A place for me to pour out my rants without clogging the inboxes of my friends and family. Also a place to give info on myself and Mary, our family news and events.
But let's blame the feds, right?
Published on September 8, 2005 By Rightwinger In Politics
According to a news item I heard this morning (and I wish I had a link to support this, but I don't---if anyone can locate one, please post it), the Red Cross reports that workers were ready and in position to deliver water, food, supplies and other amenities to the Superdome, but were disallowed and turned away by representatives of the Louisiana Dept. of Homeland Security (in other words, the LA branch of FEMA), who feared that bringing more supplies might draw more people to the "shelter", worsening an already deteriorating situation. Where are all the fingers pointing, though?

As an aside:

I heard another report, a little later, about a comment from an overworked aid worker distributing MREs to Displaced Persons (I'll drag out this old, WW2-era phrase, so as to refrain from referring to them as either "evacuees" or "refugees", terms that, for some odd reason, seem to cause some tension along racial lines, and are often hotly resented). It seems that one of them, a black man, angrily demanded him/her that they should "go and get me something from mcDonald's, whitely."

I'll allow the above comment to stand on its own, to be chewed over by those here who feel that the "entitlement mentality" among minorities in this country is a myth of the Right.

Comments (Page 5)
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on Sep 09, 2005

Nah, I know you better than that. It takes a big man to apologize, drmiler, and I'll c/p this on her thread to make sure she sees it. I also hope she reconsiders her decision to leave, and just chills for a few days to put things back in a better perspective.

As you yourself know, sometimes a break can be a very good thing, we all get too wrapped up in this shit now and then, myself included.


My biggest mistake was putting her in with the rest of the liberal moon-bats. She has more brains than that.
on Sep 09, 2005
My biggest mistake was putting her in with the rest of the liberal moon-bats


At least you've got the balls to apologize. it takes character to do that...
on Sep 09, 2005
At least you've got the balls to apologize. it takes character to do that...


Unlike some we "could" name here but won't, I do "try" to fess up when I screw up. Unlike when I was a kid. I was good at pulling a democrat back then. That's blame EVERYTHING else "but" me.
on Sep 09, 2005

Unlike when I was a kid. I was good at pulling a democrat back then. That's blame EVERYTHING else "but" me.

Smart Democrats grow up into Mature Republicans.

on Sep 09, 2005
Before you go running off at the mouth, maybe you should read reply #64. You can now remove your foot from your mouth.


You apologized to Brandie, and that is great, it really is! However, do you really think that military spouses are not part of the military? Don't mean to be such a jerk about this point, but it has always been a sore spot with me. Other than that, we'll just go on getting along as usual. ;~D
on Sep 09, 2005
Unlike some we "could" name here but won't, I do "try" to fess up when I screw up


And that is very refreshing and much appreciated.

However, do you really think that military spouses are not part of the military?


I sure hope not. I know that I think I'm just as much a part of the military as Dave is. His career is a joint effort....his job is to wear the uniform, and my job is to support him and help him do what he needs to do. If I look after the house and kids, he can go off and take care of the mission without having to worry about what's going on at home.

RW, I'm sorry I hijacked your thread. I'll go write an article on my own blog about this...
on Sep 09, 2005
You apologized to Brandie, and that is great, it really is! However, do you really think that military spouses are not part of the military? Don't mean to be such a jerk about this point, but it has always been a sore spot with me. Other than that, we'll just go on getting along as usual. ;~


I never meant that they were not a part of the military. They are and should be. But it's a different part is all. See you're still going on what I originally posted. Not what was posted later as part of the apology.

Tex, I would have done this on JU but you blacklisted me so I can't. I wish to offer my apology for being so rude to you on rightwingers thread. What I said is the way I feel, but it could have been said in a lot better way. The way it was said is inexcusable at the very least. Little Whip said it for me later. We sometimes forget who we are dealing with (meaning you) after having dealt with the likes of col gene and dabe. And like most "idiots" I tend to lump all liberal types together. Even if they're cut from different cloth. Whether or not if you come back to JU...I don't want to be the reason you go. Please except my apology.

John J. Miller
Pittsburgh, PA

Remember: A good friend will come and bail you out of jail... but, a true friend will be sitting next to you saying,

Damn...that was fun!"
"Illegitimis non carborundum"


Again, ENOUGH on this subject!
on Sep 09, 2005
I'm tired (mentally)just by reading this thread and I do know how she feels cause I feel the same way. Sad...really sad...

Whip, I hope she reads your comments.
on Sep 09, 2005

I'm tired (mentally)just by reading this thread and I do know how she feels cause I feel the same way. Sad...really sad...

Whip, I hope she reads your comments.


I believe she has. Here's an update....this is an email from me back to Brandie.


I didn't mean to be so dismissive. Like I told para...They (you) are "part" of the military and rightfully so and hopefully always will be. Ya'll are just a "different" part is all.. Your one sentence is what I was aiming at and obviously missed.

"I do not fully comprehend what my husband, or his fellow Soldiers, experience throughout the day or while on deployment"

Nor can you, because you're a different part of the equation. Hopefully I said that a little better that I did the first time.

You take care now and come back soon. Like I said I don't want to be the reason for you leaving.

John J. Miller
Pittsburgh, PA

Remember: A good friend will come and bail you out of jail... but, a true friend will be sitting next to you saying,

Damn...that was fun!"
"Illegitimis non carborundum"

-----Original Message-----
From: Brandie Neal [mailto:brandie0121@yahoo.com]
Sent: Friday, September 09, 2005 1:30 PM
To: John J. Miller
Subject: Re: Apology


John,

I absolutely accept your apology and appreciate that you cared enough to take the time to offer it.

I realize that you are not one to worry with using soft words, and I accept that about you. What hurt me was the dismissal of my views and experiences simply because I am a military spouse and not a service member.

I do not fully comprehend what my husband, or his fellow Soldiers, experience throughout the day or while on deployment, but I am intimately familiar with many of the expectations the military has for him, as well as with the ins and outs of military life.

I have sought out ways to be supportive of, and involved with, his military career, and I do not take my obligations as a military spouse lightly.

To have my experiences dismissed out of hand was extraordinarily hurtful to me.

I also want you to know that while to you I may seem obtuse or similar to the liberals that you battle day in and day out, I am truly sincere in my beliefs, and search constantly for what is right and true. I am not one to refuse to concede or admit to being wrong. I am willing to examine my beliefs and adjust them when needed.

We will not always agree, but I can promise you that I will give thought and consideration to the views and evidence presented by you and others. I may not always (or even regularly) come up with the same conclusion as you, but I am, and will continue to be, willing to read, learn, and think about the ideas you present.

Thank you again for this humble act of kindness. It is greatly appreciated.

Take care, and have a great day.

Sincerely,

Brandie
aka "Tex"
on Sep 09, 2005
Many of you have been pretty condescending to her on this thread, as if talking to a very slow child rather than an intelligent, expressive young woman. The references to naiveity and 'living in a bubble' were repetitious and patronizing, akin to patting her on the head and saying.."there there, dear, we know you feel this way because you're too dumb to know any better, but we wuv you anyway."


I know, LW, I know...I was more than a little patronizing, but that's just because I can't believe how naive she is....the welfare thing especially irritates me, because she's like, literally the ONLY person in America who's never heard about it. The first time I mentioned it months ago, it was an utter revelation to her. How blind is she? And she refuises to ask anyone, even for their opinion. Why? Is she that scared her world will get rocked? She's deliberately blind....and to assume that, if she simply calls up the local welfare office and asks if they have a racial bias----come on! How deliberately naive can any one person be? Just to give her the benefit of the doubt, I asked my wife when I got out of the shower..."in your opinion...do you think it's easier for blacks to get government help, rather than whites?"
And my nearly non-political but still with a slightly Left lean to her opinions wife said 'of course it is'.

I apologize to her, though, if she'll accept it....sorry, Tex; I didn't mean to get carried away. Please don't be too upset with me. Thanks for taking me to task, LW.


on Sep 10, 2005
Doesn't look like it did much good, bro


I'm still allowed to have my views, LW, whether or not they hurt someone's feelings.
on Sep 10, 2005
I have an open apology to Tex W in the works....I'm not at home at the moment, though, which is where it is (I learned a long time ago not to completely trust the server here, so everything I write is first done in Word).

I understand that some may think poorly of me or of some of my views...that's fine; I understand. People see things differently.
I don't want to be the catalyst, however (if I may be so egotistical) that causes JU to lose a particularly sweet and caring writer/poster.
My apologies to Texas Wahine for being an ass. Sorry, Tex.
on Sep 10, 2005
Well, when you and yours are actually willing to hold blacks accountable for their actions, perhaps we will.


How about letting ALL people be held accountable for their actions Rightwinger.



Well, when you and yours are actually willing to hold blacks accountable for their actions, perhaps we will. But when we see a large majority of blacks sucking for so long off the government teat, so much so that it becomes fodder for humor even to blacks themselves, as it has, it's hard to point a finger in specifics, rather than to wave a hand in generality.


As I have said many a time and will repeat many a time, it takes more than a generation to give black people a chance to make things that others are use to having (wealth, power, education, central family unit) something of a normal thing rather than something special.

For you its been years of hand outs, for us it is a way to equalize the things that we don't have. I do believe that some of these 'handouts' need to stop, but not all of them. Keep in mind that some of these handouts are open to others (welfare is an example of something that ONLY HAD A MAJORITY OF BLACKS ON IT FOR THE LAST 10 YEARS... so who was on it before and was it a hand out when a white person is on it?)




I believe that many black people do feel that they are intitled to these programs and more help than others. I also feel that many don't use the programs to move to a better place in life, I also believe that, unlike other nationalities and races, many black people don't have the skill set and the 'get up and go' attitude of other mainly because of years of not being able to do anything (Just because laws changed in the 1970's doesn't mean that the phycological damage gets erased. Generations have to pass before the grandchild believes that she is just as human as you Rightwinger)

You can open the lid to the jar, but the contents inside forgot how to get out.

Even now, as a black person wanting to open a business, a white person might be more open to talking about it and even joining up, while a black person, on average, would be more sceptical.

KEEP IN MING I AM NOT SAYING ALL BLACKS PLEASE!!!


I am not suprised (and I don;'t think any one should be) that a person of color said that. We are all human and there are those who are dumbasses. Black people can be dumbasses too, but it would seem that because we are black, we are not allowed to be stupid.

I do feel that dispropotionaily that black people think on more racial terms that white people without foundation in logic, but that will diapate as the younger generation gets older and as the children become young adults. It will disapate as education reaches into the families (I shouldn't be the ONLY child of 20 cousins to have a gegree, but in the future it will be higher ANDbe more expected for faily and friends to go) and neighborhoods (I shouldn't be the only one on my block to have a 4 year degree), as wealth reaches more families, and as both the father and mother raise their child.
on Sep 10, 2005
How about letting ALL people be held accountable for their actions Rightwinger


I do hold all people accountable....but it often seems that blacks as a group are given a free pass due to their skin color. This is not fair, Joe..not at all.

I also believe that, unlike other nationalities and races, many black people don't have the skill set and the 'get up and go' attitude of other mainly because of years of not being able to do anything (Just because laws changed in the 1970's doesn't mean that the phycological damage gets erased. Generations have to pass before the grandchild believes that she is just as human as you Rightwinger)


This is a copout, then....oh, the poor blacks...we kept them down for so long that their getup and go gotup and went? Come on...tell it to Condi and Colin, not to mention all the black businesspeople, doctors, nurses and lawyers who worked their way out of the ghetto. You insult their accomplishments.
I suppose that could mean that we're not all equal, then, right?
Many whites are not skilled, either, but, though there has never been (to my knowledge, at least) a study to prove it, whites as a social group do seem much less likely to walk their children down to the Welfare office and sign them up when they turn 18 and get on their own. This does happen with blacks, and we all know it. Two generations have passed since the Welfare Act was passed, and there are probably some out there who haven't worked a day since.

I find it amusing that my little aside, which ammounted to not much more than an offhand comment, about the black jerk has created such an uproar. Why? Because I dared to mention it at all? Because I dared to cite an example of black-white racist behaviour? Sorry, but I don't hand out free passes that easily.

Gotta go...more on this post later.
on Sep 10, 2005
I'm sorry, Tex...where did you say you got the bubble you live in? I'd like to make airplanes out of whatever its made of, so they'd be more sturdy and less likely to come apart in a crash.


RW,

Well, when WHITE friends of mine lobbied the Wisconsin State legislature because the legislature didn't want to fund their child's PRIVATE education (incidentally, these individuals were STAUNCH Republicans), when Republican senators such as Bob Dole staunchly supported farm subsidied for decades, and when businesses DEMAND economic incentives to relocate, you can't tell me the entitlement mentality isn't JUST as pervasive among MANY whites as it is among MANY blacks.

It's not a race thing, it's an ignorance thing.
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