balderdash111

Sorry, one more thing. Not editing my earlier message b/c not directly germane to that discussion.

You may be wondering why I am making such an effort to defuse this point. After all, as I have been careful to note in all my e-mails [*edit* whoops - I mean "posts], I won't be voting Bush/Cheney in November.

I've been doing it because I am concerned about what's been going on with Kerry (and other Democratic) supporters in this election.

We're doing just what the Limbaugh's, O'Reilly's and Hannity's have been doing for years: taking a statement that really wasn't all that big a deal to begin with and ballooning and lampooning (wow, if only I could throw in "harpooning") it until it becomes some sort of massive indictment of the speaker.

This kind of distortion and hypocricy pissed us all off in the 90s, so it bothers me that we are falling into the same trap today.

Yes, I know that part of the point of Air America in general and the Majority Report in particular (where the clip came from originally, and - I'm sure - the reason anyone on this board ever heard about it in the first place) is to do exactly what I am complaining about: use the Republicans' dirty tricks against them.

I would rather not sink to those tactics, and would rather the country elevated the debate to the real issues. Maybe it's naive to think we could ever climb our way out of this downward spiral, but I don't have to let it go without trying to level it out a bit.

Vote Kerry.