Taliban or Tea Party?

[amIblue?]

Originally Posted by Shellfish

As for the children of politicians, we could go back twenty years ago to when Chelsea Clinton was only 12 or 13 and the subject of nasty jokes by Rush Limbaugh and John McCain.

Both sides have done it. No one should be proud of it.

Bristol Palin has now become a public figure in her own right, and frankly, I think she deserves it.

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by Gingerdeltaz

Your comment about "left wing liberal" and "left wing" really made me stop and think. I must admit that I have used those terms so casually and carelessly, that I did not give enough thought to the fact that they are labels and can certainly be inflammatory.

That was definitely a "teachable moment" for me. You are correct. I have an aversion to labels, yet I was using them myself without having thought them through. It's time to remove those labels from my discussions. Thank you.

No problem. We all have a tendancy to do it, because it becomes part of "the way people speak." We've been condititioned for it.

I looked at the Peggy Noonan book on Amazon and was impressed by what I saw. I'm getting ready to download it now.

Hope you like it. It's been some years since I read it -- I should probably read it again as a "vaccination" for the next two+ months.

[PiKA2001]

Originally Posted by amIblue?

Both sides have done it. No one should be proud of it.

Bristol Palin has now become a public figure in her own right, and frankly, I think she deserves it.

I assumed she was talking about Trig Palin, who is still being made the butt of jokes due to his Downs Syndrome.

http://www.tmz.com/2012/08/20/wayne-...t-sarah-palin/

[AOII Angel]

Originally Posted by PiKA2001

I assumed she was talking about Trig Palin, who is still being made the butt of jokes due to his Downs Syndrome.

http://www.tmz.com/2012/08/20/wayne-...t-sarah-palin/

No serious person has ever made a joke about Trig. Poor baby was a new born when his mama was thrown into the spot light. Honestly, Palin put her own children in the spot light in the way that no other politician ever has. When you use your kids as props, people feel like they are fair game, whether or not that is fair. Comics, which you have pointed out, make a living saying outrageous things. Wayne Brady is not a part of the political dialogue and should not be used as an excuse to ramp up rhetoric. Making fun of those with disabilities is distasteful regardless of their parentage...God knows the joke didn't bother Trig any at his age, but others with Trisomy 21 may not take so kindly to the joke.

[PiKA2001]

Originally Posted by AOII Angel

No serious person has ever made a joke about Trig. Poor baby was a new born when his mama was thrown into the spot light. Honestly, Palin put her own children in the spot light in the way that no other politician ever has. When you use your kids as props, people feel like they are fair game, whether or not that is fair. Comics, which you have pointed out, make a living saying outrageous things. Wayne Brady is not a part of the political dialogue and should not be used as an excuse to ramp up rhetoric. Making fun of those with disabilities is distasteful regardless of their parentage...God knows the joke didn't bother Trig any at his age.

If I didn't know better I'd say it sounds like you're defending people who choose to attack Palin's children.

[AOII Angel]

Originally Posted by PiKA2001

If I didn't know better I'd say it sounds like you're defending people who choose to attack Palin's children.

Nowhere in there did I defend anyone. I just said that Palin bears some culpability for not protecting her children from the onslaught caused by her own rhetoric. There are nuts on both sides of the aisle, and MOST politicians are smart enough to keep their kids out of the spotlight. I think most of the drama could have been easily prevented and those kids would have been much better off by leaving them all back in Alaska. The people that attacked are nuts, but we have paparazzi chasing teen stars and people commenting about these children on websites everyday. Some of the ugliness was inevitable because people love a trainwreck.