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TheOtherBob

Published Letters: 129
Editor's Choice: 1

Monday, August 3, 2009 09:00 AM
Original article: Stand by your man, redux

Would a man do the same?

You ask, "would her husband do the same?" -- but I think you're really asking if a man in general would do the same. If so, I think that's entirely the wrong question. This particular woman was incredibly patient -- so patient that her friends thought she was insane. Her story is remarkable not because she was the typical wife, but because she was a remarkable one.

So the right question is: would an incredibly patient man put up with his wife going off the reservation for a few months?Yes. Of course he would. He's incredibly patient. Whether her particular husband is such a man...I don't know. But if not, it's not because of his sex.

Her actions were incredible because they were incredible -- not because of her sex. There are incredibly patient and loving men, just as there are incredibly patient and loving women. And typical women, just like typical men, would not put up with their spouse going nuts for several months.

Friday, July 31, 2009 12:53 PM

What Jebus said:

To continue our serious consideration of this question, let's look at another translation:

Teh Sevinti Lolcats Coems Bak

17 An sevinti lolcats coems bak all happi and sez "Boss! Even debils did wat we tel dem! Srsly!"

18 An Jebus sez "I seed Basement Cat git pwned an fall from Ceiling liek laitnin.

19 D00dz, I gibs u powr to stepping on snakiez an skorpeunz an not git bited.

20 But stead of be happi cuz ov dat, be happi dat ur naems iz writtn in Ceiling."

Friday, July 31, 2009 12:51 PM

What Jesus said...

Well, it makes no difference, but let's look at this seriously as a biblical question...

What Jesus was saying to his followers was that he had great power from God, because he "was watching as Satan fell from heaven like lightning." (He continued: "Behold, I have given you authority to tread upon snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing will by any means harm you.")

So "I was watching as Satan fell from Barack, like, Obama." But why was Obama carrying Satan around? Or maybe that means that Obama is heaven, which Satan is known to have fallen from? Or maybe Obama is without sin, having dropped Satan? And why was Jesus talking like a valley girl?

Nah, it's nonsense.

(And, yes, I acknowledge that translating a verse from the original Greek, which supposedly itself translated something someone said dozens of years earlier in Aramaic, into English and then plugging in faux-Aramaic words in place of their supposed equivalents in English is...unlikely to be accurate. Just playing along with the claim.)

Friday, July 31, 2009 08:59 AM

@VirginiaL

Yep...that worked like a charm with the 9/11 conspiratologists. After we held that commission to report on exactly what happened, complete with great detail and a public report, they all shut up and went...

Hey, wait a minute! That didn't work at all! Actually, that gave the nutjobs something else to comb through for "evidence" of a "conspiracy" (with these people, gratuitous scare quotes are appropriate) -- and more fake "facts" they could put on their websites to support it. So, yeah, let's jump through this hoop again -- since FactCheck's jumping through the same hoop was insufficient. And let's make sure the panel is impartial -- meaning made up of Orly Taitz (or whatever that dentist/lawyer's name is), Rush Limbaugh, and three of the nuttiest whack-jobs we can find. Yeaaaah, good luck with that.

Thursday, July 30, 2009 10:34 AM

@The Notorious W.E.S.

Most of the 7 of 9 were appointed back before the Republican Party went all-out, Gonzo the blue muppet crazy. Roe v. Wade stands because "conservative" didn't necessarily mean "idealogue" until recent years.

Why no tort reform during the 6 years when Republicans were in power? Because Jesus didn't tell them to pass tort reform, I guess. Like I said, ineffective.

Thursday, July 30, 2009 09:47 AM

Those wacky Dems

First, a caveat -- as a conservative, I have some significant concerns about what health care reform is going to look like -- though it can't be too much worse than what we have now. So I'm optimistic, but cautious.

But...man, this is why the Democrats lost elections for so long, and why they'll start losing again if they don't get their act together. The current Republican party is out of power because it's full of utter whack-jobs who were only effective at pushing ideologies. The Democrats were supposed to offer an alternative -- but instead it looks like the Democrats just aren't effective at pushing...anything. Sure, they're not nutty like the current Republicans -- instead the Dems are just scared of their own shadow.

You have 60 votes! You could pass...anything. All you have to do is be willing to be tough from time to time -- crack a few skulls, throw your weight around. Act like you're in charge. Govern.

Instead, you're begging the Republicans to throw you a bone, hoping they'll let you sneak in one or two concessions. You don't need them to throw you a bone! You're the big dog now -- start acting like you know what you're doing. If you don't, in two years, the party will be back to the days of Mike Dukakis riding around in a tank.

And, look, I'm conservative -- I don't want you guys to go nuts passing all sorts of costly programs or anything. But you do have to govern -- this country is better off with leadership (of any political stripe) than without. And you can't govern cowering in a corner.

Man, grow a pair.

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