I know that there are some fanatical Ron Paul fans. They are trolling the blogs and other sites, just picking a fight and doing so in such a childish way. As you know, I have an Obama video on youtube. This very harmless video has gotten a few hits (Dailykos picked it up!), but it was a fun, impromptu video. Be that as it may, some trolls found it. Here's a little taste...
Zile77 (1 month ago)
"Either way, you have many more kids if Obama or Hillary win. They want to kill all the babies!"
cloud1232006 (1 month ago)
"ron paul 08...
Get informed... you have no idea whats going on in the world and why its happening... easy to tell by who you're rooting for..."
gjswank (1 month ago)
"To bad we have people like you brainwashing the kids in another nation....
I would hope that the parents of these children watch this and kick your butt out of their school......"
JBTG33 (2 days ago)
"RP fans just want the government to get out of their wallet. The feds waste a ton of money and then want more!!! 20% of the budget goes to pay the interest on the debt!!! WE keep voting the same chumps into office and expect a different result...thats not simple that is stupid."
I decided to follow up on this guy since he was the first to have an opinion beyond "Ron Paul is my lover".
Me:
And Kucinich would be a great President as well, but that is not the point. We all know that neither one of the men could ever get past the primary, let alone the GE. So we are left with the electables and we most choose the best who can change our shameful trajectory. It's fun to yell and scream about RP and he does have some good ideas, but eventually reality will set in and his very vocal youtube supporters will quietly fade away and no doubt vote for the GOP.
That's what is "simple".
JBTG33
"This is the first election that their isn't a great deal of differense between the top 3 candidates. (baby killing aside) They are all big government liberals who think that the government can solve the peoples problems by handing out more candy. Are government programs going to all the sudden work? If so what is going to be different. I am a simple person, who doesn't like to waste my money."
Me:
First of all, the phrase "baby killing" is a little much and in very poor taste.
""Are government programs going to all the sudden work?"
I'll answer your question with a question: When has it worked to totally eliminate the government's role in people's life?
Furthermore, you use the term "waste". Define it..."
JBTG33
"Abortion is killing your own baby, to think that a mother would do that to the baby growing in her belly.
Waste, I would start with the 20% of the budget that goes to pay the interest on the debt. Considerint that the latest budget is over 3 trillion. The waste here would amount to 600 billion. For every tax dollar that is supposed to go to food stamps, 75cents is used to run the program only 25cents actually gets to the person who is supposed to be hungry. The government needs to ballance their check book just like you and I have to. Spending is out of control, and if Barrack Hillary McCain do a third of what they talk about, taxes will have to go up again. I don't trust the feds to spend your money, let alone mine.
If I wanted to live in a Socialistic country, I would move to Cuba, I hear they have "free" health care."
Me:
"The reality is that what you want is an impossibility. Again, name a time when a complete hands-off government thrived. It's fun to have these ideas, but I would love some support for this great society you speak of.
Once you accept the reality of the world and country you live in, then the question becomes: Since this money WILL be spent, where would you like it to be spent?
In addition, abortion is a privacy law and while your philosophical views regarding it might be genuine, I have noticed a very conservative GOP-leaning pattern in your postings. You do not approve of government spending money on programs and since you only mentioned a form of welfare (food stamps), I can assume you disapprove of social programs specifically. You are overly pious in your disapproval of a woman's right to privacy, and you use the word "liberal" like it's a bad thing.
RP might be in the GOP, but even he would not make such claims. But this is not about RP at this point. IMO, you are not a RP fan, but an aging GOP'r that still lives the Reagan-myth of a hands-off government that did not and does not work.
Political maturity can be defined in two ways.
1) Acceptance and mastery of the current system
2) Feasible change
Conservative and GOP talking points do not fit into the above criteria. However, I'm happy to keep this going if you want to reply.
I'll let you know if he responds.
However, my point remains. RP fans are the worse than undecided and independent voters. This generation of closet Repub's think that they are fooling people with 1984 theme's like "Wake up and vote for RP 2008" and "You're all Robots! RP will unplug you." RP is not Timothy Leary. The RP fan gets to claim that they are anti-war and compassionate while slamming everything that the left stands for.
The hypocrisy!!!
Posts
3 comments:
Dude, the guys you're "debating" have worse spelling than most of my first year students. I learned a long time ago to not bother wasting my time on these guys who still pump the same tired lines ("Go live in a Socialist country") and use the word "liberal" like it's a racial slur.
These are adults who are experiencing deep thinking for the first time and think they hit on all the right answers for life, the universe and everything...
...by mimicking the same old Rush Limbaugh lines from 1993.
You should also respond to his claim that "20% of the budget goes to pay the interest on the debt". I am assuming he isn't getting his information from this website:
http://www.warresisters.org/piechart.htm
The "20%" that he is referring to is related to $304 billion that is budgeted for "General Government" which makes the portion of interest only $60 billion...still alot, but not nearly $600 billion. By the way, the 2009 budget or the "latest budget" is only $2.65 Trillion, not the $3 trillion he suggests. I guess $350 billion is not a big deal to him. If he wants to talk about waste, why doesn't he mention the $965 billion that is budgeted for current military, which is 54% of the total budget? $200 million (20% of the current military budget) of this is for the "War on Terror" which, as we all know, is mostly Iraq. As for the rest of his spending claims, I would love to see some sort of support for his numbers.
Enjoyed the exchange. I liked your last line about "hypocrisy." Reminds me of the end of Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" -- "the horror, the horror.!
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