Cruz almost had my vote

[GH2001]

Voting against entitlement. 

There's an enormous difference between personal involvement and financial involvement.  Many people want a government that will be responsive to moral and ethical issues while leaving their wallets alone.  I have zero problem with the government saying "we can't tell you not to pray in school" and a big problem with government saying "your money has to go to causes like LGBT projects, etc."

I'll agree with Wes here on one thing. The lower class of the GOP voting base is not voting against entitlement. You and I may be. But the folks in trailers. The bammers. They are voting for exactly what Wes said. They talk about Murcia and the good lord and shooting things and things of the like. It's a cultural vote for that part of the electorate, not a good sound economic vote.

[wesfau2]

I'll agree with Wes here on one thing. The lower class of the GOP voting base is not voting against entitlement. You and I may be. But the folks in trailers. The bammers. They are voting for exactly what Wes said. They talk about Murcia and the good lord and shooting things and things of the like. It's a cultural vote for that part of the electorate, not a good sound economic vote.

Just one thing?  C'mon, buddy.

[CCTAU]

Or you could realize that the "white man" has been enjoying his status and privilege on the backs of other, equal groups and it's ok to acknowledge that (without reducing the white man's rights/privileges) those groups are equally deserving of protection under the law.

You truly are indoctrinated with the white guilt.

I gained nothing on the back of anyone. I worked my ass off for what I got.

Some folks lived off the mommy tit and are now guilty about it. I don't have that guilt.

The "People's History of America" is made up bullshit.

[Snaggletiger]

You truly are indoctrinated with the white guilt.

I gained nothing on the back of anyone. I worked my ass off for what I got.

Some folks lived off the mommy tit and are now guilty about it. I don't have that guilt.

The "People's History of America" is made up bullshit.

snap snap snap snap snap snap snap snap snap......

[AUTiger1]

We accepted that the homo lifestyle was a choice and had no problem with it being kept private. We did not appreciate the lie that it was "normal" and could be equated to its on genetic race so that it could be legitimized my marriage.

You, and others, always miss the point when it come to this.

No, you totally missed the point.  That was an example on social issues.  The Republicans are just as much a big spend party as the Democrats, just on different things.  DHS ring a bell?  No Child Left Behind ring a bell? 

One was a knee jerk reaction that created another bureaucracy at a tune to $64.5 billion a year (where did we get that money?) for what?  Why not make the heads of the CIA and FBI talk and brief one another for free and save that $64.5 billion.  NCLB created another $50 billion a year in spending for the department of education.  It more than tripled their budget.  GWB grew the federal government at a rate of 13%.   Again, they spend just as much as the Dems.  Any big spending bill in the past 20 years, go look at the votes it took to pass.  Many of them passed with tons of R and D votes.  They are one in the same, without being one in the same. 

I'd rather not lend my support to a party that betrayed me in 1996, but you can keep on supporting them if you like.   

[wesfau2]

You truly are indoctrinated with the white guilt.

I gained nothing on the back of anyone. I worked my ass off for what I got.

Some folks lived off the mommy tit and are now guilty about it. I don't have that guilt.

The "People's History of America" is made up bullshit.

I'm not feeling any guilt.  Your status as white man in America is an automatic standing double (edited to add: OUR status).  Lucky enough to be second or third generation patrician?  Then you are sitting on a bona fide triple before you leave the womb.

If you can try to argue with a straight face that any non-white group in America is on equal footing from a political, social or economic perspective then you are being deliberately disingenuous or you are a fucking sociopath.

I'd rather not lend my support to a party that betrayed me in 1996, but you can keep on supporting them if you like.   

That's about when they lost me, too.  If the Republicans were truly advocates of conservatism, I'd still be in that camp most likely.

If both parties are going to spend us into oblivion, I at least want my government to take care of the least of its citizens.

For Chad: We lack a meaningful 3rd party option, so my views above don't address that end of the spectrum.

[Snaggletiger]

I'm not feeling any guilt.  Your status as white man in America is an automatic standing double (edited to add: OUR status).  Lucky enough to be second or third generation patrician?  Then you are sitting on a bona fide triple before you leave the womb.

If you can try to argue with a straight face that any non-white group in America is on equal footing from a political, social or economic perspective then you are being deliberately disingenuous or you are a fucking sociopath.

That's about when they lost me, too.  If the Republicans were truly advocates of conservatism, I'd still be in that camp most likely.

If both parties are going to spend us into oblivion, I at least want my government to take care of the least of its citizens.

For Chad: We lack a meaningful 3rd party option, so my views above don't address that end of the spectrum.

How can you be so obtuse?

[wesfau2]

How can you be so obtuse?

30 days in the hole.

/nohumblepie

[Snaggletiger]

30 days in the hole.

/nohumblepie

A man just up and disappears like a fart in the wind.

[WiregrassTiger]

I'm not feeling any guilt.  Your status as white man in America is an automatic standing double (edited to add: OUR status).  Lucky enough to be second or third generation patrician?  Then you are sitting on a bona fide triple before you leave the womb.

If you can try to argue with a straight face that any non-white group in America is on equal footing from a political, social or economic perspective then you are being deliberately disingenuous or you are a fucking sociopath.

That's about when they lost me, too.  If the Republicans were truly advocates of conservatism, I'd still be in that camp most likely.

If both parties are going to spend us into oblivion, I at least want my government to take care of the least of its citizens.

For Chad: We lack a meaningful 3rd party option, so my views above don't address that end of the spectrum.

You tell 'em brother.
Now, when I'm supposed to get my check.

[wesfau2]

A man just up and disappears like a fart in the wind.

Do you trust your wife?

[Kaos]

Or you could realize that the "white man" has been enjoying his status and privilege on the backs of other, equal groups and it's ok to acknowledge that (without reducing the white man's rights/privileges) those groups are equally deserving of protection under the law.

Bullshit. 

Utter bullshit.

[wesfau2]

Bullshit. 

Utter bullshit.

Colonialism puts the invading populace at an immediate, and entrenched advantage.

You guys did notice that I am not advocating an erosion of your crusty old white rights?  I only want everyone to enjoy equal rights, regardless of race, gender or penus desire.

[wesfau2]

  Opportunity is pretty much the same for all.  Scholarships, assistance, and really opportunity is greater for any ethnic/gender "minority."

Bullshit.


Utter Bullshit.

[Kaos]

Colonialism puts the invading populace at an immediate, and entrenched advantage.

You guys did notice that I am not advocating an erosion of your crusty old white rights?  I only want everyone to enjoy equal rights, regardless of race, gender or penus desire.

A hundred years ago maybe.  Today?  Opportunity is pretty much the same for all.  Scholarships, assistance, and really opportunity is greater for any ethnic/gender "minority."  And STILL outcome is not the same.  So you take even more from me in an effort to "balance" things.  That's manure.  Stinking, fetid manure.  That won't EVER work.   

You want it to be.  I simply don't.  And won't ever want equality of outcome. 

Depravity does not DESERVE equal rights. 

[Kaos]

Bullshit.


Utter Bullshit.

Don't tell me that. 

I had to campaign for my daughter to get a scholarship to Auburn.  She had the GPA she had the ACT score.  But she was in a queue behind minorities who had lesser scores and lower GPAs. 

They didn't make decisions based strictly on merit. Those decisions were based on other factors. 

Kids who didn't have the same qualifications as she did got full rides. She got a partial -- and only after a concerted effort on my part to make it happen.

That's just one example. 

[wesfau2]

Don't tell me that. 

I had to campaign for my daughter to get a scholarship to Auburn.  She had the GPA she had the ACT score.  But she was in a queue behind minorities who had lesser scores and lower GPAs. 

They didn't make decisions based strictly on merit. Those decisions were based on other factors. 

Kids who didn't have the same qualifications as she did got full rides. She got a partial -- and only after a concerted effort on my part to make it happen.

That's just one example.

Terribly sorry that your anecdotal story highlights the gross injustice of possibly almost missing out on your #1 choice of university.

The struggle is horrifically real.

[Kaos]

Terribly sorry that your anecdotal story highlights the gross injustice of possibly almost missing out on your #1 choice of university.

The struggle is horrifically real.

Yep.  It is.  What happened to "content of character and not color of skin"? 

If that were true, then the applications and scholarships would be weighed only on their merits and not sorted based on race, gender and other factors. 

It goes directly to the point that if you are a minority, there is a world of opportunity awaiting you IF YOU CHOOSE TO PURSUE IT. 

You want to give it to those who don't deserve it simply because they refuse to try.  You want to take all those kids sitting at the wall of defeat, crying about how hard it is to be a pimp and give them more. 

They don't want more, Wes.  More stuff?  Sure.  But something they have to work for?  Nope. 

You can't tell me with a straight face that anyone of any color who applies himself/herself in school, goes to college and does the work and goes out into the world with ambition and dedication is going to be shackled by some dusty ideal.  There are far too many examples of success that belie your overwhelming guilt. 

[wesfau2]

Yep.  It is.  What happened to "content of character and not color of skin"? 

If that were true, then the applications and scholarships would be weighed only on their merits and not sorted based on race, gender and other factors. 

It goes directly to the point that if you are a minority, there is a world of opportunity awaiting you IF YOU CHOOSE TO PURSUE IT. 

You want to give it to those who don't deserve it simply because they refuse to try.  You want to take all those kids sitting at the wall of defeat, crying about how hard it is to be a pimp and give them more. 

They don't want more, Wes.  More stuff?  Sure.  But something they have to work for?  Nope. 

You can't tell me with a straight face that anyone of any color who applies himself/herself in school, goes to college and does the work and goes out into the world with ambition and dedication is going to be shackled by some dusty ideal.  There are far too many examples of success that belie your overwhelming guilt.

There are examples of minorities excelling with the assistance of a competent infrastructure (governmental and private).  There are even exceptional, life-affirming stories of success without those basic foundational components.

What doesn't exist anywhere is a catalog of modest success stories from the populations that live without one or both of those components.  That is the margin in which most of non-white America lives.

[Kaos]

There are examples of minorities excelling with the assistance of a competent infrastructure (governmental and private).  There are even exceptional, life-affirming stories of success without those basic foundational components.

What doesn't exist anywhere is a catalog of modest success stories from the populations that live without one or both of those components.  That is the margin in which most of non-white America lives.

What doesn't exist anywhere is a catalog of modest success stories from the populations that live without one or both of those components.

There IS NO minority that exists without one or both of these components.  That's the point. The components exist. The issue is whether those that could take advantage of them. 

You can wail and moan all you want, but there's not a minority alive, particularly one from a poorer background, who cannot get an education and use that education as a springboard to college and more.  They choose not to do so. 

They make horrific decisions and mire themselves in lives from which there is little escape. That.Is.Not.My.Fault.  Nor is it yours.

You look at the disenfranchised youth and see a population that needs more help.  I look at the same group and see a population that's declined the obscene amount of help that's already available.  Giving them more isn't an incentive, it creates the opposite effect. 

A miniscule few in this country is denied opportunity. 
You will never achieve equal outcome.

The more the government tries to "help" the poor?  The more poor we will have.