Every day I visit tons of website, forums, and social networks for all types of topics, most of which are technology based in some sort of form. This election cycle has really brought out the best of the liberal “group think” mentality regarding Obama. On just about every social network Obama is praised as “the one” and any hint of disagreement with his policies or ideals is immediately responded with accusations of racism, or just plain insults. Anybody who wants to claim that liberals are tolerant to others, please give me a shout because I can quickly debunk that. Even here on our network of sites, there have been insults tossed at the slightest hint of either supporting McCain, or being against Obama. I’m certainly not saying conservatives don’t dish out their fair share, but the mentality of liberals has once again bordered on the insane and hateful.
It’s tough being a proud conservative, as I will say what I think regardless of what the group and mob mentality is. The real shame is so many people, especially bloggers in the tech area, are afraid to do the same. I have received so many private notes and comments in support of standing up for conservatism, it’s almost crazy. The best comparison I can make is how conservative actors in Hollywood are often ridiculed or turned down for roles because of their conservative beliefs, and the same mentality is going on right now in the blogosphere. Conservative bloggers, some of which can be considered A-list are having to remain silent about their thoughts on Obama and McCain, simply because they are afraid of retribution from their employers or just not being able to pickup work from other sites. It’s a shame, and it’s more telling about liberals than it is anything.
I am a conservative, I don’t like Obama, and I will never let anyone intimidate me because of that.
Oh please. Were you around with Carter? The problem with some people is they don't take the time to see beyond "blaming Bush". Who were the people lining their pockets with money from Fannie May? Who were the peopel pressuring companies to give mortgages to people who couldn't afford them?
That is irrelevant. Anyone is free to participate, and just because they have a certain badge doesn't change the discussion.
My original post here was not to complain about free speech being violated, far from it. My point was that some conservative bloggers are afraid to "speak up" because of fear of retribution from the "tolderant" left.
circular saw, circular logic, which one to apply now?
Despite the fact that you're presenting a 12 year old's taunt, I'll respond...
Not only do I have a real job (meaning I make money and pay taxes, etc.), I am currently my own boss and have made and lost millions, like most businessmen.
But more to your point, I have built companies with from 60-1200 employees with valuations (by outside investment) of from $40-750 million. So I understand the tax issues as an employee, a self-employed businessman, an entrepreneur, as well as having been the head of small LLCs and larger S and C Corps. And I've built these companies, one after another, through their rises and their falls, over the past 20 years.
And, as an employee or as an employer, I'll take the Clinton boom years over the Bush bust years any day of the week.
I've been fortunate to be involved in high value industries where the cost of benefits like health care are chump change compared to the 6+ figure salaries of the people who have worked for me. But many of my fellow small businessmen are not as fortunate. They have had to lay off employees to meet payroll due the massive increases in health care premiums for what is obviously shittier and shittier coverage year after year. And we, as employees and employers are NOT better off for these increases...at all. I have to buy gold plan/executive level coverage for my people just to have the same BASE LEVEL CARE that I had as an employee 20 years ago...Hell, as a union employee TEN years ago!
I find this shameful and insane in the world's wealthiest nation.
And an extra percent increase or decrease in my taxes, or the taxes on my companies, is not going to break my bank, period. But if it makes a difference in restoring America's economic engine, the Middle Class, to health, I'm all for it.
"Trickle down" didn't work. The trickles were siphoned offshore, along with our manufacturing base jobs. And our country is dangerously close to becoming a purely-service driven economy. Historically speaking, no empire in the history of man has lasted long after that shift occurs.
Like the Chinese, I'm watching the long game here. They are using our short-sighted, quarterly dividend driven selfish "get it all while you can and screw those who come after me" attitudes against us.
We need to start thinking as a NATION again, not as a collection of partisan self-interested grafters and lobbyist flacks.
Not true. The last time we had such a robust and spirited discussion, Brad kicked us out of "his sandbox" right in the middle of it by closing down the thread - and that was just last week.
Now this site isn't normally big on free speech, since it's really just a corporate outlet for Stardock, but I have to say I really do appreciate the fact that there seems to be some slack being given allowing people to vent a little here. I am grateful for that opportunity as I believe freedom of speech is the true defining core of what it is to be American.
I, for example, can love my country and disagree passionately with the man in the White House and I do not risk being imprisoned or executed for my political views. We are all being monitored, Big Brother-like, and with that I disagree fundamentally, but historically speaking that kind of limited fascism always crops up just after or during conflicts, and the pendulum always swings back shortly.
So, I hope this will remain an open and free discussion, and I hope Brad's shutting down of the last thread is not representative of policy. But since that happened just last week, you have nothing to stand on when you say that a Stardock employee engaging in this discussion carries no implied threat of closure or censure.
I do not get from the drift of your responses that you are not partisan. On the contrary, it seems that you think all the graftersand lobbyist are Republicans or Bush devotees. I do not recall any strong condemnation of a Democrat or perhaps I missed it.
Interesting concept, but you would not judge them had you not known they were these people. Chances are, if you are that kind of person, you would have given them respect. So yes, one could " live in a civil society with respect for each other", up until we know the real person. The problem with society is that we generalize people too much. We see a guy with a ball cap, a big jacket andbaggy pants and he's automatically labeled a thug, a gang member or someone from a bad neighborhood. We see a girl with a really short skirt, a tight shirt and high heels and she's either a prostitute, a stripper or a bimbo.
No one really knows if that guy with the ball cap, big jacket and baggy pants is just another nice guy, a great father, college student aspiring for Senator or President who likes computers, art and cooking. No one really knows if the short skirt, tight shirt high heel wearing girl is a high powered lawyer, a doctor or a scientist who thinks she looks good and doesn't mind showing off her good looks. But we wanna believe we do know and we don't usually get it right.
100% agreement!
Certainly respect for a person is something that must be earned, while I do respect the rights of all as members of society. But therein lies the rub. There is a constant push and pull about what is a "right" and who shall determine same. Do I have a right to own a gun? Do I have a right to have health care? Do I have a right to own a home? Do I have a right to expect others to pay for my protection from terrorists? Do I have a right to have an abortion?
It is in the details that things get a bit dicey.
While I blame the Republican controlled congress and White House for the deregulation that allowed the current Credit Default Swap gambling on Wall Street fiasco to occur, I wouldn't argue that "greed" is uniquely one party or the other's mantra.
The Wall Streeters bought and paid for EVERY senator and representative to get what they wanted through our broken lobbying system.
I would point out, however, that due to the kind of money these people have made, it's pretty safe to say that the vast overwhelming majority of these Wall Street scumbags vote Republican year after year, because it is in their own selfish interest to do so, of course.
From Enron to AIG, I'm hard pressed to find anyone but GOP supporters at the heart of these massive corporate collapses we're all paying the bill for now. And if you think it's a coincidence that the Republicans have had the legislative control over the past 12 years (end of Clinton through today) and this was when these laws favoring these executives were enacted, then you really don't understand the REAL way this country works behind the scenes.
I'd like to see the country change that. Thinking for the long term financial and social health of our nation and its people is the only way we'll stay the world's sole superpower, financially, and by direct result, militarily.
I believe in this country enough to sacrifice a little of whatever I make (and we're talking a penny or two on the dollar, folks) to see her continue to lead the world for centuries to come.
And it's not going to happen by continuing to borrow nearly a trillion dollars a year from our enemies and direct competitors...ahem.
You don't see the parallel? Inconvenient? The concern re retribution or intolerance is valid in both cases. I don't understand why it isn't apparant to you.
Not so safe to say about the cuurent world. The largest recipent of funds from Wall Street for the first quarter was Obama.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/17/AR2007041701688.html
Perhaps a quater by quarter tally would be more helpful?
How can one tell where anything is coming from (posts)? The principle that the badge appears from one site and not the other strengthens my opinion that a wall needs to exist instead of the beeding back and forth of posts...or a header that informs the reader where the post comes from. Also, if it doesn't appear in JU, there must be a way to have it "appear" and "disappear" in WC. This is a fair argument. Fair means equals discussing things and not having concerns about retribution...which is how I perceive I.D."s original post.
Lantec, this was not a 'personal' thing: It has to do with "equal footing" and "power" concerns. I believe you are scrupulously fair and whether we agree or agree to disagree I have the utmost respect for you.
In fact it is NOT safe to say. Stereotypic thinking is not safe, nor is it fair. The greed wasn't limited to ppeople because of race, religion, politics, hair color or any other "splitter" criterion. It is a trait of ALL people throughout recorded (and probably prerecorded) history.
Stupidity: "Real Estate values will always increase." was the basic fault along with "Free markets can govern themselves.".
If that logic were true we'd never need a Fire or Police Dep't.
I am so pleased that we always find a commonn ground Doc! Have a great day!
Bullshit. Earned every nickel & you know it. Couldn't get it back if you didn't pay in the first place. You're insane.
BO, on the other hand, plans to do exactly that - give tax revenues to people who didn't earn it.
Me too Ken...you already know how I feel about you!
Strange that you didn't claim the same on the other post that was locked when some 'moderators' agreed with your point of view. Was the 'equal footing' different then?
Excuse me, but wasn't it you that laughed at Brad for paying a 35% tax rate and told him that he needed to get a high powered tax advisor that he probbaly couldn't find in Michigan. You were quite proud about paying lesss than him and now you put some one down for taking a free cut giveaway? Strange how your imput seems contrary to your actions.
Threads are closed because comments get out of hand, insults start to flare, or a flame war erupts, which happened to the other thread. We as admins and moderators are free to express our opinions, but we still need to keep order if the discussion gets out of hand.
You can keep shouting the DNC talking points that deregulation was the problem, but the fact is, it is not.
Obama has no relations to "the Clinton years". Obama makes the the Clintons looks honest. Anyways, so you have no issues with 0bama, who now claims the rich is now $150,000, will tax you and give your money to people who don't work, nor are productive members of society?
Oh politicians of all colors are grafters, without a doubt. However, see my notes above for who I must, in good conscience, hold accountable for the current state of affairs we find ourselves in.
I blame REAL conservatives for not standing up to Bush when he hijacked the party of "no nation building" and "fiscal conservatism" and turned into their worst "liberal" nightmare. They've started jumping ship now...like 5 years too late.
I blame Democrats for lacking the backbone to call Bush a LIAR in 2004, when we all already knew it.
I blame Pelosi for not actively SHOWING Americans why they've been unable to recall the Iraq war graft, due to Bush's veto power and not having veto-proof majorities in the senate and house.
I blame Clinton for not keeping it in his pants. He gave hypocrites like Bush the "in" they needed to lie their way into office.
I blame Phil Gramm for using Clinton's desire to see more home ownership to open these floodgates in 1999.
I blame Greenspan for naively believing that men whose entire lives are about gambling and greed could be trusted to keep the interests of the nation as a whole in their hearts. 200 years of laws and regulations came about because it is a truth that such men cannot be trusted completely.
I blame the Supreme Court for intervening in 2000, when we needed to just wait and count...no matter who won. Their actions delegitimized our entire electoral process and removed forever the perceived infallibility of the Judicial branch.
I blame every state and local official who approved non-paper trail electronic balloting just to save a few dollars on paper - opening the possibility for voter fraud on a massive scale.
I blame everyone who voted for Bush in 2004. You KNEW he lied in 2000 to get the job and then did everything he said he wouldn't once in office and yet you still bought his bullshit malarkey out of FEAR - fear that he placed there in the first place!
I blame states like Iowa who pre-filter our most interesting and capable candidates out of the electoral process leaving us to vote year after year between a choice of two nigh-dufus milquetoast candidates for high office. Kerry, Gore, Bush (both), McCain?! Really?! These are the best men to lead the greatest nation on Earth?! Puh-lease.
I blame Ted Turner for turning the fourth estate into a ratings driven, corporate advertising whore, which thereby lost the ability to provide the country's much needed check and balance on the powerful. Fear sells air time and thereby ad dollars, so the fourth estate suddenly served the same masters as the politicians and the critical thinking of the vast majority of the American population went down the shitter as a result. It's good to see some of that coming back, but the root cause remains.
I blame Bush for letting his own ego believe it when his handlers said he was qualified to be President. He was, and always has been, a smiling affable face man for Dick Cheney. No one would pick Cheney as a running mate if it wasn't the only way he'd be allowed to win the White House (via the money, always follow the money). The same goes for Palin. She's not qualified, everyone knows it, and if McCain won and didn't tow the line, she'd be the proxy President in a heartbeat. And who do you think she'd be getting her "wise counsel" from? Rove, Cheney, Rumsfeld, and, as always, lurking in the background of ALL of this for 30 years...George Herbert Walker Bush.
I blame all Americans for letting a tragic, yet dramatic, terrorist attack shut us down emotionally in FEAR, even though our NATION was NEVER in jeopardy (not like PEARL HARBOR or the war of 1812, when the British burned down Washington D.C.!), and none of the fearful were ever personally in jeopardy. Terrorism is about TERROR, and our leaders let them succeed by feeding us fear - the politician's traditional road to power. During the intifada, the Israelis were suffering a 9-11 level loss of life (as a percentage of population) every friggin THREE MONTHS. And for decades, the British lived in daily, REAL fear of IRA bombings. Yet, we, the greatest and most powerful nation on Earth, cowered in fear...and the criminals responsible have STILL not been brought to JUSTICE - because there are too many cronies profiting on the fictitious "war on terror".
And I blame the neocons for taking advantage of and feeding that fear to serve their own self-destructive national agenda - undoing 200 years of moral certitude that made our nation a shining beacon of prosperity and freedom. They are the true TERRORists, having used your fear to further their own political agenda.
I've never been afraid of Osama bin Laden. He's just yet another mentally ill, disenfranchised asshat. They've been around for hundreds of thousands of years and will be with us until the end of time.
But what I am afraid of is that Obama may not be able to undo all the damage that's been done. He will come into office with unlimited executive power...granted Bush to himself via unprecedented executive signing statements. Can Obama, given the greatest of temptations, at the helm of the most powerful nation in the history of mankind, with a monumental mandate from the people...will he return that power to the people, via upholding the checks and balances intended by the Constitution of the United States?!
I hope that he has the moral certitude and intellectualism to do just that.
And, yeah, I'm afraid some ignorant white trash Nazi skinhead is going to shoot him.
There's paying taxes and then there is being stupid about paying taxes. He's obviously taking a straight draw of profits with no efforts to shelter his income. Then he complains about paying too much when he isn't even taking advantage of routine provisions designed to protect small businessmen like himself from over-taxation!
I applaud the fact that he's paying greater than zero (unlike the top corporations in the nation), but he can't bitch and moan about a 1-2% shift in tax policies when he's being naive with his money in the first place. IMHO>
So I get your point, and I think the tax system is f**cked, but you missed my ultimate point. Nice try though. At least you are THINKING and remembering these conversations. And for that, I applaud you, sir.
The Wall Streeters are buying and paying for everyone in office via lobbying. They are an equal opportunity corruptor and have been investing to cover their ass (which they knew was due to be burned this year or next) for quite some time now.
The country is all about redistribution of wealth in one form or another. The lions have had more than their share for a decade now. It's time to feed the rest of the ecosystem a little.
Or else the lions, as they've seen on Wall Street over the past month, will die too.
No one raised the issue then, Hankers because the irony in this post made me see it. I'm 61 and pretty set in my ways, but none of them involve hypocracy, I hope. I don't like participating in posts with Moderator/Wizops (whatever) because of the same reason that I.D. raised in his original posting.
It is inherently unfair that Moderators participate with that badge of authority when they are not Moderating that particular thread. Certainly their comments aren't "fair and balanced" because they are advocating one point of view or another. The first few times I ran into it I found it quite confusing.
If this inequity isn't apparant to you, ask yourself this question, "How many Police Officers do I see wearing Obama or McCain Campaign buttons while they're walking a beat?".
My goodness you are an angry person! Some of your claims are quite extraordinary like Bush being respponsible for the fear caused by 9/11 and that there is nothing to fear from Osama Bid Laden. Some friends in New York might disagree with you. As for the moral certitude of Obama, I tend to doubt it.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/28/campbell.brown.obama/index.html?eref=rss_topstories#cnnSTCText
You are right, we have had redistribution of wealth, and it has royally screwed us....why would you want more?
Once again, it's irrelevant. Comparing forum moderators to police is just ridiculous. As I said, anyone is free to participate and their forum badge doesn't persuade the post one way or another.
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