tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3697201505856242009.post143619833609626915..comments2023-09-18T04:52:34.622-07:00Comments on Shining Pearls of Something: Tea: Bittersweet, As Expectedsuzhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07599102235797825599noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3697201505856242009.post-89126248973522955052011-10-05T17:09:37.432-07:002011-10-05T17:09:37.432-07:00Ben, I just answered you on FB; it just took forev...Ben, I just answered you on FB; it just took forever! I now you don't doubt me, and I hope you know I love you. I'm going back to FB now, it's almost bedtime...Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06896718673192738974noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3697201505856242009.post-90735651585638601792011-10-05T15:46:27.842-07:002011-10-05T15:46:27.842-07:00Suz, I never doubt your sincerity! I just hear &q...Suz, I never doubt your sincerity! I just hear "socialism" tossed around as something horrible. When I think of Jesus and socialism, I think of the Acts church and "They held all things in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need." I take that to mean that we use the tools at hand to do what needs to be done. Very possibly my definition of socialism is skewed.BentonQuesthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09007300481037924684noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3697201505856242009.post-9473016768300219772011-10-05T15:08:59.962-07:002011-10-05T15:08:59.962-07:00Exactly, Meadowlark. That's why the Republica...Exactly, Meadowlark. That's why the Republicans grabbed ahold of the Tea Party - so they could control it.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06896718673192738974noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3697201505856242009.post-58811464115574983062011-10-05T14:34:01.555-07:002011-10-05T14:34:01.555-07:00In my quest toward a degree, I'd missed a hist...In my quest toward a degree, I'd missed a history class and am taking it right now. Very enlightening... same sh*t, different day. <br /><br />Care to comment on the unions "glomming on" to the Rage in Washington protest? Typical big business/government agency/ big anything - they wait til the "grassroots organization forms" then they jump on and take it over for themselves. SIGH...Meadowlarkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17208672418814503032noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3697201505856242009.post-41701088405980898062011-10-05T14:19:35.057-07:002011-10-05T14:19:35.057-07:00"Koch Bros. have been gaming the system for a..."Koch Bros. have been gaming the system for a long time." Damn straight. And while many poor people are abusing the system, what they take is peanuts compared to the People Who Own The Parties. <br /><br />I'm not yelling either, Ben. In fact I feel like crying. This is the legacy of Limbaugh, Hannity, O'Reilly and Beck. It makes me sick that I have to explain myself to you, of all people. You know my character, you've known my character for 25 years. Yes I was ditzy, careless and shallow when you knew me, but did you ever doubt that my heart was in the right place? Did you ever doubt my compassion? <br /><br />I'm a true moderate, not a wishy-washy moderate. Supporting the concept of social welfare has never made me a socialist. Our Constitution may not literally outlaw socialism, but the two are essentially incompatible. Socialism works only in societies where the majority is willing to give up certain liberties for the "greater good." That's not the USA; we prefer to choose how we help the helpless, rather than trusting the government to do it properly. And with good reason. Liberal and conservative principles aside, look what the government has done to every social program it has started. It couldn't possibly be more inefficient or ineffective.<br /><br />Both parties serve the PWOTP's first, and the rest of us get the leftovers. That's what I object to, and the people who agree with me, by and large, identify themselves with the Tea Party movement. Not with the "TP Republicans." I've found that there is a HUGE difference: INDEPENDENT TP'ers understand that the Republican party is 1/2 of what's wrong with Washington. But both parties and the PWOTP's don't want you to know that. They want you to believe that anyone who is not a Democrat is an illiterate survivalist anarchist, who thinks all the government should provide to anybody, is 40 acres and a mule. And they want you to believe that anyone who is not a Republican is a pinko hippie commie. And thanks to the press, which is owned by the same PWOTP's, most of us have fallen for it. They have polarized us and scared the hell out of us. Our primary political goal is now to demonize and defeat whichever group is trying to take our share of the pie. What they don't want us to notice is that we are fighting over crumbs. Most of the pie is already going to the power brokers, for them to share with their cronies. Like the Koch brothers. This nation can afford to feed the helpless, but not while it's feeding the billionaires. Don't think for a minute that the Democrats in Congress are against feeding the billionaires. They and the Republicans are equally corrupt, because they are owned by (mostly) the very same people.<br /><br />And frankly, I disagree about Jesus being a socialist. He said God wants us, as moral individuals, to give our wealth to the poor, and moral individuals do, AFTER they pay their taxes. He never said that the government should make it compulsory. He wants us to CHOOSE to serve God, not to be coerced by the threat of imprisonment. In my mind, "Jesus as a socialist" cheapens morality and degrades the idea of service to God. (And I know for a fact that you don't want the United Stated to be ruled by religious doctrine.)<br /><br />Go to http://www.afr.org/ and read the intro to the book, "The Conservative Revolution." This book explains why NEITHER party will ever be reformed enough to serve the people. In a post-Demopublican America (yes, I'm dreaming) there would be plenty of room for BALANCE between liberalism and conservatism. The people who are working toward this, are the people I'm looking for, and they keep calling themselves the Independent Tea Party.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06896718673192738974noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3697201505856242009.post-10371264704211683722011-10-05T13:43:58.843-07:002011-10-05T13:43:58.843-07:00Great post, Suz, my sentiments almost exactly!Great post, Suz, my sentiments almost exactly!Michael Morsehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07451637745981389920noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3697201505856242009.post-76003532421413825482011-10-05T09:53:17.923-07:002011-10-05T09:53:17.923-07:00(PLEASE read in a calm mental voice. I am not sho...(PLEASE read in a calm mental voice. I am not shouting in any way. Well, maybe I am shouting "PLEASE")<br /><br />Ok, why the total backlash against socialism? Jesus was a socialist.<br /><br />Is it because we think that the poor are gaming the system? I think the Koch Bros. have been gaming the system for a long time.BentonQuesthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09007300481037924684noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3697201505856242009.post-76554609011588984332011-10-04T04:56:37.236-07:002011-10-04T04:56:37.236-07:00Coffeepot, that's it exactly! That's why ...Coffeepot, that's it exactly! That's why I'm so pissed at the Republican party. It claims to be anti-big-government, but it's not. Small government means less power, and that's off the table. Republican PEOPLE are anti-socialist, but the party is not. It's pure hypocrisy. Both parties will maintain their power as long as they can keep us focused on what the other guy is doing wrong. Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06896718673192738974noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3697201505856242009.post-720578459797654462011-10-03T23:51:48.900-07:002011-10-03T23:51:48.900-07:00Get involved. One person, one at a time, can make ...Get involved. One person, one at a time, can make a difference.Well Seasoned Foolhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16670165728759453075noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3697201505856242009.post-81386293479400362012011-10-03T21:08:03.167-07:002011-10-03T21:08:03.167-07:00Raise some dust chicklet... the two party system h...Raise some dust chicklet... the two party system has reached it's limit. It's become a "let's be US versus THEM" and it's JUST. NOT. WORKING.<br /><br />So glad you went!!!! Thanks for sharing.<br /><br />PS... our son's are fighting for those bast*rds. Somebody needs to be start paying attention!Meadowlarkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17208672418814503032noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3697201505856242009.post-43505566588290398482011-10-03T20:36:01.885-07:002011-10-03T20:36:01.885-07:00I can agree there are problems on both sides of th...I can agree there are problems on both sides of the isle...and there are fringe cooks on the left and right, but the one thing I cannot abide and will never support is Socialism. I will go with any party that opposes big government, higher taxes, universal health care and the government doing everything for the individual. I will even support States Rights over Federal Government control.Coffeypothttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02944074653548750642noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3697201505856242009.post-13680555125644803102011-10-03T20:07:18.840-07:002011-10-03T20:07:18.840-07:00Very interesting Suz. Thanks for the information a...Very interesting Suz. Thanks for the information and insight.<br /><br />Love,<br />LolaJanie Junebughttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10573607241326291404noreply@blogger.com