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Joe,<br><br>I understand a lot of people say that as they continue to support Obama, and this is ultimately their position:<br><br>'I don't care about atrocities he commits outside our borders, as long as I can support his policies within our borders.' <br><br>I can't go along with that any more. I'm not pretending Romney will be any better on foreign policy, but he can't get much worse.<br><br>Sunil<br><br><div><div id="SkyDrivePlaceholder"></div>> Date: Sat, 1 Sep 2012 14:52:54 -0700<br>> Subject: Re: [Vision2020] FW: Party of Strivers<br>> From: philosopher.joe@gmail.com<br>> To: sunilramalingam@hotmail.com<br>> CC: vision2020@moscow.com<br>> <br>> It is a tough decision. I agree with you that Obama was no better in<br>> many respects than Bush, not wrt military involvement at least. But I<br>> fear that if a Republican gets elected there will be a rollback of<br>> abortion rights and other rights. Joe<br>> <br>> On Sat, Sep 1, 2012 at 2:35 PM, Sunil Ramalingam<br>> <sunilramalingam@hotmail.com> wrote:<br>> > 'Party loyalty is blind...and deaf and dumb...and cruel.'<br>> ><br>> > I'm about half way through this interview of Jonathan Turley by John Cusack,<br>> > looking at Obama's repugnant foreign policy:<br>> ><br>> > http://truth-out.org/opinion/item/11264-john-cusack-and-jonathan-turley-on-obamas-constitution<br>> ><br>> > A s long as we support the people implementing these policies, they will go<br>> > on. I'm not voting for Obama again, because of this.<br>> ><br>> > Sunil<br>> ><br>> >> From: betsyd@turbonet.com<br>> >> To: vision2020@moscow.com<br>> >> Date: Fri, 31 Aug 2012 10:57:13 -0700<br>> >> Subject: [Vision2020] FW: Party of Strivers<br>> >><br>> >><br>> >><br>> >> -----Original Message-----<br>> >> From: Betsy Dickow [mailto:betsyd@turbonet.com]<br>> >> Sent: Friday, August 31, 2012 10:57 AM<br>> >> To: 'Joe Campbell'<br>> >> Subject: RE: [Vision2020] Party of Strivers<br>> >><br>> >> And most of the poor will be poor through not fault of their own...how<br>> >> many<br>> >> people are working hard and often overtime at the University of Idaho and<br>> >> not making ends meet...many many many. And here it's no different from the<br>> >> Wall Street corporate model...administrators win big and everyone else is<br>> >> a<br>> >> peon, working for peanuts.<br>> >> This is democracy? No, this is the will of a few billionaires and the<br>> >> Republican Party...Get your head out of the sand and stop thinking in<br>> >> terms<br>> >> of party loyalty.<br>> >> Party loyalty is blind...and deaf and dumb...and cruel.<br>> >><br>> >><br>> >><br>> >><br>> >><br>> >> -----Original Message-----<br>> >> From: vision2020-bounces@moscow.com [mailto:vision2020-bounces@moscow.com]<br>> >> On Behalf Of Joe Campbell<br>> >> Sent: Friday, August 31, 2012 10:46 AM<br>> >> To: lfalen<br>> >> Cc: vision2020@moscow.com<br>> >> Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Party of Strivers<br>> >><br>> >> How is Ayn Rand's philosophy basically correct? Do you think the poor are<br>> >> lazy? Do you disagree that some people have a bad lot and without some<br>> >> kind<br>> >> of outside assistance, they are unlikely to realize the American dream? If<br>> >> so, then Rand is just plain wrong. Tweaking her view to allow for<br>> >> compassion<br>> >> is in this case equivalent to rejecting her view. That is what separates<br>> >> Rand's philosophy from the kind of view that Brooks is suggesting. Brooks'<br>> >> offers a much better, more realistic take on humanity, as I see it. Joe<br>> >><br>> >> On Fri, Aug 31, 2012 at 10:18 AM, lfalen <lfalen@turbonet.com> wrote:<br>> >> > I am not a big fan of David Brooks, but this is not a bad article. I<br>> >> > like<br>> >> Rice also. I have some problems with Ayn Rand. Her philosophy is basicly<br>> >> correct, but it need s to be tempered by some compassion, which she seems<br>> >> to<br>> >> lack.<br>> >> > Roger<br>> >> > -----Original message-----<br>> >> > From: Art Deco art.deco.studios@gmail.com<br>> >> > Date: Fri, 31 Aug 2012 03:51:28 -0700<br>> >> > To: vision2020@moscow.com<br>> >> > Subject: [Vision2020] Party of Strivers<br>> >> ><br>> >> >> [image: The New York Times] <http://www.nytimes.com/><br>> >> >><br>> >> >> <http://www.nytimes.com/adx/bin/adx_click.html?type=goto&opzn&page=ww<br>> >> >> w.nytimes.com/printer-friendly&pos=Position1&sn2=336c557e/4f3dd5d2&sn<br>> >> >> 1=34aeaaa2/80e4ddbc&camp=FSL2012_ArticleTools_120x60_1787508c_nyt5&ad<br>> >> >> =BOSW_120x60_June13_NoText&goto=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Efoxsearchlight%2Ec<br>> >> >> om%2Fbeastsofthesouthernwild><br>> >> >><br>> >> >> ------------------------------<br>> >> >> August 30, 2012<br>> >> >> Party of Strivers By DAVID<br>> >> >> BROOKS<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/opinion/editorialsandoped/oped/c<br>> >> >> olumnists/davidbrooks/index.html><br>> >> >><br>> >> >> America was built by materialistic and sometimes superficial<br>> >> >> strivers. It was built by pioneers who voluntarily subjected<br>> >> >> themselves to stone-age conditions on the frontier fired by dreams of<br>> >> >> riches. It was built by immigrants who crammed themselves into<br>> >> >> hellish tenements because they thought it would lead, for their<br>> >> >> children, to big houses, big cars and big lives.<br>> >> >><br>> >> >> America has always been defined by this ferocious commercial energy,<br>> >> >> this zealotry for self-transformation, which leads its citizens to<br>> >> >> vacation less, work longer, consume more and invent more.<br>> >> >><br>> >> >> Many Americans, and many foreign observers, are ambivalent about or<br>> >> >> offended by this driving material ambition. Read "The Great Gatsby."<br>> >> >> Read D.H. Lawrence on Benjamin Franklin.<br>> >> >><br>> >> >> But today's Republican Party unabashedly celebrates this ambition and<br>> >> >> definition of success. Speaker after speaker at the convention in<br>> >> >> Tampa, Fla., celebrated the striver, who started small, struggled<br>> >> >> hard, looked within and became wealthy. Speaker after speaker argued<br>> >> >> that this ideal of success is under assault by Democrats who look<br>> >> >> down on strivers, who undermine self-reliance with government<br>> >> >> dependency, who smother ambition under regulations.<br>> >> >><br>> >> >> Republicans promised to get government out of the way. Reduce the<br>> >> >> burden of debt. Offer Americans an open field and a fair chance to<br>> >> >> let their ambition run.<br>> >> >><br>> >> >> If you believe, as I do, that American institutions are hitting a<br>> >> >> creaky middle age, then you have a lot of time for this argument. If<br>> >> >> you believe that there has been a hardening of the national arteries<br>> >> >> caused by a labyrinthine tax code, an unsustainable Medicare program<br>> >> >> and a suicidal addiction to deficits, then you appreciate this<br>> >> >> streamlining agenda, even if you don't buy into the whole Ayn<br>> >> Rand-influenced gospel of wealth.<br>> >> >><br>> >> >> On the one hand, you see the Republicans taking the initiative,<br>> >> >> offering rejuvenating reform. On the other hand, you see an exhausted<br>> >> >> Democratic Party, which says: We don't have an agenda, but we really<br>> >> >> don't like theirs. Given these options, the choice is pretty clear.<br>> >> >><br>> >> >> But there is a flaw in the vision the Republicans offered in Tampa.<br>> >> >> It is contained in its rampant hyperindividualism. Speaker after<br>> >> >> speaker celebrated the solitary and heroic individual. There was<br>> >> >> almost no talk of community and compassionate conservatism. There was<br>> >> >> certainly no conservatism as Edmund Burke understood it, in which<br>> >> >> individuals are embedded in webs of customs, traditions, habits and<br>> >> governing institutions.<br>> >> >><br>> >> >> Today's Republicans strongly believe that individuals determine their<br>> >> >> own fates. In a Pew Research Center<br>> >> >> poll<http://www.people-press.org/2012/06/04/partisan-polarization-sur<br>> >> >> ges-in-bush-obama-years/>, for example, 57 percent of Republicans<br>> >> >> believe people are poor because they don't work hard. Only 28 percent<br>> >> >> believe people are poor because of circumstances beyond their<br>> >> >> control. These Republicans believe that if only government gets out<br>> >> >> of the way, then people's innate qualities will enable them to<br>> >> >> flourish.<br>> >> >><br>> >> >> But there's a problem. I see what the G.O.P. is offering the<br>> >> >> engineering major from Purdue or the business major from Arizona<br>> >> >> State. The party is offering skilled people the freedom to run their<br>> >> >> race. I don't see what the party is offering the waitress with two<br>> >> >> kids, or the warehouse worker whose wages have stagnated for a<br>> >> >> decade, or the factory worker whose skills are now obsolete.<br>> >> >><br>> >> >> The fact is our destinies are shaped by social forces much more than<br>> >> >> the current G.O.P. is willing to admit. The skills that enable people<br>> >> >> to flourish are not innate but constructed by circumstances.<br>> >> >><br>> >> >> Government does not always undermine initiative. Some government<br>> >> >> programs, like the G.I. Bill, inflame ambition. Others depress it.<br>> >> >> What matters is not whether a program is public or private but its<br>> >> >> effect<br>> >> on character.<br>> >> >> Today's Republicans, who see every government program as a step on<br>> >> >> the road to serfdom, are often blind to that. They celebrate the race<br>> >> >> to success but don't know how to give everyone access to that race.<br>> >> >><br>> >> >> The wisest speech departed from the prevailing story line. It was<br>> >> >> delivered by Condoleezza Rice. It echoed an older, less libertarian<br>> >> >> conservatism, which harkens back to Washington, Tocqueville and<br>> >> >> Lincoln. The powerful words in her speech were not "I" and "me" - the<br>> >> >> heroic individual They were "we" and "us" - citizens who emerge out<br>> >> >> of and exist as participants in a great national project.<br>> >> >><br>> >> >> Rice celebrated material striving but also larger national goals -<br>> >> >> the long national struggle to extend benefits and mobilize all human<br>> >> >> potential. She subtly emphasized how our individual destinies are<br>> >> >> dependent upon the social fabric and upon public institutions like<br>> >> >> schools, just laws and our mission in the world. She put less<br>> >> >> emphasis on commerce and more on citizenship.<br>> >> >><br>> >> >> Today's Republican Party may be able to perform useful tasks with its<br>> >> >> current hyperindividualistic mentality. But its commercial soul is<br>> >> >> too narrow. It won't be a worthy governing party until it treads the<br>> >> >> course Lincoln trod: starting with individual ambition but ascending<br>> >> >> to a larger vision and creating a national environment that arouses<br>> >> >> ambition and nurtures success.<br>> >> >><br>> >> >><br>> >> >> --<br>> >> >> Art Deco (Wayne A. Fox)<br>> >> >> art.deco.studios@gmail.com<br>> >> >><br>> >> >><br>> >> ><br>> >> > =======================================================<br>> >> > List services made available by First Step Internet, serving the<br>> >> > communities of the Palouse since 1994.<br>> >> > http://www.fsr.net<br>> >> > mailto:Vision2020@moscow.com<br>> >> > =======================================================<br>> >><br>> >> =======================================================<br>> >> List services made available by First Step Internet, serving the<br>> >> communities of the Palouse since 1994.<br>> >> http://www.fsr.net<br>> >> mailto:Vision2020@moscow.com<br>> >> =======================================================<br>> >><br>> >> =======================================================<br>> >> List services made available by First Step Internet,<br>> >> serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.<br>> >> http://www.fsr.net<br>> >> mailto:Vision2020@moscow.com<br>> >> =======================================================<br>> ><br>> > =======================================================<br>> > List services made available by First Step Internet,<br>> > serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.<br>> > http://www.fsr.net<br>> > mailto:Vision2020@moscow.com<br>> > =======================================================<br></div> </div></body>
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