tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post3428203599736504523..comments2024-02-24T05:19:10.949-05:00Comments on Durham-in-Wonderland: Edwards Keeps Marcottekcjohnson9http://www.blogger.com/profile/09625813296986996867noreply@blogger.comBlogger188125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-64912520561185819182007-02-14T05:53:00.000-05:002007-02-14T05:53:00.000-05:00The Leftwing Media is attacking Bill Donohue of th...The Leftwing Media is attacking Bill Donohue of the Catholic League...one problem with that Bill Donohue is the leader of the Catholic League...he is doing his job...AND he is not the one running for President...Edwards is.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-14174828404183928962007-02-14T05:49:00.000-05:002007-02-14T05:49:00.000-05:00Didn't Amanda Marcotte complain that the powers th...Didn't Amanda Marcotte complain that the powers that be in North Carolina are bigoted when she spoke about the Duke Case. She implied that North Carolina is dominated by corrupt "white men"...<BR/><BR/>well isn't John Edwards the Representitive of North Carolina? I guess Marcotte dosen't mind working and backing the corrupt "White Male" leaderhip of North Carolina...lol<BR/><BR/>What a true buffoon this Amanda Marcotte is.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-12098316843648922812007-02-10T18:57:00.000-05:002007-02-10T18:57:00.000-05:00JOHN EDWARDS IS HALF A FANCY BOY WHO SPEAKS ABOUT ...JOHN EDWARDS IS HALF A FANCY BOY WHO SPEAKS ABOUT TWO AMERICAS. ONE WHERE HE GETS SUPER RICH EXPLOITING THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM AND THE OTHER AMERICA WHERE THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM EXPLOITS PEOPLE AND HE DOES NOTHING. WAY TO GO MARYAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-21233698177667096012007-02-09T14:55:00.000-05:002007-02-09T14:55:00.000-05:00If you truly believe in God, there is nothing irra...If you truly believe in God, there is nothing irrational about killer non-believers or burning them.<BR/><BR/>Reading the Bible, Koran, etc., you can make as many violent justifications for killing as you can for love, acceptance and peace. Just as rationally.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-7794635791548188492007-02-09T14:48:00.000-05:002007-02-09T14:48:00.000-05:00Someone asked about the burning of witches An exc...Someone asked about the burning of witches An excellent starting point is here:<BR/><BR/>http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/15674a.htm<BR/><BR/>Indeed, Martin Luther called for their extermination. The Spanish Inquisition stopped the practice very early. Calvin was big on it as well, mainly because he followed the Old Testament to the letter. It reached its heights in the early modern period, most notably in Protestant Germany.<BR/><BR/>I only learned this, BTW, after researching the Spanish Inquisition, and found out there was a whole lot of myth going on vs. reality, which suprised me greatly. In 350 years, for instance, 5,000 people were put to death, most during the first decades of the Inquisition. That is a drop in the bucket compared with the general practices of that time. <BR/><BR/>Good luck in your research.<BR/><BR/>-Esquire-<BR/>-Maryland-Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-3862901839158805952007-02-09T14:05:00.000-05:002007-02-09T14:05:00.000-05:00Interesting comment on MSNBC -"Edwards showed he c...Interesting comment on MSNBC -"Edwards showed he could stand up to the right." I thought he showed he caved to the left and their threats. Must mean, he is in the middle.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-26663203707097309252007-02-09T13:45:00.000-05:002007-02-09T13:45:00.000-05:00George W. Bush is a true clown. I swear they shou...George W. Bush is a true clown. I swear they should play circus music in the background when he goes to make a speech, and not hail to the chief.<BR/><BR/>With all the disaster going on in Iraq right now, at least Iraqi oil revenue is paying for the entire war effort, and as he told Pat Robertson, there wouldn't be many US casualties, you know? Hey, the man knows how to follow through on a promise.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-73662717213166642962007-02-09T13:33:00.000-05:002007-02-09T13:33:00.000-05:00***This man can't stand up to a little pressure fr...***This man can't stand up to a little pressure from the wacko liberals, how do you expect him to stand up to Iraq, China and Russia.***<BR/><BR/>I have confidence in his abilities to handle these major problems. Look, not everyone can be George W. Bush and run a war as effectively as he has in Iraq.<BR/><BR/>With that one caveat having been set forth (that no one can duplicate the great success in Iraq that GWB has), I don't see why Edwards can't at least come close to filling GWB's shoes.<BR/><BR/>No wait. I have my facts wrong. George W. Bush -- even putting aside his pathetic inability to get anything done domestically -- has been one of the biggest wartime President disasters in the history of our country. <BR/><BR/>You talk so tough about liberals being unable to handle issues of war and peace. Well give us a chance. Your guy has already squandered his!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-89612959394974964912007-02-09T13:19:00.000-05:002007-02-09T13:19:00.000-05:00Edwards has proven himself to yet again be a wease...Edwards has proven himself to yet again be a weasel easly manipulated and pandering to the liberal and black vote. This man can't stand up to a little pressure from the wacko liberals, how do you expect him to stand up to Iraq, China and Russia. He is weak with no spine and obviously has no idea what right and wrong is. He must be Brodhead's missing twin brother, both spineless cowards who avoid the truth, talk around questions never answering them straightforward. All rhetoric, liberal garbage.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-20665116297645912942007-02-09T11:12:00.000-05:002007-02-09T11:12:00.000-05:00I would never have voted for Edwards. It has been ...I would never have voted for Edwards. It has been fun laughing at those two and Edwards exposing himself as a weasel again. Lots of laughs with Cash's concern for $240.00 - chump change. At least Joe Biden knows what happened to his short presidental campaign. Now it is back to real life. Should not the investigation be over by now and the charges dismissed? With every resource of the state available to them, the charges have still not been dropped. As Marvin Gaye said "Whats goin on?"Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-86510452558695323792007-02-09T10:56:00.000-05:002007-02-09T10:56:00.000-05:00Of course they'd legislate in similar ways to Terh...Of course they'd legislate in similar ways to Terhan and Saudi Arabia. Despite the fact that we have a Constitution, some of our Supreme Court justices believe that the government should be able to regulate MORALS legislation (Clarence Thomas, Antonin Scalia, and Sam Alito). That was stricken down in Lawrence v. Texas... but please read the dissenting opinion of Scalia. He saw nothing wrong with that law that regulated consensual adult sex.<BR/><BR/>That law technically prohibited sodomy, not homosexual sodomy if my memory is correct. Regardless, the point of Scalia was that society should be able to create such legislation.<BR/><BR/>Combine an ever-increasingly sympathetic Supreme Court with a hypothetical Evangelical-majority House and Senate and Executive... you'd have something that looks a lot more like Iran and Saudi Arabia than present-day America.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-46107041050529675262007-02-09T10:48:00.000-05:002007-02-09T10:48:00.000-05:00True enough, but when you can freely say that in T...True enough, but when you can freely say that in Teheran or Saudi Arabia, then we will be making real progress. Good luck on that, by the way... <BR/>------------------------------<BR/><BR/>Isn't that a bit beside the point? The negative results of the religious loons running Iran and Saudi Arabia should be all the evidence needed that religious loons of any religion should NOT be running the government.<BR/><BR/>I don't doubt that if the American evangelicals were running America it would look a LOT more like Saudi Arabia than Switzerland.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-9207954654318053252007-02-09T10:39:00.000-05:002007-02-09T10:39:00.000-05:00Once again, you are confusing the issue. The issu...Once again, you are confusing the issue. The issue is not comparing religious zealots in America with Wahabbism or terrorists who kill in the name of their religion.<BR/><BR/>The issue, on the other hand, is whether or not people who adhere to organized religion should be using the term "loon" so freely to describe a liberal's political beliefs. At the very least, they could say "my fellow loon", lest the irrationality of some of their central beliefs come to light.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-27199247811048804732007-02-09T10:27:00.000-05:002007-02-09T10:27:00.000-05:0010:16True enough, but when you can freely say that...10:16<BR/><BR/>True enough, but when you can freely say that in Teheran or Saudi Arabia, then we will be making real progress. Good luck on that, by the way...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-17134798203123650212007-02-09T10:16:00.000-05:002007-02-09T10:16:00.000-05:00Hate to state the obvious but that's why religion ...Hate to state the obvious but that's why religion occupies a private personal space in America and government is expected to operate on a rational, evidence-based real world template.<BR/><BR/>It cannot be proven in any way, shape or form that sex before marriage is a "sin" and that "god" disapproves of homosexuals or abortion or that these "sins" will damm one to "hell." <BR/><BR/>People are free to believe this along with creationism, the Old Testament or that Muhammed ascended directly to heaven as feverently as they wish, but without any proof, these beliefs do not belong in the public policy arena.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-28879015892793942382007-02-09T09:36:00.000-05:002007-02-09T09:36:00.000-05:00***But that argument is, in fact, more than a bit ...***But that argument is, in fact, more than a bit shallow and--I dare say--uneducated. it ignores the differences between the spiritual and temporal planes, and the different modes of communications about those planes, and the different standards of proof each plane demands.***<BR/><BR/>OK, I'm sure if religious beliefs could be backed up factually and imperically, you'd still be making this argument.<BR/><BR/>In fact, the very reason people give religious beliefs special treatment is that their beliefs NEED special treatment to survive. I see no reason to subject religious beliefs to a lower standard of proof than we do a used car salesman who tells us that the car "is in tip-top shape, no test drive needed". Now, this seems inherently more believable than the whole Virgin Mary thing... yet we won't believe the guy without his reaching a certain level of proof, including our ability to drive that car ourselves before buying it.<BR/><BR/>I'll continue to put all beliefs to the same standard of evidence. I'm totally open to believing in God... but the sales pitch is very, very lacking.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-58507539091405611052007-02-09T09:10:00.000-05:002007-02-09T09:10:00.000-05:00I did vote for the Kerry Edwards ticket...I did se...I did vote for the Kerry Edwards ticket...<BR/><BR/>I did send money...<BR/><BR/>I did vote for Bush in 2000 but could not in 2004...<BR/><BR/>I did attend an expensive luncheon for Elizabeth Edwards...<BR/> <BR/><BR/>Memo to The Edwards: I cannot and will not support your campaign if you allow such a vulgar, profane and wrong-headed person to be your voice. <BR/><BR/>If she speaks for you, then I know you do not and could not represent me.<BR/><BR/>Your response to criticism in this matter was so ridiculously tepid and meaningless that it is insulting to me .<BR/><BR/>I appreciate your position on the war and want to support that. But this decision regarding your blog makes me question your broader judgment.<BR/><BR/>Tell me I'm missing something...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-73771193524082614202007-02-09T07:55:00.000-05:002007-02-09T07:55:00.000-05:00I disagree that keeping these two wacks would do d...I disagree that keeping these two wacks would do damage to the Edwards campaign. The voters who would hold Edwards responsible for his people or his words are not the ones who will be voting for him anyhow.<BR/><BR/>his base is the DailyKOS and he is playing to it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-80536302129499955192007-02-09T07:51:00.000-05:002007-02-09T07:51:00.000-05:00To 11:00 commenter who does not want to be called ...To 11:00 commenter who does not want to be called a loon, <BR/><BR/>I am happy to read your book, but I understand why people do not believe in God. I am much more interested in understanding why they do. <BR/><BR/>ObserverAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-84833197640091888352007-02-09T07:18:00.000-05:002007-02-09T07:18:00.000-05:00Michael Jasper, Thank you for reminding me why I...Michael Jasper,<BR/><BR/> Thank you for reminding me why I love academia.<BR/><BR/>ObserverAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-84014665030134421502007-02-09T06:58:00.000-05:002007-02-09T06:58:00.000-05:00"They burned witches because they believed that ob..."They burned witches because they believed that objective evidence of the witches magical ability was not needed, they never questioned the asinite theological reasoning for why the powerful witch would let herself be tortured and then burned alive.<BR/><BR/>Belief and not evidence was paramount"<BR/><BR/>Isn't this why David Brooks likened this Duke case to a witch hunt? Maybe we are not so OT.<BR/><BR/>M. Simon, Yes, building that castle while fomenting class warfare seems completely contemptuous. <BR/><BR/>ObserverAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-55026857356461888832007-02-09T05:21:00.000-05:002007-02-09T05:21:00.000-05:00It's always telling when a person equates religiou...It's always telling when a person equates religious and political beliefs, and the--and I am paraphrasing here--"How dare you call me a loon because I support Edwards when you worship a carpenter who lived 2000 years ago," has a certain pat, "irrefutable" quality that appeals to undergraduates (and I say this as a university professor since 1987). But that argument is, in fact, more than a bit shallow and--I dare say--uneducated. it ignores the differences between the spiritual and temporal planes, and the different modes of communications about those planes, and the different standards of proof each plane demands. The fact is that any spiritual belief--Catholicism, Islam, Wicca, or even those of us who cop out with the whole I'm-spiritual-but-not-religious thing--every spiritual belief is by definition irrational. And not in the bad sense. It simply means that faith neither requires nor demands rational proof, and so to dismiss all faith as "irrational" is akin to criticizing your daughter for not winning the big penis contest. It was the recognition of this distinction between the spiritual and the rational which allowed Einstein, for example, to be both a brilliant scientist and an actively religious man. <BR/><BR/>Political beliefs, one assumes, are based here in the temporal realm. While it is appropriate to use one's moral code to decide moral issues, the real world demands that, even in making these moral judgments, we come to terms with historical reality. For example, to say that the debate about climate change is "over,"--and above that, simply dismissing opposing viewpoints as your "proof" that the debate is over--is as irrational an argument as any argument any church could come up with. The fact of climate change is historical reality--whether that change is mandmade or simply a product of the earth's natural cycles is the debate, and it is by no stretch "over." <BR/>It is that kind of blind "faith" in one's political beliefs that has put these three Duke lacrosse players at jeopardy.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-19335869402265292742007-02-09T03:09:00.000-05:002007-02-09T03:09:00.000-05:00Observer,Re: Marcotte and Edwards--Marcotte seems ...Observer,<BR/><BR/><I>Re: Marcotte and Edwards--Marcotte seems green, immature, and full of contempt for most of humanity--not the best qualities for an important representative of a presidential campaign--and, yes, the blogmaster is an important representative in my book.</I><BR/><BR/>Think of Edward's tears for the poor and his 28,000 sq ft house. If that isn't a form of contempt, from a man fommenting class warfare, I don't know what is.M. Simonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09508934110558197375noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-75007399280553655672007-02-09T01:41:00.000-05:002007-02-09T01:41:00.000-05:00Kelly Jarrett of Duke says:One of the important un...Kelly Jarrett of Duke says:<BR/><BR/><I><BR/>One of the important underlying issues that is being lost in the current<BR/>rally around the innocence of these three young men is that when these<BR/>allegations were first made they were so believable to so many people<BR/>both off and on campus. The team's history of misbehavior, which was<BR/>well known both in the Durham community and to the Duke<BR/>administration,<BR/>the uncontested elements of the party (the hiring of strippers, the misrepresentation of their identities, the underage drinking, etc.), and the team's reputation and behavior at tailgate parties and other on-campus venues, the disturbing implications of what it says about the team culture that the explicit sexual violence of American Psycho was a<BR/>shared joke--all of these things helped shape an atmosphere in which<BR/>allegations that some members of the team had sexually assaulted an<BR/>exotic dancer at a drunken party were met with belief rather than<BR/>disbelief.<BR/><BR/><BR/></I><BR/><BR/>Say what? Because of these things it was believable that they were violent gang rapists?<BR/><BR/>Wow, so all college athletes are violent gang rapists?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32542246.post-68323423263864547342007-02-09T00:30:00.000-05:002007-02-09T00:30:00.000-05:00Anonymous @ 12:25You have, I think, taken an histo...Anonymous @ 12:25<BR/><BR/>You have, I think, taken an historical analogy further than I am comfortable with. <BR/><BR/>Anonymous people arguing back and forth, way off-topic, aren't helpful, so I'll drop this. <BR/><BR/>All I really wanted was some source material (said in a wistful tone).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com