My two cents worth
I've been getting bombarded by emails from many family members and It's
obvious that nobody is going to change their mind here. And some
actually had the audacity to label people as being negative. So, why
get so upset when people want to express another option for our current
President?
Reading the email traffic for the past week has been a great study in
human behavioral reaction when individuals are forced to express
closely held beliefs via non-verbal communications. The result:
alienation through automation. Active personal communication is always
better than passive non-verbal communications. So, if you want to hear
what to find out what John Kerry stands for visit www.johnkerry.com or
call Kerry-Edwards 2004, Inc.
202-712-3000. In your own state go to http://www.johnkerry.com/contact/
There is nothing wrong in researching the opposing party and learning
about what they stand for. Whatever happened to, "know thy enemy?"
My hope is that everyone will vote with knowledge rather than with a
gut reaction or out of party loyalty after they've done some serious
research and picked a candidate who will best serve the interests of
the entire country and not just the political elite or special
interests groups.
Some things to consider:
Be slow to anger and get all the facts right the first time:
Even though, there were 14 resolutions to make Saddam budge, the fact
of the matter is there weren't any WMD in Iraq. If we had taken more
time to inspect ,we would have found that out, but the rush to war was
needed to ride on the momentum of the post-911 fear. Moreover, the
Iraqi invasion plan had been pre-conceived, pre-planned and was already
in the pre-execution phases when Powell was talking to the UN.
When taking risks, know what you a willing to sacrifice and be ready
for the consequences: Sure we showed the world that we can mass our
troops and go to war. But, what we've really done in the past 18
months is created more enemies, other than OBL and we are spending
billions to support the war. That's more than $25,000 per man, woman
and child in the US. If we are worried about Social Security, cheaper
drugs, fighting crime in the US, and lower taxes maybe we need to stop
spending $1.67 billion dollars a day overseas. If you consider
yourself middle class than get ready to open your wallet because we are
the ones who will pay for all of this.
Put yourself in the other person's shoes and really listen to what
they are saying:
Finally, in support of the loyal opposition trying to spur some
serious debate based on facts and figures; their comments and beliefs
should not be labeled as "negative" just because they make others
uncomfortable. Freedom of speech is still a right and if you don't
like the message turn off the radio, or watch a different news program
or put the paper down or take your name off of this email list. This
same technique of labeling someone is used to thwart the efforts of
parties with opposing ideologies, which we can see in action today.
Have we all lost our intellectual properties of research, friendly
debate and cognitive decision making? Maybe not, maybe as a whole we
have become so susceptible to biased media, sound bytes and being
overwhelmed that it's just easier to make decisions based on gut
instinct instead of what's best for everyone else. And maybe we are
unwilling to admit that we don't have all the answers all of the time
and we aren't as smart as we thought we were?
It's not too late. Exercise your right to vote, but be informed and do
your research before you do. Remember, you don't have to tell anyone
how you voted, just that you did.
obvious that nobody is going to change their mind here. And some
actually had the audacity to label people as being negative. So, why
get so upset when people want to express another option for our current
President?
Reading the email traffic for the past week has been a great study in
human behavioral reaction when individuals are forced to express
closely held beliefs via non-verbal communications. The result:
alienation through automation. Active personal communication is always
better than passive non-verbal communications. So, if you want to hear
what to find out what John Kerry stands for visit www.johnkerry.com or
call Kerry-Edwards 2004, Inc.
202-712-3000. In your own state go to http://www.johnkerry.com/contact/
There is nothing wrong in researching the opposing party and learning
about what they stand for. Whatever happened to, "know thy enemy?"
My hope is that everyone will vote with knowledge rather than with a
gut reaction or out of party loyalty after they've done some serious
research and picked a candidate who will best serve the interests of
the entire country and not just the political elite or special
interests groups.
Some things to consider:
Be slow to anger and get all the facts right the first time:
Even though, there were 14 resolutions to make Saddam budge, the fact
of the matter is there weren't any WMD in Iraq. If we had taken more
time to inspect ,we would have found that out, but the rush to war was
needed to ride on the momentum of the post-911 fear. Moreover, the
Iraqi invasion plan had been pre-conceived, pre-planned and was already
in the pre-execution phases when Powell was talking to the UN.
When taking risks, know what you a willing to sacrifice and be ready
for the consequences: Sure we showed the world that we can mass our
troops and go to war. But, what we've really done in the past 18
months is created more enemies, other than OBL and we are spending
billions to support the war. That's more than $25,000 per man, woman
and child in the US. If we are worried about Social Security, cheaper
drugs, fighting crime in the US, and lower taxes maybe we need to stop
spending $1.67 billion dollars a day overseas. If you consider
yourself middle class than get ready to open your wallet because we are
the ones who will pay for all of this.
Put yourself in the other person's shoes and really listen to what
they are saying:
Finally, in support of the loyal opposition trying to spur some
serious debate based on facts and figures; their comments and beliefs
should not be labeled as "negative" just because they make others
uncomfortable. Freedom of speech is still a right and if you don't
like the message turn off the radio, or watch a different news program
or put the paper down or take your name off of this email list. This
same technique of labeling someone is used to thwart the efforts of
parties with opposing ideologies, which we can see in action today.
Have we all lost our intellectual properties of research, friendly
debate and cognitive decision making? Maybe not, maybe as a whole we
have become so susceptible to biased media, sound bytes and being
overwhelmed that it's just easier to make decisions based on gut
instinct instead of what's best for everyone else. And maybe we are
unwilling to admit that we don't have all the answers all of the time
and we aren't as smart as we thought we were?
It's not too late. Exercise your right to vote, but be informed and do
your research before you do. Remember, you don't have to tell anyone
how you voted, just that you did.
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Good thoughts. But, I worry that sometimes we filter out so much that we only hear things that reinforce our own point of view. I do it myself : for example, what I hear on the radio or TV sometimes makes me angry so I turn it off. But if I do that, am I refusing to listen to opposing arguments? I don't know. I do really appreciate Comedy Central's Daily Show because they have a way of talking about the important stuff without devolving to the shouting matches of a Franken vs Limbaugh vs OReilly.
Doug, good thoughts. If I filtered out the stuff I didn't want to hear/read, I might have to put Uncle's Paul and Tom on my spam list. (no offense P and T) Alas, I read all of them. I wish that I paid more attention to politics and current events before the last few years. I don't even read the daily news now. So I'm glad to hear opposing view points.
I still find that they don't usually swing my vote.
I know that I need to take in all of the facts before voting, but my no. 1 issue is still abortion. I can't get past America's pro-choice majority, and I want to fight it. I have an email prepared on this issue, but I'm pretty sure I won't be swinging anyone's vote with it, so I never sent it out!
Anyhow, I plan to do more research, and listen to opposing views, but fight for my own, and try not to be a GenX-er!
Vote for Kerry. He is personally opposed to abortion and is a Catholic. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A11083-2004Jun2.html
Bush is a hypocrite, supposedly "firm on abortion" yet signing the death warrant for 131 people. In fact he did not issue a single reprieve, even for a convict whose public defendent is on record as sleeping during most of his trial, and whose DNA was excluded. Or the 62-yr-old grandmother he had killed even though evidence showed she was not guilty of capital murder (her crime did not legally qualify for a death sentence). Or Andrew Cantu, who never got a public defender. Or David Spence, who was framed by the police and had no physical evidence.
http://dir.salon.com/politics/feature/2000/06/12/death/index.html?pn=2
Not that these guys aren't guilty, and not that they don't deserve punishment, but if there's any doubt, it was Bush's responsibilty not to kill them! and the death penalty is wrong in any case.
Don't vote for someone who says he's against abortion while being personally responsible for killing over 130 people.