Displaying 151 To 180 Of 955 Comments Taking no action, when any action will (or is most likely to) result in a bad outcome, is just prudent, not cowardly. I don’t trust the Golden Rule. I know what my principles are, and tailor my actions accordingly. And if my actions cause a negative outcome, I must take responsibility. But I refuse to take responsibility for other people’s actions (such as buying pants that make one’s butt look fat). » Posted By 2ndClassCitizenPundit On March 17, 2011 @ 4:37 pm I must be a very strange individual, because I can not see evaluating a person’s character as being divorced from their actions and the consequences of their actions. I do see that one individual action or consequence does not define a person’s character. The question with virtues is complicated by far too many people seeking to redefine virtues or add new virtues to the list. There are those who seek to redefine “Fidelity” such that stepping out with one’s mistress isn’t a violation at all. There are others who have sought to add such things as “Family Values” and “Conservatism” to the list, without even being able to define the terms except via anecdotal evidence. And, once again, the problem with morality is that it can only be delineated by the person with that specific personal moral code. Even those who share a common religion can not define a common moral code, as each has their own interpretation (which they try to apply indiscriminately to other people). I have had people tell me that I am being immoral for helping a minor child escape an abusive home life, because the minor should “honor their mother and father”. I have been told it is wrong for me to apply the *stated* moral code of a person to their own behavior. However, I am adult enough to recognize that other people are going to do whatever it is they want to do, regardless of their own stated values or my opinion. I will govern my own moral code, I can not do anything about theirs. » Posted By 2ndClassCitizenPundit On March 16, 2011 @ 3:25 pm I plan to be at the Portland OR demonstration, since the owner of the condos I am renovating is supposed to leave out of the country by that time. If he allows me to leave. I feel like I am in a POW camp or something. » Posted By 2ndClassCitizenPundit On March 14, 2011 @ 9:55 am FOR BEGINNERS ONLY — Building Better Characters Through Chemistry Oh, I love plot-twists and surprise endings far too much to follow that advice. I get a perverse, and yes sadistic, glee from seeing a reader slap their heads and yell, “I totally did not see that coming!” » Posted By 2ndClassCitizenPundit On March 16, 2011 @ 6:05 pm Excellent! I love the point about illuminating characters through interactions with other characters and situations. I do this too. And yes, writing fiction is much harder. Especially writing fiction where you have to create an entire world in which the characters have to interact. The smallest details have large impacts. when writing, I have floor plans, street maps, world maps, political systems and factions, names and naming conventions, etc. The sheer volume of details is overwhelming when one stops to think of it (which it is better to *not* do until after most of them have been nailed down). » Posted By 2ndClassCitizenPundit On March 16, 2011 @ 5:26 pm We would have no debt if the corporations which do not pay taxes would pay up. But that is why lawyers and accountants were invented. » Posted By 2ndClassCitizenPundit On March 14, 2011 @ 1:30 pm It keeps the masses entertained, so they can fantasize about being better people than him WHEN (not IF) they become rich and famous. » Posted By 2ndClassCitizenPundit On March 14, 2011 @ 1:12 pm Love it, Buddy. Your use of light and shadow really gives the subject character. » Posted By 2ndClassCitizenPundit On March 14, 2011 @ 8:44 am Thank you to the people of Bamiyan, Afghanistan. Amen, brother. » Posted By 2ndClassCitizenPundit On March 18, 2011 @ 2:09 pm Friday Music Thread – Friends and Lovers You’re in the wrong time zone for it to be Friday. » Posted By 2ndClassCitizenPundit On March 16, 2011 @ 4:10 pm Cher, I agree with the urgency of art. If you don’t get it down right away, it’s gone. Not even my muses can compete with the effects of a transitory memory. » Posted By 2ndClassCitizenPundit On March 14, 2011 @ 8:47 am And it’s not mean if it is the unadulterated truth. » Posted By 2ndClassCitizenPundit On March 16, 2011 @ 4:44 pm Some law that prevents hemp from being grown in the US, supposedly. My only recourse to sanity most days is to equate the noise from his mouth with the sound of the furnace kicking on. » Posted By 2ndClassCitizenPundit On March 16, 2011 @ 4:43 pm You are assuming that my roommate has enough wherewithal to understand your email or my comments. This is the guy who thinks Obama can veto a law passed in 1958. » Posted By 2ndClassCitizenPundit On March 16, 2011 @ 1:43 pm Oh, hey comments are enabled again! Yay! Anyway, this sounds like an interesting show. Too bad I watch less than a miniscule amount of TV (if I need my intelligence insulted, I can go to my roommate). There is nothing wrong with a “formula” show, as long as it is done right. Many people can not remember any of the “formula” angels-on-earth-helping-angels televisions shows except the two that actually tackled tough subjects and did it well: “Highway to Heaven” and “Touched By An Angel”. (one of the first episodes of TBAA that I saw regarded a gay man dying of AIDS, and the angels telling the father that neither homosexuality or AIDS were reasons for God not to love the son) » Posted By 2ndClassCitizenPundit On March 16, 2011 @ 12:52 pm Love, Marriage and Sex – Separate But Equal? Quite frankly, I get tired of the Conderella-esque subject of “the one”. Yeah, I have heard the whole soul-mate thing. It is especially hilarious coming from the mouth of a devout atheist, believe me. The whole concept of “the one” is a set-up. It provides an easy out for people who don’t want to commit time and energy to creating a real relationship. The other catch-phrase I see being abused these days is “I want someone to share my life with”. Every person I have heard spout this in the last two months doesn’t mean it. What they really mean, going by their behavior and self-centered attitudes, is “I want somebody to be interested in what I am interested in – and then shut up about their own irrelevant stuff.” Relationships are about relating to and with another person. If a person can’t do that, or comprehend it, or commit time and energy to it, then I predict a lot of 6 hour marriages in their future. » Posted By 2ndClassCitizenPundit On March 14, 2011 @ 1:22 pm NEW PLANETPOV FEATURE: Email Notifications of Replies to Your Comments I vote for that. I can’t just sit here refreshing the page. I got other things to do. Besides, during some discussions, the latest comments bar recycles between refreshes… » Posted By 2ndClassCitizenPundit On March 3, 2011 @ 9:29 pm He forgot the difference between “amoral” and “immoral”. (that’s 19!) » Posted By 2ndClassCitizenPundit On March 3, 2011 @ 9:27 pm The View From Here: An Open Letter to President Obama Abby, I don’t think we can afford to ignore or withhold criticism of our own on the left. That would lead to the Dems becoming the “center-right version of the GOP”. Every time we are forced to make concessions to the GOP, they pull us more to the right, and we get practically nothing on our side. My criticism is mainly that the leadership is not getting enough back to justify what we are forced to give up. To put it in Bush terms, we are spending too much “political capital” for empty promises and a stab in the back. » Posted By 2ndClassCitizenPundit On March 3, 2011 @ 12:51 pm I’ll be honest. I didn’t want Obama. But I was forced to vote for him, because the MSM forced Kucinich out of the race. I didn’t want Hilary and her regurgitated Nixon policies. I knew when Obama was first being touted, following 2004, that if he got the nomination it would be all about racism from the convention to the end of his term (if he won). I tried to be positive, I appreciated his stand with the gay community and the unemployed during his victory speech. I was cheesed at the inauguration, what with the bias between Rick Warren and Troy Perry. But I clung to hope. But when that first DOJ brief came out, I felt like I had been shot. When it came to DOMA, DADT, and ENDA, what I saw was disgusting. I saw lip service and knives in the back. That’s not change. It’s the same thing Dems have done to the gay community since Harvey’s *first* run for office. I saw Obama basically bend over and kiss butt every time the GOP dug in their heels. We lost any chance at a public option, even when the compromises that were demanded were handed over with nary a complaint. I’m not interested in half-measures anymore. I am not interested in negotiating with an opposition that is trying to sneak the negotiating table out the back door in the middle of the negotiations. I do believe in negotiating over real issues and real concerns, but the only issues and concerns being raised by the opposition are only being raised to delay any and all progress. The tax deal? Don’t make me laugh. The poorest lost the most, the wealthiest got the most, and Obama couldn’t even use the GOP’s need to extend the top bracket tax cuts for a *real* expansion of unemployment benefits. I don’t see it as “between the sane and the insane”. I see it as “between the ineffective and the insane”. » Posted By 2ndClassCitizenPundit On March 3, 2011 @ 12:43 pm @ghsts: You are a better person than I am, and I salute you. I can not take the “slivers of truth” when larger truths are denied or redefined to argue against them. » Posted By 2ndClassCitizenPundit On March 3, 2011 @ 12:27 pm “He’s better than the other guy” KQ, that is one of the most ridiculous arguments I have ever seen you make. “Obama is doing a great job, because he’s not McCain.” Wow. Just… Wow. If I made that argument, I would be unable to look at myself in a mirror for a week. » Posted By 2ndClassCitizenPundit On March 3, 2011 @ 12:24 pm No. Just no. I am not playing this game. When a President wants something passed, he is pulling reps from both sides into meetings, he is making phone calls, he is pushing strategy to leaders in his party. No, a meeting with a few selected “leaders” does not equal whipping up the votes. Leading up to the debate on NDA, he made a few comments to the press, and so did Gibbs. He left everything else up to Pelosi (who did a good job) and Reid (who doesn’t have enough aggression to qualify as a Massengill product). Obama, Reid, and Gobbs let the GOP redefine what the debate was about and spew, on the floor of Congress, a pack of lies without batting an eyelash. The fact remains. When it came to DADT and DOMA, Obama has done nothing. He did not rein in his DOJ, he did not take an assertive stance, and he let The Old Boy’s Club run the show. Knock it off. We all know that you can construct better arguments than this, and your current tack reeks of plugging your ears and singing “la la la”. You’re refusing to admit that there is any problem, and then moving the goal posts to a later vote, that Obama didn’t participate in. » Posted By 2ndClassCitizenPundit On March 3, 2011 @ 12:21 pm He did not work with Congress. He did not muster the votes necessary to pass repeal of DADT and the Dream Act. He did nothing to help passage of the Defense Authorization bill. As far as signing the bill, I do not lead a standing ovation whenever someone signs a check, either. I disagree with you. I do not like your characterization of the issue, with this article, of NanaMex, and of others on this site. To be quite blunt, not all gay men are fucking cheerleaders. Some of us use our brains. » Posted By 2ndClassCitizenPundit On March 3, 2011 @ 11:17 am The repeal of DADT happened after the facts that she mentioned. And Obama did *nothing* to help repeal of DADT (or the ill-fated Dream Act) through congress. The White House did not even bother to try to round up the votes, leaving it instead to members of Congress to do itself. I was there, I watched it happen. As far as DOMA, I notice that you are repeating a factual distortion. Obama has said that the DOJ will not defend *certain sections* of DOMA in the courts. They have repeatedly defended other sections, including with a brief in March 2009 that compared homosexuals to pedophilia, bestiality and polygamy, a brief they have refused to apologize for, stating that they are legally required to defend “the law of the land”. » Posted By 2ndClassCitizenPundit On March 3, 2011 @ 10:46 am Some days I am disgusted with Obama, other days I am willing to wait and see, once in a while I appreciate something he has done on that day. I guess that is what made me “not progressive enough” over there. I wasn’t extreme enough in my views one way or the other. I am neither a detractor nor president of his glee club. I prefer facts over a few minutes of rage, and I don’t take sound-bites as facts. Thank you NanaMex. I have often wished that I could leave this country. Other countries are taking better care of their citizens *and* their residents. But there is no way that I could ever afford to move me and mine to on of those countries, and I doubt I would be considered a good immigration choice. In most European countries, I am told, I would not be allowed to work for at least a year and must provide health insurance for myself for longer than that. If I can’t afford health care here, how can I afford it elsewhere? » Posted By 2ndClassCitizenPundit On March 3, 2011 @ 10:38 am What she said about DADT was the truth. That was what happened when the courts ruled against DADT. Obama asked the courts to reverse the injunction against DADT, so that DADT could be reversed in Congress instead. Which took two months *after* the courts said it was unconstitutional (which did not matter to Congress, including members of Congress who had publicly stated that DADT “must” be repealed). That was not a distortion of the facts. And you owe her an apology. » Posted By 2ndClassCitizenPundit On March 3, 2011 @ 10:15 am As long as their crotch is covered, they can not be charged with indecent exposure. Which is why I advocate loosing gypsy moths into Congress. » Posted By 2ndClassCitizenPundit On March 2, 2011 @ 1:47 pm You’re welcome. » Posted By 2ndClassCitizenPundit On March 1, 2011 @ 7:51 pm People who are against the Republican party are anarchists who eat babies for breakfast. And then they *cook* them. (Note: AdLib you may have to reset the snark alarm on the servers again.) » Posted By 2ndClassCitizenPundit On March 1, 2011 @ 7:36 pmComments Posted By 2ndClassCitizenPundit
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