January 20, 2009

[Howlitzer]

No, I'm not going to turn it off. That's telling me to be ignorant of something rather than complain about it when I see problems, which, tbh, is rather hypocritical.

I HAVE watched the TV, and it's for that very reason that I'm calling the media on this....so yes, I have the right to complain. It's if I WASN'T watching the TV that you would have more warrant in telling me to be quiet about it.

The only ears the media has are for its ratings. If you see something you don't want to watch and change the channel, the ratings will change and the networks will take notice. But if you see something you don't want to watch, piss and moan but continue to keep on watching it anyway, we're just going to assume you're another douche bag with a bee up his a** that is out there looking for something to be upset/offended by. I turned off the TV once I felt I'd seen all there needed to be seen, and I lo-o-o-o-ove Barack Obama. What's your excuse?

Sadly, we do live in a country where people will go out of their way to find something to be upset and/or offended by, and that goes double for anything regarding a Democrat in office (remind me again, why was Bill Clinton impeached and George W. Bush not?). So sorry Howlitzer, but all I'm seeing right now is another meatheaded staunch republican with a bee up his a**. After eight years of Bush, the American people are hungry for politics once again, and the media is just doing their job supplying it to them. If you'd rather watch All My Children than a historic moment in our nation's history, that's your problem and no one else's.

Oh,so now I'm both a douchebag and a meatheaded republican with a bee up my a**?

Did I resort to direct, childish name-calling? No.

In what distorted reality are you allowed to complain, yet me doing so to an undeniably lesser degree makes me a douchebag? Hmm?

In essence your response is a complaint about me complaining about people complaining. That's a bit redundant. If you're going to insult someone, do so efficiently, and actually back up your statement. Or, leave it alone and don't insult the person. I didn't insult you.

Sorry, Terastas. I could snap at you here, I could go onto a long rant filled with various expletives, but that's probably what you're aiming for here.

Conversely, I would need a damn FLOWCHART to properly explain how demeaning and hypocritical your response was. So yeah, not going there either. It's a waste of time.

But I will point out a few things:

1. I don't hate Obama. I explicitly said this in my post. You seem to think I do. Don't jump to conclusions. Read posts when you respond to them.

2. I did not like Bush. But I didn't hate him to the extreme a hell of a lot of other people did. I believe I pointed this out as well. Read posts before you respond to them.

3. You tell me to stop pissing and moaning after ONE post where I explain my views on the matter in what I was trying to present as something I'd put thought into, which you sadly completely overlooked. Whereas, I've been listening to people piss and moan nonstop about Bush and various other things for the last 8 years. Don't be a hypocrite. If my post qualifies as pissing and moaning, then by your standards...you shouldn't be talking.

4. I'm not a Republican. Don't call me a Republican. Don't call me a Meatheaded Republican. Don't call me a Douchebag. I do not have bees up my a**. And at the very least, to cap it off....do NOT word the insults as if I'm not in the room. I find it offensive. I'm even asking nicely: please.

Thanks. Bye.

[Lupin]

Sooo...

That Barack fellah seems to be popular with a number of people, he even has his own action figure!

Some people will do anything to make a buck won't they?

[Vagrant]

I got nuffin' against any of that, Hunter.

I just thought that it was time for an intermission, every serious film needs one, even the most Drama-filled weepy films. People need to have time to go and get some popcorn.

I agree with you though, as far as the rules go--but I can't say that I'm particularly fond of using any derogatory terms to get a point across, but that's my view alone and not something I want to push on anyone.

[Silent Hunter]

I am not saying we have an insult match but what Is that when there is an idiot we should be able to call him one. This does not imply that Howlitzer is an idiot, I am just taking that insult and using in this point. I am not out for swearing matches though, don't worry.

[Vagrant]

Hunter...

Just to state it bluntly and as clearly as possible:

In my opinion, if a person is a civil, well-mannered, and emotionally stable person, they should never have to use an insult, personal or otherwise, in order to enforce their position in a debate. A civil person would make their point and be proud based on the merits of their arguments, they would not have to then go and call the person they believed they beat a "Doody head."

If a person believes they need to use a derogatory statement to another debater in a debate, they are not a civil person, and that's just my opinion. Whenever anyone makes a derogatory statement in a debate, it looks silly and childish, and my view of the person in question is lessened by a great degree.

In a civil debate, no name calling needs to happen, regardless of whom is right or wrong, because both parties would be mature enough to work past whatever emotional baggage they have, to leave that at the door, and to act like responsible adults.

Am I on a High Horse here? Sure, you can think that if you like, and it might even wind you up, but this is just my opinion. I don't believe that we ever need to lose sight of the fact that we're all friends here at the Pack, and none of us should ever have to insult anyone else to express our opinions.

Okay?

[lycanthropeful]

So sorry Howlitzer, but all I'm seeing right now is another meatheaded staunch republican with a bee up his a**. After eight years of Bush, the American people are hungry for politics once again, and the media is just doing their job supplying it to them. If you'd rather watch All My Children than a historic moment in our nation's history, that's your problem and no one else's.

Well that's pretty low. I'm sure you'll find my following post low too.

Is it that hard to see that the media favored Obama? The media DID do a lot of naysaying about him as well, perhaps about his suspected Muslim background, his drug habits from his younger days, or his elbow-rubbing with the anarchist Ayers, but even through all that, somehow Obama could take a sh*t and come out smelling like roses. CNN's staff probably threw a party during the commercial breaks when Obama got elected. McCain hardly had a record against him, at least comparatively, and maybe except for the appraisal of his heroic service in the Vietnam War, he was considered little more than an old b*stard who was going to die in office, a warmonger, and nothing but a "maverick" and more of the same.

If I went parading around saying that Obama, I'd probably have guys in black uniforms knocking on my door. I agree with Howlitzer on this one: it's one thing to have your own personal opinions about Bush and Obama - bless the freedom of speech - but how can't you see that it's so one-sided? I think Howlitzer was trying to say that people aren't looking into this enough - at EITHER candidate. Obama's more of a pop culture icon than a politician in my eyes until he starts to put policies forth.

I honestly don't think Bush would have had an approval rating as low as he did before leaving office if the media hadn't made it seem like Obama was the second coming of Christ, and that Bush needed to be impeached/mocked for the rest of his adult life for being "such a terrible President." The guy wasn't perfect, but guided our country after 9/11 and kept us safe from terrorism. We still have some of the highest living standards in the world, and we're still a free country. Yes, we're in a recession, but people are still finding money (not credit) to go out and buy expensive things with. Somehow America was just "ruined" by George W. Bush, but suddenly Superman Barack Obama is ready to wave his magic wand that may not even exist over everything, and voila, all of our problems will be solved! Why couldn't we have found him sooner? *gasp*

Heck, you can even gauge this by COMEDIANS. "Bush is stupid" jokes are practically their own category.

I'm going to respect Barack Obama and give him a chance, as I would with any President. My more liberal friends keep telling me to "be happy" about all this, that's it's a new dawn for America - I am happy! My glasses are just a lighter shade of rose, as I like to think... It's fantastic that our country is so unilateral on something again. I'm actually very excited to see what policies President Obama puts forth, and to see if he can live up to all his hype. But what is disheartening and even a bit scary is that it seems like every Obama patron has blindly followed him like sheep to the slaughter, and for really no reason other than "HE'S NOT BUSH! BUSH SCREWED UP AMERICA SO BADLY!"

If Bush REALLY screwed things up, we'd be under tyrannical rule, living in shacks, and having suicide bombers roaming our streets. We'd be without democracy and without basic necessities for life if a President utterly failed, like everyone says Bush did. America still exists after 8 years of Bush. People got to b*tch and moan about "how bad" it was for 8 years, so I think people also have the right to complain a little bit about Obama and point out that he potentially might not be the savior that everyone thinks he is going to be.

[Lupin]

Is it that hard to see that the media favored Obama? The media DID do a lot of naysaying about him as well, perhaps about his suspected Muslim background, his drug habits from his younger days, or his elbow-rubbing with the anarchist Ayers, but even through all that, somehow Obama could take a sh*t and come out smelling like roses. CNN's staff probably threw a party during the commercial breaks when Obama got elected. McCain hardly had a record against him, at least comparatively, and maybe except for the appraisal of his heroic service in the Vietnam War, he was considered little more than an old b*stard who was going to die in office, a warmonger, and nothing but a "maverick" and more of the same.

Conversely, we also heard very little about McCain's elbow-rubbing with convicted Watergate felon G. Gordon Liddy, or his extremely poor judgement in his involvement with the Keating Five.

People in glass houses shouldn't throw stones, ya know?

[Howlitzer]

Is it that hard to see that the media favored Obama? The media DID do a lot of naysaying about him as well, perhaps about his suspected Muslim background, his drug habits from his younger days, or his elbow-rubbing with the anarchist Ayers, but even through all that, somehow Obama could take a sh*t and come out smelling like roses. CNN's staff probably threw a party during the commercial breaks when Obama got elected. McCain hardly had a record against him, at least comparatively, and maybe except for the appraisal of his heroic service in the Vietnam War, he was considered little more than an old b*stard who was going to die in office, a warmonger, and nothing but a "maverick" and more of the same.

Conversely, we also heard very little about McCain's elbow-rubbing with convicted Watergate felon G. Gordon Liddy, or his extremely poor judgement in his involvement with the Keating Five.

People in glass houses shouldn't throw stones, ya know?

Maybe so, but those are only 2 examples.... you must admit, overall the media certainly was leaning in favor of Obama. (and before anybody attacks this statement....I'm not speaking against Obama, I'm speaking against the media.)

[Lupin]

Conversely, we also heard very little about McCain's elbow-rubbing with convicted Watergate felon G. Gordon Liddy, or his extremely poor judgement in his involvement with the Keating Five.

People in glass houses shouldn't throw stones, ya know?

Maybe so, but those are only 2 examples.... you must admit, overall the media certainly was leaning in favor of Obama. (and before anybody attacks this statement....I'm not speaking against Obama, I'm speaking against the media.)

Wait, how is it leaning in Obama's favor when they dredge up more 'bad' things about his past than the the other guy?

[lycanthropeful]

Conversely, we also heard very little about McCain's elbow-rubbing with convicted Watergate felon G. Gordon Liddy, or his extremely poor judgement in his involvement with the Keating Five.

People in glass houses shouldn't throw stones, ya know?

Maybe so, but those are only 2 examples.... you must admit, overall the media certainly was leaning in favor of Obama. (and before anybody attacks this statement....I'm not speaking against Obama, I'm speaking against the media.)

Wait, how is it leaning in Obama's favor when they dredge up more 'bad' thinks about his past than the the other guy?

Because they didn't place McCain on a pedestal. If anything, McCain had more experience. They each have great qualities and bad qualities - the media in general plays the muckraker on the left AND right sides, and there's always mudslinging either way - but in this case, if you consider both candidates equally capable of being President, it's appalling how much the media paraded around Obama and made him seem perfect.

[White_Wolf]

I'm probably the only one who is terrified that Obama is now in office...

... but that's just me.

No, you aren't the only one who's terrified. There are many of us southern wolves who cringed when we saw the final decision on our new President. He may have some very good and decent ideas on how to change our economical status, but did anyone see him turn his back when the pledge of allegiance was going on at the Inaguration?

I mean, honestly, how can anyone be proud of an American President who turns his back on the very beliefs his country was founded on? How can anyone believe that he'll do right by us? How can ANYONE dare support him? He is the most profound mistake the voters of this country could have ever made.

I don't like him. Thousands don't and I'm ashamed to see him leading our beloved country. Bush wasn't the ideal president, neither was Clinton, nor the Bush before him...there is NO perfect politician anymore, only those with the slickest tongues.

I say they need to throw the government to the wolves... ...we could certainly take care of it, right?

There. I've said my two cents. I'm sorry if you don't agree, but you've heard that old saying...Opinions are like buttholes, everybody has one. Some are just more vocal than others

[Lupin]

Wait, how is it leaning in Obama's favor when they dredge up more 'bad' things about his past than the other guy?

Because they didn't place McCain on a pedestal.

That doesn't really follow.

but did anyone see him turn his back when the pledge of allegiance was going on at the Inaguration?

Nope, let's see the youtube video!

[Gevaudan]

I thought the inauguration ceremony was pretty cool. Since we had exams that day, a projector was set up in the library so that we could watch it during our lunch period. It was my first inauguration that I've seen as a maturing adult, and I was very glad.

That being said, I am keeping my eye on Obama. I'm going to grab as much information as I can, strip away as much media bias as possible, and simply watch him. I don't want anything slipping under my nose now that I'm old enough to understand politics and the US government. I may support him, but it doesn't mean that I'll let him get away with anything. Of course, I'm very young, so what does it matter if I watch him or not? Here's my answer: it will certainly help when I get to vote in the next presidential election.

[vrikasatma]

On the network media:
CNN, Fox, and the alphabet networks...you probably should ask an Obama follower what they thought of the media coverage, at least during the primaries. In my local Obama group, we couldn't cap on CNN enough because of their clear fawning to Hillary and snubbing of everyone else. Obama? Anointed? GMAB. Hillary was the Anointed One, as early as a year ago to the day. Wolf Blitzer couldn't let an hour pass without giving Obama the brush-off. As for Hillary, he couldn't let two minutes go by without some sappy look at her.

Fox...I won't even go into. That whole channel was 24-7 drivel and the author of at least two-thirds of the most egregious slams towards anyone on the Blue Team. Rush Limbaugh (who should be in jail for incitement to riot) and Michael Savage (who should be investigated for sedition) made up the other third.

MSNBC was good, but all the Obamans I know preferred to get their election coverage from C-SPAN and NPR. The former was my personal preference, because 1) My taxes pay for it so no commercials, and 2) It is truly fair and unbiased. They cover everything, unedited.

If I had my way, the debates and election coverage would be on C-SPAN, removing corporate interest in the form of commercial sponsorship, and the networks would work it with analysis and commentary. Obama blocked corporate lobbyists out of his campaign, let's take it one step further and get the business sector out of Presidential politics completely. At the very least, give it back to the League of Women Voters to put on.

I thought the debates were a joke, too. They lasted two hours at the most. For god's sake, people — the Superbowl goes longer! I should think that the President would be more important than bragging rights, ostentatious rings for the winning team and a trophy.

That said...
The only people who called Obama "the messiah" were his detractors. The only time his people said he was more than human was when we laughed at his joke that his name was really "Jar-El" and he was actually from the planet Krypton. He's a geek. He reads comic books.

We saw yesterday the difference between his rally speeches — and I've been to six of those — and his first Presidential address. There was a noticeable difference in his tone and style. Yesterday's speech was all business, no operatic poetry. We saw a sterner Obama yesterday.

Gevaudan: Good plan. I'm watching him, too...very carefully. I have a lot of confidence in him and I'm glad his administration takes the desires and views of We The People seriously, but yes, he is a man, and not infallible.

[Terastas]

Oh boy, here we go.

Oh,so now I'm both a douchebag and a meatheaded republican with a bee up my a**?

Never said you were. I said you were coming across as one, but I never explicitly stated that you were.

Sorry, Terastas. I could snap at you here, I could go onto a long rant filled with various expletives, but that's probably what you're aiming for here.

Conversely, I would need a damn FLOWCHART to properly explain how demeaning and hypocritical your response was. So yeah, not going there either. It's a waste of time.

Am I the only one that saw this statement as a great big insult and a massive contradiction? First you metaphorically put yourself above me and indirectly called me a flamer, then in the next paragraph you have the balls to write that? All I see there is a great big insult disguised as a high-and-mighty statement about how you're above such things.

How's that for hypocrisy?

You tell me to stop pissing and moaning after ONE post where I explain my views on the matter in what I was trying to present as something I'd put thought into, which you sadly completely overlooked. Whereas, I've been listening to people piss and moan nonstop about Bush and various other things for the last 8 years. Don't be a hypocrite. If my post qualifies as pissing and moaning, then by your standards...you shouldn't be talking.

My first post to you was simply "turn it off if you don't like it," and that's when you lashed out and called me a hypocrite. Yes, it does affect everyone. . . As did all of Bush's speeches, but since I couldn't stand to even look at him without my blood boiling, I just got the summaries of them from Yahoo! News or NBC Nightly News instead of suffering through them word for word (and cringing every time he said "nuke-yoo-lure"). What's your excuse for not being able to change the channel?

The irony of it all is that, in that message, I expressed remorse that we live in a world where people will intentionally misconstrue a statement and go out of their way to be offended by it, and wouldn't you know it, somebody took it out of context and wrote a nice big rant about how offended they were by it.

Are you a staunch Republican douche bag? I wouldn't know.

Are you coming across as one? Yes, I'm afraid so.
Don't shoot the messenger.

[Baphnedia]

For now, I'm going to lock this thread. I'm on the road at the moment, and don't have time to ponder individual actions or send private messages. Consider this a Strike One - for this thread. The action is not made against any member in particular, unless the other moderators choose to send a private message to you.

[Kaebora]

For now, I'm going to lock this thread. I'm on the road at the moment, and don't have time to ponder individual actions or send private messages. Consider this a Strike One - for this thread. The action is not made against any member in particular, unless the other moderators choose to send a private message to you.

Just posting an FYI. It was decided that this thread shall stay locked. Political discussions are always allowed to be discussed, but the moment they go sour it doesn't come back to peaches and cream. No more personal attacks please.