
Average Joe |
I almost swallowed my gum today when I heard about Bush vetoing another congressional bill which would have expanded funding for stell-cell research with his justification being "Destroying human life to save human life is unethical." How touching, Mr. Bush. Of course, aren't we over in Iraq and Afganistan right now destroying human life to save human life? You may say we're destoying 'evil' humans to save 'good' humans, but the reality is that the overwhelmingly vast majority of casualties are innocent civilians. Now I don't want to start ranting about that here; I just found Mr. Bush's remarks to be especially mindless and hipocritical this time, even for him...

Sean, Minister of KtSP |

I'm very annoyed by Bush's promised veto of this bill, for various reasons, including loved ones who might someday benefit from the research.
But that being said, I usually don't talk politics here. As an unapologetic extreme lefty, I have come to respect many avowed righties around here, and would rather talk about the things we can agree upon, like D&D, weapons and armor, and military history. Actually, I've run into that frequently in gaming. We gamers runs the gamut of political leanings.
So, I'll say I would wish for this bill to pass, but that I respect other positions people might express.

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I wish I had voted in Florida in 2000. I'm sorry I failed you all, my fellow Americans.
REMEMBER TO VOTE, KIDS!!! One day, yours might be one of about 100 votes that it could take to change an entire freakin' presidential election. Or it could be like voting for Carey in Texas in 2004, as meaningless as a copper piece in an ancient wyrm's treasure trove. But whatever.

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DitheringFool wrote:Did you just make a funny?Personally, I wish we could leave politics and religion off these boards...yes, even Paizo's Off-Topic boards.
God bless the president of the United States of America.
Nope. But I said it ten years ago and the Good Lord willing I'll say it ten years from now. I tend to emphasize the United part even when I disagree (which in this case I don't).

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...I respect the diversity of others' opinions, even when the others are wrong like the wrongest thing in all of Wrongonia.
That's funny, because that is exactly what I was thinking :) And that is why I prefer to focus on what we have in common...like how awesome Paizo is. How much fun it is to go spelunking in the underdark. TPKs and so on.

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I wish I had voted in Florida in 2000. I'm sorry I failed you all, my fellow Americans.
REMEMBER TO VOTE, KIDS!!! One day, yours might be one of about 100 votes that it could take to change an entire freakin' presidential election. Or it could be like voting for Carey in Texas in 2004, as meaningless as a copper piece in an ancient wyrm's treasure trove. But whatever.
I don't blame ya, Heathy. It could have been 100 votes, 1000 votes, or 10,000 votes that they SAID were the difference. The span didn't matter, as the whole thing was fixed from the start. For the first time in the history of the United States, the Supreme Court Justices had the power to put into office the person THEY wanted to be President. Not your fault.

Great Green God |

See? We're not all extreme lefties around here.
You all should be, of course, but I respect the diversity of others' opinions, even when the others are wrong like the wrongest thing in all of Wrongonia.
O that I wish sometimes that this Moderate* heart could keep this trap shut and leave this web-community off the hook with a nice peaceful end to this thread as it slowly sinks into obscurity. I find the act of doing so though to be most distasteful. To me to do so would be to perpatrate the very crime that I rail against in public. The very thing that I find to be most of this country's problems of late -too many people willing to let too many things slide. Sorry, but Utopia this is not. Cronyism, corruption, bold-faced lies, ineptness, and a roll back of basic human rights as outlined by the documents that this country was founded on, are only okay as long as no-one gets up from the game table to say something about it.
Here's to going out loud and proud rather than under the weight of personal shame.
GGG
*My voting record reads in order: Reagan, Bush, Bush, Clinton, Gore (because I liked Clinton's economics), Carey (because, I really had no choice considering what we had and I really don't see how actual political conservatives (religous or otherwise) can vote for what we got now - I voted for Clark in primaries).

The Jade |

Hear, hear!
Thou art brave, Great Green God. Why are we so afraid of each other's judgements? So long as we keep it from busting out of the pens, I have no problem listening to others sharing their various views. I don't agree with a few of our posters' politics, but the ones that convey their opinions well keep me coming back to read each and every word. I suspect that a few may have written me off due to the leanings I've already demonstrated in my candid posts, but if that were true, it would be their issue alone. I'm here to learn and to teach and to joke and to speech. ;)
The Jade wrote:
So... we'll just keep talking about sex and religion then? No problem.That's the plan.
Whaddya like? Sex that's a religious experience, having sex religiously, or a sexy religion? One order of each please. The latter might just turn this atheist around!

farewell2kings |

Republicans and Democrats....let's come together at the gaming table!!!
What I miss the most is the fact that 25 years ago the Dems and Reps would be cordial to each other. You could discuss differences of opinion over a cocktail and not call each other names or stick a bunch of shallow labels on each other. Now, the extremes rule the day because they shout the loudest, on both sides, and get all the press. I just hate it. People find out I'm a life National Rifle Association member and I get labelled as a right wing nut. Then others find out that I voted in the Democrat primary and I'm labelled a Birkenstock wearing faerie. F all of you who refuse to see past the label and realize that life is just too f$#!ing complex for such shallow stupidity. Let's talk like human beings, not like moronic football fans shouting insults at each other.
That rant was not directed at anyone on these boards, okay?

ZioKai |

Republicans and Democrats....let's come together at the gaming table!!!
What I miss the most is the fact that 25 years ago the Dems and Reps would be cordial to each other. You could discuss differences of opinion over a cocktail and not call each other names or stick a bunch of shallow labels on each other. Now, the extremes rule the day because they shout the loudest, on both sides, and get all the press. I just hate it. People find out I'm a life National Rifle Association member and I get labelled as a right wing nut. Then others find out that I voted in the Democrat primary and I'm labelled a Birkenstock wearing faerie. F all of you who refuse to see past the label and realize that life is just too f@&!ing complex for such shallow stupidity. Let's talk like human beings, not like moronic football fans shouting insults at each other.
That rant was not directed at anyone on these boards, okay?
I agree with everyword said. I find that I cannot discuss poltics or religion with anyone in my age group without being label. Another thing that whole quote:
'if you are 20 and not a liberal then your heartless and if your 40 and not conversative you don't have a brain'
I forget who said it, I want to say Winston Chruchhill, but that just doesn't spund right...anyways that quote is crap. Because I have talked and meet people on both side and alot of them are down the middle.
And if it is true then I am the most heartless 23 year old on the plant...Oh I can fill the ice water running through my veins right now....

Par-a-dox |

And if it is true then I am the most heartless 23 year old on the planet...Oh I can fill the ice water running through my veins right now....
Yep... and Im a heartless 30 year old... I used to have a heart... but it was ripped still beating from my chest on 09/01/01. Anyone remember WHY??? Comparing killing terrorists to unborn babies... Sigh... How do you even debate someone with that mentality??????? *walks off shaking head in disgust.

Nicolas Logue Contributor |

And if it is true then I am the most heartless 23 year old on the planet...Oh I can fill the ice water running through my veins right now....
Yep... and Im a heartless 30 year old... I used to have a heart... but it was ripped still beating from my chest on 09/01/01. Anyone remember WHY??? Comparing killing terrorists to unborn babies... Sigh... How do you even debate someone with that mentality??????? *walks off shaking head in disgust.
I'm all for killing terrorists...but the definition of that term is getting a little too vague for my liking...I don't think the innocent civilians slaughtered at Haditha were terrorists, and neither does anyone else really...shame the atrocity didn't get ANY news coverage though. That's just the tip o' the iceberg on civilian-dead. A great number of reports are putting the number of Iraqis killed as a result of this conflict upward of 100,000...I thought terrorists worked in small groups and cells...Oh yeah, and when did Iraq become the nesting ground of Al-Queda?...when Bush decided it was...based on absolutely no other evidence beyond "Saddam tried to kill my daddy!" (Oil Tycoon Cronies rub hands together lustily in the background).
Stem Cells are just dead cells. No baby is being killed. The bill proposes the use of cells from failed births and other sources, no one is advocating killing babies, just curing a slew of diseases plaguing the people of the world. At least that's my take on it.
Oh, and GGG - Werd, brother. This country has gotten scary real quick in recent years thanks to everything you mentioned.
F2K - I hear ya my man. I too am a complicated man, with a lot of thoughts on any one political topic rather than a single drum to beat incessantly. My best friend is a hard core Rep., and I'm more of Dem (though they piss me off with their milk-liver, bumfuzzled-ness!). We have AWESOME political discussions all the time, that never descend into meaningless name calling, I'd love to see the same go on in any public forum.
As to Cronyism...I think its pretty easy for everyone to get behind this as a real bad aspect of Bush's presidency. Do you have any idea the sheer number of high ranking government positions he's filled with people barely qualified to practice the alphabet on those big lined sheets of paper we all used in kindergarten? I don't know exact numbers, but the specific cases I've become familiarized with smack of the most irresponsible nepotistic corruption ever seen in the history of this glorious country (cause yes, it is a glorious country, even if its current leader is an utter buffoon). He's ruining the Republican party too. They are running from him. No serious Republican wants anything to do with Bush anymore. It's funny to me. He's like a Frankenstein monster.
Anyhoo, just some of my thoughts. Not meant to offend anyone, just sharing. I agree with GGG, sharing is good. High-minded debate is awesome. Mudslinging and rudeness not so much. I love this community. You are all wonderful people as far as I can tell. Let's all stay wonderful and also not shy away from a dialogue of ideas. If ever there was a time for such a thing it is now in my opinion.

Par-a-dox |

Stem Cells are just dead cells. No baby is being killed. The bill proposes the use of cells from failed births and other sources, no one is advocating killing babies, just curing a slew of diseases plaguing the people of the world. At least that's my take on it.Quote:Dead cells that come from where? Failed briths?... aka dead babies. If that bill were to pass I believe that within 20 years there would be more bills passed and eventually an entire aspect of our economy would be built around the harvesting of cells from aborted babies (dead babies), thus propagating abortion as a from of profit for certain medical corporations...
Killing babies and then harvesting their cells for profit is like something out of a science fiction horror story. Just sickens me.
Killing Enemies of our country = Good
killing babies harvesting their cells for profit = BADIt's that simple...

Par-a-dox |

Par-a-dox wrote:I used to have a heart... but it was ripped still beating from my chest on 09/01/01.You know, at some point we're going to have shed enough blood in the name of the cry of "9-11" that even the most revenge-crazed among us will regain sanity. Or so I hope.
yeah your right... lets just forget all about that whole mess.. it's just silly. And, while were at it... cross pearl harbor off the list too... Lets just forget... Sigh....disgusting.
If regaining my sanity means ignoring/forgetting 9-1-1 I hope to remain totally, entirely, certifiably, IN-F***ING-SANE.

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yeah your right... lets just forget all about that whole mess.. it's just silly. And, while were at it... cross pearl harbor off the list too... Lets just forget... Sigh....disgusting.If regaining my sanity means ignoring/forgetting 9-1-1 I hope to remain totally, entirely, certifiably, IN-F***ING-SANE.
Your posts don't provide good references for your mental state. I don't mind remembering 9-11, in fact there's many good reasons to do so. I do mind it being constantly trotted out to justify torture, a police state mentality, invasion of a nation that had little to nothing to do with 9-11, walling off our borders, and suppression of dissent.
If we "remembered" Pearl Habor the way some people want to remember 9-11, we'd have invaded China once Japan surrendered. After all, there's well-documented connections between China and Japan.

Par-a-dox |

You want revenge for pearl harbor
No... we already handled that problem didn't we? What I want is for this country to have the guts to do what is needed and get the damn job done... handle the current problem. I know there were apologists back then saying that we shouldn't get involved in the war over pearl harbor, "hasnt enough blood already been shed." (hence my reference and point). If we hadn't gotten involved we'd all be speaking German right about now. I don't know about you, but i'm not ready to convert to islam or get my head cut off... You?
Therefore I purpose that at the begining of every public school day (right after saying the pledge of alegence of course) that every child from grades 6-12 watch 15 minutes of 9-1-1 footage... you know, just so it stays fresh in everyones minds. That way, we are all focused on the task/enemy at hand...and we NEVER FORGET. That would be followed by 15 minutes of footage praising our troops, and showing what a good job they are doing all over the world. LoL liberals would be pulling their kids out of schools faster than you can say ACLU Law SUIT!!! LOL

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I'm an idiot for continuing posting in this thread, but the consensus view is that Germany's defeat was sealed by their invasion of Russia, and the failure to crush the Russians. American involvement ended the European war sooner, was the right thing to do, saved many lives, and likely made a very positive difference in the world in all sorts of ways, but it didn't keep us from speaking German. Interestingly enough, the attempt to get to Moscow faltered very close to the date of the attack on Pearl Habor - which would be the moment at which Japan's fate was sealed.

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From what I've read, there has never been a significant medical cure or treatment for anything when the research was done with embryonic stem cells. Adult stem cell research, on the other hand, has lead to some sucessful treatments. So I can support the Presidents decision to try and prevent embryonic stem cell research.
Bush's stance on immigration is another matter entirely. I don't mind immigration - Hell, the country wouldn't be what it was without it - but I do not support illegal immigration. This bill would have given illegal immigrants an amnesty. Reagan did the same thing and considered it one of the biggest mistakes of his administration. Of course, when he did it, there were only about 3-4 million illegals in the country.
My two cents.

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...my issue is not quietly ignore the injustices going on all around us. My point is not to avoid conflict. I merely suggest that there be somewhere that we can leave all that aside and focus on why I thought we were all here for in the first place: fantasy.
If I wanted to bemoan the state of the union, defend my beliefs, attack your beliefs, or just rant and rail, there are plenty of other web sites to do so (like wotc).
And I am only so stirred up because I really love this community (even if I politically, socioeconomically, and religiously disagree if a vast majority of you)...

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Someone earlier in the thread wrote:And if it is true then I am the most heartless 23 year old on the planet...Oh I can fill the ice water running through my veins right now....Par-a-dox wrote:
Yep... and Im a heartless 30 year old... I used to have a heart... but it was ripped still beating from my chest on 09/01/01. Anyone remember WHY??? Comparing killing terrorists to unborn babies... Sigh... How do you even debate someone with that mentality??????? *walks off shaking head in disgust.I'm all for killing terrorists...but the definition of that term is getting a little too vague for my liking...I don't think the innocent civilians slaughtered at Haditha were terrorists, and neither does anyone else really...shame the atrocity didn't get ANY news coverage though. That's just the tip o' the iceberg on civilian-dead. A great number of reports are putting the number of Iraqis killed as a result of this conflict upward of 100,000...I thought terrorists worked in small groups and cells...Oh yeah, and when did Iraq become the nesting ground of Al-Queda?...when Bush decided it was...based on absolutely no other evidence beyond "Saddam tried to kill my daddy!" (Oil Tycoon Cronies rub hands together lustily in the background).
Stem Cells are just dead cells. No baby is being killed. The bill proposes the use of cells from failed births and other sources, no one is advocating killing babies, just curing a slew of diseases plaguing the people of the world. At least that's my take on it.
Oh, and GGG - Werd, brother. This country has gotten scary real quick in recent years thanks to everything you mentioned.
F2K - I hear ya my man. I too am a complicated man, with a lot of thoughts on any one political topic rather than a single drum to beat incessantly. My best friend is a hard core Rep., and I'm more of Dem (though they piss me off with their milk-liver, bumfuzzled-ness!). We have AWESOME...
Beautiful post Nic! I agree 100%. Everywhere you turn, the media, the politically in-the-know, and the general public is saying that George W is the worst president in U.S. history. Maybe it's true, maybe he isn't quite that bad, but for people to stand behind this babbling moron is just a sign of how easily "handled" some people are. Feed them crap and they ask for more.
People who want to throw Pearl Harbor in there need to think about something. Their kills were, for the most part, confined to those in the military. Our kills with the Big ol' bomb was whole cities filled with people who were innocent. People trying to just work and live and raise families and had the misfortune of being from a country that decided to attack the US. Yes, the attack they made was cowardly and deceptive, but our way of retaliating was a disgusting act of mass-murder that is so far beyond what was done to us that the 2 acts are not even comparable.We needed to retaliate to 9-11.....in Afganistan. What are we doing in Iraq? WMD is a bunch of BS. We cite incidents of the "evil" dictator who commits mass-murder and tortures people by sending in troops.....who have killed more civilians than he did and are being accused of torturing their captives.
If we look at the label that our country uses to describe "evil", what are we?
But, hey! He wants to protect the dead fetal cells of failed pregnancies so he must be good!
Remove the blinders, people.
It's great to hold up the ideal that life is precious but it would sound more convincing if our president wasn't ordering the mass-murder of another country's citizens.
FH

farewell2kings |

If Kirk didn’t stop McCoy from saving Keeler we would be speaking German right now.
Ja, der kleine Raumschiff Kapitaen hat uns alle von den boesen Deutschen gerettet :)
My only comment on 9/11 and Iraq is that we should be shooting terrorists in the head wherever they are found, but I'm very doubtful that whole scale invasions of countries are the answer to the safety of Western Civilization. I'm very much against military adventurism and very much against presidents thinking of the U.S. Military as a way to spread "American values" (Clinton did it too--Somalia, Kosovo) The U.S military is very good at only one thing--killing people. Whenever they get involved in "nation-building" we get raked over the coals by everyone. The Marshall plan was a one-time deal that worked in the 1940's and doesn't work when the people don't want your help.
Imagine how much could have been accomplished had all the money poured into Iraq since 2003 been spent on expanding our covert, intelligence gathering and special forces capabilities so that when we do find the "terrorists" we can dispatch them with lovely precision and in total secrecy as opposed to watching "live video" war footage of our soldiers patrolling some godforsaken place where no one wants them around. God Bless them for the job they do and I thank them every day for their sacrifice. Isolationism isn't the answer, of course, but our military (or anyone's military) is not a "political" tool, it's a f'ing sledgehammer. We should not be using a sledgehammer to fight this shadow war, but an expertly wielded ice pick.

Bocklin |

We should not be using a sledgehammer to fight this shadow war, but an expertly wielded ice pick.
A "+3 keen terrorist-bane ice-pick".
Total of +5 enhancement bonus Vs terrorists, crit range 15-20, doing a total of 3d6+Str piercing damage.
That should teach them.
The problem is that the "Detect Terrorist" spell is malfunctionning, so many uses of the ice-pick end up doing less damage than it should... Damn!
If only that money that the government offered to Halliburton and Bechtel to build castles in the desert was still there to finance proper spells...

The Jade |

The can of worms is being opened. Here's to hoping we all somehow survive the danger and firestorms recklessly unleashed by my meager opinions about things. If you've a bomb shelter, run to it. If you've guns, keep them well oiled and loaded. There's no telling what will happen when this lid comes off:
Ahem. I share the views of many here who see an upside in allowing for exchange and debate over political issues. This post was doing fine until the reactionary and sarcastic shouting began. I guess ninety-five percent of us are capable of listening to one another as we speak. Invariably someone's going to start shouting song lyrics and bumper sticker slogans. Do we stop sharing our best attempts to make sense of a crazy world and learning from each other because of a very vocal five percent? Probably. People just detest conflict, even in small doses. However, can we afford to fail in engaging one another when sticky issues or opinions need to be expressed? Lines are drawn in the sand and it's us and them. I'm us and anyone who thinks different about things is them. That mentality has been carefully cultivated; we've been carefully cultivated. Be more reasonable than corn, would ya, people?
To align with a group of people, and then feel you have to adhere to the party line regardless of any new information that rolls in makes no sense to me. I have no interest in infallibility. It doesn't exist. We're all as wrong as we've ever been right. Deal. I don't follow people, I follow principles. When the people I elect fail me, I say so and look for an alternative. I complain with equal volume over either major political party's flaws and blunders. You can take the donkey, shove it up the elephant's rear, and shoot 'em both. Apologies to Thomas Nast, though I'd pay to see his rendition of just such an occurence.
To repeatedly attempt to use the horrific events of 9/11 as a justification for all this country has gone through and as validation to back every decision the president has made since strikes me as a Pavlovian response to wordsmithing at its best. Although used as such, I don't see it as a trump card to decisively prove a point. At this point all it proves is that it is a tintinnabulation to usher the fervent slobber of pathological loyalism. I mean, you don't love abortions and the roasted corpses of Americans, do you? Well, DO YOU?! Would it not be wonderful if we would allow the clarity and thoughtfulness of our posted points to transcend the darker and more fearful side of our passions? Otherwise this all becomes catch-phrase Romper Room and an intellectually stunting I'm-rubber-you're-glue go 'round.
When one country wants to go to war with another, but can't find a justification, they bide their time until they can discover or create one. An example of how governments think
Remember the Maine! Thing is, Cuba likely had nothing to do with blowing up the Maine with mines. A modern autopsy of the shipwreck shows that its hull was blown from the inside out. Basically, there's no conclusive proof any way you look at it and it's up for endless debate. Uh... is it too late to take back the Spanish-American war?
Gulf of Tonkin. Yeah...
And then there's 9/11. I'm an hour north of where the WTC stood. It's not strictly a national pride issue with me. I knew someone who died in the towers personally. Mike Lepore. I was all for kicking ass when the US marched into Afghanistan. What happened after that... even Toby Keith isn't down with what happened after that. If you disagree with what I've said, just tell me, don't scream at me, because, as I taught myself at a young age: People don't hear the validity of your argument when you shout it at them. Not even if you're right.
I'm off for a few days and not sure if I'll have internet. Give me something to read for when I'm able to log back on.

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My thoughts...
Why did congress waste time trying to get a bill through that they knew would get vetoed? If congress really cared about the whole stem cell research thing, they can override the veto. Will they? No. This whole thing just feels like a lame way to make the president look worse.
This whole thing seems to me to have so little to do with stem cell research and terrorism, but so much more to do with things like how they look, re-election, and discrediting people for little reason. (What good will it do right now to discredit Bush? He won't be re-elected next year anyway, so what difference does it really make?)
It all seems to boil down to making themselves look better than the other person -- which really kind of feels like the bullies that I have to deal with at my son's grade school -- it all feels a bit childish.

The Jade |

Par-a-dox wrote:Pardon my ignorance, but what happened on 09/01/01? Was there some big event ten days before 9-11?
Yep... and Im a heartless 30 year old... I used to have a heart... but it was ripped still beating from my chest on 09/01/01.
That's the day ice cream prices shot up through the roof, K. Don't make light. Switching to sorbet was hard (and frozen) pill to swallow.

Taliesin Hoyle |

" I disagree with what you say, but I will fight to the death for your right to say it" Voltaire.
President Dwight Eisenhower, November 8, 1954 "Should any political party attempt to abolish social security, unemployment insurance and eliminate labor laws and farm programs, you would not hear of that party again in our political history. There is a tiny splinter group, of course, that believes that you can do these things. Among them are a few Texas oil millionaires, and an occasional politician or businessman from other areas. Their number is negligible and they are stupid."
Eisenhower's farewell speech:
This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence – economic, political, even spiritual – is felt in every city, every Statehouse, every office of the Federal government. We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. Our toil, resources and livelihood are all involved; so is the very structure of our society.
In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.
We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together.
Want to know why the Kennedys were killed?
Robert Kennedy in 1968 made these comments on what GNP measures.
For too long we seem to have surrendered personal excellence and community value in the mere accumulation of material things. Our gross national product now is over 800 billion dollars a year, but that gross national product, if we judge the United States of America by that, that gross national product counts air pollution, and cigarette advertising, and ambulances to clear our highways of carnage. It counts special locks for our doors and the jails for people who break them. It counts the destruction of the redwoods and the loss of our natural wonder in chaotic squall. It counts Napalm, and it counts nuclear warheads, and armored cars for the police to fight the riots in our city. It counts Whitman's rifles and Speck's Knifes and the television programs which glorify violence in order to sell toys to our children. Yet, the gross national product does not allow for the health of our children, the quality of their education, or the joy of their play; it does not include the beauty of our poetry of the strength of our marriages, the intelligence of our public debate for the integrity of our public officials. It measures neither our wit nor our courage neither our wisdom nor our learning, neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country it measures everything in short except that which makes life worth while. And it can tell us everything about America except why we are proud that we are Americans.
That is why they killed the Kennedys.