John McCain spreading fear about childhood vaccines

[firstdown]

Originally Posted by mheisig

If we get there, we'll be the first society in the history of the planet to do so.

I'm not saying we shouldn't try to keep making strides, but let's not be naive and think this generation is so special that we'll be the ones to finally put an end to discrimination that goes back to the cave men and probably dinosaurs.

Well if you ask me it seems that people now days ask to be divided into groups by what they want to be called or refered too.

[SmootSmack]

Originally Posted by Buster

If it is so dumb, then why did the Obama campaign just reprimand a campaign worker for using his full name and distribute instructions and talking points on how to refer to the Senator?

Also, why has McCain instructed his campaign not to use Obama's full name?


BECAUSE people will overreact with "dumb comments" and accusing people of attacking Obama with "hate speech" because they used his name.

Sure, there are a lot of dumb comments flying around. Most of them come from the Obama camp.

Well, I'll admit I took it as a dumb comment because of your almost complete bias to the right any time a political discussion takes place. I thought you were simply trying to crack a joke (hence the cheerful emoticon at the end) about your "hatred" of the Obamas and Clintons.

[SmootSmack]

Originally Posted by Sheriff Gonna Getcha

To put the question back onto you, how would you categorize the various groups?

Here's my thing though. Why does "labeling" always have to be considered negative? I mean some people may categorize me as Hispanic (because I'm part Hispanic) and I don't know that means I need to take offense to that. It's who I am, and I'm proud of it.

To a lesser exent look at this site, we can all "label" ourselves Redskins fans. And people who comment about those of us on the board would say "Look at those Redskins fans" instead of referring to us as Matt, Mike, Jason, Ben, etc. And we take pride in being called Redskins fans, don't we (don't answer that )

My color, background, race, etc. don't define who I am but they certainly shape it. I don't think there's any reason to be ashame of that.

(by the way erik2680 must be like "WTF? What does this have to do vaccines for autism?"

[djnemo65]

Originally Posted by jsarno

No he's not black...he's only part. His mother is just as white as his father is black. Just cause he embraces his black roots over his caucasian roots doesn't make him any more black.
If you are an Obama supporter, this is the kind of thing I am talking about. Know your candidate before supporting one.

Your comments suggest a deep ignorance of the history of racial classification in this country. Ever heard of the one drop rule? Probably not right? Please study history more carefully before you go patronizing people on message boards. As Obama himself said, when he's trying to hail a cab in New York it doesn't matter that he's biracial.

[djnemo65]

Originally Posted by jsarno

And why is that? Cause I am not afraid to break down barriers and speak without fear of being politically correct?

Sometimes, some people need to learn that there is more to see of this world than the view they see of the inside of thier own anus.

No, because you disparage Obama by sharing anecdotes about your friends and acquaintances saying unbelievably stupid things. So because some moron you know doesn't know that Obama is from Illinois that somehow becomes representative of his supporters (who by the way, are disproportionately affluent and educated). I say take a statistics class and get some new friends.

[Sheriff Gonna Getcha]

Originally Posted by jsarno

I'm not so sure those comments by Ferraro are completely off base though. Obama is almost to cult hero status, when was the last politician that popular?

My right-leaning tendencies (e.g., pro-death penalty, pro-surge, "small gov't is good gov't") prevent me from getting 100% behind Obama. But, he's certainly the most charismatic speaker we've had in a LONG time. Moreover, like Reagan and JFK and unlike Bush and Hillary, his message is positive and uplifting. He also is youthful and intelligent. I think there are more than enough reasons for people to find Obama inspiring, fascinating, etc.

In some quarters, Obama may be appealing because he is black. In other quarters, however, Obama's race is not so helpful. Moreover, there are an awful lot of black politicians who have never been propelled to such prominence in such a short period of time.

So, I guess I have to ask you if you really think Obama is so popular because he is black? If so, do you believe that his skin color may adversely affect him among a certain segment of the population?

[SmootSmack]

What's amazing about Obama is the sustainability of his momentum (which, perhaps is an oxymoron). I mean this guy "burst" on the scene back in 2004 during the Democratic National Convention when he gave the keynote address. It is not uncommon for the next big thing to emerge at those conventions but to maintain and even elevate that status over a 4 year period is very difficult. I thought, wrongly, that the Obamania was going too strong too fast and would fizzle. But, to this point, it has done anything but.

[dmek25]

smooty,i really feel the people are ready to get away from the " same old thing" in Washington. Obama gives hope for a new direction

[GTripp0012]

Originally Posted by SmootSmack

What's amazing about Obama is the sustainability of his momentum (which, perhaps is an oxymoron). I mean this guy "burst" on the scene back in 2004 during the Democratic National Convention when he gave the keynote address. It is not uncommon for the next big thing to emerge at those conventions but to maintain and even elevate that status over a 4 year period is very difficult. I thought, wrongly, that the Obamania was going too strong too fast and would fizzle. But, to this point, it has done anything but.

Which is exactly why I feel that electing him to the most powerful office in the world prior to him establishing a decent voting record would be a critical error.

If he's a solid candidate beyond all the hype (and I want to give him every chance to be), he will still be garnering support like this 8 years from now. There's no reason to rush the man into office before we actually know anything about him other than cliches, and a perceived (but not established) set of liberal views.

[4mrusmc]

This thread ran off the tracks around post #25. LOL

[Sheriff Gonna Getcha]

Originally Posted by GTripp0012

Which is exactly why I feel that electing him to the most powerful office in the world prior to him establishing a decent voting record would be a critical error.

If he's a solid candidate beyond all the hype (and I want to give him every chance to be), he will still be garnering support like this 8 years from now. There's no reason to rush the man into office before we actually know anything about him other than cliches, and a perceived (but not established) set of liberal views.

Some of our nation's most distinguished presidents (e.g., Lincoln, Eisenhower and Kennedy) lacked political experience when they took office. Conversely, many relatively ineffective presidents (e.g., Ford) had a good deal of political experience when they took office. So, while political experience is important, it shouldn't be a litmus test for who is and is not qualified to be our next president.

In my opinion, the qualities that separate good presidents from bad ones are intelligence, sound judgment, and charisma. Intelligence and sound judgment are of obvious importance. Charisma, however, is also very important. Our president is a chief of state who has to be able to "woo" the general public and foreign leaders. Our nation's faith in the president has a tremendous impact on our economy, the president's ability to push legislation through Congress, the public's faith in our system of government, and our nation's ability to deal effectively with other nations.

Obama is obviously intelligent, appears to have sound judgment and is obviously charismatic. I differ with Obama on many issues (he's far more liberal than I am), but ultimately, I am more concerned with how my president is going to handle unknown events and issues than whether he is pro-choice or anti-death penalty. IMO, Obama has the intelligence, judgment, and charisma to be able to effectively deal with crises that we don't anticipate.

[jsarno]

Originally Posted by Sheriff Gonna Getcha

Jsarno,

I certainly agree that we should look beyond race, gender, sexual orientation, etc. But, the simple fact is that very few, if any, of us are actually color blind.

But, I don't quite follow your logic about whether someone is a person of color or not. You laughed at the idea that there are "shades of color." Yet, you also said Obama is not really black. Do you then think that Obama is white?

Nope...he's neither. He's just a man named Obama.

[Sheriff Gonna Getcha]

Originally Posted by jsarno

Nope...he's neither. He's just a man named Obama.

You've recognized in the past that people are black or white. All of the sudden you're color blind? Come on, you can't honestly say, he's not black AND shades of black/white are silly.

[jsarno]

Originally Posted by djnemo65

Your comments suggest a deep ignorance of the history of racial classification in this country. Ever heard of the one drop rule? Probably not right? Please study history more carefully before you go patronizing people on message boards. As Obama himself said, when he's trying to hail a cab in New York it doesn't matter that he's biracial.

WHy would you ASSUME I didn't know that? I have a 142 IQ and a master's degree...I am educated sir.
Now, if you knew what the one drop rule stood for, you'd know it started back in the 1910's or so, and you'd also know it does not apply outside of the USA, only we american's are hell bent on dividing. The main reason for the "one drop rule" was to keep white blood pure, and avoid interracial relationships. It's also extremely outdated.
But hey, if you want to use that kind of system, cause you just HAVE to divide everyone, more power to you. Don't deflect buddy.

[jsarno]

Originally Posted by Sheriff Gonna Getcha

You've recognized in the past that people are black or white. All of the sudden you're color blind? Come on, you can't honestly say, he's not black AND shades of black/white are silly.

Not really...but I will use terms that you all use. How else would you know who I was talking about?
Also, when he's 50% of both, he is neither, or both...whatever. If you must use a label, try malatto (sp?).

Why does it even matter? Why do you insist on labels?

If a dog is 100% pug, then he's a pug, yet if he's 50% pug, and 50% pomeranian, then he's a mutt. Not a pug.