tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16594468.post3163175033898603881..comments2023-10-24T04:29:23.693-06:00Comments on Atheist Ethicist: Campaign Tactics as a Campaign IssueAlonzo Fyfehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05687777216426347054noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16594468.post-55532628354190318352008-09-15T08:25:00.000-06:002008-09-15T08:25:00.000-06:00Doug S.Thank you for brightening up my day.I notic...<B>Doug S.</B><BR/><BR/>Thank you for brightening up my day.<BR/><BR/>I notice one thing missing, though. It doesn't speak to the moral case about how this type of behavior is bad for all of us.<BR/><BR/>It is taken as a given, but I think it should be spelled out.<BR/><BR/>However, now that the advertisement exists, I would like to ask readers to spread the advertiement out a bit, and add some text to the form of:<BR/><BR/>"We will continue to have to wallow in this type of politics until we take a stand against it. If McCain wins with this type of campaigning, we can expect more in future elections. If it hurts him, we can severely reduce the amount of this type of garbage that we and future generations will have to put up with in the future."Alonzo Fyfehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05687777216426347054noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16594468.post-42017096635568394242008-09-15T07:25:00.000-06:002008-09-15T07:25:00.000-06:00Alonzo: Apparently, the Obama campaign has, in fac...Alonzo: Apparently, the Obama campaign has, in fact, decided to make an issue out of this.<BR/><BR/><A HREF="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CK3Y1KPzW9k" REL="nofollow">Their latest commercial.</A>Doug S.https://www.blogger.com/profile/11918949543315280580noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16594468.post-88367371574440295652008-09-14T21:04:00.000-06:002008-09-14T21:04:00.000-06:00anticantIt’s a delicate matter for foreigners to c...<B>anticant</B><BR/><BR/><I>It’s a delicate matter for foreigners to comment on your electoral process, which many Americans will understandably regard as their own and no-one else’s business.</I><BR/><BR/>Sorry, but I do not buy this argument.<BR/><BR/>It is, in a sense, like saying that a foreigner has nothing meaningful to say on the issue of slavery, when slavery was legal. Or that a foreigner ought not to speak up about the Holocaust where Germany was involved, or say anything about Apartheid in South Africa.<BR/><BR/>The charge that the claims that a person can be dismissed because he is "a foreigner" is, in all honesty, an 'ad hominem' fallacy. A person makes an argument which may or may not be sound. But, instead of responding to the argument, the individual decides to attack the person - announcing some characteristic of the person and saying, "Because my critic has characteristic C, we may dismiss any argument he makes."<BR/><BR/>In this case, Condition C is "being a foreigner".<BR/><BR/>You should be able to tell from this response that, as far as this blog is concerned, it is the strength of the argument, not the characteristics of the person making the argument, that is relevant here.<BR/><BR/><B>Anonymous</B><BR/><BR/>Your statements are very much correct. Particularly given the fact that the people who divised these tactics for Bush are the same people who are managing the Bush campaign and, in particular, managing Palin's public appearances and comments.<BR/><BR/>Palin really is George Bush's political twin sister.Alonzo Fyfehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05687777216426347054noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16594468.post-27053428164009844532008-09-14T18:10:00.000-06:002008-09-14T18:10:00.000-06:00"More importantly . . . more important than any of..."More importantly . . . more important than any of this . . . if we allow a campaign of lies and distraction to win the team that uses it the office of President of the United States today, it will send a message down through the next generation, and the generation after that, that they, too, should grow up to be people who use lies and distractions to reach public office in the years to come."<BR/><BR/>Correction. The precedent of a "campaign of lies and distraction to win" has already been set by Bush. McCain is the first "next generation" to get the "message" and attempt to replicate it. McCain is imitating, not originating. The question that will be settled is whether a transparent imitation of the master will still work. We shall see. If the evil that results from Republican rule could be limited to those who vote Republican, I might just start believing in a just and merciful god. If only.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16594468.post-60814319363980823052008-09-14T09:07:00.000-06:002008-09-14T09:07:00.000-06:00Alonzo – you are absolutely correct in saying that...Alonzo – you are absolutely correct in saying that campaign tactics are as important a subject for debate as “issues”. If honesty matters, that is.<BR/><BR/>It’s a delicate matter for foreigners to comment on your electoral process, which many Americans will understandably regard as their own and no-one else’s business. But because of America’s still [though for how much longer?] predominant role in world affairs, those of us who aren’t US citizens do have a legitimate interest in what happens in your country.<BR/><BR/>I speak as a lifelong admirer of USA and its ideals [even though these aren’t always practised]. Sadly, America seems to have lost its moral compass in recent years, especially since ‘9/11’. That tragic event proved traumatic, and enabled [whether accidentally or by design] those who had concocted the PNAC project to latch onto the levers of power. Corruption in government is not, and should not be, a party matter. See, for instance, Yankee Doodle’s blog – a patriotic Republican who has no illusions about the current state of affairs in Washington.<BR/><BR/>I only hope that voices such as yours and YD’s will be heard by many good hearted Americans – especially the younger ones such as ‘Calvin’ - in time to rescue some of America’s credibility at home and abroad.anticanthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18135207107619114891noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16594468.post-37302539891837799602008-09-14T08:12:00.000-06:002008-09-14T08:12:00.000-06:00Is this McCain's campaign strategy?Is <A HREF="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_lie" REL="nofollow">this</A> McCain's campaign strategy?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16594468.post-21374415463292057152008-09-14T07:42:00.000-06:002008-09-14T07:42:00.000-06:00So true.I felt I had to comment, given that the on...So true.<BR/><BR/>I felt I had to comment, given that the only response you've had so far to this great post was the one above.....Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16594468.post-1776122268668569982008-09-14T06:14:00.000-06:002008-09-14T06:14:00.000-06:00Boy, it's a good thin Obama has never lied on ...Boy, it's a good thin Obama has never lied on the campaign trail! Um, unless you count his Illinois support of live-birth abortions...or his associations with Jeremiah Wright...or his claims that the GOP says he "doesn't look like the other presidents"....<BR/><BR/>Obama's going to react by focusing on "the issues" -- like how McCain's clueless because he doesn't use computers, never mind the fact that it's due to his injuries.<BR/><BR/>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdIlzAyueow&eurl=http://rightcal.blogspot.com/<BR/><BR/>Right.Calvinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08732753126859648649noreply@blogger.com