Political Hippo Circle Jerk - America, farg YEAH!

[Rome]

Mandatory minimums have worked wonders in the war on drugs.

[Diomedes]

Ya well, it's the wrong war.  A war on gun crime is a war worth fighting.

[rjs246]

Thats why im buying as much armor piercing rounds as i can now, never know when the Zombies are coming

If the zombies have armor we're all farged either way.

[Seabiscuit36]

Thats why im buying as much armor piercing rounds as i can now, never know when the Zombies are coming

If the zombies have armor we're all farged either way.

never hurts to be prepared. 

[ATV]

5. Legalize drugs. That's why every other corner in many poor neighborhoods has a young pistol weilding dealer.

5a. Bring back/enlarge the CCC - Give these young people an opportunity to earn some money, earn some skills, and travel places they wouldn't otherwise.....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civilian_Conservation_Corps

[General_Failure]

I've always been for people owning guns, and probably always will be. However, I'd like to know that the people who have them know how to handle them properly. So, let's take a page from Israel's book - mandatory military service, one stint. Even the fat kid with one permanently stuffed nostril. Now everybody knows how to use a gun.

[Diomedes]

Mandatory service of some kind is a very good idea.  Maybe a Civilian services track for the hippies, doing hard labor and the like, and a military track for everyone else.  Maybe make the military one a shorter stint.   And for those who don't go military, if you want to buy a gun, mandatory gun safety and marksmanship classes.

I like it.  We're on a roll here, solving problems.





Now...let's talk about abortion.

Point:  If life begins at conception, then every sexually active woman is a murderer, because their menstrual cycle regularly flushes fertilized eggs down the toilet.

Counterpoint:  JESUS HATES THE WOMEN

[General_Failure]

You're a murderer a billion times over, Spanky.

[Diomedes]

We already went over the JESUS HATES DIO part of this debate.  Try to keep up.

[General_Failure]

Hypothetically, would Jesus hate someone who had their testicles blown off by a grenade?

[rjs246]

No. A quick perusal through the history books will prove to you that God loves war.

[Seabiscuit36]

No. A quick perusal through the history books will prove to you that God loves war.

He's always rooting for both sides

[Cerevant]

On guns:
I think the wording in the Virginia Declaration of Rights (on which the Bill of Rights was in part based) is illuminating:

That a well-regulated militia, composed of the body of the people, trained to arms, is the proper, natural, and safe defense of a free state; that standing armies, in time of peace, should be avoided as dangerous to liberty; and that in all cases the military should be under strict subordination to, and governed by, the civil power.

It isn't so much that the people should be armed to overthrow the government, but that a standing army grants the government too much power over the people, especially if they then can disarm the population.  I think the whole Wiki article linked above does a good job of putting the amendment in historical context.

Noted in the Wiki article is also the point that the point of contention in the recent decision was whether the "militia" part of the amendment is a condition (necessary), or an illustration (supportive).

On abortion:

Point:  If life begins at conception, then every sexually active woman is a murderer, because their menstrual cycle regularly flushes fertilized eggs down the toilet.

That assumes that conception has a legal definition.  Regardless, the fundies would argue that natural death is sad, but it is still "the will of God".  Birth control and abortion are active human efforts to subvert "the will of God" and are therefore bad.

I have ethical problems with abortion, but I clearly see the practical necessity for it.  Until it is as cheaper and easier to adopt than it is to have a baby, there will be a significant number of "unwanted" children in this world.  What is more cruel, to give a child a life where they may never know the love of parents or family, or to end their life before they have awareness?

What is more painful, the pain an unborn child feels during an abortion, or the pain of going through crack withdrawl?

What is more harmful, a child knowing that their existence is a living monument to the abuse of their mother, or ending that child's life before it has awareness?

On the SCOTUS ruling on death for child rape:
I agree that the punishment is not proportional to the crime, but that is the point.  As the perpetrator is no longer a child, they are not capable of receiving a proportional punishment.  If they are going to push proportionality, they need to re-think "cruel and unusual".  If we can't kill these bastiches, then we should be able to castrate them.

[ice grillin you]

cervent, stop talking please

[Cerevant]

cervent, stop talking please

I know you would prefer that this place be solely used for you to declaim your wisdom and have everyone praise you for it, but I don't think that's how it is going to play out.