America's Biggest Enemy Within............

[Cyrus]

"Heated exchanges are fine (and actually are somewhat to be expected in Politics)."

Don't, please! You can't be in Marketing and Internal Auditing at the the same time.

"Just remember to try to maintain a reasonable amount of civility, please."

Ah, from the Osmonds to the Partridge Family! At least warn the diabetics.

"I have never called posters "terrorists" or "criminals"."

I recall you have. Chris Alger for one.

"Thank you, good Cyrus, for expressing your opinion."

I regret the overall patronizing tone of your post - and also resent it. Even if meant in sarcasm.

"I don't think very many truly "neutral" posters on the Politics forum can be found."

The term "neutrality" was used in the context of the U.N. example. You are reading carelessly. I was explicit, for all but the ultra slow: "The hiring [of mods in Politics] should be from amongst those who have refrained in the past from extremely antagonistic and/or heated exchanges of opinion."

"Those so-called "neutral" countries in the U.N. are often in practice anything but."

Yeah, right. Swedish soldiers in Cyprus serve the grand imperialist schemes of Stockholm. Polish soldiers in Somalia are gathering information for a future invasion by Walesa. And so on.

"My view is that a better goal is to have moderators with a sense of fairness and decency towards all posters--and with at least a modicum of critical thinking ability."

You inted to resign then ?

"My goal will be to treat all fairly. You, dear Cyrus, will find no exception to this principle (no matter how much you might wish otherwise)."

You seriously think I am after preferential treatment here?

"...Your highly developed sense of dramatics..."

I have come to consider your nomination as a mistake by the webmasters, a business mistake actually, more than anything. It's one of those small business mistakes that get lost amongst a market explosion that carries the whole company dizzyingly higher.

Clear enough? I hope I am not being too dramatic for you.

"The old and new periods may be abbreviated as B.G. and A.G. (Before Guidelines and After Guidelines))."

It's precisely this apocalyptic apporach to policing that contains most of the threat to the well-being of this forum - and the commercial benefit of the website. But' as I've already said, the webmasters have shown themselves incapable of exploiting to the hilt windfall success.

"A new and more brilliant, shining era shall arrive on the Politics forum: with Goodwill towards Men (and Women), Polite Posters, and Intelligently Conducted Debates."

I have tried that approcah, kid. And let me tell you: Never happen!

I do not think you capable of fomenting creative anarchy, see. Neither you nor the decision makers.

That's the record, ma'am.

[MMMMMM]

Cyrus, your post has--thankfully--left me laughing.

No need to apologize for faulty memory, either: it's an integral part of the human condition.

May I frame your "I regret the overall patronizing tone of your post - and also resent it" and put it on the wall, as a reminder to myself never to criticize others without looking in the mirror first, so to speak? Life can be a bit rich in irony at times, wouldn't you agree?

As for Apolcalyptic Approach, that might make a good movie, or Monty Python skit. Have you any experience in stage-acting, by the way?

At any rate: never fear, Cyrus! Just hark and you'll be OK.

[MMMMMM]

Please don't lose yer sensayuma. It is, after all, one of yer most redeeming qualities.

[Dr Wogga]

....pontificating, and being pompous. Otherwise, a good post! Clearly on-point for all pro-palestinians......

Yes, the "Age of 'Can't-we-all-just-get-along' Tolerance" is upon us! It just doesn't get any better than this. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[warlockjd]

You can search my bag over my cold dead liberal body.

There is a principle at work here much larger than the searching of my bag. I'm only 29, but over the course of my lifetime, I've watched us slip slowly down the slope towards a total police state.

Inevitable at the rate we are going without backlash.

[warlockjd]

[ QUOTE ]
I'll give up those rights in terms of getting searched on a plane, bus or any form of mass transit if there is even a slight chance the government would catch a terrorist using that method.

[/ QUOTE ]

What other rights would you give up willingly. Freedom of privacy is gone now.

How about freedom of speech?

Freedom to assemble?

Just curious to hear from you specifically or other 'right givers'

[FishHooks]

You are free to move out of the country and live somewhere else.

[AndysDaddy]

I'm also free to stay and fight for how I believe we, as a people, should agree to conduct ourselves.

"If you don't like it here, leave" = "I concede, and have no more valid arguments to support my ideas."
--
Scott

[Roybert]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
It will catch no one, but it will achieve the ultimate goal -- keep people afraid, eliminate the need for reasonable cause, search and seizure, warrants, freedom of travel, etc. Oh, and did I mention -- keep the fear pumped up. Think of the children.

[/ QUOTE ]

Obviously we agree completely, if you give them an inch today, then they sure as hell will take a mile tommorow, that you can bank on. Fear is the new number one tool of politics in the west.

Mack

[/ QUOTE ]

Sure is. Fear has always worked, and it probably always will, and everything will be all the better. Especially if we can give Haliburton a nice, no-bid contract to be the ones who check the backpacks.

The slope gets pretty g-d slippery pretty g-d fast.

[FishHooks]

Considering he said "You can search my bag over my cold dead liberal body."

Hope he doesn't board a plane. If you dont want to be searched while useing government funded systems, just drive everywhere use a private plane etc.