Thought for the day:
Remember when Ronald Reagan questioned Jimmy Carter's love for his country? When he questioned if Carter was actually born in this country? When he questioned if Carter was really a Christian?
Wait a minute!!! He never did that???
What has Reagan's party become?
Tuesday, February 24, 2015
Sunday, February 22, 2015
The Republican Problem.
Earlier this week former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani told us all "I know this is a horrible thing to say, but I do not believe that the president loves America."
Let's take a step back and realize who it was saying such a thing. This was not some unknown staff member of an obscure congressman. This was a man who at one time was the odds on favorite to win the Republican nomination for president. (Remember when '08 was supposed to come down to Rudy Giuliani vs. Hillary Clinton?)
There are goofballs on both sides (all sides!) of the political spectrum. Just read the comments section of any political story on the internet and you will see many of them come out. But seriously, ask yourself this: What nationally prominent Democrat ever questioned if George W Bush loved his country? Or if he was really born in this country? Or if he were only pretending to be a Christian while actually being a secret member of some other religion? Yet we have nationally prominent Republicans, including many who have or will run for president, questioning President Obama on these matters continually.
This is what I call the Rush Limbaughization of the Republican party, where rational debate on the issues has been replaced by simply demonizing the other side. It's been a trend for many years for the GOP, but recently it's been growing to fever pitch. Now not only can a (at least once) respected Republican like Giuliani question Obama's love for his country but he can get swarms of followers saying "Yeah! Rudy's right! Rudy speaks the truth!"
Anyone who would really question Obama's love for his country (or for that matter either of the Bush's or Clinton's) is wading deep into tin-foil hat territory. It's a very worrying trend. But you know what? It isn't the Democrats who should be worried about this trend. It's the Republicans. Just what is your party turning into?
Earlier this week former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani told us all "I know this is a horrible thing to say, but I do not believe that the president loves America."
Let's take a step back and realize who it was saying such a thing. This was not some unknown staff member of an obscure congressman. This was a man who at one time was the odds on favorite to win the Republican nomination for president. (Remember when '08 was supposed to come down to Rudy Giuliani vs. Hillary Clinton?)
There are goofballs on both sides (all sides!) of the political spectrum. Just read the comments section of any political story on the internet and you will see many of them come out. But seriously, ask yourself this: What nationally prominent Democrat ever questioned if George W Bush loved his country? Or if he was really born in this country? Or if he were only pretending to be a Christian while actually being a secret member of some other religion? Yet we have nationally prominent Republicans, including many who have or will run for president, questioning President Obama on these matters continually.
This is what I call the Rush Limbaughization of the Republican party, where rational debate on the issues has been replaced by simply demonizing the other side. It's been a trend for many years for the GOP, but recently it's been growing to fever pitch. Now not only can a (at least once) respected Republican like Giuliani question Obama's love for his country but he can get swarms of followers saying "Yeah! Rudy's right! Rudy speaks the truth!"
Anyone who would really question Obama's love for his country (or for that matter either of the Bush's or Clinton's) is wading deep into tin-foil hat territory. It's a very worrying trend. But you know what? It isn't the Democrats who should be worried about this trend. It's the Republicans. Just what is your party turning into?
Saturday, February 7, 2015
There was a news story going around the internet this week about a 9 year old Texas boy who was suspended from school for threatening to make a fellow student disappear with his magical ring straight out of "The Lord of the Rings." Find one of the articles online and read some of the comments.
Reading about this story is a really good example of using critical thinking skills. Or not using them. If you read the comments (never read the comments, I know, but sometimes resistance is futile) almost everyone seems to accept it all on face value. They are angered at the school. How could they? How stupid! Kids aren't allowed to be kids these days! Damn liberals! (That last one always gets thrown in there somehow.)
A closer look reveals a few things that all these people seem to miss: The details of this story are coming ENTIRELY from the boy's father. The school will not comment because of confidentiality. And how about this? It was the third time the boy was suspended this year and every single time (according to Daddy) it was for equally silly reasons.
Okay, folks. Let's put on our critical thinking caps. If you are only getting one side of the story, it will be distorted to favor the storyteller. We all know parents who have misbehaving children (most kids misbehave at least a little bit, right?) but according to Mom and Dad they are perfect angels all the time. Let's put one and one together here. It's not hard to do.
If this school really is suspending children for such silly reasons as saying "My ring will make you disappear!" then I think every child in that school would be getting suspended every week. Isn't it far, far more likely that this boy did something to really deserve this suspension (and the others before) and now Daddy is crying "Not my boy! He's an angel!"
Think!
Hey, I know it's fun to read an article, get all angry about it and cry "What is this world coming to?" But instead of always doing that, let's try doing a little more of this:
Think!
Reading about this story is a really good example of using critical thinking skills. Or not using them. If you read the comments (never read the comments, I know, but sometimes resistance is futile) almost everyone seems to accept it all on face value. They are angered at the school. How could they? How stupid! Kids aren't allowed to be kids these days! Damn liberals! (That last one always gets thrown in there somehow.)
A closer look reveals a few things that all these people seem to miss: The details of this story are coming ENTIRELY from the boy's father. The school will not comment because of confidentiality. And how about this? It was the third time the boy was suspended this year and every single time (according to Daddy) it was for equally silly reasons.
Okay, folks. Let's put on our critical thinking caps. If you are only getting one side of the story, it will be distorted to favor the storyteller. We all know parents who have misbehaving children (most kids misbehave at least a little bit, right?) but according to Mom and Dad they are perfect angels all the time. Let's put one and one together here. It's not hard to do.
If this school really is suspending children for such silly reasons as saying "My ring will make you disappear!" then I think every child in that school would be getting suspended every week. Isn't it far, far more likely that this boy did something to really deserve this suspension (and the others before) and now Daddy is crying "Not my boy! He's an angel!"
Think!
Hey, I know it's fun to read an article, get all angry about it and cry "What is this world coming to?" But instead of always doing that, let's try doing a little more of this:
Think!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)