**********FINAL UPDATE:
Well folks- thanks for the lively debate today. I really enjoy debating, discussing, and learning about politics and ya'll sure did not disappoint, on any side of the argument :)
I am out for the next 2 days- we're taking our kids to Disneyland to celebrate my youngest daughter's 3rd birthday! So I'll chat with ya'll- about something NON political- when I return.
But in closing, I gotta point this out, cause it's something I learned/realized today during chatting with some of ya'll.
So I posted this in the comments early tonite:
Wouldn't it be nice if we could all step back - myself included0 and see we are ALL little fucking drones, spewing the bullshit talking points of our respective parties? We are doing what they want us to do to keep making them money. They don't care about us, they care about getting elected and making more cash.
And then some anon commenter posted this in response:
Spoken like someone who truly knows they have lost the debate.
You can't just pull out the everyone does it arguement. It doesn't wash.
Not totally sure about what his last sentence means but I get the gist I think.
But I was serious because I think it was this anon poster- hard to keep them all straight- that was countering all of my issues with Palin with rebuttals.
And that is why I started thinking: well wait a second, who DOES have the monopoly on the truth. Here, check out where I got my news/research on some Palin's dealings:
HUFFINGTON POST PALIN
Now I'm not fool. I know Huff Post is left leaning. But I still read it. Just like I read Drudge- which tends to lean to the right. And CNN that I feel is balanced mostly but leans a bit left. I stay away from FOX as I do think it's a joke.
But this got me thinking: with all of the spin doctors out there, why do ANY of us think we have the right to say we KNOW what the truth is. It seems like for every fact, there is someone out there who would benefit from that fact being incorrect that is allowed to tell you- under the guise of authority- that their counter fact is the true statement.
I mean, somebody wrote in telling me how wrong I was about the GORE/BUSH electoral recount but you know, I've seen a number of reports that say Bush and his team were the ones trying to manipulate the system so they came out the winners. And I've seen reports that say the press did recounts and by those recounts- that if the court would have allowed them to occur- Gore would have won.
So newsflash anon: I'm not walking away from the debate because I feel I lost.
I'm walking away from it because:
a- I've changed my mind a bit about MY news sources. I mean, they are preaching to my liberal mindset and so I think it's smart for me to always be wary about that, even tho I get all warm and fuzzy reading what I want to hear because it's what I already believe so it feels nice to have something line up- true or not- with the beliefs I already have. And it's my responsibility to be smart and not get suckered into that and call that the truth, just because it makes me feel better. But doesn't the same go for the right wingers? Unless some of you get your news sources from some ultra pure place that is not corrupt and influenced by business and spin doctors, what makes you think your info is more reliable? And so I just kind of say: well, I'm not going to read 20 news stories on the same issue and then filter out the 'truth'. I just don't have that much time or that much interest. And I guess that makes me feel it's kind of a stalemate and it makes me feel that we all do miss out as citizens because we are just pawns being pushed around the board by the powers that be. And if you think that is me walking away because I lost a debate, you are wrong. It's me walking away because I don't have the tools to debate anymore since I don't know where to go to get the truth.
b- Some issues- as one of you said- are moral issues where facts are irrelevant. I guess those are the only things you can vote on and know for sure. And in that case, I am pro-second amendment assuming MANY restrictions are put on that amendment (i.e. why the FUCK it's legal to buy assault rifles, I have no clue) and McCain is not....I am pro-choice and McCain is not...and the idea of teaching anything other than science in the science classroom makes me ill...and it makes McCain and Palin happy. So for me, those are the only issues I can really know about so that is why McCain does not have my vote.
Ok, well I'm off to try to get Darth Vader thru hard mode of Soul Caliber before I hit the hay and get up early to drive to Wally World. Chat you all a bit later in the week- and thanks again for the cool discussion!
David
++++END FINAL UPDATE:
****UPDATE:
Looking at some of the comments on this post, I want to clear a few things up here, in the post itself, so it doesn't get lost:
a- if you come here looking for JUST game news- and not news about my passions (movies, comics, AND politics) or my family/personal life- you've come to the wrong blog. I like writing and reading blogs from folks who make stuff I dig that are more personal and give me not just insight but even- to an extent- a real connection with the person whose blog I am visiting. This is not a PR site. It's my personal blog. When we launch the EAT SLEEP PLAY blog soon, you can expect a more professional, game only writing style from me on that blog. But here, it's just me, the real me without the need for a professional front. If that's not working for you, I understand and respect that totally. But it's not going to change. And it's about to get worse so if you don't like this sort of stuff, come back in a few days and I'll have some gamey stuff up, I promise! :)
b- this election is more heated than most and especially amongst a lot of Democrats and liberals like myself (I am a liberal, but an independent). You folks have to understand that alot of us were told to 'get over it' when Gore 'lost' the election in 2000. it's not so much that he lost. It's that a lot of us feel the vote counting should have continued to allow at least the illusion of democracy to continue. The fact that it did not- and that who we got as president because of the Supreme Court's decision- still stings and will for a long time. It's the political equivalent of telling the country to get over Pearl Harbor or even 9/11. A massive injustice, a massive attack was perpetrated on our very democracy when the Supreme Court put an end to the recount and it will take a long time to heal. The fact that the last 8 years had George Bush and company rubbing more salt in the wound by pretty much pissing all over our constitution doesn't help the pain go away faster. The fact that us folks who yelled about it then and yell about it now are/were told to shut up and just deal with it created alot of anger and desire to put an end to the current administration's way of doing things. For a long time, McCain seemed like a man who didn't drink from the same well as the current administration. That in the last few years- since he's wanted to be president again- has changed. And so many of us see McCain as another 4 years of Bush. And that's something that is not going to go down easily.
c- After 9/11 when folks were united over going after Bin Laden and the Taliban and then Bush pulled Iraq out of his ass and those of us who called him on it were told we were unpatriotic and should leave the country, well that sucked. And now- after many of us who opposed the war have been proven right (i.e. 9/11 and Iraq had nothing to do with each other, we've been stuck in Iraq way longer than plan/promised, there seems to be no exit strategy, this war is creating more terrorists not protecting us), we're now told, 'Well, get over it, we're there now, gotta finish the job'. No one seems to be holding Bush and company accountable and us in the opposition party are once again being told to just roll over and take it. And that's something that is not going down all that easily.
d- Bush should be impeached and you can't even bring that up, even tho he prob. deserves it more than any other president in our history. So when you've got McCain hugging and kissing the guy and voting with him the majority of the time, it makes you question if you really want that guy in the office for the next four years.
So there is much anger among left thinkers in this country. And you know what alot of us see in Obama? We see a guy who- experienced in key realms or no- is actually punching back and saying, "No more'. And we like that. We deserve that. And we want to see him elected in many ways BECAUSE of that.
And ALL THAT SAID, I still respect the Republicans and right wing,conservative thinking. They have some darn good points and I am glad we can all debate them and discuss them.
But for you guys who come here for just game news, I love politics man. It's important stuff AND entertaining stuff and it's not gonna go away from this blog. It's not a political blog, but it IS part of my life. So I hope even if it's not your cup of tea, you stick around for the kinds of posts I put up that you DO like.
Thanks for reading and visiting the blog- gotta go take my kid to school! L8!
David
++++END UPDATE
Couldn't have said it better myself :)
Go Diddy!
