I do have a question for you and it is in response to a common “logic” used by most if not all anti-Iraq war types.

Two things always comes up in these type discussions:

First: “Dictator X is/was worse than Saddam – why didn’t we invade his country?”

And secondly: “There are many dictatorships around the world – so why pick on Iraq?”

These illict these two statements:

“Global warming is the main environmental problem facing us today; I think we should concentrate our resources on fighting it, instead of spending any money on combating air pollution [or any other environmental cause].”

“There are so many challenges in our society: the growing gap between the rich and the poor, corporate greed running amok, sex discrimination, racism, and same-sex couples still can’t legally marry [to mention just a few]. Because we can’t solve all these problems at the same time, we shouldn’t try to solve any of them.”

And Rich when your head stops spinning trying to “logic” your way into an answer riddle me this:

You like many of your ilk make the claim thet Bush is in Iraq to secure the oil reserves.

If that is the case why indeed, didn’t we go into Saudi Arabia who hold the world’s largest reserves of oil?

Because they are non issues. It doesn’t matter what Clinton says, he’s a former president. Who cares about some stupid statement about a self loathing homosexual? It’s a tangent, it’s a distraction. You don’t care in fact, it’s just a happy distraction.

You don’t get to dictate what I talk about. Start your own blog if you want to talk about something else. When you’re here, stay on topic, or I’ll shut you up.

So it’s impossible to support the war without actually being a soldier?

It’s hypocritical.

If you believe in this war, why aren’t you involved in it?

Why is it OK to send other people to die for your beliefs, but it’s not worth your life?

I’d fight in any war I believed in, and I would never ask anybody to fight in a war that I didn’t believe in because it’s hypocritical to do that. It’s immoral.

You see, it’s not OK to send other people to die for your beliefs. If you believe in it so much, you should fight for it. If you think the people that are serving now are happy to be at war, then you’re a complete idiot.

Besides, you wouldn’t respect me even if I had decided to enlist, as evidenced by you calling the troops “gullible and stupid.”

I consider anybody that signs up at this point to be quite gullible and stupid because the reasons given by our administration as to why we went to war in the first place and why we are at war now are complete lies.

What is our mission in Iraq? Is it to bring democracy? Why aren’t we at war anywhere else in the world to bring democracy there?

Why Iraq?

Saudi Arabia is a horrific regime, every bit as despotic and evil as Hussein’s regime.

Why Iraq?

I get it. You’re against the war. Stop making everything into a restatement of your Iraq talking points. Seriously… how do you go from “Bill Clinton calls out homosexual ‘self-loathing’” to “the Iraq war is unjust”? Stay on topic and cut the ad hominem B.S., or go away.

Because they are non issues. It doesn’t matter what Clinton says, he’s a former president. Who cares about some stupid statement about a self loathing homosexual? It’s a tangent, it’s a distraction. You don’t care in fact, it’s just a happy distraction. It just solidifies in your mind what Republicans are “right” and Democrats are “wrong” – you don’t even want to deal with actual important issues.

The only issue is the performace of the current president who has the power to bring us to war and end the war. That’s all that matters.

Bitching about Clinton when we were lied to about going to war is beyond stupid and triffling. It’s asinine.

I get it. You’re against the war. Stop making everything into a restatement of your Iraq talking points. Seriously… how do you go from “Bill Clinton calls out homosexual ‘self-loathing’” to “the Iraq war is unjust”? Stay on topic and cut the ad hominem B.S., or go away.

Sheesh Rich, do all roads lead to Iraq?

Isn’t it a little important to you that we’re at war? I mean, we’re at war. Does it have any meaning to you that we’re at war?

We have spent 150 BILLION dollars so far.

There are no weapons of mass destruction, there never were.

Al Sistani is the most powerful political force in Iraq

He hates the United States

And we have no exit strategy

And the US military is having such difficulty to get recruitment levels up, they have released a video game http://www.americasarmy.com/ to increase recruitment.

Pardon me if my eyes start to glaze over when you start quoting made-up numbers like “100,000 Iraqi civilians” dead.

I consider anybody that doesn’t realize the gravity of the situation to be a complete and utter moron, there is no reason to apologize to me.

You’re just some naive kid that is more than happy to “support the troops” by having other people get killed but not you. You’re too chickenshit to sign up but you “support our troops”. Just another hypocrite that thinks it’s patriotic to send off somebody that is even more gullible and stupid than you off to die for reasons you don’t even understand, but still mindlessly support.

Go sign up. But you won’t will you? Even though you stand behind this war, you don’t actually believe in it enough to sign up, but you’re happy to let other people do the work, and get killed for it. Typical.

Pardon me if my eyes start to glaze over when you start quoting made-up numbers like “100,000 Iraqi civilians” dead.

“Don’t ask, don’t tell” was signed by Bill Clinton.

The only reason that it was “don’t care, it’s irrelevant” is because Republicans protested any changes to the law, which was previously “you’re a homosexual, get a dishonorable discharge, lose all your benefits”. Although what Clinton accomplished was little better, it’s because Republicans stood in his way, not Democrats.

There are many, many so called “South Park Conservatives” who do not agree with the Right-wing er… wing of the Republican party on these issues. Dick Cheney, for instance, opposed the FMA.

Dick Cheney’s daughter is a lesbian, maybe that has something to do with it.

I don’t see many Democratic leaders bashing homosexuals, but I see plenty of Republican leaders doing just that. Where are the Civil Union laws?

The KKK is an organization that bombed black churches. It is an organization that lynched blacks. It is an organization that placed flaming crucifixes in the front yards of blacks as intimidation.

The Republican party has killed 100,000 Iraqi civilians supposedly to strip Saddam Hussein of weapons of mass destruction. When did Saddam Hussein ever attack the United States? Ever.

Why are we in Iraq?

The current brand of “Republicans” are nothing but nationalists that use whatever lie is convenient to garner support for whatever they want to do. They are closer to fascists.

Contrast that to bible-belt Christians (regardless of political affiliation) who equate homosexuality with child molestation or who don’t want to allow homosexuals to marry or think that homosexuality is going to ‘destroy’ society.

I know damned few Democrats that are outspoken critics of homosexuality, but I know truckloads of Republicans who are unashamed bigots against gays. I lived in the Midwest for 2 miserable years.

How can you even compare the violently manifested hatred of the KKK with the ignorant rantings of a bunch of bible thumpers?

Easily, the KKK was and still is a Christian organization. Didn’t you know? The KKK is a right wing Christian organization. I’m not surprised you didn’t know this. The Republican party of today gained most of it’s power by absorbing the Dixiecrats when the Democratic Party split over segregation and Jim Crow laws. The Republican Party was more than happy to gain membership from all those down south racists they had no access to beforehand.

Also note that racist beliefs are a requirement for entry into the KKK, but being a member of (of a voter for) the Republican party doesn’t have any anti-homosexuality oath.

What kind of person would join a party that is hostile toward their sexuality and then defend that decision?

I’d wager that most homosexuals who identify as Republican are of the libertarian-leaning wing, so what’s the problem?

I know a lot of libertarians and I know a lot of homosexuals living in California, and all of them look at the Republican party with disgust.

I mean, unless you have homosexuals who are actively cheering homophobia, what’s the conflict? I know lots of people who think Socialism is evil, but vote Democrat anyway. At some point you have to come to a personal decision about what the lesser of two (or more) evils is. You can’t expect homosexuals to make their sexuality the primary factor that determines their vote.

Has government reduced under Bush?
Is our deficit spending increasing or decreasing?
Have we stopped nation building under Bush?

What Republican party platforms has the current administration lived up to? I see a skyrocketing debt, us embroiled in a war 1/2 across the world, and a ballooning government. 1 out of 3 people who work work for the government in some form.

1 in 3.

Republican voters can’t seem to distinguish between hype and reality. I can. Fire 90% of goverment workers. Government workers never go through layoffs. Do you know a single person that works for the government that was ever fired or laid off? I have 2 brothers and 1 sister that have held positions working for the government, and I know it doesn’t happen – ever.

People do this with black voters as well, calling them race traitors if they don’t vote Democrat. People aren’t that shallow, and base their political decisions one issue

Why would you vote for Bush?

I’d readily support McCain, and I’m a libertarian far more than I’m a Democrat or what is passed off as the “conservative” party of today.

The administration is nothing more than a pack of liars. We’ll be in Iraq for at least 3 more years because the reason we are there is to place bases there, and secure oil reserves. The administration doesn’t care about democracy and never did, as you can tell with Afghanistan, which they just abandoned again, just like they did after the Afghanistan / USSR war.

Ever stop to consider why did Powell resign? I know exactly why he resigned. Do you?

His boyfriend of 5 years is from Argentina. If his boyfriend was female, he could marry – but his boyfriend work visa is about to expire, thanks to the Patriot Act – so he’s going to be deported.

And where the Civil Union laws? They don’t exist. So don’t give me that crap about Republicans leaders not being bigots or hypocrites.

The Republican party lied to the United States and has killed 100,000 Iraqis. The person that is now in power in Iraq, is Al Sistani, the Iranian born cleric who watched as the CIA overthew his democracy in Iraq in 1953 when Mossadeq was their elected leader. The Bush administration lied about weapons of mass destruction, doesn’t care a bit that they didn’t exist, spent 150 billion dollars doing this, killed 1,500 US soldiers to do this, and has killed somewhere in the area of 100 thousand Iraqi civilians. Comparing the current leaders of the Republican party with the KKK is unfair to the KKK.

About the Bush White House:

The White House said that could include inheritance, hospital visits and other rights often conferred by what are called civil unions.

“Don’t ask, don’t tell” was signed by Bill Clinton.

There are many, many so called “South Park Conservatives” who do not agree with the Right-wing er… wing of the Republican party on these issues. Dick Cheney, for instance, opposed the FMA.

The KKK is an organization that bombed black churches. It is an organization that lynched blacks. It is an organization that placed flaming crucifixes in the front yards of blacks as intimidation.

Contrast that to bible-belt Christians (regardless of political affiliation) who equate homosexuality with child molestation or who don’t want to allow homosexuals to marry or think that homosexuality is going to ‘destroy’ society. How can you even compare the violently manifested hatred of the KKK with the ignorant rantings of a bunch of bible thumpers?

Also note that racist beliefs are a requirement for entry into the KKK, but being a member of (of a voter for) the Republican party doesn’t have any anti-homosexuality oath.

I’d wager that most homosexuals who identify as Republican are of the libertarian-leaning wing, so what’s the problem?

I mean, unless you have homosexuals who are actively cheering homophobia, what’s the conflict? I know lots of people who think Socialism is evil, but vote Democrat anyway. At some point you have to come to a personal decision about what the lesser of two (or more) evils is. You can’t expect homosexuals to make their sexuality the primary factor that determines their vote. People do this with black voters as well, calling them race traitors if they don’t vote Democrat. People aren’t that shallow, and base their political decisions on more than just one issue.

What self respecting homosexual would be supporting a party whose platform refuses to allow homosexuals to serve in the military, which has a platform that allows homosexuals to be fired from their job for simply being homosexual, and won’t allow a homosexual the right to visit their partner who is dying in a hospital to visit their mate because they are not “next of kin”?

You can be currently fired from your job for being gay, no other reason.

You can’t visit your 20 year old partner in a hospital after a serious car crash or during a prolonged illness like cancer because you are not “family”.

You have no inheritence rights if your 20 year old partner dies on you.

You cannot marry your partner of 20 years either, if you’re gay.

You cannot be openly gay and serve in the military.

And this is supported by the Republican party, wholesale. It’s bigotry. A gay man supporting the Republican party is like a black man supporting the KKK. The Republican party and platform is openly bigoted toward homosexuals. Any self respecting homosexual that doesn’t believe in a welfare state would be a Libertarian, not a Republican.