The Deluded

Richard Kline

Richard commented on a graphic posted on The Christian Left Facebook page by We The People. The dialog went as follows:

Richard Kline
I really wish Facebook had emoticons, because this poster is BEGGING for a rolly-eyes emoticon. Off the partisan charts. So far off the chart that I would even think Pelosi and Reid would be a bit hesitant to endorse, only a bit.

We The People
?Richard, really? Please inform us of the error in our perception.

We The People
Richard, that was quite a rhetorical argument you provided, and the ad hominem is certain to discredit us. Now, do you have anything substantive to add?

Richard Kline
If you honestly believe that Republicans are, by definition, unprincipled, party-centered, indifferent to any plight, and use party rhetoric to advance their agenda, whereas Democrats are NOT that way, but rather are all about doing what's ...best for the nation, then to argue with you would be pointless. Eddie and I know and respect each other, but he knows I will tell it like it is. This is silly party rhetoric - "the Dems are all about you, the GOP is all about themselves", blah blah blah blah. No POSSIBLE way the GOP could be about policy that would move the U.S. forward, be inclusive, etc. If you buy the above rhetoric, you have drank the left koolaid. I drink neither the koolaid of the left nor the right. I recommend this "use your mind" position. Free-, critical-, objective-thinking people don't fall for rhetoric, instead realizing that neither side has all of the answers. You wanna vote Dem, have at it - I recommend voting your conscience. But could you POSSIBLY please do so without making the GOP sound like pure evil? Life is too short to walk around being so cynical, negative, and all-inclusive in your views (which is the nice way of avoiding the term "narrow-minded".)Perhaps you can show us how more tax cuts for the wealthy will help the poor, instea...d of resulting in budget cuts and contraction of societal safety net programs. How about telling us how those tax cuts will result in job creation, or at least in decent living wages for the working poor. Inform us about how our misperception that the tax cuts seem to be threatening Medicaid and CHIPS programs.


We The People
Based on what you have told us, we must have terribly misunderstood the Republicans who come to our pages, and tell us that they don't think they should have to pay to support the poor. Oh, and when Uncle Newt said he waned to put inner city children to work, he meant after school, and likely not for more than four hours a night.

Oh, and talking about uncle Newt, when he uses terms like "secular socialist agenda' of the left, he is being factual, and not just using insupportable rhetorical device. Then of course, his plan to continue the policies of reduced taxes and deregulation must be a much better implementation of the policies that have failed over the past 30 years. Please explain how, and why he is so much smarter than the Nobel laureate economists, including Milton Friedman, the only advocate of trickle-down economics, who all say, "Passing these tax cuts will worsen the long-term budget outlook, adding to the nation’s projected chronic deficits. This fiscal deterioration will reduce the capacity of the government to finance Social Security and Medicare benefits as well as investments in schools, health, infrastructure, and basic research. Moreover, the proposed tax cuts will generate further inequalities in after-tax income."

Oh, oh, oh, and we can deregulate the financials and trust Wall Street with the Social Security Trust Fund, right?

I'll have more for you after you show us the error of our ways.

We The People
?Richard Kline, Despite my asking that you come back and provide substantive argument to support your views, you returned only to deliver another rant. Have you nothing substantive to say that would lend you some credibility?

I write for We The People, but there are others, and I have many supporters. I also seem to gain more supporters when I point out how people like you discredit themselves with their every rant. As for whether you said one thing or another, it's not what you said so much as that you simply ranted without providing substantive argument to demonstrate my error. No matter how partisan my little statements may be, they are at least based in fact.

As for Republican fiscal and economic policy being "meant to stimulate business," there is no evidence that it does so. In fact, all the evidence--as well as informed analysis--indicates that it does not. If you truly want to learn what the rhetorical turn of phrase about "job creators" is all about, you can find it here:

http://antirepublican.us/jobcreators.html

A lot of the rest of your argument will be fairly well debunked there as well. The rest of your rhetorical rant deserves little mention with one exception. This spectrum of thought, as you put it, would be valid if it were thought based on substantive argument, instead of rhetorical device intended only to deceive those whose knowledge denies them understanding.See More

Richard Kline
One rant deserves another - and that's what Eddie's poster is (IMO) - a rant. Not to mention the fact that what I have said is marginalized by your categorization of "rant". Don't bother to answer that until you respond to this: provide ...your name. Then maybe I'll respond to anything else you say. Meanwhile, please do vote Democrat and pat yourself on the back for being so farseeing and benevolent. Oops, I guess that's another rant. :)

We The People
?Richard, you marginalized yourself by ranting, and marginalized yourself through demonstrating your lack of grasp of the issues while continuing to rant. You just don't have anything substantive to add to the dialog, Richard. Are you even aware of that?