Keeping My Thoughts To Myself

Jim commented on my second Utterly Sure post that maybe I should keep my thoughts to myself.

Charlie says on the same post that I am not qualified to talk about politics and I should stick to technology.

Well, Jim and Charlie and everyone else that reads my blog, you should know that if I wanted to keep my thoughts to myself on politics, music, technology, life, love, and anything else that comes to my mind, I wouldn't be blogging.

If you don't like what I have to say, disagree with me on my comments section, like many of you have.

Or set up a blog yourself (as you may have done).

But don't suggest I should keep my thoughts to myself. Because I won't.

Comments

[Charlie Sierra]

Fair enough.

2 quick points
--------------
1) The Village Voice has acknowledged the obvious, ie. Kerry is a bigtime loser.

2) The NYT has a story about pissy NYC liberals (wackos?) attempting to undermine the RNC convention by subversing the event as 'volunteers'.

If the liberal left wants to stop marginalizing itself and start becoming effective then I'd suggest they grow the #$% up, and quit taking cash from criminals (ie. convicted insider trading, Soros) and become rational again. Otherwise its lights out.

PS. My father worked in the Kennedy and Johnson Whitehouses, and he's no longer a Democrat because the current party is a disgrace. (Actually, Carter converted him.)

When liberals rail against the Neo-Cons, they are really having a family feud. Because neo-cons are mostly hawkish liberals.

Ironically, GWB is the nation's true (classical) Liberal, the world's emancipator. (ok its only 50m, but counting)

Nevertheless it sure would be nice to hear something other than mindless ankle-biting from the other side.

[Jevonm]

Good man. They were out of line -- no concept of what is going on here.

[rocknrollchica]

Ohhhh, where to begin? There are an alarming number of people lately telling me I should "watch what I say", and "keep my thoughts to myself" about the current state of the country, the Bush Administration, et. al. ....as if a giant death ray is going to swoop down and strike me dead. There hasn't been such a state of paranoia in this country since McCarthyism! I have rational, logical friends afraid to speak on the phone about their political views, for fear of some kind of massive repercussion. Two words - Dixie Chicks.

Is this really what America was all about? Free speech and free choice are being threatened big time. I find this a cause for real concern.

It goes beyond politics or individual candidates. Face it, every last one of them has taken contributions that are questionable, or told a lie, or has done something they shouldn't, or has pushed the bounds of ethics. They wouldn't be able to get as far as they have in the political process - it's just the way the game is set up. (If that statement were not true, Dennis Kucinich or Wes Clark or Jon Edwards would be the current Democratic candidate). What I'm talking about is a sea change in the way Americans think and act - and fear has become the overarching theme.

There was a very frightening book I read in 1988 called "The Handmaid's Tale" about what would happen if the Christian right-wing moral majority went amok in this country. I'm afraid we're headed there.

[Tom Watson]

Here's watching what I say - George Bush and Dick Cheney are phsyical and emotional cowards, hand-holding on the way to the 9/11 commission, sending lower middle class boys to their deaths for politics.

Keep on keeping on Fred!

[Dick]

Fred,

Bravo.

I thought Bush's press conference two weeks ago was a low point for this country. The president couldn't even remember his most basic talking points, and when tossed softball questions like "what's been the biggest mistake of your presidency?", he stumbled and bumbled and hemmed and hawed. He even trotted out yet another 3rd party claiming that iraq just might have those chemical weapons after all. Please. Before the war, bush and rumsfeld repeatedly said "He has chemical weapons and we know where they are". When you tell the country that it is just and ethical to perform to go to war because X is true, it is NOT called "standing by your convictions" when X turns out to be patently false.

[El Jefe]

What? No props for this? And I even defended your right to your political opinion. I may be accused of many things, but being ungrateful is not one of them.

[Matt]

One request, please avoid wardrobe malfunctions on any images on this site.

[Jim]

Fred,

Point taken about free speech. That was actually a useless comment on my part that you smartly used to evade answering an otherwise well reasoned query. One more try - you state that Bush's style is "what scares the hell out of me. He has no doubt he's right". You follow that statement up with this one - "I'll take the thoughtful considerate decision maker over the hasty bull headed one every time. Recognizing the other side's perspective and keeping an open mind is something i really appreciate in a leader." Short version - you fear utter sureness and prefer open mindedness (Zen perhaps?). Yet, your comments about politics throughout your weblog could be fairly characterized, I believe, as far closer to utterly sure and closeminded than balanced and open minded. How does one reconcile the inconsistency between your stated preference for considered balance with your remarks that demonstrate an absolute conviction (utter sureness?) that Bush is a moronic, warmongering, oildrinking, hipshooting cowboy? A shrink might suggest it is evidence of projection, but I'd be interested in your thoughts (don't keep them to yourself).

[Jerry]

Jim:
Firstly, I'm glad to see you admit that you were out of line with your "keep your thoughts to yourself" comment. That shows an admirable tendency to pause, think through the consequences of your statements (or behavior), and then act according to a set of values and beliefs.

I think, in the end, that's Fred's point about Kerry.

George W. has a tendency to "project" (take that word in all its meanings) confidence in his decisions (The world will know, he says, that I mean what I say.)
The real problem isn't whether or not he's consistent, or sure in his convictions. The problem is that he doesn't seem to study the issues, from all sides, BEFORE coming to that firmly held conviction.

Take for instance the fact that, during the now infamous "Summer of Terror," he had no real briefings from his top foreign intelligence officers, the folks charged with fighting terrorism (because, as he now admits, we "weren't on a war footing" and he'd incorrectly assumed that the "oceans would protect us."

Forget Kerry for a moment. Forget Clinton. Think only about George W. Bush. See this election as a referendum on his leadership, his stewardship of this country---your country, my country, our country.

Can you honestly say that you're comfortable with a man who, despite his role and responsibilities is the most powerful human in the history of the world, would spend four weeks golfing on his ranch in Texas in after receiving the infamous PDB warning of imminent attacks, within this country (and across the supposed defense of "the oceans.")?

He has consistently stated, sometimes in a some what charmingly self-deprecrating way, that it's okay not to read, it's okay not to have long meetings with you staff, it's okay to let his belief in God--an evangelical's God; a fundamentalist's God---guide his decisions more than the advice and counsel of the people HE selected to provide that counsel (to ask his Secretary of Defense to draw up war plans without briefing his National Security Advisor or his Secretary of State is beyond belief. That's not confidence, that's misguided, close-mindedness. And that, my friend, is what's so scary.

Ask yourself this...would you work for a boss who made decisions about your work without reading your reports or hearing your views? Would you invest in a company run by such a man?
No. You wouldn't because, as you showed above, you're a reasonable, thoughtful person.
So you don't like Kerry. Ok. Fine. But don't you think it's time to fire George W.?

[Jerry]

PS Forgive the typos and grammatical errors above. I just got off a long plane ride.

[simon]

"But don't suggest I should keep my thoughts to myself. Because I won't"

here here ...

[robert]

Some Individules can't handle another persons opinions.

[toro]

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