From the Lincoln/Douglas debates- Reply [to Douglas] in Ottawa (1858):

 

After discussing an erroneous charge by Douglas:

 

“… And so I think my friend, the judge, is equally at fault when he charges me at the time when I was in Congress of having opposed our soldiers who were fighting in the Mexican War. The judge did not make his charge very distinctly, but I tell you what he can prove, by referring to the record. You remember I was an Old Whig, and whenever the Democratic Party tried to get me to vote that the war had been righteously begun by the President, I would not do it.

 

But whenever they asked for any money, or land-warrants, or anything to pay the soldiers there, during all that time, I gave the same vote that judge Douglas did. You can think as you please as to whether that was consistent. Such is the truth; and the judge has the right to make all he can out of it. But when he, by a general charge, conveys the idea that I withheld supplies for the soldiers who were fighting in the Mexican War, or did anything else to hinder the soldiers, he is, to say the least, grossly and altogether mistaken, as a consultation of the records will prove to him.”

 

In other words: I can support the troops without supporting this president.

 

Now, if you wish to proclaim Lincoln a liberal- and compared to today’s Republicans, I may, but you can not deny his purpose here. As a representative of Congress and a citizen of this country, he spoke his mind- Just as we should today.

 

We owe that to our soldiers.

  If the experts would have been listened too, we may have had success.

 

Link to article

 

Re: 'Pornography -- The Real Perversion' & 'How the left led us into 9/11'

I thought about writing a formal response to Dinesh D’Souza series of articles blaming Liberals for all the worlds’ problems. I was especially incensed about his outwardly and obvious failure to even remotely review the 12 years during the Reagan /Bush administrations- I guess no one told Dinesh about Iran Contra. If there was any objectivity displayed in these articles, it must have been lost in the footnotes or the trash.

But, someone somewhere posted this link to a book review by Alan Wolfe. I couldn't do better showing Dinesh's extreme bias.

Enjoy: None (but Me) Dare Call It Treason http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/21/books/review/Wolfe.t.html?ref=books

P.S. I have this post listed as ‘Media and Culture’ because there is no way any reasonable mind could mistake this article by D'Souza as any real insight in foreign affairs. It is, however, a prime example of a biased personal attack that is ever so common from the fringes of both parties.

Iraq: The Death of Reason- part 1
The History of Iraq:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4904872604958696694

This is the first part of a three part series. If you go to the link, the other parts should be there. In this part, they discuss some interesting topics, but there is one main reason I am linking to it.

About a third of the way through, there is a history of Iraq starting when the British drew the boarders separating Iraq from Kuwait. It continues on through the multiple coups within Iraq and Iran, to our involvement with Iraq in the 1980’s under the Reagan/Bush administration, to Desert Storm, covers Iran/Contra, and all the way up to today.

It is very interesting and sad watching how our incoherent policy in the Middle East has brought us where we are today.

For anyone that believes the people of the Middle East “hate us for our freedoms,” you should watch this.

And please, watch it before you start calling me names for linking to it.

The video also interviews people of different faiths about war in general. And there is an interview with an American soldier who worked as an interrogator in Iraq. He is telling the story of a 22 year old Saudi Arabian who crossed over to join the Jihad. 
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Reagan's Real Policy Towards Iraq:

Update: Supporting Documentation- The US Army Professional Writing Collection, Army Professional Journals.

Inverse Engagement: Lessons from US-Iraq Relations, 1982-1990

http://www.army.mil/prof_writing/volumes/volume1/july_2003/7_03_2v2.html
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America Freedom to Fascism:

This movie goes hand in hand with “The Death of Reason.”

This video shows the growing power of the elite class in our country and world. Members are from both the Republican and Democrat parties and any dictator that will play their game.

This movie ties in the banking system, the IRS, the continuing degradation of our own system of government, how the media (all of it) reports less news and more propaganda, and the wars being waged around the world.

Conspiracy theory? Maybe. But I was convinced enough to put it up here. It is worth a watch.

After watching this movie, ask yourself, “are we still living up to the promise our founders declared when they ratified the Constitution?”

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4312730277175242198&q=America%2C+From+Freedom+to+Fascism

This post goes to the heart of what if wrong with our county today- The divisions between us. [name removed], in the second paragraph, describes his perception of what liberals believe, makes false claims of what liberals believe, and then argues against these claims. Never once realizing he was talking about half of our country or listening to what is actually being said. It is on here all day long, as I am sure it is done on the far left sites. Then when any one disagrees, it is easy to just blow them off- their fascist, socialist, evil, crazy, whatever.

So, how do we solve our problems? Certainly it is plain to see that if we don’t even have a clue to what is important to the other side; we will never be able to come to a common solution.

IHA, I am not blaming you for anything- your arguments were not harsh is why I chose this post. I lose my cool on here at times due to the outrageous accusations of some of the claims.

That is why I try, maybe for the most part, to discuss the Constitution- which is the reason I will argue for “speech” I may not agree with. I believe if we start to outlaw any speech, it will lead to the outlawing of any that happens to be inconvenient for the political party in power at the time. Regardless if an idea is equal or not, is not the point. The point is that each of us gets to make that decision- not the government. If I disagree with an idea or statement, then I can ignore or debate it.

I have never agreed with a group that has burned an American Flag, but I do not agree with a law to ban it. The Flag is a symbol of our greatness- but every country has one. If a group or person burns this symbol they do not tear us down. But if we, through emotion and pride, create a law to make it illegal, then we tear a piece out of our Constitution- No other country has one as great- as thought out- as ours. And to me, to weaken or destroy the Constitution to preserve one symbol is not acceptable.

This thought process is why I am against the outlawing of speech. If the idea is flawed, bad, stupid, it will die on its own. People simply won’t follow it. If it is good, prosperous, and just, people will follow it. And that is the heart of the reason the forefathers wrote free speech into the Constitution. It is at the heart of democracy.

This is not to say we, under common consensus, cannot place reasonable regulation on it. This is one of the ways Rudy Giuliani cleaned up New York. He didn’t outlaw pornography, he hid it. He led the way, and got others to agree, in placing regulation on advertisement, locations, what could be displayed in public view, etc. And enough people agreed that, while the business can exist, it cannot flaunt it in front of us or our kids.

P.S. I won’t argue pornography as a free speech topic, but I would in a capitalist argument. Especially in a capitalism economy vs. a moralist type economy discussion.

http://www.townhall.com/columnists/column.aspx?UrlTitle=why_the_christian_left_is_not&ns=KevinMcCullough&dt=01/14/2007&page=full&comments=true#32b19716-af3a-4ec1-8c64-fc5dbb415fd9

Coming soon to a computer in your house.

Main topics will be:

The issue of abortion.

The Constitution, Bill of Rights, the balance of powers.

Any thing that strikes my fancy at the time.







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May require a change in paradigm

http://www.dailypress.com/news/local/dp-protest.j16,0,1708460.story?track=rss