>I found this last thread contribution very interesting and
>thought-provoking.
>
>Here are some of my observations.
>
>1. I hesitate to make any hard points because there are
>intelligent, coherent orators who can make cases for any point
>of view. Unfortunately, I'm not seeing the best of what
>humanity has to offer in this forum, and arguments and
>personal attacks are potentially never-ending.
>
>2. In general, people as a whole must (or should) agree to
>disagree on various topics, otherwise it's just a big shouting
>match that consumes time and life. Fierce arguments in
>politics and religion tend to polarize people into Right and
>Wrong, Friends and Enemies, Stupid and Smart etc., and in
>calmer times we all realize that there is no pure
>black-and-white. The world is the shade of grey that it is
>because neither Pure Black nor Pure White hold absolute power;
>I don't want to be in a place that doesn't allow more than one
>color. In fact, I would much prefer the potential of 32-bit
>color.
>
>Some of these arguments are like boycotting Franz Schubert's
>lieder, or renaming "hamburger" as "Salisbury steak" if your
>grandfather fought against the Nazis in WW2, or eschewing
>chicken teriyaki or Honda Accords if a distant relative was
>shot down by a Mitsubishi Zero. And of course renaming "french
>fries" as "liberty fries." It's god-awful stupid - people are
>better than that! You take people for what good they
>contribute and leave their differing philosophies at the door.
>THAT is what makes Western civilization what it is, not a
>love-it-or-leave-it attitude! You don't change others by
>beating people over the head (since this only creates
>'terrorists'); you do it by showing a superior example and by
>aspiring to even greater heights.
>
>3. "America is great. Everyone wants to be an American or be
>like an American." Now what exactly does it mean to be an
>American? So many Republicans take credit for all that
>Democrats enjoy; so many Americans boast about what other
>countries enjoy. So many Christians take credit for what
>followers of other religions enjoy. If you're a lesbian Jewish
>Democrat who endorses concepts of independent thought,
>socialized health care and gay marriage, does that mean you're
>not American? The concept of tolerance is a difficult one to
>maintain, obviously, especially for people like Jon Alvarez
>who are poisoning his country from deep within - Thoreau would
>turn in his grave. Furthermore, the concept of America's
>success story is a difficult one to embrace if your country's
>natural resources and self-sufficiency were stripped to feed
>American fast-food beef.
>
>4. The Computer Forum at PCQandA is one of the best examples
>I have ever seen of people putting aside their differences and
>working together to find mutually beneficial solutions. It
>really ought to be a model for all sorts of other situations,
>but it ain't.
>
>I've seen a lot of the good and the bad that makes America
>what it is. Leaving the bad to stay as it is will not make
>America greater. And it is arrogant complacency to leave the
>good as it is, glossing it over with a Playboy-like sheen and
>claiming that it is the best humanity has to show.
>



Do you ever think before you speak and write? Do you ever check your facts (Example: Mobile Production Facilities For Biological Agents)?

In the majority of posts here so far, I could only detect emotions, and no evidence of moral and intellectual advancement beyond a primitive state. Yours, being strong on grammar and weak on substance, I find myself wanting to ask a question. What is your interpretation of the words humane, ethical, and reasonable? What does rule of law mean to you?

In your simplistic mind, just like our government, you want to rule the world and make decisions as to who lives and who dies, with total disregard for any law. Our President and his administration are literally “true believers” who are on a “mission”, followed by “cognitive dissonance” crowd here, at PC&Q. Bush’s allegations are verdicts in themselves, accompanied by the summary vigilante “justice” of the U.S. military.

Isn’t it clear why this administration was so adamant about exempting the United States from prosecutions by any international court? They were even then planning actions that could bring them under indictment.

And please, do not claim that we care. We are doing very little for our own people, and close to nothing for the welfare of the Iraqi people. Do yourself a service and read: Shafting, not 'supporting,' the troops and How to Really Save Private Lynch.


http://www.workingforchange.com/printitem.cfm?itemid=15354

http://www.thenation.com/edcut/index.mhtml?bid=7&pid=753