To: coug who wrote (1922 ) 6/6/2003 12:46:55 AM From: epicure Respond to Even if you don't agree with him, I fail to see how anyone could miss what a cogent and intelligent speaker he is. Anyone who can't admit that, is so bigoted and blindered THEY aren't worth listening to. It's like Colin- I don't always agree with him, but at least he is a good speaker, and obviously intelligent- and not a blowhard- and I don't think he is captive of any conspiracy (although of course he might be- I certainly don't know everything about Colin- it just doesn't seem likely to me). He may have been wrong about the power structure he aligned himself with, but I think he is a man who believes in the kinds of values I believe in, and I think he can respect people who don't agree with him- one of the tests of a good person (imo). For me, the best people, don't need to demonize people. They can dislike ideas, but do not need to hate the people who carry the ideas they dislike. Seeing the humanity in people with whom you disagree is the test of real humanity. There are people of extreme violent hatreds on the right and left- and I don't like listening to people like that, and most especially, I don't want to listen to people call other people names and demonize them. We have seen what hate does in the world- in some parts of Africa there are people who can hack off the arms of children and eat them, just because they are full of hate. I don't want to listen to anyone traveling that path- and people who think they can hate without traveling the path of all the other haters in the world, are fooling themselves (imo). Peace, justice and freedom. I want to hear people talk about those things, in a respectful, just and humane way. There are many roads to peace, justice and freedom- and there are even more ideas about the roads to get there. I hope this thread continues to be moderated in a way that encourages people to contribute respectfully about ideas, and never becomes a place where personal and political animosity takes the place of discussion.
