And all of this without Lou D chiming in. Maybe we should drift back t something we have in common like the women in Brazil or even golf architecture.
John Bernhardt,
Thanks for bringing me into the mix. I seem to have a great abundance of friends like you, but I can't think of one that's as radically partisan while pretending to be above the fray.
While you and others on this site have tried to make me out to be a right-wing nutjob, to the best of my knowledge, I have never started a single political thread. My posts delving into politics, philosophy, and economics have always been in response to socialist commentary that begged a correction of the record. And it should be noted that it is not me who has made quite a good living at least in part through the partisan political process.
As distasteful as connections to Hitler are, it is your illustrious leader, Ms. Pelosi, who got this party started by claiming that the "Tea Baggers" (thank you President Clinton for your derision) were neo-Nazi thugs bearing swatstikas. Of course, this is demonstrable nonsense, though the dominant media ran with it and continues to prop up this myth.
And it is curious how all of a sudden our sensibilities are so aroused. Your friends on the left had great fun morphing Bush into Hitler's likeness, writing books and making movies on how to assasinate him, and otherwise transforming him and the office he held into something less respectable than Satan in the flesh. Those who might have been offended were told to get thicker skin. My, my how times have changed.
If you got this far, I can just see your head shaking- "there goes Lou D again, taking things out of context to malign my highly principled friends". Unfortunately, there is a record and thank God (or your government if that's your deity) for modern technology. Though you may choose to disbelieve your lying eyes, the following is a link forwarded to me by another GCAer which may be of interest.
http://static.mgnetwork.com/rtd/slideshows/opinion/20091002joke/index.html But you know, John, your side's constant attempts to denigrate those of us who have a different view of how the world works is turning a lot of people off and many are fighting back. It is not lost on some that the take-no-prisoners Chicago style Democrat political approach has considerable precedence in post-Bolshevik revolution Soviet Union. And while Hitler certainly deserves all infamy he receives until the end of time, let's remember that compared to Stalin he was but a mere amateur (10 million killed vs. 50 million+ for Comrade Joe).
How people come to their beliefs has always fascinated me. For example, what things in your life can shed some light on how you can seriously believe that George Bush was responsible for a poor shrimp harvest off the LA coast several years ago? Do you remember that conversation in San Francisco?
An opinion piece in the 11/4/09 Wall Street Journal by John Steele Gordon ("Obama and the Liberal Paradigm") provides some clues. I don't have a scanner nor would I violate copyright laws, but perhaps someone here might be able to find a link. The bottom line, John, the American people aren't sheep, capitalists aren't wolves, and your boys sure as hell are no high-minded shepherds.
As to the crux of this thread, I hope that Brazil finds a suitable venue, though it really doesn't need to be worldclass for golf to succeed in the Olympics. The competition itself- void of politics- is all that is needed. I would be more interested in learning how the teams will be picked and the medals contested.
And now I'll crawl back under the rock I came from, brood some more, and keep my rants to myself. At least for awhile.