Is free speech dead, or what?

 
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agate
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PostPosted: Sat Jul 26, 2008 6:05 pm    Post subject: Is free speech dead, or what? Reply with quote

I got a free Obama bumper sticker in the mail. Since I already have an Obama poster on my front door, and I don't have a car, I've been looking around for somebody who might like to have it.

I asked a neighbor who used to have a handwritten Obama notice on her door. It's disappeared since then, and so maybe I shouldn't have been surprised when she said she was scared of getting harassed about showing her support for Obama.

My son asked me a while back if I was getting any flak because of my Obama poster. I assured him that I hadn't had anything but favorable remarks. He was thinking of getting an Obama bumper sticker, he said. So I offered him mine. Suddenly he no longer wanted an Obama sticker. I didn't ask why. I think I know the answer.

Today's mail brought a letter from a sister-in-law, and she mentioned getting an Obama sticker in the mail too. But she was afraid her car would be keyed if she displayed it.

Are things this bad? Are McCain's supporters afraid of displaying McCain stickers on their bumpers for fear their cars will be keyed?
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lady_express_44



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PostPosted: Sat Jul 26, 2008 11:24 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I seem to have missed some of the important news there, so maybe you could catch me up ...?

I hardly heard anything about McCain, and thought the two candidates were going to be Clinton and Obama. Next thing I hear, Clinton is gone, and McCain has become very popular.

What happened?

Cherie
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agate
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PostPosted: Sun Jul 27, 2008 8:13 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Clinton and Obama are both Democrats, and there was a contest between them as to which one would be the Democratic presidential candidate. Obama won, and so Clinton might now be the vice presidential candidate, or she might do something else like accept a Cabinet post in an Obama administration.

McCain came out on top as the Republican presidential candidate, and so it looks as if the contest will be between McCain and Obama.

The two parties still have to have their nominating conventions, of course, and then there will be the election in November.

It was really my mistake to assume that everyone in the world would be following the US election. No reason on earth why they should be since we in the US are just another country among the many countries in the world.

We in the US have an exaggerated notion of our own importance on the international scene.
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lady_express_44



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PostPosted: Mon Jul 28, 2008 7:13 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well, perhaps the political leaders in the world are more up on what is happening in the US, but the average Joe doesn't care . . . except once they are in, and depending on how it affects our countries (their policies, etc.).

Yes, of course . . . I forgot Clinton and Abama were on the same side. I guess it didn't seem like it for a while there. geek

We don't have the same fanfare for leaders of the parties. To be honest, I don't even know the procedure here, but it doesn't seem to play out publically like it does there. Maybe it's just that we have so many less people, there aren't two people who WANT to lead a party.

Ok, so how did McCain all of a sudden start gaining so much momentum. I thought the Americans were definitely sick and tired of the Republican rule, and that Bush had ruined any chances of them getting back in. Has that sentiment changed? Do people think McCain is going to be any different?

Cherie
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agate
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 28, 2008 7:20 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'm afraid nothing has changed. It's probably just that now that the Republicans have settled on a candidate, all of the people who are happy with the status quo are coming out of the woodwork.

I for one knew they were there all along. There's still a lot of pro-Bush sentiment in the land. And McCain's war record is a big plus for him, which he's been using every chance he gets.
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lady_express_44



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PostPosted: Mon Jul 28, 2008 4:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Geez, I sure hope that they don't get back in. Bush has destroyed the US, from what I can tell, and it is time for a shake up politically!

Cherie
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Matt



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PostPosted: Tue Aug 19, 2008 9:39 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Even my neighbor, the staunch republican pro-Bush Canadian, thinks McCain stands no chance against Obama. I hope she is right. In Canada, a lot of people follow American elections closely, but quite a fair number don't.
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agate
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PostPosted: Tue Aug 19, 2008 9:49 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Welcome back, Matt! It's nice to see you back--how have you been?

That's great news about your neighbor who thinks McCain doesn't stand a chance. I wish I knew more people like that. A lot of fervent Obama supporters seem pessimistic. They're for him but don't believe he can win, partly on account of the race issue, and partly because McCain is a military hero in an era when the military is very much admired.
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Matt



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PostPosted: Tue Aug 19, 2008 10:59 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I have been very good. Race could actually count FOR (or against) Obama. Some swing voters who don't have strong opinions about issues like war might decide that it is time for a black president. Though, with other people, it might count against him. McCain just isn't a great speaker. As for the Viet Nam issue, his viewpoints might get him some support, but there will be others who see things differently, and who will be pissed off that he is trying to speak on behalf of all Viet Nam veterans. Just my take on this stuff.
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lady_express_44



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PostPosted: Fri Aug 22, 2008 9:00 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Matt wrote:
Even my neighbor, the staunch republican pro-Bush Canadian, thinks McCain stands no chance against Obama. I hope she is right. In Canada, a lot of people follow American elections closely, but quite a fair number don't.


You might be right, Matt . . . I am out of the real world now that I am not working, so I don't hear the gossip any more.

I know a lot of people don't like Bush, even in Canada. Maybe Canadians have taken more of an interest since he's such a *$&#@*&$&.

Glad to hear you are doing well.

Cherie
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Mr Soul



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PostPosted: Sat Aug 23, 2008 8:35 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well, I just GOTTA get in this. Any vote for John McCain IS a vote for dumbya's third term. I'm encouraged that other nations recognize the damage Bush has done for America's once proud reputation. Common sense would rule out ANY Republican that might carry on that idiot's mission, but, hey they re-elected that moron AFTER he started this travesty in Iraq and staged that embarrassing appearance on that aircraft carrier (mission accomplished). Unfortunstely (and this might be real hard for any sensible onlooker to realize), race IS an issue, there are far too many bigots in our society that won't vote for Obama simply because he's black. This is also a matter of age. McCain is 72, Obama is 46. Sad to think that it would come down to either of these issues, and I only hope that the Obama camp prevails.
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PostPosted: Sat Aug 23, 2008 5:49 pm    Post subject: Obama/Biden Reply with quote

Some comments on the running mate, Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware:

Quote:

Biden's Kitchen-Table Populism
posted by John Nichols on 08/23/2008 @ 4:15pm


Barack Obama stumbled at one point in his introduction of his vice presidential pick, telling the crowd in Springfield that he had come to "introduce you to the next President…the next Vice President of the United States of America: Joe Biden."

But, in the last setting that will ever see Obama introducing Biden, it was the Vice Presidential candidate who drew the most raucous cheers from the crowd.

When Biden went after John McCain, with a vigor and, yes, a venom that has been missing from Obama's stump speaking, it was a tonic for the troops who have been waiting for a campaign that is more prepared to throw punches than take them.

Biden was ready to rumble.

With echoes of Bruce Springsteen's "The Rising" in the air, the senator from Delaware displayed a little of the old-school populism that Obama has so much trouble mustering – especially since securing the delegate support needed to claim the Democratic nomination.

Picking up on the Republican candidate's admission that he does not know how many homes he owns--current estimate: seven--Biden noted that Americans are talking about tough economic times at their kitchen tables. But, he added, it's different for McCain. "He'll have to figure out which of the seven kitchen tables to sit at," Biden quipped.

The crowd roared--not with laughter, but with relief.

The fight was being joined.

Biden pulled no punches, declaring himself to be "disappointed in my friend John McCain," the man who once opposed George Bush for the Republican nomination but who had since become an ardent Bush backer.

"You can't change America when you've supported George Bush 95 percent of the time," Biden ripped.

"You can't change America when you know that the your first four years as president will look exactly like George Bush's last eight years," he continued.

Yes, the senator from Delaware said, McCain may be "a friend of mine." Yes, he said, McCain has a distinguished record of military service and still "wants to do right by America."

But, said Biden, "These times require more than a good soldier, they require a wise leader."

Obama, seated behind Biden, simply smiled.

Despite Obama's initial stumble, Joe Biden is not the next President of the United States.

But Biden might add just enough of a political edge to make Barack Obama the next President of the United States.



http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/347879/print
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tante



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PostPosted: Sat Aug 30, 2008 2:57 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The local Obama office opened here Thursday night, by mid Friday, they had run out of the following bumperstickers REPUBLICANS for OBAMA

Agate, I am now hoping that I am terribly wrong in my guess about where you might live. That you have to worry about threats or flak for an OBAMA poster is just so far from my memories of home, and so unlike my family and friends that still live there.

I guess that is stupid on my part, the isms were perhaps just better hidden back there, and I probably isolated myself from them.
Down heah, theah right up in your face.

A Clinton supporter for OBAMA....
tante
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agate
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PostPosted: Sat Aug 30, 2008 3:08 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

tante, two of the people I mentioned as having problems with their Obama stickers live elsewhere--Portland, OR, and Florida.

The one in Florida says there are so many Republicans there that it's hard to take.
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tante



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PostPosted: Sat Aug 30, 2008 4:07 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

agate wrote:
tante, two of the people I mentioned as having problems with their Obama stickers live elsewhere--Portland, OR, and Florida.

The one in Florida says there are so many Republicans there that it's hard to take.


Well, thank goodness!

Your friend in Florida is not alone, we seem to have an excess of those critters here in GA also.
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agate
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PostPosted: Sun Aug 31, 2008 5:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Maybe they breed in the swamps, sort of like mosquitoes?
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dogbert909



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PostPosted: Sun Apr 26, 2009 10:55 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yeah, I think free speech is dead. According to Jeneane Garafolio and many of the teachers I know If you oppose Obama's ideas you are a racist. They say I HAVE to support him. These are some of the same people that were outraged on 9/12 and wanted Saddam's head on a platter. Don't get me wrong, I am a hawk. But armchair generals find out it's not like Hollywood and young men and women die in war. Then these monday morning 4 starz throw Bush under the bus for listening to their hysteria.
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agate
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PostPosted: Sun Apr 26, 2009 6:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Another sign that free speech may be going down the tubes is the alarming decline in newspapers.

Many well-known newspapers in major US cities have gone under or are facing bankruptcy.

I hate to see this happen. I understand that persons raised with the Internet tend not to read newspapers at all....
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