Letter to the editor: Polarization hurtful to betterment of America
Published: September 28, 2009
Polarization hurtful to betterment of America
I wish A.J. Jones had pulled up along my car and asked me my thoughts on President Obama. I would have told him I was happy to have a thoughtful, intelligent and caring man in charge of our country, and that I am happy that the financial abyss we were on the brink of is receding.
I would have pointed out that I feel the “patriot” movement is no such thing that I don’t feel people waving signs depicting our president as an African Medicine man (with “Go Back to Kenya” written on it) or as Hitler is especially patriotic, it seems hateful and counter-productive.
Can’t we just disagree without having to demonize people? I think this new outrage over the federal deficit is disingenuous; under the Republican control of the White House and Congress our federal deficit soared at least $4 trillion. I would point out that Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh are opinion-maker, entertainers not journalists and that to suggest five networks and hundreds of newspapers are somehow in cahoots to mislead the American people is ludicrous.
And as to ACORN, yes, some employees behaved horribly no question but we have seen criminal behavior at financial institutions, universities, and in our Congress. Does that make everyone else associated with those entities also liable? All this polarization is hurtful to the wellbeing of this great country.
Carol Robicheaux
Auburn
Cutting dying life short isn’t new, it’s even Biblical
Pulling the plug on Grandma often comes up in the current rancorous debate over health care reform. But what if Grandma wants the plug pulled? Every Grandma whose moral compass is biblically set should take comfort in knowing that the Bible never condemns a suicide nor anybody assisting a suicide. Consider:
1) Judges 9:53-54 says, “And a certain woman cast a piece of a millstone upon Abimelech’s head ... to break his scull. Then he called hastily unto his armourbearer, and said unto him, Draw thy sword and slay me, that men say not of me, A woman slew him. And his young man thrust him through, and he died.”
2) I Samuel 31:3-5 says in part, “And the battle went sore against Saul, and ... he was sore wounded. Then said Saul unto his armourbearer, Draw thy sword, and thrust me through. But his armourbearer would not ... Therefore Saul took a sword and fell upon it.”
3) II Samuel 1:6-19 says in part that a certain Amalekite, with Saul in the aforementioned battle, answered Saul’s plea for death and, while standing upon him, slew him.
4) I Kings 16:18 says, “And it came to pass, when Zimri saw that the city was taken, that he went into the palace of the king’s house, and burnt the king’s house over him with fire, and died;
5) Matthew 27:5 says of Judas, “And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself.”
Although guilty of various specified sins, the Bible does not blame Zimri and Judas for their suicides.
Those espousing the dubious idea that life is a gift should be reminded that gifts can be returned.
Delos B. McKown
Auburn
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Reader Reactions
I am not angry at the world. I just don’t approveof how this country is being run! I also don’t agree with liberal philosophies…that’s not anger, it’s my opinion..
tyates36854 - why are you so angry with the world?
hbd1932’s comment helped me think of a Mark Twain quote I came across recently. He supposedly offered that each citizen “ought …to keep unsalaried watch and ward over the laws and their execution”.
Politician or high ranking official in any position, but especially the Executive branch, should get close examinations before, during, and even after they “serve”. I note the after in that we’ve learned the truth often long after the damage has been done. Obviously Prof. Alterman’s book impacted me greatly.
One negative of the scrutingy however could be if defending against suspicions, innuendos, logical leaps, and irresponsible/opportunistic allegations consumes too much energy of an administration.
Also, citizens have only has so much time. Thus we need a vigorous press and watchdog groups, ideally practicing what they preach as far as being an open book and truly being non-partisan, to give us a hand.
I find the ad hominem attacks on Dr. McKown amusing, but understandable, as the only alternative reply would be to acknowledge that the embedded morals of the Bible do not quite live up the the popular notion.
The President of the United States is the most powerful individual of the most powerful nation in the world. His/Her words, actions, decisions, friends, associations should be scrutinized to the fullest extent.
The consequences could be dire, if the President were not so closely watched and their daily actions and associations picked apart.
A president’s daily life affects not thousands, not millions, but billions of lives on a daily basis. Therefore, it is imperative that their lives, friends, decisions, and associations with people and organizations be closely surveyed.
Continuing ...
Ms. Robicheaux also asked if it is fair to hold ACORN to a higher standard than we do business, academia, and the like. She also points out the fact the deficit is not just a product of this newest administration. Aren’t those also fair questions and politely posed?
As far as lying being productive, it is seldom if ever so, at least in the long run. On my bookshelves is Prof. Eric Alterman’s When President’s Lie. He focuses on FDR/Truman negotiation with the USSR, JFK’s Bay of Pigs, LBJ’s Gulf of Tonkin, and Reagan’s Iran-Contra. We’ve unfortunately been lied to all too often by our “leaders” and certainly this must stop.
Also, Mr. Jones, or others, have yet to defend his claim that ACORN stands “to gain billions in ill-passed stimulus cash money” upon considering a FactCheck.org link I shared. I also asked that he and another support their claims of fraudulent votes supposedly impacting the outcome of our recent Presidential election. Nothing yet on that theme as well.
Lastly, I’ll quibble some with the Ms Robicheaux telling anyone that President Obama is in charge of this county. He certainly has many responsibilities yet Congress and the Courts of course do also. Still, ultimately we are in charge! Or we can perhaps be if we’ll become responsible citizens.
I think the “powers that be” often keep we regular folks divided and distracted. Perhaps that is just one point that Mr. Robicheaux so capably makes?
It’s quite easy to see why there is much polorization in this country.
First, like any liberal idiot attempting to interpret and “twist” the bible to saying it’s o.k. to pull the plug on grandma. Pulling plugs is attempting to play God with people’s lives!
It’s not just Bush’s 4 trillion deficit over 8 YEARS, Obama & Company have tripled that figure in less than NINE months in office! ...so who is spending what and how much, and where is the money going???
Go ahead and knock the likes of Beck, Hannity and Limbaugh…I personally believe they know more of the truth than the left wing propaganda spin doctors.
ACORN, if they were just a little bad why are they being investigated by a number of states? Why have not their illegal actions been investigated sooner? It took a 20 year young woman to blow the lid off of the cess pool that ACORN IS! Acorn is corrupt from top to bottom and everywhere in between. Why won’t ACORN’s leader not answer direct, simple answer questions??? Because she has so much to hide that she can’t remeber all the lies to cover up all the criminal actions in her organization. If the shoe were on the other foot the Dem’s would already have congressional hearings and federal prosecutions going on!
If you don’t like the comparrison’s of Obama and Hitler then bury your head in the sand a little deeper….there are too many parallels between the two? Obama and company are community/labor organizers and so were Hitler and the Nazi party. In fact, Nazi is short for “National Socialist Labor Party” when translated from German to English!
The polarization issue is really quite simple, those who believe in doing what is just and right are as set in their convictions as those to seek to destroy this country as we have know it are set in their liberal convictions or should I say lack of convictions.
It’s easy to see, that someday down the road, this country will experience
a greater divide than is now present.
Yes, we can agree to disagree, but don’t try to shove liberalism/socialism down my or my children’s throats!
AmGen, Haven’t signs with swastikas on them (will you “patriots” please agree that he’s either a fascist or socialist!) often appeared at these events? And some signs have been very hateful and downright dangerous haven’t they?
As for the CIA/Bu$hCo administration not being truthful with Congress, it appears at long last that investigations might actually get off the ground. This is especially likely with the long delayed and heavily redacted release of an damning internal CIA report. On the Pelosi allegation that the CIA lied (I’m shocked, shocked!), the Panetta response was hardly an outright denial. Please see http://bit.ly/Zc6Ev
As for the Astroturf angle, there’s at least some truth here isn’t there? PR firms, industry groups, organizations, etc. do make, and manage, messages don’t they? Dick Armey’s FreedomWorks is just one example.
As an aside, I met Nancy Pelosi once and one of her daughters twice. Very impressive to this flaming lefty they were.
Ms. Robicheaux asks readers, yourself certainly included, to ponder how or why the networks and papers would try to bury a story about the crowd size of the recent 9/12 event. Mr. Jones said the “liberal media” had “concealed the noble efforts of those who gathered …” Did the link I supplied ( http://bit.ly/JFtu ) fairly address your recent concern in writing “The MSM’s assertion that it was 60,000 people is laughable when you compare the photos of the crowds from 9/12 to …”%3
BB62,
You’re not alone.
Intelligent people ALWAYS know it goes both ways.
I do not recall any passionate pleas for civility when the left was so virulently and deceitfully attacking their opponents on the right. No, I would have remembered your letter asking for same - but it never came. The funny thing is the people with conservative viewpoints often do cringe when they hear some of commentaries by folks like Bill O’Reilly. But, they also know the vast majority of the time those same people are correct, whether the left wants to hear it or not. Lack of civility has been long used by the left and their only calls for civility come when it is in their own interests. You only need look at big city politics where the Democrats have been long entrenched to see just how uncivil and illegal the Democrats will become, if left unfettered, as evidenced by their long association and use of the mob and union thugs.
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