Poll - Democrat or Republican?

[BJean 16]

My twin grandsons' doctor in the Los Angeles area, explained the risks to us. He made us think about whether these little preemie boys should take the chance of going without some of the vaccinations that are usually given to small children, or take the chance of becoming autistic. So although the pharmacutical companies have an incredible lobby in Congress and an incredible amount of power to hide things from the public, there are some doctors who are willing to inform their patients where there are questionable meds and treatments lurking. Public awareness is always a problem.

Keep up the good fight. I hope that research and proof will happen in record time to answer the question beyond a reasonable doubt.

[stevegoad 32]

I do think autism misdiagnosis is a problem. My daughter was diagnosed by a Dr who literally saw her for 5 mins as autistic when she was 5. COMPLETELY wrong, she is just speech impaired.

But my personal opinion that all the chemicals in our foods are to blame for a lot of children's problems today. My generation (those in our 30's) are a generation of HUGE infertility problems. Most of my friends have had these problems. And then our children have problems. In the 60's/70s processing food became more prominent and more chemicalized. No wonder our children have problems. BUT I am no expert. Just my rant! :biggrin:

I won't argue with anything you said. Like I said, no doubt misdiagnoses is at least a small part, though it doesn't come near answering the whole problem. I am glad for your daughter.

BTW... the whole problem is that there are no experts in the clinical sense. There are just people asking questions. I have known people who claim to be experts. What happens is that they are knowledgable of the traits of children with autism, and are knowledgeable in certain schools of thought regarding how to deal with the children. There are no experts as to the cause or long-term treatments. That's why, in the times that I have had opportunities to address groups related to autism and children on the autistic spectrum, my first statement is that the true experts are the parents who love their children everyday.

My twin grandsons' doctor in the Los Angeles area, explained the risks to us. He made us think about whether these little preemie boys should take the chance of going without some of the vaccinations that are usually given to small children, or take the chance of becoming autistic. So although the pharmacutical companies have an incredible lobby in Congress and an incredible amount of power to hide things from the public, there are some doctors who are willing to inform their patients where there are questionable meds and treatments lurking. Public awareness is always a problem.

That's where it comes down. Governments and big businesses are not going to make it happen. It will take a grassroots effort of parents, independent physicians, and other interested individuals to make it work. Maybe, if enough people speak up, it can work. But I am not holding my breath.

Keep up the good fight. I hope that research and proof will happen in record time to answer the question beyond a reasonable doubt.

Thanks, that is my hope as well.

Of course, I also hope that this doesn't break my pledge that I made to back away from political debates. :biggrin:

[Donna113 2]

Of course, that brings me to another question from the debates:

When did Sarah Palin become an expert on Autism?

Steve, I don't think Sarah Palin is claiming she's an expert on disabilities. I always took her statements and McCain's statements to mean that she knows what it's like to live with someone with disabilities and she's going to do everything she can to bring awareness to disabilities.

[missy4gordon 0]

I don't think Sarah Palin is claiming she's an expert on disabilities. I always took her statements and McCain's statements to mean that she knows what it's like to live with someone with disabilities and she's going to do everything she can to bring awareness to disabilities.

Yeah, that's what how I took it as well. The words Expert on Autism, or any disability was never uttered from either of them, just BJean trying to spin their words as usual. He/She specifically said that she will be an ADVOCATE in the White House, I have no idea when the meaning of the word Advocate changed to mean Expert.

[stevegoad 32]

Well, keeping with my weekend pledge to remove myself from the debates, I will leave it that I, not BJean, put the statement of Palin being the expert - and yes, I did get that from the debates and subsequent interviews where I heard her listed as the most knowledgable person on the subject (note that it was never said "most knowledgeable person in this race). In every case, the word "autism" has been mentioned within the next sentence, if not that sentence.

Keeping it general, and not debating who should or shouldn't be president, those sort of statements, no matter what the spin, are claims of being an expert... and I don't see Sarah Palin, Joe Biden, John McCain or Barack Obama as experts. And that's fine. No one person, even the president, is an expert on everything.

But, yes, McCain has made references that, logically and without spin appear to say she is an expert.

Statement submitted without preference to candidate or party in the current presidental race.

[missy4gordon 0]

Sarah Palin has a sister (or sister-in-law or whatever) who has a child with autism. It makes her an expert on autism, just like having Russia close in proximity to Alaska makes her an expert on foreign policy.

I was referring to this remark.

[missy4gordon 0]

But, yes, McCain has made references that, logically and without spin appear to say she is an expert.

I guess that depends on interpretation. I have not taken his or her remarks to mean she is an expert, but an advocate, two very different things.

But I digress...it's not a very important issue with me but I just wanted to point out that I don't believe they have mislead the people by calling her an expert when she is not.

[Boo Boo Kitty 3]

Yellow dog Democrat here...LOL. Actually, I am a conservative Democrat and no, that is NOT an oxymoron.

Hey haven't seen you in awhile! How are you doing? :biggrin:

[BJean 16]

You both know why I used the word "expert" in that context. You know Republicans, especially John McCain, would like for the rest of us to believe that Sarah Palin is an expert - on something. That's why McCain has mentioned her knowledge and relationship to the problem of autism over and over.

Saying that Palin is an expert on autism and therefore that qualifies her to be Vice President is like saying that McCain's torture at the hands of his captors qualifies him to be president. Neither statement is correct, but it doesn't stop Republicans from hoping that the general population will believe them to be true.

**I would like to suggest to anyone reading this, please check with your election board and find out if you can participate in early voting. Most election boards are anticipating an enormous turn out this year and the long, long lines may be daunting.**

[BJean 16]

BBKitty: When did Carlene post that?? I would love to know that Carlene is really back. She always brought some keen insight to the threads.

[BJean 16]

I believe this is the right thread for this letter to McCain.

The Moment

Monday 13 October 2008

by: John Cory, t r u t h o u t | Perspective

Arizona Senator John McCain. (Photo: Gunby / AP)

Senator McCain. Was this the moment? The epiphany? The realization that stoking the flames of bigotry and fear had come home to roost?

As I watched your town hall gathering, I wondered what was going through your mind when you came face to face with the incendiary results of your campaign tactics. What did you see and feel when that elderly woman said Obama was an Arab? Or the man who said he feared an Obama presidency? And all the others?

I saw your face. I watched your body language as you took the microphone and quickly distanced yourself from that one.

At that moment, did you see your reflection in the mirror of her eyes? A reflection, not of a maverick, but a pariah? Did you see the decades of American scar tissue? Birmingham? Burning crosses? The noose? Did you see that awful year in American history when Dr. King and Bobby Kennedy were assassinated, cut down in the prime of their dreams for a better America?

Did you hear the echo of Dr. King's words about being "judged not by the color of their skin, but the content of their character," and suddenly realize that it was not your opponent's character in question - but yours? Perhaps you heard the whisper of Langston Hughes when he asked, "What happens to a dream deferred ...? Maybe it just sags like a heavy load. Or does it explode?"

Did you suddenly smell the rot and fetid acrid aroma of fear and hate, the carcass of mendacious political tactics decaying at your feet? Or did you sniff the flop-sweat of your own campaign standing in a puddle of decimating poll numbers?

I watched your mouth dry up and wondered if you could taste the bitter words like "Arab," "terrorist," "treason," "kill him," - all served up on the plate of red meat politics by your campaign. Did it make you choke and want to spit out the rancid flavor of ignorance and violence? Or did you want to savor the success of the politics of personal destruction?

Did you feel the cold chill of defeat? Did your heart pound with the all-encompassing realization that you would never be president? Could you sense that the America you appeal to is stale and dying out and being replaced by the freshness of hope and tolerance and a rainbow of change?

No doubt, the media will genuflect before your image and be pushed by your campaign spinners to reanoint you as a maverick and honorable man in rising to the defense of your opponent. But your ads still sully the airwaves. Your surrogates still spew their venom. After all, this is just politics. People need to understand that. Nothing personal - it is just politics.

But here was this moment. And you know it, regardless of whether or not you were reading from cue cards or just looking down to avoid having to face the ugliness before you - you know.

And when the crowd booed as you struggled to use words about decency and honorable character to defuse the situation you created, you must have recalled the words from Proverbs, "He that troubleth his own house shall inherit the wind ..."

This is not a moment for you to be proud of in this campaign. Garnering credit for coming to the defense of Senator Obama is like an arsonist claiming heroism for saving lives after having set fire to the building in the first place.

It does not matter how the media or your advisers and consultants spin this moment because it can only reflect badly on you. If it is tossed off as politics as usual, your campaign appears shallow and less interested in what's best for America than what is best for John McCain. If it is said that there is no room for this kind of rhetoric in a presidential campaign, then you look weak and unable to control your own staff that continue to push these messages. If it is about leadership and going against the flow, then we see that a McCain presidencywill be divisive and reinforce the meme of "two Americas." We have already had eight years of a divided country from the man who ran as a "Uniter not a divider."

This was a defining moment.

And you, sir, lost.

John Cory is a Vietnam veteran. He received the Purple Heart and Bronze Star with V device, 1969 - 1970.

[HOWLUCKYAMI 0]

I haven't been here long, so I'm wondering if (s)he just rambles on like this all the time and I should learn to ignore him/her.

Edited October 20, 2008 by HOWLUCKYAMI

[BJean 16]

Sure, ignore me. It makes sense to ignore anyone with an opposing opinion. :tongue2:

[gadgetlady 4]

I haven't been here long, so I'm wondering if (s)he just rambles on like this all the time and I should learn to ignore him/her.

ROFLOL! :tongue2:

[HOWLUCKYAMI 0]

It's not that you have an opposing opinion, its that you IMPOSE your opposing opinion. Most people are willing to listen to both sides (myself included), but you just keep on regurgitating the same hate-speak so often that it's hard to give any credit to what you post. IMHO...you're so radical in your posts that you actually de-value what your side stands for.