DarthJoe

"That's what politics is about...attack ads." So that makes it right? I'm so fed up with politicians campaigning on nothing but trying to make their opponent look bad I could puke. Why can't any of these jacka$$es run on what THEY plan to do? Possibly because they really have nothing to offer and are only there for themselves? Our government needs an enema. EDIT - Bravo to Chris Matthews for hammering Conway on this.

Ya, I was thinking the same thing. "Separation of Church and State" is always cited when someone wants to remove a particular element of religion out of the public eye, but that same portion of the first amendment that says the government "shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion" also says "or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." So, by saying it's illegal to sing Christmas songs in school, how are they allowing the free exercise of religion? There is no law that says you HAVE to sing Christmas songs in school, which falls in line with the first amendment, but there is a law that says you can't sing Christmas songs in schools...which is unconstitutional, IMO. They have created a law "prohibiting the free exercise" of religion.

Just to throw a wrench into this argument, I truthfully believe some people can concentrate on one thing better when they're high. Now, not baked out of their minds...I'm just talking a slight weed buzz. Maybe that's what they were going for here? @smilepunch@

I really don't know what to think about this case. I do think that the people involved in the filming should be punished, but I'm not sure to what extent, as it all depends on just how malicious their intentions were, and I suspect no one will ever know except them. Did they do this out of pure spite, with the intent of completely destroying this boy's social life? Possibly. But, it could also just be a college prank gone extremely wrong. As others have said in this thread, I have a really hard time sympathizing with anyone who is willing to commit suicide. This kid obviously had a lot of issues, outside of the video, if he was willing to kill himself over it. If it hadn't been this video, something somewhere down the road probably would have eventually pushed him over the edge. The whole situation is just extremely sad, and I don't really feel like any of us are capable of passing judgment on any of the parties involved, as there are just way too many unanswered questions about the mindsets and intentions of these people.

Ya, I agree with Wheeljack. O'Reilly says stuff like this to Beck's face all the time on his show.

So, from what I'm gathering, the president doesn't like opposing opinions, and would rather have everyone be mindless sheep, following his political agenda?

He was there to state his case in favor of same sex stuffed animal marriages. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6MhR1S1SlY&feature=fvw

I think this woman really hit the proverbial nail on the head: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnMMo8lVG5M I'll also give credit to the president, as he did a pretty good job of answering the question...but I also hope he really took to heart what she was trying to say. On a side note, since Obama brought it up in his answer, one change I am happy he made is the new laws on credit cards and gift cards. It makes it a lot harder for those companies to screw and take advantage of people. For example, gift cards can no longer have money deducted off of them for inactivity until after 12 months, and they must clearly state that this will happen on the card. Thumbs up on that legislation.

But...they aren't being treated unequal. I can't marry a man, and a homosexual male can't marry a man. I'm sorry you feel this way, but in the eyes of many people, homosexuality is always going to be considered an immoral choice of life style. I've made my points on this before and didn't want to get involved, but I'm tired of VH getting slapped around in this thread and no one speaking up on the behalf of his argument. I suspect many are so tired of trying to argue their standpoint, that they've simply given up at this point. They're tired of being called a "bigot," "homophobe," etc. Homosexuality is not a simple civil rights issue like race. It's a form of sexual deviance...no more, no less. Some people have a thing for feet, some for armpits, some for legs, some for butts, some for bondage, and some for parts of people of the same sex. It has nothing to do with treating these people as "second class citizens," and everything to do with many people not feeling comfortable with homosexuals' choice of sexual preference. It has nothing to do with them AS A PERSON. There is no hatred involved. Many people don't believe it's right to have sexual relations with people of the same gender, and this is something you're probably never going to change. Sure, some may hate homosexuals just because they're @$$holes, but most people aren't disagreeing with homosexual marriage because they harbor any ill feelings towards the person...they just don't agree with their choice of sexual lifestyle. It has nothing to do with being hateful, a bigot, gay-basher, or homophobe. Sorry, but it's something you're never gonna get everyone (or possibly even the majority) to accept.

Wow..there's a loaded question! @smilepunch@ I'll bite. When it comes to women in the workplace, I say NO! When you get a bunch of middle-aged women together in a small work area (especially if 2 or 3 of them are the strong, alpha-female type), it's inevitable that work eventually turns into a nit-pick, nag, back-stabbing, crying to the manager about what the other person said, b*tch and moan, cat fight. They get so caught up in fighting with each other, and worrying about what the other person is or isn't doing, that nothing constructive (work-wise) takes place. The worst part about it is, they NEVER let it go. If men get into a disagreement at work, they usually just ignore each other for part of the shift, let tempers cool, and everything is good again...women seem to be incapable of doing this. It drives me out of my mind most of the time. @lol@ Perhaps it's this type of behavior from women that turn men gay? They just don't wanna deal with all of the drama? @smilepunch@

Wow, I'm sure people CHOOSE to be dis-owned/rejected by their parents I'm sure they CHOOSE to get beat up by homophobes. (sometimes even killed) I'm sure they CHOOSE not to adopt based on their sexual preference. And even if they choose to do so, i thought that was a right that our precious country had given us. I also forget that I was not approved to buy a house because I CHOOSE to play Xbox instead of Playstation. Silly me forgetting that pre-established criteria deems rejection because of choices and not monetary value or responsibility. I could be wrong, but I don't think he was saying people necessarily choose what they are attracted to. I think he was saying that those attractions are formed subconsciously from our life experiences, but you still CHOOSE to act on said attractions. Reading comprehension.

If he had approached me like that, I wouldn't have even felt the need to make this post, and vent about how much this guy irritated me. At the same time though, I still wouldn't really understand the point behind it. No matter what news channel we put it on, someone would be upset...and Montana leans quite a bit more conservative than liberal, so I'm guessing MSNBC would cause these types of interactions with people quite more frequently. On the flip side of things, if I were to frequent a business (especially a convenience store, where you spend maybe a maximum of 3 or 4 minutes in the store) that always had MSNBC on, I wouldn't care. Their choice of a news station would be the last thing on my mind compared to the services and products they offer, the cleanliness of the store, how they treat the customers, their reputation with the community, etc, etc, etc.

ROFL! Took me a minute, but I got it. @loll@

There are dickleshits in every walk of life, Joe--you've just met two of them. Obviously that fellow confuses decency, dignity and respect for others with a TV news channel's POV--it speaks more about him than what is on the tube. If a person cannot separate the two, then THEY have the problem, not you. Ya, I know. I just had to come here to rant and relieve stress, since I couldn't release it on the source. Well, you now have my permission. The next dickleshit that walks in the door and labels ya, you have the green light to to dress them down. Spare no verbs or adjectives. Are you gonna pay my bills when the consequences of my actions, that you green-lighted, kick in? @lol@ C'mon...I know you Canadians are loaded. With the American economy being down, we've had a ton of Canadian money flowing through our store this year. @smilepunch@ On a more serious note, I actually vented on the owner about this situation today, and he pretty much gave me the go-ahead to tell people like this where they should go. My problem is, I'm too pacifistic, and can't treat people like that. I'd rather come up with something intelligent like Cap's response...but like I said, it's much easier to think about what you should have said to that person after the fact then when it's actually happening and emotions are coming into play. I guess that just comes with age though (something I'm sure you know a little about @loll@ @smilepunch@), and it's easier to keep a cool head. Thanks for letting me vent though...it's quite therapeutic.

Even though it shouldn't, these kind of people still get under my skin though, and like I told Ken, I need to vent somewhere...and it's better here than at work. I'm guessing it labels me as the bigoted, bible-thumping, gun-totting, Glenn Beck-worshiping, homophobic, master/slave class, anti-environment, closed-minded type...if I had to guess. That's pretty much what he was saying, and he feels justified for his insulting behavior. I hope he knows that labels HIM. @lol@ Well played. When these types of things happen, it's always hard to come up with witty responses, as emotions take over and fight or flight kicks in. I wish I would've had a cool enough head to throw this one back in his face. @lol@