thenewconservatives.blogspot.com/

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  37. Right sorry guys I need some sleep. That should say asking people to grade Mccain's VP pick. Take a look.
    http://www.thenewconservatives.blogspot.com/

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  38. I like her for all the reasons that have depth - that she is hot or her husband is hot is so unimportant except to them. She could do well as President, and maybe get the Nation's Capital moved to the more center of the country.

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  39. I have to say I really like her but now folks are trying to get her on "TROOPERGATE" already and how she is leaving her family behind and dumping her new baby for a VP slot. Better how McCain met her once or how she was a beauty pagent winner.

    I hope McCain and Palin in 08!!!!!
    MedicLuvsLasVegas

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  40. *sigh*

    If her husband was nominated for the VP slot would they say he was abandoning his new baby?

    Seriously? Look how quick the media wants to keep a woman in the kitchen if it suits them.

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  41. Religious fanatic, fuckhead, talking points MSM (whatever that is), self loathing, etc, etc. All you give is Ad hominem attacks. The attacks of someone who cannot make an educated argument. As far as your insults, I was where it mattered while you where being a REMF so your pathetic diatribe is nothing to me. Unlike you I have actually voted for McCain...twice (guess which state I lived in). But that was the John McCain who actually stood up to his party when it was for the best of the country. That's what it's all about. I am sorry you can't see beyond your ideology. Goodbye.

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  42. I thought she was perfect until I heard she was a creationist. I think I may give her a pass because, A: she has a great rack, and B: this wikipedia entry:

    "While running for Governor of Alaska she was asked about the teaching of creationism in public school science classes. Palin answered that she thought it was important to teach creationism in the schools; although she clarified the next day that she meant that open debate between the two ideas should not be prohibited if it came up in discussion, but that creationism did not need to be part of the curriculum. She also added that she would not appoint State Board of Education members based on their opinions on evolution or creationism.[84] Since her election she has appointed three of the seven Board members, who serve five-year terms: Patrick Shier, Phillip Schneider, and Geraldine Benshoof. None of these appointments attracted criticism on this issue."

    still a little bummed though. Would still do her.

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  43. anonymous,

    i loathe the ad hominem attack but when it is lofted at me i will respond in kind. let me quote for you...

    "I knew as soon as the news broke that I would come to this blog and find some BULLSHIT post about how this pretty, young (you say 'hot')woman with NO experience at this level would help the Republican party continue it's WORLD DOMINATION.

    EAT SHIT. She's going to be the biggest mistake your party has ever made. Thanks for the giggles."

    and further... "CONSERVATIVE JERK", and, "The majority of americans are sick and tired of 8 years of shrub's shit", and, "[McCain]is a victim of the moron who preceded him"

    i will further point out that i did make an attempt or two to engage you in meaningful debate, but, as is clearly demonstrated from our dialogue above, but you failed to answer any honest questions or counter any arguments we offered, i offer the following...

    "...tell me one thing (Obama's) got planned other than 'change' and one thing he brings to the table other than his skin color... just one (and be specific)."

    i am done with this 'converstaion' though you may post all you want.

    good day.

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  44. Anon 09:46,10:46:8/29 and 08:29:8/30 here. Try reading MY posts alone. To me all you do is vent ad hominem attacks. Not the work of an educated professional.

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  45. ETOtheipi my man, don't tell me you drink the Evolution Koolaid too! If Evolution really happens why haven't we evolved 3 Balls and Velociraptor Teeth? Its just a ruse to make people feel better about Abortion and Genocide, I mean if those Jews had Zyklon-B filters in their Noses they'd still be alive. Just look at the Anatomy of the Prostate, and tell me someone didn't design that shit. Someone with a sense of Humor. Now back to my Football

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  46. wow.
    this is why i never "do" politics @ work.
    so here i go...
    how can we be so kinda similar in a warped way (our cynical smart and sarcastic take on the health care system & our patients) and so VERY different in our political beliefs? i am always flabbergasted when folks who are funny and smart end up being...uurrggghhhh republicans..
    so my rant
    1. i am an er nurse, work 60% time.. make $75,000;
    have full benefits for my family for health,vision &
    dental. my hubby is self-employed and clears about $75,000 ( works his but off.. has employees and provides health insurance.) we pay about 28-30% in fed & state taxes .
    2. we have teenage twins . public schools. looking @ college for both. they have little part time jobs in our city. they do not have their own cars or even their "own bedroom"!
    3. we definitely have the proverbial family value thing going on... work hard. buy responsibly. be environmentally aware.
    support social issues.. school, health, environment... blah blah blah.
    3.we are democrats. i should say my husband and i are. my sons are now.. but they are young and impressionable @ this point.. and who knows.. they may grow up and have different opinions. it does happen!

    my point with this backround:
    we work hard. we pay our debt. we recycle. we tithe some bucks to the needy. we pay our taxes.
    we are educated enough to see that our country is now totally FUCKED ROYAL.

    bush lied us into war.. opps wrong country.
    osama is still in some cave, alive.
    the contractors/cronies of the bush regime are not only making big bucks.. they aren't even paying taxes. most have now gone overseas (KBR/HALLIBURTON)
    the economy for the working class is BAD dude.. great for the corporations and the top 2 %. but sucky for us.
    looked at your portfolio lately?

    i don't know what planet you live on.. but we do have issues ; and to support republicans who don't give jack about the future of our environment is just nuts.

    this yeehaw dialog about how hot palin is so sophmoric.. funny and entertaning, maybe, but scary.
    you actually think this waddled neck nobody who is anti-abortion, anti- science, anti- polar bear (ahhhh) is ok for VP?
    ... just because karl rove gets some 2 second woody over her.. she's got issues guys and gals.
    inexperience. mcsame is 72, has that cancer thing going on, and is an idiot.
    she is:
    under investigation for stalking her sister's ex-hubby
    for those of us in the science field.. uh, CREATIONISM. maybe cute, but not very bright.
    environmental retard.

    i know you will get out the douchebag patrol.. but my point is.
    i am probably alot like some of you in terms of education and salary. work in same trenches with the funky patients. i mean i have been an er nurse for 20 years. i am not racist.i am not jaded about the druggies. i still see some glimmer of hope.
    i have not bought the republican ticket of fear and hate.
    how can we be so different on our take of the country?
    sorry.. but had to get this off my chest!

    p.s.
    hey.. before you all freak out.. i am the same age as palin.. and my neck looks much better.
    ummm.. maybe the gym & tofu really do work.
    ok
    i'm ready for the backlash.
    love ya, 911doc, just disagree.

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  47. Lily, hey you know that Used Motor Oil you think you Recycle? It gets BURNED, to Heat Yankee's Homes. You'd be better off dumpin it like I do.

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  48. dearest dr. frankie,
    you are sooo totally reactionary.. i know you don't dump that oil.
    i know this because you love your wife and your kids and you are educated.
    and.. do you mean yankee's home as opposed to met's homes?
    cause that really PISSES me off.
    go mets.
    love.

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  49. dearest lily,

    no 'douchebag' for you my dear... we simply disagree and it appears to be a matter of perception.

    i am tired after a night shift and will respond more later but here's the essence of our disagreement.

    i believe that you are a conservative but you have bought the line that we are mean and insensitive.

    you are being taxed into oblivion, like i am, to support a huge entitlement structure which has been built, almost exclusively, by lefties.

    JFK was more conservative than Bush and i am very disappointed with the Bush presidency but not because of the war.

    in fact, and of course this will be up for everyone to see and point out years hence, i believe that the war in iraq and afghanistan has been a huge success.

    i am not saying this without hard data and, again, i've been up for a long time now, but al qaeda has been gutted in iraq and just about everywhere and that means that a nuke here or anthrax or smallpox or ebola is a lot less likely to surprise you and your family one day.

    to say that al qaeda was in afghanistan, the phillipines, florida, new york, jordan, syria, iran and just about everywhere, but NOT in iraq is, on it's face, incredibly silly.

    but let's leave that aside for the moment. i have no hate for 'the loyal opposition' but i do have a bunch for the disloyal opposition.

    a smidgen of digging will show you that in clinton's presidency it was believed (and bill himself along with janet reno, al gore, and hillary, publicly stated as much) that saddam hussein was working on weapons of mass destrcution.

    bush did not turn this on it's head... his administration did not 'reverse field' on the previous administration's beliefs about what iraq was and whether it was a threat or not, but he DID act, and he acted definitively.

    contrast this with the clinton adminstration's response to the first bombing of the world trade center and the attack on the uss cole. the response was jucicial. look at the weakness clinton projected to the world by pulling out of somalia. somalia and the cole 'green lighted' the next, bigger terrorist attack where a definitive and massive response would have discouraged it.

    i prefer the Bush response. in a world where armies were transported in ships and the most damage a bomb could do was take down a building or two then the response would have been questionable, but if you concede that it was even in the realm of 'probably not' that hussein was either working on WMDs or a nuke and harboring al qaeda then i ask you, what would you preferred that we, as a nation, do? that is, what would you have preferred that had not already been tried?

    now i'm going to claim some inside info which you can dismiss as heresay. i know, personally, five different servicemembers with in the shit combat experience in both afghanistan and iraq.

    these are not 'in for four' folks, these are career military warriors.

    the first thing that is remarkable after talking with them about this is that to a man and woman, all have re-upped and gone back to the fight. none are critical of the objective and none are in doubt of the necessity of winning this war. none are dullards. two of the five attest to the presence of WMDs in iraq and believe that they were, with the help of the russians, taken to syria where they remain.

    okay, throw that away.

    back to the economics. bush's biggest failure has been his inability to secure his tax cuts in permanent status and his wild spending.

    in retrospect, he appears to have been quite naive about washington politics and, i believe, in a sincere effort to be 'bipartisan', surrendered many a conservative principle (which is why his popularity amongst conservatives is pretty low).

    the way our government works BEST is with opposing viewpoints duking it out, best argument or most convincing argument wins. consensus is nice but it is rare and vigorous debate is THE lifeblood of democracy.

    bush has not fought this fight well. it is telling to me that the ones in power who DO NOT WANT TO ARGUE are on the left. this is because the democratic stance on almost every issue is emotion driven and wilts under scrutiny. this is why you think folks like me (conservatives)are 'hateful'- it's what you are being told we are.

    next time you here it, really, ask if the accusation holds water. do you really believe in the bush/halliburton/ cheney axis of evil? really? if it's true then bush is one hell of an actor and the conspiracy is the best ever devised. democrats sure do hate 'shrub' (who to me is an honest, nice man who did a prety good job in all) but give the clintons a pass for all of their PROVEN lies and all of their obvious machinations towards power.

    finally, and i promised to make this short right?... i would ask that if you have some special knowledge that explains the origin of the universe then let me know because the last time i checked the answer was that 'we think there was a big bang'.

    keep in mind that the origin of the universe and the theory of evolution are NOT one in the same.

    so 'science' has a double whammy here, having to explain both the origin of our world and humankind with randomness becoming order, or, to be more correct, concentrated mass and energy becoming less concentrated mass and energy supporting and producing life as we know it.

    i'm not saying it can't be done or didn't happen that way, i'm simply saying that it hasn't been proven and won't be anytime soon, and, in this regard, i too am a 'creationist'.

    iow, i believe our universe was created. i, personally, believe in the Chrisian God, and my friend eto' and i have agreed to disagree on this one, AND i believe in mutations and evolution, but i do not think this is the whole story and i believe that these questions are, by their very nature, not discoverable by the scientific method.

    calling gov. palin a 'creationist' has had it's desired effect on you as there are all kinds of 'creationists'. i don't know this to be true but i would be surprised if she was the bishop usher kind who believes the world was created in seven calendar days about 4000 years ago. i bet she is more like me, respecting what science tells us about the universe, but also believing in God.

    finally, a little reading outside your comfort zone will lead you to the following...

    1. the party of big government and higher taxes and less personal responsibility and more corporate responsibility is the democrat party. they don't talk this talk because they wouldn't get elected, but it IS their walk.

    2. global warming is, at best, a THEORY with some merit, and, at worst, junk sceince being used to raid the coffers of western nations, particulary the united states, in a giant welth redistribution scheme.

    if it is true, ask yourself, can we really 'save the planet', if it's death is imminent, by switching to flourescent bulbs, buying carbon credits, and riding our bikes more? is it really possible, since we can not predict the weather, that we can predict the average global temperature twenty years from now?

    3. the party ruled by emotion and personal attacks is, today, the democrat party. the party most concerned with the color of someone's skin or what piece of genitalia they own is the democrat party. the party of special treatment for folks based on the above is the democrat party.

    4. the party that wants 'universal healthcare' and a nanny state is the democrat party.

    5. i am not without eyes and there are plenty of villains on the right side of the aisle, but if you believe in personal responsibility, if you believe in less intrusive government, if you believe you deserve to keep the money you earn and that welfare should provide a safety net and not a safety couch, if you believe in strong national defense, if you believe that everyone in the US should be able to compete to better themselves and their families regardless of their race or gender, if you are not ashamed to call yourself an American, then you are one of us.

    i am not particulary excited about john mccain but i will vote for him. i AM excited about palin and not because she's 'hot' (which she is).

    listen carefully to the debates. pick a few conservative writers to follow as the election approaches. my favorite collumists are hugh hewitt and charles krauthammer. as we all watch this unfold, ask yourself if the actions are lining up with the words. i do not expect you to change your mind based on me or us. i do believe you are being fooled by the current democrat party, as you say, based on 'fear' and 'hate'. there's plenty of both, and, in the last thirty years, it has come, almost exclusively from the democrats.

    best.

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  50. hey.. my buddy 911doc...
    i really gotta go.. but let me digest this and get back to you later.
    i will peek @ the writers you mention if you kindly return the favor by turning on amy goodman @ democracynow. org

    later.
    thanks for food for thought.
    but bush has really fucked up.
    lily

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  51. Lily and 911doc, thank you for renewing my faith in what my parents taught me about the two parties: we all want a better country, we just disagree about how to go about it. I have lost faith that those at the top are still in that category, but you two certainly are.

    I'm at a bit of a crossroads. 911doc, I do believe in personal responsibility and I am proud to be American and to live here, but I'm a heck of a lot more liberal than most posters here. To me, a constitutional amendment defining marriage is intrusive. A war based on the supposition of WMDs is intrusive and a fundamental shift in US foreign policy on its face (although we've always been intrusive in secret). Repealing abortion is intrusive as this choice is private beyond reckoning. Massive government spending with the burden back on us to the tune of billions is intrusive. Wiretapping is intrusive. And if you think we can't protect ourselves without firing first, metaphorically, see World War II.

    The republican party, and I leave it up to all if they are truly 'conservative', is very intrusive. The democratic party, however, is no ready perfect answer, and I'm not saying that. They are, for me as for many liberals, the lesser of two evils.

    However, some of this is changing for me. It's a lot harder to give up my own tax money to give handouts to the very people I see every day who won't take care of themselves. McCain and Palin are a very creditable challenge to Obama and the fossil Biden who I think is a horrible choice. I'm still willing to debate in favor of left-leaning views--I think nuclear power is a colossal mistake, even if the French use it--but I'm certainly more open to conservative views than I used to be.

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  52. I'm with Eto on evolution. There's too much pointless pain for this to all be a master plan: Whose idea was childhood cancer and burning "witches" anyway?

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  53. Besides being a cock pincushion and pushing out five kids, what exactly has former Miss AK done? Help me with this one. I know she's a creationist, so we can pretty much rule out anything to do with common sense.

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  54. Lily: put the flavor aid down before you do something drastic. Surely you work too hard to spend your time watching conspiracy "documentaries" done by college/high school drop outs. Most democrats I've met are really stupid, or possibly just ignorant. So I don't try to argue with them. (It would be like talking to my Yorkie) Suffice to say If you love freedom, believe in personal responsibility, want to pay less in taxes and think you can spend your money better than the gov't, and think Al Gore is most likely transgender, you will always come back to being a conservative. To do otherwise is lying to yourself and staying in that college "keg hand-stand" can't we all just get along plant a tree social relativistic mindset.

    Anon- you seem like a really cool jerk off. Maybe we can have a beer sometime and you can show me your Piltdown man fossils and tell me that story about having your anal warts burned off.

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  55. What has she done?

    One of her first acts in office was selling the private jet the last dude (Democrat...shocker) had purchased on the State of Alaska's tab.


    ---

    I might consider something other than creationism for my belief if anyone could just answer one question for me.(Or come close with something realistic... one person said we could have been "seeded" by an alien race.)

    How did life start?

    I don't mean "How did we evolve from the apes that are still running around"; I'm asking how did the first singe cell thing come to life.

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  56. 911 doc,

    Dang! You pounded that out after a night shift?

    Most hard working are Americans are truly conservative but somehow get caught up with the emotional kool aid

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  57. dear tyro,

    took a look at your blog. very nice. good luck in your residency and remember that it's a marathon and not a sprint. if you are coming to the ER world then promise me that you will do just one thing...

    before you sign on with a group find out how many physicians have left within the past ten years. more than two leaving without retiring entirely is a red flag.

    also, don't buy anyone telling you that they are a 'benign dictatorship'... there's no such thing in our business. make sure the books are open.

    at this point in my career i would gladly have payed a 'buy in' to be with a democratic group with happy doctors and a circadian friendly sked.

    as to your points...

    *To me, a constitutional amendment defining marriage is intrusive*.

    i see this ammendment as necessary. i have nothing against 'domestic partnerships' or 'legally binding civil 'marriage' between same-sex partners, but, for both religious and common sense reasons i can never accept that two men or two women can be 'married'.

    what i believe is driving this is a gut-level desire by homosexuals to get affirmation of their 'normality' by the government and have it forced on folks like me. they already have tolerance and to those who refuse to tolerate them i am on your side. but from tolerance to acceptance is a huge jump and can not be legislated. i'm sorry, same sex partnerships are not normal and never will be. this is, as long as we agree on what normal is, and this leads to another leftist trait which i really despise... changing the meaning or words ('marriage' for instance or 'tolerance' when they really want 'acceptance'). this issue is particularly confusing to me in light of the gay movement to be 'out and proud'. fine, be 'out and proud' and celebrate your UNIQUENSS, why do you all of a sudden say that it is NOT UNIQUE but a different kind of traditional marriage?

    on a larger scale this is a good example of legislation from the judiciary as this would not even be an issue if courts had done their job and interpreted the law. to me, the 'intrusive' thing here is the 'end around' play made to grant 'marriage' to same sex partners. in our system a constitutional ammendment is the remedy. or put the issue up for a national referendum. it will never be done because the vast majority of americans do not see homosexual partnerships, however loving and kind and solid, as marriage. they never will, but if it were at all possible that they might, it will come as a result of homosexual couples proving it to them over time, not by cramming it down our throats from the bench.

    *A war based on the supposition of WMDs is intrusive and a fundamental shift in US foreign policy on its face (although we've always been intrusive in secret).*

    I disagree with you here. i think you mischaracterize the issue as being a 'supposition of WMDs'... saddam HAD WMDs as far back as the 80s and he used them, it would be foolish, especially in light of the UN inspectors being kicked out of Iraq, to believe that good old saddam did what he was required to do at the end of GWI and dumped his weapons and programs. also, you are about to see a war in iran and it will be justified, that is, unless you feel comfortable having that madmand anti-semite in posession of weaponized nukes. he has stated on many occasions that he will destroy israel. do we wait for it to happen?

    *Repealing abortion is intrusive as this choice is private beyond reckoning*

    i disagree here too and the 'pro abortion' movement, historically speaking, is brand new. eons of human history and law have seen abortion as a crime and as murder. i am not emotionally invested in this issue, i simply believe that once the sperm and egg meet, that we have a human. if there is any human less able to look out after it's own interest that a baby in utero than i do not know what it is. also, i think this issue is mischaracterized as one of 'choice' or the 'woman's right to choose'. with the noteable exception of forcible rape, women DO have the choice of whether or not to get pregnant. this is the choice, not, after making a bad decision, to skate out of it by destroying human life.

    *Massive government spending with the burden back on us to the tune of billions is intrusive*

    agreed, but which party promises and delivers tax increases with regularity?

    *Wiretapping is intrusive*

    agree, but i'll take it as long as there are fanatics out there who both want to kill you and me because we are not muslim (or the wrong color or heritage) and the possibility that they can do it on a massive scale. also, if our enemies do it, what do we gain by taking the high road here?

    *And if you think we can't protect ourselves without firing first, metaphorically, see World War II*

    i do think we can protect ourselves without firing first, but when dealing with fanatics i would rather fire first. if england had 'fired first' when the nazis militarized the rhineland in contravention of the treaty of paris then world war II and six million jews exterminated would not have happened. in the current situation we did not 'fire first', we responded to the murder of over 3000 americans on our soil. you may disagree that iraq was part of 9-11, but there is ample evidence that saddam was harboring and training al qaeda, it's just not put out for you in the MSM. in fact, there is one war we were in recently, and still are in, in which we 'fired first', and it was kosovo.

    *The republican party, and I leave it up to all if they are truly 'conservative', is very intrusive*

    you are incorrect here but i am willing to listen to specific examples you may have. the party of beuracracy and increasing government intervention in all aspect of our lives is the democrat party. they are the advocates of 'hate crimes' legislation, in california they are the party which tells you what you can and can not eat. they are the party that wants special treatment for people based on skin color or gender or sexual preference, and they are the party pushing for censorship with the 'fairness doctrine', which would limit and end the very popular conservative talkers.

    *The democratic party, however, is no ready perfect answer, and I'm not saying that. They are, for me as for many liberals, the lesser of two evils*

    we just disagree here.

    *However, some of this is changing for me. It's a lot harder to give up my own tax money to give handouts to the very people I see every day who won't take care of themselves*

    if you are in the ER you will soon be one of us.

    *McCain and Palin are a very creditable challenge to Obama and the fossil Biden who I think is a horrible choice. I'm still willing to debate in favor of left-leaning views--I think nuclear power is a colossal mistake, even if the French use it--but I'm certainly more open to conservative views than I used to be*

    nuclear power is seen as a 'genie in a bottle' by the left. it is safe and clean and could solve many of our energy problems and the french, far more leftist than us, have realized this and are showing us how to do it. the democrats refuse nuclear power, oppose drilling to decrease our dependence on foreign oil, and yet have nothing to offer that is anywhere within ten to twenty years of being a viable alternative. conservatives are realistic on the point, drill and obtain more oil as the technology for cleaner and renewable energy sources proceeds.

    tyro, you are a nice person. please continue to come back and good luck in your residency.

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  58. Solar Energy is just a Nuclear Power Plant thats 93 Million miles away.

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  59. frank, did you make that up? i will use it a lot and want to attribute it properly. actually, be careful though, your 'sun' as you call it, has killed millions of people, certainly more than chernobyl and 3 mile island i think.

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  60. Yeah, Didn't Plagarize it or anything.

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  61. Gosh, can you come up with any more reason for me to like her even LESS? Prolife, pro guns....come on, pick one or the other...let's not be a fence sitter. Prolife, pro insurance company competition for lower HEALTH CARE PRICES? REALLY? Insurance company competition is going to drive down the cost of health care in America?

    How about the millions who have NO HEALTH CARE...who haven't a hope in hell of affording it with a hey, in a year or so you'll get a refund kind of thing?

    Perhaps if the very most impoverished in the nation had a shot in hell at health care, they'd have the ability to "pull themselves up by their bootstraps" and become "personally responsible" (i.e., make a hell of a lot more money than they currently do) so that they can afford decent medical care and the insurance coverage for it.

    I fully support legalizing gay marriages simply for the legal aspects of it. The hell with religious reasons, they have no place in government. Government has to do with law and order...if a gay person's partner needs legal recognition to be included on his/her partner's exorbitantly expensive but absolutely necessary health insurance, then by all means...legalize gay marriages.

    The government needs to get its hands out of women's wombs. NOT their business. Period.

    For crying out loud. We really don't need any more wealthy gas guzzling, oil-investing, earth-defiling don't-know-how-many-houses-they-own republicans running the country!

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  62. Cannedam,

    There will be losers and winners, and you are a loser. The founders never promised anybody anything, only opportunity. The socialism thing has been tried before and failed, assuming they are still teaching that in our left leaning emasculating schools. The human spirit"s desire to better oneself and find ways to make a better life can't be quelled by socialist pole-smokers like yourself. Nobody is going to hand you anything. Life, liberty and the PURSUIT of happiness. Not a check, not health care, not guarateed employment at your so-called "living wage", and in you case not and endless supply of big steaming dick.

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  63. Thanks for the comments! I'll be mindful of your advice in a year or two, right now I'm still struggling through Rosen's.

    911doc, you make salient points. It seems as though we see situations in a similar way but draw different conclusions from it--for example, your willingness to take wiretapping contrasted with my unwillingness in the context that we both recognize islamic extremism as dangerous.

    Well retorted with regards to World War II. The retrospectoscope would also have had us get involved much earlier. I do think that we lose a great deal of our strength when we open ourselves to questions of motivation. That is, if we are clearly acting in self-defense, it should be easier to justify military action. But that's not so easy. You have talked to people on the ground who believe in WMDs, but for me and the info I have--limited, to be sure--the rationale for Iraq seems like it was sold to us. I don't believe that Saddam had the capabilities to reach us, and I think terrorists still have the same capabilities now that they did before we got involved in Iraq.

    In contrast to some dems, I think that we have an obligation to finish the Iraq conflict the right way now that we're there. I didn't like Obama's promise to withdraw on a timetable. We've bought ourselves a lot of obligation by going in, and we should finish it right.

    My examples of republicans being intrusive are those already listed, and you countered them well but did admit for example that wiretapping is intrusive. The abortion debate also seems more intrusive on the conservative side--that is, legislation to decide what types of procedures can or cannot be performed and so on seems more intrusive than allowing individuals to choose. I see where you are coming from if you consider elective abortion murder; it makes it difficult to 'allow'.

    Schrodinger's cat, I've always loved the phrase 'equality of opportunity', but how do you ensure that? How do you ensure equality of opportunity when it is certainly true that different sectors of society have vastly disproportionate access to resources? Certainly a school-age child in East St. Louis does not have the same opportunity as the same child in a wealthy suburb. The best writer I've ever read on the subject of opportunity in public schools is Jonathan Kozol, as in 'Savage Inequalities'.

    The answer to that isn't vouchers, its the uncoupling of public schools from property taxes which basically guarantees inequality. Are vouchers really going to give that inner-city family the ability to choose the same schools as upper class kids? Not a chance! The best private schools have tuitions close to college levels and I don't want to pay that much for vouchers. Just one example.

    Ensuring equality of opportunity without giving people handouts that cripple personal responsibility is tough, I'm not totally sure how to do it. When we gave classes for immigrants and refugees in my teaching days, we required payment from them even though these payments could never cover the cost of classes. I think health care could use something like that especially for those 'not able to pay' who walk in with $100/mo cell phones and cigarettes and designer jeans. Cannedam, it's not so simple as saying people can't afford it. The IOM has stated that the fastest growing proportion of ER visits is among the INSURED not the uninsured meaning there is more going on than an inability to pay health insurance premiums. Besides if they can afford all the stuff I mentioned above, how is it they can't afford health care of some sort? My wife and I didn't work for 3 years when I was a student and we were having our children (we're done now) and we were NEVER without coverage. There are ways, some people just don't want to go through the hassle because they know they can go to the ER anyway.

    I guess I agree on equality of opportunity, not mandated sameness, but I tend to think that some government programs are needed to 'level the playing field'. Student loans, for example. Military health care scholarships, National Service Corps scholarships. All of those are government programs, right?

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  64. Sorry, but the "leveling the playing field" mantra is a slippery slope into quotas and mediocrity. As said before, there is nowhere in the Constitution about fairness. We are CREATED equal, but not all will have equal opportunities or take advantage of those opportunities presented, or make the right decisions, or decide not to piss your life away with drugs,alcohol, or just laziness. Equality of opportunity cannot be ensured ( See Chairman Mao). Life, by nature, isn't fair. Some will get breaks, some hard knocks. We do the best we can, and give charity where it is due ( by the way studies have shown that Conservatives are much more philanthropic on a per capita basis than Liberals, esp. in the South where they can ill afford to give, but do so) The key there is they give, not Nazi Pelosi or some other do gooder looking for a vote.

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  65. I've never doubted the philanthropic will of most Americans, conservatives included. To poke fun at ourselves, liberals are probably too busy pounding out manifestos on their Macs in coffee shops smoking cloves to spare room in their budget for actually giving, plus they probably don't make any money working part-time at the local communist book shop while finishing their dissertation on the subjugation of native peoples for profit.

    I have also noticed how effective Bono and the Gateses have been at achieving philathropic success OUTSIDE of governmental channels. Although both of those people may well be liberal, they are proving that the government is not the only source of help. You may well have other examples.

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  66. May I use this post in Change of Shift? Please email me today at motherjonesrn AT yahoo DOT com and let me know.

    Thanks, MJ

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  67. I live in Alaska, and she has been a horrible governor. I'm sure that will easily translate into being VP.

    What a mess.

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  68. Everyone should just take a moment and think rationally. If you want some great insight on what our nation has become, read Pres. George Washington's Farewell Address.

    It can be found here if you feel so inclined.

    http://www.earlyamerica.com/earlyamerica/milestones/farewell/text.html

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  69. jennifer,
    mccain attended a prestitgious private school and was legacied into annapolis. bush also attended a private school, went to an ivy league college he nearly failed out of, and somehow managed to get to harvard business school. he's the very definition of "white priviledge". and yet, you're calling a black man who went on to become top in his harvard law class, editor of the harvard law review, and teach constitutional law at U of C a "elitist"? a white guy can do all those things and he's living up to his potential. a black guy does that and he's "elitist". let me guess, you think patriotism is proven by tattooing a flag on your back?

    seriously, get some brains. i'd rather my president be someone with proven intelligence instead of some hick model from alaska who took 6 years and 4 colleges (one she nearly failed out of) to get a bachelor's degree. and last i checked, being able to hunt moose didn't qualify you to make world-shaking decisions.

    oh and she's the only feminist i've heard of that wants to force rape and incest survivors to birth children from those crimes if they get pregnant. yeah, she sounds awesome.

    sarah palin makes me sorry for having ovaries. she's a right-wing, bible-thumping moron who treads more on her looks than anything else. the fact that the republicans have pushed for shorter vp debates and a more structured format than originally agreed upon proves that even they don't think she hold her own in the big leagues.

    - priya

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  70. priay,

    i havn't heard so much venom spewed since i attended last week's cross burning.

    i thought your's was the party of 'togetherness' and 'inclusoin'?

    you have settled things for me though, i'm going to vote for Obama because he's black.

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