Things you agree with Republicans/conservatives on:

[SeveneightyWhoa]

And please don't say "nothing!", because yes, we all dislike Republicans immensely. But this is a thought thread--meaning you have to think as hard as humanly possible to come up with something that both you AND Republicans agree on.

Me:
Against strict gun control (Canada's disaster of a gun registry has moved me to the right as far as gun control is concerned--and a bunch of guns will be necessary when fascism comes knocking--or kicking--at the door)
I'm also against gay marriage (which is rare for a DU'er), but totally for civil unions. It's more of a labelling issue than anything.

[Mattforclark]

1. Bush's HIV/AIDS innitiative

But I am not sure that most Republicans agree with it...

I also agree with at least one thing on the Republican Party's platform.

"The arrogance, inconsistency, and unreliability of the administration’s diplomacy have undermined American alliances, alienated friends, and emboldened our adversaries."

Except they are talking about the Clinton administration. You can bet that this section will be 'missing' from their new platform.

[Philosophy]

13. The AIDS initiative from Bush*'s perspective

It's much better to have the government buy billions of dollars of expensive AIDS drugs from his crony pharmaceutical industry executives than to give Africa a much smaller amount of money for safe sex education and family planning. As long as his friends get rich he is full of "compassion".

In the warped religios-right conservative scheme of values, preventing babies from being conceived or born is an abomination while letting them die soon after birth of AIDS and other diseases and even starvation from being so poor is something that we shouldn't bother about.

[TXvote]

20. You Bought That Load of Crap?

Look, having lived in Texas where health care reform includes dropping thousands of patients off their HIV cocktail and then bragging about money saved, I can assure you that the HIV initiative is a big pharmaceutical profit making pile of CRAP.

Are you aware that a team of patent experts traveled on the Biff Co/ African photo tour to meet with government and lay out what they would need to do in order to qualify for funding? In no way will a country qualify for aid if they attempt to purchase, manufacture, or distribute generic versions of these drugs. So if you can only afford to treat one patient with the name brand cocktail as opposed to 5 patients for the same cost with generic drugs, is Biff Co saving lives or killing people with their policies?

That's why the former CEO of Lilley was appointed to lead the program.

There is nothing wrong with saving lives if that is what you are really going to do. In fact way to many Biff Co policies are based on the premise that a dead citizen is a cheaper citizen.

Sorry, could not let that one slide.

Peace,
Teresa
www.votervirgin.com

[quinnox]

2. I agree about

the gay marriage thing, the reason is I think civil unions covers it, which I have no problem with.

I agree with some republicans that government at times can run wasteful and bloated programs, that can be much better managed or gotten rid of. By this I am not talking about needed social programs, although streamlining and getting rid of a lot of the bureaucracy could improve them, but the pork barrel types of programs.

On the guns, I don't agree. I want more gun control, not less.

Finally, I agree with Buchanan that the United States should concentrate on this country, and not be so pre-occupied with other countries. We have enough problems at home.

[ant]

8. sort of an aside

What's the difference between giving homosexuals civil unions and marriage? Is it just a matter of what we call it or do civil unions not carry the full legal benefits of marriage? Or is it that marriage is too closely associated with the religious sacrament and so people just prefer a different name? I don't really understand this aspect of the debate.

[rucky]

11. Federal vs. State-by-state recognition

the rhetoric is murky on purpose.

[LeahMira]

73. Makes the process simpler, Ant.

What's the difference between giving homosexuals civil unions and marriage? Is it just a matter of what we call it or do civil unions not carry the full legal benefits of marriage? Or is it that marriage is too closely associated with the religious sacrament and so people just prefer a different name?

I believe that people who are homosexual are interested in keeping the same terminology because a lot of legal language mentions marriage and if a separate term is used for homosexual unions it may require rewriting a lot of laws to include them. It would be simpler all around to use the same word, leave most of the existing laws alone, and just include all marriages.

For example, in my state, the adoption law mentions that any married couple or any single person may adopt. In just that one section of the law, there are several references to "any married couple." We could either amend that law, and all other laws that mention "any married couple" to read "any married couple or any couple in a civil union..." or we could just write one law that says couples of the same sex can marry and eliminate the need to comb through all the rest of the laws of the state to make sure that all the references are correct.

I suspect that there are some states that would not be particularly bothered, for instance, if a homosexual couple had rights to inherit from one another, etc., but they would balk at letting that couple adopt. So, if we're going to extend equal rights to all citizens, let's make them really equal, and let's not insist that homosexual couples fight for every single concomitant right along the way.

[WillyBrandt]

3. Free Trade, bilingual education

- Yes, the GOP are fair-weather free traders, but I follow the DLC/Economist/Libertarian Republican line on free, rules-based trade, though I would like a complementary project on improving labor laws worldwide. (Incidentally, Paul Krugman turned me this way. He's quite the free trader, as most liberal economists are.)

- Bilingual education seems like a horrible idea. I don't like those English only goons, but the best thing for immigrant kids to learn is English. It's helps whether they go in the college path or not. I say immerse them as much as possible in English, with maybe a guidance counselor who speaks (Spanish/Chinese/Martian/Whatever) to help the rough spots. Bilingual education seems to be a harmful crutch to me.

PS - Oh, yeah, I'm very anti-GOP on guns. I'm very pro Gun Control.

[Lisa0825]

4. It depends... there is a split in the party; the neocons vs conservatives

I actually find I agree with real conservatives on a lot. They also detest the Patriot Act and the so-called War on Terror. I think the acrimony in this country would be a lot lower if the real conservatives were stil in charge of the Republican party, because some of the things we are fighting aginst, they are also protesting.

[QC]

5. Agree with Buchanan that "free trade" as practiced now

is a threat to national sovereignty.

[1songbird]

31. Amen

[redqueen]

74. It's a freaking tragedy that this isn't common knowledge. N/T

[weldon_berger]

6. Some Republicans

are strong civil libertarians and, although they have no clout whatsoever these days, many Republicans are quite moderate on social issues. The half dozen or so Senate Republicans who sometimes vote with Democrats are far more to my liking than is alleged Democrat Zell Miller.

[arewethereyet]

7. Republicans/conservatives ? which shall it be ?

Conservatives would like a smaller more streamed line government, republicans seem to want the largest one possible. I'd like the correct balance.

On the whole I can't answer the question because these two groups are becomming increasingly mutually exclusive.

However: I do not favor strict gun control, and I also favor civil unions over marriage (the government should not be in the marriage business but I don't think that this issue would have ever been dreamed of 20 years ago), I would like to see better accountability in government spending as I don't think that they use those trillions wisely. Those could qualify for one of the two camps I guess.

[UTUSN]

9. "Nothing" n/t

[Generic Other]

16. Nothing Squared!

is still nothing!

[jfxgillis]

10. Hollywood

is polluting our popular culture with sophomoric soft porn.

Madison Ave., too, but most GOP/conservatives wimp out on that part of the equation!

[rucky]

12. Guns...Cuts before taxes

too bad the hogs can't get themselves away from the trough & practice what they preach.

[45th Med]

14. I agree on Gun Control and Gay Marriage also.....

I am completely FOR civil unions tho.

I want the Assault Weapons ban to sunset.....

[tom_paine]

15. This is gonna get me flamed, but here goes

NOTE: Busheviks are NOT Republicans...they are Totalitarians, and because of that MUST be opposed! However, assuming a healthy Republic and a Free Press, neither of which we have, here are the things I would side with "Republicans" on: (which simply no longer exists really, having been consumed whole by the Imperial Family and their Bushevik followers)

Gun control (I think many liberals have come to intimately understand why the 2nd Amendment is so important as the Imperial Fist closes...for all the truth to the fact that individuals with guns cannot withstand Imperial Sturmtruppen, the collective idea of a nation bristling with arms makes the Busheviks go slower, IMHO, because one false move could damage the prize they wish to steal undamaged)

Immigration (we must come to grips with the fact that we can no longer be quite so open in our policies, not from a national security standpoint but because finally, Amerika is fully developed and populated, perhaps even overdeveloped...this is not to say that immigration should drop to zero, but more sensible policies should be put in place since the Immigration Act of 1965; of course, as the Empire becomes less and less free, this will deter immigration for purposes of asylum, and as it becomes more impoverished and Third-World like, also deterred)

Affirmative Action (rather than attack it head on and abruptly kill it, we should {and remember this presupposes a healthy Republic rather than the dying one in which we live} have a dialogue and agree on a schedule to phase it out over the course of decades...of course, the idea of ANY dialogue affecting the current Imperial Rulers is ludicrous...they think we are ALL animals to be herded, not just African-Americans, but again, I am making these statements assuming we still lived during the Height of the Old Republic)

Death Penalty (not much to say here...except that better checks and balances would be needed for implementation and the fairness of said implementation)

I believe there are a couple other places I agree with the Archaic Republican Party here, but I can't think of them right now and this post is long enough already.

NOW LET THE FLAMES BEGIN!

[_Jumper_]

18. Third World-like?

What makes you think America will become more Third World-like?

[tom_paine]

21. That's an easy one (points to left-field bleachers)

1. Third-World Law: Our Law, like our government, at least during the Old American Republic, was founded on the idea of checks and balances..."probable cause". The unPATRIOT Act and the sections of unPATRIOT II that are currently being tacked onto other bills and handled by Imperial Fiat, are removing those checks and balances. From the ability of the Emperor to indefinitely imprison Citizens without trail (2 already, Padilla and an Arab-American who's name escapes me) to the Total Information Awareness program (if you think it's gone I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you cheap) to the new FBI guidelines which allow inspection of damned near any records anywhere without a judge's signature, every day we grow closer and closer to the Third-World dictatorships we used to laugh at. Even IF these powers aren't currently being abused (and I don't believe that for a SECOND), how long can human beings resist the temptation to use these unchecked powers to strike at enemies? History says not "if". History says "when".

I believe history.

2. Third-World Economy: Already we have the greatest wealth disparity of the Civilized World. I won't say the Free World because I don't believe we really belong to that technically, although at least until the fish's head is done rotting, we "little people" get to live in denial for awhile longer...not that I am complaining about these few extra years. Imperial Policies haven't even begun to kick in and already the portion of wealth owned by the Top 1% have now returned to pre-1929 levels. Factor in the end of the Estate Tax, created by Teddy Roosevelt to help prevent the growth of Moribund Aristocracy and it won't be long until we are back at 1890s levels. Think about it...the average CEO makes over 500 times the average worker. This number grew even during the Age of Clinton. Imperial Bushevik policies will increase the rate at which this gap increases. Bye Bye Middle Class. Hello haves and Have-Nots. It's already happening. Look around.

And the Wal-Martization continues.

3. Third-World Press: Again, take a good look at the Party-Loyal Right-Wing Sub-Media and how it plays the tune that Corporate TV Pravda dances to. Bush is beset by dozen of grotesque scandals and conflicts of interests from no-bid contracts to stealing the money they POWs from Gulf war I won from Iraq to cutting Veteran's benefits to "Bring 'Em On!" to WMD Lies to the Plame Affair to the $850,000 Harken Stock Dump, for which Martha Stewart is being hounded over 1/20th the amount to...(there's more, much more, but you get the idea) Any one of these Bush scandals would have brought down Clinton. Clinton was hounded over scandals which he ultimately was exonerated from. Yet many people don't even know Clinton was exonerated from Whitewater, Travelgate, Filegate, Pardongate, and Trashing the White House, among others. There can be only one exlanation for this kind of grotesquely Orwellian double-standard. Directly or indirectly, the Corporate Press is controlled...so much is out-of-bounds for discussion. The "teflon" of Ronald Raygun is now the Grotesque Orwellian Untouchability of the Emperor Bunnypants*. Only in Third-World nations is there such dispairty between treatment of the Rulers and the Opposition. And things can still get much, much worse here in the Empire as far as Corporate Pravda goes...

4. Third-World Government: Grover Norquist once let slip what they aim to do to the government..."drown it in a bathtub". But there still needs to be a mechanism for Imperial Control of the Localities. As the Imperial Senate becomes more and more ineffectual and bankrupt; as the Public Treasury continues it's transformation into Imperial Privy Purse; as social programs die and the Imperial Subjects grow evermore restless, there will have to be an Imperial Government that springs forth to take up the slack and keep the Locals in line. The Citizen Corps Councils (and that CCC designation is NOT a coincidence, IMHO) provide just such a vehicle.

www.citizencorps.gov

These councils, if you look at them, combine all the executive agencies in localities under one aegis. Orders can be given directly from the Emperor via DoJ liasons directly to localities. Police Chiefs, Fire Chiefs, Transportation Chiefs, Medical Chiefs, Local Government Executives...all at the same table, all taking their orders directly from the Emperor and his minions. Once the Imperial Family succeeds in marginalizing the Imperial Senate to the point where it can be "drowned in the bathtub", the Citizen Corps Councils will be in every city and town, ready to take up the slack from that bankrupted institution.

Already we can see a merging of the Executive and Judicial Branches into one, as it was with Imperial Rome, in the way 63 Clinton nominees were kept out, and the Emperor has appointed those 63 seats in addition to 100 or so of his own. It is laughably Orwellian the way the yowl and yamer that a mere 4 of their Imperial Appointments were held up. But of course, for a people with no history and no memory, as with the Imperial Subjects of Amerika, it is pitifully easy (see #3).

5. Third-World Education: Finally, an educated Middle Class is poison to Imperial Ambition. All of the Age of Enlightenment was a struggle to educate a greater and greater percentage of citizens. This tendency reached it's height with the Height of the Old American Republic and the creation of the Guaranteed Student Loan and Pell Grant. Suddenly, vast numbers of Middle Class people found themselves educated. Now, thanks to rocketing tutition and the withering of these programs, particularly relative to increasing tuition, higher education is once again trending toward becoming the sole province of wealth again. Yet another result of bankrupting the goverment and "drowning it in a bathtub". As our society becomes infintely more complex, higher education is evermore needed to understand it. A confused and ignorant people are more easily lead, more easily lied to, more easily propagandized because they are denied the tools to even understand what propaganda is in all it's evolving forms.

How do you like that answer, _Jumper_?

[_Jumper_]

43. That is ok

I just wanted to see if you were one of the Pat Buchanan-types who believe that America will become a Third World country the moment the white share of the U.S. population dips below 50%.

[tom_paine]

65. No, I'm not a Pat Buchanan type

:crazy:

However, Pat does seem dreadfully "liberal" in his leaning when looked at next to the Imperial Family and their Bushevik followers...

[TXvote]

23. The GOP has been hijacked

by a small number of determined criminals. If the GOP was an airplane, The Republicans I know would not be sitting in thier seats.....

[Jax]

45. No flames here

But I confess I had no idea tom_paine. My disappointment here, if any, is my own, not yours. You have way too many, many eloquent DU opinions. I agree with you more than I do not agree with you.

Choice, opinions. While we still have choice...

I do agree with that Frenchman Voltaire.."I may not agree with what you have to say...but I will fight to the death...for your right to say it". I will.

Come see us up here in Marysville, Washington. Longest school district strike in Washington State History. GO SCHOOL TEACHERS!!! The lame duck school board here is so very typical of right wing 'elected' school boards, it all starts at the local level. Ralph Reed would be very proud of the outgoing voted out school board ilk here. He wrote their script---"Ho Chi Min...thief in the night...stealth...start at school boards level...move up...infiltrate". Here in Marysville, we caught them butt cold on election day. At the school board level. Voted all three of the right wing out soundly. But they still hurt us with a "lame duck" stealthy snuck in superintnedent contract extension. They NEVER play fair. Never have, never will. But they are the first to cry when they 'perceive' someone has not played fair against them...enough. Enough.

Now comes the local councils, mayor, school boards, county councils, county executives, and 'miscellaneous' paid and elected 'board' people that you better believe count...your tax dollars pay for these services. We must pay attention and vote at ALL levels.

tom_paine, You make DU a great place, even when I do not agree with you.


Jax

[Fleshdancer]

17. hmm, it depends on the Republican I guess

McCain - campaign finance reform (but all candidates should be capped, no option of opting out).

Cheney - homosexual couples should be given the same legal rights as heterosexual couples.

Buchanan - Iraq war is insane.

[1a2b3c]

19. guns and maybe a little on taxes

I think we should have more control on government spending so that we could have more money with alot less taxes.

I also want to be the guy with a gun(s) when fascism comes a knocking.

[wuushew]

28. How do you fix income inequality without aggressive taxation?

The rich should be taxed to death in order to pay down the debt, provide social services and to pay for expanded number of well paying government service jobs that should arise as our society shifts out of manufacturing.

[1a2b3c]

39. Communism is good

But its not american. I guess thats the best i can explain it. It wouldnt be fair to tax someone because they are rich.

[Mentalist]

69. Communism is not good

Communism is not good and has lead to the greatest wholesale slaughter of humans in history.

[Fla_Democrat]

60. Words escape me

[Mentalist]

67. Taxed to death

who will be taxed when there are no longer any rich people because they will all have been taxed to death?

You post is one of the most ill thought out concepts I have seen posted here in a long time. I really don't even know how to reply.

[TXvote]

22. Do Republicans Agree With Bush?

Seems to me that the pubs I know are not only disappointed, but frankly somewhat shocked by Biff Co and struggling to try to find a way to agree with him more and more.

For instance, I personally believe that less government is a good idea and thought it was a conservative idea that constituted common ground. However with a real increase since 1999 of 1.1 million new federal positions created, how committed are the pubs to this ideal? I hear it touted all the time, and conservatives seem to believe less is better, but where is their boy-leader on the issue? Same with education and the environment.

I may agree with my Republican friends on some real core issues, but do they believe Biff is upholding those ideals? Therein lies the rub. It's the actual practice of the preaching that reminds me of Pat Roberts in the 1980's. Kind of makes you feel pukey when you see him on TV.....

Peace,
Teresa
www.votervirgin.com

[w4rma]

24. Everything I agree with them on is already law and isn't controversial n/t

[Stargleamer]

25. I agree with George Will. . . .

that Brooks Robinson was the best fielding third baseman we ever saw. A virtual vacuum cleaner at third base. My guess is most Republicans feel this way, even Rush. . .

[Yupster]

51. Good one stargleamer

but he still grounded into too many double plays.

[quaker bill]

26. That the sun generally rises in the morning.

They are wrong on guns, taxes, foriegn policy, domestic policy, social policy, environmental policy, civil right, affirmative action.....

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

61. No, not even that. They think the sun will cease to rise soon.

End Times, y'know.

[BurntIceCubeTray]

27. Freeing the slaves

Remember Lincoln?

[maggrwaggr]

29. television sucks

and is a REALLY bad influence on the young

Other than that I can think of nothing I agree with them on.

[mitchum]

30. drugs are fun

[Gringo]

32. PC - to a degree.

I don't think we should EVER allow things to get as crass and race-baiting as the GOP ALWAYS does, but I think some democrats' insistence on adherence to albsolutely ridiculous PC codes is more of a liability than an asset. It stifles people's ability to be frank and honest in discussions, and it alienates less-educated voters who don't really understand the need for it.

I also think that our support for gay rights is a liability. Unfortunately, I don't think we should ever abandon gay rights, because, gays MUST have equal rights under the law. It is unfortunate, though, how the right is able to twist it into us somehow being the "gay" party, and use it as a wedge issue.

[Selwynn]

34. Define "PC" for me please...with specific examples...

..of what you object to.

[Gringo]

63. If you don't understand what PC excesses are at this point,

then you are way too out of touch for me to help you.

It's like me asking you to cite specific hate crimes merely to establish that hate crimes ever take place.

Hate crimes do take place, and PC does go overboard. DU is in some ways a stiflingly PC place, but I rein myself in because I agree with the intentions of PC, but not the implementation.

On example is when people take offense at the use of terms like "trailer trash" to describe the voters Dean is supposedly courting. (To use such terms is of course generalizing, but we are also generalizing when we talk about "republicans" or "the rich".)
I have met "trailer trash" who were the absolute salt of the earth, but I still know what people are talking about when using this term, and I would not choose to start attacking them on the use of the term while TOTALLY IGNORING whatever the actual point of the discussion is. If you know what someone means, and what a person's intention is, it is disgusting to sieze on a slip of the tongue or poor choice of words.

Limbaugh's comments about McNabb were racist only because they are in the context of all the racist things he's said in the past.

Dean's Dixie flag comments were not.

[tom_paine]

66. I agree with you on the PC thing, Gringo

The Left is not without it's excesses. But of course they pale before the Imperial Family and I would LOVE to go back to battle against the excesses of PC and cigarette-Nazis and the excesses of "hate-crimes" and all of that.

Next to the Imperial Family, they are NOTHING...not scary at all and no immediate threat the way the Busheviks are.

[durutti]

46. No such thing.

Seriously. Read The Myth of Political Correctness by John K. Wilson.

[Mentalist]

68. PC is real

No doubt about it. PC is real.

When someone can lose their job for properly using a word, or can be sent to "sensitivity training" and reprimanded for properly using a word, PC is real.

When LA County demands that manufacturers change the labeling on a product because the words on the label are offensive and violate the counties committment to ensure a work environment that is free from any discriminatory influence be it actual or perceived. PC is real.

And what was the offending label? "Master/Slave" used in computer equipment labeling. (Emancipating Hard Drives, http://www.reason.com/hitandrun/003490.shtml#003490)

People are no longer allowed to sit "indian style". Now we must sit "Tailor Style".

When the "insane asylum" portion of a haunted house has to be removed because mental health workers and patients complain that the name is "offensive", PC has run amok.

PC is real. I don't have time to compile a lengthy list of examples. But it is real.

[Blue_Chill]

72. Emancipating Hard Drives -- LOL!!!!!!!!!

That is the funniest thing I've read in a while.

[leftofthedial]

33. nothing

and I have thought about it.

If they get anything right, it is totally by accident or is a politically motivated, transient, wholly cynical manipulation.

I'm pro gun control. Every gun on the planet should be melted down. Gun crime should be a capital offense.

I think abortion is far underutilized. Neocons are walking proof.

I think any consenting adults should be free to "marry." It is a contractual agreement. None of the government's business.

These are evil, amoral people, bent on destruction of our civilization.

[Selwynn]

35. As far as I know, nothing.

[Dirk39]

36. Preemptive strike...

Hello from Germany!

but afraid of being flamed, I don't go into detail...
O.K. I do, I would feel like a hypocrit, if I would offend Bush and co. for that concept. If the UN would be democratic, and if Europe or the USA would be democratic, which means having a government, seperated from corporate-interests and lobbyists, serving the people not the finanical markets, the banks and the corporations - and they would use preemptive strikes ast a last possibility against governments, who offend human rights or serve coroporate interests, I would be the first to support them. Nuke them down.
I just don't like Bushs' concept of preemptive strike: to attack every country on earth that is in the way of corporate interests.

Dirk

[WillyBrandt]

40. Too broad a brush

"and they would use preemptive strikes ast a last possibility against governments, who offend human rights or serve coroporate interests"

This is too broad a brush. Moreover, it's not the Republicans who think this way.

The best, and possibly only, example of this--Kosovo--was a Democratic (and New Labour) idea. The GOP was quite against it and make great political hay of it.

There are three concepts to keep in mind:

1. Preemptive war. If you don't attack now, the enemy will attack very soon with advantage. The classic example is Isreal in 1967. This is what "preemptive war" is supposed to mean, though the term has been hijacked. Few people dispute that is is legal and justified in certain cases.

2. Preventative war. Attack out of self-defense, not because there is any immininent danger, but because--just maybe--there's a chance the situation may change against you, possibly. Intervening in an already existing struggle does not count--Vietnam was its own kind of disaster.

3. "Humanintarian war". A ridiculous phrase, to be sure, but it's the question of using war for moral purposes that are immediate and real. Not the illusory idea of democracy at the end of a gun in the Middle East, but for the purposes of stamping out THE WORST violations of human rights. (Sorry, "corporate influence" is the least of the many evils of man.) Should me done in a careful multilateral way. Often security ideas coincide, but humanitarian ideas maintain a prime importance, unlike in Iraq war.

1 and 3 I can agree with. 3 is FAR more a Democratic and liberal idea on the American political spectrum than a Republican one. (Liberals in America aren't anti-war. We're anti-stupid war. We're also anti war that doesn't have some moral purpose to it: this is one reason that so many liberals were suckered into supporting the Iraq war--the idea was that good might come of it. No such luck).

I don't know if you really support 2. If you do, then you're on your own.

(Es ist ein bisschen frueh in--wo?--Baden-Baden?--Vaihingen?--Garmisch-Partenkirchen?--oder?)

[burr]

49. no more pre-emptive strikes on school children...

Found something to agree with Bob Barr on!

(The official inquiry into the raid is ongoing. But few who have seen the closed-circuit TV images are neutral about what happened. The now widely reproduced black-and-white video shows police barging into the school with guns drawn and pointed at students. We see dozens of students lying prone in the school's hallways with armed officers clearly shouting at them to "get down and put your hands up" while searching vainly for the drugs that were the justification for the raid in the first place.

The good news is that no student was killed or injured by any quick-draw officer's accident or overreaction. The bad news is that the incident illustrates the degree to which America is now gripped by a climate of fear and overreaction. It also bears testimony to the unbridled power with which our society has clothed government, both local and national.)


<http://atlanta.creativeloafing.com/news_flankingaction.html>

The primary thing I disagree with him on here is any suggestion that preemptive strikes are doing Iraq any good.

[area51]

37. agree w/conservs on ...

I'm pro-gun & for the death penalty.

[nemo137]

38. i like the libertarians on many things

for instance, the government can get the hell out of my wallet*, bedroom, and church. i disgree with them on how much they trust business.

*that said, i'd pay way higher taxes for decent schools and healthcare.

[shanti]

41. not a gatdamn thing

sorry.

[sujan]

42. guns

[chaska]

44. The earth is round.

Uh, no wait.... Nothin' I guess.

[durutti]

47. Nothing

I don't care either way about guns.

[coloradodem2005]

48. Gun control

While the current crop of Republicans drive me nuts, Democrats violate the 2nd with how far the want to push gun control. Though I don't own a gun, I just care about maintaining civil liberties. Other than that it depends on the individual and issue. I respect John McCain, and Powell (even if he is in *'s administration).

[TexasPatriot]

50. I would agree with them on lots of things

America is a great country filled with a lot of really really good people (of course, the ones I think are good and the ones they think are good may differ)

America has some scary people on the political fringe (again, we might differ on who those people are...)

The American media is twisted by a politically ideological bias. (though, again, we probably differ as to what that bias might be)

Too many people sue too many other people for no good reason. That doesnt mean I think we should have any limitation on this sort of thing - i just think, culturally, its what we get for having so many lawyers.

We should spay and neuter our pets.

Telemarketers and Spammers are bad. Well, maybe not the poor girl that calls me on the phone because she cant get a job doing anything else... just her boss, or her bosses boss, or the marketing person at the bank that thinks i want to be bothered - repeatedly - even though I've asked them to stop.

there's more, but you get the idea

[dawgman]

52. Conservatives, not refucklicans, are wrong not evil

conservatives agree with us on many levels. Reduce the military (unnecessary use of federal funds) and such. A TRUE conservative (would be a libertarian) would also agree on the socially liberal agenda re: drugs and abortion.

[OKNancy]

53. American culture is getting more crude and course

People don't seem to value "high" art anymore. If it doesn't shock, then it doesn't get noticed. It has to be loud and sexy.

Good manners? What's that?

No wonder young people don't think about politics. There are too many distractions.

[dawgman]

54. Those distractions should work to our favor.

Refucklican/religious right don't want porn, spears, or any of the other "sinful" influences on our children.

[OKNancy]

57. I don't understand your post at all

This thread is about agreeing with Republicans.

However I do know a lot of liberals agree with me, especially those involved in the arts community.

I'm an atheist, so I don't believe in sin but I DON'T want porn etc to influence our children either. Not through censorship but through raising the whole mindset of the public. In my perfect world people would choose the symphony, opera, ballet, literary works over other things. Or, even if they didn't, at least realize their importance in a vibrant culture...........uhhhh kind of like France.

[Q]

55. A 'thought thread'?

- How quaint.

- Perhaps a more relevant question would be: 'things we agree with other Democrats on'....

-

[Piperay]

56. I agree with Bush on

the "don't call list", that is the only thing I can think of that I agree with a repuke on. :shrug:

EDIT: word change.

[Sweetpea]

58. If you are going to lie, steal and disparage others, you better be slick

enough to get away with it.

[NewJeffCT]

59. Well

I'd say free trade works in the long run... but, Bush is doing everything he can to defeat the idea of free trade.

[11 Bravo]

62. I believe that one or two of them accept that the Earth is round.

Other than that, not a thing.

[Mentalist]

64. several things

and these will not make me popular nor win friends but I firmly believe that republicans/conservatives are right about these things.

1) I fully support the 2nd amendment and believe there are far to many gun control laws already on the books.

2) Privatization of Social Security. I would go further than the republicans though and go for total privatization and not partial.

3) Taxes are too high

On Edit: Add a few

School Choice
Death Penalty
Illegal Immigration (they are NOT undocumented workers, they are ILLEGAL aliens/immigrants)
Political Correctness has gotten out of control
Some voting security issues. I have no problem with a voting having to prove they are who they say they are to vote.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

71. Then why are you...

a Democrat? (If you are, that is.)

[webtrainer]

70. Agree with conservatives, yeah . . .

but Republicans, nahh.

Republicans now are radicals and Democrats are conservatives. Examples:
-Who wants to transform (i.e., dry up and dissolve) social programs that have been working (more or less) since the 1930s?
Republicans.
-Who's trying to maintain the current system (if not improve/expand)?
Democrats.

I'm sick and tired of this race to the bottom.