Sweet

Omg this is proof of my point.

@MetalHeadJason go back to drinking in every word on Faux News. And say hello to Sean Hannity, professional liar, for me.

Lol

That's about the most idiotic thing I've ever heard.

@SallyMc Not worth a rebuttal, I'm not a fish, not taking the bait.

@SallyMc Who are you to question?

@SallyMc I am fully aware of that, his so called argument has no merit, therefore I CHOOSE not to rebut, it's not that I'm not able.

@SallyMc No one called anyone any names. Saying something is the "most idiotic thing I've ever heard", is not name-calling. It's simply a comment. People here are allowed to comment on anything they please. It's called a free-exchange of ideas.
Even if you don't care for a comment, that does not negate the poster's right to make it. There were no personal attacks or insults.

I don't believe @nvmuff was referring to @kcuhcortsa's comment, but rather, BS66's comment.
When there is no " @whomever" at the beginning of a comment, that's usually an indication that the poster is responding to the initial comment, not the subsequent replies.

Perhaps everyone can just step back and take a breath.

@KKGator Thank you for saying what I chose not to.

@SallyMc I completely disagree with your opinion, and I don't think calling a comment "idiotic" is remotely the same as calling the person an idiot. They are two, entirely separate things. However, if you choose to conflate the two, knock yourself out. Express your opinion however you see fit, as is your right. I have no problem disagreeing with it, or saying so. Oh, and there's no need to edit on my account. Wouldn't want you to tax yourself unnecessarily.

@nvrnuff No worries.

I'm not quite sure what's even being debated here in this thread, but you have to look at what human weaknesses cause most humans to believe a particular set of ridiculous fairy tales. Many of us who don't believe in those fairy tales may have the same weaknesses, they just manifest themselves in different ways. For example, no sane person, when weighing the evidence for and against whether Noah's Ark happened, should ever believe that it did indeed happen. Likewise, if you look at the two extremes in governments, whenever a government has minimal power to tax and harm its citizens (USA before 1913, tax havens like Lichtenstein, etc.) you get freedom, a high standard of living, and prosperity. Every time a government has maximum power to tax and harm its citizens (Stalin's Russia, Mao's China, Hitler's Germany, Pol Pot's Cambodia), you get misery and mass murder. When you look at the two extremes, no sane person should conclude that people are better off with a powerful government that can take away all their earnings, and kill them.

As far as comparing fear of Hell with fear of Global Warming. It's interesting to watch Morgan Freeman's documentary on religion. He said the one common thing about all major religions is a day of reckoning or Armageddon. If people don't straighten up and act right, they will suffer. If they do straighten up and act right (according to what that religion says is right) they will be rewarded. So humans have this built into their psyche. Those who don't fall for the religious BS from people like Joel Osteen, are still susceptible to other BS from people like Al Gore.

Here's a perfect example. This is equivalent to a minister saying Jesus will come back in the year 2013. When the year 2013 comes around and no Jesus, people should stop believing the nonsense put out by the minister. When a scam artist like Al Gore says in 2008 that the polar ice cap will be gone by 2013, then the polar ice cap sticks around is about as big as it ever was, people should conclude that Al is milking the climate change scam and squeezing every bit of profit out of it that he can. However people still believe the nonsense that comes out of Al's mouth. This is the same human weakness that manifests itself when people follow a minister even after he claims that Jesus will come back at a particular date and time, then Jesus doesn't show up.

@kcuhcortsa I wasn't commenting on what you posted.

@kcuhcortsa No worries

@Beach_slim First off, I don't "worship" anyone. It's quite rude of you to say that I do, considering you don't know jack about me. Although, it's quite typical of conservatives to make such false claims against those who don't agree with them.
Further, don't act like you're some sort of Nostradamus and can see into the future. You aren't and you don't.
It's not only disingenuous to attempt the 'argument' that being progressive will lead to the US becoming North Korea, it's downright false. That's not happening, nor would it. Most of the major industrialized nations have universal healthcare and religion isn't as important as it is here. They are ALL doing much better than we are.
Don't come at me with your bullshit. You can't back up a shred of it. All you're doing is parroting the garbage you're hearing on Fox and reading on Breitbart. Progressive is NOT a negative. That would be 'regressive', which is what most conservatives have been choosing. The future scares the shit out of them, which is why they continually support people who have no desire to do anything but drag us back to the past.
Please stop acting like you are so superior to anyone else. It's abundantly clear that you are not.

@Beach_slim Okay, you don't watch TV, sorry, my bad. Not a Fox-watcher, check.
Whether I bore you or not doesn't concern me. Although, I do think you need to re-acquaint yourself with the definitions of both slanderous and libelous. The ONLY misconception I expressed was your parroting of Fox "news", for which I apologized. I'm not on the "left", so now you're guilty of the same thing you accused me of.
The Scandinavian countries all have a much better quality of life than the US does. They have universal healthcare, and higher percentages of non-believers. Most of North Korea's population live in abject poverty, with no way of improving their lives.
You really exaggerated my comments, making yourself look foolish, and severely damaging your credibility.
I can do this all day long.

@Beach_slim Wow. You extrapolated quite a bit based on nothing but your own bias. Thank you for making it abundantly clear that is not possible to engage with you in intelligent debate. Your false assumptions are numerous. Dismissed.

@kcuhcortsa I'm just gonna add this by replying to one of the people in this thread who seems sane, because I wouldn't want mr grumpy pants to think I was picking on him...hope you don't mind. anyhow, as a person who worked my first real job at 16, and didn't stop till I had to, which would make me working class, I very much did end up needing and appreciating things like the healthcare that's been mentioned, and at some point may end up relying on that SSI too if my surgeries don't go well. I felt that putting a bit of my cash into a healthcare system was not only the right thing to do as far as helping others, I knew that I lived a hard life, I expected at some point to need help. even working two jobs, I could never afford my current medical bills, so in the end it was the right choice for my own benefit as well. also, I took a quick poll of the working class folks I know, and I believe out of the 47 replies I got, only 4 where against it...

@Beach_slim Really? You're going to blame people who have medical issues, through no fault of their own? People who PAID into the system for their entire working lives shouldn't be able to avail themselves of the services they paid into?

@Beach_slim I never threatened to report you. Not once. I did say 'sorry' for the wrong assumption. Get over your moral outrage and perhaps work on your reading comprehension.

@Beach_slim ok then, so lets address your first point you made to me to start with. who exactly are these poor people you are talking about? I never mentioned anything about poor people. that is just another unintelligent, untrue statement, by a person spouting off some nonsense they assumed about someone. so yeah, that says a lot about what kind of person you are. also, in regards to your other remark, which for some weird reason, you felt like involving me in. even though I made no comment about what this other person said to you, its pretty clear that you are at the very least exaggerating and quite possibly just plain making things up again. she made an assumption, which she later found to be inaccurate. she then corrected herself, and did in fact offer an apology. if you are not able to recognize such things, perhaps you should try to expand your mind and learn something new to you, instead of whatever this sad excuse for a polite exchange was. I will say whoever, folks like you sure do make life fun, you make it too easy, lol

@Beach_slim also, if a person is willingly doing a thing, it is not forced. you may need a dictionary.

@Beach_slim Now who's lying? I did say "sorry" for my wrong assumption. I did NOT threaten to report you. You falsely accused me of worshiping the leader of North Korea, and Bernie Sanders. You can get over yourself, and your moral outrage at being disagreed with. You might also wish to work on the reading comprehension, it seems to be a problem for you. We can debate the issues, if you know how.

@Beach_slim yes I agree, your snide remarks are unnecessary, finally some sense! and as far as your view on if a thing is forced or not, as I said, you may want to look up what the words forced, and willing mean. if I am willing to do something, I am not being forced. I'm not saying that when a law that you don't agree with is passed that you are not being forced to do something, but the people who say, I am willing to do this thing are choosing to do it, not being forced.

@Beach_slim Pot, meet Kettle. You've made your share of snide comments, too. You've also made your share of false assumptions (without apologizing). I DID say I was sorry for the false assumption of you being a Fox watcher. I also never lied.
I never threatened to report you to Admin, for anything. You're playing semantics as much as anyone else. The site is fine, and Admin is always working on improvements. As far as adding to the conversation, you're complaining about things that are already in place. As if agreeing with you will make any of them go away. We pay taxes. We pay into Social Security. That is supposed to benefit all of us when/if we need it. You have conflated and misrepresented the comments of anyone who has engaged with you. Don't act like you're so above everything. You are as much a part of the problem as you claim others are. Enjoy your day.

He's not my President. He's THE president. I didn't vote for him btw...

Try talking to some.

im not disagreeing that there are a few on each side who don't fit the mold, and many more who only fit it somewhat. but that doesnt change my opinion that for the most part, at least around my area,(i don't watch any of the political garbage on the internet or tv, so i can't comment on that) it is pretty much the opposite of what you described.

I'm always skeptical of cited statistics. It's a well known fact that statistics can, and are, manipulated to present the desired picture. For example, I've heard crime statistics cited in such a way as present certain minorities in a bad light. Even if the hard stats are correct they fail to take into account other sociological factors.

I think you are being biased here. I used to be a progressive AND religious. I stripped my belief system down into the bare bones of what I know to be true and from everything I see on cnn and msnbc everyday, there are hardly ever any citations or facts used in arguments. It's more a "feel good" attitude. Sure doing what feels good seems nice but does it actually do good? If you were to take a look at the facts and figures you would see that it isn't always the case.

@MetalHeadJason Your perceptions are far from reality. And, I am being biased?

@MetalHeadJason i don't know about anyone else, but i never claimed anything about something always being the case. one of my main points earlier was that it is not that cut and dry, and that people from both sides have been guilty of what you claim at some point. but it would appear that most of the folks responding have actually done as you suggested and looked at facts and figures, and the general consensus is that the majority of the time(not always) what you have described sounds backwards. i thought perhaps it was just my area that felt/acted this way, but it seems thats not the case.

Haha, you know what? Your alright with me!?

Several

Kind of ironic if you ask me. They call us "snowflakes," and yet they're the most easily "triggered" people on the planet. And all you have to do to piss them off is talk about science, or mention their own hypocrisy.

That's why they champion teenagers as gun experts now...

@MetalHeadJason why would age really matter as far as weather or not one is an expert in something? i always figured it would come down to things like actually studying, or through practice...weird, most of the teens out here are very proficient with guns in general, and riffles in particular, and seem to have a fair amount of respect for the dangers involved in using guns. maybe its different where you live. oh, and to be honest, the only ones ive ever heard calling them experts are the conservatives, who are using it in a snide manner. ive never heard a progressive claim a teen was an expert. at least not here. but like i said, must be different where you live.

You haven't paid much attention to the things they have said then. They have demonstrated no actual knowledge on firearms and the ones with knowledge on firearms are on the pro gun side of the issue like that Kyle kid.one of the kids said "we are the experts and how dare they say otherwise because we lived through it" which is a classic emotional argument from authority fallacy. It's like getting into a car accident and suddenly you are an expert on automobile safety... no just no.

Also to argue that age is irrelevant is a slippery slope i doubt you would want to double down on.

@MetalHeadJason yeah no see, you just clearly demonstrated that you are in fact the one not paying attention to things being said. i stated in very clear language that i do not watch that garbage you call politics. i honestly think both sides sound as ridiculous as you do. as i said, my comments are based on the knowledge i have, i do not base what i say on random crap i heard. i have stated what i have personally witnessed in my town, as well as what i have seen posted in reply to your comment. i am not talking about some kid you saw on tv, i am talking about the people i grew up with,and interact with on a daily basis. i even tried to be open minded and stated that i don't know what its like where you live. or on the crap that you watch. why on earth would i comment about some people i have never met. seems kinda presumtuous. i would say im doing just fine on my slippery slope, the kids im talking about ive actually sat down with and discussed these matters with. how many of these people you talk about have you actually talked to in person? or are you going off some nonsense that the media wants you to hear? you might want to pay attention to your own slope my dear, looks pretty slippery from here.

@MetalHeadJason they are not "gun experts", fool! They are pointing out they are supposed to be learning things in school, not being killed by conservative white nut cases. Just wow.