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President Bush on free speech 7 Comments More | Login | Reply /

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  • You (presumably) that your speech has to reflect reality and be honest.

    Our president is free of those constraints.

    He's free to tell you whatever you want to hear and whatever he wants to say.

    It's great to be him!

    • I believe that morally speech needs to be honest. I do not believe in using government to enforce my morality. Those are two separate issues.

      --
      J. David works really hard, has a passion for writing good software, and knows many of the world's best Perl programmers
      • And that's just what's so wonderful! You believe in honesty, and the government doesn't. You believe the government shouldn't enforce morality, and the government does!
        • I'm sorry. On re-reading, I may not have made clear that I am speaking with bitter sarcasm and deep anger.

          I see a cabinet official practicing politics of anti-tolerance and hatred, I see a united Party controlling all branches of the government and dominating the Media, and I fear that my safety in this country is dependent on the good will of folks like Jerry Fallwell and James Dobson.

          Sometimes, my fear and anger and sorrow gets the better of my clarity.

          • I see a cabinet official practicing politics of anti-tolerance and hatred

            Perhaps I could more easily see what you saw if you made less assumptions about what framework we share. Who, exactly, is practicing anti-tolerance and hatred?

            Jerry Falwell scares me to death, but if we are dependent on James Dobson, I'd say we are in good hands. His books and broadcasts have done some great things for my marriage. You're not anti-tolerant and hating of him, are you?

            --
            J. David works really hard, has a passion for writing good software, and knows many of the world's best Perl programmers
            • I can't speak to the quality of Dobson's family work. Here's a site [debtaylor.com] that seems to speak highly of that aspect of his ministry, while voicing my concerns about his role as a political player:

              When we began Focus, in 1977, the seven founders had only two objectives: (1) To help Americans raise their children and (2) to help us maintain our marriages. Millions of Americans would say that James Dobson has made a tremendous contribution in those two areas. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said regarding his ha

              • Re:Dobson (Score:2)

                by jdavidb (1361) on 2005.02.02 17:43 (#37950) Homepage Journal

                Very, very interesting, but I have trouble accepting that speech as serious when it states, "I apologize to African Americans and other ethnic minorities who are concerned by the continuing vestiges of intolerance in the land and by the dangerous role James Dobson, a wealthy, powerful, white, heterosexual male, plays in promoting intolerance." I can accept that Dobson portrays attitudes that some might deem intolerant of women, gays, and non-Christians. I cannot accept that he portrays an attitude of intolerance toward African Americans. I have never seen this. If it exists, I would be most interested to know.

                It sounds instead to me like a liberal woman who automatically assumes that political conservatism is oppressive to African Americans and many other social groups.

                I admit that religion does not give anyone rights of coercion over another through politics, and that the commandment in the New Testament is to NOT judge those who are outside. But the best route to eliminating that kind of control is to prohibit the government from having those powers, anyway. And I don't see any current instances where religion in the United States is having any monstrously outrageous oppressive effects against United States citizens, although I admit there are still some things that need to be fixed.

                --
                J. David works really hard, has a passion for writing good software, and knows many of the world's best Perl programmers
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