When will the right stand up for what IS right?

Pamela - posted on 01/15/2011

Sweet! Everybody come and play:o)

Theresa - posted on 01/15/2011

Pamela...I am in! I posted a comment! Whoo Hoo! Thanks for the tip. I had to set up a google account :-)

Pamela - posted on 01/12/2011

Are you in gmail for your email (though why that should matter I don't know)? You might have to follow it on the actual blog in gmail itself - try that and see if it works then. Though why you couldn't via Networkblogs I do not know.

Sara, the blog link is http://journeyalongthewayblog.blogspot.c...

I must confess, it is representative of my faith journey. But I welcome anyone who wants to come in and dialogue on it. Disagreement will not offend nor be bothersome. I particularly enjoy the conversations I get to be part of with all of you.

Theresa - posted on 01/12/2011

Pamela...tried to post a comment on your blog. Wasn't able to for some reason. Have to figure out what I'm doing wrong.

Dana - posted on 01/12/2011

Theresa, I've done the same thing....well almost, I haven't turned my TV off, but I've quit watching the news. All it does is make me sick to watch it and I prefer to make my own mind up, not be fed by any news outlet.

Sara - posted on 01/12/2011

You have a blog? Oh, do share!

Pamela - posted on 01/12/2011

I think Theresa that you're onto something. I'm thinking we need to reject this current dialogue all together and make our own. We need to create our own narrative that tells the likes of whatever pundit is spewing that we are not listening anymore. We will no longer allow ourselves to be manipulated by the 24 hour vomit machines called cable news. Time to think for ourselves ladies! Of course, Theresa said this much more eloquently than I did.

Let's turn off our TV's and our radios. I'm gonna keep writing in my blog though:o)

Theresa - posted on 01/12/2011

I have been watching the news over the past few days and have become increasingly frustrated. The first few hours, I saw unity among the American people. Everyone talked about how much of a tragedy the shootings were and showed sympathy and empathy for all those involved.

As the hours progressed however, the tone changed, and that unity became fragmented. On one hand you had pundits and reporters (and anyone else who had a microphone) either talk about how the hostile political climate lead to the massacre or how there is no direct correlation between the massacre and any political affiliation or idea.

We are supposed to be "smart" in this country, but we are missing the point. Everyone needs to realize that words have consequences. We have to consider the ramifications of what we say and take responsibility for what we say. True, we cannot control the actions of others, but we can't "retreat" or run away when confronted with the idea that our inflammatory words and statements may lead to a horrific event.

With the 24 hour news cycle and talk radio and the Internet and blogs that we are saturated with...even people who are not mentally deranged and detached from reality have a hard time keeping it together. Good, honest, hard-working Americans were literally frothing at the mouth like rabid dogs during the elections and those town hall meetings.

Me and my husband made a conscious effort to turn off the t.v. and radio. During the last few months, we just turned them off. When we do watch, we have a totally different perspective. We are not angry and passionate as we once were. We see politics for the "theatre" that it is and stop taking everything so personal and so serious. We refuse to be a "pawn" in the game anymore.

Pamela - posted on 01/11/2011

I definitely hear what you're saying, Sarah. I don't listen to talk radio - conservative or liberal so I haven't really heard much yuck from the progressive side. However, people being people, I don't doubt that there has been some. But I also think that the majority of liberals spewing junk has not been as much on the national stage as has been Beck, Limbaugh, Coulter, and Palin. It hasn't been as constant and it hasn't been a call for "lock and load". At least what I have heard. They have used some rather graphic imagery (11/8/2010 MSNBC one show talked about how the liberals should consider violence again and "gasp" calling for a revolution; Mike Malloy (whom I've never heard of) apparently has some lovelies; "Dick Cheney must have feasted on a Jewish baby or a Muslim baby..." ; "The Republican Party needs to be executed as quickly as possible." Also Malloy apparently talks about how he would like to see Glenn Beck kill himself on TV.

Again I don't know who he is - but he provides fodder for the Right and perhaps he should silence himself. Because none of this is helping matters.

And if we're always going tit-for-tat, then we'll never end this. Both must take responsibility for words spoken.

Sarah - posted on 01/11/2011

Let's be honest. Both sides have had their cringe worthy moments. I think we ALL have to tone it down. If the left wants to be credible on this issue, we should lead by example. It does no good to yell at the other side and wag our fingers. We all should simply strive to hold our heads high and treat each other and each other's ideas with respect. We don't have to agree with one another, but we should respect each other.

I've read many an angry, disparaging post from both sides of the political spectrum on this and other websites. I myself am guilty of resorting to cheap shots and snide comments when frustrated with the other side. Anger begets anger. Violence begets violence.

Let's all take responsibility for our words.

Pamela - posted on 01/10/2011

Here here, KO. Nail on the head.

ME - posted on 01/09/2011

I was just thinking...in a time when Mark Twain must be censored, but Sarah Palin calls her hitlist an exercise in free speech...I think we've lost the collective plot...I don't even know what to say anymore...

Krista - posted on 01/09/2011

I posted this in another community, but I think it bears repeating here:

There is an overall pattern of very violent imagery that is being used by the right wing.

First, you had that charming "crosshairs" map of Palin's.

Sarah Palin has repeatedly Tweeted: "“Commonsense Conservatives & lovers of America: ‘Don’t Retreat, Instead – RELOAD!’”

Rush Limbaugh: "I tell people don't kill all the liberals. Leave enough so we can have two on every campus--living fossils--so we we'll never forget what these people stood for."

Congress woman Gifford was opposed in the last election by Republican Jesse Kelly. He ran an ad which said: "Get on target for victory in November. Help remove Gabrielle Gifford from office. Shoot a fully automatic M16 with Jesse Kelly."

Glen Beck: "Hang on, let me just tell you what I'm thinking. I'm thinking about killing Michael Moore, and I'm wondering if I could kill him myself, or if I would need to hire somebody to do it. No, I think I could."

Michael Savage: "I say round liberals up and hang em' high. When I hear someone's in the civil rights business, I oil up my AR-25."

The Nazi comparisons from Rush Limbaugh; broadcaster Mark Levin asserting that President Obama is “literally at war with the American people”; Sarah Palin claiming that the president was planning “death panels” to extirpate the aged and disabled; the charges that the president is a fascist, a socialist, a Marxist, an illegitimate Kenyan fraud, that he “harbors a deep resentment of America,” that he feels a “deep-seated hatred of white people,” that his government is preparing concentration camps, that it is operating snitch lines, that it is planning to wipe away American liberties”: All this hysterical and provocative talk invites, incites, and prepares a prefabricated justification for violence.

Yes, this shooter was ABSOLUTELY responsible for his own actions.

But when shit like this happens, can we honestly say that it is HARMLESS to our society for major political and media figures to say shit like that?

Political discourse has become very ugly and very violent. And if the right-wing isn't part of the solution, then they're part of the problem. They need to stand up and be leaders, and tell their followers that violent rhetoric and imagery has NO place in civilized political discourse.

Pamela - posted on 01/08/2011

You should go check out Sarah Palin's FB page. Kind of amazing. The Palin supporters are all incensed about progressives hate filled diatribes.