Bloodless Coup

Armand,
This is no more representative of the conservative view than those advocating violence and riots in New York are representative of the liberal view. Unless maybe you support such violence?

Also, maybe you should consider consulting Joshua on what it means to construct a conservative straw man (although his gender bias disturbs me...wouldn't it be better to say straw person?) based on a small group of freaks who want to lift up the image of God by bringing down the worth of God's creations.

The word is j-o-k-e. I'm giving the dude the benefit of the doubt and presuming he doesn't want to hasten the old folks into a premature end of their time here on Earth. Presuming he doesn't ... it's a shame the local rag gives up what little space it has for letters to people who can't write without making an embarrassing gaffe.

Beyond that, I find your tendency make insinuations about the personal preferences of the people who write here interesting. You've asked if perhaps I supported the Taliban, and now if I want violence on the streets of New York? What's with that? Do you seriously think that's possible? And even if it were (which of course it's not) what difference would that make? This is a place to discuss ideas and thoughts on a variety of topics. What bearing does person X having characteristics Y or Z have on the merits on the ideas they are discussing? No offense, but I find the ideas interesting. If we want to talk to talk about each others traits and preferences - that kind of stuff is more fitting for friendster.

Armand,
To paraphrase a book I'm reading (On Being a Therapist), it is almost impossible to care deeply about a person and not care about what they do, what they think. I think it is impossible to separate ideas and actions from the people who hold them, and if in doing so we see them more dispassionately I think we do our humanity a diservice. Certainly there has been anger and impatience in some of the comments regarding the swift boat mess on both sides, but I believe there has also been respect and civility at times, recognizing the wisdom and intelligence of someone who believes something besides what we ourselves hold to be true, and I believe that comes from remembering there is a passionate person on another computer who may disagree with us, but who has such a value to us that we endeavor to help them see the same beauty we see in conservativism, in liberalism, in the person of George W. Bush or John Kerry. When I ask a question like whether you support violence, it is meant seriously; I have known people who seemed very caring of others and then found out they were amused by the torture or death of minorities, or worse they felt nothing at all. I have met people who believe republicans to be callous to suffering, and there are many religious zealots who think nothing of many forms of life, be it women, gays, catholics. When I ask a question like that I allow myself to receive the whole of your humanity, whatever form it takes, because it is important to me. If it wasn't, I wouldn't ask, I would only presume you agreed with me or presume you didn't based on my past experience or what I wanted at the time. By asking, I am giving you a space to bring whatever view you truly have into the discussion. You seem to believe I'm judging you instead of seeing that it is because I don't judge you that I ask these questions. If you believed violence was appropriate, I would do what I could to help you see the beauty in more peaceful forms of expression. Of course, if you seriously find my remarks objectionable, you have my email address and I will receive your request to find alternative expressions for my own thoughts.