My struggle to give a clue to the McInsain Supporter: A Rant...

[thecrow]

Maybe this will help someone else out...

I sent a message to someone who has been moaning about gas prices (and drives an SUV) for months:

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Exxon Mobil once again reported the largest quarterly profit in U.S. history Thursday, posting net income of $11.68 billion on revenue of $138 billion in the second quarter.

That profit works out to $1,485.55 a second.

That barely beat the previous corporate record of $11.66 billion, also set by Exxon in the fourth quarter of 2007.
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He sent me this back....

Yup, and in the US it's still a capitalistic society (unless Obama gets in) and it's not against the law to make money. The amount of fuel world-wide that Exxon-Mobile had to sell at $0.8 per gallon profit is quite a bit and yet they only have about 4% of the market share in the global oil economy. So, this begs the question of who has the rest of the share (E-M is the largest US company) of this market? Try the Arabs, Chavez, African nations, Canada, etc.
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Is Chavez a country I don't know about? Hmmm.
So I wrote:
Exactly why I am voting for President Obama to get us off of the oil merry-go-round and headed into cleaner, renewable energies.
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And he wrote me:
If he wins I hope you'll enjoy the tax structure and the lack of military leadership. Good luck.......... He has no experience. I really do not like either one of the candidates that well either, but three years as a Senator with no military background concerns me deeply; especially in these times. He didn't even visit the vets from the war in the hospital in Europe, yet he had enough time to go to the gym................ too bad.
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Well, I thought, I just have to set this guy up with some other point of view.

Here is my reply. Feel free to use this portion to undo your particular McInsain supporter's head.
I hope the couple comments taken from a DU thread are okay with the OP. If not, PM me.
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Well you're perfectly welcome to vote for whomever you like.

Maybe McCain and his oil lobbyists impress you more. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrSD8Mz-kp4
Perhaps his sense of the world? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNsr2aF1XM0
Perhaps his incredible educational achievments? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srbX26vp57c
His grasp of understanding of how Social Security works? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vSiWDvSbG4
His integrity? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEtZlR3zp4c&NR=1
Who said that Obama "had time for the gym but not for wounded troops? McCain? http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/snubbing_wounded_troops.html

And how do you expect the US to get out of this crushing debt without raising taxes?

America's $53 trillion jumbo loan
The next president and Congress must not let the national debt surprise the country the way the subprime crisis did.

Americans are now tasting the sour fruits of unaffordable mortgages: foreclosure, bankruptcy, falling markets. The nation, too, is staring at overwhelming debt, made worse by this week's forecast of a whopper federal deficit. Washington mustn't let this burden rise, for the sake of global financial markets and future US generations.

It's true that the $482 billion deficit chasm estimated for fiscal year 2009 doesn't look so deep when taken as a percentage of the overall economy – 3.3 percent of gross domestic product compared to the 1983 nadir of about 6 percent.

But this is just one "mortgage" that the federal government (i.e., taxpayers) must meet. It owes on all the deficits it has accumulated over the years (the national debt), and it has jumbo liabilities to come in the form of Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.

Adding all those liabilities together, the government has dug itself into a $53 trillion fiscal hole – the equivalent of $175,000 per person living in the United States. If the White House and Congress continue to follow the do-nothing plan, in another 30 years or so the federal government will spend more than twice as much as it raises in taxes.

Read more: http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0801/p08s01-comv.html



Maybe you feel comfortable leaving that debt to your grandchildren? I certainly don't.
They will inherit enough problems in their world. People should really educate themselves on the vast disparity of wealth distribution in this country and the world. It's absolutely awesome. Most people think that because they're paying their bills, that they're in the upper 1/2 of the wealth structure. They're not.
The top 1% have a combined wealth greater than the GDP of Japan, Germany, France and the UK COMBINED:

ABC Nightline tonight.

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/story?id=4872105&page=1

As many Americans watch personal investments like their homes go belly up, many of the super rich have seen their fortunes grow.

"The median income in America is still around $48,000, and that's been flat for about the last 10 years," said Frank. "Meanwhile, the top 1 percent of Americans control 33 percent of the wealth. That top 1 percent owns $17 trillion in wealth, which for perspective, is greater than the GDPs of Japan, Germany, the U.K. and France combined."

Even the top 1 percent's dogs live well. Parmar's five purebreds are fed chicken and steak.

"I think it comes down to fundamentals of how I invest," Parmar said. "I didn't go rob a bank."

But even Warren Buffett -- the world's richest man whose estimated wealth hovers around $60 billion -- worries about the burgeoning wealth gap.

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US election: Buffett joins Obama to solve economic crisis Source: The Guardian UK

Barack Obama was joined by the world's wealthiest person, Warren Buffett, and a number of entrepreneurs, economists and union leaders for a summit in Washington yesterday to find ways out of America's economic crisis.

Obama, who returned to the US from a 10-day overseas visit on Saturday, sought to switch yesterday from foreign affairs to the economy, the issue that Americans tell pollsters will determine their choice of the next president. "People are worried about gas prices, they're worried about job security, they're worried about their retirement fund as the stockmarket goes down," Obama said before the summit.

"People are understandably concerned about the immediate effects of the economy, and that's what we will be talking about for the duration."

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jul/29/barackobama...



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And who's Sen. McCain got? Oh Yeah, Phil Gramm of "Enron Loophole" fame. The people of this country
are just "whiners".





McCain is a war proponent. That's straight up why I will not support him.
I have adamantly supported the Peace Movement since 1967.
His acceptance speech was a disgrace to the Republican Party; he really thought all his insults and attempts at stand-up comedy made him look clever. He has progressively gone lower and lower in his juvenile attack ads on Obama, which he said he wouldn't do... and did. He is a buffoon, and I can't respect a man like that.
I wouldn't want him as a friend and certainly not as a President, especially in these sensitive times.



Abraham Lincoln had less experience than Barack Obama, and he had virtually no military experience, either.
http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h837.html
Yet, he preserved the Union, and was considered one of America's greatest presidents.

Barack OBama put law school and corporate life on hold after college and moved to Chicago in 1985, where he became a community organizer with a church-based group seeking to improve living conditions in poor neighborhoods plagued with crime and high unemployment. The group had some success, but Barack had come to realize that in order to truly improve the lives of people in that community and other communities, it would take not just a change at the local level, but a change in our laws and in our politics.
He went on to earn his law degree from Harvard in 1991, where he became the first African-American president of the Harvard Law Review. Soon after, he returned to Chicago to practice as a civil rights lawyer and teach constitutional law. Finally, his advocacy work led him to run for the Illinois State Senate, where he served for eight years.
In 2004, he became the third African American since Reconstruction to be elected to the U.S. Senate.

Maybe you might consider one of the OTHER candidates? Ron Paul, Libertarian? Ralph Nader, Independent?
Cynthia McKinney, Green Party?

And about Exxon, "they only have about 4% of the market share in the global oil economy" ??
(not according to this)
Market share/importance

Worldwide
Exxon is the biggest not state owned oil and gas company in the world. According to the Time & Fortune Group's 2001 Fortune Global 500 list of the largest companies by revenue, it is the biggest corporation <2>. Worldwide it employs over 100,000 people.

Petroleum is mostly sold through Exxon’s/Esso’s service stations of which they have 45,000 in 118 countries. Aviation fuel is sold at more than 700 airports in 80 countries. ExxonMobil Marine Fuels serves more than 300 ports in 70 countries <3>.
see: http://www.corporatewatch.org.uk/?lid=292


I was just pointing out that Exxon makes unfathomable profits, and maybe we should get on board with alternative energies. John Warner, apparently agrees:

John Warner: Jimmy Carter Was Right
It took 30 years, but Jimmy Carter finally has gotten recognition for the wisdom of his energy policies. Speaking on Science Friday, Senator John Warner, a Republican from Virginia who first entered the Senate during Carter's term in office, said that Jimmy Carter "was right" when he called for a massive program of energy conservation and alternative energy research.

Senator Jeff Bingaman, Democrat from New Mexico, agreed. As chairman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, one would expect a fellow democrat to back the former President. But I must admit I was a bit surprised to hear Warner readily agree. Jimmy Carter has a tough time being called "right" about anything in his administration, let alone from Republicans. Warner has recently discovered the threat posed by global warming through his discussions with Pentagon brass who are concerned about the submerging of Naval ports around the world as the oceans rise. Though he is late to the ball, Warner readily admitted the country was asleep at the switch for the last three decades.

However, concern for global warming is universal on Capitol Hill this week or even bi-partisan enough to extend the tax credits for the development of alternative energy sources like solar and wind. Bingaman, a champion of the credits, complained that huge alternative energy projects on the drawing boards will reamain there, if the credits are not restored. Once again, for the up-teenth time, not enough Senators voted for extension of the credits.

Read more: http://www.sciencefriday.com/blog/index.php?archives/32...

At any rate, again, I don't think we can agree on a candidate between us. We are not the same person; we will not choose the same candidate. You stated your beliefs and issues, so I am stating mine.


I'm sure it boils your blood to have me write back and counter all your claims with videos and links, but then you have no links, just rhetoric that you got from who knows where and that boils my blood.
We need to agree to disagree. Yes, we can.
Peace, brother.

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I hope I wasn't too hard on him, but you wouldn't believe the RW garbage he sends me.
I'd proposed this agree to disagree before,in 2004, but that didn't stop him from sending
all these RW things and fundie miracle stories, * and military glorification, etc.

[NMDemDist2]

1. bookmarked, and thanks n/t

[Subdivisions]

2. Kick and Rec #2. n/t

[cliffordu]

3. I just stole this, and K&R

[thecrow]

4. Glad to be of help to somebody.

All my research was not lost.
He is now sending me stuff about non-citizens costing millions, and so are messing up HIS healthcare and expenses.
*sigh*

Will someone send this to the greatest?

[chknltl]

5. Oh God...had I seen this but hours earlier.

I spent the past three days with my freeper-wannabe 'step kid'. (He calls me the best dad he never had even though I ain't related at all!) He hates Sen. mCcain but hates Sen. Obama even more. "That Muslim's gonna raise all of our taxes and lose the war in the Middle East because he has no experience!" Worse: "Don't worry, mCcain will pull us out of this "minor recession" if that's what it is"..."if worse comes to worse I'll take care of ya, my family, (his real mom) is quite wealthy-not to worry we'll do just fine!"..."You'll have to cut your hair and stop talking all that politics bs though but you'll be just fine!"

I tried explaining how Democracy means We The People, not We The Corporations, I tried explaining to him how he was just quoting unprovable GOP talking points but he would have none of it! 'I was just talking Democratic opinion so what's the difference, politico's are all bad anyway and only out to get re-elected.' I agreed that many if not most politicians spend much of their time keeping their jobs instead of doing the peoples business-that this was not the case for all politicians. "Nope," he said, "they are all crooks so get used to it!"

I did catch him with education briefly. We are both vets, (I'm Viet-Nam Era, he is Gulf War-1 Era).
I asked him if he approved of our bennies, the college education that he is currently taking advantage of. He said of course- we EARNED those bennies. I asked him if he intended on a good job from that education. He said of course again, otherwise why bother. I asked him if he intended on making lots of money with that job and more importantly SPENDING much of that money. Again he said of course. I asked him if he would be spending more than a Wal Mart Employee-if his future spending would be better for our economy than what a Wal-Mart employee would spend. He agreed that was easily apparent. "So if those few $$ the government invests in us vets for our education is better for the economy than not, why shouldn't the government do that with ALL of it's citizens?" I asked.
This tripped him up for a second but then he came back with: "That would be Socialism...how did that Socialism crap work out for Russia?"

I remember years and years ago interacting with a fundie who assured me that dinosaurs never existed-that those fossilized bones were nothing more than rocks and works of Satin meant to deceive us. I gave up on that guy...there was nothing I could do, simply nothing! I care for the freeper wannabe step kid of mine but I feel equally frustrated. He lives in a world of selfish greed, racism, hatred and self imposed ignorance. I'm thinkin' too broken to fix...unless I could walk him through the shoes of those refugees, those victims of America's foreign policy over in the Middle East. I believe he would cry foul though. He ain't 'one of those brown people' after-all so why does he deserve that fate. (Yes he actually called the refugees in the Middle East "BROWN PEOPLE"!!!! AND AMERICA BROUGHT THEM FREEDOM-THAT THEIR LIVES ARE MUCH BETTER THAN IT WAS UNDER SADDAM HUSSEIN!!!!)


I dropped him off at the Airport a short while ago so he could fly back to his mothers home and the college she is sending him to. He assured me that things will be just fine-as long as Obama wasn't president.

After dropping my step-kid off I got back from the airport and bumped into my neighbor kids, one is 7 and the other 5. I remembered then why we keep fighting. I urge any who read this far to look to the children for inspiration...in the end they are the ones we fight for...freeper-wannabes otoh, are already in hell, there's no savin' 'em nor any reason to do so because they don't want to be saved. Whoever came up with the notion of marching the Germans through those WWII death camps after the war had the right idea! OH WHAT I wouldn't give to walk the kool-aid drinkers through the world that they have brought us and make them do the clean-up!

[Ilsa]

6. Bookmarked, and Thank you! nt

[Skittles]

7. he sounds like a rush-loving, repuke whackjob

I am surrounded by them here in Texas