One Week To Go... Any Final Thoughts???

joliet_jane wrote: Oops, sorry. I forgot to mention that I used to be a registered Republican. I listened to Rush as a teen. I voted Bush in 2004. I was even in College Republicans. I wrote an article in the college newspaper about what I thought it meant to be in the GOP. I was dumb. I was hateful. Maybe I still am a redneck. But I want to make up for it.

Your views changed, fantastic. You adapted. You evaluated what was important to you--how you really felt and went with it. This is something all persons should do continually to avoid being stagnant as well as gain a firm standing that they understand the weight of their decisions and how their contributions, i.e. a vote, their career, their community work, ultimately help or hinder society.

I am dumbfounded how you think that a change in a opinion is making up for "redneck" thinking and how you so unabashed use that brush to paint all republicans. You say yourself you are no democrat, but that doesn't mean everyone has reached the same point in thinking as you, nor that the journey there is the same. I am fully aware my viewpoints might change someday, but that doesn't mean I haven't taken the time to flesh them out for now. I just am disgusted you assume that has something to do with being "redneck."

Also, you are faulty to assume I am a republican. I am conservative. That does not mean republican. But, you like to generalize, it seems.

joliet_jane wrote:I also did a little campaign work in '04, so I know that the GOP's success is in part owed to the dumb and hateful. Really. Bush appalled to people's emotions, not their minds. That's how we won in 2004. Smearing Kerry as an "intellectual" was cake. But the Dem. deserved to lose, because they were like the Keystone Kops and could not counter our efforts. They were so clueless. If they lose again, they'll deserve it again, and I'll be happy to be right.

The subconscious use of appalled over appealed is somewhat humorous, given I'm not a huge Bush fan. But, don't lump me in with "we" even though assumption is your game. Kerry was a genuine person. I found him likable; but I found him more so to be a "promise the world" politician, and ultimately, with Bush, I at least knew what I was getting.

joliet_jane wrote:Very slowly, I began to see the error of my ways, yet I cannot be moved to join the Dem. because I'm still wary of them. I'm voting Obama, but it won't make up for all the deaths for all the deaths caused by a war I not only supported but looked forward to.

Voting for McCain doesn't "less make up" for the lives of those Men and Women. Voting for Obama doesn't change what happened. I don't want to argue over an emotional topic, e.g. the War in Iraq. Too often these topics leaves our minds closed to others viewpoints, and ultimately it turns into a reasonless shouting match with no substance behind it. Both parties remain right in their own regard, as our views have no great rationale for us ultimately, they are our "gut" instinct and each of us is wired differently--thankfully so.

One of my main reasons for not voting for Obama is I hope, in my lifetime, to never see the House/Senate be the same party as the Presidency. I don't want ANY law rushed to the front nor any decision that extends or detracts from individual or societal freedoms to be simply glided through without contention. We can always make something better, and when things become easy, things become lazy.

joliet_jane wrote: It's been said that "W" is the best thing that ever happened to the Democratic party. That must be true, because if it had been McCain in 2000, I'd still be my old self.

Whether we like Bush or not, he isn't a candidate for the election. I had to clean slate myself on McCain. A politicians viewpoints are as volatile as our own, and that's the reality of things. You were able to claim your views and see things you saw as mistakes for what they truly were to you. I don't know why a politician couldn't do the same. I do not think McCain is to blame for the mistakes of somewhat he is not nor is he to receive cheer for deeds he did not render.

You have your mind well made up, and I commend you as you seem to have taken strides to make your views your own and you are STRONG and SATISFIED in your vote and your decision. What more can we ask for? It has to be the right decision for you: not for the reporter you get your news from, not from the neighbor next door, and not from a faceless person on this message board. Your solidified view makes you a Great American, nay a great person. You've done your duty.

However, that does NOT give you any credence to assume the lifestyle or viewpoints of another. It does not give you a soap box on which to stand to spout that views you once deemed mistakes are the same mistakes as others.

Sorry, I hope one day to transgress to your level of enlightenment and shuffle off this "redneck" coil. Until then, I'll value my values as my own, and cherish yours as yours. I won't assume when others views are opposed they must be faulty.

Heyuck!
~Keck