What happened to the “Master Debaters?”

[CrusaderFrank]

Dems long for the good ole days: Saddam in Baghdad and the Taliban in Kabul.

 

[Oddball]

I hear this guy needs a job.

Mebby he could get a Sunday show on GLBTNBC.

 

[CrusaderFrank]

Dems have real Intellectual Heavyweights in their lineup: Joe Biden, Al Franken, Van Jones.

I'm so a-scared of debated Libruls

 

[The Rabbi]

I'll agree to the extent that I think the current crop of folks who are providing the intellectual foundation for the right fall so far short of the William F. Buckleys and George Wills - what do they have instead? Sarah Palin, Charles Krauthammer, Ann Coulter, Rush Limbaugh ??????

And where the right used to boast real statesmen with real vision - they have replaced them with Grassley, Shelby, Bachman, Bohner ......

I morn the loss of the rational right and hope - for the sake of my nation - for a better crop SOON. Unfortunately, I just don't see anyone on the horizon capable of toting a briefcase for the giants who went before.

If your only exposure to conservatives comes off the TV or radio you're probably right.
I for one miss the days of Democrats who had principle. I am old enough to remember figures like Hubert Humphrey, Ed Muskey, Scoop Jackson, and Pat Moynihan. You might disagree with them but you never questioned their integrity, commitment, or love of the U.S.
Now instead of them we have Barney Frank, Nancy Pelosi and Barack Insane Obama. I could easily see any of them dragged before the HUAC and given a good interrogation. They aren't articulate. They aren't bright. And they aren't focused on anything beyond winning power for themselves.
As Reagan said, I didnt leave the Democratic Party. The Democratic Party left me.

 

[Annie]

I'll agree to the extent that I think the current crop of folks who are providing the intellectual foundation for the right fall so far short of the William F. Buckleys and George Wills - what do they have instead? Sarah Palin, Charles Krauthammer, Ann Coulter, Rush Limbaugh ??????

And where the right used to boast real statesmen with real vision - they have replaced them with Grassley, Shelby, Bachman, Bohner ......

I morn the loss of the rational right and hope - for the sake of my nation - for a better crop SOON. Unfortunately, I just don't see anyone on the horizon capable of toting a briefcase for the giants who went before.

Uh-huh...And your side has such sterling examples of civility and highbrow communicators as Bill Maher, Randi Rhoads and Keith Olberdouche....Lest we fail to mention that your party has traded the likes of Hubert Humphrey and Daniel Patrick Moynahan for pettifogging demagogues like Nancy Pelosi and Al Frankenstein.

Physician, heal thyself.

Indeed. Methinks nodog has a dog...

 

[alan1]

Remember when the Republican Party was called the “Party of Ideas”? When they won many of the debates with facts and figures? When the majority of scientists were Republican?

What happened?

A typical debate with a Republican on this board:

R: We invaded Iraq, got rid of a bad guy and now the people are free.

Me: Christians have been pretty much wiped out and nearly all, if not all their churches burned.

R: You have to break a few eggs. At least they can practice their religion the way they want.

Me: I disagree. Islam is now the “national religion” by constitution and all legislation is based on Islam.

R: Well, at least women make up 1/3 of the government.

Me: Yea, because we insisted. How much power does 1/3 have, anyway? Besides, if a woman doesn’t run in that district, then it goes to a man. Women can’t even go outside now because they fall under Islamic law and must be escorted everywhere by a male. Some might even call that “protective custody”.

R: Look, you can’t tell people what kind of government they need to have. They need to be free to live their own lives.

Me: Then why did we go in and smash their government? They were already under sanctions. They had no manufacturing and no industry. Everything they had, they bought from the outside, from people willing to share with us because of 9/11, or from our friends, or even us.

R: Screw you sh*teater. *sswipe. I can’t explain anything to you because you are stupid you dumb*ss.

And that is pretty much how a discussion on this board goes.

Many times, it’s even worse. They just go right to the name calling and don't bother with the debate.

What happened to the Republican Party? The Party of ideas, facts and figures?

Got a link?

 

[concept]

Remember when the Republican Party was called the “Party of Ideas”? When they won many of the debates with facts and figures? When the majority of scientists were Republican?

What happened?

A typical debate with a Republican on this board:

R: We invaded Iraq, got rid of a bad guy and now the people are free.

Me: Christians have been pretty much wiped out and nearly all, if not all their churches burned.

R: You have to break a few eggs. At least they can practice their religion the way they want.

Me: I disagree. Islam is now the “national religion” by constitution and all legislation is based on Islam.

R: Well, at least women make up 1/3 of the government.

Me: Yea, because we insisted. How much power does 1/3 have, anyway? Besides, if a woman doesn’t run in that district, then it goes to a man. Women can’t even go outside now because they fall under Islamic law and must be escorted everywhere by a male. Some might even call that “protective custody”.

R: Look, you can’t tell people what kind of government they need to have. They need to be free to live their own lives.

Me: Then why did we go in and smash their government? They were already under sanctions. They had no manufacturing and no industry. Everything they had, they bought from the outside, from people willing to share with us because of 9/11, or from our friends, or even us.

R: Screw you sh*teater. *sswipe. I can’t explain anything to you because you are stupid you dumb*ss.

And that is pretty much how a discussion on this board goes.

Many times, it’s even worse. They just go right to the name calling and don't bother with the debate.

What happened to the Republican Party? The Party of ideas, facts and figures?

The good ones get borked by the mainsmear media.

 

[rdean]

They already had the government of their own choosing.

oh really.....so Sadam allowed free and fair elections?.....you know like the one they had where he was the unanimous choice?......no votes for the other 5 guys....dam!... he was good....

They don't have free and fair elections now. First, women can't go anywhere unescorted by a male relative. That means that if an unescorted woman shows up at the poll, she can't vote.

The Christian population has been pretty much wiped out. So nothing is "free and fair" for them.

If they didn't like their government, then it was up to them to change it - not us.

Since the "constitution" says all "legislation is based on Islam" and "Islam is the national religion" (Articles 2 and 3), anyone who doesn't agree with "Islam" is pretty much screwed. How is that fair? That is not really a question because the answer is obviously, "It's not".

How come so few Republicans actually know what is going on in Iraq these days? The Constitution, the death of the Christians, the lack of women's rights, religion run amok?

 

[garyd]

Yes and for the first fifty or so years you couldn't vote in the US if you didn't own property. Everyone has to start somewhere. And under Sadam sane women didn't go out in public alone either. At least not if they didn't want to get raped by tweedle dum or tweedle dummer or both...

 

[The Rabbi]

The hypocrisy of the Left shows itself again.
Where were they when Kurds were being gassed by Saddam? When saying something negative about him landed you in jail, or worse?
Suddenly they've discovered civil rights. But only when it suits them.
Ask the Hondurans how that hope and change is working for them.

 

[rdean]

Yes and for the first fifty or so years you couldn't vote in the US if you didn't own property. Everyone has to start somewhere. And under Sadam sane women didn't go out in public alone either. At least not if they didn't want to get raped by tweedle dum or tweedle dummer or both...

Two guys couldn't rape a million women.

I understand that Saddam was bad, but women were able to go out and work and teach and shop and just go out. Women's rights groups say that things were much better for women.

The real problem here is that Republicans convinced Ameria to do this awful thing. Destroy another country and ruin the lives of those who didn't ask to be "saved". Of course they want to put a good "face" on a terrible mistake.

Republicans don't understand how President "You killed my cousin" Bush wasn't thanked. How he could be on the "face" end of a pair of shoes. They just don't get it.

 

[rdean]

The hypocrisy of the Left shows itself again.
Where were they when Kurds were being gassed by Saddam? When saying something negative about him landed you in jail, or worse?
Suddenly they've discovered civil rights. But only when it suits them.
Ask the Hondurans how that hope and change is working for them.

Gas he purchased from Western Allies.

He used gas on people who wanted to break away from that country.

We had a "Civil War" to stop the same thing. Who lost more people?

It wasn't our fight. Sad but true. We can't mandate how other people live. It's not the American way. At lieast it didn't used to be.

 

[alan1]

Two guys couldn't rape a million women.

Other than you trying to make a false point, nobody said that.
Where are the master debaters?

I understand that Saddam was bad, but women were able to go out and work and teach and shop and just go out. Women's rights groups say that things were much better for women.

Got proof, or just got milk?
Where are the master debaters?

The real problem here is that Republicans convinced Ameria to do this awful thing. Destroy another country and ruin the lives of those who didn't ask to be "saved". Of course they want to put a good "face" on a terrible mistake.

If America is so convinced, how come you aren't?
Where are the master debaters?

Republicans don't understand how President "You killed my cousin" Bush wasn't thanked. How he could be on the "face" end of a pair of shoes. They just don't get it.

Project much?
Where are the master debaters?

 

[CurveLight]

The hypocrisy of the Left shows itself again.
Where were they when Kurds were being gassed by Saddam? When saying something negative about him landed you in jail, or worse?
Suddenly they've discovered civil rights. But only when it suits them.
Ask the Hondurans how that hope and change is working for them.

Yeah! And where was the Left when the Pharaoh wouldn't let Moses' people go?
(I kind of like these unannounced silly questions contests.)

 

[alan1]

The hypocrisy of the Left shows itself again.
Where were they when Kurds were being gassed by Saddam? When saying something negative about him landed you in jail, or worse?
Suddenly they've discovered civil rights. But only when it suits them.
Ask the Hondurans how that hope and change is working for them.

Gas he purchased from Western Allies.

He used gas on people who wanted to break away from that country.

We had a "Civil War" to stop the same thing. Who lost more people?

It wasn't our fight. Sad but true. We can't mandate how other people live. It's not the American way. At lieast it didn't used to be.

Who is this "we" you speak of? I hope you are not talking about the USA.
A civil war is a war between 2 or more factions fighting for control over an existing independent country or the central government of an independent country. That's never happened in the USA.

 

[Kalam]

What happened to the “Master Debaters?”

They became mass-debaters. Massive debates seem to be their thing; they especially enjoy mass-debating each other.

 

[KittenKoder]

RDean, you are an idiot. When you learn how to debate the rest of us will let you know.

 

[Bfgrn]

The hypocrisy of the Left shows itself again.
Where were they when Kurds were being gassed by Saddam? When saying something negative about him landed you in jail, or worse?
Suddenly they've discovered civil rights. But only when it suits them.
Ask the Hondurans how that hope and change is working for them.

The Halabja poison gas attack (Kurdish: Kîmyabarana Helebce) occurred in the period March 16–17 1988, during the Iran-Iraq War. Chemical weapons (CW) were used by the Iraqi government forces in the Iraqi Kurdish town of Halabja.

The attack instantly killed thousands of people (3,200-5,000 dead instantly) and injured 7,000-10,000, most of them civilians.

International sources for technology and chemical precursors

The know-how and material for developing chemical weapons were obtained by Saddam's regime from foreign firms.

The provision of chemical precursors from United States companies to Iraq was enabled by a Ronald Reagan administration policy that removed Iraq from the State Department's list of State Sponsors of Terrorism. Leaked portions of Iraq's "Full, Final and Complete" disclosure of the sources for its weapons programs shows that thiodiglycol, a substance needed to manufacture mustard gas, was among the chemical precursors provided to Iraq from US companies such as Alcolac International and Phillips. Both companies have since undergone reorganization and Phillips, once a subsidiary of Phillips Petroleum is now part of ConocoPhillips, an American oil and energy company, while Alcolac International has since dissolved and reformed as Alcolac Inc.
wiki

 

[The Rabbi]

Amazing that ABSOLUTELY NOTHING changed in 20 years, except US policy. There was no invasion of Kuwait. There was no support of terrorism. THere was no program for chemical and nuclear weapons. No no, just US hypocrisy.

Give it a rest.

The Left continues to talk out its collective ass here.

 

[CrusaderFrank]

Without Jimmy Carter and the Democrats handing Iran to the Islamists there might not have been a Gulf War.