DrugBuyers.Com: Dan Rather on OP's on CBS Evening News 4/12/04

Redhill, relax my friend. Nobody was even close to saying what you think they did and you stepped way out of line in that rant in my opinion.

After your first post you came in and said you were sorry about the "white" bit and all was good. So, to come back like that because someone doesn't agree with one bit of what you said is way over the top to me.

I mean, I have a 19 year old son who is a straight edge kid. He sings in a Punk band. He, like his father, was a professional athelete (though for him it lasted one year after he didn't do as well as he expected)he is also a member of he national honors society and as a Freshman at a state school where he comes from, the most regulated state in the union, he is a member of the National forensics society.

My point, I could could get all pissed go off on a tangent about your "white" statement or how you constantly bash straight edge when all that means is that these kids don't drink, smoke or do drugs but are into punk, all fine things to me but, the rest of the content of what you said is pretty much how I feel so in the end, all is well.

You came back and had a go at the french after getting questioned for making a white statement, my advice, simply shy away from making crummy remarks about peoples ethnicity and you are fine.

To the rest of your post I would add this.

Opie, I am a conservative/libertarian. I used to be a very conservative republican.

Why the switch? because due to my profession I spent more than a decade living most of every year in the rest of the world. I lived in Spain, Germany, Japan, France, England, Ireland, Holland, Thailand Australia and New Zealand during every year to name a few and would then greatfully return home to the US. I got to see what having little to no freedom truly is as well as what having actual freedom is like.

In the past three years, Bush, who I voted for, has signed into law and established more opportunities for our government to take away our personal freedoms then in any other time in our countries history.

You sight prohibition, I would sight the fact that the Government now has the right to enter your house without a warrant (recently taken to the supreme court and sighted to pass). They have the right to "shadow" your personal computer on the pretent of "national security".

They are demanding Hospitals and family planning centers to hand over ten years of abortion records. They have empowered the FCC, a liscensing agency that is supposed to have NOTHING to do with standards and practices, with the ability to fine and remove programming that they feel is "offencive" based on less then what the ratings would show is what the majority want.

Bush and co are in the process of turning us into a nation where they and ONE FACTION of Christianity are being given the power to determine what is best for ALL OF US.

As an American who is a Christian, I am not only offended but amazed. Christianity, as are all major religions, is based on YOU having a PERSONAL relationship with your God.

You simply CANNOT FORCE someone to believe something. You can't. You can make a society where those who agree with your specific point of veiw have an easier time of things, but that is about all.

I would also say that when you do that, you create more underground and counterculture groups then you will converts.

The reason Jesus came to us, for those of us who believe is that the ruling power in his faith had become corrupt and lost touch with what the message was truly about. Bush is on his way to making us no better than the country that we just liberated from "Years of tyranny", to quote Opie.

I absolutely agree with the context of your message, I just don't think you need to single out specific races, nationalities or social groups to make it.

This is about politics and power, I would just stick to that.

Only my opinion though and no more right than yours so no offence intended.