FREE TO BE DNC - Reps Restricted!

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-17-2004
FREE TO BE DNC - Reps Restricted!
57
Thu, 07-08-2004 - 10:50am

This thread is hereby officially dedicated to Democrats, liberals, and Kerry supporters. Make of it what you will, but please observe the TOS and refrain from personal remarks about other I-Village members.


Have fun,


Renee

Renee ~~~

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Mon, 07-12-2004 - 3:02am
Ron Reagan is scheduled to speak at DNC according to CNN. This should be good! LOL LOL LOL I don't agree with everything that he says but I agree with him 100% about GWB. I LOVE the way he gets his message across. He is very subtle but he gets the message across. Anyway, I can't wait till the convention.

Betcha Republicans are bending over backwards to try to get Nancy or Michael to speak on their behalf.

Avatar for mrsed4
iVillage Member
Registered: 08-22-2003
Mon, 07-12-2004 - 9:58pm
I'm sorry, but I'm really confused here. You say that you're a "registered Democrat" yet I've noticed that most of your posts have been decidedly on the *right* side of the fence. Have they brainwashed you, or you playing both sides against the other? What's your story?
iVillage Member
Registered: 05-11-2004
Mon, 07-12-2004 - 10:47pm
I'm hoping that Nancy will be in the audience at the convention to support her son. Wouldn't that be sweet!!
Avatar for schifferle
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Mon, 07-12-2004 - 11:58pm
oops! Sorry, had something positive to say but I'm not supposed to post here.


Edited 7/13/2004 12:00 am ET ET by schifferle
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Mon, 07-12-2004 - 11:59pm
I’m a fan (from Illinois) of Paul Simon (RIP Paul) and the likes of JFK and have always been a registered Democrat. I support the 40 hour work week, a woman’s right to choose (until the fetus has developed enough to survive on it’s own), most gay, minority, and women’s rights issues (such as title IX. I actually support stronger language and enforcement ability for most of title IX), separation of church and state, welfare, and numerous other issues that the Democratic Party calls their own.

But, since the late 70’s to mid 80’s (similar to Reagan), I saw the Democratic Party shift away from me. I still support those things above, but I also supported conservative ideas such as personal property rights, freedom to express religious beliefs, personal responsibility, fiscal conservatism, and other things. IMO, the Democratic Party has supported the ideals listed first to such a point that they are too greatly impeding the ideals listed second.

I forgot where it happened, but a municipality narrowly defeated a new law requiring all pets to be seat belted when traveling in a car. IMO, government was not designed for such trivial matters and in my view, the left has largely tried to make our government an “all things to all people” type of system which is impossible. A kid being allowed to sue McDonald’s because he ate their product 5 times a day for years, NOW being taken seriously when protesting August when they easily can afford to build a similar course on their own while they support segregation of men from playing in women’s sports at the same time as supporting allowing women on men’s teams in the name of gender equality. Allowing these types of things or giving them serious consideration damages our society and impedes individual freedoms to the point I can no longer support “the left” on most issues.

Like most though, I’m not a purist. I oppose the banning of stem cell research, I oppose a constitutional ban on gay marriage (although I believe each state should have the right to legislate in that area), and a number of other issues. I guess what I’m trying to say that I support fairness, but at some point, the cost of being fair becomes too expensive for everyone and we need to go back to simpler, more “hard and fast” rules so in our pursuit of fairness so we do not trample the majority of those in the middle or at the bottom. The only examples of this off-hand would be airbags and housing. Airbags are nice, but they increase the cost of automobiles $3,000 each when seatbelts (for those that choose to use them) do the job pretty well. How many poor people have now been priced out of the market “because we care” and can no longer work because they can not afford an automobile? Our local Habitat for Humanity will be building about 20% fewer houses this year due to new building codes (the minimum size of houses increased) increasing the costs. Which would you rather have a small house or be on a waiting list another year? Every “good intention” has a cost. IMO we are good intentioning the middle class into the poor and the poor right out of existence.

That’s a little long, but I hope that outlines where I’m at socially/fiscally. I’d better scoot outta here before one of CL’s takes a ruler to knuckles for talking in the middle of class ;)

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-29-2003
Sat, 07-17-2004 - 9:24pm

Bush's Christianity???


 


Mich

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-24-2004
Mon, 07-19-2004 - 8:35pm
This is not for anyone in particular, but just need to rant a bit I guess.

1. Of course the republicans have to keep their mouths going, Bush has given them so much to defend.

2. One poster actually said that what Limbaugh said umpteen years ago, should just be forgiven. However, this same poster attacked Kerry for what he did after the Vietnam War.

3. Can anyone please explain to me how John Kerry is a traitor?

4. Why are the "terrorists" in Iraq now being called "insurgents"?

5. Why can't it just be agreed upon that going to war was based on pumped-up information, and that Bush is just trying to defend it now with "humanitarian reasons". Sorry, but I would have believed him more at the beginning of his presidency if he brought it up, than a year after the war was "over" and we found out his information was not factual. Its the ole using humanitarian aid trick......

6. Who actually thinks the war with Iraq went well and done what was intended?

7. How can we liberate another country, when this country is becoming very hateful towards others, and reduces our freedoms?

7. And this my friends is what the Patriot Act boils down to....

http://www.timesunion.com/aspstories/story.asp?storyID=267537

Incident unsettles Muslim family

Colonie -- Immigrant from Afghanistan says act of faith led to undue scrutiny at mall



By BRENDAN LYONS, Staff writer

First published: Monday, July 19, 2004



The terrifying memories of a shattered childhood in war-torn Afghanistan gripped Yasin Amin momentarily last month when the Colonie Center security guards ran toward him.

The guards -- Amin thinks there were about four -- hovered close by as Amin and his brother-in-law, and Amin's wife and three young children watched in disbelief. They were in Sears, looking for a DVD player, but cut their plans short because the guards' suffocating stares unnerved them.



"We were there to shop, but it came to a point where my wife said: 'Let's just go,' " Amin said.

Outside, the situation grew more disconcerting. At least three Colonie police cars, emergency lights flashing, were parked around the family's car.

"I said: 'What do you guys want to talk to me about?' " said Amin, who works for an Internet search company that caters to engineers.

The Colonie cops told Amin security officers had called them after Amin and his brother-in-law were spotted praying in a parking lot before entering the mall. But it was just after sunset, Amin said he told them, and their Islamic faith requires they pray at that moment every day -- no matter where they are.

"The police officer said: 'We know what you were doing and we're sorry, and these people need to be educated on your religion,' " Amin said, crediting the officers for their handling of the situation.

But in an era of heightened fear of terrorism, Muslims say public misconceptions of their customs are resulting in unfair profiling.

On May 16, nearly three weeks before the incident at Colonie Center, police in Albuquerque, N.M., were criticized when they handcuffed and detained eight people for two hours at a mall there. In that case, security officers called police when two men who looked Middle Eastern entered the mall after praying on a grassy area outside.

In both cases, police found no connection to terrorism and no legitimate reason to suspect a terrorist act was about to unfold.

But in the New Mexico case, police went inside the mall and detained several people who looked Middle Eastern, including a 20-year-old man who had not been praying but was ordered to sit on the ground inside the mall -- his wrists in handcuffs -- for about an hour, his attorney told newspapers in New Mexico.

Muslim leaders contend public-awareness warnings about terrorism should be paired with education on Islam. Without it, people may overreact when they see any of this country's estimated 1.2 million Arabs praying -- which is required five times a day for many Muslims, especially men.

"We want to make sure something like this doesn't happen again, and we want to educate the community," said Nizar Yaghi, president of the newly formed Albany chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. "Just because someone is praying in a non-familiar way doesn't mean this is a precursor to a terrorist attack."

Yaghi, an engineer who lives in Schenectady, said his group has been offering sensitivity classes to area police officers and hopes to do the same for private security companies -- starting with Colonie Center's. The group also wants to encourage mall managers to consider devoting small areas inside their facilities as "meditation" spots, as has been done at many airports nationwide, including Albany International Airport.

Many malls have set aside floor space for purposes unrelated to shopping -- such as private areas for breast-feeding mothers -- but officials at Colonie Center and Crossgates Mall in Guilderland said they have no plans to offer designated areas for prayer.

Colonie Center Marketing Director Susan Despart said the night Amin and his family were at the mall, security officers felt he and his brother-in-law were "putting themselves in danger" by praying on the ground in a parking lot. She did not say why police were called in this instance, but added: "If our security team sees something that's considered unusual, they will contact the Colonie police."

Despart said mall security forces across the nation have been instructed to be on alert.

"Prior to that, a number of politicians were talking about how malls are being targeted (by terrorists)," she said. "You walk that fine line between being vigilant and being accused of being insensitive to someone's religious beliefs."

Amin said he believes the security officers were practicing racial profiling and that their call to police bolsters his contention. He said after dropping his wife and children at Sears at dusk that evening, he and his brother-in-law drove to an isolated parking area to pray -- an area they felt was private and out of danger from passing cars. A security patrol car, yellow lights flashing, parked near them as they prayed but the guard inside kept his distance and did not say anything to them, Amin said.

Minutes later, inside Sears, Amin said the group watched security guards run toward them "from four different directions."

"Wherever we would go they were like 10 feet away from us," he said.

Colonie Police Chief Steven Heider was briefed about the incident by his command staff. He said his officers responded because they were called and handled the situation professionally.

"Obviously, everybody's tensions are running a little high," Heider said, referring to the war in Iraq, U.S. government terror warnings and continuous news reports on unrest in the Middle East. "Not all people understand different faiths or different customs, and that's never going to change. So there are certain things, especially in today's climate, that may bring people to a certain level of suspicion because they don't understand. But in a way, we're happy that happens because it creates an arena where things are discovered."

In the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Heider said, town police have received more calls about people who appear to be Middle Eastern. The police chief said many people "are nervous" and unfamiliar with certain cultures.

Still, Amin said he was left unsettled by the encounter that night. On Sunday afternoon at his Latham apartment, with his wife and children nearby, he recounted the summer of 1982 when his father -- an Afghan resistance fighter who was college educated in Australia and had worked for a U.S. Embassy -- was poisoned as he met with other resistance supporters in Islamabad, Pakistan.

At age 40, his father had fled Afghanistan with his family in 1980, joining thousands of other refugees who sought safety in Iran as Soviet troops took control of their country. But they went to Pakistan to rejoin resistance fighters because "he said he just couldn't stay and do nothing," Amin said. "He was a man of writing ... educated."

In Kabul, Afghanistan, where Amin grew up, he still remembers the nights when secret forces from the Soviet Union would slip into cities and villages, pull suspected communist-resistance fighters from their homes and murder them in front of their families.

"Right up until this happened, we thought the life we ran from was over," Amin said.

After his father's death, Amin said, his mother moved to Albany with her six children -- four boys and two girls -- and enrolled them in city schools. They arrived here as refugees, scraping by in an unfamiliar land. But Amin and his siblings graduated in good standing from high school and went on to attend local colleges -- Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Siena College and Hudson Valley Community College.

He said he understands why Americans fear terrorists, but he does not think it's right to associate all Muslims -- about one-fifth of the world's population -- with terrorism. Amin said his father's dying wish was for his family to go to America, where they could live free and express their opinions without fear of being killed.

But that night last month, in the glare of the police lights and as passers-by stared suspiciously at them in the mall's parking lot, Amin said he saw the confused looks on his children's faces.

"That stays with you," he said. "I remember as a kid in Afghanistan when the Soviets invaded. I remember those moments ... and I was very afraid. This is why we moved to this country. There was no need for this."



Avatar for mrsed4
iVillage Member
Registered: 08-22-2003
Tue, 07-20-2004 - 12:08am
Thanks for that post, Sandra. It really spotlights the hatred and suspicion that this administration has propagated, at the expense of innocent families.

Please consider posting the story on the open board. More people need to learn what is happening to American citizens.

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-24-2004
Tue, 07-20-2004 - 9:19am
Oh thanks. :-) If you liked it I have no problem having you post it. I have been here for a long time, and I know how most people react. I believe most of them know what is going on, and they agree with it and with Bush. I honestly do not feel any safer today than I did before 9-11. I think if something is going to happen it will, no matter how much you try to prevent it. This administration has made many people feel they cant trust their own neighbor. Do you remember the story of the 3 muslim men from Florida and the lady overheard them talking in Arabic in a restaraunt? She called the police becuase she felt suspicous. When all was said and done, and they were innocent of anything (but one lost his scholarship at the hospital bad press you know), she was like I was just doing my duty I did nothing wrong. I beleieve this is one of the reasons that Muslims stay to themselves and not interweave with the general population. Something as speaking in Arabic or praying can be seen as threatening.

It is like following our leader, when he says Muslim terrorists are the enemy, people hear Muslims are the enemy, hence the backlash. I should be way more mad and more scared than I am, but I have faith and that faith has brought us Muslims through worst things than this. I also believe that most people are good and kind, but it is the bad ones that come out loud and clear (kind of like the republicans on this board ;-) ).

Wow I ranted again, sorry. Everyone have a nice day and remember Kerry?/Edwards 2004!

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-25-2004
Tue, 07-20-2004 - 11:39am
Thanks, I was beginning to feel left out of the club.

 

The last time anyone listened to a Bush, they were lost for 40 years!   Looks like we're doomed to "wander" ano