Help me respond to this LTTE

[Chichiri]

http://www.in-forum.com/articles/index.cfm?id=97054§ion=Opinion


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If you're sick of hearing our president called a liar, sick of hearing our soldiers described as occupiers and of running gulags, and tired of certain citizens doing all they can to give aid and comfort to the enemy, then maybe you should consider something. All of this vile nonsense is coming from the liberal Democrats and their allies. Their main seat of power is the Senate where their 44 members filibuster and obstruct the majority will.

North Dakota has two of the 44 Democratic seats in the Senate which accounts for almost 5 percent of this block. Our population on the other hand accounts for only about 0.2 percent of the population of the entire country. That means that per capita, no other citizenry does more to help the hate America left than do the citizens of North Dakota. No other small state sends two Democratic senators and our Democratic senators are among the most loyal to the leftist party line. On a per capita basis, no other state does more to support Michael Moore, Ted Kennedy, John Kerry, MoveOn.org, George Soros and the Hollywood left than does North Dakota.

With a net loss of four or five seats, the left would be sunk and they wouldn't be about to work their poison. We in North Dakota could come close to doing half the job. Politically speaking, no other state citizenry has more power to kill the leftist beast and drive a stake into its heart than do the citizens of North Dakota.

Mark Otnes

Fargo

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I can't let these hateful words go unchecked, but I'm not sure how to respond. At least, not within the constraints of a LTTE.

[Mythsaje]

1. Try this on

If you're tired of our President BEING a liar, tired of hearing our soldiers described as occupiers (which they are), and of running gulags (I agree-gulag is the wrong word), and tired of certain citizens doing all they can to give create MORE enemies, then maybe you should consider something crucial. The only opposition to this vile, immoral, and un-Christian-like behavior stems from the liberal Democrats and their allies. The Conservative Republicans (not really--this is not the party of Lincoln and Teddy Roosevelt) control both houses of Congress AND the Presidency, and, under their command, all hell has been unleashed an unsuspecting world.

Vote Democrat unless you LIKE being attached to the vile hypocrisy that is their foreign and domestic policy.

[Chichiri]

3. Not bad, but...

I was hoping for something more specific.

He cites the will of the majority, for instance -- he obviously hasn't seen the latest polls.

[Mythsaje]

4. Okay...

I was turning the argument around--one of my favorite tactics.

Let me get serious here.

[cynatnite]

19. The founding fathers didn't set up the country for majority rule

One of them, I think Jefferson, said that a democracy is more like mobocracy. Mob rule which overruns the minority.

The founding fathers never wanted that. They knew if it was, the minority would get trampled on and their voices never heard.

[Warren Stupidity]

2. I would agree with part of his thesis

Tired of hearing our president called a liar? Time to vote the liar out of office. Tired of hearing that our troops are occupying a foreign nation? Lets bring them home. Tired of hearing that we are torturing our prisoners? Lets elect leaders who obey internation laws and treaty obligations, leaders who take the geneva conventions seriously.

His letter is the 'blame the messenger' attack. Your response ought to point this out and then note that Bush lied to take us to war, that we are therefore illegally occupying Iraq, and that we have decided that the Geneva Conventions do not apply to our treatment of detainees. Finally you should note that it is time for Americans to wake up and face the truth, even if the truth is unpleasant.

[Chichiri]

7. Niiice!

[Imalittleteapot]

5. Easy.

If you're sick of hearing our president called a liar, sick of hearing our soldiers described as occupiers and of running gulags, and tired of certain citizens doing all they can to give aid and comfort to the enemy, then maybe you should consider something. ENLIST.

[newswolf56]

6. Note the damning fact that senatorial elections...

...are by law staggered (unless some disaster opens both seats at once) -- which makes Otnes' letter sound suspiciously like a call to terminal vigilante violence against the entire North Dakota senatorial delegation. Otnes' concluding line is especially inflammatory: "Politically speaking, no other state citizenry has more power to kill the leftist beast and drive a stake into its heart than do the citizens of North Dakota."

[Chichiri]

9. I don't think I can get away with...

speculating that Otnes is calling for terminal vigilante violence against Senators Dorgan and Conrad in a LTTE. But you probably have a point.

[Mythsaje]

8. Second try...

I have to take exception to this letter-writer who suggests that North Dakota has the power to drive a stake'into the 'leftist beast' and 'kill' it.

One has to consider that roughly half the country DIDN'T vote for four more years of the same. That pretty much throws the whole "majority" argument out the window, doesn't it? And, what's more, the majority of Americans are seriously questioning the wisdom of this war and the way it's been carried out.

Don't blame the Democrats for this...the fact remains that the war in Iraq was ill-considered and actually played right into the hands of the man responsible for the 9/11 attacks. It left him free to wander the rest of the Middle East pretty much at will, and plunged two Islamic countries into the kind of chaos that not only breeds terrorists, but trains them to be more effective fighters.

[K-W]

10. If you are sick of your president being a liar... etc EOM

[havocmom]

11. Trying to find the #s on population to Senator ratio by party

I know there were some links around here awhile back showing that, although there are more GOP Senators, by population and party affiliation, the Dems in the Senate actually represent more voters.

will keep looking for some links and hard numbers for you.

Anybody happen to have those links? Cuz that would be the tool with which this particula joust will be won.

[Chichiri]

13. bump -- I would love to see the figures on this!

[havocmom]

17. Am not finding them

AARRGGG. Need a smarter bloke than me at the google bar. I may put out a general request post for somebody with the info. It was interesting as I recall. Something like our count in the Senate is the percentage of the population in the states they represent and vice versa.

[indypaul]

12. U S History 101

The very existence of the U.S. Senate is to assure that
voices of the minority will not be silenced. It was
not created for conservative or liberal, Democrat or
Republican positions on issues of the day, but to
assure that interests of all citizens will be heard
and given a place to be considered. The framers of
the Constitution knew well a majority opinion
is just that and may well be in error given time
for serious consideration. The Senators from
North Dakota are shining examples of the very purpose
for which that body was originated and serve not only
their state but the entire United States very well
in these efforts and should be encouraged rather than
scorned with partisan political vitriol. Those
who think infallibility is found in a ballot box
demonstrate a high degree of ignorance not only of the
history of this nation but to a large extent human
nature itself.

[Chichiri]

14. That is excellent.

Thanks. :hi:

[Chichiri]

15. Here's my first draft . . .

I have a few things to tell Mark Otnes.

First, we don’t fall for “blame the messenger” tactics. If, for instance, Otnes is sick of hearing the President being called a liar, he should not have voted for George Bush, whose lies are well-documented. Calling this “poison,” or “vile nonsense,” doesn’t make it so.

Second, we’ve read “1984.” So Otnes should stop trying to install John Kerry and Michael Moore as Emmanuel Goldstein figures. It’s all too predictable.

Third, Otnes needs to brush up on American history. The reason our Founding Fathers created the Senate was to ensure that the voice of the minority would not be silenced. They knew that a majority opinion is just that, and could, after time and consideration, be found in error. This is exactly what has happened with George Bush and the violence in Iraq; most Americans now disapprove of both.

Finally, Senators Dorgan and Conrad are shining examples of why the Senate was created, and all North Dakotans should be proud of them. Referring to them with vigilante violence rhetoric (“kill the leftist beast and drive a stake into its heart”) makes Otnes, and by extension the GOP, seem rather unpatriotic. Not to mention a little frightening.


(204 words)

[cry baby]

16. I think this draft strikes all the right chords...

it refutes his points while sounding non-threatening and friendly. Nice job!

[indypaul]

18. Glad to be of help. n/t