Henry Payne for December 27, 2014

Like the made-up fairytale

Of Hands Up Don’t Shoot

OK, Payne, does [violent] political rhetoric cause violence or not?

Or is it just another case of: It’s OKAY If A Republican Does It?

Mr. Payne makes a valid, if somewhat defensive, point. What ‘our’ side does, whether as a party or a culture, or a class, will always be valid while what ‘their’ side does is destructive, divisive, and dangerous to our nation.In fact, the most common counterpoint one sees in GC is one wherein it is ok for ‘my’ people to do it because back ‘then’, ‘your’ people did it; or, “I didn’t hear you complaining when ‘your’ people said/did ‘that’”. And the classic, “So you complain when ‘they’ do things like this, but when ‘your’ party does it it’s ok.”The corporate media and our cannibalistic two party oligarchy is dedicated to say and do things to keep Americans divided. They maintain foci on stories that will bring in money, whether advertising dollars or political donations, while avoiding positive, innovative, and bipartisan tasks that would benefit our nation as a whole. It does not behoove them if Americans become United in purpose. A populace with the time and resources to actually think about ways to fix our computer, energy, and transportation infrastructure might come up with some good ideas. The politicos and their media lobbying arms might be afraid the first thing an “informed and educated electorate” (Eisenhower) might do would be to elect worthy men and women to office and stop supporting news programs that incite rather than inform.It is easier to light a match and burn down a house than it is to maintain it. I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa/Festivus/Thursday the 25th. I certainly did. May your New Years be festive, safe, and may you remember your New Years Eve without friends showing you videos of what you did that night. And may we resolve in 2015 to be better neighbors, respectful communicators, and responsible and participating voters.Respectfully,C.

You have that backwards. Payne is saying that the liberal media is attempting to blame any conservative for anything that is, in reality, caused by liberalism. Look more closely.

It would be nice if we could refocus on actually solving problems again instead of blaming the other guy for them.

@Rad-ish All directed towards the pundits of the right. I don’t hear you criticizing any of those great ones on the left, like Al and Rachael and Chris and Larry O’Donnell. What’s wrong, does your bias filter out the hatred that they spew?

Well said, of course if conservatives stood up and called the libs on it, the media would take the libs side….even though the evidence is on the conservatives side.

A lie should be proven, and the liar identified,Harley. Destruction in the context of communications, debate and dialectic exchange is not productive and causes collateral damage. It’s hard to reassemble the pieces from rubble.Picking and choosing ‘truths’ is divisive. It makes it hard to have a discussion. However… It’s Christmas, and almost New Years. May you be blessed with friends, family, and a chance to see some of your wishes come true.

It is really nice to see Narrowminded and Respectful Troll in agreement. “Divide and Conquer” has always been the means of turning attention away from the real cause of the problems. A unified citizenry would really stymie the perpetrator. The media, ideally, would be shine a bright light on the dark shadows to stop the dividing of the population into two such ineffective political forces. In nature, the superposition of forces almost always results in a net positive result; to completely cancel each other is a very special condition. There are occasions, when people here on GC have offered solutions that benefit everyone. It doesn’t happen often, but it is so much better than blaming the other group for an issue.We have the capability to inspire each other if we want to. Critical thinking has not been outlawed.Best wishes for a prosperous new year for all.

What leads to your conservative moral equivalence, Harley. If I present a ‘truth’ from MSNBC, you won’t agree, especially if an opposing ‘truth’ is offered by one of the sites to which you sometimes offer links. However, if a truth comes from the Congressional Budget Office, the Journal of the American Medical Association, the General Accounting Office, or one of numerous independent and neutral source, it deserves more credence than one with an established bias.However, I am sure that what I say will never matter to you as your truth will always feel better to you. I find many of the truths I acknowledge to be saddening and uncomfortable, which is why I write my legislators and try to persuade folks to open their hearts and minds and to read history, biographies, the letters of our founders, and scientific based magazines such as The Smithsonian and National Geographic. Your other replies to me are argumentative and were I to provide the links disproving some of your absolute statements our past exchanges indicate you’d either not read them or argue them. I do not dispute all of your examples, but I also do not see their usefulness.

‘toon time: if rhetoric doesn’t “sell” riots, or war drumming, then why are there print ads, or TV commercials. Exposure does sell.

As to “lies”? Those nuclear factories and WMDs and train loads of uranium and weapons headiing into Syria we found in Iraq prove “W” is the truth teller?

It’s interesting that radicals will excuse any lie from their own side, and that any misstatement from an opponent is a lie, and also any proven fact revealed by the opponent is also a lie, even quoting the opponent’s representative saying something stupid, is a construed lie to embarrass or reveal truth.

Wow, that is one of the most racist statements I’ve seen on here in a long time.

What???? This guy probably ran out of ideas. I didn’t know liberals or conservatives were blamed for any of those.

Someone is crawling through the weeds or smoking it.

Mr. Churchill, your reply requires and deserves a more in depth reply than time permits. It is an excellent reply and you spent a great deal of time gathering your points, something I see rarely.My only brief, and in comparison, inadequate reply would be petty without taking at least as much time as you have in your presentation to at least provide the links and reasoning for my disagreements where they exist.I do not disagree that the liberal media acted inappropriately in many of the incidents you present, I simply have to ask, in your comment, are you saying that conservative media sources are never guilty of divisive actions? Thank you for an excellent presentation, in content and tone. And may you have a very Happy New Year.Respectfully,and Sincerely,C.

Sorry, your source is spinning reality.I stand by my previous post, the video was a Foxy news creation.

Wow! That’s how you read this cartoon?Wow!

It is when you consider Planned Parenthood’s / Margaret Sanger’s original stated mission – to prevent black children from being born in order to “decrease crime.”

But then, it’s not racist when Dem’s do it, right?