So wait, let me get this straight. We are supposed to be PROGRESSIVES. We are supposed to believe that this country, the greatest to ever be formed in the history of........everything, is not perfect, not even close, so we STRIVE each and every day for Progress to make it better not just for those with the most but those with the least. As Democrats we fight and supposedly debate ideas but I have seen a side of some of you that makes me sick to my stomach, a side that makes you as bad as any teabagger, any wingnut, any 9/12er. Why? Because you do exactly what they are doing, you don't try to treat someone who disagrees with you as a sensible human being, you try to treat them as the "enemy". Look in the mirror and ask yourselves if this is really what you are really about.
Let me start by saying I have said I am not for gay marriage for religious reasons. You may disagree with why I am not for it it, so be it, nonetheless I have my reasons and the majority of Americans have the same reasoning as I do (at least I hope that's the main reasoning) including THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. I am for civil unions, I wouldn't have voted at all on "1" in Maine, I am not going to vote to remove the rights already given to my gay and lesbian brothers and sisters by the law but I wouldn't have voted "for" something that I am religiously not for. Now I am for civil unions R-71 would have gotten a solid yes vote from me enthusiastically. I actually think that's what we should be pushing for across the country, it definitely has a much higher chance to gain ground all over this wonderful nation. Pay attention to what I was saying. I said "I am not for" not that "I am against". I am not OPPOSSED to gay marriage, if it passes in my State of New York so be it, I won't be on any picket lines of either side because of it. To tell the truth it passing wouldn't have much of an affect on my life whatsoever. HOWEVER, because I am not for Gay marriage I am (by some "advocates") a bigot, an "asshole" and "my grandchildren will be ashamed of me". You have got to be kidding me, because I am not for Gay marriage I automatically hate gay people and I want them burned on a cross. Ok then folks keep up the rhetoric you will definitely be gaining supporters when someone has a SENSIBLE REASON to disagree with you and your first instinct is to attack them and try to make them the "enemy". Your black and white view on the subject makes you sound like George Bush. When your entire cause implodes because of your neanderthalism we will see if ou feel "vindicated". I am just getting started...
THE FIRST thing any of us should do, Democrat or Republican, when shaping our ideals, is to ask ourselves "WHY is this a good idea? Why would this work? Why would this help the American people? What are the downsides of this idea?" You see, I like to call myself a "Pragmatic Progressive" because basically, I won't support something that doesn't have facts and statistics to back it up. Ideals and beliefs should shape your starting points, but you shouldn't base your final decisions on them, hence why I voted for Barack Obama. I liked all the "Yes we can" and the lofty rhetoric but what really stuck with me is when he talked about just doing what WORKS what has FACTS to back up an idea and getting away from these "gut feeling" decisions and start using that thing in between your shoulders. The only reason I even call myself a Progressive is because the IDEAS, the POLICIES progressives fight for...with facts and statistics to back them up, are very good ones...HOWEVER too many on this site try to act like they are all "holier than thou" with anyone who disagrees with them on any subject. Just because we have GOOD ideas doesn't make them right all the damn time. FACTS AND STATISTICS SHOW taxing high end employer based insurance plans is a great idea to lower Health Care costs. Every wonk I respect says so and has the FACTS to back it up, however, when I espouse this idea I get attacked by some of these "holier than thou" folks who think it's preposterous to even mention something not in this sort of "progressive orthodoxy." It's not a debate when YOU WON'T EVEN LISTEN to what the other side of a debate is saying. You sound like a teabagger when you don't pay attention to what FACTS say. I gladly listen to the reasoning AGAINST taxing high end plans (there are some good reasonings out there.....making sure it doesn't hit the Middle Class being the main one) but if I can listen to you.......why can't you listen to me?
It happens again on Afghanistan, I hear some applicable reasoning to leave but still nothing to dissaude me of my OPINION that we shouldn't be cutting our losses and high tailing it out of there. Now of course there are apt reasons not to escalate the war (I actually believe we should be lowering are troop presence but that's for another time) but to leave altoghether? That's not something I agree with and ONCE AGAIN instead of having a debate I get called a "warmonger". Yes you guys are always so right on every damn subject that you just couldn't imagine another point of view. You do realize Bush did this same exact thing with Iraq right? There is a difference between BEING RIGHT and having an OPINION that you think is right. Too many here confuse the former with the latter.
GET IT THROUGH YOUR HEADS YOU AREN'T ALWAYS RIGHT! You aren't even right half the time. You are barely right. Most of the time you are misinformed. You are making an educated guess, IT ISN'T FACT IT'S OPINION.
Some people here are worse than Republicans. You act like you are smarter than them, have better ideas than them, stereotyping the south and staunch red states as.....how shall we label it "a bit slow on the uptake" compared to the rest of the nation. I will say this for EVERY person that you have ever called a bigot, a fool, an idiot, an asshole, and any other personal attack you have lobbied against anyone who has had a SENSIBLE disagreement with you, who have a good reason to be at odds with whatever you espouse, who have thought out the issue as much as you have but have come to a different conclusion, but because you have your head shoved so far up your own asses you may never see the light of day again, FUCK YOU. YOU WILL NEVER EVER EVER EVER EVER be as good a person as you "think" you are. You aren't better than anyone, you are as bad as any bible thumping, holier than thou, "REAL American" Republican there is, and you should be FUCKING ashamed of yourselves for being so pathetic. Absolutely ashamed.