Contributors

Wednesday, November 08, 2006

A Brief Letter

Dear Mr President,

I know you must feel pretty rotten right now. We have taken back the House and it looks like we are going to take back the Senate if the numbers hold in Virginia and Montana. The people have spoken and they don't like what you are doing in Iraq. With the exception of the kool aid drinkers you still have in the Sixth District in Minnesota, your cult of unreality is finished.

Thank goodness, because I feel that, as a human being, I could not have taken another month in which our brave men and women lost their lives simply because your only true conviction is that of your own vanity. So, I am making you a promise: Work with me and all will be well.

This is going to be difficult for you....actually following the law of our land and all by being overseen by Congress....not to mention having to listen to a woman....but I think you can do it. I think you really need to be my friend right now because I don't think you want to make me angry. You wouldn't like me when I am angry. I have subpoena power now.

So, in closing, think of all the good you will do when you finally lay down your sword of lies, deceit and violence and embrace what it truly means to be Christian:

Humility



Sincerely,

Speaker of The House Nancy Pelosi

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dear,
Tout est politique Monsieur le Président:
http://etin-mystique.blogspot.com
Amitiés. Luc.
France - Lorraine Sweet Lorraine...

Anonymous said...

For someone who claims to not be a democrat, why do you use the word "We" when talking about "taking back the house"? ha

Unlike libs in 2004, I won't be looking for property in Canada.

From the limited info I've read, Republicans lost alright but conservatism didn't. Property rights limiting eminent domain won big, the anti-racial preference measure passed big time, Gay marriage bans won in all 3 states it was on the ballot in, etc.

Congrats. Enjoy your victory.

Now please put Pelosi up there on TV more. 8th richest person in congress who owns a hotel where she would not allow the workers to unionize. and she speaks for the little guy?

This should be fun. Time to put up or shut up.

Hell, of course you won yesterday. If dems win, you cheer, if the GOP wins, you cry cheating. You had it set up to where you really couldn't lose.

Anonymous said...

Crab,
>>>..If dems win, you cheer, if the GOP wins, you cry cheating.....
You're right.

Markadelphia,
Buckle up for disappointment in your 'heroes', and I PRAY TO GOD that I'm wrong about them. This world will be a MUCH better place when I'm in charge of it!!

On a slightly different note:
I have a question to ask. I truely DON'T UNDERSTAND something (OK, I don't understand a lot of things, but one in particular has pulled on my taint today). WHY do the Independats even run!? Do they realize that they need to pick the lesser of two evils and NOT COMPROMISE THE ELECTION!? Did Peter Hutchenson really think he was going to win!? Why didn't he pick one of the two real candidates and cast his support behind them? I liken this to the church I attend: There is no way that I agree with EVERYTHING that my church preaches, but HEY, it's the closest thing I could find besides starting my own church, and I don't have enough followers for that!! I loved the ideas of Henry Ross Perot but he started a movement of compomised elections, when will the Independants learn that Minnesota WILL NOT BE FOOLED AGAIN!! {see: Jessie Ventura}

**Before I get flamed: Yes, I voted for Tim Pawlenty, and I realize that he's been declared the winer, but I belive that if Hutchenson HADN'T run, Mike Hatch would have won the election. I'm more mad that Hutchenson stole the election for Pawlenty than I if Hatch had won a 'fair' election election against what I belive is best for our state.

SPerkins

Mark Ward said...

Crab,

When I say "we," I mean the rest of us human beings. People that are no longer going to stand for Bush Co and the absolute atrocities they have committed over the last 6 years. Since the Democrats are the only other party in dichotmy with Bush Co, I voted mostly for them.

Conservitism did not win. As you have been so fond of pointing out, the people decided that they had had enough of this bullshit and wanted a change. The Dems must live up to this or they will not win the White House in 2008.

So what if Gay marriage bans passed in hicksville. How many gay people live in those states anyway? Three? Last time I checked the votes were still being counted in AZ on the same sex marriage ban there and the "Nos" to the ban was 30K ahead

California, Oregon-parental notification-NO

Missouri-allow stem cell research-YES

South Dakota-Abortion Ban-NO

Several states also raised the minimum wage so my question to you, Crab, is what reality are you living in?

Anonymous said...

Now if the Democrats can rise above partisan politics and be the party of sensibility, diplomacy and fiscal restraint...that the Republicans sold themselves as and never carried through on...this will be a long-term return to power.

If they do not, and get drunk on their power and spending ability, it will be a short tenure.

Hopefully this brings an end to red herring get-out-the-vote causes like flag burning and gay marriage. "ALL men are created EQUAL, and endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights. And among these are
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness" Or so I was taught in
civics class.

Of course in today's budget tightening, brought on by a free-spending congresses and state legislatures that want to build billion dollar bridges to nowhere, civics class has probably gone the way of gym and music classes.
A population of fat, stupid, and unfortunately musically inept kids is easy to manipulate at the ballot box, feed crappy food, and get them to buy the latest corporate-rock release by Britney Spears.

A well fed, educated and cultured population is something to be feared by most politicians these days. Hopefully...this is the beginning of a wave that will sweep out the old guard in DC and in with some folks that
will mend fences with our global allies, participate in diplomacy rather than saber rattling and name calling with our enemies, and return to social liberalism and fiscal conservatism that this countries vast majority truly embraces.

And while we are at it...can the religious right please sit down, shut up, and keep YOUR religion out of MY life. I respect your beliefs, I was raised with strong religious upbringing too, I think it is admirable to want to live your life under the teachings of your church. I just think that YOUR church may not be MY church and all of us need to live
in a secular society. If you want a Theocracy, please take a look at how well that works in various Islamic states or even how Christian sects can wind up killing in the name of god like Northern Ireland. Err on
the side of peace and understanding, and love each other.

If you want your rights protected as the majority, you must respect the rights of the minority as well. Thus it is best to just leave our religion at the door to city hall, the court house, or congress. But go to church, or temple, or the mosque, or the bar wherever your god
resides, and celebrate him/her/or it. I will do the same.

Now let's all settle down and have open and honest discussions about who we are as a country, and how we can better educated, more tolerant, better managed, fiscally smart, a better global citizen, and a country that does as well for it's weakest as it does for it's richest, as a society tomorrow than we are today.

Is that ok?

Mark Ward said...

Well said\, Bureau Chief.

I agree. The Democrats are on probation. If they don't produce in the next two years, they are gone again.

I will be the one showing them the door.

One more note to Crab, I have heard reports all day from Virginia about voting irregularities from conservatives...they are bitching on the Patriot even as we speak.

Anonymous said...

Just looking for a silver lining is all. If you remember I didn't rub it in at all to you after the 2004 election results came in when you called me.

I can't do anything about voting irregularities in Virginia.

I've said on this blog before that GWB hasn't used suffucient force to get things under control in Iraq. Now he paid for it. God I hate people who think war can go well with few civilian casualties.

The reality I live in is where I don't refer to people who live in different areas of the country than I do "Hicksville".

So much for "all men created equal" BS.

Those who preach tolerance must show it as well.

The people have said they want democrats in office and I'm content with that. The people spoke...notice I don't have to insult anybody.

Mark Ward said...

Hmm...I seem to recall several snide comments about your hometown and the people living there being...well....not smart. In addition, you have made comments about small towns being petty (i.e. the hardware store owner who bought a nice car and then had to sell it).

You don't care about gay people getting married. I consider you to be a forward thinker in this area so why are you defending a group of people whose sole purpose is to limit the civil rights of others? Who wants government intruding in someone else's lives?

I've said it before and I will say it again...I am very tolerant of people who are don't like gay people. My tolerance ends when they start to make laws that directly inhibit their lives. Ask my friends Alan and Alan how they feel about it. Or my neighbors Carrie and Ann, who have two children. So, starting today you are no longer allowed to lump me into the category of "intolerant" when it comes to this issue.

You may call me a freedom fighter.

Anonymous said...

I did make comments about some of the folks I grew up with...in regards to them making stupid life decisions like having children on purpose out of wedlock when they are 19 years old...not being completely ignorant, uneducated kool-aid drinkers. The fact that they made those decisions is not the end all, be all of their personality and they are still very nice people. They are not stupid - they are journeyman carpenters and journeyman electricians. The hardware store owner in Northern Minnesota story was to point out the jealousy and envy of those people, not saying they are mouth-breathing idiots like you say they are. Rich, educated people can be jealous and envious too.

I didn't call you intolerant because of the gay marriage thing. You've said on this blog that you'd like to "bring the country together" yet your language and chest thumping in this thread shows me that you aren't in the business of bringing anyone together with rhetoric like "what reality are you living in" and "Hicksville". Bureauchief says "All men are created equal" and you say "Who cares about hicksville, USA", "kool aid drinkers", "having to listen to a woman", etc.

I haven't "defended" the GOP with regards to gay marriage one bit. btw, this isn't a civil rights issue. Noone was born with the inalieable right to be married. Also, the government will never let gay people fall under the category of "civil rights"...not for something where someone can declare or undeclare their status. Science has located genes that make a woman a woman, black people black people, but science has not located a gay gene yet.

So now you're using the words of the "mouth breathers" to prove your point on voting irregularities? How convenient. You told us that Republicans were rigging the election last Friday. Looks like it didn't happen did it?

Missouri stem cell thing = good (even though it has nothing to do with stem cells - it has to do with cloning....read the thing).

SD saying no to abortion ban = good.

Would you be happy with 14 year old girls getting abortions and not having the parents be notified? I'm pro choice but I see nothing wrong with a couple of regulations here and there.

Mark Ward said...

Actually, I personally witnessed Republican voting tactics at my polling place, as did Cheryl Youakim of the Hopkins City Council. There was a group of men standing around waiting for the first person...mostly minority...to come up with a utility statement. As you know, this is the only proof of identity you need to vote if you are not registered. You do not even need an ID if you are registered.

I watched as these folks came up with their utility statement and were brow beaten by these men into thinking they couldn't vote without an ID. The 350 year old polling volunteers didn't know what to do and sat there like dumb asses. I spoke up and said that didn't need anything other than that statement from Xcel Energy. One of the people trying to vote was a Muslim and I saw my own bias and ugliness in these assholes that were trying to intimidate her. She and the others got to vote and the "protesters" weren't happy about it.

Cheryl told me that conservatives had people stationed all over Hopkins doing the same shit. So, it wasn't rigging in Hopkins but it was tampering.

And as far as your little tirade about the South, I would be willing to bet that I know a heckuva a lot more people that come from that part of the country than you do. ALL of them are mortified at how moronicly stupid and ignorant their laws are and how short sighted many, many people are in the the "Red States."

The problem starts with conservatives, Crab, not liberals. If they would be more tolerant, then I wouldn't have to be a dick, which is the only language they understand.

Anonymous said...

Let me see if I'm understanding you correctly, Markadelphia (and, to a lesser extent, bureauchief). Please feel free to correct me where I've incorrectly assessed what you are saying.

We (the "we" that you defined above) are not the cause of the rancor and lack of civil discourse in politics today. We are absolutely ready and willing to find common ground on the issues facing our country today. We only expect that you ("you" being those who are not part of "we") stop opposing the social liberalism that we all support. We know that your "no middle ground" stance is unfair and intrusive; we know that our "no middle ground" stance is fair, so as long as you are willing to accept that, we're ready to be friends.

Is that about the sum of it?

Mark Ward said...

Let's look at this another way. I have noticed lately that I have a personal bias against fat men. I think they are slobs and I have no respect for them. Quite frankly, they disgust me. I don't know how they can live with themselves and can't understand why they let themselves go so badly.

Now, there are many people who look at homosexuals the same way, to use the gay issue as an example. I could use other examples of race, sex, or, yes, even religion. But for now we are going to stick with homosexuals. Imagine if I were to form a special interest group that specifically targets fat men. I would actively get politicians to pass specific legislation that inhibits their freedom. And then (this is the best part), when people criticize me for not minding my own fucking business (i.e. live and let live), I accuse them of the ones being intolerant.

Basically what I am saying and what I think Bureau Chief is saying is that everyone needs to live and let live but it's virtually impossible to do that with someone who is not doing that. I can't let Michelle Bachman live and let live because her "moral" beliefs are directly infringing upon the rights of my friends. She will attempt to directly affect the freedom...which is the whole reason why we live in this country.

Social liberalism provides very simple solutions to issues that conservatives like to put on the ballot to manipulate their base into voting. This time around it didn't work (i.e. Virgina) and I am hoping it won't work again....EVER. Social liberals say that gay people being married will not harm anyone and they are correct. Social liberals say that intensive birth control education will decrease the number of abortions in our country and they are correct. Social liberals say that the Bill of Rights WILL be adhered to and they are correct. Conservatives think that all hell will break loose if gay people get married, anything but abstinence is taught, and people are given more rights.

They are wrong.

Anonymous said...

Comparing fat people to the other issues at hand is inaccurate. Any interest that you have in limiting the rights of fat people would be done entirely out of spite. What you don't seem to be acknowledging is the fact that, in the eyes of many, myself included, abortion is wrong. Gays being married is wrong. Don't be so quick to dismiss the notion that any fears of "all hell breaking loose" are unfounded. I am not alone in my opinion that the moral fiber of this country has seen a dramatic decline in the last 50 years. I've seen it with my own eyes. Is it coincidence that this decline coincides with the continuing success of the secular progressives? Possibly. But I would argue the two are more than marginally related.

Regardless, I'm all for a "live and let live" approach when it comes to equal rights for gays. The concept is, frankly, appalling to me, but I won't condemn anybody who lives that way. But what does equal rights have to do with the holy union of marriage? By "equal rights" we're talking monetary, stewardship, and fiduciary rights, correct? All of those things are associated with marriage by social convention and law and not bestowed upon married people by God. Find another way to give gays equal rights without intruding upon the holy union of marriage.

I think you misjudge the intention with which a great many of us support a gay marriage ban. Undoubtedly there are some who do so out of spite or malice. Just as there are undoubtedly some who oppose stem cell research out of fear or mistrust of science. Just as there are undoubtedly some who oppose abortion out of a misguided sense of enlightenment. But for you to categorically reject all people who oppose those things, particularly those whose opposition is grounded in a Christian morality, hardly casts you as somebody who is "willing to work together". Many of us oppose those positions not out spite, ignorance, hatred, malice, or some sense of wanting to control others lives. We oppose those positions simply because we believe they are wrong, as our God tells us. And even though the issues in question may not affect us - I doubt I will ever be needing an abortion - they do directly affect those around us and, by extension, those with whom we associate. So it's incorrect to insinuate that we are sticking our noses in an area that doesn't affect us.

Frankly, your stance casts you as somebody who isn't willing to make an effort to understand other people's points of view. Isn't that the most critical skill when it comes to living together as a society? Michelle Bachman, as Tuesday illustrates, represents the voices of a fairly large percentage of the population. You've just labeled that percentage of the population "wrong". Forgive me, but I fail to see how that can be characterized as willing to work together.

Mark Ward said...

I think Tuesday showed us that people have more important things on their minds then gay marriage. Michelle Bachman won against a weak candidate in an extremely conservative district. She also kept her mouth shut most of the election about social issues and focused on taxes. All the Democrats have to do to win in that district is get a Jim Webb type of guy to run against her and she is toast. After all, she is submissive to men anyway.

Your third paragraph illustrates why I can never be a conservative. I can't presume to what God knows or wants as She is greater than me. I do know that the Bible says "Judge not lest ye be judged." And yes, in Leviticus has the whole bit about men lying with other men but you have to look at that in historical context. The Romans were pigs who did disgusting things to the Jews and others. They had orgies that the people who wrote the Old Testament found disgusting.

My gay friends are not disgusting and they are not responsible for the breakdown of morality in our country. In fact, most of them are the squarest people I know! So, for you to say it is wrong based on YOUR beliefs, fine. But that it is not God's beliefs. If you think it is what God is telling you, then you are presuming to know what God wants (a common mistake of conservatives)and you are judging people, something I thought Christians were not supposed to do. Please show me anywhere in the New Testament were Jesus specifically mentions that homosexuality is wrong. Look into your heart and tell me honestly if you feel that Jesus would judge these people as being sinful. Based upon the Gospels, Jesus was not the sort of person at all. Christian morality, I thought, was based on loving thy neighbor and peace. Where are those principles in a gay marriage ban?

As for myself, it is extremely difficult for me to "work together" with a group of people who start out with "Gay people being married is wrong." Where do you go from there? The reason the moral fiber that you say is declining (true btw) is happening because we have Christian conservatives in this country thinking its OK to kill people. It states pretty plainly to me, in the Bible, that killing is a sin but what we are doing in Iraq, what we have done in the past in the Middle East, Vietnam, and elsewhere is OK because it is...what?....God's will? The dichotomy of this staggers me...

Now, people like Greg Boyd, I can work with...he doesn't start out with gay marriage. He starts out with being humble, living in peace, diseminating Christ's message through humility. He is against abortion, against homosexuality but also against the war, the death penalty, and loathes guns. Can the same be said for you? Based on your posts, I would be willing to be you believe in the death penalty and think guns are great. How do you think that Jesus would feel about that? Where is the morality in a gun?

You touch upon some interesting points but what is really keeping us back from being what I believe God wants us to be? This is just my opinion, now, not an edict but I think that we are God's children and like all parents God would like us to achieve what She has achieved. Don't all parents out there want their kids to even move beyond them? Do you think that God might want us to reach for the stars? Achieve scientific and biological discoveries (like stem cell research)that advance our race to the next level of evolution? Why hold that back?

It all comes back to knowledge for me. The more you know, the better off you are...which means I guess...do you have any gay friends? Or worked with someone who is gay? Or known anyone in your life who was gay. I can guarentee you that the percentage of people that are against gay marriage would drop once they became more known and understood.

Most folks fear and judge ill of what they do not understand.

Anonymous said...

Leave it to PL to sum it all up very nicely in 1 short paragraph. That pretty much nailed it. Good work – you get a cookie PL.

“Make laws that direcrly inhibit their lives”. Gay marriage hasn’t been legal yet has it? Hell it was who Clinton signed the Defense of Marriage act in the late 90’s that defined marriage as between a man and a woman, therefore their lives have been “inhibited” since before GWB took office. Marriage is not a right - it is a priviledge granted by the state for individuals who qualify and there will never be civil rights protections added for individuals based on their behavior in the bedroom. I care about the opinion of your friends Alan, Alan, Carrie and Ann about as much as you care about the opinion of the people in Hicksville, USA. Sounds like an even trade, the logic is exactly the same. Remember – I don’t care if I’m a “forward thinker” or not.

So you know more people in the south than me – yippee. I know more people in Europe than you do from the co-workers I work with on a daily basis here at my job to my friends I go over there to hang out with. Does that give me absolute authority to say whatever I want to about them, and at the same time shoot down anything you may say about Europe? No it doesn't. Should I judge ALL Europeans by the Swedish bartender I talked to in Holland last week who was very proud of Sweden’s neutral stance during WWII? Maybe I should judge Europeans by those clients from Ireland our sales manager met with last year who asked him, in all sincerity, if black people still have to ride on the back of the buses here in the US. Europeans more informed, sophisticated, and more intelligent my ass. There are just as many uneducated drunks over there as there are here.

Notice that my friends are not in categories like ”Gay friends”, “red state friends”, etc. I sat right next to an openly gay man at my job at McKesson for 3 years, Audrey and I saw him at Nye’s in early 2005 and talked to him for a bit that night. Becky Geier knows him too. I have a gay uncle (mothers brother) named John who lives in California now, hung out with him and his partner Jeff at my sisters wedding in St. Louis, MO a few years ago and I have another gay second cousin who I see every year at Christmas who got out of the second WTC building that got hit on 9/11 as that is where he worked. People are people and I don’t think that the fact that those people are gay has anything to with my own personal growth or that knowing them is the key to anything.

So you are more informed about politics…people in the south are more informed about things like, say, car engines, carpentry, home repair, etc. So which is better? My friends from Illinois who made those idiotic life decisions all vote straight democrat because they are union members. You have to go to plenty of school to be a carpenter or an electrician and it is not easy.

Speaking of that...are there any democratic voters who are uneducated or uninformed or is it only GOP voters? There are large voting blocks who blindly vote dem year after year because they promise them the most handoutss...aren’t they worth a mention on this blog or do you consider them all well informed and educated?

I’d like you to notice the difference in reactions here. I’m a firm believer that life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it. Sure there was some complaining about voting irregularities by conservatives but I’m certainly not complaining and I’m also guessing that we won’t see any movies from conservatives about how the 2006 election was stolen. The dems won. You won’t see me looking to move out of the country or saying that our country is doomed. Tell me – was the CEO from Diebold in Fiji for a couple weeks or something? I’m amazed he allowed the democrats to win this one! You told us the fix was on. Also, does the fact that Dems control the house and the Senate mean that volleyball and softball will continue to exist for an extra 3 or 4 years? Let me know.

Know that as long as you are a “dick” to people who disagree with you, you will have a very hard time getting anyone who doesn’t already agree with you to listen to what you have to say.

Mark Ward said...

Ok...um...I guess I'll take the obvious first. The Republicans aren't bitching about the election results because they very clearly got their asses kicked ten different ways from Sunday a week in a half ago. This election wasn't close like the 2000 election (in which Al Gore won the popular vote) and in 2004 which came down to one state.

Now onto the esotheric....opinions are abstract. It's the actions that people take as a result of those opinions that are the problem. Yes, gay marriage is illegal in every state in this country, save one. So, why is there an amendment needed? Because neocons are paranoid and they need double secret anti faggot protection. The action they take is out of fear, paranoia, and ignorance. The results are the mental, physical, and emotional abuse of tens of thousands of our citizens. I don't know about you but I think that is wrong.

Crab and good2beme, take some time to look at what homosexuals go through from day one. They have virtually zero support at home, get bullied at school, and then have to hide their sexual preferences from people who more than likely will beat them up or even kill them simply for being gay. So, yes, I have problem with people being treated that way and I am going to try to stop it. And you know what? I am willing to bet that, at some point in the future, I will be harassed, abused, and even possibly attacked by someone whose "opinion" I am supposed to respect.

And therein lies the problem...to be a dick or not be a dick. Well, let's see. If I am not a dick, just say live and let live, then my friends have their estates and children seized by the state because fearful and ignorant people are having their way. If I am a dick, and by being a dick..I define that as actually talking about politics and social issues when it may not be comfortable...I may actually make a difference and help someone.

Anonymous said...

Markadelphia, I don't see anybody on this blog questioning the nobility of protecting the rights of gay people. Whether or not this issue is as close to the civil rights movement as you make it out to be is something that I cannot know. What I do know is that you have not satisfactorily explained any connection between giving gay people equal rights and marriage.

The Jesus that I believe I know, although loving and tolerant of all people, does not condone gay marriage in even the most abstract sense, unless you are to adopt a meaning of "wife" and "woman" in the NT that I am entirely unfamiliar with.

So although I applaud your dedication to your friends, and I applaud the efforts of people around the country to further the cause of equal rights, I caution you to remember that the rights you seek are bestowed upon married couples by the government. It is improper to assume that equation is transitive and that any state government, federal government, or any judiciary has the right to label any union a marriage except in the most contrived, blandest legal sense. To do so simply for the sake of bestowing rights blasphemies what should be the holiest of unions.

My belief is that this issue needs to be separated from the concept of marriage, which is an institution I will protect even at the expense of others' "rights".