bleeding heart

You're right. They're not defending Canada's behaviour; they're defending the behaviour of regressive and oppressively violently regimes. We see where their sympathies really move. I think they should advocate openly for Canada to use torture more directly. I'm interested in seeing who the snivelling cowards and moral relativists really are. Yes, surely we don't have to go over the discredited "ticking time bomb" hypothesis yet again.

He decided to insult you in a slightly different way. This was directed at you:

This is a pretty awesome little post.

There are several problems with it...but the most obvious, and which disturbs all sane people, is that innocent people can be tortured, too. Not that Commissars give a good goddamn, of course......

This is really, really low. Get a hold of yourself.

I hear that!

I was a big fan in the eighties, and I still think of them fondly. But Lars is a tool. Just because we enjoy someone's talent doesn't mean we can't recognize when they behave like horses' asses. Billy Bob Thornton is a fantastic actor, seriously brilliant. Also a douchebag. (I strongly recommend watching his interview with Jian Ghomeshi to get the full picture of this petulant little boy.) Picasso, whose talent is, let's just say, legendary, was by most accounts a fairly rotten human being. A lot of actors wouldn't even work with Peter Sellers. And there's Ted Nugent...ye gods. And so on and so on. I hasten to add that none of this is very important to me. I like bands for their music, actors for their acting. If and when they are jerks, that's fine. But it is what it is.

Ha! I think you know the answer. This thread is certainly not about sympathy for the Palestinian people. If anything, it's laughing at their continued plight.

Waldo said he has no idea whether Assange is guilty of the allegations or not; and that Assange has stated his own innocence. What's conflicting about that? They're both uncontroversial truisms.

Seriously. And I'm not denouncing nations, including our own, because we "work with" dictators. Dictators are a fact of life, and can't always be ignored (nor, of course, their countries violently attacked; this method seems more often a failure than an answer, though some people might dispute that). Vicious terrorist groups is another matter, in my opinion. But either way, if glowing accolades are heaped upon monsters, in a manner that obfuscates the reality...I think it plainly begs the question: Why?

Yes, I pretty much agree with all this; my point was something of a distraction from your own. No, I don't think anyone really considered Hussein a "moderate." But whatever Reagan personally thought, he certainly had no qualms about saying such things; I can't speak directly to his use of the word "moderate"...but he went far worse, publically calling the terrorist Contras "freedom fighters"; even though the contemporary "Islamic head-choppers," to say nothing of the Taliban, were arguably not quite as brutal as were these lovely allies, most famous perhaps for rapes and torture-murders.

Yes, quite true. Part of it no doubt depends on what we mean by "moderate." When it comes to leaders in other countries, the term usually is defined by how friendly said leader is to the West; it's a political designation, not a behavioural one. Saddam Hussein, for example, was a "moderate," as was General Suharto. Hussein became a lunatic when he fell out of favour; it of course had precisely zero to do with the way he governed Iraq, or the crimes he committed. As for what we might gnerally agree upon as actual, true "moderates," though, no doubt your point still holds true.

I'm assuming that plenty of them are really awesome individuals, with charm to spare. Ulrich isn't one of them; at least, he comes across as a pompous little windbag. Maybe he's ok, if you know him personally, however. Anything's possible.

Ok. that's it. Stupidity knows no bounds, and is profound. (Cue Shady showing up to discuss a Biden gaffe or some such thing...and pretend it is just as bad. But even his heart isn't in it any more.) Republicans are simply slightly...stupider than everyone else.

Yes, there was no rancour, no partisanship, no bs, no insults...politics was a land of dreams and civility. Until the NDP supporters arrived under a baleful cloud and ruined it all.

Ha!

Partisan knuckledraggers, I presume. Especially since the underlying premise appears to be AIDs...and everyone knows that only bad people get AIDs!

Sure. And while I've never been farther noth than northern New Brunswick, I have heard your sentiments echoed several times. So, one of these days, I'm off the uppermost climes.....

Drummer Lars isn't exactly endearing, either. Moron rockers with plenty of talent is an old story indeed.

Canadien isn't engaging in relativism. He has clearly stated his faith-based beliefs; he only sees no point in attacking those who differ. This sets him apart, arguably, from both the supporters and opponents of ss marriage on this forum.

I'm asking you if you believe it.

Yes, I think you've explained it very well, and I think a lot of posters--who are, actually, at least roughly in agreement--are talking past one another.

I wouldn't ask for any such thing. It's not relevant. And only callous people with poor taste would worry about it. So...there we are!

Most of us don't revile God...we doubt her very existence. It's not the same thing. But I'm interested that you feel we have such a baleful influence.

"Many" and "most" remain quite different words...whatever your personal perception of them.