Al we have exposed Michael as the liar he is, I put him on ignore because that's what I do with liars, nothing he posts is true or new, I can read it all at every tea bag event. He isn't a husband to an elected official, he never managed a campaign or ran for office, he isn't a democrat. He isn't a near super spy sworn to take a oath of anonymity. He is simply a liar who wants to bash Obama. 

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As much as I loathe placing someone on ignore, I finally did.  Enough's enough.

But you are apparently correct, Jodi.  All the research I've done bears that out.... However, I am awaiting some email responses to hopefully verify or disprove.  Be that as it may, going back through the thread without seeing offensive posts makes it bearable to read.  For the most part, with one or two exceptions, people are having a good discussion.  Regardless of what side they lean towards.

Sadly some people take that too far too fast and wipe out all
memory of the hate before the wounds have healed,
perhaps thinking that they can wish away the injuries of
racial oppression past... just in time to call Obama a
watermellon eating monkey."

Mike, we really are on the same side here.  I was looking for this quote late last night (sinus meds made me finally have to go to bed).  However, I don't think the way to heal the wounds is to prohibit the words that cause pain.  They should be embraced and used often.  Take the power away from them!  Obama should come out to a press conference eating a piece of fried chicken, holding a slice of watermellon and finishing it up with a banana.  Will it change the thinking of the really stupid bigots out there?  Nope.  But it will make a lot of other people think about just how really stupid those bigots are.  No one thing is ever going to make the really stupid bigots out there change their mind.  Only when they don't get the reaction they are loooking for when they say or do stupid things will they stop. 

Al wrote: ...and "that idiot" just about everywhere else.

Now THAT'S fucking funny.

Jeff wrote: So you calling me a racist is just laughable.

Not when you go to such lengths to excuse racist behavior.

Here is something I just haven't seen yet, all those elderly tea baggers burning their medicare cards and refusing it, I mean if they are truly against socialized medicine, refuse it. Or social security, they have paid into it, but they are getting way more back. Again if the govt. is so evil and controlling, where is the refusal of services?

*********

You'll never see it Jodi. My brother-in-law is a right wing tool who thinks the sun rises and falls in Glenn Beck's pants. He was ranting yesterday at Easter dinner about Obama destroying health care in America by letting the government take it over and the government just can't run health care. When I pointed out that his kids are all on CHIP and him and his wife are on Adult Basic and that's government run, I asked him if he intended to drop that FREE coverage he was getting since he didn't believe in government run health care. His face got beet red, he called me an asshole and a communist and then left. He was so sure of his opinion that he didn't argue. He got pissed and left. I had to drive his wife and kids home. That's some guy. He hasn't worked in 2 years (by choice), and sits around an whines about the government, all the while sucking off the government teat.

Now, I didn't do this to start a fight. At Thanksgiving he went on about Obama and Dems and blah, blah, blah, and I kept my mouth shut. I talked to my wife's mother and told her I wasn't going to sit there all day again and have this asshat denigrate me and everything I stood for, and she gave me permission to say whatever I wanted to him. I love my mother-in-law.

These people who bitch about all these social programs have no problem using them when it suits them. If they were as against them as they seem, they would figure out how much they paid into Social Security and then as soon as they got that back with, let's say an extra year or so for interest, they would stop drawing. It will never happen. Because at the end of the day, they're a bunch of hypocrites.

I also don't suggest banning the words, or
any words, but realize how they're effecting
people.

Like, when a commedian or artist says it, it's
de-powering the word, when an angry
protestor is using it, not so much, etc.

William McCormick said "...who thinks the sun rises and falls in Glenn Beck's pants"

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Nice imagery, Wm.

Hi Gang,,

"Been away so long I hardly knew the place, Gee it's good to be back home..."

I notice during my absence this thread for the last few days has essentially become leap on Michael Retour for possibly enhancing his resume and hammer Jeff Gillmer for possible racism.

In the case of Mr. Retour, the options are quite simple and clear: He's made a number of statements concerning his standing. It is not unreasonable to ask for support. Certainly, when I've made statements I've been asked to back up my facts or explain myself in greater detail. (For example, Paul Greer took me to task for potential historical revisionism on Page 9 of this thread. It was a serious request and I hope I acquitted my position to his satisfaction through detailing my reasoning and quoting directly from the source document in question. Providing proof in the pudding is not unreasonable when asked.)

Thus, Michael Retour should "row his boat ashore" -- who says a second language doesn't come in handy now and then? -- and provide to all assembled a link or perhaps a PDF detailing his political service or that of his wife. Certainly when I was actively involved in politics back in Canada I generated a paper trail. When I gave it all up to become a "referee" with the City of Edmonton, there was more paper. Were I to make claims, I would certainly be prepared to back them up.

As for Jeff, I'm willing to give him a benefit of a doubt. It's been a few years since Jimmy the Greek and Howard Cosell got drummed off the air for making those kinds of comments, and perhaps that simian slur isn't as pronounced around the younger generations.

Context makes all the difference. Case in point: Back in 1979-80, there is a very famous editorial cartoon by Edd Uluschak of then-Canadian Prime Minister Joe Clark who was drawn to look like a baboon with his hand stuck inside a large bottle grasping a banana marked "Petro-Canada". It was very funny cartoon and got the message across simply and powerfully.

As classic as that image is, however, you COULD NOT draw a similar cartoon about President Obama because in that case it carries racial undertones. The context is entirely different, and within that context a joke turns into a slur.