If you’ve never been roundly criticized before, that certainly explains why you don’t realize that you are ignorant or that your religion, first published as a work of fiction by Joseph Smith before being republished as a belief system (in identical fashion to Scientology) is ridiculous.

When your invented fantasy of what’s going on (such as saying nothing bad is happening at GitMo and we should all just assume the best) gets presented as an opinion that takes itself as equally worthy to the opinions of people who aren’t blinded by religious ignorance, it is frustrating and angering.

I think bigotry is alive and well in America. But it’s not black vs. white anymore…its red vs. blue.

Nelsonart: thank you for your balance. Your closing statement sums my feelings perfectly and is probably all I should have said: “I have a lot of concerns with Obama’s policies and associations.”

Others here have shown similar reasonableness. Thank you.

I think I’m done here. Best wishes, Dan. I enjoyed your Mac columns, anyway.

Todd

Have a hard time with your political comments – and perhaps the forum you have created is dimished – but this is a blog, and you’re entitled to your own opinion.

I will disagree with you about McCain – as a registered Dem in SoCal, Obama’s proposed policies scare the hell out of me. Redistributing the wealth – I’m in the window that he’s talking about, and this right here, ain’t right. McCain is less scary, but Palin is one hell of a concern there, with her far right views, and she would be a, quite literally, a heartbeat away from the top step.

please, stick with your earlier commentary, that’s what most of us appreciate your site for.\

[Go to http://taxcut.barackobama.com/ and discover how much - exactly - your taxes will rise. Because making stupid choices because of panic induced by fear mongers is the reason we've had 8 years of a declining economy under the Republicans. Don't be duped again. ]

Defining words so broadly that they begin to lack any real meaning defeats the purpose of having words. If “socialism” is bad, it can’t mean soup to nuts to evil. That’s like redefining “totalitarianism” to mean “governed by someone you have some disagreements with.” It’s simply ridiculous to assert.

Also, while I can’t agree with much of what you wrote, there’s one idea that is just so absurd I have to point it out: “Under George W. Bush, there are many on the left who fear that their liberty has been assaulted. (If it truly had been, would Daniel be able to make the post he has?)”

So in your view, rounding up people based on Minority Report precrime hunches, then holding them for years without any charges, torturing them, and then admitting that we have no reason to continue holding them but that we can’t send them home (because they would be killed, as is the case with the most recently publicized group of Chinese militia people who were never any threat to the US) but we’re also afraid to release them in the US, so we’re just holding them in perpetual prison based on false pretense, is all A-OK in Utah because I, as a white man in California, can blog about my ideas.

Exactly how many how many Americans can be spied upon without warrants and innocent people can be tortured to death in US death camps for every article I write?

Paul is a thoughtful, likable, charismatic speaker. His ideas about the Fed are as convincing and plausible as conspiracy theories about 9/11 being planned by Bush. Watching one sided propaganda is not a very good way to develop an accurate, balanced view of things however.

While I’m not an economic expert and don’t fully understand (or have even examined in depth) the details of the inner-workings of the Fed or the possibility of elite cronyism that may have put it in place, the fact that idea is being pushed by the Constitution Party is reason enough to dismiss it as being of the same level of nonsense as Scientology.

The CP is an open effort to turn the US into a white Christianist theocracy (a white Taliban). Their official policy stance includes abolishing public education, Department of Education and the Department of Health and Human Services, elimination of the minimum wage, and supports the war on drugs, as long as we don’t take anyone’s property or guns while waging it.

They oppose AIDS research because “under no circumstances should government continue to subsidize activities which have the effect of encouraging perverted or promiscuous sexual conduct.” So, while they are anti-abortionists, they have no interest in saving the lives of unborn children that are infected by HIV through no fault of their own, or children or others who may contract HIV through medical treatment, and so on.

Despite representing white Christianism, they have a religious persecution complex reflected in their platform policy: “We assert that any form of taxation or coercion (including incorporation and 501(c)(3) status) on churches and other religious organizations is a direct and dangerous step toward state control of the church.” That means churches can violate their tax exemption rules by campaigning, and if the IRS revokes their tax free status, it’s somehow the IRS that is to blame for their violation of the law.

Ron Paul supports the Constitution Party. He is therefore a douche bag that cannot be respected by anyone who is rational and intelligent. The Constitution Party is connected to the Palin’s AIP, and its members see Palin as being Queen Esther (a righteous plant in government that will empower them to rise up and slaughter their enemies. [read the Book of Esther in the Bible].)

Then again, if you’ve been hoodwinked to think that US government policy is meaningless apart from the all important outlawing of Abortion (seemingly unaware of how well Prohibition worked to stop alcohol consumption), then by all means destroy the country and push America back into the 13th Century where we can all address each other with surnames related to our role in the new fiefdom.

I’d be Dan the Writer.