Rich, poor; right, left; religious, athiest; white, black; conservative, liberal; Coke, Pepsi....blah, blah, fucking blah. All of the above are brands, and as all brands, they are marketed to enlist the most consumers possible in a rather cutthroat manner.
All this talk about the Bible (not terribly religious myself) and political affiliation (moderate conservative myself) and the need to defend our arguments to the point of alienating other, decent people who happen to view things a little differently is indicative, and indictment of, the culture we live in. Absolute right needs absolute wrong....as there is no longer a middle ground. Don't know Cheesey personally, but know from his posts over the years that he is a decent, sensitive and caring human being who does not know hate in himself...who also has his own opinions. I don't know him to use his opinions to put others in their place, but he certainly soul searches, and based on his beliefs comes up scratching his head....as we all do from time to time. For him to share his questions and/or concerns, only to be eviscerated by others is kinda fucked up.
Dakota, you are a pretty sharp stick and it is very evident you are informed and have a brain in your cranium.....and a load of opinions like so many others. In my opinion, more entrenched and unmoving than those you rail against for having their own, differing, opinion(s). To disagree with you is not cause for war, or for the snarkiness that you feel compelled to use against others to shut them up or come out on the "winning side" of the debate/argument. Hell, you are the person who blames an entire generation for fucking your generation and the future up....kinda strong and not very well reasoned for someone with the cranial capacity you possess.
Yes, Dakota, the baby boomers, both left and right; rich and poor; black and white; liberal and conservative have made a mess. They simply built upon the mess that was laid before them by prior generations, and the one that follows will do the same. But, to brand EVERYONE of a single generation for the state we are in is as single minded, and misguided, a position that I have seen. You are better than that.....
Our problems are with our political class who play board games with humanity from their sheltered and protective (legally and otherwise), often time Ivy League educated, perches. How dare they lock urban and rural poor children of ALL races in schools that have failed for generations. Most "rich" people I know worked their asses off, sacrificed much, and put EVERYTHING on the line...and with a little luck, succeeded. We need a social safety net for the needy and helpless...on that we should all agree. That a government should take from the hard working and successful for something beyond the social safety net....you know, the one's who found a bar stool or meth pipe and who continue to make that same fucked up mistakes over and over again...just to get their votes if fucked up. Dirty business all the way around.
Be more concerned about the mega entities (banks, finance, law, and business) who ARE IN BED with the politicians on both sides, whose mistakes and law breaking are glossed over and in many cases rewarded by their political caretakers....and the poor/middle class that TOLERATE this behavior! Yeah, these politicians/entities are monied/rich....but in many cases they are voted in and/or found acceptable...over and over again regardless of demonstrable poor past performance.....by the poor and working class just so that can get what they figure they are OWED by society...be it a welfare check or enhanced dividends on heir investments Talk about co-dependency!!
We get the government and society we deserve....and all of us, rich, poor; right, left; religious, athiest; white, black; conservative, liberal...have made a grand, fucking mess out of the most wonderful experiment in mankind's history.
Our Founders realized that our democracy required a moral...and I am not saying religious here...society to flourish. We have lost our direction and it is represented in our lives daily...and sometimes how we treat decent human beings just because they disagree with us.
Try to be nice to others, especially those with whom you disagree....we can all do better in this regard.
State Motto: "Wisconsin, our serial murderers eat their kill!"