Engaging my fellow Virginians online...
Oct. 21st, 2004 03:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
capri0mniMy local large circulation newspaper, the Virginian-Pilot has several online "Guestbooks" where people can engage in debate and discussion in a more flexible way than writing formal letters to the editor (where you're only allowed one letter every 5 months) . There's a several-hour (occasionally several-day) lag while your post is vetted by the mods, but from what I've seen, it's pretty wide open. If you haven't done so, I suggest that you do a web search to see if your local paper has something similiar.
What's particularly encouraging (to me, at least) is how many Kerry supporters are posting on the "Who won the third debate?" page (here), considering that common wisdom has been saying that this region is a slam dunk for the Rebublicans.
I'm posting my latest contribution to the guestbook, mainly because I'm including a link to an NPR report from August 20, 1998 about how Clinton tried to take out Osama Bin Laden on that day. I really recommend the NPR website. You can search for news stories dating back all the way to 1996. A very good fact-checking resource if you want to answer Republican attacks.
Pamala R: I remember quite clearly how I felt on 9/11. My first thought was for my father, who lives just an hour north of NYC. My second thought was for those who worked at an around NAS [Naval Air Station] Oceana, for I feared that may be a target. When I learned that one, and then the other, tower fell, it was almost as if someone had told me a mountain had been swallowed by the sea. And, like people around the world, my heart poured out with grief and love for those who had lost their lives, and the loved ones they left behind.
But in the days that followed, I remembered the news reports from *1998* of how Clinton had warned us about Osama Bin Laden, how he ordered airstrikes against terrorist training camps in Afghanistan, and how the Republicans in Congress accused him of "Wagging the dog" to distract us from from the serious issue of Monica Lewinski (if you don't believe me, you can hear one report for yourself, here: "Airstrikes" August 20, 1998).
I waited for President Bush to show real leadership, to call all Americans to make sacrifices and join together to help defeat the nightmare regieme that threatened us. Instead, he told us to live it up, but just keep our eyes open, and report our neighbors to the authorities. That's not *my* definition of leadership.
Brent V: You and I will just have to agree to disagree. I *don't* believe our country is going into a tailspin (yes, we are in diffecult times, but we will rise above them, and America will be a better nation in the end), and I *don't* believe state-endorsed religion is the answer to our ills. I admire people of faith, and respect those who see themselves as responsible to a larger, Divine plan. But I will defend, to the death if necessary, the civil rights of my *all* my fellow Americans, including atheists, agnostics, polytheists and pantheists. That includes their right not to be pressured or intimidated into expressing religious tenets that they do not hold, especially children.
Besides, it's the parents' responsiblity to be their children's spiritual and moral guides. If you feel that it is imperitive for your children to pray to God before they set their minds to work on more earthly concerns, pray with them before they leave your company for school.
It's a double reply. I'm not including the two posts I'm replying to, because I don't have permission from the respective authors. But you can probably work out what their main points were. That NPR report is particularly spooky to go back and listen to.
Edit 1: (Cross-posted to my personal LJ:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
johnkerry04)
Edit 2: Today, one of the people we Kerry supporters have been sparring with over the last few weeks posted saying that, thanks to us, he'll be switching his vote to Kerry, even though he's a life-long Republican... but still mocked us for blindly following anyone who wasn't Bush. :::sigh:::. /me doesn't understand, but that's okay...
What's particularly encouraging (to me, at least) is how many Kerry supporters are posting on the "Who won the third debate?" page (here), considering that common wisdom has been saying that this region is a slam dunk for the Rebublicans.
I'm posting my latest contribution to the guestbook, mainly because I'm including a link to an NPR report from August 20, 1998 about how Clinton tried to take out Osama Bin Laden on that day. I really recommend the NPR website. You can search for news stories dating back all the way to 1996. A very good fact-checking resource if you want to answer Republican attacks.
Pamala R: I remember quite clearly how I felt on 9/11. My first thought was for my father, who lives just an hour north of NYC. My second thought was for those who worked at an around NAS [Naval Air Station] Oceana, for I feared that may be a target. When I learned that one, and then the other, tower fell, it was almost as if someone had told me a mountain had been swallowed by the sea. And, like people around the world, my heart poured out with grief and love for those who had lost their lives, and the loved ones they left behind.
But in the days that followed, I remembered the news reports from *1998* of how Clinton had warned us about Osama Bin Laden, how he ordered airstrikes against terrorist training camps in Afghanistan, and how the Republicans in Congress accused him of "Wagging the dog" to distract us from from the serious issue of Monica Lewinski (if you don't believe me, you can hear one report for yourself, here: "Airstrikes" August 20, 1998).
I waited for President Bush to show real leadership, to call all Americans to make sacrifices and join together to help defeat the nightmare regieme that threatened us. Instead, he told us to live it up, but just keep our eyes open, and report our neighbors to the authorities. That's not *my* definition of leadership.
Brent V: You and I will just have to agree to disagree. I *don't* believe our country is going into a tailspin (yes, we are in diffecult times, but we will rise above them, and America will be a better nation in the end), and I *don't* believe state-endorsed religion is the answer to our ills. I admire people of faith, and respect those who see themselves as responsible to a larger, Divine plan. But I will defend, to the death if necessary, the civil rights of my *all* my fellow Americans, including atheists, agnostics, polytheists and pantheists. That includes their right not to be pressured or intimidated into expressing religious tenets that they do not hold, especially children.
Besides, it's the parents' responsiblity to be their children's spiritual and moral guides. If you feel that it is imperitive for your children to pray to God before they set their minds to work on more earthly concerns, pray with them before they leave your company for school.
It's a double reply. I'm not including the two posts I'm replying to, because I don't have permission from the respective authors. But you can probably work out what their main points were. That NPR report is particularly spooky to go back and listen to.
Edit 1: (Cross-posted to my personal LJ:
johnkerry04)Edit 2: Today, one of the people we Kerry supporters have been sparring with over the last few weeks posted saying that, thanks to us, he'll be switching his vote to Kerry, even though he's a life-long Republican... but still mocked us for blindly following anyone who wasn't Bush. :::sigh:::. /me doesn't understand, but that's okay...
