I'm Not Bitter, I'm Blessed
posted by scalpel at 3:34 PM
Monday, September 22, 2008
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23 Comments:
Rebuttal ad: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJThPjvscFs
That's not a rebuttal.
It's equally one-sided, partisan slop.
I'm conflicted on gun laws. Well, it's not that I'm conflicted on gun laws, I don't think the government should legislate away my right to own and carry a gun. But I'm conflicted in that I feel less concerned that I cannot carry a .45 semi automatic handgun chambered and ready to go while walking down Michigan Ave. and more concerned about our nation's economy, our perception and competition on an increasingly global marketplace, a health care system that no matter who you are you probably agree needs some kind of work, and a failing war where my friends and family have sacrificed -- some of them their lives. I moved to Chicago from Indiana and I was very disappointed with the gun laws here -- in Indiana I carried with a permit (though honestly I mostly had my gun in my car and wasn't toting it around Dirty Harry style) where in Chicago there is no level of training or certification or background checking that will allow a citizen to carry a concealed weapon unless you are law enforcement. But at the end of the day it just isn't the issue that bothers me because even in liberal Chicago if you break into my house you're still going to be doing business with the nasty end of one of the several firearms in my home. I don't really need to carry to feel safe. But I understand in Texas we're talking an entirely different story; where if there wasn't a Federal ban you all would probably mount an RPG in your rear pick-up truck window and tow around a howitzer. God bless America! ;)
That was a better rebuttal.
Guns and abortion...pisses me off that those two issues can be used to hypnotize the masses.
I say that as a long time supporter and previous employee of an abortion clinic.
I believe that right to bears arms is fundamentally important as it gives the right for state and local police (and state national guards) to bear arms independent (within reason-however defined) of federal governance (again, within reason-however defined).
If I ever decided to live in an isolated area I would also want a means of protecting myself from both bears and people.
However, I do not think INDIVIDUALS have the right to own ak-47s (and cannons for that matter).
If I want to own a pistol, I think I should have a permit. I scored a 38/40 on an m-16 field test. I have shot a few pistols in my life. It is not easy to fire a pistol with accuracy, and it is not easy to shoot a pistol at close range without hurting yourself.
I think people who want a pistol should get a License. The fact that NRA supporters do not support licenses (as a policy) makes me suspect to any argument that they try to convey.
Obama
2008
This comment has been removed by the author.
As a conservative who falls very far toward the middle on the gun issue, I've always had a hard time getting excited about gun issues. I can see why it is very important to have the second ammendment and for people to have the right to bear arms, but I also see a very big need for strict controls on which people can carry those arms, or at least on how those arms are obtained.
That said, "I'm not bitter, I'm blessed" is an incredibly powerful line and I think that if Obama loses this election, the bitter line will have a lot to do with why. That line, and the attitude behind it, took people like me, who saw him as an innocent but misguided candidate and put us firmly in the anti-Obama column.
I didn't appreciate that statement either. I hardly cling to my religion and I certainly don't because I am bitter!
Au contraire...faith brings joy, peace and hope. Faith gives one the ability to see the encouraging possibilities instead of wallowing in doom, gloom, failure and bitterness.
Faith (religion) gives the ability to rise above, regardless of what the circumstances would seem to dictate.
As for guns...don't own one. But I do believe in upholding the right to bear arms. The real criminals will get them no matter what because there will always be a black market for them.
Little by little out privacy and freedoms seem to be eroding. I say stand up and never let go of your rights as an American citizen and vote out the politicians who would take them away.
Except... I am pro life...with exception to life of mother or rape...although for me personally...i believe save the baby and bring it into the world because it is a human being...not just a fetus, chicken or whatever.
I know about the stay out your uterus concerns and I do understand the frustration and anger because how dare ANYONE tell ME what to do with MY body. But for me... I would feel like I was killing a human being and couldn't live with that. I did not always believe this way. I thought..hey downs baby..isn't amniocentesis great..you can abort. But I didn't really understand what it was all about and then when I learned...I just couldn't think that way anymore. And if there ever had to be a compromise... well I could maybe go along with EARLY abortions (I don't like it)but definitely NOT MID AND LATE TRIMESTER ABORTIONS. caps not intended - sorry. The torture of a saline abortion..so sad... and the absolute blatant murder of a fully formed and can survive outside the womb baby up to term with a partial birth abortion... oh my God...that sounds like something the Nazis or Islamic terrorists, who had/have so little regard for human life might do. And I do NOT understand how any good doctor who takes the hipppocratic oath could ever do such an evil thing. ???
We had a huge discussion about this in the ED one night and the Ed doc was adamant that a full term baby is NOT a baby until it is delivered. So when the saline fetuses are delivered are they just a dead baby then? I don't understand. And if you do a c-section on a full term woman...will the doctors find a canine, feline, reptile or fish in the uterus because it wasn't born yet? How is it legal to plunge a scalpel in the back of a full term baby to kill it and it isn't murder because the baby ...excuse me...fetus isn't fully born yet?
I honestly do not understand that rationale.
And while I never want to take anyone's rights away...I believe the baby has rights and is too little to defend itself and so someone has to be an advocate for their protection.
And I and other prolife people I know would NEVER condone the lunatic fringe violence of the past where they murdered the doctor or blow up the abortion clinics. That is WRONG!
The whole point is you don't hurt one human being to help another.
And a few years ago when I was 48, I had a most definite pregnancy scare, called my doc who offered a medication that I declined. I was worried because given certain health issues and age, would most definitely have been high risk and I actually wondered if I would die. I am only saying this because I am willing to live what I profess.
I know the argument is that no one has the right to tell a woman what to do with her body.
It is a painful issue..isn't it?
Scalpel ...I know I digressed..sorry..delete if you want. I might anyway. :)
Gee some gun totin' yahoo on his ATV really makes me want to vote for McCain...doesn't the NRA realize that these are the very kinds of things that turn people off to them? This is the image a lot of Americans have of the NRA and guess what? It is not flattering...
This ad isn't designed to appeal to liberals. It's meant to bolster the base and swing undecided moderates. I think it accomplishes that goal. I also don't think gun issues are going to be a major factor in this race. Those who have the strongest feelings for gun issues find themselves at both extremes of the political scale and this is an election that's going to be won in the middle -- especially since both candidates are moderates/populists with Obama leaning slightly left and McCain at least pretending to lean slightly right. Although Obama does lean a little further he makes up for it in his interests for the working class.
As you said, the hard left who would sneer at this ad aren't voting Republican anyway. This ad hopefully appeals to the folks in Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Colorado who might have some liberal tendencies but might be swayed towards the right by the 2nd Amendment issue.
And they don't like being sneered at by liberal elitists.
Obama not only brings a knife to a gunfight, but he brought a basketball to the bowling alley and arugula to the barbeque.
Here's an interesting read:
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/09/23/fact-check-does-obama-want-to-ban-guns-and-rifles/
Here's a rebuttal to that inaccurate fact check.
Dave Kopel must not know the meaning of the word concise. That really is an excellent analysis. I have several points of contention but generally do agree that the FactCheck appears limited in it's thoroughness. I may blog about this more on my site (thanks for the thread idea!) but I won't do that here. But again, your article is certainly more specific and well cited and I agree it does significantly detract from the FactCheck story.
So Scalpel, you are saying that one of the big reasons you are voting for McCain is the gun thing? What about the economy? Your thoughts on the republican handling of that? Or is Obama responsible for that too?
I imagine this blog has not yet nor will likely become a place where 'S' steams about all things political. If it does I may in fact become more active a poster while at the same time disappointed by such a development as, for me anyway, this is foremost a place where I have the unique opportunity to peer into the thoughts of a practitioner of one of the oldest and hardest working professions in the existence of humankind. Anyway, that's my two cents on the most recent post. And to clear it up now, I'm a Democrat most likely voting for Obama in November (though as previously said I am actually a conservative), so I have as much at stake as anyone in debating and/or baiting Doc.
Not that I have any doubt that Doc couldn't handle it and decimate most if not all who would try.
One quick retraction - after reviewing posts and thinking just a little more about this: I am confident that 'Scalpel' could easily and poignantly decimate or convincingly overpower just about any argument levied against him from those posting on his blog. I have only been privy to this online community for a relatively short time but yet that I am certain of -- perhaps you should consider a career in politics before you retire? (Not to suggest retirement is even remotely relative as there has been little indication of your particular tenure as a physician)
Anyone who has taken the time to learn about the current financial crisis should understand that the Democrats are primarily responsible. It certainly wasn't Republicans who pushed to allow low-income people to qualify for risky no down payment ARMs.
If you'll pardon the source here, this explains it quite well. Then look at this and you'll see how Obama was right in the thick of it himself, before he became a politician.
I will give Obama credit for his speech today regarding the conditions under which he would vote for the bailout. It may be the first time I've ever agreed with him.
Oh, and I live in Texas, so how I vote really isn't important to the outcome. But I will vote, just in case.
Thanks for the kind words, GOPer.
"It certainly wasn't Republicans who pushed to allow low-income people to qualify for risky no down payment ARMs."
In fact, I couldn't be more wrong; President Bush did exactly that. I found a great article I'll link as another post since it's a new topic.
"Arugula to the barbeque" caused me to spew girly coffee on my keyboard. Good job!
I am a Jersey girl and so my vote never seems to count..except in our county. Our county is conservative but not as densely populated. We still have farmland, wetlands, parks etc.
But like you Scalpel...I always vote...just in case. :)
It's really interesting to look at the political map and see that even though republicans carry most of the states... not the ones with the highest population concentrations.
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