Are you as elated as I am?

[PhillyKev 0]

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Why should people who are morally opposed to it pay?

This is the worst argument ever.

I'm morally opposed to the war in Iraq, why should I pay?

I'm morally opposed to the death penalty, why should I pay?

I'm morally opposed to the war on drugs, why should I pay?

Bill Gates has given over $7Billion to charity. How much have you ponied up?

[PhillyKev 0]

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who probably thinks there nothing his wealth can't buy him

Where does that come from?

[meltdown 0]

who probably thinks there nothing his wealth can't buy him
----------------------------------------------------------Where does that come from?
_____________________________________________
He obviously thought he could buy this election. Very few things don't have a price tag.

[wmw999 2,129]

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He obviously thought he could buy this election. Very few things don't have a price tag

Where do you get that? It takes a rich person to run for President -- GWB is rich, too. Really. The only reason Ross Perot did as well as he did in the 90's was because he invested a shitload of his own money into the campaign. It bought him a ton of publicity, too, which gave him a lot of percentage points.

And there are a lot of things that don't have a price tag in my life. Money might make some of them easier, but it sure won't buy them for you.

Wendy W.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[rmsmith 1]

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About the fact that meddlesome asshole George Soros...

That seditionist should have his U.S. travel visa revoked.

[wmw999 2,129]

He used his money, that he earned, in a way that he thought was appropriate. He disagrees with you (for that matter, I disagree with you -- should I have my travel visa revoked?).

His foundation (with a lot of money from him) spends $400,000,000 a year on causes valid enough that the government considers him to be tax-exempt. He funds students at universities, and has founded at least one university.

Whether or not I agree with everything he does (I don't -- heck, I don't even agree with everything I do), I think he's earned the right to do it. This crap of "agree with me & GEB or you're a traitor" is exactly that -- crap.

Wendy W.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[storm1977 0]

Ok, the moral issue isn't a good one...

I would question my chartible donations. However, They are not the issue. Gates and all his wealth (which you libs hate) Is pushing for the common person to pay for this, saying we are morally obligated to do it.

I say BS... put your money where your mouth is.

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Sometimes it is more important to protect LIFE than Liberty

[winsor 186]

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"Son, you only need to win by one vote. I can't afford a landslide." Joseph P. Kennedy

And a few years later his son was dead. Must have been bittersweet for Joe Kennedy.

Joe had four sons who were groomed at various times for the presidency.

Joe Jr. was in an airplane that blew up during WWII, so Jack the Zipper was next in line.

Once Jack was assassinated, we got stuck with LBJ, and Bobby was positioned to run. Bobby didn't even get to the nomination before he was shot, which gave us a race between Hube the Cube and Tricky Dick.

Teddy was then considered likely for the presidency - as a consolation prize for having his siblings killed or something - until he rolled out of his car to avoid being caught playing "hide the salami" with a cute campaign worker and sent her off to her death.

Joseph P. was a truly despicable human being, and I'm not too impressed with his offspring. I only wish Jack lived long enough to be remembered as a singularly mediocre president instead of being deified after death, and have no sympathy at all for the feelings of his father upon his demise.

In politics more than elsewhere, the scum rises to the top.


Blue skies,

Winsor

[peacefuljeffrey 0]

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You realize that was less than 0.2% of his net worth, right? Don't feel to bad for him.

Who said I felt "bad" for him? Shit, I wish he had lost 98.8% of his fuckin' money.

The exultation is not so much about the money, since I know he has more. It's about the fact that he must surely feel like a SHITHEEL because he did what he could as a BILLIONAIRE and he STILL could not get satisfaction!

A meddlesome socialist social engineer rights-stealer like him, trying to affect my life and the lives of MILLIONS of other people just because he has billions of dollars that he thinks entitle him to do so... I relish a person like that getting put back in his fucking place. It was like the American people served him a tall, cool glass of, "Shut the fuck up and crawl back into your hole!"

But really. The AUDACITY of a person who feels that his wealth entitles him to steer the direction of an election, rather than just casting his individual VOTE... That's got to be some sort of psychological disorder, right up there with megalomania. The guy has got to be the closest thing the real world has to a James Bond villain, in terms of his greed and self-importance.

-Jeffrey

-Jeffrey
"With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

[peacefuljeffrey 0]

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Yeah, but to be a good republican you have to hoard your billions and encourage the lower classes to live hand to mouth to stimulate the economy

The richest guys I can think of, Bill Gates and George Soros, are LIBERALS.

I don't know off-hand of any republicans who are BILLIONAIRES. Seems that the richest people are the hypocrites who scream against using money in politics, and then they do exactly that.

And let's not pretend that leading democrats in congress are not rich beyond anything you or I have.

-Jeffrey

-Jeffrey
"With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

[peacefuljeffrey 0]

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Do you see me taking glee in other people's failures? That's just disgusting.

Dude, if a guy tried to stick someone up at an ATM and ended up shooting himself in the thraat, you can bet your ass I'd laugh my head off as he bled out.

When someone is doing something BAD or WRONG or UNFAIR, it certainly IS fair to laugh at his failure to accomplish it to his satisfaction.

-Jeffrey

-Jeffrey
"With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

[peacefuljeffrey 0]

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He used his money, that he earned, in a way that he thought was appropriate. He disagrees with you (for that matter, I disagree with you -- should I have my travel visa revoked?).

His foundation (with a lot of money from him) spends $400,000,000 a year on causes valid enough that the government considers him to be tax-exempt.

Let's remember his UTTER HYPOCRISY.

He spent millions bankrolling the McCain-Feingold travesty of "campaign finance reform" and then HID BEHIND A "527" to do exactly what they were all lying to the American public that their legislation would do: get the money out of politics.

The guy's a megalomaniacal, hypocritical scumbag, and do take glee in the fact that he wasted his money and effort and didn't win.

Or is there some way of defending his support of "taking the money out of politics" and then spending tens of millions in soft money to put it back in and try to steer an election?

Please, if there is, someone explain it to us.

-Jeffrey

-Jeffrey
"With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

[wmw999 2,129]

Obviously we're very different, then. I don't take glee in others' misfortunes, even if they tried to hurt me.

Of course, because I think the best of most folks and treat them that way, I can't really remember the last time someone tried to harm me in any way that might actually impact me. And I'm almost 50, so there have been plenty of opportunities.

There have been people who didn't like me, but, well, they devoted more attention to it than I did. I'm in a good place -- why should I waste time wishing ill to others? Seems petty and vengeful.

Wendy W.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[wmw999 2,129]

It doesn't matter what he does -- if he uses his money to further what he thinks is important, he's a bag of shit. If he doesn't use it because it goes against what you think his morals should allow, well, everyone else is using the system, and you (among others) would then call him a stupid bag of shit, as opposed to a hypocritical bag of shit.

But it's unamerican for me (a liberal) to criticize the President, Vice President, or any member of the cabinet, because that makes me a traitor. Even if I have substantive reasons, justify them, and use 10-dollar words.

Disagreeing doesn't make one stupid. No one makes themselves look smarter by calling others stupid -- they only highlight how badly they need to be better than others.

Wendy W.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[peacefuljeffrey 0]

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It doesn't matter what he does -- if he uses his money to further what he thinks is important, he's a bag of shit. If he doesn't use it because it goes against what you think his morals should allow, well, everyone else is using the system, and you (among others) would then call him a stupid bag of shit, as opposed to a hypocritical bag of shit.

But it's unamerican for me (a liberal) to criticize the President, Vice President, or any member of the cabinet, because that makes me a traitor. Even if I have substantive reasons, justify them, and use 10-dollar words.

Disagreeing doesn't make one stupid. No one makes themselves look smarter by calling others stupid -- they only highlight how badly they need to be better than others.

Wendy W.

I have not called you or anyone else "unAmerican." So please don't imply that I have, or that that is how I feel.

I certainly understand and agree that disagreeing is a fundamental right. You have it. I have it. Even Soros has it. But when he tries to exert magnified influence over how we are governed just because he has the money to purchase that influence, I think it's wrong. I think it is bad. I will glory in its failure every time.

I find it puzzling that you would not be glad for someone's misfortune even if it occurred while they were trying to HURT YOU. (Were you responding to my "armed robber" example?!)

I call that misplaced compassion of the first order.

-Jeffrey

-Jeffrey
"With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"

[PhillyKev 0]

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But when he tries to exert magnified influence over how we are governed just because he has the money to purchase that influence, I think it's wrong.

How is that any different that what the political parties do?

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I find it puzzling that you would not be glad for someone's misfortune even if it occurred while they were trying to HURT YOU.

And that's the difference between someone who's genuinely compassionate, and someone who is not.

I've been in fist fights where I had to defend myself. And I ALWAYS felt bad that I hurt someone else afterward. Sure, there are lots of people that get off on it and get a rush and sense of glee after they beat someone up. I think there is something wrong with those people.

[wmw999 2,129]

You might not have used un-American; I'm afraid you're very free with other invective -- there's such a large selection it's hard to pick which ones you haven't used. Really.

Is it worse for Soros to use his money to further his cause than it was for John E. O'Neill and Merrie Spaeth to sponsor the Swift Boat Vets? Or is there a subtle difference there.

And no, I really would try not to rejoice in someone else's misfortune. Yes, of course I'd be glad that I wasn't harmed -- I'm not stupid. No matter how. And of course I'll laugh at a good pratfall. But punishment serves more to intensify hate than it does to correct behavior. Natural consequences allow one to make their own decision -- punishment makes it likely to resent the punisher's increased power. Yes, society has to set up some natural consequences. But the more they can be removed from the personal power for revenge and hurt, the less likely they are to lead to further attempts at revenge.

Revenge is generally negative -- there is no better revenge than just doing a whole lot better than the other guy -- no need to shove his face in the mud if you can just have a better life.

Wendy W.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[Sinkster 0]

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About the fact that meddlesome asshole George Soros wasted tens of millions of dollars to see his candidate lose the election?

I found myself giggling out loud about it at work today.

-Jeffrey

Indeed. How sweet it is!
I hope bush takes his victory as a mandate and steamrolls everything he can through congress.

No compromise, no lame "checks and balances" on the democrat side! Go Bush go! Make the 4 years count, you have no re-election to worry about!

[peacefuljeffrey 0]

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You might not have used un-American; I'm afraid you're very free with other invective -- there's such a large selection it's hard to pick which ones you haven't used. Really.

So, ya figure that makes it fair to put words in my mouth indiscriminately since I've used so many other...words. Nice.

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And no, I really would try not to rejoice in someone else's misfortune. Yes, of course I'd be glad that I wasn't harmed -- I'm not stupid. No matter how. And of course I'll laugh at a good pratfall. But punishment serves more to intensify hate than it does to correct behavior. Natural consequences allow one to make their own decision -- punishment makes it likely to resent the punisher's increased power. Yes, society has to set up some natural consequences. But the more they can be removed from the personal power for revenge and hurt, the less likely they are to lead to further attempts at revenge.

Revenge is generally negative -- there is no better revenge than just doing a whole lot better than the other guy -- no need to shove his face in the mud if you can just have a better life.

Wendy W.

Um, it'd be nice if you could point out where I brought "REVENGE" or even "PUNISHMENT" into this. ALL I was talking about, in your case, was feeling compassion for a MISFORTUNE suffered by a person as he was attempting to cause you harm.

You appear to be confused by what I wrote, even though I made no attempt to mislead. I suggest reading my other posts again.

-Jeffrey

-Jeffrey
"With tha thoughts of a militant mind... Hard line, hard line after hard line!"