Bush is an idiot

[6thGen]

Here - two articles just from today - one on increased quality, the other on the lower price.

http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=ZWY0OGMxMjEyZDk0N2Y5NzVhOTg4M2RjZjlkZTY0ZjI=

http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=ZTIzM2JhMTNjZDJjYmE0MzIzODk4OTQxZjIxN2YxYTU=

 

[30gAy]

A few things - and forgive me, I rarely have time to post on these boards, but the late meeting in Destin led me to water and the mindnumbingly vapid discourse made me drink.

Which leads one to ask the obvious question:

Does your self perceived 'brilliance' have anything to do with the amount of alcohol consumed?

I'm sure no one saw that coming......

 

[30gAy]

Sorry for my mistake. My Italian isn't up to snuff, so some things run together. Maybe if I can make it over to Venice again before I hit 30, I'll be sure to ask you for directions. If not I just might end up lost like everyone else who's ever been to the city.

Hmmm, so you are in your 20's? I see, and again, you feel that you are brilliant and have this whole world figured out. Interesting.

And I'm sorry to repeat myself but, I'm sure no one has heard that one before.

 

[TooFarTampa]

Sorry for my mistake. My Italian isn't up to snuff, so some things run together. Maybe if I can make it over to Venice again before I hit 30, I'll be sure to ask you for directions. If not I just might end up lost like everyone else who's ever been to the city.

I get it now. ;-)

 

[Seababe]

"Maybe if I can make it over to Venice again before I hit 30"

Oh good GOD it all makes sense now!

:funn:

 

[6thGen]

30Gay,
Sorry to confuse you with age old clich?s. I didn?t really think that anyone would believe that I was consuming alcohol based on the lead a horse to water one. You?ve responded to me about half a dozen times, each with relatively the same comment. The only thing you?ve added to the conversation is the location of good music in Venice. Don?t get me wrong, this is very useful information, but it is nowhere near on topic. You?ve yet to make argument on anything I?ve said, but you continue to repeat yourself on what you specify as my deficiencies. You have yet to ?handle this blowhard?. Your entire shtick is as tired as the old skank from Sex and the City. I get it, you like men and you are proud to be effeminate. You can tell others that I?m not as brilliant as I think I am and that I?m insulting, you can miss obvious clich?s, you can name the squares in Venice, and you can unilaterally bring others you?re bedroom and you can perpetuate a gay stereotype. What you can?t do is coherently argue your position. If you are intelligent, clever, original or intuitive, you?ve done a hell of a job of hiding it.

As for the age thing, what all do you get now? Few of you have responded to my arguments, and if you have it has been littered with non sequiturs and fallacies. Besides, if you listen to the Brit who helped bring down Fascism, I?m ahead of the curve that you all are lagging behind.

 

[Bob]

Bob,
You are changing the subject and moving the goalposts. First, monopolies do not discourage competition. Predatory practices may, but monopolies, unless they are state monopolies do not. As for weight subsidies, I?m for doing away with all subsidies, all tariffs, export taxes, and anything else that precludes free trade. Finally, please explain how the lower and middle class is crushed to protect the interest of multinational companies? If you refer to my rail example, I agree. The Feds stepped in to regulate the rails and crushed affordable rail transportation. If it is on the overregulation of drug companies, again we are on the same page. The excessive regulation may save some lives by making drug companies go through years of scrutiny and red tape, but the lives saved pale in comparison to the lives that would be saved if a drug is brought to market sooner. And the cost to get past that barrier stifles competition, so while costs are drastically increased for that reason, they are also inflated due tightening the doors to the market, putting a heavy burden on the middle and lower classes while protecting bigger drug companies from startup competition. As for the poor giving their lives for oil, please quit looking for black helicopters while we are having somewhat of a productive discussion.

The lower and middle classes in this country cannot shop high energy costs. The upper classes are not affected by higher prices. Your quote about monopolies not discouraging competition requires me to ask you to please read some basic economic theory textbooks. My argument is that the Feds should encourage alternate fuel developement through incentives[tax breaks], and discourage bad behavior[high consumption vehicles through excise/guzzler taxes]. The war in Iraq is about control of oil flow, not terrorism. If terrorism were the issue, we would had stopped with Afghanistan. Unless you have a draft that the rich may not avoid, a voluntary military will always be disproportionally poor. Please give up the discussion about 19th century railroads, and the pharmecutical industry. The answer to the problem of big oil domination does not rest with regulating the industry, but rather, by making big oil's importance less so.

 

[30gAy]

30Gay,
Sorry to confuse you with age old clich?s. I didn?t really think that anyone would believe that I was consuming alcohol based on the lead a horse to water one. You?ve responded to me about half a dozen times, each with relatively the same comment. The only thing you?ve added to the conversation is the location of good music in Venice. Don?t get me wrong, this is very useful information, but it is nowhere near on topic. You?ve yet to make argument on anything I?ve said, but you continue to repeat yourself on what you specify as my deficiencies. You have yet to ?handle this blowhard?. Your entire shtick is as tired as the old skank from Sex and the City. I get it, you like men and you are proud to be effeminate. You can tell others that I?m not as brilliant as I think I am and that I?m insulting, you can miss obvious clich?s, you can name the squares in Venice, and you can unilaterally bring others you?re bedroom and you can perpetuate a gay stereotype. What you can?t do is coherently argue your position. If you are intelligent, clever, original or intuitive, you?ve done a hell of a job of hiding it.

As for the age thing, what all do you get now? Few of you have responded to my arguments, and if you have it has been littered with non sequiturs and fallacies. Besides, if you listen to the Brit who helped bring down Fascism, I?m ahead of the curve that you all are lagging behind.

Excellent. Now you?re getting a little pissed. Precisely my goal.

You see, I have never claimed to be intelligent, clever, original, or intuitive. However, there are several posters who are. And I?m sure they would appreciate an open, engaging forum to discuss issues without having to listen to self aggrandizement, and insults.

But, as most of these people are far too polite, I?m happy to do their dirty work for them.

So I gave you a dose of your own attitude, not so tasty was it?

And yes, I was forced to be repetitive. As for ?the Brit who brought down fascism?, then I submit the following quote for your perusal:


?If you have an important point to make, don't try to be subtle or clever. Use a pile driver. Hit the point once. Then come back and hit it again. Then hit it a third time-a tremendous whack.? ?Winston Churchill


Your last few posts suggest that the message is setting in. Play nice, and you?ll see the back side of me, (feel free to assume that was an overt sexual reference).

 

[6thGen]

My concentration in my graduate degree was in economics, so I know the basics (cue 30Gay response). First, monopolies are near impossible to exist without government intervention, which I?ve repeatedly stated that I am against. Second, monopolies would not exist if they did not offer a product in demand at a price that consumers were willing to pay. I never said that monopolies were the most efficient of industries, but it doesn?t relate to the discussion because this isn?t the late 19th century.

Why can?t the lower and middle class shop energy prices? The reasons behind the war do not exist in a vacuum, nor do the proprietors and enablers of terrorism exist only in Afghanistan. The draft comment is completely bunk. And why should I give up the railroad and pharmaceutical discussion? You?ve proposed further government regulation and I?ve shown examples where it did far more harm than good. I agree that ?big oil? should have less importance, but the method is less regulation rather than more.

 

[TooFarTampa]

As for the age thing, what all do you get now? Few of you have responded to my arguments, and if you have it has been littered with non sequiturs and fallacies. Besides, if you listen to the Brit who helped bring down Fascism, I?m ahead of the curve that you all are lagging behind.

I'll jump in here. Please know that I am not posting out of disdain or even annoyance, I'm just going to call it the way I see it. ;-)

When I first read your Mensa comments I figured you were either 1) PUI 2) trying on a new personality, as some people do when they join a message board or 3) young. And by young I mean under 30. :roll:

Because it takes a little seasoning to realize that the only people that might be impressed by your membership in Mensa are other members of Mensa, and quite often they won't be either. Other people either take offense at the fact you are throwing your IQ in their faces, or they point out that IQ isn't everything, which it isn't. Brilliant people who want to navigate successfully through life know that announcing their brilliance isn't going to get them far at all.

Your obvious intelligence and ability to analyze situations will serve you well down the road, as long as it is tempered with an open mind and an equal ability to listen.

None of this has anything to do with whether you trend right or left wing or really, any of the finer points of your argument. I have small children and as much as I try to keep up with world events (and I do), I can't argue with your points because I don't have time to research them. But I know enough to listen, say, to the former chairman of the Armed Services Committee, who came back from October and said Iraq was getting worse despite our best efforts. And I know enough to pay attention to the Iraq Study Group, even if Bush couldn't quite bring himself to do so.

Most of us can only hope to master a few things during our lifetime, if that, and the best thing we can do with the rest of it is to remember to listen to the experts and respect what they say.

When I was 21 and a recent college graduate I thought I had it figured all out too. And I couldn't understand why people like the mechanic who fixed my car would treat me like I was an idiot. Because, obviously, he never went to college, right?

One of the most important skills I have learned in the past 5 to 10 years is to listen very carefully to the people who have already gone through what I am going through. If 90 or 95 percent have similar experiences with one aspect of life, I can safely assume it will be the same for me, whether or not I have different ideas of how I think or want it to turn out. Experience is the greatest teacher of all. If you can remember to listen to those with experience, you will then be "ahead of the curve." ;-)