History of the Estate Tax

[ebacon]

Originally Posted by noonereal

So you are testing the members here?

I'll be reviewing your posts to gauge your abilities to be a valued poster here.

Do what you need to do.

I'm not testing. It's just that after years of doing this stuff I have learned a few things about discussing politics. One of them is that it is more fun if people talk from their heart and top of their head.

For me at least it is lame as hell reading posters that just battle each other with cites to opposing viewpoints. The problem with that is that it lets the major parties script the dialog and reduces the debaters to useful idiots that further the parties' agendas. The good stuff in the middle gets driven over as the discussion crashes back and forth between the left and right guardrails.

I have also learned that its no fun to debate with people that can't at least see both sides of an issue. That's like wrestling with the proverbial pig that likes the mud.

If you want to see if I am worthy it might be best to debate me instead of reading my few old posts in a vacuum and judging me. I could judge you too but what good would that do? And even if we disagree it's no big deal. It's not like our two votes out of hundreds of millions are going to change anything overnight. We are just pawns in a bigger game being played over a much longer time horizon.

[BlueStreak]

Originally Posted by ebacon

Do what you need to do.

I'm not testing. It's just that after years of doing this stuff I have learned a few things about discussing politics. One of them is that it is more fun if people talk from their heart and top of their head.

For me at least it is lame as hell reading posters that just battle each other with cites to opposing viewpoints. The problem with that is that it lets the major parties script the dialog and reduces the debaters to useful idiots that further the parties' agendas. The good stuff in the middle gets driven over as the discussion crashes back and forth between the left and right guardrails.

I have also learned that its no fun to debate with people that can't at least see both sides of an issue. That's like wrestling with the proverbial pig that likes the mud.

If you want to see if I am worthy it might be best to debate me instead of reading my few old posts in a vacuum and judging me. I could judge you too but what good would that do? And even if we disagree it's no big deal. It's not like our two votes out of hundreds of millions are going to change anything overnight. We are just pawns in a bigger game being played over a much longer time horizon.

Cool.

[d-ray657]

Originally Posted by ebacon

And even if we disagree it's no big deal. It's not like our two votes out of hundreds of millions are going to change anything overnight. We are just pawns in a bigger game being played over a much longer time horizon.

We just do what we can.

Regards,

D-Ray

[beej]

Originally Posted by ebacon

Do what you need to do.

I'm not testing. It's just that after years of doing this stuff I have learned a few things about discussing politics. One of them is that it is more fun if people talk from their heart and top of their head.

For me at least it is lame as hell reading posters that just battle each other with cites to opposing viewpoints. The problem with that is that it lets the major parties script the dialog and reduces the debaters to useful idiots that further the parties' agendas. The good stuff in the middle gets driven over as the discussion crashes back and forth between the left and right guardrails.

I have also learned that its no fun to debate with people that can't at least see both sides of an issue. That's like wrestling with the proverbial pig that likes the mud.

If you want to see if I am worthy it might be best to debate me instead of reading my few old posts in a vacuum and judging me. I could judge you too but what good would that do? And even if we disagree it's no big deal. It's not like our two votes out of hundreds of millions are going to change anything overnight. We are just pawns in a bigger game being played over a much longer time horizon.

I, for one, would rather not judge anyone and do my best not to. I take what's posted here at face value, assuming that individuals mean what they say. On occasion, I've had my trigger tripped (pun intentional) when discussing firearms issues but, for the most part, try not to become so emotionally invested in the discussion that it elevates my blood pressure. That said I enjoy a spirited discussion and welcome views that differ from mine. Makes for an interesting break from work and helps get the juices flowing early in the a.m.

With respect to trying to understand the point of view of others, I'm not always successful in my attempts to do so but would like to think that I at least make the effort.

My 2 cents adjusted for stimulus.

[noonereal]

Originally Posted by ebacon

Do what you need to do.

I'm not testing. It's just that after years of doing this stuff I have learned a few things about discussing politics. One of them is that it is more fun if people talk from their heart and top of their head.

For me at least it is lame as hell reading posters that just battle each other with cites to opposing viewpoints. The problem with that is that it lets the major parties script the dialog and reduces the debaters to useful idiots that further the parties' agendas. The good stuff in the middle gets driven over as the discussion crashes back and forth between the left and right guardrails.

I have also learned that its no fun to debate with people that can't at least see both sides of an issue. That's like wrestling with the proverbial pig that likes the mud.

If you want to see if I am worthy it might be best to debate me instead of reading my few old posts in a vacuum and judging me. I could judge you too but what good would that do? And even if we disagree it's no big deal. It's not like our two votes out of hundreds of millions are going to change anything overnight. We are just pawns in a bigger game being played over a much longer time horizon.

I just figure it's not my place to set performance bars for other posters and figure that no one else should either.