I was reading along and agreeing until I got to the racist comment, "Even Blacks, or, um, African Americans, still believed in marriage." I had trouble caring about his opinion after that. Interesting, how many writers don't realize that they detract from their main argument when they throw in random unrelated statements that trigger strong responses.
Matriarchy, I read Jeff for his opinions on gun control....I haven't yet found anyone I agree with on every issue, but the Second Amendment is important enough to me to pass over some stuff. True with anybody...I link to a number of folks who are my political antithesis, but I value what they have to say on one topic or another. Gun rights was my main concern in an extra link to him. I think gun control is being glossed over in this election and it truly worries me...a lot. Nations that have taken the right to bear arms from their citizens have descended into hells of rampant crime with no defense for their citizens. I want to continue to be able to protect my family and myself and to hunt for meat for the table. I don't aspire to see anyone in Washington who is going to take that away.
"Nations that have taken the right to bear arms from their citizens have descended into hells of rampant crime with no defense for their citizens" from the government - which is the whole point of the 2nd amendment.
I've been mulling over matriarchy's objection to Alphecca's "racist comment." Perhaps he is a racist, I don't know - but neither does matriarchy, just from that one statement.
If her complaint is his statement that African Americans don't believe in marriage, she should take it up with Obama, who has scolded young fathers for the very same thing. It's a statistical fact.
If her complaint is to his word choice between black and African Americans, she might take into account the age of Alphecca. I remember 30 years ago when black was the politically correct term used by blacks about blacks. It was not a derogatory term. It can be hard for us older folks to keep up with the politically-correct phrase of the day.
Not to belabor the point, but matriarchy might show a little more thought before she labels someone a racist.
akagaga, I grew up in that era too and it is ao darned hard to jump through the ever changing hoops of political correctness, especially where race is concerned. As soon as speech changes to reflect what is proper, somebody, somewhere (and wouldn't I like to know who) decides that the new term is offensive too and yet another should be substituted. That particular post was not up when I left the link to Jeff's blog and my interest was in the ones on various gun control news. I didn't want to bother to link to an individual post as there have been a number of informative ones lately...It is so easy to cite nation after nation that took the right to bear arms away from their people and left them helpless in the face of criminals. Criminals by their very nature do not obey laws..including and in fact particularly gun laws. We need to be aware of this before we jump on the bandwagon for gun control just because some liberal in the city says it will make us safer. Nonsense.
We do need to be able to protect ourselves from criminals, no doubt, and hunting may become a necessity in the days ahead. My larger concern, though, is that with the erosion of individual liberties and our constitution, we need to be able to protect ourselves from the government. As Thomas Jefferson put it:
"The strongest reason for the people to retain their right to keep and bear arms is as a last resort to protect themselves against tyranny in government."
Perhaps akaGaGa might want to do a little more research into institutional racism before deciding that I meant the reference to the language shift. It so happens that I have an interracial family that includes people that refer to themselves variously as Black or African-American, It's the word "Even" that is offensive.
Even? As in, "Even the people I hold in the least regard?" Or, "Even the people that I incorrectly assume have a much higher divorce rate than whites?" Or was it, "Even though I don't expect black people to hold marriage in high regard after having been legally prohibited from marrying until after the Civil War?" Or, "Even though statistical studies demonstrate that the lack of marriagable black men stems largely from a failed drug war that continues to overtax the prison system of every state?"
My original point was that if someone wants wider readership and agreement with one's arguments, it's good to avoid wandering off into statements open you up to extraneous controversy.
What does the writer want more - support for the Second Amendment (with which I agree, to an extent, as a gun owner), or an audience for yet another rant about those stereotypical liberals (of which I am also one) that he thinks too permissive with their children?
I was reading along and agreeing until I got to the racist comment, "Even Blacks, or, um, African Americans, still believed in marriage." I had trouble caring about his opinion after that. Interesting, how many writers don't realize that they detract from their main argument when they throw in random unrelated statements that trigger strong responses.
ReplyDeleteMatriarchy, I read Jeff for his opinions on gun control....I haven't yet found anyone I agree with on every issue, but the Second Amendment is important enough to me to pass over some stuff. True with anybody...I link to a number of folks who are my political antithesis, but I value what they have to say on one topic or another. Gun rights was my main concern in an extra link to him. I think gun control is being glossed over in this election and it truly worries me...a lot. Nations that have taken the right to bear arms from their citizens have descended into hells of rampant crime with no defense for their citizens. I want to continue to be able to protect my family and myself and to hunt for meat for the table. I don't aspire to see anyone in Washington who is going to take that away.
ReplyDelete"Nations that have taken the right to bear arms from their citizens have descended into hells of rampant crime with no defense for their citizens" from the government - which is the whole point of the 2nd amendment.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the link, threecollie.
I've been mulling over matriarchy's objection to Alphecca's "racist comment." Perhaps he is a racist, I don't know - but neither does matriarchy, just from that one statement.
ReplyDeleteIf her complaint is his statement that African Americans don't believe in marriage, she should take it up with Obama, who has scolded young fathers for the very same thing. It's a statistical fact.
If her complaint is to his word choice between black and African Americans, she might take into account the age of Alphecca. I remember 30 years ago when black was the politically correct term used by blacks about blacks. It was not a derogatory term. It can be hard for us older folks to keep up with the politically-correct phrase of the day.
Not to belabor the point, but matriarchy might show a little more thought before she labels someone a racist.
akagaga, I grew up in that era too and it is ao darned hard to jump through the ever changing hoops of political correctness, especially where race is concerned. As soon as speech changes to reflect what is proper, somebody, somewhere (and wouldn't I like to know who) decides that the new term is offensive too and yet another should be substituted.
ReplyDeleteThat particular post was not up when I left the link to Jeff's blog and my interest was in the ones on various gun control news. I didn't want to bother to link to an individual post as there have been a number of informative ones lately...It is so easy to cite nation after nation that took the right to bear arms away from their people and left them helpless in the face of criminals. Criminals by their very nature do not obey laws..including and in fact particularly gun laws. We need to be aware of this before we jump on the bandwagon for gun control just because some liberal in the city says it will make us safer. Nonsense.
We do need to be able to protect ourselves from criminals, no doubt, and hunting may become a necessity in the days ahead. My larger concern, though, is that with the erosion of individual liberties and our constitution, we need to be able to protect ourselves from the government. As Thomas Jefferson put it:
ReplyDelete"The strongest reason for the people to retain their right to keep and bear arms is as a last resort to protect themselves against tyranny in government."
Perhaps akaGaGa might want to do a little more research into institutional racism before deciding that I meant the reference to the language shift. It so happens that I have an interracial family that includes people that refer to themselves variously as Black or African-American, It's the word "Even" that is offensive.
ReplyDeleteEven? As in, "Even the people I hold in the least regard?" Or, "Even the people that I incorrectly assume have a much higher divorce rate than whites?" Or was it, "Even though I don't expect black people to hold marriage in high regard after having been legally prohibited from marrying until after the Civil War?" Or, "Even though statistical studies demonstrate that the lack of marriagable black men stems largely from a failed drug war that continues to overtax the prison system of every state?"
My original point was that if someone wants wider readership and agreement with one's arguments, it's good to avoid wandering off into statements open you up to extraneous controversy.
What does the writer want more - support for the Second Amendment (with which I agree, to an extent, as a gun owner), or an audience for yet another rant about those stereotypical liberals (of which I am also one) that he thinks too permissive with their children?
Matriarchy, however it came about I am sorry that you round it offensive.
ReplyDelete